the old line senators, the democrats had been running the senate for the last 26 years and , a senator from louisiana said it was a terrible idea, that they would not get anything done here. in the senate, people get up and who knows, they will be speaking tomorrow on this so you had the , resistance. senator byrd was initially one of those that was a traditionalist, institutionalist and he just did not know what , the impact is going to be. i remember at that time, they sent some staff around the world to talk to parliaments that had , and the secretary of the senate went to the israeli convention, which was being televise, to see how it went and one of the members took him aside and said, whatever you do, do not let the cameras into your chamber. because once they come in, you will never get them out. >> from a procedural standpoint, what really was the process for the decision-making on cameras? was it always having to be introduced by the majority leader? did it need anything more in a simple majority of votes? can you just talk about it in terms of the process of getting it done?

the senate. another of those was mitch mcconnell. he voted against the initial trial but later voted yes to make them permanent. he talked about with vast in an interview at his office recently . let's watch. on june 2, the senate will be marking the 30th anniversary of his permanently televised sessions. there have been a couple to experiments over the years with special events, that on june 2, 1986 it became gavel-to-gavel coverage. do you remember the discussions leading up to it and how contentious they were? sen. mcconnell: i do. i remember thinking it would be a big mistake and voting against it, but i have to confess, i was the one that made the mistake. it has been extremely important. the senate televised and have c-span do that and i am sure i have made a number of mistakes in my political career by voting against having c-span televised the senate was one of them. weree institutionalist worried the senate would change as a result of the cameras. that is what held it up for those many y

>> even senator byrd did not come to the senate as senator byrd. it took him years to acquire the knowledge. there may be some junior senators right now if they are , going to be here as long as senator byrd was, and he was here cap a century and takes the institution is seriously, that will master the rules the way he did. host: our final point of discussion on procedural drama is on the filibuster. we have talked about it frequently. we are going to do the opposite of a filibuster, show you a one-minute clip of a filibuster. 21-hourthis was september 2013, senator ted cruz. green eggs to as the and ham filibuster. senator cruz: say, i like green eggs and ham. i do. i like them, sam i am. i would eat them in boat and on -- and i would eat them with a goat and i will eat them in a -- in the rain and in the dark and on a train. they are so good, so good, you see. so i will eat them with a box , and with a fox. i will eat them in a house and i will eat them with a mouse. i will eat them here or there. say, i will eat them anywhere. i do so like green

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 demonstration that not only what he told every republican senator but when he told the press over and over and over again what was a simple lie. [end video clip] brian: 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, precedents, and expectations geared to having respectful debate in

these are clips from march 26, .010, senator barbara mikulski senator coburn, who has left the senatea doctor speaking against the affordable care act. >> i am honored because the role that i play in making sure that the punitive practices of insurance companies towards women. for too long, and in too many ways, they treated simply being a woman as a pre-existing condition. first of all, they church -- they charge us 30% to 40% more simply to get insurance. then they would have the punitive practices of denying us health insurance for a pre-existing condition. in eight states, domestic as ance was viewed pre-existing condition. you talk about being abuse? husband,bused by her and then your insurance company. we are not going to be battered anymore by these companies. >> this is the greatest assault on liberty this country has ever had. this country has ever had. it's not the government will be in charge of everybody's health care. process, to watch it from soup to nuts, essentially. few things happen very quickly in the institution. --n there is some big event or a senator mcconnell s

with senator mitch mcconnell, who talks about his life in politics with senator lamar alexander. >> this is a book about a shy boy who grew up in alabama, overokay. polio, -- overcame polio, inspired by henry clay to become a senator, did, and then set out to become the majority leader of the united states senate, and did. mitch, i have a confession to make. when i was asked to do this, here's what i thought. how can anyone get mitch mcconnell to talk for an hour? in your own book you point out that you only speak to the press when it's to your advantage. you talk about a time when bill gates came in to see you and you just sat there and people were uncomfortable waiting for one of you to speak, and someone also told president george w. bush you were excited over a certain vote, and he said, really? how can you tell? why so few words? >> well, i'm not afraid of talking but i found i learn a lot more by listening, and so frequently i start out listening, and i think about what i want to say before i do it. i think it's fair to say that i'm in the era of trump, probably very different in m

