for t senator russell died and was known as a senator's senator. he had great respect from all of his colleagues, regardless of their ideology, their party, so that building was named for richard russell who was a democrat. and for some balance, this building was named for a senator everett dirksen who had been the republican leader from 1959 to 19 1969 and who was quite a popular figure with tousled hair, a deep voice, a terrific orator in the old school style. he won an award just for reading patriotic sheet music and speeches with music playing in the background. it was a quite popular piece at the time. ♪ >> down through the years, there have been men, brave, gallant men who have died that others might be free. >> and so dirksen, known at wizard of ooze, just as a popular person who actually represented a great spirit of bipartisanship. because he was the minority leader in the senate with a very small minority. he usually operated with 35 to 3 36 senators on his side. but it was critical when it took two-thirds to cut off a filibuster. so if t

to senator mcconnell, senator inhofe, senator thune, senator necessarily son, just a hero, senator browne members of the conference committee who signed the conference report. so i would yield the floor this time to senator nelson. then we'll go back to senator inhofe. senator? mr. nelson: i thank the senator for yielding. mr. president, i'm going to say two short paragraphs, but, first, my commendations to the leadership that has already been mentioned by the esteemed majority leader. my commendations to my colleague, our chairman on the commerce committee, senator thune, who has been a pleasure to work with, and my unending comments to the staff, including kim lipski, the staff director for our minority staff on the commerce committee. i just wanted to echo what you've said, because of this bill, we're going to provide states and communities with over $300 billion over five years to repair the roads and bridges of this country and greatly improve rail and port projects. and as a result, we are going to create jobs. in my state of florida, this translates to $12 million that can be used

senior senator from tennessee, senator lamar alexander. you know, the chairman had an opportunity to go down a partisan road, but instead he committed to work with me earlier this year to get this important bill done. i was very proud to work with him and many of our colleagues to break through the gridlock and keep this bill moving forward. together we passed our bill through the help committee with strong bipartisan support. we passed our bill in the senate with strong bipartisan support. we got approval from our bicameral conference committee with strong bipartisan support. last week the house passed this final legislation with strong bipartisan support. and today i hope our colleagues will approve this final bill with the same bipartisan spirit that has guided this progress thus far. now, nearly everyone agrees that no child left behind is badly broken. i have heard from parent after parent, teacher after teacher about how the law overemphasized testing and how oftentimes those tests are redundant or unnecessary. and i've seen firsthan

for t senator russell died and was known as a senator's senator. he had great respect from all of his colleagues, regardless of their ideology, their party, so that building was named for richard russell who was a democrat. and for some balance, this building was named for a senator everett dirksen who had been the republican leader from 1959 to 19 1969 and who was quite a popular figure with tousled hair, a deep voice, a terrific orator in the old school style. he won an award just for reading patriotic sheet music and speeches with music playing in the background. it was a quite popular piece at the time. ♪ >> down through the years, there have been men, brave, gallant men who have died that others might be free. >> and so dirksen, known at wizard of ooze, just as a popular person who actually represented a great spirit of bipartisanship. because he was the minority leader in the senate with a very small minority. he usually operated with 35 to 3 36 senators on his side. but it was critical when it took two-thirds to cut off a filibuster. so if t

senator ayotte, senator baldwin, senator collins, senator casey, senator johnson, senator portman, senator blumenthal are some of the senators who've eloquently made their case on the floor of the senate. they came and argued the merits of the perkins loan program. most of their arguments relied on the use of these loans by students to provide financing up to a student's full cost of attendance to meet a gap in funding that's above their direct federal loan limits for the very neediest students, or they argued it was an important resource for students in urgent circumstances such as when the student's parent loses a job. i listened to these senators. many i've listened to -- i've listened to university presidents and others who have talked with me about it. as a result, today i come here with what i believe is a fair compromise, cosponsored by the senators that i mentioned, to address the specific issues raised. we propose a two-year extension of the perkins loan program while we work on a long-term solution for simplifying the student aid program. this extension will give us time to move

one worked for senator vitter when senator vitter was chairman. he now works for chairman inhofe dimitri kerketos. dimitri has been amazing in terms of his staff ability and understanding and we appreciate his help. ryan jackson who is chairman inhofe's staff director. zack begg with senator vitter. colin pepperard. end early with senator white whitehouse. jasmine hunt with senator durbin. ls is a jones -- lisa jones with senator coons. i think i mentioned jonathan black on my staff but we've had incredible work by my legislative director, andrew wallace, all of my staff at various points because this has been a heavy burden. it picked up parts where others had to work hard on this. and so i just appreciate so much for my chief of staff to everybody in the office, all the really hard work that has been done. we also had the opportunity to consult with and ask for help from the senate legislative counsel. they worked to turn around text so quickly at crucial points. that makes all the difference in the world sometimes to be able to have a text, get

