senator markey: we are not adding any fighters at this point. mr. mcgurk: through that effort, no. we are trying to organize and grow the force that will move down on raqqa because that is a prime target. senator markey: do you have any other questions? senator: i have another question on the ground and in the air. i would like to talk about the .ybrid war that is underway in january 2016, the administration and announced a major change in our direction in terms of countering the message on social media of isil and other hybrid platforms. how is that working? have we been able to draft outside voices to counter isis? areoverall question is what we doing today to counter the isis message in this hybrid warfare? mr. mcgurk: great question. have ofa course -- we course established a center which is focused on this 24/7. this is not something that can be done out of washington. we need a global network to go after their on my messaging. two years ago, they had free reign on free book -- facebook, twitter, and you book -- you too. we have reversed their trend. on twitter, for every singl

mr. markey: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, we just celebrated independence day, and rightfully so. it was a big break with the past, a big break with the whole history of the united states up until july fourth, 1776. well, we have good news. there is another new dawn of independence which has arrived in the united states, and that independence is growing by the day. by independence, i'm talking about how we generate electricity in the united states. for 100 years, we were dependent upon oil, upon natural gas, upon coal as our principal source of electricity in our country, combined with nuclear generation plus some hydropower. but now over the last ten years, we have seen a true american revolution which has broken out. in 2015, in terms of new electrical generation in the united states, 8,600 new megawatts of wind. and again, people say what's a megawatt? well, when you think of a big, big coal burning or natural gas burning electrical generating facility, that 8,600 new wind megawatts would be eight or ten new ele

mr. markey: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. markey: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, it's summer. it's supposed to be hot, but if last month felt hotter than past summers, you are right, because last week the national oceanic and atmospheric agency, noaa, reported that the united states experienced its warmest june on record ever. already this year, there have been eight weather and climate-related disasters that each caused at least a billion dollars in damage. globally, 2015 was the hottest year on record, and so far this year it is on track to beat last year. you can't even hold the record for a year. 2016 has been as hot as pokemon go. and anyone watching the senate floor tonight who is younger than 31 has never experienced in their life a month whose temperature was below the 20th century average. that last happened in february of 1985. ronald reagan was starting his second term as president. "beverly hills cop" was the number one film at the box office. if you went to the movies that month, you probably saw a trail

mr. president, it is an honor for me to follow senator markey who has battled so long and so effectively in this struggle against such odds, and i think we both feel that the tide has turned, things are going our way, but we have to hurry because nature is unforgiving. the pope said god forgives, mankind forgives sometimes, but nature never forgives. you slap her and she will slap you back. we have given nature one hell of a slap with climate change. when i was here yesterday, i wal and i was pointing out that the web of denial has to mislead to be effective. that's what it is. it's a tool to mislead. and i pointed out what a koch brothers operative described as its goal when this whole web was being developed. this is the quote. it would be necessary to use ambiguous and misleading names, obscure the true agenda, and conceal the means of control. well, if you're looking for ambiguous and misleading names that can obscure the true agenda and conceal the means of control, one tactic would be to exploit our founding fathers, to seize their names and use them to lend authority and gravitas

markey. >> thank you, mr. chairman. can i go to the pesticide issue? and what breakthroughs we might be making in pesticides. are there new pesticides that might be effective? that can supersede the need to use deet or other pesticides? can any of you talk about that? >> thank you so much, senator. first off, let's divide the different types of repellants and pesticides. so deet is a product that we put on our skin. there are several fda approved products that are effective. i mentioned that there are some more products down the road which may be available in the future that may be more pleasant to use. and just as safe and effective. there are also products that can be used in an area, what i refer to as spatial repellants, the things you might burn in your household or spray in your household. there we're trying to get better products available. and third are materials we would use to control mosquitos in a community, so insecticides or pesticides. one of the really interesting things that's happened in recent years is the refinement of ultralow volu

mr. chairman, the united states -- >> can you identify yourself just for the standpoint of those who are watching at home, as well as from maryland? >> ben markey from the state of maryland. mr. chairman, with 10,000 baby boomers retiring every day in this country, we're facing a silver tsunami in the next 10 to 20 years that will tax our resources in ways that we've never imagined or experienced. i thought that it was important to insert the language that acknowledges our aging population on the tail end of this sentence. >> as we have on the screen, if we can just enlarge that line. it says we will be mindful of the burdens of families with children and you've inserted "and the impact on an aging population." that clearly reflects your intention? is. >> correct. >> discussion? mr. chairman. >> thank you. we discussed this during the committee and we didn't have language at that time. we worked with ben, he came up with this language, and i have no objection to it and i don't believe either of my chairmen do either. >> additional discussion? delegate from california. >> i would just question whether that puts the republican party as being kind

