to those who may be watching, the fact is that what a continuing resolution is and what an omnibus is, that we have two choices, yes or no. we don't have an amendment.o we don't have a way to improve it. the dollars, but we're going to wait until we are right at the edgehe of the cliff and then my distinguished french village on both sides was a you got to vote aye because a government is going to be shut down. i'm tired of having that choice. we know it's coming. we know the cliff isn't there. so what do we do this week? spent 30 hours discussing a district judge. 30 hours to discuss, debating a district judge. is that the right use of american taxpayers dollars? have we know shane? the consensus is that senate armed services committeeut successfully reported out the fiscal year 2018 national defense authorization act 27 to nothing. supporting $650 billion for the base budget, for national defense an additional $60 billion for overseas contingency operations. at these levels the national defense budget would be $91 billion above the budget control spending cap. to put it another way

to those who may be watching, the fact is that what a continuing resolution and what an omnibus is is that we have two choices, yes or no. we don't have an amendment, we don't have a way to improve it. we're talking about trillions of dollars, but we're going to wait until we're right at the edge of the cliff and then my distinguished friends and leaders on both sides will say, you've got to vote aye because the government is going to be shut down. i'm tired of having that choice. we know it's coming. we know the cliff is there, so what did we do this week? spent 30 hours discussing a district judge -- 30 hours debating a district judge. is that the right use of american taxpayers' dollars? are we -- have we no shame? the consensus isn't that the senate armed services committee successfully reported out the fiscal year 2018 national defense authorization be act supporting $650 billion for the base budget for the national defense and an additional $60 billion for overseas contingency operations at this point it would be $91 billion of above the budget control spending cap. to put it an

now when the omnibus was approved we got a little more money. so it was somewhat unintentional that there was a small cut on that. like other national security parts of the government, it was intended to remain flat. i'd also like to just say we were very pleased by the mou that was just signed with the gulf countries. setting up a financial center that we will co-chair in saudi arabia. that's something that was done after the budget was submitted. so i will be working with director mulvaney on how we fund that because this is something we've done since the budget of funded. >> so you were anticipating something else in the omnibus? >> excuse me? >> you were anticipating something -- >> we were pleased that we got a little bit more money for tfi. again, let me just emphasize -- >> i mean, would you have funded -- we're short on time. would you have funded at the omnibus levels, if you had been made aware of the increase earlier? >> again -- >> now's the time to speak. >> let me just say i'm supportive of the difficult technicians but if you all

so house gop leaders decided to do these for bills instead, a minibus instead of the omnibus which would've and 12 bills. they are playing catch-up try to get something done before the recess that they can take him to the constituents. this package does fund some republican priorities like the border security funding and a huge boost for defense spending. >> ryan mccrimmon covers appropriation matters for cq roll call as he suggested and the website of his organization has a busy week for congress as, the house as a tackle these issues. ryan mccrimmon thanks for your time. >> thank you. >> we're talking with karen handel who serves of georgia. thanks a talk to us he spent. >> delighted to be a. >> you been a washington a couple of weeks. what is up and like a whirlwind of what an extraordinary opportunity to be able to represent the people of the six district of georgia. >> what was most surprising thing coming into this position that you'v you picked up on in e last two weeks? >> not too much was surprising. it's a fast pace and that's important because we have a lot we need to get done. a

>> you could call it an omnibus. the defense appropriations bill which is $659 billion, but because there are another eight bills still out there, they called it the many -- the "mini." >> nancy on nonimage joining us vich joiningognano us. >> some of today's debate on the spending bill. house appropriations committee chair introduces the bill. >> thank you mr. chairman. i recognize myself six minutes. minutes. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. frelinghuysen: i rise to present an amendment to h.r. 3219 to make america secure appropriations act. this legislative package provides critical appropriations for national security, including for the department of defense, department of veterans atares and department of energy's nuclear programs and the legislative branch bill. my colleagues, this is the primary constitutional duty of the congress to ensure the safety of the homeland and the american people. this legislation was carefully crafted to meet that responsibility, funding our critical material priorities,

