senator ron wyden. senator wyden is an extinguished distinguished -leader. senator wyden is an distinguished leader. he is one who we can go on all night, but we can't. his constituents described him as a good listener. he is one who believes in the town hall and has a town hall meeting in every county in oregon every year. he also uses those listening skills in the senate to hear arguments on all sides of the issue and try to find common sense bipartisan solutions. in addition to his leadership post on the committee, senator wyden has the distinction of being the dean of oregon's congressional delegation. senator wyden, please come forward. [applause] sen. wyden: just to put this in perspective, senator grassley has town hall meetings in all 99 of his counties. it is described in the state of iowa as the full grassley. [laughter] sen. wyden: i came over saying i will make sure this is a filibuster free zone. i see some of my colleagues who will be very pleased about that. but i think that you may be here a while, because a lot of people here tonight i think

senator wyden, please come forward. [applause] put this inn: to perspective, senator grassley has town hall meetings in all 99 of his counties and it is described in the state of iowa as [indiscernible] [laughter] wyden: i came over saying i'm going to make sure this is a filibuster-free zone. i see a number of my colleagues who will be pleased about that. but i think you may be here a while because a lot of people here tonight i think really came because they wanted to talk about the upcoming debate about tax extenders. [laughter] senator wyden: we may probably be here a little bit. i do have a few thank yous. let's thank jane. let's give the historical society another round of applause for giving us the chance to look back at history and also a little bit of looking forward. we thank her for that. and of course, my friend and inimitable partner, senator grassley, who gets up in the morning at the leisurely hour of runs someand then ungodly number of miles and does i amven take time out -- on the intelligence committee

wyden: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: mr. president, i thank my colleagues senator blumenthal and senator warner have spoken strongly on the issue at hand, which is to protect our country, our great country. in 200 years of self-governance, this extraordinary experiment in self-governance, and to do it we have to add a new tier of strong protection for the sanctity of our elections. so i want to thank senator blumenthal. he is a member of the judiciary committee where he is doing important work on these issues. our colleague, senator warner, of course the vice chairman of the intelligence committee where i serve, and i just want to thank my colleague who is still on the floor, senator blumenthal, for all his leadership. i look forward to partnering with him and with senator warner in the days ahead. mr. president, in a moment i will be asking for unanimous consent to adopt a bipartisan bill that i have proposed with senator cotton. it is s. 890, the sen

one is chris cox now in private law practice and the other senator rod wyden. >> is that the chris cox that was at the nra. >> no, he was the sec chairman under president bush. >> gotcha. >> so they wrote section 230 and they've both been advocating and senator wyden has been a pretty strong defender currently. in terms of the critics there are holly and cruz who have taken a lead is on saying these platforms should not be biassed on certain political viewpoints and senator hawley introduced legislation that would basically condition section 230 protections for larger platforms on some form of political neutrality. on the other side i would say there are a lot of democrats who were saying there's not enough moderation and speaker pelosi has suggested eliminating section 230 and she's had -- she recently had that video of her that was altered and that was shared pretty widely. so that's been really an example of the undermoderation of platforms. >> where does the president come down on this and the top advisers at the white house. >> i am not aware of any specific statements. i know he

but the truth is that josh hawley and ron wyden have different goals for facebook.them to agree they dislike the company. but the republicans are continuing to push a line which is not backed by everyday that facebook, twitter and google are anti-conservative so when they talk about anti-trust what they are really talking about is they do not like the fact that a number of conservative voices have been downranked or silenced because they have touched upon the hate speech and other policies of these platforms, when ron wyden talks about the companies being too big, he's really talking about creating a competitive landscape that allows smaller competitors to pop up. so i think we got to be careful who we back if their anti-tech hate right now. the truth is there is a number of people in the run-up to the 2020 election who want to work the speech reps. these companies have become the referees of what is legitimate and allowable political speech in the united states. so in the run-up to the 2020 election, you will continue to see pressure, mostly from conservatives, to