senator. it's now my pleasure to swro deuce the executive director of the mili center at the university of virginia, bill antholis. before joining the mili center last year, bill served as the managing director of the brookings institute where he oversaw five research programs and over 400 employees. before that, he had a december ting wished career where he was the director of international economic affairs of the national security council. le me say we could not have asked for a better partner in this endevil than the mili center. their experience, their expertise, their determination and their perns veerns to bringing this important historic project to life is unmatched. bill? [ applause ] >> thank you, gene. thank you everyone, for coming. this is the largest oral history we've done. we've done the official oral history for every president going back to jimmy carter. started in the business by doing a series of oral history conferences about the ford administration. >> 80 interviews, inclu

senator carper, senator whitehouse, senator merkley, senator markey, senator booker. many, many senators on that committee focused in with you and with -- with senator vitter to make sure that we got this done. so i'm -- i'm very proud of what we have done today. i think it will be looked back on as a major environmental accomplishment in terms of bipartisan and pulling people together and the thing that we did that i'm very proud of is we had all stakeholders at the table and we listened to them and we proceeded through, and it's a real tribute to your ability as a legislator. i mean, we don't have to be convinced on this bill. just earlier in the year you produced a transportation bill which was a major accomplishment for five years. and so now once again, chairman inhofe, this has showed how you're able to pull people together and get this done. so i -- i once again just want to thank you. i know there are additional comments that we'll make later on, but i know that the lautenberg family has followed this closely. bonnie lautenberg has followed this. they're going

senate. his tenure in the senate was eventful for several reasons. he, for example, was an outspoken critic of america's strategic priorities in world war ii. in the aftermath of pearl harbor, he publicly expressed his belief that the u.s. should pursue a japan first policy as opposed to focusing on the european theater of the war. as you recall, churchill was intent on the u.s. fighting in europe first. in 1943 as a member of the military affairs committee chandler and several lawmakers went off on a 63-day inspection of american forces overseas. during the delegation's voyage, chandler met winston churchill and he was able to smuggle his friend, comedian bob hope, in to meet the prime minister. but at the end of the day chandler's career on capitol hill demonstrates that the senate is not everyone's cup of tea. it is a collegial, not an executive body. chandler didn't like the senate because he wasn't the boss. and he probably doubly didn't like the senate because barkley was the majority leader. given his dissatisfaction in the senate, when the of

we'll recognize the senator from washington, senator cantwell. ms. cantwell: thank you, mr. chairman. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. ms. cantwell: i rise to thank my colleagues hoff who worked so hard on this transportation package we just voted on and to thank chairman inhofe and senator boxer for their hard work and also chairman thune and senator nelson from the commerce committee for their hard work. the last thing i would have predicted at the beginning of this year is that senator boxer would have joined forces with senator mcconnell to force through a transportation package that many of us probably thought wasn't even a reality. and i just want to thank the gentlewoman from california because i think there are times in everybody's career where you have to decide that you are going to stand up and push forward no matter how many arrows are shot in their back or how many questions people ask. autograph vision of a path you see and you realize that at the end that you think you can produce a package that will really be good for americ. and that's wha

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: right at this moment there are senators of this esteemed body that are doing something that is not so he is -- not so esteemed. they are working to put into some of the must-pass legislation that we will be considering today and in the days to come, something known as the dark act. the dark act is to deny americans the right to know act. it takes away the ability of states to make sure that the citizens of their state have the knowledge they would like to have about the food they eat. now we've seen in the toxics discussion here in the senate how important it is to individual states to have the ability to identify for their citizens what is in the everyday household products that they have, their spoons and their plates, their bedding and so forth. but it is much more important, it is an order of magnitude more important to citizens to have the right at the state level to decide how to inform individuals about what is in the food they eat. so this proposal to put the dark act

senator boxer. senator: i just spoke with the mayor of san bernandino and he had after i expressed my grief, he said ask everyone to pray for san bernandino. and so, senator schumer, thank you. i also as the senator has offered the help of any federal agency. i know the f.b.i. has been there from the get-go. my heart's broken again. i remember so long ago, when john walked into 101 california. this was a disgruntled man who walked into a law office and killed a lot of people and one of them happened to be my son's best friend. and senator feinstein stepped up and said, what is happening with these assault weapons? and she's been on the case ever since. i'm so proud to be her partner on this. my heart is broken again, whether it's connecticut, whether it's washington, whether it's oregon, new york -- name every state, they have all had this happen. we look at the pain, the trauma, the fear. we look at war zones in our own country. war zones? i want to thank the medical personnel, the first responders

