schatz: i vote no on behalf of people who need mental health care. the presiding officer: debate is not allowed during a vote. mrs. gillibrand: how am i recorded? the presiding officer: the senator is not recorded. mrs. gillibrand: i vote no on behalf of -- the presiding officer: debate is not allowed during a vote. a senator: this is rule and inhumane. mr. murphy: i vote no. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. a senator: madam clerk, how am i recorded? the presiding officer: the senator is not recorded. a senator: on behalf of the thousands of new hampshire who are suffering from addiction and will lose treatment, i vote no. the presiding officer: debate is not allowed. ms. hirono: madam clerk, how am i recorded? the presiding officer: the senator is not recorded. ms. hirono: on behalf of the 200,000 seniors losing medicare, i vote no. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. warner: madam clerk, how am i recorded? on behalf of the children of the commonwealth of virginia, i vote no. a senator: madam clerk? mr. blument

schatz. mr. schatz: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii. mr. schatz: thank you, mr. president. i thank the senior senator from connecticut for his leadership on this and so many other issues on behalf of the people of his home state. before i get into prevention as a policy issue, i just want to reiterate a process point. and here we are in the world's greatest deliberative body, the world's greatest deliberative body. there really are so many talented individuals who come from county councils, who come from state assemblies, who come from state senates, who come from the u.s. house and find themselves in the united states senate, the world's greatest deliberative body and here we are debating one of the biggest public policy issues over the last decade, arguably over the last generation. and here we are. and i'm thinking about my early days in the hawaii legislature, and what we would do if we wanted to move a bill along but we weren't sure exactly what to do is we

senator brian schatz, thank you very much. appreciate it. >> thank you, chris. >> joining me now, katie packer and sam seder, host of the majority report. katie, the standard is interesting. i remember the early days of clinton they came right out and they ran into a buzz saw with several nominees. tom daschle was an example of that for barack obama, though mostly smooth sailing. it occurs that in some ways that's perception and shame. a scandal is only big enough to blow up a nominee if that's how it's perceived to be but if you can lock down the votes you can basically confirm anyone. >> well, and the rules are just sort of different now, you know? it used to be when you had some scandals that the incumbent -- the president-elect and his team would hint that this is maybe time to step aside. trump doesn't really cow that easily. trump is standing by people that he has put into these poogss. some of these so-called scandals, are they scandals? tom price's stock trade netted him i think $300. is that something the american peo

schatz, no. >> madam clerk? >> ms. gillibrand. >> how am i recorded? >> i vote no on behalf of all the women who need health insurance. >> debate is not allowed during a vote spin ms. gillibrand, no. >> madam clerk? >> how my recorded? >> the senator is not recorded spin this is cruel and inhuman. >> the senate will be in order. debate is not allowed during a vote. the senate will be in order.id >> mr. murphy no. madam clerk, how am i recorded?m >> the senator is not recorded. >> on behalf of the thousands of new hampshire residents -- debate is not allowed during a vote spin i vote no.n behalf >> spin on behalf of the 200,000 seniors -- the senate will be in order. >> ms. hirono, no. >> madam clerk? >> mr. warner? >> how am i recorded? vote >> the senator is not recorded. >> on behalf of the children of the commonwealth of virginia i vote no. >> madam clerk? >> mr. blumenthal. >> how am i recorded?d. >> the senator is not recorded. >> on behalf of all the people . -- >> debate is not allowed during a vote. the senate will be in order. >> i vote no. >>

schatz: mr. president, the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. schatz: thank you, mr. president. having scott pruitt in charge of the e.p.a. is bad for the air we breathe and the water we drink, and it's bad for american leadership on climate. and it's not just that i have a different view from mr. prewitt on the environmental protection agency. it's that he has made a career out of undermining the -- the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. schatz: it's not just that he is a republican or he doesn't share my views about clean energy. look, i understand that when a republican administration comes in, their e.p.a. nominee is going to have a different view of what the agency ought to be doing. i'm not suggesting that we're going to get henry waxman or jeff merkley to run the e.p.a. that's not what's going on here. here's what it is, and i want people to listen carefully here. scott prewitt is a professional climate denier. that is his job. he has made his political bones trying