and last thursday, the finance committee, this one headed by senator grassley, senator wyden, by a vote of 19-9, reported more than two dozen additional bipartisan proposals also aimed at reducing the costs of prescription drugs. that's not all, madam president. the house energy and commerce committee has passed his own solution to surprise billing. last thursday senator murray's staff and i met with representatives frank pallone and greg walledon, leaders of the house energy committee and we worked together to lower health care costs. all of this work is consistent with what secretary azar and the president has been saying and doing to lower prescription drug costs and increase transparency. for example, last week, after the finance committee released its legislation, the white house said, quote, it is encouraged by the bipartisan work of chairman grassley and senator wyden to craft a comprehensive package to lower outragesly high drug prices and today we are engaging with coalitions to help build support. that from the white house. here is why this amount of activity is in so many way

ron wyden, he was note not happy about that proposal. >> today i fear, i expect, that if we give theral and president the unprecedented power too break encryption across the board, and borrow into most inmate details of america's lives they will abuse those powers. >> i love those. he is right about this, tech companies argue, if they were to create a backdoor for law enforcement it would be -- so should ag slow his role a little bit. here to te discuss is buck sextn welcome back. >> kennedy. kennedy: this -- you know. that is ridiculous, and problematic, and not must good guys trying too get information from the bad guys. it really opens up door to so much more. >> yeah, i do agree with you, i would say that i think there are good faith arguments on both sides here, but i think on balance, having government insist that private companies create deficiency, that what it is, a opening, in technology that they are spending i would note millions or perhaps hundreds of mill dwroop milliono make sure that cannot happen. >> that is what consumers want. >> they want it also, you know, someon

wyden: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent, mr. president, to vacate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, today i rise to rebut the deeply flawed proposal that the attorney general has just made this morning. this morning, he raised a tired, debunked plan to blow a hole in one of the most important security features protecting the digital lives of the american people. mr. barr once again echoing the views of some on the far, far right, is trying to undermine the strong encryption and required government back doors into the personal devices of the american people. now, encryption is a technical term that gets thrown around by people in government who don't want you to use it. the idea, however, is simple. it's using math to encode your information so that the only people who can read it are the ones that you want to read it. as is often known, encryption is used every time a credit card is swiped or an online bank account is accessed. it helps pr

kamala harris, amy klobuchar, ron wyden, cory booker, kirsten gillibrand and elizabeth warren who hadself of all decisions including his former employer, the defense giant raytheon or whom he was chief lobbyist for seven years before being appointed army secretary by president trump. >> so is it safe to say that you are more closely aligned to secretary mattis than president trump? >> i don't know where to pick between the two but clearly i share secretary mattis' abuse. >> esper was a west point graduate and graduated in 1986 and served as an infantry officer during the first gulf war. he faces a host of immediate challenges including what to do about rising tensions with iran. while u.s. ships begin escorting tankers through the strait of hormuz, and turkey, which just bought a state-of-the-art russian defense system despite u.s. protests. is taking over a time at a time when the pentagon has a $738 billion budget but waning influence on the trump cabinet. advisor john bolton and secretary of state pompeo have filled the vacuum resulting in the absence of jim mattis who resigned in

ron wyden, democrat of oregon, said the government shouldn't expect local officials to do what the federal government is more qualified to do. they writes this -- we would not ask a local sheriff to go to war against the missiles, planes and tanks of the russian army. we saloon ask a county election i.t. guy to fight against the vast resources of the russia cyberarmy. >> up to a point, he has a point. if we take the lessons we learned, we realized there's a role for everybody. the federal government has a role and state and local authorities have a role to deal, because they're the first responders, as we all knee. they're the ones that confront people who pose a threat. so it needs to be a coherent well-organized response at every level f we're going to try to be effective. >> the timing is very significant. a day after robert mueller testified. he warned of all these threats as well. that didn't necessarily come across. >> we had a full day of hearings, but the one thing we learned from the two times that bob mueller has spoken, is he's been most forceful, in that ten-minute statement he

oregon's ron wyden went to mexico to help a pregnant woman and her family across the border so she could. i kid you not. >> i met a woman who was eight and a half months pregnant and she needed medical care. so they immediately passed all their belongings up and headed for the border. we were essentially told early on that things were all filled up and no way that she could get in. found out that i'm a united states senator, changed the tune. >> laura: that is unbelievable unbelievable. a sitting u.s. senator gaming the system with an illegal immigrant but she was with a u.s. senator. gosh, i wonder if the constituents in his own state get that quick treatment. maybe. senator, nice going. unbelievable. that's just what our founders thought about the birthright citizenship issue. that's all the time we have tonight buried new podcast, new episode tomorrow. make sure to go to podcastone.com and mike emanuel and the "fox news @ night" team take it all from here. >> thank you, laura, we begin with a fox news alert. president trump's tweets, and there are new ones late tonight about baltimore

