mr. wyden: thank you, mr. president. i want to thank my colleague and chairman hatch. we worked closely on this nomination. this was a challenging task. i want to thank chairman hatch for his cooperation because mr. lighthizer needed a waiver because he had represented foreign interests. it was extremely important that we work with senator manchin and other colleagues to address the enormous needs of the miners. and we mad a whole host -- we had a whole host of members with a variety of extremely important trade issues, matters like steel and aluminum and digital goods in our part of the world. we also care about softwood lumber tremendously. and chairman hatch and i worked with all the members of the finance committee. it was a unanimous vote. and i want to thank him for his cooperation. mr. president, you and i have talked a little bit about trade and what a modern trade policy is going to look like. and this is in fact the light hidesser discussion -- the lighthizer discussion, the beginning

mr. wyden: thank you very much. and welcome, mr. secretary. mr. mnuchin: thank you. mr. wyden: mr. secretary, nothing shows tax unfairness more clearly than your proposal to let the fortunate few convert their ordinary income into business income without strings attached, pay the owest 15% tax rate, and also avoid social security and medicare payroll taxes. n my in my view it's a prescription for more inequality in america. massive e creating a new tax loophole. my reason for asking the question is especially because you can't enforce the tax laws on the books now. your current budget proposal asks for even deeper cuts to tax enforcement. how do you expect the american people to believe you can prevent the fortunate few from exploiting this new loophole when you can't even stop the current tax cheats? mr. mnuchin: senator, thank you. that's a very good question. first, let me assure you, i've said this repeatedly. i've said in the other day at the banking, that we are absolutely committed to make sure that pass-throughs, that small and medium-sized businesseses have the benefit of

mr. wyden: ok. director coats, how concerned are you that a russian overnment oil company run by a putin croney could end up owning a significant percentage of u.s. oil refining capacity, and what are you advising the committee on foreign investment in the united states about? >> i don't have specific information relative to hat. i think that is something that potentially we could provide intelligence on in terms of with he situation might be. mr. wyden: i'd like you to furnish that in writing. one more question. there have been mountains of press stories, allegations about financial connections from trump nd his associates. matters are directly relevant to the f.b.i. and my question is when it comes to elicit russian money and in particular its potential to be laundered on its way to the united states, what should the committee be most concerned about? we hear stories about deutsche bank, bank of cyprus, shell companies in moldova, the british virgin islands. i'd like to get your sense, because i'm

mr. wyden: i ask unanimous consent to vait indicate the quorum call -- vacate the quorum call. the presiding officer: the senate is not in a quorum call. mr. wyden: i ask unanimous consent that benjamin willis and elizabeth durvan, legislative staff be given floor privileges. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: madam president, the senate will consider the nomination of courtney elwood to be the c.i.a.'s general counsel. i wanted to take a moment to discuss the nomination and put it in the context of the extraordinary national security challenges our country faces. and it is hard to imagine a more despicable act than the terrorist attack in manchester monday night. killing innocence, teenagers and children, who were out just to enjoy a concert. the suffering that americans and all in the senate have been reading about, watching on television is just heartbreaking by any standards. i think it's fair to say that as americans we stand in strong solidarity with our british friends,

mr. wydenith respect to the cia, were there any discussions with general flynn at all? >> he was for a time the national security adviser. mr. wyden: topics that could have put it risked the security and well-being of the american people? i am finding it very hard to swallow that you had no discussions with the national security adviser. >> i spoke with the national security adviser. he was the national security adviser. he was present for the daily briefings and all topics we spoke to the president about. mr. wyden: but nothing relating to matters that could have compromised the security of the united states? >> i cannot recall conversations i had with general flynn during that time. mr. wyden: admiral rodgers, let me ask you a technical question i think is particularly troubling, and that is the technology threat. there is a lengthy study on the impact of mobile phone security flaws on the u.s. government. the report confirmed what i have been warning about for quite some time, which is the s

mr. wyden: with respect to the cia, were there any discussions with general flynn at all? >> he was for a time the national security adviser. mr. wyden: topics that could have put it risked the security and well-being of the american people? i am finding it very hard to swallow that you had no with the national security adviser. >> i spoke with the national security adviser. he was the national security adviser. he was present for the daily briefings and all topics we spoke to the president about. mr. wyden: but nothing relating to matters that could have compromised the security of the united states? >> i cannot recall conversations i had with general flynn during that time. mr. wyden: admiral rodgers, let me ask you a technical question i think is particularly troubling, and that is the technology threat. there is a lengthy study on the of mobile phone security flaws on the u.s. government. the report confirmed what i have been warning about for quite some time, which is the significance of c

