mr. johnson. mr. johnson: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wisconsin. mr. johnson: mr. president, i call for order. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. johnson: on june 15, 2009, president obama went to the american medical association to sell his health care plan to the doctors and the american people. president obama addressed the doctors and he said, i quote, "i know that there are millions of americans who are content with their health care coverage, that they like their plan and most importantly at he they value their relationship with their doctor. they trust you and that means no matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise to the american people: if you like your doctor, you'll be able to keep your doctor, period. if you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan, period. no one will take that away no matter what. now, mr. president, we all know unfortunately that promise has been broken. so many people who supported the bill made that similar promise. but politifact called that promise something el

mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm happy to yield to the gentleman from washington, mr. mcdermott, for a unanimous consent. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcdermott: thank the gentlelady from new york. i ask unanimous consent to enter into the record my remarks in opposition to this bill. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentlewoman from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm happy to yield two minutes to the gentlelady from ohio, ranking member of the energy and water subcommittee, ms. kaptur. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. ms. kaptur: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the ranking member for yielding me time. this week marks progress in the return to regular order. and although four months late and following the resignation of former speaker john lane bayner, a victim of republican gridlock, this critical funding legislation deserves passage to avoid another shutdown of the federal government. this congress must be disciplined and constructive and i thank chairman hal rogers of kentucky and r

mr. royce: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. engel. mr. royce: i yield to representative warlorski. war war i rise in strong support that will impose financial sanctions that knowingly engage in business with hezbollah. hezbollah is one of the world's largest most dangerous well funded terror organizations. trained, funded and deployed as a proxy of the iranian government with operations expanding several continents and have launched rockets at civilians. there is no question that hezbollah is stronger than ever. they have murdered americans, israelis, syrians and citizens of other nations. they have amassed an arsenal of advanced weaponry, including 150,000 rockets and missiles, made technological advances and gained battlefield experience in syria which has turned hezbollah into what could be israel's most dangerous enemy. it requires president obama report to congress on hezbollah's involvement in their drug business. money laundering and other criminal activities, all of which are critical to funding its terrorism. we cannot jeopardize

mr. levin: it's now my pleasure mr. levin: i yield to another distinguished person from michigan, the gentlelady from michigan, ms. dingle -- mrs. dingell. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. mrs. dingell: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise for the utmost respect for my colleague from michigan and agree with her on the need to address currency manipulation. mr. speaker, when the ways and means first began considering this bill, it represented a real opportunity to improve our system of trade and eliminate loopholes that allows foreign nations and bad actors to avoid our trade laws. currency manipulation is the number one trade abuse that must be addressed. unfortunately, this bill has become the christmas tree of the holiday season, and it's being used to put lipstick on a pig that's our current trade negotiations. it ties our negotiator hands and even negotiating common emission standards by restricting any consideration of climate issues, and it prevents them from negotiating immigration-related language as well. further, it weakens existing trade laws designed to prevent human trafficking. and

mr. cuellar, mr. flores, mr. conaway and mr. mccaul. this amendment is almost identical to h.r. 702 which passed the house floor on a strong bipartisan basis several months ago, 261 votes, i believe, was the -- those in favor of it. this is necessary because while we had hopped that h.r. 702 would be brought up in the other body as a stand-alone bill, it doesn't appear that's going to happen this session and so we want to try to put this on another vehicle that the senate may yet bring up. will also point out there are a number of larger bills in play that there's a possibility we'll try to attach it to those also. in any event, this amendment is true to the bill that was brought up on the house floor. it is identical with two exceptions. one, it does not have the maritime provision to provide some additional funding for our maritime merchant marine fleet, because that was not germane. not because we don't support it but it was not germane. and, two, we had a requirement that we do a study of the strategic petroleum reserve. that is no l

mr. toomey: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. toomey: thank you, mr. president. i am going to make a unanimous consent request, b but first i want to say a few words about the legislation about which the request pertains, and i want to thank my senate -- my colleague, senator bob casey, for joining me on this. it was back in 2014 that senator casey and i introduced the eric williams correctional officer protection act. it's a bipartisan bill, mr. president, and i.t. got a simple idea -- it's got a simple idea. the side to better enable those men and women who protect us every day by working as corrections officers, to better enable them to protect themselves in the very dangerous environments in which they go to work every day. amazingly enough, under the bureau of prison policy, prison guards are often placed on duty guarding large numbers of inmates by themselves, unarmed, and with no meaningful way to defend themselves. officer eric williams of wayne county, pennsylvania, paid the price for this policy. in february of 2013, eric williams was working alone in a

