tillis: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. tillis: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i'm coming back to the floor sadly to make a speech that i promised to make every week that i'm in the u.s. senate as long as a part pastorm north carolina who's been in mission in turkey for almost 20 years, until he's released from a turkish prison. before i get started with that, i also want to thank senator donnelly for his comments because i think we share a common concern with respect to the joint strike fighter program, and that's something i'm going to have in my discussions, and i also thank in advance senator shaheen who's worked with me on a bipartisan basis to highlight the concern that we have for a man who's been in a turkish prison for 614 days. he was arrested in october of 2016 for nothing more than being a missionary. i w

senator tillis. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, i first want to thank you and ranking member tester because you a couple years ago encouraged and endorsed what became a regular meeting with the leaders of the v.a. to track their progress, and i specifically want to thank ranking member tester for always being there at every single meeting over the course of that process with the two secretaries. mr. wilkie, i hope that we have your commitment to continue that discussion because i think it was very helpful. >> yes, sir. >> mr. wilkie, i wanted to ask you something. i had the -- i'm not going to say the name of the newspaper, but i'm going to have the -- the person that was reporting this story called me up. i spent probably 15 minutes, maybe as much as 20 minutes on the phone with them to talk about you. somehow that insight was in much of your recent work history was not at all reported. million chair, without objection, i would like to submit an article that actually provides context that was written back if i believe 20

chairman. >> thank you very much, senator tillis. will you rise and raise your right hand and confirm your pledge. do you solemnly swear or affirm the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you god? please be seated. please introduce your lovely wife so everybody -- >> my wife julie is behind me. we have known each other since we were youngsters growing up in fayetteville. as you know, mr. chairman, she has a very strong georgia connection. her grandmother was georgia. and that's the real swamp. >> that's right. >> just in 2016 and 2017, nothing would have been possible without her. senator tester and distinguished members of the committee on veterans affairs. this is the third time i appeared in the coffin firm mages chair. i mentioned how long i have known my wife. one of the aspects of our relationship in those early years is our high school was about three blocks away from the fayetteville veteran's hospital. and every day on our way to and from high school, we would

other proposals have been put forward in addition to the tillis proposal. one of the most prominent is the one being offered by our friend, the senior senator from california. i've worked together on many issues with senator feinstein, but on this issue i think her bill has a number of problems. in fact, there's a huge question of what sort of enforcement, if any, would be permitted under her bill. in effect, this bill would make it impossible to criminally prosecute parents for crossing the border illegally unless their child is able to go into department of justice custody with the parents. this bill doesn't even specify where the families should be held. that's a big problem, mr. president. because children shouldn't go to jails and prisons run by the department of justice with hardened, potentially violent, criminals. i don't know anybody who thinks that's a good idea. that's why essentially the bill advocates for catch and release. what the bill says is that nowhere -- says where these families will be held since they can't go into department of justic

-- senator tillis? tillis: right now, we of addeding the value constitutional protections on victims rights. there seems to be some differing opinions. this is not particularly seem to be a partisan issue. mr. crews: thank you, senator for your question. i have heard of the bill you are talking about. are 2.7 carolina, there million survivors according to the cdc and the sexual assault items bill of rights has been introduced and there is a hearing today on it. we may be able to literally out of the searing impact 2.7 million lives in north carolina today. senator tillis: many of the folks were colleagues and i hear some of the concern on the other side, but i think they can be worked out. said earlier, we are already providing free red kits in the already have requirements about victims being able to make impact statements. do you have some sense among the different states as to where we be or the state we should pointing to? we all know most of the people are guilty of these crimes, so we should carry

