mr. murray. mr. frye you are recognized for five minutes. >> chairman kaufman, ranking member customer and members of the sub-committee, thank you for inviting me testify today. you just heard about the illegal purchases of billions of dollars of v.a. care over multiple years. you are not not now confused. >> would be surprised. would you be completely confused if i were not familiar with the fakes. with do not intend to admit our affairs of public confused. there is confusion, inconsistent application and conflicting interpretations. as v.a. seniors we have had many years to correct these conflicting interpretations. there are conflicting interpretations of the law. here are some facts. in october of 2012 a senior official advised me there was conflicting interproetations. [ inaudible ]. on 2012 i began a personal inquiry into the matter. i sent this official and a subordinate hoping for additional information, he declined to respond. on december 3rd i sent a note to a senior executive requesting a

mr. murray. mr. frye, you are recognized for five minutes. >> chairman kaufman, ranking member custer and members of the subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to testify today. you just heard mr. murray provide the department's position on the illegal purchases of billions of dollars of non-v.a. care. if you're not confused, i would be surprised. i would be completely confused if i were not familiar with the facts. we obviously do not intend to admit our collective failures in leadership and stewardship of public funds. mr. murray stated there was and is confusion inconsistent application and conflicting interpretations. as v.a. senior leaders we have had many years to correct these deficiencies. mr. murray also stated there were conflicting interpretations of the law. here's some facts that may help you decide if conflicting interpretations exist. in october, 2012 a very senior vh official informed me trouble was looming as they had been violating law on a wholesale basis with regards to purchase

mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president i ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment to call up the franken amendment number 2093 and the kaine amendment 2118 en bloc. the presiding officer: without objection, the clerk shall report. 2093 and -- the clerk: the senator from washington mrs. murray proposes amendments for others amendment 2193 and 2118. mr. alexander: mr. president i ask unanimous consent that at 5:30 on monday, july 13 the senate vote on the following amendments with no second-degree amendments in order to any of the amendments prior to the votes -- hatch 2080, kaine 2118. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from nebra

mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senator from new jersey, senator booker, follow my remarks on the floor. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mrs. murray: since our nation's founding, the idea of a strong public education for every child has been a part of the fabric of america because when all students have the chance to learn, we strengthen our future work force our country grows stronger and we empower the next generation of americans to lead the world. a good education can provide a ticket to the middle class so improving education is an important part of what it means to grow our economy from the middle out not from the top down. today marks the first day of debate on our bipartisan bill to strengthen our education system by reauthorizing the nation's k-12 education law the elementary and secondary education act or esea. this is a chance to recommit huer self

mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: thank you mr. president. mr. president, at zilla high school in my home state of washington jeff sharbenow who teaches science and engineering classes, nearly half of the students in his school are struggling with poverty or coming from low-income background. despite the challenges poverty can present for our students, jeff and his colleagues engage their students and work tirelessly to help them succeed and that dedication paid off. zilla high school graduates more than 95% of its seniors and jeff was named national teacher of the year a couple of years ago. but despite all of that success today jeff's school is labeled as failing. the reason? last year washington state lost its waiver from no child left behind requirements, and that means most of the schools in my home state are listed as failing. mr. president, that's not fair to teachers like jeff who pour their energy into making sure students can succeed

mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: thank you mr. president. i want to thank my colleague the senior senator from tennessee, for working with me on this bipartisan bill. senator alexander and i are both committed to fixing the current law known as no child left behind. i'm glad we're having this very important debate on the senate floor. mr. president, nearly everyone agrees that no child left behind is badly broken, and as i have traveled around my home state of washington over the past decade, i've heard from so many of my constituents from teachers in the classroom to moms in the grocery store to tech company c.e.o.'s, that we have got to fix this law. our bipartisan bill, the every child achieves act, is a good step in the right direction. it gives our states more flexibility while also including federal guard rails to make sure all students do have access to a high-quality public education and i'm looking forward to improve and strengthen t

mrs. murray: mr. president i ask unanimous consent to vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: thank you mr. president. mr. president, our nation had always held the ideal of providing education for all but a half century ago we put that ideal into action with the elementary and secondary education act or e.s.e.a. -- or esea. that law aimed to close education gaps between rich and poor black and white kids from rural areas and kids from big cities. today we are debating an amendment to strengthen accountability in our bill to reauthorize esea to do even more to make sure schools are delivering on the promise of quality and equality to every student in america. across the country, too many schools today have failed too too many of our children for too long and that has got to change. now our bipartisan bill removes the unrealistic goals and one-size-fits-all mandates of no child left behind, but we still have strong accountability without going back to those requi

