mr. murray can be out of business. there's a shortage of workers -- >> you remind me of my italian grandmother. what was that, 1967? >> david rubenstein, who he thinks about this. >> you'll be bringing this up weeks from now. the dirty secret and it's an open secret people who are pushing renewable energy and green agenda they want our fuel prices they want our energy prices for coal produced energy for gasoline to be extremely high to force us to use alternative fuel. it is the greatest tax on lower income and poor americans. >> ben is the lawyer here but i've listened him enough to qualify with a legal degree, and i think one of the things that's come up with this discussion is whether the president can unilaterally do this bypassing with all the new regulations targeting only one industry. it would be one thing to oil industries, they have to subscribe to this but it was only coal. murray i think has a point. >> unfortunately i think he's going to lose. nixon created this epa and the supreme court gave it the stamp.

mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business for one minute. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mrs. murray: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senator from minnesota be given one minute in morning business prior to the republican time. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mrs. murray: thank you mr. president. mr. president, from the very beginning of this discussion on the trafficking bill and the underlying issue members on both side of the aisle agreed we need to get this bill back on track as the bipartisan effort it should be. because without question, survivors of trafficking deserve our support. senator klobuchar has done an amazing job getting us to this point to get this bill done, and i'm pleased that we were able to reach a deal that now gets this done in a way that does not expand restrictions on women's h

sanders for mrs. murray, moves that the managers on the part of the senate at the conference on the disagreeing votes -- mr. sanders: mr. president be, i would ask that the motion be considered as read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sanders: mr. president this motion to instruct budget conferees is to keep in the bill the senate-passed deficit-neutral reserve fund for legislation to allow americans to earn paid sick time. this amendment passed during vote-a-rama of the senate by a vote of 61-39. so it passed with pretty strong bipartisan support and i would hope that we could pass this language again. the truth is mr. president is that at a time when millions of americans are working longer hours for lower wages when our middle-class continues -- when our middle class continues to decline, we also have another serious problem in that only 53% of workers report having paid sick leave. well, you know, people get sick. that is a fact of life. and it is unfortunate that only 53% of workers report

thank you, mr bryan murray. thank you both. >> thank you >>> it is morning in nepal, 18 hours after a powerful quake struck killing more than 1400 it is expected to rise sharply, search and rescue under way. aid is being sent to the region an update next. >> the italian coast guard overwhelmed as migrants attempt to make the crossing to europe. we have more. >>> in nepal at this hour, international aid is on the way as it faces one of the worst natural disasters. it centers near kathmandu. we have more. >> reporter: it's the most powerful earthquake in nepal for decades. people describe wave after wave of tremors, the army searching the rubble for signs of life and body. the numbers killed is rapidly increasing. hundreds of body are recovered. >> we have reports of people trapped in the rubble. the military is mobilizing cranes so people trapped under rubble can be dug out. >> hospital beds have been set up on the streets and wards. treatment is basic. nepal is asking india to send mobile medical teams. the wors

mr. murray is saying look, we don't have control over this sudden global macroenvironment that prompted to you lay off people. what do you say to that? >> i'd say you got an administration that is constantly trying to claim that it can command and control and direct market forces in exactly the way it wants to. and it never works out right. look, i don't think there's a person they know other than those directly in the oil business who would say that it's a bad thing that we've got oil prices doing what they're doing, and one really significant reason is because of the amazing success of the american oil industry, and natural gas industry in developing hydro fracturing or terra fracturing technology that's what the amazing production we built out of nowhere has driven the prices down and, of course this administration is against it tooth and nail. so they're constantly battling those market forces so it's like it's almost hilarious if they say it's market forces. neil: i don't know what it is you are far smarter than me in this stuff, this is one thing we have a lot of coal the one thing w

mr murray, if i'm the little guys, john or jane doe public, and i call my congressman, and a big name donor calls the congressman, one that lays out millions of dollars, who does the congressman answer the phone call from first? >> that's a different way of looking at it. people met the congressman in the street, and some say call my office. that's why they call. >> who does the congressman pick up the call from first? >> someone in the office answers the call first. it's not a relationship. >> you are saying it doesn't matter it someone donates a million to someone that donates as they can. >> if they donate a million. they know who it is. if they met them on the street staff knows them to. >> that's ridiculous. if someone gives me a million dollars i answer their call right away. the question is they need the million. it's a reality of life. what is the accountability transparency, what can the voters decide about who you get money from. nobody in politics would ever claim that. >> answer the question this way. why do we dance around that issue so much? anybody out there watching ri

