tester, mr. thune, mr. tillis, mr. toomey. mr. udall, mr. van hollen, mr. warner, ms. warren. mr. whitehouse, mr. wicker, mr. wyden, mr. young. >> the minorit majority leader is recognized. administered as soon as possible. >> the proclamation. >> all persons are commanded to keep silent on pain of imprisonment while the house of representatives is exhibiting to statesate of the united articles of impeachment against donald john trump, president of the united states. >> the majority leader is recognized. >> on my behalf and that of the distinguished democratic leader, i'm about to propound several unanimous consent request that will assist with the organization of the next steps of these proceedings. they deal largely with necessary paperwork incident to the trial. consent that the summons be issued in the usual until 6:00 p.m. on saturday, january 18, 2020 to file his answer with the secretary of the senate and the house of representatives have 20,l 12 noon until january 2020 two file with the secretary of the senate. the secretary of the senate be authorized to print those docum

tester, mr. thune, mr. tillis, mr. toomey. mr. udall, mr. van hollen, mr. warner, ms. warren. mr. whitehouse, mr. wicker, mr. wyden, mr. young. >> a senator not in the senate chamber at the time the oath was administered, to the other senators, will make that fact known to the chair so the oath may be administered as soon as possible. >> the started in arms will make a proclamation -- the sergeant in arms will make the proclamation. here ye. all persons are committed to keep silent. while he house of exhibiting to the senate articles of impeachment against donald trump, president of the united states. >> the majority leader is recognized. >> for the information the senate, on my behalf and that of the democratic leader, i am about to propound several unanimous consent requests that will assist with the organization of the next steps of these proceedings. they deal largely with necessary paperwork, incident to the trial. therefore, i ask unanimous consent the summons be issued in the usual form, provided to the president may have until 6:00 on saturday january, 18 to file his answe

mr. thune: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate recess until 2:15 p.m. the presiding officer: without objection. the senate stands in recess the senate stands in recess >> great. so we're going to jump right in on this panel, and with me to my immediate right is nancy was the editorial page editor of "miami herald." you been in the position since 2013 comes to delight at you here. first time we've had the "herald" participates a very warm welcome to you. >> thank you much. >> natasha is on her way picture

tester, mr. thune, mr. tillis, mr. toomey, mr. udall, mr. mr. van holland, ms. warren, mr. warner mr. whitehouse, mr. wicker, mr. wyden, mr. young >> any senator who is not in the senate chamber at the time the oath was administered to the other senators we will make that fact known to the chair so the oath may be administered as soon as possible. >> the sergeant at arms will make the population. >> hear ye, hear ye, hear ye, all persons are commanded to keep silent on pain of imprisonment. while the house of representatives exit exhibiting to the senate of the united states articles of impeachment against donald john trump, president of the united states. >> majority leader is recognized. >> mr. chief justice, for the information of the senate on my behalf and on that of the english democrat leader i'm about to propound several unanimous consent request level as us with the organization of the next steps of these proceedings. they deal largely with necessary paperwork incident to the trial. therefore i ask unanimous consent the summons be issued in the usual form provided

mr. thune: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, i have three requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. thune: mr. president, many of us here in the senate thought that we would be opening the new year with an impeachment trial. but that's not what's happening this week because the senate is still waiting, waiting for speaker pelosi to actually send over the articles of impeachment. democrats rushed impeachment through the house throwing fairness and due process to the winds in their haste to impeach the president. but now they're apparently content to sit on the articles of impeachment for the foreseeable future. mr. president, if democrats really believe that impeachment -- this impeachment is a serious matter, that there's literally a crime spree in progress as they've cl

mr. thune: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. thune: mr. president, later today the president will sign phase one of the trade agreement we're negotiating with china. of particular importance to my state, phase one includes a college from china to increase its imports of american agricultural products. that's good news for south dakota. it's good news for farmers and ranchers who have been struggling in a tough agriculture economy. low economy, natural disasters and protracted trade disputes have made the last few years challenging ones for farmers and ranchers around the country. i spent a lot of time in south dakota talking to our farmers and ranchers, and they emphasize the need for trade deals that will open up new markets or expand current markets for their products the china deal should increase the demand for agricultural products. while this agreement is excellent news, we do need to make sure that china will actually live up to its commitments. china doesn't have the best record in this regard and so it's important that the unite

