mr. wyden: thank you, mr. president. mr. president and colleagues, chairman hatch was on the floor a bit ago talking about the children's health insurance program, and because his remarks greatly misleading, i thought it was important, having heard my good friend -- my long-time friend -- earlier. i thought it was important to come to the floor this afternoon and set the record straight about the children's health insurance program. the fact is the chairman and i did negotiate an important children's health insurance program extension back in september, bipartisan, and i put in a lot of time both inside this congress and outside the halls of congress in order to line up bipartisan support for that effort. and we did, in fact, in the finance committee have near unanimous bipartisan support. that was months and months ago. the fact is at that point the children's health insurance program could have passed the congress win days, but unfortunately the republicans in the other body had some other ideas. from the moment the senate

mr. wyden: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: i would ask unanimous consent to speak up to two minutes. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. wyden: i thank my colleagues. i'll be very brief. what we're debating is whether the senate will be the senate. if you vote in favor of this, you are vietnaming for cloture. -- you're voting for cloture. there will be no amendments then. we would have the opportunity if we vote against cloture for improving this bill. and i want to emphasize that if we take a short time to improve this bill, as senator lee wants to do and senator leahy and senator paul, this program continues to operate. it is not in any way going to harm our ability to fight terrorism. this program would stand. i urge my colleagues to vote to carry out our constitutional obligations as senators to have real debates and vote against

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, before i start, i ask that my law clerk jeff gary, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of this congress. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, i believe the american people should be deeply concerned about the vote senate took yesterday to invoke cloture in effect ending real debate and preventing the senate from considering any amendments to the foreign intelligence surveillance act reauthorization. this isn't what we call regular order, this isn't how the senate ought to operate. in fact, it isn't even how the senate has handled surveillance bills in the past. even in the weeks after the horrendous attacks of 9/11, the senate considered amendments to the patriot act. and in 2008, when the senate first considered section 72, the foreign intelligence surveilla

quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: mr. wyden: mr. president. the presiding officer: . senator is recognized. mr. wyden: i ask unanimous consent to vacate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: thank you, mr. president. mr. president and colleagues, chairman hatch was on the floor a bit ago talking about the children's health insurance program, and because his remarks greatly misleading, i thought it was important, having heard my good friend -- my long-time friend -- earlier. i thought it was important to come to the floor this afternoon and set the record straight about the children's health insurance program. the fact is the chairman and i did negotiate an important children's health insurance program extension back in september, bipartisan, and i put in a lot of time both inside this congress and outside the halls of congress in order to line up bipartisan support for that effort. and we did, in fact, in the finance committee have near unanimous bipartisan support. that was months and months ago. the fact is at that point the children'

mr. wyden: mr. president, the odds are quite good that when this republican-controlled congress closes up shop in december, time spent attacking the health care of women is going to be right up at the top of how this congress spent their day. they're back at it again, and this latest attack that will be -- that we will be discussing this week goes after women's essential health care decisions. in my view, and i want to be very clear about this point, mr. president, this of the trumf health care discrimination, and this time it's going after women , and this entire agenda is what the republicans are doing their best to blast through the congress into law. it's not just a one off either. so i'm going to spend a few minutes now to put this particular health proposal that discriminates against women in the appropriate kind of context, and to do that, i think it's important to describe what has happened on health care since day one of the trump administration. the administration and republicans in the co

mr. wyden: mr. president, the odds are quite good that when this republican-controlled congress closes up shop in december, time spent attacking the health care of women is going to be right up at the top of how this congress spent their

mr. wyden: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: i would ask unanimous consent to speak up to two minutes. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. wyden: i thank my colleagues. i'll be very brief. what we're debating is whether the senate will be the senate. if you vote in favor of this, you are vietnaming for cloture. -- you're voting for cloture. there will be no amendments then. we would have the opportunity if we vote against cloture for improving this bill. and i want to emphasize that if we take a short time to improve this bill, as senator lee wants to do and senator leahy and senator paul, this program continues to operate. it is not in any way going to harm our ability to fight terrorism. this program would stand. i urge my colleagues to vote to carry out our constitutional obligations as senators to have real debates and vote against cloture. i yield. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accorda

