yes, senator. thattillis: do you think with the exim bank, for the improvement, the transaction would go a different way? can i get your commitment to come back either to my office or before this committee and tell us what that would look like so we can get to a better place and certainty for the long-term of the exim bank? ms. reed: yes. a lot of people ask you a lot of questions and gave you limited time to answer. would you like to respond to anything before asking a couple of questions? ms. kraninger: thank you, senator, for that opportunity. i recognize senator tester wanted to hear more about my views. i could certainly talk about challenges in the payday lending arena. i do take the point of the conversation i have had with senator brown on challenges for hard-working americans out there. and i think what would be helpful is continued competition in the small-dollar lending space. i would say comptroller audit action and trying to work with traditional banks to bring additional products and

, senator senator kyle.under the earlybird rule, we turn to senator durbin. senator durbin: jay bybee confirmed to the seat on the a year and a half later we learned he authored the infamous torture memo. in the memo, he claimed the president has the right to ignore the law that makes torture crime and narrowly defined torture as abuse later,e learned he had authored the infamous torture memo when he headed the office of justice of legal counsel. it may torture a legal crime and they really described it as pain that causes organ failure or death. the torture memo or similar memos at time of his nomination. kavanaugh: no, sir, i was not aware of it until 2004. sen. durbin: should it have nominee?ied him as a mr. kavanaugh: senator, i do not think i can talk about whether someone should have or should not have been nominated. urbin: we do not have trials that can be taken to a jury verdict because there are none to have to try to determine what your values are. senator schumer asked you a series of questions r

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: i so appreciate my colleagues from minnesota and from new york coming to the floor to -- to share their insights on this challenge that we're in where 101-year-old convention is about to be smashed to smithereens by a majority and there is a determination to pack the court and corrupt the constitutional application of law. determination to have judges that are not at all interested in the way that people envision of our nation, not at all interested in the rights of workers, but rather twist each provision to enable the powerful in our country to repress the workers of our country, to enable the interests of our country to simply want to roll on on a commercial plane, to take away the ability of consumers to get a fair shake, take away the ability of individuals to have fair access to health care, take away one right after another after another on behalf of the wealthy and the well connected. this corruption, this legislating from the bench that's occurring from the far right

as senator manchin, senator casey, who is he a. been such a leader on health care, who we'll hear from in a minute, and other democrats have asked us to do. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: thank you, madam president. i rise for two purposes today, and i'll start with an anniversary of the americans with disabilities act. this is the 28th anniversary of that landmark legislation. former senator tom harkin, who served the people of iowa for more than three decades, if you include house and senate service, and who was a champion for people with disabilities, and i think that's an understatement -- for many years he was "the" champion -- senator harkin used to say that the americans with disabilities act was the last great civil rights law of the 20th century. the passage of what we know as the a.d.a. helped to bring into focus a picture that started to develop really 150 years ago with the ratification of the 14th amendment. that great amendment guaranteed equal protection under the

that the senate passed senate 215, that the senate passed 490, that the senate passed senate 724, that the senate passed 72245, that the senate passed senate 2249, that the senate passed 2559, that the senate passed 2692, that the senate passed without an ealt, h.r. 219. that the senate passed without an amendment h.r. 220, that the senate passed without an amendment h.r. 446, that the senate passed without an amendment h.r. 447, that the senate passed without an amendment, h.r. 951, that the senate passed without an amendment h.r. 1496, that the senate passed without an amendment h.r. 2122, that the senate passed h.r. without an amendment 2222. and that the senate passed without an amendment h.r. 3183, that the senate passed without an amendment h.r. 4301, that the senate passed without an amendment h.r. 4406, that the senate passed without an amendment h.r. 4463, that the senate passed without an amendment h.r. 4574, that the senate passed without an amendment h.r. 4646, that the senate passed without an amendment h.r. 4685, that the senate passed without an amendment, h.r. 4722, tha

biden, senator kennedy, and senator leahy, 02:00:36 -- senator leahy, elected at the age of 30, 30, and 34. and lookwhat great things each of them accomplished from those early beginnings. >> may i interrupt? each of them has almost a lifetime appointment. [laughter] >> we did not have any say in that. my republican state did. and it certainly makes the point that at the constitutional age, that is, the age at which the constitution says one must be qualified, we have elected to the u.s. senate and confirmed to the courts of appeals and even the u.s. supreme court some incredibly qualified individuals who have acquitted themselves very well, and i count all of the colleagues whom i have mentioned here in that category. and, therefore, it seems to me that if that is any precedent, we have nothing but the greatest expectations for your service on the court of appeals, and i am very proud to add my voice to those who are in support of that nomination. >> welcome, mr.kavanaugh. i appreciate your meeting with me. i think i am onlyone of two people on the committee now that were not on th