. >> last week she pick aid part joe wyden.week she's hat a picnic. >> i'm prepared to prosecute the case. [applause] >> kamala harris trying to build on a buzzing debate debut in iowa. >> not only am i here because i think it is important obviously to the campaign, it's important to me personally to share from the people here, to help to how i think about issues and how i create priorities. >> the california senator is closing in on the frontrunner, joe biden, poll numbers are you aboutied by voters who think he's the most electable. but by ken has been beater -- biden has been beater by mayor pete buttigieg, $21.5 million raised in the second quarter, more than three million less than mayor pete. by deb's campaign is upbeat about his bank account, calculating he on the other hand more per day since he started. the cycle biden has focused on trump, something bernie sanders is now doing, too. while sanders has less money than the president he has more individual donors. >> in the last three months, we received one million contr

the bipartisan prescription drug legislation i introduced this month with senator wyden bans spread pricing. this will refocus the system on paying for costs associated with prescribing a drug instead of gaming the system to reap a profit at the expense of the taxpayers. medicaid funding should go to patients, not to the pockets of health care middle men. i yield the floor. thank you. mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i'd like to welcome all members back to the senate for a busy week, but first there is something i need to address. over the last several days i was called unpatriotic, un-american , and essentially treasonous by a couple of left-wing pundits on the basis of bold-faced lies. i was accused of aiding and abetting the very man i've singled out as an adversary and opposed for nearly 20 years, vladimir putin. this was less than 24 hours after the outrage industrial complex was disappointed yet again by special counsel mueller. partisan democrats and their media allies were crushed a few months ago when mueller's report cleared

oregon's ron wyden went to mexico to help a pregnant woman and her family crossed the border so she couldhere. >> i met a woman who was 81/2 months pregnant. they packed all their belongings up and headed to the border. and told by customs officials things were also left and no way she could get in. united states senator, changed the tune. >> that is unbelievable. a sitting us senator gaming the system with an illegal immigrant. she is with a us senator. i wonder if a constituent in his own state gets that quick treatment. nice going. that's just what our founders thought about, the birthrate citizenship issue. my new podcast and new episode tomorrow, go to podcastone.com. mike emanuel and the fox news at night team, take it from here. >> we begin with a fox news alert. donald trump tweets a new one about baltimore and elijah cummings sparking another firestorm, we will investigate what is really the case in cummings's district with bob early. another key player in donald trump's team on the way out, director of national intelligence dan coats and donald trump wants john ratcliff to repla

senate finance committee, a bipartisan piece of legislation led, at least led by chuck grassley, ron wyden democrat. that calls for out-of-pocket maximum for medicare to be capped and the white house says, that they are going to work with the senate connell, to move this legislation forward. the white house is not saying at this point whether or not the president plans to have any executive orders attached to this, or along this issue at some point here in the near future. connell: fair enough, blake. jay timmons will be our guest later this hour. jay the national association of manufacturers president. he was at the event blake referenced at the white house to help workers in the industry. that is later in the hour. lauren: let's bring in ronna mcdanielle, republican national committee chairwoman. >> thanks for having me. lauren: we're talking about the manufacturing sector. a brand new "fox news poll," it shows 51% of the americans are feeling good about the condition of the economy that is the most since before 9/11 back in 2001. democrats are trying to counter that. the strategy seems

