bryce: thank you, senator. chair manchin: thank you, senator. now, senator hickenlooper. senator hickenlooper: thank you, mr. chair. as senator king mentioned, this is a really useful and productive panel and session. i want to get back to a discussion, again, about why has price gone up so much. and mr. nalley, maybe you can -- i mean, basically, the reserve calculations, both in this country and globally, haven't changed significantly. except for some minor disruptions, i am aware of, the lifting costs haven't changed that much. is it some function during the pandemic shutdown that the supply chain basically got somehow -- they're dormancy, made them less sufficient, less resilient, is that fair to say? mr. nalley: sorry. i am not quite sure -- senator hickenlooper: i find it perplexing to see why we have seen such large swings in the price of crude oil when reserves, lifting costs, all the basic calculations that generally go towards price of most of our products in the world seem to indicate we are still in a commodity that where price is often dictated by producers t

thank you mister chairman. >> thank you senator crapo. senator kelly is here and senator.we welcome you. >> thank you mister chairman. i'm happy to attend today's hearing and introduce chief chris magnus, an exceptional nominee. i am very pleased to be doing this under colleagues with mark kelly, who will also offer [inaudible] . chris magnus has been a police chief in fargo, north dakota and richmond, california as well as in my hometown. his background who involves both the northern and southwestern borders, preparing him well to help cbp overcome any challenges at our borders. when i search for border solutions, something's come to mind. one, will this provision come to order? will this protect our community? and will it ensure that migrants are protected fairly and humanely? that's why he has a similar support. and i hope he will have the support of the senate in committee as well. -- during that time, tucson has been on the front lines of managing the online ongoing migrant crisis. tucson city officials and ngos have teamed up with the department of monitors your secu

senator leahy, who was first elected in 1974 is the longest current serving senator in the senate president pro tempore. >> mr. president. >> majority leader. >> yeah, i come to the floor today a little sad, but mentally full of gratitude. earlier today our dear colleague senator patrick leahy announced he'll retire from the senate at the conclusion of his term. this chamber has a history of dedicated servants, but only one patrick leahy, for eight terms the senator from vermont

>> senator, our u.s. customs and border protection personnel have physical contact and questions each individual at the port of entry. if there is any question with respect to that individual, any derogatory information or any questions that bears on the individual safety of the american people, that individual can be placed in secondary -- >> wait a minute, that's not my question. my question is standard security procedure, the standard screening procedure for refugees, if they are you said 100% of a theo vacuees are screened. >> they have all not been given interviews -- >> why not? >> because we have to be mindful of the fact that we're in an emergency situation to evacuate u.s. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and others -- >> and what percentage do the special immigrant visa holders and what total did those constitute? >> i have that information for you, if you'll give me one minute. >> the answer is an extremely small percentage. maybe 60,000 who have come to the country. my question is why are

mark -- and senator baldwin. >> senator martin? tor markey.>> thank you, mister. very much. the problem is clear. you concentrate on children and teens to make more money. now is the time for the legislative solutions to these problems. and that starts with -- i've introduced bipartisan legislation to give children and teens the piracy bill of rights for the 21st century. today, a 13 year old girl on these apps has no privacy rights. she is nobility to say no. no, you can't gobble up data about. we know, you can't use that data to make algorithms that push popular content towards me. no, you can't profile me to manipulate me and keep me glued to your apps. no, you have no rights. 13 year old girl in the united states of america, in the year 2021. my bipartisan children privacy protection act gives 13, 14 and 15 year olds that right to say no. to each witness, do you support my legislation to update the privacy protection act to give that 13 year old, 14 year old and 15 year old control of their data? ms. stout? >> senator markey, i

eight senator has seven minutes -- each senator has seven minutes.lease try to remain within your allotted time. following the first run of questions, if senators wish to ask additional questions, we will have a second round with three minutes each. if you would please stand. raise your right hand, the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help you god? let the record reflect he answered in the affirmative. the floor is yours. >> thank you. every day the women of the department of homeland security confront critical and complex challenges as we work to achieve our noble mission of safeguarding the american people , our homeland, and our values. the dedication and talent of our workforce is unsurpassed. i am privileged to serve alongside them. our department is expansive. the third largest in the federal government. more than 20 agencies and offices work together to fulfill the many responsibilities we have. from investigating, apprehending, and helping to bring to justice those who exploit will run, to a swing those in distress at sea. --

