mr. president. mr. president, i have 12 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of both the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. kennedy: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i want to talk a little bit today about social security and specifically the windfall elimination provision and the government pension offset. now, i know that sounds real technical, but basically here's the problem -- we have a lot of americans who have paid into social security and they are now getting screwed by social security. they are not getting their money back. now, all of us, mr. president, want to do everything we can to maintain the stability and sanctity of the social security system. and i think all of us believe that we all ought to get the social security payments that we're entitled to, and that is all this issue is about. let me explain, mr. president. for many middle-class americans, receiving social security at retirement is

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. rubio: i ask unanimous consent that i be allowed to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. rubio: tomorrow the house will announce its plan for tax reform as a starting point. i doubt everyone will agree with everything that's in it and it will be a good starting point for this debate, but it's actually about a broader topic about tax reform because it hasn't been enough about our national discourse over the last 20 years. you know, if you think about the history of this country, one of the things that truly distinguisheses us is not that we have rich people. every country in the world has rich people. we have an extraordinary amount of success and earn success. every society in the world has rich people. sadly, we're not the only country that has poor people and those who are struggling and that is something that challenges our principles as a nation founded on the idea of equal opportunity and to life and to pursue happiness. the one thing that

mr. president. mr. president, hurricanes harvey and irma and maria have left a path of destruction along the florida coast and texas and puerto rico. this emergency supplemental is another step forward to recovery for the millions of americans who call these places home. but i want to remind my colleagues that there is still an ongoing natural disaster in the west that is leaving families displaced, costing taxpayers billions of dollars. it's destroying structures, and it's taking human lives. as of today, 5,000 firefighters are still battling more than a quarter of a million acres of wildfires that are burning across the west. in my home state of montana, despite an early snowfall, families this last weekend were forced to evacuate after a fire ripped through a dry landscape and put their homes and livelihoods at risk. in california, more than 8,000 structures have been lost to wildfires this year alone, and with temperatures expected to be in the 90's all week, there doesn't seem to be any end in sight

mr. president. i yield back. the presiding officer: under the previous order, all time on the resolution is yielded back. there will now be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote on flake amendment number 1178. mr. flake: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. flake: this amendment would set up a deficit-neutral reserve fund related to making the american tax system simpler and fairer for all americans. we have got to not only do tax reform, but we need to do it urgently. it's been more than 30 years since we have reformed the tax code in any significant way. and we have more preferences and loopholes and deductions out there than we know what to do with. in fact, if you total all of them together, there is more spending in the tax code, or expenditures in the tax code or tax -- money avoiding coming to washington, tax avoidance than we spend in our entire discretionary budget. it's about $1.26 trillion annually. so we have got to have a code where we lower the rates and

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: mr. president, i rise to speak in support of my amendment, amendment number 1144. this legislation is designed to do two things. it's important for us to consider this. first, it would protect medicaid for our nation's most vulnerable citizens, namely, low-income children, pregnant women, the elderly and those with disabilities. those are important, vulnerable citizens, as far as i'm concerned. in addition, it would strengthen medicare in order to help protect health benefits for current and future beneficiari beneficiaries. make no mistake, mr. president, our nation faces a growing entitlement crisis. and medicare and medicaid are at the heart of it. under obamacare, medicare enrollment is increased by 25% due to thexpansion of the program in 32 states. between 2014 and 2015 alone, expansion states received about $79 billion in federal funds. the problem, mr. president, is that even before obamacare, medicaid was plagued by quality issues and states' hands were tied whatever they tried to

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. ms. hassan: mr. president, i ask to vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. hassan: thank you. mr. president, i rise today to discuss an issue that is devastating families and communities in my home state of new hampshire and across the united states. the fentanyl, heroin, and opioid crisis. this crisis is the most pressing public health and safety challenge that new hampshire faces. it does not discriminate. it affects people in every community and from every walk of life. in 2016 alone, 485 people in new hampshire lost their lives as a result of this epidemic. and the rising use of synthetic drugs like fentanyl is making matters worse killing people faster with smaller amounts. last year 72% of drug-related deaths in new hampshire involved fentanyl. behind these numbers are real people. moms and dads, sons and daughters who are dying, and their loss reverberates in pain and suffering for the family and friends who they have left behind. mr. president, the family of my

