mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. reid: reserving the right to object, our respective cloakrooms have been working for this week to get a list of amendments that could get votes. as everyone knows, we have had on our side more than 60 amendments filed, so i want to hold my friend, who often spreed promise that we would have a robust amendment process. there have been objections from republicans to a number of amendments my senators want to offer. they want a few votes 0en a number of their amendments. first of all, everyone should understand that we're not holding up this bill. the leader has indicated he is going to file cloture today or tomorrow. i got that. we're not going to oppose cloture. but we're not going to have the other side determine what amendments should be offered. we should be able to pick what amendments we want to offer. and i don't think it's appropriate, for example, one of the amendments he chose is a senator running for reelection. is

mr. reid: people that watch us on television should understand that everything we do is not dower and kind of frowny. there are times when we are away from the cameras, we get along well and have a good time. there's no better example of that than this morning. every day -- i'm sorry -- every week at 8:00 in the morning on wednesday we meet downstairs in the senate prayer breakfast. i go there as often as i can, and they're really stimulating and really i'm glad i go every time i do go. but today was especially good because al franken, the junior senator from minnesota, was there making the presentation. and even though there was an opening prayer and a closing prayer and some talk in between that, his presentation was terrific. and of course we all know al franken. a lot of it was funny. so i want everyone watching this this morning to know that we're not always -- i use the word dour. there are times when we smile and have a good times. the presiding officer, everyone knows that the presidin

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. reid: under the republican leader's direction, this senate continues to make history for all the wrong reasons. despite proclaiming the senate is back to work, republican leader's majority is on pace to become the least productive senate ever. by now, most americans are aware of the republican leader's decision to block consideration of the supreme court nomination that senator -- i'm sorry, that president obama will soon make, but the historic obstruction of the supreme court nominee is just the most recent and prolific example of the republican leader's abdication of his constitutional duties and that of the whole republican caucus. what is that to provide advice and consent to presidential nominations. since his party assumed the majority in the senate last january, the republican leader and his colleagues have ground the nomination to a halt. according to the nonpartisan congressional research service, the pace of judici

mr. reid: there was a day when that's all we did, but not so anymore. madam president, history won't forget this misstep by grassley, it says. "history won't forget this "history won't forget this history won't forget this misstep by grassley, the hawkeye, burlington, iowa, oldest newspaper in iowa. that is what they said. that is the headline. the misstep referenced here is the unprecedented decision to deny the president the right to fill the current supreme court vacancy. but it ends with this declaration : a few weeks back the longest tenured senator from iowa passed a vote, casting votes on mount before the senate was doing what i was elected him to do. we take it back. we take it back. that is a blistering statement, revealing statement, a substantive statement. we take it back. there is a lesson the sen. grassley and my republican colleagues should learn from this editorial. by refusing to give president obama supreme court nominee a meeting, hearing, or vote they abandon the oath of office this war when they became a united states senator. this

mr. reid: there was a day when that's all we did, but not so anymore. madam president, history won't forget this misstep by grassley, it says. "history won't forget this misstep by grassley." "the hawkeye" burlington, iowa, the oldest newspaper in the state in iowa. an editorial in iowa's oldest newspaper, as i indicated, "the burlington hawkeye." the misstep is an unprecedented decision by the senior senator from iowa and the republican leader to deny the president to fill the current supreme court vacancy. the editorial ends with this declaration -- and i quote -- "a few weeks back when the longest tenured senator from iowa passed a vote we lauded his service to us. we noted in casting votes on matters before the senate, he was doing what iowans elected him to do. we gave grassley an atta boy for that. we take it back. we take it back. that's a blistering statement. a revealing statement, a substantive statement. we take it back. there's a lesson that senator grassley and my republican colleagues should learn from this editorial. by refusing to give p

