mr. grassley: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent for 30 seconds for me and one minute for senator wyden for closing remarks. the presiding officer: without objection. grass the united states-mexico-canada is a major achievement for president trump and a bipartisan win for the american people. we should all take care, republican or democrat, that this is good. i look forward to signing when bill and send it to the president's desk. mr. grassley: i yield the floor. wide mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: when the trump administration unveiled their original version of this proposal, it was stunning to see how weak it was in terms of trade enforcement. when you write a proposal with weak trade enforcement, particularly on labor and environmental issues, you sell out american workers and you launch a corporate race to the bottom of cheap wages and the treatment of labor. senator brown and i decided that was unacceptable and we were going to create a trade enforcem

mr. grassley, ms. harris, ms. hassan, mr. hawley. mr. heinrich, ms. hirono, mr. hoeven, mrs. hyde-smith. mr. inhofe, mr. johnson, mr. jones, mr. kaine. mr. kennedy, mr. king, ms. klobuchar, mr. lankford. mr. leahy, mr. lee, mrs. loeffler, mr. manchin. mr. markey, mr. mcconnell, ms. mr. markey, mr. mcconnell, ms. mcsally, mr. menendez. mr. merkley, mr. moran, ms. murkowski, mr. murphy. ms. murray, mr. paul, mr. perdue, mr. peters. mr. portman, mr. reed, mr. risch, mr. roberts. mr. romney, ms. rosen, mr. rounds, mr. rubio. mr. sanders, mr. sasse, mr. schatz, mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida, mr. scott of south carolina, mrs. shaheen, mr. shelby. ms. sinema, ms. smith, ms. stabenow, mr. sullivan. mr. tester, mr. thune, mr. tillis, mr. toomey. mr. udall, mr. van hollen, mr. warner, ms. warren. mr. whitehouse, mr. wicker, mr. wyden, mr. young. >> the minorit majority leader is recognized. administered as soon as possible. >> the proclamation. >> all persons are commanded to keep silent on pain of imprisonment while the house of representatives is exhibiting to statesate of the un

mr. grassley, ms. harris, ms. townsend, carefully, mr. heinrich, mrs. corona, mr. bowen, mrs. kleinsmith, mr. inhofe, mr, mr. kane, mr. kennedy, mr. kingr langford, mr. lakey, delete, mrs. loeffler, mr. mansion, mr. markey, mr. mcconnell, mystic sally, mr. menendez, mr. merkley, mr. moran, ms. makowski, mr. murphy, mrs. murray, mr. paul, mr. perdue, mr. peters, mr. portman, mr. reid, mr. risch, mr. roberts, mr. romney, is frozen, mr. brown's, mr. rubio, mr. sanders, mr. south, mr. shots, mr. schumer, mr. scott of florida, mr. scott of south carolina, mrs. jean, mr. shelby, ms. cinema, ms. smith, ms. carbonell, mr. sullivan, mr. tester, mr. kuhn, mr. tillis, mr. toomey, mr. udall, mr. ben homans, warner, ms. moran, mr. whitehouse, mr. wicker, mr. wyden, mr. young,. >> any senator who is not in the senate chamber at the time the oath was administered to the other senators who make up that fact known to the chair so that the oath may be administered as soon as possible. speemac the sergeant at arms will make the proclamation. >> hear ye hear ye hear ye, all persons are known to k

mr. grassley, ms. harris, ms. hassan, mr. hawley. mr. heinrich, ms. hirono, mr. hyde-smith. mr. inhofe, mr. johnson, mr. ne.es, mr. kai mr. kennedy, mr. king, ms. lankford., mr. mr. leahy, mr. lee, mrs. loeffler, mr. manchin. mr. markey, mr. mcconnell, ms. mcsally, mr. menendez. mr. merkley, mr. moran, ms. murkowski, mr. murphy. mrs. murray, mr. paul, mr. perdue, mr. peters. mr. portman, mr. reed, mr. risch, mr. roberts. mr. romney, ms. rosen, mr. rounds, mr. rubio. mr. sanders, mr. sasse, mr. schumer.r. mr. scott of florida, mr. scott ms.the south carolina, shaheen, mr. shelby. ms. sinema, ms. smith, ms. sullivan.mr. mr. tester, mr. thune, mr. tillis, mr. toomey. mr. udall, mr. van hollen, mr. warner, ms. warren. mr. whitehouse, mr. wicker, mr. wyden, mr. young. >> a senator not in the senate chamber at the time the oath was administered, to the other senators, will make that fact known to the chair so the oath may be administered as soon as possible. >> the started in arms will make a proclamation -- the sergeant in arms will make the proclamation. here ye. all persons are com