thank you, senator. we appreciate your work on this. >> as we have seen you work so hard on many of these issues. we are grateful for you. i am grateful to have all of these people on my committee helping out. mr. president, i am focusing mainly on temporary provisions. if i start talking about the extensions on the bill we would be here all day. i do, however, also want to give credit where it is due on the obamacare provisions. for years now, our position to the misguided medical device tax, the most charitable description of that tax you will ever hear from me, has been gaining momentum. throughout that time, senator toomey, burr and coach worked hard to push the repeal. our bill would take a significant step forward in this effort by imposing a two-year moratorium on this job-killing tax. i haven't mentioned the other side but klobuchar has stood with me and so many on the other side of the aisle as well for getting rid of that tax. let me just say it is a pleasure for me to work with senator wyden,

senator cruz is doing that. the liberty lane people love , senator cruz. grassroots conservative lane, people love senator cruz. when you go to the evangelical lane they love him. he has straddled as well, i think that is what has lifted him up in the polls. mark: you have run a lot of races beside your chosen candidate, who else can win the caucuses? bob: i think donald trump is -- we are in uncharted territory. we do not know what is going to happen there. if you turns out the crowds to the caucus-goers he could increase those numbers. he could win the iowa caucuses. mark: anybody else? betweenhink it is down donald trump and ted cruz. rubio is going to make a strong cause as well. ted cruz has the opportunity to win iowa and dominate iowa. if he dominates iowa it is game on in new hampshire and south are loaded everyplace else -- south carolina and every lace else -- place else. john: let me ask you one thing about ted cruz's father. you said today that he had an important role in this endorsement in some way. explain what you think it is about ted cruz

, senator schatz, senator udall, senator shaheen, senator merkley, senator markey, senator coons. it may not be in that order, but between now and 2:45. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. cardin: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i had the opportunity of heading a delegation this past weekend of ten senators that went to paris for the cop-21 talks. that's the climate change talks that are taking place in paris. i was very proud of our delegation consisting of senator whitehouse, senator franken, senator markey, senator merkley, senator udall, senator shaheen, senator booker and senator schatz. all of us participated in the meetings that took place in paris. we were impressed that 150 leaders of the world at one time were in paris and showed their support for a successful outcome on climate change and to express their urgency for dealing with this issue. it was i think a strong follow-up to the challenge pope francis gave all of us as to the moral challenge of our time to protect our planet for future generations. we recognize that our global h

and you are right about senator murray, she is a terrific senator. but she understands what ,enators need to understand which is that all you want to do is make a speech, you can get your own radio show and do that. when you come to the senate, you should try to get a result. and she is very result oriented. it was because of that relationship that we were able to get something done. number one, what we want to turn our attention to next is what we call our innovation bill could hardly get treatment -- innovation bill. the regulatory investment discussion process faster and cheaper? the house has already passed what it calls 21st century cures. working for years on a whole variety of bipartisan ideas. i hope that is our next and then the other big priority is higher education. we need to simple five the jungle of red tape that governs our education. and we need to make it easier and simpler for kids to go to college. i brought with me and little bit -- a little prop. this is a form that 20 million families fill out every year in order to get a grant

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i ask consent to speak for three minutes. i understand i wasn't in the original request. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. klobuchar: thank you very much, mr. president. when i was a prosecutor, we had one straightforward goal: convict the guilty and protect the innocent. to me, that simple mission still holds true. we must make our world safer by rooting out evil in our midst while still protecting the rights of people who mean no harm. those 14 people in san bernardino, that american aide worker killed in mali, innocent families whose planes exploded over egypt and those young people killed and maimed in paris deserve nothing less. that means, of course, taking out the evil at its roots, increasing our efforts and leading an international coalition against isis. and it means keeping our homeland safe. part of that is tightening the visa waiver program. some of it is the work that must be done on encryption. but there is one commonsense way to get at this terro

s capitol hill leading spouse -- namely, senator shelby and the senior senator from illinois, senator durbin. overturn to ndaa's restriction. that's exactly what they've done -- again, secretly, nontransparently, as part of this massive -- 2,000-page omnibus appropriations bill. as i said, neither senator shelby nor senator durbin nor any other senator raised objections to the provisions of the bill that we are offered any alternative during the authorization process on the senate floor. that is a repudiation of the rights of every single senator in this body that is not a member of the appropriations committee. in fact, as i've said, and this issue was debated and voted on in the committee of armed services, the authorizing committee of jurisdiction, voted in favor of maintaining the restriction. instead, my colleagues on the appropriations committee crafted this provision in secret with no debate to overturn the will of the senate as expressed in two national defense authorization acts, and the result will enable a monopolies stick corporation -- monopolistic corporation to send pot

