mr. cornyn: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of h. con. res. 9 which is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: house concurrent resolution 9 authorizing the use of emancipation hall and the capitol visitor center for are a ceremony as part of the commemoration of the days of remembrance of the victims of the holocaust. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i'd ask unanimous consent the concurrent resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president be, i now ask unanimous consent -- mr. president, i now ask unanimous consen

mr. cornyn. mr. cornyn. mr. cornyn no. mr. thune. mr. thune no. mr. burr. mr. burr no. mr. isakson. mr. isakson no. mr. portman. mr. 30r9man no. mr. toomey. mr. toomey no. mr. coats. mr. coats no. mr. haller. mr. haller no. mr. scott. mr. scott no. mr. wyden. mr. wyden no. mr. schumer. mr. schumer aye. miss stabenow. miss stabenow aye. miss cantwell aye. mr. nelson aye. mr. menendez ez aye. mr. carper no. mr. cardin. mr. cardin aye. mr. brown aye. mr. bennett. mr. bennett aye. mr. casey. mr. casey aye. mr. warner. mr. warner no. mr. chairman. the chairman votes no. mr. chairman, the final tally is nine ayes, 17 nays. >> the amendment is defeated. are we getting close to the end here? senator burr, you're next. >> mr. chairman, i'd like to call up portman number 2, and that's committee number 88. and i'll say to the chairman, he will not love me like he loves senator bennett because i will have to have a recorded vote on this. but i will be very brief. and i have great affection for the chairman and for the tax he's got in front of him. i thank my colleagues for their support. on the cus

mr. cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president i ask that the quorum call be rescinded. the presiding officer: without objection. morning business is now closed. under the previous order the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, alfred h. bennett of texas to be united states district judge for the southern district of texas. mr. cornyn: i yield back all remaining time. the presiding officer: without objection. all time is yielded back. mr. cornyn: i'd ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be a sufficient second. the clerk will now call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: have all senators voted? any senator wishing to change their vote? if not on this vote the ayes are 95, the nays are zero, the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table. the president will be immediate

mr. cornyn proposes an amendment numbered 1127. mr. cornyn: i ask unanimous consent that further reading be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: if i can just say in the next 30 second or so, that the first amendment we will vote on reauthorizes the runaway and homeless youth act, which is something that we all support which permits treatment of victims of human trafficking without discrimination. it also happens to be paid for something that the leahy amendment is not. and right now most faith-based organizations like catholic charities treat all victims of human trafficking without regard to sexual orientation gender issues and the like, as i'm proud to say they should. but there's nothing -- we've been told that the various faith-based organizations worry that the federal government is basically going to intervene and tell them who they can hire and what their administration and implementation practices must be. that's why almost uniformly faith-based organizations that would be eligible for the grant

mr. cornyn: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to waive the mandatory quorum call with respect to the cloture vote at 11:00 a.m. this morning. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president i'm an optimistic person. as a matter of fact i think everybody from texas is an optimist. can you imagine the challenges that people have that founded our state indians wide open hostile territory, tough weather, but they persevered because they were optimists and they thought the fight was worth the struggle. they thought the goal and the accomplishment the hoped-for accomplishment was worth the struggle. so i'm still -- i still remain optimistic despite the last few weeks that would challenge that optimism that we will actually break through hear and get to consider and vote on the justice for victims of trafficking act and get help to the people that the majority leader, senator mcconnell, described. the children who cannot help themselves. i mean, for heaven's sake, if we can't help t

mr. cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr.president i just want to say very briefly because i know the distinguished chairman of the finance committee is here to speak on an important matter, but i want to express my gratitude to the majority leader for his determination to see this justice for victims of trafficking act come to completion here in the senate, which it will do this afternoon. it would not have happened without his determination to make it happen. mr. president, i withdraw my amendment number 1120 and offer amendment number 1124. the presiding officer: the amendment is withdrawn. and the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: the senator from texas, mr. cornyn, for himself and mrs. murray proposes an amendment numbered 1124. strike section 101 -- mr. cornyn: mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent that further reading of the amendment be dispensed. with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: i will be back to speak further on the act but for now i will yield to my friend and colleague t