>> do you believe in a minibus, omnibus? some people want to push out a package of bills in one fell swoop. how big or small can you tolerate? >> i believe we need to go back to regular order, which means you past 12 appropriations bills. this is a recent phenomenon when we have done crs. originally a cr was only for a week or two while we were negotiating. now they are three months, a year. we have got to get back to 12 appropriations bills. that the appropriators do their business. the real stumbling block is the senate, but not just the senate. it is differences in our own conference. specifically what i be for the or 12 appropriations bills in an omnibus right now? i'm for the 12 appropriations bills in an omnibus primarily because the appropriators have done their business as if they were passing individual bills, so they have a lot of conservative riders in there, so i would support that. >> taxes. what is an acceptable tax package look like to you? i will take one example. a congressman was trying to navigate an onlin

>> do you believe in a minibus, omnibus? some people want to push out a package of bills in one fell swoop. how big or small can you tolerate? >> i believe we need to go back to regular order, which means you past 12 appropriations bills. this is a recent phenomenon when we have done crs. originally a cr was only for a week or two while we were negotiating. now they are three months, a year. we have got to get back to 12 appropriations bills. that the appropriators do their business. the real stumbling block is the senate, but not just the senate. it is differences in our own conference. specifically what i be for the or 12 appropriations bills in an omnibus right now? i'm for the 12 appropriations bills in an omnibus primarily because the appropriators have done their business as if they were passing individual bills, so they have a lot of conservative riders in there, so i would support that. >> taxes. what is an acceptable tax package look like to you? i will take one example. a congressman was trying to navigate an onlin

though will be -- omnibus bill that will be before us, no dollar will be used to support the ban on transgender service, so hopefully we will get a chance to have every member of congress held accountable on this issue. i want to say thank you for everyone being here today. i know in the long run that we will win on this, but right now it is a sad day when we have a president who does something like this. with that, i would like to introduce the next person who is a member of congress and someone who has served us so aptly in the military. i notice he took off his stylish sunglasses, ruben gallego. [applause] >> thank you. as a young man, i was lucky enough to serve in the united states marine corps in an infantry platoon. let me tell you -- if someone was taken out of my team all of a sudden because of some stupid tweet, i would be really ticked off. this is not how you run the military. you do not dictate military policy through tweets and whims. it is called dod directive. that is what professionals do. there is a reason no general decided to talk about this. it is embarrassing a

guest: we do have what is known as a minibus, as opposed to an omnibus. we will be voting on that presumably later this week. did moments to those bills are now being considered. that's a to those bills are now being considered. -- amendments to those bills are now being considered. you mentioned that i am a member of the strategic arms -- we are talking nuclear weapons here. the united states is involved in a new nuclear arms race with china.and it will cost the taxpayers of america a trillion dollars over 25 years to rebuild every one of our nuclear .ombs and new delivery systems it is extremely expensive and externally dangerous. -- extremely dangerous. these weapons are stealth weapons. all the rules of the cold where ar don't apply because you don't know what's going to happen and we are heavily dependent upon satellites, all of which are vulnerable. it is possible that we could be quickly in the dark, literally, not knowing what our opponents are doing. therefore, it becomes a very, very dangerous situation. we need to be very careful about how we a

and 2013 we had a continuing resolution in september, to your budget in the fall come an omnibus intoe and another on the best in december 2014. that's exactly what happened in 2015 and 2016. today it's the middle of july. looks like we're heading towards a continuing resolution in september, some kind of to your budget deal in the fall it doesn't constrain spending, and omnibus spending bill in december at another on the spending bill in 2018. and we will top off that issue with the same to your scenario playing out in 2019 and 2020. the budget control act is not the constitution and the 112th congress was not the constitutional convention. we should simply repealed outright and congress should do its job and set priorities with taxpayer dollars on a year-to-year basis. and if the republican party, the party that's always stood for strong national defense and an abundant with the budget control act has been repealed can't invest more and our defense capabilities, then bad for us. but the budget control act must be repealed. >> what's it going to take to get to that? from where we are