i want to thank him, senator gardner, senator bennet, senator cochran, senator shelby, senator mccain and all who have engaged in this. i think we've come to the right place where we're going to be promoting competition, which is good for taxpayers, and we're going to also be doing it in a way to protect our national security interests. thank you to the senator from florida for his leadership on this issue. mr. mccain: madam president, a vote is scheduled for 11:00 this morning, and we will be voting on the defense authorization bill. unfortunately we have a situation where on the objections of a senator or senators, that their amendment is not allowed because of the objections of another senator. in other words, we now have a situation where there are senators in the united states senate that it's either their way or the highway. and if they're not -- have an amendment that's agreed to, then they will object to other senators' amendments no matter whether those amendments have any validity or any support. in fact, there's one that -- there's a number of them but one that particularly

senator mcconnell: the next summer came back on the senate side with senator cooper who was activelynvolved in break a -- in breaking a 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.

marlowe of kentucky, i work for senator baker and i can remember in 1,969 senator baker saying you need to go over and meet that smart young legislative aide from marlowe, mitch mcconnell. let's go back to louisville. in louisville, you lead a march or part of a march on the capital about civil rights. you were in washington as i was to hear martin luther king's speech in august 1,963 , the i have a dream speech. you had goldwater speak at the university of louisville because your you are president of the college of republicans but you voted for lyndon johnson in 1,964. what happened? >> guest: in our generation i think the civil rights movement was the defining movement. in 62 i had fortunate enough when i was a college republican president to accept an invitation to come to you of l and in the summer of 63, people like you and myself got to see the i have a dream speech and in 64 i was an intern in senator coker's office, two important things happened in 64. we broke the filibuster, the civil rights bill and senator cooper was in the middle of break in the phyllis buster and we nomina

murphy: i thank the senator and i want to thank senator booker and senator blumenthal for being here from the very beginning. this has been myrrh miraculous s own regard not to be -- to just be able to spend time with you but have the majority of the caucus come to the floor and express support for our determination to move forward this debate, to at the very least get votes, but really try to bring consensus around this issue. and senator booker, i don't think i'm breaking confidences to share that both he and i spoke at our meeting yesterday of democrats in which senator booker shared an immensely powerful series of stories about his experience as mayor of a grief-torn city, his direct personal intersection with friends, with neighbors who had lost their life. i know how deeply personally affected he has been. and i guess i tell you why i am doing this as a means of telling you why senator blumenthal and i are doing this, and i tell it through a prism of a story that just awful, awful series of days following the shootings in sandy hook. senator blumenthal and i went through the fi

also, senator sanders is back up on capitol hill right now in his senate office building.e will be meeting with senator chuck schumer and will be meeting with joe biden later today. you are looking at live pictures from capitol hill. we will update you on all of this. we are standing by for this white house briefing, very important briefing coming up. we have full coverage. donald trump says he is disappointed. he is surprised, he says by the recent criticism from fellow republicans. he also says he understands that they feel compelled to speak out about controversial comments about federal judge he criticized in part of his mexican heritage. peter king is joining us now. thanks for joining us. trump says members of his own party, your party, republican party who have a problem with comments about heritage of this federal judge should just in his words get over it. do his comments bother you? >> they do. i have endorsed donald trump. i'm not one who say i'm not endorsing him now. the fact is he needs to realize that was a terrible mistake. it was wrong. it was racist remar

senate, but it comes a time when we should break with certain senate tradition. nearly two months later, the rules committee finally approved a resolution allowing for the appointment of female pages. senator jobless introduced-- javis the resolution. our original resolution would simply permit females to be pages, he explained. the rules committee, however, have revised the original proposal. the new resolution required senators who wish to appoint girl pages to submit a letter to the sergeant at arms, assuming full responsibility for the safety, well-being and strict supervision of the female page. a responsibility that had never been required for boy page appointments. he conceded that though the new proposal was not perfect, he would vote in favor of it. with the house and senate poised to reorganize the page system, which included the construction of a pages senate dormitory, he careined "the interim advises us to let the resolution go through." feelings of the objectionable features aside so that julie price, a truly outstanding american girl can be sworn i

