stabenow: thank you. and at this moment, i want to just join my great friend, senator roberts, first of all in indicating what a huge difference you have made on the agriculture committee. and from the day you walked in, you hit the ground running, heidi. and have made an incredible difference. as you were talking today just about some parts of the fund, but we could go through every single chapter and you made a difference. the tribal traditions that are in there. but cuba, you mentioned cuba, and this is very historic. it took work. it took work on the senate floor to be able to move it through. it took work for us in the conference committee. it was because of you that this is in there, these opportunities for farmers are in there. i also greatly appreciate that when we have differences, like conservation events. easements, you were successful for north dakota. it was you that did that. others took credit for that but you did that. when i think about our traveling together to africa and think about the

joining us now democratic senator debbie stabenow of michigan. senator, always great to see you. we talk so much about how congress can't get along, nothing gets done in washington. let's talk about something that did get done in washington. you passed out of senate this farm bill 87-13. why was it so important? >> this is incredibly important. first always great to be with you and this particular bill we write every five years. it's the rural economic development plan for the country, small towns, rural communities. our food policy. it's supporting farmers. it also does things like make the largest investment in voluntary land and water conservation efforts for the country. it's 12 different bills put into one. bioenergy, trade promotion, so on. it's a big deal we were able to come together actually with the largest vote ever, bipartisan vote ever in the history of writing farm bills in the senate and then the house had a strong, strong bipartisan vote

stabenow: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to discuss a true bipartisan victory along with my friend and colleague, the leader of our senate agriculture, nutrition, and forestry committee. i hear a lot of people say that bipartisanship is all too rare these days, but in our committee, it's our bread and butter. specifically, i want to thank my partner and friend, chairman pat roberts. he's the only person to have written a farm bill as both the chair of the house and senate agriculture committees. kansas is fortunate to have such a champion and all of american agriculture owes him a debt of gratitude for his persistence, doggedness, and tenacity. maybe it's his marine training, but he never gave up on this bill even when negotiations got tough. maybe i had been an honorary marine, mr. chairman. he also knows that to do anything big, it takes a team approach. thanks to his commitment to bipartisanship, we were able to achieve a real historic victory. this summer, chairman roberts and i made history by passing our s

i had the privilege of leading that effort along with senator stabenow, senator debra stabenow from michigan. had some reporters in the other day. they said how did you get along with debbie stabenow? i said, well, number one, we trust each other. number two, we're friends. number three, it isn't our first rodeo, and we just worked until we could get it done. got 87 votes. that is precisely the example that we followed from orrin hatch who did so much legislation with democrats that you think would never work, whether republican o or vice vay is a. that is the man and i've been -- it's been a privilege to be a friend. he has boxing gloves on, bright blue, and there he is just a couple of days ago when they took the video willing to throw a few pinches, trying to eat bacon with his boxing gloves. it's a hilarious tribute to him with a big smile on everybody's face. tough guy but not tough to deal with and always had a way of working things out. it is a privilege to know orrin hatch. not many people at my age call me boy, but he always would come out that back door and offer a ride and said, b

stabenow: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: mr. president, i want to lend my voice in talking for a moment about a very special friend, senator joe donnelly. one of the things that we know about the midwest and the great lakes is that we do care about our neighbors. someone with a really good snow blower might clean off his neighbor's driveway too since he was out there anyway. that reminds me of joe donnelly. we know that joe is the senior senator from indiana. he's a wonderful neighboring state. we may compete now and again, but i have been so grateful to be senator donnelly's neighbor and his friend. over the past six years i've had the good fortune to partner with senator donnelly on many issues that affect our states and the country. we're both passionate about fighting for workers and exporting and stopping the exporting of american jobs. we want to export our products, not our jobs, and joe's been at the front of the line fighting for american workers. making things and growing things, that's what michigan does. that's what

debbie stabenow is talking on the floor.e're actually going to talk to her a little earlier, senator stabenow, about the farm bill, but she's on the floor because the vote is expected very peri. you're watching msnbc. just not always where i needed to be. is she alright? i hope so. so i talked to my doctor about humira. i learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of crohn's disease after trying other medications. and the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief and many achieved remission in as little as 4 weeks. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores.

