mr. sanders: mr. president, i would ask that the motion be dispensed with. the presiding officer: wowcts. -- without objection. mr. sanders: mr. president as i mentioned earlier i happen to believe that the republican budget that we will be discussing today moves us in exactly the wrong direction. at a time when the middle class is in decline and the gap between the very, very rich and everybody else is growing wider what the republican budget does is make ferocious attacks on programs desperately depended upon by working families while at the same time, providing outrageous tax breaks to the very wealthiest of the wealthy,ances and ma that makes no sense to me at all. one area where the republican budget is neglect one of many areas that the republican budget is neglect is in the issue of social security. mr. president, social security is perhaps the most important and successful federal program that was ever initiated. it is life and death to millions of seniors ans people with disabilities -- and p

mr. sanders: probably. they are not as rigorous as we would like, but it is fair to say that, in many cases, they do not meet the standards of jenner & block for its supreme court briefs. that is not to say they are badly done. it is just to say that i think they vary. the petitioners all emphasize a mix of major cases under due process and equal protection personal stories about clients and their parties. appeals to justice kennedy which are an inevitable feature in a case like this. and preemptive strikes against arguments based on states, and arguments that the sixth circuit had made in its decision. the respondent's briefs center around caution, going slow that a state not be forced to plunge ahead into unknown consequences of legalized same-sex marriages and what that means for straight people's marriage. there are federal is, attempting to distinguish windsor. for as much power as it has had in getting us through lower federal courts, there are state instances that's a windsor was a federal -- say win

mr. sanders: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: thank you. mr. president, later today we are going to begin a discussion of the budget, and as you know the budget is a set of national priorities. a budget has to do with our vision of where america is and where america should be. and we are now in the process of moving the budget to a conference committee between the house and the senate mr. president, when i think about a budget, i think about a document which is designed to address the problems facing our country, and in that regard i find the republican budget that will likely pass to be totally totally inadequate and a budget whose priorities are way way way out of place with where the american people are. when we talk about the needs of america, the most significant need and the most significant economic problem we face is that for 40 years the american middle class has been in decline. today we have over 40 million americans living in poverty almost more

mr. sanders: i object. mr. mcconnell: i move -- the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. sanders: reserving i think reserving the right to object -- sorry. i would withdraw the objection. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. mcconnell: i move to adjourn until 9:30 a.m. witness day -- wednesday april 2. the presiding officer: question is non-debatable. ail those in favor say aye. all those opposed no. the the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the senate reaching a compromise yesterday mostly dealing with money legal aid and health services. loretta lynch attorney general nomination with the possible confirmation vote. follow the vote. follow the senate live here on c-span2 when members gavel backend. >> this saturday, the 2015 white house correspondent association annual dinner. watch our coverage at 6:00 p.m. eastern with a guest arrival along the red carpet. carpet. the more than 2600 attendees will be addressed by president obama. the 2015 white house correspondent association annual dinner saturday at 6:00 p.m. ea

mr. sanders: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sanders: mr. president i ask to speak in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sanders: mr. president i rise in strong opposition to the fast-track bill that the finance committee approved last night that will be on the floor, i think, here next week or the following week on the trans-pacific partnership. the most important aspect, i think, of this debate is that what we are discussing with the t.p.p. is not a new concept. it's not like somebody came up and said i got a great idea. let's try this trade agreement and it's going to be really good for the american worker, the american middle class and the american people. the truth of the matter is that we have seen this movie time and time and time again. and let me tell you that the ending of this movie is not very good. it's a pretty bad

mr. sanders. >> good morning, everybody. >> good morning. >> my name is sanders, my number is do 9582.oing time since the early '80s. every morning you wake up, get up at 5:30, you go eat chow, you go to your job assignment, whatever. it's no fun. you know what i mean? >> how many people in here have family in prison? >> yeah, family or friends. >> i have. >> how many have brothers and sisters and family and cousins that say it's cool up in there? oh, they say it's cool up in there, huh? come join us. i feel sorry for you if you do join them. >> right now, you're in junior high. you have so many doors open for you right now, but you can voluntarily give up your freedom. some of you, at the age of 14, can end up in prison already. so that's what we're here to talk about. the program, this is what we do. we bring the prison to you guys. we don't want to see you in prison. we'd rather see you out here. sanders is here to enlighten you, let you know about the choices. don't make these certain choices that he made. >> my dad has been in and out of prison since i was, like, born. and my mom,

