ms. collins: we might figure out how to achieve that by tinkering with biology. david: what is the greatest health challenge today? >> more people died of opioid overdoses than car wrecks last year. just unbelievable. >> would you fix your tie please? david: people wouldn't recognize me if my tie was fixed. just leave it this way. all right. i don't consider myself a journalist. i began to take on the life of an interviewer though i have a day job of running an equity firm. how do you run a firm? what is it that makes somebody tick? dr. collins, thank you very much for taking time with us today. you are the 16th director of the n.i.h. and the only person appointed by two different presidents. you were initially appointed by president obama and then subsequent bely by president trump. so -- subsequently by president trump. as a person who discovered the human genome was that harder or being appointed by two different presidents? mr. collins: i guess both had certain challenges. i did not expect to be in this position after january of 2017 because i knew about the

ms. collins: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: i ask that proceedings under the call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. collins: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule 22, the postcloture time on executive calendar 495 expire at 4:00 p.m. today, december 5. that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. collins: thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate previous order, the senate the senate will be back later than the usual to 15 type. lawmakers will be posing for their official photo of the 115th congress. live coverage when members return here on c-span2. some floor speeches now on the senate republican tax reform plan which was passed early on saturday morning. >> even as my republican friends moved to reconcile their to tax bills in a conference commi

ms. collins. i expect the yea vote today. that's what i'm being told i'm checking with everybody all the time this is a real pain in the neck, but i think that piece is fine the senate will get 50 votes minimum, and if need be mike pence will step in and cast a deciding vote. >> there was a moment earlier where the market seemed to be looking at the worst case scenario for this white house. you worked in white houses in the past you know president trump well. what was your own personal reaction when you heard this news, not only about the guilty plea of general flynn, but the fact that he was willing and ready to testify against the president himself, his family and the campaign >> you know, it's not good none of it is good i don't know, we're all relying on brian ross of abc news. i know brian, he's a good investigative reporter i'm not sure what it means if flynn is prepared to testify that candidate trump directed him to make contact with russia. i'm not sure i know what that means. i know this, general flynn who i met on

ms. collins: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: madam president i rise to express my support for the conference agreement on the tax cuts and job act. the first major overhaul of our tax code since 1986. this legislation will provide tax relief to working families, encourage the creation of jobs right here in america and spur economic growth that will benefit all americans. madam president, let me start by discussing the effects of this bill on the -- on individuals and families. throughout this debate, i have emphasized that reforms to our outdated tax code must help working families. i therefore authored three key amendments that were retained in the final package. my amendments allowed families to deduct up to $10,000 in state and local taxes increasing the deduction for medical expenses, and protect tax-free contributions for retirement savings. the original senate bill would have eliminated the deduction known as salt that allows taxpayers to avoid paying a federal tax on state and local taxes that they have already pa

ms. collins: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise in strong opposition to the point of order that will be offered by the senator from kentucky that would have the effect of allowing harmful, indiscriminate budget cuts to be triggered. while there are certain safety net programs like medicaid and food stamps and social security that are exempt from these automatic cuts, the medicare program is not exempt, and there are a number of other vital programs in addition to medicare, including federal education programs, agricultural support for farmers, funding for citizenship and the immigration services, among others, that would be subject to immediate automatic cuts if we fail to take action tonight to avert that outcome. mr. president, it has been deeply disturbing to me to see seniors frightened about the possibility that a $25 billion cut in medicare that's 4% reduction would be automatically triggered. by waiving this point of order, we will prevent such cuts from taking place, reassuring our nation's

ms. collins: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise to discuss four amendments that i have introduced to the tax cuts and jobs act that would strengthen this legislation in ways that this legislation in ways that that are important to our middle income families. i want to express my thanks to the majority leader, my colleagues, and the administration for working with me on these proposals. mr. president, the first amendment would allow taxpayers to deduct to $10,000 in state and local property taxes. in recent years more than 95% of all those who itemize on their tax forms, 2 and 20% of all federal income tax filers deducted state and local taxes, including property taxes. yet, the senate bill would eliminate this deduction altogether. mr. president, the deduction for state and local taxes has been part of our tax code since 1913, with the income tax became law. it was intended to prevent a federal tax from being imposed on a state tax. in other words, it prevents double taxation. this deduction is especially importan

collins, aye. mr. byrne, aye. mr. newhouse, aye. mr. buck. ms. cheney, aye. ms. slaughter, no. mr. mcgovern, no. mr. hastings, no. mr. polis. mr. chairman. mr. chairman, aye. eight yeas, three nays. mr. sessions: the motion is agreed to. mr. collins will be handling this for the republicans. mr. hastings for the democrats. judge, you want to ask a question? mr. hastings: what damage are we going to do tomorrow? mr. sessions: thank you very much. tomorrow the committee will be meeting at the scheduled time of 3:00. we're going to go to the c.r. tomorrow. knowing today was a time crunch, h.r. 3971, the community institution mortgage relief act of 2017, and h.r. 477, small business burden protection assistance act of 2017. this completes our work for the day. thank you very much. [chatter] [chatter] >> the house rules committee meets to discuss a government spending measure. live coverage beginning at 3:00 eastern on c-span 3. you can also follow live on www.c-span.org and the free c-span radio app. >> c-span's washington journal , live every day with policy issues that impact you. al green discusses hi

