justice for all. mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: last week, the republican-led senate passed two more appropriations bills by a large bipartisan majority. both bills passed out of committee with unanimous support, were subject to hours of debate and deliberation and included the input of both democratic and republican senators. the first appropriations measure for transportation and housing infrastructure will help ensure air travel is safer and more efficient, invest in important infrastructure and help strengthen america's surface transportation network. as senator collins pointed out last week, this bill includes recommendations from more than 75 senators from both sides of the aisle as well as more than three dozen amendments. i want to thank my friend from maine for her skilled leadership and hard work with ranking member reed of rhode island and colleagues from both sides to advance this measure. the second funding measure for veterans in military construction will ensure veterans receive benefits and health care t

quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: mr. mcconnell: mr. president? 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: i ask unanimous consent the appointment at the desk appear separately in the record as if made by the chair. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: as in executive session, i ask unanimous consent that upon the reporting out of the, or discharge of p.n. 1385, which has been referred to the committee on commerce, science and transportation, the nomination then be referred to the committee on armed services for a period not to exceed 45 calendar days, after which the nomination is still in committee be discharged and placed on the executive calendar. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to executive session for the consideration of calendar number 574 through 590 and all nominations on the secretary's desk, that the nomin

. quorum call: mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: yesterday, mr. president, we had another opportunity to move the energy security and water infrastructure funding bill forward, and i was disappointed to see it stall once again. i want to reiterate what senator alexander, the chairman of the energy and water subcommittee, has said. advancing this funding bill is important, not only for policy but also for process. members worked in committee and arrived at a bill they reported out unanimously. then even more members had their voices heard out here on the floor, where we processed 17 amendments from both democrats and republicans. now, after much research -- much research, debate, and i put from both sides, we're almost ready to move this bill across the finish line. we have one outstanding issue to address. i.t. the amendment you a -- it's the amendment authored by senator cotton. we'll have a vote on it n

, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: we return to consideration of the energy, security and water infrastructure funding bill today. as we do so, i'd like to remind colleagues of the importance of returning to regular order and working through the appropriations process. return to regular order means empowering senators from both sides to make more responsible judgments as to how taxpayer dollars are spent. it means allowing senators to better represent the voices of their constituents throughout the legislative process and beginning the process early means giving senators from both sides more opportunity to debate and offer ideas they think might make these bills even better. this is the way the appropriations process is supposed to work and with a little cooperation, we can keep it moving forward this week. the bill before us will support energy innovation and waterways infrastructure. it will promote commerce and public safety. it will help maintain our nuclear deterrence posture. these

presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding? without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent -- the presiding officer: the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to vote. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of h.r. 4923, which was received from the house. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 4923, an act to establish a process for the submission and consideration of petitions and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the bill be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i now ask unanimous consent the committee on veterans' affairs be discharged

: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that at 4:45 p.m., all time be expired on h.j.res. 88. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: so for the information of all of our colleagues, we expect two votes at 4:45 this afternoon. the first vote will be on passage of h.j. res. 88. the second will be on the motion to proceed to s.j. res. 28. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mrs. murray: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: thank you, madam president. madam president, today families have enough to worry about. quest

amendment numbered 3900 offered by the senator from kentucky, mr. mcconnell, for the senator from missouri, mr. blunt, to amendment numbered 3896 to h.r. 2577 shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presiding officer: is there any senator wishing to change their vote? if not, on this vote the yeas are 68. the nays are 29. three-fifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in the affirmative, the motion is agreed to. ms. collins: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: madam president, i call up the blunt amendment number 3946. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: the senator from maine, ms. collins, for mr. blunt, proposes an amendment numbered 3946 to amendment numbered 3900. ms. collins: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be waived. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. collins: madam president, i would now like to yield time to senator isakson for

g.hatch, president pro tempore. mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: mr. majority leader. mr. mcconnell: this week we commemorate national police week and pay tribute to the local, state and federal law enforcement officers who keep our country and our communities safe. we're grateful for their service and for their sacrifice. we benefit from their pledge to serve, protect, and defend. i had the pleasure recently of meeting with several officers from richmond, kentucky, who were in town for the events of police week. i also met with the families of kentucky police officers who laid down their lives in the line of duty. typically, tragically five officers from the bluegrass state were lost in p 2015. on march 5 lieutenant clifford scott travis, on mark 11, officer burke; jevon rhodes. on september 13, state trooper joseph palmer and september 6 senior patrol officer daniel neil ellis. the names of these officers along with the names of other brave officers across the country have been added to our national monument of law enforcement officers lost in the line of dut

. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: after much deliberation from both sides of the aisle, today we'll complete our work on the energy and water appropriations bill. we know that this bill is the result of a great deal of effort, research, and collaboration across the aisle. it passed out of committee unanimously. it was subject to nearly two dozen amendments from both parties out here on the floor. as senator alexander pointed out yesterday, we've clearly had an open process from the start that benefited both sides. the energy security and water infrastructure bill is important for our country. we know it will support commerce, public safety, waterways infrastructure, energy innovation, and our nuclear deterrence posture. we know it's important for the way forward a eption pros as well, because -- on th for the y forward on appropriations as well, because it allows republican and democratic members to better represent their constituents' views t provides for more open debate and deliberation. it offers a path to reaching a ki

liberty and justice for all. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: after two days of needless delay from across the aisle, this morning we'll vote to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the national defense authorization act and hopefully adopt that motion quickly thereafter. this critical defense bill passed the committee on a strong bipartisan basis. there is no reason for further delay from our democratic colleagues. the national defense authorization act authorizes funds and sets our policy for our military annually. it's always an open -- it's always an important bill. it's especially important today. consider the multitude of threats facing us from nearly every corner of the world. consider the need to start preparing our armed services for the many global threats the next president will be forced to confront. as i have noted before, some of the most senior national security officials within this administration, like secretary of defense carter and general dunford or those recently retired from service like retired

. elections this fall. >>> we'll talk more about the markets. mr. mcconnell. welcome. the risks haven't gone away necessarily. maybe our perception of them has changed just a little bit. i don't want to make too much out of two days of triple digit gains but does this feel like a sustainable change in momentum to you or not? >> i think we've covered the positive aspects of what has come out from an economic data standpoint and some reduced political risks. the thing i would add that's new is investment sentiment was awful heading into this week so individual investment sentiment is bearish so that's the additional piece that's led to the rally we've seen. >> are investors are becoming too come plas ent when it comes to thinking about the feds, thinking that we're going to see a rate hike and we're definitely going to see an exit from the eu from britain that we're going to see a u.s. election however one thinks it might end, are inveers gelting complacent and that's fueling what's happening with the market. >> no i don't think so. there's still a concern about britain leaving the european un

forward to passing this defense bill without further delay. and i yield the floor. mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that on monday, june 6, not with strange rule 22 following morning business the motion to proceed to s. 2943 be fred to and the senate proceed to the consideration of s. 2943, and senator fischer or her designee be recognized to offer her amendment number 4206. further, that the time until 5:30 p.m. be equally divided between the managers or their designees and that at 5:30, the senate vote on the fischer amendment with no second-degree amendments in order to the amendment prior to the vote. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mcconnell: now, madam president, i ask consent that at 1:30 p.m. today, the senate proceed to executive session for the en bloc consideration of calendar number 462 and 4 of 3 -- 463, there be is a minutes of debate only on the nominations equally divided in the usual form, that upon the use or yielding back of time, the senate vote on nomi

stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: today we'll continue working on two appropriations measures that responsibly fund american priorities. the first will invest in our transportation infrastructure and fund economic development efforts. the second will support our veterans, service members, and their families. these are good bipartisan bills that prioritize funding for important programs. they are the result of continuing leadership of senators collins and kirk. i would encourage my colleagues to work together to continue moving these appropriations bills forward. now on another matter, last week the top democrat on the judiciary committee said that some would like to do some sort of a pretend hearing on the president's supreme court nomination. he went on to dismiss the idea by noting that the senate is not a pretend office. apparently he was overruled. later today democrats will have what he called a pretend hearing. the democrats initially invited

nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i want to say a few words about the severe weather that hit my home state of kentucky yesterday. a large tornado touched down in mayfield in graves quoints in western -- in graves county in western kentucky. in damaged homes and injured 10 people. tornadoes were also reported in two other counties. thankfully no deaths have been reported in kentucky as of the latest news reports. and kentuckians are, as always, reaching out to help their neighbors. reports that local churches and businesses have opened their doors to those displaced by the tornadoes, as they recover. so we're thinking today of all the kentuckians who have been hurt by this severe weather. we continue to monitor the situation and we're thankful that the damage that's been reported so far was not worse. on another matter, after much hard work and research, deliberation from both sides of the aisle, we're closer to having an opportunity to pass the first funding bill

, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: this administration has been on a long regulatory march for years now, and too often its regulations end up hurting the very americans they purport to help. although issued in the name of greater equality, it's actually the welloff and well connected who are best positioned to deal with these new regulatory schemes. meanwhile, purported beneficiaries like working and middle-class americans, too often end up with higher cost and less access to things they actually need. we've seen it happen with obamacare. we've seen it happen to families and businesses that can't get a loan due to dodd-frank. and in the cause of the so-called fish rule, we're talking about a set of regulations that will reduce access to investment advice for those struggling to save for retirement. i have sincere concerns about what this could mean not only for the ability of investment advisors to provide quality financial advice but also for the ability of consumers to seek affordable

. seriously, you have to give mr. mcconnell credit. this one, he could block lebron james. a little bit about me, i am a black man who replaced a white man who pretended to be eight tv -- pretended to be a tv newscaster. in that way lester holden and -- lester holt and i have a lot in common. but i have to admit, it is not easy to follow the president. you've got some jokes, mr. president. the president is funny. stay in your lane, man. you don't see me going around presidenting all the time. passing health care, signing executive orders, not closing guantanamo. oh wait, maybe i did do that. but i have to say, it is great. it looks like you are really enjoying your last your the presidency. sorry hanging out with nba players like steph curry golden , state warriors. that was cool. trying to make sense because -- kind of makes sense because both of you like raining down bombs on people from long distances. speaking of drones, how is wolf blitzere -- how is wolf still on television? i am ready to project tonight possible winner anyone in here , in the situation room? [boos] larry: sorry,

justice for all. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: last week the republican-led senate passed by an overwhelming majority the first appropriations bill of the year, the energy security and water infrastructure funding bill. the republican-led senate did so in record early time. we began considering an annual appropriations bill this year at the earliest point in 40 years. 40 years. then we passed an annual appropriations bill this year at the earliest point in 40 years. passage of this bill also marks the first time the senate has passed an individual energy and water funding measure since 2009. it shows what's possible with a little cooperation and regular order. by returning to regular order, we're better able to make careful decisions about how taxpayer dollars are spent through the appropriations bill. here's what we mean when we talk about returning to regular order. we mean working in committee, allowing senators from both sides to have their voices heard. we mean bringing bills to the floor, empowering more members

. with that, mr. president, i yield back. thank you. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: here's the headline too many kentuckians had to wake up to this morning -- "health insurance rate hike request averaged 17%" in my home state. the story noted that these double-digit premium increases continue a national trend of hefty hikes as insurers adapt to the market reshaped by president obama's signature health care law. in other words, more unaffordable premium increases, thanks to obamacare. it was unfortunate to hear some of obamacare's defenders try to pretend otherwise and blame these rates on something like uncertainty over connects future. as the story notes, the only company that will offer plans statewide on the exchange next year said the requested rate increase has nothing to do with the end of connect. yesterday i shared stories from kentuckians who continue to suffer under this law. thanks to what we learned last night, i'm afraid we'll be hearing even more. obamacare's defenders need to own up to what their partisan law is doi

the affirmative, the motion is agreed to and the point of order falls. the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the time until 1:45 be equally divided between the two managers or their designees, and that at 1:45 the senate vote in relation to the collins amendment number 3970 and the lee amendment number 3897. further, that following disposition of the lee amendment, all postcloture time be expired, the substitute amendment as amended be adopted, the cloture motion on the underlying bill be withdrawn, the bill as amended be read a third time and the senate vote on passage of the bill as amended. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. the senator from oklahoma. mr. lankford: mr. president, i'd like to speak to the issue that was just brought up dealing with deficit spending and specifically the choice program. three years ago, congress put into place a response to what was happening in v.a. centers all over the country.. for any of us that are in congressional offices we were aware and pushing on this issue and had push