the senate has an equal role. you can't fulfill that role without getting a window into the nominee thinking. >> let's get the phone numbers on. we have separate lines for democrats. we are trying to get a feel for withrocess of confirmation hearings, preparation for this with our guest to work for a number of years on the senate judiciary. and worked directly in several of these cases. here is one of the photos. washington times. all smiles here. kavanaugh and the vice president. here is sound of brett kavanaugh visiting with chuck grassley. >> i had a pleasant conversation he and ie kavanaugh have not interacted a lot in our lifetime. getting acquainted with him again is important. jurist on theted court he said so on. outstanding opinions that i think are going to be torn through by every lawyer on our committee. going to have a thorough process. hopefully we get it done quickly. it is going to be thorough and done right. we have to do what we can to accommodate everybody's interests. , his record itself. this

senator schumer. senator schumer: thank you. let me thank you for holding this hearing which many requested and we appreciate it. i want to thank mr. kavanaugh for being back here when we had our private meeting. i asked him if he had any objections to come back what you good-naturedly referred to as the arena and you said no and appreciate that. i realize while this is not always the most pleasant exercise for a nominee, i think we can all agree it is a very important one. because we are talking about nothing less momentous than a lifetime appointment to what is generally regarded as the second most important court in the land, a court of great importance to those of us who sit in the senate or the house to my because it has its jurisdiction over governmental issues and years after this nomination, this court is going to influence a great deal of what this congress and future congresses have done. how manyman, you know of us have deep concerns about this nominee. givenesterday, they were further voice in the form of the america

senator hirono from hawaii is also joining us as are senator van hollen and murray, senator kaine, senator cortez masto will join in a different venue and senator tester spoke earlier today. we stand on behalf of dedicated public servants who get up every day to work for american taxpayers. they are men and women who support our armed forces and support our veterans. they make sure that social security checks go out and that medicare is taking care of seniors. they ensure our food and medicine and drinking water are safe. they protect our national security. they work in institutions like the n.i.h. and the c.d.c. and the national institutes of occupational safety and health in cincinnati. they are in community-based outpatient clinics. they are in v.a. centers. they are in social security offices in most of our states. these are american workers who have dedicated their lives to service. they serve republicans and democrats. they serve commanders in chief regardless of party. these workers, many are in washington but millions more are in the 50 states. we have 52,000 federal workers in ohi

senator burr, senator warren, senator rubio, they all tell us the same thing. our critical infrastructure is under attack by foreign powers, russia being the leader, and the question for us is what do we do about it? i'm hoping next week that the president will call the congress together in a bipartisan fashion to come up with some preventative measures to protect our infrastructure when it comes to the november election, and that we as a nation try to figure out what the rules of engagement are going to be. not just defend ourselves from aggression but punish the aggressor. i don't have all of the answers. i'm not suggesting this is my area of expertise because it is not, but i am smart enough to know that what russia did in 2016, they're going to continue until somebody makes them pay a heavy price, and it's just not russia. it could be iran, china, north korea, other bad actors. i don't know how as a body we can live with ourselves if we don't try to heed dan coats' warnings, and they are just not given by him. they are given by those who work for him for no

a senator: the senator from florida. mr. rubio: mr. president, we were sitting in the cloakroom between the last two votes that happened in the senate and everybody's phones started buzzing at the same time that's because everyone receives these alerts from the national weather service. and the alert said flash flood warning until 9:15 p.m. this evening. and i thought it was ironic because i was headed down here on the floor to speak about flooding, and in particular flood insurance, which is a threat so many different states across the country, so it was an ironic moment that reminds us of what that means to us here, but what it means to the people in the real world who are impacted by this. the house earlier today passed an extension of the national flood insurance program and it extends it for four months. it will expire november 30 of this year. i'm here today to tell you how critical it is the senate act on this as soon as possible. it will expire july 30, six days from today if we do in the take action. let me preface everything

senate. they have protested regulatory reform. every step of the way. they want to go right back to their old ways, repeal the tax codes and jobs act, relief taxes, and pile on more crushing regulations. well, madam president, we're not going to let that happen. because we agree that manufacturing growth is vital for american prosperity. and unlike our friends across the aisle, we have the ideas and the policies that help make that goal into reality. mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: madam president, first, 20 years ago today, in the late afternoon, shots rang out in this building. a mentally ill individual armed with a gun was coming through security when he shot capitol police officer jacob chestnut. he then approached the capitol office of tom delay and engaged detective john gibson. they exchanged gunfire. detective gibson, officer chestnut lost their lives in the line of duty protecting this building's occupants and visitors. there i

senator durbin and senator leahy have asked questions. they deserve an answer. torepublicans don't want review these documents, they don't have to, but it is wrong to stand in the way of senators who want to review the full record. i have served beyond 10 nominations. eight of them made it to the court. biggest thing that the judiciary committee actually it isuring its tenure, the examination of a president's nominee to the highest court of of thed, the defender constitution of the united states. i think we are entitled to know what that person believes, what he has written, what he has said , particularly in any form or capacity. >> thank you for the opportunity to be here. unlike diane i have only been here for seven nominees to the supreme court. but i noticed something. during the course of our efforts for the supreme court we were dedicated to disclosure and transparency, to the point where senator jeff sessions, then ranking detailedn, asked for documentation in her service for the white house. to 170,000 close pages of documents that were -- at therom her