senate ought to work. but republicans shouldn't do and mustn't do is squelch any chance to bring something this critical and sacrosanct as the right to vote. if there's any that has debate in the chambers voting rights they say they want more bipartisanship we are ready to give it to them for they have another opportunity for a bipartisanship tomorrow when we will begin to debate. i hope that will take our offer. simply standing silent with her arms crossed, refusing to allow the senate to function is unacceptable. and now i have an important announcement on progress for the president's agenda. i am pleased to announce that in agreement has been reached to lower prescription drug prices for seniors and families in the build back better legislation. fixing prescription drug pricing has consistently been a top issue for americans year after year including the vast majority of both democrats and republicans who want to see a change because they simply cannot afford their medications. we have heard this from p

senator wyden, senator klobuchar, senator murphy, senator cortez masto, senator bennet, and senator kelly. and i also want to sincerely thank senator sinema for working with us to reach this agreement. we are going to build on this success as we continue making progress on the rest of build back better. we are close, we are determined, we are confident that we will succeed in rewarding the trust that the american people have placed in us. now on voting rights. shortly before his death, the great john lewis offered the american people a parting message. when you see something that is not right, he said, you must say something. you must do something. democracy is not a state. it is an act. and each generation must do its part to help build what we call the beloved community. the words of the great late john lewis. well, today the senate is being called to take action because across our beloved democracy, something indeed is not right. something malicious is afoot. a lie, a terrible lie, spread by the former president of the united states is eating away corrosively at the foundations of our

senator sullivan, senator lu jan. i will go vote. i should be back by the time that senator lummis senators. in the meantime senator blackburn will preside. thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. beckerman, i know there's been a lot of questions, which i have concerns about sharing data with the chinese communist party given the ownership or at least board influence. senator blackburn was just talking about that. i know senator cruz raced the issue. i want to raise a related issue. it is what i refer to as kowtow capitalism. kowtow capitalism. i think that you guys are exhibit a of kowtow capitalism. what is kowtow capitalism? it is american executives of american companies censoring american's first amendment rights in america so as not to offend the chinese communist party and/or to gain access to the chinese market. so we see it on wall street. we see it in the movie studios. we see it with the nba. so let me ask a couple of questions related to that. could a tiktok user -- a tiktok user could put up a video that criticizes th

senator sinema is here, senator kelly is here. chief, you have the good fortune to be supported strongly by both of your united states senators. we welcome your remarks. we begin with senator sinema. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate the opportunity to introduce chief chris magnus, an exceptional nominee to be commissioner of customs and border protection and i'm very pleased to be joined today by my friend and colleague senator mark kelly who will also offer introductory comments. chris magnus has been a police chief in fargo, north dakota, richmond, california, and currently my hometown of tucson, arizona, and that's where i've gotten to know him. his background as an exceptional law enforcement professional on back and forth the northern and southwestern borders has prepared him well to help cbp overcome and meet the challenges on our borders. when i judge a border initiative or solution, i examine three main questions. one, will this provision help secure the border. two, will it protect our communities. and three, will

my guest today is senator john boozman, sooner senator from arkansas. dean of arkansas delegation. he's here to discuss the status of the biden economic agenda, what republican senators want. but first begin with food production. senator, welcome. thanks so much for joining us today. post live. senator boozman: thank you so much for having me. it's a pleasure. >> all eyes are on the cargo ships anchored off of california. talk about the supply chain issues we are seeing. specifically with regards to trucking. you are supportive of legislation to help train additional truck drivers to move goods more rapidly across the country. how do you think this is going to alleviate the supply chain bottleneck we are seeing? senator boozman: we have a huge problem on the ports. in the past we have had problems periodically on the west coast. now it's a real concern because we have it on both coasts right now. nobody really seems to know how to alleviate the problem. one of the solutions is, not only for the port problem, but just moving commerce in general, is to try to get more truck drivers.