mr. speaker are mr. speaker. i now -- thank you, mr. speaker. i now yield four minutes to the gentlewoman from connecticut. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for our minutes. ms. delauro: mr. speaker, i rise in opposition to the trade facilitation and trade enforcement act or customs bill. this legislation has historically been a bipartisan bill. but the majority had politicized a customs legislation by adding several riders that would be hampleful -- harmful to our trade policy. the bill undermines our ability to address several of the most critical global issues that we face. climate change, human trafficking, and immigration. and it includes no meaningful method for dealing with one of the biggest causes of job loss and wage suppression in the united states, and that's currency manipulation. which has cost our nation over five million jobs. ironically, world leaders are concluding negotiations today in paris, at the largest climate summit in history. they are working hard to hash out an agreement that, as the sierra club h

mr. cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i'm astonished by the proposition of our friend, the senator from connecticut, that you can be on a secret watch list by the federal government and just by virtue of this secret listing of an individual on a government watch list, you can be denied some of your core constitutional rights without any necessity of the government establishing probable cause or produce any evidence that would justify the denial of a core constitutional right. and i guess if it's good enough to take the government's word by this list without proof or showing of probable cause to deny a citizen their constitutional rights under the second amendment, then i guess that's good enough to deny your right to worship according to the dictates of your conscience, freedom of speech, freedom of association, all of the other rights enumerated in the constitution. it's a -- it's an outrageous proposition. and i would say to my friend, if it is -- if these people are true -- on this government watch list are t

mr. chairman, i would yield -- mr. upton: mr. chairman, i would yield two minutes to the gentleman from georgia, mr. carter. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. carter: i thank the gentleman from michigan. mr. speaker, i rise today in support of h.r. 8, a bill that will help our nation rise to meet growing energy demands and challenges. our energy policy is incompatible with the current state of domestic energy supply and production. the united states is now the world's largest energy producer, but our energy infrastructure is woefully inadequate. we have the innovation and technology to safely expand the electric grid and pipeline systems, but administrative red tape has severely hindered these projects. as long as projects continue to languish for years in permitting processes, nobody can benefit from the cleaner energy resources they can provide. not only do we have to expand our energy infrastructure to ensure aliable and affordable energy, but our national security depends on secured energy resources a

mrs. torres: mr. speaker, i yield five minutes to mr. kildee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized for five minutes. mr. kildee: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank my colleague for yielding. look, this legislation is a homeland security bill. we have a number of these bills coming to the floor today. but it's hard to ignore the fact that there is a glaring weakness in what is being brought here to the floor when it comes to protecting the american people. right now, this very moment, an individual who is on the f.b.i. terror watch list could walk into any gun store and purchase the weapon of their choice. the american people understand this makes absolutely no sense. in the last 11 years, 2,000 people who are on the terror watch list, the terror watch list, have gone into purchase weapons. 91% of them have walked away with the weapon of their choice. inexplicably, a piece of legislation authorered by republican congressman peter king, is ready for this house to act on, that would close this ridiculous loop home. when i'

mr. cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i'm astonished by the proposition of our friend, the senator from connecticut, that you can be on a secret watch list by the federal government and just by virtue of this secret listing of an individual on a government watch list, you can be denied some of your core constitutional rights without any necessity of the government establishing probable cause or produce any evidence that would justify the denial of a core constitutional right. and i guess if it's good enough to take the government's word by this list without proof or showing of probable cause to deny a citizen their constitutional rights under the second amendment, then i guess that's good enough to deny your right to worship according to the dictates of your conscience, freedom of speech, freedom of association, all of the other rights enumerated in the constitution. it's a -- it's an outrageous proposition. and i would say to my friend, if it is -- if these people are true -- on this government watch list are t

mr. tomorrow slon: -- mr. thompson: mr. ker, request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to once again reinforce the importance of proper management of our nation's national forests. over the past two decades, timber harvest in the allegheny national forest have fallen dramatically. following a trend we have seen in national forests nationwide. this is a domino effect on communities and school districts in and around the forests because since 1908, counties and national forests, they are entitled to 25% of the receipts from the timber sales under the 1908 good neighbor compact. these are communities which were built on the lumber industry and natural resources. many are among the most rural, porous in -- poorest in pennsylvania and the funding from stimber sales is critical for schools, roads, something these towns, schools, districts depend on. due t

mr. davis: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. chairman. mr. speaker, article 1, section 8 of the u.s. constitution grants this body with the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several states as well as the power to establish post offices and post roads. maintaining and improving our nation's infrastructure is an important constitutional responsibility that we as members of this body have, which is exactly why, when i told voters what i wanted to do when i came to washington was to work together in a bipartisan fashion to address issues just like this transportation bill is going to address. what does this bill mean to the voters in central illinois who sent me here? it means about 0% of all the road projects funded in my state of illinois are funded by federal dollars. the vision that's been laid out in this bill, and we can argue about the pay-fors, whether they're not perfect, but we can also show the american people that we can work together to rebuild our nation's crumbling infrastructure. i'm confident that as so

