mr. thune. mr. thune no. mr. burr. mr. burr no. mr. isakson. mr. isakson no. mr. portman. mr. 30r9man no. mr. toomey. mr. toomey no. mr. coats. mr. coats no. mr. haller. mr. haller no. mr. scott. mr. scott no. mr. wyden. mr. wyden no. mr. schumer. mr. schumer aye. miss stabenow. miss stabenow aye. miss cantwell aye. mr. nelson aye. mr. menendez ez aye. mr. carper no. mr. cardin. mr. cardin aye. mr. brown aye. mr. bennett. mr. bennett aye. mr. casey. mr. casey aye. mr. warner. mr. warner no. mr. chairman. the chairman votes no. mr. chairman, the final tally is nine ayes, 17 nays. >> the amendment is defeated. are we getting close to the end here? senator burr, you're next. >> mr. chairman, i'd like to call up portman number 2, and that's committee number 88. and i'll say to the chairman, he will not love me like he loves senator bennett because i will have to have a recorded vote on this. but i will be very brief. and i have great affection for the chairman and for the tax he's got in front of him. i thank my colleagues for their support. on the customs bill of the tpb issu

mr. thune, no. corker? >> pass. >> toomey? >> no. >> mr. scott? >> no. >> mr. shuchmer? >> no. >> mr. nelson? >> no. >> mr. menendez? >> aye. >> mr. brown? mr. bennett? mr. bennett no. >> mr. warner? >> no. >> chairman votes no. >> mr. portman? >> i have not had a chance to review the amendment. i looked at it i can support it. >> mr. portman, aye. >> clerk will report. >> the tally is 9 ayes and 17 nays. >> the amendment is defeated. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i will try another and hopefully we can get bipartisan support for it. it amends the core labor section that indicates we would have equal pay for men and women of work of equal value as set forth in the convention of 100 considering equal pay for men and women workers for work of equal value. basically, putting in place as we work with other countries to improve their standards, a stipulation as to encourage equal pay for equal work. we are negotiating with countries that have abysmal labor standards and for women it can be a disaster in terms of the way women are paid. this would simply indicate we should empat

mr. thune: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president on april 2, president obama unveiled the framework of a nuclear agreement with iran. the purpose of the administration's negotiations with iran was simple. prevent iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. but the agreement the obama administration seems to arrived at casts doubts on whether the administration will be able to achieve that goal. the framework does not shut down a single nuclear facility in iran. it does not destroy a single centrifuge in iran. it doesn't stop research and development on iran's centrifuges. it allows iran to keep a substantial part of its existing stockpile of enriched uranium. it's not surprising that members of both parties are concerned about this agreement. democrats and republicans are worried because it appears that the administration is not trying to stop iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon but simply trying to man

mr. thune: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: mr. president i'm pleased as well to hear that we got an agreement on the human trafficking legislation. it's something that should be above politics. unfortunately, anything around here it seems gets sucked into politics from time to time, but it was important that we get an agreement on this, that we be able to advance this legislation, and i'm pleased to hear yet another accomplishment that has happened here in the united states senate since we've gotten things sort of opened up and functioning again. and, mr. president i just want to say that, you know, last year when republicans were running for office, we promised that if we were reelected, we would get washington working again for american families. and that wasn't a campaign slogan. that was a commitment. and i i'm proud to report that after 100 days in office, republicans are making significant progress. to start with, republicans have gotten the senate just functioning again on a basic level, from an operations standpoint day to

mr. thune? no. no by proxy. mr. issacson. no. mr. portman. aye. mr. portman. aye. mr. tomby. aye.mr. burr. by proxy. mr. scott. no by proxy mr. wyden. aye. ms. cantwell. aye. mr. menendez. aye. mr. brown. aye by proxy. mr. warner. aye. mr. chairman. no.mr. roberts . senator roberts: i would like to be reported as aye. clerk mr. chairman. :18 ayes. the eyes have it. >> i would like to change my vote to know. senator hatch: what change the outcome? >> no. senator hatch: without objection , it is changed. any further debate on this bill? >> my understanding is that it was on final passage. didn't want to forego the possibility here. senator hatch the considered -- senator hatch: we will consider a bill to extent african growth opportunity. and the generalized preferences and the duty treatment program for haiti. and for other purposes. we are pleased the committee is considering legislation extending and renewing several of our programs today. let me say through months of hard work and toughing inations ranking member whiten and i were able to reach agreement on the bill with the way