senator -- >> hop on the back. >> i love it. >> congress woman -- >> aloha. >> state senator, maria -- >> senator tom harkin. >> sometime us don't even have to win the caucus to come in second or third, and no one expected it. >> governor rick klein. >> congressman johnson. >> paul strauss. >> any candidate seeking to earn the awesome and sacred trust of the president of the united states has become engaged with the people of iowa. >> the highest ranked in the state of iowa. >> congress woman -- >> senator joe lieberman. >> senator chuck graham, please. >> he described it like going to heaven. >> at the end of the day, that's it. >> i think it's important. because it's the first >> a potential castro ticket. who the vice president will be? >> as mentioned. she had her call to service. she got in law school. she could have gone to a law firm, made a lot of money and had a very fabulous life. so she took a job with the children's defense fund and went to work for women and children, and dedicated her whole life to those issues. even when, in arkansas, when her husband became governor, s

also with these bigger than life senate figures like senator john mcclellan of arkansas, senator sam ervin, north carolina, strom thurmond, south carolina, james eastland of mississippi, they wanted to stop thurgood marshall's hearing. they wanted to stop him in his attacks because of his work at an naacp lawyer in the '40s and 50s when he took various cases all the way to the supreme court and knocked it down so many of the laws that were hurting blacks. and so in 1967 you have this line drawn in the sand. it was like, it was like wordplay that took place at the o.k. corral. thurgood marshall of the legendary lawyer and his legendary senators. and i think my timing just happened to be good, i guess you might say, because it seems that a lot of people around the country have been reacting very positively to this book. high school students, students in college, lay people, judges, lawyers, young, older. and so it's just been extremely wonderful to travel around the country about the people about thurgood marshall who, in terms of history, had seemed somewhat lost. you know, he's not a

senator cruz: >>senator cruz: 10. did you have fun? senator cruz: >> yes. good, -- >> yes. senator cruz: good, i'm glad you came. >> you went to country. i came from poland. we think about that, when you came. senator cruz: absolutely. we need america back. >> that's why i came here. senator cruz: you have seen firsthand what happens when it's taken away. i told themere and that obama was a communist. fortor cruz: thank you setting up that roundtable. [indiscernible] thank you very much. >> you are going to save the country. senator cruz: we are going to do together. [indiscernible] >> thank you very much. senator cruz: god bless you. [indiscernible] >> thank you. welcome, thank you for being here. thank you for coming. [indiscernible] >> an article that you might find interesting, i wrote it, it's about arnold schwarzenegger running for president. i'll read it. thank you. >> we are voting for you for sure. >> would you take a picture of my two daughters in there? thank you very much. thanks for playing, sir. thank you so much. senator cruz: thank you. i'm going to slide ov

senator from the commonwealth of massachusetts, senator edward kennedy.lso acknowledge the members of the massachusetts delegation and memberses of the house. it was ted kennedy who first escorted ed brooke into the senate chamber in 1967. he worked with senator brooke in a bipartisan way for their great state senator kennedy's legislation has been acknowledged and gave us the opportunity joining with congresswoman ellenor holmes norton in the south, gave us the opportunity to honor senator edward brooke today. he came to the senate after a distinguished career as we all know as a public servant and army veteran and leader in boston, the first african-american elected attorney general in our country, and yet, as senator brooke recounts himself, there were many who scolded his ambition and encouraged patience. he said he was often asked, ed, why the rush? why are you in such a hurry? edward brooke was a than a hurry for equality and progress on civil rights, on ending the vietnam war and on issues of national fairness such as increasing the minimum wage, e

senator graham: i appreciate it. >> senator, truly. thank you. >> thank you. [indiscernible] >> all that money they have spent trying to neutralize ass ad. senator graham: they are waking up. >> i hope so. nobody'sraham: perfect. we have to deal with the hand we are dealt. i would work with them as president. >> i can say -- senator graham: destroying isil is the number one goal. and the way you people destroyed , is make sure that shia and sunni's are living together as p/e -- in peace, which they did for generations. you want to help iraq. , we carebout security about moving forward. >> as long as you have the division, how do you get around it? senator graham: people are ready to move on. they don't wake up everyday thinking they are going to kill people. that is why i know what is working. foundational he -- foundationally. they want to move on. iraq was in a good place before the war. they took to the streets. not just women. they want a better life. not just young people. >> that is the picture. senator graham: we need a president who knows how to unders

