mr. cornyn: mr. president, one of the most poignant moments of of the most poignant moments of >> mister president were the most poignant moments of my life or my career here in the senate came in 2017 on sunday service in a little baptist church right outside of sutherland springs texas. twenty-six lives were lost that day, 20 people injured. and the entire community outside of san antonio was shaken to their core by this hateful act. and then was court-martialed and then was serious domestic abuse that hasn't been loaded into the relevant background check database. even though federal statute clearly states all federal agencies areeqre required to do so. as a result the gunmen could unlawfully purchase for firearms, three of which he leused to carry out this despicable act. in the wake of any tragedy you cannot help but ask what if and in this instance it was our duty to ask those questions. but we knew the answer. the criminal record was uploaded into the background check system the shooter would

mr. cornyn: mr. president, one of the most poignant moments of my life and certainly of my career here in the senate came in 2017 when a gunman opened fire on a sunday service at a little baptist church right outside of sutherland springs, texas. 26 lives were lost that day. 20 people were injured. and the entire community, that small, little community outside of san antonio, was shaken to their core by this hateful act. well, it didn't take us too long to learn about the shooter, a man with a record of domestic violence, animal cruelty and mental illness. he had been court-martialed by the air force and convicted of a serious domestic abuse, which is a felony. by law, the shooter should have been prevented from purchasing or even possessing a firearm, but he wasn't because the critically important information about his criminal background had not been uploaded into the relevant background check databases maintained by the f.b.i. even though a federal statute clearly states that all federal agencies

mr. cornyn: madam president, i came to the floor and heard the democratic leader talking democratic leader talking >> i heard that democratic leader speaking about the terrible incidents that occurred in el paso and dayton and odessa we have had to set shooting since we've been in session in odessa and el paso and i confess these are terrible tragedies that cause us to first ask the question why and then cause us to ask the question what. what can and what should we do to try to stop incidents like these in the future i will remind the democratic leader we actually have a great template for bipartisan support for gun safety legislation which is a bill be sent to the president last year being the criminal background check the fbi operates and if you are convicted of a felony or dishonorably discharged from the military or subject to a protective order or as a result of a mental health crisis, all of these under existing law prohibit you from purchasing or possessing a firearm. but the background checkbu system doesn't work it doesn't account for much. i'm proud of the fact we came together

mr. cornyn: mr. president, i think people are surprised when they come to texas and find out how diverse a state it really is. not everybody there looks like me or pronounced their last name the same way. in fact, we are a huge melting pot of people from all over the country and literally many from around the world who come to the state because we are a growing economy and creating jobs and opportunity and people can find work to provide for their family and achieve their dreams. so it's -- it shouldn't surprise anybody that texas is increasingly diverse. and we've benefited a lot from the variety of folks and cultures and ideas that have come around the world and planted roots in the lone star state. when i ask folks if they know what the second most spoken language in texas is, they say well, that was easy. it's spanish. i say that's right but let me give you a harder one. what's the third most commonly spoken language in texas? and after a couple of guesses, they're usually surprised when i say vi

mr. cornyn: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, on sunday i had the great honor of joining president trump in welcoming prime minister modi to the lone star state in an event that was appropriately named how howdy modi. people on the west coast and east coast wondered why texas? they thought maybe he'd go to silicon valley to talk to big tech executives or spend some time here in washington hobnobbing with diplomats and legislative leaders. to be sure those are great places to visit but houston is the energy capital of the world and it's providing literal fuel for our growing relationship with the nation of india. after a nearly four-decade ban on u.s. crude oil exports was lifted, texas sent the first american crude oil to india and today india is increasingly running on american n