joins us now. john, donald is meeting tomorrow with michigan mcconnell, paul ryan. what does mr. trump wanting to get out of it? >> what he really needs to do, tyler, is to unite his party. you cannot win in modern american politics unless you have your party overwhelmingly behind you. donald trump has not done that so far. he's got active resistance from people like paul ryan, from mitt romney, who is today ratcheted up his pressure on income tax returns. so donald trump needs to smooth things over, get the entire party on the same page for reasons of turnout and for reasons of simply calming the waters before that convention this summer. >> that's what he wants to get out of it. what about the congressional leaders, what do they hope to achieve? >> their goal is pretty singular. they want to hold their majorities. the senate republican majority, they have 54 seats, is in big danger. there's seven republican incumbent senators in states that president obama carried twice. the house has a more secure majority, but if there's a big defeat for donald trump, that would mean trouble

new memoir the long game has a dr. jekyll and mr. hyde personality. in person, mcconnell writes he can be thoughtful, friendly, funny. as soon as he has a microphone, he becomes unreasonable spouting things both nasty and often untrue. this lack of restraint goes against what's expected from a party leader. ♪ we've got bad blood they have some history and bad blood, taylor swift could write a break-up anthem about it. >> he'll be remembered as the worst leader ever. >> almost came within hours of shutting down the department of homeland security. >> despite many reports to the contrary, two senate leaders swear they're friends or at least frenemies. >> i think there's a tendency to think you can't have political arguments without personal animosity. i don't have any toward my friend. >> at least they've managed to avoid actual physical contact which is more than we can say for normally peace-loving neighbors to the north. justin true doe who had to apologize after man handling. >> i completely apologize. it's not my intention to hurt anyone. >> i was elbowed in the chest by the p

senate side of the capital where he will meet with mitch mcconnell and potentially some other folks. my understanding is mr. trump's head back to new york. >> will we hear from any of the principles tomorrow? the chairman of the party? >> i know speaker ryan hosts a weekly press conference on thursdays at 11:30 at the that isvisitor center, mostly about an opportunity for the speaker to talk about the legislative agenda for the week. my understanding is that that is still on, but that would largely the speaker's legislative activities. i don't expect him making on camera remarks to the media -- tomorrow. why meeting at the rnc? >> one, it is right across the way. we like to keep political matters out of the capitol building, since -- since this is a party business matter. . now between talks the republican national committee and the trump organization about the upcoming convention in cleveland. >> it was an opportunity to brief them on the aspects of the committee. what we have been doing to prepare for november, the ground game that the chairman has put into effect, the data digital up

correspondents association for hiring me and mitch mcconnell for not blocking my nomination. seriously, you have to give mr. credit.l he is the black lebron james. i am little bit about me, a black man who replaced a white man who pretended to be eight tv newscaster. so yes, and that way lester holden and i have a lot in common. but i have to admit, it is not easy to follow the president. you've got some jokes, mr. president. the president is funny. stay in your life, man. you don't see me going around all the time. passing health care, signing executive orders, not closing guantanamo. oh wait, maybe i did do that. great.ave to say, it is it looks like you are really enjoying your last your the president the. seth you hanging out with curry, golden state warriors. that was cool. make sense because both of you like raining down bombs on people from long distances. [boos] drugs, how isg of what lets are still on television? next i am ready to present winners. anyone in here in the situation room? [boos] wolf. sorry, i like joe biden is here. i hear he is moving back to delaware. he won't have to a

bring out voters to vote for down-ballot people. mr. ornstein: one of the challenges for mitch mcconnell, the expectation is that would have a robust ticket to run on. they said keep us in power. this is a congress that left without dealing with the zika virus, which is now becoming a potentially huge epidemic in the country, without dealing with puerto rico, which has gone past the deadline for a budget, and is not going to do a budget, which appears to have difficulty doing a single appropriations bill, and has not acted as a congress on the opioid legislation. if they cannot get much done, that is a slender reed for people to run on. mr. olsen: this is unfortunately a party that remains mired in the past, and you will see people moving to a repeat of the 1996 campaign where it appears that dole is going to lose. takewould be a way to advantage of hillary clinton's very high negative, you can have your cake and eat it too, put her in the white house, but don't get her a blank check, vote republican down ballot. ms. bowman: go first to you, then mike gonzalez, then to you. >>

