. >> mr. moran? ms. murkowski? >> no. >> mr. murphy? >> no. >> mrs. murray? >> no. >> mr. nelson?> no. >> mr. paul? >> aye. >> mr. purdue? >> no. -- sorry, yes. >> mr. peters? >> no. mr. portman? mr. reed? mr. reich? >> aye. >> mr. roberts? mr. rounds. >> aye. >> mr. rubio? mr. sanders? >> no. >> mr. sasse? mr. schatz? >> no. >> mr. schumer? >> no. >> mr. scott? mrs. shaheen? >> no. >> mr. shelby? >> aye. >> miss stabenow? >> no. >> mr. sullivan? >> aye. >> mr. tester? >> no. >> mr. thune? mr. tillis? >> aye. >> mr. toomey. >> aye. >> mr. udall. >> no. >> mr. van hollen? >> no. >> mr. warner? >> no. >> ms. warren? >> no. >> mr. whitehouse? >> no. >> mr. wecker? >> aye. >> mr. wyden? >> no. >> mr. young? >> a . >> senators voting in the affirmative, alexander, barrasso, blunt, bowesman, bury, capito, cassidy, cochran, corker, cornyn, crapo, daines, enzi, ernst, fisher, flake, gardner, graham, grassley, hatch, hoven, inhofe, isackson, johnson, kennedy, lankford, lee, mcconnell, paul, purdue, portman, ratio, robert, rounds, rubio, scott, shelby, strange, sullivan, thune, tillis, toom

mr. moran: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran: i have five requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have been approved by the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. moran: madam president, i come to speak about health care, and i begin by paying tribute to our colleague from arizona, senator mccain, on his return earlier this week, and i wish him the very best as he begins a process of cure and treatment and a bright future in his life. i appreciate the remarks that he indicated that were so heartfelt to his colleagues here in the united states senate, and we welcome him back and thank him for his service to the united states senate, to the people of arizona, to the people of america, but i also thank him most especially for his service in the united states military. another great hero in my life and in our country's history is my predecessor in the united states senate, senator bob dole, wh

. >> mr. moran? aye. >> mr. cotton. mr. cotton, aye. >> you will also note the vice president no longer visible. no longer needed to cast a deciding vote. senator heller from nevada walking up the aisle. >> mr. cruz. mr. cruz, aye. >> having gone through the heart of the order, the lineup as it were, this is where they go back through for senators who were not in the chamber or for some reason not prepared to vote. we are all going to figure out at some point why john mccain was out in the cloak room and came in and cast his vote and whether or not -- >> mr. heller, aye. >> so heller is a yes. largely considered to be perhaps the most vulnerable senator in the chamber during the next election cycle. here comes the majority leader. there goes the majority leader. seated once again. he perhaps is waiting for the gavel. yep. but he did, you saw as soon as john mccain cast a ballot, he took a speech out of a folder. i guess there were two speeches. he is not looking as energized as he was earlier. >> mr. sass. mr. sass, aye. >>

. >> mr. moran? aye. >> mr. cotton. mr. cotton, aye. >> you will also note the vice president no longer visible. no longer needed to cast a deciding vote. senator heller from nevada walking up the aisle. >> mr. cruz. mr. cruz, aye. >> having gone through the heart of the order, the lineup as it were, this is where they go back through for senators who were not in the chamber or for some reason not prepared to vote. we are all going to figure out >> so heller is a yes. largely considered to be perhaps the most vulnerable senator in the chamber during the next election cycle. here comes the majority leader. there goes the majority leader. seated once again. he perhaps is waiting for the gavel. yep. but he did, you saw as soon as john mccain cast a ballot, he took a speech out of a folder. i guess there were two speeches. he is not looking as energized as he was earlier. >> mr. sass. mr. sass, aye. >> the gentlemen's voice we hear is coming from the second desk of three. leaning forward and looking over his vote tally sheet. t

. >> mr. moran. mr. murphy. >> no. >> mrs. murray. >> no. >> mr. nelson. >> no. >> mr.l. >> aye. >> mr. purdue. >> no. sorry, yes. >> mr. peters. >> no. >> mr. portman. >> mr. reid. mr. roberts. mr. rounds. >> aye. >> mr. rubio. mr. sanders. >> no. >> so you are watching them there on the senate floor. discussing this bill and to vote on bill specifically. the senior capitol hill producer, he is there right now. chadha, what can you tell us about this long night that we are watching unfold? >> this is a key vote here. this is not final passage on the bill. this is an amendment to scare down, skinny repeal of obamacare. they need to have a simple majority to do this, but in the last couple of moments, a couple of senators have voted no. what that does, if all of the other 50 republican senators hold together, they can still pass this amendment which is key to passing the bill. try to incorporate this into the bill, and then have vice president pence break the tie. but they are down to two no right now. that told us a lot, that they might not have the votes for this. if t