. >> senator ted stephens was senator moreor over 40 years. senator stephens was involved in the seminole legislative initiatives that helped shape alaska. continuing on through the claims settlement act, the conservation and trans-alaskat, the pipeline act and numerous others that we're going to talk about today. the ted stevens foundation was created in 2001 as a way to his service and to apply his legacy to outreach and education. foundation is primarily working on archiving and senator's papers. we're hard at work. he had over 4800 box. one of the largest congressionallal collections ever a-- congressional ever amassed in the united states. he was born in indiana. early raise inside the years by was grandparents and then in his later teenage years, moved to california and was raised by his aunt and usually. and uncle. aunt while in california, he developed a love for surfing and figuredboard was prominently in his senate office throughout his career. senatoraduation, stevens attended college in oregon for a semester but his dream was to be

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from nevada. ms. cortez masto: i rise to speak out against the nomination of randal quarles. mr. quarles served in the bush administration's treasury department in the years that led up to the financial crisis of 2008, his failure to take action to prevent this crisis led to hundreds of thousands of foreclosures and evictions in my home state of nevada. nevada was ground zero for the financial crisis, we were the hardest hit of any state in the country, we had the highest foreclosure rate for 62 months straight and the highest number of under water mortgages. banks took the homes of more than 219,000 nevada families. anyone driving through parts of las vegas and reno in 2009 to see boarded up houses, for sale signs an empty lots everywhere. on many streets you would see more houses with foreclosure than not. i tried to fight for home owners. we sued the big banks and secured $1.9 billion to create the home again home owner relief program to help nevadans stay in their homes. as all of this was going o

>> i'll leave to senators to decide if it's time for the senate to act. the underpinnings you describe, the atrocities you describe are very real. >> i would say this is the type of thing where executive leadership makes a difference in giving direction to this body and so that's why i was seeking your and the president's opinion whether it's time to send a strong message against such ethnic cleansing and genocide. can we expect such a leadership from the president or yourself? >> i remember what secretary tillerson did before me on this issue. you can be sure that we'll be serious and lead on this important issue. >> thank you. >> thank you. senator young. >> mr. secretary, thank you. i appreciate your stamina. you have been here for quite a while. i want to let you know how much i appreciate -- i have to say since you have taken this position, the interaction of our office with the staff and you individually markedly improved and i'm appreciative of that. one of the axioms of diplomatic or military strategy is it -- you want do unite your allies and div

senator warren, i heard senator reed's question. and is it your position that you're not going to answer the question about whether or not you personally supported the policy of family separation, separating kids from their parents? >> senator, i appreciate the questions that you're raising and happy to discuss qualifications and my i judgeme. i have given my best advice to every person that i have worked for in my career. that is very important tois me. >> i think the difference here is it's one thing to not share openly advice that you're giving within the administration. but given the fact that you are now going to head an independent agency. >> i think it is troubling you won't share that information with the committee. let met y ask you about the of of fair lending and equal opportunity. we have had a bad history of discrimination in lending in many places. there was a case against wells fargo in baltimore, a little more than ten years ago. there have been other cases where it was established that they discriminated against afr

yes, senator. there was a note that there would be additional. sen. menendez: november, you requested audit cuts to offset funds to puerto rico. in your extent, does congress require offsets for supplemental disaster funding? ms. kraninger: i am sorry, senator, does the congress -- sen. menendez: require offsets for supplemental disaster funding? ms. kraninger: center, my role roleic we -- senator, my at omb is to make recommendations. these are the -- sen. menendez: is the answer yes or no? does congress require offsets for disaster funding? you and i both know the answer is no. ms. kraninger: [speaking simultaneously] sen. menendez: the answer is no. you know that. ms. kraninger: it is a conversation that has been had, senator, and i appreciate your perspective on it. sen. menendez: did you -- amazing. did you advocate for unprecedented policies that would have conditioned puerto rico's receipt of disaster relief funding on the oversight of the island's unelected and unaccountable control board?