he's the senate president pro tem and longest serving senator. he announced his retirement this morning in the vermont state capitol. >> good morning. thank you. very nice. this room is very, very special and i thank you all for being here. it's special to both myself. not just because -- that i used to ride my tricycle up and down these halls. a long time ago. i don't know what rules i broke. having grown up right across the street, my sister, mary, my brother. my son and i decided to gather here back in 1974 when parents, our children, including son kevin who is here, my sister, mary, and i used the room to announce my candidacy for the united states senate. at that time i was a 33-year-old, fourth term states attorney and i wanted to launch a campaign in vermont knowing vermont had never sent a democrat to the united states senate. never sent somebody my age. i felt i understood the knee need and values of vermont. i thought it was time for my generation to address them. one of the people i read in preparing for that was the dublin commentary

so i'm hopeful that senator scott and maybe perhaps senator tillis or senator toomey or senator cramer will call out those people who do character assassination. >> do you not think she is a member of the young communists? >> i'm not here to answer your questions, senator kennedy. senator warren is recognized from massachusetts. >> thank you, mr. chairman. professor omarova, i know that the giant banks object to your willingness to enforce the law and that you may cut into big bank profits so they and their republican buddies have declared war on you. the attacks on your nomination have been vicious and personal. we've just seen them. sexism, racism, pages straight out of joe mccarthy's 1950s red scare tactics, it's all there on full display. welcome to washington in 2021. now, one claim is that you intend to nationalize the banking system. let's just get this nonsense out of the way. does the fcc have the power to end private banking and to use all consumer deposits to a public ledger? >> absolutely not. >> if the fcc did have that power, is that something you would support? >> absolu

in the senate, that's different. in the senate you have each state whether maine or nebraska or california or new york, each has two but still within the senate when you have carcasses and ait partisan majority of one of the other with the filibuster, you have the opportunity to make things deliberate. it doesn't always work that way but it's there and when it does work that way, it's what the senate was all about. the world's greatest body. liberty is sort of a word on a shelf in politics right now. as we think about, it's one of the things that can drive it. if you have to have the six people threshold or a cloture vote not talking inside baseball moment for everybody else, you and i both understand the purpose of the boat is not to be overused but be available for rare times when it's necessary to bring together the senate to do things on a 60 vote level. you have an escape with the budget reconciliation approach resolution that gets you out of the filibuster but the unfortunate thing was both parties knocked down

senator wicker. senator wicker: thank you, senator cantwell. mr. administrator, let me start off with safety management systems. you mentioned voluntary adoption of these. who is -- can you give us the manufacturers who are engaged in that, making progress in voluntary s.m.s.'s? mr. dickson: we have currently among the transport category air framers and engines, we have boeing, pratt whitney and general electric. and i have to look up but i believe gulf stream in there as well -- is in there as well. and a number of others. a number of other manufacturers, six in the pipeline that we have not fully accepted. senator wicker: then, supply us with those names on the record. there's supposed to be a notice of proposed rulemaking with regard to the mandatory s.m.s.'s. when will that notice of proposed rulemaking be issued? mr. dickson: senator, we're making good progress on the s.m.s. rulemaking. i believe it will be next fall. about less than a year from now. and then we'll have it out for public comment. and then we'll proceed on from there. senator w

senator peters: senator lankford. senator lankford: thank you all for your work, we appreciate the work and ecourage you to stay on it. inspectors general deal with waste, fraud, makes recommendations, brings up ideas of greater efficiency. so inspectors general that are leaning into an agency and proposing ideas helps us all, helps the nation. there's an expectation of that work. let me be one of many to say to you lean in. we need you working well in that task. i've got a whole litany of issues and questions i want to walk through and address. we've talk through the several things. i would tell you what i hear most from people at home when they talk about inspectors general and issues they see in government is, why does it seem like no one is held to account? we all know that's not correct. there are some people held to account but it becomes a big deal when we see someone like andrew mccabe who we mentioned earlier, found he clearly ride, was fired and now has been added back in, his pension is now recovered, back

senate. the white house was looking at a time table that would end around thanksgiving with passage of the reconciliation bill. that presumably would be plenty of time for joe manchin's questions to be answered. so if you saw what manchin is doing, is venting about pressure that he was getting from progressives an being anied that they hadn't passed the infrastructure bill, that could still be consistent with the scenario where he is going to support the package that -- the framework that was allowed. in addition to that, he was pushing back on some of the things that people are at the last minute trying to negotiate into the framework. remember they announced a framework late last week. and then over the weekend there was a big push to try to get prescription drug provisions inserted become in the bill. so, the tone was bad for sure and it -- if what joe manchin meant to do was say you can't pressure me and vent about the bipartisan infrastructure bill, what he, in fact, is doing, may be und

