mr. rhodes on 35th avenue? anybody have specific questions on that one. i am agreeing with staff on that one. about the stop removal at 35th and again i know that this is not easy for anybody on either side. whether you are losing our stop or you would lose your parking if we left that stop. what i am focussing on are state and efficiency. if those stops were to stay, they need boarding. we cannot have riders stepping off the train into traffic. i saw the video of someone stepping off hit by a car. regardless what commenters said, it is never the fault of the transit passenger. it is always the fault of the driver. they are supposed to stop when this train stops. and to have somebodyen imply that the passenger should wait for the door to open and stick your hand out or head out. that is ridiculous. we cannot run a transit agency like that. the passengers have no know they are safe when they step off the train. i am supporting both of the staff recommendations at 35th and 44th. it is safety for me. it is efficiency of the overall system. if we do the stop

mr. rhodes, would you please

mr. speaker. i'm pleased to yield 1 1/2 minutes to the gentleman from rhode island, mr. langevin. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from rhode island is recognized for 1 1/2 minutes. mr. langevin: i thank the gentlelady for yielding. mr. speaker, today we are debating the final version of the republican tax bill which i cannot support. this bill was flawed from the start. first of all, it was never deficit neutral. and there was never a bipartisan negotiation. this is a republican-only bill, and it was developed without any input at all from democrats because they never sought our input at all. my republican colleagues say it will jump-start the economy. well, we can do just that, by providing tax cuts to working class families. whose paychecks are already stretched far too thin and would reinvest that money in the local economy. now, instead, this bill provides them with crumbs and temporary crumbs at that. under this plan, corporate cuts, though, would be permanent. this bill we'll see an entirely different, more expensive individual tax code in 2025 when the middle class ta

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, let me first thank my friend from alaska for his enthusiasm for getting the coast guard legislation completed. as a fellow ocean state, albeit it a somewhat smaller ocean state, we are strong supporters of our coast guard and appreciate very much their service op -- on our waters. i am here for my is 189th time to wake up speech to discuss the republican tax bill. who knew? folks watching today's debate from home are probably wondering what the tax bill has to do with climate change. good question. they might also ask, as i do, why the tax bill includes massive giveaways to fossil fuel producers. or what opening up precious wilderness to oil drilling has to do with tax reform. the chairman of the senate finance committee said we need a simpler tax code that puts more money back into the pockets of workers and families. republicans, he said, want to create a fairer, more predictable system for taxpayers across the country. mr. president, the tax plan is none of those things.

mr. nadler: i now yield two minutes to the the gentleman from rhode island, mr. cicilline. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cicilline: we just heard some of our other colleagues speak about the god-given right to carry a concealed loaded firearm. what about the god given to live and be free from gun violence? we have seen the two deadliest shootings in american history, 20 children slaughtered and the list goes on and on. our republican colleagues will do nothing about it. they won't pass universal background, no fly, no buy and prevent bump stocks and what is their answer? everyone in america can carry a concealed loaded firearm, even people who are violent criminals, stalkers, domestic abusers can carry concealed firearms. make no mistake about it, this legislation allows someone to go online and you don't have to have training, you can be a criminal and don't have -- go online and get a permit in that state. you only have to go there and travel america with a loaded concealed firearm and jofrle the people of that state to impose responsible limit

the chair recognizes the gentleman from rhode island, mr. cicilline, for five minutes. mr. cicilline: thank you, mr. speaker. with little help from dr. seuss, i'd like to share the story how the grinch stole middle class tax cuts. every middle class family wanted tax cuts. the grinch didn't like them. he wanted the whole tax code uneven. now, please don't ask why, no one knows quite the reason. it was his head was screwed on too tight. i think the likely reason of all is his heart or hands were two sizes too small. whatever his reason, he stood on christmas eve planning workers' demise. staring out from his office with a sour grinchy frown, at the workers' warm lighted window below in their town. tomorrow is christmas, it's practically here, he said from his office with a terrible sneer. why for 71 years i put up with it now, i must stop these middle class tax cuts but how? then he got an idea, an awful idea. the grinch got a terrible, awful idea. i know just what to do, the grinch thought with a pause. with his coat and his hat i look like santa claus. then he loaded some

