today, as the u.s. senate comes out of the communications dark ages, we create another historic moment in the relationship between congress and technological advancement in communications through radio and television. >> that was june 2, 1986, 30 years ago this month, and the occasion was the first day of permanent television of the united states senate. we are going to use the opportunity of the 30th anniversary to look back at the senate and how it is changed in the era of television. we have two guests that have been with the senate for 40 years and their careers there, though now retired, they span the age of the television before senate and after, so they are ideally suited to help us understand how the institution adapted to the coming of television cameras. let me introduce them to you. alan frumin is a senate parliamentarian emeritus, and as i mentioned, he spent 40 years in the parliamentarian office rising to the chief parliamentarian position. thank you for being with us. mr. frumin: i am delighted

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

today, as the u.s. senateomes out of the communications dark ages, we create another historic moment in the relationship between congress and technological advancement in communications through radio and television. >> that was june 2, 1986, 30

light of the senate he was passion about almost everything but in many ways it think the most accomplished is that he never got to be president never was attorney general but in almost every way the most accomplished senator we used to laugh with him about going to those dinners you decide to mention caddie's name. [laughter] automate river speech on the senate floor of american history he came over and solicited and sponsored my bill and got co-sponsors within one day he knew exactly how to make the senate worked. senator byrd? >>. >> could well have been senate historian. >> during a the presidential campaign governor christie got over senator rubio view say in your book when starboard myself to tears i know i am beginning to drive the message home. so redundancy is a good thing? >> i'm paula one of the few people that thought rubio was doing the right thing in that debate. [laughter] good politics i think it is repetitious -- repetition if you try to drive the message you have to repeat it of what i t

while still the senate staff. in the 19 century, senate boys were often orphans or children of widows that lived on capitol hill. their senate jobs cap them off of the streets and out of trouble and their senate paycheck helped support their families. in the 20th century, the pages grew older and a school was established and later a dormitory was built and participants arrived from all over the country to participate in this unique civics lesson. single as 1971, every senate page appointment, every single senate page rather had been a boy. no senate rule explicitly forbids the appointment of girl pages, but the practice of appointing male pages persisted well into the 20th century. in the 1960's, some senators began to question this voice only tradition. that forced then sergeant at arms joseph duke to disband the practice in a letter. "while i know of no specific policy or role, which says there pages, i the girl doubt such an innovation would be wise. the type of work performed by changes requires much walking an

while still the senate staff. in the 19 century, senate boys were often orphans or children of widows that lived on capitol hill. their senate jobs cap them off of the streets and out of trouble and their senate paycheck helped support their families. in the 20th century, the pages grew older and a school was established and later a dormitory was built and participants arrived from all over the country to participate in this unique civics lesson. as late as 1971, every single senate page appointment, every single senate page rather had been a boy. no senate rule explicitly forbids the appointment of girl pages, but the practice of appointing male pages persisted well into the 20th century. in the 1960's, some senators began to question this voice only tradition. that forced then sergeant at arms joseph duke to disband the practice in a letter. "while i know of no specific policy or role, which says there shall not the girl pages, i doubt such an innovation would be wise. the type of work performed by pages requires

now is the time for action. as senators, we have no higher duty than keeping the american people safe. this includes taking the fight to isis overseas with our allies and vigilant law enforcement here at home. my colleague from connecticut has been discussing two simple, critical changes we can make to help prevent deaths from gun violence in our nation, including acts of terror like we have seen in orlando. we need to keep guns away from those who shouldn't have them. this includes individuals convicted of domestic violence offenses, people with court-ordered restraints related to stalking and convicted felons. these groups are already barred under federal law from purchasing or otherwise possessing firearms, and this is enforced through background checks. it is also painfully clear that we need to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists. this is why we need to close the terror gap and prevent individuals on terrorist watch lists from purchasing firearms. unfortunately, however, closing the terror gap cannot be effective

