thune: senator schatz. hatz: thank you, 50 megahertz of federal spectrum to be made available for commercial use. by some accounts, that is 1/10th of what the private sector will need. this is a good start, but i'm wondering about what more the commission can do, what more the congress can do to free up more spectrum and possibly generate more revenue for the treasury. the wirelessrcel: economy is growing fast. we all know that intuitively. given how often we reach for our phones and mobile devices. we have so much more activity on our airwaves. if we want that growth can continue, we need more spectrum for it to do so. the 30 megahertz in the most recent budget deal is a start. what really need is a steady spectrum pipeline that provides us with airwaves for licensed and unlicensed services to make sure that the wireless economy continues to grow. sen. schatz: thank you. i want to talk about the homework cap. i know you are passionate about it. describe it in simple terms as you possibly can on a human lev

schatz: mr. president? thank you, mr. president. i thank the senator from massachusetts for explaining to the public and to this body what we all are becoming increasingly aware of, which is that the technology is there. this is not any longer pie-in-the-sky. this is not hopeful ecological utopia thinking. this is real stuff. these are real jobs. they're gettings financed by banks and financial institutions. this is already upon us. and i'd like to he will i tell y of hawaii's clean energy transformation. a clean energy revolution is taking place across the country, but it's especially true in hawaii. for decades, since the demise of the sugar plantation, hawaii relied on imports of fossil fuel for our energy needs. as recently as 2010, we derive nearly 90% of our electrons from burning oil. in just four years we've driven this number down to around 80%. and we're on our way to a 100% clean energy target, a 100% clean energy target. hawaii's reliance on imported oil is bad for economics. we have the highest electricity rates in the

jennifer: we are doing to events for the senator schatz march of dimes. -- the signature chefs march of times. this is their 18th year. very important -- healthy babies, premature babies. it is a lot of fun. there is usually about 300 people, so it is a fantastic turnout, and we will have our pastry and we will have samples. adam: what about the demand for pumpkin items these days? people cannot get enough. jennifer: they cannot. we have, again cupcakes, -- we have on can cupcakes, pumpkin cheesecake bites, it goes great with punk, which is the everywhere. -- pun mpkin coffee, which is everywhere. adam: putting the finishing touches here. this is almost like the greatest of all coming together in one big cake. jennifer: yes. adam: all right. what type of toppings you added the end? jennifer: she will add some maple and walnuts. it's the final countdown! the final countdown! if you're the band europe, you love a final countdown. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. erin: and we do want to let you know about a story that w

bill out of the full appropriations bill out of committee with democrat senators leahy, feinstein, schatz all supporting the bill with 16 republicans backing it. we have record levels of funding to fix disability claims in the v.a. we took construction out of the hands of the v.a. and gave it to the army corps of engineers so that we never have it overrun like at the denver hospital again. the bill also banned funding for glenn hextrum, the person responsible for spending $950 million over budget in denver. the bill provides new protections for whistle-blowers, also especially for doctors and nurses protected now by the whistle-blower protection act. by voting "no" on this bill, members will be voting against a $4.2 billion increase for our veterans. thank you, madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mr. tillis: thank you, madam president. i rise today to talk about a subject i touched on about a month ago regarding current trade negotiations. you know, i don't blame elected officials for pushing legislation, policy proposals or ideas that further their ow