mrs. murray: mr.president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president i ask consent for five minutes in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: thank you mr. president. mr. president, i believe that we in congress should be working together to grow the economy from the middle out not from the top down, and we should make sure that our government is working for all of our families, not just the wealthiest few. an important part of this is making sure that workers have access to a safe and healthy workplace and the basic protection of earning a living without fearing for their safety. mr. president, that effort takes on special meaning today. april 28, today is workers' memorial day the day we remember those who lost their lives just for doing their job. when a worker is injured or killed on the job it has devastating impacts for their families and their communities. in 2013, more than 4,500 workers were killed on the job. that is more

right behind me is one that says mrs. murray. to my right is one that says mr. mcconnell. why do i mention this? today is national equal payday, a day that symbolizes how far into 2015 american women must work to earn what their male counterparts earned in 2014. that day is today. women have basically worked for nothing until today. this pay disparity between men and women doing the same work is known as the wage gap. unlike the desks here in the chamber, the wage gap does not bear a visible stamp of ownership, but make no mistake mr. president. republicans in the congress absolutely own the wage gap. their names are all over it. republicans' refusal to address income disparities makes them responsible for the additional three months and 14 days that american women work to earn what their male counterparts earn doing the exact same work at the exact same time. who are these working american women being far assed to work for months just to catch up on their wages? they are our daughters our wives, our granddaughters, our neighbors. republicans' repeated filibusters of the e

mr. murray is successful. stuart: don't you care about the planet?l business and it is the cheapest most efficient form we have crinkle technology. stuart: that gentleman in the news it will be tonight on neil cavuto at 8:00 p.m. on the fox business network. let's get to hillary clinton, a campaign staff staging events for her, planted voters, planted questions, not really everyday america, is it? fox news contributor and town hall's katie brad lidge is with us on the campaign. i say it is not going well. she is extremely wealthy and extremely powerful. >> that is what happens when you are a washington insider for almost 40 years. hillary clinton trying to read brand herself now is going to be a serious problem for her because it is so transparent, easy to see the she is trying hard time fulfil that role. i thought was interesting looking at a campaign language used in the campaign announcement videos saying i want to be at champion for those americans who are not at the top and getting the short end of the stick. what that implies by one to be that

cornyn, for himself and mrs. murray proposes an amendment numbered 1124. strike section 101 -- mr.cornyn: mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent that further reading of the amendment be dispensed. with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: i will be back to speak further on the act but for now i will yield to my friend and colleague the chairman of the finance committee. the presiding officer: under the previous order, there will be one hour of debate equally divided in the usual form. mr. hatch: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: i thank both proliferate my colleagues who have spoken -- i thank both of my colleagues who have spoken this morning senators mcconnell and cornyn. and i want to take a few minutes minutes this morning to talk about congress' role in advancing our nation's trade policy. while i know that trade policy can be very contentious here in congress, there are two simple facts that are beyond dispute: number one more than 96% of the world's consumers live outside of the united states. and, number two, in

mr. durbin. the senator from washington, miss murray. the senator from maryland, mr. cardin. and the senator from hawaii -- the senator from hawaii, ms. hirono. the speaker: members of the escort committee will leave through the lobby doors. >> mr. speaker the acting dean of the diplomatic corps. >> mr. speaker, the president's cabinet. >> mr. speaker the prime minister of japan. the speaker: members of congress i have the high privilege and the distinct honor of presenting to you his excellency shinzo abe prime minister of japan. prime minister abe: mr. speaker, mr. vice president distinguished members of the senate and the house, distinct guests, ladies and gentlemen, back in june, 1957 my grandfather standing right here as prime minister of japan began his address by saying and i quote it is because of our strong belief in democratic principles and ideas that japan associates herself with a free nation of the world. prime minister abe: 50 years has passed. today i'm honored to stand here as the first japan prime minister ever to address your joint session. i extend my grat

open champ arrived showing more leg than his bride wearing the traditional kilt and the new mrs. murrayl scottish weather. they included showers, glam church a ring kisses food drink, hearth and lots and lots of sleep. see the zs at the end. >> what is the glam one. >> all the rage right now. >> that i actually had to ask my producer what the glam emoji was too. which i still don't know. but trust me -- we're so heap we'll find out and then let you know. >> "gma investigates." >> look on my twitter feed later. it will be very glam. >>> and then finally, everybody, you remember the 1983 movie that made this song famous. ♪ holiday road ♪ >> and the griswolds are about to hit the road again. are you guys ready for "vacation: the reboot." >> yeah. >> bring it on. >> just makes you happy. complete with a trip to wally world. here is your first look at the griswolds family in 2015. there's chevy chase, beverly d'angelo. a grown up rusty played by ed helms. his wife played by christina applegate and now they're taking their kids to the legendary theme park. it's deja vu as the griswolds gather