senator cortez or senator tilling from his office, perhaps. or senator cortez from hers. senator ossoff from his. senator smith from hers. one moment. senator haggerty is just a couple moments out. i will -- i will ask one more question. the white house gathered as you know over 30 nations last week and called for accelerated cooperation to combat international ransom ware efforts. this effort shows your focus, the administration's focus on protecting cyber security of u.s. companies from such attacks. how does treasury work cooperatively, how does congress work cooperatively mr. deputy secretary with treasury to address the problem of sanction violations through crypto currency in cases of ransomware? >> senator, thank you for the important question. and as you know recently we sanction our first crypto exchange for the facilitation of ransomware payments. we're continuing to look at using our sanction authorities to go after those that use crypto payments to violate our laws by committing crimes. we want to work closely with congress. one of the most important areas for

the presiding officer: the senate is adjourned until senate is adjourned until the senate hasn't gaveled out for the day during session confirmed a handful of executive branch nominees for labor and treasury department post. en bloc debate on the john lewis voting rights advancement act 50 -- 49 paid 60 votes were dated. alaska senator was the only republican to vote yes with all democrats. majority leader chuck schumer spoke on the senate floor following the failed vote. >> now madam president and reference to what just occurred on the floor in terms of voting rights, madam president this is a low, low point in the history of this body. a few moments ago senate republicans, for the fourth time this year were presented with a simple question, will they vote in favor of starting debate, nearly a debate on protecting voting rights in this country? in today's case they would join democrats and proceeding to the john lewis voting rights advancement act. which would reinstate long-standing, widely embraced federal protections on the right to vote. with just one exception, republicans once aga

wyden: we go now to senator cassidy and then senator bennett. senator cassidy. sen. cassidy: thank you. i enjoyed our phone conversation. i know there's been a discussion of this recently earlier, but as regards to immunization, why are we not requiring those who are being allowed to come into the united states to be vaccinated for covid before being released to the united states? particularly the context of the biden administration is asking they have an excess to inquire their employees to get vaccinated. i'm not quite sure i understand the exception for those being allowed to come here illegally. mr. magnus: senator, thank you for the question and i think any of those individuals migrants coming in should be immunized. sen. cassidy: and should be required to be allowed to continue? mr. magnus: that's something i definitely want to explore. it seems reasonable to me. sen. cassidy: a couple other issues. your law enforcement background is without parallel. on the other issues for example we discussed the jones act. cbp has jurisdiction over the jones act. the trade

sphere's the thing about the senate. here's where a small state like vermonthave not just a seat at thetable but a voice at the estable . for decades , i've been privileged to fight for vermont. from the small growing vermont ideas like revitalization of ourhistoric downtown to school programs , to organic farming, all of which have become increasingly popular across and to vermont's trailblazing approach to criminal justice reforms and victim advocacy to taking vermonters outward view of the great green mountain state as open and welcome for anyone including those fleeing desperate situations in far out places. on all these issues and so many more it's been an honor to represent the great state, but i believe the greatest state of vermont and the united states senate . i'm going to have more to say about the challenges and rewards and unafraid some disappointments of the last 46 years at a later time. now i want to separate the accomplishments that my constituents have achieved for vermont over the last five decades. i

senate, 20 years ago, it was a 50/50 senate 5 as well. how about you set the stage by contrasting those two moments and what is different about a 50/50 senate today versus a 50/50 and it 20 years ago. >> i'm not sure there's a real difference in terms of how it would work, having 50/50 means that at least in terms of the numbers, yet to get somebody to squish over across the aisle from the other party to vote for something that you want or the vice president is theid tiebreaker. and i think the senate back in 20 years ago was less divided than it is today. a hyper partisanship began somewhere between 20 years ago and today and roughly maybe ten years ago. that was in earnest so it is a hyper partisanship but i think difference today and iti was back then. and the other thing that occurred, is 911, it united the country which may have counted for more or less partisanship but morep bipartisanship in the thinking of finding solutions. the same thing could be the case of today with the outside influence on the united states right now by fore

although senator hagerty is back to return. senator cortez masto? senator tillis? or senator cortez masto from her? senator ossoff from his? senator smith from hers? ... one moment. ... ... senator hagerty is just a couple of minutes out. i will ask one more question. i would note that the deputy secretary -- the white house gathered to over 30 nations calling for accelerated cop cooperation to combat efforts on [inaudible] and -- how does congress more cooperatively, more cooperatively, deputy secretary, we track violations through cryptocurrency and ransomware? >> thank you for the important question. as you know, recently, we sanctioned our first crypto change for facilitating ransomware payments. we are continuing to look at the ability to go after those who use crypto payment to violate our laws by committing crimes. so we want to work closely with congress, and one of the most important areas was showing that we have a workforce that understands these issues going forward. so we look forward to getting the authority to hire the people that we need, but also t

