mr. cardin: i would be glad to yield to my senator from delaware. mr. carper: senator cardin and i serve together on a committee called the environment and public works in the senate. one of the issues we deal with is clean air. this conversation about predictability and certainty that businesses seek is not just in health insurance. it's in all kinds of cuts for business across the country. i remember being in a conversation eight, nine years ago with, i think, lamar alexander, senator alexander of tennessee was with us. we met with the c.e.o.'s of a number of utilities across the country. and senator alexander and i were pushing legislation in response to president george bush's proposal called clear skies, which was designed to reduce the emission of mercury and sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide. and we talked with these c.e.o.'s from across the country for, i don't know, an hour or more in my office. finally, at the end of the conversation, we had been talking about reductions in x percent and y percent and so forth in the emissions from these harmfu

mr. cardin: and that review process will give congress the right role to review executive action so we're stronger working together. it also gives the president a stronger hand in negotiating with mr. putin and russia because congress has said you must accomplish certain objectives like getting russia's aggression to end in ukraine or to get russia to stop supporting war crimes in seer and stop -- syria and stop interfering with our democratic election systems. that's what we say and we're clear about that. then we take the third step, which i think is very important, and that is provide the wherewithal that u.s. leadership, working with our european allies to protect our democratic institutions. all of that is included in the bill that we'll have a chance to vote on in a few minutes. i want to thank all involved. i know, mr. chairman, i'm going to include in the list of our staff people who worked so hard on this because they were here 24/7 putting this bill together. i'm going to include that in the record. i know damion murphy on my office, margaret taylor and jessica lewis. i'll have

mr. cardin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: mr. president, in april was national minority health month. i point that out because i work with many of my colleagues in order to advance minority health. and we've done, i think, some very important things in recent years which i'm very proud of. many of them were included in the affordable care act. i know that senator carper and senator blumenthal will be on the floor. senator carper is here now. he has been instrumental in advancing quality health care for all americans, but we do recognize that we have a special role in regards to historic discrimination on minority health. so i was pleased that the affordable care act included the national institute for minority health and health disparities so that we could have a foe cal point at n.i.h. to deal with these historic problems and to have a game plan to advance that. i was also pleased that the affordable care act provided coverage for minorities in greater number because when we looked at the number of one insured, the number of min

mr. cardin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: mr. president, i just want to follow up briefly with chairman corker. the two of us became friends in 2007 when we were both elected to the united states senate in the same year. part of the s same class. i think the two of us really became close friends a little over to years ago when we were confronted with how congress should deal with a nuclear agreement being negotiated by president obama with iran and our european friends along with russia and china. and the to of us worked around the clock to try to develop an appropriate review process so that congress could play a constructive role. we recognize we're the legislative branch. we have oversight functions, but there's an appropriate role for us in regards to executive actions. and we came out with something that no one expected to be done, and that is near unanimous support in this body for a review statute in regards to the iran negotiations. well, mr. president, chairman corker has taken that same template and has now used that to

mr. cardin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: lpt, let me return the compliment that senator corker -- to senator corker. senator corker opened his remarks about the bipartisan vote in our committee on the iran sanctions bill. in the last congress, we were able to get a unanimous vote on the iran bill. we under the leadership of senator corker fully recognize that particularly on foreign policy, our country is much stronger when we speak with a united voice, so bringing democrats and republicans together is in our national interest, and senator corker has listened to different views. he and i do have different views on many issues concerning foreign policy, but in almost every one of those cases, we have been able to reconcile those dirchesz -- differences, and that was very clear on the iran sanctions. it's also very true on the russian sanction amendment that we will be voting on later today. so to senator corker, i just want our colleagues to know we have a leader on the senate foreign relations committee that put ameri

mr. cardin: madam president, first i want to thank senator markey for his comments. i share his concerns. i agree with what he has said, the risk factors of the bill that was announced this morning by the republican leader, what it could do to millions of people around this country, what it will do for coverage for hundreds of thousands of people in my state of maryland who will lose coverage, and just about every marylander whose health care will be impacted if this bill were to become law. but i want to start, madam president, by saying i think this is a shameful moment for the united states senate. the senate which traditions have made it be known as the most deliberative body in the world, the senate which has been known as a body that allows for robust debate and benefits from the views of all 100 members, that each of us have opportunities to get our voices heard, that tradition has been badly damaged by what the majority leader has done in bringing a bill that affects one-sixth of the economy of our country to the floor of the united states senate without deli