mr. chairman. welcome, madame secretary. senator murray and i on the health committee are trying to get a few things actually done. we have reported a bill on elementary and secondary education moving ahead to higher education. it will get into innovation and medicine. and one other area where i believe that we could get something done is electronic health record. you and i have talked about that. you talked about a year and nine months left for you. i would like to move out of the top of your list and i was doing something about electronic health records. the government spent 28 billion subsidizing electronic health record. cells ago wonderful idea. but but half the doctors are choosing not to participate in the program doctors do not like the electronic medical record system by and large. large. they say they disrupt the workflow and are not worth the effort. ama commission study found electronic health records are the leading cause of physician dissatisfaction. a medical economic survey found 70 percent of physicians say their electroni

senator murray? >> mr. chairman thank you very much. mr. secretary, last week the national research council released a report and recommendations for how to apply the science of development and early learning to building the workforce needed for high quality programs serving young children. the rereport noted recommendations would require significant resources. in the past few years congress has provided your department with funding since fy 11 for race to the top, early learning and challenge grants and preschool development grants. washington state has used it to invest in its workforce. how is your department working with the department of health and human services to administer these grants and address workforce issues outlined in that report. >> we were happy to report with that report, make a lot of sense to someone like you who know it is field intimately. all the applicants, all 36 applicants for the grants describe in their grant applications their efforts to provide comparable salaries and strengthen the workforce, so we know how

senator murray. >> mr. chairman thank you very much. mr. secretary, last week the national research council released a report and recommendations for how to apply the science of development and early learning to building the work force needed for high quality programs serving young children. the report noted that its recommendations will require significant resources and in the past few years congress has provided your department with funding since fq 11 forays to the top early learning challenge grants and preschool development grants, washington state has used race to the top funding to invest in its work torse. how is your department working with the department of health and human services to administer these grants and address work force issues that are outlined in that report? >> so we were happy to help participate in that report, the findings maek a lot of logical sense to someone like you who knows this field intimately. all of the applicants from all the states those we funded and couldn't fund, all 36 applicants for our grants des

mr. chairman. >> thank you senator. >> we'll have a few more questions, i have a couple and maybe more than a couple. i'll ask a couple and go to senator murray and chairman cochran if we have any more. on impact day, mrs. secretary you ask for level funding and impact aide and a budget that basically asks for 6% increases in total. i think we had a vote on this during the budget voting and overwhelmingly the congress suggested that the goal of these impact aide programs and other programs where we're replacing money that would be there if this were privately owned property should we get that money to a level that is as near as possible approximates what a private taxpayer would pay many it does seem to me that level funding in a. if everything else was level funding i wouldn't be complaining about this. you take the payments and federal property program. which is 67 million. a million of that goes to missouri schools you put that in your own facility's maintenance program. surely you don't expect -- >> i'm happy to have that conversation, so we'll open on this. >> what do you have tom 12 buildings that these facilities would -- facilities mo

senator murray. >> mr. secretary, i was pleased to see budget proposed a significant increase to the office of civil rights we can address this backlog of investigations and reduce the amount of time that it takes to respond to a complaint and keep up with increasing workloads and all things that make her college campuses safer. ocr receives about 10,000 complaints a year. that's up from 2010. its budget is to underfunded antelope priest sequestration levels. it includes sexual assault on campus which are complex investigations, they take a lot of time. i wanted to ask you today can you explain to our subcommittee have that increase funding will help reduce the backlog? >> this is an important issue. it is hard, tough discipline issues and given your honesty back a simple. we've gone from about 6000 complaints 2008 to over 1,002,016. i don't have any evidence to back that i don't necessarily think there are that many more sexual assaults happening. i do think people know that we are open for business and ta

senator murray? >> mr. secretary i was actually pleased to see that your budget proposed a significant increase for the office of civil rights. to reduce the amount of time thattic takes to respond to a complaint and keep up with increasing workloads all things that make our college campuses safer. ocr receives 10,000 complaints a year. that's up from 2010. the budget is still underfunded. their workload includes cases of sexual assault on campus. those are complex investigations. they take a lot of time. i wanted to ask you today can you explain to the sub committee how the increased funding you've requested will help to reduce the backlog? >> yes. this is an important issue. these are hard tough difficult issues we struggle l every day with again. and your honest feedback is really helpful. t we've gone from 6,000 complaints in 2008 to over 10,000 in 2016. i don't have evidence in back this. i don't necessarily think there are that many more sexual assaults happening. i think we're now open for business a