now, the senate was -- is 51-49, but with the senator mccain not being able to actually get to the senate, my understanding is he can't vote. now, that makes it 50-49 and i was just wondering, what about a situation where supposing more republicans, for some reason, a heart attack, a car accident or something like that, where the minority could actually become the majority. it just seems that there should be something where votes could be cast even if you can't make it to the senate floor. my second thing, just quickly -- now i'm losing it. dog gone it. >> well, jim, let's get an answer to your first question. we'll see if you can recall the second one. go ahead, mr. peck. >> sure. in the senate, for votes on the senate floor, like what we're talking about here, you can vote by proxy. you have to be in attendance. if senator mccain, in fact, is not able to vote, then, yes, the republicans are down a number, but remember, you know, mike pence, as the vice president, gets to break a tie and i think under the scenario you were talking about, where more than one senator on the majority side,

, senator rubio, senator from arkansas senator cotton and others, senator warner, we thought it was importantto protect the national security of the united states by reimposing those important sanctions that the secretary of commerce had put in. how did we do that? we added a provision to the national defense authorization bill which passed overwhelmingly in this body. that provision was first inserted in the banking committee. it was then included when that's called the cfius bill and then it was passed by this body. and we urged the conferees in the senate and the house on the defense bill to keep that provision in there and not let z.t.e. off the hook. and during that short period of time while it was in conference a couple months, z.t.e. spent over $1.3 million to hire washington lobbyists to help them pull that provision out of the defense authorization bill. and the sad and really shameful story here is that z.t.e. and their lobbyists succeeded. and succeeded in lifting that penalty on z.t.e. so we have just sent the worst of all signals to china, whether z.t.e. or wayway that we're not

chairman. >> thank you, senator toomey. senator tester. >> thank you, senator corker. appreciate the recognition. thank you, both of you, for being here today. i'm going to start out with you, miss kraninger. it is no secret that mr. mulvaney is no fan of the vfpb. that aside, would you say that he has done a good job in his role as acting director? >> senator, i would say that the acting director is -- has focused on two priorities. one -- >> no, no, no, please. i know how to filibuster. you know how to filibuster. just answer the question. >> i understand. >> has he done a good job? >> senator, he's my current boss who i respect greatly and he has actually been focused on implementing the law from that standpoint, i would say yes. >> so, one of the things you had in your four points you were going to bring to the cfpb, i want to focus on the second one, work closely with other regulators and aggressively take actions against bad actors. i think that's a noble thing to do. mr. mulvaney has pulled back the payday lending rule, pulled the prepaid accounts rule and done

senator grassley: senator flow chart -- senator? uchar: there is nothing about this that seems normal. i have kids in my state that were separated from their parents. i was at the border and met with a number of families, including a mom who was fleeing an abusive husband in honduras, separated from her 10-year-old son, thought she never would see her son again, but because of the court order and the work of people who have been pushing this issue, she did see him again. and he said he knew he would always see his mom again and gave her a hug. i was also to buy something that i do not think it's gotten enough attention to them that is the response to this coldhearted policy from the american people. sister norma running that operation with charities, the thousands of volunteers, americans from all over the country who have gone down there and volunteered, the diapers, food, clothes, everything we have secret i hope it is not lost. but despite this policy which was an honest mistake of americans have responded, and not just people in

senator? >> dana: senator schumer talking about the supreme court nomination of brett kavanaugh. i want to go to chad pergram. you were listening to the senator. now we have heard from mcconnell and schumer coming out of the policy lunches. what do you think is happening on the hill, as this nomination gets under way? >> well, democrats are concerned about this, because you're looking at going from a 5-4 court to maybe 6-3 court. you look at some of the things that chuck schumer was referring to there, concerned about gay rights, concerned about healthcare issues, labor issues. that's a big worry for democrats. so far most republicans are onboard. listen to republican senator jeff flake. >> district court judge for 12 years, you have a long paper trail. it's taking a while to get the papers together. nothing stands out. as an obstacle. he's a solid pick. >> any comment on the democrat u.k. attack of him thus far? >> well, a lot of those were made before the selection was made there. >> that's

senator steve danes. senator hoeven. thank you. they're all here. senator cindy hyde-smith. thank you very much. senator james lankford. james? thank you, james. senator pat roberts. he loves those farms. he loves the farmers like i do. representative diane black. diane, thank you. representative kevin brady. with our new tax bill. how's it coming, kevin? good? representative mike conaway. mike? thank you, mike. representative dan newhouse. thank you, dan. representative christie norm. i have to call her governor now. that was a great win you. that you, christie. representative david reicher. david, thank you. so we had a big day. very big. we met right here at the white house to launch a new phase in the relationship between the united states and the european union, a phase of close relationship, of strong trade relations and both of us will win. of working better together for global security and prosperity and a fighting jointly against terrorism. the united states and the european union together account for more than 830 million citizens and more than 50% of the global gd

