mrs. fischer: let me be clear. when we are talking support, we are talking about money and arms, aren't we? we aren't just talking about we support you because you are shia . we are talking about actual support on the ground? general austin: yes, we are talking about material support as well, but i think that is provided through shia. mrs. fischer: they give them money and arms, which has undermined our interest and cooperation we had to try to deal with al qaeda. isn't that right? >> yes, i think that is true. mrs. fischer: the other thing i want to ask about is by rain. -- by rain -- bahrain. what is iran doing with regards to that government? they are trying to destabilize that government, which in my view would threaten our interest there? general austin: correct. we see the same reach through the region, which increases sectarian tension and serves as a destabilizing affect. mrs. fischer: obviously it's a different country from yemen but similar playbook in a different country. is it not? general austin: it's

mrs. fischer: mr. president as a strong supporter of equal pay for equal work, i am pleased to offer this amendment to combat pay discrimination in the workplace. our solution provides a reasonable fact-based approach to equip americans with the knowledge and the tools that they need to fight discrimination. this amendment contains language similar to president obama's april, 2014, executive order clearly stating that employees cannot be punished for exercising their first amendment rights by speaking with employers or co-workers about their wages. furthermore, this amendment does not authorize any new federal regulations, nor does it compel employers to disclose salary information. it simply prevents punitive action against employees seeking information. women want good-paying jobs, and that means that we need policies to promote economic growth and opportunities for all americans. mr. president, this is a simple amendment. this is an amendment that would create a deficit-neutral reserve fund to promo

mr. fischer: mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent that all time spent in quorum quorum calls before the 2:20 vote this afternoon be equally divided. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. fischer: thank you mr. president. i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: perfect durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the assistant democratic leader. mr. durbin: i ask consent to speak in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, today is the anniversary the 150th anniversary of the second inaugural address of president abraham lincoln. later on this evening there will be an observance in the rotunda sponsored by the illinois state society and the abraham lincoln bicentennial foundation to observe this anniversary. my colleague senator kirk, is scheduled to be there. former transportation secretary ray lahood steven lange and some of the most distinguished lincoln sc

fischer: that is exactly right. would compliance with other environmental regulations have an impact on your state's ability to meet the 6%? mr. easterly: it will. we will have some utilities that have to add more energy that are not there now. that will decrease their efficiency as captivated under the rule. sen. fischer: i support and all of the above energy policy. many of my colleagues also support the all of the above. we need a balance in our energy portfolio. i think that is important for a number of reasons. security reasons. cost reasons. it is the wise thing to do. do you think this clean power plan encourages diversity within our energy sector? mr. ficher: not in the long run. in the long run, it basically is the plan to continue to shut down coal-fired power plants and have natural gas and renewables. those are fine sources of energy. once you get close to a monopoly, you have pricing power. that gas suddenly will not look like it does now in price. when i worked in the utility industry, we had a natural gas price spike. it was very disruptive to our customers. i am worried those are going to happen in the future.

fischer. >> thank you mr. chairman. ms. swenson can you give us some idea when this is all going to be fully operational? do you have a window of time there? >> its eyes a great question. as i said we have the strategic roadmap that lays out the timeframe of getting tourist a consultation issuing the rfp getting the response and obviously awarding to the winner of the process. while we don't know today is what might happen in that process. so if we were unencumbered by external factors than we could probably give you a more definitive timeframe but my expectation based on what everybody has told told me the government as we might see a few bumps along the way. the goal is to obviously get that rfp out get the response is then put that information together and deliver plans to each of the governors of every state. what happens during that timeframe we are hoping is smooth and i hope you get a sense of the sense of urgency we feel about this and how hard we are working to get it done as quickly as possible. >> you think you w

mrs. fischer: thank you mr. president. i rise today to speak about the budget proposal that's been offered by the senate republicans that will help nebraska families and all american families to have a brighter future. for far too long, families have been paying more and forced to expect less from an increasingly inefficient and out of touch federal government. while we've made progress, our economy is not where it should be. and unfortunately, the government spending habits, well they remain unsustainable. our $18 trillion debt it isn't just a threat to our economic security, it is a threat to our national security. it's time to offer bold solutions and we need to tackle these problems. republicans were sent to congress to stop i believe this irresponsible mentality to stop the wasteful spending. we need to balance our budget and we need to allow our economy to grow and flourish. families all across this nation, they've been forced to tighten their belts. now it's washington's turn. mr. president, i'm here today to highli