when my good friend mr. moran was the chairman of that subcommittee he came to me and said i agree on this issue. will you offer the amendment? i said, of course i will. i actually called up mr. simpson, ranking member. i said are you going to get mad? he said, tom, that's authorizing on an appropriation bill, we never do that. until we do. but, he said, make sure you've got the approval of the authorizing committees, which mr. moran had. it was going through natural resources, our good friend mr. rahall, no longer with us, was chairman. we got it to the senate and it died over there. the point is, it really does get down on these issues where is the authorizing chairman. i will till yell you, back in t majority under speaker [ inaudible ] or ryan -- -- having gone to the floor and embarrassed myself thinking we had the agreement, i can tell you if you don't have that authorizing chairman, it won't happen. yield back. >> -- i appreciate the discussions and robust conversations my colleagues have had. my question i

but he said make sure you've got the -- the approval of the authorizing committees which mr. moran had. it was going through natural resources, our good friend mr. ray haul no longer with us he was for it got it to the senate died over there. the pinpoint is it does get down on the issues are is where the thoeshzing chairman? i will tell you at least since we have been back in the marnlt if anything under speaker boehner or ryan they've been more forceful about this than i've seen before. having gone to the floor and been embarrassed myself thinking we have an agreement i can tell you if you don't have the authorizing count it will die. >> aguilar we'll close and noncall get. >> i appreciate the using discussions and the robust conversations my colleagues have had. my question is if not now when and what is our path? why should one individual in this body of 435 be able to hold unthe daca kids from being recognized. mace what it comes to if someone smoes me a path and to get on the floor and have a conversation with the colleagues. i'll withdraw it i haven't seen that. i think the

mr. chairman. sen. moran: thank you senator , fischer. senator peters. senator peters: thank you, mr. chairman. and nominees, thank you for your willingness to serve the public. this is a very important position. thank you for being here today. ms. rosenworcel, i certainly appreciate your strong commitment as a commissioner to maintaining a free, open, and fair internet. if confirmed, i hope you're going to continue with this commitment to broadband internet as an essential tool for millions of americans and also for small businesses and fast growing startups in michigan as well as all across the country. allowing established corporations to prioritize their services or slow down their competitors i believe would put these small businesses at a competitive disadvantage and could very well stifle innovation that's so important for our country. would you agree that net neutrality, under fcc's 2015 open internet rules, helps level the playing field for small businesses and startups, allowing them to compete fairly against large established players? ms. rosenworcel: yes, senator, i agree.

commissioner moran: commissioner rosenworcel or mr. carr. ms. rosenworcel: thank you for the question. will forward, the network be very different in 5-g than 4-g. we'll have small cells dotting our landscape. we need to make sure not just f.c.c. policies but national environmental policy and national historic preservation policies are adjusted to reflect the realities of those facilities which are very different than traditional large cell towers. . mr. carr: 5-g deployment is very different. i say it's about jobs and the economy. we get the framework right it could be $275 billion in the next decade in the next decade. when you combine it with i.o.t., you are looking at a trillion dollar boost to the economy so we need to get this all right. senator moran: thank you. let me ask chairman pie. when do you expect to have the hearings finalized to have spectrum available, the status of the spectrum frontier proceedings? mr. pai: senator, we don't have a particular time frame but we are actively studying it and we are working with stakeholders to l

secretary moran, you are recognized for five minutes. >> mr. chairman, members of the committee, it's very much an honor to be with you this morning and to be able to discuss with you virginia's response as well as working with you to request assistance from the federal government to combat this epidemic. as has all been agreed and said this morning, america is in the midst of an opioid and heroin addiction epidemic. the epidemic does not discriminate. it is an equal opportunity killer. in virginia in 2016 1133 individuals died from opioid overdose. the sad truth is that virginia actually ranks 18th among the 50 states in opioid deaths. sadder still, 17 states are doing worse than we are and in all likelihood the other 32 states will face similar devastation if we don't take effective action now. as secretary of public safety and homeland security i am proud of virginia's sworn law enforcement officers who work 24/7, 365, to keep us safe. what they tell me over and over and over again is, we cannot arrest our way out of the heroin and opioid ad

