senate. i'm thinking about senator byrd before you who spent so much time. that your interest in history is not as shared among as in the old days? senator mcconnell: i don't really know but i know there are who read a lot of american history. i've always been interested in it. thesis, i did my senior in college on henry clay and the compromise compromise of 1850. i have a depiction of that, which i'll show you, subsequently. so i've always had an interest in it. and once i moved into this office and became republican theer, we got interested in history of this space and produced a pamphlet that sort of outlines the various things that have occurred here over the years. int: what did it look like 1800? senator mcconnell: well, you smallererything was then. there's a plaque in the hall that points out that in 1800 this would have been shortly after they got here the house of met inntatives actually this space and conducted the 36 ballot election that determined that thomas jefferson would be o

, senator mikulski's amendment 4030, senator daines amendment 4008, senator brown's amendment 3920, senator inhofe's amendment 3969, senator boxer's amendment as modified numbered 3935, senator flake's amendment 4038, senator manchin's amendment 4043, senator flake's amendment 3980, senator feinstein's amendment 3944 senator johnson's amendment 3993, senator klobuchar's amendment 3910, senator heller's amendment 4005, senator durbin's amendment 4029, senator sasse's amendment 4023. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report by number. the clerk: the senator from maine, ms. collins proposes en bloc amendments numbered 3997, 3998 3933, 4030, 4008, 3920, 3969 3935 as modified 4038, 4043 3980, 3944, 3993, 3910, 4005 4029 and 4023. ms. collins: mr. president i ask unanimous consent that the senate now vote on these amendments en bloc. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. collins: i know of no further debate on these amendments. the presiding officer: is there further debate? if not all in favor say aye. those opposed say no. t

here is senator cruz on the floor of the senate.begin video clip] >> i cannot believe he would tell a flat out lie. i voted based on those assurances that he made to each and every one of us. what we saw today was an absolute amateurish and that not only would he told every republican senator but when he told the press over and over and simple lie.as a [end video clip] people talk about how he is disliked. he is calling his own leader, mitch mcconnell, a liar. can you do that in the senate? you're not supposed to. betty: you are not supposed to. the senate takes great pride in its decorum and respect in the chamber. starting in 1789 on, there was a set of rules and procedures and one of them is that you do not speak ill of another person on the floor. we have had some famous confrontations in the senate chamber through the years. this was mild compared to many of them that have come along. through this process, they have built a set of rules, brian: who would rule on something like that? d betty koed: whoever is sitting in the presi

the senate would not pass it. in the 1890's and early 20th century there were several cases of people who were alleged or convicted of taking bribes or offering bribes to legislators to get seats. passed what senate became the 17th amendment to establish direct election. brian: here is some video. i want to show this because this is all about the impeachment process. how many times has the senate convicted after impeachment by the house a judge or president or justice? betty: we have had 20 impeachment trial so far. half of them have resulted in conviction. brian: samuel chase? betty: he was acquitted. the first to be convicted -- the first impeachment ever was a senator from tennessee. the time he got to the trial he had already been expelled by the senate so they expelled the case. the first to be convicted was in new hampshire judge name john pickering. from office.d samuel chase was a very politicized case. thomas jefferson had a lot to do with that as president. it was an effort by the republicans to remove f

senator mcconnell: the next summer, i came back on the senate side with senator cooper who was actively involved in breaking the filibuster against the civil rights bill in 1964. i was in the mail room, not exactly making policy in those days. and then i had another story the next year that you would be interested in. i came back to visit the friends that i had made the previous two summers. the next summer, the summer of 1965. and once again i happened to hit it on the right day. i was sitting in the outer office in senator cooper's, you know, the reception area of senator cooper's office hoping to get a chance to see him. he walks out, grabs me by the arm and says [clearing throat] i'm going to take you to something really important. we come over to the rotunda and there i am in the back of the room watching lyndon baines johnson sign the voting rights act of 1965. i had a better seat than i did for the martin luther king speech. and one more anecdote you might be interested in. in 2008, i was in the rotunda. we were celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of l.b.j. and i met l