mr. polis: i'd like to inquire if the gentleman has remaining speakers? mr. cole: i'm prepared to close. mr. polis: i yield myself the rest of the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado is recognized for the remainder of his time. 3 1/4 minutes. mr. polis: mr. speaker, even after we pass this continuing resolution today, we'll still be five days away from a government shutdown. that's no way to run the greatest, freest, most prosperous country on the face of the earth. we agree on so many of the issues, mr. speaker. i urge my colleagues stop the partisan games. we have shown in recent weeks we can produce good bipartisan legislation when we just put the controversial, divisive, poison pills on the side. look at what we accomplished in transportation and education. let's continue that trend. let's drop the ideological wish list for another time and pass the spending bill without the last-minute hysterics and partisan riders. in recent weeks americans have witnessed two senseless horrific mass shootings, one very near to my district in colorado that took three lives. and a

mr. rogers, the -- and mr. brady on our side of their -- terparts, mrs. lowey and mr. shuster. i hate to admit it, but the name of the ranking member of ways and means -- mr. levin. excuse me. one of my favorite members. with that, mr. speaker, i'll yield back my time but i do want to end with one note. i want to join my friend, my valued colleague on the rules committee, and our joint hope we do not meet again in that context. i want to wish him and his family a merry christmas and all those in this institution and congratulate all involved in this on a job well-done. a hard deal, a long negotiation, but one where each side worked together. with that i yield back. move the previous question on the resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is on ordering the previous question on the resolution. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i ask for the yeas and nays, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those f

mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. sullivan: mr. president, i appreciate my colleague from delaware and his willing misto work on this important issue. you know, the coast guard reauthorization bill -- this passed out of the commerce committee unanimously back in april. and, you know, we talk a lot about national security here on the senate floor. very important. we talk about our men and women in uniform, how they're protecting us. but i've always liked to mention the men and women of the coast guard. you know, prior to 9/11, you could make a very strong argument that the coast guard was probably the only uniformed service whose members were risking their lives for americans day in, day out every single day. i think a lot of their heroism goes unnoticed. and, trust me, in alaska we see it daily. the coast guard admirably performs a variety of missions on a daily basis throughout our great nation with a team of less than 90,000 members comprised of active duty, reserve, civilian, and volunteer forces and an annual budget of less than

mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm happy to yield to the gentleman from washington, mr. mcdermott, for a unanimous consent. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcdermott: thank the gentlelady from new york. i ask unanimous consent to enter into the record my remarks in opposition to this bill. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentlewoman from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm happy to yield two minutes to the gentlelady from ohio, ranking member of the energy and water subcommittee, ms. kaptur. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. ms. kaptur: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the ranking member for yielding me time. this week marks progress in the return to regular order. and although four months late and following the resignation of former speaker john lane bayner, a victim of republican gridlock, this critical funding legislation deserves passage to avoid another shutdown of the federal government. this congress must be disciplined and constructive and i thank chairman hal rogers of kentucky and r

mrs. lowey each will control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from kentucky, mr. rogers. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, may we have order? the speaker pro tempore: the ouse will be in order. he house will be in order. the the gentleman from kentucky. mr. rogers: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. rogers: i rise today to present amendment number 1 to the senate amendment to h.r. 2029, the fiscal year 2016 consolidated appropriations act, legislation that will fund the federal government for the rest of this fiscal year. this funding measure provides $1.149 trillion for critical government programs and services. this is the level agreed to in the bipartisan budget act of 2015, which was enacted last month. this funding meets the $548 billion defense and $518 billion nondefense base budget caps. the omnibus contains full year appropriations for each of the 12 annual appropriations bills. weighing priorities and funding levels carefully to prevent waste and promote an effective federal government. the bill targets funding toward our

mr. rogers: mr. speaker, i yield three minutes to the chairman of our defense subcommittee, mr. frelinghuysen. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. chairman, thank you for the time and for your leadership and support and that of ms. pelosi for our men and women in uniform wherever they serve. in the wake of paris and san bernardino, the american people are deeply concerned about their security. they wonder how and where the next attack will occur and they are turning to us to protect them. in an increasingly dangerous world, the defense and intelligence portions of this act proride funding for our armed force -- provide funding for our armed forces in our intelligence community to confront multiple threats we face across the world. what some have described as a long war against extremism. this measure includes a global war on terrorism title, overseas contingency operations to ensure our military is agile, lethal, and ready to address these threats and theft strength and capability to defeat the rise of many islamic terrorist groups worldwide and deter po

mr. president. with that, i yield the floor. mr. hatch: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: i ask unanimous consent that i be permitted to complete these remarks and they be placed in the appropriate place in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. hatch: mr. president, last week families across the nation gathered in gratitude to sel celebrate thing thanksgiving. with humble appreciation we venerate the sacrifice of america's he recalliest settlers. we remember their fortitude, leaving home to colonize a new wilderness, facing disease, starruation and even death. these brave men and women endured tremendous hardships to secure the blessings of liberty, freedom of religion so precious and prized by our forebearers is the legacy we enjoy as a result of their sacrifice. today i wish to honor the programs' legacy by speaking -- the pilgrims' legacy by speaking on the topic of religious liberty. i have addressed this subject at length and in so doing i have explained the critical spurnes e critical importa

mr. mr. lee: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator utah. mr. lee: is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: the senate is not in a quorum call. mr. lee: mr. president, i rise today to pay tribute to governor olene walker, utah's 15th governor, who passed away on saturday, november 28, 2015, at the age of 85. she was the first woman to serve as utah's governor, worked as lieutenant governor for over 11 year, and was a member of the utah legislature for eight years. olene walker will be remembered and revered by utahans not because of the many firsts she pioneered in politics but for her commitment to leave a legacy of public and, more importantly, private service based on principles that truly last. olene's life and year were centered ond principle on princf service and making a difference between civil discourse and meaningful dying log. governor the governor believed that the best way to open a mind was by reading a book. she launched her read with a child program, focusing on adults to read with a child for 20 minutes a day. she k

mr. shuster: and i want to thank mr. capuano, mr. denham and mr. defazio. i think mr. capuano said it accurately, this is what transportation and infrastructure bills should be coming to the floor in a bipartisan way because this is good for america. nothing to do with republicans or democrats. but what's good for the american people and the american economy and the surface transportation board is the federal economic regulator of the freight system. since it was passed, i believe mr. capuano mentioned, our freight rail system is the envy of the world. it's strong and vibrant. it does a great job, but this s.t.b. re-authorization and making some of the significant changes i know is going to be beneficial to everybody. mr. denham kicked off a list of different stakeholders, people that utilize the rail that are in favor of this and they sat down and worked it out. it will allow them to run efficiently and improve the nation's economy. i'm not going to go through all the description as mr. capuano did a great job of that. giving them authority that is going to streamline

mr. connally: mr. president, i rise today -- mr. donnelly: i rise today to honor the service and sacrifice of indiana service members and their families and all americans who served during the vietnam war, as this year marks the 40th anniversary of the end of that war. mr. donnelly: here's a picture from the indiana historical society of some of the amazing americans who served during that time. tens of thousands of hoosiers bravely answered the call, and they volunteered or were drafted to serve in vietnam in almost every single capacity you could think of. bravely and sadly, 1,243 hoosier soldiers gave their lives in service to our country in vietnam. in vietnam, our vets endured 100-plus-degree heat, monsoon rains, snake-infested rice paddy fields, staggering conditions, incredibly dangerous situations. our service members would rather have been home in terre haute or richmond or indy or evansville or fort wayne, but they served because they love their country and they answered when our nation called them, and their answer was cou

mr. cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i'd ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, yesterday i spent a few minutes talking about the accomplishments of the 114th congress and what i've discovered is if we don't talk about them, nobody else does. people have become so cynical about washington that -- and really distressed in so many ways -- and i can certainly understand why -- that it's important for us to point out a few of the simple facts, not that we've -- not that we've completely turned this battleship around but that we have made some incremental progress under the leadership that the american people put in charge last november. the republican leadership in the house and senate. obviously with the president of the opposite party. so under the constitution, the president still has a vote. he's got a veto pen and he's not irrelevant. but not withstanding the fact that we've got some well-publicized differences with the

mr. president. i yield the floor. mr. inhofe: mr. president? the presiding officer: the 12340r frothesenator from oklah. mr. inhofe: i just want to address very briefly the comments that were made by one of the senators earlier on how bad this bill is. i think it's important for us to understand that shows you how difficult a bill like this is, because you're facing things and accusations -- it's the kind of thing that people want to believe, but it is just not true. and we don't have the things that sound good -- you know, the export-import bank, i agree. that's something i had to sexul loavment i opposed the bank every opportunity i've had for the last 20 years. yet this is a huge bism this is the largest bill in 17 years. and the most important part of this to me is those who criticize it fail to realize that when we take an oath of office, we hold up our hand, every senator does, to uphold the constitution of the united states, it says in there in the constitution, the only two things that we are mandated to do in article 1, section 8, is