collins, aye. mr. byrne, aye. mr. newhouse, aye. mr. buck. ms. cheney, aye. ms. slaughter, no. mr. mcgovern, no. mr. hastings, no. mr. polis. mr. chairman. mr. chairman, aye. eight yeas, three nays. mr. sessions: the motion is agreed to. mr. collins will be handling this for the republicans. mr. hastings for the democrats. judge, you want to ask a question? mr. hastings: what damage are we going to do tomorrow? mr. sessions: thank you very much. tomorrow the committee will be meeting at the scheduled time of 3:00. we're going to go to the c.r. tomorrow. knowing today was a time crunch, h.r. 3971, the community institution mortgage relief act of 2017, and h.r. 477, small business burden protection assistance act of 2017. this completes our work for the day. thank you very much. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2017] >> with the vote a moment ago, the concealed carry handgun legislation moves from here in the rules committee to the full house which i

collins. >> aye. >> mr. burn. >> aye. >> mr. newhouse? >> aye. >> ms. chainey. >> aye. >> mr. mcgovern? >> no. >> mr. hastings? >> no. >> mr. chairman? yeah. >> the motion is agreed to. mr. collins from georgia the gentleman will be handing this from republicans. >> mr. hastings for democrats. >> judge, you want to ask the question. >> what damage are we going to do tomorrow. >> thank you very much. tomorrow the committee will be meeting at 3:00. we're going hr 3971 the community institution mortgage relief act 27 the small business mergers acquisitions [ inaudible ] this completes our work for the day. thank you very much. >>> tomorrow here on c-span3. a senate judiciary committee hearing on firearm regulations and background checks. the committee will hear from witnesses from the fbi. the bureau of alcohol tobacco and firearms and the u.s. air force. that's wednesday, live starting at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span3. and thursday on c-span3 fbi testifies before the house judiciary committee. that's live also at 10:00 a.m. eastern. >>> sunday night on after words. gold star father khan recalls his immi

collins, mr. byrne? >> no. >> mr. newhouse? >> no. >> ms. chaney? >> no. >> mr. hastings? >> aye. >> mr. pollis?>> aye. >> mr. chairman? >> no. >> four yeahs, eight nays. >> amendment not agreed to. now we'll now move as we remember the one rule those in favor -- i'm sorry did the gentleman announce the vote? >> yes, mr. chairman. >> i believe the gentleman did. okay. i need help. your help is welcome, that's okay. we're now going to vote on the motion from the gentleman gished young gentleman from oklahoma those in favor single by saying aye? >> aye. >> those oppose. >> no. >> mr. cole. >> aye. >> mr. woodall. >> aye. >> mr. collins, mr. byrne? mr. newhouse. >> aye. >> mr. chaney. >> aye. >> ms. slaughter? >> no. >> mr. mcgovern? >> no. >> mr. hastings? >> no. >> mr. pollis? >> no. >> mr. chairman? >> aye. >> clerk will report the total eight yeahs fourniers. >> the motion is agreed to. the gentleman will be handling this for democrats and mrs. slaughter for the democrats. the committee is done with this work for the week, thank you very much. >>> tomorrow testimony from fbi director christophe

ms. pelosi will join us, that will be a done deal. >> for susan collins, this was one of her conditions for passing the bill. do you have her vote, even if those provisions are not guaranteed?

ms. smith, she wants justice for her son. jim, back to you. >> absolutely horrifying. pat collins. thank you, pat. >>> we're following news out of virginia now. the results of an election day recount are in finally, and there is now a rare 50/50 tie in the state's houseof every vote does count. democrat shelley simons picked up 11 votes in that recount to win the seat by just a single vote. a three-judge panel still has to certify those results. it's scheduled for tomorrow. this will be the first time in 17 years that republicans haven't held a majority in the virginia house. >> an anc commissioner in the district is facing a number of charges after a suspected drunk driving stop that ended with him allegedly urinating on the floor at the police station. officers stopped paul tranthem over the d.c. line in prince george's county after they noticed he was swerving. blood shot eyes, they smelled alcohol. he failed a field sobriety test and shouted he knew the county executive. officers took him to the station where he allegedly shouted racially charged words, and then urinated on the

