mrs. feinstein: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. feinstein: i ask for unanimous consent to speak for two minutes. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mrs. feinstein: thanks very much, mr. president. i'd like to just say a few words in support of amendment number 3362, which the judiciary committee chairman grassley and i, with senators cantwell and ayotte, have cosponsored. this bill has passed the senate by unanimous consent three times. it ensures that international drug traffickers can be prosecuted when they have reasonable cause to believe that their illegal drugs will be trafficked into our country. it also better enables the prosecution, manufacturers and distributors of listed precursor chemicals who know or intend that these chemicals will be used to manufacture illicit drugs destined for the united states. finally, it makes a technical fix to the counterfeit drug penalty enhancement act of 2012, at the request of the justice department. i'd like to thank senators grassley, eye up-or-down vote, cant

mrs. feinstein: thank you. i ask the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. feinstein: thank you. i rise today to speak for the second time about the supreme court vacancy, and i do so not callously, not spontaneously but really after 23 years of service on the committee. so i'd like to believe i have some experience and some knowledge about how these matters have been handled in the past. and, madam president, i truly believe we have an obligation to consider a president's judicial nominees no matter when. and i'd like to speak about why that duty is so important, particularly for the supreme court and the consequences of not fulfilling it. to be very candid, i'm shocked at the supreme nature of what's happening because of what i believe its impact is going to be in the next year. since the judiciary committee started holding hearings on supreme court nominations in 1916, not a single nominee for a vacancy has been denied a hearing ever. even during presidential election years,

mr. grassley: i call up the feinstein-grassley amendment number 3362. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: the senator from iowa, mr. grassley, for mrs. feinstein and mr. grassley proposes an amendment numbered 3362 to amendment numbered 3378. mr. grassley: mr. president, i'm pleased that we're considering the bill before us as entitled comprehensive addiction and recovery act, acronym coir, and that we're here on the floor -- acronym cara, and that we're here on the floor discussing this very important issue. since i spoke about the bill earlier this week, i'm going to not have more opening remarks at this point. i look forward to a bipartisan process where we're able to consider any amendments and move this bill forward. at this point, i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call:

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator feinstein. in 1969-1970, the court had 452 days of vacancy when justice porcheus retired and justice jackson took a 1-year leave of absence to serve as chief prosecutor at the war crimes trial in nuremberg and justice of the go -- of lido --alito said there are only eight members and we will do our work. >> thank you, mr. chairman. even our new republican colleagues, there's a history here, democratic colleagues do not have a consistent principle to history. all of us have dirty hands. none of us handle judicial confirmations -- i remember when clinton was president in the late years of data nominee came up in california that trent lott fired closed 0 on the nomination to move forward and i voted for cloture. we didn't believe in filibuster. only after president bush won and republicans had a slim majority in the senate that the democrats held those nominees systematically and quickly got a majority. he nominated 11 judges for the court of appeals and i am talking about the court of appeals. ren

in 1975 he served as special assistant for governor brown and before joining senator feinstein. mr. pinkney was a loyal friend, family member, distinguished leader and fierce advocate for social justice worldwide and his friendship was a special gift that touched the hearts of many lives and changed california for the better. he had an impact on every person he met, his contributions, his smile, his general spirit and loyalty will be sorely missed. he has joined his son percy pinkney and survived by his family. colleagues without objection, i would like to adjourn the meeting on behalf of the entire board of supervisors in mr. pinkney's honor. without objection, we will do that on behalf of the entire board. [ gavel ] and madam clerk, the rest i submit. >> thank you, madam president. and now supervisor campos. >> thank you. my apologies. i misheard the name earlier. i simply ask that to my colleagues if we can adjourn the meeting on behalf of the entire board in memory of the tragedy that happened in brussels and in memory of those folks on behalf of the whole board. >> thank you, c

mr. senator. we certainly will. >> senator feinstein? >> thank you, mr. thank the head of the fbi for the fbi's strong position on the issue of encryption and a probable cause court order. it is my deep belief that no american company say buff the law and that that industry should comply. i wanted to ask you a couple questiones. google, microsoft, drop box and other e-mail and cloud service providers use encryption to protect customer data. their techniques are strong. and that makes them relatively well protected against outside attack. but the reality is that many companies, only protect data like your e-mail in ways that they can still use it themselves. and profit from it. i believe that amount of personal information in the hands of private corporations and what some of those corporations are doing with that data is concerning. isn't it true that companies can pro vekt data from outsiders but at the the same time those companies can use our same content data to target advertisements? >> thank you senator for raising this important issue. it certainly

in 1975 he served as special assistant for governor brown and before joining senator feinstein. mr.pinkney was a loyal friend, family member, distinguished leader and fierce advocate for social justice worldwide and his friendship was a special gift that touched the hearts of many lives and changed california for the better. he had an impact on every person he met, his contributions, his smile, his general spirit and loyalty will be sorely missed. he has joined his son percy pinkney and survived by his family. colleagues without objection, i would like to adjourn the meeting on behalf of the entire board of supervisors in mr. pinkney's honor. without objection, will do that on behalf of the entire board. [ gavel ] and madam clerk, the rest i submit. >> thank you, madam president. and now supervisor campos. >> thank you. my apologies. i misheard the name earlier. i simply ask that to my colleagues if we can adjourn the meeting on behalf of the entire board in memory of the tragedy that happened in brussels and in memory of those folks on behalf of the whole board. >> thank you, colle