and so i thank the senator from connecticut, the senator from new jersey, the senator from connecticut's colleague senator blumenthal, and for all the members who have participated in this debate, discussion, filibuster. this is the issue. this is the time. this is the place. we are the people who have to resolve this issue. people will look back and they will ask did we try? did we really try to put a ban on the purchase of these weapons by these terror target list people in our own country? that's going to be the test for us. we can't fight the battles over in aleppo. we can't fight the battles over in fallujah but we can fight the battle on the streets of america. we know what has to be done. this body has to have the courage to say to the n.r.a., no, it's too much. our country is bleeding. families are hurting. we don't want to see it happen again. this is going to be the challenge of this week and next week and every week until we have these votes and until we close these loopholes. i thank the gentleman again from connecticut for conducting this very important discussion, and i yie

i can see the word for senator marlo cook, i had a word for senator aker. i remember 1969 senator baker saying to me, you need to go over and meet that smart, young legislative aide from -- mitchell. let's get back to louisville, in louisville you let a marcher part of a march march on the capital about civil rights. you are in washington as i was to hear martin luther the king speech in august 1963, that i have a dream speech. you had goldwater come speak to the university of louisville because you're president of the college republicans but you voted for lyndon johnson in 1964, what happened? spee2 in our generation i think this of all think the civil rights movement was a defining issue of our generation. in 62 i had been fortunate enough when i was a college republican president, goldwater accepted a invitation to come speak. then and 63, the summer 63, people like you and myself at the the i have a dream speech. then at 64i was an intern in senator cooper's office. two office. two important things happen at 64. we broke the filibuster of the civil righ

senate, but it comes a time when we should break with certain senate tradition. nearly two months later, the rules committee finally approved a resolution allowing for the appointment of female pages. on may 13, 1971, senator jobless -- javis introduced the resolution. our original resolution would simply permit females to be pages, he explained. the rules committee, however, have revised the original proposal. the new resolution required senators who wish to appoint girl pages to submit a letter to the sergeant at arms, assuming full responsibility for the safety, well-being and strict supervision of the female page. a responsibility that had never been required for boy page appointments. he conceded that though the new proposal was not perfect, he would vote in favor of it. with the house and senate poised to reorganize the page system, which included the construction of a pages senate dormitory, he explained "the interim care advises us to let the resolution go through." he put his feelings of the objectionable features aside so that julie price, a truly outst

also a little data on senators a broker, senator merkley, senator merkley get a lot to advance the balland refine the product. of course, at every step of the way i continue to meet and talk with congressman john shimkus. he was a persistent and unreliable partner in this process, as was his senior policy advisor. throughout this process, staff is absolutely essential in mod unit the.ifficu they did yeoman's work and very, very, very difficult and trying circumstances.er i mentioned brian zumwalt, my former chief counsel. he was a driving force ideas come and i deeply appreciate and acknowledge his work, as well as some else i mentioned, dmitri, who continues to work as a key staffer on the committee and its cink's over the goal line. let me also thank been done, former chief counsel for the center -- senator lautenberg. i think in the beginning particularly dan and brian and dmitri dave each other plenty ot help but work through very difficult negotiations to get it done. and also want to thank jonathan black andrew in senator udall's office. and with senator markey, and on the outside

with senator sanders. in order to make sure that secretary clinton's campaign was in a position to release the video, we obviously had to communicate with them as well. >> and lastly, poor d.c. voters, right? what should -- should they just stay home? is that part of the message here, that the decision's been made now that the race is over, their votes don't matter as much as california, num, or other states. >> no, that's not how i would describe it. i think the president is somebody who has on a number of occasions articulated his view that people should be engaged in the political process, that people should be engaged in the public debate. certainly an important way to do that is to participate in elections. there are delegates that are up for election to the democratic convention. that's something that's worth voting on. look, i think what other people have suggested, there are potentially reforms to the nomination process that could be made. that could potentially put district voters in a position to

udall, senator merkley and senator markey. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. boxer: thank you so much. and i do rise in support of h.r. 2576, the frank lautenberg chemical safety for the 21st century act. i spoke at length about this before, so i won't go on for a long time, but i do want to reiterate that the journey to this moment has been the most complicated journey i have ever had to take on any piece of legislation, and i have been around here for a long time. but it was a critical journey. when you name a bill after senator lautenberg who fought for the environment all his life, that bill must be worthy of his name, and finally this bill is. it didn't start out that way. i used every prerogative that i had, every tool in my arsenal to bring it down until it got better, and it is better. it is better than current law. asbestos, for example, is one of the most harmful chemicals known to humankind, and it takes 15,000 lives a year. it is linked to a deadly form of lung cancer called mess owe feel overtime a. -