senators, and western senators as i can. especially the ones that are on the fence about thurgood marshall. i will try to persuade them to vote for thurgood marshall. so that help. there is no doubt that help. >> what was the political breakdown? the partisan breakdown? >> most of the democrats were southern democrats, so they were the ones that went against marshall. marshall got a lot of help from republican. eastern republicans. what are the big heroes of the hearing was everett dirksen of illinois who would send letters to people telling them this is a signature moment for the united states of america. we need to show our metal by confirming thurgood marshall to the supreme court. so, so, it was one of those things that we do not see a lot of washington now, is bipartisan, in the end it really was. that is how thurgood marshall got on the supreme court. >> so it sounds like 20 senators did not vote in that. >> yes, i'm so glad that you mention that. that was the margin of victory. needless to say, lyndon johnson who is a

and senator blunt and senator murray and others, senator dur bin, made sure that the $2 billion of extra spending this year for the national institutes of health. that's a 7% increase and a big step forward. i'm willing to consider what i call an nih innovation fund, that would help with the president's precision medicine initiative that would help young researchers and the other collins has at dr. come up with, and pay for it with mandatory funding. replaces other mandatory funding so i'm willing that, under some circumstances. i don't know if my republican willing s are but i'm to do it. i'm willing to do it because this is such an exciting time in science. we're coming up with so many things to help people and we have a person like francis collins who's a genius, for the national institutes of health, we ought to take advantage of that. it affects every american. i'm willing to do something i that's wouldn't do and going to be one of the toughest parts of the innovation bill that we have to decide. awesome. thank you. in his law, the act brings what you've called the national school b

s capitol hill leading spouse -- namely, senator shelby and the senior senator from illinois, senator durbin. overturn to ndaa's restriction. that's exactly what they've done -- again, secretly, nontransparently, as part of this massive -- 2,000-page omnibus appropriations bill. as i said, neither senator shelby nor senator durbin nor any other senator raised objections to the provisions of the bill that we are offered any alternative during the authorization process on the senate floor. that is a repudiation of the rights of every single senator in this body that is not a member of the appropriations committee. in fact, as i've said, and this issue was debated and voted on in the committee of armed services, the authorizing committee of jurisdiction, voted in favor of maintaining the restriction. instead, my colleagues on the appropriations committee crafted this provision in secret with no debate to overturn the will of the senate as expressed in two national defense authorization acts, and the result will enable a monopolies stick corporation -- monopolistic corporation to send pot

senator boxer. >> thank you, senator. >> let he help you. >> this is -- go ahead. >> i just also spoke with the mayor of san bernardino, and he had, after i expressed my grief and solidarity, he just said, ask everyone to pray for san bernardino, and so senator schumer, thank you. i also, as senator feinstein has done, offer the help of any federal agency. i know the fbi has been there from the get-go. look, my heart is broken again. i well remember so long ago dianne when john ferry walked into 101 california. this was a disgruntled man who walked interest a law office -- walked into a law office and killed a lot of people, and one of them happened to by my son's best friend. and senator feinstein then stepped up and said, what is happening? with these assault weapons. and she has been on the case ever since. i'm so proud to be her partner in this. my heart is broken again. whether it's connecticut, whether it's washington, whether it's oregon, whether it's new york, name every state, they've all had this happen. we looked at the pain, the trauma, the fear. we look at war zones in our

at the hearing when senator kerry showed up, senator cotton ask senator kerry i thought a very good question he said 500 copper tipped ieds -- soldiers and marines were killed by this. what we tell the gold star mothers? he is now calling the shots in both baghdad and damascus. he is the head of the iranian revolutionary guard and he is now controlling both iraq, syria, yemen, and lebanon. and moving it to other places. this is the result of no leadership. and this is a later that can lead. senator graham: i have to do some shopping one of these days. the fact that john mccain would come up. endorsement for president is the highlight of my political life. [applause] now -- senator mccain: -- [indiscernible] -- to translate. [laughter] senator graham: i don't know where my campaign is going to wind up, but i know this. i know who i am and why i am running. putin has a pair of twos. his economy is the size of italy. if i was president, we would export natural gas that we have in abundance. i'm tired of spending $350 billion a year overseas. so i would become energy independent. i would reinfor

senator warren: thank you. despite the importance of attacking the financial foundation of isis, republican leadership has been holding up adam zubin's nomination for eight months. mr. zubin is impeccably qualified for the position. republicans do not contest that. he has worked at the treasury department for over a decade under democratic and republican administrations. i will be really brief because the chair has only given us extra time. do you think senate confirmation of mr. zubin will aid the fight against isis? mr. harrell: i absolutely think it would. i have had the privilege of working with adam zubin. he would be an indoor mislead effective leader. -- enormously effective leader. as we all know being confirmed is being -- different than serving. warren: thank you very much. if we are serious about taking down isis, we need to aggressively target its use of the international financial system to move money around. congress does not look very serious about this threat when it indefinitely delays the conf