number of the senators were becoming senators -- were becoming concerned. ing the house representatives on c-span but could not see the senate. senator byrd was not a great television watcher. and apparently he did not have satellite television at home. i heard he was traveling back to west virginia to give a speech and was staying at a hotel that had satellite-tv and he watched the house on television. he was stunned. he but they were just showing clips. he did not realize it was gavel-to-gavel. he was impressed with what he saw. that.an to adjust to i think that combination, plus a younger members coming to him and saying -- when al gore got elected in 1984, he was the first representative on tv. so you have the pressure from the younger members to the senior members. who was the first to speak on the floor in 1979 house of representative, their technology oriented, he was one of the first senators to speak in 1986 as well. we have a story we have told over the years about senator byrd that travel the that same trip home he was introduced in his home state

murphy: i thank the senator for the question. it's simple. we're asking for the two sides of the aisle here to come together and bring us votes on a bill that would prevent individuals who are on the terrorist watch lists, the no no-fly list, to prevent them from being able to purchase firearms. and then, second, to expand out those purchases that are covered by background checks to places where gun sales have migrated, which is largely gun shows and internet sales. these are both measures that are supported broadly by the american people. and to the senator from new mexico, we're asking, you know, for more thank just votes on these issues. we think there's common ground that can be achieved. we don't think there's any excuse why we can't come together and figure out a way to get these passed. we've taken votes in the past, and votes are important and a vote would be important if we took it, but what would be more important is to bridge our differences. there are plenty of time who aren't on the floor today who can make that happ

the senate will be in order. the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: mr. president? mr. president, today i will vote against senator mccain's amendment 4229 to add $18 billion for additional spending for department of defense. mr. president, it's really not in order. i support the troops in their mission, especially at maryland's nine military bases. while there are many items i'd like to see more money for, i believe we can meet the needs of our national defense within the budget cap. for fiscal year 2017, the department of defense appropriations bill reported unanimously by the appropriations committee last week did that. the defense appropriations bill accomplishes many objectives without a budget gimmick. it uses base funding to provide $600 million to meet israel's missile defense, an increase of $455 billion above the request. the mccain amendment offers $465 million appropriations will have $600 million for israeli defense. let's look at new modern ships. the mccain amendment authorizes $90 million less than the ship than what we do. we put in $175 million. the mcc

host: the fireplace? senatorcconnell: well, it has fireplaces, which some of which actually still work but we don't use them anymore because of portraits like henry clay here on the wall. that was a contemporary portrait of clay. and smoke is not good for old portraits. clay would have been thrilled. he and jackson were, i would argue, basically -- their rivalry began the modern two-party system. they disagreed on absolutely everything. clay took jackson on directly one time in 1832. jackson won overwhelmingly. they argued and debated. and that was the beginning of the whig party under clay which became the republican party. and, of course, jackson was a prominent democrat. and i think clay would have enjoyed the fact that since my predecessor is from tennessee, when i moved into this office and replaced him, i took jackson down, sent him back to the museum, and put henry clay up. so clay finally bested jackson , in at least something. host: the other portraits are from -- senator mcconnell: republican presidents

that is the ruling. senator mcconnell: i appeal the ruling and ask for the yeas and senator leahy -- senator mcconnell: i appeal the ruling and ask for the yeas and nays. senator leahy the republican : leader appeals the decision to the chair. the question is now, show the decision stand to the judgment of the senate? is there a sufficient second? there is. the yeas and nays will call the role. host: there we see the senate in all its procedural glory in a debate over a procedural rule. what should we know about this? >> people should know that process changes in the senate not so much by rules changes but precedents. when the chairge makes a ruling and if there is an appeal on the ruling. the ruling of the chair, based on my successor's advice, elizabeth mcdonough was , the correct answer. cloture requires 3/5 of the senators duly sworn. senator reid appealed the ruling. in these particular circumstances that appeal could , not be filibustered, there had to be an immediate vote. on appeal, the chair requires a