you're seeing so many other people come around. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has signalled that he would support mr. trump. just today you're seeing an influential family in the donor world, the ricketts family that had previously funded an anti-trump super pac now coming around and saying they're going to support him. you're going to see so many people, both elected officials and the people that have the purses and the wallets and the check books coalescing around trump. paul ryan has that stature, he has that power and influence as the house speaker, but he may find it pretty lonely in the next month or two there. >> andy, in taking what susan just said a few seconds ago, the fact that paul ryan does represent a different branch of the republicans, i guess, one that has been trying to have outreach towards the latino community and others, it's -- how do you gel those two positions? >> oh, it's incredibly hard to gel those two positions to be honest. in a lot of ways they're diametrically opposed to each other. but what donald trump -- maybe what the paul ryans a

republican national committee. and right now as we mentioned mr. trump is meeting with mitch mcconnell and other senate republicans. that meeting should be wrapping up shortly. not sure if we are going to hear from donald trump. doesn't sound likely. or from senators. that might be possible later on as well. live coverage here on c-span. waiting to hear from paul ryan. the speaker:: good afternoon -- excuse me, good morning. right now more americans die every year from drug overdoses than they do in car accidents. let me say that again. we have got more of our fellow citizens dying every year from drug overdoses than they do of car accidents. today the house continues to work on legislation to address the heroin and opioid epidemic across this country. for those of you who were at our press conference yesterday, you heard from susan brooks and bob dold, authors of two of these initiatives. all told, by the end of this week we are acting on 18 bills to deal with this. i'll actually be signing one of them today, s. 32, transnational drug trafficking act. this allows prosecutors to go aft

between speaker ryan but leader mcconnell. so as the nomination progresses, laying out what mr. trump's vision is for america first 100 days and beyond is with the party leaders to make sure that when he takes over and is sworn in on january 20th, he'll have the opportunity to have the agenda set and work closely with congress for the american people. lou: with the results from possibly tonight's two primaries, he may have some numerical support, donald trump, with the speaker. it will be interesting to see. do you expect resolution by thursday afternoon? >> what you have is 10 1/2 to 11 million people who supported donald trump. he has a clear mandate going in to be the republican nominee, and what that is going to allow him to do is make sure his agenda is coupled with the speaker's agenda and the senate majority leader's agenda which is the best for america. lou: good to have you with us. >> pleasure being here. lou: corey lewandowski. >>> joining us former arkansas governor, former republican presidential candidate, mike huckabee. governor, good to have you with us. you jus

. -- one of the --mr. ornstein: one of the challenges for mitch mcconnell, they said keep us in power. this is a congress that left without dealing with the zika virus, which is becoming a -- a huge epidemic in the country, without dealing with puerto rico, which has gone past the deadline for a budget, is not going to do a budget, which appears to have difficulty doing an appropriations bill, and is not acted as a congress on the opioid legislation. if they cannot get much done, that is a slender reed for people to run on. mr. olsen: this is a party that remains mired in the past and a repeat of the 1992 campaign where it appears that dole is going to lose. put her in the white house, but don't get her a blank check, vote republican down ballot. ms. bowman: go first to you, then mike gonzalez. >> my question is to henry. is theely do you think possibility of unifying these different factions of the party, and you mentioned immigration and nationalism, but there is one strong message of trump, which is the anti-trade and anti-globalization message. how do you put it together with the

41 and 42, they will not be endorsing mr. trump. we do know that the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell saying essentially i will support donald trump. with expectations that he meets my obligations. you know, you may not be so bummed that mitt romney's not there. we remember his speech from utah not so nice. you need some of these voices to help unify the party. how does he do that? >> he will definitely do that. i mean, we just learned this information tuesday night. it is new. it is fresh. it is raw. and mr. trump will continue to reach out to the american people and, also, other republicans. all the people that were running will probably most of the majority of them probably get behind mr. trump because at the end of the day they don't want to see hillary clinton in the white house and rally behind him. mr. trump has a lot of work to do unifying the party but he is capable of doing it. he's more than a reality tv star. i happen to know him very well. he's a master builder but a master businessman. he is the best in the business. the list goes on and on. i would suggest to