debby stabenow and she's tough. i can tell you, we competed with her. she's tough and she's smart and does a great job. thank you, very much debby, really good job. >> ralph abraham. ralph, thank you. rick allen, jody arrington, andy barr. where is andy barr? where it andy, did i do a good job for you? did i do a good job? you're one of the only congressional congressman that i could have-- you i went to specifically. congratulations, a great victory you had. mitch was there with rand paul and we're all there for you. great andy, good, good job. [applaus [applause] >> james comer. kevin cramer. and that's another one we worked hard on together, right? great job, kevin. senator, senator-elect, very shortly senator. proud of you, kevin. rick crawford, rodney davis. rick, well, you know who this is, greg gianforte. where is greg. we worked hard and you did a great job out there, thank you, greg, fantastic job. neil dunn, ron estes, bob goodlatte? he's here somewhere, i think he's doing hearings with comey, i think. that should be exciting. trying to see ho

i want to thank chairman roberts and ranking member stabenow for their tireless efforts to protect snap benefits throughout the process. because of their work, hungry people across this country will have access to the modest benefits they need to feed their families. and thank you as well to chairman conaway, who recognized the importance of getting a farm bill over the finish line this year. i especially want to recognize the effort os ranking member peterson. he's truly an amaze gige who presides over a committee that is very diverse, with rural, suburban, and urban members of congress. it has conservatives, moderates, and liberals like me. yet he's managed to bring us together and not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. farmers, consumers, and hungry people across the country owe him a debt of gratitude. and i also want to thank the staff of the minority and majority who put in endless hours trying to negotiate a compromise and i want to thank kaitlyn hodgkins on my staff, my point person on these ag issues, for all of her work. mr. speaker, the issue of hunger and food insecur

the lead democrat involves is debbie stabenow and believe this will face legal challenges.he new bill would cut the amount of healthy people who receive food steps without meeting work requirements by 75%. this will save taxpayers $15 billion over ten years. donald trump expected to sign the criminal justice reform bill today called the first setback, reducing life sentences for some offenders and expands on prisoner rehabilitation efforts among other things, the president tweeting and part, quote, when both parties work together we can keep the country safer. wonderful thing for the usa. todd: democrats on the house judiciary committee calling for matt whitaker to testify next year. the request coming after a 6-week justice department of its review which has no conflict of interest between him and the mueller pro. whitaker faced growing pressure from democrats who wanted him to recuse himself. he previously made negative comments to the media criticizing the special counsel's russia collusion investigation. robert mueller's final russia probe report could be released as so

. >>> plus, democratic senators debbie stabenow and claire mccaskill join the conversation moments awayueal, giggling/panting) gotcha! (man) ah! (girl) nooooooooooooo! (man) nooooo! (girl) nooooo... (vo) quick, the quicker picker upper! bounty picks up messes quicker, and is two times more absorbent than the leading ordinary brand. (man and pirate girl) ahoy! (laughing) (vo) bounty, the quicker picker upper. i couldn't catch my breath. it was the last song of the night. it felt like my heart was skipping beats. they said i had afib. what's afib? i knew that meant i was at a greater risk of stroke. i needed answers. my doctor and i chose xarelto® to help keep me protected from a stroke. once-daily xarelto®, a latest-generation blood thinner significantly lowers the risk of stroke in people with afib not caused by a heart valve problem. warfarin interferes with at least 6 of your body's natural blood-clotting factors. xarelto® is selective, targeting just one critical factor. for afib patients well managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® compares in reducing the