i do not like the way he read the senate. i think his public rhetoric is frequently very inappropriate. so -- >> host: like what question marks. >> guest: the example you just mentioned. a few weeks before we are taking this he took all of donald trump's most outrageous comments and attributed them to me. while i don't do that to him. so i don't think there's an equivalency. but nevertheless, i think up to a lot of people it looks like were feuding all the time. we are not feuding all the time. we have have to talk on a daily basis. i do vehemently object to the way he ran the senate. my goal in this current majorities to be as different in every way from henry harry and the way he ran the previous majority. i'm trying to do everything totally different. i do object to the way he ran the senate. i do object i do object to the inflammatory rhetoric like calling alan greenspan a political hack, alan greenspan may be many things but a political hack he certainly isn't. or calling george w. bush a loser, or send loser, or send the

to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable joni ernst, a senator from the state of iowa, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: orrin g. hatch, president pro tempore. mr. mcconnell: madam president in. the presiding officer: the -- the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: the terrorist attack in orlando continues to horrify our country much the f.b.i. and our intelligence community will determine whether that terrorist was in direct contact with isil or inspired by isil. either way, this much we know already: isil is a disgusting group that crucifies children, enslaves women, and throws gay men to their death from rooftops. it is determined to continue exporting its signature brand of inhumanity to our country. the principal way we can prevent isil-inspired or directed attacks is to defeat isil. the president has led a campaign intended to contain isil, which has been insufficient to prevent the attacks in paris or brussels or inspired attacks such as in san bernardino. we need to do what we can to fight

and i take those teachers when they come on the senate floor early in the day when a senator can do thatand they go to the various desks, they try to find webster's desk, and invariably one with will ask me the question i want to ask you. senator, what message would you like for us to take back to our students about the united states senate and the future of our country? >> guest: well, i think the senate has been the indispensable legislative body, because that's the place where things are sorted out, the place where only rarely does the majority get things exactly their own way, the place where stability can occur. and most people, obviously, don't think that. and in an era in which everybody wants instant gratification, if you're looking for instant gratification or perfection, the senate would not be a good place for you. >> host: and at a time when many americans are not optimistic about our country's future, what would you want those teachers to tell their students about their future in this country? >> guest: well, look, i think because of our woeful ignorance of american history,

the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: mr. president, on monday, i came to the floor to speak about the important provisions of the ndaa. sweeping reforms to the organization of the department of defense, to the defense acquisition system and to the military health system. but i noted that there was one challenge the armed services committee could not address in the ndaa. the dangerous mismatch between growing worldwide threats and arbitrary limits on defense spending in current law. this mismatch has very real consequences for the thousands of americans who are serving in uniform and sacrificing on our behalf all around the nation and the world. from afghanistan to iraq and syria, from the heart of europe to the seas of asia, our troops are doing everything we ask of them, but for too long we in congress have failed to do everything we can for them. shamefully, our military is being forced to confront growing threats with shrinking resourc resources. this year's defense budget is more than $150 billion less than fiscal year 20

the presiding officer: the senate majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion the desk for the reed of rhode island amendment number 4549. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the reed of rhode island amendment number 4549 to the mccain amendment number 4229 to s. 2943, the national defense authorization act, signed by 17 senators -- mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that the reading of the names being waived. officer sphe without objection. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture to the deck for the mccain amendment number 234e 29. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the mccain amendment number 4229 to s. 29 34erbgs an act to authorize aa

the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. leahy: i ask consent the call of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: mr. president, i'm concerned as a member of the appropriations committee, an amendment that is pending here now, the mccain amendment 4787. we had a vote earlier this week -- votes on sensible gun safety measures. we know by all the polling that the overwhelming majority of americans supported them, but they were blocked by senate republicans. and now it appears the republican leadership wants to change the subject. they're resorting to scare tactics to divert the attention of the american people from their failure to act in response to mass shootings. maybe we should be clear about what we need to stay safe. we need universal background checks for firearm purchases. we need to give the f.b.i. the authority to deny guns to terrorist suspects. senate republicans rejected those commonsense measures earlier this year. we still have the chance to give law enforcement real and

