quorum call: mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: thank you. first of all, i want to thank my colleague senator brown for leading the effort on the floor to speak out against the latest attacks on union rights that are in front of the supreme court right now. i'm very proud to join him to highlight the contribution unions have made to our middle class, to the economy, and to our country. and i want to express my commitment to stand up against any attempts to undermine workers' rights to join a union or bargain collectively. since day one, president trump has broken his campaign promise, which was to put our workers first by rolling back worker protections and putting corporations and billionaires ahead of our working families. and now we are seeing corporate special interests doubling down on their attempt to

quorum call: quorum call: 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. the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mrs. murray: mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: i ask that i be allowed to speak as if in morning business are. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: thank you, mr. president. first of all, i'd like to say that i appreciate colleagues from both sides of the aisle who will be here to speak about, and thank them for their leadership on our legislation and taking the time to speak today. we are now exactly one week into open enrollment, and it has been three weeks now since chairman alexander and i put forward a bipartisan bill to stabilize our health care markets and lower patients' health care costs. so i wanted to come this afternoon to talk a few minutes about what it means that so many people nationwide

mrs. murray: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: thank you, mr. president. as president trump continues to undermine workers, it is critical that the nlrb is independent and committed to promoting collective bargaining. when corporations fry to take advantage -- try to take advantage of their employees, workers should be able to turn to the nlrb to intervene. unare fortunately, mr. robb's career as a corporate lawyer fighting against lawyers gives me great concern he will not have workers best interest at heart in this role. so i will be voting no on this nomination and i urge my colleagues to stand up for workers and do the same. i yield back our time. the presiding officer: all time is yielded back. the question occurs on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: have all members voted or wish to change their vote? on this vote the yeas are 49. the nays are 46. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconside

mrs. murray: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: thank you, mr. president. you know, since day one, the president of the united states has made it clear his top priority when it comes to health care in our country is to score political points by attacking obamacare. he has even said repeatedly that health care in our country will, quote, implode. but this was not just a prediction that president trump made. it was his goal. and he's tried virtually everything he can do to make that implosion a reality. in january, he abruptly pulled funding for outreach days before the end of the 2017 open enroll ment period without any analysis of how that might impact patients and families, and he signed executive orders specifically designed to inject uncertainty and increased costs in the health care system. president trump then dedicated the spring and summer to attempting to jam partisan, extraordinarily destructive legisla

mr. murray repeatedly stated that it was his intention to remove artifacts from the lighthouse. >> most of the artifacts belonged to them. there was no attempt to take anything and no statement made. >> the group says it will take legal action. the city plans to take over operation of the lighthouse next year. >>> happening today, we join the annual effort to fight hunger in philadelphia. the nbc morning team will join wmmr's peres preston and steve at the camp-out for hunger in philadelphia. this is video from last year's event. the camp-out is marking its 20th anniversary and supports fill abundance. we invite you to come see us, and bring a donation. >>> i'm meteorologist bill henley. 5:07. if you're heading out, it's clear. the 47 degrees still accoucould cooler. a sunny day, a challenge to keep ice frozen. temperatures with sunny and mild conditions will peak again in the low 60s. then clouds will start moving through the area this evening, i think they'll move through dry. 33 right now in the lehigh valley. the suburbs, 37 degrees. seeing some 30s now in delaware, too. there's still

mrs. murray: mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: i come to the floor to do what the trump administration has failed to do, to stand up for working families and fight for an economy that works for all. on the campaign trail president trump made promise after promise to workers. he promised to put them first and bring back good-paying jobs to their communities. since day one of his presidency, we have seen him do just the opposite. his administration has rolled back protections for workers and families and prioritized corporate profits over working families security. he has put forward nominee after nominee and put other interests ahead of families. like william aaro -- warem has worked to undermine the core mission of the office he would oversee. he's the nominee who has demonstrated a willingness to side with protecting big business instead of protection for our nation's most valuable resources and whose independence is truly