tester, mr. thune, mr. tillis, mr. toomey. mr. udall, mr. van hollen, mr. warner, ms. warren. mr. whitehouse, mr. wicker, mr. wyden, mr. young. >> the majority leader is recognized. >> a senator who is not in the senate chamber at the time the oath was administered to the other senators will make that fact known to the chair so that the oath may be administered as soon as possible. >> the sergeant at arms will make the proclamation. >> hear ye, hear ye, hear ye, all persons are commanded to keep silent on pain of imprisonment while the house of representatives is exhibiting to the senate of the united states articles of impeachment against donald john trump, president of the united states. >> the majority leader is recognized. >> for the information of the senate on my behalf and that of the distinguished democratic leader i'm about to propound several unanimous consent requests that will assist with the organization of the next steps of these proceedings. they deal largely with necessary paperwork incident to the trial. therefore, i ask unanimous consent that the summons be issue

mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. toomey. mr. udall. mr. van hollen. >> the last few votes here. i don't want to police the chief justice given how he is central in this particular amendment. so they'll finish the roll. they tabulate. he then announces. the chief justice has been party to two of the bigger moments of the night. let's listen. he admonished both sides for civil discourse and he referred to back in the day, in the early 1900s, when pettyfogging -- >> is there anyone in the claim better who would like to change his or her vote? the amendment is tabled. >> chief justice? >> the majority leader is recognized. >> i would like to say on behalf of all of us, we want to thank you for your patience. >> comes with the job. on scheduling, assuming there are no more amendments, the next one will be on adoption of the resolution. and then all senators should stay in their seats until the trial is ajournaled for the evening. >> on resolution 483. this is a sufficient second. okay. the clerk will call the roll. >> mr. alexander. >> all right. now that we've will the debate on all

. >> mr. thune. mr. tillis. >> aye. >> mr. toomey. >> aye. >> mr. udall. >> no. >> mr. van hollen. >> no. >> mr. warner. >> no. >> ms. warren. >> no. >> mr. whitehouse. >> no. >> mr. wicker. >> aye. >> mr. wyden. >> no. >> mr. young. >> aye. >> does any senator wish to change his or her vote? if not, the yeas are 53, and the nays are 47. the amendment is tabled. >> mr. chief justice. >> the democratic leader is recognized. >> i send an amendment to the desk to prevent the selective admission of evidence and provide for appropriate handling of classified and confidential materials, and i ask that it be read. it's short. >> the clerk will report. >> the senator from new york, mr. schumer, proposes an amendment number 1290 on page 2 between lines and 4 and 5, insert the following. if during the impeachment trial of donald john trump any party seeks to admit evidence that has not been submitted as part of the record of the house of representatives and that was subject to a duly authorized subpoena, that party shall also provide the opposing party all the other documents res

mr. thune: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. thune: madam president, is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we're not. mr. thune: madam president, i think it's safe to say that most republicans here in the senate expect that at some point we will be receiving articles of impeachment from the house of representatives, at which time we will conduct the senate's business. we will give the president a fair opportunity to be heard, something that was lacking in the house of representatives. i heard the democratic leader's suggestion that the reason the house had to sit on this is if they sent this over to the senate, that somehow the senate would dismiss this early or immediately or something along those lines. i have no idea where that comes from. that's never been the intention here from the republicans in the senate. the republicans in the senate know full well that we have a job to do under the constitution, in which we hear the case, hear the argumen