i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: mr. president, i am pleased to follow my colleague and friend from new hampshire who served as attorney general of her state during part of the time that i served as attorney general in the state of connecticut, and we have in this body common ground in seeking more effective law enforcement solutions to all of the wh horrr and unspeakable violence that has so plagued our nation in recent years. but i cannot help but remark that we would not be having this debate but for an effort last week. in fact, a filibuster that took the floor under the leadership of my great colleague and friend, senator murphy, supported by senator booker and myself, and then by tens of other senators to make sure that we debate and that we vote. because our feeling was that there should be no business as usual on this appropriations bill, as important as it might be in the wake of the terrorist, extremist horror in orlando. we demanded action because america is demanding action. and we have bee

i don't think the american people are thrilled. senator-- was just talking about the growth rate in this country. i believe it's the kaition the president hasn't had a single quarter with 3% growth in his whole presidency. this country needs to get going again. and we know that hillary clinton will be four more years of barack obama. i think that's going to, in the end, be enough to union fie republicans across the country. >> rose: mcconnell's new memoir is called "the long game." it spans almost the entirety of the senator's life from his childhood bought with poll-- polio to his conflicts where obama and reid. the story he calls an engaging and compelling memoir and once entertaining and essential. i am pleased to have senator mcconnell on this program for the first time at this desk. welcome. >> pleasure to be here. >> rose: pleasure to you have here. how do you see this? what do you want the reader to come away with? >> well, i think in an era when people are all into instant gratification, instant information, there's still a place f

so you open the senate up, let people vote. number two, when we talk about regular order, most people don't know what that means. the bill is actually worked on together, comes out to the floor with bipartisan support. the best example i can think of that happens to be your bill to completely rewrite the so-called no child left behind passed by bush which was unworkable and unpopular and you had the republicans and democrats lined up it was open for amendments, at the end it passed with a very large majority. we have done that time after time after time under this new majority, five-year highway bill which most people would think it would be easy, we haven't done that in 20 years. comprehensive energy bill. cybersecurity, permanent internet tax. a major opioid and heroin addiction bill, we are hoping to achieve something really important again coming out of your committee related to some of the incredible cures that seem to be just around the corner for our country. now, what does all of this have in common in a time of divided

the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: i rise once again to discuss the state of our nation's health care system. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts still has the floor. ms. warren: yes. mr. president, i wish i could say that i am surprised by this but i am not surprised. the republican leader can say whatever he wants today but he has made his intentions very clear when it comes to president obama. on the eve of the 2010 elections, senator mcconnell said, and i quote, the single most important thing we want to achieve is for president obama to be a one-term president. well, president obama won re-election, but senate republicans have still stalled, delayed and blocked his nominees, and since they took charge last year of the senate, these republicans are on pace for the lowest number of judicial confirmations in more than 60 years. so can we at least confirm one noncontroversial district judge? the nominee on the list who has been waiting the longest is brian martinotti. new jersey needs this judg

quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah lee mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to suspend the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. lee: mr. president, whenever government acts, it does so inevitably, unavoidably, necessarily at the expense of individual freedom, at the expense of individual liberty and autonomy. this doesn't mean that every act by government is bad. quite to the contrary. we need government. we need it to protect us from those who would undermine our liberty, those who would interfere with it, those who would harm us personally, whether physically or in some other way. but just as it doesn't mean that every act by government is bad, we should also not be too quick to leap to any conclusion, that any and every act of government is good. we have to balance liberty, privacy, autonomy with our corresponding needs for security and physical protection. these things need not be deemed irreconcilable with one another. they can exist in the same universe. in fact, when they're properly balanced, m

