mrs. feinstein: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator for california. mrs. feinstein: thank you very much, mr. president. i note the absence of a quorum. i ask that the quorum call be relinquished. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. feinstein: thank you very much. mr. president, i rise to discuss s. 2155. it's called the economic growth, regulatory relief, and consumer protection act. now you think from the title that i would be all for it, but as one who went through the drop in the economy, when we were on the brink of collapse, i believe this is a very bad bill. let me take you back for a moment to that time. banks were teetering, and over 300 would fail in the next three years. for perspective, only three banks failed in the year of 2007. unemployment was skyrocketing. we lost $19 trillion in household wealth. americans lost nearly nine million jobs. in my state, california, more than two million people were unemployed. three and a half million mortgages were at risk. and nearly 200,000 people filed for bankruptcy. now that the economy is reco

with the other party so it is regrettable that these four senators all democrats by the way to mrs feinstein was very much left you know from san francisco and bernie sanders the next candidate for the presidential elections from vermont also very much left we produced the script but i'm sure that many republicans think the same in ask tillerson and the president to start talking with the russian president on these issues with the with the russians on issues of nuclear armament to try to have a new start negotiation on that would be the best thing to happen now and lead to even have talks don't happen as a result of this do you think at least it appears that washington is taking more security concerns much more seriously now. well they should they should end us here in europe here from brussels seen from brussels we feel it's even more important because if anything happens it will be probably in europe so we are very hopeful that america will start talking seriously with russia and stop being the russian.

mrs. feinstein: mr. president, i note that the senator who was to be on the floor is not, so i would ask permission to proceed. the presiding officer: the senator is recognized, without objection. mrs. feinstein: thank you very much, mr. president. i rise today to participate in the discussion on the conflict of yemen. in 2015, i received a phone call from a saudi official informing me that the kingdom was about to take military action in yemen. the official said the conflict would not last long. they would launch airstrikes to push the houthis out of sanaa, restore power and broker a political compromise. that was nearly three years ago, and the conflict has since grown into the world's worst humanitarian disaster. more than 10,000 civilians have died and more than 40,000 are wounded. more than half of yemen's health care facilities have been destroyed. three-quarters of the population, almost 22 million people, need humanitarian assistance. 11 million require urgent assistance to survive, which means t

feinstein. fine fine thanks very much, mr. chairman -- ms. feinstein: thanks very much, mr. chairman. just informally on the scoot shool -- school shooting. i heard one student interviewed on cnn coming in this morning. and it apparently happened at great mills high school, which is a school 90 miles outside of baltimore. the school has 1,600 students and the best of my knowledge right now, three have been injured. two of the victims are students. no fatalities have been reported. and the school is in lockdown. one of the things that i've been pointing out is there are at least five of these every month. and that's been happening since sandy hook. and nobody has paid any attention to it. but now you're seeing what's happening across this country. you would think parkland would be the end for a while. but it isn't. there's another one this morning. and i think we have to come to grips with that. and i think we have to come to grips with the weapons that create the most damage and getting them away from people who do this kind of thing. i don't know that we stop it any other way. and wi

mr. president, i'm all for it. president trump: i think you could easily get the 60 votes may be easily. dianne, do you have something? sen. dianne feinstein: i do, mr. president. you probably know this, but i became mayor of san francisco as a product of the assassination. i've been the victim of terrorist groups. the department gave me a weapon. they taught me how to shoot it and we proceeded through the 1970's that way. what i've watched and seen is the development of weapons that i never thought would leave the battlefield, that are out on our streets. and the latest and newest, mr. chairman, is the ar-15. it's got a lot of assets to it and it's misused. and it tears apart a human body with a velocity. you with a velocity. and i watched the school shootings, in particular, which you pointed out. and i thought sandy hook -- and i'm delighted that sen. murphy is here today. we thought sandy hook would be the end. and he and i introduced another assault weapons bill after the first one. we didn't succeed with it. but the killings have gone on. the number of incidents have gone up. i put my case in writing, which i will give you, if i may,

mr. chairman. chairman: thank you, senator feinstein. now have the opportunity to hear from the two senators from florida. we thank you very much for coming. we are sorry you have to be here under these circumstances. nelson: mr. chairman, thank you for the courtesy. i have to go to the commerce committee. so, after my statement, if you will excuse me, senator thune and i need to kick off the committee meeting momentarily. mr. chairman, matt of ranking member, by fellow senators, we have had our fill of this in florida in the last two years. 49 souls lost at the pulse with a six f in our mcs. the florida airport with a rapidfire in -- rapidfire handgun. and now in ar-15 at the school. senator rubio and i have joined together as we work well together on so many other pieces of legislation that will affect of this, things that are steps in the right direction, like what the florida legislature did, the most significant, the three-day waiting period, but that's it. age 21, yes, arming some school personnel, yes, i getting at the bump stocks.