. >> mr. thune. >> no. >> mr. tillis. >> no. >> mr. toomey. >> no. >> mr. udall. >> aye. >> mr. holland. >> aye. >> mr. warner. >> aye. >> ms. warren. >> aye. >> mr. whitehouse. >> aye. >> mr. wicker. >> no. >> mr. widen. >> aye. >> mr. young. >> no. >> mr. blumenthal. >> aye. >> are there any senators in the chamber wishing to change his or her vote. if not, the yeas are 49, the nays is 51. the motion is not agreed to. >> under the previous order the senate stands in recess subject to the call of the chair. l of tr so that's ball game, as close as we're going to get to ball game for the foreseeable future and wherever john bolton is, he's off the hook for appearing before the senate. >> i don't think that's good news to john bolton. i don't think that's good for the country and i don't think that's good for the 51 republicans who just voted against hearing testimony from a firsthand witness that the conduct that isn't in dispute. the republican defense descended into yeah, he did it, but don't impeach him. >> here we are. this is a new beginning in this conversation, and as i s

tester, mr. thune, mr. tillis, mr. toomey, mr. udall, mr. van holland, mr. warner, ms. warren, mr. whitehouse, mr. wicker, mr. wyden, mr. young,. [silence] [silence] [silence] 's. >> the yeas or 53 the nazar 47 the motion is tables. >> the democratic leaders recognized. mr. chief justice i send at to the desk to have a subpoena for jon michael mick mulvaney. >> clerical report. >> the senator from new york mr. schumer poses an amendment number 1287. at the appropriate place in the resolving clause insert the following. section notwithstanding any provisions of this resolution pursuant to rules five and six of the rules of procedure and practice in the senate. when sitting on impeachment trials the chief justice of the united states met through the secretary of the senate will issue a subpoena by taking a testimony of jon michael mick mulvaney, and the sgt at arms is authorized to utilize the services of the deputy sgt at arms or any other employee of the senate and serving the subpoena authorized to be issued by this section. >> chief justice the. >> the geordie leaders recognized.

mr. thune. aye mr. burr? >> okay. i guess burr doesn't have a proxy. >> aye by proxy. >> mr. portman? >> aye. >> no. >> mr. scott? >> aye. >> mr. cassidy? no. mr. langford. aye. mr. danes? aye. mr. young? aye. mr. sasse? aye. miss stabenow? aye. mr. menendez, aye. mr. carper, aye. mr. cordon? >> aye by proxy. >> mr. brown, aye. mr. bennett? >> aye. >> mr. casey, aye. mr. warner, aye. mr. white house? no. miss hassin? aye. miss cortez? aye mr. chairman? >> aye. >> chairman votes aye. >> would you announce the vote? >> 25 ayes, three nays. >> 25 ayes, three nays. the bill is reported. i would like to say thank you to some people. first of all, this is a big bipartisan vote, a reminder that when congress works together in a bipartisan way the american people greatly benefit. i want to thank my colleagues again for working with the trump administration and me and senator wyden. i also want to thank members of my finance committee trade staff for their very, very hard work. ranking member wyden and his staff have worked with me through this whole process and i'm grateful for that

mr. chairman. you, senator thune. mr. -- you spoke compellingly challenge of finding are fied employees who trained engineers and able to fill the demands of the modern work force. a question i want to ask all our of the panel members, in your opinion, how important is space? the mission? is i think back to when john f. kennedy came to houston, and came to rice university. that id out a vision within a decade, we'll take man moon and bring him home. fact ve always liked the that president kennedy said at he was at rice and he rice play texas? easy, because s it's hard. that inspired a whole generation. y question is how important is space for inspiring a new generation of students and teachers? how important is going back to moon? how important is building a sustainable habitat for ongoing moon?rch on the to mars?tant is going and perhaps finding the first life in the universe? that for ant is noble ng the next laureate in physics? of n our world today a lot narratives we hear are guilt but of fear and the only way you

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator - thune. mr. manber, you spoke f find compellingly about the challenge of finding qualified employees k who are trained engineers and able to fill the demands of the modern work force. a question i want to ask all yo four ofur the panel members, in your opinion, how important is space? how important is the mission?dy i think back to when john f. lad kennedy came to houston, and camemewi to rice university, an laid oututto t a vision that wi decade, we will take a man to the moon and bring him home, and i've always liked the fact that presidentnt kennedy said at the time, he was at rice, and he said, why does rice play texas? not because it is easy.ea because it is hard.hole that inspired a whole generation. my question to you isace fo how important is space for inspirins a new? generation of students, n new? generation of teachers? how important is going back to thee moon?arch on how important is building a sustainable habitat for ongoing research on the moon? how important is going to mars, and p