this bill, and i want to commend both the chairman, senator mccain, and the ranking member, senator jack reed, for their terrific work on so many issues. i do hope that they will look again at this particular cut in the basic housing allowance and support our amendment. thank you, mr. president, and i yield the floor. mr. durbin: mr. president? -p. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask consent to speak in morning business. we know the senate of the united states is composed of two senators from each state. today i have news. my home state of illinois picked up a third senator. last month the irish prime minister announced eight appointees to the irish senate. one of the appointees is my dear friend in chicago, billy lawless. billy is the first irish citizen living in the united states to be appointed to the irish senate. this is truly historic. today billy takes his seat in the irish senate ireland will get a senator who will fight for the disenfranchised, the dispossess and those yearning to work hard for a better life. no one has been a stronger voice

murphy: i thank the senator for the question. and the answer is yes, so long as you parrot with an expansion of background checks to make sure that they are seeing these purchases wherever they take place. that's why we have asked for this body to move forward on both of those pieces of legislation. because we cannot ask the f.b.i. to protect this nation from terrorist attack. if we don't give them the tools to keep firearms from those who threaten us. and before turning the floor over to the senator from virginia, let me just underscore the last point that senator mccaskill made. there is no other country in the world in which this happens. the rate of gun violence in this country is 20 times higher than the combined rates of our 22 countries that are our peers in wealth and population. 20 times higher. more people have died in this country in the first 15 years of this century than died of all of the wars in the last century combined. that is unique to the united states and shame on us if we don't recognize that and do somethin

the decades. house and senate historians. the premiere screening of the final version of our page documentary, democracies messengers. this is the final version. [applause] it gives me great pleasure and honor to introduce the moderator , as someone very much at home in this capital building. , her father and mother both served as members of congress. she has a very special connection with the page program. she is an american journalist and author. cookie roberts. [applause] cokie roberts: thank you. when i was the right age they didn't allow girls. but that rule changed. my son and daughter-in-law met has pages. my grandchildren would not exist were it not for the page program. it was after it had paged that the summer after the junior year. she lives in california he lived here. it was a long time between then and marriage. they managed it. i was afraid he would blow it. he did so at the top of the dome. grateful to the page program. i have gotten to know so many of you over the years. that is the key to turn off your please

legislation and leave the senate bill hanging. ny of the folks in this senate who have served longer than i have would recognize the history of this issue in which one extension after another was required because consensus was never developed and the leadership was not provided to resolve the differences over the years on f.a.a. reauthorization. and the point i want to make by being on the senate floor today in expressing my views to my colleagues is do not allow us to get into this position again in which we would have a series of extensions of the f.a.a. legislation. we need the house to act on the senate bill that's pending in their committee, that's pending on the house side, and differences need to be resolved. at the moment the house has thought passed an f.a.a. reauthorization bill. time is short. july 15 the current law expires, and my plea to my colleagues in the house where i formally served is take up the senate bill, address the issues that you want as members of the house and representing your constituency, and send us

because of this inaction, the senate of the judiciary committee, the senate has conducted -- confirmedfewer judges than decades. we heard how the federal system in our country is in disrepair. why? because the judiciary committee is not confirming the nominations president obama made. what has the judiciary committee done instead? it spent its time carrying out a political hit job on secretary clinton. secretary grassley wasted countless dollars conducting opposition research that he hopes can be used to help trump's candidacy against secretary clinton. it hasn't helped but helped shorten the pocketbook of the american people. senator grassley has been so desperate to drag secretary clinton's name through the mud that he encouraged the f.b.i. to leak an independent review of secretary clinton's use of e-mail. at every turn the senior senator from iowa used his committee for partisan purposes that benefit only one person: donald trump. there is no better example than the current vacancy on the supreme court. rather than doing his constitutional duty and processing merrick garland's nomi