so i asked senator enzi, the senator from wyoming, how is it that you and senator kennedy who are polar opposites with find common ground and actually work productively on the help committee. senator enzi told me and i have never forgotten it. he said it's simple. it's the 80-20 rule. we look for the 80%, if possible, that we can find common ground and agree on, and the 20% we can't agree on, we leave for another fight another day. and that's always stuck with me as a very constructive way to work in a highly polarized environment where many of us just share completely different views about public policy. but we owe it to our constituents and to this institution and to the american people to try to find common ground where we can. and to offer them constructive solutions as we have done time and time again this congress. so while there are some who want to distract or miss construe or deny the fact, the fact is there has been bipartisan accomplishment this year, but it takes leadership and frankly appeared to take a new majority and a new majority leader after this last election to get

many of us senators, women senators, we are the first women to get elected to the united states senate from our respective states. that was the case -- [applause] that wasn't the case for id. that's the case for me and when hillary clinton becomes our first female president, it will signal to all the girls in this country that they can do and be anything. [applause] and, of course, when hillary becomes our president that will be a first to the nth degree. and so now i have the privilege of introducing one of my other sisters, we all campaign together in 2012, and that is my sister tammy baldwin from wisconsin. [cheers and applause] tammy is the first openly gay person to be elected to the united states senate. [cheers and applause] and when she was asked about this historic first, and he said, i'm not running to make history. i'm running to make a difference. [applause] so my friend tammy baldwin, give it up for her. [applause] >> thank you. wow what a great crowd but everyone here ready for hillary. [cheers and applause] well, i just wanted to share for a couple of seconds the reasons

senate in 1956. transylvania university and the henry clay university for statesmanship posted this talk. -- hosted this talk. sen. mcconnell: thank you very much for hosting me here today. it happens to be veterans day, as well, a good day to remember those who served our country over the years. i also wanted to acknowledge my good friend ben chandler. course,is family, of are descendents of one of the people i'm going to be talking about today. kentucky has been extremely well served with ben as executive director of the kentucky humanities council, and i want to thank him for sharing some of the anecdotes i'm going to use today. finally, i want to thank chris and thend fred karam professors who have contributed in one way or another not only to my remarks today but to a series of speeches i've been doing on prominent kentucky senators over the past couple years. are here to discuss the lives and intersecting careers of three men. two of these three men helped define kentucky politics for much of t

then a senate seat opened up. he was appointed and won a special election next year and a senate.m in 1942 to the it was eventful for several .easons he was an outspoken critic of america's strategic priorities and world war ii. in the aftermath of parole he expressed his belief that they japan-firste a policy rather than focusing on theater.ean churchill was intent on the u.s. fighting in europe first. in 1943, as a member of the military chamber, and they went off on a 63-day inspection of american forces overseas. during the voyage, chandler met winston churchill and was able to smuggle his friend, comedian bob hope, in to meet the prime .inister his career on capitol hill demonstrates that the senate is not everyone's cup of tea. it is a collegial, not an executive party. happy was better suited to be an executive. as his longtime friend recalled, chandler did not like the senate because he was not the boss. he probably double he did not kley the senate because bar was majority leader. in 1945, chandler jumped

this was senator ted kennedy. and as soon as he came in and sat down, the television lights came on. and when he asked his questions, the lights were on. and as soon as he left, even though another senator was speaking, the lights went off. it must have been dispiriting for the senator speaking at the time, but that was the reality of the situation. today we're used to gavel-to-gavel coverage, and you can watch it almost any time. there are a lot more highlights that become available of those hearings. the biggest hearings that that he place often are in the senate caucus room in the russell building. it's just a large space. but many of the hearings that we consider that sort of led up to those big blockbuster hearings took place here in the dirksen building. far more hearings, for instance, about the vietnam war took place in the foreign relations committee's hearing room here in the dirksen building than did the big, spectacular hearings that they held when they moved into the caucus room. and you see that play

the clerk: senate resolution 333, to direct the senate legal counsel and so forth. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: so, mr. president, i now ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 3:00 p.m. monday, december the 14th. following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. further, following leader remarks, the senate be in a period of morning business until 5:00 p.m. with senators to speak therein up to 10 minutes each. finally, at 5:00 p.m., the senate then proceed to executive session as under the previous order. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: so if there's no further busines

