ms. collins proposes en bloc amendments numbered 346 425 426 427 442 and 810. ms. collins: thank you mr. president. mr. president, there will be very little time later today when we start voting for there to be full explanations of any of these amendments which i think is very unfortunate. i do want to let my colleagues know about some of these amendments and i'm proud to say that for the most part the amendments that i have filed and now called up are bipartisan amendments that enjoy support on both sides of the aisle. for example my amendment number 427 would create a deficit-neutral reserve fund to support sufficient investment in alzheimer's disease research to achieve the goal set by the national plan to address alzheimer's disease of having the means to prevent and effectively treat that disease by the year 2025. this amendment is cosponsored by senator moran senator warner, senator mccaskill senator toomey and senator donnelly. it is modeled very much on a bill that senator klobuchar and i have introduced to increase funding for alzheimer's research. just yes

ms. collins: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: mr. president i ask unanimous consent that proceedings under the call be dispensed with. p. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. collins: thank you mr. president. mr. president, i rise today to join senator leahy the ramping member of the -- the ranking member of the judiciary committee, in explaining an amendment that we have filed amendment number 290 to the justice for victims of trafficking act. i would like to take this opportunity to thank senators ayotte murkowski heitkamp, and baldwin for also cosponsoring our amendment and for their strong support. mr. president, our amendment would reauthorize the runaway and homeless youth act amendment programs which expired in the year 2013. these three programs -- the street outreach program the basic center program and the transitional living program -- have helped thousands of our homeless youth meet their immediate needs and provided long-term residential services for those who sadly cannot be safely reunited with their families.

senator collins: thank you very much for your testimony. ms. smith and mr. gasby, you talked about a public service announcement that you had made. could you share with everyone here what you did to try to expand awareness and participation in clinic cal trials? mr. gasby: we are affiliated with the brain health registry. it goes to get people to participate in giving information so that they can be considered for drug trials. one of the main impedestrianments to getting more funding and research, more drugs online is that we don't have enough people to participate so that they can be considered for these drug trials and particularly in minority communities. the experiment, things that have happened in the past, myths and some realities african-americans and people who are not caucasian are not participating. what people don't realize is that to bring the drugs to market cost billions of dollars and you need to have a genetic pool so you need different people from different backgrounds. you need women. you need men. you need asians. latinos. african-american

senator collins: thank you very much for your testimony. ms. smith and mr. gasby, you talked about a public service announcement that you had made. could you share with everyone here what you did to try to expand awareness and participation in clinical trials? mr. gasby: we are affiliated with the brain health registry. it goes to get people to participate in giving information so that they can be considered for drug trials. one of the main impediments to getting more funding and research, more drugs online is that we don't have enough people to participate so that they can be considered for these drug trials and particularly in minority communities. the tuskegee experiment, things that have happened in the past myths and some realities african-americans and people who are not caucasian are not participating. what people don't realize is that to bring the drugs to market cost billions of dollars and you need to have a genetic pool so you need different people from different backgrounds. you need women. you need men. you need asians. latinos. african-american

senator collins: thank you doctor. ms. stemley. ms. stemley: good afternoon. on behalf of the 15.7 million care givers for individuals living with alzheimer's disease and other dementia, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. alzheimer's is a progressive and ultimately fatal disease. the men and women living with alzheimer's are your friends your neighbors, some may even be your family members. they are business leaders, school teachers, store clerks and construction workers. they are both republicans and democrats. and my beloved mother, dorothy stemley, is one of them. i am honored here today to share our story. and discuss issues facing people with alzheimer's and their care givers. i find the more vocal i am about how this disease has impacted my family, the more i hear from other people who have gone through or are going through similar situations. today, my mother is living in the skilled nursing facility in missouri. and i'm confident that she is receiving appropriate care and she's in the right setting. however, getting to this poin

