mr. rubio: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendments and call up my amendments en bloc amendments number 781 565 562 552, and 590. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report the amendments en bloc. the clerk: the senator from florida mr. rubio proposes en bloc amendments numbered 781 565, 562 552 and 590. mr. rubio: mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. warner: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from virginia. mr. warner: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment and bring up three warner amendments en bloc. amendment 991 amendment 636 and amendment 638. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report the amendments en bloc. c the clerk: the senator from virginia proposes en bloc amendments numbered 991 636 and 638. mr. warner: mr. president was 991 reported in that bloc as welling? the presiding officer: the senator is correct. mr. warner: mr.

mr. rubio: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. rubio: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that i be recognized to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. so ordered. mr. rubio: let me again just by acknowledging the work that the sponsors of this human trafficking bill are doing. trafficking is a sanitized way to discuss this issue. it's actually slavery and i'm glad that term is finding its its way into the lexicon of how this is discussed. it's not just the sex trafficking and slavery it's also the labor trafficking which is a major problem in this country as well. so i do hope we can find a way forward on this because it's an extraordinarily important issue one that has taken far too long to pay attention to. it's not just something that happens around the world. it happens here closer than you think. i wanted to talk about a separate topic today as well and it is one that a lot people are reading about in newspapers over the last 72 hours. as we all know, there was an election in israel this week and

mr. rubio: mr. president is -- are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. rubio: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. rubio: i ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendments and call up my amendment number 423 as modified with the changes at the desk. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: the senator from florida, mr. rubio proposes amendment numbered 423 as modified. mr. rubio: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. rubio: thank you mr. president. so during this administration -- let me begin by saying i believe defense spending is the most important obligation of the federal government. that doesn't mean we throw money away or put money in places where it doesn't belong or fund projects that have no utility but i

rounds, mr. rubio,. mr. rounds:,. mr. rubio:, sanders,. mr. sanders:, 123450 vote: vote: the presiding officer: is there anyone wishing to vote or change their vote? if not the yeas are 53, the nays are 46. the bill is passed. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: can we have order in the senate. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: mr. president i ask consent the senate proceed to the consideration of the veto message on s. 1 the cloture motion be withdrawn and at 2:30 p.m. today, the senate vote on the question of overriding the president's veto of s. 1 the keystone bill with the time equally divided in the usual form. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. inhofe: reserving the right to object. that's me over here. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: nay way you inhofe: any way you could change that to 2:20 from 2:30. there are four people who can make planes, otherwise. the presiding officer: will the majo

mr. chairman. >> thank you. >> sensor rubio. >> thank you. i want to thank you all as well for recognizing what happened last night in my home state of florida. it's inherently dangerous work even when they are training. our thought goes out to them and their families and loved ones. secretary carter iran's goal is to become the regional -- most dominant regional power; is that accurate? iran's goal is to become -- >> probably true yes. >> and they see american military presence in the region as a threat to that goal correct? >> probably yes. >> they are never excited to see americans anywhere in the middle east. >> i can't tell what excites them. i can't imagine that our bombing isil is unwelcome to them. but i don't know that. because i don't know what they are thinking. >> bombing isil is unwelcome to them. you agree the iranians are not fans of u.s. military presence in the middle east. >> i think they have the same suspicion of us as we have of them. >> but when they see us in the region, they are not fans of u.s. military deployments an

mr. chairman, i yield back. >> senator rubio. >> thank you. commissioner o'reilly, i want to begin with you. use of wireless broadband and internet connected devices has provided all sorts of economic growth and innovation that was previously, quite frankly, unimaginable. wireless traffic as we all know is projected to grow exponentially in the years ahead. because of this i introduced legislation to free up additional spectrum for commission use, both licensed and unlicensed. i strongly believe that we should be enacting policies that ensure that the united states continues to lead the world in wireless innovation and technology. unfortunately, it's my personal opinion -- i think those of others -- that the fcc net neutrality order is quite frankly the opposite of what we should be doing. i would be interested to hear you talk a little bit about the impact the order is going to have on wireless and wireless consumers who are interested in this topic and may not understand its true impacts on them. >> absolutely. thank you for your leadership

mr. cruz is only beating others to the punch by a few weeks. and a two republican senators rand paul and marco rubio. they indicated they will do the same. mr. cruz is alone on center stage for the time being. you can watch the speech from this morning in the c-span video library on c-span.org. here's a portion of what they had to say this morning. ted cruz: i believe in you pair it i believe in the power of millions of courageous conservatives rising up to reignite the promise of america. and that is why today, i am announcing that i am running for president of the united states. [cheersand and applause] >> again, you can see the entire speech right now on our companion network, c-span2, but you can also watch it online on c-span.org. -- we invite your thoughts on your facebook -- our facebook page and twitter. ahead of a two-week recess, the house of representatives and u.s. senate focused on the two dozen 16 budget this week. both measures would increase defense spending. without house rules committee meets today to set up debate on the to the f-16 budget. the house will gavel in a noon eastern f