leader who can throw a punch. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell in his new memoir says his rival reid, quote, has a dr. jekyll and mr. hyde personality. he can be thoughtful, friendly, and funny, but as soon as the cameras turn on or he's offered a microphone, he becomes bombastic and unreasonable, spouting things that are both nasty and often untrue. this lack of restraint goes against what's expected as a party leader. these two have so much history and bad blood between them, taylor swift could write a breakup anthe about it. >> my friend the majority leader is going to be remembered as the worst leader of the senate ever. >> senate republicans almost came within hours of shutting down the department of homeland security. >> despite many reports to the contrary, the the two senate leaders swear that they're friends, or at least frenemies. >> there's a tendency to think you can't have political arguments without personal animosity. i don't have any toward my friend. >> uh be at least they've managed to avoid actual physical contact, which is more than we can say for our n

majority leader mitch mcconnell said he's committed to supporting the republican nominee and notes that trump is on the verge of clinching that nomination. eric in. >> all right, rich. where's the latest that mr. trump is saying about the continued republican opposition? >> in some cases he says he doesn't need them, no national republican opponents for the nomination and criticizing those who are refusing to support him, particularly jeb bush noting his former rival signed a pledge promising to support the eventual republican nominee. >> they signed a pledge, jeb bush signed a pledge and basically says i'm going to support the person who wins the republican primaries, right, and it says that very strongly, and he signed the pledge, and now he says he's not going to honor the pledge. i think he should honor it. even if he doesn't love me. >> trump is also focusing more on his likely general election opponent, hillary clinton. trump is criticizing clinton for her vote in favor of the iraq war and defending himself against her attacks he mistreats women by referencing president bill clint

, something majority leader mitch mcconnell was just asked this afternoon. >> reporter: there's at least half a dozen republicans in your caucus who have not yet supported mr. trump and aren't ready to do that. is that posture helpful for party unity? >> you can speak to each of our colleagues and get their own take where we are. i've already given you my view, we have a nominee, looks like he may very well be very competitive and we want to win the white house. >> there's a lot happening on the democratic side of the aisle. we'll get to that. first to the republicans. we are covering the key players this afternoon. let's start with the man we haven't heard from a while, senator ted cruz back from texas on capitol hill today making headlines with a new interview where he seemed to leave open the possibility of jumping back in. >> ted, are you leaving the door open to if nebraska were to somehow -- >> it's not going to happen. >> -- miraculously choose you tonight, pat is going for the hail mary, if that happened, would you consider getting back in the race? >> i am not holding my breath.

kentucky's basketball team assigned or stand. i made that up. prior to his time mr. hall served as assistant to the dean of agriculture at the university of kentucky professor served as a senior staff member to our majority leader mcconnell from 1988 to 1994. altogether he has enjoyed a 30-year career in that policy. thank you so much for joining us today. i look forward to hearing all three of your testimony today and asking questions about the state of the farm credit system. mr. spearman why do you kick things off. >> thank you mr. chairman. chairman roberts and ranking member stabenow and members of the committee it is a privilege to appear before you today to report on the mission of the farm credit administration. ever written statement to submit for the record. president obama appointed me to the board in october of 2009 and designated me as chairman and ceo of march of last year. at the pleasure serving of serving on the board with two very distinguished colleagues dallas tonsager and jeff hall for whom you will hear from in a moment. sca is an associations and related entities of th

rnc to what we call the reagan room which is a conference room where mr. trump will meet with house leadership, ryan, scalise. then he'll meet with majority leader mitch mcconnell and potentially some other folks that i'm not really as aware of what happens on that side of the hill. and then, you know, my understanding is mr. trump is headed back to new york. >> will we hear from any of the principals tomorrow? will we hear from the chairman of the party? >> well, i don't anticipate that. i know speaker ryan hosts a weekly press conference on thursdays at 11:30 that's in the capitol visitors center that's mostly about an opportunity for the speaker to talk about the legislative agenda for the week. my understanding is that that is still on. but again, that that would largely focus on the speaker's legislative agenda and priorities for this week and maybe coming out -- but i don't expect chairman reince priebus or mr. trump to make any on-camera remarks to the media tomorrow. >> speaker ryan has a nice office in the u.s. capitol. why meeting at the rnc? >> well, one is just across th