mr. cornyn: mr. president i'd ask unanimous consent that the senator from minnesota and i be permitted to speak for up to one minute each prior to vote on final passage. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. klobuchar: thank you very much mr. president. i first want to thank senator cornyn. this has been a long journey. we have been working on these bills for over a year. i want to thank senator leahy and senator grassley for their leadership on the judiciary committee, senator murray for her work in negotiating this agreement and working with us, as well as so many people that have been involved in this bill. through the last month i think every so often people have forgotten what this really is about. this is about victims of sex trafficking, average age 12 years old. not even old enough to get their own driver's license. not even old enough to go to high school prom. yet this is happening all over the country, from the oil patches of north dakota to the suburbs of minne

mr. cornyn: mr. president for the last several weeks, we have been trying to get unstuck on an important piece of legislation that would combat modern-day slavery. at a time when -- when i think most people are unaware of this phenomenon of sex trafficking primarily of teenaged girls between the age of 12-14 i think the country has become much more aware about this scourge, this dark side to our culture and our society and much more interested in trying to figure out what we can do to address it. you know, at a time when we are really beginning to see some true bipartisan cooperation and progress here in the senate, and i say that because of things like the budget we passed last night was a very, very important piece of legislation we passed to reform medicare particularly to improve access, for our seniors to medicare services performed by doctors and hospitals, by making sure that they had a predictable and sustainable reimbursement rate. what happened yesterday in the foreign relations committee w

mr. cornyn. the senator from utah, mr. hatch. the senator from wyoming, mr. barrasso. the senator from missouri, mr. blunt. the senator from mississippi mr. economicer. the senator from tennessee, mr. corker. the senator from illinois, mr. durbin. the senator from washington, miss murray. the senator from maryland, mr. cardin. and the senator from hawaii -- the senator from hawaii, ms. hirono. the speaker: members of the escort committee will leave through the lobby doors. >> mr. speaker the acting dean of the diplomatic corps. >> mr. speaker, the president's cabinet. >> mr. speaker the prime minister of japan. the speaker: members of congress i have the high privilege and the distinct honor of presenting to you his excellency shinzo abe prime minister of japan. prime minister abe: mr. speaker, mr. vice president distinguished members of the senate and the house, distinct guests, ladies and gentlemen, back in june, 1957 my grandfather standing right here as prime minister of japan began his address by saying and i quote it is because of our strong belief in democratic

mr. cornyn: i thank the chair. mr. president, hopefully this afternoon we will take up a very important piece of legislation that will be coming over from the house of representatives that received an overwhelming vote of republicans and democrats alike a package negotiated at the highest levels of the house leadership between speaker boehner and his staff and nancy pelosi and her staff. what could it be that brings the political parties and the leaders of the parties in the house together to try to build a consensus and come up with a solution? well, it is really to right a wrong or remedy a mistake that congress made back in 1997. basically at that time congress decided in order to save money on health care costs that it would begin periodically to cut the amount of money that was reimbursed to health care providers, primarily doctors and hospitals, and that's how congress thought way back then that we were going to save money. well what has happened in 17 of the 18 times these cuts will have been implemented? congre

mr. cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: mr. president i ask unanimous consent that chris stavish an education fellow and karen armitage both from my office be granted floor privileges for the remainder of this congress? the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: mr. president may i ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 15 minutes as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: thank you. mr. president, the evidence of climate disruption caused by carbon pollution is clear and overwhelming yet the u.s. senate is sleepwalking through this history. i'm here today for the 97th time to say that we must wake up. climate disruptions are felt in every corner of the globe

mr. cornyn? >> no by proxy. >> mr. cornyn no by proxy. mr. thune? >> no. >> mr. burr? >> no by proxy. >> mr. burr no by proxy. mr. isaac son? >> no. >> no. mr. portman? >> aye. >> mr. portman aye. mr. tomb? >> aye. >> mr. coates? >> aye. >> mr. healther? >> aye. >> mr. scott? >> scott is no by proxy. by the way, burr is aye by proxy. i apologize. >> mr. burr aye by proxy. mr. scott, no by proxy. >> no by proxy. >> mr. wide glen is. >> aye. >> mr. schumer? >> aye. >> ms. stabenow? >> aye. >> ms. can't well. >> aye. >> mr. nelson? >> aye. >> mr. menendez? >> aye. >> mr. carper? >> my. >> mr. cardin? >> aye. >> mr. brown? >> aye by proxy. >> mr. brown aye by proxy. mr. bennett? >> aye. >> mr. casey? >> aye by proxy. >> aye by proxy. mr. warner? >> aye. >> mr. chairman? >> no. >> the chairman votes no. mr. roberts? >> i would like to record it as aye. >> aye. >> the clerk will announce the vote. >> mr. chairman, 18 ayes and eight nays. >> the ayes have it, and the amendment is adopted. okay. are there any other senate amendments. >> yeah. mr. chairman? i would like it chan