mr. hatch: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: mr. president, now that votes are concluded and we have successfully passed our legislation granting tax relief to millions of americans, i want to take a you fao minutes to express my -- a few minutes to express my gratitude. this has been a very long and sometimes difficult process, but it has at almost every step been bipartisan and cooperative. i think the results speak for themselves. this legislation, the path act, will help families and job creators grow our economy. this legislation will show businesses -- it will allow businesses and run-of-the-mill taxpayers to more effectively plan for their future. this legislation will pave the way for comprehensive tax reform, and this legislation will relieve the pressures we face every year on tax extenders and end the cliff for crisis mentality that surrounds much of our tax policy. it is quite simply a win for good government. the last of many we've enjoyed in what has been a very productive year here in the senate. i'm so pleased to have

mr. mccarthy. mr. mccarthy: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is correct. the house will be in order. members, please take their conversations off the floor. mr. mccarthy: before we get started, i'd like to discuss the matter of deep importance to the gentleman, myself, a dear friend, john stepacitic. he's a trusted aide for many years on this floor and he will be departing us. he wants to spend more time with his wife, kristen, and their new baby, lucy grace. and i'd like to thank him for his service to this country and the service to this conference and i know he's a good friend, also, to the gentleman across and i'd like to yield back to you. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman forr: ihank the gentleman for yielding. mr. speaker, as we all know the public's perception, because that's what's covered most is the confrontation between the parties, the differences that we have. but one thing that is a reality that the public should feel good about is, a, they have extraordinarily good staffers. staffers who are

mr. menendez: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: mr. president, first of all, i want to thank the distinguished senator democrat on the energy and natural resources committee which has jurisdiction over the territories, including pp, for her -- including puerto rico, for her advocacy, her strengths and passion in this effort and her work. as well as my colleague from florida who has always joined me on issues on puerto rico and has always been a strong voice for the island. i would hope to prick the conscience of the senate about the 3.5 million united states citizens who just happen to live in the island of puerto rico. you know, and to do something before this crisis transforms into a full-blown human catastrophe. now, these 3.5 million americans who call puerto rico home have a long history with the united states. over 200,000 of them have served in every conflict since world war 1 and worn the uniform of the united states. over 20,000 of them currently wear the uniform of the united states and put their lives at risk for the safety a

mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: i call up my amendment number 2876. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: the senator from washington, mrs. murray, for herself and mr. wyden, proposes an amendment numbered 2876 to amendment numbered 2874. mrs. murray: i ask further reading be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i think we can all agree there is a lot of work that needs to be done in this congress. priorities like continuing to improve health care for our families, creating jobs, boosting wages, expanding economic security for workers and making higher education more affordable and accessible, just to name a few. but unfortunately, instead of working with democrats to focus on those challenges, the ones that families face every day, far too many republicans have doubled down on a favorite past time. attacking women's health and rights in order to pander to their extreme base. i'm very proud to be on the

mr. watt, mr. cordray and mr. curry, i assume you agree that these prudential rules and other reforms have improved safety and soundness and if you agree with that general proposition, raise your hand. all of you agree these new prudential rules enhance safety and soundness. a follow-up question, do you believe that the benefits of these new prudential rules outweigh potentially the cost to international competitiveness? given that we have higher standards than that internationally? okay, most of you agree with that. when combined with volcker, financial institutions seem to be making a couple of changes and the regulations are producing a couple results. one is that there's a migration of activities out of heavily regulated banks and into much less regulated non-bank financial firms, the so-called shadow banking system and i want you to address that. but also there is much talk about illiquidity in the markets, institutions dropping certain products and services, pulling back from market-making functions critical

mr. carney this afternoon, mr. tonko. and mr. what mr. tonko says, we believe there was an error made somewhere. and that the powers that be, as soon as they get around to doing this, will want this done. if we could have some idea that we could get this on to the floor. is there an amendment? maybe we can do some good with it tomorrow is what we would like to see. but it's awful to leave this out. you mentioned geothermal. which is making a great comeback up in my part of the state. schools now have fuel cells and geothermal. we're building houses with it. and we shouldn't stop that great innovation and ability to explore that further. it would be very important to me and i think to most of the people from our parts of coal country up there. to have this go on. >> good. >> thank you. and thank you. >> thank you. thank you very much to the members of the committee. >> absolutely. >> and the chair. >> and i apologize. i did not see you slip back in. >> oh, i didn't. i came in about five miles an hour so that i could. and i knew you would be

mr. cardin: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i had the opportunity of heading a delegation this past weekend of ten senators that went to paris for the cop-21 talks. that's the climate change talks that are taking place in paris. i was very proud of our delegation consisting of senator whitehouse, senator franken, senator markey, senator merkley, senator udall, senator shaheen, senator booker and senator schatz. all of us participated in the meetings that took place in paris. we were impressed that 150 leaders of the world at one time were in paris and showed their support for a successful outcome on climate change and to express their urgency for dealing with this issue. it was i think a strong follow-up to the challenge pope francis gave all of us as to the moral challenge of our time to protect our planet for future generations. we recognize that our global health is at stake with the meetings in paris. whether we're talking about in our own individual states and i could talk about the people in smith island as they