and hopefully they'll do their job. >> now, senator feinstein. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to make just one comment to mr. petty. and my heart and thoughts are with you. but i would make this comment. i went to public school. kindergarten through 8th grade. there was never such a thing as a shooting in school. and there was never such a thing as an assault weapon. as long as you have these weapons easily available, i believe you cannot stop these shootings. and i have followed it as closely as i can for the last quarter of a century, reading everything, trying to be as educated as i might be. but i might just say to you that is really my conclusion. i've been asked to mention, and i've given letters to the chairman from the national teachers unions, to reference their concerns outlined in the possibility of teachers being armed. and i'd like to point out that the president of the american federation of teachers, randy wide garr ten, has stated they are strongly opposed. that they believe this proposal to harden schools and to arm teachers is straight out of the nra p

feinstein. >> thanks very much, mr. chairman. this hearing comes on the one-month anniversary of the heinous attack at marjory stoneman douglas high school by a 19-year-old who legally purchased the weapon used. 14 high school students and three faculty members were shot to dhaeeath that day and today their memory is being honored by students and parents across the country who are marching and reflecting during a 17-minute moment of silence. i want to begin by giving my deepest and sincerest condolences to each of their families and all of their loved ones and to my two colleagues who will be speaking shortly, senators nelson and rubio. i just had the opportunity along with the chairman to meet mr. ryan petty and his son. and all i could do is give them a big hug. it's a terrible thing about this. all you can do is give a victim a big hug. just this past saturday in my home state of california, the nation woke up to heartbreaking news of a gunman who took hostages in a military veterans's home. the gunman brutally gun downed thre

feinstein adding shame on you, mr.greet president trump today when he arrives in california for the first time as president. mr. trump will check out the models for his border wall in san diego before heading to the los angeles area. the usually very bad traffic in that region will only be worse during the president's visit. >>> and it is not unusual for a bride to make a grand arrival to her own wegd in tdding in the b limousine or on even a horse drawn carriage. >> but a woman in tucson found herself in the back of the police car, escorted not to the altar, but to a police station. authorize arrested amber young for dui after she caused a three car crash reportedly driving drunk to her own wedding. >> police sergeant tweeted don't drive impaired till oig death do we part didn't need any help. >> where were her brides maids? >> maybe take the whole meaning of something blue -- >> a whole new direction. >> something new, the hand cuffs. >> yeah, i don't know about all that. >>> coming up, stormy daniels offering to giv

mr. perez: i did not speak to senator feinstein before the convention last week. i can't say i was surprised. if you look up and down the ticket, i don't think -- i'm not sure anybody get up to 50%. i think there is one candidate who may have gotten to 60%. in california, there's a spirited debate within the democratic party about where we should go on important issues. what to me is most important is that the end of the day and you have seen this in california and elsewhere, people have understood our number one goal and our number one and paradis goal is to take back our democracy. -- imperative goal is to take the our democracy. make sure this most dangerous president in american history is someone we are confronting and putting our values forward very clearly. james: in illinois there is another primary and spirited debate coming up the week after next. dan lipinski, democratic congressman from chicago board of -- vote for a 20 week abortion ban. he's a democrat. you are neutral in that race. is there a place for someone like dan lipinski in the emocratic part

mr. hogg, and everybody else. this caucus stands very strong in trying to do something about guns. i've been trying a long time. i was the author of the brady law. dianne feinstein was the author of the assault weapons ban. there are tens of thousands of people walking the streets who would have been dead. we don't know who they are. but it happened. but unfortunately, they plucked holes in that legislation. we stand for universal background checks. we stand for assault weapons dealing with assault weapons. and we stand for protection orders. and those are the three issues and i talked to some students and some others who i've met that we are going to push and push and push until we get them done. because you inspire us but more importantly it's a necessity, a necessity in america, to try and deal with this. we will fight hard to do it.