mr. murray publicly and privately stated it was his intention to remove artifacts from the lighthouse. >> most of the items in the lighthouse belong to the friends or were loaned to the friends. there was no attempt to take anything out. >> the city plans to take over operation of the lighthouse next year. >>> happening today, we join the annual effort to fight hunger in philadelphia. >> always happy to do that. the nbc10 morning team will join preston and steve, wmmr's preston and steve at the campout for hunger. it's marking its 20th anniversary and supports fill abundance. we invite you to come down, see us, make sure you bring a donation for fill abundance so we can help feed hungry people in our area. >> we've been doing it for 20 years. today -- today it will be warm. >> another beautiful day. heading out, skies are clear. some neighborhoods have gotten colder, but most are in the 40s this morning. warmer than yesterday. with sunny skies, going to be another mild afternoon. temperatures making it to the low 60s for many neighborhoods. then a few clouds start to enter the picture thi

mrs. murray: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i come to the floor today to highlight yet another dangerous nominee that has been put forth by this administration. during the campaign, president trump made promise after promise to workers. he said he'd put them first. he said he'd bring back good-paying jobs to our struggling communities. and, mr. president, while he made this promise to all workers, he specifically called out miners on more than one occasion. so it would stand to reason that president trump would prioritize the mine safety and health administration and nominate a leader who is committed to the agency's core mission. mr. president, msha is critically important to ensuring mining jobs are safe and that mining companies aren't unnecessarily endangering their workers' lives and safety. msha is responsible for inspecting the mines and holding companies accountable when they violate safety and health standards. msha's top priorities are to eliminate fatal mining accidents

mr. sanders. >> no. >> miss murray. >> no. >> mr. widen. >> no! >> miss dab know. >> no! >> mr.hitehouse. >> no. >> mr. warner? >> no. >> mr. merckly? >> no. >> mr. cane? >> no. >> mr. king? >> no. >> mr. van hollen? >> no. >> miss harris? >> no. >> mr. chairman? >> aye. >> report the vote. >> kill the bill! kill the bill! >> the ayes are 12 and the nays are 11. >> the bill is reported out. >> kill the bill! kill the bill! kill the bill! kill the bill! >> that's how it went. you saw the headlines about that today. it sounded like a neat and tidy process. that was the neat and tidy process. it wish the republicans got their no debate, party line hearing today. what they are trying to do with this really enormous bill will hurt the american poor and hurt the american middle class quickly and significantly and for a long time. and it will throw 13 million americans off their health insurance. and so what they are trying to do is very, very unpopular and that's why they are trying to go fast. that's why they are trying to outrun the resistance to what they are doing. they are also l

mr. sanders? no. ms. murray? >> no. mr. wyden? >> no. -- stevan are now? >>van now --stabe no. ?r. white house >> no. mr. warner? >> no. mr. barkley? >> no. mr. kane? >> no. >> mr. chairman the ayes are 12 , and the nays are 11. chairman the bill is reported : out. [ chanting ] we'll recess momentarily. [ chanting ] kill the bill! don't kill us! kill the bill! [ [ chanting ] you get chairman since the vote has been : completed, those in attendance do not want anyone else to speak -- if this continues, i will close out the meeting. [ chanting ] [ chanting ] [ chanting ] kill the bill! don't kill us! kill the bill! [ chanting ] kill the bill! don't kill us! kill the bill! >> again, following the precedent of the committee, most people have submitted their comments. i think that most of the republicans will be submitting theirs for the record. so senator sanders spoke last. go to this side. >> pass at this point. >> thank you. >> mr. chairman? chairman senator murray. :sen. murray: thank you, mr. chairman and ranking member sanders. before i start, i want to make some quick clarificat

mr. sanders? >> no. >> ms. murray? >> no. >> mr. widen? >> no. >> no. >> mr. whitehouse. >> nope. >> mr. warner. >> no. >> mr. barkley. >> no. >> mr. kaine? >> no. >> mr. van hollen? >> no. >> ms. harris? >> no. >> mr. chairman? >> aye. >> report the vote. >> mr. chairman the ayes are 12 and the nays are 11. >> the bill is reported out. we'll recess momentarily. [ chanting ] [ chanting ] >> since the vote has been completed, apparently those in attendance do not want anyone else to speak. if this continues, i will close out the meeting. [ chanting ] kill the bill! don't kill us! kill the bill! [ chanting ] don't kill us! kill the bill! don't kill us! kill the bill! [ chanting ] >> again, following the precedent of the committee, most people have submitted their comments. i think that most of the republicans will be submitting theirs for the record. so senator sanders vote last. go to this side. >> pass at this point. >> thank you. >> senator murray. >> thank you, mr. chairman and ranking member sanders. before i start, i want to make some quick clarifications. since it sounds like some o