mr. king: i am optimistic about bipartisan potential in washington. we have great leaders like senator murray and congressman scott, also like congressman hannah in new york, who is one of the leaders in an effort. i am optimistic about that. i think the challenge for us and the thing we got to do well is deliver results. the key thing that will help us maintain and build momentum is we got to make sure the programs are very high quality and that the outcomes are very strong. that is why we begin to think not just in terms of expanding access, but continue to work to improve quality. ms. martin: i am optimistic as well and look forward how did see things progress in virginia and chattanooga. thank you for coming and doing this for us today. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] announcer: vice president joe biden filled in for the president on his weekly address to discuss the importance of higher education and the administration's plan to

mr. chairman. welcome, madam secretary. senator murray and i on the health committee are trying to get a few things actually done. we've reported a bill on elementary and secondary education. we're moving ahead to higher education. as you know, we're going to get into innovation in medicine. and one other area where i believe we could get something done is electronic health records. you and i have talked about that. you've talked about a year and nine months left for you. what i'd like to do is to move up toward the top of our -- of your list and our list doing something about electronic health records. the government spent $28 billion subsidizing electronic health records. sounded like a wonderful idea. half the doctors are choosing not to participate in the program instead they'll face medicare penalties this year. doctors don't like their electronic medical record systems by and large. they say they disrupt the work flow interrupt the doctor-patient relationship. they haven't been worth the effort. ama commission grant study found elec

mr. boehner: i have not seen what his steps are but i do expect he'll say something later on today. >> i'm interested in this ryan-murray idea that you're floating. mr. boehner: i'm not floating it. >> all right. you've spoken out more fragly than you have in the past about the possibility of reprizing it. as you know, ryan-murray happened after a shutdown, after september 30 after the process came to a halt. are you open to doing that kind of negotiation or blessing that process in summertime before you have a potential shutdown? mr. boehner: nobody is interested in shutting down the government. we're interested in real fiscal responsibility. and if such an effort is called for in the budget agreement if such an effort can get off the ground, hope springs eternal. >> mr. speaker, did you have any conversations with the president about the death of these two hostages prior to him coming out this morning? i'm wondering if you've had preist consultations with him. mr. boehner: he and i have not talked about this. >> on that same issue, you said we need to have all the facts. were you briefed on the counterterrorism operat

mr. chairman and local madam secretary. senator murrayand i found they health committee are trying to get a few things actually done. we have reported it no one elementary and secondary education and we are moving ahead to higher education. it is you know where going to get innovation in medicine. one area that i believe that to get something done is electronic health records. you and i have talked about that. you have talked about a year and nine months left for you and what i would like to do is move up toward the top of your list and our list doing something about electronic health records. big government spent $20 billion subsidizing electronic health records. it sounded like a wonderful idea but half the doctors are choosing not to participate in the program. instead they will face medicare penalties this year. doctors don't like their electronic medical record systems by and large. they say they disrupt the workflow and interrupted doctor-patient relationship and ama commission grants bound to electronic health records are the leadi

mr. president i'm very happy today,py when we have reached a an agreement and i want to thank senator murray for her leadership, senator reid, senator mcconnell and senator cornyn, the two of us, have worked on this issue for years. and finally we're going to be able to move these reallyy important bills forward. whats this compromise, does, is really set up two funds. the first uses senator cornyn's fund, which is, fees on perpetrators and uses that for things lik se shelters and law enforcement, things we envisioned would be used for people to combat sex trafficking. the second fund is a medical fund and it is really based on the same principle that we used with the sgr fund that we justun voted on. it passed, that bill passed 92-8. the fund would receive a minimumld of five million dollars, and would be matched up to 30 million as the funding that the cornyn fund goes up. so it really is a parallel fund that is serving the exact same purpose. and, this is the way that we were able to eliminate extraneousth provisions that still keep the spirit of this really important bill and allow to us