one, i would like to recognize the presiding officer of the senate, senator rubio for working with senator van hollen that would serve us well, if the national of director of intelligence certify phis that a foreign power, russia or anyone else, is trying to attack our infrastructure they'll pay a heavy price. so this is july the 17th, 2018. on friday, last week, i think it was july-- don't know the dates, just got back from travelling. so friday of last week, a few days ago, the director of national intelligence said the following. the warning lights are blinking red again. today the digital infrastructure that serves this country is literally under attack. how much more do we need as a body and as a nation to rally ourselves to act while there's still time. he indicated that our cyberspace strategies emphasized only defense, not offense as well, invoking president rowing reagan's with the cold war and the soviet union, and that the administration should throw everything we have into that exercise. every member of congress, every member of the senate, as well as the president, has an obli

udall, especially senator moran of kansas, as well as senator roberts and senator gardner and senator bennet all for their efforts on behalf of the southwest chief line. long distance passenger rail routes like the southwest chief literally connect millions of americans from across the country who live in rural communities to the rest of the nation. they do that culturally and they do that economically. each year, the southwest chief, for example, in new mexico brings thousands of boy scouts from all across our great nation to the philmont boy scout ranch and generates economic opportunity in every community along the way, whether it's las vegas or laimie or albuquerque or you name it. in many cases, long distance routes provide the only affordable transportation alternatives to highways for rural residents, particularly the elderly and the disabled. i just want to thank all of my colleagues from these states for standing up for long distance passenger rail, for working to reject any proposals that would suspend long distance rail service, and literally send rural residents back to th

senator susan collins of maine and senator lisa murkowski of alaska. and senator collins does not seem to be enjoying being the focus of all of that pressure. >> there are a lot of lobbying campaigns on both sides under way right now. but my vote doesn't count any more than those of my 99 colleagues. >> oh, yes it does. susan collins' vote is in doubt, and lisa murkowski's vote is in doubt tonight. and they are the only two republicans really who might vote against the president's nominee. and so they hold in their hands the power to confirm the nominee or defeat the nominee. and here's what senator murkowski had to say. >> i'm going to have an opportunity to ask more questions myself. i'll have an opportunity to review some of the writings that he has made since the time he gave those statements to the senate back in 2006 and just confirm again or confirm for the first time in other areas again that are also very, very important. so there's some work to be done. >> msnbc's garrett hake caught up with senator collins. >> he was asked about his views on

wilkie, as you know, senator sullivan, senator rounds , senator boozman, senator tester, other members of this committee represents states were veterans or a long distance away from our va facilities. sometimes a full-day strike in some cases. montana as big as the days. as you may know in the debate on the mission bill and in the markups, a choice program that works to make the health care services available to the veteran is a key to the argument and debate. you work as hard as you can tell us what you plan to do to see to it the timing and in reality of employment is good and we had the problem we have with veterans not been able to reach the services they deserve and earned. >> yes, sir. this goes to something senator sullivan and senator tester and i talked about. those of us in the 21st century do not understand the scale of the american left. in montana, a normal journey is sometimes taking 600 miles around tips to get to a va facility. choice means getting those veterans and their family caregivers the opportunity to engage with va anytime of the day, but also that the developm

a woman as senator.evertheless she persisted and she won. and today she is persisting and being a bright spot in a congress that has become a black hole for civil liberties. among the very many bills senator warren is sponsoring our is a bill to reform outdated , a bill toolicies end discrimination based on sexual orientation in public schools, a bill to improve procedures for handling complaints of sexual harassment and discrimination against congressional employees, reforming the use of solitary confinement are the bureau of prisons, and i know you're not going to care about this 1 -- immigranto protect children. want senator warren to persist in persistent? i happened to be at a meeting of democratic senators on the 8, 2017.f february 2 it presiding senator said was very lucky to have aclu president in the room after there had been a repression of speech on the floor of the senate. what i told senator warren that day is what i would like you to ratify -- the aclu is always ready to protect her freedom

only one of those senators is still in the senate. that's senator carper. you are hearing from senators there tonight. does it sound like there will be any democratic support for this nominee? >> from the democratic senators who are here tonight, all we're hearing is about a protection of american's rights. we should be clear about this, that this is a nominee who threatens rowe, a nominee who threatens the health care of millions of people and a nominee who has spoken about the protections a presidents should have from investigation. it's unclear where he would land up on that, but he has spoken more clearly about the need for a president not to be indicted than any other nominee. and i think americans should be suspicious. the senators here tonight are willing to stand up and fight for the issues we all care about, but we have to remember that there are a number of republicans who have claimed to be pro-choice nominees. brett kavanaugh has gone out of his way to argue the dissent side in rowe. so i think he has to state whether it should be the law of the

senator orrin hatch, senate finance committee chairman, basically the dean of the senate, senator.his will be 15th nomination hearing. someone told me you participated in the confirmmation of every justice in the supreme court s that true? >> that's true. david: i imagine the process changed from the first confirmation hearings, those seemed a lot more civilized. >> they were a lot more civilized. it is a big political war where everybody comes up. i feel badly about that. david: thinking where it all started. i think of robert bork, that famous phrase you've been borked, that you were tweeted unfairly by whoever questioned you. clarence thomas sticks out in my memory. my wife and i recently had been married, he went through, we sat in awe at the confirmation hearing, he fought back. he did so successfully, while still on the supreme court. let's play a little of the sound bite for those that may have forgotten. >> this is circus. this is national disgrace. and from my standpoint, as a black american, as far as i'm concerned, it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any