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. orker: i'm so glad to join the senior senator from our state who set such an example here in the senate in recognizing and honoring pat summitt. basketball has lost a legend as i'm sure he said. tennessee has lost one of its own beloved daughters. perhaps no one who left with a more indelible mark on his or her profession than pat. in her 38 years as head coach of the university of tennessee, lady volunteers, she amassed a historic record of achievement and blazed a trail for women across our country. farm girl from henrietta, tennessee, pat attended the university of tennessee in martin earning a bachelor's degree and leadings the women's basketball team to two national championship tournaments. shortly after graduating she accepted a position at the university of tennessee knoxville as head coach at 22 years old. the rest they say is history. in those early years pat drove the team van and was paid a $25a month. 38 years later she walked off the hardwood as the winnings ncaa division

murphy: i thank the senator for the question. i'll give credit to senator booker and senator blumenthal who have been here. i think senator booker has been physically standing for the exact same amount of time that i've been physically standing as well. but hopefully we're answering that question right now. let me just give the, give you the evidence of what's happening in social media today. this filibuster has been the number-one trending topic on twitter all day long. so there is nothing being discussed more on the most popular social media application in the country than our effort to bring light on to this epidemic of tragedy that exists in our cities every day. you probably don't know this, most people don't know this but last year there was a mass shooting on average more than once a day because if you categorize a mass shooting as four or more people being shot at any one time, there were mass shootings happening in cleveland and in baltimore and in new orleans and in bridgeport and chicago on a regular basis. and so this

not -- well, i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. flake: i have five unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and the minority leaders. i ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and that these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. objection is heard. mr. mccain: until we finish this bill, i don't want anybody doing anything but finishing this legislation. mr. mccain: i ask the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: the senate is not in a quorum call. the senator is recognized. mr. mccain: madam president, while we are waiting, i believe that one of the senators is coming to the floor for a unanimous consent agreement. i'd like to talk for a minute with my friend from rhode island, the ranking member, about a provision that is being held up unfortunately,

very different members of the senate. when i was there, you had statesmen in the house and senate and you ended up with guys like me. [laughter] cokie: that's what the nuns called humility with a hook. [laughter] nancy ambroise my friend and colleague at abc for many years. she didn't go into politics she went into political journalism. having gotten postgraduate degrees at london school of economics. you are here right after they let girls become pages. nancy: i didn't know anyone in terms of getting to be a page. i did want to say that for the record. [applause] and i'm sure there are other people who didn't either. i wanted to tip my hat to the first three female senate pages. they were really the trailblazers. paulette, ellen and julie price. i went back and i read the oral history that they did for the senate historian. it was really fascinating reading. i recommend it. i came in july of 1972. they had come in may of 1971. i was with lowell like her. -- lowellichert weicker. he was really good to me. you got all this

was the stuff of real drama. a junior senator stands and will not sit down until he moves the entire body and he wins. is america safer today because of chris murphy's win last night? not today, but america inched closer to being safer today. and we know where america would be if chris murphy did not stand up yesterday. think about that. imagine chris murphy did not stand up. tonight america would be left with the worst feeling we can have as a country, hopelessness. progress is no longer possible. we'd be left with the feeling that we can't do the kinds of things that we used to do when the united states senate worked as it was designed and the house of representatives worked the way the founding fathers expected it too. hopelessness is never instantly replaced with a bright sunrise of hope. first, there is that tiny glimmer of hope that we can barely see through that wall of hopelessness. and as the clock moved past 2:00 a.m. on the senate floor, that glimmer was then bright enough for everyone in the senate to see. chris murph

the of the senate republicans. in the recallly morning hours, the republican leader and i spoke, and we talked, and he indicated that he would commit to allowing votes on two important gun safety measures. the booker legislation -- murphy -- booker-feinstein legislation to extend background cherks and the feinstein measure to prevent terrorists from walking to a gun store buying all the explosives they want. mr. president, why -- why the passion of murphy? why? could it have been the death of these little babies by some madman walking into the sandy hook school? of course it was. as he indicated, he can't get that out of his mind. every day that's what he thinks about. every day. not 24 hours a day, but every day. why was cory booker here every minute of the time with senator murphy? he was here because he lives in an area where people are killed -- several a week where he lives in his neighborhood. he gave one of the most passionate speeches on tuesday in our caucus about holding a little boy shot in the head and d