mr. cornyn: mr. president, i'd ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, our friends in the house led by speaker pelosi have adopted a new strategy for handling allegations of wrongdoing. it's a dangerous approach, one in which opinions count for more than the facts and politics trumps everything else, including the law. yesterday evening, speaker pelosi announced that the house is now moving full steam towards impeaching president trump. when the announcement was made, the only information they had at their -- in their hands was press reports. no report of the transcript, no facts, no evidence, no nothing. and that's really all they needed. any hook, any angle, any straw they might be able to grasp in order to justify this unjustifiable action, that was good enough for them. hearsay and press reports. house democrats began of this process of impeaching the president based on a so-called whistle-blower complaint

mr. cornyn: mr. president, we are a proud nation of immigrants, and have benefited from the diversity of ideas and cultures that have come from around the world to experience the freedom that's we enjoy in the united states of america. september 15 through october 15 is hispanic heritage month and a time to especially celebrate the traditions and contributions of tens of millions of hispanic and latino americans across our country. texas is home to more than 11 million hispanic americans, some who lived here for generations and others who contributed to the recent rapid growth of the lone star state. we have benefited from people like dr. hector garcia, a surgeon, decorated world war ii veteran and sieve rights activist. he ensured that veterans receive equal benefits and care regardless of their race or ethnicity. he was an ardent advocate for equal educational opportunities. his motto was, education is our freedom and freedom should be everybody's business. dr. garcia became the first mexican ameri

mr. cornyn: mr. president, one of the most poignant moments of my life and certainly of my career here in the senate came in 2017 when a gunman opened fire on a sunday service at a little baptist church right outside of sutherland springs, texas. 26 lives were lost that day. 20 people were injured. and the entire community, that small, little community outside of san antonio, was shaken to their core by this hateful act. well, it didn't take us too long to learn about the shooter, a man with a record of me

mr. cornyn: mr. president, one of the most poignant moments of of the most poignant moments of >> mister president were the most poignant moments of my life or my career here in the senate came in 2017 on sunday service in a little baptist church right outside of sutherland springs texas. twenty-six lives were lost that day, 20 people injured. and the entire community outside of san antonio was shaken to their core by this hateful act.

. >> on wednesday, texas republican senator john cornyn chastised house democrats for their pursuit of impeachment inquiry against president trump. >> mr. president, our friends in the house, led by speaker pelosi, have adopted a new strategy for handling allegations of wrongdoing. it's a dangerous approach, one in which opinions count for more than the facts and politics trumps everything else including the law. yesterday evening speaker pelosi announced the house is now moving full steam toward impeaching president trump. when the announcement was made, the only information they had at their-- in their hands was press reports. no report of the transcript, no facts, no evidence, no nothing. and that's really all they needed. any hook, any angle, any straw they might be able to grasp in order to justify this unju unjustifable action. and press reports. and impeaching the president and 0 so-called whistleblower complaint that they hadn't read which detailed a call they hadn't seen the transcript of. meanwhile, we know the media eagerly reported that the quote whistleblower didn't even have firsthand knowledge of the situation. something

cornyn later this evening. >> i'm going to be meeting with mr. zuckerberg this evening.hink continue that conversation. >> you have some of the presidential candidates on the democratic side say they want to turn social media companies into utilities. that seems a little radical to me, like a lot of their other positions but i think that is a conversation that continues. we need to find the sweet spot. reporter: another topic of interest, charles, of course facebook's cryptocurrency libra. a lot of lawmakers skeptical that is a good idea for the company. zuckerberg could be here to convince some of those skeptics that cryptocurrency for the company is a good idea. charles? charles: ceo of facebook putting in face time with our lawmakers. i gotcha. thank you for your time. great stuff. appreciate it. >>> bernie sanders launched the socialist revolution in 2016. based on polls and crowd size, folks, it is elizabeth warren that is leading it. next florida congressman matt gaetz for the latest on what president trump is calling presidential harrassment. we'll be right back.