mr. grassley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the president pro tempore. mr. grassley: before i start my remarks, i think it's important for all senators to know that when there were negotiations going on between the white house and the democrats in the house of representatives, one of the really sticking points was enforcement. and i thinkesque expects -- and i thinkesque expects the trade agreement to be enforced but a lot more had to be done than what was originally agreed to when the agreement was signed. and i think i would want to recognize senator wyden and senator brown becausing -- because months before, maybe even years before -- i don't want to take away from how hard they were working on some ways of improving enforcement, but at least they had an idea out there that was sellable or saleable to both sides. and i don't know whether it was 100% or 90% or 80% that was incorporated in this bill, but they're laying that groundwork was the basis for getting an agreement between the white house and the house of representatives so we can move this to the po

mr. grassley, ms. harris, mr. holly mr. heinrich, ms. coronel, mr. hoven, missus heidi smith mr. inhofe, mr. johnson, mr. jones, mr. kane mr. kennedy, mr. king, ms. chloe char, mr. langford worcester marquis, mr. mcconnell, ms. mcnally, mr. menendez mr. merkley, mr. moran, ms. makowski, ms. murphy missus murray, mr. paul, mr. perdue, mr. peters mr. portman, mr. reid, mr. risch, mr. roberts mr. romney, ms. rosen, mr. rounds, esther rubio mr. sanders, mr. sass, mr. schultz, mr. schumer mr. scott of florida, mr. scott of south carolina, missus sheena, mr. shelby missus cinema, ms. smith, missus stabenow, mr. sullivan mr. tester, mr. thune, mr. tillis, mr. toomey, mr. udall, mr. mr. van holland, ms. warren, mr. warner mr. whitehouse, mr. wicker, mr. wyden, mr. young >> any senator who is not in the senate chamber at the time the oath was administered to the other senators we will make that fact known to the chair so the oath may be administered as soon as possible. >> the sergeant at arms will make the population. >> hear ye, hear ye, hear ye, all persons are commanded to keep silent

mr. grassley: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from a.m. mr. grassley: could i address the senate for one minute in morning business? the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: i want to recognize democracy working in taiwan. on saturday the 23 million proud people of taiwan exercised their democratic right to select their own leaders. i congratulate their president on her reelection. i would also like to take this moment to congratulate all taiwanees for being a shining light amidst dark times in other parts of east asia and all of us remember what's been going on in hong kong for the last several months as they try to exercise just rights that the chinese government gave them in 1997 when they signed an agreement with the british government turning back hong kong to china, and they would have the rights for the next 50 years to have the same democratic principles they had under the british empire. despite continued intimidation by the chinese communist party across the taiwan straits, this proud island stood up to protect its demo

mr. grassley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i ask permission to address the senate for one minute. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: i want to wish all iowans and maybe, in turn, all americans a happy new year. as 2020 begins, i'm focused on passing the united states-mexico-canada trade agreement. i'm leading a meeting of the finance committee tomorrow to report out the bill so the senate floor can have a vote as eminent as possible. i'm continuing to work in a bipartisan way to lower the cost of prescription drugs with the grassley-wyden prescription drug-pricing reduction act. in the coming weeks, i will begin my 40th annual 99-county tour of my state to continue to hear what's on the minds of iowans so i can better serve them in the united states senate. i look forward to remaining in touch with iowans as the new decade begins. i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the p

mr. grassley: can i address the senate for one minute in morning business? the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: when president obama signed the iran deal, we were led to believe that this are a -- rapproachment would get iran to address its foreign policy and iran would likely spend the money made available through that dale on economic development -- deal on economic development through the good of its people. instead under the direction of general soleimani iran accelerated its efforts at regional domination, funding terrorist organizations like hamas and hezbollah in the palestinian territories and in lebanon, proiranian militias in iraq, the assad regime in syria and the houthi rebels fomenting civil war in yemen. iran did all that with money from the iran agreement. meanwhile the suffering iranian people staged widespread demonstrations against their government which were met with violent crackdown that killed hundreds. years of appeasement didn't work. but it looks like president trump's deterrence is having positive effect. i yield