schatz of hawaii. mr. schumer of new york. mr. scott of south carolina. [inaudible conversations] >> will you please raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear you support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies foreign and domestic, that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that you take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion and he will well and faithfully serve the duties of the office of upon which you are about to enter, so help you god? congratulations, senators. [applause] [applause] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> the clerk will call the roll names of the next group. m >> mr. shelby of alabama. mr. thune of south dakota. mr. toomey of pennsylvania. mr. van hollen of maryland. [inaudible conversations]ited >> please raise your right hand. you solemnly swear to support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies foreign and domestic, that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same end that you take this obligat

home with schatz of charts as well early heavy rain is solid and sedate. and friday early-warning it with the radar and heavier rain by a 15 the prior pockets. >> britteny: attracting a what friday morning this turns to more showers and still have your bands of rain will move through by friday night. lingering showers even into saturday and next sunday and monday combination of all previous systems means renewed flooding can still expecting a damaging winds the is as to go into the next few days as well. when states pick up again with monday's system. rentals with all three systems about an inch to an engine half for all then friday thursday system will arrive on sunday not talking about the 3 in. of all three systems. >> britteny: war flash flood warnings on shore and then heading for the high country had heavy snowfall through thursday from a van into saturday until the weekend. the fed and we do have some sense is expected for elevations still strapped for 500 ft. wind gusts of the 45 mi. an hour and then eventually cooler air and we will see is knowles

>> yes. >> paul schatz, good to see you. stephanie link from t.i.a.a.global asset management. >> thanks, guys. >>> meantime, we have a news alert from washington. eamon jabbers has the alert. this could be anything. >> we're getting a statement from the fbi director david comby in response to the news earlier today that the inspector general of the department of justice is going to be looking all of the decision-making surrounding comey's involvement in the 2016 election. remember, the whole saga with hillary clinton's e-mail. that is going to be investigated by an independent inspector general inside the department of justice. now comey reacting saying i am grateful to the department of justice's i.g. inspector general taking on this review. he is professional and independent and the fbi will cooperate fully with him and his office. i hope very much he is able to share his conclusions and observations with the public because everyone will benefit from thoughtful investigation and transparency. comey saying he's welcoming this i.g. investigation, bill.

senator schatz and senator sullivan. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, secretary chao, and thank you to your family for their commitment to public service and commitment to you. this morning was historic, it's the first time i've seen leader mcconnell hug anyone, so -- >> i'm glad it was me. >> so, secretary chao, we have a serious safety crisis on our roads. more than 35,000 people died in crashes in 2015. as senator klobuchar mentioned, that's a 7% increase over the previous year and the largest increase in 50 years. the early estimates show that that number will surpass 40,000. these aren't just car-on-car accidents but those who walk along the road. seniors are 50% more likely than other pedestrians to be struck and killed by a car. and this problem is particularly bad in the state of hawaii where we have the unfortunate distinction of having the highest rate of pedestrian fatalities among our elderly in the country. these deaths are preventable. they're preventable through the itch l itch l implementation of best practices. we worked with

schatz: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent to vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schatz: mr. president, american history has been shaped by united states secretaries of state. secretary dean afterrerson guided the united states through the cold war. secretary madeleine albright proved that diplomacy does not depend on gender and that protecting refugees and human rights are core american principles. secretary henry kissinger laid the groundwork for peace between egypt and israel. and forgive me for using such a recent example, but secretary john kerry helped to bring the international community together to tackle climate change. as our nation's top diplomat, the secretary of state is the highest ranking cabinet member and the president's top advisor on u.s. foreign policy. the secretary balances relationships with some 180 countries and is responsible for tens of thousands of americans working at more than 250 posts around the world. in other words, it takes a remarkable knowledge base and skill set to be secretary of

