mr. barrasso: thank you. ms. murkowski: thank you. senator franken. mr. franken: thank you, madam champlete welcome back to the committee, secretary pery. i don't envy your position. counsel to be a defense or someone charged with murder and you seem to be saying, i know he's guilty but i'm going o give him a robust defense. so. you're doing a great job. [laughter] a few days ago, former c.e.o. of lockheed martin and bill gates, released a report about the importance of federal investment in energy research and development. the group recommends vastly increased funding for arpa-e. from 3ds00 million to $1 billion per year -- $300 million to $1 billion per year. and increasing federal investment for advanced energy to 2ds.5 billion a year for energy research proposed in your budget. the president's budget is frankly anti-innovation. it does the exact opposite of what the american energy innovation council recommends. it absolutely guts private investment in research, including slashing energy research programs by $3.1 billion and cutting renewable energy an

mr. franken: thank you, mr. president. i rise to talk about the effort to repeal and replace the affordable care act. before i begin, i want to thank senator hirono for sharing her story and for leading us all here in this discussion tonight. i also want to thank the presiding officer, who has been listening. i appreciate that. i really do. in recent days we have finally gotten to see the plan that 13 republican senators have been working on in secret and behind closed doors. you know, i really thought the senate bill would be better i thought it would be better than the house version that was passed. even senator burr said of the house bill that it was, quote, dead on arrival, unquote, in the senate. but, unfortunately, the senate plan is just as bad. the nonpartisan congressional budget office announced just today that under the senate plan 22 million more americans would be uninsured. that's -- that has consequences. perhaps worst of all the bill and partly because this is the -- this causes the reduction in the number

mr. franken: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. mr. franken: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to talk about the republican effort happening in total secrecy behind closed doors under the direction of leader mcconnell to repeal the affordable care act and gut medicaid in order to give huge tax breaks to the wealthiest georgians, the wealthiest americans. just about five monthsing a ago i came -- just about five months ago came before this body. i i should a simple request to republicans. i asked you to show me your plan to repeal and replace the affordable care act, mr. president. i asked you to show me the plan that was going to be, quote, terrific, end quote. the bill that president trump promised during his campaign, the one republicans had seven years to come up with -- i asked you to explain how you would meet the standards set by one of president trump's top advisors, kelley anne conway, who said, quote, we don't want anyone who currently has insurance to have no insurance -- to not have insurance, end quote. i asked you all

mr. franken: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. mr. franken: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to talk about the republican effort happening in total secrecy behind closed doors under the direction of leader mcconnell to repeal the affordable care act and gut medicaid in order to give huge tax breaks to the wealthiest georgians, the wealthiest americans. just about five monthsing a ago i came -- just about five months ago came before this body. i i should a simple request to republicans. i asked you to show me your plan to repeal and replace the affordable care act, mr. president. i asked you to show me the plan that was going to be, quote, terrific, end quote. the bill that president trump promised during his campaign, the one republicans had seven years to come up with -- i asked you to explain how you would meet the standards set by one of president trump's top advisors, kelley anne conway, who said, quote, we don't want anyone who currently has insurance to have no insurance -- to not have insurance, end quote. i asked you all

mr. franken: thank you, mr. president. i rise to talk about the effort to repeal and replace the affordable care act. before i begin, i want to thank senator hirono for sharing her story and for leading us all here in this discussion tonight. i also want to thank the presiding officer, who has been listening. i appreciate that. i really do. in recent days we have finally gotten to see the plan that 13 republican senators have been working on in secret and behind closed doors. you know, i really thought the senate bill would be better i thought it would be better than the house version that was passed. even senator burr said of the house bill that it was, quote, dead on arrival, unquote, in the senate. but, unfortunately, the senate plan is just as bad. the nonpartisan congressional budget office announced just today that under the senate plan 22 million more americans would be uninsured. that's -- that has consequences. perhaps worst of all the bill and partly because this is the -- this causes the reduction in the number

senator franken: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. blanco, in my state of minnesota, former minneapolis police chief ken dolen used to say crime victims are far less likely to dial 911 if they know that the police officer who responds to that call is going to check their papers. and statistics bear this out. a 2013 study from the university of illinois found that 44% of latinos report they are less likely to call the police even when they are the victim of a crime because they believe that officers will use the interaction as an opportunity to check their immigration status. 45% say they're less likely to volunteer information about crimes they've witnessed. and this here isn't confined to immigrants. 28% of latinos born in the united states say they are less likely to call the police when they are the victim of a crime because they fear police will ask them about their status or the status of people they know. now, that study was conducted before the 2016 campaign, a campaign in which then-candidate trump made scapegoating immigrants

mr. compassionate himself, al franken. he said she made a mistake but he accepts apologies. he's still standing by her. senator franken still plans to appear with kathy griffin. listen to what he said. >> can she recover from this? >> well, i think she did the right thing. i think asking for forgiveness and acknowledging -- this was a horrible mistake -- i think she can. >> you will still appear with her? >> yes. >> sean: he accepts apologies except if you are a conservativ conservative, like rush limbaugh. there's a deeper story going on. this latest despicable display -- it's only the latest example in a long list of attacks that the left has launched against the president and specifically against members of his family. his wife, daughter, 11-year-old son. as we often show you, liberals and the destroy-trump-media have viciously wake up, go after president trump day after day, night after night. pushing all of their bizarre conspiracy theories, launching all kinds of vile personal attacks. it goes much deeper than that. the left knows no boundaries when it comes to the pre

mr. trump at this point. we have al franken who is a senator. >> senator al franken i know well.ying to he took a 233,000 majority last time he was elected. >> stephen: al pretty much dropped the comedy in the senate fair long-- he just recently started making jokes again. >> comedy is interesting. it is not a building tool. it tears down pomposity and stupidity in certain president s. >> stephen: thank god. >> that's what he said. i like building-- i came out as transgender that years ago. i've now run over 18 mar thorngz raised money. ( cheers and applause ) i'm doing stand-up gigs in four languages, german, french, and spanish. and i'm trying to be a 21st century person in the positive inclusive-- we've got to make the whole world work this search riche the 21st century. seven billion people -- >> stephen: where are you going to try to get a seat, a seat in parliament? >> i'm not sure where. wherever will have me in the united kingdom. >> you can do that there. you have to live where you represent here? >> i understand that. but i have played everywhere -- >> stephen: speak fo

mr. secretary. thank you, madam chairman. >> thank you. senator franken. >> thank you, madam chair. welcome back to the committee. secretary perry, i don't envy your position. you seem to be a defense counsel for someone charged with murder and you seem to be saying i know he's guilty, but i'm going to give him a robust defense. so you're doing a great job. >> [ inaudible ]. >> two days ago, the american innovation counsel, a group of ten current and retired corporate leaders, including norman augustine, former ceo of lockheed martin and bill gates released a report about the importance of federal investment in energy search and development. the group recommends vastly increased funding for arpa-e, from 300 million to a billion dollars a year and increasing federal investment for advanced energy innovation to two and a half times the total amount for the energy research proposed in your budget. secretary perry, the paparaz -- president's budget is anti-innovation and does the exact opposite of what the innovation council recommends and it absolutely guts private investment and resea

franken. >> thank you madam chair. mr. secretary, my first set of questions is about as tribal affairs and i have heard a great deal of concern from tribal leaders about the role that james case and at the department of the interior is playing during his time at the department of interior during the bush and ministration, he earned a reputation for his opposition to putting land in a trust and i'm now hearing land decisions previously made at the assistant secretary level will now be made by mr. case and. the fact that i've heard mr. case in has been delegated a great deal of decision-making that normally is within the secretary's purview. what is the scope of his role at the department? does it include overseen the cabell agreement and putting land interests? >> well, i share your-- well perhaps not, but to date i don't have my deputy. of all the senate confirmed individuals i do not even have my deputy, so i have about 70 appointments, 20 or so senate confirmed and to date i have no senate confirmed, so i have magnificen

mr. chairman, for your indulgence. >> senator franken asked about wanting to identify the number of americans that -- basically, the reason that the intelligence community cannot produce that number is the structure produced by regulation tells this community that it is prohibited from gathering intelligence against domestic targets, like american citizens, without a court order and a showing of probable cause that some crime has been committed. and so it strikes me as not intentionally unfair but unfair in the sense of the design and structure of the intelligence oversight and regulatory framework, to then ask you to produce the names of americans incidentally collected against when the whole law is designed to limit, if not to prohibit, that collection absent a court order. so i know that on the intelligence committee, which i had the privilege of sitting on with senator feinstein, i know senator widen has been an ardent advocate of producing a number, but i think if it was possible, which i agree under the circumstances, is not possible to come up with a reliable number, and for the reason

franken, and he goes hard on betsy devos. ask him where he sent his kids to school. mr. pro public education. not so pro-public when it came to his own house, huh? see, i'm about calling out the hypocrites. if you're for it, be for it for you and everybody else you roll with. if i come to your house and you frying up some pork and ask what are you eating, saying i don't eat that mess, it will kill you. i want what you're eating, chief. don't serve me what you don't want in your own house. it is all too easy for us to get up -- those of us who have options, who have the opportunity to choose to say that we choose the neighborhood school. yeah, you also choose to live there. you also chose so many other things. so you can't look at your choice in isolation. we in this country know that many of us did not choose -- i did not choose to live in the public housing project that i was born into. i did not choose to be born on my mother's 16th birthday, to an eighth grade dropout. i did not choose those things. so you can't compare my choice to your choice. you can't even compare my choice as a father

mr. sanders: i rise to speak in support of the murphy-franken resolution of disapproval and to outline my concerns for the unfetted sale of arms to the saudi arabia. -- creating new opportunities for iranian intervention. in addition to be morally indefensible and strategyally shortsighted, the trump administration's unconditional support for the saudi coalition including billions of dollars in on sales risks dragging the united states into yet another war in the middle east. mr. sanders: these are the reasons i strongly support the resolution of disapproval offered by my colleagues and their effort to block some of these arms sales to saudi arabia. but, mr. president, i also think it is long past time that we begin to take a very hard look at our relationship with saudi arabia. this is a country that is run by a hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarchy in which women are treated as third class citizens. i would just like to mention for a moment the case of lujane lul, a human rights activist who was arrested on june 4. she has been an advocate for women's rights in saudi arabia. in 2014

al franken and patrick leahy released three letters to the and may.rch, april, they've been expecting a briefing for mr comey on may 12 but never got it because president trump abruptly fired him three days earlier. back to our conversation with all of you. e is do you think the grad for the president and congress. mark in new york, share your thoughts. caller: good morning. i would give the president an f for a couple of reasons. with hisdo i disagree getting out of the paris climate accord, it shows he doesn't understand science. i also think he has a problem with math. proposal,k at his tax it's going to really hurt his race. it's going to be interesting to him,f this sticks with even when they get hurt by his policies. he claims that middle income families are going to see a tax cut. closely, they it increase the tax cuts. he is proposing to eliminate the 10% tax bracket. there are seven tax brackets he wants to cut down to three. he's going to eliminate the lower 10% tax bracket. right now, the vast majority of , they don't take the standard deduction, that's $17,000 for married couples. claims he