live now to the u.s. senate. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain dr. barry black will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal god, the center of our joy, we lift our eyes to you. in a world with change and decay, you are changeless. your presence makes us glad and your peace guards our hearts. lord, today keep the eyes of our lawmakers focused on you. may they look to you in their going out and coming in and in their rising up and lying down. may they see you in their labor and leisure and in their pleasure and sorrow. guide them in life's morning and evening, for the kingdom, power and the glory belong to you. give them the wisdom to seize this day, working creatively to keep america strong. we pray in your majestic name. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our 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. mr. mcconnell: mr. presi

the senate in recess until 215. until then, some of the debate that occurred before members voted on the puerto rico debt bill. >> on this debate, we are about to ask unanimous consent that 10 minutes -- nine minutes be given to eight minutes to the supporters of this legislation. senator menendez and give my colleague >> thank you, mr. president. i come to the floor to ask my colleagues to not vote for cloture on this measure and to get the senate a chance to work its will. many people know that the legislation is being brought over from the house and i appreciate the relationship i have with my colleague renÉe and energy and natural resources committee have about the opportunity to have endpoint as many of my colleagues would with a simple amendment process. so that is being denied here today. if we basically invoke cloture and everyone is admitted this is a flawed bill. there is not one person who is in a presentation who hasn't admitted it is a flawed product for the house of representatives. why not take time to

the problem with this. now i'll probably lose this vote. i'm just a senator from illinois and he will probably succeed because there are some a special interest that are involved here, but don't say this is for the defense of this nation. what it's all about is finding money which is from the largest single appropriations bill to put into causes that by all objectives should be taken out of the health and human services account. but unfortunately, there there is not enough money in the health and service account so guess what, take it out of defense. meanwhile, we don't have enough troops trained and we don't have enough to pay for their deployment in case you missed the story in south carolina, marines are robbing parts from planes where an air force quadrant comes back with most of their aircraft not capable of applying, only two of our brigade combat teams are able to be in the first category of readiness. only two because they don't have enough money for training and operations and maintenance, but we are going to take billions out and were going to give

who do the senate democrats say? let the refugees in even though isis is telling us they're going to use those refugees to send terrorists here to come and murder us. this transcends mere partisan disagreement. this is loon si. -- luancy. we know the paris attack was carried out in part by people who came in using the refugee program, taking advantage of the refugee program. indeed earlier this year, january 6, 2016, omar is a heed ah listen harden a palestinian been in iraq who entered the united states as a refugee in 2009 was charged with attempting to provide support and he wanted to set off bombs using cell phone detonators at two malls at my hometown of houston, texas. this is a refugee who came from iraq and yet do you hear the administration saying this is a dangerous world. jihadists are attempting to kill us. we have to keep us safe. they don't say that. the legislation i've introduced which i would urge this body to take up would impose a three-year moratorium on refugees coming from any nation where isis o

president. >> the senator from maryland. >> mr. president, i rise today in support of a bipartisan compromise amendment which attracted by the gentlelady from the country senator collins. i say it's a good first step and does it even more than that, that is a significant step forward in gun control and violence control. i can assure you that those of us who want to control violence, this in no way will and pinched against second amendment rights. but we do want to curb violence in our country, which is an epidemic level. i want to compliment senator collins adequate to compliment the people who jumped in to help work with her to fashion a compromise. the gentlelady is known for her of billy to put together a coalition to come up with the best ideas to find common ground. we are doing something new here and finally, greg we are trying to find higher ground. we're trying to go against the muck and mire that goes on in this institution where we use parliamentary tactics to stifle debate, inhibit a clear vote, and even today with such s

but the senator is right. this ultimately has to be an issue of doing something about urban gun violence as well. i would yield without losing my right to the floor. mr. blumenthal: thank you to the senator fro for yielding foa question. i want to ask more specifically about a point that he made so well at the very beginning of this conversation, that the fight against gun violence and extremism abroad and at home is not an either/or. that we need to fight the violent extremism abroad, whether it's called jihadism or radical islam or violent extremists -- whatever label we give it. this fight is about that battle and about enlisting our allies abroad in supporting us in that battle and combating the homegrown terrorists, the extremists who are supported or unexpired by isis or others abroad. we do not have an either/or situation here, as he said so well. they are really complementary. and so my question to my colleague from connecticut is whether these kind of measures that we are seeking to advance on the floo

