ms. warren: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. ms. warren: i ask the quorum call be lifted. officer without objection. ms. warren: thank you. on september 30, the children's health insurance program expired. it has now been 25 days since the united states congress has put our children's health and well-being on the back burner. my colleagues and i don't think that children's health belongs on the back burner. so we've come down to the floor of the senate today to spend the afternoon speaking up for kids. so thank you to everyone who joins me today to say we shouldn't wait any longer to make sure that children, community health centers and new mothers have access to the health care programs that they need. republicans control congress. it is up to them what we vote on and when we do it. so what was more important to the republican leadership than the health of little kids? well, republican leaders blew through the days before the children's health care deadline by trying to repeal health care for millions of americans. and then once the

ms. warren: thank you, mr. chairman. -- ms. werner: thank you, mr. chairman. i'd like to bring up -- >> thank you, mr. chairman. i would hope that at some point we or maybe somebody from the press will go back and look back when the democrats were in majority and all of these exact rguments around the importance of keeping the deficit under control. mr. warner: deficit neutral, financial guard rails, read the bill before you vote on the bill. were all absolutely made by members of this committee who then sat in the minority. sometimes people i think wonder why we can't get stuff done, if we would at least all adhere to what we said in prior times and the same perhaps could be said for us. in that sense, my amendment is based again on the use of the c.b.o. as legislators we often disagree about policy goals. and desired outcomes. but we always have agreed on a common set of referees. and we've long agreed that the nonpartisan experts from the joint committee on taxation and the congressional budget office should tell us how much piece of legislation -- a piece

ms. warren: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are in a quorum call. ms. warren: i ask the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. warren: thank you, madam president. i want to begin my offering my condolences to the victims of the massacre in las vegas and their loved ones. i am heartsick for the residents of las vegas and everyone around the country who woke up to the horrendous news of last night's attack and are worried sick about whether their family members, friends, and neighbors are okay. thoughts and prayers are good, but they are simply not enough. thoughts and prayers are not enough when more moms and dads will bury their children this week, and thoughts and prayers are not enough when sons and daughters will be forced to grow up without their parents. attacks like we have seen today have happened all too often in america. enough is enough. we have to have a conversation about how to stop gun violence in america, and we need to have that conversation right now. now, madam president, i want to take some time to discuss

ms. warren: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts is recognized. ms. warren: thank you, mr. president. just last week the republican-controlled congress rammed through a budget were the sole purpose of allowing republicans to enact a tax plan that will take money from working americans and put it into the pockets of giant corporations and wealthy individuals. the following week, they tilled an important rule that would have made it easier for americans to hold big banks and corporations accountable when they lie, cheat, and steal from working families. there have been countless stories of the trump administration in disaray, juicy rumors of distrust and division between and among congressional republicans and the white house, reports of republicans' inability to advantages key parts of their agenda. but that is only half the story. the other terrifying half is this -- since day one of this administration, president trump and congressional republicans have been working hard to make government work better and better for the rich and the powerful. and whil

ms. warren: thank you, mr. president. tonight we're on the verge of passing a republican resolution to make it easier for financial institutions to cheat people. earlier this year the consumer financial protection bureau issued a rule that prohibits financial companies from forcing you to sign an arbitration clause that makes you forfeit your right to take a bank to court. so if this proposal passes, that rule will just disappear. now, there are no real human beings who think it should be easier for financial institutions to steal money from you and get away with it. bank lobbyists are the only people asking congress to reverse this rule, but let's face it, wall street is pretty powerful around here. the question the american people should be asking right now is are they powerful enough to win tonight? the reason this vote is happening so late at night is because we are right on the verge of blocking it. the american people have watched as wells fargo cheated its customers, then used arbitration clauses to try to escape l

ms. warren: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. ms. warren: thank you, mr. president. wells fargo creates 3.5 million fake accounts charging customers fees and ruining credit reports. equifax lets hackers steal personal information for 145 million americans, putting nearly 60% of american adults at risk of identity theft, and somehow we are about to vote on a republican proposal that makes it harder for consumers to hold companies like wells fargo and equifax accountable. i know it sounds nuts, but it's true. here's the issue. if you have a checking account or credit card or private student loan or any number of financial products, there is a good chance that you have given up your right to go to court if that financial firm cheats you. and that's because tens of millions of consumer financial contracts include a forced arbitration clause that says that if this financial company cheated you, you can't join with other consumers in court. you have to go to arbitration by yourself. tens of millions of consumers, including around 80 million

