it is a bill of compassion, it is not a bill of crime. it is a bill america can be proud of. with that i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia. mr. collins: at this time it is my honor and privilege to yield three minutes to the gentleman from wisconsin, who has provided such leadership on this issue and others for this congress, give him three minutes. mr. sensenbrenner: i thank the gentleman for yielding. congress has spent years talking about reducing crime and acting fair sentencing laws and restoring lives. today we're putting our words into action. and this is historic. i'm proud to have been a leader in this effort for over a decade. first, introducing the original second chance act with the gentleman from illinois, mr. danny davis, then serving as chairman of the overcriminalization task force in 2013, and introducing a comprehensive criminal justice reform bill with the gentleman from virginia, mr. bobby scott. this congress i sponsored the second chance re-authorization act which helps prisoners rejoin their families and re-enter socie

bill in washington, d.c., works in the agriculture industry. bill, good morning. you're on with our guest. go ahead. >> caller: good morning. yeah, i wanted to ask ms. budroe if she had information on the bill. >> both the house and senate bill included money for the new livestock vaccine. usually when something is in both pieces of legislation before they go to conference, it typically ends up in the final deal. i'm assuming they're going to allocate -- i'm not sure of the exact amount of money at this point, but they will allocate some money for the vaccine, to combat disease, which is worry sp for the livestock industry because it can spread rapidly. >> from massachusetts, go ahead. you're next up. >> caller: yes. i would like to ask if the bill that is going to be voted on still includes the $800 million cut in medicare? >> oh, i actually am not aware of an $800 million cut to medicare. that wasn't -- i'm not sure that's included in the bill. >> the other aspect you talked about that was in the bill aside from crop subsidies is environmental policy. how much o

bill. the clerk: union calendar number 778, h.r. 5513, a bill to provide an exchange of land in san bernardino, california, to enhance management of lands within the san bernardino national forest and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from utah, mr. bishop, and the gentleman from arizona, mr. gallego, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from utah. mr. bishop: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. bishop: with that, i wish to yield as much time as he may wish to consume to the sponsor of this piece of legislation, congressman from california, mr. cook, to explain why we should actually deal with this particular piece. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. cook: thank you, mr. speaker, and thank you, mr. bishop, for yielding time

bill specifically? >> conservation is about $500 million that we spend on that. so there's not a huge chunk but they merge the conservation stores that program into a program that helps farmers pay for conservation practices that improve quality, water quality but there was a difference and both will be intact but it's unclear. the houseboat of , conservation by about $800 million in the senate version would have kept funding flat so where that ends up is still an open question . >> what's the justification of cutting the offending side -- the funding side? >> there are a number of conservation initiatives and not just the several that i mentioned, i think they are probably trying to overlap or make some efficiencies i think that still up for argument . >> check from new mexico is next . good morning . >> good morning. thank you for taking my call. i'd like to make an observation , in 1965 we passed a bill that i worked on a blueberry farm at that time and they passed out $2500 per year that you would g

, sheldon whitehouse and i who have worked primarily on the prison reform bill, the current bill has undergone major improvements over the last few weeks which i'm very proud of. the previous version of the legislation had a number of very positive attributes. in fact more than three quarters of the bill was based on the corrections act that senator whitehouse and i introduced in 2014 which is the prison reform component of the legislation. but the remainder, the sentencing elements in the bill, were more controversial. and many of my concerns were shared by members of the law enforcement community. as i was gauging where members stood on the bill, it was clear that many could not support the old version of the bill and needed the primary sponsors of the bill, who i mentioned a moment ago, to work with them to try to make it more acceptable to law enforcement, which was going to send a signal i think to many other senators about whether they should get behind the bill. madame president, we have all learned how to get things done here in the senate, and that is not just to point out t

put together a bill we could support. it took a long time but eventually put together and didn't go through the last congress but we didn't think at the beginning of the congress. maybe there was much of a chance. but we committed to continue our work. we had to work with the president, of course. we had to preconference with the house at this late state. as you can see by the 87-12 vote. about three or four weeks ago and the republican caucus, we had to listen to a lot of people that had questions about the bill. probably because they read the legislation one by one. we were able to pick up cosponsors from 12 to i believe, 18 republicans and 18 democrats. we're gradually able to overcome the main obstacle to the bill, which was the reluctance of the leader to bring it up. but we accomplished that goal by more than meeting his expectations that it would take at least 60 votes to even consider bringing it up. we showed we had many more votes than that. finally, i'll just sum it up this way. when you can get an overwhelming