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the democrat leader. mr. reid: mr.resident, the republican leader and i have worked together in leadership capacities here in the senate for almost 20 years. he has been the whip, i was the whip. i was majority leader, he was the minority leader, and vice versa. so my presentations over the last few weeks does not take away from the fact that mitch mcconnell and i are friends. we have worked together for a long time, and we have done our best to move the senate forward, but that does not take away from my need as a united states senator to pronounce publicly when he and i disagree, so i want to make sure the record is reflective of that. as each day passes, the republican leader continues to transform his caucus into the party of donald trump. that's not good. you can see it in the republicans' rhetoric. the senators are using increasingly extreme and disturbing language in defending their unprecedented obstruction of president obama's supreme court nominee who yet has been -- who yet has been -- as yet is unnamed. the

mr. reid, i'm agent rossi. this is agent morgan. this wouldn't be about the city council investigation, would it? no, this is, uh, more of a personal matter. it concerns your son. my son? did something happen? hello, dad. we won here. and here. and here. here. and here. uh, here. also in here. back there. behind here. even next to these guys, here. in the nation's largest, independent study, for the fifth time in a row, here. so when the other guys claim they're the best, remember: there's only one, number one. and now we'll pay up to $650 to switch to the best network. this one right here. eat up, buddy. you'll get it this time. yeah ok not too quick don't let go until i say so. i got you... start strong with the lasting energy of 100% you're doing it! whole grain quaker oats. and off you go. before fibromyalgia, i was active. i was a doer. then the chronic, widespread pain slowed me down. my doctoand i agreed that moving more helps ease fibromyalgia pain. he also prescribed lyrica. lyrica sigficantly relieves fibromyalgia pain and

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. id: the republicans, in an effort to try to cloud the issue regarding selection of a supreme court replaceme, usually don't make a full quote. for example, they keep talking about senator biden but they should give the whole statement by senator biden where he said c compromises cause both for the white house and the senate. if the president cooperates with the senate about his selection, than he has my support as did justices kennedy and souter. mr. president, yesterday "the washington post" published an editorial by barbara perry, professor at the university of virginia and an expert on the supreme court, one of the finest law schools in all over the world is university of virginia. in her opinion piece, dr. perry pushed back against republicans' claims that presidents have not historically nominated presidents during an election year. according to her -- quote -- "14 presidents have been appointed appointed -- 14 presidents have appointed 21 justices during presidential election yea

mr. reid: 90% of americans want to know what's in their food. all of europe, china, russia, they know what's in their food. we should know what's in our food. senator stabenow, the ranking number of the agriculture committee has been trying to work to come up with some reasonable approach, but would she's gotten is not much help from the chair of the committee. there's no discussions going on right now that are meaningful. the republican leaders offer amendments that's a purely voluntary scheme that is a qas quasi roberts proposal and would leave consumers actually in the dark and that's really the truth. but, mr. president, this is just another case of where the republicans in the senate are trying to create an appearance of doing something without really doing anything at all. it happens so often and has happened so often during the past year. the things that my friend, the republican leader, comes to the floor and boasts about are things that we try to do and they were blocked by republican filibusters. we've been happy in the minority to be

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. eid: in just a few minutes, the president is going to officially announce his nominee to the unction supreme court. -- to the united states supreme court. considering the nomination of the highest court in the nomination, the president would adhere to three important prince els. number one, the nominee has equal cases, credentials. that means an outstanding education, judicial experience and an expert understanding of the law. second, the nominee should have a keen awareness of the judiciary's role. that means understanding the court's constitutional place in our government and its limitations. third and finally, the life experience. qualified supreme court justice is someone with the understanding of the realities americans face each and every day. i have no idea how hard this must have been for the president. i have no doubt that president obama's nominee possesses these important attributes that i just outlined. once president obama has done his constitutional duty and announced pub

mr. reid: as senators, we pride ourselves in making sure that we vote when we are required to vote, and we're always very aware of when the votes occur and what happens on votes. i missed a vote yesterday at 4:00. my staff has told me that the clerks here are concerned because they did something wrong. i missed the vote. it was my fault. no one's fault but my own. i had a doctor's appointment at 4:30 and i got here too late. so everyone should understand this. i've missed other votes and i've already announced how i would have voted how i would have voted, wouldn't have changed the outcome of the votes. all the clerks that serve us so well all the time shouldn't worry at all about minot being recorded on that vote. calm down, everybody. i don't care. you shouldn't care. mr. president, i've heard my friend, the republican leader, last couple of days talk about a good bill we have here. he's right, it's something that's important to do. we have this opioid problem sweeping the nation in nevada,