secretary moran, you are recognized for five minutes. >> mr. chairman, members of the committee, it's very much an honor to be with you this morning and to be able to discuss with you virginia's response as well as working with you to request assistance from the federal government to combat this epidemic. as has all been agreed and said this morning, america is in the midst of an opioid and heroin addiction epidemic. the epidemic does not discriminate. it is an equal opportunity killer. in virginia in 2016 1133 individuals died from opioid overdose. the sad truth is that virginia actually ranks 18th among the 50 states in opioid deaths. sadder still, 17 states are doing worse than we are and in all likelihood the other 32 states will face similar devastation if we don't take effective action now. as secretary of public safety and homeland security i am proud of virginia's sworn law enforcement officers who work 24/7, 365, to keep us safe. what they tell me over and over and over again is, we cannot arrest our way out of the heroin and opioid ad

mr. chairman. thanks to the panel for being here. secretary moran, according to the centers for disease control and prevention approximately one in five deaths attributable to a drug overdose failed to list specific drug in the death certificate. could you explain why this data gap is problematic and what efforts the commonwealth is taking to ensure that it has sufficient data to understand the true scope of the opioid epidemic? >> sir, one theme of my remarks is the need for additional data. the state silos which we are trying to break down and then there are, of course, the privacy provisions with respect to some of the federal laws in hipaa. in a criminal investigation our department of forensic science will do the investigation. we have good data with respect to what drugs were involved because they're collected. if it is an accidental death, it eventually goes to the oc office of chief medical examiner, but with respect to the data, it is challenging. you know, some individuals may not be anxious to reveal the cause of death under some circumst

moran. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, thank you for joining us. thank you for the conversation we had earlier this week. i want to focus on at least security of our diplomats and facilities around the globe in which they work. the budget sees decrease of about $562 million from last year. is there -- first of all, i would say i heard you in response, i think to senator leahy, indicate that we can't judge our priorities necessarily by the levels of spending. i think that's an indicator, but i think the point you make is there's other components that determine whether or not we will be successful. i assume that -- i know it's the shared goal that every person who works for the state department who represents the united states around the globe has a safe environment, as safe as we can provide to them. so my question is, in this case, what has changed, or what will we do different that means our state department employees' safety is not diminished? >> senator, americans broadly our highest priority certainly as it relates to our embassy presence, our

secretary moran, you arerecognized for five minutes. >> mr. chairman, members of the committee, it's very much an honor to be with you this morning and to be able to -- the sad truth is that virginia actually ranks 18th among the 50 states in opioid deaths. sadder still, 17 states are doing worse than we are and in all likelihood theother 32 states will face similar devastation if we don't take effective action now. as secretary of public safety and homeland security i am proud of virginia's sworn law enforcement officers who work 24/7, 365, to keep us safe. what they tell me over and over and over again is, we cannot arrest our way out of the heroin and opioid addiction crisis. and we can't simply tell those living with addiction to get over it. why is that? because addiction is a disease. arrest and incarceration of those addicted will no more cure this disease than it would cure cancer or diabetes. there are a number of causes, multiple causes, of this dramatic rise in the deadly epidemic. .verprescribing fairly safe to dispose. easy access

mike lee and jerry moran say the new legislation does not go far enough in repealing obamacare. mr trump has tweeted: let's cross live to the bbc‘s suzanne kianpour, in washington. this was such a signature proposal from the trump campaign and the republicans for years, before there was a trump campaign. what is going on here? well, healthcare has been a political football for a while around here, and now what we are seeing is a bit of a stalemate in the senate. we have actuallyjust got the latest, is that senate majority leader, the republican leader, mitch mcconnell is saying that they will try to pass an obamacare repeal bill with a two year delay in implementation now. so this now puts the clock on democrats. so how did we get here? mr mcconnell really couldn't afford to have any more than three republicans break ranks, and vote no for a repeal and replace hill on healthcare, on obamacare. —— bill. but since then, senators jerry healthcare, on obamacare. —— bill. but since then, senatorsjerry moran and senator mike lee have come out against this. and the biggest concern, we hav

moran. >> thank you, chairwoman. mr. secretary, thank you for joining us. i would join senator mankmin's correspondence about sifcs. i corresponded with you and you responded. i'm pleased to hear how seriously you take those responsibilities. i applaud the seriousness behind me request. i would follow up with the chairwoman's comments about the community banks. i visited with your predecessors and all of the variety of regulators that affect our financial institutions, credit unions and banks in particular, but i would highlight how important it is, so at least you have heard from a third senator this morning, senator language forward talked about lack of mortgage lending. that's one of the most egregious examples of over regulation. banks don't make loans because it is not a credit worthy borrower. they don't make loans because of the overregulations, the burden and costs and associated penalties of a minor error. that's not anything that rural america in particular can withstand. we have looked to our local lenders to be the pillars of our community, to p