mr. chairman thank you. congratulations to you and senator murray for your leadership on this sub committee and secretary burwell welcome. thank you for reaching out to me this week to see we had a conversation on the fwoen. it's my fault it didn't happen. ch i'm very appreciative of the efforts you make to stay in touch and have conversations. i think i'll have time for a couple of questions. let me ask first an early childhood collection. ch this committee allocated $500 million to expand access to infant toddler services through early head start. and the goal was to expand child care partnerships. my question is tell me about implementation and particularly assure me that rural communities where licensed child care is a rare commodity, that they are being considered appropriately for those services. >> the issue of -- we have worked towards implementation, and i think because the program had both early headstart and child care partnerships that expanded our ability to serve where various types of care would be provided. we want to make sure we're meeting standards in terms of the the conversation we had earli

mr. reid: i reserve my right to object and would say that the work done by senators murray all the judiciary committee led by senator leahy and of course senator klobuchar working with senator cornyn, significant progress has been made. there is no question in that regard but we're not there yet. i remember we got into a problem with this initially because of the language in the bill, so every word is going to have to be read with this new language that we have drawn up, and then we'll see if we can make it to the finish line. i think we can but we're certainly not there yet but progress has been made. mr. president, i know that in my reservation to object, i would say that i note that the agreement that the majority leader propounded is seeking to move to a house revenue bill which, of course, would provide a vehicle for the foreign relations reported iran legislation. i support the committee-reported iran legislation. i commend senators cardin and corker for their historic work on this package but i do open that the senate can pass it with no changes. but i note that the majority leader is

mr. pres., i am happy we have reached an agreement and want to thank senator murray for her leadership, senator reid, mcconnell, and cornyn. we have worked on this issue for years and finally will be able to move these important bills forward. what this compromise does is set up to funds. funds. the 1st uses senator cornyn's funds which is fees on perpetrators, things like shelters law enforcement things we envision used for people to combat sex trafficking. the 2nd is a medical fund based upon the same principle we used. it passed 92 to eight. a minimum of $5 million, messed up to 30 million in funding. that is that is the cornyn fund. there is a parallel fund serving the exact same purpose. and this is a way that we were able to eliminate extraneous provisions but still keep the spirit of this really important bill and allow us to move on to my bill to stop exportation trafficking which really is about not prosecuting kids under 18. a huge bill that passed unanimously in the judiciary committee. i want to thank senator murray for her leadership. we have been a team and have been able to work

i thank senator murray for submitting her comments in writing. >> thank you for the opportunity to be part of this budget conference. as mr. sanders and mr. van hollen have artie made clear, my democratic colleagues and i will speak today about the many ways these budgets fall short in addressing the true needs of our nation and the american people. i also want to talk about the questionable ways in which these budgets purport to balance our nation's finances. we see washington a lot of tv these days, but honestly, with the fantasies evident in this pages, it's more like games -- game of thrones than house of cards. the house and senate had to use some remarkably acrobatic arithmetic to get the appearance of a balanced budget year. it is far from partisan. these are not democrats concerns, this is matt that just doesn't add up. i'm far from the only one who sees it. the committee for responsible federal budget noted that the health budget uses several budget gimmicks that circumvent budget discipline, and the details are in some ways unrealistic and a testified. on the senate budget, they also observed that disappointingl

mr. king: i am optimistic about bipartisan potential in washington. we have great leaders like senators murray and scott, also like congressman hannah in new york, who is one of the leaders in an effort. i am optimistic about that. i think the challenge for us and the thing we got to do well is deliver results. the key thing that will help us maintain and build momentum is we got to make sure the programs are very high quality and that the outcomes are very strong. that is why begun to think not just in terms of expanding access, but continue to work to improve quality. ms. martin: i am optimistic as well and look forward how did see things aggressive in virginia and chattanooga. they give for coming and doing for this dish -- and doing this for us today. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> this week we have been showing profiles of freshmen members of congress, and tonight montana pumpkin ryan -- montana republican ryan zinke. he is t

murray for submitting her comments in writing. i call on congressman yarmuth. congressman yarmuth: thank you chairman enzi and price for the opportunity to be a part of this budget conference. as mr. sanders and mr. van hollen have artie made clear, my democratic colleagues and i will speak today about the many ways these budgets fall short in addressing the true needs of our nation and the american people. i also want to talk about the questionable ways in which these budgets purport to balance our nation's finances. we see washington a lot of tv these days, but honestly, with the fantasies evident in this pages, it's more like games -- game of thrones than house of cards. the house and senate had to use some remarkably acrobatic arithmetic to get the appearance of a balanced budget year. and the disapproval of the gimmicks and creative math in these budgets is far from partisan. these aren't democrats concerns, this is math that just doesn't add up. i'm far from the only one who sees it. the committee for responsible federal budget noted that the health budget uses several budget gimmicks that circumvent budget discipline, and the details are in some ways unrealistic and unsess