mr. nadler: i now yield two minutes to the the gentleman from rhode island, mr. cicilline. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cicilline: we just heard some of our other colleagues speak about the god-given right to carry a concealed loaded firearm. what about the god given to live and be free from gun violence? we have seen the two deadliest shootings in american history, 20 children slaughtered and the list goes on and on. our republican colleagues will do nothing about it. they won't pass universal background, no fly, no buy and prevent bump stocks and what is their answer? everyone in america can carry a concealed loaded firearm, even people who are violent criminals, stalkers, domestic abusers can carry concealed firearms. make no mistake about it, this legislation allows someone to go online and you don't have to have training, you can be a criminal and don't have -- go online and get a permit in that state. you only have to go there and travel america with a loaded concealed firearm and jofrle the people of that state to impose responsible limit

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i would ask that the calling of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reed: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, as republicans in both chambers rush to conclude their secret negotiations on the final details of their tax bill, i want to make clear to my colleagues what should be obvious about this legislation. we may not yet know the results of all their horse trading leading up to the final legislation, but the american people are watching this process. and it's plain to see that should this republican bill become law, republicans will have knowingly and deliberately made worse the most dangerous threats that we face to our economy and our national security. and worse yet, they will have drained the public coffers that our children and children's children will need to take up these challenges. we all know what these challenges are. we face unprecedented income and wealth inequality that threatens to stifle the mobility of the amer

mr. president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator for rhode island. mr. reed: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to join my colleagues in reminding all of our members, but particularly my friends on the the other side of of the aisle and the administration, the very human cost each day that we delay taking corrective action on president trump's unnecessary decision to end the deferred action for childhood arrivals program, or daca. there was no need for the trump administration to create this crisis. there was no reason throw nearly 800,000 dreamers and their families into uncertainty. yet the president, despite the fact that americans of both political parties support a solution for dreamers, decided that he needed to overturn this initiative for little more reason than it was put in place by president barack obama. now, these young people who are american in every way but on paper maybe forced -- may be forced to be uprooted and moved to countries that that are wholly foreign to them. yes, their parents broke the rules to bring them here as children. but their departure now would

rhodes. >> and said mr. president, you don't have the votes to survive in the senate and it is over.is the end of the story and it was a long road to get there. and at the beginning you have republicans who were defenders of the president. and who were actually going out there and saying, this watergate story is really nothing, it is an invention of the liberal media and big lions in the republican party, robert dole was the chairman of the republican party in that era, he said that watergate was basically a made-up -- today what we could call fake news. so it is hard at this stage almost to see who the heroes might be because it takes time with the revelation of what the president knew and when did he know it, the famous howard baker line, to see republicans moved more by their conscious than by the political concerns at the moment. >> hugh, you're a patriot and care about your party and your country. who are you looking too to in the republican party? >> right now i'm waiting for people to exercise judgment and good common sense over what will be at least a month's long process. in

mr. president, i yield the floor and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: are we presently in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. whitehouse: may i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: thank you, mr. president. i'm here now for the 190th time to wake up speech to talk about an issue that falls at the intersection of climate change and jobs and consumer power and protection. you would think that a policy that simultaneously reduces the carbon emissions responsible for climate change and boosts american industrial competitiveness and puts thousands of dollars back into the pockets of american consumers would be pretty universally popular. unfortunately, you would be wrong. the corporate average fuel economy standards known as the cafe standards set a minimum threshold for the average fuel economy of cars and light trucks that are sold in the united states. in 2011, the major automakers here in america, ford and g.m. and the others, enthusiastical