that's not all the bill. the bill is about border security and homeland security. if the idea is, it has to just be a c.r. or you can't deal with it you know what my plan has been all along? to work with you. but i'm not hearing that you're even willing to work with us. that -- i'm saying i'm willing to compromise. you have already voted for part of border security to be part of the wall. you don't even want to sit down and discuss. how much should that be? how much border security should we have. should we allow -- is 10 terrorists a day ok with you coming across the board her it's not with me. is 2,000 people inadmissible coming across? is that ok with you? it's not with me. it takes away from those like our own relatives who have come here legally. i was just at a naturalization a few months ago. i sat there inside this service, i watched individuals with such pride raising their hands. you know what i told them? george washington is now their founding father. abraham lincoln was their liberator. martin luther king spoke of their dreams. and the flag that sitz o

let's put it on the bill. the funding bill next week. let's put it on that and have the debate in the united states senate and let senator graham say it's the right thing to do and we'll get it done. >> bill: it seems to get congress moving when you look at the calendar with a few days to go. that's what you're up against. come back. jim jordan from ohio. see how it goes. 20 past the hour now. breaking news. >> sandra: back to the breaking news of the morning on the manhunt for a gunman behind a terror attack in france. two dead. many more injured. what the president is now saying. plus theresa may's future as prime minister could be hanging in the balance. lawmakers are preparing to take a move in a matter of hours. and new surveillance footage showing a colorado mom just before she disappeared on thanksgiving day. what we're learning about the search for this young woman. overwhelming air fresheners can send you running... so try febreze one. with no aerosols and no heavy perfumes. so you can spray and stay. febreze one. so shark inven

and now some of the debate from earlier today on the criminal reform bill. >> this bill, 3747, is a bill which is historic. 149 pages, the first 60 are pages that address prison reform. this bill in its entirety has been endorsed by the spectrum, by the political spectrum of america. i can't remember, and i say to senator grassley, i can't remember a bill that had this kind of support. left and right, liberal and conservative, republican and democrat. it's all there. supporting this legislation. to have a bill that senator grassley and i have worked on senator lee and senator booker, i mean, that tells a story in and of itself, four leaders on this legislation. the thing to consider the fact president trump has endorsed it, vice president pence has come to the republican conference lunch saying he is behind it and urging the republican caucus to support it as well really speaks to the political bipartisanship that we rarely ever have seen in washington. the groups that are behind are equally amazing. to have the support on important criminal justice reform bill of the fraternal order of

>> bill: good morning. in a matter of hours president trump's first national security advisor is sentenced today in the mueller matter as we get our first look at the interview that landed michael flynn in hot water. a lot to cover today. we'll get to all of it. i'm bill hemmer in new york. >> sandra: good tuesday morning. a big morning. i'm sandra smith. today's sentencing seen as a milestone in the special counsel's probe but new questions surround the investigation of michael flynn during that fateful white house interview last year when it was all over, michael flynn ended up lying to the f.b.i. yet mueller is still not recommending jail time. >> bill: a flurry of tweets already today. president trump sending that. good luck in court today to general michael flynn. interesting to see what he has to say despite pressure put on him with russia collusion in our highly successful political campaign. there was no collusion. former a.g. michael mukasey has analysis. peter doocy has the report outside u.s. dis

commend bill. i commend senators hatch and casey for quickly advancing and supporting legislation in the senate. i'll continue working with them and my co-chair, tom rooney, to ensure this legislation is soon signed by the president. i thank you, all of you, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. walden: mr. speaker, we have no more speakers on other side of the aisle and i'll close -- i'll reserve and close after my colleague from new york. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. tonko: thank you, mr. speaker. we have no other speakers, and so we're ready to close. i would just, again, encourage people to support this legislation, as was indicated, it's taken a long 20 years to achieve this success and so hopefully we can support this and provide, again, a great initiative on behalf of those who suffer from traumatic brain injury. so with that, i yield back. the speaker

