quorum call: quorum call: mr. leahy: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i ask consent the call of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: mr. president, the senate is debating the fate of our nation's dreamers this week. and everywhere i go, people recognize the uncontestable truth that underpins our discussion. we're all a nation of immigrants. unless you're a native american, you come from a line of people who come from somewhere else. in fact, more than any other country on earth, the simple fact is a defining characteristic of our national identity. throughout our history, immigrant communities have greatly enriched our nation. their individual stories have become the american story. out of many, we have become one. my maternal grandparents emigrated from italy, began a business, were pillars of the community. my wife's parents emigrated from french-speaking canada, also started a business. she was born in vermont. yesterday we buried

mr. leahy: mr. president, i'll be brief. i'll speak basically in my capacity as vice chairman of the senate appropriations committee. you know, there are things here that could be exciting to talk about. some things seem kind of draw. but when we talk about the budget, the consequences affect every single one of us, every single state, and multigenerations. the consequences of the budget control act sequestration cuts since 2011 have been devastating. they're going to last for generations. the impact of military readiness led defense secretary mattis to say that no enemy in the field has done more harm to our military than what we're doing to ourselves through sequestration. and by not investing in our domestic priorities, we allow our infrastructure to crumble, care to our veterans to be delayed, and investments in education to fall behind. i see this as a preface to the fact that the bipartisan budget deal announced yesterday by senator mcconnell and senator schumer, is the first step toward providing much needed relief fo

mr. president, another step that we can take right now is to pass legislation i introduced with senator leahy to explicitly outlaw straw purchasing. this is intended for one purpose only. that is to put a gun into the hands of a criminal who cannot legally obtain one. our bill would stop illegal trafficking and provide law enforcement with an effective tool to fight the violence that goes hand-in-hand with drug trafficking and gang-related crimes. today, gun traffickers exploit weaknesses in our federal loss by targeting individuals who can lawfully purchase firearms. sadly, according to briefings i've had from several officials, in the state of maine gang members from other states have targeted at x to buy firearms for them. then, they swap firearms for drugs. right now as straw purchasers can be prosecuted only for lying on a federal form which is treated far too often as just a paperwork violation. instead of a slap on the wrist, our bill would create new offenses for straw purchasing and trafficking punishable by prison terms particularly for those who have reason to believe that firearms

leahy. [applause] >> thank you. mr. president, mr. vice president, thank you for being here. are honoring a true american patriot. and bob, all the memories that come to the surface being here with you and elizabeth, two senators i served with. i am blessed for the opportunities we have had to spend time with the both of you on so many occasions, especially when you invited us to our -- your wedding reception, that was a great day. i have learned much from working with senator bob dole, majority leader bob dole, republican bob dole beginning when i was a young member of the senate a while ago. beyond the fact that bob dole is the longest-serving republican leader of the senate we can say , that he is a senate legend. the best leaders i have known in my 43 years in the senate have shown three special qualities. the senate'sod unique constitutional role in the system. the second trait is the ability to bring people together, to forge agreements even when based on compromises. as -- little of great consequence is accomplished by any legislator alone, high achievement is a joint

mr chairman senator lugar i would like to . welcome the other six exact senior executives of n.a.c. a member companies to join me on this panel today. one of senator leahy's main opponents to the bill was chave room mr of room has represented the pesticide industry in washington for nearly three decades pants written state an argument in one thousand nine hundred with senator leahy and others as it is today is that. we would rather that the united states be a principal source providing proper texan tools for farmers around the world and the incubator if you will for innovation for that kind of product development and the follow on stewardship that companies like those that are based here in the united states can and do provide over the years rather than having those needs served by product producers pesticide compounds from places that other than the united states. do you think you'd find everything sacred you figure to find a whole lot more borrowing. perhaps a little about i would tell you when the agency undertook its investigation last year we did find a number of violations. and filed a number of cases against companies it was the first time that we

mr. president, another step that we can take right now is to pass legislation i introduced with senator leahy to explicitly outlaw straw purchasing. straw purchasing is attended for one purpose only, and that is to put a gun into the hands of a criminal who cannot legally obtain one. our bill, the stop illegal trafficking and firearms act, would provide law enforcement with an effective tool to fight the violence that too often goes hand in hand with drug trafficking and gang-related crimes. today gun traffickers exploit weaknesses in our federal laws by targeting individuals who can lawfully purchase firearms. sadly, mr. president, according to briefings that i've had from federal officials, in the state of maine, gang members from other states have targeted addicts to go buy firearms for them. and then they swap firearms for drugs. right now a straw purchaser can be prosecuted only for lying on a federal form, which is treated far too often as just a paperwork violation. instead of a slap on the wrist, our bill would create news specific criminal offenses for straw purchasing and traffickin

mr. mitchell, david mitchell of patients for affordable drugs, longer with us in this "washington journal." their website is patients for org.dable drugs do i believe he said that sponsor plenty ofr leahybut information about that available on their website. line for new york, independents, bill, good morning. caller: yes. mr. mitchell said that the government pays for the research for new drugs. is, why doesn't the government therefore own the patent rights to that drug and use that to control the drug prices? thank you. host: to george in jacksonville, florida, line for republicans, go ahead. about yes, i'm talking the situation in syria and iran. i see it is that we have thing mostly defeated, we areby the russian and there.sending troops in so it appears we are looking for the fing is done, should take our troops from there. syria and iran to the this piece by a, josh rogan in the "washington had on a conversation he with the vice president about the future of relations in the peninsula. scenes, real progress was made toward a new diplomatic result in t could direct tops without preconditions between washington pyongyang. this was born out of new noting between the white house and

quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: mr. leahy: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: thank you. madam president, we are now 128 days into the fiscal year. we have had 128 days to fulfill our basic responsibility of funding the government. we have not. congress has not reached a bipartisan budget deal, even though in past years we always would have by this time, so the government is on auto pilot. across america, just as i find in vermont when i'm at families' kitchen tables, they are asking for help in addressing the opioid crisis. veterans ask us why it takes months to get a doctor's appointment in the v.a. people are worrying about having to stop working, but they can't qualify and get -- or they can't get quality and affordable child care. so many stop me in the street and talk to me about struggling to pay off college loans. well, it's 128 days. i was going to say we'll get to it. the che