that the president's campaign is trying to refocus his attention, not just on on biden but on a wydening where several other candidates are rising erin. >> thank you. outfront now a member of the rewekt advise i robert astorino. and joan walsh. >> rob you aren oh the advisory counsel. the president says he wins easily but obviously getting warpings from advisers and the fox news poll which disturbed him because it's his poll down 10 points in a head to head with joe biden. six to bernie sanders. well outside the margin of error in both cases. time to worry. >> and there is not anxiety in the trump campaign. they are doing what they are supposed to do 16 months out that is plot the strategy in every case. and they know they're going to be battle-ground states that can come down to getting out the vote. this is going to be a base vote on both sides. unquestionably. and the trump team is amassing a massive fortune in small dollar donors as well as the big stuff. so they're going to be ready, going to have everything that they need. and you know, the economy is doing well. and people gave th

while finance committee ranking member wyden and i, working as a team, have been ready and willing to address tax extenders since early on in this congress, the new democratic majority in the house of representatives has been reluctant to act. it seems as though the house democrats are unaware of the historic bipartisan, bicameral nature of tax extenders or how those provisions even apply to taxpayers, to industries, and maybe helping the entire economy -- and maybe helping the entire economy. this is witnessed from the characterization from some of these members as, quote, just tax breaks for corporations and businesses. so i want to tell you how these are not just tax breaks for corporations or businesses. in fact, the overwhelming majority of the tax extenders either benefit individuals and families directly or they benefit our communities by giving a boost to local businesses that many people directly rely on for jobs and to support the local economies. for illustration purposes, i've broken the tax provisions that expired in 2017 into four categories -- tax relief for individuals

was remarkable in this report, too, the second thing i thought was interesting was -- in senator wyden's portion it talks about the russian disinformation system was ready to say, rest in peace, democracy. clinton wins. this -- it's all a fraud. it's a all a sham. they were ready, had clinton won, to actually keep this chaos going in our system. they were trying to put people out at polling places. they were trying to amplify the divides even before and after the vote. >> this is a flip question intentionally. did i miss a national decision to sell out to these guys? what's going on here? >> it's baffling to me because what's clear, i think, as you go through that report today is there is a disconnect between the federal, state and local level about how to protect the elections. i know great gains have been made. dhs' group, they are doing great things, but they only have so much they can do and these election systems are very different in many different places. they don't all have a verifiable paper ballot audible -- you know, an audit way to go back and verify the vote, and when you lo

senator ron wyden said he plans to introduce a strong privacy bill in the coming weeks. facebook declined to comment on the reports. i would still need to be reviewed by the justice department. strike a federal judge in seven cisco has denied the monsanto request for a new trial in a multimillion dollar lawsuit for the roundup the 76-year-old man said rhonda causes cancer. he medic at the full amount the judge will issue another decision on whether the damages should be reduced. >>> in oakland man facing child abuse and weapons charges after his seven-year-old son accidentally shot himself in the hand with a gun. investigator say the father never should've had a. it happened last month at an east oakland rv camp. police 8039-year-old initially told conflicting stories about how his son was injured. he is a convicted felon on probation and is not supposed to own a gun. >>> police in san jose investigating a murder a mystery that began with a burglary call. officers were called to a home on montecito drive in the cities evergreen area around 9:30 yesterday morning.>> a two

as democrat ron wyden, of senate intel, said today, "he is the most partisan and least qualified individual as dni." we've already watched the top of the department of justice come to control as a trump loyalist who clearly sees his job as protecting the president above all else. now, imagine the entire intelligence apparatus of the united states government doing the same. you make time... when you can. but sometimes life gets in the way, and that stubborn fat just won't go away. coolsculpting takes you further. a non-surgical treatment that targets, freezes, and eliminates treated fat cells, for good. discuss coolsculpting with your doctor. some common side-effects include temporary numbness, discomfort, and swelling. don't imagine results, see them. coolsculpting, take yourself further. ...or trips to mars. $4.95. delivery drones or the latest phones. $4.95. no matter what you trade, at fidelity it's just $4.95 per online u.s. equity trade. no matter what you trade, at fidelity but allstate actually helps you drive safely... with drivewise. it lets you know when you go too fast... ...and