important meeting coming up thursday, and coming down to washington, mr. trump's coming down to washington to talk to paul ryan and mitch mcconnell and others. i think this is an important step forward for us. i think it's going to work very well in our favor. i think we're going to start to they start to campaign.e when - this is the thing i've asked all of the policy people to look at, and all of the things i think is important for our campaign is to make sure that we have a way to compare and contrast donald trump's positions on issues with those of hillary clinton. ask the question that is always asked, are you better off today than eight years ago and do you want for mour year more years this? those of the questions going forward people will find easy to answer. >> you're right about that. internal polls show that voters do believe the economy is their number one concern and they believe that donald trump is strong on the economy. now, this poll was taken before trump said some of the confusing things about his economic policies he said yesterday. we're glad you're here to

basketball team assigned or stand. i made that up. prior to his time mr. hall served as assistant to the dean of agriculture at the university of kentucky professor served as a senior staff member to our majority leader mcconnell from 1988 to 1994. altogether he has enjoyed a 30-year career in that policy. thank you so much for joining us today. i look forward to hearing all three of your testimony today and asking questions about the state of the farm credit system. mr. spearman why do you kick things off. >> thank you mr. chairman. chairman roberts and ranking member stabenow and members of the committee it is a privilege to appear before you today to report on the mission of the farm credit administration. ever written statement to submit for the record. president obama appointed me to the board in october of 2009 and designated me as chairman and ceo of march of last year. at the pleasure serving of serving on the board with two very distinguished colleagues dallas tonsager and jeff hall for whom you will hear from in a moment. sca is an associations and related entities of the f

., mr. hall served as an assistant to the dean of agriculture at the university of kentucky and previously served as a senior staff member to our majority leader, mcconnell, from 1998--- 1988-1994. jeffrey, thank you so much for joining us today. i look forward to hearing all three of your testimonies today, asking you some questions about the state of the farm credit system. mr. spearman, why don't you kick things off. >> thank you, mr. chairman. chairman roberts and ranking member stabenow and members of the committee, it is a privilege to the appear before you today to report on the mission of the farm credit administration. i have a written statement to submit for the record. president obama appointed me to the fca board in october of 2009 and designated me fca chairman and ceo in march of last year. i have the pleasure of serving on board with two very distinguished colleagues, dallas tonsager and jeff hall, from whom you will hear from in a moment. fca is an independent federal agency that regulates and examines the banks, associations and related entities of the farm cred

where we are -- have cameras for the forum for judge merrick garland. you just heard mitch mcconnell talking about. senate republicans refusing to conduct those confirmation hearings for judge garland. so senate democrats today are hosting this forum to hear from people who have worked would mr. garland to talk about his character and his legal work. among the witnesses we expect to hear from today former u.s. attorney, university of chicago law professor, former transportation secretary rodney slater is among those witnesses. and a former federal appeals court judge. this is live coverage on cspan 3. we expect it to get underway in just a moment. >>> before we start, we're waiting on a couple other members coming over. we have a number of civics teachers in the audience. would they raise their hands, please? quite a few civics teachers. i was telling some of them i am delighted to see schools teaching civics and history. it's -- and when you get done, it might be good for you to come and do a seminar for the senators. i'm sorry. that was -- that was my out loud voice. this morning,

excellent result for the people of this country. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: the american people have been frustrated in recent years over the dysfunction they see in washington, and their assessment of us has been correct. and the biggest symbol of dysfunction has been the inability as the chairman of our energy and water subcommittee just pointed out to do the basic work of government. there are 12 bills that fund the government, the basic work of government. we haven't passed each of those 12 bills since 1994. so under majorities of both parties we have had at least some degree of dysfunction in recent years. they all get balled into one great big bill. it looks awful and there's no way to conduct the affairs of the government. so what i said was we were going to devote the floor time, which is always at a premium in the senate, to give us a chance to do the work that we were sent here to do, regardless of party. and, fortunately, we had chairman alexander, who's arguably the best -- or maybe the second-best only to the

quorum call: mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senate majority leader. mr. mcconnell: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, senators have been working diligently this week, continuing our efforts to advance american priorities and responsibly fund important programs through the appropriations process. we've made good progress so far. the senate already has passed one funding bill by a broad majority at a record early time. another appropriations committee approved its own funding bill the other day and it is my hope we'll be able to move two more measures across the finish line very shortly. we continue work and cooperation, we can do just that. the two measures before us today are the result of hard work, negotiation and compromise. they are the product of strong leadership by senators collins and kirk, and they are the culmination of a good deal of input from senators on both sides of the aisle. her