mrs. shaheen: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mrs. shaheen: mr. president, i come to the floor to join my colleagues because i also believe we should keep guns out of the hands of terrorists. now, i don't think that applies to law-abiding citizens, but i think it does apply to terrorists. i've been a strong supporter of the second amendment. in new hampshire, we have a rich tradition of safe and legal firearm ownership. we have a rich tradition of hunting and sportsmen's activities. but like most granite staters, i also support pragmatic and sensible ways to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people who would threaten this country while also protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens. that's what we're discussing here today. we have put forward commonsense legislation that adheres to a pretty simple principle. if you're not allowed on a plane because you're on a no-fly list because you're suspected of threatening the country, then you should not be allowed to buy a gun. i want to repeat what senator schumer said because i think people don'

mrs. shaheen: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mrs. shaheen: mr. president, i come to the floor to join my colleagues because i also believe we should keep guns out of the hands of terrorists. now, i don't think that applies to law-abiding citizens, but i think it does apply to terrorists. i've been a strong supporter of the second amendment. in new hampshire, we have a rich tradition of safe and legal firearm ownership. we have a rich tradition of hunting and sportsmen's activities. but like most granite staters, i also support pragmatic and sensible ways to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people who would threaten this country while also protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens. that's what we're discussing here today. we have put forward commonsense legislation that adheres to a pretty simple principle. if you're not allowed on a plane because you're on a no-fly list because you're suspected of threatening the country, then you should not be allowed to buy a gun. i want to repeat what senator schumer said because i think people don'

mrs. shaheen: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mrs. shaheen: mr. president, i come to the floor to join my colleagues because i also believe we should keep guns out of the hands of terrorists. now, i don't think that applies to law-abiding citizens, but i think it does apply to terrorists. i've been a strong supporter of the second amendment. in new hampshire, we have a rich tradition of safe and legal firearm ownership. we have a rich tradition of hunting and sportsmen's activities. but like most granite staters, i also support pragmatic and sensible ways to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people who would threaten this country while also protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens. that's what we're discussing here today. we have put forward commonsense legislation that adheres to a pretty simple principle. if you're not allowed on a plane because you're on a no-fly list because you're suspected of threatening the country, then you should not be allowed to buy a gun. i want to repeat what senator schumer said because i think people don'

mrs. shaheen: madam president, i rise this morning in opposition to the reconciliation bill that we're considering today. there are a number of reasons i have concerns but one of the most important has to do with its repeal of the affordable care act. the affordable care act, while it's not perfect, it is working. more americans than ever before have access to health care. in new hampshire, almost 45,000 people have received health insurance through the exchange. most of those people did not have health care coverage before the affordable care act. and the majority of these people are getting their insurance premium support which is what allows them to get their health care because it makes it more affordable. in new hampshire, another 44,000 people are getting coverage through medicaid expansion. the governor and the state legislature worked long and hard to come to a bipartisan agreement -- a democratic governor and a republican legislature -- on how to expand medicaid in a way that works for new hampshire. the reconciliation bill that we're considering today would turn back the clock on all tha

mr. president, be able to engage and acknowledge senator jeanne shaheen. the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mrs. shaheen: thank you, senator booker. i am pleased to be here on the floor with my colleagues. those of us who went to paris, led by senator cardin, for this climate summit. at the conference in paris, more than 180 countries, accounting for over 90% of global emissions were there, and they've all submitted their plans for how they're going to reduce emissions with the goal of keeping global warming below two degrees centigrade by the end of this century. now, one of the things that i was impressed with in paris was that the countries who were there represented everybody from china to the marshal islands, and all of them understood that climate change is real, it's a threat to our planet and we've got to do something about it. and they understand that because they've seen it. they've seen it in their home countries. they've seen rising sea levels, extreme weather events, environmental changes all linked to global warming. and h

mr. schumer: yeah. i ask unanimous consent that for the next 20 minutes, i be given four minutes, senator shaheen, four minutes, senator bloom blumenthal, four minutes, senator feinstein, four minutes and senator murphy four minutes concluding in a unanimous consent request. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: thank you, madam president. now, like so many americans, my thoughts are with the family and friends of those affected by the act of terror in san bernardino last week. our hearts go out to the victims and to their families. and as we learn more the suspects, it's becoming clear that san bernardino will serve as a sad but also a shocking reminder of what needs to be done to address what has become known as the terror gap. so, madam president, i rise today in support -- to support that most commonsense proposal to bar individuals on the terrorist watch list from being able to legally get a gun. the g.a.o. found between 2004 and 2014, suspected terrorists attempted to exploit this loophole. now, people say, well, this never happens. listen to this. they tried to purchase guns, tho