senate. .. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. today's opening prayer will be offered by rear admiral brent w. scott, deputy chief of chaplains for the united states navy and chaplain of the marine corps in washington, d.c. the guest chaplain: please join me in prayer. heavenly father, we begin this day in the privilege of prayer, thanking you for this great nation, a people gathered from every tongue and tribe, bound together through the more noble ideals of liberty and justice and equality, formed and favored as one nation under god. we ask your help as you continue to make us as one. we pray for our senate in this session, and ask you to bless them with wisdom and discernment to lead our people toward reconciliation, to rebuild our nation's confidence in justice, to restore our sense of equality. free each one from the divisive distractions of any lesser ideals that they may more powerfully serve the people as a body of, by, and for the people, making every effort to keep and protect a more perfect union. we pray blessing also

a senator: mr. president is? the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mr. sasse: thank you, mr. president. mr. inhofe: i ask unanimous consent that at the conclusion of the remarks by the senator from nebraska and the senator from georgia that i be recognized along with the senator from new mexico. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. sasse: mr. president, today i'd like to propose a thought experiment. imagine president trump has been propelled into the whitehouse with 300 electoral votes -- ints personality and his promise to get things done by acting unilaterally. the first 100 days are huge. he signs an order that turns the peace corps into stonemasons to build the southern wall. he shutters the department of education, and by executive order he turns the department of interior into the classiest oil company the world has ever known. what happens next? would those who have stayed silent about executive overreach over the last seven years suddenly find religion after years of legislative atrophy would congress spring into act

tell me, a sitting member of the senate, tell me that this particular senator couldn't think of more than six other senators to have over to his house for dinner. >> host: right. you speak of the collegiality, and the collegiality when i was in senate was disappearing. a lot of the problems we see now i think go back to those years, but what do you see is a contributing to the dysfunction of the senate today, from the collegiality of the past to the kind of combative partisanship that characterizes the institution now? >> guest: i think there are number of components to that. but i think that one of the problems is just scheduling, and the need for senators to be on the road raising money. in relatively small increments. so i think that most that a senator can raise for a campaign from an individual is $2,700 for at the primary, same for the general election. meanwhile, these uncontrolled groups, pacs and the individual contributors can put in anything they want. so, the senator who wants to define a message has to go out on the road and raise maybe $15 million, 2,520,000,000 daz, 25

senate as we go to the senate floor here on c-span2. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal god, help us ever to see eternity beyond time. as our senators labor, may they do so with an eternal perspective. remind them that they are serving you as well as country, preparing themselves for the higher joy of service in the world to come. in this season of hope, remind us of your breakthrough into time to give us eternal life. help us to see and count life's blessings so that our lives may flow in ceaseless praise. lord, thank you for your promise to be with us always to the end of the world and beyond. we pray in your mighty name. amen. the president pro tempore: pleae join me in reciting the pledge f allegiance to our flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. mr. mcconnell: mr. president?

a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cruz: reserving the right to object. in the hours that have followed the tragic shooting in san bernadino, when all of our prayers are with the families of those who were murdered, of those who were injured, more and more of us are becoming concerned that this reflects a manifestation of radical islamic terrorism here in america. the facts are still not entirely clear, but in the wake of the paris attack, it is appearing more and more likely that's what this was. in the wake of these horrific attacks by radical islamic terrorists, it has become abundantly clear that president obama's iranian nuclear deal -- mr. cardin: i ask that this come off the republican time. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. cruz: i didn't hear what the question was. mr. cardin: your time, not our time. mr. cruz: sure. the presiding officer: without objection, the time consumed by the senator from texas will come off the republican time. mr. cruz: in light of these terrorist attacks, president obama

-- of the senate, i should say. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. i ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and that these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, i rise today to honor my commerce committee staff director, dave sweedert who is leaving the hill after almost 16 years of service here in the united states senate. early in dave's career, he worked for the late senator craig thomas, and for the past 11 years, dave has worked on my staff, serving his home state of south dakota. he started with me as a staffer at the environment and public works committee when i first arrived in the senate. after i left the environment and public works committee, i was then lucky enough to have dave serve as my legislative director for six years. when i became ranking member of the commerce committee, dave came over as minority staff director, a position in which he served for two years before becoming majority staff dir

>> to our, senator. -- thank you,oint senator. on the first point, i share your frustration that we cannot solve every problem at one. we were never able to settle human rights questions and questions of foreign intervention or a host of other issues. yes, those agreements were vital to national security, and i think, without making any kind of prediction about iran, laid the groundwork for eventual that was made in eastern europe and eventually the soviet union. they were limited. they did not solve every issue at once. in the case of what we can expect from the security council , i take very well the senators point that we should force people to be on the record. further, i think it is important that we continue to support of our own expertise. it will have, i hope, a bigger role in identifying and publicizing the violations by and merchants outside of iran. that kind of publicity is what we rely upon when we go make the argument to exporting country or transshipment company. you have to do something to stop that shipment of act