mr. cornyn: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule 22 the senate proceed to legislative session and resume consideration of the motion to proceed to h.r. 2740. further, that at 2:20 there be up to 20 minutes of debate equally divided between the chairman and ranking member and that following the use or yielding back of that time the senate vote on the cloture motion on the motion to proceed to h.r. 2740 with the mandatory quorum call being waived. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i further have --. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate will proceed to legislative session to resume consideration of the motion to proceed to h.r. 2740, which the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to the consideration of h.r. 2740, an act making appropriations for the departments of labor, health and human services, and education and so forth and for other purposes. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i have six re

mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: last weekend, of course we're next-door neighbors. we share a lot in common. i want to thank him for highlighting this injustice. it is shocking to me that the united states senator would have to introduce legislation, pass both houses, and get the president's signature for people to get their money back from the federal government. it is shocking. and i didn't know anything about it until the senator from louisiana highlighted it, so i thank him for that. and i am proud to be a cosponsor of -- no audio. regular order as we call it around here, but i wish them good luck. so my constituents would like to get that $2.1 billion back in their pockets instead of the federal treasury. thank you. mr. president, on another matter, through the august break back home, i heard from a startling number of my constituents about their increasing struggles to deal with their -- with their drug costs, their prescription drug medications. this included stories about skipping their blood pressure

mr. cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: i'd ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, for nearly 15 years, the debbie smith act to be the driving force behind our progress to eliminate the nation's rape kit backlog. though exact numbers are difficult to estimate, experts believe that there are hundreds of thousands of untested rape kits in the united states. each one of them, of course, represents a different story, the story of a sexual assault victim and also as a result of the science, the d.n. assigns, it holds the key to a apprehending a violent criminal and stopping them prosecute committing further assaults. since the debbie smith act was signed into law in 2004, more than $1 billion has been invested in state and local crime labs for d.n.a. testing. this program also supports training for law enforcement, correctional personnel, forensic nurses and other professionals who work with victims of sexual assault. though the pr

mr. cornyn: mr. president, i have five requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they a been approved by both the minority and majority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. cornyn: mr. president, as we all know, today we commemorate the solemn anniversary of the attacks on 9/11, 2001. if you ask anybody who was old enough to remember where they were that day, i bet they can tell you. it's one of those rare moments that defines an entire generation. i've always said that it's etched in my memory like the only other event in my lifetime that might rise to that level of shock and horror and that is the assassination of president john f. kennedy. 18 years ago i was in austin talking on the phone to then-governor rick perry. when i hung up the phone, my wife said you need to see this, pointing to the tv set. that was just as the second plane hit the world trade center, and we all know what came after. it was the same image that millions of americans struggled to unde

mr. cornyn: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. # -- plan to try to lower out of pocket costs for prescription drugs. this, of course, has been a priority for many of us in washington, including the presiding officer, and we've been working on it really hard in the senate. three standing committees in the senate have now reported out legislation dealing with this issue. the judiciary committee, the finance committee, and the help committees -- the -- help committee trying to come up with bipartisan packages to lower prescription drug costs. these bills, of course, include ideas from republicans and democrats, and while it's -- mr. president, apparently we had some technical difficulties here, but it sounds like we fixed that. thank you. so, as i was saying, while these bills include ideas from both republicans and democrats, it shouldn't surprise people that in an area as complex as this, there are going to be some disagreements along the way, but that's what we do here, we work through tho

mr. cornyn: madam president, i came to the floor and heard the democratic leader talking obviously about some terrible incidents that occurred in el paso and dayton and now in odessa. so since we were here last in session, we've had two shootings, one in el paso and one in odessa. and i, i will confess that these are terrible tragedies that cause us to first ask the question, why? and then cause us to ask the question, what? what can and what should we do to try to stop incidents like these in the future? i remind the democratic leader, we actually have a great template for bipartisan support for gun safety legislation, which is the bill we sent to the president last year called fix nics, nics being the national criminal background check that the f.b.i. operates. if you were convicted of a felony or dishonorably discharged from the military or subject to a protective order or you've been committed as a result of a mental health crisis, all of these under existing law prohibit you from purchasing or possessing a firearm. but if the background check system doesn't work, it doesn't really c