live coverage of the senate here on c-spanthe senate hereon c-sp. 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. esternal god, the giver of every perfect gift. we thank you for the life and legacy of former senator bob bennet. lord, we praise you for his diligence, integrity, intellect, and courage for he has left exemplary footprints for us to follow. be with his beloved widow, joyce, comforting her and his loved ones and friends in their grief. lord, we also remember sergeant christopher eni, officer jacob chestnut, detective john gibson, and sergeant clinton holtz, u.s. capitol police who gave the last full measure of devotion. remind us that earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal. today give our lawmakers the singularity of heart to seek, find, and follow your will so that their legacy will also be exemplary. we pray in your merciful name. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. i ple

i want to thank the senator -- senator warner and senator schumer, the senators from virginia and new york. they're committed to the veterans in their states and in this country, and i believe that we have worked out an agreement to try to get them the vet ran services that -- veteran services that they have earned and are not receiving at this time. the usual calm and quiet conversation has led to a conclusion that now i can ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment in order to call up amendment 4039. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: the senator from arizona mr. mccain proposes amendment number 4039 to amendment 3896. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from virginia. mr. warner: mr. president, i thank my friend, the senator from arizona, for working with us on this very important issue of making sure that veterans and a number of our states are able to get the kind of care and -- quality care in a location that is convenient t

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. a senator: i ask unanimous consent to vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kirk: mr. president, i want to urge my colleagues to support my v.a. bill moving now to final passage. it's a very bipartisan bill. i want to thank my ranking democratic member, senator jon tester of montana, who has been a greater partner. we have worked with all senators on both sides of the aisle to include their priorities and worked through dozens of amendments. we include more than two dozen amendments in this bill. the bill provides record funding for our veterans health care and it protects whistle-blowers and includes opioid safety, and it also has the raid act to clean up the v.a. so that cockroaches are not in the v.a. kitchens and dining facilities. this bill also adds 100 staff to the i.g.'s office and combats veteran homelessness and it requires better screening of v.a. doctors so they can't switch from

senator robert f. bennett. senator bennett loved the political arena. although his heart was always with his family in utah, he spent many years working on capitol hill, in both the senate and the house and later as a congressional liaison for the department of transportation. he also spent many years in business where his management abilities and his keen mind helped build a successful corporation and earn him awards such as, inc. magazine's entrepreneur of the year. but senator bennett's true passion was for sound public policy, for the development of good policy. he cared little about who wrote policy. he cared even less for who would get the credit for good policy. so long as wise policies were enacted into law, he was happy. that was his objective, and it was a nob one at that. this was apparent to me after a memorable conversation i had with him in 2010. just about six years ago, just before our state's nominating convention at which we were both candidates, i was in the lobby of a local radio and television station waiting to go on the air and wa

i think the sno senator from -- i think the senator from washington, senator murray, and the senator blunt have done a good job of winnowing down the $1.9 billion to the $1.1 billion, which i agree is the right figure. and while we have some other differences, i think the senate is acting in a responsible way, in a bipartisan way, the only way things actually can get done around here. so thank you,man. -- so thank you, mr. president. mr. reid: mr. president, it wasn't because of the good graces of members of the republican senate that president obama took the money from ebola and put it in this fighting the problems we have with zika. the reason he did this, the president did this is he asked nor this money three months ago. three months ago. and they took that money out of des per wages reagan administration because they -- and they took that money out of dedesperation. that money is not waiting to be spent. it's been spent. they need money. they are eoust money. -- they're out of money. there's no more robbing peter to pay paul. this is an emergency and should be handled now becaus

the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. a senator: mr. president, i rise in opposition to s.j. res. 28 and ask to be allowed to speak. the presiding officer: the senator is recognized. mr. wicker: thank you, mr. president. it seems there are only two speakers so perhaps we'll be able to finish this discussion by the top of the hour. last week the senate appropriated a large sum of money to fight the threat of the zika virus. we're going to spend together with what was already available and what was appropriated last year -- last week at least $1 billion fighting this zika threat and probably $2 billion and rightly so. because zika is a potential health threat to americans and we believe it's money well spent to prevent more serious diseases and more serious aflicks -- afflictions to americans. and yet we have in place today an f.d.a. -- a usda program that is protecting americans against 175,000 cases of cancer according to usda documents. it's protecting americans against 91 million exposures to antimicrobials. this usda catfish inspecti