mr. thune: it has been said april is the cruelest month. i think that pretty much catches how americans feel as tax day approaches each year. this year, americans will spend 114 days working to pay their federal, state and local taxes. in other words, americans may have submitted their federal tax returns or getting ready to submit them tonight but they're still not done working off their taxes. in fact, americans won't start iraq a dollar for themselves until april 25, almost one-third of the way through the year. americans spend 6.1 billion hours every year trying to comply with the tax code. that's an average of 19 hours for every man woman and child in the united states or an average of 76 hours for a family of four. almost half of small businesses spend more than $5,000 each year on tax compliance. that's $5,000 on top of their tax bill. mr. president, paying taxes is never going to be on the top of americans' list of favorite activities but it doesn't have to be the torturous process it's become. the tax code takes too much time to co

mr. thune: mr.president i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president i ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendments and to call up my amendment number 1180. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. corker: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. corker: i know the good senator from south dakota knows we're working right now on the other side to get a number of amendments ready to vote on today and certainly we appreciate his constructive efforts in letting us know what he's doing. i object to making it pending because the other side right now -- and i'm doing this on their behalf -- wants to work through the tranche that we have right now. i certainly would hope that he would discuss it and maybe we can make it pending a little bit later today. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: i thank the senator from tennessee who

mr. thune? no. no by proxy. mr. issacson. no. mr. portman. awe. mr. portman. awe. mr. tomby. awe. mr. cooks. mr. heller. awe. mr. scott. mr. burr. by proxy. mr. scott. mr. schumer. awe. mr. schumer. awe. stab know. mr. parker. mr. brown. by proxy. awe. and mr. warner. awe. and mr. chairman. mr. roberts. will announce the vote. mr. chairman. 18 ideas. 8 nays. yeah. mr. chairman. i would like to change my vote to no. want to change the outcome? no. it will not. my understanding is that it was a final passage. yeah. when you asked if there was further amendments. talking about. enjoying this so much. didn't want to forego the possibility here. all right. we will move along here. and considering the chairman. and a bill to extent african growth opportunity. and the generalized preferences and the duty treatment program for haiti. and for other purposes. considering legislation extenting and first let me say that during months of hard work and toughing inations ranking numbers were able to reach agreement on the bill with the ways and means committee chairman ryan. and ranking member 1

mr. thune. aye. mr. burr. no. mr. ikicson. no. mr. portman. ay aye. mr. toomey. aye. mr. coates. aye. mr. heller. aye. mr. scott. aye. mr. wyden aye. mr. schumer. no. mrs. stabenow, no. mr. nelson. aye. mr. mendez. no. mr. carper. aye. mr. cardin. aye. mr. brown. no. mr. bennett. aye. mr. casey. no. mr. warner. aye. mr. chairman. aye. chairman votes aye. >> report. >> 20 ayes six nays. >> the ayes have it and the resolution is ordered reported. ask consent the staff be granted authority to make technical, conforming and budgetary changes to all the bills reported today and without objection, it is so ordered. before we adjourn, if i could have order. if i could have order. i want to thank all of my colleagues for their participation today. and i especially want to thank senator wyden for his efforts throughout this process. we've worked very closely together and i've really appreciated it. as we noted today was a long time coming and i want to give credit for senator wyden for his leadership and willingness to reach across the aisle on these important issues. while the day didn't

mr. thune? >> no. >> mr. burr? >> no by proxy. >> mr. burr no by proxy. mr. isaac son? >> no. >> no. mr. portman? >> aye. >> mr. portman aye. mr. tomb? >> aye. >> mr. coates? >> aye. >> mr. healther? >> aye. >> mr. scott? >> scott is no by proxy. by the way, burr is aye by proxy. i apologize. >> mr. burr aye by proxy. mr. scott, no by proxy. >> no by proxy. >> mr. wide glen is. >> aye. >> mr. schumer? >> aye. >> ms. stabenow? >> aye. >> ms. can't well. >> aye. >> mr. nelson? >> aye. >> mr. menendez? >> aye. >> mr. carper? >> my. >> mr. cardin? >> aye. >> mr. brown? >> aye by proxy. >> mr. brown aye by proxy. mr. bennett? >> aye. >> mr. casey? >> aye by proxy. >> aye by proxy. mr. warner? >> aye. >> mr. chairman? >> no. >> the chairman votes no. mr. roberts? >> i would like to record it as aye. >> aye. >> the clerk will announce the vote. >> mr. chairman, 18 ayes and eight nays. >> the ayes have it, and the amendment is adopted. okay. are there any other senate amendments. >> yeah. mr. chairman? i would like it change my vote to no. >> you want to change -- would it chan