mr. grassley, ms. harris, ms. hassan, mr. hawley. mr. heinrich, ms. hirono, mr. hoeven, mrs. hyde-smith. mr. inhofe, mr. johnson, mr. jones, mr. kaine. mr. kennedy, mr. king, ms. klobuchar, mr. lankford. mr. leahy, mr. lee, mrs. loeffler, mr. manchin. mr. markey, mr. mcconnell, miss mcsally, mr. menendez. mr. merkley, mr. moran, miss murkowski, mr. murphy. mrs. murray, mr. paul, mr. perdue, mr. peters. mr. portman, mr. reed, mr. risch, mr. roberts. mr. romney, miss rosen, mr. rounds, mr. rubio. mr. sanders, mr. sasse, mr. schatz, mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida, mr. scott of south carolina, mrs. shaheen, mr. shelby. ms. sinema, ms. smith, miss stabenow, mr. sullivan. mr. tester, mr. thune, mr. tillis, mr. toomey. mr. udall, mr. van hollen, mr. warner, ms. warren. mr. whitehouse, mr. wicker, mr. wyden, mr. young. >> the majority leader is recognized. >> a senator who is not in the senate chamber at the time the oath was administered to the other senators will make that fact known to the chair so that the oath may be administered as soon as possible. >> the sergeant at arms w

mr. grassley, ms. harris, ms. hassan, mr. hawley. mr. hinrich, ms. hirono. mr. hoeven, mr. hyd. hydes. hy-. >> mr. inhofe, mr. johnson, mr. jones, mr. kaine. >> mr. kennedy, mr. king, ms. klobuchar, mr. langford. >> as the senators sign this document, they're being called by alphabetical order. joan biskupic, what are they signing here exactly? >> they're signing what's officially called the oath book, and every single senator rising from his chair and her chair will come up there and sign this, and that was done in 1999 and it was done back in 1868. this is part -- this is when i said a very scripted affair, and today is mostly script and ceremony as opposed to what's going to happen next week and beyond. but this is where they all come up and, you know, they'll take their oaths as the chief administered it, and just attest to be impartial. >> you know, the interesting thing here is also as our great ted barrett up on the hill points out, that these senators unlike in 1999 where when they signed it they each kept their pen, they are all signing with one pen, and that is because mitch

mr. grassley. ms. harris. mr. holly. mr. heinrich. ms. her own will. mr. hoven. mrs. hite smith. mr. inhofe. mr. johnson. mr. jones. mr. kane. mr. kennedy. mr. king. this globa mr. langford. mr. lahey. mr. lee. mrs. leffler. mr. markey. mr. mcconnell. ms. nick salley. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. moran. ms. makowski. mr. murphy. mrs. mary. mr. paul. mr. purdue. mr. peters. mr. portman. mr. reid. mr. risch. mr. roberts. mr. romney. ms. rosen. mr. brown's. mr. rubio mr. sanders. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. mr. shelby. ms. cinema. ms. smith. misstep now. mr. sullivan. mr. castro. mr. tillis. mr. udall. mr. van holland. mr. warner. ms. warren. mr. white house. mr. ricker. mr. wyden. mr. young. >> and there you have the votes. we did not hear any crossover votes there. this is on the motion by the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell to table or set aside the senator schumer amendment for documents. he already has an amendment, a second moment in the pipeline ready to go for witnesses and state department documents. at this photo -- we

mr. grassley. no. ms. harris. aye. mr. hawley. no. mr. heinrich. aye. mr. hoven. no. mr. inhofe. no.no. mr. jones. aye. mr. kane. aye. mr. kennedy. no. mr. king. aye. miss amy klobuchar. aye. mr. langford. no. mr. lahey. aye. mr. lee. no. mrs. leffler. no. mr. mansion. aye. mr. markey. aye. mr. mcconnell. no. miss mick sally. no. mr. menendez. aye. mr. merkley. no. ms. murkowski. no. mr. murphy. aye. mrs. murray. aye. mr. paul. no. mr. purdue. no. mr. peters. aye. mr. portman. no. mr. reid. aye. mr. rich. no. mr. roberts. no. mr. romney. aye. ms. rosen. aye. >> emily: what you are seeing there is the senate voting on impeachment witnesses. let's go to chad pergram right now. you speak of this is where they to cut standard roll call vote. this was the seminal vote we have been hearing about. a gateway vote about whether or not they would open the door to call witnesses or not. this is a pretty important vote. susan collins from maine and mitt romney from utah, republicans last night announcing they would vote for witnesses. lamar alexander, republican from tennessee last night saying

mr. grassley: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i ask permission to address the senate for one minute as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: over the past year, the iranian regime has been increasingly aggressive, attacking oil tankers in our persian gulf, shooting down a u.s. drone, seizing a british tanker, attacking a saudi oil facility, attacking u.s. military bases in iraq, and storming the u.s. embassy in baghdad. the u.s. response to iran's increasing provocations had been too measured to the point that we risked iran's leaders mistaking restraint on the part of america for weakness and encouraging further escalation. another attack that risked many american lives was in the works when president trump ordered u.s. forces to take out the terrorist mastermind of the iranian regime. now, think about it. sometimes you have to stand up to a bully to get him to back off or else we might be inviting further aggression. i yield the floor. mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presid