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. a senator: mr. president, tomorrow apparently the senate is going to have an opportunity to weigh in on the issue of whether it is good policy to allow uninspected, adulterated vietnamese catfish into the united states. mr. wicker: that will be the issue before us in the form of a resolution to disapprove a usda regulation. the senate will vote on whether it's a good idea to expose american consumers to catfish containing illegal antibiotics, heavy metals, and other carcinogens. i think the senate will once again say that we need to protect american consumers from these harmful contents of imported catfish and we need to protect them by continuing a new united states department of agriculture catfish inspection program. now, what had happened before we had the usda catfish inspection program? under previous law, the food and drug administration inspected catfish coming into the united states. principally vietnamese catfish. and what we found out in this program, that only 2% of the catfish coming in

senate seat. he has been involved. certainly the chair of our committee, jim inhofe, has been extremely involved in the weeds in a positive way in -- and supportive, and that led over these three years since the introduction of the first version of the bill to this strong bipartisan bill we have before us that passed the house with overwhelming support. not many things pass the u.s. house of representatives with that sort of overwhelming support, i think a total of 12 no votes. not many things come to the u.s. senate with this sort of near-unanimous or near-unanimous support, and nothing in the last several decades in the category of major environmental legislation has done that, and so this is a major achievement, and it's a positive achievement when you look at the substance of the legislation. it ensures proper protection of health and safety for all americans because these are chemicals in products that we use and touch every minute of every day that enhance our lives and quality of life. and

and we're working with senator graham and senator scott and senator mccain to try to take the big mox facility in south carolina and see what we can do about the huge expense of what we're doing there. so we are being good stewards. the president cut $1.4 billion from the corps of engineers -- well, we put it back. we have set new records of level of funding for the corps. there is no funding line in this budget that more senators are concerned with. it includes $1.3 billion for the harbor maintenance fund the third consecutive year that we have done that consistent with the recommendations of our authorizing committees. that deepens harbors in gulfport, charleston, mobile, louisiana, anchorage harbor. it's money for the west coast harbors as well. we take a step toward doubling basic energy research. our top priority was the office of science which for the second consecutive year has a record level of funding for an appropriations bill. $325 million for harper e, an agency we value because of the good work it does. and we support the administration's request to keep the united states

i want to thank senator casey. i want to thank senator brown. i want to thank senator warner. i want to thank senator wyden and all of my colleagues for putting these miners first, keeping the promise that we made to them. it's vitally important that we hold the executives who are willing to put the health and lives of our workers at risk and accountable for their actions. we must hold everybody responsible. we must hold ourselves responsible first to do the right thing. that's what we're standing here talking p today. if we don't stand up for the people that basically have stood up and defended us, stood up and powered the nation, did the heavy lifting and we can't keep the promise that was made 70 years ago, then god help us in the united states senate and the united states congress. so with that, madam president, i hope that we do step in and do the right thing. i would ask all of my colleagues this is not a partisan issue. this is truly bipartisan. this is truly bipartisan that these people work for all of us, not just for part of us. so with that, i would yield the floor,

while senator nelson's apostcloture is pleaserrable, i also plan to support senator murray and senator blunt's amendment to provide $1.1 billion in funding to address zika. this amendment is a bipartisan compromise and my hope is that no less than this funding level will move forward and be signed into law before we head into the summer months. it is so i didn't think cal that we move quickly on this so that our state and local health departments will have the resources they need to deal with the potential onslaught of cases in the coming months. senators murray and blunt have been working on weeks on this amendment, and i want to thank them for their commitment to get to this agreement. i will oppose senator cornyn's agreement which would make harmful cuts to the prevention public health fund. it is a classic case of robbing peter to pay paul. the prevention and public health fund makes exactly the kind of investments in our public health infrastructure that better prepare us to deal with emergencies like zika or ebola. the prevention and public health fund also helps fund disease pre