my colleague eric schatz has joined us in the city. are just blocks away at the westin st.rancis and i'm here with hans bishop. so everyone knows what we are about to discuss, juno and a handful of other companies are working on immunotherapy cancer.ts for hans: cart therapy and ctr therapy. eric: how important is it to be first to market with a cart? hans: the market is always a consideration, but it is worth remembering that these technologies are in their infancy. we believe there is a lot of opportunity to improve on the results we are generating today, which themselves are very promising. ultimately what is most important is having best in class results. both of those things are important. eric: anyone familiar with your company and stock price will know that juno was forced to suspend one of its cart trials in november after a couple of patients regrettably died. one of your competitors submitted a drug application to the fda for a cart treatment that targets the same antibody, c19. if we look at this as a horse race, are you behind? hans: we don't look at it as a hor

schatz: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii. mr. schatz: thank you, mr. president. more than 50 years ago, when medicaid was created, congress made a smart decision. lawmakers designed the program so that if health care costs rise, if the economy starts to struggle, medicaid would be there for the american people no matter what. now, a couple of days ago, the counselor to the president says that as part of the replacement plan for the affordable care act, medicaid will be converted to block grants, and let's be clear about what this means. people like grants, they like medicaid. maybe they are not sure whether they like block grants. whether intentional or not, this kind of techno accurate i can, bureaucratic language can trick people. it sounds fine. maybe it's even the smart thing to do. so let me be totally explicit about what block granting medicaid actually means. it means cutting medicaid. it means less money for medicaid. it means less health care for people. it's a euphemism. it's not quite a lie, but it's a way of describing something so that you

"brian schatz said, "add to that the lack of a full disclosure of standard ethics information and we are being asked to rubber stamp a cabinet." it was designed to prevent that. these days, the phrase advise and consent doesn't carry quite the same power it did a few weeks ago. mitch mcconnell in the senate in the age of trump. that's up next. >>> to understand for a second why the vetting process for cabinet nominees matter so much, consider what happened eight years ago when president obama turned to tom daschle to lead his effort to pass health care law, nominating daschle to run the health and human services. it did not go well. >> the man who was supposed to tackle health care, tom daschle. >> i deeply apologize. >> took himself out of the running for secretary of health and human services. for the former senate majority leader, it's an enormous fall from grace. to the man from south dakota who bragged in a campaign chergs years ago that he still drove his old broken down car was caught not paying taxes on a car he been riding around in for years. >> it was a relatively minor in

"brian schatz said, "add to that the lack of a full disclosure of standard ethics information and we being asked to rubber stamp a cabinet." it was designed to prevent that. these days, the phrase advise and consent doesn't carry quite the same power it did a few weeks ago. mitch mcconnell in the senate in the age of trump. that's up next. "exercise more." i know that. "try laxatives..." i know. believe me. it's like i've. tried. everything! my chronic constipation keeps coming back. i know that. tell me something i don't know. (vo) linzess works differently from laxatives. linzess treats adults with ibs with constipation, or chronic constipation. it can help relieve your belly pain, and lets you have more frequent and complete bowel movements that are easier to pass. do not give linzess to children under 6 and it should not be given to children 6 to 17. it may harm them. don't take linzess if you have a bowel blockage. get immediate help if you develop unusual or severe stomach pain, especially with bloody or black stools. the most common side effect is diarrhea, sometimes severe. i

i'm joined by senator brian schatz, democrat from hawaii.ator, there's a lot of consternation about pompeo because they felt he left the door open to reinstating torture during the cia. why did you vote for him? >> i find his views objectionable but my criteria specifically for the national security team is different than for any of these other cabinet positions because of the unique position we are in in terms of having such an inexperienced commander in chief my goal is to get as many scene, rational, lawful people in the room surrounding him as possible. that's why i voted for mattis and kelly and pompeo, even though especially with pompeo i disagree with him strongly not just on torture but on his views regarding metadata. in the end, he doesn't make policy, the united states congress makes policy and i was persuaded by adam schiff's support for him and other democrats' support for him in terms of him discharging his duties and following the law. i would never vote for him as a lawmaker but in the end i came down on the side of making su