tom tillis. grahndsey . i see lindsay sitting over there, good job. thank you. joni ernst. a good favor for the farmers yesterday, right? we love the farmers. i'm glad it worked out. steve daines. all here. we have on the house of representatives, mike coffman. jack bergman. buddy carter. did i introduce you, senator? i hope so. there are a people i did note. introduce and they will not -- they will not speed to me for the rest of my life. i apologize. colon.r gonzalez peter king. he comes from new york. thank you, peter. jack bergman. our chair. what a great job. the was a lot tougher than we thought, right? have thought it would be easy, it makes sense. kevin cramer. jim banks. claudia tenney. you are doing very well, martha, wherever you may be. i hear martha is doing very well in the great state of arizona. what the word is. don bacon. jason lewis. cathy mcmorris rodgers. athy?? representative neal dunn. brownley. i assume we have a couple others -- anybo i did not announce? you want to stand? you deserve it. itas been incredible.ch, really, finally, i want to thank the

senator tillis, sator durbin. senator tillis, if you would like to begin. >> thank you, mr. chair. members, i should say members of the committee, it is my great privilege to introduce mr. gordon sondland who has been nominated to serve as the united states ambassador to the european union. mr. sondland was born in seattle, washington. and as first generation american, his family history is both fascinating and instructive as to why he has the experience and understanding to serve as u.s. ambassador to the eu. his parents were born in berlin, germany and were married in 1937. they were forced to escape the nazi regime in germany. his mother was able to escape because her father was russian and those with russian passports could leave. she ended up in uruguay where mr. sondland's sister was born. his father of not so fortunate. he had to be smuggled out of germany. he wound up in france where he joined the french foreign legion and fought in north africa. he was put in a concentration camp in africa where he was rescued by a british army. he then joined the british army, being fluen

and so the best way forward is a bill that senator tillis and others filed yesterday. that is one that will allow us to house families together while pending their hearing. some will qualify for asylum and get to stay. others will have to return together. is it perfect? no. the united states government is not in the business of housing families. we do have an obligation to ensure that we can expedite their hearings so they're not there for a long time. we do have an obligation to say if you legitimately qualify for asylum, you should be given the opportunity to apply for it. we do have an obligation to say while we detain families, we are going to provide them safe, sanitary conditions. because that's who we are as a people and that's who we should be. we do have an obligation to do all of that. and that's why this bill adds 200 new judges to help expedite and why it calls for expediting cases that involve families with children. i know this is a tough issue. but our law cannot be that if you come here unlawfully with children, you get to stay. we're not going tone for

tom tillis, lindsey graham. i see lindsey sitting right up there. hi, lindse good job. todd young. todd, thank you. joni ernst. where's joni? i did you a good favor for the farmers yesterday. we love the farmers. i'm glad it worked out. john hoven, steve danes, all here. we have on the house of representatives mike hoffman, r-- did introce you, man, buddy senator? what's going on, huh? i hope so. if i didn't introduce you, i'm you kn the probl with this, there will be four people we didn't introduce, and they'll never speak to me for the rest of my life. they'll make sure i suffer, right? so please, i apologize. jennifer gonzalez colon, peter king. where's peter? stand up, peter. you have been so nice to me. he should. he comes from new york. right, peter? thank you, peter. jack bergman. phl, what a great job. [ applause ] that was a lot tougher than we thought, right? you would think it would have been easy. it makes sense. but you would have thought. kevin cramer, jim banks, andy barr, claudia tenney, martha mcsally. i hear you're doing very well, mar wr youay be. i hear martha's

tom tillis. lindsey graham. i see lindsay sitting over there, good job. todd young. joni ernst. i did you a good favor for the farmers yesterday, right? we love the farmers. i'm glad it worked out. john hoeven. steve daines. all here. we have on the house of representatives, mike coffman. brian mast. jack bergman. buddy carter. did i introduce you, senator? i hope so. if i did not, i am in trouble. the problem with this, there will be for people that i didn't introduce and they will not speak to me for the rest of my life. they will make sure i suffer. i apologize. jennifer gonzalez colon. peter king. [applause] he comes from new york. thank you, peter. jack bergman. our chair, phil rowe. [applause] what a great job. the was a lot tougher than we thought, right? you would have thought it would be easy, it makes sense. kevin cramer. jim banks. andy barr. claudia tenney. martha mick sally -- martha mcsally. i hear martha is doing very well in the great state of arizona. don bacon. jason lewis. cathy mcmorris rodgers. representative neal dunn. representative elise alton. julia brow