as democrat ron wyden, of senate intel, said today, "he is the most partisan and least qualified individual ever nominated to serve as dni." we've already watched the top of the department of justice come to control as a trump loyalist who clearly sees his job as protecting the president above all else. now, imagine the entire intelligence apparatus of the united states government doing the same. issues at tomorrow night's not getting in today. not on my watch. pests never stop trying to get in. we never stop working to keep them out. terminix. defenders of home. they have businesses to grow customers to care for lives to get home to they use stamps.com print discounted postage for any letter any package any time right from your computer all the amazing services of the post office only cheaper get our special tv offer a 4-week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again! here, hello! starts with -hi!mple... how can i help? a data plan for everyone. everyone? everyone. let's send to everyone! [ camera clicking ] wifi up there? -ahhh. sure,

ron wyden, a democrat on the senatentelligence committee said congressman ratcliffe is the most partisanand least qualified individual ever nominated to serve as d.n.i. is it unusual to have someone in that position who relatively speaking doesn't have that much experience with the intelligence community? >> it is, it's quite unusual. everyone in is position has either had an extensive background in intelligence orb foreign polic and national security at really senior levels, so it is a total break from history to nominate somebody with as ltle experience in these areas as congressman rat>>cliffe. iven as you were detailing before congressman ratcliffe'sh criticism of f.b.i. in particular and how they began this russia investigationceis there a co that he seems to have prejudged that there wasea y law breaking during the obama administration in that branch of the intelligence community, is there a concern that that's going to make his job difficult to do if he knew has to work with an agency that he has been pointing thefinger at? >> there is a lot of concern among intelligence officials

and the other is by america bonds which is the proposal put forward by senator hoeven and senator wyden. i am trying to put a realistic package together with a number the president used himself but then all of a sudden he said 2 trillion then took up the meeting and walked away and they never got anything done. i think those numbers have been out there for quite a while and are achievable. if we want to move on infrastructure in a big way. we have time for one or two more questions if they are quick. >> i wonder if you can talk about any plans for long-term care and/or concerns about getting health care for the speculation. >> one of the issues is because the president hass literally ben relitigate in the affordable care act not just in rhetoric but the case in the focus on this overtime and sabotaging the exchanges, we have really gotten away from what is the elephant in the room, not the republican party but the long-term care. on the expanding on the affordable care act with the public option and bring premiums down and using reinsurance as well as taking on the companies with the id

the vote was 90-8, nos included senators harris, global shark, wyden, booker, gillibrand, and warren. all democrats running in 2020 >> harris: most of the survey. it's called, take a visit to the ocean floor. [laughter] >> with your scuba gear. [laughs] 's view when you pair the present at the nail bed. the president doubling down on his push to address the border crisis now as though month security department announces it is expanding fast-track deportations. but the aclu is promising to stop fast-track in the courts. i had, insight from republican senator joni ernst of the great state of iowa, who just visited the southern border. rength and ! whoo-hoo! great-tasting ensure. with nine grams of protein and twenty-six vitamins and minerals. ensure, for strength and energy. and twenty-six vitamins and minerals. there are three words when you live with migraine... "i am here." aim to say that more with aimovig. a preventive treatment for migraine in adults that reduces the number of monthly migraine days. for some, that number can be cut in half or more. don't take aimovig if you're all

senator ron wyden adds "congressman what ratcliffe is the most partisan and least qualified individualver nominated to serve as director of national intelligence was prepared secretary of state mike pompeo points out he made a similar transition from congress to the intelligence community. >> he's very smart. i'm very confident he'll do a good job. i remember people saying i'd be soup political to be the cia director too. >> richard burr says once the president submits his nomination, his committee will work to move quickly through the senate's process. back to you bret. >> bret: rich edson live at the state department. thanks. the top republican in the senate is defending himself against accusations that he's helping russia interfere in u.s. elections. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell gave a fiery speech on the senate floor a short time ago after critics called him out for blocking democrat-sponsored election reform bills last week. >> it's like an inflationary crisis, but without rage instead of dollars. these people have worn out the volume knob so badly that they have nothing