mr. azar: i absolutely do. sen. murray: as we know you are president of a major pharmaceutical company when it got worse. tell us how you would approach this as secretary? mr. azar: thank you to my senator murray. and i appreciate the chance we had to sit down together. i really enjoyed that discussion. also in terms of your opening, i hope if i'm confirmed, i hope i can earn your trust and show you this is the job of a lifetime for me. i would approach this not for any industry or past affiliation, but to serve all americans to improve their health and wellbeing. i think there are constructive things we can do but i'd also like to hear ideas from the committee, from people at hhs, and elsewhere, but let me throw a couple things out that are worth focusing on. we need to crease generic and branded competition. the more drugs we get to the market, the more competition we have. that can bring down costs to the system. we have to fight gaming in the system of patents and exclusivity by drug companies. i have always been an op

mrs. murray: thank you, madam president. madam president, the american people have gotten a lot of lip service over the past 10 months. remember draining the swamp, fighting for middle-class americans? the president forgot after filling the cabinet with a who's who of wall street, or how about every single american having better health care. that was before the president kicked people off of coverage, increased costs for millions more, and gut protections for people with preexisting conditions. you would think it would be tough to top all of that. but here we are watching republicans twist themselves into knots trying to convince hard working families that the republican tax plan is anything but a high-priced give away to millionaires, billionaires, and big corporations. it is a give away paid for my the middle class and those who can least pay for it. i'm glad that the phones are lighting up demanding to know how anyone who is representing them could put their name on this terrible partisan fast-track bill because they see

mr. chairman and your leadership. >> thank you, senator bennet. senator murray. >> thank you very much to all our witnesses. it's been very informative. miss williams, i want to start with you. we're very happy you're here today and want to congratulate you what you've accomplished. you're inspiring. you were able to make your way through a very complicated financial aid process. i have introduced legislation to streamline the process for unaccompanied and homeless youth called the higher financial information for success. thank you for your comments on that. we know that won't solve all the challenges that face students. once you were able to get through the fafsa, what kind of financial pressures did you experience that might inform us of the entire process. >> thank you for that question. for me, the financial pressure was having to work full time while being a full time student, to take care of basic needs like food, hygiene products and textbooks, things of that nature. transportation back and forth to work. after i received my financial aid package it cove

mr. chairman and for your leadership. >> thank you senator bennett, senator murray. >> thank you. i want to start with you. we are so happy you're here today and want to congratulate you on what you accomplished. i wanted to ask you once you were able to get through, what kinds of financial pressures did you experience that might inform us about the entire process in. >> thank you for that question. so for me i think the financial pressure was having to work full time while being a full time student to take care of those basic needs like food and hygiene, products and things of that nature. it covered room and board. out that point of contact i didn't know how to get in contact with the other services i needed at the university. think about housing and how much it costs to live on coampus. so because i didn't qualify it was having to think about how much i'm in debt now with loans. that's how i got through college was taking out loans. >> and it wasn't just your tuition it was all of the other costs to get through it? >> yes. >> thank you. >> and in your written testimony they wer

and my last thank you today goes to our 35th anniversary commemoration sponsors, cbs, hullabaloo, murray, mr. and mrs. fred w smith, land of the free credit union,ir the slater foundation, usaa, and wells fargo. thank you for helping us make today's ceremony and all we have done to mark the anniversary of the wall possible. [applause] jim knotts: before we look at our program today, we will recognize our pows and mias. i call your attention to our chair which occupies a place of dignity and honor on our stage. let us always remember to never forget their sacrifices. now i would like to start with an invocation. i would like to welcome our chapman who lead us. >> you could please join me in prayer. as we celebrate the 35th anniversary of this wall, let us always remember those who served and those who are here today and not here today. we commemorate those names on the wall and we pray for those here today that still carry the scars from service in vietnam. we asked for your presence in mighty name, amen. now i would like to introduce the joint arms, armed forces colorguard from the military

mr. chairman and ranking member murray. good morning, mr. azar. congratulations on your nomination and congratulations to your family too. this is a family affair. we're grateful for their willingness to support you in this work. as you know, new hampshire has been ravaged by the fentanyl crisis. we're in need of real resources to help those on the front lines combat it. hhs used a flawed funding formula to allocate resources from the 21st century act. the hardest hit states like new hampshire didn't get adequate resources and now even though we have asked them to change the formula hhs has declined to do that. but another big problem is the trump administration has refused to request additional funding to fight the crisis, which has prompted many to question whether the president is truly serious about addressing it. we need this administration to send a supplemental funding request for addition resources to combat the addiction epidemic. so mr. azar, if you are confirmed, will you commit to me today you will encourage congress to ask for at leas