mr. chairman. thank you ranking member cardin.think what is an thank you to the centers for the hard work and framing what we are today and for the committee as a whole for the engagement on this. i think this is not the first do a straight how the senate can work well together in an important and difficult constitutional moment. when the president sends american troops in harms way those men and women, their families and the american people deserve clear authorization from congress, a robust debate in congress, a strategy that outlines the path to success, and at the moment i'm concerned we have none of those three. president trump has not yet presented to us a strategy for success in afghanistan and syria to quit taken important steps and up operas and basis in this committee and i'm encouraged to see we're having this hearing today, and that there is more than agreement between eyewitnesses. but i will note the absence of an administration witness. the decision to send america's all to fight about desserts are thoughtful consid

cardin. >> hello, mr. chairman. let me also welcome the secretary here in order to discuss the proposed budget and other issues that are important for our national security. i just want to make an observation before i start my formal statement, that reviewing the administration's fy '18 budget is a waste of time. i know that we're going to write our own budget. yesterday i was in ellicot city which suffered from a major flood almost a year ago, and i was talking to an administrator there, not the state department, a different agency, about the tools we need to make available for the businesses in elicott city in order to recover from that tragedy, and the budget for that agency would not allow the federal partner to continue providing mentoring services to the businesses, and that it was a challenge for the administrator to be able to carry this out with the instructions being given by omb in regards to budget issues. so, mr. chairman, i don't think the fy 18 budget review is a waste of time, thii think we'll write

mr. president, with that, i want to thank senator corker, again senator cardin, their staffs. i want to thank our leadership, senator mcconnell and senator chuck schumer for making sure that this resolution was taken up and written, and we will have a chance to vote on it. i just don't want for some time later this evening or tonight when somebody asks for unanimous consent to pass a senate resolution with a certain number, what was that all about? i want people to know that this is -- this is about something that's important, and i'm grateful to all who had a hand in it. thank you very much. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from kentucky, the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: as if in executive session, i ask unanimous consent that upon the reporting of the nomination of david p. pekoskey of maryland to be assistant

mr. president, when a pope dies, the cardinals meet in secret to elect the next pope. a white cloud goes up in smoke. when the senate republicans meet together in secret for a health care bill to cover the sick and elderly, that's what goes up in smoke, all of that coverage. the only thing more secret than the republican health care bill is donald trump's tax returns, and we might need, ultimately, to have a special counsel to go and find out what's inside of that health care bill because right now the democrats don't know, the american public doesn't know. no one knows what's in that bill. while we may not have details on the republicans' secretive proposal to repeal and replace the affordable care act, we know that they are not completely rewriting the house-passed legislation that eviscerates reduces coverage and all those families caught in opioid crisis. this bill is being done in complete ka lambty and it is -- calamity and it is being done in secret. right now the press is being stifled. the white house didn't even let reporters audio tape the press briefing tod

mr. president, when a pope dies, the cardinals meet in secret to elect the next pope. a white cloud goes up in smoke. when the senate republicans meet together in secret for a health care bill to cover the sick and elderly, that's what goes up in smoke, all of that coverage. the only thing more secret than the republican health care bill is donald trump's tax returns, and we might need, ultimately, to have a special counsel to go and find out what's inside of that health care bill because right now the democrats don't know, the american public doesn't know. no one knows what's in that bill. while we may not have details on the republicans' secretive proposal to repeal and replace the affordable care act, we know that they are not completely rewriting the house-passed legislation that eviscerates reduces coverage and all those families caught in opioid crisis. this bill is being done in complete ka lambty and it is -- calamity and it is being done in secret. right now the press is being stifled. the white house didn't even let reporters audio tape the press briefing tod

mrs. mccarthy always has tons of good books to read. which makes for a pretty good day at school. ♪ >> phils took on the cardinals, and they choke it awayxtra innings, in the 11th, steven, double to right, seven runs, would score in the inning. the phils go onto lose eight to one, their fourth straight lost and for the game michael, and gomez, designated for assignment. that basically means they will never play for the phils again. saunders just batting 205 on the season. to the nba, markell, on top of the world. this was him yesterday, at the empire state building draft just a day away. a day away from becoming a sixer. and lakers, making moves, traded d'angelo russell and timothy to brooklyn for brooke lopez in the number 27th pick in the draft. russell was supposed to be the air to kobe bryant. i'm sean bell. >> 4:26. good morning, allentown. we're looking for your favorite summertime traffic jams. how about little cool summer by banana ram a from the gang from allentown? sue has your forecast for the hot wednesday ahead when we come right back. pro tip for fruit lovers: giant has unbelievable produce prices. so you'll never have to