mr. whitehouse: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: may i ask to speak for three minutes on behalf of my departing friend? the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: senator franken will shortly go on to his next chapter, which i hope will be wonderful for him and for franny and for their family. i hope and believe that he leaves us with everyone's goodwill here in the senate. he certainly leaves with mine. al franken has been an unusually good senator, in part because he has such a good staff. and he has also to me been an unusually good friend, particularly in this hard town where you are supposed to buy a dog if you want a friend. we served together on the help and judiciary committees where he did great committee work. he stood out particularly for his talent on judiciary without even being a lawyer. i will miss him. the senate will come to miss him, too, i expect. he is a lot of things that you want in a senator -- principled, innovative, hardworking, super smart, bipartisan, generous, caring. things wil

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed: thank you very much, mr. president. yesterday we saw a very unusual celebration at the white house as members of congress took turns exalting the president and speaking glowing terms about the tax bill they passed. there appear to be quite a contrast between the celebration at the white house and the reaction of working americans. why weren't working middle-class americans celebrating so vigorously? why poll after poll find that this is the most unpopular tax bill since 1980's? in fact, including tax hikes by president george walker bush and president bill clinton, this bill is even less popular than those tax increases. speaker ryan seems to think the tax bill is unpopular because americans don't know what's in it. he's wrong. the american people are smart. they get it. they don't like this tax bill because they do know what is in it, lots of goodies for president trump and his family, very little for theirs. this tax bill isn't popular with working people because they know that if republicans really wanted to give the

chair recognizes the gentleman from rhode island, mr. langevin. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank all of your witnesses for being here today. in follow-up on the discussion just a moment ago, with respect to how weapons have complicated some of these situations, each of you did highlight in your testimony the threat of domestic extremists and terrorism. in recent domestic terrorist attacks, such as the incidents in las vegas, orlando and sutherland springs, firearms have been the weapon of choice. so what steps should congress so what steps should congress take to ensure that firearms don't end up in the hands of terrorists? start with mr. cohen. >> i would defer to the chief on this one, if i could. >> that's a great question. i'm not sure there is an easy answer to that. i think that, you know, clearly, i think, you know, the -- the challenge we have in background checks, as we have seen -- the system is not -- is flawed at best. and so i think that's probably our first step. is tightening up the background check process to ensure that it is what it's supposed to

mr. gentleman from rhode island. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank our witnesses for your testimony today, i would ask unanimous consent to submit a statement from the start, the national study of terrorism and responses to terrorism. >> objection so ordered. >> thank you, mr. chairman. director wray and secretary duke, for both of you, in your testimony you referenced two major instances and under the response plan when a significant occurs, the department of justice acting through the fbi is the lead agency for threat response, and dhs is the lead agency for asset response. so can you and director wray describe how your two agencies collaborated in response to these incidents and the lessons learned and how do you see the cyber threat evolving and what gaps do you see in u.s. defenses in response and recovery efforts? >> well, i think the main division is that dhs is responsible for securing the systems and reiterating any malware. so we're on the technical side of addressing the threat. we are embedded with the fbi in their nationa

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed: mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reed: thank you, mr. president. i rise to discuss the trump administration's irresponsible plans to suspend net neutrality. the f.c.c. efforts to repeal neutrality could have an impact on those who cannot afford to pay higher premiums on internet traffic. i join many of my democratic colleagues to urge the f.c.c. to ban the reckless plan. it would be an abdication of the f.c.c.'s responsibility to protect consumers. net neutrality does something incredibly important. it requires internet providers to treat all data online equally. net neutrality ensures a level playing field for everyone on the internet. it needs to have free and open access. over the past 20 years the internet has become central to the lives of rhode islanders and, indeed, millions of americans. from students completing homework assignments, from small businesses conducting e-commerce or family members communicating