we are joined by senator thune and senator amy klobuchar and senator ed marquis. they have all been extraordinary leaders in this effort. and today, i should note, is the first time that tiktok and snap have appeared before congress. i appreciate you and youtube for your testimony this morning. it means a lot. our hearing with facebook whistleblower frances haugen was a searing indictment, along with her documents of a powerful, gigantic corporation that puts profits ahead of people, especially our children. there has been a definite and deafening drumbeat of continuing disclosures, about facebook -- they have deepened america's concerns and outrage. and have led to increasing calls for accountability, and there will be accountability. this time is different. accountability to parents and the public, accountability to congress. accountability to investors and shareholders, and accountability to the securities and exchange commission and other federal agencies. because there is ample credible evidence as we start an investigation here. but today, we are concerned a

senate here on c-span2. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal god, who protects us like a mighty fortress. thank you for providing our lawmakers with your wisdom, guidance and strength. lord, continue to bless them for you know their needs, motives, hopes, and fears. when our senators grow faint and weary and the night overtakes them, renew their strength and enable them to soar on wings like eagles. may the different approaches expressed by both parties contribute to greater solutions to the problems in our nation and world. we pray in your merciful name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c., november 30, 2021. to the senate: under the pr

i hope you will join senator fischer, this senator, senator tester, and senator wyden and several others senators in the last 24 hours that have joined this effort. these reforms are long overdue, and we can't let these special interest groups like the north american meat institute stop this important legislation like i just described for you, they described it -- they stopped it in 1998, and thank god senator daschle didn't give up because the next year he eventually got it done. i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: a snow: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, this morning, the majority leader came to the floor of the senate to talk about the democrats' reckless tax-and-spending bill. he repeated the claim, the claim that the bill would actually reduce inflation. it won't. just like the claim the president makes that

we had former senator blake in turkey, warmer senator salazar as well. in many parts of the country, there are countries with no american diplomat. no american top diplomat. >> that is right. that is a significant problem. i just returned from leading a bipartisan delegation that went to five different countries. in almost every country we went to, the absence of a currently serving u.s. ambassador was noted by our counterparts as a significant challenge. we have tremendous career diplomats charging to represent us. we were in qatar and israel but we are still waiting for confirmation hearings for very qualified nominees to represent us in belgium, germany. qatar. nick burns is our nominee to the ambassador to china. i am continuing to work with colleagues to try and clear the holds that have been placed on many nominees for senator cruz. your core question, what am i hoping for? out of the virtual summit? it would be some clearer guardrails. i am also hoping there will be some progress around climate partnership and around trade. there has been a great

the senate was a representative of the states. senators were appointed by state legislators. they picked two people from the state to be senators. we amended the constitution to provide for direct election of senators. we have had it for 100 years but it is still set up with two senators from each state. i think the biggest discrepancy -- it is like 80-1 the population, but to each have two senators. the small states have more power. you throw on top of that the filibuster, you need 60% of the senate to do anything, and then you have holds that senators can put on bills that are mysterious. senators can individually hold a bill and stop it from going forward. individual senators have power beyond what they probably should have. power beyond what anybody should have. the small states have inordinate power because of the filibuster rule in the way it is set up, two senators regardless of population per state. the people elected the house members and every member of the house is elected by the people. the senate was appointed by the legislatures and the legislatures were not the

, not only senator manchin and senator sinema, but others. on the drug pricing, we have been a sickly drilling down and getting senator sinema's input and senator schumer's input and i believe the drug pricing provision ac is it. i guess there could be changes, but i don't think they are at significant and the fact that we have negotiated pricing and savings as the cbo showed, it means this is a provision that saves money and at the same time does a lot in terms of affordability for seniors and others. the same would be true for methane. nancy and i and the group went to glasgow for the climate conference and they were touting international action on methane. you have an important provision with regard to methane that was worked on with the senators and house members over the last few weeks. i believe just using those as an example that this is pretty much it. there may be additional changes but in terms of paying for it and in terms of the actual substantive language, i think we are pretty solid at this point. there is no reason why this bil