feinstein. : thanks verytein much, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, my words are said this morning with considerable disappointment. i have great respect for you, mr. chairman, and for most of my colleagues on the other side. let me begin with some history. [laughter] >> some of those on the other side would say the same thing about their side. [laughter] senator feinstein: all right. let me begin with some history. i think it is important to realize what that means in terms of history. no supreme court seat has been kept vacant by a senate in action for over a year since the civil war. i think it's important to realize what that means in terms of history. 155 years ago last week, march 4, 1861, president lincoln delivered his first inaugural address here at the capitol building. lincoln had won the election in november. the nation was about to enter years of brutal civil war. lincoln closed his momentous inaugural by appealing to avoid the bitter conflict that was to come. he said, "we are not enemies, but friends. we must not be enemies. t

in 1975 he served as special assistant for governor brown and before joining senator feinstein. mr.pinkney was a loyal friend, family member, distinguished leader and fierce advocate for social justice worldwide and his friendship was a special gift that touched the hearts of many lives and changed california for the better. he had an impact on every person he met, his contributions, his smile, his general spirit and loyalty will be sorely missed. he has joined his son percy pinkney and survived by his family. colleagues without objection, i would like to adjourn the meeting on behalf of the entire board of supervisors in mr. pinkney's honor. without objection, we will do that on behalf of the entire board. [ gavel ] and madam clerk, the rest i submit. >> thank you, madam president. and now supervisor campos. >> thank you. my apologies. i misheard the name earlier. i simply ask that to my colleagues if we can adjourn the meeting on behalf of the entire board in memory of the tragedy that happened in brussels and in memory of those folks on behalf of the whole board. >> thank you, co

mr. speaker. i'm heartened to see our california senator feinstein over the weekend in an article has called also for pumping excess water that flows through the delta above what is needed for the biological opinion for fish numbers. watt that are could have been put aside for anybody to be able to use. so senator feinstein, we're looking forward to working with you on this. and bringing forward sensible water storage with water we already have in these high-flow times. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition? without objection, the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i rise with great sadness and overwhelming grief to acknowledge the passing of my beloved staff member, tiffany joslin. i did not want one day to pass as we returned back, to go without a tribute to her, although i know that i'll return again with more details and more expressions of how talented she was. she died sunday, a week ago, in a

mr. chairman. i would like to thank you for allowing these remarks. i want to thank the ranking member from vermont for his able remarks and associate myself with his and with senator feinstein's outstanding presentation as well. i appreciate also the chairman moving forward with nominees today as well as two bills before us. adam walsh and of on case law lawlaws that i -- avante's are laws that i care deeply about. i have to say that the work of this committee and congress will be shamefully incomplete if this committee refuses to do that important job of weighing a supreme court nomination. we are given a job to do by the constitution. a job the american people want us to do. and the chairman of this committee is saying that for the next year, the judiciary committee will not do its job. my republican colleagues claim this isn't about politics or the fact that they don't like this president. they say, the american people ought to have a say in deciding who will appoint the next justice. they say let the people decide. the people have decided. if you ask the american people, they will tell you. they want a hearing in this committee. the data is overwhelming. poll last week fo

feinstein's outstanding presentation as well. movingciate the chairman forward with nominees today, as well as who goes before us. it is a pleasure to work with you, mrairman, on these important pieces of legislation. i appreciate the partnership on those efforts. i have to say, the work of this committee, and this congress will be shamefully incomplete if the committee refuses to do that most important job of weighing a supreme court nomination. we are given a job to do by the constitution of the united states, a job that the american people want us to do. my republican colleagues claim this is not about politics or the fact that they do not like president. they say the american people ought to have a say in deciding .ho will be the next justice they say, but the people decide. the people have decided. if you asked them, they will tell you, they want a hearing. the data is overwhelming. that poll found last week 50% of americans want the president to nominate the person this year. just yesterday, "the wall street journal" found that 55% of registered voters disapprove of the decision to block a court nominee, sight unseen. poll foundn post that 63%

mr. mcconnell: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that at 2:30 today the senate vote in relation to the following amendments in the order listed: 3362 feinstein. 3395 wyden. 3367, toomey. 3345, shaheen. that there be no second-degree amendments in order to the amendments and that where applicable, senator enzi or his designee be recognized to offer a budget point of order against the respective amendment and that the sponsor or their designee be recognized to make a motion to waive. further that all amendments be subject to a 60 affirmative vote threshold for adoption and that there be two minutes equally divided in the usual form prior to each vote. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mrs. fischer: thank you, madam president. i rise today to discuss a bipartisan bill that would ensure all americans can access 911 in emergencies. in december of 2013, carey hunt was attacked in her texas hotel room. as this was unfolding, her nine-year-old daughter tried desperately to call 911 but the call did not go through. like millions of am

mr. chair peskin, madame president breed and supervisor kim, steve laplant, retired after 35 years as the emergency medical services administrator for the san francisco. from 1982-88 i worked in the mayor's office under dianne feinsteinand the mayor thought it was originally temporary and she appointed me the city's first homeless coordinator and i worked with the public and private agencies in the city to deal with this issue. i have two points to make. one is she asked me to make sure there were no encampment and wherever one did arise i respectfully asked them to leave and they always did. one of the encampments that i worked to close is as large as the one on division street is now. it should be a policy that we just not allow encampments. last january with el nino, the hundreds living in golden gate park were flooded out and pier 50 was opened up and we houses 500 people a night for 15 months. when the weather was really bad we ramped up to 700. i would like too suggest that we never had to turn anyone away, no matter how many people we had. thank you. >> thank you, mr. laplante. thank you for coming back to speak. >> good afternoon, supervisors. eric brooks, san francisco green party, local grassroots organizat