mr. moran: mr. president, thank you. i want to speak this evening for a few moments about trades and tariffs. they've certainly been in the news for a long time. they are in the news today, but i want to highlight the importance of trade and exports to my constituents and express my concerns about tariffs and an escalating trade wore. global trade war will raise the prices for consumers, retaliate against farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers who depend upon exports and weaken our ability to work with our allies to challenge china's unfair trade practices. kansans are already feeling the effects of tariffs. approximately $361 million are being affected by this, aerospace exports to canada and beef and corn exports to mexico. moving forward with another $200 billion to $500 billion in tariffs against china or section 232 tariffs on automobiles for sewed national security concerns will only increase the negative impact upon my folks at home. with 95% of consumers living outside our country's border, th

mr. moran: mr.president. the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. moran: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that it be in order to call up and consider the amendments in the managers' package which is at the desk with a modification to amendment number 3670, en bloc. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. leahy: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, senator shelby and i and senator moran worked on this. we have no objection. the presiding officer: without objection, the amendments will be considered en bloc. mr. moran: mr. president, i ask that the amendments be made pending en bloc under the previous order. the presiding officer: without objection, the amendments are now pending en bloc. mr. moran: mr. president, i know of no further debate on the amendments. the presiding officer: is there further debate? if not, the

mr. moran: i ask consent the reading be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. moran: mr. president, before i make remarks on this amendment, i would like to express my gratitude to my colleagues from new mexico, and senator reed, the ranking member, and senator collins, the chair, the appropriate appropriations subcommittee for working so closely with me and my colleagues in regard to rail service, the southwest chief from chicago to los angeles that transports people through kansas and through colorado and new mexico. we have had a bipartisan effort from those three states, the senators from those three states in making certain that that service continues into the future, and i'm very grateful for the support, and i would ask my colleagues, as the other senators have, to support the amendment, the one i am now -- not the one i am about now to speak. i rise now to urge my colleagues to support my amendment to force the usda to continue honoring its existing agreement between grain-handling facilities and official inspection services. following passage of legisla

mr. moran: mr. president, thank you. i would ask that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. moran: the leaders in brussels, including the united states with president trump, signed a declaration reaffirming the purpose of the alliance, collective defense and the importance of article 5 which regards an attack against one ally as an attack against all others. there may be a growing sense here in the united states that nato is no longer useful to our interests and it's a burden that is not worth the cost. i recently traveled to moscow, to oslo and to helsinki with members of the senate appropriations committee, many of us on the subcommittee on defense. we had meetings with u.s. embassy officials, our ambassadors and with foreign government officials, people within the ministries of foreign affairs, ministries of defense and with legislative leaders in that region. my meetings in moscow, we worked to begin a dialogue with russian counterparts. everything i heard

moran: say that again. mr. xiao: there are staff members at safe sport that were formerly staff members at the usoc. i can think of one, i don't know if there are others. that has raised concerns in the community, as well. sen. moran: ms. i. lyons: let me first say separate 2 parts of independence. in terms of the investigation of the center for safe sport, it is independent. we have no insight into that. it is confidential and there is no usoc employee who has any involvement with any of the ongoing investigations in any way. where the center needs to collaborate, and that means providing information. i think it means helping provide additional funding because they don't have enough to be successful at their mission. they became fully independent with funding from the usoc and the government. that is the evolution the center needs to have so it can truly become independent of any influence from us or anyone else. sen. moran: -- lumenthal: i would like to ask that we put into the record the article from the ora

mr. chairman. >> senator moran. >> chairman, thank you very much. thank you for your presence with us today. thank you for your service to our nation and as a public official. you've been through a few hearings and i'm delighted to have you back have a conversation. when i judge whether the va is working for veterans, i do so by what we call casework which is when veterans seek help from my staff to solve problems for the number is increasing not diminishing. it suggests to me that we need to do more into make certain that those who need our help receive our help. right now we have 80 open veteran cases with us that he stream of about 30 cases each month. you indicate in your statement that when a veteran comes to the va you want him to employ a team, excuse me, he ought not employ a team of lawyers to get the va to yes but i want to commend you on that and work with you to make certain you have the best opportunity you can to get the va to a position of yes on the half of those you are the department is created to serve. before i jump into a couple of questions, i will highlight a couple of

moran come in. oh, excuse me. rounds. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, what i would like to do, once we've got the noise cleared up here, we'll turn around and we'll go back and ask some questions about -- with both of our two witnesses. thank you. miss reed, your role coming in as a chairperson is to make certain that this particular institution, this bank, is capable of competing with other similar type institutions from around the country. and providing services so that we, again, can properly export to other countries. i think some people think that's inappropriate, that a government would provide a service. i don't. i think that's appropriate that we be competitive. can you share very briefly your thoughts with regard to the appropriateness of competing with other countries and providing our businesses with that same type of service so they can compete? >> absolutely, sir. thank you. as i mentioned in my opening statement, if we're not at the table, we're u.n. laterally disarmed and they will take those jobs through their own eca programs.