general and secretary of state, talk more about what is go iingn in michigan, let's talk to debbie stabenowans doing in your state right now? >> thanks for having me and i will start by saying it's a complete insult to the people of michigan that voted for change. they voted for a democratic governor and lieutenant govern, secretary of state, attorney general to make change happen and here is what the republicans are doing to be able to protect power. first of all, they are voting at moving bills to take away campaign finance oversight, from the secretary of state. our secretary of state, johnsson benson wrote the book on campaign finance and voter protection. people in michigan voted for ballot proposals to add more opportunities to vote. to protect the vote. republicans want to set up a commission, take away the authority for her to deal with campaign finance and bring the light of day on dark money. secondly, for the attorney general, they want to set up a way for the republicans in the legislature to have equal standing on lawsuits. so, when an attorney general brings lawsuits against t

debbie stabenow and she's tough. i can tell you, we competed with her. tough and she's smart and does a great job. thank you very much, debbie. really good job. ralph abraham. ralph, thank you. rick allen, jody arrington, andy barr. it was andy barr. did i do a good job for you? did i do a good job? you're one of the only congressional congressmen that i could have, i'll tell you. you, i went to specifically. congratulations. it's a great victory you had. mitch was there with rand paul. we were all there for you, right? great. great, andy. good. good job. james comber. kevin kraemer. that's another one we worked hard on together. great job, kevin. senator. senator-elect, very shortly senator. proud of you, kevin. rick crawford. rodney davis. rick, you know who this is, greg gianforte. great guy. where's greg? we worked hard. you did a great job out there. thank you, greg. fantastic job. neil dunn. ron estes. bob goodlatte. he's with comey, i think. that should be exciting. trying to see how much he's lying today. frank lucas. roger marshall. great people

debbie stabenow. she's tough and she's smart. really great job. ralph abraham. ralph, thank you.. jody arrington. andy barr. where is andy barr? oh, did i do a good job for you? did i do a good job? you're one of the only congressional congressman that i could have -- i'll tell you -- >> shepard: well, the white house told us the first thing he will do is go straight in to the matters at hand and then go to the farm bill. that clearly wasn't true. so the moment the president gets to the matters at hand, we'll go back to the president immediately. first, we've gotten new breaking news from our senior producer on capitol hill, chad pergram about the plans for keeping the government open. chad pergram is live. there's a rules meeting. is that right? >> that's right. the rules committee is the get way to the house floor. so at 3:45, what we're going to do, they're going to the rules committee and try to make an order, this amendment, $5 billion for the border wall. if you're going to bring a piece of legislation to the floor, you have to have a rule and agree on how you're going to p

under the leadership of chairman roberts and senator stabenow, we cleared the conference report for the 2018 farm bill, sending my industrial hemp legislation and other critical provisions for america's farming communities to the president's desk to become law. and to cap off a year of historic progress on judicial nominations, the senate voted to confirm the 30th federal circuit judge of this congress and this administration. now we'll turn our attention to the remaining priority in completing the american people's business. last week i announced that at the request of the president and following improvements that were secured by several members, the senate would take up criminal justice legislation here on the floor. later this afternoon we'll vote on advancing that legislation. i know the pro poafnts this bill -- proponents of this bill spent a great deal of time and energy drafting their proposal. at the same time, there are a number of members with outstanding concerns that they feel are still unresolved. so if cloture is invoked later today, the senate will consider amendments bef

colleagues, including the current democratic leader, along with senators feinstein, carper, nelson, stabenow, wyden, and obama. in 2010, president obama signed a bill to increase the c.b.p.'s physical presence down by the border. it passed the senate by unanimous consent, by the way. let's not pretend there's some bright line of principle that separates the billions of dollars that our democrats and colleagues were willing to spend on border security in the recent past and the resources now requested by the president and his team. there's no big difference of principle. there's just been a shift in the political winds out on the far left. this is knee-jerk partisan opposition to the administration's reasonable and flexible request. this is making political obstruction a higher goal than the integrity of our nation's borders. frankly, it's just political spite -- political spite, and the american people know it when they see it. so the senate will continue our work on the remaining bills, the result of bipartisan work and collaboration, and in the meantime we will turn to a clean continuing r