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, the senior senator from arizona came to the floor this morning and raised a question about a provision in the omnibus appropriation bill, particularly that aspect relating to the department of defense. during the course of raising the issue, the senior senator from arizona used my name on the floor repeatedly. it was refreshing and i'm relieved. the senior senator from arizona has not attacked me on the floor for three weeks, and i was fearful that he's feeling under the weather, but clearly he's in fine form and feels good, and i welcome him back to the floor for another attack on me personally. so let's talk about the issue that he raised because it's complicated but extremely important when it comes to the defense of the united states. here's what it boils down to. in the early 2000's, there were two companies making rockets that launched satellites. the

mrs. mountchessington: i am aware, mr. trenchard. [audience laughter]. mrs. chessington: you are not used to the manners of good society and that, alone, will excuse the impertinence of which you have been guilty. asa trenchard: don't know the manners of good society, eh? well, i guess i know enough to turn you inside out, old woman; you damned old sockdologizing. [gunshot]. john wilkes booth: sic semper tyrannis! sic semper tyrannis! maj. rathbone: stop that man! clara harris: stop him! john wilkes booth: let me pass! let me pass! fanny seward: murder! help! murder! john wilkes booth: give me that horse, boy! [horse neighs] john wilkes booth: go. william bell: murder! stop that man! murderer! tom hanks: john wilkes booth has less than 12 days to live. no matter where you look, you won't find another small commercial van that can fit more, carry more weight, and yet go farther on a tank of gas than the ram promaster city. hurry in to your ram dealer for details on all current incentives. feel free to be yourself all day.... just switch from denture paste to se

mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. corker: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. corker: mr. president, as we continue consideration of the omnibus, i rise today to applaud the inclusion of language i coauthored with senator mark warner that will ensure the fate of mortgage giants fannie mae and freddie mac. their fate will be determined by congress, and this language makes crystal clear that this body does not support efforts to return the failed model of private gains and public losses. as we wrap up our legislative business of 2015, i'm also here to remind my colleagues that there is much work to be done in the new year to finally address the last unfinished business of the 2008 financial crisis. prior to the crisis, mortgage giants fannie mae and freddie mac were publicly traded. they benefited from an implicit government guarantee which meant any up side went to the company. but as we saw at the height of the financial crisis, the down side of this structure fell on the taxpayers, and it fell hard. in sept

mr. enzi: i yield the floor. mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: i call up my amendment number 2876. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: the senator from washington, mrs. murray, for herself and mr. wyden, proposes an amendment numbered 2876 to amendment numbered 2874. mrs. murray: i ask further reading be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i think we can all agree there is a lot of work that needs to be done in this congress. priorities like continuing to improve health care for our families, creating jobs, boosting wages, expanding economic security for workers and making higher education more affordable and accessible, just to name a few. but unfortunately, instead of working with democrats to focus

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. reid: mr. president, as the republican leader mentioned, last night the senate and house leaders finalized a bipartisan compromise. i said last night -- according to how you define "last night" -- the last e-mail i got was at 2:45 this morning from my chief of staff, who was one of the negotiators. anyhow, sometime in the dark in the bill was finalized. when i say "the bill," it's really two bills. it extends important tax policies for american businesses and families. this was not an easy process. members worked weeks to craft in agreement. mr. president, i mentioned yesterday and i say again today, i appreciate the cooperation, the expertise, and all the good work done by speaker ryan, leader pelosi, senator mcconnell and their staffs. i underscore and underline what my chief of staff, drew willison did. this is a good compromise. mr. president, the presiding officer not being a lon longtime member of congress, knows that no legislation is perfect. this is good legislation. this is truly the a

mr. speaker, she knows who she is. [laughter] >> mr. speaker, if he won't listen, perhaps he'll listen to someone who has written in. i have here a letter. [shouting] [laughter] >> mr. speaker, mr. speaker. [laughter] and he writes uncertainty about the future of uk and european unions is a destabilizing factor [shouting] >> since the conservative party announced policy on the referendum we have received into this country because we built a strong economy, that's because we stand for britain's interest abroad and we have made a competitive place to grow and build a business, but, look, someone called tony has been writing today happens to be the most successful labour leader in history and describing the labour party as a complete tragedy at the moment. and i suggest that she asks some serious questions about the health service, the economy, about social care, she can ask any of these questions, she's got one more question, let's hear it. [shouting] >> mr. speaker, i prefer this quote from tony, five more years and you feel reason repulse by what they've done to our country. [shouting] >> mr. speaker, mr. speaker, we all know that the chancellor is so preoccupied w

