mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: thank you, madam president. as the minority, we typically cannot move legislation on the floor without the consent of the majority leader. but under the rules governing congressional review, any group of 30 senators can petition to discharge a c.r.a., a congressional review act, from the committee and bring it up to the floor subject to majority vote. that's what senator markey has just done with the c.r.a. on net neutrality, and the vote that just concluded means the full senate will now consider it because i believe there were 53 -- 52 votes in favor. for the first time in this congress the majority will be called to vote on an issue. i suspect they'd rather avoid. net neutrality is a complex issue but an incredibly consequential one. at stake is the future of the internet, which until this point in our history has remained free and open, accessible and affordable to most americans. that fundamental equality of access is what has made the internet so dynamic, a catalyst for

mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: are we in a quorum? i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: well, madam president, later today, the senate will vote on the confirmation of michael brennan to the seventh circuit. over the objection of one of his home state senators, senator baldwin, who has not returned a blue slip on his nomination. it's an abject breach of senatorial courtesy that both parties have long respected. in fact, the seat mr. brennan will fill on the seventh circuit has been held open for six years by the senior senator from wisconsin, senator johnson, via the same process, the blue slip. when barack obama was president, when patrick leahy was chairman of the judiciary committee, we democrats obeyed the blue slip, and it led that seat to be vacant for six years. now that the shoe's on the other foot, the republican majority will ignore the blue slip rights of a democratic senator, even though they fervently believe that we ought

mr. schumer: mr. president, this week is police week. it's a time to honor the brave men and women who put their lives on the line every day to keep our streets safe. every morning police officers all across the country wake up, put on their uniform praying for the kind of day the rest of us typically enjoy, a routine one. praise god. most days that's the case. but sometimes our police officers are asked to put their own lives at risk in defense of others. back in my hometown new york, we're protected by the finest law enforcement organization in the world, the nypd. just two weeks ago, two rookie new york police officers, flavio chaco and jason chu llio rushed into a burning apartment building up nine flights of stairs to pull people to safety. it was an extraordinary act of heroism or just another day in the line of duty for the over 35,000 men and women of the new york police department. all of us here in congress are indebted to the u.s. capitol police who spend long hours protecting us every day. we saw their bravery in action last

mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent to use leader time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: thank you, madam president. before i get into the substance of my remarks, i always listen diligently to my friend from kentucky. there is a number that's missing in his charts. it's called 1.5 trillion. the reason we don't like government spending is because, he thinks, a lot of it's wasteful, okay. but the reason ultimately is also because there is a huge deficit. our side scratches at the heads -- at our heads, not only with our friend from kentucky but of everyone on the other side who rails about too much government spending and creation of the deficit when they created the deepest hole they could have with the tax break that could have been paid for by closing loopholes. and a group, a bipartisan group had put something together that would have reduced the corporate rate to 25%, brought the money overs at 8%, 9%, increased the child tax credit, left the individual side alone, and barely increased the deficit. so our side at least rankles when we hear these budgets that r

mr. schumer: thank you, madam president. so this morning i'd like to address four issues at varying lengths. the recent news on the north korea summit, the russia probe, the proposed recision of ebola funding and a word about the upcoming memorial day holiday. first, on the very recent news that president trump has canceled the planned summit with kim jong-un of north korea. the fear many of us had was that the summit between president trump and kim jong-un would be a great show that produced nothing enduring. if a summit is to be reconstituted, the united states must show strength and achieve a concrete, verifiable, enduring elimination of kim jong-un's nuclear capabilities. second, on the russia probe, today on capitol hill, department of justice, f.b.i., and inintelligence community officials are scheduled to brief members of congress on a few issues related to special counsel mewler's investigation into putin's meddling in the 2016 election. there will be two briefings. one, for house republican partisan who has relentle

mr. schumer: first, mr. president, some good news. as the majority leaderred, senator klobuchar and blunt have agreed on legislation to overhaul the way congress handles workplace claims to protect staff and others from harassment. it's certainly needed an overhaul. shamefully, the current system, soon hopefully the old system, didn't do enough to protect victims and hold perpetrators of workplace harassment accountable. among the other crucial reforms, the blunt-klobuchar legislation would do away with mandatory waiting periods that too often discourage complaints and let them languish. it would also make important changes to ensure that members of the house and senate are held personally accountable and liable if they have committed harassment. so i want to commend senators klobuchar and blunt who worked with many members, including senators gillibrand, murray, mccaskill, feinstein, harris, and cortez masto for putting this together. i also want to thank my colleague, the majority leader. he and i were involved and are both cosponso

mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. now, first, i want to spend a moment in recognition of teacher appreciation week. i'm sure everyone here remembers a teacher who inspired them, challenged them, propelled them to greater heights. i'll never forget mrs. roberts in cunningham junior high school who opened my eyes up to science. miss riley who inspired a love of literature and i'll never forget miss wagman would kindled my interest in government and politics, an interest that never died. that's would great teachers do. they open doors previously thought closed. they work day and night to give every one of us the opportunity to succeed. what a noble calling. in my view, teaching in the 21st century should be the same kind of exalted profession that law or medicine was in the 20th century. it's such an important job. in terms of our future, our economy, competing with china, the education of our young people is number one and often around here we forget that. many of the states they've forgotten it. teachers enjoy their jo

mr. schumer: thank you, leader pelosi. and want to thank you and all my colleagues for their leadership. happy monday to one and all. now, president trump campaigned as a populist. he promised to drain the swamp and clean up washington. democrats welcomed this promise when he made it. all of us here today have been working for years to promote ideas and legislation that would loosen the grip of special interests on so many arms of the federal government. but president trump, when it comes to draining the swamp, has been a complete and total disappointment. president trump has embraced the most egregious establishment republican norms, and appointed the most conflict of interest-ridden cabinet in my lifetime. the swamp has never been more foul or more fetted than under this president. every day it seems there's a new story about the swamp cabinet. just look at the swampy actions that finally forced out h.h.s. secretary tom price. e.p.a. administrator scott pruitt's almost daily scream of corruption. or o.m.b.'s mick mulvane

mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the democrat leader. mr. schumer: first, let me thank my friend from georgia for being able to go, and my friend from illinois who has been passionate, strong, and effective when it comes to these nonprofit colleges. he laid out a whole strong case, these for-profit colleges, excuse me. but let me just make one more point which sometimes my colleagues on the other side of the aisle and the -- in the trump administration, miss devos, seems to forget. who loses money when these for-profits take advantage of kids? the federal taxpayers, because the vast, vast majority, the overwhelming percentage of funds that go to these for-profit colleges are from federal student loans. so this is a waste of taxpayer money. and somehow our republican colleagues -- not all. some -- and the jumpings are willing to have the treasury just basically in certain ways be looted. and they shrug their shoulders and let the for-profits keep doing it. it's an amazing contradiction, so i thank my colleague. now, madam president, on the iss

mr. schumer. here is the point of the matter. if he would answer a straight question he would admit this. the chip program is not allowed to spend that money. i'm not making tum. spend something not authorized. it would be illegal for them to write that check. another point of the chip program is money that we reserve for the states that we have every reason to believe the states won't ask for and even if they do there is enough money left over to pay that again, these are the type of things that democrats used to vote for all of the time. many democrat senators in previous years has asked for these type of house cleaning savings. this used to be ordinary course of business in washington, d.c. part of the way you run the government. for some reason, on, this as with everything, the democrats, especially democrats in the senate seem to be wanting to be ostructure and it's extraordinarily frustrating but we will try and get them on the record and see how they feel about this. steve: why couldn't they cut the leaf blower budget at t

mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: thank you, madam president. as the minority, we typically cannot move legislation on the floor without the consent of the majority leader. but under the rules governing congressional review, any group of 30 senators can petition to discharge a c.r.a., a congressional review act, from the committee and bring it up to the floor subject to majority vote. that's what senator markey has just done with the c.r.a. on net neutrality, and the vote that just concluded means the full senate will now consider it because i believe there were 53 -- 52 votes in favor. for the first time in this congress the majority will be called to vote on an issue. i suspect they'd rather avoid. net neutrality is a complex issue but an incredibly consequential one. at stake is the future of the internet, which until this point in our history has remained free and open, accessible and affordable to most americans. that fundamental equality of access is what has made the internet so dynamic, a catalyst for

mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: thank you, madam president. as the minority, we typically cannot move legislation on the floor without the consent of the majority leader. but under the rules governing congressional review, any group of 30 senators can petition to discharge a c.r.a., a congressional review act, from the committee and bring it up to the floor subject to majority vote. that's what senator markey has just done with the c.r.a. on net neutrality, and the vote that just

mr. schumer and ms. pelosi should be apart of that. other thing, particularly highlighted in the last week, that was on a wednesday we were told by the department of justice and fbi, this is so sensitive, we can't show it to you. this will endanger human lives and national security. two important thoughts on that. number one, we are the select committee on intelligence. we are designed and created just for this exact purpose. of course we can protect that. and the second thing is, they told us that they couldn't show it, it was too sensitive on a wednesday. and yet before we had seen the information, because we have not seen it yet, and yet that information was leaked out on thursday and friday. it must have come from someone in the department of justice, and it's very insincere to claim it's too sensitive to show congress or congressional leaders, but it's not too sensitive to leak? i don't know how you reconcile those two things. >> it's always very sensitive when we talk about confidential u.s. sources, whether they work for the cia

mr. schumer's point. here's my definition of a banana republic. when you have any agency up but particularly a military or law enforcement agency that is above the people and refuses to answer to the people. that is a banana republic. there is the opposite of a banana republic. a government that answers to the people when the congress request information, they provide that information, they don't stonewall, they don't hide, they don't lie, they don't deceive. that's the type of government we are hoping to hold accountable here. >> mike: there so many probes going on related to various issues. what are the next steps in terms of what the house intelligence committee is doing right now? >> this is an important piece to us, this last piece. found out that hillary clinton paid for the dossier. found out several things along the way but this is an important piece to us and we want this information and for them to say we are not going to give it is unacceptable. we had to threaten impeachment even more contempt and i think those tools are available to u

mr. schumer, who knows what's going to happen over there but nonetheless something is happening. hostages were released, north korea with the missile test, it doesn't seem, in fact there's a story out this morning that a number of the buildings at the facility where they're been doing the nook tests and stuff like that are disappearing if they're not disappearing it's a great pr move nonetheless a former bush speechwriter says what's going on on the left, tds , trump derange. syndrome, big time. >> how do you take something so positive the return of three americans held by one of the worst regimes in the world and turn that into a negative? the trump derangement syndrome is so intense that they can't even say good job, mr. president you brought back three americans it's insane. pete: of course, another thing that may be insane is steve, you flagged this this morning for me the fbi did they have a spy inside the trump campaign just asking the question, there's an op-ed in the wall street journal today about it. >> right, kimberly strassel apparently has been talking to her sources

schumer was referencing melania's campaign. >> mrs. that children should be both seen and heard and our responsibility to educate and enforce to them if they are using their voices themselves choose their words wisely and speak with respect and compassion. you're going to want to hear from steve schmitt when we come back. >>> there it is last thing before we go. perhaps people are thinking of mike pence more urgently than normal but he is in the news this week in part for telling andrea mitchell that it is time to wrap up the mueller investigation and the column by george will that carries the head lean, trump is no longer the worst person in government and to repeat the thesis sentence, trump is what he is, a floundering inarticulate jumpable of gnawing insecurities and not at all and pence and what she chose to be which is horrifying and that was nothing compared to what happened in this studio shortly before 5:00 p.m. eastern time today, nicole wallace asked schmitt about a operative -- >> he is a titanic fraud. we have listened to

mr. president. that's it. what chuck schumer was saying, there's no way that kim jong-un should have been holding those people in the first place. >> it was a back-handed compliment. >> you shouldn't be somehow praising a bad guy for releasing americans -- >> he was praising him for releasing them, juan. it's -- come on. you can't take something so positive and find the negative in it. it's just amazing. >> i'm not trying to find the negative. i don't think chuck schumer -- i don't think americans should not be saying excellent, kim jong-un. you -- >> it was a back-handed compliment. that's the way it comes up here. mark thank you. juan, thank you. don't go far. there's one thing we're watching overseas that could be a headwind, too. the situation with israel and iran. something we're keeping a close eye on. 7:00 here in new york, 2:00 jerusalem time. we're waiting for news as to see whether or not that escalates more. for president trump, he will be on the stage in elkhart, indiana now. part of a very busy week as we mentioned.