mr. thune, no. mr. tillis, no. mr. toomey, no. mr. udall, aye. mr. van hollen, aye. mr., aye. mr. young, no. mr. blumenthal, aye. >> are there any members in the senate chamber wishing to change their vote? if not, the ayes are 49 and the nays are 51. the motion is not agreed to. under the previous order, the senate stands in recess subject to the call of the chair. >>> all right. that is it. history has just been made, and the very important motion to get witnesses and new evidence allowed in the trial of the president of the united states fails 51-49, and not a surprise. we anticipated that only two republicans would vote in favor, susan collins and mitt romney and as a result, it did not get what they needed. they needed 51 in order to pass it, and they had 51 opposed. >> when you are stepping away from the move to remove president trump from office, and that is difficult, because of the context, and to step away from the qualms of the way that the house impeachment managers have conducted the case or how the house democrats have conducted the impeachment, and just lo

mr. thune's question is for the house managers. nd to what the house manager has just respond responded to the question. >> mr. chief justice, and thank you, senator, for the question. i have not read recently the case that was cited about the missing witness rule, and so i can't say specifically what is in it,s but i will be willing to bet that the missing witness rule does not apply when there is at a tempt to keep them out of court. so if they tried to subpoena the defendant's lawyer, and the client said, i have attorney/client privilege, they cannot get an adverse inference from that, and that is critical. as i have gone through multiple times, and we are going back and forth, and they are representing that there is a blanket defiance and no explanation or legal basis for what the president is doing, and it is just not true. there were letters back and forth and i put them up on the screen, and there were specific immunities asserted, and there were specific legal deficiencies in the subpoenas that were sent. this is inimportant

mr. chairman, senator thune is also celebrated his birthday with an important provision in this agreement that helps small businesses and i want to congratulate him for his leadership. >> okay. senator langford. >> i have two quick questions on this. senator carper statement will be entered in the record. >> without objection is. >> i just want to ask for any additional equivocation on the intellectual property there's been much spoken about the production of the ip and what that means and the additional layers on that and i have one follow-up question after that >> there is a number of improvements we've made in this agreement and the nafta is a very old agreement and perhaps it applies to that. some of the upgrades we have included here the minimum term of protection for copyrights and its plus 70 years in 70 years from publication but we've added new deterrence, civil and criminal penalties for transporting which is been a particular problem in this area in recent yearsnd and there's authority now for border enforcement officials to stop goods being suspected of being counter for good

thune: thank you, mr. chairman. thank you to all of you for sharing your thoughts on a really important subject. commissioner carr, we always knew coming -- we always appreciate you coming to south dakota and operating heavy farm equipment. quite a proficiency at pheasant hunting too. you have seen a number of carriers beginning to invest in 5g networks across the country including in places like south dakota, my home state. there is still work, i think, that needs to be done. i'm wondering if you could speak to some of the items the fcc has been working on to facilitate the deployment of 5g and whether congress should build upon those efforts with legislative initiatives like the streamline small cell deployment act. >> thank you for the question. the end goal for us is to make sure every community in the country has a fair shot at next gen connectivity. i spent a lot of time in south dakota and have seen firsthand the progress being made. sioux falls has small cells that are providing 5g service. i think that's a

mr. chief justice. >> the senator from south dakota. >> we have questions at the desk. >> senator thune's questions for counsel for the president. would you please respond to the arguments or assertions the house managers just made in response to the previous questions? >> mr. chief justice thank you senators for the question. i haven't read recently the case that was cited about the witness rule so i can't say specific what's in it but i'm willing to bet that the witness rule does not apply with a valid assertion of her the privilege or other immunity for keeping a witness to court. for example if they tried to subpoena the defendants lawyer and they said wait i have attorney-client privilege he can't subpoena him they are going to be able to get an adverse inference from that. that's critical because as i have gone through multiple times and we keep going back and forth on this they keep representing a lanky defiance and there's no explanation and no legal reason for the president and it's just not true. there were letters back and forth but i put them up on the screen. there were specific communitie