schatz of hawaii, mr. schumer of new york, mr. scott of south carolina. the vice president: please raise your right hands. do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that you bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that you take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are about to enter, so help you god? the group: i do. the vice president: congratulations, senators. the vice president: the clerk will call the names of the next group. the clerk: mr. shelby of alabama, mr. thune of south dakota, mr. toomey of pennsylvania, mr. van hollen of maryland. the vice president: please raise your right hands. do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that you bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that you take this obligation freely, without any ment

schatz: thank you, mr. president. in just a few weeks our great country will mark the 75th anniversary of president roosevelt's executive order authorizing the internment of hundreds of thousands of japanese, german and italian americans during world war ii. they were rounded up with their families and held behind barbed wire like war criminals. but they had done nothing wrong. their crime? being japanese, being german, being italian. they were labeled enemy aliens. mark twain reportedly said that history doesn't repeat itself but it does rhyme. and this seems to be the path that the president has pursued with his muslim ban. this ban has already harmed green card holders, students, business people, and those fleeing violence and persecuti persecution. remember, these are the people fleeing the violence, not the perpetrators of the violence. they are the victims, not the criminals. they have been pulled from their flights, left sphrandzed in the -- left stranded in the airports. they have been detainedded without the

schatz of hawaii, mr. schumer of new york, mr. scott of south carolina. the ce president: please raise your right hands. do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that you bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that you take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are about to enter, so help you god? the group: i do. the vice president: congratulations, senators. the vice president: e clerk will call the names of the next group. the clerk: mr. shelby of alabama, mr. thune of south dakota, mr. toomey of pennsylvania, mr. van hollen of maryland. the vice president: please raise your right hands. do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that you bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that you take this obligation freely, without any mental r

. >> thank you, senator schatz. >> thank you, chairman. thank you, mr. ross, for being here this morning. thank you to your family for being here. i'm all the way over here on the end. >> oh. >> i know. elaine chao was here last week and i think she actually thought i was in the audience sitting over here. thanks for your willingness to serve the country. appreciate the time we've been able to spend together in the office. colorado, we talked a little bit about trades. importance of trade in colorado, $9 billion worth of exports from colorado, $4.5 billion worth of goods annually are sent is to nations in asia and half of our state's exports go to asian nations. given the position of the new administration on the trans-pacific partnership, how do we make sure that we are increasing american exports abroad and just as importantly, what areas, what markets do you see as the most lucrative opportunities for the u.s. in the next four years? >> well, that's obviously a very complex question and we discussed it some in your office. the things we're the best at

schatz: th >> mr. president. >> the senator from hawaii. >> thank you by mr. president. i want to thank the leader for the aca. since they got together, he has been stalwart not just on the benefits of aca but specifically on mental health and the benefit in the de-stigmatization of mental health care in the contest the aca wasn't so long ago that people would step up and say i need help. i need mental health care and is broadly accepted on both sides of the aisle. mental health is held and that just as if you tweet your shoulder our needs and then with a crick in your neck. if you have mental health issues you need to get them taken carea of. with that, mr. president, the plan to repeal the affordable a care act reminds me of a car i used to have that was an okayt car. i remember i bought it in 06, but it was an 05 and it was no. one of those vets back of the lot and i got it for $2500 lesst than msrp from a station wagon, ugly. it was purple and i just sort of wrote it into the ground. i kept driving. i didn't take great care of it. i've gotten better about takingd car