quorum call: mr. wyden: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: i ask unanimous consent to vacate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, after some chaotic weeks of hush-hush deliberating, a lot of arm twisting and more than a few obvious buyoffs, the house has handed the senate a health care bill that will plunge tens of millions of americans into suffering. with it the debate now comes to this side of the capitol and my republican colleagues seem to be competing to find out who can put the most distance between themselves and the house bill. the message is they are starting from scratch with a bipartisan working group and a new bill under construction, but i want to make sure everybody's realistic about where this debate stands. there is not a shred of actual hard evidence that the senate republican caucus is objecting to nearly a $ -- nearly a trillion dollars in tax breaks for the wealthy and special interests by cutting more than $800 billion out of medicaid. the dates, the numbers, and the

mr. wyden: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: i thank my friend from massachusetts for not just today but all of the years in which he has led this battle. he is right, we have served together now in both chambers and in fact when i was here and he was in the other body, we talked often about why this was such a bedrock principle. you know, sometimes you listen to the head of the f.c.c., and you get the sense that somehow he's saying that the internet is either broken or is about to break, that some horrendous set of problems are going to ensue without his ill-advised ideas. the fact is the internet is not broken. the federal communications commission is not trying to help consumers by rolling back net neutrality protections. they are doing it to make it easier for the big cable companies to be in a position to shove out true and real competition. that i would say to my friends, in particular senator markey, and our friend from hawaii, senator schatz who have been championing these efforts in the commerce committee is what

mr. wyden: yes. mr. markey: when he and i started in congress, there was one telephone company. one telephone company. did we have innovation? well, we had a couple winning nobel prizes in basic research. but did we see applied research out thereto, new technologies? no, we saw a black rotary-dial phone. so at&t had to get broken up, had to get broken up so there would be new companies, new competition, new technologies. and ultimately because of all of that effort towards deregulation to let more companies in, more innovations, we now have devices that we walk around with which are just minicomputers in our pocket. we have millions of apps that people sitting in any city and town all across our country can develop and get online and try to make a few bucks. but ultimately it's still that old at&t mentality. how do we shut it down? how do we close it down? how do we make it hard for the entrepreneur, hard for the innovator, hard for that new idea to get out there that makes it more productive,

you can see mr. wyden, the ranking member, is delivering comments. so unless you make this clear counting --u double aren't you double counting the same $2 trillion to pay down deficits that you claim will pay for tax reform? kind of broad math, but maybe i am missing something. secretary mnuchin: we are not intended to double counting. when the budget was done, we were not ready to have a full-blown tax reform that could go into the budget, so we have not put that in. we have the economic impact in other areas that are conservative, but i assure you when we present the tax plan, it will not be double counting the growth. so we are told sometime down the road you won't double count. i would like to see more specifics, because i don't see how your plan doesn't blow a multi-trillion dollar hole in the deficit, and that will harm the ability to create high wage jobs. senator grassley. of rifle typee questions, not so general. i would like to bring your attention to the proposal i have introduced by senator cantwell which is with the first agenda, the jo

i want to thank you and mr. wyden for holding this. i am pleased with the progress we have made for the bipartisan product care act, and i look forward to working with you and the members of this committee on ways to further promote coordination so we can improve outcomes for medicare beneficiaries. i want to recognize senators for the healths working group for teaming up to increase access to new technologies. the inclusion of a number of connect for health provisions in the chronic act is improving beneficiary access to timely and effective health care. dr. schwamm, thank you for being here today. earlier this year i introduced the furthering access to telemedicine or fast act. , south parts of it dakota fell into a professional health shortage area, and you mentioned in your testimony that even some urban and suburban regions that don't have access to -- could you talk about how geographic and originating site restrictions on telehealth technology have limited access to the time sensitive statements for stroke victims in rural and u

. >> mr. wyden... (gavel banging) >> on this vote the amendment is not agreed to. >> like people's lives aren't in the balance on this, and i just thought they needed to be shamed. they should be ashamed of themselves. i stood up and said, "shame on you." shame on you! >> there will be order in the senate. >> because they needed to be shamed. shame on them. shame on me if after what i've gotten to witness i choose to be quiet. >> i'm surprised that she was the only one, actually, that burst out... because it was so intense and so charged. >> the gallery will refrain from any demonstration or comment. >> they felt betrayed. that's the word, betrayed. "how could they vote that way? don't they understand what happened? how can they do that? how can this be?" i mean it was disbelief and a sense of betrayal. that was the mood. >> narrator: manchin's bill had fallen five votes short. the defeat effectively ended any talk of a national effort at gun control. >> it's over for now. and it may be over for a very