ossoff, senator hawley, senator cruz. and i just say to the two or three members who have said they might be interested in a three-minute round, please be here. you have to be physically present because this has been a long day for all of us who stayed here most of the time, particularly for the attorney general. so senator blackburn and then a five-minute break. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and general garland, thank you for being with us today. i have to tell you that it is with much disappointment that i have watched the doj be so politicized. and the way things have been carried out when you look at the memo to parents, you heard a lot about that today, and it's because we're hearing a lot about that. and i just have to ask you, knowing that you really helped bring to justice those that caused the oklahoma city bombings, would you really, honestly, put parents in the same category as a terry nichols or a timothy mcveigh? >> my god, absolutely not. >> then why -- why would you ever release a memo? i mean, did you write

the senate? do they have a compromise they're proposing to get the sanders and manchins of the world on board? >> reporter: i think you'll see congress negotiate that within themselves, of course the senate democrats. you saw president biden get involved at the tail end of the infrastructure negotiations. i'm not sure that's always where the white house wants the president to see he is right in the middle of that. but often it is the president who gets people on board at the end of the day. he is very close with senator manchin and often speaks and talks with him about his concerns about the size and scope of this bill. today president biden has called speaker pelosi according to jen psaki to congratulate her on the passage of this bill. this was a vote that the white house was expecting about 12 hours ago, but because of that speech by kevin mccarthy that lasted 8 1/2 hours overnight, it's a passage of this bill they are now getting from the house in broad daylight. so it does come as president

on the senate side.e of what was said was exactly new, the tone alarm people, but substantively nothing has changed. but something did seem to change after senator manchin spoke today, the progressive caucus has now apparently decided that they are willing to vote on the bill joe manchin wants them to vote for. the senate bipartisan infrastructure bill, even without a guarantee that joe manchin will vote for the reconciliation bill. >> is every progressive prepare to vote for the bipartisan infrastructure? bill >> i do believe we're going to deliver our members with both bills. i just have to believe with the president says, and the president said right after the senator spoke, that he is confident he can deliver 51 votes for this win. i am going to trust this president, our members are going to trust the president. >> joining us now is democratic congressman -- he's a member of the congressional progressive caucus, representative khanna thank you very much for joining us tonight. so, nancy pelosi said i

as senate council in united states senate from 2009-14, mr. bedoya acted to protect victims of sexual assault, conducted oversight hearings of technology and fought to protect the privacy of public from government overreach. a graduate harvard college and yale law school, mr. bedoya lives in rockville, maryland with his two children and his wife dr. see ma bedoya. a pediatric psychologist at the national institutes of health national cancer institute. in 2020 professor bedoya delivered the united states senator dennis chavez memorial lecture in law and civil rights at the university of new mexico school of law. many of you know that senator dennis chavez who was a fellow new mexicoen was the first united states-born latino serve in the united states senate. senator chavez understood that protecting privacy is critical to preserve equality. and than lecture, bedoya quoted senator chavez's timeless words. i contend that we are a nation of dissenters. privacy is critical to preserving that fundamental right to dissent in our democracy. the role m

>> no senator.t want to and banking as we know it it is the best banking system in the world was taken out of the paper from the ongoing debate and as we know according to fed chairman powell china is piloting how to do it with the federal reserve as an academic and was trying to grapple my worry is if we take a step without fully understanding the applications we may hurt community banks to experience the business banking through bigger players and platform -based financial institutions. i have never said yes particular proposal is the best solution that congress can take that might be one of the optionsns to consider. >> one of the striking things is your support of community banks so natural gas is a big industry. news reports that you want to bankrupt oil and gas companies. >> i do understand energy companies are an important part of the american economy millions of americans work in thebu energies sector with a small energy companies have experienced and what i was saying in that presentation i

senator tillis. senator tillis, i don't know if your mic is on. senator? >> may regret it but hi, mr. attorney general. thank you for being here. in response to the memo, i know you've repeatedly said this is not about parents. 15 years ago, i was pta president, participated in a lot of school board meetings and still watch it on public access when i'm home. the basis for your memo was substantially the letter that you all received. received. is that correct? >> that was an important part, yes, senator. >> do you think there was -- i have seen some of the widely reported situations and some school board meetings, but is there really any empirical basis -- i have seen a lot of raucous school board meetings. i have participated in them. did the doj do any real work outside of the public reporting to say there's a disturbing trend that requires the kind of what we consider to be overreach on behalf of the doj? >> no, as i have explained, what we looked at was the letter from an organization that represents thousands of school board members and school boards.