mr. secretary, i was at a hearing with secretary tillerson before i came into this hearing and it was brought up by chairman cardin that rarely our committees on budget about the budget and they're about other things and so i'm going to vary from the script of the budget committee hearing, if you don't mind. i want to draw your attention and the colleagues to the attention that two reports that came out this past week regarding north korea and the first report released yesterday by an independent organization known as c 48 ds. they identified over 5,000 chinese companies that are doing business with north korea. these chinese businesses are responsible for about $7 billion worth of trade with north korea. that's about 90% of north korea's total global trade. moreover the report from c 4 said that only ten of these companies, only ten of those 5,000 companies control 30% of chinese exports to north korea that was just in 2016 and one company alone out of those ten, out of the 5,000 controlled nearly 10% of total imports from north korea. some of these companies even had satellite offices and businesses in the unite

mr. secretary, i was at a hearing with secretary tillerson before i came into this hearing and it was brought up by chairman cardin that rarely our committees on budget about the budget and they're about other things and so i'm going to vary from the script of the budget committee hearing, if you don't mind. i want to draw your attention and the colleagues to the attention that two reports that came out this past week regarding north korea and the first report released yesterday by an independent organization known as c 48 ds. they identified over 5,000 chinese companies that are doing business with north korea. these chinese businesses are responsible for about $7 billion worth of trade with north korea. that's about 90% of north korea's total global trade. moreover the report from c 4 said that only ten of these companies, only ten of those 5,000 companies control 30% of chinese exports to north korea that was just in 2016 and one company alone out of those ten, out of the 5,000 controlled nearly 10% of total imports from north korea. some of these companies even had satellite offices and businesses in the unite

mr. speaker, this brings me to the republicans' third bucket. according to senator ted cruz, this bucket is, and i quote him, a sucker's bucket, unquote. indeed, some, like senator tom cardin, have referred to all this bucket talk as simply a bunch of political spin. whatever it is, it's an empty bucket. the most recent bill the republican majority has decided to dump in this sucker's bucket is h.r. 2581, the verify first act. under current law premium assistance tax credits are eligible for eligible individuals and families to subsidize the cost of health insurance. individuals are not eligible for these individuals unless they are u.s. citizens or are living in the country legally. currently applicants have 90 days to provide documentation or otherwise address any issues with citizenship and immigration status and are presumed eligible to enroll in marketplace coverage. if an individual is unable to provide the necessary documentation, coverage and financial assistance are terminated. this provision ensures that individuals are not left in a position of having to wait potentially months to be verified before they can provide coverage and it provides the proper guardrails

mr. cardin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator maryland. mr. cardin: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: thank you, mr. president. i come to the floor to speak about the rise of a failed state of venezuela and the man-made tragedy that president maduro has imposed on his citizens. for three months, venezuelans have taken to the streets in daily protests. they're speak out against their country's economic collapse, against widespread foot shortages, and the disintegration -- the disintegration of their medical system, against endemic corruption and against a government that denies them their human rights and fundamental freedoms. appallingly, president maduro has responded to the protests by unleashing his national guard. as a recent "washington post" editorial stated, mr. maduro and the corrupt clique around him are hanging on by the brute force of tear gas, water cannons, mass a rests and shootings by snipers. since april, venezuela's increasingly unstable crisis

mr. crapo: i rise to speak on behalf of the crapo-brown-corker-cardin legislation. this is filed as amendment 232 and as has been indicated we'll vote on it in just a few minutes. this amendment is the result of a partnership between the senate banking committee and the senate foreign relations committee. amendment 232 ratchets up against russia for its continuing escalation of violence in eastern ukraine and maligned cyber activities against business and citizens of the united states. it also provides congress with strong oversight over almost any termination or suspension of these sanctions. i spoke yesterday about the hard work of senators corker, brown, and cardin and their staffs, and i thank them again for their leadership. i also again thank senators mccain and graham and shaheen who have contributed to these efforts. i recognize our latest cosponsors, senators purdue, menendez, warren, rubio, scott, heitkamp, reed and toomey and appreciate their cosponsorship and support as well. we appreciate the leadership of majority leader mcconnell and democratic leader

i think senator corker and cardin worked hard to make sure that would not be the case in order to get bipartisan buy-in. so i think it's an important bill, but, mr. president, it could have been stronger. it could have been stronger. and, unfortunately, a number of us had provisions and amendments that were meant to strengthen it. some of us don't sit on the foreign relations committee but have a lot of interest and experience with these issues, and what we could have done was actually headache this bill stronger -- was actually headache this bill stronger -- was actually make this bill strongerrer by looking at a number of other amendments brought to the floor on this very bill. let me give you one example. i had an amendment that was a very simple amendment, very simple, and it essentially stated that iranian banks and financial institutions would not be able to use the u.s. financial system, our banking system, which is critical to global commerce, to conduct any business around the world until iran was taken offer the list of once that sponsor state -- the list of countries that superior state terrorism. very simple. no use of the u.s. finan