mr. reid: mr. president, we're certainly -- the presiding officer: the minority leader. mr. ank you very much, mr. president. we're certainly pleased that we're going to pass this opioid bill shortly, but everyone should understand that the bill would have had a -- had some meat if, in fact, we had had an opportunity to pass the shaheen amendment. it funded the authorization that we're now talking about. my friend always talks about the $470 million. that's already been obligated. that was last year's obligations to take care of this issue. this authorization bill has no money. so for my friend to say we have $470 million is certainly not a factual statement. mr. president, three years ago, voters went to the ballot to elect a president. the president of the united states, the most powerful nation in the union -- in the world, i should say. i'm so sorry. the american people spoke and they overwhelmingly elected president obama to a second term. we know that my friend, the republican leader, stated that the republicans had two goals. number one, make sure that obama was not re

mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. reid: i join the republican leader in extending my sympathies to the entire reagan family. nancy reagan was a wonderful first lady. she was an incredible individual in her own right. she was always gracious and charming. the last time i saw nancy reagan, she was here in the capitol, in the rotunda, where we were dedicating a statue of her husband, president ronald reagan. at that time she was already well into her late 80's, but there she was standing next to the statue with a big smile on her face, her very presence brightened the entire hall. her and ronald reagan, standing together, he is in the form of a statue, she is standing next to him together, it really was a fantastic picture. nancy of course will be missed. i say, though, that when my mind returns to a different time, the years when ronald reagan was in the white house, a card-carrying conservative, yet very pragmatic, a pragmatic republican. we will miss nancy reagan and always lament and miss her partner, the president of

mr. reid: it's very difficult to make a presentation when we have a deal going on across the way. mr. president, no matter how dire the crisis for the american people, republican leaders decided, i repeat, it was more important to deny president obama an achievement than to help people in need. think about the monumental legislation the republicans refuse to even engage in, let alone work on. the american recovery investment act, known as the stimulus. when our economy was in a nose dive, in a nose dive, remember, when obama was elected, that month he was elected, the country lost 800,000 jobs in one month. we were in the throes of the great recession, and yet it took a herculean effort to get a mere three republicans to work with us on that legislation. very important. they were strong, they were courageous. specter, collins and snowe. but the republican leadership made it clear they didn't want their senators working with president obama on the stimulus. well, we got it done. health care. before obamacare, there were nearly 50 million americans with no health insurance. since the

mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. reid: g.m.o., general neatically mod -- genetically modified food, that's basically what it is. what we want is to make sure that consumers know what's in their food. they deserve clear standards. they require disclosure of what's in their food, not a voluntary scheme that senator roberts is talking about bringing on the committee. all that does is leave consumers in the dark and that's the wrong way to go. mr. president, i understand the republican leader's concern about coal not being the way it was. it's simply the american people that made a decision that we'll have to look at another way of producing energy. there's still a place for coal in our society, but everyone has to acknowledge it's not as it was a few years ago. so i wish the republican leader cared more about moving to help the pensions of these coal miners. they're desperately looking for support. we support it on this side. all the coal miners support it. we can get no support from the republicans. we tried during the

mr. reid: all made a joint statement that the senate does not have to confirm presidential nominations and urged that the senate refuse to do so, especially in an election year. now, just the opposite of what the senator said. but, you know, i don't blame them. i don't blame any democrat for trying as best to get a nominee from this president because, as a democrat, they are more liberal than republicans are, and they would like very much to have a chance to change the balance of the united states supreme court, who has been consistent in recent years in objecting to some of the extremist left programs. and so i can't blame them for trying. but nonetheless that's not going to work, and i applaud the leader. at the time of the death -- the sad death of scalia took place, he was in a position where we were in recess, and he had to make a decision, and the decision was the right decision. and so -- anyway, i want to share a couple things with you, mr. president, that -- letters that came from my