welch: will senator sanders have a larger platform when he returns to the senate? rep. welch: absolutely will. bernie has to stay involved because he's become a national spokesperson for economic justice, environmental justice, and he's got a big voice. his colleagues are astonished. most of them supported secretary clinton, but all of them are slack-jawed at how successful his campaign was. i have colleagues asking me all the time, what is the magic? sanders spoke truth to power. he did it directly and effectively. i think there's an enormous respect for what bernie accomplished. >> if you look at the likely nominee for the republicans, donald trump, what are your thoughts? rep. welch: he's in over his head. he is great as a reality television host. but the skills required for that, arrogance, bluffing, that does not work out well in the political forum or to be president of the united states. in his fumbling around these last couple weeks, he suggests he is in over his head. there's a character question. we disagree, republicans and democrats. but most of the candidat

that i have led with my colleague, senator phur tp*eu, senator -- senator murphy, senator schumer and senator booker which ensures that our background system works in the only rational way it should by requiring everyone purchasing a firearm to undergo a background check. that background check process is necessary for any terrorist list to be effectively implemented because otherwise there would be no way of knowing whether someone is on such a list. no fly, no gun is effective only if there is a list that can be stpo -- that can be enforced by review of background. these measures are supported by 90% of the american people or more. everywhere i went over the weekend in connecticut, a convention sponsored by the american legion in winstead, the branford road race for father's day yesterday, the blessing of the fleet in south port, americans and people of connecticut have shown us that we must act. this chamber is a place where there are speeches. it is often filled with words. now is the time for action. the alternative to the murphy-schumer-blumenthal, booker amendment has been offer

a senator: also, mr.resident, i ask unanimous consent that i be allowed to address the senate as if in morning hour. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: mr. president, thank you. i'm here to speak on f.a.a. reauthorization. and several stories have arisen in the last few days that are very discouraging to me and troublesome to a cause i care a lot about. mr. moran: i'm an advocate for general aviation and i was pleased that the senate was able to pass f.a.a. reauthorization act of 2016 by a vote of 95-3. 95-3 this senate approved legislation reauthorizing the f.a.a. for the next 18 months. that's an unusual occurrence around here when anything passes 95-3 that i also would indicate that our committee vote, i'm a member of the commerce committee and the vote there was unanimous to report that bill to the senate in a favorable recommendation and again demonstrating overwhelmingly bipartisan support in regard to this aviation legislation. kansas is an aviation state. wichita and south centra

senators.we have already got over 10% of the senate. i hope they will join us in our effort to protect communities everywhere from the next oil train accident. this has nothing to do with democrats and republicans. what this has to do with is whether we're going to take commonsense steps to prevent these accidents and ensure that in particular we do everything we can to have the kind of trains that are not as likely to be part of accidents in the future. my colleague, senator merkley, has been a terrific partner in this effort. we have been talking about how we're going to tackle this urgent issue for the people we represent, and he is going to have important remarks about friday's accident in mosier as well, mr. president. with that, i yield the floor and look forward to nor merkley's comments. mr. merkley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: mr. president, i rise today with my friend and colleague, senator wyden, to draw attention to the dangerous oil t

on the senate floor, that glimmer was then bright enough for everyone in the senate to see. chris murphy took the senate back to sandy hook elementary school and told them the story of a teacher's aide anna marie murphy and a 6-year-old dylan hoffey where they were murdered by an assault rifle. >> when adam lanza walked into that classroom and aimed his military-style assault weapon with clips attached to it holding 30 bullets, ann marie murphy probably had a chance to run or to hide or to panic and instead ann marie murphy made the most courageous decision that any of us could imagine. instead of running, instead of hiding, instead of panicking, ann marie murphy found dylan hockley and embraced him. you know why we know that? because when the police entered the classroom, that's how they found dylan hockley dead. wrapped the embrace of ann marie murphy. it doesn't take courage to stand here on the floor of the united states senate for two hours or six hours or 14 hours. it doesn't take courage to stand up to the gun lobby when 90% of your constituents want change to happen.