feinstein. >> thank you, mr. chairman. it's my understanding under federal law fugitives cannot locally purchase or possession guns women heard from local law enforcement that the justice department has issued a memo that forced the fbi the database to drop more than 500,000 him that offed fugitives with outstanding arrest warrants because it was uncertain where the fugitives has crossed state lines. why was this decision made be the justice department. >> that was a decision made under the previous administration. it was the department of justice's office of legal counsel that reviewed the law, and believed that it needed to be interpreted so that if someone as a fugitive in state there had to be indications that they had crossed state lines. otherwise they were not known to be a fugitive under the law and the way it was interpreted. >> we would appreciate seeing that opinion. would you provide it for the committee, please? >> i would confer with the department of justice but, yes, ma'am. i'll ensure we get it to you. >>

mr. president, you have to be clear, what feinstein is asking here, when we talk about daca, we don't wante two years later. you have to have security. >> remember sthat, back in january, bipartisan white house meeting when the president said he's open to a clean bill protecting the so-called dreamers? well, here it is, already into march. there's no such bill yet. the white house blames congress. >> we're still hopeful that something happens on this, and that congress will actually do its job. >> reporter: congress tried to do its job with bipartisan daca bills introduced to the house and senate last month. they both failed. i put washington far behind me to talk to people whose lives are directly impacted by the outcome of this debate in a border town, el paso, texas. does it upset you, victor, personally, that congress has not taken action on immigration? >> it does not upset me. i actually do agree that there needs to be security in some areas because some areas are dangerous, but i come from the perspective our parents came in here with permission, and we just overstayed, so we did no

feinstein adding shame on you, mr.ay when he arrives in california for the first time as president. mr. trump will check out the models for his border wall in san diego before heading to the los angeles area. the usually very bad traffic in that region will only be worse during the president's visit. >>> and it is not unusual for a bride to make a grand arrival to her own wedding in the back of limousine or on even a horse drawn carriage. >> but a woman in tucson found herself in the back of the police car, escorted not to the altar, but to a police station. authorize arrested amber young for dui after she caused a three car crash reportedly driving drunk to her own wedding. >> police sergeant tweeted don't drive impaired 'til death do we part didn't need any help. >> where were her bridesmaids? >> maybe take the whole meaning of something blue -- >> a whole new direction. >> something new, the hand cuffs. >> yeah, i don't know about all that. >>> coming up, stormy daniels offering to give her so-called hush money back

if you continue to make that accusation, even diane feinstein has said that there is not evidence. if mrschiff has evidence, share it with us. and if you don't have evidence, then don't continue to make the accusations. >> shannon: hope hicks this week testified behind closed doors, came out afterwards that she has been telling white lies occasionally for the president. but you said that you think that she was being walked into a trap during the questioning, what can you tell us? >> there is no question that that is true. we can see that happening as soon as the questioning began. she was there for nearly nine hours. she was trying to answer these questions. but they asked her very broadly, have you in any way fashion or form against any matter or any subject ever told anything that would be deceitful or deceptive? while no one can answer that question perfectly. of course we have all had instances like that where somebody asks you if you look good in the new suit, and you have to be honest were not honest. so we said, we want to know regarding this investigation, regarding any accused a

feinstein said this. james clapper said this. i challenge mr.chiff who seems to think that there is a secret evidence that he can't reveal. two things on that. does anyone in the world believe if there was evidence of collusion that it would not have been leaked under the circumstances that we have seen? of course it would. you would already know about it. the second thing, this is an important point, sean, we have been accusing people of conspiracy and treason. at the end of the day, these people are innocent. aren't these others who oppose what the republicans said on this. aren't they willing to come toward and say you know maybe we got it wrong? it's not fair to keep a cloud over them when there isn't evidence. >> well said. >> sean: i will read again. no evidence of collusion, coordination, conspiracy between the trump campaign and the russians. then it goes on "how anti-trump research made its way from russian sources to the clinton campaign" -- that is the dossier -- "and problematic contact between the senior intelligence community offic

senator feinstein is supportive of it, mr.he house of democrat on the committee is a sponsor. we must be in full recognition that the chinese have been very assertive and aggressive in their interest in protecting our national security is number one. >> it's great that it's laser focus but we also know a lot of technology that's used in the private sector can also have military applications. i'm just thinking last week, on thursday we had a chinese company ring the opening bell on the new york stock exchange and on the nasdaq. technology companies, i don't know their technology if it's ultimately applied to military use, but we do know often that is the case. >> that's the point of it. it's dual use technologies that start with the conventional use and then have military applications. yes, we are concerned about those startup companies, silicon companies that the chinese would come and take an interest in and all this would be part of the purview and oversight. >> thank you very much. always appreciate having you on. you're al