i want to thank the senator -- senator warner and senator schumer, the senators from virginia and new york. they're committed to the veterans in their states and in this country, and i believe that we have worked out an agreement to try to get them the vet ran services that -- veteran services that they have earned and are not receiving at this

we've worked with a number of senators, including the senator from alabama, senator from south carolinawho expressed concerns about earlier versions of the legislation, and i'm -- i appreciate their willingness to work with us to deal with their concerns in a way that now has gained their support. i would say that this legislation amends the foreign sovereign immunities act that was passed in 1976. so we already have a piece of legislation on the books that waives sovereign immunity under some circumstances but the problem is it does not extend to terrorist attacks on our homeland by countries and organizations that have not already been designated as state sponsors of terrorism. so what this does is make some small changes in that legislation that first passed in 1976 to expand the scope of that to allow the families of the 9/11 tragedy to seek justice in our courts of law. mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent that a colloquy between myself and senator schumer be made part of the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: i would add, mr. president, that alre

senator grassley. they're also result of a senate that's back to work for the american people. i want to thank the finance and judiciary committee chairmen for their efforts to advance that's ll, just as i want to thank senators burr, portman, toomey and flake for their diligent work to help support american businesses and the economy through their efforts to pass the act. and now on one final matter, president obama recently bragged to "the new york times" magazine about his performance on the economy. he boasted about his economic legacy and actually claimed that by his estimation the administration managed the economic recovery better than any peer economy facing a financial crisis -- quote -- "-- now listen to this -- on earth, "in modern history." that's a quote to remember. the same day this story hit, the bureau of economic analysis released its first quarter report showing .5% economic growth. it's the latest reminder of the actual economy that americans are forced to confront day in and day ou

senate. they've been approved by both the majority and minority leaders. i ask consent these requests be agreed to and be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: thank you, mr. president. i'll yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum prrpt the clerk will call the roll. -- the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. a senator: mr. president, my colleagues and i have been coming down to the floor to talk about an issue that's really one of the most important issues we can focus on -- the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. a senator: mr. president, i ask the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sullivan: mr. president, as i was saying, my colleagues and i have been coming to the senate floor talking about a very, very important issue for our country, that we should be spending much more time focusing on, a

of the senate. i don't buy it. this is a public health emergency. reducing the funding for it from what the president requested by 40% is playing russian roulette with innocent lives across america and around the world. senator cornyn's amendment cuts base funding in order to provide for the center for disease that ordinarily would be provided to the center for disease control. also we're dealing with lead poisoning issues across america. front page story, chicago anybody biewn yesterday -- tribune yesterday, all of the lead testing around my state of illinois finds that in areas you wouldn't dream of, the suburbs of chicago, in fact some of the wealthy suburbs of chicago sadly have too much lead in their water. we know after flint we have to take it seriously. the impact on innocent children is obvious. cutting back on funding for that to pay for zika virus, it's robbing peter to pay paul. lastly, we have an amendment to be offered by senator blunt. he is like senator cornyn's approach in that it w

>> certainly, senator. that is one aspect of bacterological warfare that the president's directive in 1969 and '70 tells cia to continue. that is to follow the activities of other nations. we will see the capabilities and activities of other nations in this field. we have officers who do follow this, these activities abroad and they are quite general. there are some very, very dubious areas where we are not sure of what the actual capabilities are in some respects. we do follow it, indeed. there is extensive effort done by other nations in this line. >> you are now prevented from -- >> no, we can follow the foreign ones, no problem. >> can you do anything to offset them? >> well, i think the defensive against those things is a matter for the department of defense. >> you feel you are safe in that field? >> i think collaboration with the department of defense and advising the department of defense of foreign developments in this area, we are giving them the basis of developing defensive efforts as we need. >

thank you senator, thank you senators. i would actually like to begin with reference to the comments just made by judge lewis because it's interesting that i was making my way to washington, hopefully, because we were in the mist of a very rigorous campaign in 1992. i was working for young governor from a small state, arkansas, and for me, just the anticipation of what that journey could be about, it never became clear until now the interesting thread that actually ties us all together as we move across the political process through our system that can take us from one administration to the next, that allows our country to continue to move forward as a beacon of light for democracies around the world. it's clear from judge lewis' comments that we gather not for any partisan purpose, but as believers in the constitution. the constitution that has caused us all to take a solid move to defend and support the constitution, and has given some of us the opportunity to be nominated by our president and then confirmed by the senat

