mr. tillis: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mr. tillis: maybe in terms of order but in no other terms. mr. president, i've come here to talk about what i think we've reached here as a tipping point in terms of president obama's legacy. recently even jimmy carter emphatically charged that president obama has weakened us and brought us less respect everywhere in the world. when president carter makes a statement like that, i don't think that our president obama should be spiking the football in the rose garden. why do you think president carter made those statements? maybe he's looked at the legacy over the last six years as many of the american people have, ukraine is on fire. china is threatening its neighbors. al qaeda is stronger than ever. isis is massacring christians and muslims with a genocidal savagery the likes of which we haven't seen since the second world war. the jewish people are facing the greatest threat since the holocaust. the president got this deal with the ayatollahs no matter how dangerous and no matter how dest

tillis. >> thank you mr. chair. i want to get back to -- and chairman dempsey i'll start with you. i want to go back to what you said about the malign activities that i believe secretary carter said he has no reason to believe will change. the iran network, the cyber terrorism, the weapon's trafficicing, we could get into all of the other things they are guilty of we can get into the ayatollah sending a tweet out. these people are evil people. and they are going to continue to expand in areas they think they can. they have violated 27 international treaties. they have violated some of the terms of the non-proliferation treaty. so they are dangerous. i understand why you would be concerned with the nuclear threat. so my question is if this deal goes through, what does our posture look like in the middle east and with our partners over the next two years? what looks measurably different to make shoes feel like we're in a position to make it untenable for the iranian leadership to move forward with a nuclear weapon. >> i want to highlight when we talk about iran -- it's really the reg

senator tillis: thank you. thank you, mr. chair. senator sessions: senator flake. senator flake: in response to a letter i sent to you along with chairman grassley, you mentioned in the morano case he posted $10,000 bond after his immigration hearing which means that he became obligated to report to i.c.e. upon demand. and at the time the most recent criminal offense i.c.e. had not triggered his obligation to report on demand. he was released from custody in january of 2013. he was arrested for murder january 22, 2015. over two years. was there any contact with i.c.e. during that period, between i.c.e. and him? director saldana: he was in proceedings. that's then -- he's involved with the court, with the immigration courts. whether i.c.e. had some communication with him in that two-year period, i don't know senator. senator flake: do you know if the immigration court or anybody had contact with him? director sal dana: i don't know. i have look at that specifically, sir. senator flake: is it ok for them to go for two years without any contact? director saldana: it c

mr. chairman. >> senator flank, we're going to senator tillis or are you going next? senator tillis. thank you. >> thank you mr. chair, mrs. saldana and director, thank you for your service. i know you have a tough job. a lot of people have quoted some numbers but i want to make sure we unify around what are very, very important numbers. center for immigration studies estimates there are some 347,000 criminal immigrants at large today. according to a march 2nd report, i.c.e. weekly departures report there is 168,000 convicted criminal immigrants who had final removal but are now at large in the united states. now in 2013 i think senator purdue mentioned there were some 36,000 aliens released. now they represented a total of 88,000 convictions. 193 homicide convictions including one willful killing of a police officer with a gun. 426 sexual assault convictions, 303 kidnapping convictions, 1075 aggravated assault convictions, 1060 stolen vehicles, 1987 dangerous drug convictions 1670 drug or drunk driving convictions. after they were released -- that is what they mounted. and that is on

tillis. thank you, mr. chairman. admiral richardson, thank you for being here.g a range of questions. one general question i would have here and would appreciate your personal opinion and your candor as it relates to the current advantage we enjoy with adversaries like russia and china and the specific threat to those gaps been narrowed as a result of sequestration if you have to do it that in 2016. >> yes sir. as i said, the pace of technological change is just picking up. >> can you talk to specific areas of greatest concern? >> in particular the ability to use the long-range precision guided munition, a weapon at longer and longer distances and anti-access denial capabilities that we talked about many times sorry particular concern. >> what it buys would you give us as we sit here trying to conference the defense authorization. we're trying to get appropriations process going. you are guiding us through what we need to do to help you do your job. what you need to tell us? what do we need to stop doing what do we need to start doing? >> we have proposed a soli

certainly the risk of getting caught would be extremely high. >> senator tillis. >> thank you, mr. chair. i want to get back to and chairman dempsey, we'll start with you. but i want to go back to what you said in one of your responses to the malign activities that i believe secretary carter, in response to a question, says he has no reason to believe that they will change. that's the iran terror network. that's their increasing threat in terms of cyber terrorist. it is the home of their weapon program, trafficking we could get into an ayatollah sending a tweet out with an image. these people are evil people. and they're going to continue to expand if the areas they think they can. they have violated 27 agreements or treaties. they have violated some of the terms of the nonproliferation treaty. some of the language is similar to the agreement we have here today. so they're dangerous. i understand why you would be concerned with the options if it existed. so my question is that this deal go through. what does the middle east look like along with our partners over the next two years?

