. >> mr. moran. >> aye. >> mr. brown. >> mr. reed. >> no. >> mr. schumer. >> no. >> mr. menendez. >> no. >> mr. tester. >> no. >> mr. warner. >> no. >> mr. merkley. >> no. >> miss warren. >> no. >> miss hi camp. aye? heitkamp? >> aye. >> mr. donnelly? >> aye. mr. chairman the vote is 14 in favor and eight opposed. >> the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. any further amendments? >> mr. chairman, i have two amendments vitter amendment number 3 and vitter amendment number 2, i'll be happy to take them up when ever you would like. >> you're recognized. you want to dispense with the reading of them. sure. absolutely. i'll explain vitter amendment number 3. >> ask for dispense of reading. >> yes. i move we dispense with reading of amendments. >> without objection, so ordered. >> vitter amendment number 3 inserts into the text a basic statement of israel's right to defend itself. this sentiment and this type of language was in a prior version of this bill, so the concept is not new. certainly the sentiment and text is very straightforward with regard to israel's basic r

mr. moran: i also ask that i be allowed to speak to the senate as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. moran: thank you very much for recognizing me and for taking the opportunity to address something that i hope can readily easily be solved. if common sense prevails -- we know it doesn't happen often enough here in the united states congress one the department of veterans' affairs certainly in my view can solve this problem and if common sense doesn't prevail there then surely the united states senate, the u.s. house of representatives and the president could agree upon a legislative fix that is really nothing more than common sense. i'm talking about a veterans' issue, one that is certainly prevalent in a rural state like mine. my guess a very problem that's created in a state like yours as well mr. president. i was very pleased. i came to the senate floor and talked about the importance of passing and approving the choice act. we remember the scandal of last

at this time, i yield to mr. moran oh. >> he is recognized for one minute. >> i rise in support of the blackburn amendment today. the amendment prevents funding from going to visit for action of children, known as docca. this is known for jawing children from central america and putting lives at risk as they embark on a very dangerous journey but is probable to abuse along the way. this program must be shut down. my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are not telling the american people that homeland security is fully funded. as a matter of fact, it is fund more than a billion dollars than a president asked for and more than $40 billion from last year. if it gets shut down, it is because the president vetoes the budget and because he cannot get his way on amnesty for illegal immigrants. i yield the rest of my time. >> the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from michigan is recognize. >> mr. chairman, i'm going to give you balance of our time to the gentleman from illinois, mr. gutierrez. >> the jenin from illinoi

mr. president i ask for consent at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow the senate proceeds to vote in relation to the following amendments sullivan 77, mckowski, 98, flake 103, cruz 15 moran 73 danes 132. be subject to 60 vote affirmative vote and be in order to the amendments. two minutes of debate equally divided and all votes be ten minute votes. >> is there objection? >> mr. president reserving the right to object, now that we -- >> democratic leader. >> now that we have purged the calendar of five of the six democratic amendments the majority leader tells us it's time to vote. it doesn't strike me that this is in the best interest of what we're trying to achieve here in going back and forth in a bipartisan constructive fashion. i would like to ask the majority leader, are you prepared to be in session tomorrow and consider democratic and republican amendments and work through the list including the ones that you just tabled? >> does the senator from illinois intend to object to my -- >> what i'm asking frankly is to try to amend this so it has some balance. you mentioned one democratic amendment and at least 5 or 6 republican amendments to be considered tomorrow. wel

moran. and also let's not forget the u.s. chamber of commerce for years has been supportive of lifting the em bar go and their own leader mr.ew was in cuba last year giving the speech at the university of havana. talking about how greater relations between the countries is better. >> okay, great to have you with us tonight. i'm looking forward to going to cuba again sometimes. beautiful folks, beautiful country. no doubt. still to come the party of lincoln delivers an interesting gift to americans on martin luther king's birthday. plus republicans are going to make america -- at the state of the union. >> i am truly humbled and honored to have this opportunity to deliver the republican address. push your enterprise and you can move the world. ♪ ♪ but to get from the old way to the new you'll need the right it infrastructure. from a partner who knows how to make your enterprise more agile, borderless and secure. hp helps business move on all the possibilities of today. and stay ready for everything that is still to come. [ narrator ] mama sherman and the legion of super fans. wow! [ narrator ] on a mission to get richard to

moran for. >> for achievement in cinematography the nominees are emmanuel b ba esky for "birdman," robert yeoman for "the grand budapest hotel," lucas yal and richard for "ee ta." dick pope for "mrand screenplays the nominees are jason hall for "american sniper," graham moore for "imitation game," paul thomas anderson for inherent advice. anthony mccarthy for theory of and damian gentlemen zell for "whiplash." >> for original screenplay the nominees are alejandro and nicholas jakabone alexander and armando bow for "the birdman or the unexpected virtue of ignorance," richard linklater for "boyhood," ee. max frye for fox catcher, budapest hotel and dan gilroy for "night crawler." >>> for original score, the nominees are, alexander despla for "the grand budapest hotel," alexander for the imitation gram. hans zimmer for interstellar, garry for "mr. turner" and johan johansson for "the theory of everything." >> in the best foreign language film category the nominees are from poland "ee da," from russia, laviason from estonia, tangerine, from moratania, timbuktu, and from argentina, "wild tales." >>> for achievement in directing the nominees are alejandro for "birdman or the unexpecte

mr. moran: mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent to lift the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. moran: mr. president earlier this evening an amendment of mine was made pending to the legislation that we now have before us, amendment number 73, and i thank my colleagues for allowing that amendment to become pending and i look forward to the opportunity now in this moment in which we're determining the remainder of the evening's schedule to describe for my colleagues the nature of amendment number number 73. i have a copy of the amendment in front of me. it's a short paragraph but it's one that has significant consequences to the people of kansas. but glad to the people of kansas has significant consequence to the people of colorado, new mexico, oklahoma and texas. the story that we're talking about is the lesser prairie chicken, and in march of 2014, the lesser prairie chicken was listed not as an endangered species but a threatened species under the endangered species

mr. moran: mr. president, i would ask that further reading be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. moran: mr. president, this is an amendment that sets aside the endangered species threatens species listing of a chick in kansas also oklahoma, new mexico and colorado. i look forward to having this conversation and debate on the senate floor at the appropriate time. ms. cantwell: mr. president, i would like to call on the senator from delaware to offer his amendment of. mr. carper: mr. president i rise to set aside the pending amendment and call up my amendment to the murkowski substitute amendment number 121. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator delaware mr. carper, proposes an amendment numbered 121. mr. carper: mr. president, i ask that the amendment be considered as read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. carper: mr. president and colleagues, you will recall from our debate here earlier this

we've had -- mr. moran: mr. moran: as this new session of congress begins on the importance of tax reform. our country is at a point in time in which we certainly are no longer competitively global, the economy now is one that works against us because of our tax code. and i think there is general consensus in the senate that reforming the tax code is one that is of significant importance something that must be done. i'm often asked when i'm back in kansas but here in washington, d.c. do you expect there to be broad-based tax reform and it's one that we keep guessing about the likelihood of that happening. and i think it's typical of elected officials politicians to always talk about the need for comprehensive tax reform, we talk about lowering rates making the tax system more fair lest bureaucratic, less paperwork and i certainly join in those sentiments and believe that the current circumstance we have in regard to our tax code is such that it limits the freedom of americans american business men and women indiv