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: thank you, mr. president. i come to the floor today to talk about what my bipartisan health care bill with chairman alexander means for the people we are all here to serve, what it means for patients and families in my home state of washington, and across the country who are worried about being able to afford the health care they need, and what it means for states and communities and hospitals that are administering and providing care. you know, negotiations of this magnitude are always tough. there's some things you agree on. sometimes there's common ground that emerges early. but there is no question you also find areas of strong disagreement. and so you have to work your way to each answer step by step. now, one issue that chairman alexander and i agreed on from the very start of our negotiations where we worked or hardest and what we had the most discussions on

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from virginia is recognized. mr. kaine: mr. president, thank you. i rise to speak on a topic i've often spoken about on the floor. we've been at continuous war since september 14, 2001, when congress passed an authorization of military force to go after the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks. that was 16 years, one month, and 18 days ago as of today. the war in afghanistan is the longest armed conflict in america's history, and it shows no signs of abating even six years after the death of osama bin laden. the conflict has been going on so long that many are somewhat immune to it. i heard a high schooler recently say war is all i have ever known. it's the status quo. it's the background music to daily life. and yet only .4% of the population of the united states serves in the military. that's down from 1.8% in 1968 and 8.7% in 1945. so it's increasingly unlikely that many of us even know those who are deployed and fighting in this ever expanding global conflict. sadly, last week for tragic reasons these issues were brought to the

mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: the senate is taking the next critical step in passing the comprehensive fiscally responsible budget before us. it's pretty obvious that this is a good budget, and that's true whether you're looking at it from a fiscal per spick alternative or an -- perspective or an economic one. take the fiscal side first. it reins in government spending. it protects social security. it complies fully with the previous spending caps while also providing for an increase for defense resources if a bipartisan agreement can be reached. in short, it's a fiscally responsible budget that will help put the federal government on a path to balance. on the economic side, this budget can help our country realize better and more sustained economic growth, which is critical given the last decade of missed opportunities for the middle class. one way this budget can help our economy is by providing legislative tools to advance tax reform. as i've said many t

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mr. blunt: mr. president, i'm here today to join my colleague from indiana in supporting the nomination of amy coney barrett to be on the united states court of appeals for the seventh circuit. as we all know, that's the highest court you can serve on except for the supreme court. the circuit court, the court that often makes the final determination of what the law says if the supreme court chooses not to act or isn't asked to act. these are important jobs to be filled and carry great responsibility. amy coney barrett, two other women, and one man this week will come before this senate to be confirmed to various circuit courts around the country. and as others have come to the floor to point out, she is extremely qualified. she should be confirmed by the senate this week. in letters to the senate judiciary committee, 73 law professors said things like professor barrett's qualifications for a seat on the u.s. court of appeals for the seveseventh circuit are first r. her law school students wrote that

mr. president. mr. isakson: i thank the senator from missouri and i make the point i've enjoyed the last 19 years serving in the united states senate. he was elected two years before me to the house of representatives. i came a little bit later but i preceded him in the senate in 2004. he has been great to work with in the show-me state of missouri. like my state of georgia, they're proud of their country, they're proud to be americans. they're proud of the chance to have an opportunity to make an honest living. they want to be a part of a country that continues to grow and prosper for the future. we had a hearing in the finance committee where there was an interesting study i had not seen before. it had been done by a harvard student that i assume was correct. that 90% of the people born in the 1940's end up making more than their parents did when they went to work but only about 40% of the people born in the 1980's will end up making more than their parents did meaning that as we've gone along the way

mr. president very much. mr. president, i ask consent to grant floor privileges for tesla revels for the remainder of the session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. markey: thank you, mr. president, very much. this summer chip turned 20 years old. i served on the house committee that created this bill and was proud to support providing the affordable comprehensive health insurance to low-income children and pregnant women. it is a bipartisan program and it's an effective program. last year alone chip covered nearly nine million children throughout the country. in massachusetts, chip has been instrumental in achieving near universal insurance coverage for our children in the bay state. yet, instead of celebrating chip's successes over the last two decades, congressional republicans have placed chip in programmatic purgatory. that's because they allowed chip to expire at the end of september. instead of focusing on reauthorizing this critical health care lifeline, republican leadership chose to waste mon

mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the appointments at the desk appear separately in the record as if made by the chair. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 97, s. 226. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 97, s. 226, a bill to exclude power supply circuits, drivers, and devices, and so forth. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the bill be considered read a third time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i know of no further debate on the bill. the presiding officer: if there is no further debate, the question is on the passage of the bill.

mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. merkley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: four weeks ago, i stood here on the floor of the senate to call for increased funding to fight fires. this is just one of the dramatic pictures of oregon ablaze. thousands and thousands of acres. i had the experience of driving roughly 350 miles in my state and never escaping the smoke from the fires that were in every single corner, every quadrant of the state of oregon. we have seen the challenge of mother nature at work this year, hurricanes harvey and irma and maria hitting in texas and florida and puerto rico, but let's not forget the damage, the incredible damage being done in montana and idaho and oregon and washington by these extraordinary fires. over the last decade, we have seen an average of 50,000 fires in america each year. and they destroy, burn up more than five million acres. but this year, the count is well over eight million acres and counting. in oregon, we normally have fires that burn on average about 5

mr. president. i note the absence -- i do not note the absence of a quorum because my colleague is about ready to speak. the presiding officer: the senator from indiana. mr. donnelly: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, for years, i have been calling on democrats and republicans to work together to improve the health care law. there are some like myself who recognize the benefits of the existing health care law, as well as the areas that need fixing, and i have proposed that we partner together to strengthen our health care system. for the first time, we have legislation in the senate that has broad bipartisan support and would improve issues with our health care system by stabilizing the individual marketplace and lowering premiums for americans. this is what i have long pushed for. today it's more important than ever that we act to pass this bipartisan legislation, and i'd like to take a few minutes to explain why. beginning next week on november 1, millions of americans, including hoosiers, c

mr. president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, colleagues, we regret to hear that our friend from arizona will conclude his senate service at the end of his six-year term. and i'd like to say, mr. president, on behalf of myself and i think many of my colleagues, we've just witnessed a speech from a very fine man, a man who clearly brings high principles to the office every day. and does what he believes is in the best interest of arizona and the country. i'm grateful that the senator from arizona will be here for another year and a half. we have big things to try to accomplish for the american people. from my perspective, the senator from arizona has been a great team player, always triek to get a constructive -- always trying to get a constructive outcome no matter what the issue before us. so i thank the senator from arizona for his service which will continue, thankfully, another year and a half, and for the opportunity to listen to his remarks today. mr. mccain: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senior senato

mr. president. i yield the floor. mr. merkley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: mr. president, there are few things we do here in the senate that matter more or have longer lasting impacts on our nation than confirming individuals to lifetime appointments on district courts and circuit courts and the supreme court. it is the senate's duty, as alexander hamilton laid out in the federalist papers, to prevent the appointment of unfit characters. i have often thought that this power would be used rarely because a president would seek to make sure that he or she sent qualified individuals to the senate for confirmation but we're seeing something quite different today. we're seeing the president engaged in a zeal to pack the court with extreme right-wing ideologues and to ram them through this confirmation process without due review. just yesterday, the american bar association sent a letter to the judiciary committee, saying that leonard graz, president trump's nominee to the eighth circuit court of appeals,

mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the senate now observe a moment of silence for the victims of the las vegas attack. the president pro tempore: without objection, it is so ordered. the senate will now observe a moment of silence for the victims of the attack in las vegas. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: the us in we awoke to this morning -- the news we awoke to this morning was heartbreaking. what happened in las vegas is shocking, it's tragic, and for those affected and their families, it's devastating. it's hard to even imagine their pain. i hope they will know that we are praying for them now. i hope they will find strength in the love and kindness of those around them in these hours of such darkness and pain. i hope they will see that our country is standing by their side today. many americans are still in shock. others have begun to wonder why someone would do something this terrible. investigators will continue their