mr. sanders and mr. van hollen have artie made clear, my democratic colleagues and i will speak today about the many ways these budgets fall short in addressing the true needs of our nation and the american people. i also want to talk about the questionable ways in which these budgets purport to balance our nation's finances. we see washington a lot of tv these days, but honestly, with the fantasies evident in this pages, it's more like games -- game of thrones than house of cards. the house and senate had to use some remarkably acrobatic arithmetic to get the appearance of a balanced budget year. it is far from partisan. these are not democrats concerns, this is matt that just doesn't add up. i'm far from the only one who sees it. the committee for responsible federal budget noted that the health budget uses several budget gimmicks that circumvent budget discipline, and the details are in some ways unrealistic and a testified. on the senate budget, they also observed that disappointingly many of the sav

mr. sanders and mr. van hollen have artie made clear, my democratic colleagues and i will speak today about the many ways these budgets fall short in addressing the true needs of our nation and the american people. i also want to talk about the questionable ways in which these budgets purport to balance our nation's finances. we see washington a lot of tv these days, but honestly, with the fantasies evident in this pages, it's more like games -- game of thrones than house of cards. the house and senate had to use some remarkably acrobatic arithmetic to get the appearance of a balanced budget year. and the disapproval of the gimmicks and creative math in these budgets is far from partisan. these aren't democrats concerns, this is math that just doesn't add up. i'm far from the only one who sees it. the committee for responsible federal budget noted that the health budget uses several budget gimmicks that circumvent budget discipline, and the details are in some ways unrealistic and unsessfide. on the sena

mr. sanders noted his goals. he later arcticticulated before media and curious onlookers why he was running. he acknowledged that he faced big financial challenges but said that as a politician with the most unusual political history of anyone in congress, he was optimistic about his chances. again, that from the "new york times." senator sanders was a number of presidential hopefuls interviewed recently in manchester new hampshire for "conversation with the candidate." we'll show you that interview now. followed by the station's interview with senator rand paul. >>> good evening everyone. welcome to the latest in our conversation with the candidate series. i'm josh mckelvin. our guest independent vermont senator, bernie sanders. we'll be getting to know senator sanders. i'll be asking the candidate questions. after the break, we'll have our studio audience ask the questions, in a town hall style format. before we start with that, let's get a quick look at the candidate's biography. >> bernie sanders was born in

sanders. >> thank you very much mr. chairman. let me thank you and chairman price for holding this very, very important meeting. on a personal note let me thank my friend, chairman enzi, while he and i have huge philosophical differences, he has run this committee in a very civil way and cordial way. i appreciate that very, very much. i think i speak for all the members on our side saying that. mr. chairman the budget resolutions that we are debating today are nothing less than a disaster for the working families of this country. on every important issue that we face both of the republican budgets, the house budget and the senate budget, do exactly the opposite of what needs to be done and in fact what the american people want us to do. let me just give you a few examples. america is the only major country on earth that doesn't guaranty health care to all of its people. despite the modest gains of care affordable care act 35 million americans have no health insurance and we spend almost twice as per capita on health care as do pe

mrs. clinton, bernie sanders and frances rivera is here with me in new york.resident obama in '08? do you agree or disagree? waeg in and we'll give you results. let's first go to kristen welker. i think you're on the telephone with me. the response was very brief and focused, not direct to your question. >> hey thomas that's exactly right. i asked secretary clinton about the she was here in iowa in 2008 and what her strategy was this time around. she didn't directly answer the question instead said she is glad to be back in iowa couldn't be more excited about it. but her campaign is quite different this time around. they say she's going to be getting up close and personal with voters who want to be more acceptable and we're seeing that play out in the first campaign. and meeting with a handful of students and educators in monticello in a few minutes and that's part of this new approach, to talk to people one on one. emphasizing her vision for the economy, i'm told in this first event and then again tomorrow when she holds a business round table. business leade

mr. dingell, killy sander levin, they actually go against nafta and did the right thing. tried to save your job. right now, interestingly, a nephew of mr. kilby and who is leading the fight against fast-track, debbie dingell congressman -- congress member dingell is one of the ones leading against fast-track and senator levin's brother, the congressman, is leading the fight against fast-track. the democrats are united but if you are independent or republican, there is a block of no votes but there needs to be more work. of course, the president county on the democrats to try and switch them to yes votes is not helpful. it is super important, given all the corporate campaign money going into advertising and lobbyists trying to get fast-track and railroad these job agreements, if you care about this issue and we all should because of the fix everyone of us, call your member of congress. start with house of representatives. this is a vote that could happen within two weeks. host: independent line, rob is up next. caller: thank you. i think the lady a couple calls earlier had