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. a senator: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. rounds: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination, calendar number 552 only with no other executive business in order. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, department of justice, patrick a. burke of the district of columbia to be united states marshal. mr. rounds: mr. president, i know of no further debate on the nomination. the presiding officer: any further debate? hearing none, all those in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nomination is confirmed. mr. rounds: i ask consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, the president be immediately

nor senator mr. president? the presiding officer: under the previous order, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action, and the senate will resume legislative session. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arkansas. mr. boozman: i ask unanimous consent that the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. boozman: thank you, mr. president. mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president, i am delighted to be here today with the senior senator from maryland, a long-term champion for women in this country and their access to equal pay. because in our country, mr. president, women in the workplace, no matter where they live, no matter their background, no matter what career they choose on average earn less t

senator franken? franken: commissioner pai, in his opening statements,'s spoke about his opposition to the open internet. chairman flake spoke about the innovation on the internet and whether this will slow it down or something. it seems to me the whole point of what reclassification was was to preserve net neutrality. and that's because every time the fcc had tried to preserve net neutrality, the circuit court rejected them. -- as i saided to in my opening statement -- the d.c. circuit court is going to be ruling on this. now ord be right now or now. [laughter] senator franken: or maybe they do not do it on wednesdays. commissioner wheeler: tuesdays and fridays. ok, well, notn: now. thank you. i should have known that. because i went to harvard. thank you. are you happy? you didn't know that? ?hat i went to harvard the point is, we talk about 706 know,at is like pre- you open internet. neutrality, this order. i just want to clarify what we're talking about here. because it seems that now this is recl

i will defer to senator isakson. >> senator isakson. senator isakson: thank you. i appreciate that, ranking member murray -- she left. i want to commend the ranking member and chairman for their leadership on the point we are at today and i think it will be a great empowerment for local boards of education and state boards of education to carry out the educational mandate in their state. throughout the debate, and i'm one of the last remaining people that wrote no child left behind so i readily admit that. it was a great act for six years but went through seven years where it wasn't re-authorized and it became an impediment because it made it harder and harder to make progress and people end up put in nonperforming schools that shouldn't be there. the thing i focused on most were children with disabilities and assessment. i'm married to a special ed teacher when i chaired the state board of education in georgia, i i worked hard on psycho-education and kids with disabilities to try to provide as much quality rules as we could and quality education. one of the thing

>> you know, after i heard that senator reid, leader reid had had a conversation with senator sanders and he publicly announced that he felt that senator sanders was going to respond appropriate lid and issue a statement, i was comfortable that, you know, one conversation was enough. unfortunately the senator's response was anything but acceptable. it certainly did not condemn his supporters for acting violently or engaging in intimidation tactics and instead add more fuel to the fire. like i said, buck frustrated with the process, but in the united states of america, and especially in the democratic party, it is never appropriate to act in any way other than civilly and orderly fashion. and address process concerns in al civil way. it is never okay for violence and intimidation to be the response to that frustration. that's what happens with the trump campaign. we can never resort to the tactics that they engage in. >> congresswoman how are you going to make sure, given the anger and the passion out there that you could prevent this kind of chaos from developing at the democratic nat

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. a senator: thank you, mr. president. the congressional review act resolution of this approval we're debating is about protecting the right of ordinary americans to retire. mr. alexander: that's what it's about. we're trying to stop the labor department's so-called fiduciary which will restrict access to basic retirement advice for all but the wealthiest americans. it will force ordinary americans to go it alone, to try to make the best guess they can about how to manage their money no retirement. here's how. the administration's new rule updates the rules and requirements for retirement advisors now requiring them to act as -- quote -- fiduciaries. that like many of this administration's rules sounds good, sounds helpful but in practice is going to cause great harm. the administration has created a new legal liability, and that liability is so risky that advisors will take only -- take on that liability and risk only if they're advising individuals with big assets so that the potentia