senator brown? >> i think the chairman knows that that comparison is species, specious, but i will get to that in a moment. thanks, welcome to the nominees, especially ms. kraninger who brought her ohio family with her. good to see you all. ms. reed, who also has some ohio ties, nice to see you, good to see you both. financial crisis started when greedy lenders lured families into scam loans they could not afford. the whole enterprise was designed to transfer wealth upwards, stripping hard-earned home equity from the middle class, putting it in the pockets of shady lenders and with that, they were successful. i see that as members of this committee are familiar with, i see that every day. where i live in cleveland. and my wife and i live in zip code 44105, five or six miles from where ms. kraninger grew up. my zip code 44105 in 2007, the first half of that year, had more foreclosures than any zip code in the united states of america. and you know or should know what that does to families and to neig

just before their meeting, the senate majority leader talked about the president's nominee on the senate floor. sen. mcconnell: president trump has made a superb selection to serve as associate justice of the supreme court of the united states. judge brett kavanaugh of the d.c. circuit cou. judge kavanaugh possesses an impressive resume, outstanding legal mind, and exemplary judicial temperament. he served 12 years on the nations most consequential circuit court. he has proven to be one of the most thorough and thoughtful jurists in our country. ant record demonstrates understanding of a judge's proper role in our constitutional republic. judge kavanaugh understands that and united states of america super are not unelected legislators who we select for their personal views or policy preferences. a judge's duty is to interpret the plain meaning of our laws and our constitution according to how they are written. judges need to be unbiased. they need to treat all parties fairly. they need to approach every case with open ears and an open mind. judges decisions must turn on the facts of each

senator lankford is the chairman of that committee, senator hoeven on ag and senator collins on transportation, housing, urban development, on t-hud. come to us with your issues, your concerns, your amendments. let's work them through. let's get them through the process. yesterday, we were able to advance four amendments. some might say, well, that's not very much, but i would suggest to you that we are getting started, we are getting started in a good way, a positive way, an encouraging way, and we want to encourage that good forward activity. we all know that the most prized commodity around here is time and floor time, so we don't have unlimited time on the floor to take up this package of measures. so help us, help us get to that point where we can work through those issues that we need to bring to the floor that will require a vote. we will help you and do so in a way that i think will do honor to the appropriations process, do honor to the legislative process. again, what we know around here to be regular order, although unfortunately i think we have seen regular order has been less and

senators should do the same.t's nominee fairly based on his or her qualifications. we should treat the process with the respect and dignity that it deserves. the judiciary committee under the able leadership of senator grassley will hold hearings and then the nomination will come to the full senate for our consideration. one more round of 40-year-old scare tactics will not stop us from doing the right thing. >> shepard: there you go. mitch mcconnell talking about precedent and what has happened in the past. chad pergram joins us live now. he's up there on capitol hill. the arguments can be made interchangeably cycle to cycle on which party is doing the appointing. >> yeah. the different here, if they nominate a conservative justice, that this will change the balance of power. anthony kennedy was viewed as a swing vote on the court, maybe switching this to 5-4 to 6-3. this is interesting. we heard earlier today from bob casey, the democratic senator from pennsylvania who is up for re-election this year. a trump st

senator: is that a yes? ms. kraninger: yes, senator. meator: it's important to that every american have a day in court and that the justice system work for them, no matter their race, creed. have you ever side a contract with a financial firm that included amendatory arbitration clause -- included a mandatory arbitration clause? did you read the mandatory arbitration clause before you signed it? were you aware that you were forgoing your right to sue when you signed the contract? ms. kraninger: i certainly was aware of the clauses that were in the contract. i can't assure you that that was what was there. senator: do you believe boarding ordinary americans read these and know that they are signing away their rights? ms. kraninger: i'm guessing many of them do not and that is where the statute is important in understanding that the bureau has a role or looking at those things. senator d support the bureau's mandatory arbitration role -- do you support the bureau's mandatory arbitration role? addressedger: it is in that manner. senator: d

senator . we need a senator who will stand strong with president trump as we grow the economy, as we rebuild our military, as we protect our constitutional rights, as we enforce our nation's immigration laws, and as we protect our families. youris what i will do as u.s. senator, and that is what we will all do together as virginians. thank you very much. [applause] ms. woodruff: senator kaine. opening statements. sen. kaine: i want to thank the virginia bar association for this tradition. judy, thank you for participating as our moderator. my campaign for the senate is basically based on my life's work in virginia, work i have done together with my wife. i want to build a virginia that works for all. it's about three things. first and foremost, it is about virginia. i don't represent d.c. to virginia, i would represent virginia to d.c. fundamentally what i do in the senate is i listen to virginians and i either solve their problems or take their solutions and trying to get washington when a fam