i think senator tillis will laugh at me. it dates from shakespeare. it is beaten into our heads from the time we raise our hands. i will tell you, i'm not casting aspersions on anyone, i was amazed walking into headquarters in some parts and being told that i was the first secretary that many of those folks had seen. i mentioned in the first statement that i gave at the va that i have to be a bottom-up organization. that anyone who sets in the secretaries chair and claims he has the answers should not be there. walking the post means talking to the people and the veterans were using va services and getting out in the field. >> thank you. >> mr. wilkie, i think of the right man for the job. senator sanders. >> and mr. chairman. thanks for being here. let me be blunt and tell you what my dilemma is. the veterans organizations in the veterans in the state of vermont are quite proud of the va. they feel everything being equal, once they get into the va they receive high-quality care. there is, to the best of my knowledge overwhelming opposition to the pri

. >> aren't you working with senator tillis? on legislation that allows families to be held longer than 20 days? >> i'm sorry. i thought you were talking about the house legislation. i just don't think that is it. with the tillis legislation, most of us envision some other form, like the monitored release. the ankle bracelets. that has been very effective. case management is still difficult. but it's far better. than indefinite detention of families. because some of the cases can go for a long time. we don't have the judges or the infrastructure to do this. >> are you certain the judge will strike down the president's executive order? >> yes, yes. >> so what happens next? >> i hope that we can get back to -- i mean, congress has to fix this. what is bothersome is the president's rhetoric about the democrats and their unwillingness to have border security or control. i was part of the effort in 2013, the bipartisan bill, the so-called "gang of eight" bill. that provided $41 billion towards border security, infrastructure, manpowe

they look like or what they believe or where they come from and that you know it's just by the bed tilly that who we are as american people of that's fundamentally that the values that the core of our country seventeen us states are suing president donald trump's administration over the separation of children from their relatives at the mexican border the states which include washington new york and california want to force officials to reunite migrant families who were split up after being detained for illegal immigration. is of separated two thousand three hundred children from their parents in recent weeks earlier this month trump to public outrage and signed an executive order that would end the separations but the states say families are still not being reunited and of being denied due process. a government offensive to retake one of syria's last opposition strongholds has forced forty five thousand people to flee triggering warnings of another humanitarian crisis government forces backed by russian warplanes a blow instead of strikes and ground battles to recapture from rebel fight

so i hope my colleagues will join with senator tillis and this senate to fix this problem. the american people are counting on it. thousands of families are depending upon it. thank you, and i yield the floor, and i suggest the -- the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: i ask unanimous consent to dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. we know that americans work harder and longer than ever before and have less and less to show for it. hard work doesn't pay off the way it used to. workers in ohio have known that for a long time, that their paychecks don't stretch far enough. and this month, the state's second largest newspaper, the columbus dispatch, reported on just how bad things are for far too many ohioans. the dispatch reported a new study by the national low-income housing coalition and the coalition when homelessness and housing in ohio, that found, get

republicans, tillis and cruz, along with democratic senators feinstein and durbin, a will be sitting down -- durbin, will be sitting down to reach a debate. does this give you hope for something on capitol hill? >> it is such an unusual collection of people. if you can get people from different parts of the spectrum, tom has been very active on these issues. that is less surprising. they have been trying to build bipartisan consensus. , they have a way tried to meet in the middle and try to figure out what conservatives and liberals do together. they are both well within the mainstream of their parties, but it is interesting to see ted cruz there and feinstein. it is hard to get immigration done in election year. elections,november but is there a group of people that could push something includes the president, that is an interesting combination. if it does not happen before november, ideas that people can gravitate toward, that is really positive to get something done after the elections. >> we will fall that story on c-span2, the house on c-span, oath back in session this week. lin