senator richard burr of north kearlg, senator manchin, senator tom coburn, my friend from oklahoma, senator alexander, senator tom carper, senator dick durbin, and senator tom harkin. we had a lot of meetings, we had a lot of discussions, we had a lot of negotiations, and ultimately worked together to determine a fair and equitable way to set the rate for student loans from the federal government based upon the federal government's own cost of borrowing money and combine the best ideas from both plans. we got the strong support of the president who encouraged the democratic members of our group to join in these negotiations and we reached a consensus. the bipartisan student loan certainty act which passed this body with something like 80 votes, and that has made a real difference for our students. here are some numbers: 50 billion, 5 billion, 277 billion. those are the answers. what are the questions? the first is $50 billion is the amount of money that students will save over the next ten years based upon the difference of what the interest rate would have been and what it's going to be. t

he spoke on the senate floor for just under 10 minutes. donald trump met privately today with speaker ryan. and republican leader mcconnell. it is just the latest sign that republican leaders in both houses are marching in step with donald trump. mcconnell has fully embraced donald trump. he said last week when he secured the nomination "i have committed to supporting the nominee chosen by the republican voters." speaking with reporters earlier this week, he sounded enthusiastic about his chances in the general election. i guess he should be giddy. donald trump is everything that the republican leader could want in a nomination. trumps policy positions are identical to the republican party platform. and today, senator mcconnell discussed consensus with trump. let us talk about the supreme court. donald trump and the senator from kentucky can talk about obstruction, for the first time in the history of the country, to a presidential supreme court nomination. that has never happened before. we have had some stalling, a couple of filibusters,

and confirmed by the senate. to serve as the new cia director in 1973. so he comes to this position as director, while the cia is in turmoil. the former director had ordered a report, an internal report to be produced, and he had asked cia officers to come forward and report on programs they believed the agency had been involved in which may have been constitutionally questionable. perhaps, if not illegal, at least unethical or immoral, or improper. this report, this internal report, became known as the cia family jewels. at the start of the church committee investigation, they did a lot of work behind the scenes, bitterly investigating these agencies in the intelligence community more broadly. they did not even know where to start. luckily, for them, william colby provided them with a copy of the internal report, the family jewels. it provided them basically with a roadmap. they could map out what the cia was doing and look deeply into these cases of improper behavior. william colby, of course, was firmly commit

senator hatch asked that he is going to be attending senator bennett's funeral and wished he could be here and request that he could not under the circumstances we understand. this morning we are having a hearing titled understanding dyslexia, scientific research and education that hopefully will raise awareness to educate us on dyslexia, highlighting the importance of early identification is even, ensuring such students have access to evidence-based resources. senator mikulski and i will each make an opening statement and introduce our panel of witnesses. each panelist will find minutes to summarize your testimony. we have a time in front of you. great 90s. yellow means one minute left in redmond that will start pounding on my hammer. after a witness' testimony is finished five minutes to ask questions. i am pleased to chair this. again thank senator mikulski for cochairing. i think my other colleagues who are in support of having this hearing them discuss dyslexia, an issue important to me as a parent of a dyslexic and as a senator. with a great line up of witnesses including those

senator cruz certainly is realistic. he has indicated, you know, a number of times that indiana is a pivotal state. it's a very important state. not only in terms of the number of delegates who are at stake but also in terms of the timing leading nah into a number of western primaries with california. so it's a very important state. it's going to be close. but senator cruz as he has shown in a number of other states compounds the pollsters and relies very much on grassroots voter id and voter interaction and grassroots organization. and that is what will make the difference we believe tomorro t. deirdre: okay. now, the senator also doing more tv, for example, this weekend. chuck todd challenged him talking about media conspiracy. so here's part of the conversation. i want to get your thoughts after. >> can you support him? can you tell your delegates -- >> what i'm going to do is -- >> support donald trump. >> well, you may not. >> i recognize -- i recognize that many in the media would love for me to surrender to donald

