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 gratitude to you for inviting me. i have lots of things to tell you, but

senator murray has been a longtime champion of early learning. we hope to see some movement on this issue. ms. martin: you had mentioned that there was not a -- between the county running the school system and the city level. do you feel -- how big of an obstacle is that given that we really do need to make sure that the programs are aligned with what is happening in the school system and they need to be reinforcing each other? mayor berke: as we look in the city and had the county school system that has a county school board, a city that controls early learning and a number of other initiatives. that segmentation does not give a realistic picture of a child's needs, which should be our first priority. one of the things i did when i got into office was try to realign city government so that it paid more attention to children. because we did not have schools before, we stayed out of the education space. i took all of our recreation centers -- and i love shooting a basketball as much as anybody -- but i renamed every one of them a youth and family development center, renamed our parks and rec d

ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i am very happy today that we have reached 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 really important bills forward. what this compromise does is set up two funds. the first uses senator cornyn's fund, which is fees on perpetrators, and uses that for things like shelters and law enforcement, things that we envisioned would be used for people to combat sex trafficking. the second fund is a medical fund and it's really based on the same principle that we used with the s.g.r. fund that we just voted on. that bill passed 92-8. the fund would receive a minimum of $5 million and would be matched up to $30 million as funding that the cornyn fund goes up, and so it really is a parallel fund, but 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, the stop exploitation

senator murray has been a longtime champion of early learning. we hope to see some movement on this issue. ms. martin: you had mentioned that there was not a -- between the county running the school system and the city level. do you feel -- how big of an obstacle is that given that we really do need to make sure that the programs are aligned with what is happening in the school system and they need to be reinforcing each other? mayor berke: as we look in the

senator murray has been a longtime champion of early learning. we hope to see some movement on this issue. ms. martin: you had mentioned that there was not a -- between the county running the school system and the city level. do you feel -- how big of an obstacle is that given that we really do need to make sure that the programs are lined with what is happening in the school system and they need to be reinforcing each other? mayor berke: as we look in the city and had the county school system that has a county school board, a city that controls early learning and a number of other initiatives. that segmentation does not give a realistic picture of a child's needs, which should be our first priority. one of the things i did when i got into office was try to realign city government so that it paid more attention to children. because we do not have schools before, we stayed out of the education space. i took all of our recreation centers, and i love shooting a basketball as much as anybody, but i renamed every one of them a youth and family development center, renamed r parks and rec department

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 you mr. president. i yield our time back. the presiding officer: who yields time in opposition? mr. enzi: we'd be willing to accept this on a voice vote. and we yield back time. the presiding officer: all time having been yielded back the question occurs on the motion. all in

murray and ms. klobuchar. a senator: ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there is. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators wishing to vote or change their vote? if not on this vote, the yeas are 98. the nays are zero. under the previous order requiring 60 votes for the adoption of this amendment the amendment is agreed to. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: for the information of the senate, on roll call vote number 156 the yeas were 43 and the nays were 55. the senator from north carolina. mr. burr: mr. president, i rise to ask a unanimous consent request to call up an amendment speak briefly and then be followed by senator sanders. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. burr: mr. president i ask nine unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the united states senate. that does not include the finance committee. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. i ask unanimous consent

murray, senator pat leahy and senator amy klobuchar. when will the majority leader realizes he continues to obstruct a qualified nominee for no reason? as soon as you turn to vote on ms. lynch's nomination immediately, every day that passes without a newly confirmed attorney general proves once and again republicans can't lead and they certainly can't govern. mr. president, i think senator mcconnell is not going to be here now so we should go forward with the senate business of the day. the presiding officer: under the previous order the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order the senate will resume consideration of s. 178, which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 26, s. 178, a bill to provide justice for the victims of trafficking. mr. reid: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: quee quorum call: quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: i would ask suspension of the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. stabenow: thank you very much madam president. madam president, as we all know, a vote of confi