price and then senator sanders and mr. van hollen, and then we have a list of the others in order.o at this point -- we appreciate all showing up so far. although those who do not show up will help reduce the length of the meeting of course. [laughter] we meet today with moving the join house-senate budget conference with the goal of producing a balance budget, about to that strengthens our nation's defense, protects our most honorable citizens, improves economic ruth and opportunity for hard-working families, and slows the rate of the federal government's out of control spending growth. it was no small task. the last time both houses of congress passed a balanced joint budget resolution was in fiscal year 2002. that means we have not had balanced budget for almost 15 years. when it comes to the federal budget, americans know that we have lived for too many years with too many blown deadlines and too many last-second deals. both ends of pennsylvania avenue have allowed this to become the new normal on how we operate. this is why passing a budget is so important for our nation. it l

mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize the university of kentucky's sanders brown center on aging. which was established in 1979 and is one of the original 10 national institutes of health funded alzheimer's disease research centers. the university of kentucky alzheimer's disease center ablely led by dr. linda and her outstanding team of scientists and investigators supports and facilitates research with a long-term goal of enabling more effective translation of complex scientific discoveries to intervention strategies that improve the lives of patients. the sanders brown scientists are focused on understanding the mechanisms involved in development and progression of age related neuro degenerative diseases such as alzheimer's disease and related dimensionas and stroke and seeking new knowledge -- dementias and stroke and seeking new knowledge. this center also promotes education and outreach, provides clinical and neuro pathological diagnoses, and care of patients with cognitive impairment and runs an active clinical trials program to test potential new therapies. these activities

price and senator sanders and then mr. van hollen and then we have a list of the others in order.d that we are at this point and appreciate all who have shown up so far although those who don't show up will help reduce the length of the meeting of course. so we meet today on moving forward with the joint house, senate budget conference with the goal of producing a balanced budget, a balanced budget that does not rely on new taxes and its and strengthens our nation's defense can protect them affordable citizens, prince economic growth and opportunity are hard-working families and slows the rate of the federal government out of control spending growth. was no small task to contact the list of both houses of congress passed a balanced joint budget resolution was in fy 2002. it means we haven't had a balanced budget for almost 15 years. when it comes to the federal budget americans know that we live for too many years with too many blown deadlines and too many last second deals. both ends of pennsylvania and have allowed this to become the new normal on how we operate. this is why pas

sander levin said mr.bama's negotiators botched the chance at a bipartisan deal, risking the fate of fast-track negotiating and the transpacific partnership that the president is rushing to finalize. mr. levin said he is firmly in the no camp and will lead the opposition. he told reporters that, saying even the number of potential boats on the table for mr. obama still to sway is tiny." that on the trade deal in "the washington times." "the washington post's" editorial board weighs in. they say it is republicans and the white house versus democrats on the deal. they write "it's true as critics say that the deal does not compel the administration to negotiate an end to alleged currency manipulation. the problem is that it is very difficult to establish precisely become much less in a legally binding agreement, correct valuations of major currencies or the precise intent behind any particular policy that affects currency values. the worst election currency manipulator, china, is not even a party to tpp. it p

sanders. for whatever reason there is deep skepticism on the far left about mrs. clinton. certainly not as liberal as barack obama especially on foreign policy and she does not seem to connect with regular folks the way mr. obama. then there is hun necessary city factor especially regarding benghazi and her emails. >> again, i want to be fair to her. she has never indicated that she would not come. but i also am going to be very firm that it is a condition precedent to my being able to talk to her about benghazi for me to understand that i have all the documents i'm entitled to. >> well, good luck. congressman gowdy, the chairman of the house select committee on benghazi is a bulldog, so news may be forthcoming. but he is never going to get those emails. those emails are are vapor. summing up, hillary clinton's first week on the campaign trail kind of bizarre. and talking points believes that condition may continue right up to election day 2016 that's the memo, now for the top story tonight reaction. joining us from washington is the aforementioned senator bernie sanders f

mr. chairman i understand we are on sanders' eastern time, and also understand that like king tut we are pressed for time. so i have a wonderful opening statement. absolutely wonderful. but i'm going to submit it for the record at this point and just let it go. [ laughter ] come on, come on. mr. chairman? >> senator -- >> i'll follow suit. >> oh, that's good. that's really good. anybody else care to make an opening statement? we don't -- >> mr. chairman? mr. chairman? >> yes? >> if i could submit an opening statement for the record also. >> that would be fine. >> thank you. >> without objection. >> same. >> anybody else? >> could i move that we all have the opportunity to submit our opening statements for the record? >> a wonderful thing. you have such a wonderful way of doing thing. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> without objection, we'll certainly do that. today's first order of business is a technical document on the trade adjustment assistance enhancement act of 2015. now before we begin, i would like to put this trade adjustment assistance mark in context. what is before the committe