mr. chief justice. >> senator from south dakota. >> i sent a question to the desk on behalf of myself and senators moran, daines, ernst, scott of florida and crapo. >> thank you. >> senator thune and other senators ask the counsel for the president on march 6, 2019 speaker nancy pelosi said, quote, people is so divisive to the country that unless there's something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, i don't think we should go down that path because it divides the country, end quote. alexander hamilton also warned in federalist 65 against the, quote, persecution of an intemperate or designing majority in the house of representatives with respect to impeenin evaluating the case ag the president, should the senate take into account the partisan nature of the peecimpeachment proceedings in the house? >> thank you, mr. chief justice, members of the senate. absolutely take that into account. that's dispositive. that should end it. based on the statements we heard the last time from our friends on the democratic side, that's the reason why you shouldn't have an impeachment. speaker pelosi was right when she said that. unfortunately she didn't follow her own advice. we've n

mr. chief justice. i send a question to the desk on behalf of myself and senator sounds, mcsally,, senator thune. >> the question from senator tor toomey and other senators as per counsel for the president. >> given that the election of the president is one of the most significant political acts in which we as citizens engage in our democratic system, how much weight should the senate give to the fact that removing the president from office and disqualifying him from ever holding church undergo office would undo the democratic decision indicates the president off the ballot in this year's election ask >> embers of the senate one of the concerns we have raised throughout this process over the last several months and going back to the time when the house was doing things in the various committees as we were in an election year. there is some in the room are days away from the iowa caucuses taking place. so we are discussing the possible impeachment and removal of the president of the united states. not only during election season but in the heart of the election season, and i think that this does a disser

mr. chief justice. >> the senator from south dakota. >> we have questions at the desk. >> senator thune's questions for for the president. would you please respond to the arguments or assertions the house managers just made in response to the previous questions? >> mr. chief justice thank you senators for the question. i haven't read recently the case that was cited about the witness rule so i can't say specific what's in it but i'm willing to bet that the witness rule does not apply with a valid assertion of her the privilege or other immunity for keeping a witness to court. for example if they tried to subpoena the defendants lawyer and they said wait i have attorney-client privilege he can't subpoena him they are going to be able to get an adverse inference from that. that's critical because as i have gone through multiple times and we keep going back and forth on this they keep representing a lanky defiance and there's no explanation and no legal reason for the president and it's just not true. there were letters back and forth but i put them up on the screen. there were specific communities assert

mr. chief justice? >> yes. the senator from south dakota. >> i have a question to send to the desk. >> thank you. senator thune's question for counsel for the president. would you please respond to the arguments or assertions the house managers just made in response to the previous questions? >> mr. chief justice, thank you, senator, for the question. i haven't read recently the case that was cited about the missing witness rule so i can't say specifically what's in it but i am willing to bet that the missing witness rule does not apply when there's been a valid assertion of a privilege or other immunity for keeping the witness out of court. for example, if they tried to subpoena the defendant's lawyer and the defendant said i have privilege. your can't subpoena him, they're not going to be able to get an adverse inference from that. that's critical because as i've gone through multiple times, we keep going back and forth on this, they keep representing that there was a blanket defiance and there was no explanation and there was no legal basis for what the president was doing. and it's just not true. there were

thune i have a question for the president's counsel. to the president's counsel. would you please respond to the arguments or assertions the house managers just made in response to the previous question. mr chief justice senators a couple of points that i'd like to make manager schiff suggested that there was no evidence the president was actually interested in burden sharing because he didn't apparently according to david hale raise it in the telephone conversation that he had with gordon sandland that hale claims to have overheard at a restaurant in kiev but let's look at the real evidence as we explained on june 24th there is an e-mail in the record showing it's an e-mail from one person to the department of defense to another with the subject line of potest follow up present the united states follow up asking specifically about burden sharing it says. quote what do other nato members spend to support ukraine and quote that was what they were following up on for the president and in the transcript itself excuse me. and the tran the transcript of the july 25th call itself the president asked he said we spend a lot of effort and a lot of time for ukraine much more than the european coun