mr. cicilline from the great state of rhode island, may want to join in here and share with us his perspective. and my friend from colorado, thank you so very much for joining us. mr. cicilline: i thank the gentleman from california. i'd like to begin by just thanking you, mr. garamendi, for your relentless and passionate voice on behalf of working people, not only of california, but of this country, and that you come to the floor regularly and organize these special order hours to help bring attention to these very important issues and i really want to thank you for the opportunity to be part of it. and i want to just begin where you left off and that is the process. you know, we just learned today the bill, the tax scam that the republicans jammed through the house, has come back for another vote because they made some mistakes and didn't comply with some senate rules. this is what happens when you don't have hearings, you don't have thoughtful deliberation, you don't have -- listen to witnesses who can identify problems with the bill. and instead you just bring it to the floor. mr. garamend

mr. cicilline, you're from rhode island, i'm from california, i think the view from the ocean to ocean and somewhere in between there's got to be some sanity. if you will. mr. cicilline: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i think the other thing that's very important to acknowledge here and i think we've heard speaker say this, we heard senator rubio make reference to this, the american people, i hope, understand that this is part one of a multipart story. our republican colleagues have made it very clear that this tax scam this sort of giveaway to corporate america and the richest in this country is just part one that next year, after you give away $1.5 trillion, unpaid for, you come back next year and say, we have no money. . we're going to have to cut social security, cut medicare, cut medicaid, cut pell grants, cut investments in health care, cut investments in rebuilding the infrastructure of our country. so our republican colleagues are setting this up as an effort to gut medicare and medicaid. let's be clear about that. you can't give away $1.5 trillion that you don't have and then

the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: thank you, mr. president. i'm delighted to join my colleagues here in support of these kids who are known as dreamers or daca kids that came in under the statute or under president obama's program and who have lived here for many years in this country, passed all the requirements, met all the standards. these are good kids. there's absolutely no reason for them to be the target of the kind of anxiety and fear that they're being put through to score political points. it really doesn't make sense. by definition, these kids came to the united states of america under the age of 16. you can't even enforce a contract against a minor in this country. they do not have the legal capacity in most places to buy a sofa. and yet, we're holding them to account for decisions that their parents made when they were small children. one of the rhode islanders who will be affected by this came to the united states when she was eight years old. eight years old. think of the kind of decisions that your eight-year-old kids make or t

mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island seek recognition? he house will be in order. mr. langevin: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. langevin: mr. speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: members, take your conversations off the floor. the gentleman may proceed. mr. langevin: mr. speaker, the -- passed h.r. 3359, the and i would like to commend homeland security chairman mccaul and ranking member thompson for their efforts getting it through the house along with my colleagues on the homeland security committee. this makes long overdue changes to the organization of the national protection and programs directorate, or nppd, a - and despite it being mponent, nppd is home to the cyber response teams, information sharing hub and the resilience division tasked with supporting other agencies in defending their network. under the national cyber incident respond plan, h.r. 3359

mr. hastings: some of the states that do, alabama, arkansas, new hampshire, oregon, rhode island, utah, these all allow carrying concealed weapons in k-12 zones. mr. sessions: wow. ok. further discussion. those in favor of the hastings amendment say aye. those opposed, no. the noes have it. the gentleman asks for a roll call vote. the clerk: mr. cole, no. mr. woodall, no. mr. burgess, no. mr. collins, no. mr. byrne, no. mr. newhouse, no. mr. buck. ms. cheney, no. ms. slaughter, aye. mr. mcgovern, aye. mr. hastings, aye. mr. polis. mr. chairman. mr. chairman, no. three ayes, eight nays. mr. sessions: the amendment is not agreed. to further amendment on discussion. seeing none, the vote will now be on the motion of the gentleman from oklahoma. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the gentlewoman asks for a roll call vote. the clerk: mr. cole, aye. mr. woodall, aye. mr. burgess, aye. mr. collins, aye. mr. byrne, aye. mr. newhouse, aye. mr. buck. ms. cheney, aye. ms. slaughter, no. mr. mcgovern, no. mr. hastings, no. mr. polis. mr. chairman. mr. chairman, aye. eight yeas,