tillis: like to begin. >> thank you mr. chairman. it iss of the committee my great privilege to introduce beenorton's online who has nominated as ambassador to the eu. he was born in washington and as a first-generation american his family is fascinating and instructive as to why he has the experience to serve as u.s. ambassador to the eu. his parents were born in berlin germany and were married in 1937. they were forced to escape the not too regime in germany. his father was able to escape because those with russian passports could lead. she ended up in uruguay where his father was born -- brother was born. wound up in france where he joined the french foreign legion and fought in north africa. he was put in a concentration camp and africa where he was rescued by a british army. he then joined the british army being fluent in german assisted with decoding german ciphers. years, his parents were reunited moved to seattle in 1953, where gordon was born four years later. gordon went on to graduate from the united -- university of washi

tillis: thank you, mr. president. i come talk to talk about the fairm and an -- the farm bill and an amendment i filed along with senators cornyn and heller. first i want to thank chairman roberts for doing the remarkable job he does by bringing people together on the agriculture committee. for the first two years i was here in the senate beginning in 2015, i was on agriculture. i really enjoyed watching the way that he worked, trying to bridge the gaps between different interests. and in the agriculture committee, it's less along partisan lines and more along regional lines. the fact that we've got a farm bill before us that i believe -- that i will support and i believe is good for farmers is a testament to the leadership of the chair roberts and the ranking member stabenow. i do think it's important. in north carolina a lot of people probably don't realize although we're a relatively small state and populous state with large urban centers, we're also one of the top ten agriculture states. we have over 80 commoditie

it's the time of the year actually when you see fairly regular daily shaz even in the lesser around tilly's but there are more especially as you can see to the west. he's everywhere and it's choking our planet very toxic and very dangerous and we could spend years meaning if i go along but breakthroughs are being made showing that it is possible to change our relationship with the night substance issue running i think they can be picked up on the beach to. move on plastic waste. on al-jazeera how do you. begin to look at the top stories on al-jazeera gunfire has reportedly been heard in the yemeni port city of data a saudi owned television channel says a military operation has begun to retake it from hooty rebels data is the main entry point for aid for millions of people suffering from food and medical shortages. the leaders of north korea and the u.s. have accepted invitations to visit each other's countries that's according to the north korean state news agency kim jong un and donald trump met for the first time in singapore on choose day they signed an agreement aimed at denuclearizing

and the rangers wanted it also, because it had very good a tilly positions. december 7,ning, on they were ordered to clear the rest of birksteen. they were in out, thatrs filled with water was waist-deep and they were take hillthey had to 400. it's an incredible story. through birk you a cemeteryey went through that was the -- the graves were actually overturned, because it shelled to many times by allied and german artillery. theymoved through that and were being hit by artillery, german artillery. the sunkenup towards road. sunken road overlook -- them, a largef open field the size of a football field. looming in front of them was hill 400. somehow, they had to get across that field and seize the hill. and this is one of the most war.dible stories of the it was also one of the few times bayonetere was a charge. to assaultreparing hill 400. that, germandoing artillery was falling behind them. of artillery. mortars, everything else. then in front of them was our artillery. artillery wereof converging, getting closer and closer to the rangers behind road.unken

in addition, tilly chang presented the full work plan. we are looking at a request for revenues of 123.2 million and expenditures of 263.1 million for the various -- the five various funds and designated mandates the transportation authority to fd -- fully fund the expenditures, we will be utilizing the november 2017 sales tax revenue bond proceeds, in addition to the revolving credit loan that was recently approved back in april. with that, i would be more than happy to answer any questions related to this year's budget. >> supervisor peskin: are there any questions for miss fong? seeing none, is there any public comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. [ gavel ]. >> supervisor peskin: is there a motion to adopt the proposed fiscal year 2018-19 budget, made by commissioner ta, seconded by commissioner sheehy. colleagues, can we do that, same house, sam call. the budget is adopted on first reading, please. next item, please. >> clerk: item 8, execute contracts and various professional services in an amount not to excee