mr. trump: get him out. reid: briefly interrupted by three states not even voting clinton. mr. trump: hillary clinton does not have the strength or the stamina to become president. reid: it will take both to eclipse trump in the gop field. marco rubio told minnesota what it' s like to elect a celebrity, calling out jesse ventura, former pro wrestler, actor and minnesota senator. mr. rubio: i want to talk about a different direction for our country, not electing a con-artist. reid: ted cruz voting in texas, his home state, where he hopes voters will send him the hometown delegates, but the longhorn senator says what' s fracturing the gop field is the logjam of candidates. mr. trump: if you want to beat donald trump, we' ve got to get to a head-to-head, a one-on-one race. one on one, not only do i beat donald trump, i beat him resoundingly by 16 points. reid: post-super tuesday tends to trim down the field. it' s results, then again candidates who have money could elect to stay in the race regardless of the results. heather. heather: former president bill clinton campaigning for h

mr. reid: mr. president, my friend, the republican leader will be here shortly. have something to do downtown so i'm getting to have to leave now so i certainly don't want to get ahead of him. i know he's going to say something because we've talked about the chief of police who is retired, so i want to join with the republican leader in recognizing the work of the united states capital police chief kim dyne. he spefnts his professional life protecting people in washington, d.c. and the entire metro area. he started as a young officer here in washington 41 years ago with a course of three decades he moved up the ranks of the metropolitan police department becoming assistant chef of police. in 2002 he was selected to serve as chef of police of frederick, maryland. he served the people of maryland with distinction for ten years. 2012 our sergeant-at-arms asked him to come back to washington, this time as chief of the united states capitol police department. and we're very fortunate that that took place. he helped oversee president obama's 2013 inauguration and since

((vo)) reid says mr. obama will point, he has to choose whether to swing for the fences, or go seales. we're following develolping news from australia. the country's attorney-general, george brandis confirmed that a public vote on same-sex marriage will be held this year under a coalition government. senator brandis told sky news in sydney today that if the government was re- elected, a vote on the issue would be held before 2017. but another australian politician said a referendum would be an expensive s/ richard di natale / greens party leader :23 "people wanted to see a equality the fact is that he is somebody who at least expresses the view that is contrary to abbott's, but he's carrying on with tony abbott's divisive plan for a plebiscite, and we're going to find a lot of hateful groups who spread bigotry, prejudice through the plebiscite." right now in australia, same-sex couples can have civil unions or register their relationships in most states. however the government does not consider them marri

as democrats now take their course directly to the american people reid says mr.ake his time making his choice probably within the next week. >> vicki:a strong weather system will produce gusty winds.widespread showers.and isolated thunderstorms from evening through tonight. rain could be heavy at times and renewed flooding is possible. showers will taper off by late monday. >> reporter: look at the coverage now and the bay area metro accurate all the way up and danville. across the peninsula. court in san jose. haven't quite spread out at antioch yet. it may happen within the hour or two to receive more coverage. that is all due to the unstable system. >> reporter: that is problematic because the ground saturated will not provide more resistant spirit looking at futurecast 4, and expect more out of heavier rain at 3:00 a.m.. what thundershowers at work and in place. a drifting down to the south bay. right before dawn. in a little bit of hit or miss showers are run the east bay shoreline. issue cleared by tomorrow night-- it should clear >> reporter: 05 a.m. a lit

mr. reid: there was a day when that's all we did, but not so anymore. madam president, history won't madam president, history won't >> the democratic leader. >> there was a day that is all we did, but not anymore. madame president. say." history will not forget this misstep by senator grassley, the hawkeye, burlington iowa that is what they said. oldest newspaper and this is an unprecedented decision by the senior senator from mayor. past the vote lauding service ordering casting votes was doing by refusing to give president obama's supreme court nominee a meeting, hearing, vote swearing. this abdication epitomizes the work in the us. whatever they may have accomplished while the secondary.low remember, our job is here to vote. the stakes should not be higher. why? senate. because as judicially challenged he presides over one of the most prestigious committee's and the entire senate. established 200 years ago. one of the original 11 standing, 20 decades past. broad history and president martin van buren, ted kennedy and bill biden from guarded at all co