with the hands on the omnibus postal will and benefits those in his district, he is a player with the issues of "war and peace." >> you have shared a desk with some cool characters. had to interact with these guys? what is a process for finding the next turn in finding the next turn in your narrative? >> it was great fun to research. had to add value to lincoln's story it is only the third book of him in congressin history there are so many books so i will look at letters of his colleagues from the 30thcongress most people have not even looked sue their letters. one example of a house mate from abolition house his papers are in harrisburg pennsylvania. the curator it asking questions and i said is there anybody there who it is more familiar if it is worth the trip? he said in the 30 years i have been here now lenin is looking at these so i am looking at these papers nobody has ever look back. it took me to 13 states. somebody asked me if i had to go to all 50 states to elect all members of the congress. [laughter] the answer was no. [laughter] i figured i would leave out the hawaii de

and we began that in the omnibus last year. the $50 million in opioid prevention. opioid abuse prevention. rural health initiatives, $250 million. caregivers' stipends at $604 million. repeat last year's bill language regarding improved standards for suicide prevention hotline. for disability claims processing, again, another issue very important to so many members in this body. particularly through our veterans who are seeking services from the v.a. or benefits. we provide $2.9 billion. which is $50 million over the request. we need to be vigilant, to be sure that the claims backlog doesn't -- mr. chairman -- mr. frelinghuysen: i yield the gentleman another 30 seconds. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. dent: this legislation also contains $65 million as requested as the v.a. switches gears and moves from modernizing its own aging electronic health record to acquiring a record d.o.d. is using. the bill continues to include language restricting the most -- restricting most of the funding until the v.a. meets milestones and certifies statutory requirements.

continuing resolution, in september a two-year budget in the fall, an omni bus in december and another omnibus in december of '14. that's what happened in 2015 and 2016. today it is the middle of july, it looks like we're heading towards a continuing resolution in september, some kind of two-year budget deal in the fall that doesn't constrain spending, an omnibus spending bill in december and another one in december of '18. we will top off that sorry history with the same two-year scenario playing out in 2019 and 2020. the budget control act is not the constitution and the 112 congress was not a constitution alcon vengs. we should simply repeal it out right and congress should do its job to set priorities with taxpayer dollars on year-to-year basis. if the republican party, the party that has always stood for strong national defense in an environment where the budget control act has been repealed can't invest more in our defense capabilities, then bad for us. but the budget control act must be repealed. >> what's it going to take to get to that? from where we are today out of this cycle of crs

well, actually, for the man or woman on the clapham omnibus, what matters is that he delivers.that the sharif brothers have not delivered in pakistan in general, and sharif in punjab. in punjab, mind you, the largest province in pakistan, with the largest number of voters. so it is very likely that the pakistan muslim league will be returned at the next elections, which are due next year. you are watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: we bring you the story of one chinese woman unable to freeze her eggs because she is not married, and herjourney to find the treatment overseas. also on the programme: la hands to paris as hosts for the 2024 olympics in favour of 2028. we're in la with the latest next. cheering the us space agency nasa has ordered an investigation after confirmation today that astronauts were cleared to fly while drunk. the last foot patrol in south armargh, once an everyday part in the soldiers' lot, drudgery and danger, now no longer after almost four decades. if someone is in a private house, not doing any harm to anyone, i don't really se

ballou: you believe in a mini bus or omnibus? some people are pushing to push a package of these bills out at once. how big or how small can you tolerate? mr. meadows: i believe that we need to go back to regular order which means that you actually pass 12 appropriations bills. you send them over -- this is a recent phenomena when we have done these c.r.'s. originally it was only for a week or two while we were still negotiating to get there. now they are three months, year. we have to get back to 12 appropriations bills. let the appropriators do their business. the real stumbling block again is the senate. it's not just the senate. it's differences in our own conference. specifically would i be for the mini bus or 12 appropriations bills? that's in an omni with us right now. i'm for the 12 appropriations bills in the omnibus primarily because the appropriators have done their business as if they were passing individual bills. so they have a lot of conservative riders in there. we would support that. i would support that. mr. bal