markey. >> thank you, mr. chairman. can i go to the pesticide issue? and what breakthroughs we might be making in pesticides. are there new pesticides that might be effective? that can supersede the need to use deet or other pesticides? can any of you talk about that? >> thank you so much, senator. first off, let's divide the different types of repellants and pesticides. so deet is a product that we put on our skin. there are several fda approved products that are effective. i mentioned that there are some more products down the road which may be available in the future that may be more pleasant to use. and just as safe and effective. there are also products that can be used in an area, what i refer to as spatial repellants, the things you might burn in your household or spray in your household. there we're trying to get better products available. and third are materials we would use to control mosquitos in a community, so insecticides or pesticides. one of the really interesting things that's happened in recent years is the refinement of ultralow volu

markey. >> thank you, mr. chairman. can i go to the pesticide issue? and what breakthroughs we might be making in pesticides. are there new pesticides that might be effective? that can supersede the need to use deet or other pesticides? can any of you talk about that? >> thank you so much, senator. first off, let's divide the different types of repellants and pesticides. so deet is a product that we put on our skin. there are several fda approved products that are effective. i mentioned that there are some more products down the road which may be available in the future that may be more pleasant to use. and just as safe and effective. there are also products that can be used in an area, what i refer to as spatial repellants, the things you might burn in your household or spray in your household. there we're trying to get better products available. and third are materials we would use to control mosquitos in a community, so insecticides or pesticides. one of the really interesting things that's happened in recent years is the refinement of ultralow volu

mr. president, that colleagues like senators markey and paul have also been very able champions in our recent efforts to expand access to this effective drug treatment, including the introduction of legislation and our push to get the administration to use its regulatory authority to address this need. our efforts help to encourage the drafting of an h.h.s. rule that was finalized on july 6, the same day as the cara conference meeting. this rule raises an individual doctor's patient cap for buprenorphine from 100 patients to 275 patients. thanks to these combined administrative and legislative efforts, patients will have greater access to the medication assisted treatment they need in their recovery from substance abuse disorders. i am pleased as well to see provisions included in this legislation that encourage the national institutes of health to intensify fundamental translational and clinical research on the understanding of pain. the hope is that this kind of research will lead to alternatives to opioids for effective pain treatment. these few lines within the legislation will have a sig

mr. president. i would ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule 22, the only remaining postcloture time to be the following: capito-baldwin 15 minutes, carper 10 minutes, markey 10 minutes. following the unite use or yielg back of that time, all postcloture tienl yielded back and the senate vote on the conference report to accompany s. 524. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mrs. capito: thank you, mr. president. i would like to begin by congratulating carla hayden, who was just confirmed as the 14th librarian of congress. i know she will do a good job and i am very proud of her and look forward to working with her. earlier today i was proud to support cloture for the indicator a bill that promises to provide help to so many of those that are impacted by addiction. you will be hearing from my friend and colleague, senator baldwin, because we both believe strongly that our veterans are one of those many groups that this bill seeks to assist. a little over a year ago, under senator baldwin's leadership -- and i thank her -- the two of us introduced the jason simkovsky act, which provides treatment to our veterans. this is named after

mr. markey: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. markey: mr. president, i'd like to start my remarks on the comprehensive addiction and recovery act with a story i received from one of my constituents, david. he's a patient at hope house in boston. hope house is the oldest and one of the largest residential treatment programs for adults in massachusetts. this is what he said. senator markey, addiction has totally ruined my life. they quickly took everything from me and my family. it has stripped me of my dignity and my self-worth, along with my self-respect, and i also lost the trust of my entire family. addiction started late for me. i was 44 years old. i had everything i could possibly dream of. a beautiful wife, a son, two stepdaughters that i raised and put through college. we also built a new home in 2000. i had a great career, and i was a few years away from retiring. then my family and i went on vacation for two weeks and i came home with a parasite in my sphum for which i was prescribed pain medication. that was at the end of april of t