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. a senator: i ask the quorum call be vitiated. mr. hoeven: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to make the case for lifting the 40-year-old ban on exporting crude oil. it will benefit not only my home state of north dakota but our nation and our allies in a host of different ways. he that'sie worked hard to include legislation repealing the ban in the year-end legislation congress now has under consideration. importantly, this is must-pass legislation, meaning that it will be very hard for the president to veto the oil exporl export ban. taken together, the reasons for lifting the oil export ban are very powerful. doing so would encourage more domestic production. it would increase the global supply of crude oil, reducing the cost at the pump for our consumers, particularly over the long term. it will help grow our economy and create good-paying jobs for our citizens. and the last reason is vital the important as well -- vitally important as well, particularly now as we work on maki

and i'd say under the leadership of senator mcconnell, the senior senator from kentucky, the senate's been able to begin the process once again of solving real problems for the american people, from dealing with human trafficking to our children's education. and i look forward to continuing this progress for the rest of the week and for the rest of the year as well. mr. president, i would yield the floor and i note the absence of a quorum. quorum call: mr. hatch: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call being dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. hatch: mr. president, i i'm grateful for this opportunity to offer a few remarks on the every student succeeds act. to be honest, i wasn't sure we would ever reach this point, given the often contentious and sensitive nature of the educational debate. but it is only fitting that we have spent so much time and energy trying to get the best bill we can. after all, the future of our nation depends on it. our states depend on it. our schools depend

in a new and more open senate, senator burr, republican, and senator feinstein, a democrat, were able to ensure that it ultimately did. after years of inaction, the senate took bipartisan action to lift children up with better educational opportunities. many said the every child achieves act would never pass the senate, but we proved them wrong. we proved it could actually pass by a wide bipartisan margin. in a new and more open senate, senator alexander, a republican, and senator murray, a democrat, were able to ensure that it ultimately did. and after years of inaction, the senate took bipartisan action to meaningfully improve our roads and infrastructure over the coming years. many said that a long-term highway and transportation funding act would never pass the senate, but we proved them wrong. we proved it could actually pass by a wide bipartisan margin. in a new and more open senate, senator inhofe, a republican, and senator boxer, a democrat, were able to ensure that it ultimately did. today we're on the verge of passing that bill again. we're on the verge of passing it into la

senator feinstein was good on cyber security. having the cooperation of the other side in a body that require 60 to do most things is needed. that is how you get a good result. what would you like to talk about? said that hehumer and paul ryan will work on overseas corporate tax reform. do you think that is a good next -- is that a good thing? sen. mcconnell: this speaker can't speak for himself. we need to do comprehensive tax reform. what are the conditions under which you will achieve that? you need a bipartisan agreement revenue neutral to the government. the second principle is to treat as nearly as you can in a similar fashion. i do not think we will be able to do any kind of tax reform with this president unless he changes. because he does not want revenue neutrality to the government. and when there was flirtation with the territorial system during the highway bill debate, the revenue was used to be spent. the republicans say that compounds of tax form ought to be revenue neutral. it ought to be revenue produced by elimin

i thank her partner on the subcommittee, the senator from new mexico, senator udall. working together had to provide a framework in which the omnibus reflects an appropriation that we'll vote on later this week containing $1.6 billion for fire funding suppression. that's $500 million more than last year, so i consider it a very good down payment. congress has recognized that it's very important to provide funding for fire suppression and that at sufficient levels so that agencies can address the issues of prevention and hazardous fuel reduction. and this is something that is critically important. so i'm pleased that this is a very large increase in firefighting accounts this year, besides the 50% increase in fire sup pregnancy. as my colleague mentioned, a $317 million in hazardous fuel reduction and new grants to local communities to decrease their fire hazards, additional fuel reduction projects like controlled burns in our forests and research on protecting homes during massive wildfires. this is critically important to my state as they have over the last two seaso

or to the edge of the senate where it will shortly arrive in the senate the governor general and thoset with some young people, some new canadians and syrian refugees who have come to canada, part of those folks in that sector, the receiving line at the senate blower as the official delegation arrived on parliament hill and were met by canada's political leaders, commissioner of the rcmp that you saw there, part of that delegation for today's speech. in the next couple moments what will happen is the delegation led by the governor general will make its way into the senate chamber, and we will have the speaker of the senate who will then be effectively order the unsure of the black rod it to make his way to the senate to the house of commons to summon members of the house back to the senate for the reading of the speech. so we will let you absorb these images and stand by for the next part of this formal protest, centuries of tradition will begin to unfold again here on parliament hill. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversation