mr. grassley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator is recognized. mr. grassley: i understand that there's a bill at the desk that is due for a second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. the clerk: s. 109, a bill to prohibit taxpayer funded abortions. mr. grassley: in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule 14, i would object to further proceedings. the presiding officer: the objection having been heard, the bill will be placed on the calendar. mr. grassley: i -- the presiding officer: the senator from virginia is recognized. mr. kaine: mr. president, i rise to talk about the significance of today, the 11th of january, the 21st day of the partial government shutdown. today we tie for the longest shutdown in the history of the united states government. tomorrow we'll set a record for the longest shutdown. today is the first paycheck day where 800-plus thousand federal employees will not be paid. in fact, some have already started to get their paychecks because even when

mr. grassley: tax filing season is just around the corner. this has never been anyone's favorite time of the year, paying taxes. but the uncertainty created by the current partial government shutdown has understandably created a bit more angst than a usual tax filing season. the treasury department and i.r.s. have been proactive in taking steps to minimize the burden of the shutdown on taxpayers. they recently announced that tax season will start as planned on january 28. the i.r.s. has confirmed that taxpayers can expect refunds to be sent out as usual should this slowdown drag on. and, of course, this is the right conclusion legally and the right call for the taxpayers. and i had an opportunity to tell i.r.s. commissioner rettic when we spoke recently. congress has explicitly provided for a permanent appropriation for the i.r.s. to pay tax refunds. this makes common sense. a tax refund represents the taxpayers' money, not congress', not the government's but the taxpayers despite what some people in congress seem to think that this money bel

mr. grassley, ms. harass, ms. hassan, mr. holly. mr. heinrich, ms. hirono. mr. hoeven, mrs. hide-smith. mr. inhofe, mr. isaacson. mr. johnson, mr. jones, mr. cane, mr. kennedy, mr. king, ms. klobuchar, mr. lankford. mr. leahy, mr. lee, mr. manchin, mr. marquee, mr. mcconnell, ms. mcsally. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. muran, ms. murkowski, mr. murphy, mrs. murray, mr. paul, mr. perdue, mr. peters, mr. coordinateman. mr. reed, mr. risch, mr. roberts, mr. romney, mrs. rosen, mrs. rounds. mr. rubio. mr. sanders, mr. sasse, mr. schumer mr. scott, mrs. shaheen, mr. shelby, ms. cinema, mr. smith, ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan mr. chester, mr. mr. mr. toomey, mr. you doll, mr. van hollen, mr. warner, ms. warren, mr. white house, mr. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> mr. young -- >> mr. pence: senate will be in order. a quorum is present under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved and the senate will be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak their -- for up to ten minutes each. t >> sen. mcconnell: i ask if we.

mr. grassley: thank you, mr. president. i come to the senate floor today to pay my respects and to give tribute to a fellow iowan. this fellow iowan served for six years right here in the united states senate. in fact, the iowan who brings me to the floor today is my predecessor, the honorable john c. culver. i'm sorry to learn that senator culver passed away the day after christmas. i have no doubt that his spirit of public service and his commitment to civic engagement will carry on for generations to come. i will come back to this legacy in just a moment. john and i had our differences. he was a democrat, and i'm a republican. but we shared a commitment to public service and working to advance the interests of the people of iowa, the great state of iowa. we both had the privilege to serve iowans in both houses of congress. for a decade, john represented iowa's second district in the house of representatives from 1965 to 1975. i represented iowa's third district from 1975 to 1980. and then we each had the opportunity to r

mr. grassley: i do. the vice president: congratulations. the vice president: the president pro tempore is now invited to preside in the chair. the president pro tempore: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 4 snitted earlier today. the president pro tempore: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 4, notifying the president of the united states of the election of a president pro tempore. the president pro tempore: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the president pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 5, submitted earlier today. the president pro tempore: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 5, notifying the house of representatives o

mr. grassley: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the time on the quorum call be equally divided between the two sides. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: one dollar -- one dollar. that's the amount that the speaker of the house recently said she'd be willing to invest in physical barriers at our southern border. one dollar. well, talk about serious, good-faith negotiations, talk about taking border security seriously, the men and women on the ground have been unambiguous -- unambiguous -- about the crisis they're facing. the entry of criminal aliens and gang members in our country, the drugs that go on to infect our communities, the ongoing humanitarian crises that are fueled by ou

mrs. grassley were sitting together. i looked up and waved at karen and finish. [inaudible] [laughter] >> that's understandable. [laughter] happy new year. thanks. [inaudible conversations] >> take care. oh! can i take a picture, would you mind? >> i'd be proud to. >> great. i'd love a picture with you. >> let's get one more. thank you. >> thank you. we've got a meeting tomorrow. >> i'm around -- [inaudible] [inaudible conversations] >> you've got to be kidding. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> congratulations. how proud are you of your folks? [inaudible conversations] whoever's standing, we'll have you hold the bible. have that good looking young -- [inaudible] a little more forward. we'll get a better shot. [inaudible conversations] >> do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that you take this obligation freely, without any mental reserv

mr. grassley does get an honorable mention for being the best tweeter over the age of 80. check. you don't want to be caught smocking with your hamberders. that would be unpresidented. if you follow all these tips, and trust me, you'll be a twitter pro, but you'll still get trolled online. that's a todd tweet tip guarantee. that's all we have for tonight. we'll be back monday with more mtb daily and if it's sunday, it's "meet the press," great line-up, amon is in -- >> i'm writing down all these notes. i could use a little help on twitter from you, my friend. >> i hear you. #itsyourshownow. >> hello, everyone. thanks. i'm amon in more ari on a bombshell night i

mrs. grassley are sitting together and i looked up and waved. >> can i take a picture? would you mind? >> i would be proud to. >> great. >> i would love a picture with you. >> all right. >> let's get one more. >> thank you. >> appreciate it. >> thank you. >> we've got a meeting tomorrow. >> hi, nice to meet you. how proud of you are you of your folks. >> very proud. >> whoever is standing here will hold the bible. >> if you face a little more forward. we'll get a better shot. >> okay. i'll administer the oath if you raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies foreign and domestic, that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that you take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation, or purpose of evasion, and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which you are about to enter, so help you god? >> i do. >> congratulations. >> congratulations, son. >> thanks. >> thank you. >> we're so proud of ya'll. >> okay. we'll take a picture. >> just

mrs. grassley are sitting together and i looked up and waved. >> you better waved. -- you better wave. [laughter] >> that's understandable. [laughter] happy new year. >> thanks. >> can i take a picture? would you mind? >> i would be proud to. >> great. >> i would love a picture with you. >> all right. >> let's get one more. >> thank you. >> appreciate it. >> thank you. >> we've got a meeting tomorrow. >> hi, nice to meet you. how proud of you are you of your folks. >> very proud. >> whoever is standing here will hold the bible. >> if you face a little more forward. we'll get a better shot. >> ok. i'll administer the oath if you raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies >> hint force -- his fourth saying anything. just but i can't believe it. >> and they added remarks in the senate chamber. [indiscernible] >> marched in? >> marched in. the marine brass. [indiscernible] >> will do it again. [indiscernible] [laughter] >> thanks, senator. senator. congratulations. who is this big guy? >> abled. ou

mr. grassley does get an honorable mention for being the best tweeter over the age of 80. here's my third todd tweet tip. spell check. you don't want to be caught smocking with your hamberders. that would be unpresidented. if you follow all these tips, and trust me, you'll be a twitter pro, but you'll still get trolled online. that's a todd tweet tip guarantee. that's all we have for tonight. we'll be back monday with more mtb daily and if it's sunday, it's "meet the press," great line-up, amon is in -- >> i'm writing down all these notes. i could use a little help on twitter from you, my friend. >> i hear you. #itsyourshownow. >> hello, everyone. thanks. i'm amon in more ari on a bombshell night in the russia probe. for the first time, reporting that donald trump directed someone to break the law. reportedly telling michael cohen to lie to congress, specifically about his contacts with russia. we're going cover this story from all angles. donald trump's attorney general pick saying this kind of action would be a crime, and one of the senators who questioned him joins me l

mr. grassley, a senior senator providing leadership in the senate. on the shutdown, a different view. ♪ viviana: this is bloomberg surveillance. i'm viviana hurtado. jpmorgan plans to increase bonuses at his corporate investment banks. percentage increases will be in the mid-single digits. equity traders will get more. the division accounts for more than one third of jpmorgan revenue. ceo is rewarding investors must duck with him three structure and. he expects to buy back shares by the end of the are credit suisse falling 30% last year. -- end of the year. 38% lastuisse falling year. tom: how about a talk on economics? chart, it is a chart john ryding as attached to his left arm, this is the fed funds rate adjusted for inflation, up higher. i am sorry, it is not normal, real rates are nowhere in your were they should be, are they? -- are nowhere near where they should be, are they? komal: how do you do it through of monetary period easing. to expect that can take place and you will still have a soft isding for the economy, that mutually inconsistent. we are afraid to clear markets. a

senate judiciary committee member chuck grassley will be questioning mr. and for many years. senator grassley, it is great to see you this evening. congratulations on your senate distinction which is what you will p, third in line for the president, right? >> thank you very much, i appreciate the compliment and the honor and even the work that goes with it. >> martha: it is always a pleasure to have you here, let me get your thoughts as we move forward to the william bar testimony tomorrow morning, and i want to move to your colleague, senator lindsey graham, his comments on ""fox news sunday"." watch this pay >> do you see any reason to fire mr. mueller on what you know now, do you trustm to be fair to the president in the country? will you make sure that he can finish the job if you get the report, will you be as transparent as possible? asking those questions, and i am very comfortable with the answers. >> martha: that will be the central debate tomorrow, senator. >> well, that is absolutely right. i heard what the two or three democrats you had on here

senator grassley: mr. canterbury, you've talked some about the first step act. i want to go back to it. the fraternal order of police helping instrumental in hit at this time across many -- and as chairman of the committee time, i thank you for doing. that we appreciate your strong leadership. requires that act the justice department, attorney general, implement a risk and system, allownt receiveent inmates to earned time credit for recidivismng in reduction programming and recalculate good time credit for inmates. here's for you. statementsarr's past opposing criminal justice reform, especially sentencing reform, do you believe that he to dutifully implement the system that the fraternal order of police worked to get passed? to be fair to mr. barr, yesterday he testified that he'd the law and not undermine it. ure comfortable with that commitment? past experience in following the law speaks volumes to his ability to implement the program. confidence in him. senator grassley: echoing what said about the vast support this legislation extreme right to extreme left

grassley. >> i do this with a point of personal privilege, mr. chairman.at courtesy of you and the members. this is the first meeting of the senate judiciary committee in this 116th congress. it's also the first time we convene while my friend lindsay grave holds the gavel. i'd like to congratulate the new chairman, thank him for his leadership and say that i look forward to working with you and other members of this committee as we see to address some of our nation's most pressing problems. i have every confidence you'll steer our 200 year old committee in the right direction. >> thank you. i really appreciate that. in my view, nobody looks over 100 so we're actually -- we're aging well as a committee. the bottom line is how do you get this job? your colleagues have to vote for you. thank you. you have to get re-elected and outlive the person to your right. i've been able to do that. i look forward to working with senator feinstein. she to me represents a seriousness that the body needs and a demeanor that we should all aspire to. to our new colleagues, h

mr. barr there sitting with senator chuck grassley. going back to what you just said, at this point, obstacles to his confirmation? do we get the sense this is pretty much a done deal? >> i think the latter because of the simple arithmetic of the number of votes. he's going to have some tough questions. he's been critical of the mueller investigation. he's had some private comments to officials at the justice department. he wrote sort of a law review type article saying that mueller could not charge the president or accuse the president of obstruction of justice for firing jim comey because presidents have the ability to fire people who work for them, including the fbi director. he can't obstruct justice for that. that's the view he expressed. he's going to get a lot of questions about that. any nominee would have a lot of questions about the mueller investigation. barr will have a lot more. it doesn't appear to be enough to in any way sink his nomination. >> mimi, if barr is confirmed, as most believe he will be, he will the attorney

grassley. >> okay. i do this with a point of personal privilege, mr. chairman.courtesy of you and the members. this is the first meeting of the senate judiciary committee in this 116th congress. it's also the first time that we convened while my friend lindsey graham holds the gavel and will proceed to be chairman. so i would like to congratulate the new chairman, thank him for his leadership, and say that i look forward to working with you and other members of the committee as we seek to address some of our nation's most pressing problems. i have every confidence that you'll steer our 200-year-old committee in the right direction. >> thank you. i really appreciate that. in my view, nobody looks over a hundred. so we are actually aging well as a committee. the bottom line is how do you get this job? your colleagues have to vote for you. thank you. you have to get re-elected and outlive the person to your right. i have been able to do that. i look forward to working with senator feinstein who i have a lot of affection and fondness for. to me she represents a seri

grassley. >> okay. i do this with a point of personal privilege, mr. chairman, and i appreciate that courtesy of you and the members. this is the first meeting of the senate judiciary committee in this 116th congress, it's also the first time that we convene while my friend, lindsey graham, holds the gavel and will proceed to be chairman, so i'd like to congratulate the new chairman, thank him for his leadership and say that i look forward to working with you and other members of this committee as we seek to address some of our nation's most pressing problems. i have every confidence that you will steer our 200-year-old committee in the right direction. >> well, thank you. i really appreciate that. in my view nobody looks over 100 so we're actually -- we're aging well as a committee. the bottom line is how do you get this job? your colleagues have to vote for you. thank you. you have to get reelected and outlive the person to your right. so i've been able to do that and i look forward to working with senator feinstein, who is -- i have a lot of affecti

grassley. >> okay. i do this with a point of personal privilege, mr. chairman, and i appreciate that courtesy of you and the members. this is the first meeting of the senate judiciary committee in this 116th congress, it's also the first time that we convene while my friend, lindsey graham, holds the gavel and will proceed to be chairman, so i'd like to congratulate the new chairman, thank him for his leadership and say that i look forward to working with you and other members of this committee as we seek to address some of our nation's most pressing problems. i have every confidence that you will steer our 200-year-old committee in the right direction. >> well, thank you. i really appreciate that. in my view nobody looks over 100 so we're actually -- we're aging well as a committee. the bottom line is how do you get this job? your colleagues have to vote for you. thank you. you have to get reelected and outlive the person to your right. so i've been able to do that and i look forward to working with senator feinstein, who is -- i have a lot of affecti

mr. barr, good to see you again. as you mentioned, senator grassley and i were here at your hearing a number of years ago. let me go back in before that. 46 years ago i was not in the senate. i was states attorney in vermont, and i watched with a great of interest the elliot richardson hearings. nominated to be attorney general in the midst of water gate. he made several commitments to the committee including appointing a special prosecutor, and he promised to protect his independence, and i -- it was one who had total independence as elected prosecutor in verm t vermont, i thought how important it was to have the same inagain at the national level. mr. richardson said it was necessary to create the maximum possible degree of public confidence in the integrity of the process. i never have forgotten that. i think the integrity of our institutions is just as much at risk today. president trump has made it clear he views the justice department as the extension of his political power. he called on it to target his opponents. he obsesses over the russia in

grassley, president pro tempore. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: i understand the bill at the desk is due a second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. the clerk: h.r. 268, an act making supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2019, and for other purposes. mr. mcconnell: in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule 14, i would object to further proceeding. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bill will be placed on the calendar. mr. mcconnell: well, mr. president, here is what happened this weekend with respect to the continuing disagreement over the funding of the government. two things happened over the weekend. on saturday, the senate was in session, and members of both parties came here to the floor to speak about the urgent need for a bipartisan compromise to reopen the federal government. for the sake of federal workers who need certainty,

chuck grassley today moved from judiciary saying, i don't want you to do this, mr.sident. >> this is not a guarantee of the government reopening. we talked to mark meadows yesterday afternoon, a close trump ally, and he told reporters, i don't understand why people are saying just because he does this national emergency declaration that the government will automatically reopen. it's by no means a process that the president would agree to do that, even if he goes ahead and makes his declaration. but we've heard so much -- some of the complaints we've heard about from republicans are the potential concerns about an overreach of executive power, because this is something they talked a lot about when president obama was in office. so the fact that, you know, the concerns within his own party, the fact that this doesn't necessarily guarantee the government reopening, and also the fact this will get challenged in the courts. i talked to house armed services committee chairman yesterday. i asked him how democrats would respond if this happened. he didn't even let me finish

mr. president, the democrats are not working in good faith. declare emergency, build. the wall now. and as jeff alluded to, even gra grassley and others on the republican side disagree with that posture. >> we're hearing a lot of mixed messages from the president and the administration on that front. separately, the president said yesterday that he wanted a broader immigration reform deal right away. he was open to some sort of deal on dreamers for daca. and yet at the same time, we heard from vice president pence that was not really on the table and that was going to be negotiated and so it seems like not everybody is is singing the same tune here in terms of what is up for negotiation at this moment before. the president decides to write a national emergency, which seems to be the exit plan that the administration is forging some sconsensus around. >> jeff, let's talk about the political heat. now it's really when the rubber hit the road. people are not getting paychecks today. according to people i have spoken to who are federal workers, they are getting mixed messages. come to work, don't come to work, come back tomorro

mr. barr, you're able to go for a little longer? >> sure. >> we'll start -- do five minutes. i've been liberal with the time. let's try to honor it the best we can. senator grassley. >> where he left off on working with faith-based institutions, you were positive about that? >> absolutely. >> that takes care of my first question. antitrust laws is important to make sure markets are fair and participants don't engage in abusive activity harming consumers. i've been particularly active in making sure the justice department and the federal trade commission carefully scrutinized murders as well as looking out for anti-competitive behaviors and predatory practices in certain sectors of the economy and particularly in my state of iowa, the agricultural industry. i'm also pursuing things in healthcare. in particular, because i will be chairman of the senate finance committee, i'm interested in making sure that companies in drug and healthcare industries are playing by the rules. everyone is concerned about the high cost of healthcare and especially the sky rocketing price of prescription drugs. do you agree the justice department has a very important role in this area?

mr. president, declare a national emergency now. build a wall now. >> that comment despite graham saying last week a national emergency was a quote fallback position. but not all republicans are on board, including senator chuck grassley, who said the president should not do it. i think it might be a bad precedent. this as vice president mike pence who has led negotiation on capitol hill, paid a visit to the border and protection headquarters. >> i know we do this in the midst of a partial government shutdown. it's no doubt created an sight for families who are gathered here today. >> reporter: making this pleblg to border agents who aren't getting paid. >> this president and this administration will keep fighting to build the wall and give you the resources and reforms you need to do your job. that's my promise. >> reporter: now, while declaring a national emergency isn't completely off the table, sources close to the president say he backed off that idea because he feared the sharp backlash he would get from not only democrats but republicans as well who feared he'd be setting a dangerous precedent. now, despite a flurry of activity over the last several weekends of this shutdown, right now cnn is told there are no

ask unanimous consent to senator grassley's opening statement for this hearing be included in the record which it will be without objection. senator durbin? >> thank you, mr. chairman. let me say to you and to the witnesses and the audience, my apologies for coming in a few minutes late. i was on the floor for the farewell address of my -- our colleague senator nelson. and i'm sorry that i was not here at the moment i should have been. mr. chairman, thank you for this hearing. it was almost ten years ago that i held my first hearing as the chairman of the crime and drug subcommittee in this room. the subject of the hearing, the threat to the united states posed by the mexican drug cartels. ten years ago, we had that hearing. at this hearing in march of 2009, i quoted a justice department report that concluded, mexican drug cartels are, quote, the greatest organized crime threat to the united states. so here we are ten years later. how are we doing? last month, the d.e.a.'s 2018 national drug threat assessment concluded that mexican drug cartels remain the greatest criminal drug threat to the united states. i close my 2009 hearing, by saying we must take a

mr. mueller is very, very high in terms of ethics and character and professionalism. >> so, peter baker, and i guess i misspoke. that lindsey graham, of course, is on the committee, grassleygrassley is the chair, but what is your take on all of this? >> well, you're right. i think lindsey graham is trying to reassure skeptics that bill barr can be, you know, a fair manager of this process, that he isn't already conflicted out because of that memo that he wrote last year unsolicited and, you know, he'll get a lot of questions about this at these hearings and it'll start next week, no question bit. lindsey graham is trying to lay the groundwork and soften it for him. i'm curious to know whether or not president trump knew these things about became barr when he appointed him. did he know in fact that he and robert moellueller and their families are close. you could see the president reacting to that not in favor of bill barr. that doesn't necessarily change the larger question which is what role does he see himself playing in supervising bob mueller? what decision will he make if bob mueller comes to him with a report in terms of releasing that to the congress or public. tho

mr. chairman. i look forward to working with you and i think we can work productivity together. senator grassleywant to thank you for the time we worked together. it really was a pleasure and i had an opportunity to get to know you as the fine person that you are. so thank you very much. i want to say just one word or two or three about women. 25 years ago, there were no women on this committee. i'll never forget watching the anita hill hearing on television in the london airport with a lot of people gathered around. i went over to take a look. i saw this all male judiciary committee. it took all these years but here we are and i want to particularly welcome senator ernst and senator blackburn. i think it is extraordinarily important that this committee be representative of our society at-large. we are growing that way. thank you very much for being here. i would also like to welcome bill barr and his family. i know you are proud to be here and you served as attorney general before from '91 to '93. i think we all have great respect for your commitment to public service. when we met, your previou

mr. chairman, i'm going to wrap this up. but i just -- a number of folks have been to the border. i know chairman grassley has. he's told me before that he's seen our kids there with beds and food and supplies and care. but i want to kind of cut to the chase here. you and your agents care about children, don't you? >> absolutely. >> aren't you doing the best you can to try to treat them with kindness and with respect? >> our agents and officers are parents themselves. they don't check, as chief noted in this committee, their humanity at the door when they put their badge on. they absolutely are caring for those families and kids. >> yeah. you folks are just kind of overwhelmed, aren't you? >> the whole system is overwhelmed. >> and a lot of it has to do with the number of people seeking asylum. >> correct. >> i think it's gone up, what -- five years ago, 1 in 100 persons sought asylum. now it's 1 in 10? >> yeah, it's actually even higher than that. 31% arriving without documents. >> now, in your experience, are we just having more people who deserve asylum come? or do we have more people trying to gain the sys

behalf of senator grassley, i would like to enter this letter from taxpayers against fraud into the record. so ordered. thank you all for being here today and for your insight into how mr. barr would lead the department of justice and what is a very challenging time. excuse me? all right. he is in. justice, i'm getting ready to end this hearing. mr. coons, you are recognized. >> thank you. >> you just made it in under the wire. >> yes, ma'am. >> thank you to the panel. as you know, there have been votes and other issues happen in other issues. we did have an opportunity to speak during the break but i wanted to reconfirm my sense of loss at what you shared with us and the fact that i had the opportunity to visit and to worship and then to travel with felicia sanders and polpolly shepherd. it was a blessing to get to meet you today and i look forward to your upcoming writing for such a time as this and talking about reconciliation work together. it's important and difficult work. i wanted to start, if i could, by asking both you and mr. canterbury, on which i've had the honor of working on other issues, about background checks in particular. we talked previously about t

mr. grassley: i do. the vice president: congratulations. the vice president: the president pro tempore is now invited to preside in the chair. the president pro tempore: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 4 snitted earlier today. the president pro tempore: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 4, notifying the president of the united states of the election of a president pro tempore. the president pro tempore: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the president pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 5, submitted earlier today. the president pro tempore: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 5, notifying the house of representatives o