kim of california, mr. moran of texas, and mr. nunn of iowa. the speaker pro tempore: pursuan watch live covage of the house here on c-span. >> c-span, democracy unfiltered, funded by these television companies and more, including sparklight. >> what is great internet? is it strong? is it fast? is it reliable? at sparklight we know connection goes way beyond technology. from monday morning meetings to friday night with friends and everything in between. but the best connections are always there right when you need them so how do you know it's great internet? because it works. we're sparklight and we're always working for you. >> sparklight supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> wednesday, a look at ways to increase government efficiency and reduce spending with iowa governor kim reynolds and citizens against government waste, testifying before the government reform committee. watching live at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span three, our c-span now

mr. moran: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran: mr. president, i ask if we're in a quorum call. the presiding officer: we are not. mr. moran: thank you, mr. president. i'm here this morning, now this afternoon, because in just a few moments we will be asked to make a decision as to whether or not congressman doug collins should be confirmed as the next secretary of veterans affairs. i am speaking today to encourage my colleagues to make that happen. i believe caring for the men and women who have served our nation in uniform, and for their loved ones they leave behind and for their families, is one of our nation's most sacred obligations. we owe those who served all that they are entitled to and perhaps more. i remember making a commitment when i was in high school to express my gratitude and respect for those in uniform. i never envisioned being a united states chairman -- excuse me, i never envisioned being a united states senator, and now the chairman of the senate committee on veterans affairs, where our responsibilities are greate

mr. eaton: yes sir. chair moran: how do you explain that? mr. eaton: without clearly-defined access standards the v.a. is left to other alternatives to find that level of care. he goes back to education, but also really clear whenever a veteran is met with ambiguity in this critical time you can imagine different barriers they have to face. so, we need clear standards that are dispersed across the entire v.a. that outline what veteran'' options are and what their rights are in this case. ms. marg: can i add something to his statement? when my husband went to tucson they have a program just for veterans. it is a wet -- red, white, and blue program. my husband was housed with veterans. the veterans had the v.a. paid for their care there. so, it really seems very hit or miss as to what the provider understands and knows what the process is, as to what kind of care they get connected with. chair moran: that is really a partial answer to my follow-up question with you again. it is, you know of other veterans, other veteran families that have experien

mr. moran. president, i appreciate the gentleman from virginia yielding. mr. president, i appear before the united states senate today to ask for support and for adoption of a resolution honoring the memory of 67 lives that were lost in the tragic accident that occurred last week over the potomac river and to recognize the heroic efforts of hundreds of first responders who supported the rescue and the recovery operations in the aftermath. last wednesday, january 29, american airlines flight 5342 travelling from wichita, kansas, to washington, d.c., and u.s. army aviation brigade priority air transport 25 collided over the potomac river near ronald reagan washington national. there were no survivors. this collision is the deadliest aviation incident america has witnessed in years. the pain experienced by family, frentsdzs and loved oneses of the victims. this loss is personal. it is kansas. this loss is personal. i've taken this flight many times. my wife and i have taken this flight, as have th

mr. moran. mr. moreno. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schiff. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. mr. sheehy. ms. slotkin. ms. smith. mr. sullivan. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. the presiding officer: a quorum is present. the ske is is it the sense of the senate that the debate on the nomination of russell vought of virginia to be director. office of management and budget shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. ms. baldwin. mr. banks. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. >> thank you, mr. chairman, ranking member, members of the esteemed committee for the opportunity to appear before you today. let me begin by thanking my girls who are now returning to the congressiona

mr. lutnick: absolutely. sen. moran: thank you, sir. chair cruz: thank you. senator markey. sen. markey: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. lutnick, welcome. on monday night president , trump's budget office issued a memo that directed agencies to cut off all federal spending. all federal spending. outside of payments to individuals. the trump administration issued this order even though the spending was authorized and appropriated by congress, and intended to benefit the american people. a bargain was struck here with the article i power of the purse. the benefit is supposed to flow to the american people. the freeze could affect semiconductor groups, broadband groups, fisheries, disaster relief, habitat conservation. all programs in the department of commerce. mr. let nick do you believe this , action by president was lawful? mr. lutnick: i rely on the president. if his advisers say it was, then i will rely on him. and his advisers. sen. markey: that is an unacceptable response, because this action has caused mass confusion, disrupted critical payment systems, and violated directly fe

mr. moran. mr. moreno. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla.mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schiff. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. plan is to help the wealthy get wealthier tax giveaways families paying the bill. how massive giveaways going to be paid for? slashing services to families and families try to get on their feet so they can thrive and get to the middle-class. great betrayal. today we will consider russell the office of management and the budget really the place for this campaign is coordinated. we will hear very different ideas have to take our country forward. from my friends across the aisle will hear we need to continue to give massive tax giveaways to the wealthiest americans and we will hear how nonpartisan expertise that makes our country run smoothly should be replaced by those with political loyalty and how programs that assist the environment or unions organizing working people should be replaced by programs that serve big corporations and make billionai

. >> thank you senator moran from the great state of kansas. >> thank you mr.irman of south dakota. [laughter] we go back and forth as to the number one we producing state kansas or north dakota on a regular basis. we work together a lot. let me acknowledge all of our witnesses here today. i do want to thank you for being here almost panel, we have mr. nathan read who is on the board of directors for the national council from marianne arkansas. mr. kenneth hartman junior, president of the national corn growers association. thank you for being here, mr. keith felty, thank you for being here. president, national association growers from altus oklahoma. not north dakota arkansas. we been bragging about our wheat, are you close to the kansas border? >> i'm in southwest oklahoma. >> okay. mr. chris ingalls died president of the national barley growers association from fertile minnesota, i certainly know where that is. amy france chair of the national sorghum producer scott city kansas. josh y introduced a minute ago mr. garrett moore, member of the u.s. peanut feder

moran. no, sorry. senator baldwin. sen. baldwin: thank you, mr. lutnick, for your willingness to serve. i'm going to ask a more general question, then i want to dig into some of the details you have heard a little bit about from my colleagues. the department of commerce does significant work to ensure that u.s. companies are able to compete with china. and drive -- it also does a lot of work to drive innovation in america. i want to ask very broadly, how will you utilize the programs within the commerce department? including those authorized by the bipartisan ships and science act, to promote american innovation? mr. lutnick: for the example, we want to bring semi conductors back to america. we want to look at the supply chain and bring that back to america. we want to create those great jobs so we can go back to innovating, which is where we began, right? intel began with chips, right? and then the world sort of leveraged our chips. tsmc leveraged us and took it from us. and who drove them? apple. who is apple? it is america. we want to bring that innovation back and make sure our grea

mr. collins: i appreciate the things they're already keeping me up at night -- i preached you giving me more. sen. king: i commend you for your participation this morning. chair moran let me just try to wrap up my thoughts and questions to you. i would tell you that we work closely with the inspector general at the department of veterans affairs. i find him valuable to me and this committee, but should be valuable to the department of veterans affairs. anything you want to say in regard to utilization of inspector generals and how the department will respond? mr. collins: when i was ranking member of the house judiciary this was one of the issues we dealt with. inspector general play a vital role. we can come to a conclusion because of having other eyes on a situation. i believe in grabbing a lot of input and then making decisions. if you are having input from inspector general looking out for the best interest of the v.a. -- chair moran: i did not mean to suggest you need to agree with the inspector general. i think the extra set of eyes is a way in investigations conducted that has value and gives us opportunity for oversight. the same oversight is what the secre