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from nevada. a senator: are we in morning business? the presiding officer: the senate is post clot on the motion to proceed. a senator: i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business for up to six minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: mr. president, thank you. every day that i drive into washington, d.c., come here to work, i pass by the here jeem pa memorial and arlington, cemetery. this is a humbly reminder of the valiant men and women from across this nation who have answered the call of duty to two world wars, wars in korea, vietnam, persian gulf, iraq and afghanistan and numerous other conflicts waged to keep america free. it constantly reminds me of the fight to care for our nation's veterans is my duty and my responsibility, mr. president, as a member of the united states senate. these fearous warriors had moms and dads of their own, sons and daughters, loved ones, neighbors and friends but they made the ultimate sacrifice for all of us. mr. heller: they

and that -- in the senate for example, there were two senate subcommittees, tasked with oversight of the cia. one was in the appropriations committee and one in the armed services committee. and the armed services subcommittee that provided oversight was chaired by john stens. he was a conservative democrat from mississippi who very much supported the national intelligence community and did not think that congress had a responsibility to look too closely at how it operated. he famously said if you're going to have a national intelligence community, you have to close your eyes some and take what's coming. and another senator expressed it another way. we don't know what's going on at the cia and frankly, we don't want to know. and since the early years of the cold war, that had been the prevailing sentiment among members of congress. that because of the global threat of communism, the united states needed to develop these capabilities in the national intelligence community that -- and the methods shouldn't be second guessed. and so for decades, the oversight that had been provided had

i really can't understand her tone towards senator sanders. and i know the chairwoman so i don't know what's going on between her and senator sanders. but as the leader of the dnc, the chairwoman has an obligation to first understand and then seek to be understood. what i mean by that is that there is no doubt that in this country, both on the left and the right but let's just deal with the democrats right now, that there is a tension building. people are not just going to sit back and accept business as usual. and the same sanders supporters that she now wants to condemn and others want to condemn, lumping all of senator sanders supporters into one bunch is not very helpful moving forward, especially if secretary clinton is the nominee. those will be the same voters, tamron, that they will be begging to vote in the general election. so we've got to come to grips here and come together here on tone all the way around. >> but when you say lumping the sanders supporters into one bunch, i want to play what a bernie sanders delegate, on the floor,

of worried senators. so if you want to know how this will likely turn out just see the way the wind blows, if the republican senators were up for re-election this year and the word about trump at the top of the ticket. there are many republicans who believe that trump is absolutely lethal for the republican brand. and this gets to the very core of what is the party about. paul ryan is miles apart from trump on everything from immigration to trump's words about the ku klux klan. on trade, on taxes, on continuing to support social security and the way it's been supported. all of these things. they're way apart. but there may yet be a shotgun wedding, or whatever it's called, a wedding of convenience between the two. but even if paul ryan comes around, he won't like trump, but in the end he probably will come around, but i have a hunch, no reporter worth anything reports the hunches, but there is still a possibility of toying with the idea of putting a third man in the race. and whether that is trump dog-pad

thank you. >> good morning senator cassidy yrks senator mikulski, fellow senators of the panel, thank you for the opportunity to speak with you this morning. dyslexia is currently the most prevalent educational handicapping condition in the u.s. it is twice as common as adhd, ten to 15 times as prevalent at autism. it affected an estimated one in five individuals nationwide. more importantly, many students show symptoms of dyslexia, including slow and inaccurate reading, weak spelling or poor writing. whether or not they meet full criteria for special education, most students benefit from systematic explicit instruction in reading and writing and language methods. the problem is that many students are not getting access to the structured literacy instruction. as a result, there is an alarming achievement gap. as was mentioned earlier, the nape data, i have results from 1998 through 2014. -- 13. fourth grade data showed that 9% of students with disabilities scored proficient in reading compared to 26% of nondisabled peers. both of the statistics are unacceptably low. but is it -- but i