. >> dick durbin, the democratic whip, dianne feinstein, ted cruz, tom tillis on the republican side of the aisle. durban got an immigration bill through almost 5 years ago to the day but gang's all the time, one on tax reform, one on avoiding the nuclear option a long time ago in the senate. we will see if this gang is able to work something out in the next couple weeks, they want to deal with the child separation issue. >> and getting word from the senate side, if you can get it across the finish line, an endless supply of information. >> democrats responded to the executive order ending family separation with new demands of accusations that republicans would like to use children as a political weapon, both sides are saying that. the editor of the halftime report joins me now, good evening. you talk about the fact there are extremes on either end of the political spectrum and for them it makes no sense to solve the problem. it is advantageous for them to keep it going. >> the worse the better and more frightened the better and the angrier the better and it is in a lot of cases but

it's the time of the year actually when you see fairly regular daily shaz even in the lesser around tilly'sbut there are more especially as you can see to the west. plastic is everywhere and it's choking our planet very toxic and very dangerous and we could spend years cleaning this up in the long run but breakthroughs are being made showing that it is possible to change our relationship with nature substance this is running out i think a lot that you can come up with be the product move on plastic waste. on al-jazeera how do you turn this into this. this is al-jazeera. has i'm sick of this is the news hour live from doha coming up in the next sixty minutes handshakes smiles and now apparently home visits donald trump and kim jong un accept mutual invitations to each other's countries. the media mega merger eighty and t. is given the green light to buy time warner but what will this mean for consumers. what's in a name why macedonia will no longer be known as macedonia. and the penalty shootout for the right to host the twenty twenty six world cup rocco takes on mexico.

but this sunday you expect a fairly strong breeze trade winds and it brings frequent shasta lesser tilly's both women illegals and back into the big around as well jim to make air and keep it seems to get some fairly frequent showers at the moment the heaviest rain the us has been around the gulf coast texas in particular really into louisiana and that line of rain sheets of curl around here is mixed in actually have some pretty hot tropical air in the sciences going to be significant rain as a whole lot moves slowly east over the next two or three days. the weather sponsored by cattle waste. it was a war that united egypt and syria against israel but in the heat of the battle that different agendas soon became apparent i suppose that his dream was to avenge defeat of not the six to seven when president sadat came to power he told us just give me ten centimeters of land in the used the second of a three part series the israeli population were told that their troops were on the west bank of the su is going to explore the second week of the war in october on al-jazeera. and for you. this is

gang of four plans to meet next week on immigration, democrats dick durbin and diane feinstein and tillis and ted cruz. >> i hope it is a choice for senate democrats. do they want to fix this problem, come together and fix this problem? if they do, we have do it. if on the other hand, democrats want an issue to run on in november, then we may el paso police department up with separate bills. >> here on the house side, there are 42 more republican members than democrats, so if the party comes together, they don't need any help from the other side, but after in-person meetings and plea from the president, they haven't been able to do it. kennedy. >> peter, thank you for that report, we'll be watching all day long to see if they can whip those votes. so what does steve scalice have to do to get his cabbingus on board? >> juan: the difficulty, is mark meadows freedom caucus people don't want anything interpreted as amnesty or going back on pledges made by president trump. >> could nuance the language. >> juan: that is right, want to figure out how to do it, they are worried, if you look back

the one with the most momentum right now is led by thom tillis which has more than a dozen republican signed on to it including the majority leader. it looks like what ted cruz proposed earlier in the week. mandates that judges speed up the process and that families basketball kept togethe in family shelters not things like the converted walmart. that's one piece of legislation that looks like it's ready to go in the senate. earlier this evening you had senators meeting to try to hash through whether or not there is something else the senate can do on a diplomat basis. several senators i talk to recognize the fact that this executive order only buys them time. it is absolutely not a lasting solution. the house side is a whole other problem. they are trying to deal with these two broad based immigration bills they are supposed to have votes on tomorrow night both of which look like they are in trouble despite the white house working very hard today to convince skeptical republicans this is what they need to vote for. >> i'm curious, garrett, i have got the sneaking suspicion that one o