collins: we are concerned that as ms. traders are using more of their time. we are part of that survey that shows the number had not change from 2005 two 2012. we are hundred teddy what we can do to eliminate oversight, but it comes from other directions. things that we have done our to standardize the biographical sketch the -- something that can be done is the revision of the common which does not currently take account of the risk involved in the study and applies a great deal of oversight to some studies that are truly low risk, as if they were invasive. >> would you be willing to work with us to identify what those things are specifically. i want to ask you this question, we don't want to waste our time in the next year. we can't do everything. could you say now, and if you want to submit it later, what or one or two things that we should focus on to make the greatest contribution to the goal of moving medicines devices, and treatments, from discove

ms.. lowey: i just recently had two friends who had inoperable lung cancer and i wondered if those test were available to them. dr. collins: i would recommend to anyone who gets diagnosed with cancer, go to clinical trials.gov and see if there is an opportunity to be matched with available therapies. ms. lowey: i am particularly interested in how this could also treatment for breast cancer. for women under the age of 45 breast cancer is more common in african american women than white women. these factors, evidently in our genetic code, are why advances in precision medicine are so vital. i participated in a study with senator al d'amato on environmental actors that never led to very much, frankly. if you could share with us what rate through's we have seen as a result of nih funded research and -- what breakthroughs we have seen as a result of nih funded research and how that might help us find a cure once and for all. dr. collins thank you for the question. breast cancer is a major priority for the national health institutes. to see what is happening at the molecular level has taught us that this is not just one disease

collin lynch who hurt his foot during the storm. at his house, he showed us how he got the injury trying to safe his garage and car. it was futile. the metal broke. ms. partner pleaded with him not to go out in the storm. >> crying: i thought i am going to lose him. >>> he is a builder. there will be plentypy of work coming his way within meters of his house, his destruction. houses crushed bytrees. trees thrown from a normally idyllic lagoon? >> you can only imagine being in this house. there were four people in here when the roof started peeling off, they ran. lucky they did because you can see the house has been totally destroyed. >> the house had been in the family for generations. >> emotionally, it's really sad. we just couldn't do anything. >> similar stories are everywhere. help is arriving at port vila. a lot of help will be needed here and many outlying islands haven't been heard from since the storm. and thomas al jazeera. port vila vanauatu. >> we spoke to the charity world vision as she told us about what she had witnessed. >> during cyclone pam, we had winds whiring like the ocean and really strong rain and i have been able to see the

ready for a long morning ride back into we have our pat collins snow stick, and of course more importantly, a big bottle of water and a big bag of m and ms. that's how you get through the storms. >> you might want to eliminate the water unless you also have a poti in thepotty. just saying. i've been in a live truck for a very long time. beltway at connecticut, looking good. 14th street southeast closed at cedar because of police investigation. aaron can't stop laughing. 95 in and out of town bw parkway, looking pretty good. 66 at 50, just wet at this point. and 95 into and out of town, no major issues. i am back at 6:11 here weather and traffic always on the 1s. we'll talk more about travel time. overall right now keeping our fingers crossed that we're just seeing wet roads around the beltway. >> we know you have a little one at home because you called it a the bottle becomes multipurpose. 6:04. we have crews all around the area keeping you updated on the conditions out there. a live look it leesburg loudoun county we're seeing sleet out that way as you can see from the live picture. no snow sticking, but of course the ground is wet. wan

senator collins: thank you, doctor. ms. stinley. ms. stinley: good afternoon.behalf of the 15.7 million care givers for individuals living with alzheimer's disease and other demen shah, thank you for the opportunity to -- dementia thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. ms. stemley: aleds him sers a deadly -- a progress i have and ultimately fatal disease. the men and women living with alzheimer's are your friends your neighbors some may even be your family members. they are business leaders, school teachers, store clerks and construction workers. they are both republicans and democrats. and my beloved mother, dorothy stemley is one of them. i am honored here today to share our story. and discuss issues facing people with alzheimer's and their care givers. i find the more vocal i am about how this disease has impacted my family, the more i hear from other people who have gone through or are going through similar situations. today, my mother is living in the skilled nursing facility in missouri. and i'm confident that she is receiving appropri