mrs. ernst: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mrs. ator will be so notified after 30 seconds. mrs. ernst: thank you. colleagues, just a few brief points on this amendment. we are just providing the administration the option to get arms directly to the kurds. the kurds currently are providing refuge to over 1.6 million refugees from iraq and syria, many of them are ethnic and religious minorities such as christians. the peshmerga have shown the ability to be effective on the battlefield against isis, and this ernst-boxer amendment is a companion bill to the one presented by representatives royce and engell in the house. i would urge my colleagues to support this. the presiding officer: the senator has used her 30 seconds. mrs. ernst: i would yield to senator boxer. mrs. boxer: thank you mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. boxer: i'm delighted to team up with the good senator here because this is a very modest amendment that just puts us in line with our colleagues: the united kingdom germany turkey fr

mr. mccain: could i call up the ernst amendment number 1549. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. mr. mccain: i ask the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: the clerk will report by number. the clerk: the senator from arizona, mr. mccain, for mrs. ernst proposes amendment numbered 1549. mr. mccain: i yield the floor. mr. reed: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the pending amendment be set aside on behalf of gillibrand i call up amendment number 1578. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from rhode island, mr. reed, for mrs. gillibrand proposes an amendment numbered 1578. mr. reed: i ask consent further reading of the amendment be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reed: thank you mr. president. mr. mccain: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: mr. president, it is obvious we have an agreement to votes on both the gillibrand and ernst amendmen

ernst: thank you mr. chair and ranking member carper for calling this timely hearing can i want to thank all the witnesses here with us today and we appreciate your testimony very much. senator carper, i think touched on the questions i think we had. there has been an issue with a lack of consistent state. i think it is something that tsa has been suffering for across the various aspects of the organization and its mission for a while now. but referenced in all of your testimony across the board is varying degrees of lack of certainty and consistency with people, processes is, and operations. whether it is in row of the organization or the personnel or day-to-day operations, they are just so systemic. you mentioned ideas on where you like to see leadership go. a couple of suggestions were for congress. but bottom line -- do you think it is really more of a management issue? are these issues the admiral can influence through his management style or is it something that needs to be addressed through legisla

ernst. >> thank you mr. chair and thank you ranking member carper for calling this very, very timely hearing today. i do want to thank all of our witnesses with us today and we appreciate your testimony very very much. senator carper i think touched on a lot of the questions that i really had. i do believe there has been an issue with the lack of consistency and i think it is something that tsa has been suffering from across the various aspects of the organization and its mission for a while. referenced in all of your testimony, across the board, is varying degrees of certainty and consistency with people, processes and operations. and these problems, whether it is the morale of the organization, the personal, or the day to day operations, they are just so systemic. you mentioned ideas on where you would like to see leadership goes and a couple suggestions for congress. but bottom line, do you think it is really more of a management issue for the admiral? hopefully we will be confirmed or are these the issue

ernst. >> thank you mr. chair and thank you ranking member carper for calling this very very timely hearing today. i do want to thank all of our witnesses with us today and we appreciate your testimony very very much. senator carper i think touched on a lot of the questions that i really had. i do believe there has been an issue with the lack of consistency and i think it is something that tsa has been suffering from across the various aspects of the organization and its mission for a while. referenced in all of your testimony, across the board, is varying degrees of certainty and consistency with people, processes and operations. and these problems whether it is the morale of the organization, the personal or the day to day operations, they are just so systemic. you mentioned ideas on where you would like to see leadership goes and a couple suggestions for congress. but bottom line, do you think it is really more of a management issue for the admiral? hopefully we will be confirmed or are these the issues t

mr. chair. >> thank you, senator ernst. senator sass. >> admirable thank you for being here. in your previous testimony the hearing asked you if you felt you were fulfilling your aviation and security responsibilities. you said, quote you would ensure tsa remains laser focused on its core mission. do you believe tsa today is laser-focused on its core mission? >> senator, i think that's a question given the results of the inspector general's investigation. i believe there are still good layers of security within tsa. clearly there are challenges with respect to the equipment that was tested by the inspector general. i wanted to provide you with a true and complete answer if confirmed. immediate task is to first of all, get the full results of the ig's investigation, and any internal work done by the tsa themselves. they have their own inspection team internally. what are they finding? are they finding the same kinds of things? how much has been linked up? what's the -- what's the extent of the gaps that have been found? what can be done immediately to mitigate those gaps as we

mr. chair. >> thank you, senator ernst. senator sasse. >> thank you, mr. chairman.iral, thank you for being here and for your past service. the committee asked you if you believe tsa is fulfilling its aviation security responsibilities. you didn't directly answer the question, but you said, quote you would insure that tsa remains laser focused on its core mission. do you believe that tsa is today laser focused on its core mission? >> well, senator, i think that's the question given the results of the inspector general's investigation. i believe that there are still good layers of security within tsa, but clearly we've got -- there are some challenges particularly with respect to the equipment that was tested by the inspector general. so i want to be able to provide you with a true and a complete answer to that question, if confirmed. and my immediate task is to, first of all, get the full results of the ig's investigation as well as the gao investigation and any internal work that's been done by the tsa itself. because they have their own inspection team internally.