mr. o'rourke. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. ecretary, to go back to some comments and questions that you answered earlier. if we are in fact at war, how will we know when we have won? >> the destruction of isil entails their expulsion from any territory they claim to occupy, and their destruction elsewhere around the world, including their various branches and so forth. that's what's needed. >> so as long as isil is in iraq or syria or libya or afghanistan or anywhere else in the world, we will still be at war? >> i believe that in today's world, these threats areg&dvz difficult to confine to one place. and that is the reason why we have to go there and why we have to go to syria and iraq and strike at it and strike at other places where it is. it's in the nation of today's world, mobility among peoples. you see that underlying this. and above all, mobility of information, which can radicalize people who have never gone anywhere except on their keyboard. >> i think it's important, if we are at war, to define in the clearest, mos

mr. chairman. >> thank the gentlelady. mr. turner. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, i know you're aware of the fact that there have been allegations that intelligence officials at sent couple have secured findings on the isis war to please their superiors and to please those in washington. i'm holding a daily beast article from november 23rd. it says analysts accused sent couple of covering up sent couple intelligence. and inspector general is looking into sent couple's perhaps cooking the intelligence to make the picture more rosy than what is occurring. and goes on to have a concern that in fact, e-mails and documents may have been deleted before they were turned over to investigators concerning the sent com. the chairman of the intelligence committee said to the inspector general a letter about those documents having been deleted. now, i have also attended the classified portions of briefings of this committee. and you said you can only go so far into this hearing. some of this -- i can only tell you what's unclassified. but you say we are gathering mome

mr. chairman, in response mr. secretary n response to your last two points, one on the funding, we just received the request last week but you know it's as a result of the absolute failure of the expenditure of what was judged then to be $43 million and four or five people were trained. we don't want to approve of something like that again. if you want that kind of funding we want to know what the plan is and we don't want to see repetition, well, we have four or five less. we have an obligation to the taxpayers. on the nominees there's four pending before the united states senate and there's four more who will be having hearings this afternoon which takes care of half of yours and i'm not going to waste the time and the committee to go back and forth about threats of vetoes that -- and the view of the majority of this committee were totally unjustified on the part of the president including the failure still, still despite your appearance in my office with the president's countererertism person that you are going to send me a plan, you were going to send this committee a plan on the closure of guantanamo. we still haven't gotten a plan. so if you're a little bit concerned about lack of movement, i've been concerned about the movement on guantanamo in the last seven years. we will be having a hearing this afternoon on -- on the four additional ones. so -- >> thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate that. >> mr. secretary on the first of december congressman asked general dunford, have we currently contained isil, general dunford, we have not contained isil. mr. secretary, do you agree with general dunford? >> i agree with what general dunford said, yes. >> so if we have not -- we have not contained isil, how are we to know -- believe that we are succeeding against isil? >> i think that we are building momentum against isil, i'm going to be very careful about describing, describe it had trajectory of that success all around iraq and syria. some actions we're taking in libya. it's not my principal responsibility but i met with director of the fbi t director of national intelligence and other initials to talk about what we could do more to strengthen the defense of the home lan as the department of defense, but as our principal responsibility, i described the action that is we have taken and i think they are building momentum. >> thank you, how long do you t

mr. rogers: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the distinguished chairman of the agriculture committee, mr. conaway of texas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. conaway: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank the chairman and chairman aderholt for the consideration they gave. they were kind in that consideration. we certainly appreciate that. mr. speaker, we heard reasons why to vote for this bill. defense spending, lifting the ban on crude oil. let me add one other aspect and that's the repeal of the country of origin labeling requirements that are currently in law. by repealing this, we help american producers avoid almost a -- excess of $1 billion of retaliatory measures that mexico and canada are spring loaded to begin applying against american production. this repeal avoids that. mr. speaker, in my view this adds additional weight why i'm supporting this bill. i ask they look at the defense spending, crude oil ban and repealing of coal as reason why to support this bill and move it to the senate and the president's desk. i ask my colleagues to support

mr. norcross of new jersey. the chair: the gentleman from new jersey, mr. norcross and a member opposed each will control five minutes. mr. norcross: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. norcross: i appreciate the chairman and ranking member for bringing this bill to us. as we know and the title indicates, energy security. well, my amendment is very simple and direct. we are urging and specifically telling and directing the secretary of energy to study the tential cybersecurity on smartmeters and report back in one year. what is a smartmeter? for the consumer it is the box by their panel which provides savings to the consumer and to the utility it's about providing energy.ure and reliable these meters were designed back before the world as we know it today. we have to think of things very differently and think of them before they happen. what are the risks? the g.a.o. revealed the vulnerabilities in these smart meters. 40 million to 50 million that are installed on hospitals, churches, homes, industry that could potentially be a target for hackers. the c.i.a. spoke about