murray for submitting her comments in writing. >> thank you chairman enzi price, ranking member sanders for being a part of this conference. as mr. saunders and mr. van hollen has made clear my colleagues will speak about the ways the budget falls short in addressing the true needs of our nation and the american people. i also want to talk about the questionable ways in which these budgets report to balance our balance. we see washington a lot on tv these days but with the fantasy evidence in these pages these budgets are a lot more like game of thrones and house of cards. the house and senate had to use some remarkably acrobatic arithmetic disapproval of the gimmicks in the creative not expire from partisan. as far as democrats are concerned, this math doesn't add up and i am far from the only one who sees it. the committee for responsible federal budget noted that the house budget uses quote, several budget gimmicks that circumvent budget discipline in the details are in some ways unrealistic. on the senate budget, they also observed that disappointingly many of the savings are unrealistic or lack specificity. the fiscal times

mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president i call p amendment number 1117 and ask for its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: mrs. murray prose an amendment numbered 1117. mrs. murray: thank you, mr. president. mr. president -- the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mrs. murray: mr. president many of us have been working for years to protect medicare access for seniors invest in our community health centers and expand access to health care for for our children. i am a glad that the democrats and republicans in the house were able to come together on these issues much it is disappointing that in a bill which takes so many good bipartisan steps forward republicans have insisted on trying to score political points with their base on women's health. the house s.g.r. bill includes language that is one more example of using women's health as a political football. it is redundant and unn

mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: under the previous order there will now be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to the motion offered by the senator from washington relative to paid sick leave. the senator from washington. ms. murray -- mrs. murray: we've got to build an economy that works for owl our families not just the wealthiest few. when americans are sick they have to choose between losing money ought of their paycheck or tusk it out and showing up to work. i was delighted during our budget debate a bipartisan majority, 61 senators strong, agreed that congress should allow workers to earn paid sick days. the amendment that was just passed was voluntary would only benefit a select number of people who work for employers who already do the right thing. this amendment will make sure that we boost worker productivity reduce turnover which are benefits to both employers and employees. and i urge my colleagues to vote for this in a strong vote. thank yo

mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: thank you mr. president. you know, so many members helped get this bill back on a bipartisan path, but i want to thank senators reid, cornyn, klobuchar, feinstein mikulski and leahy in particular for their work. and i also want to thank all the staff who have worked ex-treely hard to get this done especially melanie reiner from my staff. from the beginning of this debate democrats have been very clear that this bill to help survivors should focus squarely on that goal alone. we also felt this conversation was no place for a debate about restrictions on women's health access. and while there are clear differences between the two parties when it comes to women's health i know that senator cornyn and many others agreed with us that an effort to fight back against human trafficking in our country is without question no place for gridlock and dysfunction. it shouldn't have taken this long but i am very pleased that we were able to work together, find common ground and reach an agree

mrs. murray: thank you mr. president. mr. president, from the very beginning of this discussion on the trafficking bill and the underlying issue members on both side of the aisle agreed we need to get this bill back on track as the bipartisan effort it should be. because without question, survivors of trafficking deserve our support. senator klobuchar has done an amazing job getting us to this point to get this bill done, and i'm pleased that we were able to reach a deal that now gets this done in a way that does not expand restrictions on women's health to non-taxpayer dollars or to new programs and provides survivors with real dedicated funds for the support and services they need. no compromise is perfect. i'm sure that are senator cornyn would say the same thing. i believe there's more we can and must do when it comes to strengthening women's access to quality health care. but i'm very pleased that senator cornyn and i along with a number of other senators on our side, including senator klobuchar, were able to work togeth

murray eliminate sequestration. followed by stabenow's medicare cuts. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. sanders: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: mr. president as i have indicated on many occasions, i think this republican budget is, frankly a disaster. it causes severe harm to some of the most vulnerable people in this country. it throws 27 million people off of health insurance. it forces elderly people to pay more for prescription drugs. it cuts $90 billion in mandatory pell grants at a time when young people are struggling to be able to afford to go to college and pell grants are one of the significant ways that they are able to go to college. $90 billion is cut. it cuts head start significantly, such that 110,000 fewer young children will be able to enroll in head start. it cuts title 1 education program money directed to schools with low-income kids, the schools that need the help the most. at a time when so many of our families are struggling to put food on the table this budget cuts nutrition programs, including the w.i.c. program by