mr. murray give explanation why. so -- >> well i think part of it is that, it always comes back to the same issues no matter what you're, what program you're reviewing in va. the data is often insufficient. the awed mated systems they have in many cases cannot produce the kinds of things they need. and it comes down to a lack of oversight. both at the local level and at the head quarters level, and time and time again, the claims processing problems we found on the emergency care for -- for non-service-connected veterans, same thing. >> the problem is that you there will be no overall cultural shift at the va unless there is meaningful oversight, whether talking about this issue or about how whistle-blowers are treated, or anything else. and that's really at the heart of the problem. isn't it? >> comes down to accountability, and it's not there. >> thank you, mr. williamson. i yield back, mr. chair. >> thank you ms. rice. mr. lamborn, you're recognized for five minutes. >> thank you mr. chairman rch and i appreciate

mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president, the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. under the previous order there are now four minutes equally divided between senators alexander and murray. mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mr. alexander: mr. president the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: will the senate come to order. take your conversations outside. the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president i first want to thank chairman alexander for working with me on the every child achieves act. he has been a great partner in getting us to this point with this bill. this process started when he andary agreed that no child left behind is badly broken and need to be fixed. our bill, the yeeferredz act is an important step forward to do just that. the current law overemphasized test scores. our bill will give states flexibility to use multiple measures not just test scores, to determine how well a school is performing.

mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president, i am delighted to join the senator from maine on the floor today to talk about this critical infrastructure program called tiger. she and i have worked together for many years on transportation infrastructure, and i so appreciate her leadership and her tremendous enthusiasm in making sure that our country does the right thing. it's a delight to be here today with her as well as my colleague from rhode island for coming out and talking about a program that we created several years ago that has been so effective. we all know that investing in our nation's infrastructure is a critical part of broad-based and long-term economic growth. and as you can see today this is not a partisan issue. democrats and republicans agree infrastructure investments get workers back on the job. they help our economy grow in communities across in country and make sure our transportation systems work in the 21st century economy which is why i'm so proud to be a strong supporter of this bipartisan a

mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: mr. president, i am on the floor this afternoon to talk about something i've had to talk about far too many times: extreme republicans pandering to their extreme base by attacking women's health. my republican colleagues have picked this fight over spending bills, over the debt ceiling the list goes on. in fact, they even tried last week to attach political riders attacking planned parenthood to a bill that was supposed to help seriously wounded veterans start families. so we know how far they are willing to go to appeal to the tea party and what we are discussing today is more of the same. republicans are using undercover attack videos produced by a radical right-wing organization dedicated to taking away a woman's right to choose to once again here on the floor try to defund planned parenthood and take away critical health services from women. so mr. president as

mr. murray. >> good evening commissioners jav vice murray enforcement legal manager at sfmta according to of the board of appeals except in expired case the board may grant a rehearing only about san francisco ethics commission have arisen granting a rehearing request is an extraordinary remedy in this situation while heed to reality this we believe the matter was closed no new evidence as has been presented and no new offend not reasonably considered or discussed has been preferred they're asking for more time to convey a better argument or a different argument perhaps i'm sure it is better but beyond that no new evidence has been presented what has been present a dissatisfaction with the board rule and that didn't equal to a grant a new hearing request and in their briefing the appellant want the board to propose briefing on policy regarding the sfmta and future policy that may or may not be set up that's you know whether it is not in the purview of the board necessarily but again those are things that could have been brought up at the time of the hearing if their genuine issues and not

mrs. murray mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president i rise this afternoon to speak in favor of the franken amendment which we will be voting on shortly. i want to start with the story of chandler, who was a ninth grader in arkansas who experienced daily bullying and harassment. at school, his classmates harassed him based on his perceived sexual orientation. his mom described him as a good kid. she said all he wanted was to fit in. but chandler couldn't walk down thal hall -- the hall between classes without kids harassing him. he wrote to his school counselor saying he couldn't handle -- quote -- being an outcast for four more years. while the teachers knew about the bullying, the school district never put a plan in place to address his concerns. and one day in 2010, chandler took his own life after enduring endless bullying and tormenting at his school. chandler's story is more than a tragedy. it feels like an all-too-common trend for studen