senator tillis: thank you, mr. chair. i want to get back to, and chairman dempsey, i'll start with you. i want to go back to what you said in one of your responses... to the malign activities that i believe secretary carter in response to a question says he has no reason to believe that they will change. that's the iran terror network a mother increasing threat to sire -- to cyber terror, their ballistic missile program. it's their weapons trafficking. we could get into human rights violations. we could get into an ayatollah sending a tweak out that has the image of -- some say it is the president and some say it is an american. these people are evil people and they will continue to expand in areas they think they can. they are people who violated 27 international agreements or treaties. they have violated some of the terms of the nonproliferation treaty. some of that language is similar to the agreement we have here today. so they are dangerous. i understand why you would be concerned with the nuclear threat because it w

tillis. >> thank you, mr. chair admiral richardson. thank you for being here. congratulations to you and your family and thank you all for your years of service. i also want to thank you for the time we spent in my office answering a range of questions. one general question i have here and would appreciate your personal opinion and your candor is it relates to the current advantage that we enjoy with our adversaries like russia and china, and the specific threats to those gaps being narrowed as a result of sequestration, if you have to deal with that in 2016. >> yes, sir. as i said the pace of technological change is just picking up and so -- >> can you talk to specific areas your greatest concern. >> i would say in particular the ability to use a long range precision guided munition, to target greater and longer distances, the anti-access area denial capabilities that we've talked about many times, are a particular concern. >> what advice would you give us as we're sitting here and trying to conference the defense authorization? we're trying to get an appropri

tillis? >> thank you mr. chair. i want to get back to and chairman dempsey, i'll start with you.ant to go back to what you said in one of your responses to the malign activities that i believe secretary carter in response to a question says he has no reason to believe he'll change. that's the iran terror network their increasing threat in terms of cyberterror. it's their ballistic missile program. it's their weapons trafficking. we can get into human rights violations and all the other things they are guilty of and an ayatollah sending a tweet out that has the image of -- some said it's the president. some said it's american and someone wearing an american lapel pin. these are evil people and they'll continue to expand in areas they can be. they've violated 27 international agreements or treaties. they've violated some of the terms of the nonproliferation treaty. some of that language is similar n the agreement we have here today. they are dangerous. i understand why you'd be concerned with the nuclear threat because it could limit other options if it existed. so my question is i

mr. mcconnell: madam president? regular order. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the names. the clerk: mcconnell cornyn hatch barrasso, roberts, burr, tillis, vitter graham ayotte, alexander coats, hoeven, inhofe, wicker, collins, and thune. mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: madam president, the hard work to pass a bipartisan fiscally responsible multiyear highway bill that doesn't raise taxes or increase the deficit continues. it hasn't been easy. we always knew obstacles would lay ahead at every turn, and they sure have. but our country needs a multiyear highway bill, and we'll get there if we'll just continue to stick together. perhaps the most challenging issue now relates to amendments. supporters of the ex-im bank are demanding a vote to reauthorize it and they've made it clear they're ready to stop all other amendments if denied that opportunity. they have already proven they have the votes to back up the threat as well. this presents a challenge for the senate and to opponents of the ex-im bank, like myself, in particular. but i believe we can still move forward, and i believ

senator tillis: thank you. thank you, mr. chair. senator sessions senator flake.ator flake: in response to a letter i sent to you along with chairman grassley, you mentioned in the morano case he posted $10,000 bond after his immigration hearing which means that he became obligated to report to i.c.e. upon demand. and at the time the most recent criminal offense i.c.e. had not triggered his obligation to report on demand. he was released from custody in january of 2013. he was arrested for murder january 22, 2015. over two years. was there any contact with i.c.e. during that period, between i.c.e. and him? director saldana: he was in proceedings. that's then -- he's involved with the court with the immigration courts. whether i.c.e. had some communication with him in that two-year period, i don't know, senator. senator flake: do you know if the immigration court or anybody had contact with him? director sal dana: i don't know. senator flake: is it ok for them not to talk to him for two years? director saldana: it could happen. senator flake: i.c.e.'s obligation to

mr. president when that is in order and i call up the roberts amendment for consideration, i will thank my colleagues alex an ander burr cot on, risch sasse and tillisfor joining me on this amendment. and today we ask our fellow colleagues to stand with us to protect the u.s. economy from $3.2 billion in retaliatory tariffs being applied to our exports to canada and mexico every year -- every year. a recent ruling from the world trade organization found for the fourth and final time that our country of origin labeling program for meat -- or what the acronym says is "cool" -- that this labeling program violates our trade agreements with our two closest trading partners. mr. president, this debate isn't about the merits of a particular labeling program or our opinions about how our beef or pork or chicken should be sold. no this debate is about a simple fact, and facts are stubborn things. whether you support "cool" or whether you oppose "cool," the fact is, retaliation is coming, unless the senate acts to stop this program that the w.t.o. has found to be discriminatory. over the years this body has attempted many times to craft a workable "cool" prog

mr. tillis: mr. president? the presiding officer: will the senator withhold his suggestion of the absence of a quorum. mr. scott: i certainly will. the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mr. tillis: mr. president as we speak right now there are american trade negotiators negotiating the final terms of the trans-pacific partnership or t.p.p. i rise today to speak about an element of those negotiations that i find troubling and i believe if it goes on its current path, it will produce a gross injustice that will be harmful to american job creators and could potentially threaten the passage or ratification of the t.p.p. i understand the current proposal in the trans-pacific partnership called for discriminatory treatment of tobacco, particularly singling out an entire industry. it is an industry that is vitally foreign my home state of north carolina. tobacco continues to be vitally important among north carolinian agricultural exports and the only path to sustaining this dry is to pres