mr. wyden: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 15 minutes. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, very shortly the senate is going to take two votes on the president's nominees. the first is to confirm jerome powell as the next fed chair. once that vote wraps up, the senate will vote on whether to begin debate on the nomination of alex azar to be secretary of health and human services. this is one of the key roles in our entire federal government in caring for america's sick and vulnerable. let me begin by saying that had mr. azar does not come with the staggering ethical challenges of his predecessor, the first trump h.h.s. nominee tom price. here is my concern. mr. azar's nomination is a clear symbol of the president's broken promises on prescription drugs and pledge to secure better and more affordable health care for all americans. at the outset of my remarks, i'm going to start with the issue of skyrocketing prescription dru

mr. wyden: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyden. mr. -- the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: before he leaves the floor, i want to thank the senator for his eloquent remarks and our colleague from pennsylvania, senator casey, my seatmate on the finance committee, senator stabenow. i will be making some remarks. we may have another colleague or two come and then senator stabenow on behalf of all of us will be making a motion with respect to these health programs. but for my three colleagues on the finance committee, thank you for your commitment months and months of commitment around the proposition that senator brown just said that this program should have become law a long, long time ago. mr. president, it is heart breaking to see these chip families put through the political wringer, and there is no other way to describe it because they come up to us. moms, families, and they talk about how they are being told that, well, maybe this program isn't going to be around pretty soon, and they heard that at the end of the year, there was g

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, i come to the floor this afternoon to mark a milestone that no senator can be proud of. a milestone that every senator should regret. that milestone is -- it has now been 100 days since the congress failed to extend full funding to the children's health insurance program. and the congress has always looked at this in a bipartisan way. this is for the millions of families where kids walk an economic tightrope and their families, the families that balance the rent bill against the fuel bill, the fuel bill against the grocery bill. mr. president, i have to say that there was present effective of time in the last congress to carry out the priorities of the multinational corporations. the people who are well connected, the people who are powerful. they got permanent substantial, really massive new tax br

mr. wyden: reserving the right to object. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: mr. president, i will object here in a moment, but i just would like to say that because here on our side we feel so strongly about getting this resolved, we now are seeing a whole host of discussions between members on both sides of the aisle here in the senate, we're hearing about discussions between this body and the other chamber, and it would be my hope that with the good faith that we have seen since last night -- and i know the distinguished president of the senate is involved in some of these discussions -- that with those kind of good-faith discussions, we would have a chance to get this resolved, address the concerns the american people have in a matter of days rather than several weeks. so for that reason, mr. president, i object. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. a senator: mr. chairman? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: mr. president, i take this time, i'm going to ask unanimous consent request concerning our federal workforc

mr. wyden: mr. president, the odds are quite good that when this republican-controlled congress closes up shop in december, time spent attacking the health care of women is going to be right up at the top of how this congress spent their day. they're back at it again, and this latest attack that will be -- that we will be discussing this week goes after women's essential health care decisions. in my view, and i want to be very clear about this point, mr. president, this is another key part of the trump agenda of health care discrimination, and this time it's going after women , and this entire agenda is what the republicans are doing their best to blast through the congress into law. it's not just a one off either. so i'm going to spend a few minutes now to put this particular health proposal that discriminates against women in the appropriate kind of context, and to do that, i think it's important to describe what has happened on health care since day one of the trump administration. the administra

thank you mr. wyden for your quick work in holding this hearing so that we can move the nomination of mr. azor to the full senate for consideration. the secretary of health and human services is ao role that should not sit vacant. there are too many vital priorities and healthcare thatou need immediate attention and i appreciate you moving forward. i also appreciate mr. azor willingness to serve and in my meeting with you after your nomination i was pleased to get your top priorities for your time and secretary confirmed. appropriately he will be focusing on the affordability of prescription drugs and this is something that everyone around asks and hears from constituents about the problem is complex and doesn't have a simple solution but i'm very encouraged to hear his commitment to taking on this and nobody has real expertise in understanding of the manufacturer side of the equation. i think thatoa is something we need and it's something i believe can and should have a bipartisan approach and i hope to

mr. chairman. >> senator wyden. >> thank you very much. mr.chairman, i have a couple of questions, i want to make two unanimous consent requests if i might to put documents into the record at this point. i think mr. cesar -- mr. azar in response to colleagues has given incorrect answers. senator nelson asked whether he was supportive of the president's position with respect to medicare, medicaid or social security and mr. azar said that the president promised he wouldn't cut it he has adhered to that promis that is simply unue the president's first budget pd about cutting medicaid by hundreds of billions of dollars through proposals like block grants so i would like to put the budget into the record, not the entire budget, mr. chairman, but the part that indicates the answer to senator nelson's questions incorrect and also we've got ten information-- >> we'd be happy to do that, but we should let mr. azar respond to that. >> well, this is just-- >> a response. >> this is just a request to put information into the record. >> there's an earlier