spendingsive omnibus dols like we are going to today or tomorrow, that's not the ordinary process. folks have started to realize that they can't do what the constitution wants them to do, which is exercise the power of the purse. once they recognize it's broken, that should usher in a conversation about how to fix it. you have to admit you have a problem before you can go into recovery. maybe all of the government is starting to enter the realization that the process needs to be fixed. the budget in i the mick mulvaney household? mr. mulvaney: i give it to her and it is dead on arrival. she does a great job managing the household. we have 317-year-olds at home. three 17 euros at home. we have very clear guidelines. i am in control of everything outside the front door. the yard in the garden. we live on 16 acres. the house,es inside it's hers, everything from education to the cooking budget to the utilities. i still more and around -- run around and turn down the heat in the winter in turn up the air in the summer, and she comes behind me and fixes that. host: how did you meet your

and we began that in the omnibus last year. the $50 million in opioid prevention. opioid abuse prevention. rural health initiatives, $250 million. caregivers' stipends at $604 million. repeat last year's bill language regarding improved standards for suicide prevention hotline. for disability claims processing, again, another issue very important to so many members in this body. particularly through our veterans who are seeking services from the v.a. or benefits. we provide $2.9 billion. which is $50 million over the request. we need to be vigilant, to be sure that the claims backlog doesn't -- mr. chairman -- mr. frelinghuysen: i yield the gentleman another 30 seconds. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. dent: this legislation also contains $65 million as requested as the v.a. switches gears and moves from modernizing its own aging electronic health record to acquiring a record d.o.d. is using. the bill continues to include language restricting the most -- restricting most of the funding until the v.a. meets milestones and certifies statutory requirements.

unless we have an omnibus, so the best thing we can hope for today is the omnibus, the budget process is broken. it's why we're sitting here today, it's why we're at an historic low in terms of spending on the military. we can argue about $20 billion, $50 billion. i think the number is bigger. i need help on two things, one, help us with an audit. you have my full support, we're going to try get some money, we need an audit. we need a bottom-up analysis of missions-based need. i want to give a little history today, in the last in my lifetime we disinvested in the military three times. this is significant. once in the '70s, one in the '9 0s, once in the last eight years. such that today we're spending $3.1% of our gdp on our military. the low point was 2.6 in 2000. a lot of people refer back in 2000. prior to 9/11, prior to isis and all the things that have changed our world in the last 15 years. we recapped only one time in my lifetime in the '80s, we called ourselves recapping in the 2000s, but we chewed that up in 16 years of war as you just said, secretary we haven't built new airc

continuing resolutions or these massive omnibus spending bills like we are going to do today or tomorrow, that's not the ordinary process. i think folks on the hill have started to realize that they can't do what the constitution wants them to do, which is exercise the power of the purse. once they recognize it's broken, i think maybe that sort of ushers in the conversation about how to fix it. analogy with having an addiction you have to admit , you have a problem before you can get on the road to recovery. maybe all of the government is starting to enter the realization that the process needs to be fixed. host: who does the budget in the mulvaney household? mr. mulvaney: i give it to her and it is dead on arrival. she does a great job managing the household. we have the three 17-year-olds at home. of like the process here in the appropriations committee, we have very clear guidelines. i am in control of everything outside the front door. i get the yard and the garden. we live on 16 acres. once it comes inside the house, it's hers, everything from education to the cooking budget to the

so i want to, with enthusiasm, support a bill that would amend the omnibus crime control act of 1968, to include an additional permissible use of amounts provided as grants under the edward burr memorial justice ssistance grant, also known as the program. to combat human trafficking, sex trafficking, including programs to reduce the demand for trafficked persons. the legislation was introduced by mrs. hartzler and joined by her colleague, mr. clay. 'm glad to be a co-sponsor, as are members of the judiciary committee and others. sadly sex trafficking, like labor trafficking, is a modern day form of slavery. it is slavery. the epidemic of this abhorrent practice of sex trafficking continues. first, sex trafficking occurs nationwide. the data from the national human trafficking hotline shows that reports of human trafficking almost doubled from 372 reported cases in 2012 to 670 reported cases in 2016. with sex trafficking accounting for more than 75% of all human trafficking. sex trafficking is easy. it is very profitable. because unfortunately you use the vulnerable victim over and ove