mr. grassley. >> no. >> ms. harris. >> aye. >> ms. hassen. >> aye. >> mr. holly. >> no. >> mr.nrich. >> aye. >> ms. hirono. >> aye. >> mr. hoven. >> no. >> mrs. hyde-smith. >> no. >> mr. inhofe. >> no. >> mr. johnson. >> no. >> mr. jones. >> aye. >> mr. cane. >> aye. >> mr. kennedy. >> no. >> mr. king. >> aye. >> ms. klobuchar. >> aye. >> mr. langford. >> no. >> mr. leahy. >> aye. >> mr. lee. >> no. >> mrs. loeffler. >> no. >> mr. mancion. >> aye. >> mr. markey. >> aye. >> mr. mcconnell. >> no. >> ms. mcsally. >> no. >> mr. menendez. >> aye. >> mr. merkley. >> aye. >> mr. miran. >> no. >> ms. murkowski. >> no. >> mr. murphy. >> aye. >> mrs. murray. >> aye. >> mr. paul. >> no. >> mr. purdue. >> no. >> mr. peters. >> aye. >> mr. portman. >> no. >> mr. reed. >> aye. >> mr. rish. >> no. >> mr. roberts. >> no. >> mr. romney. >> aye. >> ms. rosen. >> aye. >> mr. rounds. >> no. >> mr. rubio. >> no. >> mr. sanders. >> aye. >> mr. sasse. >> no. >> mr. shots. >> aye. >> mr. schumer. >> aye. >> mr. scott of florida. >> no. >> mr. scott of south carolina. >> no. >> mrs. sheheen. >> yea. >>

mr. grassley, ms. harris, ms. hassan, mr. holly, mr. heinrich, mr. wrona, mr. hoven, missus heidi smith, mr. inhofe, mr. johnson, mr. jones, mr. kane, mr. kennedy, mr. king, ms. klobuchar, mr. lankford, mr. leahy, mr. lee, missus leffler, mr. mansion, mr. markey, mr. mcconnell, ms. mick sally, mr. menendez, mr. merkley, mr. moran, ms. murkowski, mr. murphy, missus murray, mr. paul, mr. perdue, mr. peters, mr. portman, mr. reid, mr. risch, mr. roberts, mr. romney, ms. rosen, mr. rounds, mr. rubio, mr. sanders, mr. sass, mr. shots, mr. schumer, mr. scott of florida, mr. scott of south carolina, ms. shaheen, mr. shelby, ms. sinema, ms. smith, ms. stabenow, mr. sullivan, mr. tester, mr. thune, mr. tillis, mr. toomey, mr. udall, mr. van holland, mr. warner, ms. warren, mr. whitehouse, mr. wicker, mr. wyden, mr. young,. [silence] [silence] [silence] 's. >> the yeas or 53 the nazar 47 the motion is tables. >> the democratic leaders recognized. mr. chief justice i send at to the desk to have a subpoena for jon michael mick mulvaney. >> clerical report. >> the senator f

mr. manager. i send a question to the desk. >> senator grassley asked counsel for the president. does the house's failure to enforce it's subpoenas render it's quote obstruction of congress, end quote, theory unprecedented? >>. >> mr. chief justice, senators, the answer is yes, as far as i'm aware there's never been a prior instance in which there's been an attempt even in the house as in the nixon proceeding, never mind in the clinton proceeding which actually left the house and came to the senate to suggest that there can be obstruction of congress when there hasn't been anything beyond simply issuing a subpoena and getting resistant and then throwing up your hands and giving up and saying well that's obstruction. in the clinton situation, most of the litigation was with the independent counsel and there were privileges asserted and litigation and litigation again and again and the point is the issue about the privileges were all litigated and they were resolved before things came to is body. impeachment proceedings within the house a lot of litigation had been done by the speci

mr. grassley, no. ms. harris, aye. ms. hassan? no. mr. hawley, aye. mr. hirono, aye. mr. hoeven, no.ne, aye. mr. kennedy, no. mr. king, aye. mrs. klobuchar, aye. mr. lankford, no. mr. leahy, aye. mr. lee, no. mrs. leffler, no. mr. manchin, aye. mr. markey, aye. mr. mcconnell, no. ms. mcsally, no. mr. menendez, aye. mr. merkley, aye. mr. moran, no. ms. markowski, no. mr. murphy, aye. mrs. murray, aye. mr. paul, no. mr. perdue, no. mr. peters, aye. mr. portman, no. m mr. reade, aye. mr. rish, no. mr. roberts, no. mr. romney, aye. ms. rosen, aye. mr. rounds, no. mr. rubio, no. mr. sanders, aye. mr. sass, no. mr. schatz, no. mr. schumer, no. mr. scott of florida, no. mr. scott of south carolina, no. ms. shaheen, aye. mr. shelby, no. ms. sinema, no. smith, aye. ms. stabenow, aye. mr. sullivan, no. mr. tester, aye. mr. thune, no. mr. tillis, no. mr. toomey, no. mr. udall, aye. mr. van hollen, aye. mr. warner, aye. ms. warren, aye. mr. whitehouse, aye. mr. wicker, no. mr. wyden, aye. mr. young, no. mr. blumenthal, aye. >> are there any members in the senate chamber wishing to change their v

