mr. isakson: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. isakson: mr. president, i rise today to talk about the tradition of new year's day, the beginning of a new year. our great country and many of its great traditions. i'm sorry that the minority leader left so quickly because i wanted to brag about how great new york city did, the police and law enforcement on new year's eve. millions of americans gathered in new york city to watch the ball drop and the new year to start. we all enjoyed doing that in the warmth of our homes, particularly on days like today, but also in the warmth of america. there is a second great tradition that takes place on new year's day as well. it's called the college football season, which is capped off by the rose bowl which is played in pasadena, california. this year, the rose bowl was between the university of georgia, my home state, and the university of oklahoma. one of the greatest football games i think anybody will admit has ever been played in that game before, and i'm proud of both those great universities. i'm eq

the finance committee but we will miss him on work i would like to come on senator isakson for one minute. >> thank you mr. chairman just reference the ranking member senator moore -- murray yesterday the chairman i was in touch with theth appropriate people f and to the best i could determine now i am working expeditiously so you will not have any conflict to testify whatsoever. >> that is her desire as well. >> grateful for this hearing and working with you. again on this reauthorization and i commend your work on this. also the chairman and for this bipartisan hearings on the nation's capabilities in advance of the reauthorization of the pandemic all hazards and response act. one brief story about how preparation is this is a good example so in this case in the aftermath of the tragedy that trained real mint that occurred may 2015, it was carrying 238 passengers when it derailed. eight people lost their lives in over 200 injured. fortunately through fun -- funding through the pahra preparedness program the pennsylvania department of health and the regional healthcare coalition and long working together

mr. chairman i am going to withhold my comments although what i would like to do is call on senator isakson for one minute just to make some comments and then we will go to senator casey. >> thank you mr. chairman. i wanted to reference some statements made by ranking member senator murray. as chairman of the ethics committee i have gotten her in touch with the appropriate people to deal with the issue. she is forthrightly dealing with it to the best i can determine and i'm working expeditiously to get it done as quickly as possible so she will not have any conflicts of testimony as well and that's her desire as well. >> thank you very much senator burr. grateful for this hearing and grateful to be working with you on this reauthorization and i commend your work on this for many years. they also want to thank the chairman, chairman alexander and ranking member murray for this bipartisan hearing on the nations preparedness and response capabilities in advance of the reauthorization of a pandemic all hazards and response act. i will give you one story, one brief story about how important prep

mr. chairman, withhold my comments although what i would like to do is call on senator isakson for one minute just to make some comments, and then we'll go to senator casey. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i just wanted to reference the statements made by the ranking member, senator murray, whom i have talked to about dr. fitzgerald. i talked with dr. fitzgerald yesterday. as chairman of the ethics committee, i have gotten her in touch with the appropriate people to deal with the issue. she is forthrightly dealing with it to the best i can determine. i'm working expeditiously to see if we can get it done as quickly as possible so she will not have any conflict to testify whatsoever. that's her desire as well. thank you. >> senator casey? >> thank you very much, senator burr, i'm grateful for this hearing. grateful to be working with you again on this reauthorization and commend your work on this. for many, many years. i i also want to thank chairman alexander and ranking member murray for this bipartisan hearing on the nation's preparedness and response capabilities in advance of the reauthorizat

mr. secretary, i'm going to recognize you for your five minutes and we'll get to the ranking member when the ranking member shows. welcome. >> thank you. thank you. chairman isakson, senator moran, senator boozman, thank you for inviting me here to talk about va's progress. on behalf of the veterans we serve and the employees that serve them, thank you for your staff's tireless, bipartisan work. it's been great. we certainly appreciate and respect your leadership, mr. chairman, and partnership in establishing those issues that we're trying to tackle at the va head on, some of them, as you have said, have lingered for years. i have always said, i think we have the best committees in congress, and that's in large part due to leadership. >> we agree with that. >> yeah, well, i wouldn't say it if it wasn't true, but i took an oath, so. joining me today, seated behind me, i just want to introduce you, in case i need a lifeline today, peter shelby, our assistant secretary for the human resources administration, cheryl mason, our chairman of the board of veteran appeals, dr. amy farakof, acting secretary for community care, and peter, the executive director of the offic

isakson, senator coons of delaware, our newest senator, senator jones of alabama. those are the eight of us in the senate who are starting to see the wisdom of it. mr. president, italy has its art, napa valley has its wine and nashville has its songwriters. songwriters are the life-blood of music city. the mayor of nashville was in my office and we were talking about that. we have thousands of songwriters in nashville and also in brings yol, tennessee -- bristol, tennessee. they are bus drivers, waiters, teachers, they are having other jobs as they build their song careers. - songwriters are paid with a royalty. we want to make sure that the hits heard around the world are felt in their pocketbooks. the arrival of the internet has transformed the music industry, but it means that many songwriters are not paid their royalties when their songs are paid online. this is the first problem, the arrival of the internet. the second problem is when songwriters are paid, they are not paid a fair market value for their work. senator hatch, as i have mentioned, has long been an advocate for musicians. he understands this. we have worked together over a year wit

mr. isakson: mr. president, i am honored and privileged to come to the floor to talk about michael brown, appointed by president trump to be northern district georgia judge. he is an outstanding citizen of our state, married to a wonderful lady with three wonderful children, graduate from georgia law school magna cum laude in 1994 with a record of practicing law. having worked for king and spalding. they have produced many of the judges in the united states of america, not the least of which the attorney general under president jimmy carter. it produced sam nunn, an outstanding member of the united states senate and has produced many from his firm. it's a privilege for me to talk about michael for many reasons. most pornl, he comes with a -- importantly he comes with a background of experience. he has been recommended as one of the great lawyers in the united states of america in business matters. one of the things our courts need is a tempered balance of business and consumer. it is important to have