to check it out, he's either going to have to have a smartphone, put it up against a bar code -- mr. reid: or he can call a 1-800 number. mrs. boxer: or he can call a 1-800 number, and we all know what happens then. he'll be transferred around the world. americans should not have to run through hoops. life is difficult enough already not to have to. so this thing is a sham. it's an insult. it's a joke. and why are they doing it on the other side of the aisle? because they're beholden to the special interests who don't want to label g.m.o.'s, who are afraid if people know that the food is genetically modified, they won't buy it, even though there is no proof of that at all. 64 countries require labels. do you have the list? and 64 countries today require simple labels. and many of our products are sold in those 64 countries. let me tell you some of these countries. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to place in the record the 64 countries that require g.m.o. labeling. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. boxer: and i'm going to name some of these countries that require the la

mr. trump: hillary clinton can t be allowed to do the job because what she did was a criminal act. she shouldn' t be allowed to run. reid: trump campaigning in a state not even voting today, ohio. its primary in two weeks, a possible indication that the gop front-runner is confident the s cruz, voting in texas, says the field needs to narrow. mr. cruz: what donald is benefiting from is a fractured opposition. one on one, not only do i beat donald trump, i beat him resoundingly by 16 points. reid: nearly a quarter of the delegates needed to win are up for grabs on this super tuesday. stops in states voting today, urging minnesota voters not to cast a ballot for a man he calls a con-artist. mr. rubio: donald trump will be an embarassment to america, will be an embarassment to anybody who supported him. what he will do to our foreign policy will embarrass everyone reid: john kasich and ben carson also stumping for votes now. do not be surprised if we see one or more candidates drop out of the race tonight. if they still have money left to spend, it will not be a surprise if they also remain in the race. heather: an interes

senator reid. >> mr. chairman let me join you in welcoming our witnesses. the president's fy 2017 budget includes $583 billion in discretionary spending and complies with funding levels included in the bipartisan budget act of 2015. this amount $523.9 billion is included in the base budget and $58.8 billion is designated for the overseas account. as the committee considers the funding request we must be mindful of the risks facing our country and national security challenges. russia's increasingly aggressive posture in eastern europe and middle east must be monitored, contained and when necessary countered. china invests in its military particularly capabilities that allow them to project power and deny access to others. north korea recently conducted a rocket launch in violation of multiple united nations security council resolutions and continues to be an immediate and present danger to global security. finally iran is a significant concern to the committee, particularly its recent missile tests and ongoing support to nonstate actors across the middle eas

mrs. bush wrote the introduction to the book. go to booktv.org for the complete weekend schedule. >> senate minority leader harry reid med met with merrick garland earlier today and pose waived photo op before meeting providely. afterwardses senator reid spoke to the press. here's a look. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> judge and i had a very nice meeting. he is affable, he is -- his qualifications are about as good as you can get and he are and i are both trial lawyer size was able to talk about some of my cases and we had a good time just visiting about the law. none of this prize clerks was someone who worked for me for many, many years, who is now down at the homeland security, serena hoy, a rhodes scholar, and we had a great visit about her. she -- he married her. so it was a really pleasant meeting. enjoyed it very, very much. the concern that we have, especially after meeting this good man, is why can't republicans just do what they're supposed to do? do their jobs? why are they afraid to meet with him? why are they afraid to hold hearings? are they afraid the american peopl

mr. herszenhorn: and if i can just follow up on the nastiness question -- one of the things minority leader harry reids is senator grassley will go down as one of the most obstructionist judiciary committee leaders in history, comparing that to during the civil rights era, those blocking civil rights legislation. do you agree with that -- do you think that would be the worst performance by -- sen. leahy: i will let senator reid and senator grassley speak for themselves. i remember when i was chairman of the judiciary committee, i made a decision of one names -- when names would come up, and wouldn't, and come up for a vote and i make sure they did. that's is not happening now. i cannot imagine if i was chairman, with a republican president, whether it was an election year or not, saying if you nominate someone for the supreme court, we are even going to have a hearing on it. if i did, certainly in vermont, people would say i was being totally irresponsible. i realize that senator mcconnell, who, after all, said his primary goal is that president obama fails, has said no. that is not what the constitut