>> no. >> senator, how many times have you met? >> senator, i'm sorry to follow up on paul taylor's question. [ inaudible ] discussion of morality as you see it except for the times when you and your wife were separated, has your marriage been monogamous? >> i have nothing to answer that question. >> senator, you've said that you made a mistake. what specifically was the mistake? and why did you make it? >> the mistake was to have people -- what was could get engaged in a seefrz activities last weekend that led you to believe that i was involved with a woman. there were lots of parts of that mistakes that i could single out. but i also said i don't think i was alone in making mistakes. look, folks, there is some thing called fairness in this society. there is something called fairness. i'm going through this, and i will continue to. and i'm going to answer questions. i'm doing my best and i will continue to do my best. but this, as i said yesterday, there is a broader issue here than what i did or didn't do. that is whether the sys

senator morgan? >> since this is the first public hearing of this committee that wek we should note feel it and i certainly feel that the role played by the central intelligence agency is a vital one. it's very important. i think the fact that you quoted from president kennedy, who said about how failures are trumpeted is appropriate here. this committee has been told by intentes at the central -- that had the central intelligence agency existed prior to world war ii, pearl harbor might never have happened. or if they had that the loss of life and property might have much less. i do recognize the role of the central intelligence agency in the we in this country must be in advance what our potential adversaries and enemies may be planning so that we can cope with it. so, i do think that it is important. many of the questions have been asked. fairly early on the reference was made to the presidential order and we alluded to what was in fact i think the press release concerning the presidential order. i

>> thank you, senator. the problem is as my colleague, the use of consent and has chosen to sue most of the members of my association with regard to language in the process. typically consent is obtained through conditions of admission when someone is admitted to the hospital, that's a written document that's signed by the patient. that language has been torn apart. >> why don't you do a simple, when someone checks out of the hospital, why don't you present them a single card, do you mind if we call you on follow up and have them sign that. i don't think lawyers would have much luck with that in front of a jury and if you guys are settling those cases, shame on you. take them to trial and kick them in the rear in the courtroom. that's what you do. you don't come here -- you guys need to understand this. this is the biggest consumer problem in the country. no bigger problem. some of these witnesses, you are all here wining about the poor businesses and consumers really want them. they don't want them, they d

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. a senator: mr. president, i rise to speak about the ongoing crisis affecting the three and a half million american citizens who call puerto rico their home and to comment on the legislation that is spending in the house of representatives. mr. menendez: we are facing a critical moment in the history of puerto rico. the island is sinking under a mountain of debt, and i've said it before but it bears repeating. just servicing the government's $72 billion debt swallows 36% of all of the island's revenue. that means that for every dollar puerto rico takes in, they immediately send over a third to bond holders. this is not sustainable for any government, especially one that has been mired in a decade-long recession. and congress is faced with an immediate and serious choice. indeed the decisions we make in the next month will have profound consequences on the people of puerto rico for over a generation. and the stakes are high. we simply have to get it right. i've said from the beginning that any fix nee

here are their remarks from the senate floor earlier this week. murray: as a mother and grandmother, i know that one of the most frightening questions and expectant parent has to ask their doctor is, is the baby safe? too many parents are asking that question right now because of the zika virus. there are now more than 1200 reported cases of eco-in the united states and three territories. more than 100 of these are pregnant women, and on friday, puerto rico announced its first case of zika related microcephaly. unfortunately, those numbers are only expected to grow so this really is an emergency, and public health experts have repeatedly made it clear that as we get closer to the summer and mosquito season, we cannot afford to delay. we need to better control mosquitoes that carry the zika virus. we need to raise awareness to make sure families are informed about this disease, and we need to give access to family planning services and accelerate the development of a vaccine. president, has a strong emergency proposal to accomplish each of those go

i used very poor judgment. >> senator -- >> i shouldn't have done it. if i were up to anything that i shouldn't have been, i sure wouldn't have done it that way. >> senator -- can you senator just describe how you perceive your relationship with miss rice, what kind of a friendship or what -- >> friendship. she's intelligent. attractive, obviously. but we don't -- you don't form that kind of relationship that's being suggested here in that space of time. >> senator the washington times reported that a passenger on the plane that miss rice flew on had seen an inscription in a book that said something in lieu of flowers, until we meet, love gary. did you make that inscription. >> i don't think i made that inscription. i probably made one that i shouldn't have. it didn't reflect on any intimacy. i suppose i sign or distribute dozens of one book or another that i've written over a period of time, and probably in the space of a week or two, maybe in the hundreds. i cannot -- i frankly will tell you cannot recall what i said in there. but i might have said so