president, i want to salute the finance committee chairman, chuck grassley, and the ranking member wyden, for taking bipartisan action just last week in passing significant prescription drug -- the prescription drug pricing reduction act. that has many important provisions in it that will require more disclosure. it includes a bill that senator casey and i have authored as well as many other important provisions, including putting an inflation -- a medical inflation cap on certain pharmaceuticals. mr. president, i know how much you personally care about this issue and have contributed greatly to this work as well. my hope is that we can build upon this momentum, that we can seize the moment where three different committees of the senate have all been successful in reporting to the full senate three bipartisan bills. our help committee bill was reported by a vote of 20-3. that is remarkable consensus. let us bring all of these bills to the senate floor this fall, or certainly by the end of the year, so that we can deliver real results to the american people by lowering the price of prescr

use a bipartisan with senator wyden of oregon.e on prescription drug prices for seniors. is that what it does? sen. grassley: yes. first of all there are many parts in it. you bring up the one is the most controversial. some people say we are setting prices. a pharmaceutical company can continue to do what they are doing, set their prices. they shoot up so much year after year. we are to limit the price increases to the inflation rate. some people say that is setting prices. we are not setting prices. we're just limited what the increase can be once the price is set. the cato institute, which is very libertarian supports this because it puts a cap on subsidies. ,t does not affect the pricing but other allies -- but otherwise we will have the taxpayer subsidizing forever. that is another thing our bill does. there are perverse incentives, the way it is worked out in the pharmaceutical part of medicare, there are incentives to drive up the price of drugs, get people through the doughnut hole into the catastrophic provision where the

legislation from senators klobuchar and warner, fine seen andwide -- feinstein and wyden, blumenthal and others. it's time we move on these bills. as we continue to negotiate appropriations bills, we should include significant resources for election security, nothing less than the vitality and faith in our democracy is at stake. and there are not two sides to this issue. a foreign adversary attacked our democracy. i expect that special counsel mueller's testimony next week will highlight once again that russia's efforts to interfere in our democracy were sweeping and systematic. what are we waiting for? what are we waiting for? for them to interfere again and for more americans, whether they be republican or democrat or independent, left, right, or center to no longer believe this democracy is legit? for 243 years since declaration of independence and certainly since the signing of the constitution a few years later we've had faith in this democracy, even when the outcome isn't what we want. but that faith is already eroding in good part because foreign powers can interfere in our el

. >> what senator wyden and i have worked out is a sensible, particularly commonsense approach that maybeople will be looking for if they want to get anything done at all. reporter: the cbo says the prescription drug pricing reduction act could save taxpayers and patients billions. taxpayers would save a combined $100 billion over ten years through medicare and medicaid savings. patients would save $27 billion in out-of-pocket costs and $5 billion in premiums. some of the changes include modernizing medicare part d with an out-of-pocket spending cap including incentives to negotiate between prescription drug plans and drug manufacturers. the white house of course has made lowering drug prices a big priority. deputy press secretary judd deere tweeting moments ago about this bill making it out of committee. now it will head to more debates on whether or not it gets out of congress. but they are behind making sure this proposal sees its way through congress and on the president's desk. neil: very encouraging. thank you, hillary, very, very much. hillary vaughn. >>> bernie madoff, remember hi

wyden: mr. president, in the coming hours the senate could take up the nomination of elizabeth darling to serve as commissioner for children, youths, and families at the department of health and human services. if she is confirmed to that role, she would be a key official overseeing the foster care system. i previously had a hold on ms. darling's nomination, and i'm going to begin my remarks by saying that my hold was never about her personally or about her concerns -- or about concerns about her qualifications. in fact i believe she's qualified for the position. i placed a hold on her nomination because of serious problems at the department of health and human services affecting child welfare policies that would fall in her area of jurisdiction if she's confirmed. and i think this involves a matter national distinguished president of the senate might be particularly interested in at this point. i authored with former finance committee chair, senator orrin hatch, landmark families legislation ca