mr. putin that by announcing strong additional sanctions for aggression -- i think it was senator rubio who said, why can't we tell mr. putin now what sanctions we would put down if you moves beyond the currencies fire? he asked a very good question. we have to have sanctions in place for if he moves again. that way, it may deter him, but if it doesn't, it will clearly weaken his economy, his political support, and fewer sources for his next aggression. i give the obama administration pretty good marks for sanctions because they are trying to pull along a reluctant europe. the other area we need to work on is the security side. mr. putin has a serious vulnerability. the russian people do not want russian troops fighting in ukraine. that is why he is lying to them. that is why the russian dead are buried in secret. that is why the families of the russian debt are told, if you tell the neighbors your sons fought and died in ukraine, you will not get benefits. if we provide defensive, lethal equipment to ukraine, that means either mr. putin will be deterred from going further into ukraine beca

mr. putin that by announcing strong additional sanctions for aggression to come, i think it was senator rubio who said, why can't we tell mr. putin now, what sanctions we will play down if he moves beyond the current cease-fire line. he asked a very good question. we need to have sanctions in place now if he moves again. that way it may deter him, but if it doesn't, if will clearly weaken his economy weaken his political support at home and give him fewer resources for his next aggression. i give the obama administration pretty good marks for dealing with sanctions because they're trying to pull along somewhat reluctant europe. the other area we need to work on is on the security side. mr. putin has a serious vulnerability. the russian people do not want russian troops fighting in ukraine. that's why he's lying to them. that's why the russian dead that come back are buried in secret. that's why the families of the russian dead are told, if you tell the neighbors your sons fought and died in ukraine you will not get benefits. if we provide defensive, lethal equipment to ukraine, that means tha

mr. chairman, i yield back. >> senator rubio. >> thank you. commissioner o'reilly, i want to begin with you. use of wireless broadband and internet connected devices has provided all sorts of economic growth and innovation that was previously, quite frankly, unimaginable. wireless traffic as we all know is projected to grow exponentially in the years ahead. because of this i introduced legislation to free up additional spectrum for commission use, both licensed and unlicensed. i strongly believe that we should be enacting policies that ensure that the united states continues to lead the world in wireless innovation and technology. unfortunately, it's my personal opinion -- i think those of others -- that the fcc net neutrality order is quite frankly the opposite of what we should be doing. i would be interested to hear you talk a little bit about the impact the order is going to have on wireless and wireless consumers who are interested in this topic and may not understand its true impacts on them. >> absolutely. thank you for your leadership

mr. chair. i don't have any other questions. >> senator rubio. >> thank you all for being here.ry newland, in your statement, you outlined the goal as threefold. first, we want these, then -- peace, then political normalization, then a return to borders. which i imagine includes crimea as well. in the hope is that minsk would offer that promise, with peace being the first precondition for all of these things. how realistic is that goal given the goals that putin has himself. i think the goal that putin has, is not about the ukraine, it is but completely reorganizing the post cold war, post soviet border in europe. it is not just about ukraine. in the context, he was to -- wants to weaken, divide, and force nato to fall apart. he has openly said that they believe that they need to establish a sphere of influence and not just throughout the former soviet space but also in former warsaw type packed countries. this whole talk about protecting russian speakers this is just , the excuse that he puts out there as a justification to the international community before moving forward. the

mr. charpir. i don't have other questions. >> shart rubio. >> thank you. thank you all for being here. secretary nuland in your statement you outline your goal as peace, then political normalization and then ult hately the return to borders which i imagine includes crimea as well. and the hope is that minsk would offer that promise with peace coming first as the precondition. the question that i have is how realistic is that goal given the goals that putin has himself? i think the goal, unless any of you dispute this, i think the goal putin has here is to basically -- it's not just about ukraine. it's completely reorganizing the post-cold war, post-soviet war area in europe. it's not just about ukraine. he wants to weaken, divide perhaps force nato to fall apart. he's questioned why we need a nato anymore because there's no more soviet union. he's said they believe they need to establish a sphere of influence in former countries. this whole talk about protecting russian speakers, this is an excuse he puts out there as an justification before the international community from moving forw

mr. chairman. already blinken, during your confirmation hearing in the senate you promised senator rubio and the foreign relations committee that you and the administration would consult congress on any policy changes the administration was seeking toward cuba. that turned out to be a police falsehood. i worry that the cuba example is a deliberate attempt by the administration to keep congress in the dark reporting the castro negotiations. and why is this important? not only because of the cuba deal but how that implicates the iranian deal, keep us in the dark foreshadows the administering's approach to congress and keeping us out of the loaf on the iranian deal. the administration has made it clear it does not want congress to vote on the iranian feel anytime soon, but you just said to mr. royce that the u.n. security council will be having a vote, binding vote on the iranian deal, just to make it clear, you will be going to the u.n. security couple to ask for a vote -- security council to ask for a vote on the iranian deal. yes or no? >> we'll be going to the security council presumably, this is an in