signed: chuck grassley, president pro tempore. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the distinguished senate majority leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: this morning iran's master terrorist is dead. the architect and chief engineer of the world's most active state sponsor of terrorism has been removed from the battlefield at the hand of the united states military. no man alive was more directly responsible for the deaths of more american service members than qasem soleimani. the leader of the quds force within iran's islamic revenuesary guard corps. his schemes and his agents killed hundreds of american service members in iraq and afghanistan. he personally oversaw the state-sponsored terrorism that iran used to kill our sons and our daughters and as we've seen in recent days and weeks, he and his terrorists posed an ongoing threat to american lives and american interests. soleimani made it his life's work to take the iranian revolutionary call for death to america and death to israel and turn them into action. but this terrorist mastermind w

mr. patel? >> thank you, chairman grassley, ranking member weiden, members of the committee. i'll start with a general overview and proceed to discuss specific titles of the bill. the usmca implementing bill ensures that the various commitments and rights of the united states under the usmca are effectively implemented and there's a smooth transition from nafta to usmca. to that end, the implementing bill contains provisions to transfer and amend former nafta provision act and usmca implementation act and repeal what remains of the nafta implementation act. several provisions specify dates to facilitate the transition. to respect to specific titles in the bill, there are nine, which i will briefly summarize. title i, approval of and general provisions relating to the usmca. this title includes provisions providing for congress'approval of usmca and related protocols and the statement of administrative action. and the president's authority and agencies regulatory authority to implement usmca. title ii, customs provisions. this title includes provisions providing for rules to d

mr. patel. >> thank you, chairman grassley, ranking memberr wyden, members f the committee. i will start with a general overview and then proceed to discuss specific titles of the bill. the usmca and plummeting bill ensures the various commitment and rights to the united states is effectively implemented. there is a smooth transition from nafta to usmca. to that end incrementing bill [inaudible] provisions to transfer and amend former nafta and to the usmca act and a provision to repeal what remaino of the nafta act. several provisions specified particular affect the facilitate a transition and respect to titles of the bill there are nine which i will briefly summarize and title i approval of an general provisions related to the usmca and this title includes provisions providing congress approval of usmca and related protocols in the statement of administrative action in the residence proclamation authority and agency's regulatory authority to limit usmca. title to has provisions in this title includes provisions providing for rules to determine whether good qualifies for us

mr. steyer: i say to people -- i will interrupt my pitch. six arguments for term limits. mitch mcconnell, lindsey graham, chuck grassley. let's have term limits. [applause] mr. steyer: i am the person who will make the climate my number one priority and i will use it to rebuild and reimagine america in a good way. i built a business on my own, i know what it takes to grow an economy, i know what it takes to have economic growth and economic justice. i will take mr. trump down because i am not scared of a bully who is a big bag of wind. [applause] >> jim, retired marine and artist. this is the third time we heard you speak. i have been disappointed that the campaign does not seem to have caught fire like i think it should. your message, when i hear you speak in person, is very fired up and critical. yet, the tv ads are almost -- we see so many tv ads. mr. steyer: i know you do. >> i would like to see the fire in the background and the inspiration, fire coming across somehow, because they reach a lot of people, but in my opinion they are not standing out. i appreciate your running for office. mr. steyer: let me say this. i

signed: chuck grassley, president pro tempore. mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i spoke yesterday about president trump's decision to remove the chief architect of tehran's terrorism from the battlefield, and i discussed the senate's obligation to approach this matter in a serious, sober, and factual way. it is right for senators to want to learn more about the president's major decision. once again, i encourage all of our colleagues to attend the classified briefing, which the administration will provide tomorrow. secretary of defense, secretary of state, chairman of the joint chiefs, and the c.i.a. director will give classified context behind the president's decision, and they'll discuss the administration's strategy to protect our personnel and defend our nation's interest in the new landscape. i'd ask every senator on both sides to bring an open mind to the briefing. and, in particular, we should all remember that the history of iranian aggression began long -- long before this news cycle or this pres