mrs. murray: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: morning business is closed. under the previous order the senate will resume consideration of s. 1177, which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 63, s. 1177, a bill to reauthorize the elementary and secondary education act of 1965, to ensure that every child achieves. mrs. murray: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: thank you madam president. madam president, i believe that providing all of our students with a quality education is one of our most important national priorities. the work force in the years to come will depend on today's students being able to create and take on the jobs of tomorrow and providing students with the chance to learn and grow and thrive will help our country continue to compete and lead in the 21st century global economy. today we are continuing our work here on the senate floor to make sure all of our students have acce

mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: mr. president, i believe that real long-term economic growth is built from the middle out not from the top down. and our government and our economy and our workplaces should work for all of our families, not just the wealthiest few. but, mr. president across the country today millions of workers are working harder than ever without basic overtime protections. that is why i'm so proud to come to the floor today to express my sphrong -- strong support for the obama administration's new proposal to restore overtime protections for millions of workers and families. not only is this the right thing to do, but it is good for our economy. i want to share the story of a man named paul. he lives in massachusetts and is reported in the boston globe paul worked very hard at a discount retail store to p

mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: thank you mr. president. mr. president, i am on the floor today to discuss the path afford -- the path forward on my bill, the women veterans health services act of 2015. this is legislation that would ban v.a.'s decades' old ban on fertility services and would take critical steps to ensuring that we are doing everything we can to support veterans who have sacrificed so much for our country, have suffered injuries on the battlefield that prevent them from having children on their own. i introduced this legislation because i believe strongly that our commitment to service members doesn't stop at the end of their tour. i believe that commitment doesn't stop at all ever. and a critical part of this commitment of what our country should do to make sure those who sacrifice so much for us can live the lives they've hoped for in helping seriously wounded veterans start families. so that those who put their lives on hold and on the line have the opportunity to achieve that important go

mr. murray. >> good evening commissioners jav vice murray enforcement legal manager at sfmta according to the rules of the board of appeals except in expired case the board may grant a rehearing only about san francisco ethics commission have arisen granting a rehearing request is an extraordinary remedy in this situation while heed to reality this we believe the matter was closed no new evidence as has been presented and no new offend not reasonably considered or discussed has been preferred they're asking for more time to convey a better argument or a different argument perhaps i'm sure it is better but beyond that no new evidence has been presented what has been present a dissatisfaction with the board rule and that didn't equal to a grant a new hearing request and in their briefing the appellant want the board to propose briefing on policy regarding the sfmta and future policy that may or may not be set up that's you know whether it is not in the purview of the board necessarily but again those are things that could have been brought up at the time of the hearing if their genuine issu

mr. ryan and ms. murray were able to get a deal that led to all the bills being passed. that was the first time since 1987 all the bills had passed together. so i think it can be done again that we can get to a place where there can be agreement. >> hunt: got to do it pretty soon though. >> we'll need to do it. october 1, obviously, as we know is an very important dead whrn in terms of funding the government for the next year. >> hunt: a.c.a., bill frist physician, former republican majority leader, says the president has to do what he failed to do which is bring parties together to fix parts of the law. are you going to do that? and what do you need to fix? >> so i think today the president is in tennessee and that is a big part of the conversation. he's there because tennessee is a state where we have seen affordability, quality move together, we've seen it move in a bipartisan way. we've seen it move with the private and public sector working together, and he's been in tennessee to reflect that, i think that's where we need to go as a nation and to build on the progre

mark: murray has a mrs. to his name now, does that boost his value? murray mean more to be sponsors? >> without a doubt. a celebrity couple is a great addition. it broadens their appeal. it takes them to a brand-new set of media. it widens their appeal to media it attracts more sponsors. mark: there are many companies that have been sponsors of wimbledon, 13 in their entirety. the last one added was jack where -- jaguar. wimbledon, you could not say is over sponsored, does that make it more unique? grexit no doubt. -- >> no doubt. they choose like the masters in golf in america to have a very discreet, unique brand. it works brilliantly, weldon is a unique event. there are sponsors, it is subtle. they do it subtly. premium brands, they pay a lot of money. mark: coming back to individual tennis players, we focused on the men, sure, is an top of the female three. she has won five grand slams, she has had a successful career, why is she is so ahead of many men and way ahead of the other women. >> she is a good-looking girl she is brilliant at the game. t