feinstein. >> thanks very much, mr. chairman. i'd like to follow up on senator collins' questions to you, mr. phillips, specifically what changes have been made by your company in the wake of snowden and martin? >> ma'am, since then, we've increased our insider threat process. we do more training. >> from what to what? if you could be specific here, that would be helpful. >> sure. i think all of government is moving towards mandating industry be a partner in this process. we already had a process in place, but what we're doing is making sure that every behavior -- we physically go to our program managers and we tell them, if you or your employees see a behavior, we need see it. we need to know. >> where did you miss with snowden? >> we did not -- we did not have that event within our framework. the snowden component or something like that specifically is the employee is on a federal facility and a company cannot access the government's data to see the behaviors. they have to be visually seen by the people around that individual.

feinstein assault weapons ban? me schumer: if mentioned to -- if it can get 60 votes and close loopholes, that would be great. there are other proposals as well. >> is good better than nothing? mr. schumer: from my time in politics, i never let the present be the enemy of the good. this is the right thing to do. if we can get a good portion of it, not all of it, fine? >> have you spoken to leader mcconnell? mr. schumer: not yet. he knows my feelings. i've said on the floor that we ought to have votes on these things. they have opposition in their own caucus. not every republican will vote for this. if the president worked the room , meaning the senate, we can get this done. democrats will supply most of the votes. not all. tom. >> the president expressed a strong interest to allow teachers to be armed as part of this package. the overwhelming majority of experts that i have talked to, and the overwhelming majority of take -- teachers are strongly against it and they don't think it brings safety. caucus, thinks that these three things of the most important things to do. i'm not drawing any lines in the sand. obviously, you need 60 votes to move forward. mcconnell and i on these

feinstein said this. james clapper said this. and i challenge mr.dam schiff, who seems to think that based on secret evidence that he can't reveal, two things are not. one, does anyone in the world believe that there was evidence of collusion, and it would not have been leaked under the circumstances that we've seen? of course it would. you would already know about it. the second thing, this is such an important point, sean. we've been accusing people of conspiracy entries and at the end of the day, these people are innocent. aren't these others who oppose with the republicans have said -- are they willing to come forward and say, maybe we got this wrong. it's not fair to these individuals to keep this cloud over them when they're just isn't evidence. >> sean: while side. congressman chaffetz, i'll read again. no evidence of collusion, coordination, conspiracy between the trump campaign and the russians. it goes on, how anti-trump research made its way from russian sources to the clinton campaign, that would be the campaign, that would be the contac

feinstein. >> thanks, mr. chairman. i think senator rubio hit the nail on the head. and i'll tell you what surprises me. first of all, secretary johnson, it's great to have you back again. enjoyed working with you and so welcome. let me ask you this first question. i don't understand, you learned about this in august. you did a number of specific things. you spoke about the dates that you did these things. and yet, the american people were never told. why? >> well, senator, the american people were told. >> not sufficiently in any way, shape, or form to know that there was a major active measure going on, perhaps by a foreign power. >> on october 7th, 2016, the director of national intelligence and i issued a pretty blunt statement saying that the russian government was interfering in our political process, directed by the highest levels of the russian government. that was a pretty blunt statement. some people believe we should have done that sooner, and frankly, it did not get the attention that i thought it should have received. it was below the fold news the next

at one point california senator dianne feinstein spoke up when the president seemed unaware of accessibility of assault weapons in many states. >> mr. president, what do we do about weapons of war easily accessible on the streets. >> you have to discuss it with everybody. it's a very complex solution. you have weapons on the street. that's what we're talking about with the black market weapons. the problem dianne is that these aren't what you walk into a store and buy. >> oh no, you go into a store and you can buy an ar-15. >> you can? >> yes, you can buy you will these weapons. >> this is what you have to discuss. >> the triggers and many bullets. >> you have to discuss that. >> the senator today introduced a bill along with republican arizona senator jeff lake that would raise minimum age to buy weapons from 18-21. today they were glad to see donald trump so supportive of raising the minimum age. . >>> in a surprising remark the president took a dig at the republican lawmakers at the table. asserting that they are "petrified of the nra and the power it wheels in washington". >> thank you health in the newsroom. >>> now to florida