mr. chairman. thank you for being here. i have a series of questions that will follow up on senator ernst's questions. what you hear about corn production values and from the department of agriculture are different. there is a lot of discussion in your quad republicanal review about coordination. so i'll come back to that in just a minute. but i wanted to associate myself with the previous questions, as well. has the epa use studies or metrics to modern how the proposal rules will affect transportation prices? >> the way that the rule or program affects the prices is complicated. we did not attempt to estimate impacts on transportation fuel prices. >> no studies or models were used? >> we certainly looked at all of those, but we ourselves were not trying to estimate the impact. >> so would it be possible for us to get a list of those studies and the models that you consulted? >> sure. >> did you conduct models on how it would affect international trade and if you looked at changes in trade flows and biofuels between the united states and brazil? >> those are issues that many people look into and we pa

mrs. clinton, what else don't we know? >> we're very blessed as a party to have so many good candidates. >> joni ernst organized the roast andhey announced charlotte will be christened next month at the same church where her late grandmother, princess dianna was baptized. >> president obama and six of the world's most powerful leaders meeting in germany today for the g 7 smim. >> and missing for the second year is vladimir putin as russia and the violence gripping ukraine is expected to take center stage. >> kevin corke joins us live this morning. >> reporter: good day to you. you're right. we are just over the border from where the summit will be taking place. earlier today we saw what is known in these circles as the family photo. it's our chance to take a look at all the world leaders in mass as they prepare for all the meetings taking place to do and tomorrow and beyond. the meetings of course have been very interesting even to this point. we learned earlier today the president and angela merkel had a chance to have a one on one meeting. but the en masse sights of all the leaders was interesting. in addition to the red c

mr. chairman. thank you for being here. i have a series of questions that will follow up on senator ernst's questions. what you hear about corn production values and from the department of agriculture are different. there is a lot of discussion in your quadrennial review about coordination. so i'll come back to that in just a minute. but i wanted to associate myself with the previous questions, as well. has the epa use studies or metrics to modern how the proposal rules will affect transportation prices? >> the way that the rule or program affects the prices is complicated. we did not attempt to estimate impacts on transportation fuel prices. >> no studies or models were used? >> we certainly looked at all of those, but we ourselves were not trying to estimate the impact. >> so would it be possible for us to get a list of those studies and the models that you consulted? >> sure. >> did you conduct models on how it would affect international trade and if you looked at changes in trade flows and biofuels between the united states and brazil? >> those are issues that many people look into and we pay atte

mr. chairman. thank you for being here. i have a series of questions that will follow up on senator ernst's questions. what you hear about corn production values and from the department of agriculture are different. there is a lot of discussion in your quad republicanal review about

mr. president, i had the honor of traveling a couple weeks ago with chairman mccain and ranking member reed, the senator from iowa, nor -- senator ernst to veto and singapore. -- to vietnam and singapore. we met with the prime minister of singapore. all of the discussion was on american engagement in the asia pacific. they want us there. they want us leading. but the consensus was if we can't move forward on t.p.a., it would be disastrous for our credibility. so again the world is watching. we can't afford losing u.s. credibility in another region of the world. and i'm hopeful that next week, as this bill comes to the floor of the united states senate, that we will once again vote to pass trade promotion authority because that goes to not only helping spur economic growth, greater job growth in our own country, it goes to american leadership and credibility in the world. finally, mr. president i'd like to talk about another area of the world where u.s. credibility is at stake. and that's the arctic. fortunately congress has begun to recognize this fact, and the bill that we just debated and passed on the floor today the ndaa, there is

mrs. ernst: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mrs. ernst: mr. president, as we continue the fight against isis and their radical allies, i rise today to ask my colleagues to are support the ernst-boxer amendment. it defeating isis is critical to maintaining an inclusive and unified iraq, and the iraqi kurds are the key to that goal. and to help improve the humanitarian crisis in the region through their support and protection of over 1.6 million displaced persons from iraq and syria. this bipartisan amendment also cosponsored by senators graham, tillis rubio and gardner provides temporary authority for the president in consultation with the iraqi government -- and i say again in consultation with the iraqi government -- to provide weapons directly to iraqi kurdish perk -- peshmerga forces in the fight against isis. should the administration choose to do so. currently by law the u.s. must provide support to the iraqi kurds through the iraqi central government in baghdad, which is has often not been timely or adequate in the past. these delays have