mr. cornyn: mr. president i came to the floor to talk about the work of the senate and particularly the justice for victims of trafficking act but i would say to my -- my colleague and friend who i have worked with on so many important issues that i also look forward to once we get past today's business that we look forward to working together with you on patent reform, criminal justice reform. also to continue our i think very productive partnership on open government and transparency particularly freedom of information act legislation. but, mr. president before i talk about the justice of victims of -- for victims of trafficking act, i have to note it's my responsibility, my duty, my honor to note that today is a very important day in texas. this is the san jacinto day. this is the official state holiday that honors texas independence where 910 soldiers led by general sam houston won the decisive battle of the texas revolution. so it's not the battle of the alamo that gave texas its independence. t

mr. cornyn: and i'd note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: a senator: the senator from indiana. mr. coats: mr. president i ask that the call of the quorum be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the senate stands in recess until 2:15 p.m. loretta lynch attorney general nomination could get a vote this week. live coverage when senators return 2:15 p.m. eastern back from party lunches on c-span2. look back at announcement from earlier this morning on the senate floor starting with majority leader mitch mcconnell. >> president obama recentlynt proclaimed this to be nationals climb victims rights week, towe stark reminder of countless victims of modern slavery who continue to suffer horrifying exploitation at the hands of human traffickers.f a stark reminder of the need to pass the justice for victims of trafficking act. it is a bill that victims groupsil and advocates called the most thoughtful piece of anti-trafficking legislation currently pending t providesvi unprecedented supp

mr. cornyn: ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? if not the ayes are 54 and the nays are 43. the motion is agreed to. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arkansas. mr. boozman: i ask for unanimous consent to speak for up to 15 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: today we honor the 150th anniversary of abraham lincoln's death. mr. cotton: on the evening of april 14, 1865, the four-year anniversary of the beginning of the civil war and just days after its end in appomattox, president lincoln was shot while attending the theater. the next morning his last labored breathing ceased. his fanatically unreconciled assassin was enraged by lincoln's achievements, his saving of the union his emancipation of the slaves his forecast as freed slaves would soon be voting, his rededication of the nation to the d

mr. cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. the majority leader is recognized. mr. cornyn: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be rescinded. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i am happy to stand here today knowing that the senate has had a pretty good week of getting its work done, or i should say the people's work done and overwhelmingly passing important legislation that will actually help, first of all victims of human trafficking. but generally speaking, help make the lives of our constituents, the american people just a little bit better. talking about the antitrafficking legislation in particular something i'm particularly excited about the unanimous vote, 99-0 yesterday passing this piece of legislation after a hard-fought few weeks of debate. the justice for victims of trafficking act is a bill we all agreed was worth fighting for. why? because it is as important to the rich and powerful, the p

mr. cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: mr.president the 114th congress is just a little over a hundred days old now but we've actually seen watchet be called the world's greatest deliberative body get back to work and begin producing results for the american people. a few months into this session we've passed important legislation from a budget, we will perhaps as early as tuesday pass the first budget since 2009. we repaired something called the doc fix which maybe is inelegantly named but basically fixed a problem that had been lurking since 1997 when somehow we got the idea that you would be able to save money by cutting the reimbursement rates to doctors and hospitals. and then we were shocked absolutely shocked that some doctors wouldn't see medicare patients and some hospitals couldn't afford to build or expand in rural areas and the like. we got that off the table as well. and then i'm glad to say last wildcard we were able to pass some major anti-trafficking legislation which, of course, dealt with the victims of being

mr. cornyn, aye. mr. thune. aye. mr. burr. no. mr. ikicson. no. mr. portman. ay aye. mr. toomey. aye. mr. coates. aye. mr. heller. aye. mr. scott. aye. mr. wyden aye. mr. schumer. no. mrs. stabenow, no. mr. nelson. aye. mr. mendez. no. mr. carper. aye. mr. cardin. aye. mr. brown. no. mr. bennett. aye. mr. casey. no. mr. warner. aye. mr. chairman. aye. chairman votes aye. >> report. >> 20 ayes six nays. >> the ayes have it and the resolution is ordered reported. ask consent the staff be granted authority to make technical, conforming and budgetary changes to all the bills reported today and without objection, it is so ordered. before we adjourn, if i could have order. if i could have order. i want to thank all of my colleagues for their participation today. and i especially want to thank senator wyden for his efforts throughout this process. we've worked very closely together and i've really appreciated it. as we noted today was a long time coming and i want to give credit for senator wyden for his leadership and willingness to reach across the aisle on these important issues. while th