senator wyden has a question he would like to ask. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman and i very much share your view with respect to this panel. i think this is the finance committee at its best. i mean this is tackling -- >> i think it's a panel at its best, myself. sorry. >> i was giving you the credit for bringing them. all right. let me ask about one other issue that we have talked a lot about in oregon. you touched on it i think just sort of collaterally, ms. hayes, and that is that a big part of our challenge here is that a lot of these patients with multiple chronic conditions face challenges that probably don't fit into the quote medical box, but clearly have ramifications for their health. i think someone mentioned access to transportation, certainly the inability to get access to good nutrition affects diabetes. in our part of the world people always talk about the fact that you may have a patient with a heart problem and it's very hot and humid and they can't get access to an air conditioner. and maybe a really cheap air conditioner would save enor

wyden: thank you very much, mr. chairman. i want to thank you, mr. chairman, your staff, senator warner, senator isakson. this is an extraordinary hearing, and i will touch on why. but it could not have happened if you would not have been willing to initiate a committee-wide process. again, i want to thank you for all the efforts to make this morning possible. colleagues, i looked forward to today for many years. that is because the finance committee is now beginning to tackle the premier challenge of american health policy, specifically, by updating the guarantee of medicare to better serve seniors with chronic illness. when i was codirector of the oregon gray panthers, medicare had just 2 parts a and b. if you broke your ankle and had surgery in the hospital, you were covered by part a. if you got a really bad case of the flu and you went to the doctor, you were treated by the doctor in their office, and that was part b. that is not medicare today. today, medicare is cancer, it is diabetes, it is heart disease, it is strokes, and it is other chroni

wyden: you will have to ask mr. mnuchin and the president. julia: i am asking you. sen. not know, i have worked closely over the last few years with two conservative republicans who are quite close to mitch mcconnell and we produced tax reform proposals, real legislation, with bill numbers and details that would show that you can provide meaningful tax relief for the middle class and create red, white, and blue jobs for americans and give everybody the opportunity to get ahead. we made it clear that we think the american people are demanding the congress, on a bipartisan basis, work on key issues like taxes and health care. i have a record that shows that. julia: thank you, sir, senator fromyden joining us capitol hill, republicans would argue the deficit says something about their spending plan. scarlet: let's get into the markets which are closed in new york and with the opec meeting we begin with oil falling below $50 a barrel after the iranian minister said opec members and their allies including rishaad reached a deal to extend production cuts for nine months and thi

wyden, for his opening remarks. >> thank you, thank you very much, mr. chairman. let me say also that on our side we very much share your view with respect to these despicable acts in manchester. and a number of us are also on the intelligence committee, chairman burr, vice chairman warner is and myself. so we understand that your points are very well taken, and we share them. >> thank you. >> mr. chairman and colleagues, what the american people demand of us is bipartisan cooperation on taxes, health care and the many other issues that affect their daily lives. yet what the new administration has offered is a one-page tax cut proposal that is shorter than the typical drugstore receipt and a budget that looks like it was written by people who believe working families and seniors who are walking on an economic tight rope have life too easy. the one-pager puts forward numbers that do not come close to adding up. the math behind this plan would make bernie madoff blush. so without realistic tax numbers to analyze, i'm going to focus my remarks in two areas. first, th

mr. comey to end the investigation. so we're getting new issues presented to us almost by the hour. >> senator wyden, would you mind holding with me for just a moment? we have to take a quick break. there's something you highlighted today at the hearing that i've been worried about. you are the first person who got at whether or not it might be a full concern. it's whether or not there is full cooperation across the entire government. would you mind coming back with us in educational background? >> not at all. >> senator wyden. he has been a driving force trying to make trump related business interests an area of focus that does appear to be an area focus. at least in what we publicly know about these investigations as of this week. maybe that's why everybody's freaking out. senator wyden will be back with us in just a moment. you may never even sit in the back seat. yeah, but maybe you should. ♪ (laughter) ♪ whattwo servings of veggies? v8 or a powdered drink? ready, go. ahhhhhhhh! shake! shake! shake! shake! shake! done! you gotta shake it! i shake it! glad i had a v8. the original way to fuel your day. if you have moder

mr. wyden: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: i ask unanimous consent to vacate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: madam president, for the second time in an administration that just crossed a 100-day threshold, republicans in the congress have keyed up legislation that is going to make it harder for working americans to save. and this time there's a proposal in front of us that goes after a brand-new program that my home state of oregon is just now getting ready to launch. so let me make my views on this proposal clear quickly. this legislation puts the special interests before working people and it is just that simple. we all understand there is a savings crisis in the country. the typical american who works hard brings home a paycheck every week or two is struggling to get money set aside for their retirement. you just think of the economic challenges these families are up against every day. millions of young people