this bill, and i applaud the chairman senator alexander and the ranking member, senator murray for their leadership. mr. president, congressional action to remedy the serious problems with the law no child left behind while preserving its valuable parts is long overdue. nclb was a well-intentioned law and its focus on the education of every child greater transparency in school performance and more accountability for results were welcome reforms. but, mr. president some of its provisions were simply not achievable and thus, discouraging to teachers, to parents and students alike. the current system of unattainable standards and a patchwork of state waivers has led to confusion of federal requirements. high-stakes testing and unrealistic 100% proficiency goals do not raise aspirations. they instead disspirit those who are committed to a high-quality education for our students. responding to those concerns in 2004 along with then-senator olympia snowe i established the maine nclb task forts to examine the issues facing maine and to provide recommendations for changes in no child left behind. our task forc

mr. president i commend senators murray and alexander for their good work on this education bill, but i want the record to be spread with this. the bill is passing this congress because we've had a constructive minority during this congress. senator harkin, who is chair of that committee indicated -- and i've said this on the record last week -- that on two separate occasions they reported a bill out of the education committee but it was filibustered. he never got it to the floor. so it's, i understand why my friend the republican leader, is beating his chest about how great the senate works -- and it does work if you have a cooperative minority. and that's what we have done. we have worked very hard to try to get this done. and as a result of our work together we've been able to get it done. but please save everyone the lack of history that my friend keeps bringing up. boy, the senate's working so well. it was very cynical what my friends did in stopping everything the -- the last four years stopped everything. hundreds of times stopped bills from moving to the floor. so for my friend to co

mr. ryan the then chairman of the budget committee, miss murray then chairwoman of the budget committee in the senate, got together and came up with a -- some figures that we could agree on in a bipartisan basis. until that time, we had the same kind of scenario that we are now confronted with. mr. speaker it is my view that unless we have such a meeting of the minds we are going to put this country in another crisis of our own making. we democrats are prepared to enter into some sort of an agreement consistent with hal rogers believes we can get to a realistic and advised compromise not this unrealistic and ill-advised, mr. rogers' words, republican chairman of the appropriations committee, not mine and if we don't do so, when we get to september 30 or we get to december 18 let's not wring our hands and say how did this happen? we'll know exactly how it happened. it will have happened because we refused to sit down as the majority leader said a few minutes ago in a bipartisan way to do the people's business in a responsible collegial way which we can get to an agreement so the bills can b

mrs. lawrence: the evidence-based policy policy commission act was introduced by representative ryan and in the senate by senator murray on april 16, 2015. the committee on oversight and government reform ordered the bill reported by voice vote on may 19 2015. the bill as amended will create a 15-member commission to study ways to improve the use of administrative data on federal programs and tax expenditures. the commission would also consider whether to establish a clearinghouse for information collected by federal agencies. federal agencies collect a large amount of data on existing programs and they are also the beneficiary of those programs. too often however, federal agencies do not share data with other agencies or with private researchers in a way that can help determine what is working and what is not. the administration called for greater use of evidence to improve federal programs, especially in the areas of education, health and international development programs. the authors of this bill have worked with the administration in drafting this legislation. in examining ways to better use administrative data, i

mr. ryan the then chairman of the budget committee, miss murray then chairwoman of the budget committee in the senate, got together and came up with a -- some figures that we could agree on in a bipartisan basis. until that time, we had the same kind of scenario that we are now confronted with. mr. speaker it is my view that unless we have such a meeting of the minds we are going to put this country in another crisis of our own making. we democrats are prepared to enter into some sort of an agreement consistent with hal rogers believes we can get to a realistic and advised compromise not this unrealistic and ill-advised, mr. rogers' words, republican chairman of the appropriations committee, not mine and if we don't do so, when we get to september 30 or we get to december 18 let's not wring our hands and say how did this happen? we'll know exactly how it happened. it will have happened because we refused to sit down as the majority leader said a few minutes ago in a bipartisan way to do the people's business in a responsible collegial way which we can get to an agreement so the bills can b

