mr. heller, mr. heller. >> does a complete 180. >> the plan he voted to advance the charge people over 50, up to five times more than younger people and and protections for preexisting conditions. dean heller is not standing up for nevada. >> charlie cook, the democratic ad says that the race. >> only nine seats up this year in only threenl of them are in serious jeopardy in dean heller is the only republican incumbent in real jeopardy. this is again in a handful of the closest races in the country. it could be very, veryry close. color does not have a really strong personality. so there aren't a lot of people that would walk on hot coals for them. he is one of these, like a lot of members we know that this is going to be a party vote, this much or more than anything else. >> look at tennessee. it's an interesting race where you have the republican nominee, open sea with bob corker leaving after two terms in a former democratic governor who at the moment is ahead of the polls this is a state the repub

mr. heller: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from nevada. mr. heller: thank you, madam president. i want to begin by thanking senator tillis for your leadership on this issue and thank you for bringing us down to the floor so we can have this discussion and bring to the forefront this issue and try to solve it. i also want to thank and acknowledge the leadership of the majority whip and his efforts. i know that being today and an opportunity to have this discussion is based on your efforts and your concern for this very issue also. let me begin by saying that nobody wants to see children separated from their families, period. i don't think there's anybody in this chamber that enjoys or does want to see that occur. so that's why i'm joining my colleagues today to call up and pass the keep families together and enforce the law act. well while -- while america is a nation of laws, we're also a nation with heart and nevadans have a lot of heart. i heard from over 3,500 of my constituents from across the state share their concerns about these families

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator manchin. senator heller. >> mr. chairman, thank you. to the ranking member also thank you for this meeting and mr. wilkie, thank you for taking time with your family that if you're today with you. i appreciate you being here and willing to spend time with us. you were in my office yesterday. we had a great conversation appreciate that time also. but i think today is a different opportunity. yesterday was about you and me. today is about the veterans behind you. the organizations that represent, the veterans back in the state of nevada and the point is to prove you're ready to manage an agency this size that is in my opinion quite a bit of bureaucracy. i told you yesterday with about 300,000 voters in the state of nevada, good many women, patriotic. we'll take the call again regardless to defend answer this country. i'm please we both have come to the same conclusion that they deserve the best quality care and benefits that our nation has to offer. but saying that there's a lot to be done. we need va doctors as has been mentioned several

heller. so, with that, thank you. >> thanks. mr. peck. >> well, respectfully, is sir, i think you've presented a bit of a false choice. it's not simply whether the constitution should be interpreted as written or the left is making up rights. the constitution and understands of it evolve. if you go back to the 1770s, there was no question that the framers couldn't have thought about unreasonable searches and seizures of your car or your cell phone or a whole host of -- or semiautomatic weapons, so these are things that didn't exist then and judges have to apply the principles in the constitution to a new set of facts. in terms of the rights that you're talking about that aren't in the constitution, let's just take the right to privacy. the question i would pose to you is, do you want the government telling you exactly what you can do, for example, in your bedroom? do you want the government controlling who you can marry and your right to marry? because those are the sorts of things that are protected by the right to privacy under th

heller. senator brown. >> thank you very much mr. chairman. thank you mr. wilkie i very much enjoyed the conversation and wish you well through the process. i expected to be confirmed and then as the new va secretary. yesterday the "washington post" ran a story about your time as a staffer for a very divisive, very racially divisive senator. you've been appointed to this job by a very racially divisive president. that being said, i will ask you this. the va secretary needs to serve all veterans regardless of race, gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation. just yes or no questions. we commit to doing that? >> absolutely. >> thank you. i worked with two previous secretaries to establish a history research national heritage center at that va. will you commit to the existing emily on this project? >> i do and i look forward to going to dayton. it is my geek mode. i just finished reading a biography of one of ohio's great -- and learned that dayton has been the center for va care for well over 140 years. >> thank you. thank you for saying that. we've heard repor

mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the following amendments be called up en bloc. the heller amendment, 3405 ; the durbin amendment ; 34 -- durbin amendment, 3422. i further ask consent that at 2:15 p.m. today there be five minutes of debate equally divided in the usual form and that following the use or yielding back of that time, that the senate vote in relation to the heller and durbin amendments in the order listed and that there be no second-degree amendments in order to the amendments prior to the votes. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report the amendments. the clerk: the senator from maine, ms. collins, for others proposes amendments numbered 3405 and 3422 en bloc to amendment numbered 3399. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate previous order, the senate 2019 spending on the agenda for most of the week including a package that has been for five different departments. we'll bring you back to the senate live when they gavel back in after their lunch in at 2:15 p.m. we will be in kansas city, missouri, w

heller-brown amendment 405. with that i yield the balance of my time to the senator from ohio. mr. brown: mr. president, this is a big deal for americans making $15, $20, $30,000, $40,000 a year. they will get a refundable tax credit if they can figure out how to claim it because sometimes it's too complicated. they can get $2,000, $3,000, $4,000 sometimes a little more than that in the refundable tax credit. that's money in their pocket to buy school clothes, money in their pocket to fix a car that's brown out, money in their pocket so they can take their kids to restaurant occasionally. fiefling taxes is complicated for everyone. it can be particularly challenging for those claiming the i.t.c., wall street c.e.o.'s, big companies have armies of accountants. this is for working class families making $20,000, $30,000, $40,000 a year. i thank senator heller. i ask support for the heller-brown amendment. it will matter to so many working families in mansfield and toledo and sandusky and all over ohio. mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. p