mr. president? >> senator senator from arizona. >> mr. president h, it is very hard for me to add to the eloquence of my friend and my dear friend from arizona. but i do want to say that it has been one of the great honors of my life to have the opportunity to serve with a man of integrity, of honor and decency and commitment to not only arizona, but to the united states of america. i have seen jeff flake stand up for what he believes in knowing full well that there would be a political price to pay. i have seen him stand up for his family. i have seen him stand up for his forebearers who were the early settlers of the state of arizona, and in fact, there is a place called snowflake, arizona, and obviously, the flake part comes from his direct pred s predecessor. it is the flake family, and families like them that came and worked and slaved and raised families and made arizona what it is. and it is -- it has never had a more deserving son than jeff flake and his beautiful wife cheryl and children. so i would just like to say, jeff, i have

mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: mr. president. mr. president, having been away for awhile from the senate, i'm pretty amazed to come back today and see a budget that is passed that throws away years, years that i've listened to here of rhetoric about fiscal conservatism. the senate passed a budget that adds $1.5 trillion -- trillion -- to our national debt. a budget that sloshes seniors' health care by $473 billion. it decimates the medicaid program for parents and grandparents in nursing homes and those who are disabled and those who are among the poorest with cuts of over $1 trillion over the next decade. in total, the republican budget would cut more than $5 trillion over the next decade from education, health care, affordable housing, child care, nutrition assistance, transportation, and other programs that all americans rely on. so the question many new jerseyans will be asking me is: why? why do republicans in congress add $1 trillion, $1.5 trill

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: i ask unanimous consent to dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: mr. president, what congress is trying to do today, this evening, as long as it takes, as long as the arms are twisted is frankly outrageous. our job is to look out for the people whom we serve, not to look out for wells fargo, not to look oat for equifax, not to look out for wall street banks, not to look out for corporations who scam consumers. forced arbitration pure and simple takes power away from ordinary people. it gives it to the big banks. it gives it to equifax. it gives it to wells fargo. it gives it to wall street companies that already have an unfair advantage. we know, mr. president, that the white house increasingly looks like a retreat for wall street executives. i would hope the senate wouldn't follow suit. look at equifax. in early september we learned it compromised the personal data of more than 145 million americans, five million in my state, probab

the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: for the past eight years we had a president eight years we had a president mr. president. >> the majority leader. >> for the past eight years we have had a president who selected nominees for a nation's judiciary based upon what became known as the empathy standard, the empathy standard. an ideological litmus test designed to find judicial nominees who would favor certain groups or individuals over others. it's a great standard if you are the party in the case of the judge youhy have empathy for. it's not so great if you are the other person. not only does the standard deny every litigant a fair shake, it also disregards our nations bedrock legal tradition of dissenting equal justice under the law. president trump on the other hand is selecting nominees who will help ensure that the judiciary is true to his role in our democracy. later today the senate will vote to confirm one of those nominees trevor mcfadden a district court judge for the district of columbia. his nominati

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask that the senate proceed to executive calendar number 164. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, office of special counsel henry kerner of california to be special counsel. mr. mcconnell: i ask that the senate vote on the nomination, if confirmed the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, the president be immediately notified of the senate's action, and any statements relating to the nomination be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. is there any further debate? hearing none, all those in favor say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nomination is confirmed. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the legislative session and be in a period of morning business be senators permitted to speak therein for 10 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous con

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: mr. president, i think it's going to be a very robust conversation about taxes. and when we look into the eyes of working americans, i hope my republican colleagues are ready to answer this question, and that is, why do they, the republican party, want to send $3.5 trillion of tax benefits to the top 1%? the top 1%. why not spend the tax benefits on the middle class? my colleagues keep coming to the floor saying this is all about the middle class. but they don't mention that in fact every single major change is all about benefits for the richest 1%. changing the dynasty tax to create a dynasty loophole. wow, that really doesn't benefit anybody in the working class. lowering the top bracket while raising the bottom bracket, well, that doesn't help anybody in the working class. providing a special pass-through for those who can put their business activities into limited liability corporations, have a special low rate, that certainly doesn't help anybody in the middle class. one provision aft