could be a continued resolution, potentially, until the end of the year, or there could be another omnibus where congress smashes 12 spending bills over $1 trillion in one massive package, but nobody really has time to read. unfortunately, that is how business seems to get done in washington. host: properties calling from saint augustine, florida, on our republican line. hi, robert. caller: good morning. very good panel discussion this morning. i'm glad to see 2 opposing views presented. i think this is great. i would like to return to a statement made earlier in the conversation about taxation. a term that goes around so often, and it is an abstract term, but perhaps mr. stein can get some quantitative response. we talk about everybody paying their fair share. what is fair share, and how do we define fair share so it appeases all points of

word busing comes from the 20th century if somebody would said bus the table they were called the omnibus so you would bust the table i am a buster at the restaurant. [laughter] we all drive the cadillac converter. [laughter] this is from the cadillac into a volkswagen. claustrophobia. it makes perfect sense. but that comes from the latin word but in the sense but claustrophobia is the fear of locked into a small place or locked into a cluster of people so that is the great example. >> you are a word nerd of the oxford, it is a controversial subject people have long lectures on the oxford, then you turn into the oxford, so i particularly appreciate this one. a french crawler but the actual ones are square they are driven but the ones that dunkin donuts offers this is an example of the of french crawler. this makes perfect nonsense a courtesy call or a curtain call or a courtesy call. we don't have washboards very often so the reference to a the washboard but everybody does have a dashboard in their cars away dashboard stomach although that would be hard to put the steering wheel under you

there was an omnibus measure to clear up tax credits and thrown out accidentally in '8and 6 we neverback in. steve: fascinating, did reagan introduce it? >> preexisted reagan in the early 70s. anyone who wrote a check for or against him got write it off on the taxes, a small check. steve: the political fence thinks about the question of campaign finance reform, is that the liberal thing to stop political speech and it's unconstitutional? >> they don't like the word. daal drain the swamp, if you want. the word isn't important, and have you liberals say it's draining the swamp. no, no, we have a dysfunctional campaign finance system that invites foreign money and does not encourage small donors, it's a bad system now. steve: basically you are kind of -- i know it's not going to solve the problem, it's a big and deep problem, the notion of the tax credit, if you got through that tax credits with small donor donations, understanding that's the piece? >> they were involved, talked to people, brought people into the process, they told them what government was doing in the form of taxes reg

it could be a continuum resolution until the end of the year, or another omnibus where congress smashes 12 spending bills in one massive package that you don't really have time to read. unfortunately, that is how business seems to get done in washington. host: hi, robert. caller: a very good panel discussion. i'm glad to see 2 opposing views being presented. i would like to return to a statement made earlier about taxation. a term that is thrown around is an abstract term, but perhaps mr. stein can give a quantitative reply, everyone paying their fair share. and how toair share we define a fair share that appeases all points of view? guest: it is a fair question. we have a progressive tax at the federal level. as your income goes up the amount you are paying is supposed to go up. that doesn't always happen. some people do pay more as their income goes up, but some because of the loopholes and deductions are not. then you have people that are available to avoid a norm us amount of taxes. when you look at the last 30 years of this country, and where have the income gains gone to, a caller

the turn of the 20 century, the beginning of the 20 century, someone would busted tables called an omnibus so they carried everything away and that's how we get the busting comes from you bust a table. i like busting tables. i'm a pastor at the restaurant. then, we all drive our. [laughter] cadillac converters. actually, i'd like a catalytic t converter. i could use a cadillac right about now. this one is from a 58 caddy 268 vw. claustrophobia. when you think about it, and makes perfect sense. i'm afraid of clusters of people. claustrophobia comes from a latin word that's. [inaudible] in a sense, claustrophobia is about fear of being locked into a small place but claustrophobia is your locked into a cluster of people and that makes sense to.o that's a great example of an egg corn.one beca this one, if you're a word nerd, you'll like this one because tho oxford, is a very controversial subject and people have had long lectures on oxford, and after hearing of several of these long lectures you fall into an oxford coma. so, i particularly appreciate this one. a french color. dunkin' donuts of