senator blooming paul and senator. my heart is strong because i know we made a difference yesterday. i know that we galvanize support all across this country, 10000 people called our office from every state in the nation. i know we were given that chance because senator dianne feinstein, for years has made it a priority to make sure that those who are suspected of terrorism cannot get their hands on a deadly weapon. she will tell you had her amendment been in effect, we wouldn't be sitting here talking about this today. i think her for giving us the power to bring that issue to the floor yesterday. >> we have a number of members who want to speak. i am glad we are on a path forward to get votes on these two amendments. we will see where members come down. we will see if republican members can vote with the nra, vote against 90% of their of their constituents who want terrace to be kept from buying guns and return home and look the victims of gun violence and the people who care about this issue deeply in the eye and te

senate. today 20 women in the senate. you need to learn the names and faces of all the senators as soon as you can. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, bob it woulday hi have been a mistake. did you come from wisconsin and spend the whole year there. john: senator proxmire's style them through. cokie roberts: where did you live? john: the republicans had just taken the senate and proxmire didn't know what he was going to be having any pages. even though he was the senior senator. word until just days before i was still in the senate. and when contacted the senate's office is where the pages later. their board houses but they're all full. i rented an apartment at 220 c street southeast. the congressional plaza hotel. cokie roberts: they had some interesting people living there. john: she knew there was no stopping me. she and her best friend drove me to the airport in duluth and i

a senator: mr. president? i raise a point of order about whether there's a question. i would like to ask a question. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut may yield for a question only without losing his rights. a senator: mr. president, i have a question but i think i can have a preamble to my question to set the context of the question. the presiding officer: ask the question. mr. booker: the question i'd like to ask is given the fact that the overwhelming majority of americans support common sense gun legislation, given the fact that 82% of gun owners support closing the terrorist loophole, given the fact that 75% of n.r.a. members support closing the terrorist loophole, my question for the senator of connecticut is why does he feel that this body is not moving on common sense legislation that will protect our nation, that will defend us against terrori terrorists, that will prevent tragedies like in orlando happening? i direct my question to the senator from connecticut. mr. murphy

for some time with the support of the senate majority leader, senator mcconnell, senator merkley and senator paul, and i have all been trying to change federal law so that farmers across the country can secure the green light to grow hemp in america. now, about a year ago i came to the floor of the senate with a basket of hemp products to highlight that this is a particularly important time in the debate, a time in history when we've kind of reflected on what this issue has been about. and i've talked about how hemp products are made in this country, sold in this country, and consumed in our country, but they are not a hundred percent american products. they can't be fully red, white and blue products because the law says that hemp used to make them cannot be grown on a large-scale basis here at home. so another year has gone by since the majority leader, senator merkley and senator paul and i have teamed up and unfortunately industrial hemp continues to be on the controlled substance list. because of that unjustified status, hard-working farmers in oregon and across our country have

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. a senator: first, i'd like to ask unanimous consent that frederick l. drezzler, a national security fellow in the office of senator ayotte be granted privileges on the floor during consideration of s. 2943, the national defense authorization act. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: mr. mr. lee: mr. president, what my distinguished colleagues from north dakota and inare inproposing is to unleash the export-import bank from the constraints under which it currently must operate. to begin authorizing transactions above $10 million. between 2007 and 2014, 84% of the bank's subsidy and loan guarantee deals exceeded $10 million. 84%. and the vast majority of those were given to the wealthiest, most well-connected businesses in america that should have no problem at all obtaining financing in the open market. mr. president, the export-import bank represents so much of what the american people resent and despise about washington, d.c., and this is a great depression era relic,

as the senator from nebraska said, senator mcconnell wouldn't answer that question yesterday. he had numerous opportunities to do it. given another opportunity today. and there oar questions that republican leader needs to answer. does he believe a federal judge be disqualified because of his american heritage? does we believe these attacks are acceptable from a man that wanted to be profit our great country, that judges should face a religious test? some mcconnell said we know that donald trump will make the right kind of supreme court appointment, close quote. for donald trump's latest attack on the judiciary, does he truly believe that trump is the right man to pick nominees for the nation's highest court? the republican leader defended trumps tempment saying, quote, would we -- would be fine as president. i ask the senator from kentucky is it fine that donald trump called women pigs and dogs? is it fine when trump called immigrants rapists and murderers? is it fine that his party's presidential candidate urges violence at rallies? these north rhetorical questions. republic