wyden: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: i stand here this afternoon -- the presiding officer: senate is in a quorum call. the presiding officer: i ask to vacate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, i stand here this afternoon in a state of disbelief. last wednesday, my completion and i in the congress were briefed on the stage of election security in america. now, i am prohibited from talking about the details of that classified briefing, but the message from my republican colleagues at that election security meeting was very clear. nothing to see here. one senator said, it's clear the federal government is doing -- and i quote -- everything you can do -- unquote. the top republican on the house homeland security committee said, and i quote, i wouldn't say we've got a need for more election security legislation. a member of the house republican leadership said, and i quote, the agencies have the tools they need, and i'm confident they are addressing the threats. case cl

since january, senator murray and i have been working in parallel with senator grassley and senator wyden of the finance committee. they're continuing to work on their own bipartisan bill. the senate judiciary committee also voted last month to lower the cost of prescription drugs. and in the house, the energy and commerce, ways and means, and judiciary committees all reported out bipartisan bills on the costs of prescription drugs. as i've mentioned, president trump and secretary azar have been focused on this. last year the administration released a blueprint on steps the president would take to lower prescription drugs. last year the food and drug administration set a new record for generic drug approvals. generic drugs could be up to 85% less expensive than brand drugs. so i believe the cost of prescription drugs is an area where democrats and republicans in congress and the administration can find common ground to help americans reduce the cost of health care that they pay for out of their own pocket. i'm very hopeful that our bill with 55 proposals from 65 senators, which has been r

i also introduced the digital goods and services tax fairness act in march with senator wyden. our legislation is designed to be prevent consumers from being faced with multiple taxes for downloading digital products. for example, right now, a digital purchase of a television series could hypothetically be taxed in up to three states, depending on the circumstances of the purchase. the digital goods and services tax fairness act would provide rules of the road for taxing digital goods and services and ensure that digital purchases could only be taxed in one state, the state in which the consumer resides. it would also prohibit states and local governments from taxing digital goods at higher rates than tangible goods. in other words, under our bill, that season of the office that you want to buy digitally shouldn't be taxed at a higher rate than if you were purchasing the season on d.v.d. madam president, we have a proud history of charitable giving in this country. americans care about a lot of worthy causes and are committed to helping those in need. that's why i have routinel

the bipartisan legislation i introduced with senator wyden fixes this. it ensures that brand-name drug manufacturers pay, like common sense ought to dictate, that they pay brand-name rebates. this reduces gaming in the system to make sure authorized generics come to market for a purpose related to patient access, not just to lower brand rebate obligations. transparency brings accountability, and with transparency and accountability, the market ought to work better, competition work better, and in the end get the price of drugs down. i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: yesterday the senate took a number of steps forward on our considerable to-do list for the week. we confirmed four well-qualified jurists who are now our country's newest district judges and voted to advance the no

i appreciate the commitment of chairman grassley and ranking member wyden to identify potential reforms, and i believe the package that was voted out of the finance committee this morning is a step in the right direction. that is not a statement of endorsement of the legislation as it came out of the committee. a lot of work needs to be done, and be particularly a lot of work to reconcile the different approaches of the different committees, the health, education, labor, and pensions committee, and the judiciary committee. because the last thing we want to do is go through this arduous , complex legislative exercise only to find out that we failed to lower out-of-pocket costs for american consumers, or that we've introduced some other unintended consequence that makes things work and not better. the journey a drug takes from research and development to manufacturing to pharmacy shelves and eventually into our medicine cabinets is complicated. once a consumer has purchased a drug, figuring out who gets what part of each dollar requires, i was going to say requires a ph.d., but it require

wyden: thank you, madam president. colleagues, the fourth of july picnics and parades, it is likely that complicated health care policy debates were not exactly a central topic of conversation. i'm pretty sure that's the way the trump administration wanted it to be. today lawyers representing the trump administration and a number of republican governors are attempting to have the affordable care act ripped up and thrown out by a federal court. they were unable to do that in the congress, so now they have headed off to try to get it done in the courts. the case is happening in the fifth circuit in louisiana, and it is not some theoretical exercise. this is an immediate threat to the health care of millions and millions of americans. and i want to be clear at the outset of these remarks what the bottom line is. the bottom line is eliminating protections for preexisting conditions is now the official position of the republican party. that's the centerpiece of what this court case attacks. the ironclad, airtight guarantee