mr. gore: it is great to be back in manchester in a living room talking with people. i'm just thrilled to be here. i want to thank billy shaheen for being my campaign manager. [applause] and to all the distinguished guests, which is everybody, some longtime friends who are here and new acquaintances i'm meeting for the first time, i want your support in this presidential race. that's what i'm trying to say to you. i want your support. i want to say a few words about some of the challenges we are facing in our nation very briefly and then i will throw it open to your comments and questions and i will do my best to respond. thanks to those of you who asked about particular members of my family. i've got some close friendships here and we are all doing fine. i lost my dad in december. my mom is doing great. on thetalked to her telephone on the way from concord and she is doing great. tipper is in california speaking at the democratic state convention there. you won't believe how excited she is -- maybe you will. we are expecting our first grandchild at the end of june and we are thrilled about that. [applause] asked -- wehave hav

mr. lamb: they have much greater experience with state and local leadership than typically do the active duty forces. ms. shaheen: thank you all very much. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, gentlemen, for being here today. your years of service, decades of service to our country. mr. sullivan: wanted to focus a ttle bit, admiral, on your recommendation perhaps with regard to northcom and southcom merging, with a bit of a focus on the arctic. general schwartz, i know you've spent a lot of time in alaska and have a sense that we've had a lot of discussions here. senator king and i and the chairman and a lot of others are interested in what's going on in the arctic. in this ndaa there's a requirement for the secretary of defense to put together antarctic operations plan for the first time, we think, is progress. just given your background, actually any of the panelists, you know, one of the many challenges that we have up there is that when you look at e arctic, it's the classic seams of different combatant commands. ere its forces are opcomto pay com. its threat is primarily in ucom, so i'm sure you'll notice

mr. schumer: yeah. i ask unanimous consent that for the next 20 minutes, i be given four minutes, senator shaheen, four minutes, senator bloom blumenthal, four minutes, senator feinstein, four minutes and senator murphy four minutes concluding in a unanimous consent request. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: thank you, madam president. now, like so many americans, my thoughts are with the family and friends of those affected by the act of terror in san bernardino last week. our hearts go out to the victims and to their families. and as we learn more the suspects, it's becoming clear that san bernardino will serve as a sad but also a shocking reminder of what needs to be done to address what has become known as the terror gap. so, madam president, i rise today in support -- to support that most commonsense proposal to bar individuals on the terrorist watch list from being able to legally get a gun. the g.a.o. found between 2004 and 2014, suspected terrorists attempted to exploit this loophole. now, people say, well, this never happens. listen to this. they tried to purchase guns, tho

mrs. shaheen: mr. president, we are facing a public health emergency. in new hampshire and states across the country heroin and opioid are at epidemic levels. the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mrs. shaheen: this is important because it affects every state that's represented here on the senate floor, because each day 120 americans die of drug overdoses. that is two deaths every hour. in new hampshire we're losing one person every day from drug overdose. drug overdose deaths have exceeded car crashes and the number-one cause of fatalities in this country. what this amendment does is recognize that this is a public health emergency and that we need to provide additional resources to address it. so it does three things: first it ensures that all health plans bought on the exchange cover mental health and addiction-related benefits. second, it eliminates medicaid coverage exclusion that currently prohibits reimbursement for critically important inpatient facilities that treat mental illness. that's the 16-bed lim

mrs. shaheen: thank you, senator inhofe. i will be brief. but i think it's important to challenge the provision in this legislation. i support the highway bill. i think the negotiators did a great job to get us a five-year bill. but the fact is this provision was not included in either the house transportation or the senate transportation bill. it is an indefensible reversal of the bipartisan budget bill that became law less than a month ago. it is a $3 billion giveaway to the insurance companies and i think we need to challenge this kind of move when it gets dropped into a bill. mr. inhofe:mr. inhofe: i'd ask n the proponents and opponents, the time remaining. the presiding officer: the senator from arizona has a minute remaining. the senator from oklahoma has 15 seconds. mr. flake: let me add by saying this is not an attack on the highway bill. it has its own issues. but this provision simply attacks the subsidy here, the $3 billion subsidy that was added back in after we had agreed in a bipartisan way to these cuts. we cannot continue to

mr. schumer: yeah. i ask unanimous consent that for the next 20 minutes, i be given four minutes, senator shaheen, four minutes, senator bloom blumenthal, four minutes, senator feinstein, four minutes and senator murphy four minutes concluding in a unanimous consent request. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: thank you, madam president. now, like so many americans, my thoughts are with the family and friends of those affected by the act of terror in san bernardino last week. our hearts go out to the victims and to their families. and as we learn more the suspects, it's becoming clear that san bernardino will serve as a sad but also a shocking reminder of what needs to be done to address what has become known as the terror gap. so, madam president, i rise today in support -- to support that most commonsense proposal to bar individuals on the terrorist watch list from being able to legally get a gun. the g.a.o. found between 2004 and 2014, suspected terrorists attempted to exploit this loophole. now, people say, well, this never happens. listen to this. they tried to purchase guns, tho