mr. cassidy took the band to new york to enter a contest. they won it.er: that earned wyndham an invitation to perform at a recital last year on the main stage at new york's carnegie hall. >> i remember looking at mr. cassidy and we're both looking at each other and laughing because we couldn't believe it. >> reporter: after the concert when mr. cassidy returned to the hotel, his musicians were waiting. >> he turned around and his face lit up. it was wonderful. >> he gave a hug to every single one of us. >> if i could freeze frame that moment in time i don't think i could ask for another moment like that. >> what does it feel like? >> we feel like we belong. we don't feel like band geerks. >> definitely not. i would be proud to be considered a band geek and be considered part of this band. >> i'll say it. i am proud. >> reporter: it was a former student tim raymond and his mother who wrote the letter to the grammy committee. >> why did you do it? >> because i couldn't think of anyone more deserving and such an honor. i levered music lessons, life lessons

mr. cassidy: i rise in support of the house-passed department of homeland security bill, a bill not about whether we should fund the department of homeland security but whether we will provide northwest to missouri here illegally. first let's establish the constitution says that congress has authority over our immigration and naturalization laws. the president does not have the authority to waive legal requirements, the supreme court has upheld this on numerous occasions. the president has admitted more than 20 times that he does not have this authority. that said, now his suspension attempting to block the ruling of the judge recently -- the judge made in texas and protect his amnesty plan. as has been reported in the papers judge hainen in texas has put an injunction against proceeding with the president's amnesty bill. it's reported the department of homeland security at the president's direction is moving forward with plans to seal large contracts with companies to process deferred action be applications for millions of illegal immigrants as soon as possible. mr. president, american f

mr. chairman. >> senator cassidy. >> first elected request unanimous consent into the record a statement from the march of dimes. >> will be done. >> thank you. obviously with declining resources on the federal level. i see that the administration is cutting the 317 money, dr. moore, that you referenced. but i will also don't begin as a fellow who used to work in a public hospital system that as a pediatrician get a lot of immunization work. there's always a great concern about immunization. so sometimes i would see people, to speak to our pediatricians about immunization and it was like call the new council. these folks cared about it. jackson sawyer care about ashley. so can we use our 317 money more effectively? let me ask, and ask this not to challenge but to suggest. when i look at that map of california, you can isolate those communities which are not immunizing. we opt to pay jacks to come in and speak to those families so that they know if they have a domestic it is helping them in the home and if they're wealthy they may, whose child was unvaccinated and recently came from another countr

cassidy. senator warren. >> thank you, mr. chairman. when the polio and measles vaccine became available for the first time, parents lined up to make sure their kids would be protected. they'd lived in a world of infectious diseases that destroyed children's futures and they desperately wanted to leave that world behind. these vaccines worked so well that the memory of these diseases has faded, and the importance of vaccination has become less obvious. last month the pew research center reports found that while nearly 80% of baby boomers and seniors believe vaccines should be mandatory only 59 percent of people under 30 hold that belief. and now measles is back. dr. schuchat, you are the top immunization official in the united states. i just want to walk the science on this -- walk through the science with -- on this with you. is there any scientific evidence that vaccines cause autism? >> no. >> is there any scientific evidence that sack seens cause profound mental disorders? >> no, but some of the diseases can. >> the diseases can but

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator warren. and i didn't welcome senator collins to the committee, which i should. we're delighted to have them back. she and senator cassidy are the only new senators this year. and you're not really new. senator roberts? >> thank you, mr. chairman. number one, i would observe that we have flipped the seating arrangement here. there's a brand-new start. the lights are a little brighter. the heat is a little warmer. you can see what the majority used to enjoy. but basically, i observed the minority is to your right and we, sir, are to your left, which is seldom. but at any rate, just thought i'd make that observation. i'd like to concentrate on the teachers -- stephen, how do you pronounce your last name? >> lazar. >> that's what i figured. thank you for your statements on behalf of teachers. some years ago, way before senator collins, i was a teacher for three years. i worried about standard deviation. i had a principal who insisted on doing that and we finally had meaningful dialogue and i was free from that effort. i have no idea how you teach x number of months the way you want to teach and then one month being, quote,