into the lake and got the little dock and she took it to tom's river avian care and know her name is tilliey. >> how great is that? >> it was all alone and they were trying to drown it. >> they don't like the duck, it's been touched by humans. i think the person touching the duck should be arrested. >> that would be peter buried >> peter is to be under arrest. >> i think the corel's are an amazing family. >> very nice family. >> sometimes you can't believe your eyes. watch this. yes, that's a human being holding onto the hood of a mercedes-benz c300 traveling 70 miles an hour down florida's i-95 on sunday. the man is holding on with one hand, apparently holding a cell phone with the other hand. the man who made this video said the guy on the hood was not alarmed, he was just chilling like nothing was weird. the video had been viewed more than a million times, highway patrol could not identify the people involved but they point out this could have ended tragically so obviously, don't try this at home. >> he's going to get the darwin award. >> why do people do things like that? >> what happen

forecast too and down through panama and into colombia there are showers developing in less around tilly's in fact once again you help us to see the audience a bit of a shame if you're there to watch the sunshine because they won't be there that often. there are over seven billion lights in this school. each one they still. want to be seen. to be. bedded monsta the time when. it is time to be a. witness to the human children continued. on. we understand the differences. and the similarities of cultures across the world so no matter how you take it al-jazeera will bring you the news and current events that matter to you. as iraq. afghanistan has the best geology of both mentally resources and i'd refer to why are they so poor emotional you guys when trying to form a government. of the tocsin when essentially the more we would close down the more they push back we knew it was coming the question was do we sit back and wait or do we surprise them with a preemptive strike on the bottom or on al-jazeera. this is al-jazeera. a librarian forgotten this is the news live from doha coming up in the

tom tillis. lindsey graham. i see lindsey up there. todd young. thank you. joanie ernest. did you a good favor for the farmers yesterday, right? we love the farmers, right? good. i'm glad it worked out. john hovan. steve danes. all here. we have on the house of representatives mike kauffman. brian mast. jack bergman. buddy carter. did i introduce you, senator? what is going on? i hope so. if i didn't introduce you, i'm in trouble. you know the problem with this, there will be four people we didn't introduce and they'll never speak to me for the rest of my life. they will make sure i suffer, right? i apologize. jennifer gonzalez. peter king. where is peter? stands up. you have been so nice to me. he should. he comes from new york. he should. right, peter? thank you, peter. jack bergman. our chair phil rowe. phil? [applause] what a great job. that was a lot tougher than we thought, right? you would think it'd be easy. it makes sense. you would have thought. kevin kraemer. jim banks. andy barr. claudia tenney. martha mcsally. i hear you are doing very well, wherever you may b

forecast too and down through panama and into colombia there are showers developing in less around tilly's in fact once again you help us to see the audience a bit of a shame if you're there to watch the sunshine because they won't be there that often. the diagnosis he has been sick for around six months now the challenge ahead there one of these ninety six could be the new cure or the basis of a new kewl for colors off near illness or disability al-jazeera examines pion meaning treatments so this is the explosive yes it's basically a wearable robot that pira revisited now does iraq. al jazeera. where every new york. it is good to have you with us hello adrian from going to here in doha but the news from al-jazeera our top stories this hour despite growing condemnation the u.s. president donald trump is refusing to stop separating migrant families who illegally enter the country trump says that he will not allow america to become a migrant camp and blame the opposition democrats for his policy. the u.n. security council is calling on all sides in the war in yemen to respect international l

it's the time of the year actually when you see fairly regular daily shaz even in the lesser around tilly's but there are more especially as you can see to the west. a new series of rewind a care bring your people back to life i'm sorry and brand new updates on the best of al-jazeera documentaries the struggle continues for. our use distance rewind continues with australia's lost generation recovery. is a really important issue suicide writes do a mind very high still twice the national average rewind on al-jazeera and monday put it on. us and british companies have announced the biggest discovery of natural gas in west africa but what to do with these untapped natural resources is already a source of heated debate nothing much has changed they still spend most of their days looking forward to for dry riverbed like this one five years on the syrians still feel battered or even those who managed to escape their country have been truly unable to escape the war. and again you're watching actually in our mind of our top stories this hour the leaders of north korea and the u.s. have accepted inv