and i've worked on that with senator lankford as well as senator coons and senator leahy. i would note that $380 million is just 3% of one aircraft carrier. that's what it is, 3% of one aircraft carrier. yet you look at a foreign government that has been trying to attack our elections. we must do more. during a recent rules committee hearing, state and local officials testified that more resources are needed. last week vermont's secretary of state and the president of the national association of secretaries of state, jim condos, called on congress to provide additional funds on an ongoing basis, not just when a crisis happens. and this week nearly half of our country's states attorney general sent a letter urging congress to appropriate more funding for election security. that is why today senator leahy, coons, and i will be offering this amendment to the appropriations legislation that is before us this week that would provide additional funding for election security. i am continuing to work with senator lankford on our secure elections act, which along with senator graha

we have consulted with senators. senator feinstein and i -- 83 different senators. the -- bills unanimously in most cases. but what was missing was allowing the other 70 senators to participate on the floor. amendments, -- we got off the floor without a -- we are doing it the way that we are supposed to do. that was done by showing something that needs to be shown more in the senate, restraint. restraint means that when you have a lot of freedom, that does not mean you exercise all of your freedoms all at once. nothing will happen. so we have would controversial. we even had 20 republican senators voted -- which is the -- of the u.s. provision because we thought this was not the appropriate bill for it. now we are moving to motions to instruct which our -- are nonbinding resolutions. they give the senate a chance to say what senators want to say. that is why we are here. one of those issues has to do with tariffs. the administration has imposed tariffs on aluminum and steel. provoking a response by tariffs on soybeans and other products grown and manufactured in our

thank you, senator coons, thank you, senator schumer for bringing us together. the fact is, i worked for a time in this building. i was a law clerk to justice harry blackmun, the year after he wrote the majority opinion in roe v. wade. i have argued cases in this building, four of them. i have deep respect in fact, reference for the united states supreme court as a central pillar of our democracy. to speak truth to the powers across the street and down pennsylvania avenue. so i'm here with sadness to say, judge kavanaugh, you don't belong in this building as a justice. judge kavanaugh, you should not be serving in this building as a supreme court justice. .. here is a memo to the parkland students. if you care about common sense and done violence protection, judge kavanaugh is your worst nightmare. if you want background checks for a man on assault weapons or any of the other common sense sensible measures that wehave in connecticut or california or new york , kavanaugh will strike them down. in his record, it's indisputable. he is the worst nightmare of advocat

senate? i have a record of working with president trump and to his team on all kinds of things but let , there be no mistake. i will stand up against this president when he is wrong for the country. when he said there is good people on both sides of a white supremacy rally in charlottesville, i will stand up against him. when he is hurting our farmers and workers i will stand up , against him. i an independent check against am this president. my focus is on virginia. it is why we were the best date -- the best state for business, why we were the best managed state and the best state to raise a child, high median income and low unemployment. my focus on virginia is how we have been able to bring down veterans' unemployment, do smart things like allow exports of crude petroleum. i will work with this president when he is right, but i will stand up against him when he is wrong for virginia or wrong for the country. compare that with a 100% trump guy who said president trump was standing up to vl

it's for this reason several senators from senator schumer and senator harris of california have vowed to reject any name from trumps shortlist. others have expressed deep skepticism of the names say no way to hear from the nominees from their own words at a hearing. that brings us to a reason today. we should lay down the standard of what they should say when they have to answer to the senators and public on these issues. because of trumps litmus test these nominees will face a higher burden than any past nominee and they already start off having three strikes against them because of the positions trump has already ascribed to them and therefore this nominee will not have the luxury of trying to skate through these hearings without answering tough questions. a refusal to answer questions about their views on these key issues and past cases will force senators to revert to trumps all descriptions of how this nominee will grow on roe v. wade and the affordable care act. if nominee to have any hope of overcoming this deep skepticism in winning confirmation they will need to provide unequ

senator feinstein. senator feinstein: thanks very much senator schumer. thise begin with this -- is nothing that is different. that stands for openness,this is usual procedur. the letter that senator schumer i even asked the staff questions, are you sure this is the same as was sent out by republicans on the kagan nomination? i have been a short it is identical. -- assured it is identical. we believe it is our job to review all pertinent information as part of the kavanaugh review process. this should include documents during his three years as staff secretary. staff secretary is a top white house advisor. it doesn't just write memos. it rewrites memos, puts its own views into memos. the staff secretary often is present, makes statements, so there is real value in this information. some republicans say we want everything but the kitchen sink. that isn't true. we want the same formula that was used for justice kagan. we want to be able to look and see what his knowledge is on key issues, and also what he thinks. these are issues like the cia torture progra