reid. george mitchell. this is a different group of men. mr. daschle: it is. mr. lott: on both sides. both sides of the capital too. we talk about, when we were in leadership, there was a center. moderates on the democrat and republican side. i never camped in the middle, i was right of center, tom, left of center, but that group has kind of disappeared. both parties have pulled more to the left for the democrats and right for the republicans, making it hard to find the sweet spot. you get results. do we need to do something about infrastructure in america? do we need to do a better job with the budget, make sure entitlements are there? yes to all of the above. i tell my conservative friends, quit cussing the darkness. tell me what you are going to do. if you want to change something, it takes action. mr. daschle: i think it is -- going back to something we have talked about a bit, it is relationships. building trust, confidence among your colleagues that someone who can organize and lead is capable of rising to that level. it starts inside. you have to be able to think through the is

reid refusedid mr. the proposal -- about 10 minutes left on today's show, paul is in dallas, texas.d morning. i don't think the senate should wait. if they do wait they are in violation of their oaths of office, to protect the constitution. the constitution does not call for a hearing. it does call for a vote. the president nominates the senate and advises consents on that nominee. not some future nominee, that nominee. that is my comment. taken as a part of this committee and charged with a violation of the oats of office. to our line for republicans. caller: i was watching c-span one they were having the debate about electing a justice. the last time they elected a justice, joe biden was a senator and they specifically stated that the democrats should wait until the next presidential election to appoint a justice. now when i watch a debate, they are saying that isn't exactly what he meant, they didn't mean what he said. always try to get something to go their way whenever they get a chance. they never stick to the rules they make themselves. when it comes time to follow the rules,

reid. my name is jeff crass with ivy capital. last week, there was a press conference with the prime minister of canada, mr.trudeau, and president obama at that point said -- was talking about negotiations, and the said at times you only get 60% of what you like, and if you get 60% of what you like, you sort of hold your nose and -- but the other party holds their nose as well but you get a negotiation out of it. i'm curious, rather than creating this adversarial type of approach, if you could somehow take a step, be magnanimous, go take that -- cross the rubicon by having an issue that, let's say, the leader mcconnell specifically wants, and negotiate with him with respect to that particular issue, such as, oh, stemming back from guantanamo bay, for instance, giving that particular issue, let's say, to him, with respect to the agreement that the supreme court -- >> here's the problem we have. i don't mean this in a negative sense but kind of living in the past. there are ways to do things. my first 30 years near congress, that's how we did things. legislation this art of compromise. i've been fortunate to

as the times square bomber, richard reid, the shoe bomber, mr. tsarnav.the united states after serving his military commission sentence so she is an example of someone who went through the military commission system and pled guilty to support and conspiracy and after he served in the system, he was released. if he were put through the article three system, he would probably still be serving his sentence and not be off doing what he's been doing. >> we are talking about two different sets of numbers so if i can address this quickly before we go to the next member in terms of the administration's numbers they released, the claim is 7.9% of detainees released under the president are confirmed or suspected of re- engaging in terrorism. you were just using the number confirmed and the administration released the figure that overall it is just 31% and investigators tell us that it takes four years to get confirmed. so there is a question in terms of the trend line on the detainees recidivism but that the overall rate that i'm quoting here is the race on confirm

. >> harry reid and chuck schumer are both democrats mr. trump has written checks to repeatedly. any justice that those two sign off on is going to be a left wing judicial activist who will undermine religious liberty and we're one vote away from the heller decision being overturned which would effectively erase the second of amendment from the bill of rights. if you care about the second amendment, you need to ask who on this stage do you know will appoint principled constitutionalists to the court and not cut a deal with your second amendment rights? >> mr. trump, so we're listening to the all talk, no action politician and he was the primary supporter of john roberts who gave us -- >> flat-out wrong. >> no, it's not. you take a look. he was the primary supporter. he pushed john roberts and pushed him and pushed him and bush ultimately appointed him. he got appointed. and when it came his time to raise his hand and kill obamacare, not once, but twice, he let us down and he did the wrong thing. this is the man that was the primary supporter and you can read law journal, read wha