sanders. my grandparents came to this country just before the turn of the last century. charlie: came from? mrpaulson: -- steve: russia, poland. they took whatever job they could get in the eastern cities. they started to have children before world war i. my parents were born in 1916. they never saw a good day. they came of age in the great depression. if they didn't go to war they had defense jobs. they came out of order were to in their 30's into one of the great periods of expansion. what is amazing is these people who had never seen a good day believe that anything was possible in america if their cake get a better education of banned them maybe even the president of the united states. it was founded on a mystical belief and opportunities here. we noticed during that generation they all had a pent-up demand for the good life. the cadillac, a copacabana. the desire for the good life is a significant feature of first-generation well. when people make the first book in -- buck and their families history they have a very different attitude towards their disposable income. in china, today, all

the vote with senate budget committee ranking member bernie sanders and response from budget committee chair. this is about 30 minutes. >> mr. president, let me thank the senator and his staff for their hard work. certainly i agree we need a government which is accountable. we need to get rid of waste in government and we need to get rid of duplicate programs. i don't think there is any debate. i look forward to working to make that happen. mr. president, the republican budget is far far more than that. today i rise in strong opposition to the motion to go to conference on these budget resolutions. the budget resolution that the senate passed on march 27 moves this country and exactly the wrong direction. in the house budget resolution in many respects is even worse. mr. president, the federal budget is more than just a list of members. the federal budget is about our national priorities and values. it is about how we assess the problems facing our country, of which there are many and i am not sure that the senator would disagree with me if i laid them out. and how we go forward in addressing the problems of which there is

sanders. the independent but really you know, a very very left wing guy who is going to vote for hillary clinton. i said it's going to be hard for mrsn to demonize wall street and the fat cats and the white privilege when she herself has gladly partaken in that at a very extreme level. $250,000 a speech. investing $1,000. getting 100,000 back. however that happens, i don't know. but she has participated in that. now she is going to turn and try to say the system is rigged against most of the folks and that thee is going to do something about that. have you run up against the clinton machine in arkansas for many many years. can mrs. clinton succeed on that level? >> well we can't let her succeed. >> but can she sell that? >> i no, i don't think she can. one of the reasons she is running away from all the issues is because the issues are nothing but her achilles heel. she can't run on the issues. the issues are did a video really create benghazi in the issues are did we have a reset with russia? the issue is, does she really live as a way that she was dead broke when she left the white house? she can't run on the issues. she has to ru

sander levin. i'd like to have those submitted in the record. senator hatch: without objection, it will be -- plate in the record at this point. immediately following your remarks. mr. donohue: mr. chairman, there are few materials like my formal testimony. senator hatch: we'll put them all in the record. mr. trumka: i'd like to state, -- start mr. chairman, by , stipulating that tom donohue is an expert of presidents. he goes back to abe lincoln's days. [laughter] i think he is ably qualified to be an expert on those presidents. i want to thank you, chairman hatch -- senator hatch: you're goings to have that white hair before it's all said and done. mr. trumka: i want to thank you, members of the committee, and tom donohue. for strengthening labor and environmental provisions, for reforming investment rules, for finding the appropriate balance and regulatory measures and intellectual property protections, for fair rules of origin and finally including meaningful currency provisions among many other issues. far from being opposed to trade on principle, we have supported trade deals when warranted. some examples would be the jordan trade agreement, the african growt

mrs. clinton is now emulating his policies and welcomed her to the fight. if republican needling wasn't enough, clinton will soon have a brand-new challenger from the left. independent senator bernie sanderset to announce tomorrow that he will challenge hillary clinton for the democratic nomination. joining me now is josh green, and former rnc chair michael steele. so josh, this is going to be a question that i think comes up a lot as we go toward november 2016. but how much should hillary clinton be held accountable for the policies enacted by bill clinton, and do you think the campaign has a good answer for that at this point? >> well i mean i think she needs to be held to a certain kind of account. she had a big role in the clinton administration. if you remember she was sort of the leader on hillary care the failed health care plan. and she's been an important influence on her husband's presidency. she was never just a first lady in the traditional role. she always performed as i think one of his most important adviser. that being said i think a big problem is going to be less the role that she played than the fact that democratic politics and the democratic coalition and democratic p