in this bill. just on our side of the aisle alone, there's some 43 members that either have bills that they have authored or are the cosponsor of. matters that are important to their states and then matters that are perhaps more globally important, whether it is lwcf -- and i understand the senator's position on that -- but we also recognize that there are a great number of members on the republican and democratic side that are very supportive of some form of reauthorization of lwcf. we have a sportsman's package in here that many, many of us have been working on. in fact, this is the fourth congress now -- the fourth congress that we have tried to advance these priorities for many of the sportsmen and women in the country. so we have attempted to work through some of the issues that my colleague from utah has raid. we have offered to withdraw very significant legislation that our president pro tempore himself has offered. that's not something that i really willingly wanted to do, but in an effort

the war powers resolution, only 51 votes to get on the bill and it is likely it will get on the bill in the coming week. there is a lot of concern about what is being called a vote-a -rama. and senator corker was think that the house is not going to pass this and the president will not sign this. let us come up with something that everyone can agree to that will have some teeth to it. there is a debate about some -- about an amendment. limiting future arms sales. re trying to find something that can make it into law. there is also a senate resolution. a statement that the homage been that the prince is responsible for jamal khashoggi's murder. host: on the farm bill, the house and senate conferees reported that there was agreement on that. tell me where things stand on that and is it likely to be passed? erik wasson: i think it is likely and more likely it will be put on the spending bill if they run out of time. republicans caved in on their demands. to expand work requirements. backing down, the farm bill can provide. there is a lot of worry that when the democrats take over the ho

this is a good bill. this is a good bill that accomplisheses what we set out to do, again, provide certainty and predictability for farmers and families in rural communities. we have made tough choices being judicious with the resources we have on behalf of the taxpayers. this may not be the best possible bill, we know that. but it is the best bill possible under these circumstances. and importantly it provides our farmers, ranchers, and other stakeholders much-needed certainty and predictability. i encourage my colleagues to support this conference report. every farmer, every rancher, every grower, everyone within our nation's food supply is watching to see if we cannot meet our obligations and pass this bill. so let us do that. let us tell those farmers and ranchers and growers who are going through tough times that they are going to be good for the next five years. their lender -- their lender is paying attention to this bill. let us support this bill. i yield back, mr. president. the presiding officer

i'm sandra smith. >> bill: i'm bill hemmer. how many times do we say that a day? not 200. the fired f.b.i. director is meeting with committees behind closed doors. second time in 10 days. mark meadows earlier today. >> that briefing that happened apairtently where the two pages that direct or comey was using to brief the president is not consistent with some of the other testimony we have. specifically he was briefing the president on private clients. what private clients was he talking about if he learned about those later? why would he have been briefing the president in january on that? those are the inconsistencies i'm talking about. and hopefully he will be able to clarify that today. >> bill: a brand-new week live on the hill with mike emanuel. what do we expect? >> round two of james comey against republicans on house judiciary and oversight. we saw comey arrive a short time ago as you mentioned. his second visit with these republicans on capitol hill in the past 10 days. comey faced questions about the f.b.i.'s use of t

the third bill and the primary bill in this package is a bill that we call the ace kids act. mr. speaker, there are a number of -- luckily not a large number -- there are about two million children in this country that have multiple complex medical conditions that are life threatening. these are the sickest of the sick of our young population. about 500,000 of these children are medicaid eligible. in other words, their families qualify for low-income health insurance called medicaid. mr. speaker, under current law, these children, their parents have to create the health care network on a case-by-case basis for their child. they also cannot seek health care across state lines as covered by medicaid, so they make it very -- current law makes it very difficult on these sickest of the sick children. the ace kids act changes that, mr. speaker. of a ows the creation medical home that can cross state lines, that can coordinate nate care and it's optional. the states don't have to participate in this program. the parents don't have to participate in this program. but if they do wish to p

bill. >> bill: thank you, casey. we're eager to see day two there in houston and casey, thank you for that. really awesome moments ago today. so many yesterday, too. you know, the amount of american history we watched yesterday, sandra, was just remarkable. there is the episcopal church in houston. the two things that stick in my mind reflecting yesterday what we can expect today is the train ride casey just referred to and the 21-jet flyover which should be just awesome. i don't know if the military and public has ever done that before. missing man formation. 21 navy jets in texas. >> sandra: it has been so moving and impressive throughout the whole process is the military coordination. you think about the years of planning and rehearsing that went into making every minute of this so special and so perfect. >> bill: they did it well and they did it right. you'll hear from james baker and george p. bush the grandson of george herbert walker bush deliver their final words today. we're waiting for that next hour and mo