mr. chairman. and i would like to thank you and ranking member murray for focusing our attention on this important issue. mr. chairman, on what to thank you for your partnership over these four years on fafsa. i know our first witness agrees with what we're trying to do. this morning it's my pleasure to introduce dr. nancy mccallin from my home state of colorado. for the last 13 years dr. mccallin has served as president of the colorado community college system, the largest system in the state to educate one out of every three of our undergraduate students. during her tenure at colorado's comedic host system is not ambitious initiative to increase student success and make college more affordable to cut her leadership the system revamp its program and streamline the curriculum cisterns can graduate faster and with less debt. she increased transfer agreements with four-year colleges similar students can pursue four-year degrees and she expanded concurrent enrollment for high school students by 200% saving our students and families roughly $90 $90 million in tuin cost. her leadership in higher educati

mr. chairman, if i could respond. senator murray has pointed out that her bill -- and we supported, cannot fix the consequences that you have if you repeal the coverage requirement. what they do is something called cost-sharing. it does help insurers to pick up some commitments -- some copayments, deductibles for folks of modest means. senator murray has pointed out she joins us vociferously in opposing the effort to repeal the coverage requirement in the afford. that what she is talking about cannot fix that. the majority keeps wanting to quarrel with the facts. the facts we have gotten is 13 million people are not going to have coverage. then we are going to have millions more pay substantially higher risks -- higher premiums because what we have done is we have seen fewer healthy people go into the risk pool. deny all the facts, but the facts are still the facts. pat moynihan, one of our great predecessors, everybody's entitled to an opinion but you are not entitled to your own set of the facts. >> we still have about 2.5 minutes

mr. trump claims he turned the magazine down, saying," 'probably' is no good. thanks anyway." responding on twitter, "time's" chief content officer, alan murray, said, "amazing. not a speck of truth here."" time" will unveil its person of the year on december 6 and says it does not comment on its choice or process before then. the trump administration is walking back its decision to force the closure of a palestinian diplomatic mission in washington, d.c. just a week ago, the state department announced the mission would need to close because palestinian president mahmoud abbas had called for the international criminal court to prosecute israelis for building new settlements in territory claimed by palestinians. a u.s. law requires the mission to close if palestinians ask the i.c.c. to prosecute israelis. a state department spokesman says the palestinian office should "limit its activities to those related to achieving a lasting, comprehensive peace between the israelis and palestinians," and that restriction could be lifted in 90 days. overseas, egyptian officials say yesterday's mosque attack in the northern sinai region killed at least 305 people, including

particular, not so much senator murray, is to be the last person to talk to president trump to get him to go like this instead of go like that >> we're going to say, mrpresident, you asked us to do this you don't want chaos, neither do we sign it, take some credit for it and give the american people a bipartisan win i think they'll like it. >> so there's still significant uncertainty over whether this is going to happen. lisa murkowski, senator from alaska, one of the wavering votes in the senate on tax reform says she wants to see that bill passed but she said late last week it's not a precondition to her support for the tax bill we're going to wait and see after thanksgiving whether that bill passes as well as tax reform, guys >> john, just on that. we're not expecting any major developments. >> no. >> late november though we could see some movement? >> yeah. the bill has cleared the senate finance committee. now it goes to the senate floor and what happens is when senators go home and take the temperature in their states, gauge the public reaction, see how much heat they're getting, see how much praise they're getting, that informs their reaction

mrs. murray: mr. president, i ask that the qowsh be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. must remember must remember i want to make a statement --. mrs. murray: i want to urge my colleagues to vote against david zatezalo. emshaw is responsible for protecting the safety and health of miners in this country and for holding companies that put their workers' lives at risk accountable. it is disappointing to me that president trump nominated one of the industry's worst health and safety offenders to lead this critical agency. this is another move in a long list of decisions by president trump that jeopardizes workers' health safety and financial security in order to prioritize corporations and special interests. i really hope our colleagues would join me in rejecting president trump's extreme agenda and this nominee. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. mccain: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from arizo