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed: thank you, mr. president. tonight the republican leadership intends to force a vote on their tax bill. president trump has called this tax bill historic and indeed it will make history but not for the right reasons. it is an historic transfer of wealth from students, seniors and working families to the wealthiest corporations and individuals in america and indeed throughout the world. historians and voters will look back at the way this bill was written in a rushed and sloppy manner, without thoughtful debate. indeed, we have to send it back to the house of representatives so they can vote again, it was so well crafted. and with a reckless and willful disregard for facts and independent analysis. in forcing this massive restructuring of our economy through congress, republican leaders have submitted no real amendments, ignored every nonpartisan analysis of their bill that does not fit their world view. as a result this trickle-down tax bill is quite possibly the most fiscally irresponsible piece of tax legisla

mr. hastings: some of the states that do, alabama, arkansas, new hampshire, oregon, rhode island, utah, these all allow carrying concealed weapons in k-12 zones. mr. sessions: wow. ok. urther discussion. those favor -- those in favor of the hastings amendment say aye. those opposed, no. the noes have it. the gentleman asks for a roll call vote. the clerk: mr. cole, no. mr. woodall, no. mr. burgess, no. mr. collins, no. mr. byrne, no. mr. newhouse, no. mr. buck. ms. chaney, no. ms. slaughter -- ms. cheney, no. ms. slaughter, aye. mr. mcgovern, aye. mr. hastings, aye. mr. polis. mr. chairman. mr. chairman, no. three ayes, eight nays. mr. sessions: the amendment is not agreed. to further amendment on discussion. seeing none, the vote will now be on the motion of the gentleman from oklahoma. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the gentlewoman asks for a roll call vote. the clerk: mr. cole, aye. mr. woodall, aye. mr. burgess, aye. mr. collins, aye. mr. byrne, aye. mr. newhouse, aye. mr. buck. ms. cheney, aye. ms. slaughter, no. mr. mcgovern, no. mr. hastings, no. mr. polis

mr. chairman. i was glad to hear you talk about recovery support. we had rebecca boss from rhode island-- i know you are from rhode island. >> i used it to work for her. >> she was doing unbelievable work. they do exactly what you're talking about as getting into the community. one of the things that we put in 21st century is more crisis intervention training for police we talked before the hearing about judge lightman in miami who has implemented a system where people with mental illness and substance abuse who get arrested instead of going to jail, which they used to do an posthumous amount of money or go to the emergency room which also cause a lot of money is getting them housing and wraparound services and that is it something that i think talking about-- i know senator young and i have talked about housing as a way and we have done this in minnesota as well, but that is something that i want senator young and others on the committee to keep advocating for and keep thinking about and be bugging you even from outside. i want to-- i want to talk about indian country again. the

this is a bill which will hurt rhode island, it will hurt this country, it will hurt our economy. and finally, mr. garamendi, i just want to say it also will result in the gutting of medicare and medicaid. you know, everyone forgets this creates a $1.5 trillion debt which by our rules is going to result in automatic cuts to medicare, medicaid, student loan programs, block grants, vocational, you go on and on. they give away $1.5 trillion. he -- they borrow. and next year they say we don't have money. we have to cut medicare and medicaid and social security and cut pell grants and not rebuild the infrastructure of our country. our republican colleagues have said this is part one. part two will be these cuts, and so the american people know this which is why this bill is overwhelmingly unpopular with the american people. they see what the republicans are up to. they're insulting the american people. they think they haven't figured this out. you know, dangle a little couple dollars in front of them but then whack them with huge cuts next year. the american people are smarter than this. the republica