i do not know if it belonged to the senate, senator, whatever. he gave me the keys to a brand-new cadillac and said, all -- follow me back to the capital. [laughter] i said, ok. and, i did. i was a good boy. but it was a rainy day and i guess i had a drivers license and headed for about 12 weeks. [laughter] cokie: right. and it was a wisconsin said drivers license. no traffic circles. john: exactly. i had never, ever driven in conditions like that. anything like it. so, we were going along and i am following him, i don't want to lose them. no cell phones, etc. and it's here in a day and i was holding on, i was not a big kid. anyway, there was a traffic light up ahead and i looked at some of the scenery and the traffic light had gone red and bob had stopped and i was still going. and i pressed the brakes and i am not exaggerating, i came within in inch of hitting him but i did not hit him. but my mouth dried up and i acted like nothing had happened, but it was -- cokie: terrifying. john: you would look back and say, i knew better. none of my activ

i want to thank senator tester, senator rubio, senator portman, senator boozman for their support, and i yield the floor. ms. collins: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise today to speak in support of an amendment offered by the senior senator from alaska, senator murkowski, to strike the changes to the basic allowance for housing or b.a.h. that are proposed in section 604 of the defense authorization bill. this amendment, mr. president, is very similar to one that i filed this year as well as one that i sponsored last year. currently, each service member receives a housing stipend based on his or her rank, geographic location and dependency status. under section 604, however, this part of the military compensation package would no longer be considered a cash allowance. instead, mr. president, service members would be compensated on an actual cost pwaeufsz similar to the system that was in place in the 1990's which resulted in a burdensome and inefficient administrative approval process. notably, mr.

senate. we took ideas from the house and the senate initially and this is why i am a little frustrated, frankly, we haven't made more progress already. now is the time to move. let's get this done before july 4. let's get it done next week. let's get it to the president, to our communities. there's no reason for us to wait. with this step today of the formal naming of the conferees, there is no reason for us not to move forward with this. and move forward with it in a way that shows we can 0 work together as the house and senate to solve these profnlts some have said, well, there might be some other ideas that will come up. that's fine. i hope there will be lots of new ideas that will come up because there's no sill remember bullet -- silver bullet. but we know this legislation will help. we know it's comprehensive, well-thought-out, based on best practices. let's move forward on this because it is urgent. one american every 12 minutes loses his or her life to overdoses. since cara passed, th

and that originated i believe with senator nelson, so senator graham, thank you for your support. >> thank you. the reason i'm i'm supporting it make sense to me. i listen to what susan had to say, i listen to bill, is sort of makes sense to me, i own an ar-15. if you are on the list it it does not bother me one bit that you cannot buy one right away. they are 2700 americans on this list combined and we are at war and joni aaron's mention today that there is a senator from iowa on this list and that his name somehow got on this list and he cannot fly, he was able to work it out. so that surprise me a bit bit because to get on this list is pretty challenging to get on this list. let's just assume just assume for a moment that the mistakes are made. here's what i'm willing to say to people of south carolina. we are at war, and i and i don't how to protect our nation without really changing the way we do business in a fashion that makes sense. the likelihood of someone being on this list and buying a gun to use it in a terrorist act, to me is far greater than the likelihood of an innoce

and senator murphy and senator booker and senator blumenthal, senator markey are on the floor, have all worked very hard to deal with the root causes of hate in our society, which is another factor concerning the safety in our communities. i would like to get the connection here on the gun issues, but i think it's important to point out that we have worked very hard to support the lgbt community, to make it clear that all people in this country rights are going to be protected. we have celebrated the supreme court decision that recognized marriage, we have celebrated some actions within our military to open up full participation by the lgbt community, we were particularly pleased with the recent confirmation that we saw taking place in our military with eric fannery. we have seen some progress in america and globally we have seen some progress in regards to the lgbt community. we have seen in several countries -- and i mention this specifically and ask the question of senator murphy because of your work on the senate foreign relations committee. but in malta, ireland, thailand, libya, v

and senators filibuster, senators do stuff like this from time to time, senator sanders did a version of this in 2010, protesting the bush tax cuts. senator rand paul did this to protest the patriot act. ted cruz did something like this to demand the shutdown of the government, basically. but when chris murphy held the floor in the senate last night for 15 hours, he not only held the floor for that truly remarkable length of time, he also did something that is basically unheard of in the modern history of filibusters and even long speeches in the united states senate. which is that at the end of his 15 hours, last night at 2:00 in the morning, senator chris murphy of connecticut, he won. by virtue of that filibuster, he actually got what he was asking for. i mean, overall, he was there to protest gun violence in this country r. test. in the specific what he was asking for were senate votes on two things. senate vote on blocking people on the terrorist watch list from being able to buy guns. a senate vote on closing that loophole for background chen checks. that that loophole that says