schatz: thank you, mr. president. i want to thank the junior senator from connecticut for his leadership on a.c.a. since we got to the senate together, he has been stalwart not just on the many benefits of a.c.a., but specifically on mental health and the benefits and the destigmatization of mental health care in the context of a.c.a. it wasn't so long ago that people wouldn't step up and say i need help. i need mental health care. but now i think it's broadly accepted on both sides of the aisle partly because of chris murphy's leadership, that mental health is health. and just as you tweak your shoulder or need something with your lungs or have a crick in your neck, if you have some mental health issues you need to get them taken care of. with that, mr. president, the plan to repeal the affordable care act with no replacement kind of reminds me of a car that i used to have. it was an okay car. i bought it -- i remember, i bought it in 2006 but it was an 2005 but it was new. it was sort of at the back of the lot and b

. >> next up is senator schatz followed by senator gardner. >> mr.ross, thank you for your commitment to serve the public. your predecessor successfully negotiated a couple of very thorny issues over the last few years regarding telecommunications, the u.s.-eu privacy shield and the transition to the successful negotiation of the u.s.-eu privacy shield and a smooth transition of the function from the department of commerce to the global multi-stakeholder community where widely supported by a range of stakeholders including the congress. do i have your commitment to continuity in these respects? >> well, as i understand it there is no real alternative on the table to the eye cap situation, so for the moment there's nothing else to consider. i'm not aware that there's a realistically to do anything about it. on the privacy side, i think we need to balance a couple of things going forward. the agreements that exist obviously exist but i think going forward that will be a tension between privacy on the one hand and problems of localization of data and th

drive for you and we will have incredible benefits when it comes to safety, we heard from senator schatzand others, i was at the detroit auto show before coming here, the whole focus of that is mobility. we think we can eliminate nearly all auto crashes, 80 percent of auto crashes could be eliminated saving tens of thousands of lives. this is transformational technology on par with the first car to come off the assembly line, it's that day but as we talked about, it is also an area where there is intense competition and who gets there first with this technology from an international perspective will have a significant competitive advantage. the asians are moving on this very aggressively and the europeans are moving very aggressively. we also know our american auto companies are doing a phenomenal job. ford motor company's announced they would have a production of vehicles by 2021, a mass production vehicle on a self driving vehicle available, that's roughly 5 years so we may see that accelerated. i want to touch on a couple issues. speed is critical. we have top competition so we need t

was joined by a number of my colleagues including several on the committee, senator booker, senator schatzkey. we wrote in response to a number of claims an incident in which travelers with israeli passports were denied, and we wrote to the department of transportation which agreed that the incidence warranted further inquiry. the department of commerce in effect deflected our inquiry providing real information or concern. that raises for me a very important over all issues standing up to efforts to boycott israel or any other country. in these kinds of his his dealings. i'm asking you to commit to make this issue a priority and agree to enforce the anti-boycott laws to the fullest extent of your authority. we are talking about existing laws that need enforcement. >> i believe, senator, the president-elect has made clear his pro-israel attitude. and i certainly would do my part to uphold the laws. >> thank you. i'd like to ask you also about cybersecurity, following up on that very helpful comments you've just made. as you well know this nation is under cyber attack literally everyday from

schatz: i vote no on behalf of people who need mental health care. the presiding officer: debate is not allowed during a vote. mrs. gillibrand: how am i recorded? the presiding officer: the senator is not recorded. mrs. gillibrand: i vote no on behalf of -- the presiding officer: debate is not allowed during a vote. a senator: this is rule and inhumane. mr. murphy: i vote no. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. a senator: madam clerk, how am i recorded? the presiding officer: the senator is not recorded. a senator: on behalf of the thousands of new hampshire who are suffering from addiction and will lose treatment, i vote no. the presiding officer: debate is not allowed. ms. hirono: madam clerk, how am i recorded? the presiding officer: the senator is not recorded. ms. hirono: on behalf of the 200,000 seniors losing medicare, i vote no. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. warner: madam clerk, how am i recorded? on behalf of the children of the commonwealth of virginia, i vote no. a senator: madam clerk? mr. blument