mr. franken: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to talk about the nomination of merrick garland to the united states supreme court, and to urge my colleagues to grant timely consideration to the president's nominee. i recently had the pleasure of meeting chief judge garland as many of my colleagues have on both sides of the aisle. i encourage all senators to meet the nominee because i suspect that you'll find as i did that the rumors are true. he is an exceptionally qualified nominee. since joining the d.c. circuit, chief judge garland has been recognized as one of the best appellate judges in the nation. his reputation for working with colleagues to identify areas of agreement and to craft strong consensus decisions is well earned. after meeting judge garland and discussing the ways -- the way that he approaches his role as a judge and as a chief judge, i am pleased to agree with my colleague, senator hatch, and my friend, senator hatch who described judge garland in 1997 in this way and i quote, "i believe mr. garlan

mr. franken: thank you. as i said, i just came from the energy committee, we were talking about advanced manufacturing, how desperate we are for workers that are skilled, especially in science, technology, engineering, and math. in thisas so apparent exciting hearing we had in advance and pressuring that this was -- advanced manufacturing nationwide top jobs require stem skills, but we are lagging. that is why i wrote the act to recruit stem educators and keep them in the classroom. write straightl grants, recognize, and reward -- expertd educators stem educators. this network of stem educators would mentor their peers and professionaln development programs while receiving extra pay. this works. we have seen it work in states that have already done it. i am pleased there is an toional pot of money in essa create a stem master teacher corps. it is up to the department of education to award grants for this program. budget requesthe included $10 million for this program. want to makeg, i sure the stem master te

mr. franken: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to voice my support for the passage of the energy policy modernization act. i am pleased that the senate is considering and on the verge of passing legislation to update our nation's energy policy. and i want to thank chairwoman murkowski and ranking member cantwell and their staffs for their hard work in getting the bill to the floor of the senate. mr. president, the energy policy modernization act is a good bill, but it's not a perfect bill. it's a compromise piece of legislation, and it does contain provisions i do not support, such as expediting the export of liquid natural gas which i'm concerned could raise domestic energy prices and harm steel workers in northern minnesota. but there are also a number of important provisions that i do support. congress has not passed a comprehensive energy bill since 2007, and a lot has changed in the energy sector since then. i believe comprehensive energy legislation needs to promote innovation, employ clean energy technology, re

mr. chairman. i appreciate it. >> thank you, senator murkowski. senator franken. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i just came from the energy committee that senator murkowski is chair of. we were talking about workforce development and that brings us to s.t.e.m. first, i want to thank both the chairman and the ranking member for the leadership they showed in putting what i call esea together. i thought they led a great process. i thank them both and welcome dr. king. i want to talk about implementing a couple things that i have in this. i'll try to do it fast. foster kids. i wrote a provision in this with senator grassley to allow foster kids and have mechanism to do it to stay in the school that they're in if they want to when they change foster homes. now, i've got to know foster kids and foster kids very often will have 10, 11, 12 foster parents, sets of parents during their youth, during their life. and when they would change foster parents, who might live in a different school district, the result often would be that they change -- were forced to change schools. and this is actually really s

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator franken. >> i just have a few questions left. dr. king, during the esea reauthorization process my colleagues an i worked hard to make sure it retained its authority to clarify new law through regulations. why is the authority e.d. maintains under the new law to require statutory requirements through rule making so critical? >> you know, it's important to ensuring that the law actually lives up to its civil rights legacy and advances the quality of opportunity in the country. we know that in the past, there has been a history of states and districts underattending to the needs of english learners, students with disabilities, students of color, low-income students, homeless students, foster kids. this new law gives us the opportunity -- and have lots of state and local flexibility, there have to be guard rails in place to make sure states and districts protect students' rights. >> so no matter where a student lives they'll have protection. >> the department is has a civil rights responsibility to protect the students who are most vuln

if not, on the franken amendment number 3833, the ayes are 76. the nays are 19. the amendment carries. mrs. feinstein: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: mr. president, i rise as the vice chair of the appropriations committee to really express my appreciation to the majority leader of the senate, senator mcconnell, and senator cochran, the chair of the appropriations committee, for moving the process forward. we have here on the floor today the energy and commerce committee bill. this is the first bill of the appropriations committee to come to the floor. it really signals that we are ready to do regular order. i so appreciate the leadership commitment to do that so we don't end with a big omnibus bill at the end. that every bill comes, they can be amended and everyone can have their day and their say. it is an excellent kickoff to what i hope the ability to move all 12 bills and some crucial urgent supplementals. we also want to compliment senators alexander and feinstein for the excellent job they've done on this particular subcommittee. they h

mr. president, i ask consent that it be in order to call up the following amendments: franken 3833, coats 3841, murray 3813. further that following the disposition of the hoeven amendment 3811, the senate vote on the coats amendment number 3814 with a 60 affirmative vote threshold for adoption of the amendment and that at 1:45 the senate vote on the franken amendment 3833. following that on 5:30 p.m., the senate vote -- on the murray amendment and there be two minutes equally divided prior to each vote. mr. president, i should have said coats 3814. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. alexander: may i say before the senator from california speaks, i see the senators from michigan who are here and the senator from indiana. and i want to thank the three of them for working with senator feinstein and me toward the goal of making it, making sure that senators who have a germane amendment have the opportunity to have an up-or-down vote. if we're able to follow that practice generally, we'll be able to have an appropriations process and the senate will function well. they all responde

mr. franken: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. mr. franken: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. franken: i would like to call up my amendment 3833. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from minnesota, mr. franken for himself and others proposes amendment 3833 to amendment number 3801. mr. franken: thank you. let me explain what this is. federal programs in indian country are chronically underfunded. i have served on the indian affairs committee for the last seven years, and i have been shocked by what i hear almost every week from tribal leaders about the challenges in indian country. tribes struggle with crumbling schools, dilapidated roads, inadequate housing and lack of basic infrastructure. many of the crises we hear about in indian country come from lack of opportunity, lack of hope. indian youth have the highest rate of suicide among all ethnic groups in the united states. suicide is the second-leading cause of death for native youth aged 15-24. ind

mr. franken: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator minnesota. mr. franken: mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. franken: thank you. thank you, mr. president. before i begin my remarks today regarding climate change, i would like to say a few words about a minnesota icon who passed away today. prince was a phenomenal artist who was beloved by people all over the world, but as minnesotans, we are particularly proud to call him one of our own. prince got his start in a minneapolis jazz band and went on to share his talent in minnesota and all over the globe. his artiestory, his innovation -- his artistry, his innovation, his presence inspired and will continue to inspire millions of people. in minneapolis, he put one of our most cherished venues -- first avenue -- on the map, and up until just a few days ago, he was performing. he had a concert in atlanta. he's truly, truly going to be missed. as someone -- someone once said that a brain isn't a mind and a mind isn't a soul. and that's why