a senator: mr. president? i raise a point of order about whether there's a question. i would like to ask a question. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut may yield for a question only without losing his rights. a senator: mr. president, i have a question but i think i can have a preamble to my question to set the context of the question. the presiding officer: ask the question. mr. booker: the question i'd like to ask is given the fact that the overwhelming majority of americans support common sense gun legislation, given the fact that 82% of gun owners support closing the terrorist loophole, given the fact that 75% of n.r.a. members support closing the terrorist loophole, my question for the senator of connecticut is why does he feel that this body is not moving on common sense legislation that will protect our nation, that will defend us against terrori terrorists, that will prevent tragedies like in orlando happening? i direct my question to the senator from connecticut. mr. murphy

a senator: i thank the senator. the presiding officer: the senator from miss miss. mr. cochran: mr. president, we come to a point where it's timely that we urge the senate to approve the military construction and veterans affairs conference report. this conference agreement increases funding for veterans programs by nearly 9%, including a 4.1% increase in discretionary funding for the department of veterans' affairs. the agreement provides funding for veterans health care, benefit claims processing and medical research. the agreement funds housing for military personnel and their families and enhances the capabilities of u.s. military forces. the conference agreement also includes $1.1 billion in emergency supplemental funding to fight the zika virus. this is the same amount previously approved by the senate. these funds will be used for mosquito control, vaccine development and health services. the conference agreement also enhances mosquito control efforts by eliminating duplicative permitting requirements or approved pesticides. this provision is specific to combating the zika vi

a senator: would the senator yield for a question? the presiding officer: i would yield to the gentleman from new jersey. mr. booker: you are not asserting you're still in your 20's, would you, sir? mr. murphy: i'm not saying i'm in my 20's but early preventative work has paid off in the long run. mr. booker: i just wanted take clarification. thank you. mr. murphy: yield back to the senator from rhode island for a question. mr. whitehouse: we have some obligations here that we ought to meet and that the american people would support us in meeting, and i'm -- my question is that do those obligations include not only strengthening our gun laws to make sure that certain individuals who should not purchase firearms are legally prevented from purchasing firearms, for instance people convicted of violent hate crimes. i think americans agree that that's not a class of people whose defense of their right to purchase firearms. we should be rushing to defend, those who are suspected terrorists on the no fly list, on the terrorist watch list, th

it was a reminder to senate democrats -- to the senate that senate democrats will not cave in. throughout the course of senator murphy's filibuster, hundreds of our constituents came and watched from the senate gallery. there were 100 people still sitting in the gallery at 2:12 a.m. this morning, as senator murphy brought his filibuster to a close. thousands and thousands and thousands of constituents called senate offices demanding that congress do something to address this gun violence. senator murphy's filibuster took over social media. hold the floor was a top trending topic, nationally and globally. senator murphy got the world's attention and certainly america's attention, and i hope he got the attention the of the senate republicans. in the recallly morning hours, the republican leader and i spoke, and we talked, and he indicated that he would commit to allowing votes on two important gun safety measures. the booker legislation -- murphy -- booker-feinstein legislation to extend background cherks and the feinstein measure to prevent terrorists from walking to a gun store

i'll let senator sanders speak for himself, but i suspect it was beneficial for senator sanders to hear president obama's perspective about how meaningful that endorsement was. and you'll recall that that endorsement from then senator clinton came after she celebrated the accomplishments of her campaign. she gave a big speech here in washington, d.c., i believe, at the national building museum, where she talked about the 18 million new cracks in the glass ceiling. and that was a genuine celebration of the movement and campaign that she had built. and the success of that campaign was worthy of enormous respect. but shortly after that, she traveled with president obama to new hampshire, and they had an event together where her presence on the stage alongside then senator obama was really important. didn't change everybody's mind that day, but it initiated a process where over the course of the summer and fall president obama and senator clinton made a persuasive case to her supporters that president obama was the right choice to succeed president george w. bush in office. i think what's a