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: i ask unanimous consent that my intern be granted privileges of the floor for the balance of the day. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: thank you, mr. president. our nation was founded on a principle encapsulated in the first three and most important words of our constitution -- we the people. our founders wanted to have a nation that didn't work for the benefit of the powerful and the privileged, but for decisions by the people, for the people, as president lincoln so eloquently described our nation. not a nation by and for the powerful, not a nation by and for the privileged, but by and for the people. tomorrow, a bill is coming to the floor that couldn't be more of a buy and for the powerful bill than we have seen on the floor of the senate before. a bill completely contrary, the fundamental values embedded in our constitution. now, this bill is a budget bill, and at its heart it says we're going to do $5 trillion of tax cuts almost completely for the r

mr. president. later this week, senator murray and i will introduce bipartisan legislation to give states morebility to create choices of health insurance policies in the individual subsidies intend 2018 in 2019. subsidies pay for copays and deductibles for millions of low-income americans who buy health insurance on the affordable care act exchanges. our goal is to stabilize and then lower the costs of premiums and to enable all americans to have access to health insurance. our legislation will be based on the four hearings and other meetings that the senate's health, education, committee held last month. these hearings and meetings were bipartisan. they were lengthy and they were remarkable in this sense -- they engained nearly 60 -- engaged nearly 60 senators from both political parties in extensive discussions. we not only had the four hearings which involved the 23 members of our health committee, we invited any other senator to come to a committee hearing ahead of time and meet governsors and

mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. van hollen: thank you, mr. president. i want to start by commending the senator from new mexico for his leadership on many issues but today for being here on the floor to protect this vital, beautiful american treasure, the arctic national wildlife refuge. thank you, senator. i want to talk about the budget as well, because i hope everyone across the country will really pay attention to the debate we're having here in the senate both over the next couple of days and over the coming weeks and months. because there's no doubt that if you look at the budget that's going to come to the floor of this senate, it is stacked overwhelmingly in favor of the wealthiest americans and powerful special interests, and the benefits that will go to the folks at the very top are paid for in one way or another by everyone and everything else. i want to be very clear, i think we need to reform our tax code. we need to simplify our tax code. we need to

mr. president? >> military people. [inaudible] >> thank you all for coming. >> what storm, mr. president? >> you'll find out. >> give us a hint. >> thank you, everybody. >> thank you very much. it's an honor to be here with the great men and women of american manufacturing. in a few moment is i'll sign a presidential proclaim make declaring today national manufacturing day. from the founding off our nation, from washington to jefferson, from jackson to mckinley, our nation has long understood that our strength as a country depends upon the strength of our domestic industry. we're all better off when we make, buy and sell more products made in the u.s.a. and that's what is happening in our country and you see it and the levels of enthusiasm are incredible. today in the coming weeks manufacturers in all 50 states will hold events to encourage more americans to pursue a contrary in high-expect he high-tech world of modern manufacturing. my administration strongly supports that goal and we have been supporting it for a long time, and it's really now starting to pay off, as everybody

mr. president. the presidingthe presiding offie senator from texas. mr. cornyn: i would ask unanimous consent the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, the first step to achieving the goal of overhauling our antiquated and uncompetitive tax code is passing a fiscal year 2018 budget resolution. we have made that first step in that journey earlier today. but no one should be confused about this, that a vote for the budget is a vote for tax reform. conversely, a vote against the budget is a vote against tax reform. now, i don't know anybody in america who thinks that our tax code is a paragon of simplicity, efficiency, and virtue. to the contrary, i think most americans realize that our tax code is simply too complex, that our tax code punishes taxpayers here at home by keeping money earned overseas overseas rather than being brought back home and invested in jobs and wages here in america. but the budget resolution will steer our nation into a safer and sounder fiscal course through a combination