mr. cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip is recognized. mr. cornyn: mr.president, today and for the next few days we will have the opportunity to consider a very important piece of legislation the iran nuclear agreement review act of 2015. a piece of legislation that like all the legislation we consider here is important but this particular legislation is important to our national security and indeed, it's important to the peace and security of our allies around the world. this bill represents a good, bipartisan effort passed unanimously out of the senate foreign relations committee by a vote of 19-0 earlier this -- earlier this month. the reason this legislation is so important is because it would guarantee congress the opportunity and the time necessary to scrutinize any agreement reached between the obama administration and the p-5-1 nations that are currently negotiating on the iranian nuclear capacity. it would also prohibit the president from lifting sanctions on iran during this period of review. mr. president, this is not important because we are

there is no stronger advocate for victims of human trafficking and senator cornyn. >> mr. president. >> the democratic leader. >> after weeks of working on the trafficking bill my republican colleagues have now agreed not to expand the scope. democrats and republicans have come to an agreement on a path forward. rejecting expansion of the trade language and taxpayer dollars that did not apply before. i think the senior senator from washington for the work that she put into brokering this compromise. i have to say and through a bouquet to in clover chart who has worked so hard on this for weeks and weeks and she has been quick on this. she worked consistently to arrive at the conclusion we arrived at. appreciation to senator leahy. available for us at any given time to help us work through these issues. it was not easy. but thanks to their efforts it has been extremely important. we fight human trafficking, a really really, very, very important thing to do. we reject efforts to further obstruct amendments to access for services that are deserved and needed. i also want to s

mr. chairman, might i comment, senator cornyn? nator, you indicated that we would have to have 535 different agreements without fast track. mr. trumka: that again -- there's a whole lot in between there. and i suggest that the following things to improve trade promotion authority. ensure that congress approves trade agreement partners before the negotiation begins. create negotiating objectives that are -- -- that are specific because they are different. ensure that congress not the executive branch determines whether the congressional trade objectives have been met. enshire congress has effective opportunities to strip expedited consideration provisions from trade deals that fail to meet congressional objectives or will incorporate congressional and public participation. we also think that the rest of the things necessary to make trade work, infrastructure, training, and tax policy. it's not we're saying you can't have it or shouldn't have it, it's this one, the one you're considering, abrogates power. you give too much power away

mr. chairman, might i comment, senator cornyn? senator, you indicated that we would have to have 535 different agreements without fast track. mr. trumka: that again -- there's a whole lot in between there. and i suggest that the following things to improve trade promotion authority. ensure that congress approves trade agreement partners before the negotiation begins. create negotiating objectives that are specific because they are different. ensure that congress, not the executive branch, determines whether the congressional trade objectives have been met. ensure congress has effective opportunities to strip expedited consideration provisions from trade deals that fail to meet congressional objectives or will incorporate congressional and public participation. we also think that we ought to integrate this with the rest of the things necessary to make trade work: infrastructure training, and tax policy. it's not we're saying you can't have it or shouldn't have it, it's this one, the one you're considering, abrogates too much power.

senator cornyn: thank you, mr. chairman. i come from a state that in 2013 counted an estimated 1.1 million jobs associated with trade. just the binational trade with mexico is estimated to support as many as six million jobs in the united states. and in terms of its impact on small and medium-sized businesses and the people they employ, 93.1% of the trade jobs were small and medium-sized enterprises with less than 500 employees. i actually believe that one reason why texas has done better than the rest of the country in terms of its economy and jobs is in large part been because of trade. we led the nation in overall exports since 2002 in beef cotton, petro chemicals, machinery and high-tech electronics. in 2014 alone, texas manufacturers and farmers set new records of exports with nearly $290 billion worth of merchandise to buyers around the globe. so i believe that this trade promotion authority proposal that we'll mark up tomorrow is -- represents real progress. the challenge i think we have is if absent a trade promotion