senator tillis, senator rounds, senator cassidy have done great work. we are proud to be a part of a great piece of legislation that will address questions raised about the treatment of veterans over the years. there is a chart here, mr. president. i want to read these headlines that every american has read over the last year and a half. v.a. abandons law aimed at firing employees. that was the june 17 issue of the stars and stripes where loretta lynch, the attorney general of the united states and secretary mcdonnell of the v.a. announced they were not going to enforce the veterans choice act and the laws that gave them authority to bring about accountability and discipline the v.a. why did that come about? i'll tell you why it came about. this headline from november 11, 2015, veterans affairs pays $142 million in bonuses amid scandal. that rocked the country and rocked our committee and rocked the united states senate. on june 3, 2016, half a million veterans still waiting a month or more for care. on february 1, 2016, judge overturns demotion of v.a.

several senators joined senator murphy. me extend myy: let thanks to chairman shelby and ranking member mikulski for putting together a truly bipartisan bill. i am honored to be a member of the appropriations committee. this was a difficult bill to put together but they did very good work in the subcommittee to make this a product both sides could support. i thank them for allowing me to be part of that process. second, let me acknowledge the remarks that senator mikulski who noted that in many ways the world and the country has changed since this bill was scheduled to come to the floor. our heartbreaks collectively in this country for the citizens of orlando and as i'll speak in a moment, in particular in connecticut. our heartbreaks for the people of orlando because we know in a very real way the pain that exists there today but we also know how that pain is really never ending, how the ripples of that pain are unceasing and unrelenting and they span generations. they span neighborhoods. they span years. newtown is still

in the house and in the senate. >> not true in the senate. you know, we don't have a freedom caucus in the senate. this is a group in the house that i think has been a challenge for the speaker and the previous speaker. we've got maybe one or two people that operate that way. and they mostly go over to the house side for reinforcement. 52 of my 54 members are probably what i would call the constructive caucus. they get up every day saying how can we make a difference for the country. they're willing to talk to a whole lot of ways under the new majority. honestly, that was not always that way under the previous majority. but i'm interested in making progress for the country. most of my members think that's a good idea. >> rose: does the president and his administration, not just the president personalizing it, recognize that, have you been successful in communicating to them and is it resonating with them that you would like to in the remaining seven months this administration has, do something really constructive and finding common ground and

senator byrd? >>. >> could well have been senate historian. >> during a the presidential campaign governor christie got over senator rubio view say in your book when starboard myself to tears i know i am beginning to drive the message home. so redundancy is a good thing? >> i'm paula one of the few people that thought rubio was doing the right thing in that debate. [laughter] good politics i think it is repetitious -- repetition if you try to drive the message you have to repeat it of what i tried to do that in meetings of their colleagues one time is not enough. come on the 34 stop paying attention the first time since you're really trying to make a point repetition -- repetition is good. >> a period of time with your motion after three treasure finally collected with the number two position 2002 than one month later trial what said something about thurman than suddenly he had to resign as a position you have always wanted you would seem to be a logical person but first to the position. then you h

the senate will be in order. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. sullivan: i have a motion to instruct the conferees at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: mr. sullivan -- mr. sullivan: i ask consent that the reading of the motion be waived. the clerk: moves to instruct conferees. the presiding officer: the senator is recognized. mr. sullivan: mr. president, this instruction relates to an earlier amendment i had, number 4065. it's a simple amendment that would allow states and communities throughout our nation the ability to expedite the permitting process -- the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. sullivan: -- to expedite the permitting process in construction of their bridges that pose safety to their citizens. this would only apply to bridges that are built in the same place, so not expanding bridges. same size and bridges that they're replacing. essentially maintenance on bridges. and if state environmental agencies determine that feder

senator blumenthal's here. senator murphy's here. all the people working here are here because of this conspiracy of love, of folks who didn't just take care of themselves and their families. they got engaged in their country, got engaged in their communities, the neighborhoods. they did for others, they served, they volunteered. they sacrificed. so we're on another inflection point in american history with the worst mass murder in our country's history. you cannot control always what happens to you, but you can control your response to it. let our response to this hate-filled act be love. let our response from this terroristic act seeking to scare us be courage. let us in the days ahead act with love and courage as demonstrated by our engagement with our political system pressing, pushing, letting our representatives be heard from in this body, that we want them to support commonsense closing of the terrorist loophole and expanding that with background checks that shut off the back door for terrorists to exploit to get assault weapo