mr. blinken: that is correct. >> we now go -- >> thank you so much. you had promised senator rubio you and the administration would consult congress on any policy change to cuba. that turned out to be a falsehood. i worry that the cuba negotiations were a deliberate attempt to keep us in the dark. how did -- keeping us in the dark foreshadows the administration's approach to congress. the administration has made it clear it does not want congress to vote on the iranian deal anytime soon. but you just said to mr. royce the security council will be having a binding vote on the deal. you will be going to the security council to ask for a vote on the iranian deal, yes or no? mr. blinken: we will be going to the security council because it is an international deal to take note of the deal. rep. engel: -- rep. ros-lehtinen: to vote? no problem. palestinian state would. there have been reports that in order for president obama to continue his temper tantrum toward prime minister netanyahu what we will be doing in the united nations is push in the shadows for a vote on palestinian statehoo

mr. royce: we now go to -- >> thank you. during her confirmation hearing you promised senator rubio and the foreign relations committee that you and the administration would consult congress on any policy changes the administration was seeking toward cuba. that turned out to be a complete falsehood. i worry that the cuba example was a deliberate attempt by the administration to keep congress in the dark regarding the negotiations and why is this important? not only because of the cuba deal but because of how that implicates the iranian deal. keeping us in the dark, it foreshadows the administration's approach to congress. and keeping us out of the loop on the iranian deal. the administration has made it clear that it does not want congress to vote on the iranian deal anytime soon, but you just said to mr. royce that the un security council will be having a vote on the iranian deal. just to make a quick, you will be going to the un security council to ask her a vote on the iranian deal, yes or no? secretary blinken: we will be going to the security council presumably, because this is an international agreement to take note of t

mr. speaker, in your comment, you side that -- >> and if you're a republican hoping to run for president, how do you celebrate the five-year anniversary? if you're marco rubio, you write an article on foxnews.com promising to provide an off-ramp from the affordable care act. replacing it with conservative solutions. yeah, well good luck with that one. in the meantime 16 million americans enjoy health care coverage that they didn't have before. joining me now is congressman john yarmuth, democrat from kentucky and democratic strategist margie o'mara. thank you both for being here. >> good evening, reverend. >> congressman, the uninsured rate in your state fell by over 10% after the health care law was implemented. what have you heard from voters? >> well actually, al, it's more than that. the uninsured rate actually dropped by 50%. in my district in louisville we actually reduced the uninsured rate by 81%. >> wow. >> we have 520,000 people in the commonwealth of kentucky previously uninsured, who are now insured. >> let me stop you there. 50% statewide and 81% in your district? >> 81% in my district. we had the deloit firm come in, the beshear administration

mr. trump let's switch gears to politics. just last week ted cruz announced his plans to run for president of the united states. sounds like marco rubio same things in the next couple of weeks, probably announcing on april 13th. a brand new new hampshire poll has come out of republican favorites. jeb bush followed by scott walker. rand paul is at 7%. you are at 6%. and then you beat ted cruz, you beat chris christie. you beat marco rubio and you beat mike huckabee. what do you make of this? >> i beat 21 people. i have to tell you -- that's despite the fact nobody thinks i'm running. they think i have great life. i lead a wonderful beautiful life. i enjoy what i'm doing. i love what i'm doing. it is somewhat glamorous. i just got back from scotland. i didn't play golf by the way. i worked to make it great. i do love my life. i love what i'm doing. i love my business. i have a great company. i also love the country and i love the country more. and when i see what's going on with negotiating, when i see what's going on with iran, it's -- i don't want to use the word it's a joke. it is a joke. when i see what's happening, i'm giving it ve

mr. mcardle? host: good, go ahead. caller: i just want to say that i was kind of -- i don't want to say disgusted, but offended by the speeches, senate republicans, tom cotton, marco rubio, had on the senate floor yesterday. i think these guys are really unreasonable. they use really illogical arguments to get their points across. i think they are like -- some of the reasons why people really don't like politicians especially marco rubio. i think that guys just an idiot, man. host: that is adam calling in from michigan. bringing up tom cotton, among the members that he disagrees with. tom cotton was the lead author of that letter that was sent to the iranian leaders ended the nuclear negotiations that garnered so much attention. on monday, tom cotton took to the senate floor and offered his maiden floor speech as united states senator, freshman senator. he talked about the nuclear deal and an armed iran. here is what he had to say. [video clip] sen. cotton: the threat of terrorism brings us to iran, the worst state sponsor of terrorism. my jackson's to the ongoing nuclear negotiations are well-known and need not be rehearsed here. i will civilly note that the deal fores

mr. rubio: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. rubio: jerusalem is the capital of israel and that's where the united states should have its embassy. however, a waiver has been used over the last 20 years to avoid this move. this amendment would allow funding to achieve what is already in the u.s. code, and i would yield the balance of mile time to the senator from south carolina. mr. graham: as all of you know, the knesset meets in jerusalem. every political party in israel recognizes jerusalem as their gallon capital -- their capital, both political parties of the united states should do the same, that's where our embassy should be. mr. sanders: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: i suggest a voice vote on that. the presiding officer: 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 amendment is agreed to. there will now be two minutes of debate on the kaine amendment number 1047. mr. kaine: mr.