mr. chairman i'm out of time. thank you very much. >> thank you. senator fischer. >> thank you mr. chairman and thank you all for being here today. commissioner easterly when we have the acting administrator ms. mccabe here earlier in the year i asked her some questions about the heat rate efficiency assumption for building block one. we no epa relied on the one the analysis for that 6% heat rate. in their own terms they said the epa has supplied the data and accumulative manner inconsistent with how the study was conducted. do you have any other concerns with how the epa developed that 6% heat rate assumption that is out there? >> part of epa's thought process for building block one assume you would operate the plants in a way that gained efficiency which really means you have to operate at a steady state output but then we have building block to which says your coal plants are the last resort. you must operate your combined gas plants first and use the coal plants to make up for swings in renewables and gas and that which is make it much worse. there's also mission controls that

fischer. >> thank you mr. chairman. ms. swenson can you give us some idea when this is all going to be fully operational? do you have a window of time there? >> its eyes a great question. as i said we have the strategic roadmap that lays out the timeframe of getting tourist a consultation issuing the rfp getting the response and obviously awarding to the winner of the process. while we don't know today is what might happen in that process. so if we were unencumbered by external factors than we could probably give you a more definitive timeframe but my expectation based on what everybody has told told me the government as we might see a few bumps along the way. the goal is to obviously get that rfp out get the response is then put that information together and deliver plans to each of the governors of every state. what happens during that timeframe we are hoping is smooth and i hope you get a sense of the sense of urgency we feel about this and how hard we are working to get it done as quickly as possible. >> you think you w

fischer. >> thank you mr. chairman ranking member nelson. chairman wheeler there a number of members of congress who believe that new technologies can help the united states remain innovative and i'm working with senator booker senator schatz and sandra ayotte on the internet of things. i think that's going to be a very good bipartisan resolution and moving forward hopefully legislation so we can see that innovators are able to grow their businesses and they are going to be able to solve problems with clear rules and clear expectations. i think that's necessary and innovators have to have that certainty out there. when i look at the general conduct rule that is proposed that you have here i'm concerned it could jeopardize that regulatory certainty that i think we have have to have that we are going to remain competitive. the electronic frontier foundation has described this rule as an overreach and confusing. specifically the eff said the fcc believes it has broad authority to pursue and a number practices hardly the narrow light touch appro

fischer? >> thank you, mr. chairman. can you give us an idea of when this is going to be fully operational. do you have a window of time there? >> it's always a great question. as i said, we have the strategic road map that lays out the timeframe of getting through our state consultation, issuing the rpf, getting the response and obviously awarding to the winner of the process. what we don't know today is what might happen in that process. so if we were unencumbered by external factors we can give you a more definitive timeframe, but my expectation based on what everybody has told me is we might see a few bumps along the way. the goal is to, obviously to get that rfp out, get the responses in put that information together and deliver plans o to each of the governors of every state. what happens during that timeframe we're hoping is smooth and i hope you get a sense of the sense of urgency and how hard we're working. >> will you reach the 2022 goal that's out there? >> oh yeah, if we don't we should be shot. >> mr. chairman, i don't even know how to respond. >> we'll find a lesser answer. >>

like we have so many guests on the air who studied with stan fischer at m.i.t. good to see you, mr.. >> thank you for having me. gee still runs caesar's entertainment. time for a cnbc news update. >> greek prime minister alexis sip russ and angela mishgel put on a public display of goodwill appealing to greeks and germans to put aside their differences and work for a better europe but it was unclear if they had narrowed their differences on greek economic reforms. >>> millionaire robert durst will remain behind bars in new orleans. this morning a magistrate ordered he be held without bail saying durst was a flight risk and a danger to others. >>> three construction workers fell to their deaths when scaffolding collapsed at a construction site in raleigh north carolina. a fourth worker was seriously injured. so far though no reason for that collapse. >>> on a lighter note would you believe healthy beer? japan's sapporo has launched its first health beer. it's been designated as a health product. it's aimed at people over 40 at risk of diabetes. it's a nonalcoholic brew and maybe that

mr. norman bessac, the vice president of international sales of cargo. of cargill. so, welcome. >> thank you, chairman fischer and members of the committee and subcommittee for inviting me to testify. trade maximizes the retail ranchers and farmers produce and we are able to sell them to the domestic and international markets where they have the most value. this creates the best opportunities for cargill, our customers, our farmer and rancher suppliers, our hard-working employees, and the communities where we operate. ports are an integ rl part of a dependable supply chain. let me outline the beef and pork supply chain i work with every day, and detail, the problems that occur when there are problems with. cargill processed fresh beef and pork in our plants located predominantly in nebraska, kansas, texas, iowa pennsylvania, illinois, colorado and california. customers from around the world depend on high-quality fresh u.s. beef and pork to sell in supermarkets, restaurants and food processing plants. fresh meat has a relatively short shelf life. it must be quickly packaged and shipped in temperature-controll