and to critics of the bill, you say that somebody under this bill will get out and do something bad. that is probably true. you will realize that most people who get out under this bill a bit early are going to contribute mightily. we are going to lower the cost of our prison system, we are going to give people second chances. to those who say, you should never let them out, that is not working. category, you are qualified for good time. if you behave yourself in jail, no matter the offense, you can get out early. in most cases, just to keep the jail from blowing up. they just created another way to get out early if you are a nonviolent offender and low risk. you have to invest in a skill set to stay out. waiting for ancs example of somebody getting out whatoes something bad, have you seen in the rid of his in the rate tim described? nothing. people will be less likely to go back, because they get out early if they work hard and invest in a skill set to stay out. this only affect 10% of the american prison population at the federal level. i hope states and governors are watching and

pelosi: yesterday, we passed the farm bill, the bill that really is brought together in the senate in a bipartisan way. unfortunately, the republicans almost lost it on the farm bill because of some of the provisions they had for feeding the american people, nutrition programs and the rest took democratic votes to help them pass the farm bill. and it is a bill that is much needed for our farmers and ranchers. it has a strong nutrition part to it and it has strong bipartisan support. there were only 47 votes against it in the house of representatives. unfortunately, we are hearing now that the president may undermine the will of congress by doing executive order to take food out of the mouths of babies and families in our country as well as undermining the forestry parts of the legislation. again, we tried to make progress in a bipartisan way and the president will try to undermine that legislation. on a separate note, we have had some success in our me too legislation and house and senate have come together and still have things we want for the house. but we have a great compromise. i

now to the farm bill. we are proudly joined today by so many members of congress, republicans, democrats who worked very, very hard on this bill. this was really an effort of everybody. it was a bipartisan success, something you don't hear too much about, but i think you will be. i actually believe we maybe will be over the coming period of time. i hope so. i think so. so good for the country. and i want to thank all of the people here, including the many democrats who have really worked hard on this bill. they really have. i'll probably have to deny that i ever said that someday, but i won't do that. because you really did, you worked very, very hard. and, mike, thank you, by the way. that was some job you did, i'll tell you. i watched you day and night work on this one. so that was really incredible. thank you. thank you very much. and the chairman of the house and senate agricultural committees, that's mike conaway and senator pat roberts, who's another one. i was really, it was very inspiring to work.

and so now we're debating a funding bill. it's dominating the bill. we already are throwing an exorbitant amount of taxpayer dollars into the black hole of mass incarceration, not making us safer, not making us stronger, in fact macing us more -- in fact making us more vulnerable. it doesn't offer for opportunities for americans to get access to health care, not to rehabilitate people, but we have been spending more and more money actually hurting more americans, putting them into a system that actually harms them often the more than helps them with their addiction, with their men hall felt issue with their -- mental health issue, with their trauma. we are using our resources to compound, hurricanes and harm the people -- to compound, hurt, and harm the people who have already suffered. it ultimately makes our communities less safe, not more. despite the fact that our infrastructure is -- in this country is crumbling, that our trains and he hads are and bridges are in desperate need of repatience we have been investing in a different type of infrastru

the bill as amended is passed. mr. sullivan: i ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the president pro tempore: without objection. mr. sullivan: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the committee on energy and natural resources be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 1733 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the president pro tempore: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 1733, an act to direct the secretary of energy to review and update a report on the energy and environmental benefits of the rerefining of used lubricating oil. the president pro tempore: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. sullivan: i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the president pro tempore: without objection. mr. sullivan: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate

the bill is a good bill, it is not a perfect bill but certainly worthy of our support. ms. fudge: i'm pleased members on both sides of the -- of the aisle and across the chamber were able to reach consensus on how the american congress can work together. this agreement protects snap by rejecting proposals in house farm bill that would have severely weakened the program and taken food assistance away from nearly two million people. this agreement increases access to healthy foods and underserved communities and takes steps to tackle food waste which we know is a major problem. this agreement builds new opportunity it is build soil health and water quality in the great lakes. this agreement provides beginning and minority farmers and ranchers additional tools and resources needed to own and operate successful businesses. this agreement thoorses $350 million per year for rural broadband coverage. this agreement expands investment in low income urban and rural communities. finally this agreement provides certainty and sound agricultural policies for america's producers and cons

its bill of fare. the place is called kungsholm. >> kungsholm was a swedish smorgasbord and a puppet theater all in one. >> steve golden was six when he saw his first show at the kungsholm. that led to a lifelong career as a professional puppeteer, who also handles purchases and acquisitions for the northwest puppet center in seattle. so, steve's childhood experience at the kungsholm left an impression. >> you came to the restaurant and you were given a complementary ticket to the puppet miniature grand opera. >> was it an institution in chicago? >> oh, was it ever? to go there was a highlight of a day. >> how fabulous. opera stars and socialites flocked to see kungsholm puppets perform arias from operas such as "madame butterfly" or "the barber of seville." so, 14-year-old bill fosser takes his best handmade puppet and talks his way into a summer job at the theater. soon, he, too, is hooked for life. he becomes an expert puppetmaker and patents a design for a puppet with more natural body movements th

-- farm bill. joining us from the senate side is senator john hoeven of north dakota, aim member of the agriculture -- a member of the agriculture committee. when it comes to the final project your site is working on, how satisfied are you? guest: it is a good farm bill and we will get it done. we build on the existing farm bill. we build on its strengths and improved it and try to add flexibility. it is a good product. host: when it comes to strengths and flexibility, give examples of that within the current bill. guest: number one, risk management. number two is crop insurance. we keep crop insurance in tact as we have it. then we have the safety net, which is our risk coverage. i think we made improvements in both of those areas and more flexibility for farmers. research is important. trade promotion and other areas as well. those are some the priorities. host: when it comes to crop insurance, the previous caller says that subsidies potentially go to commercial farmers, not necessarily for the h

but -- ross perot tried to buy microsoft from bill gates in, like, 1979, and bill said no. founders have a lot of love and passion around their stuff. even though facebook was tiny, i think it was 2009, and i offered, i don't know, $20 billion plus, something like that, mark had absolutely no interest. david: ok. a couple of other businesses, the smartphone business that apple has more or less perfected, at least in the united states. you were skeptical that that would be a great business. do you think microsoft could have gotten into that business earlier? steve: yes. we could have and should have. we should have gotten into that business, and i blew that. david: one of the other things that happened during this period of time when you were ceo was cloud computing. your neighbor, amazon, built this big business under your nose. were you surprised they became so big in cloud? steve: they have had more success than i anticipated. i did not sell them short, but they have had more success. here is why i think i was completely dubious. it is very hard sometimes for a big compan

you heard him say the house bill with the senate bill with the house bill. this is senator corker, who's leaving the senate from the republican side, he's kind of a dealmaker. let's listen to him. >> so there won't be test votes, not going to be a tabling vote. and the vice president's been over here with his members negotiating already. what this does, i think, is push this ahead to a negotiation that yields a result and does the best we can to keep from shutting down government. or if it does shut down, shutting down very briefly. so i want to thank the two leaders for agreeing to go forward in this manner. it allows us to move forward in a positive way, and yet it keeps negotiations alive. only a bill can pass this chamber now that that has all of their agreements, and i thank them for going guard in this manner. david: okay. so all of the peacemakers are trying to get their licks in. i saw jeff flake get up after that. there's jeff flake speaking. of course, he's leaving the senate as well. this is his last song. let's take a listen. >> to insure that th

in this bill. the everything i in this bill colorado, a water system over a wilderness area that has for they can't because it is in a wilderness area so we need an act of congress to allow the citywe o to fix their water sy. rejected tonight. because we were not allowed a vote on y it tonight and you b permanent land water conservation fund is in here tonight because it has the majority support of this body. if we had a vote tonight it would have passed. republicans and democrats would have voted yes. it would have passed. not only that, we have boundary justice because people died, wanted to give it a national monument. that is not controversial. somebody wanted to do the right thing and if we can't even vote on it here, i give covenants to the chairman of the energy committee who struck a deal yesterday. we got the bill as fast as we could and so many of these pieces of legislation we have already heard. we had committee hearings on, we voted unanimously, bipartisan support. we offer deal after