two congresses ago in the 115th congress senator stabenow and i worked to pass legislation, the excellence in mental health act. what that did was create eight state demonstration projects that would last for two years each to see what would happen if treated mental health like all other health, something that everybody knows, i believe, we should have been doing; something that in eight states we are doing. and, mr. president, the good news was that 24 states, a number that exceeded every discussion that anybody had about how many states would step forward and say, we'd like to be the states that tray to do this first -- and try to do this first. i was proud that missouri was one of the eight states in the -- chosen to be in the demonstration project. we're about halfway through the two-year project, and in our state and in the seven other states, people have access to mental health services that they didn't have before. most missourians are within a relatively short drive of the facility that will treat their mental health problem like it was any other health problem. and as we begin to

the bill we have produced is a credit to the leadership of chairman roberts and ranking member stabenow, and now the fruits of their labor are finally on their way to the white house. i would like to express my gratitude to my fellow conferees, especially my colleague from kentucky, congressman jamie comer. i would also like to thank the kentucky farm bureau which has been my partner every step of the way. earlier this month, the farm bureau announced the beginning of its centennial year. i would be hard pressed to think of a better way to celebrate that 100th birthday than with a new farm bill. there is a reason, mr. president, this bill passed both houses with overwhelming bipartisan majorities. there's a reason this has been a big priority for congress and the administration. farming families deserve more stability. once the president signs this farm bill into law, that is precisely what they will have. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, i would like to conclude by paying tribute to another member of this body whose retirement from the senate is fast approaching. this particular senator,

you see schumer the leader, dianne feinstein, ron biden, debbie stabenow and sherrod brown in ohio who for president. i get the flip flopping but democrats would say in their defense well, they voted for a fence or a wall whatever you want to call it next change for something, a daca that fix. why are republicans not giving democrats something in exchange for this $5 billion in fence money or wall money? >> that's my question because every time the democrats have supported something in the past, they have gotten some sort of amnesty or pathway to citizenship in return. right? or increases to legal immigration. you remember the gang of 8 bill. although it didn't pass, one of the major negotiating points was that there was a lot of crin he ised work visas both temporary and permanent. it was something they could hang their hat on and go back to constituents and say, listen, we supported some funding for border security but here's what i got. they were able to go home and tout something. right? rachel: lauren, even last year loui luis gutierrez set i will make this deal for our daca. in f

>> debbie stabenow from michigan and on the house side, house agriculture chairman, mike conaway of texas, and ranking member collin peterson from minnesota. four of them essentially did many closed door meetings to work out the details with their staff. over a series of months. the house had unvailed its original plan way back in april. this has been an eight-month process. but the farm bill did expire on october 1. so the pressure is on to get it done. before the end of the year. >> one of those conferees for the farm bill was the senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell. he tweeted this. just before that 87-13 passage in the senate. making it official with my hemp pen. proud to have served as a conferee on the farm bill and to fight for kentucky priorities with today's significant in a tureks my provision to legalize industrial hemp is one step closer to reality. explain that to us and why it's been such a priority for mitch mcconnell. >> right. so majority leader mitch mcconnell sees this as an economic opportunity for kentucky. hemp is currently on the list of federal list of controll

i praised senator roberts and senator stabenow. they came together and passed a bipartisan farm bill by an overwhelming margin. a lot of work went into that to protect our farmers. if the president shuts the government down, there's not going to be anybody in the local usda, local agriculture departments to answer questions from farmers about what the law means for them just as farmers are making their plans for next year's planting season. they can't just turn it on and turn it off. they have to plan months in advance. now, when i first came to the senate 44 years ago, the idea of threatening to shut down the federal government as a negotiating tactic was unheard of. now it seems like we go through this every year, and neither party blamed us, but prior to president trump no one bragged about it. no one seemed to relish it. no one was foolish enough to call it good for the country no matter what party they are from. no one treated shutting down the government as if it was some kind of reality show, some kind of gain without the sl