the times square bombers, richard reid, the shoe bomber, mr. tsarnaev, the boston marathon bomber. moussaoui. the list goes on. they all have been held safely and securely. back to the point the chairman raised about mr. al kosi, he was released from the custody of the united states after serving his military commission sentence. so he is an example of someone who went through the military commission system, was -- pled guilty to material support and conspiracy, and then after he served his sentence in that system, he was released. if he were put through the article 3 system, he would probably still be serving his sentence and not be off doing what he's been doing. >> if i could, we were talking about two sets of numbers so if i could address that quickly before we go to the next member. mr. royce: in terms of the administration's numbers they released. the administration's claim is 7.9% of those released by the president are confirmed or suspected of terrorism. -- of the re-engaging in terrorism. you're using the number confirm the administration released the figure, overall the r

the times square bomber, richard reid, the shoe bomber, mr. tsarnaev.after serving a military commission sentence, one example is someone who went through the military commission system, was pled guilty to material support and conspiracy, and then after he served his sentence in that system, he was released. if he were put through the article 3 system, he would probably still be serving his sentence and not be off doing what he's been doing. >> if i could -- we were talking about two different sets of numbers. so if i could just address that quickly before we go to the next member. in terms of the administration's numbers that they released, the administration's claim is 7.9% of detainees released under the president are confirmed or suspected of re-hen gauging in terrorism. you're just using a number confirmed. the administration released the figure that overall the rate is just over 31%. investigators tell us that it takes four years to confirm. so there is a question in terms of the trend line in terms of detainees recidivism. but the overall raid ra

the times square bombers, richard reid, the shoe bomber, mr. tsarnaev, the boston marathon bomber. moussaoui. the list goes on. they all have been held safely and securely. back to the point the chairman raised about mr. al kosi, he was released from the custody of the united states after serving his military commission sentence. so he is an example of someone who went through the military commission system, was -- pled ilty to material support and conspiracy, and then after he served his sentence in that system, he was released. if he were put through the article 3 system, he would probably still be serving his sentence and not be off doing hat he's been doing. >> if i could, we were talking about two sets of numbers so if i could address that quickly before we go to the next member. mr. royce: in terms of the administration's numbers they released. the administration's claim is 7. 9% of those released by the president are confirmed or suspected of terrorism. you're using the number confirm the administration released the figure, overall the rate is 31%. investigators tell us it t

reid. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. general austin, one of the issues in iraq is the potential consequences of failure of the mosul dam. it's not often in the headlines but it's potentially sirius consequences. can you give us a status of the situation? and also the planning that's gone into the consequences of some type of failure of the dam? >> yes, sir. we remain concerned about the status of the dam since the conflict started here. as you know, when daesh captured the dam, the employees initially left and the grouting ceased. we have encouraged the iraq government, since the dam has been back in the hands of the iraqis, to make sure that they're doing the right things to go about repairing the dam to ensure that it doesn't fail. they have most recently hired an italian company to perform maintenance on the dam. it may be several weeks and months before that company is up and running. there is a time period that we're concerned about where there will be limited to no maintenance being pulled on the dam. if the dam fa

mr. trump? yes or no?" rubio "i )ll support donald if he )s the republican nominee."i m reid binion, reporting. the o.j. simpson case may have had a breakthrough! the l-a-p-d is investigating a knife they say was found on property that once belonged to o-j simpson. the former football star was living there in 19-94 - at the time his ex-wife nicole simpson and ron goldman were killed. the home was demolished in 98 by a-p&new owner. police say a retired l-a-p-d motor officer received the weapon from a providing security for a movie filming nearby. the officer held onto the knife until recently. the knife is currently being tested for d-n-a and as to why the retired cop waited so long to come forward -- well l-a-p-d are wondering the same thing. tracking clouds and a few showers for the weekend....the entire weekend will not be a washout, but a few showers are possible. no rain is expected on our friday night though. instead, we )ll see partly cloudy skies. the winds will relax a bit from the north between 5 and 15 mph. temperatures will dip into the mid 30s overnight. on day with some sunshine. but clouds