i want to ask you about chuck grassley and tom harkin's influence on the iowa caucus. mr.epsen: enormous. both influential senators. senator harkin told me in 1984 when he won his senate seat that harkin would not have gone to the u.s. senate if it were not for the organization the democrats build in 1984. ronald reagan was uncontested and they did not have the organization. so tom harkin said the caucus was a help for him to get elected to the senate. both are big on giving advice about how to campaign and issues and places to go and things to do. for the most part, i think they have stayed out of the game went endorsing candidates. i think senator harkin did once with howard dean, but they have been an important factor. host: senator harkin made a bid for the presidency in 1992. can you talk about that effort? mr. yepsen: he did not go anywhere. a lot of us wondered why he was trying to do it. i remember i was not dismissive of it because jimmy carter was not going anywhere. papers said jimmy carter is running for what? what i went with harkin to new hampshire to campaig

mr. steyer: i always say to people, the six word argument for term limits are mitch mcconnell, lindsey graham, and chuck grassleyit's like, you want a change, make a change. [applause] mr. steyer: so, i want to say one other thing you should know. i am the only person in this race who will say that climate is his or her number one priority. and i've been working on this for 12 years. [applause] mr. steyer: everyone thinks climate is a loser politically. we have never lost. we do it differently. we do climate starting with environmental justice. we go to the communities where you can't breathe without getting asthma, and there are communities in my home state of california with a 92% rate of childhood asthma. i mean, it's amazing. and go to the communities where if you mix up a pitcher of lemonade from the top water, you are going to get sick. i've been to those communities. there are some in iowa. they are rural communities here like that. but they are also urban communities like flint, michigan and newark, new jersey. and this is not actually a rural community but there is a place called denmark, south carolina

i wanted to use that to ask you grassley and tom harkin's influence on the caucus over-the-years? mr. yepsen: enormous. senator.an influential senator harkin told me in 1984 when he won his senate seat that defeated robert jep sen that to in would not have gone the u.s. senate, had not won were it not for the organization that the democrats built in 1984. and the agan republicans were uncontested so they didn't have quite the organization. said these n has caucuses of help, helped him getting elected to the senate. both are big on giving advice about how to campaign and issues and places to go and things to do. for the most part, i think they have stayed out of the game of endorsing candidates. i think senator harkin did once with howard dean, but they have been an important factor. host: senator harkin made a bid for the presidency in 1992. can you talk about that effort? mr. yepsen: he did not go anywhere. a lot of us wondered why he was trying to do it. i remember i was not dismissive of it because people thought jimmy carter wasn't going anymore. headliner in the georgia papers,

mr. chief justice. >> i send a question to the de desk. senator grassley asks the council for the president of the house failure to enforce the subpoena render its, quote, obstruction of congress theory unprecedented? >> mr. chief justice, senator, the answer is yes as far as i am aware there has never been a prior instance in which there's been an attempt even in the house as in the mix in proceeding nevermintheprecedinge clinton perceiving which left the house and came to the senate to suggest there could be a obstruction of congress when there hasn't been anything beyond simply issuing a subpoena, getting resistance and then throwing up their hands into giving uandgetting up and s obstruction. in the clinton situation, most of the litigation was with independent counsel and the privilege was asserted and litigation again and again. but the point is the issue about the privileges wereth all litigated it resolved before things came to this body. similarly in the nixon impeachment proceeding within the house a lot of investigation hadd been done by the spe

mr. chief justice. >> senator from iowa. >> i send a question to the de desk. >> senator grassley asks counsel for the president, does the housesailure to enforce its subpoenas render its quote, obstruction of congress, theory unprecedented? >> mr. chief justice, senators, the answer is yes. as far as i am aware there has never been a prior incidents in which there has been an attempt even in the house as in to the nixon proceeding, nevermind in the clinton proceeding, which left the house and came to the senate to suggest that there can be obstruction of congress when there hasn't been anything beyond simply issuing a subpoena, getting resistance and then throwing up your hands and giving up insane that is obstruction. in the clinton situation most of the litigation was with independent counsel and privilege was asserted and litigation again and again but the point is that the issues about the privileges were all litigated and resolved before things came to this body. similarly, in the nixon impeachment proceedings within the house a lot of investigation had been done by the special counsel and there was litigation over assert