mr. azar respond to that. senator wyden: this is just a request to put information into the record. >> to further your statement, i wonder if he has any comment about that. mr. azar: i think this has to do withshington speak. owinthe rate of owth of a growing program is simply not a cut in my mind or the president's mind. senator wyden: well, we're talking about hundreds of billions of dollars, and the state medicaid directors point blank said, no flexibility is going to make up for the fact we're talking about hundreds of billions of dollars worth of cuts. i also ask unanimous consent, mr. chairman, that we put into the record documents from pugh trust and global data that certainly suggests the answer to senator mccaskill with respectto advertising and r&d was incorrect. in 2013, according to these documents, they spent $5.7 billion in sales and marketing and $5.5 billion on r&d, and he said that these budgets were not remotely close toeach other. >> without objection. senator wyden: let me now, if i could -- mr. azar: mr

before i start, i would like to echo something that senator wyden said. mr. chairman, you have always been a friend, a distinguished member, a mentor to me personally, and always a great leader. and i feel that today's meeting is somewhat bitter sweet for me. sweet so that i can be here to en -- my colleague. bitter to find out that you are leaving this august body. thank you for your service to our country. and thank you for being my friend. >> well, thank you. >> i could not be more pleased or prouder to introduce my friend and former colleague, alex azar. as the president's nominee to be the next secretary of health and human services. alex is an outstanding individual with a great family. his family, jennifer, his two children are both here, as well as his father, alec. i'm here to provide my strongest personal endorsement and to tell you he has the capacity, the capability, the intellect to be an incredible secretary. if confirmed, alex will serve our nation honorably and competently. as i'm sure you know, alex has impeccable academic credentials includi

mr. chairman, and ranking member wyden for your quick work holding this hearing so we can move the nomination of mr. azar for full consideration. secretary of health and human services is a role that should not sit vacant. too many vital priorities in health care that need immediate attention and i appreciate you moving forward. i also appreciate mr. azar's willingness to serve. mr. azar, in my meeting with you after your nomination, i was pleased to get your top priorities for your time as secretary confirmed. appropriately, he will be focusing on the affordability of prescription drugs. this is something that everyone around this dais knows about. the problem is complex and doesn't have a simple solution but i'm very encouraged to hearing his commitment to taking this on and knowing he has real expertise and understanding of the manufacturer side of the equation. i think that's something we really need. this is something i believe can and should have bipartisan approach, and i hope to hear that kind of commitment from my colleagues here as well. mr. azar, you have listed and now restated yo

mr. chairman. >> senator wyden. >> thank you. thank you very much. mr. chairman, a couple of questions. i want to make too unanimous consent request of the might to put document into the record at this point because i think mr. azar has come in response to colleagues, given incorrect answers. senator nelson, for example, asked whether he was supportive of the president position with respect to these issues, medicaid, medicare or salsas goodie. mr. azar said the president promised he would not cut it and he is s here to that promise. that is simply untrue. the presidents first budget proposed cutting medicaid by hundreds of billions of dollars for proposals like block grants. i'd like to put the budget into the record, not the entire budget, but the part that indicates the answer to senator nelsons question isn't great. also, we have just gotten information -- >> will be happy to do that but we should let mr. azar respond to that. >> this is just a request to put information into the record. >> your earlier statement, i wonder if he has any comment about that? >> i think this has to do w

mr. wyden: the senate has been running a bit behind. i ask unanimous consent that the vote be moved to 2:20 p.m. rather than 2:15 p.m. on mr. azar. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. wyden: a year ago president trump stormed into office promising better and cheaper health care for everyone. he said he would bring prescription drugrice down, because, in his words, drug companies were getting away with murder. so as we move to this vote, as the senior democrat on the finance committee, i wanted to make sure we took stock after year one. the trump record on health care is worse than your garden variety case of a president failing to live up to his campaign promises. this president has surely hurt the people that he promised to help. very shortly the senate will vote on the nomination of alex azar to be the secretary of -- health and human services. he would be the captain of the president's health care team in this position. so this debate is about a lot more than mr