mr. trumper with republican leaders in the oval office, said it should be used on front pages when the president's "indicted." obama officials ben rhodesetweeted this with a comment that it should be used alongside the obituaries for ryan, mcconnell, and mike pence. house majority whip steve scalise, who remember was shot and nearly killed by a bernie sanders supporter who is targeting republicans, slammed him with a simple but savage comeback. "you may want to reconsider your rhetoric." meanwhile, house democratic leader nancy pelosi went back to resisting the president's agenda, telling her colleagues to vote no on the stopgap budget. it does not include a provision allowing the children of illegal immigrants to stay in america. while the president made clear that he's not going to get bogged down on that now. he'll deal with that in january. he, instead, wants to talk about jobs. >> i don't think he and his heart that the president intended to hurt these people in a very cruel way but they are being hurt by the actions that are being taken. >> we are bringing the entrepreneur back into this country. we are getting rid of all the nou

mr. chairman. i was glad to hear you talk about recovery supports. we had rebecca boss from rhode island. i know you're from rhode island. >> i used to work for her. >> and she is doing unbelievable work. in rhode island they talk recovery coaches is what they're called, who do exactly what you're talk about is getting into the community. one of the things that we put in 21st century in the cures act is more crisis intervention training for police. we talked before the hearing about judge leifman in miami-dade who has implemented a system where people with mental illness and substance abuse who get arrested instead of going to jail, which they used to do, and which costs a tremendous amount of money, were going to emergency rooms which also costs a lot of money, is getting them housing and getting them wraparound services. and that is something that i think talking about -- i know that senator young and i have talked about housing as a way. and we've done this in hennepin county in minnesota as well. but that's something that i want senator young and others on this committee to keep advoc

mr. chairman. i was glad to hear you talk about recovery supports. we have her back boss from rhode island. i know you're from rhode island. >> i used to work for her. >> she's been unbelievable work in right now in rhode island they have recovery coaches what they are called to do exactly what you're talking about getting into the community. one of the things in the 21st century is more crisis intervention training for police. we talked before, hearing about judge stephen lichtman in miami dade who has implemented a system where people with mental illness and substance abuse who get arrested instead of going to jail, which they used to do and cost tremendous amount of money were going to emergency rooms, which also costs a lot of money is getting housing and getting wrapped around services and that is sent and then i think, you know, i'm a know that senator jan and i have talked about housing and weak doneness in hennepin county in minnesota as well, but that is something that i want senator jan and others on the committee to keep advocating for and keep outside. i want to talk about india

mr. hermanson. next speaker, please. >> albert chao, grace garza, daniel coupler. >> hi, i'm albert chao, speaking on behalf of the merchants on taraval street. we had a pilot program and i thank michael rhodes and his crew, we didn't meet the 90% requirement. however, i do have to say that there was a lack of education, a lack of enforcement and also a very minimal design put down on the ride way. i thought they would have had a fairer chance if it was fully implemented in the way it was really designed to be put out. and in that light, i would ask the board that if we could still consider saving 26th avenue, 32nd and 40th avenue pilots because those are the three critical spots on taraval where i think they would receive the most benefits for the businesses. secondly, i think, i worry about the -- losing all the parking you are proposing to do is really going to make taraval businesses harder to prosper on the street, as well as people will start driving on santiago, which they already do and the consequences of that have yet to be seen. it's important you consider side consequences. and observe this closely as we continue this conversation, as the construction process moves out. so thank

the gentleman from rhode island is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you. thank you, mr. rector, -- mr. director, for your service and for the extraordinary service of the men and women at the fbi who are be to our country and who do important and dangerous work and risk hair lives often in that work. you hold in particular a very solemn responsibility to protect the integrity and the reputation of the fbi. and you are clearly proud as you should be to lead this agency. and i think we are seeing an administration which will continue to challenge the independence of the fbi and in many ways, our country is relying on your strength and your integrity to resist that. so i thank you. i want to begin with a couple of questions. one, there's been a lot of the question about obstruction of justice. you are aware, of course, obstruction of justice is a criminal statute in our federal law. dir. wray: yes. >> and there is no exemption in it for the president or any other person in the united states, that applies to every person in this country? dir. wray: i'm not aware of any statu