. >> senator cornyn. >> mr. chairman, if i could ask you were speaking for the administration on this panel. >> speaking for the treasury. >> does the app to -- does the obama administration regard this as a poison pill? >> with the respect to the potential for negotiations, yes, sir. >> and so you regard this as a poison pill? >> we are concerned about this provision and its impact and consider it to be inflicting. yes, sir. >> i want to see this past. i believe strongly in trade and think that it is good for the country good for wages, the economy, jobs. as much as i respect my distinguished friend from ohio and regard him as an expert in this area i frankly, do worry that during the fragile compromise that the chairman and ranking member have undertaken if something is added to this legislation was jeopardized the passage and ultimately is something telepathically should not go down. if the administration, president obama and his administration regard this is a poison pill i don't know what the vote -- i don'

senator cornyn: mr. chairman, if i could just close on this. we didn't have the time yet. 57% of the children who were -- came across in the wave of the humanitarian crisis last year were issued orders of removal in absentia which means they did not show up for their court hearings which to me means they basically successfully navigated our broken immigration system and they're going to stay here , and that's a problem. we still haven't fixed and we still need to address. thank you. senator blumenthal: thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for having this hearing. thank you for your service to our nation, mr. secretary. i am very pleased to learn that the department is re-evaluating its family detention policy. as you well know, the judge's opinion in my view, at least requires it. and also many have objected to family detention policies, including myself. so i'd like to work with you in devising and implementing better policies. i think that these policies cannot only provide for more humane and productive treatment of young people when they come

senator cornyn: mr. chairman, if i could just close on this. we didn't have the time yet. 57% fert children who were -- came across in the wave of the humanitarian crisis last year were issued orders of removal in absentia which means they did not show up for their court hearings which to me means they basically successfully navigated our broken immigration system and they're going to stay here and that's a problem. we still haven't fixed and we still need to address. thank you. >> senator blumenthal. senator blumenthal: thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for having this hearing. thank you for your service to our nation, mr. secretary. i am very pleased to learn that the department is re-evaluating its family detention policy. as you well know the judge's opinion in my view, at least, requires it. and also many have objected to family detention policies, including myself. so i'd like to work with you in devising and implementing better policies. i think that these policies cannot only provide for more humane and productive treatment of young pe

cornyn. >> thank you mr. chairman. i come from a state that in 2013 counted an estimated 1.1 million jobs associated with trade just the by national trade with mexico is supporting 6 million jobs in the united states. and in terms of its impact on small and medium sized businesses and the people they employ, 93.1% of the trade jobs were small and medium sized enterprises with less than 500 employees. i actually believe that one reason why texas has done better than the rest of the country in terms of its economy and jobs is large part been because of trade. we led the nation in overall exports since 2002 and beef, cotton, pet trow chemicals and texas manufacturers and farmers set new records of exports with $290 billion worth of merchandise to buyers around the globe. i believe this trade promotion authority proposal that we'll markup tomorrow is -- represents real progress. the challenge i think we have is absent a trade promotion authority or so-called fast track authority we're left with negotiations on behalf of 53

.>> senator cornyn really looks like he trust the president so i think he's with me on this mr. chairman.>> mr. chairman thank you and as usual senator brown is talking about a valid problem. in the past the trade promotion act in my view has been a blank check for bad trade deals and that was something that i sought to correct and is chairman hatch will tell all of you and you might suspect we have had many spirited discussions on this particular problem. once congress passes a trade promotion act bill it has been virtually impossible to stop any trade -- trade agreement coming down the road and chairman hatch and i have proposed after literally a month of discussions, months and months, and it is bicameral. there has been a change in both the senate and the house. we have proposed a new way to put the brakes on a bad trade deal. so in effect the committee will meet on a bill. we will meet for example and tpp. the committee fails to favorably report the bill for any reason, that sets in place a process to make the agreement and eligible for fast-track in tpa procedures. while w

mr. speaker, senator cornyn from my state of texas, representative carter, representative roger williams put a lot of effort into this but i also need to recognize the thousands of constituents, not just in texas, but across the country who phoned emailed, sent letters asking that this omission be made right. i'm happy to say and acknowledge their -- to their efforts that it finally has been. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from illinois seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. mr. schakowsky: on acknowledgment of the nurse's society their 40th anniversary, i want to thank them for oncology and cancer care. o.n.s. is an organization of thousands of nurses and health care providers dedicated to providing health care to those in the most difficult stages of their lives. since 1975, the oncology nurse society has worked tirelessly to lead the transformation of cancer care. o.n.s. is the primary source of education for