mr. bolton, what do you say to democrats that are upset that the president pulled the plug on this, even though a number of them, including chuck schumer back a couple years ago voted against barack obama's iran nuke packet. >> they were right the first time. it was a mistake when it was first agreed to and it hasn't aged well. steve: john bolton joining us on a very busy day at the white house. >> glad to be with you.

schumer. he said, mr. president, don't blow it.shed them harder than any other previous president. giving you the paraphrase. i don't have the tweet in front of me. so don't blow it now. so i know you got june 12th in singapore. i know they're related because that is the north korea situation. but this is our last chance to balance trade between a rising power. we're also on the up swing. but let's balance it out collectively, not sell my soybeans but rebalance our intellectual property. make sure there is no theft there. let's build in sanctions if happens again of the we know their plan, stuart. 2025, they want to surpass us. stuart: i have to want to leave you at this it is past time. it is early days. we'll deal with the transfer of intellectual property. i'm sure we are. we'll not leave it hanging that is all to come. it is a negotiating process. it will not be wrapped up tomorrow morning. i have to leave it there, brian. we're coming up on a hard break. >> i'm not really familiar with that at all. stuart: see you later, brian

> in response to the president's latest tweets, senate democratic minority leader chuck schumer tweeted this -- mresident, the powers of the presidency do not give you the right to interfere with or shut down the russia investigation. firing the deputy attorney general or director mueller would create a constitutional crisis. do not go down this road. jeremy bash, unwind this a little bit. it does get confusing. what mark meadows, jim jordan, other members of the freedom caucus, republicans are, seeking from rod rosenstein and the justice department is the unredacted documents that pertain to ongoing investigations. to which rosenstein says no, you can't have those documents about an ongoing investigation. we won't be threatened at the justice department. so what is the president arguing hee? does he believe he has the power to secure those documents under the presidency? >> well he believes he has the power to compel justice department officials to play into the republicans' hands on capitol hill. and basically what the president is saying is i have the right as president to interfere into invest

chuck schumer tweeting to the president saying look at this, chuck schumer is standing up for the president, don't let president xi play you mrpresident, trading some short term purchases of american goods, giving up that china and american intellectual property these are our family jewels they create millions of good paying jobs, this would be the art of a bad deal, stand strong your reaction to chuck schumer here? >> well, it's very interesting that senator schumer would take that position. he said very little when doing the barack obama administration china was basically economically abusing us and extorting us but i think one of the key things we have to understand is that china really doesn't believe that we would be willing to take any short term pain they really believe that we've become somewhat addicted to the cheap chinese goods that they continue to send over here a i think that the most important thing larry kudlow talked about this is we can restore and grow our economic growth and our economic strength and viability, we can get more money to the pockets of the every day american worker, then that will give us a

schumer ahead in the senate, can we have two guys from queens? i am from new york. can we have two guys from queens running the democratic party in the house and senate? mr. clyburn: we have a lot of good people in pennsylvania and -- mike: that's tongue and cheek. people are giving me a hard time from the audience. mr. clyburn: we are talking about legislative and political skills rather than the regions they may come from. if we can get beyond the regionalism i think they just have the skills. there are ways to balance all of that out but i don't want to take anything away from them because of the happenstance of birthplace. i'm from the house and i do know people make certain assumptions about us southerners. so i am not going to do that to anybody else. mike: let's talk about south carolina. you got a major port in your state. b.m.w. makes a lot of vehicles there now. we've had a lot of conversation in the press about trade. president trump obviously not necessarily a traditional republican on trade. talks about free trade but with some exceptions and some nuances, i guess. how do you feel like the trade issue is playing out? and particularly because

mr. president. i think your tough policies on china are correct but it has to be walking the walk not just talking the talk. >> schumer was referring to the tweet yesterday that trump and the chinese president are working to the to help zte and he told the commerce department to help get it done. last week zee announced they would cease business. they were barred -- they were the subject of a sanction. now, the u.s. has also accused zte and its chinese rival of being a national security threat. a 2012 house intelligence committee report says they are essentially armgs of the chinese government and that their technology could be used to spy on americans, something that both companies deny. the nation's top intelligence officials have urged americans not to use zte or waugh way products or services. two weeks ago the pentagon banned the company's phones from being sold on military bases. but they are still sold in the country n the united states. the president's willingness to help a china company is notable because he has blamed china for u.s. job losses and america's large trade deficit and also threatened to impose t