i met with senators feinstein and senator durbin and senator cruz. we sat down and we discussed a way to actually get this into law. we all agreed that it needs to be very narrowly focused. the problem with immigration around here and the immigration subject is it grows really big and really complex really quickly. and what happens with big and complex on capitol hill is nothing gets done. so the bill that we proposed is very simple. fix the issues in the law, clarify the process so that we can actually make absolutely certain that minor children can stay with their parents while their asylum claims are being considered. we've got agreement on virtually everything. we agreed that families should be kept together. we agreed that we need more judges so we can reduce the backlog. we agreed we need more attorneys to participate in the process, basically two to one ratio between a new judge and new attorneys to support the legal process. we agreed on minimum standards for housing so that we make sure that we're keeping these families in a place that we th

let's hear from some of these men, senator flake, senator mccain, senator corker, others who weigh in, that you want someone who's going to hold precedent. roe v. wade 45 years on the book is precedent. the second thing is when you have a nominee you ask those questions. by the way, we asked brown v. board of education a number of nominees and they answered it if they thought that was a settled law of the land. yes, you're not supposed to ask questions and they're not going to talk about cases that may come before them, but i don't know why you wouldn't ask about cases that are 50, 100 years old and how they would have voted on those cases. that's how you figure out whether they put their money where their mouth is, whether they're really going to respect precedent. >> the president met on thursday evening with senator collins as well as three of your fellow democrats who voted in favor of justice gorsuch, including north dakota senator heitkamp. she said of that meeting that she had urged the president to appoint someone who is, quote, pragmatic, fair, compassionate, committed to jus

senate race. secretary of state mike pompeo talks boston religious freedom, and a discussion about u.s. relations with north korea. ... newswoodruff of the pbs hour. >> now let's move to this morning's event which features two individuals wanting to serve as one of virginia's two senators in the united states senate. first to join us is >> senator tim kaine for democrat mr. kane obtained his degree from university of harvard law school and after law school he moved to richmond and for 17 years served as a civil rights attorney.rv he was elected to the city council 19 before and then mayor of richmond and elected as lieutenant governor and subsequently elected to serve as virginia's governor 2006. represented in virginia in the u.s. senate since 2012 please welcome senator tim came to the stage. [applause] [applause] >> next on stage is mr. corey stewart, a republican.ho obtaining his degree from georgetown university's pool of foreign service and college of law from saint paul minnesota. works as

>> that's up to those senators. we respect the fact that each senator has an individual vote and i expect that senator murcowski and senator collins will do what they always do. give a fair hearing one-on-one, meet with judge kavanaugh individually. we have the great senator john kyle from arizona, former senator of 18 years spent many years on the judiciary committee. he will be shepherding judge kavanaugh. he will be on capitol hill this afternoon. i know they'll be fair and open minded. and that is wonderful to see. i also just want to say about each and every senator that if they just give time to judge kavanaugh they'll see what president trump saw in him in choosing him. here is an important word for the judiciary, humble. humility the whole world saw last night. >> sandra: the president and the first lady are en route on their trip to europe. they're embarking on a major mission there. as we know, the president has been very clear nato countries must pay more, the united states must pair less. very unfair the

brian: right to the senate. david: right to the senate.rian: so how did that work, when it got to the senate? david: everything slowed down, and it should have. the house was pretty fast. gave both sides, you have the house managers and johnson appoints a number of defense lawyers, starting with his attorney general henry stanbury. the senate gives them time to prepare their case. through this whole period, you have a tremendous amount of publicity, as you can only imagine, so everything about the case is already in the press. takes about six weeks before the trial begins. brian: you have got to tell the stanbury story in the supreme court. congress responded in kind when a vacancy arose on the supreme court in the spring of 1856, and johnson nominated -- 1866, and johnson nominated henry stanberry. you envision what would happen if this happened today. david: the republicans did not want johnson to have an appointment to the supreme court, so a vacancy arose, and he said he wanted to nominate stanberry, a lawyer from cincinnati, from ohio

with that, i'll defer to senator menendez. senator menendez? >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, when the president meets alone with president putin, it allows the kremlin state media and the russian ministry of defense to provide more information, at least from their perspective, not only to the american people, but sometimes it seems to members of the president's own cabinet. so i would like to ask you some questions to get to what actually happened. has the president told you what he and president putin discussed in the two-hour closed door meeting in helsinki? you can put your microphone on. >> excuse me, i'm sorry. the president has a prerogative of choosing meets. i'm confident you had one-on-one meeting in private as well. >> i just asked you a simple question. did he tell you whether or not what happened in those two hours? >> yes. the predicate of your question implied some notion that there was something improper about having a one-on-one meeting. i completely dismiss the question. >> i hope we can get through this. did he tell you what transpired? >> i have