mr. president, we have tried, we have tried. ten different offers have been made to senator cornyn, senator mcconnell to work our way through this. there are many ways that we can handle this, but they feel, my friend the republican leader and the assistant republican leader feel that this is their opportunity to broaden hyde, and we're not going to allow that to happen. it would be wrong. we have made ten separate offers of ways to get to yes but republicans appear unwilling to compromise about the hyde language, and that's unfortunate. now, to carry on the illogic of my friend, the republican leader mr. president every organization has a mission statement, a summary of their goals and values. congress is no different. their mission statements -- there are mission statements that are done every year and it's called a budget. we have our mission statement. the republicans have theirs. and budget sets forth our core values as a party. a statement of our values tells the american people what we really care about and whose side we're on. we are committed to a budget that puts the middle class first, a budget that supports hardworki

mr. cornyn: mr. president in over 100 days since the 114th congress has been in session led by a new majority following the november election, this chamber can point to significant accomplishments in this short period of time. now, none of us are spiking the football or saying that, you know we've done miraculous things but it's undeniable that we have made discernible concrete progress on important matters that affect the lives and quality of life of the american people. in only three weeks into the new copping, the senate has already had more votes on amendments than the chamber did in all of last year. what that means is that on a bipartisan basis senators have been able to contribute their ideas on legislation how to improve it and get votes on it. that was something we promised voters we'd change after the last election and in the new congress. and under the new majority leader senator mcconnell we've delivered. in just a few weeks -- and just a few weeks ago the senate passed a budget that actu

mr. cornyn: mr. president i call up the following amendments en bloc, klobuchar number 296 hoeven 299 as modified, sullivan 279 wicker 1126, flake number 2494, cassidy number 30 , portman number 1128 brown number 310 brown number 312 heller number 1122 shaheen number 303. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, the clerk will report the amendments en bloc. the clerk: senator 0 the senator from texas mr. cornyn, for others proposes amendments numbered 296 299 as modified, 279, 1126, 2494, 308 1128, 310, 312 1122 and 303. mr. cornyn: i ask consent that senators sullivan, cassidy wicker klobuchar each be recognized to speak for one minute. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. sullivan: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. sullivan: i rise in support of amendment 279 theman act -- the mann act cooperation amendment. this is a simple amendment with strong bipartisan support. i appreciate the cosponsors senators murkowski ayot

mr. cornyn. mr. cornyn: mr. president the speaker and leader pelosi have negotiated a package which enjoyed broad bipartisan support in the house. the one missing element is a pay-for for the so-called doc fix for the sustainable growth rate fix. what my amendment at does is it offers that pay-for so that this is a deficit-neutral bill if it's adopted. in order to find that pay-for we would repeal the individual mandate. this would -- the latest c.b.o. score shows that it would save as much as $400 billion. it hasn't been scored this year so the number may be off a little bit. but there's more than adequate amount of money to offset the deficit caused by this permanent doc fix. and i'd ask my colleagues to join me, along with then-senator barack obama in 2008, who in his campaign against hillary clinton when he was running for the democratic nomination campaigned against the individual mandate. let's -- let's make that reality. mr. wyden: mr. president? mr. president, i urge colleagues to oppose this amendment.

mr. cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president as i understand the distinguished senator from oregon is asking to amend the consent request and i would reserve the right to object to that request and make the simple point that the kirk amendment targets online child exploitation and sex trafficking which is rampant and given the fact that the internet now is one of the principal tools used used, web sites like back backpage.com and on web sites like backpage.com thousands of human trafficking victims are sold into slavery. it is simply unconscionable for us to stand by and allow this to continue. what senator kirk is asking for and which i support and i believe we should do is a simple up-or-down vote on the kirk amendment. so i would reserve the right to object and ask our colleague to allow this up-or-down vote on the kirk amendment. mr. wyden: mr. president continuing,. the presiding officer: will the majority leader so modify his request? mr. mcconnell: mr. president the answer is no, but i think the senator from ore