mr. corning? >> no by proxy. >> theremr. thune? >> no. >> mr. portman? >> no. >> mr. toomey. >> aye. >> mr. coats? >> no. >> mr. yeller? >> no. >> mr. scott? >> no. >> mr. white? >> aye. >> miss cantwell? >> aye. >> mr. nelson? >> aye. >> mr. menendez. >> aye. >> brown. >> no. >> mr. bennett? >> aye. >> mr. chairman. >> no. >> chairman votes no. >> clerk will report the vote. >> the final tally is 10 ayes and 16 nays. >> the amendment is defeated. are there any other amendments? >> i had noted in regards to nicaragua on this bill and customs bill. if we don't take these issues up we're making a policy by neglect. i think this is an issue that's important for our committee to exercise our policy of jurisdiction. i would hope we would have an opportunity to consider these issues. >> there's clear there ought to be a follow up. >> we appreciate the comments of everybody. >> mr. chairman? could i just say i appreciate the acceptance of my amendment on the out door performance where this industry is very important to the economy with millions of jobs. the change in tariffs will help consumers. i

mr. thune: i thank the democratic leader. mr. president, on april 2 president obama announced a nuclear agreement reached with iran. if all goes accordingly this means that the white house would finish negotiating an agreement sometime in june. but the question remains as to what type of agreement the negotiations will finally produce. mr. president, any deal with iran needs to achieve one thing. one thing. and that's to permanently prevent iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. but the framework of the president has unveiled seems unlikely to achieve that goal. far from eliminating iran's nuclear capabilities the framework does not shut down a single nuclear facility in the country. it doesn't destroy a single centrifuge. it doesn't stop research and development on existing centrifuges. it doesn't eliminate iran's missile development programs. and it allows iran to keep a substantial part of its existing stockpile of enriched uranium. mr. president, it's no surprise that members of both parties are deeply concerned that the final

but i can assure you that the conversations again senator thune and me are quite civil and in the best spirit of friendliness. thank you, mr. chairman. >> the ambiguity and this shows me we need a law. that's a straight forward way of resolving this issue and eliminating a lot of uncertainty in a lot of lawsuits. i look forward to work wug and members on both sides. i hope we can find that title x as you referred it to. sweet spot. all right. i assume that the senators from the northeast are back because they want to ask some questions. can you be very sh, very quick. >> with that suggestion, certainly. we'll seek common ground on brevity. >> i want to second what my two colleagues have said that we're certainly going to seek common ground. i think there is a clear policy that has merged from the fcc on an open internet and net neutrality and that policy now even if it is the result of a divided commission. even if that is the law and challenged as i indicated earlier, i certainly would do everything in my power to support it. because i think clarity is to be greatly sought and prized here. i talked to a local radio statio

but i can assure you that the conversations between senator thune and me are quite civil and in the best spirit of friendliness. thank you, mrhank you senator nelson. i think think this di discussion demonstrates that we do need to figure out how to resolve this issue. the ambiguity, the uncertainty all the discussion going on right now suggests to me that we need some clarity and if we want to ban paid prioritization, let's do it long. that's fairly straightforward way of solving this issue in eliminating what will be a lot of uncertainty. so i look forward to working with you and members on both sides. i hope we can find that title x as you refer to it speet spot. i assume the senators from the northeast are back because they want to ask some questions. can you be very, very quick? >> with that suggestion certainly, mr. chairman. >> senator from massachusetts. >> we will seek common ground on brevity. [ laughter ] >> i say that not for my benefit but for theirs. >> i understand and i want to thank all of your for your patience and perseverance here today. i just want to second what my two two colleagues have said that we a

mr. chairman, for holding the hearing today and thank you to the commissioners for joining us today. chairman wheeler, i know chairman thune covered this, so i want to reiterate what he said. last year i led almost 90 members of the house and members of congress signing a retro, for a rural rate of return carriers that would encourage broadband adoption. i know senator thune led that earlier. and i wanted to reiterate my support for broadband areas that truly need it. >> can i have a commercial here? >> the same unity your answer did earlier? >> yes, sir. >> the answer is yes, sir. we are going to do that. >> very good. >> we need -- the great thing about the rate of return here is that there are these small, vibrant, heart of the community organizations in very small communities. getting accord amongst them as to the best way to help them do their job is worthy of henry kissinger. and i hope that we can have the help of you and senator thune and the committee to help send a message that says, hey, folks, it is time to quit bickering over details. let's have a common approach, because we're going to move and we'll make tha