ms. smith, she says she wants justice, justice for her son. now back to you. >> such a senseless crime. thank you, pat collins reporting. >>> a community leader in d.c. is fiesing charges after a drunk driving stop ended with him reportedly urinating at a police station. officers pulled over paul tranthem just over in prince george's county. they say he had blood shot eyes, smelled like alcohol and refused a field sobriety test shouting he knew the county executive. officers took him to the station where he allegedly shouted racially charged words. urinated on the floor, and then told officers to clean it up. >> let's go to breaking news in virginia now where a huge political power shift just took place. the democrats pulled to a 50/50 tie with republicans in the state house of delegates. ballots were recounted in the 94th district in newport news today and the race flipped to shelley shine man. she won by one vote. this will be the first time in 17 years republicans haven't held a majority. two races scheduled for tomorrow and thursday. every vote truly does count. >>> breaking tonight, more protests at the

ms. pelosi and her party will join out, that will be a done deal. >> the democrats say they woebt join. that leads to the question about senator susan collins. this was for passing the bill. as well as passing the alexander murray bill to stabilize the health insurance markets. do you have her vote? even if the those provisions are not guaranteed? >> senator collins has been construct i. she's vastly improved the bill. by protecting tax paisers in the states. a $10,000 cap which benefits everybody. she's been a champion of trying to stabilize the affordable care markets and bring premiums down. we'll all join her in those efforts. we will, not trigger a cut in medicare. we'll deal with that this week. and, again, i invite our democratic friends to join news protecting medicare. >> it looks like the democrats won't be there on the tax bill. back in 2010, when republicans did not vote along with obamacare. you warnd the democrats against passing obamacare against a part through, as they have so far, with strictly along partisan lines, then i think november 2010 will be a very good month for us. i think we'll gain a lot more seats. >> are you c

ms. may will have a private screening of "the last jedi." chair yellen and president trump flat-out disagree on the audacity of 4% gdp. tax-cut legislation is not a done deal. collinse more than uncertain. the center from arizona is grievously ill -- senator from arizona is grievously ill. , luke skywalker in london, what an extraordinary headline yesterday, this defeat for the prime minister. it is not "star wars." this is real. nejra: it is real. you may have thought she would be going back to brussels on a victory march, but she suffered this defeat at home. parliament will get to vote on the final deal -- they will get a meaningful vote. perhaps, we will get a bit of a softer brexit. even though the electorate voted to leave the eu, lawmakers actually didn't. in order for the vote to not block the final deal that she iss, what we could see finally the deal looking a little bit softer to basically placate lawmakers in parliament. here is taylor riggs with our first word news. taylor: a surprise move from central bank. unexpectedly raising borrowing costs following the fed's announcement that it was raising rates. president trump is promising average americans th

collins: at this time it's my privilege to recognize the gentlelady from wyoming, liz chaney, for such time as the she may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. chaney: i rise in support of the rule for consideration of h.r. 38, and the underlying bill, the concealed carry reciprocity act. second amendment protects the individual right of american citizens to keep and bear arms. ms. chaney: this is a fund -- ms. cheney: this is a fundamental right in our republic. we know this is a god-given right endeadlined -- enshrined in our constitution, which is why wyoming is a constitutional carry state. wyoming is not alone in this constitution-based conviction. across the country, mr. speaker, 42 states broadly recognize the right of law-abiding citizens to carry concealed handguns. further, all 50 states allow some form of concealed carry. and many states, but not all, mr. speaker, already recognize the gun laws of other states. however, mr. speaker, those traveling through or living on the border of a state that does not recognize their home state's laws could have their gun rights stripped when they cross state lines. that's wrong, mr. speaker.

ms. collins: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: mr. president, we sim plip cannot allow -- we simply cannot allow these harmful, indiscriminate budget cuts. it is disturbing to see our seniors worried about the possibility of a $25 million cut in the medicare program. that's a 4% reduction that would affect health care providers and health care services. there is no need for this indiscriminate cut to occur. it is critical that congress act tonight, act immediately so that seniors and our disabled citizens do not have the anxiety of wondering whether the tax bill will somehow negatively affect their health care. by voting to waive the point of order, we can remove that anxiety and prevent the indiscriminate cuts in medicare and other essential programs from occurring. so, mr. president, pursuant to section 904 of the congressional budget act of 1974 and the waiver provisions of applicable budget resolutions, i move to waive all applicable sections of the act and applicable budget resolutions for the purposes of the house message to acc

ms. pelosi will join us, that will be a done deal. >> for susan collins, this was one of her conditions for passing the bill. do you have her vote, even if those provisions are not guaranteed? senator cornyn: senator collins has approved this bill and is protecting taxpayers with the state and local tax deductions, a $10,000 cap, what benefits everybody. she has been a champion of trying to stabilize the affordable care market and to bring premiums down. we will join her in that effort and we will not trigger a cut in medicare. we will deal with that this week. i invite our democrat friends to join us in protecting medicare. >> george, this is a total betrayal of trump's message on the campaign trail. it is a huge giveaway to big corporations. millions of middle-class taxpayers will see their taxes go up even though republicans promised it would not happen. millionaires will get an average annual tax break of $35,000 a year. the big winners are those corporations. many people have it focused on the fact that 35% of the shareholders of those corporations are foreign stockholders. >> you hear