mr. president. mr. president. mr. president. mr. president. mr. president. mr. president. mr. ident. >> mr. president, thank you. sorry. >> who would you like to call on? >> thank you. >> thank you.. >> mr. president. >> mr. president. >> mr. president. >> thank you, mr. president. >> yes? liz: fox news brit hume saying the press looked bad here. take a listen. >> interesting the way that news conference was run and i'm not sure how much conscious thought went into it, letting it be the free-for-all that it was instead of having a system where you raise your hand and the president calls on those whom he wishes to call, this was wide open, and the result was that ends up leaving the journalists, and i've been in those groups like a pack of jackels and the president looking like the dignified fellow take the questions. that may have played to the president's advantage but certainly took a lot of questions. liz: ben, what do you think? >> i think mr. trump is a guy of many, many faults, very inexperienced but optimism means a lot. they used to say about franklin delano roosevelt,

mr. president -- >> mr. president, sir -- >> mr. president, sir, sir. >> earlier today you criticized companies and insurance companies saying drug companies are starting -- prices too high and insurance companies were taking government money. pres. trump: exactly right. >> what would you like to see? pres. trump: insurance companies have made a fortune with obamacare, absolute fortune. as you know, what i did with the cuts at the end, which were going, hundreds of millions of dollars going into the pockets of the insurance companies, and i'm very happy with what i did and because of that, people are talking now, democrats are talking to the republicans, for a short-term deal, taking care of what we will call health care so that people can have good health care without big spikes, you would have had massive spikes, you already have, every year massive spikes to obamacare have been ridiculous and i didn't speak to mitch about this today, a priority is the cost of prescription drugs, we'll get the costs way down, way down. and those dr

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. alexander: mr. president, i have said repeatedly over the last several weeks, while it's important that the two of us as ranking member of the help committee come to an agreement, that's not nearly enough. because our real job was and is to see if we can find a consensus among a significant number of republicans and significant number of democratic senators that will cause this to be enacted, that will cause the senate to pass it and the house to pass it, and the president to sign it. in my opinion, we wouldn't have come to an agreement ourselves unless we thought that that was likely. i won't go into the specific provisions that are in this except to -- except to briefly summarize them. the first group of them make the section 1332 innovation waivers work by giving more flexibility. in new hampshire, for example, the state would like to use medicaid savings to help pay for the cost of its affordable care act waiver and this would allow that. in maine, for example, the state has applied for a waiver.

mr. president. my question is to minister of defense, senator payne. could the minister update the senate on the progress of the campaign to defeat daesh in iraq and syria? >> the minister for defense, senator payne. >> thank you, mr. president. i thank the senator very much for her question. mr. president, after what has been an extended period of extremist and terrorist activity in iraq, in the past few months, the iraqi security forces have won a number of decisive victories and have now liberated more than 90% of the territory that was once held by daesh. indeed, following the lib rashz of mosul in july, the momentum against daesh has continued to increase. just at the end of august, the iraqi security forces with the support of the membership of the international coalition liberated the strategic city of tell afar, which is west of mosul, but the liberation of mosul and talafar don't mean that daesh is defeated. they still retain other strongholds that need to be liberated. these include the to

mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: tonight we completed the first step toward replacing our broken tax code by passing a comprehensive fiscally responsible budget that will help put the federal government on a path to balance. the budget also gives us the tools we need to strengthen our economy after years of stagnation under the previous administration. we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to replace a failing tax code that holds americans back with one that actually works for them. to middle-class families across america, we have a very simple message: we want to take more money out of washington's pockets and put more in yours. now with this budget, we're on a path to delivering much-needed relief to american individuals and families who have borne the burdens of an unfair tax code for entirely too long. so i want to particularly thank chairman mike enzi and the members of budget committee and the staff for their extraordinary work on this budget. now, mr. president, i ask the chair to lay before the

mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: it goes without saying that the obama years were not easy for america's middle class. many of the men and women we represent felt forgotten over the last decade. they found themselves stuck in a stumbling economy without the opportunity to get ahead. looking on as paychecks stagnated, jobs moved overseas and government spent far beyond its means while middle-class belts tightened. in my state and in so many more around the country, these are the problems that faced many families and communities over the last ten years, and they are the concerns at the heart of the comprehensive budget that the senate just voted to proceed to yesterday. this budget is a serious plan to put our country on a more responsible fiscal path and also to set us on a course for a more fulsome economy that lifts up the middle class. on the fiscal side, it provides a path to balance with serious reductions in the growth of federal spending, complying fully