in march, signed a spending bill with no wall funding, said he would never sign a bill like that again. in july, he tweeted this, "i would be willing to shut down government and the democrats do not give us the boat for border security, which includes a wall." a september budget showdown came and went with no shutdown and no wall. this, december 2018, is the president's final chance to get a border wall, central to his campaign in 2016. that will never happen while democrats control the chamber of commerce. we will see what happens. in the meantime, richard goodstein joins us, an attorney that advised bill and hillary clinton. we are happy to have him. get the theatrics of it, amazing, we don't know whether pelosi and schumer knew there were going to be cameras there. that will become clear in the coming days. it is clear that the democrats adamantly opposed the wall. but therefore a fence. what is the difference? >> the signature promise was we are going to build a wall and mexico is going to pay for it get ready nafta deal signed, his opportunity to get mexico to pay, and he didn't.

bipartisan bills. and ms. bonn michiganny has worked on a number of those bills to make sure they are bipartisan and to the extent those bills have been changed, they have been improved because of her input. i thank her for her friendship and contributions to the science committee and i reserve the balance of my time. -- reserves his time. ms. bonamici: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i thank chairman smith. i have been on the science committee my entire time in congress and i thank him for his years of leadership and service to the committee. and even though chairman smith and i have not always agreed on every issue, he has been willing to listen and work with me and my colleagues on my side of the aisle on bills like the weather research and forecasting innovation act of 2017 which we worked on several years together and now law. i thank chairman smith for his years of service to the committee and wish him well in the new chapter of his life and urge my colleagues to support this bill and i yield b

the bill is a good bill, it is not a perfect bill but certainly worthy of our support. ms. fudge: i'm pleased members on both sides of the -- of the aisle and across the chamber were able to reach consensus on how the american congress can work together. this agreement protects snap by rejecting proposals in house farm bill that would have severely weakened the program and taken food assistance away from nearly two million people. this agreement increases access to healthy foods and underserved communities and takes steps to tackle food waste which we know is a major problem. this agreement builds new opportunity it is build soil health and water quality in the great lakes. this agreement provides beginning and minority farmers and ranchers additional tools and resources needed to own and operate successful businesses. this agreement thoorses $350 million per year for rural broadband coverage. this agreement expands investment in low income urban and rural communities. finally this agreement provides certainty and sound agricultural policies for america's producers and cons

the first bill was for $639,000. today's appropriations bills are more than $1 trillion. her ranking member will be kay granger of texas. > representative it ina lowey, you will be chair for the appropriations committee for the 116th congress. you have served in the house in 1988. you're not now the operation committee. you've been the ranking member since 2013. what would be your priorities? >> first of all, i am honored to serve as the chair of the appropriations committee. i've been working with my leagues for many years in investing and education, investing in building infrastructure, investing in working for people doing everything we can. so this bh an exciting time for me and my colleagues. and i hope we can work in a priority way. >> and your priority? >> my priority is infrom struck family. rastructure, making things better are or lu be different than be different republicans? >> i would hope we can get vice partisan support. but if we don't. i will make sure that we are making those investments that upset working people in our country. >> explain why the operati

a good bill. it is the result of bipartisan negotiations in the conference committee that produced something that i think both democrats and republicans can come together and support. i am supporting this bill because it is good on the nutrition title. as you know, i have spent a lot of time in this chamber talking about the issues of hunger and food insecurity in this country. there are 40 million americans who don't have enough to eat who are hungry. this is in the richest and most powerful country in the world. i'm ashamed of that fact every member of this house should be ashamed of that fact. hunger is a political condition, we could fix it if we had the political will. this farm bill is not as robust as i would like it to be on the nutrition title but it does no harm. it doesn't increase hunger, count throw people off snap, doesn't make hunger worse in this country. the serving of bipartisan support. so i hope all my democratic colleagues will vote in favor of the farm bill. i want to thank a