mark murray senior political editor and i wish to start with you. good morning. >> good morning, jose. >> mr. huckabee being criticized by fellow republicans and many jewish organizations. what is his thinking in making these remarks? >> well in the short-term this has been good for mike huckabee and his short-term interest of being sure he gets into the first presidential republican debate and the criteria is based on being in the top ten average of the polls. so he's been able to pick a foyt with the democratic president of the united states who almost all republican voters disapprove of. he's been able to fund raise off this and gain national attention by being on the "today" show and fox news. despite the incendiary comments how controversial they are, the backlash he's gotten this is good for his short-term interest. the question is is this good long-term interest for the republican party? as we have seen all these other republicans trying to get attention and get it away from donald trump and whether they're taking a chain saw to the tax code or destroying their cell phone in a blender

mr. priebus use there and say it will take a republican to beat hillary clinton or bernie sanders. >> all right nia-malik henderson, sara murray i appreciate it. >>> on to the search for two the teen boys missing at sea after a fishing trip. they are look for perry cohen and austin stef phpstephanos. their capsized boat was found yesterday. there was no sign of the boys. ali . >> reporter: good morning. the search area is expanding. right now we're told the coast guard is searching near jacksonville florida which is north where the capsized boat was found as the families of the teens continue to hope for the best. the search for two teen boaters missing off the coast of florida since friday evening intensifying overnight. their capsize the 19-foot white single vessel overturned 67 nautical miles off florida's inland with no trace of the two. >> as a mother the worst feeling ever not knowing where your child is. >> austin and perry avid boaters embarked on a fishing trip friday morning. the pair was last seen about 1:30 in the upjupiter, florida area buying $110 worth of fuel. a few hours later vanished. early reports indicates

edward murray interim chief financial officer and gregory giddens, the principal executive director of the office of acquisitions, logistics and construction. thank you for being here with us today. mr. gibson you are not recognized for your opening statement. >> one year ago today 290,000 veterans were waiting for than 30 days for care. that number represented veterans' needs we were unable to meet timely. for the past year improving access to care has been among v.a.'s to be priorities and we've made real progress. come completed seven million more appointments for care than in the previous 12 months doubled the additional capacity required to meet those veterans' needs of a year ago. average weight time for completed appointment, four days for primary care five days for specialty care three days for mental health. scheduled appointments inside v.a. are up 12%. authorizations for v.a. care in the community up 44%. 97% of appointments inside v.a. are completed within 30 days of the clinically indicated date or the date the veteran requested. we know for many veterans 30 days is far too long to wait so we track shorter time frames. 93% completed within 14 days 88% completed within s

mr. speaker. last week, thanks to the leadership of the senate health committee, chairman lamar alexander and ranking member patty murray the senate passed a bipartisan bill known as the every child achieves act that re-authorizes the elementary and secondary education act. this is the law where the federal government has with respect to kindergarten through 12th grade education. and i applaud my senate colleagues for reaching across the aisle and working collectively in good faith to expand access to early childhood education to improve programs for english language learners and ensure accountability in helping our neediest students. it is far from perfect but in 2002 the re-authorization of the same act known as no child left behind, was implemented and it gave this principle that we would look at the students who were falling through the cracks. it meant to serve our poor and minority students and students with disabilities and english learners. and after all let's not forget that the original esea, the original one in 1965 had an exact declaration of policy that said in recognition of the special education needs of

mrs. murray: mr. president i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: mr. president in my home state of washington and across the country students and parents and teachers and communities are counting on us to finally fix no child left behind. i have been very glad to work with chairman alexander on our bipartisan bill called the every child achieves act. our bipartisan bill gives states more flexibility while also including federal guardrails to make sure all students have access to a quality public education. i am very proud of the bipartisan work we've done on the senate floor debating amendments taking votes and making this good bill even better. it's not the bill i would have principle on my own. i am sure it's not the bill that chairman alexander would have written on his own but it is a good strong step in the right direction, and it is not the last opportunity, of course, we'll have to work on this bill before it's signed into

mrs. murray: i yield back all our time. mr. alexander: yield back. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the alexander amendment number 2089 to is $1177 an original bill trough authorize the elementary and secondary education act of 1965 to ensthiewr every child dwsh to ensure that every child achieves. signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: the mandatory quorum call has been waived. question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on amendment number 208 offered by the senator from tennessee mr. alexander, to s. 1177 shall shall brought to a close? the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: vote p: vote: the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are -- are there any senators wishing to vote or change their vote? if not on this vote the yeas are 86. the nays are 12.