mr. president" in the most pointed sentences he spoke. >> mr. president, i rise today to say enough. >> those exact words have been running on banners in quotation marks, on cable news today. and that's exactly what jeff flake was hoping for. mr. president, i rise today to say enough. technically, the president who senator flake was talking to when he spoke that sentence was this guy, the presiding officer of the senate at the time, technically all senate speeches are directed to the person who is at that moment sitting in at the president of the senate, the presiding officer. it is a duty traditionally given to junior senators because it is considered so unbearably boring. so the "mr. president" jeff flake was technically speaking to today was john hoeven, a republican senator from north dakota, who will never be president. but no one in the senate, and no one in the country for one second made the mistake of thinking jeff flake was directing his comments at john hoeven. this was the most powerful anti-trump speech yet given by a senate republic

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. yesterday morning we learned that for members of the trump campaign, mr. manafort, his one-time campaign chairman and mr. gates, a close associate of manafort's, were indicted on a dozen charges as part of special counsel mueller's investigation, including money laundering, a conspiracy to commit fraud, and a conspiracy against the united states. the fact that the activity in question took place partially before the trump campaign offered mr. coman fort the role -- manafort the role of chairman in no way diminishes the gravity of the situation. if anything, it suggests that the trump campaign was negligent in hiring as its chairman a man who is an unregistered foreign agent working for a pro-russian proxy party in ukraine. that man is now alleged to have been laundering large sums of money and concealing his identity as a foreign agent to the f.b.i. and department of justice, including during his time during the trump campaign. imagine, imagine having such poor vetting and poor judgmen

mr. president? the presiding officer: majority whip. mr. cornyn: i have eight requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. these have been approved by both the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. cornyn: mr. president, not too long ago, i believe it was 2011, a president came to a joint session of congress and before the american people, and he said what needed to be said about our tax code. he was pretty blunt. he said our tax code is rigged. he said it makes no sense. and he said it has to change. and of course you can imagine that was met with bipartisan applause in the house chamber and across the country. the same president called on democrats and republicans to simply simplify the system, get rid of the loopholes, and lower the corporate tax rate, one that i might add ranks among the highest in the industrial world. that president, like the rest of us, know that our tax rate, our business tax rate is a self-inflicted economic wound because businesses figure out how can i move m

mr. president! thank you, mr. president. last week your administration made two major announcements on rolling back the iran deal and getting rid of the cautionary reductions as part of obamacare. and a lot of criticism has been levelled at your administration saying that really all you're doing is -- >> lot of praise. >> fair enough, sir. rolling back a lot of what you're doing is simply rolling back everything your predecessor accomplished. is there a single policy of your predecessor that you specifically do not want to touch, sir? >> well, we're very opposite in terms of inincentives for jobs. if you look at what happened, we just did a new high today in the stock market. we've picked up mitch as of this moment $5.2 trillion in market value. we have the lowest unemployment rate in, i believe, it's almost 17 years. we're doing well. we are going to be doing immigration work that's going to be outstanding. we're going to have people coming into our country based hopefully on a merit system, not just coming in randomly. the

mr. president -- we're looking at daca. we have to get something for it. we're looking at daca and see what happens. i'd love to do a daca deal. we have to get something very substantial for it including the wall. including security. including a strong border. we have to be able to stop drugs from pouring into our nation. >> mr. president trump over here. >> you talk about -- [ inaudible question ] >> the tax plan is going to be incredible for this country. it's going to bring back jobs. it's going to cut tax tremendously. we're going to bring back $4 trillion i think at least from overseas. that money's going to be put back to work in our country instead of other countries. the tax cut is going to be massive. it's going to keep companies from leaving our country. so -- >> say it? >> not that i know of. no, i have to say, the whole russian thing is what it's turned out to be. this was the democrats coming up with an excuse for losing an election. it's an election that's very hard for a democrat to lose because the electoral college is set in such a way it'