we were able to forge an ateresting political bill as carbon capture bill. if we had talked about it as a carbon capture bill, it would have never happened. we talked about it as the technology bill. you have got to do it. you have got to approach people respectfully. one of the reasons why i was checkedul, i just ideology at the door and set a goal that was about getting something done and not about winning. winning in this town is about politics. abouting should be setting goals and getting things done. we did o too much winning, too much politics. on big things like, obviously, theyme court nominees, don't realize behind that our everyday things that happen. is we need to have more successes at that level to build enough confidence and trust to have success at a higher level. i think we could have gotten a bipartisan tax bill passed. i think there was no interest in doing a bipartisan tax bill. i think we could have done reforms of the health care bill. there were knows -- was no interest in reforms because it was about winning politically governing in a

we passed the opioid crisis bill. we've also got the farm bill done, and now with criminal justice, it is the crowning achievement on what has been over the years one of the most contentious issues in america. every year i used to say that that system of justice in america that was damaged the most in an election was our criminal justice system because it seemed that everybody wanted to demagogue it to death. that is no longer, and that is no longer the case with what has been done in this body, the house, and with the support of the white house. and i just want to commend all of those that have been involved in this over the years before i got here, both in government and out. i worked for a number of years with the brennan from for justice at n.y.u., particularly the law enforcement leaders, to reduce crime. this is the cull culmination afr long, long number of years. they should be commended for all that they did. mr. president, we've changed -- i just noticed, it's now mr. president, rather than madam president. i

he is reversing his position about signing a bill. maybe he thinks a government shutdown, he can golf more comfortably. that's not how it works. government must work, even if you are golfing for two weeks. there is something very wrong with this picture. it was one week ago, our troops looked to secretary mattis as a leader, and now he is going to be leaving the. this is very serious for our country. i yield. sen. schumer: secretary mattis was one of the few pillars of strength and stability in this administration. everything that indicates stability, strength, knowledge , is leaving this administration. general kelly. general matters. so many others. mcmaster. exactly. there is chaos now in this administration. this week was one of the most chaotic weeks we've ever seen an american government. to close, they want the week, president trump does, by shutting down the government. we all know that secretary mattis had real disagreements with the president on syria and on the wall. some were speculating that the president was going to dem

my bill dealt with juveniles. after working with you so many years, dealing with juveniles in solitary confinement and how we manage that. and that's something corey booker and i worked on. senator l.n.g.ford: the second thing is faith -- senator lankford: the second thing is faith-based groups. they reached out in all faiths, all backgrounds, working with recidivism. they have been blocked from our federal penitentiaries so this gives the options for the faith-based groups that's been so much and state penitentiaries to now work with our federal penitentiaries and to be able to help these folks. we have 40,000 people a year that are coming out of federal penitentiaries. we should do whatever we can that will help those folks re-engage in our community and with their families and with their faith and this bill allows us to be able to do that so i'm grateful for the engagement. president trump: thank you. >> i just would be remiss -- there are two or three people here you don't know their names. tameka, she is here

in this bill. i'm now happy to yield as much time as he may consume to the distinguished majority whip, mr. scalise. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana is recognized. mr. scalise: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the chairman of the committee for yielding time, to talk about this important program. i want to thank the gentlelady from california for her consistent commitment to making sure that the national flood insurance program is there for families who need it, families all around the country. not just families, by the way, mr. speaker, in coastal areas. this is a program that effects every community in our country. it's a program that effects millions of people throughout the country. hundreds of thousands in my home state of louisiana. but people from all around. it's an important program. and, mr. speaker, i would love for this to be a private program where there were great options all around for people to buy private flood insurance. unfortunately today there aren't. and so

walker: i move to pass the bill senate 3031. the clerk: an act to amend united states code to improve the management of federal personal property. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule the gentleman from north carolina and the gentleman from maryland will be recognized. mr. walker: i ask unanimous consent scuke that members can include extraneous material on the. the personal property would improve inventories. this bill has bipartisan support. i urge members to support it and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from maryland. mr. raskin: i yield myself such time as i may consume. rhyme rising in support of the federal personal property management act which would impositive the accountability of unneeded equipment, information technology resources at federal agencies. may be an appropriate time to take up this bill given the furniture through the floor of the house of representatives. most agencies do not have procedures in place to identify unneeded per