a billionaire class sanders says has too much influence over politicians, including hillary and bill clinton, who took in hundreds of millions in speaking fees and donations while mrs. clinton was secretary of state. >> our democracy is being owned by a handful of billionaires. that is wrong. >> reporter: you think the clintons are part of the system? >> i think anybody now, running for office with a few exceptions, and i think i'm one of them. >> reporter: the president joked. at a sanders campaign at the white house correspondence dinner. >> bernie is an interesting guy. apparently some folks want to see a pot-smoking candidate in the white house. we can get a third obama term after all. >> i'm not a pot smoker. i have years ago. >> reporter: the grandfather with far left political views would stand out on a debate stage with hillary clinton. george the clinton campaign has said there will be debates. >> the first but not the last democratic challenger. right? >> reporter: i count three others likely to jump in, perhaps, martin o'malley one of them. i expect him to be in the race, as well. >> thank you. >>> let's go to amy. >> a rare and deadly shark attack. >> a

sander levin. i'd like to have those submitted in the record. senator hatch: without objection, it will be -- plate in the record at this point. immediately following your remarks. mr. donohue: mr. chairman, there are few materials like my formal testimony. senator hatch: we'll put them all in the record. mr. trumka: i'd like to state, -- start mr. chairman, by , stipulating that tom donohue is an expert of presidents. he goes back to abe lincoln's days. [laughter] i think he is ably qualified to be an expert on those presidents. i want to thank you, chairman hatch -- senator hatch: you're goings to have that white hair before it's all said and done. mr. trumka: i want to thank you, members of the committee, and tom donohue. for strengthening labor and environmental provisions, for reforming investment rules, for finding the appropriate balance and regulatory measures and intellectual property protections, for fair rules of origin and finally including meaningful currency provisions among many other issues. far from being opposed to trade on principle, we have supported trade deals when warranted. some examples would be the jordan trade agreement, the african growt

mr. sanders: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: this motion is being introduced by senator brown of ohio. our big banks are too big. the largest banks are now 38% larger than they were before the crisis in terms of loans outstanding. one out of seven americans is being pursued by a debt collector. u.s. banks are so big that the six largest financial institutions in this country today have assets of roughly $9.8 trillion, just equivalent to 60% of the nation's g.d.p. being big and powerful is good for the banks and bad for this country, and bloomberg, for example, says the too big to fail subsidy is massive. by being big they get huge subsidies. it amounts to $83 billion a year. that is why i support this provision to stop too big to fail. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. enzi: i would mention that this bill is cosponsored by senator vitter from our side. i would mention that if a big bank fails under the senator's reforms, there's nothing that protects the taxpayers from having to save the bank. in other

mr. sanders: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vemplet vermont. mr. sanders: mr. president let me applaud senator enzi and his staff for their very hard work, and let me say that certainly i agree with senator enzi that we need a government which is accountable that we need to get rid of waste in government and that we need to get rid of duplicative programs. i don't think there is any debate on that. i look forward to working with senator enzi and others to make that happen. but, mr. president the republican budget is far far more than that. and today i rise in strong opposition to the motion to go to kfns conference on the budget resolution. the budget resolution that the senate passed on march 27 moves this country in exactly the wrong direction. and the house budget resolution, in many respects, is even worse. mr. president, the federal budget is more than just a long list of numbers though god knows there are a long list of numbers in the budget. the federal budget is about our national priorities and about our values. it is about how we assess the problems f

mr. sanders: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: mr. president i objected to the unanimous consent request to waive rule 26 to allow the finance committee to pass a fast-track bill because i think it's time we slowed down fast track. this trade agreement i think everybody acknowledges is of enormous consequence to working people all over this country and we need more transparency, we need to know what is in this legislation, we need to involve the american people in this discussion. and, mr. president i must say that i am extremely disappointed that on a piece of legislation which involves 40% of the world's economy, that is the largest trade agreement in the history of the united states of america, much of the major media has virtually ignored this issue. now, you may be for the agreement, you may be against the agreement. i am strongly against it. i'll tell you why in a moment. but i would hope that we could all agree that this is an enormously important issue that deserves significant discussion on the part of the american people and

mr. sanders: mr. president let me just -- the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: i'm sorry. thank you. let me just pick up on a couple of the points my friend from wyoming, senator enzi, made. republicans often say and senator enzi said it now that democrats cut $714 billion from medicare. to the best of my knowledge not one penny involved in those cuts cut any benefits to the american people. what the affordable care act attempted to do -- and maybe we made some progress, as senator enzi pointed out last night with the so-called doctors' fix -- is to make medicare more efficient. what's wrong with that? what's wrong with saving money? what the american people want us to do is make programs more efficient. in fact, senator enzi was talking about that a moment ago and he's right. but the idea the implication that those cuts resulted in benefit cuts is not accurate. furthermore, what some of that money those savings went to is filling, plugging the doughnut hole so that seniors would not have to pay money out of their own pockets for prescription drugs. so i