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator. mr. barrasso: i ask unanimous consent that with respect to the gingrich nomination the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate proceed to consideration of the trachtenberg nomination. the presiding officer: is there objection? the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, department of defense, joel trachtenberg of virginia to be a principal deputy under secretary. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that following my remarks that senator whitehouse of rhode island be recognized. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. the addiction epidemic is a national emergency that takes far too many lives and destroys too many families across the country. unfortunately my state in some ways leads the way. 4,000 ohioans died from drug overdoses l

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. alexander: i ask consent that the text of the agreement that senator murray and i would like to present to the senate for its consideration and the president's consideration and the consideration of the house of representatives be spread in the record following my remarks. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. alexander: mr. president, the republican senators who are cosponsoring the alexander-murray proposal in addition to me are senator rounds, senator graham, senator mccain, senator cassidy, senator collins, senator ernst, senator senator murkowski, senator burr, and senator corker. i thank them all for doing that and senator murray will talk about the equal number of democrat cosponsors that we have. we hope that senator mcconnell and senator schumer, the president of the united states, and the house of representatives will consider our proposal. this is a first step, improve it, pass it sooner rather than later. our purpose is to stabilize and then lower the costs of premi

mr. president, this budget cuts medicaid by more than $1 trillion over a ten-year period. now, that's kind of strange. the united states of america is the only major country on earth that does not guarantee health care to all people. what the american people want, in my view, is to join the rest of the world and understand that health care is a right that we should not have 28 million people without any health insurance and even more underinsured with high deductibles and high copayments. yet what this budget does unbelievably is to throw 15 million people off of the health insurance they have with a trillion dollar cut in medicaid. and i hope my friend, and he is my friend, the chairman of the budget committee, might at some point during this long debate tell us what happens to somebody today who is struggling with cancer, with heart disease, with diabetes, with a life-threatening illness who suddenly loses the medicaid health insurance that they have, what happens to that person? i would hope that some of my republican friends would tell the american people what happens

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. gardner: thank you, mr. president. i come to the floor this afternoon to talk about the health care tax relief act, legislation that i have introduced to delay the health insurance tax that was created by the affordable care act. this tax often referred to as the hit or h.i.t. tax, the h.i.t. tax imposes fees on health insurance coverage to consumers. it's a pretty simple business concept that this h.i.t. tax results in, that if a fee increases on an insurance policy, if a fee goes up, there is a fee charge to the company that issues this insurance policy, then that fee gets passed on to the consumer. it's the consumer then that pays the fee in the form of higher health insurance costs. as is the case with most excise taxes, whether it's an excise tax on food or beverage or any other item, personal good, if this tax takes effect, this health insurance tax takes effect, costs will be passed on to consumers directly in the form of higher premiums as confirmed by the congressional budget office. this is one of the cost dr

mr. president, mr. [ inaudible >> what spectifically do you wat to see from those companies. >> the insurance companies made a fortune from obamacare and what i did with the cuts at the end which we are going of hundreds and billions of dollars that's going right into the pockets of insurance companies i am happy of what i did because of that, people are talking now and republicans are talking to democrats for a short term taking care of what we'll call healthcare so people can have good healthcare without big spites >> every year the massive spites to obamacare has been ridiculous >> i did not speak about this today. a priority of mine and you know this is coming up will be the cost of prescription drugs we'll get it way down, way down. those drug companies, you have the insurance company in one hand you have the drug companies and they contribute massive amounts of money to political people >> maybe to you, they contribute massive amounts of money me, i am not interested in their money. i don't need t

mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the senate now observe a moment of silence for the victims of the las vegas attack. the president pro tempore: without objection, it is so ordered. the senate will now observe a moment of silence for the victims of the attack in las vegas. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: the us in we awoke to this morning -- the news we awoke to this morning was heartbreaking. what happened in las vegas is shocking, it's tragic, and for those affected and their families, it's devastating. it's hard to even imagine their pain. i hope they will know that we are praying for them now. i hope they will find strength in the love and kindness of those around them in these hours of such darkness and pain. i hope they will see that our country is standing by their side today. many americans are still in shock. others have begun to wonder why someone would do something this terrible. investigators will continue their