that's former prison officer neil samworth speaking to chloe tilly earlier today.t who tried to murder his wife by sabotaging her parachute has been jailed for life with a minimum of 18 years. the government defends its flagship benefit scheme — universal credit — despite claims it may end up costing more than the previous system. in the business news... charles horton, the boss of the country's biggest rail franchise govia thameslink railway, has resigned. gtr, which runs thameslink, southern and great northern, cancelled hundred of services after the botched introduction of new timetables last month, something the prime minister mrs may called "totally u na cce pta ble". tesco enjoys a confident start to the year as it reports its tenth consecutive quarter of rising sales. bad weather didn't seem to dampen sales which rose over 2%, and the fact that it has bought booker, the food wholesaler boosted sales in the whole group. us telecoms giant at&t has completed its takeover of time warner. the deal, worth more than £60 billion, has been two years in the making, an

i think you know, i have been involved with senators langford and tillis to try and delay the delivery of f 35's to turkey because primarily of their [ inaudible ] without any reason, holding americans systems -- citizens. i appreciate that at last week's ceremony, with lockheed martin, celebrating the partnership with turkey on the f 35, that the state department did not send a representative to the ceremony. i think that's a part of trying to send a clear message to turkey about what our views are. but i do know there is some confusion about whether planes have actually been delivered. it's lander standing they have not yet delivered planes. can you confirm whether or not any planes have actually been a delivery? >> in my view this is helpful in the circumstances because this gives us time to continue the messaging. my understanding is we are in the training phase. we have watch developments on the hill and we know what's being considered on f 35's. we believe we have existing authorities that would allow us to withhold certain things including with national security concerns. we con

. >> before i begin, i want to thank the senators tillis and wyden for an overly generous introduction, it was much appreciated. chairman johnson, ranking member murphy and distinguished members of the foreign relations committee, good afternoon, it is an honor to appear before you as the president's nominee to serve as the united states ambassador to the european union. i am grateful to president trump for the faith and confidence he has placed in me, and to secretary pompeo for his support, and i am very grateful to you for your consideration of my nomination. before we begin, please allow me to introduce the members of my family, all here in attendance with me. first, my wife katie, without whose intelligence, kindness, patience, and weight, i might have achieved very little, certainly not a place at the table. she is a fermentable success in business, as well as in our home. and she has been an enduring source of strength and humbling smart advice since the day i was fortunate enough to meet her nearly 30 years ago. sitting next to katie are our two proudest accomplishments, childr

. >> before i begin, i want to thank both senators tillis and wi wyden for the introduction. good afternoon. it's an honor to appear before you as the president's nominee to serve as the united states ambassador to the european union. i'm grateful to president trump for the support for me and i'm very grateful to you for your consideration of my nomination. >> before we begin, please allow me to introduce my family all here in attendance with me. first, my wife katie without whose intelligence, kindness, patience and wit i might have achieved very little. certainly not a place at this table. she's a success in business, as well as in our home. and she's been an enduring source of strength and humbling smart advice since the day i was fortunate to meet her nearly 30 years ago. sitting next to katie are our two proud est accomplishments, our children max and lucy. both of whom are undergraduates at duke and departed challenging internships to be here with me. absent are my parents. having immigrated here in 1953 after so many years of extreme tre veil, they adopted america, and

tillis: thank you, madam president. madam president, i want to speak briefly. it want to thank -- i want to thank the democratic leader forgiving me the opportunity to do what i've done every week for the past couple of months and i will do every week until we get a resolution. i'm talking about pastor brunson who has been in prison in turkey since 2016. the only thing he -- he is guilty of is being a missionary, who spent 20 years of his life to bringing the word of god to turkey. you can talk about all the trumped up charges after i spent in a courtroom in turkey, or when i spoke to pastor brunson when i spoke to him in prison. this is relevant to the defense authorization to put turkey on notice that this is unacceptable. turkey has been a an ally of the united states since 1952. if you know much about the nato alliance, what you need to know is that alliance commits every member of nato to send their men and women in uniform into harm's way to defend the national security of a nation of the alliance. we have that with turkey. we have since 1952. so over the