warren commission years ago. did you have some nagging questions and what do you think the significance of this release will be? ms. pelosi: i have no idea. until we see what will be released. it was a sad, terrible tragedy in our country. yes, i did read the warren commission, because obviously as many people at that time, we were so stricken by the president's assassination. and that was a positive moment in our history. it made change because he was such an inspiration to so many of us. but i can't speak to something i haven't seen. so i look forward to seeing the -- reporter: does anything still matter 50 years later? will it put it to rest or generate more -- ms. pelosi: depends on what it says. i've heard different accounts where people have said, it's only going to contribute to conspiracy theories. i don't know. when is it, today? reporter: we aren't sure. they haven't told us a hard schedule. ms. pelosi: i'm sure many people will be very interested to see. what a tragedy. reporter: on the budget, what is the status of talks with republicans in the white house on a deal to raise discretionary caps? and whe

ms. mathis has talked about and senator warren talked about and that others have asked about, is that a major impediment or do you think you can deal with those and treat employees fairly? >> we deal with it. we have 1,000 roughly exceptions requested by physicians who say this person no matter what we do with them can't get to that normal. those are excepted and they get a different plan. in fact, in some of the extreme examples, someone counts the amount of water they drink, bottles or glasses of water they drink a day to hit the health plant target and get a premium reduction. >> so you have the opportunity to say i need a different standard or i need an exception? >> that's exactly right. >> and that you have to have -- you therefore try to provide a fair process to meet that objective. ms. mathis, does that work? i think i heard you say it probably did. >> right. that's not the primary concern that we have. the primary concern is the incentives for disclosure of information. >> right. and mr. burd, what would your comment be? what kind of impediment -- actually, you've talked some about

joining me now, colonel steve warren, cnn military analyst and former spokesman for the anti-isis coalition in iraq. colonel, what do you make of ms. johnson's account of not only the president's call, but the fact that she didn't get to see her husband's body before the burial and clearly, that's something weighing on her. >> this is clearly, brian a something weighing on mrs. johnson. it's tragic and heartbreaking, sadly. in combat sometimes the damage that's done to our physical form is such that it's simply can't be viewed in the public. i understand her desire. i understand her need to see her husband, and i certainly understand that there are going to be, you know, maybe some conspiracy theories out there, but i also have faith in the army and the military, the way they conduct business in dover, and i know that it is sergeant johnson who will be interred in the coming days and the entire thing is heartbreaking and tragic. >> you know, colonel, part of me thought as we were going through this back and forth for the last few days that maybe myeshia johnson would speak and that maybe that would be the final word. that, i think

warren. >> thank you, mr. chairman. so the high cost of prescription drugs is a huge problem. let's talk about the best way to tackle this public health crisis. ms. riley, your association which is called pharma, represents brand name drug companies. you said in your testimony that, quote, the competitive market is the engine that drives the drug industry. so i take it you think that market solutions are the most effective way to deal with the rising price of drugs. >> i do believe that markets lower costs, yes. >> good. i love markets and i also believe in marked-based solutions. let's talk about one of the best market-based solutions and that's competition. if the restrictions that prevent purchasers from importing the impact same drugs at lower prices from places like canada were removed, we'd see some real competition and we'd see some lower prices. another market solution is negotiation. if the federal government were allowed to negotiate competitive drug prices for medicare beneficiaries, then prices would come down. so ms. riley, you've already said that pharma opposes importation of drugs from canada. let me ask about letting the federal

ms. warren: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that senator crapo and i each be allowed to speak five minutes on the nomination of randal quarles. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. warren: mr. president, every time president trump has the choice between standing up for american families or standing up for wealthy banks and giant corporations, he chooses the rich guys. time and time again he has promised that he would never be beholden to lobbyists or to the special interests, but he has appointed dozens of big-business executives and lobbyists to senior positions in his administration. during his campaign, he promised that he wouldn't let the wall street guys get away with murder. but after he was sworn in, he loaded up his economic team with goldman sachs executives. and over and over again he has promised to drain the swamp, but then appointed an army of lobbyists and industry insiders to positions overseeing the industries that paid them for years. randal quarle