what i think they should do now is abandon omnibus legislation to fix things. start fixing things that are broken right in front of their eyes. there shouldn't be a tax on new medical devices. they should encourage that. it's no smarter than taxing bicycles, like they want to do in oregon. they should allow insurance companies to provide a greater array of insurance policies that will bring down prices and allow other people to get those policies. >> boy, sort of sounding like a democrat. isn't this what democrats have been saying? we want to work with you on fixing the current system but we don't want you to repeal and replace, we want to fix what's broken? >> no democrat -- very few democrats agree on repealing the medical device. very few think that insurance companies should be allowed to give more stripped down policies. that's just common sense. i don't need pregnancy insurance, and at my age, i'm not going to disclose my age four, we don't need that. so there are some bills, and those, ted cruz has some of those ideas, they should do that and fix it. whe

resolution in september, some kind of two-year move thatl and a doesn't constrain spending and an omnibus bill in december and another one next year and then we will have the same two-year scenario playing out in 2019 and 2020. we should simply repeal it out right and congress should do its job and set priorities with taxpayer dollars on a year-to-year basis. ther republican party, party that has always stood for strong national defense in an environment where the budget control act has been repealed cannot invest more in our defense capabilities, then bad for us. but the budget control act must be repealed. >> what will it take to get to that from where we are today out of this cycle of cr's to that repeal? believe you i probably have the votes right now in the senate to repeal the budget control act. i suspect almost every democrat would vote to repeal it and at least half of my republican colleagues would as well. in the house of representatives, i think it's more divided among republicans. ers don'ticit believe in this. they don't think the democrats would willingly agree with domesti

december, an omnibus, and another in 2014. that is what happened in 2014 and 2016. looks like we are heading to a resolution, in september, some kind of two-year budget deal. and i'm did notice -- and on the best bill in december. we will see the same thing playing out in 2019 and 2020 . it outld simply repeal right and congress should do its job to set priorities on a year-to-year basis. thehe republican party, party that has stood for strong national defense in an environment where the budget control act has been repealed, cannot invest more in capabilities, then bad for us. but the budget control act must be repealed. mr. karako: what is it going to take to get to that? i believe you probably have the votes right now in the senate to repeal the budget control act. i suspect almost every democrat, if not all, would vote to repeal it in at least half of my colleagues, republicans, would vote for it as well. -- they have no reason to believe we are magically going to adhere to the caps this year. democrats are going to willingly agree to reduce domestic spending and

this december, another omnibus in december 2018 and we will repeat that cycle once again between 19-2020 face. it will mean not wise investments because her minister will not have the kind of long-term stability and predictability they need. only 47 senators were in office in 2011 to vote for that bill. the 112th congress was not the constitutional convention to the budget control act is not the constitution. the budget control act must be repealed. how should we spend that money? we have a lot of needs, a lot of conventional needs, a lot of needs to modernize our nuclear forces. but the threats that we face also required that we accelerate the deployment of integrated and layered ballistic missile defense systems. that incorporate forward-based assets with space sensors and ground-based interceptors in the united states and begin to explore airborne systems as well. in the short term we need to be able to stop the limited icbm attack threat from states like north korea and potentially iran. over the long term though i would suggest we need to be able to stop an attack from near peer

some kind of two-year budget spending, another omnibus. we will top off at sign sorry history with the same two-year scenario. is notget control act constitutional. we should repeal it out right and congress should do its job to set priorities with taxpayer dollars on a year-to-year basis. if the republican party, the party that has always stood for can't national defense, invest more in our defense capabilities, that's on us. but the budget control act must be repealed. >> what is it going to take to get to that? from where we are today, how does the cycle of cr's -- what is it going to take? believe you probably have the votes right now in the senate to repeal the budget control act. i suspect almost every democrat would vote to repeal it, and at least half of my republican colleagues would vote as well. in the house of representatives, i think the opinion is more divided. but deficit hawks in the house know the history i just laid out. they have no reason to believe we are magically going to adhere to those caps this year. the democrats

