mrs. fischer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mrs. fischer: mr. president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not. mrs. fischer: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to discuss important legislation before the united states senate this week, the combined transportation, housing and urban development and the military construction and veterans affairs appropriations bill. as chairman of the surface transportation subcommittee and an active member of the committee on environment and public works, i am pleased that this appropriations bill includes a number of critical transportation and infrastructure initiatives that i have advocated for during my time in the senate. a safe, efficient and reliable transportation system is crucial to the economic growth of our country. last year, congress passed a much-needed five-year highway bill known as fixing america's surface transportation or the fast act. i was proud to work with my colleagues on this bipartisan legislation and usher in the first multiyear transportation bill in over a d

mrs. fischer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wes -- nebraska. mrs. fischer: i ask that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. fischer: i rise to discuss my amendment number 3888. i'm proud to join my colleagues from nebraska, kansas, and colorado to introduce this bipartisan amendment. our three states are signatories of the republican river compact which allocates the water resources from the republican river basin as it travels across our states. through this allocation process, our states work closely with the republican river compact administration and the bureau of reclamation to help ensure the most efficient utilization of our wawrkts as it heads -- water, as it heads to families and businesses across the region. mr. president, in nebraska, we value clean water. our citizens go to great lengths to preserve and protect these resources. however, in recent years, the b.l.r. are violated administrative order issued by nebraska, kansas, and colorado with no justification for their actions. this lack of accountabili

mrs. fischer: each of these nebraskans has a special story to tell. today i will share the story on the life of marine corporal adrian robols of scotts bluff, nebraska. adrian was known throughout scotts bluff for his big smile. his older sister, beatrice remembers it this way. as soon as he smiled, even if you were mad at him, you would stop and have to smile. behind that big smile, though, was a tough young man. more than anything, adrian wanted to be a marine. this longing to serve his country was a point of pride and tradition in adrian's family. his grandfather, pedro torres served as a fighter pilot in world war ii. pedro's stories of service and adventure inspired adrian's quest to become a marine and their bond was a source of joy throughout the family. as adrian's father caesar recalls, he loved his grandpa so much. he was a hero to him. when he was 16, adrian approached his parents and told them that he wanted to be a marine. he didn't want to wait. he even prepared a waiver for them to sign which would have allowed adrian to join the corps

mrs. fischer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mrs. fischer: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to discuss the department of labor's fiduciary rule. over the past year, nebraska's small business owners, retirees, insurance, and financial professionals, and individuals in a wide range of other industries have expressed their concerns regarding this fiduciary rule. unfortunately, the negative feedback that i hear has only grown since the final version of this rule was published last month. this dense and complicated rule would change the definition of a if fiduciary and what constituts investment advice. in -- in short, the rule could make it more difficult for many individuals to open and to maintain ira's. it could also lead to future companies offering 401(k) plans for their employees. if the rule is implemented, lower-income savers may face a disadvantage compared to wealthier consumers with higher account balances. it is often convenient for regulators in washington to claim that they are protecting the middle class, but that is

fischer. she also attended mr. trump's capitol hill meeting on thursday. senator, good see you.hank you for joining us. >> thank you. great to be here. >> can you take us behind the closed doors bas week into that meeting. what are the sticking points and the main issues that the two so far have not been able to come together on? >> well, we had a great conversation with mr. trump. he listened to us. we talked about a variety of issues. and he gave us his views on that. we also encouraged him to be telling the people. and when he starts doing that a little more, you'll see people a little more comfortable and willing to understand that mr. trump is out there. he's working hard. he obviously has touched a cohod across this country and he'll be discussing the issues. >> let me ask you about a couple issues. the most important from an economic standpoint, trade. trade has been one of the issues top of mind for donald trump, as has immigration, which, of course, is one of the fundamental issues for any economy. where we're -- where was the conversation on trade in terms of donald tr