al franken and patrick leahy released three letters to the and may.rch, april, they've been expecting a briefing for mromey on may 12 but never got it because president trump abruptly fired him three days earlier. back to our conversation with all of you. e is do you think the grad for the president and congress. mark in new york, share your thoughts. caller: good morning. i would give the president an f for a couple of reasons. with hisdo i disagree getting out of the paris climate accord, it shows he doesn't understand science. i also think he has a problem with math. proposal,k at his tax it's going to really hurt his race. it's going to be interesting to him,f this sticks with even when they get hurt by his policies. he claims that middle income families are going to see a tax cut. closely, they it increase the tax cuts. he is proposing to eliminate the 10% tax bracket. there are seven tax brackets he wants to cut down to three. he's going to eliminate the lower 10% tax bracket. right now, the vast majority of , they don't take the standard deduction, that's $17,000 for married couples. claims he's

mr. chairman thanks to the witnesses for being here to talk about the crown jewels of the intelligence committee when it comes to keeping america safe. thoughthelp but offer a on the questions my friend senator franken asked about wanting to identify the number of americans incidentally collected against. the understand from director of national intelligence, coats, why the intelligence community cannot produce that is because of by regulation, the intelligence community is prohibited from gathering intelligence against domestic targets like american citizens without a court order and showing of probable cause that some crime has been committed. it strikes me as not intentionally unfair, but in sense the design and structure of the intelligence oversight and regularity or a framework to then ask you to produce the names of americans incidentally collected against when the whole law is designed to liimit if not prohibit that action absence a court order. i the intelligence committee, know senator wyden has been an ardent advocate of producing a number. if it were possible, which i agree under the circumstances is not possible to come up with a reliable number, but i think it would add fuel to the fla

franken hit me when i was testifying and i think has been substantially. continuing communications with russians as a surrogate is absolutely false. >> mr. sessions, there's been all this talk about conversations and you had some conversations with the russians, senators up here on either foreign relations, intelligence or armed services, conversations with officers of other governments or ambassadors or what have you, are everyday occurrences, is that a fair statement? >> i think it, yes. >> if you run into one at the grocery store you'll have a conversation. >> it could very well happen. nothing improper. >> on the other hand, collusion with russians or any other government for that matter when it comes to our elections certainly would be improper and illegal, would that be a fair statement if. >> absolutely. >> are you willing to sit here and tell the american people unfiltered by what the media is going to put out, you participated in no conversations of any kind where there was collusion between the trump campaign and -- >> i can say that absolutely and i have no hesitation to do so. >> mr. sessions, former u.s. attorney, attorney g

franken hit me with when i was testifying. i suggested in the communications withes as a surrogate is false. >> mr. sessions, there has been all this talk about conversations and you had conversations with the russians. senators up here who were on foreign relations and intelligence or armed services, conversations with offices of other governs are everyday o curns and multiple time occurrences. >> i think it is, yes. >> indeed you run into one in the grocery store. is that fair? >> that could very well happen. we did nothing improper. >> on the other hand collusion with the russians or any other government when it comes to elections certainly would be improper and illegal. that that be a fair statement? >> absolutely. >> you willing to tell the american people unfiltered by what the media will put out you participated in no conversations of any kind where there was collusion between the trump campaign and a foreign government? >> i can say that absolutely and have no hesitation to do so. >> the former u.s. attorney and the attorney general of the united states, you participated as you described in

franken hit me with when i was testifying. and i think it's been substantially discredited. but you would know more than i. but in continuing communication with russia is absolutely false. >> mrersations with the russians. senators up here on either foreign relations, intelligence armed services, conversations with other governments or ambassadors are everyday occurrences here. is that fair statement? >> i think it is. >> if you run into him in the grocery store, you will have conversation, is that fair? >> it has happened and nothing improper. >> on the other hand, collusion -- collusion with russians or any other government for that matter when it comes to elections certainly would be improper and illegal. is that fair statement? >> absolutely. >> are you willing to sit here and tell the american people unfiltered by what american people put out that you had no conversations of any kind whether that is collusion between the trump campaign and any other foreign government? >> i can say that absolutely. i have no hesitation to do so. >> mr. sessions, attorney general of the united states, you participated as you have described in the trump campaign. and as such, you traveled