mr. mueller at this point. not seen evidence of collusion with the previous -- campaign. and russian ages neither did feinstein or director clapper this is not just me. there are people on both sides who reached that conclusion. if that is the case should we report our findings and recommendations to the american people so that we can implement those recommendations? >> you know i'm curious, do your voters ask about this? your constituents. >> they do but they ask me more than other members of congress they know i'm a bit more involved with this. i tell you it is not the only thing they want to talk about many cases the second or third our fourth thing they want to talk about. they want to talk about thank you for the tack cut that will be good for me. and some of the other issues that are equal low important we are doing in washington. >> congress man stewart from utah we appreciate your perspective and time, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> well, less than an hour from now president trump is set to meet with video game executives and the aftermath of the florida school massacre the push for new gun law

senator durbin, senator booker, senator warren, senator leahy, senator markey, senator feinstein, and senator wyden. mr. president, many americans are unaware that the people of yemen, one of the poorest countries in the world, are suffering terribly today in a devastating civil war, with saudi arabia and their allies on one side and houthi rebels on the other. in november of last year the united nations emergency relief coordinator said that yemen was on the brink, quote, of the largest famine the world has seen for many decades. so far thousands of civilians have died. the last count that i have seen is about 10,000. over 40,000 have been wounded in the war. 15 million people lack access to clean water and sanitation in an infrastructure which has been devastated. more than 20 million people in yemen, over two-thirds of the population, need some kind of humanitarian support with nearly ten million people in acute need of assistance. this is a humanitarian disaster. and the picture here is very, very sad picture of a young child facing starvation is what is taking place throughout this country. sadly,

reporter: dianne feinstein, who sat right next to the president and seemed pleased with what he said back then looks at this new proposal and calls it a shame fful. adding, shame on you, mr. president. >> and i mentioned a moment ago, late word coming in from the house intelligence committee, that they are moving up to wrap up their russia investigation? republicans on the committee saying they have found no evidence of collusion? >> reporter: these are the republicans that control that meeting. the finding is hardly surprising. and given how partisan that committee is, it's not going to have any impact on the overall debate over russia and it certainly won't stop the investigations that continue, david, in the senate and, of course, robert mueller. >> jon karl starting another week at the white house. jon, thank you. >>> meantime tonight, president trump is fashion an ultimatum from that adult film star and the deadline is noon tomorrow. here's abc's chief national correspondent tom llamas tonight. >> reporter: tonight, stormy daniels trying to cut a new deal with the president. the porn star, seen here in a photo she shared on social media, offering to return the $130,

mr. hogg and everybody else. this caucus is very strong in trying to do something about guns. i've been trying a long time. was the author of the brady line, dianne feinstein was author of the assault weapons upon more than 20 years ago, and i the brady law -- there are tens of thousands of people walking the streets who would have been dead. they don't know who they are. weapon don't know who they're but it happened, but unfortunately the plugged holes in that legislation. we stand for universal background checks. we stand for assault weapons dealing with assault weapons, and we stand for protection orders, and those are the three issues. and i talked to some over students and others who he have meat. their going to push and push and push until we get them done because you inspire us but more importantly, it's a necessity. it's in necessity in america to deal with this and we'll fight hard to do it and i want to assure all of you how strongly we feel. thank you. >> thank you so much. thank you. mr. gutenberg, thank you. >> can you hear me? >> there you go. >> first, if anybody wants to know why after losing my daughter only three weeks ago why i'm not opt

mr. hogg, and anybody else. this caucus stands very strong in trying to do something about guns. i've been trying for long time. i was the author of the brady law. diane feinstein was author of the assault weapons ban more than 20 years ago. that brady law, there are tens of thousands of people walking the streets would have been dead. they don't know who they are. we don't know they are but it happen. but, unfortunately, they plot holes in that legislation. we stand for universal background checks. we stand for assault weapons, dealing with assault weapons, and we stand for protection orders. those are the three issues, and i've talked to some of the students and some of the others who i've met that we're going to push and push and push until we get them done. because you inspire us, but more importantly, it's a necessity, it's a necessity in america to try and deal with this. we will fight hard to do it. that's what i came by. i wanted to assure all of you how strongly we feel. thank you. >> that you so much. thank you. mr. guttenberg, thank you. >> first, if anybody wants to know why after losing my daughter only three sigar what i'm optimistic, it's because