mr. chief justice. >> senator from iowa. >> i sent a question to the desk. desk. >> senator grassleysked counsel for the president, does the house's failure to enforce its subpoenas render its quote, obstruction of congress, end quote, theory unprecedented? >> mr. chief justice, senators, the answers is yes. as far as i am a wear, there's never been a prior instance in which there's been an attempt, even in the house, as in the nixon proceeding, never mind in the clinton proceeding which actually left the house and game to the senate, to suggest there can be obstruction of congress when there hasn't been anything simply beyond issuing a subpoena, getting resistance and throwing up your hands and giving up and saying, oh, that's obstruction. in the clinton situation, most of the litigation was with the independent counsel and there are privileges asserted and litigation and litigation, again and again, but the point is that the issues about the privileges were all litigated and they were resolved before things came to this body. similarly, in the nixon impeachment proceeding within th

mr. chief justice, senator from iowa. >> i sent a question to the de desk. >> senator grassley asked counsel for the president. use's failure enforce its subpoenas render its "obstruction of congress" theory unprecedented? >> mr. chief justice, senators, the answer is yes. as far as i am aware, there has never been a prior instance in which there has been an attempt even in the house, as in the next dominic nixon proceeding and never mind the clinton proceeding which left the house and came to the senate to suggest there can be obstruction of congress when there hadn't been anything beyond simply issuing a subpoena, getting resistance, and then throwing up your hands and giving up. oh, that is obstruction. in the clinton situation, most of the litigation was with independent counsel. and there are privileges asserted, litigation and the litigation again and again, but the point is, the issues about the privileges were all litigated. and they were resolved before things came to this body. similarly, in the nixon impeachment proceeding, within the house, a lot of investigation had been done by the special counsel

mr. chief justice, senator from iowa. >> i sent a question to the desk on behalf of myself, senators mcconnell, holborn, and wigger. [silence] the question from side to grassley and the other centers -ish address counsel for the president. during president clinton's impeachment trial, he argued that no civil officer, no president, no judge, no cabinet member has ever been impeached by so narrow a margin and the closest impartation division of the vote reflected the constitutional dubious of nature of the charges against him. president trump has raised similar concerns during these proceedings and argues that the lack of bipartisan consensus highlights the partisan nature of the charges. are the presidents concerns well-founded? >> mr. chief justice, senators thank you for that question. i think the concerns are very well-founded. i think they are concerned that echo back to our founding when alexander hamilton warned in federal 65 precisely against partisan impeachments. partisan impeachment is why the greatest dangers the framers saw in the impeachment power. and in federal 65 hamilton specifically said that impeachment could become persecution by an intempe

mr. hogan has also been given a mission by the new european commission president to reset the transatlantic economic relationship. he has been visiting with members of congress, senator grassleymembers of the administration, secretary ross, secretary mnuchin, trying to get a better atmosphere between the u.s. and eu, as both sides are suggesting that more tariffs are going to come. david: it strikes me the notion that we could get together with europe on the notion of subsidies. that doesn't sound too hard. but when you talk about a digital tax, agriculture, automobiles, not on the same side. heather: that's right. what commissioner hogan and his , he was sort of describing the tale of two worlds. subsidies,rial getting at this china challenge, when we all work together and set global standards that meet eds, we can be very powerful. on the other hand, when the u.s. and the eu fight each other in a trade conversation, china wins that conversation. right now, we are potentially having a sustained tariff tantrum between the eu and u.s., and it is unclear whether we can mediate our way through this, with both sides threatening one another to do more trade harm. david: there is a

mr. chief justice. >> senator from iowa? >> i send a question to the desk. >> senator grassley asks counsel for the president, does the house'slure to enforce its subpoenas render it's, quote, obstruction of congress, unquote, theory unprecedented? >> mr. chief justice, senators, the answer is yes. as far as i am aware, there has never been a prior instance in which there has been an attempt, even in the house, as in it the nixon proceeding, never mind in the clinton proceeding, which actually left the house and came to the senate, to suggest that there can be obstruction of congress when there hasn't been anything beyond simply issuing a subpoena, getting resistance, and then throwing up your hands and giving up and saying, oh, well, that's obstruction. in the clinton situation, most of the litigation was with the independent counsel, and there were privileges asseted and litigation again and again. but the point is that the issues about the privileges were all litigated, and they were resolved before things came to this body. similarly in the nixon impeachment proceeding within the house, a lot of investigation had been don

mr. president, i rise to support the usmca agreement we're going to be voting on tomorrow and i want to thank all the people who worked on it including senator grassley, senator wyden, senator brown, speaker pelosi and many other people to get us a final product, something that i believe should move forward. it's very important to me that we continue to open up trade markets, but i hope my colleagues will also realize that the world economy has reached a tipping point. over half of the world is now either middle class or wealthier. so that means that we have more people to sell more u.s. products to. that means bigger market opportunities for u.s.-manufactured goods, for agricultural products, and a way for us to continue to compete in some of our most important industries. that is why i've always supported making sure that we continue to open up trade markets in a fair way. and for us in washington state, the north american free trade agreement was a positive move. in the context, prior to the agreement for washington, maybe in mexico there was $300 million of business. now there's more than $2 billion. and they were one of our largest exports for w