mr. chief justice? >> senator from south dakota. >> i send a question to the desk on behalf of myself, scott and crapo. >> thank you. senator thune and the other senators ask of the counsel for the president, on march 6, 2019, speaker nancy pelosi said quote, impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there's something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, i don'tt think we should go down that path because it divides the country, end quote. alexander hamilton also warned in federalist 65 against the, quote, persecution of a designing majority in the house of representatives with respect to impeachment. evaluating the case against the president, should the senate take into account the partisan nature of the impeachment proceedings in the house? >> thank you, mr. chief justice, members of the senate. absolutely you should take that into account. that's dispositive. that should end it. based on the statements that we heard the last time from our friends on the democratic side, that's a reason why you shouldn't have an impeachment. .. >> as i've said before that's the most massive election interference we've ever

mr. chief justice, i sent a question to the desk on behalf of myself and senator sasse, mcsally, crepo, thuneraun. >> the question from senator toomey and others is for the president. given the job of president is something we engage in, how much should we put on the act that removing the president from any further office would resume that resolution and kick the president off the ballot in this year's election? >> members of the senate, one of the conditions we've raised in this process in the last several months, and going back to the time when the house was dealing with this in various committees, is in an election year. there are some in this room that are days away from the iowa caucuses taking place. we're discussing the possible impeachment and removal of the president of the united states not only during election season, in the heart of the election season. and i think that this does a disservice to the american people. again, we think the basis upon which this has moved forward is irregular, to say the least. but i do think it complicates the matter for the american people that we ar

mr. chief justice. >> senator from south dakota. >> i send a question to the desk on behalf of myself of senators moran, earnst, scott of florida and crapo. >> thank you. >> senator thune other senators ask the counsel for the president on march 6, 2019, speaker nancy pelosi said "impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there's something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, i don't think we should go down that path because it divides the country." alexander hamilton also warned in federalist 65 against the "persecution of a designing majority in the house of representatives with respect to impeachment." in evaluating the case against the president, should the senate take into account the partisan nature of the impeachment proceedings in the house? >> thank you, mr. chief justice, members of the senate. absolutely you should take that into account. that is dispositive. that should end it. based on the statements that we heard from our friends on the democratic side. that is a reason why you shouldn't have an impeachment. speaker pelosi was right when she said that. unfortunate le she didn't follow her own advice. we've never been in a situation w

mr. chief justice. >> senator from south dakota. >> i send a question to the desk on behalf of myself and senators moran, dands, ernst, scott of florida and crapo. >> thank you. >> thank you. senator thune the other senators ask the counsel for the president, on march 6, 2019, speaker nancy pelosi said, quote, impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there's something could compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, i don't think we should go down that path because it divides the country, end quote. alexander hamilton also warned in federalist 65 against the quote, persecution of an intemperate or designing majority in the house of representatives with respect to impeachment. in evaluating the case against the president, should the senate take into account the partisan nature of the impeachment proceedings in the house? >> thank you, mr. chief justice. members of the senate. absolutely you should take that into account. that's dispositive. that should end it. based on the statements we heard the last time from our friends on the democratic side, that's a reason why you shouldn't have an impeachment. speaker pelosi was right when she said that. unfortunately she didn't foll

mr. thune: mr.president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. thune: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to 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. thune: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. thursday, january 9. further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning business be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. finally, following leader remarks, the senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the ray nomination. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: th

mr. thune: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. thune: mr. president, let me just say that i along i think with most americans are grateful that in the rocket attacks launch the last night by iran that there were no american casualties and i think i, like most of our colleagues here in the senate, i hope, have an opportunity later today to hear from the administration about the state of events here and what the plans are going forward. we all we in this is a dangerous part of the world. it has been that way for beings did. the iranian influence there is a maligned influence that has put at risk and in jeopardy not only american lives but lives of countless people throughout the region. and mr. soleimani, who was removed here in the last few days, of course, was responsible for hundreds of american deaths, and so his loss is something that i think not only people here in this country but certainly people in that region of the world benefit from because he will no longer be able to conduct and operate and commit terrorist attacks and bring abou