mr. chaffetz: i do have an additional speaker. i'm pleased to yield to the gentleman from wyoming, mr. -- to the gentlewoman from wyoming, mrs. lummis. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. lummis: i want to thank majority leader kevin mccarthy for bringing this bill to the floor tonight so we can see this through before the end of the calendar year. i'm proud to join my friend, jackie speier, my friend from california, and other house colleagues, as well as senator diane feinstein and my senator hense of iend, mike wyoming. e stamp says, qund the fight -- fund the fight, find a cure. that's why we're here. this is a budget neutral way to fund critical research to treat and hopefully one day cure this disease. mr. speaker, i rise today in proud support of the breast cancer research stamp re-authorization act of 2015. to have over $80 million raised since 1998 from this stamp for breast cancer research and have it be budget neutral is a wonderful way to acknowledge the importance of what we can do as private citizens once the government authorizes and empowers us to fund research through something we woul

mr. shirley: i will have to take a moment on that one. [laughter] mr. lamb: is it an enemy list? mr. irley: no, but it's an unofficial list. an "not"not--it's welcome list." mr. lamb: he never spoke at harvard. why? itsshirley: it's anniversary took place during the presidency. he was invited to the commencement, but not presented with an honorary degree. it is perfunctory that they present them with a degree. they wanted him to speak, but no degree. the white house told harvard to off.p [laughter] mr. lamb: you say that there was a difference between the ordinary people of the country and the elites. it's like what the supreme court justice said about pornography, it's hard to define, but i know when i see it . there's a greater disconnected a than there ever has been. maybe it started with the reagan funeral. there's a greater disconnect, today, i think between the american people and their corporate leaders and political leaders. there's a corporate, political elite. the bank bailouts. so many issues with the american people are on one side and the political and governing elites ar

mrs. shaheen: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mrs. shaheen: mr. president, i come to the floor to join my colleagues because i also believe we should keep guns out of the hands of terrorists. now, i don't think that applies to law-abiding citizens, but i think it does apply to terrorists. i've been a strong supporter of the second amendment. in new hampshire, we have a rich tradition of safe and legal firearm ownership. we have a rich tradition of hunting and sportsmen's activities. but like most granite staters, i also support pragmatic and sensible ways to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people who would threaten this country while also protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens. that's what we're discussing here today. we have put forward commonsense legislation that adheres to a pretty simple principle. if you're not allowed on a plane because you're on a no-fly list because you're suspected of threatening the country, then you should not be allowed to buy a gun. i want to repeat what senator schumer said because i think people don't

mr. president. mr. alexander: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: mr. president, if in a few minutes we'll be voting on the nomination -- the president's nominee nag of travis mcdonough to fill the vacancy on the eastern district of tennessee. mr. mcdonough is well-known to me, especially well-known to senator corker, my colleague. he received his undergraduate degree in suwanee before going on to law school at vanderbilt. he was the member of a prominent chattanooga law firm, chief of staff to chattanooga's mayor. we're fortunate he is willing to serve and we're forenational the president has nominated him. and i urge my colleagues to vote for him. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. mr. president, i yield back all time. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. question occurs on the mcdonough nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: have all senators voted? does any senator wish to change their vote? on this nomination, the a

mr. cornyn: i yield the floor. mr. isakson: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. perdue: mr. president, i have spoken at length about how our debt crisis and our global crisis are interconnected. before i speak today, though, i want to thank the senator from texas for his leadership this year as we did get the senate back to regular order, and i know we have much to do, but i appreciate his leadership as whip and as a fellow colleague. thank you. today, mr. president, i rise to speak about how this overlap between our debt crisis and our global security crisis impacts the future of a vital air force asset. the joint surveillance target attack radar system or j-stars as they call it. i just finished with team j-stars to hear about their critical role. we made a visit and we talked about how their role affects our national security and our national defense in countering the global security crisis we face. i've also seen in iraq and afghanistan firsthand how this platform is absolutely vital to protect our forces on

mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, late last month president barack obama signed into law the national defense authorization act of 2015, otherwise known as the ndaa. included in the legislation was language directing the united states department of defense to study a mental health assessment for all incoming military recruits. this assessment would then be used as a base line throughout the service careers of our service men and women. this was included in the medical evaluation parity for service members which i introduced earlier this year. i believe this assessment is essential in addressing the suicide epidemic which has affected our military members and veterans over the past several years. mr. speaker, when it comes to the suicide within the ranks of our american heroes, this body has commissioned studies, have been implemented by the department of defense in the past, and we found that the -- over 60% of those individuals who attempt or commit suicide while serving in the military, it was not their firs