reid. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. and thank you, gentlemen, for your testimony. one of the key issues that the committee's focused on and you're focused on is readiness. and general dunford, readiness is a function of not only resources but time. can you explain or at least i think the question is within the constraints you face were significant, you have tried to maintain and improve readiness, but that won't happen just with more money. that'll take time. excuse me. >> senator, thank you. that's right. from my perspective, there's three components. there's the money, there's the time, and then there's operational tempo. and the operational tempo has main taped at a very high level, even as the force has drawn down from its peak three or four years ago.tained at a very high, even as the force has drawn down from its peak three or four years ago.ñ>qñ as a result of sequestration and particularly in 2013 we laid off a lot of engineers, a lot of artisans, had a backlog of maintenance. that will take time to recover from that backlog of maintenance. in some cases we

. >> senator reid rays thank you very much mr. chairman general austin one of the issues in iraq is potential consequences of failures. it's not often in the headlines but it's a potentially serious consequence. can you give us a status of the situation and also the planning that has gone into the consequences of the failure to them? >> yes sir we remain concerned about the status of the dam since the conflict started here. as you know when da'ish captured the dam the employees initially left and it sees. we have encouraged the iraqi government since the dam has been back in the hands of the iraqis to make sure that they are doing the right things to go about repairing the dam to ensure that it doesn't fail. most recently they have hired an italian company to perform maintenance on the dam. it may be several weeks or months before that company is up and running so there is a time period that we are concerned about where there will be limited to no maintenance on the dam. if the dam fails it will be catastrophic or there will be th

mr. chairman. thank you for the opportunity. senator reid and all the members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to be here. military and others alike that serve and defend. i'm very pleased to be here. and we will be discussing 2017 defense budget and it marks a major inflection point for the department of defense. we are taking the long view. we have to. even as we fight today's fights we must also be prepared for what could come 10 and 20 and 30 years down the road. last fall the bipartisan activist much-needed stability after years of gridlock and turbulence and i would like to thank you and your colleagues for coming together to help to pass it. that budget set the size of our budget and with that certainty we focused on the shape, changing the shape, with carefully considered ways to adjust to a new strategic era and to seize opportunities for the future. describing the strategic assessment it is evident that america is still today the world's foremost leader and partner an underwriter of stability and security in every re

mr. president, we will be in deep trouble as an institution." this past week senator reid came to the floor to discuss senator grassley and what he's doing, exactly what then-senator bind -- then-senator biden recommended be done. "last thursday, the senior senator from iowaaddresse -- iod cpac. the chairman of the judiciary is suggesting that we reevaluate the founding fathers work reevaluate the constitution of the united states and change the constitution of the united states. why is senator grassley debating what the sture makes clear? the senate must provide its advice and consent on nominees appointed by the president to the supreme court. think of the irony. justice scalia was a strict constitutionalist. yet noi in the weeks following his -- yet now in the weeks following his death, senator grassley wanted to throw out the constitution. that's what senator reid said this week. let's look what senator reid said in 2005 on this exact same issue. in 2005 on this floor, senator reid said, "the president of the united states has joined in the fray and become the latest t

. >> harry reid and chuck schumer are both democrats mr. trump has written checks to repeatedly.e two sign off on is going to be a left wing judicial activist who will undermine religious liberty and we're one vote away from the heller decision being overturned which would effectively erase the second of amendment from the bill of rights. if you care about the second amendment, you need to ask who on this stage do you know will appoint principled constitutionalists to the court and not cut a deal with your second amendment rights? >> mr. trump, so we're listening to the all talk, no action politician and he was the primary supporter of john roberts who gave us -- >> flat-out wrong. >> no, it's not. you take a look. he was the primary supporter. he pushed john roberts and pushed him and pushed him and bush ultimately appointed him. he got appointed. and when it came his time to raise his hand and kill obamacare, not once, but twice, he let us down and he did the wrong thing. this is the man that was the primary supporter and you can read law journal, read whatever you want to read