mr. daly? >> i do. >> secretary of state for that diplomacy. >> we'll start off with amy schumer, hosting saturday nightshow. she feels she knows now the lay of the land. >> oh, for starters, this is called the page desk. they call it that because it is where they keep all these pages. okay. now, this is called home base, which is not a euphemism for making sweet love, as i thought, but where you perform a monologue. it is a fun fact you probably don't know, but i am the very first woman to ever host "snl," or even be in the building. ready to sweep up the glass from the ceiling i just shattered. >> may not have shattered the glass ceiling, but it'll be a great show. watch amy and musical guest kacey musgraves. "s "snl" this saturday on nbc at 11:30. >>> the editor in chief of "vogue" broke down everything from monday's met gala. her and stephen colbert discussed the outfits, including amal clooneys. she started in this pantsuit dress. she ended up having to change, and she explained why. >> she wore this incredible dress on the red carpet designed by a young, british designer, richard quinn. it was mad

mrs. trump is on our hearts. >> president donald trump tweeting out tonight, actually saying successful procedure, she's in good spirits. thank you to all of the well wishers. one of those well wishers chuck schumer tweeted, just heard news that flotus underwent surgery today. sincere wishes for her recovery. she's doing well and looking forward to get back to helping children for her cause. kennedy: thank you for that record. >>> coming up, president trump, he's been at war with the media since the second he descended the gilded steps and journalists have loved every second of it. chirly hurt and richard fowler here to fight about it. i love it. a little man brawl here next. mr. elliot, what's your wifi password? wifi? wifi's ordinary. basic. do i look basic? nope! which is why i have xfinity xfi. it's super fast and you can control every device in the house. hey! let's basement. [ grunting ] and thanks to these xfi pods, the signal reaches down here too. so sophie, i have an xfi password. and it's "daditude". simple. easy. awesome. xfinity. the future of awesome. columnist, a warning for the media about their own addiction to covering president trump. nicholas kristof told cnn last night that t

schumer, sincere wishes for her speedy recovery. the surgical procedure comes a week to the day after mrs. trump introduced her be best initiative in the rose garden. >> together we can be best. >> reporter: aimed at tackling bullies, drug use, and mental health issues in children. >> let's encourage children to think big, dream big, and be best. >> america is truly blessed to have a first lady so devoted. >> reporter: the former model taking on an increasingly visible role. seen at her husband's side last week welcoming home the three americans held captive in north korea. and spearheading the first state dinner of the trump white house last month. mrs. trump now becoming the first first lady to undergo a serious medical procedure since 1987 in the white house. she will likely remain in the hospital for the week. eager to make a full recovery and get back to what the slovsh. working with children. the procedure was long planned. the first lady's office had had no comment on that or the specific timing of when the first lady learned she needed that procedure. >> kristen, thank you. >> let'

mrs. trump is on our hearts. >> president donald trump tweeting out tonight, actually saying successful procedure, she's in good spirits. thank you to all of the well wishers. one of those well wishers chuck schumer tweeted, just heard news that flotus underwent surgery today. sincere wishes for her recovery. she's doing well and looking forward to get back to helping children for her cause. kennedy: thank you for that record. >>> coming up, president trump, he's been at war with the media since the second he descended the gilded steps and journalists have loved every second of it. chirly hurt and richard fowler chirly hurt and richard fowler here t mom? dad? hi! chirly hurt and richard fowler here t i had a very minor fender bender tonight in an unreasonably narrow fast food drive thru lane. but what a powerful life lesson. and don't worry i have everything handled. i already spoke to our allstate agent, and i know that we have accident forgiveness. which is so smart on your guy's part. like fact that they'll just... forgive you... four weeks without the car. okay, yup. good night. with accident forgiveness your rates won't go up just because of an accident. switching to allstate is worth it. le

mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that at noon tomorrow, the senate resume legislative session and senator schumer or his designee be recognized to offer a motion to proceed to h.j. s.j. res. 52. further, that following disposition of s.j. res. 52, the senate resume consideration of the zais nomination. that any remaining time be yielded back and the senate vote on the nomination with no intervening action or debate, and that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be made and laid on the table and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. i ask unanimous consent the senate resume legislative session for a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i understand there is a bill at the desk. i ask for its first reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the title. the clerk will report and read the title of the bill for the first time. the clerk: s. 2850, a bill to amend the white mountain apache tribe water rights can't tiff occasion act of 2010 -- occoquan tif

mr. bolton, what do you say to democrats that are upset that the president pulled the plug on this, even though a number of them, including chuck schumerpacket. >> they were right the first time. it was a mistake when it was first agreed to and it hasn't aged well. steve: john bolton joining us on a very busy day at the white house. >> glad to be with you. ainsley: city council woman under fire for refusing to say the pledge of allegiance. this morning, she is not backing down. you are going to hear from her. pete: what does she pledge allegiance to then? >> while you were sleeping another california sitting voting to fight back against california's laws. tomi lahren lives on the west coast. her reaction next. ♪ ♪ when their windshield got chipped. so they scheduled at safelite.com. they didn't have to change their plans or worry about a thing. i'll see you all in a little bit. and i fixed it right away with a strong repair they can trust. plus, with most insurance a safelite repair is no cost to you. >> customer: really?! >> tech: being there whenever you need us that's another safelite advantage. >> singers: safelite repair, safelite

mr. schumer: are we in a quorum, madam president? the presiding officer: yes, we are. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: madam president, last night, the judiciary committee announced that it would be voting on a slate of judicial nominees, including andrew oldom, a nominee from the fifth circuit, and wendy vitter, a nominee for the eastern district of louisiana. we prize the quality of moderation in all our judges. at the district level, the circuit level, and of course at the supreme court level. mr. oldon and miss vitter, unfortunately, have expressed a number of sentiments that would put him on the political extreme, including troubling statements about women's health care rights. asked separately by my colleague senator blumenthal if they agreed with the decision on brown v. board of ed, both of them demurred. can you believe that? they would not say they supported brown v. board, and this is who our colleagues are nominating to put on the bench? it shouldn't be a tough question. seg

mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, on friday morning there was yet another shooting in a school in america. another community torn apart by senseless violence. another week when parents must bury their children. we're still learning the tragic details of what happened in santa fe, but the basic reality remains unchanged, far too many people are dying from gun violence. what we need now more than ever is substantive debate on gun violence. a real debate about universal background checks, a real debate about productive orders and a real debate on assault weapons. many in the -- in the wake of parkland, it looked like president trump would finally get religion this issue. he promised a serious debate on gun violence, but as p soon -- but as soon as the n.r.a. closed ranks around him, he backed off. that seems to be the pattern in this administration. the president says something one day, some powerful interest says don't do it, he backs off. that is not

mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. now, first we recently received some terribly sad news. michael beaver, an assistant parliamentarian here in the senate, passed away unexpectedly last week. his death at the young age of 39 is shocking and its suddenness tragic for the family, friends, his children, coworkers that he left behind. michael was incredibly bright, unfailingly honest, had a quick wit and a dry sense of humor. i know that as an assistant parliamentarian, he was a member of a small but crucial team of behind-the-scene staffers without hom the senate couldn't function. our thoughts are with his family today, especially his wife gilda, his two young boys who will remember him as a loving and devoted father. in the words of scripture, blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. now, on another matter, as the senate returns to work after the recess, we're scheduled to process six circuit court judges over the next few w

mr. schumer: madam president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: now, madam president, first i begin -- i recently heard that my dear friend terry reed has just gotten out of an operation to treat pan creatic -- pancreatic cancer. it seems everything went well with the operation. the doctors say pancreatic cancer is not a great thing, but given that, the operation couldn't have gone much better. we're all praying for harry's speedy recovery. harassy is a fighter, literally and figuratively. i know he will approach his recovery with the same tenacity that defined his public life. so we all send our prayers to him. we also wish a speedy recovery to the first lady, who underwent a medical procedure today as well. now, an area where the president and i have mostly agreed is trade with china. i've given him a pat on the back for his stance so far. i have praised the administration vocalland forcefully for their efforts to address china' china's intellecl property theft and extortion, their unwillingness to let our best products be sold in their