could be a continued resolution, potentially, until the end of the year, or there could be another omnibus where congress smashes 12 spending bills over $1 trillion in one massive package, but nobody really has time to read. unfortunately, that is how business seems to get done in washington. host: properties calling from saint augustine, florida, on our republican line. hi, robert. caller: good morning. very good panel discussion this morning. i'm glad to see 2 opposing views presented. i think this is great. i would like to return to a statement made earlier in the conversation about taxation. a term that goes around so often, and it is an abstract term, but perhaps mr. stein can get some quantitative response. we talk about everybody paying their fair share. what is fair share, and how do we define fair share so it appeases all points of view? guest: it is a fair question. as romina said earlier, we have a progressive tax system at the federal level. ms. sanders: good afternoon. of "made inlast day america" week this afternoon, the president will welcome living survivors of the attack o

in september, some kind of two-year budget deal and a move that doesn't constrain spending and an omnibus bill in december and another one next year and then we will have the same two-year scenario playing out in 2019 and 2020. we should simply repeal it out right and congress should do its job and set priorities with taxpayer dollars on a year-to-year basis. after republican party, the party that has always stood for strong national defense in an environment where the budget control act has been repealed cannot invest more in our defense capabilities, then bad for us. but the budget control act must be repealed. >> what will it take to get to that from where we are today out of this cycle of cr's to that repeal? sen. cotton: i believe you probably have the votes right now in the senate to repeal the budget control act. i suspect almost every democrat would vote to repeal it and at least half of my republican colleagues would as well. in the house of representatives, i think it's more divided among republicans. also, deficit talkers don't believe in this. they don't think the democrats wo

we've lifted the oil export ban and to president obama's credit, he signed that bit as part of an omnibusackage. we can be the stabilizing force and passioned a couple of important bills this week in the house of representatives bipartisan bills on pipeline infrastructure, part of the infrastructure package as well as the ability to export. in north dakota alone, since the day president trump signed that order, allowing the advancement of the dakota access pipeline, we've soon an increase in 50% in drilling. that's a pretty significant stroke of a pen for our economy and for our nation security. >> i appreciate that, to fact check, the president also said the pipes would be made in the united states and they are not. >> he did. >> we're not sure that's going to happen. >> the majority of the pipes were already purchased. >> in the dakota access pipeline and keystone xl most are and most of that pipe and steel was manufactured in the united states and part that wasn't was largely built and manufactured in canada. i think we ought to have a north american strategy as we enter into the nafta

we'll have some two-year budget that doesn't restrain spending in november and then we'll have an omnibus in december and another one in december of '18 and the whole thing will be started over again in 2019 and 2020. all for a bill that no one from senator fisher to my right and senator donly and to his left voted for. the 112th congress is not the constitution. my question, just to be clear, is can you build a 350 navy if the budget control act remains in force? >> no. >> thank you for that. the president's budget request sufficient to build that 350 ship navy if the budget control act is repeal snd. >> it would depend upon the time line you would be giving the future secretary of the navy as a goal. >> thank you. i have to say, mr. spencer, that the welfare of sailors and marines is of upmost to me. your predecessor was one of e most unpopular secretaries in the modern area. just to go through a few of those decisions, he politicized the naming of u.s. navy ships. made some strange changes to the uniform. publically dismissed reports of combat effectiveness about mixed gender units. he

there was discussion about bringing an omnibus and obviously that's not happened, so we have what we refer to as a minibus. we only have 17 legislative days left until the end of the fiscal year, on september 30. first, i would like to ask the majority leader if he can tell us the process under which the minibus will be considered. as the gentleman pointed out, there are four distinct appropriation bills that are included in the minibus. does the -- is this going to be an open rule. will all of these bills be open o amendment or will there be considered under a rule so that our members can prepare for the consideration of these appropriation bills? and i yield to my friend, the the majority leader. mr. mccarthy: i thank the gentleman for yielding and his question. he is correct, all 12 appropriation bills will be done from committee, marked up in subcommittee and full committee and i thank the appropriations committee for their work. they achieved something that has never been achieved before. it is correct in the making america safe minibus package we are bringing, it covers over 66