the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: while we are waiting for others who are coming to the floor, i think it's important to take a moment to talk about the editorial -- lead editorial in the -- thank you very much. to mention the events that are transpiring in syria as we speak, and it's best described in "the washington post" editorial this morning, lead editorial which says empty words, empty stomachs. syrian children continue to face starvation as another obama administration promise falls by the wayside. this is a devastating and true story. it's been nearly six months since the u.n. security council passed a resolution demanding an end to the bombing and shelling of civilian areas in syria and calling for immediate humanitarian access to besieged areas. it's been four months since secretary of state john f. kerry described the sieges as a -- quote -- catastrophe of a dimension unseen since world war ii and said all parties to the conflict have a duty to facilitate humanitarian access to syrians in desperate n

on c-span2. >> the u.s. senate is adjourned at 2:13 this morning after democrat chris murphy held the floor for nearly 15 hours calling for action on gun violence. today members continue work on $56.3 billion funding for the commerce, justice and science program. the white house posing the bill over inadequate funding levels for the 2020 census and bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives, 200 additional agent to help enforce existing gun laws. now to the floor of the u.s. senate. .. o order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal god, you are from eternity past and future, the same yesterday, today, and forever. we are your children, seeking to understand the destinies you have choreographed for our

yesterday on the senate floor, mr. president, i heard that several of my colleagues in the majority claim that our president, our administration has not done enough to fight isis. however, our friends in the majority i think are forgetting a few key facts and i just want to dwell on those for a little bit this morning. the truth is that we are taking the fight to isis and we are making serious progress in the battle to degrade and to destroy them. and when i say "we" i'm not just talking about the u.s. i'm not just talking about us and canada, not talking about just the u.s. and canada, maybe parts of europe. i'm talking about a coalition that now includes 60 nations, 60 nations from around the world, including some that are muslim nations, and i think they're an important part of this coalition. we have this map here. just for a little familiarity here, here's iraq, part of iraq over here, anbar province. here's baghdad and a town called fallujah we've heard a lot about in recent years and especially recent days. a pla

he is the u.s. senate majority leader. has represented kentucky since 1984 and is now in his sixth term in office. mcconnell has been at the center of some of the hardest-fought political battles in recent history, from campaign finance to obamacare to the current clash over president obama's supreme court nominee. john mccain once said, "there are few things more daunting in politics than the determined opposition of mitch mcconnell." recently, mcconnell pledged his support for donald trump. sen. mcconnell: i think most of our members believe that he won the nomination the old-fashioned way. he got more votes than anybody else. and we respect the voice of the republican primary voters across the country. we know the alternative is four more years like the last eight. i do not think the american people are thrilled. senator thune was talking about the growth rate in this country. i believe it is the case the president has not had a single quarter with 3% growth in his presidency. this country needs to get going again. we k

the senate will be in order. mr. nelson: senators, this is a motion to instruct that whatever is decided in the conference -- the presiding officer: time will not start until the senate is in order. mr. nelson: mr. president, this is a motion to instruct the conferees that whatever they decide to fund the zika crisis, that the money would not be taken out of the ebola fund and that the money that has been borrowed from the ebola fund would be replenished. remember, when the ebola outbreak was contained a year ago, there have been seven more clusters of outbreak sin that time. -- since that time. and the c.d.c. still employs 80 employees working on ebola, and with the last recent ebola case in guinea, the c.d.c. has had to vaccinate 1,700 people and then go out and do the infection control over there in west africa in 50 health centers and make 20,000 connections to try to ensure that it does not spread, which of course is the source of how it then -- the ebola -- gets to the u.s. and so this motion is simply to say, l