mr. cornyn: mr. president like every member of this body, i'm frustrated we haven't been able to reach an agreement to pass the bipartisan justice for victims of trafficking act. so today just now we've offered a compromise amendment that provides a path forward on this the important legislation. i want to express my gratitude to the majority leader for teeing up this amendment and this vote and helping us move forward to resolve this problem. but briefly this proposal would completely strike a provision in the underlying bill that members on the other side have objected to regarding the application of the hyde amendment. the proposal would replace this language with a provision negotiated by leader pelosi from h.r. 2 the so-called doc fix bill that we just passed overwhelmingly and that passed the house last month -- or a few weeks ago at 392-37. 180 house democrats supported this language in the house bill. the pelosi language in this bill is similar to my proposal and it simply says that any funds

mr. cornyn: mr. president i'd ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be rescinded. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, we are finally seeing the united states senate doing what we were elected to do, and that is doing the people's work. i'm glad to see that there have been some reports in the press saying that the 114th congress and the new majority is actually following through in keeping our promises by passing important legislation that helps make the american people's life just a little bit better. one of those things that we've done is the house and house and the senate have now met in a conference committee to agree on a budget. this is unfortunately an issue event in recent history. it was 2009 when the last budget was passed by the united states congress. that's a little embarrassing. it's actually very embarrassing. it's a scandal really. but now we are finally getting back on track. i'm glad to report, as the presiding officer knows that this is a budget

stronger add voa -- there is really no stronger advocate for victims of human trafficking than senator cornyn. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. reid: after weeks of stalling on the bipartisan human trafficking bill our republican colleagues have agreed not to expand the scope of the hyde language. democrats and republicans have come to agreement on a path forward on this pointless con triefd -- contrived fight. this is really good news. i thank the senior senator from washington senator patty murray, for the work that she put in brokering this compromise. but i have to say and throw a bouquet to amy klobuchar who has worked so hard on this for weeks and weeks and she has been very relentless in working toward an agreement on this. she's worked consistently to arrive at the conclusion that we have arrived at. i express my appreciation to senator leahy on the judiciary committee, who has been available for us at any given time to help us work through these issues. it wasn't easy, but with their efforts, the senators i've mentioned, it has been extremely imp

mr. speaker, under the leadership of senator cornyn and senator wyden, the senate has unanimously passed the bipartisan justice for victims of trafficking act. this bill will help stop modern day slavery here in america. the house has passed a similar bill under the sponsorship of carolyn maloney and myself. we've acknowledged the international human trafficking for years. now we acknowledge and put sufficient resources behind the fight against the buying and selling of human beings here. this slavery in america is not going to be tolerated. the bill penalizes traffickers and buyers. mr. speaker, buyers have escaped the long arm of the law for too long. the bill also treats trafficking victims as victims and not criminals. we can no longer deny the scourge of rape and abuse of our children. i strongly encourage the house leadership to immediately bring up the senate compromise justice for victims of trafficking act for a vote. victims are people too, and let it be known that america's kids are not for sale and won't be to anyone who sells or bice them on the marketplace of slavery and th

cornyn amendment be at 10:30 a.m. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. enzi: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. mr. sanders: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vemplet vermont. mr. sanders: mr. president let me applaud senator enzi and his staff for their very hard work, and let me say that certainly i agree with senator enzi that we need a government which is accountable that we need to get rid of waste in government and that we need to get rid of duplicative programs. i don't think there is any debate on that. i look forward to working with senator enzi and others to make that happen. but, mr. president the republican budget is far far more than that. and today i rise in strong opposition to the motion to go to kfns conference on the budget resolution. the budget resolution that the senate passed on march 27 moves this country in exactly the wrong direction. and the house budget resoluti

mr. president. i rise today to speak in support of the justice for victims of trafficking act. it's good legislation drafted and introduced by the senator from texas senator cornyn, and alsoor the senator from minnesota, senator klobuchar. they had originally put this bill together in the last congress and i was pleased to be a cosponsor of that bill and i'm also very pleased to to be an original cosponsor of the legislation that they've introduced earlier this year and the the legislation that we have on the floor now. this bill has many strong points many important strong points. i'm going to go through some of them not all of them, but a number of them. for example, it makes sure that victims get restitution and witnesses get rewards for cooperating with law enforcement before others, and it encourages prosecutors to get training on restitution in human trafficking cases. its of gives law enforcement greater authority to seize the assets of convicted human traffickers. and it protects victims and witnesses by requiring human traffickers to be treated as violent criminals for purposes of pretrial release and detention pending judicial proceedings. it also ensu