then they failed to secure the votes on the floor for that republican-only omnibus package. so they decided to move forward with what is before us today, these four appropriations bills stitched together. they would butt the defense control act and would result in a $72 billion sequester against all defense accounts. the entire fiscal 18 appropriations process has been a republican exercise in sham accounting, ignoring current law, jack up defense spending, impose unnecessary and detrimental cuts on domestic appropriations. when future students learn about congressional appropriations, this episode should be exhibit a of what not to do. the four bills before us today are full of objectionable and unreasonable policy riders including the ridiculous inclusion in the rule of $1.6 billion to be spent on 74 miles of border wall. nobody would know it from the president's hysterical rhetoric, but there are already 700 miles of fence down there on the border, pedestrian fencing. i know about it because most of that fencing was built when i was chairman of the homeland security appro

. >> part of the omnibus appropriations bill many of us supported requested that all sanctions designations over the past two years determine whether they've engagethey engaged in ad activities since the removal of sanctions. i'm also the treasury was requested to the sanctions to explain why not. are you committed to following through in that process? >> we look forward to working with you whether the bill is passed or not and i would comment we didn't have the trigger-based financing requests to the extent the bill is passed as well comwill come back for al funding to work with you. but we believe in the sanctions as i've said to the maximum amount available. >> that is current law. >> s. and under the current law we will continue to work with you as we are, absolutely. >> do you have an estimate of the impact it's had on the economy? >> we have done analysis post on the impact of the jcp o. a and other areas in the economy, and again in a classified session. >> thank you for being here. madam chair. >> senator durbin. >> let me say at the outset this is the boldest move since robert byrd

this as we did in fiscal year 2017 omnibus to continue robust investments in job-training programs that coordinate with the efforts of key workforce partners, business leaders, workforce boards, labor unions, community colleges, nonprofits and state and local officials. to make sure all workers can acquire the skills that they need to get good job and climbed the ladder opportunity and grow the economy. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator murray. let's have the chairman of the full committee with us. do you have anything you like to start with? >> mr. chairman, i do have a couple of questions. >> let's get mr. custis testimony and go to questions after that. secretary acosta, we are glad you are here. the secretary is now serving in his fourth presidentially appointed senate confirmed job. most recently, he served as dean of the florida internal international university college of law and secretary, we're glad you're here. this is always a department where you have your hands full but meeting the opportunities of futures is important and we look forward to hearing you talk ab

it might be a smaller omnibus government program but clears the deck for tax cuts.ou think? >> i think clearing the air is great idea. i really believe they should have led with tax cuts. neil: too late for that. >> too late for that. what i would say to any republican compromise, get tax relief. if you don't get broad gauged tax reform get some relief. neil: mark meadows runs house freedom caucus, i can accept, he is mr. anti-tax, but if it's a means to an end getting tax cuts or tax reform i'm, i'll do it? >> i think there is a lot more joy than i'm feeling around the tax reform effort than i am on health care. neil: really. >> what i would say is, by the way, one hand, health care you seem to take something away from somebody, and on tax you give something to them. if you focus on, don't be so heroic. you don't have to be whommer. get some good solid tax benefits passed along to middle class. people will remember. neil: you're not talking about homer of "the simpsons"? >> homer -- neil: all right. >> tax break, as far as democrats concerned giving something to so

. >> so part of omnibus appropriations bill that many of us supported requested that you review all sanctions designations over the past two years and determine whether these agencies have engaged in any prohibited activities since the removal of sanctions. then also treasury was requested to either sanction in entities engaged in such activities or not. are you committed with that process then the. >> again, we're committed to working with you whether the bill is processassed or not. we will come back for additional funding to work with you. but we believe in the sanctions as i've said to the maximum amount available. >> right. so that is current law, though? >> i'm sorry. >> so that is current law? >> yes. and under the current law we will continue to work with you as we are, absolutely. >> do you have an estimate as what -- has treasury done an estimate of what sanctions relief, the impact that's had on their economy? >> again, we have done analysis on both the impact of the jcpoa and other areas of their economy. and again, in a classified session we're happy to come and talk to you about