mr. chair. >> president kwon: thank you, commissioner. and i also, building on commissioner moran's comments here, was able to watch the video that you sent me yesterday and i shared with one of our scientists. i want to echo your call for a forum to have an active discussion. one more point, on the balboa reservoir, has there been a traffic study done of that area? i've seen traffic studies from m.t.a. and so forth that talk about more of a future scenario and what they would like to see usage, but given that demand off ocean avenue, have they taken a look at with the building of the arts center, etc., how much and by what means people need to get there and ultimately park their car. the city is transit-first, but there are people that have no choice but to drive. >> to answer your question, i don't know. i can look into that, but i think it will be part of whatever environmental document will be done, whether it's for the performing arts center or for the balboa residents site. and there will be a parking study done as well. >> president kwon: thank you. okay. so we're moving on t

mr. penny? >> of course, i wasn't there, senator moran. that's what i was told. >> we made inquiry of usa gymnastics with an extensive request for documents. the documents have not been provided. >> i know we produced close to a million documents in production. so those documents could be in there. they may not be. but i don't know. i don't know where those documents are. steve penny would know where those documents are. >> there would be no chance that the documents exist within your custody at usa gymnastics unless they were provided to us. unless they're included in the list that, the million document that's you provided us. >> right. >> otherwise, you can assure me that they don't exist within your custody? >> to my knowledge they do not exist in our custody. >> okay. senator? >> thanks, mr. chairman. are you familiar with kaly lawrence? >> yes. >> she's here today. and she remembers a conversation with you in which you said, and i'm quoting her, "mr. engeler then looked directly at me and asked, "right now if i wrote you a check for $

moran. excuse me, rounds. rounds: thank you, mr. chairman. [voices in background] mr. chairman, once we have got the noise cleared up, we will ask questions of our two witnesses. thank you. with ms. reed. your role coming in as a chairperson is to make certain that this particular institution, this bank, is capable of competing with other similar institutions around the country, and providing services properly export to other countries. some people think it's inappropriate that the government provide a service, i don't, i think it's important that we come and patted it -- that we become competitive. comment on the propriety of providing businesses with that service so they can compete ? at thed: if we are not table, we are unilaterally disarmed. and our competitors will take those jobs that should be u.s. jobs, through their own programs. i want to be sure, in this eca when we have 109 other 's competing with the united states, that we are there. has aport-import bank specific role in the toolbox, the csi ask published an op-ed week,e hill earlier this and he lays out

moran. oh excuse me, rounds. [whining] senator rounds: thank you, mr. chairman. [voices in background] sen. rounds: mr. chairman, once we have got the noise cleared up, we will ask questions of our two witnesses. thank you. let me just begin with ms. reed. your role coming in as a chairperson is to make certain that this particular institution, this bank, is capable of competing with other similar type institutions from around the country and providing services so that we can properly export to other countries. i think some people think it's inappropriate that the government would provide a service. i don't. i think it is important we become competitive. can you comment on the propriety of providing businesses with that same type of service so they can compete? sir.eed: absolutely, thank you. as i mentioned in my opening statement if we are not at the , table, we are unilaterally disarmed. and our competitors will take those jobs that should be u.s. jobs through their own eca programs. and i want to be sure, in this time when we have 109 other eca's competing against the united states, that we are ther

mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that it be in order to call up the following amendments to amendment number 3399, moran, 3433, udall 3414. i further ask consent that at 2:30 p.m. on wednesday, july 25, the senate vote in relation to the moran and udall amendments in the order listed and that there be no second-degree amendments in order to the amendments prior to the votes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. daines: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. wednesday, july 25. further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day and morning business be closed. further, that following leader remarks, the senate resume consideration of h.r. 6147. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. daines: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until 10:00 a

mr. moran: mr. president, thank you. i started my morning in kansas city, speaking to 4,000 veterans, a convention held in kansas city. my speech was a message to those americans who i hold in highest regard, america's veterans, especially those veterans helping other veterans. i wanted them to know that they signed up to serve our country, they did not do so in support of any political party. those who served ow nation, and -- our nation, and particularly those who paid the ultimate sacrifice did not answer the call to support republicans or democrats, but they answered to a higher calling. speaking to thousands of veterans this morning and being in a room filled with the characteristics that make this country so great, duty, honor, loyalty, respect, should remind us here in washington, d.c., that we must work together to do everything possible to ensure that our nation's 20 million veterans receive the best our nation has to offer. putting veterans first and setting aside differences has led to a major policy change an