. >> senator cornyn is not here, senator tillis. >> thank you for being here. i will get back to the topic is -- in this hearing was being held for on eb-5 program. you said, in visits, 69% of sites you visited appeared to be in compliance with eb-5? >> correct. we used the term, they were operating as expected. >> you said, of the remaining 31%, it did not mean they were not operating, but they required a follow-up review. you have a rough approximation of that 31%, how many, your instincts or data would suggest they are not in compliance? >> we have more information on that that we can get you on what the breakdown is, the types of things we saw, very quickly, the types of things that we saw for 31%, the business appeared to be deserted, or there was no evidence of construction. those were the most egregious cases we saw. >> i am in the category of people that think we need reforms for the program, but i don't think we should throw the baby out with the bathwater. i appreciate the spirit that you presented here to say, let's fix it so it is going back to what

and doing it in a way tillis is a conservative republican, durbin is a liberal democrat. it's not they're moderates. they're both well within the mainstream of their party but it's interesting to see ted cruz and dianne feinstein. they have credibility with different parts of the party. i think it's hard to get immigration done in an election year. before the november elections. but if there's a group of people that can push something that others might join on including the president that's an interesting combination. before esn't happen november even having things that begin to be ideas that people can gravitate towards that build a compromise in different sectors of our parties can agree to before november even having things is begin to be ideas positive to get something done after the election. host: we'll be following that story. the senate on c-span 2. the house on c-span both back in session this week. tampa, florida. th andrew sealy, vanishing frontiers. good morning. caller: is positive to get i hope presiden trump's people are listening to this. what we need in t

we have a proposal which i know he's very familiar with, to do precisely that, proposed by senator tillis and senator cruz. and i know he and senator feinstein are talking to them and hopefully can come up with a bipartisan solution. but the argument that somehow this is a new phenomenon is just not borne out by the facts. we all remember 2014 when the vast wave of unaccompanied children coming across the border from central america was called a humanitarian crisis by president obama. and it was because we simply were not prepared to deal with the medical and other needs -- feed, house, and take care of these tens of thousands of children that were streaming across the border, because central america basically has some very serious problems which are resulting in people fleeing from those countries and seeking in many cases asylum here in the united states. but the idea that president trump started something new when he decided to enforce the law, or that this phenomenon of children coming across the border is something new is simply not the case. it's been happening a long, long time. an

. >> senator tillis. >> mr. chairman,, thank you volunteering. very important topic. i'm from north carolina and i'm proud to say that we've made tremendous progress on the subject through a series of bills, some of which when i speak of the house, in fact, right now we are waiting the value. ms. wynne, i don't know if you're familiar with it, but the value of added constitutional protections on victims rights. there seems to be some differing opinions. this doesn't can be at particularly partisan issue and it has more to do with due process concerns and expedience around adjudicating. but do you know much about these efforts to move on constitutional amendments in own personal opinion about the? >> thank you, senator for your question. i have heard of the bill you're talking about but i do have a special update for you. so in north carolina that are, according to the cdc, 2.7 million survivors, and the sexual assault survivors' bill of rights has been introduced and there is a hearing today on it. >> it was passed out of house. i tracked it pretty closely. >> amazing

. >> senator cornyn is not here, senator tillis. >> thank you for being here. i will get back to the topic is hearing was being held for on eb-5 program. in visits, 69% of sites you visited appeared to be in compliance with eb-5? >> correct. we are operating as expected. >> you said, of the remaining 31%, it did not mean they were not operating, that they were required to follow up review. you have a rough approximation yourat 31%, how many, instincts or data would suggest they are not in compliance? >> we have more information on that that we can get you on what the breakdown is, the types of things we saw, very quickly, the types of things we saw 431%, the business had been sold -- that we saw for 31%, the business appeared to be deserted -- those were the most egregious cases we saw. >> i am in the category of people that think we need reforms for the program, but i don't think we should throw the baby out with the bathwater. i appreciate the spirit that you presented here to say, let's fix it so it is going back to what the original intent was. -- before i