mr. heyman: correct. we have been going to the dinner for many years. >> who are your guests? a deaf activist who is presently on dancing with the stars. jenna fischerrom the office. and people who are working with hillary clinton on her campaign. a real mix of insiders and hollywood people. rank in termsis of other dinners? mr. heyman: it is glamorous. many celebrities are fascinated by washington and washington is very fascinated by hollywood. there is not a shortage of guests. this is an enormous event, would you get a sense of by looking at the people here. there are thousands in this room, so it is not an intimate party. and from the red carpet, you go is bellamy who plays the first lady on scandal. >> and the dinner will start at 8:00 p.m. let's watch more arrivals. [chatter] as we continue to watch the arrivals, the attorney general right there. we have a lot more hollywood than we have washington. mr. heyman: for sure. and if you look in the background, that is one of the most famous people you might not recognize. he was an agent. that was the brother of rahm emanuel in the background. has written ae couple of books. mr. heyman: a very high

. >> thank you very much fischer chairman thank y'all for being here. mr.chairman let me take a point of personal privilege. today is foster youth shadow day and today i have a foster student with me. her name is for jean jordan wells was in the system for five years and is now a student at cleveland state university. >> any stand up and wave at us? >> there are she is. [applause] >> welcome. glad you are with us. >> now to my questions. let me again thank you all. this has been most enlightening and very timely mr. chairman to thank you for this hearing. you represent the city of cleveland and akron and 20 cities in between. i represent one of the poorest districts in america so this is extremely important to me. as i work closer with my food bank on a fairly regular basis and have my staff go on a regular basis to assist and volunteer. it is good to have you here and i wanted to remind you that earlier this year mr. rodney davis might call it from l. and mike and i did in fact request the appropriations committee replied an additional $100 million for the

fischer first. >> thank you, supervisor, mar, chair tang, supervisor cohen, mr.evans and the person there i don't know. >> john gibner. >> i am reapplying for my third term on the sunshine ordinance task force. and, it's interesting that mr. wolf said he was excited. i feel compelled by duty at this point. i have done it for 4 years, i think i'm getting pretty good at it. i would like to give it one more go. people come to the sunshine ordinance because they feel wronged. they are upset and angry and there is a lot of yelling and back and forth. but that's what we are here for. we have to be able to accept that. we have to take it. this is what we signed up for. so, i like to help people and that's why i like to do this. anybody that's come to a lot of my meetings have heard me ask the same questions over and over. i look at the complainant and ask, did you get what you asked for? if not, let's find out what they are. and then i go to the city department and say, did you give them everything? are you holding anything back? those are the questions i ask. my record

the senate vote on the fischer amendment with no second-degree amendments in order to the amendment prior to the vote. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mcconnell: now, madam president, i ask consent that at 1:30 p.m. today, the senate proceed to executive session for the en bloc consideration of calendar number 462 and 4 of 3 -- 463, there be is a minutes of debate only on the nominations equally divided in the usual form, that upon the use or yielding back of time, the senate vote on nominations in the order listed without intervening action or debate, that if confirmed the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, the senate -- the president be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate resume legislative session. without any intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection so ordered. a senator: madam president -- the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi bick wick -- mr. wicker: i ask unanimous consent that commander andrew cook, a defense legislative fellow in my office be granted floor privileges during the remainder of this session of c

mrs. fischer: mr. president, i would ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mrs. fischer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. fischer: mr. president, i rise today to honor the life of officer carey orosco of the omaha police department. this month will mark the one-year anniversary of the officer's death. i would like to take a few minutes to remember her life and celebrate the legacy of this brave young woman who died in the line of duty. officer carrie orosco was born on september 19, 1985, in walnut, iowa. walnut is a small town, about an hour east of omaha and the place where carrie's devotion to community and public service began at an early age. her mother, ellen holtz, remembers carrie as a leader from the start, recalling that she was my oldest but she had the best sense of h

mrs. fischer. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: he vote: vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 52, the nays are 47. under the previous order, the amendment is not agreed to. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the democratic leader, the senate proceed to executive session for the consideration of calendar number 307, that there be 60 minutes for debate only on the nomination equally divided in the usual form, that upon the use or yielding back of tiernlg the senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate, that if confidence, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, the president be immediately note nied of the senate's action and the senate then resume legislative session without any intervening being a or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. alexander: mr. presi