mr. chief justice. >> senator from iowa. >> i send a question to the desk. >> senator grassley asks counsel for the president, does the house'slure to enforce its subpoenas render its, quote, obstruction of congress, end quote, theory unprecedented? >> mr. chief justice, senators, the answer is yes. as far as i am aware there has never been a prior instance in which there's been an attempt even in the house as in the nixon proceeding, never mind in the clinton proceeding, which i actually left the house and came to the senate to suggest that there can be obstruction of congress when there hasn't been anything beyond issuing a subpoena, getting resistance skprgs then throwing up your hands and giving up and saying oh, that's obstruction. in the clinton situation, most of the litigation was with the independent counsel, and there were privileges asserted and litigation and litigation again and again, but the point is that the issues about the privileges were all litigated, and they were resolved before things came to this body. similarly in the nixon impeachment proceeding within the house, a lot of investigation had been done

mr. chief justice, senator from iowa. >> i sent a question to the desk on behalf of myself, senators mcconnell, holborn, and wigger. [silence] the question from side to grassleyand the other centers -ish address counsel for the president. during president clinton's impeachment trial, he argued that no civil officer, no president, no judge, no cabinet member has ever been impeached by so narrow a margin and the closest impartation division of the vote reflected the constitutional dubious of nature of the charges against him. president trump has raised similar concerns during these proceedings and argues that the lack of bipartisan consensus highlights the partisan nature of the charges. are the presidents concerns well-founded? >> mr. chief justice, senators thank you for that question. i think the concerns are very well-founded. i think they are concerned that echo back to our founding when alexander hamilton warned in federal 65 precisely against partisan impeachments. partisan impeachment is why the greatest dangers the framers saw in the impeachment power. and in federal 65 hamilton specifically said that impeachment could become persecution by an intemper

mr. bloomberg has to keep juicing the benefit package to get people to work on campaign suggests maybe fuewer than we might have hoped. >> top story usmca you senator grassleyned a major accomplishment of trade including the phase one deal with china, in this administration. joining me right now he commerce secretary wilbur ross to talk more about that secretary great to see you. thanks so much for being here congratulations, this is something you worked on a long time finally headed to the president's desk. >> it is wonderful, very safe on his desk he has been waiting this quite a little while. >> tell me about impact what is the real significance impact of usmca versus the old nafta. >> i think several impacts first of all it removes artificial barriers in terms of agriculture, that is very important thing for lots and lots of reasons. second, it has new chapters on digital very good we hope roll out into other agreements as we go forward. then third, it simply clears the air. it makes a very good base. it combined with china phase one, combined with the japan deals, combined with the korean, we have never bone closer to free trade environment in the worl

mr. grassley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i ask to speak for one minute in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: there is a story that we often hear about in high school in government classes where george washington is said to have told jefferson that the senate was created to, quote-unquote -- cool house legislation as a saucer is used to cool hot tea. whether that's historically accurate or not, it is a good summation of the role of the united states senate. now i'm going to quote from federalist 62 what madison said, and he could have made this quote a little easier to understand, but here it is anyway. the necessity of a senate is not less indicated by the propensity of all single and numerous assemblies to yield to the impulse of a sudden and violent passions and to be seduced by factuous leaders. end of the quote from federalist 62. now, considering madison's admonition, it should be no surprise to anyone whatsoever that the senate passes fewer bills than the house and always

order is raised, it be in order for senator grassley or his designee to make a motion to waive the point of order. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: for the information of all senators, this means that we'll have two roll call votes tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. i ask unanimous consent the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 336, h.r. 133. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 336, h.r. 133, an act to promote economic partnership and cooperation between the united states and mexico. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanim

grassley and the entire staff of the senate finance committee. chris will be dearly missed as a friend, retirement expert, and a model public servant. mr. president, i'm also here today to talk about the path forward on legislation, commonsense solutions that my constituents and all of our constituents would like to see this year. the senators in this chamber came back to town this week along with members of the house at one of the most partisan times in our nation's history. we just learned that the house is now going to send us articles of impeachment. this will be the third presidential impeachment trial in our entire history, only the second one in the last 151 years. and it will be the most partisan one ever. i agree with nancy pelosi of a year ago who said, and i quote, impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there is something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, i don't think west should go down that path -- think we should go down that path because it divides the country. think she was right about that and yet, unfortunately, without meeting those criteria, here we are going down that path. but while we