>> can we tell bill and sandra? >> look at this great crowd. >> we love you. >> they're taking selfies. see you tomorrow. >> bill: good morning, everybody. breaking news right now. the trump administration says it's now considering pulling all u.s. forces out of syria, 2,000 american troops on the ground there concentrated in the northeastern part of the country. much more what we're learning about this proposal. what it means for the pentagon and terror coming up later inside of "america's newsroom." first, however, it was james comey, now we're awaiting the arrival of loretta lynch back behind closed doors to talk about the clinton email matter and much more. i'm bill hemmer. welcome to the program today. happy holidays, merry christmas. >> julie: i'm julie banderas into sandra smith. lynch's testimony coming days after comey's meeting with the committee. comey fiercely defended the f.b.i. >> bill: here is republican john radcliffe who led a lot of questioning. >> i confirmed that president obama was communicating

the bill before us today did not go through committee like a bill this large should. we could have offered amendments to address some of the most pressing issues with this tax bill. i would have started with how this bill cherry picks winners and losers with many of the losers being in states like the state i live in, the state of new jersey. this is, again -- let me repeat -- "weekend at bernie's." they prop up the dead tax bill, make it look alive, make it look alive, and then they bring it something that looks more dead. that didn't work. this will not work. you didn't run on it, you will not run on this. our state got slammed by the new cap on the state and local tax deduction. better known as salt. state and local taxes. the oldest deduction in the books. the g.o.p. tax scam took money from homeowners, communities in my state and others to fund their massive giveaway to big corporations. the data is there. it is clear. it is succinct. it is definitive. republicans even bragged about using their tax scam to hurt new jersey and the region. imagine that. imagine run

they've got bills to pay. it got mortgages, rent, all sorts of costs that will pile up so no matter what, they will bear a burden from dysfunction and government shutdown. along with many other people in the country who will see a disruption of federal government operations. it will still bear an unfair burden. we are doing b today and i also want to thank our republican colleagues for agreeing with this. we are saying to people out there, hard-working employees,lo rest assured, after that difficult. goes by, if there is a shutdown, you will be assured you will have the certainty that you are going to be able to get your pay and make the payments to make sure you don't fall further behind. it's the least we can do at this moment.se let's hope we don't have to use this. it is an important insurance policy. in important security blanket as the hours to buy and we are not sure whether or not we have agreement by midnight this evening. i want to thank our colleagues and yield back to the motion. >> don't think hol

>> bill: all right. guys. i thought we would find agreement on one topic before the holidays. >> julie: she looks beautiful. merry christmas. the dow looking to gain traction this morning after the fed's interest rate hike and we'll see how stocks are responding this morning after a taking a freefall yesterday. - [narrator] the typical vacuum head has its limitations, so shark invented duo clean. while deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look, and fearlessly devours piles. duo clean technology, corded and cord-free. and fearlessly devours piles. do i use a toothpaste that whitens my teeth, or one that's good for my teeth? now i don't have to choose. from crest 3d white, the whitening therapy collection with new spearmint and peppermint oil. it gently whitens, plus it has a fortifying formula to protect your enamel. crest. healthy, beautiful smiles for life. >> bill: markets down yesterday after the fed made a move. down again today. gerri willis, w

without objection, the bill is engrossed and -- the bill is engrossed, read a third time, and passed. and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to take from the speaker's table the bill h.r. 4407 with the senate amendments thereto and concur in the senate amendments. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. and the senate amendments. the clerk: an act to designate the facility of the united states postal service located -- at 3-s-101 rockwell street in warrenville, illinois, as the corporal jeffery allen williams post office building. senate amendments. one, on page 2, line 1, strike jeffrey and insert jeffrey. two, on page 2, line 6, strike jeffrey and insert jeffrey. three, on page 2, line 10, strike jeffrey and insert jeffrey. amend the title so as to read an act to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 3-s-101 rockwell street in warrenville, illinois, as the corporal jeffery allen williams post office buil

yes, the bill changed. it is not my original bill. golearned a long time a if you're determined to get the e iginal bill without changes, you never will happen. we had to find compromises that didn't compromise the basic values we were fighting for >> reporter: as senator durbin was sayeing,tor grassley, e and aere changes mad shift in the languagin th substance of the bill, but there is still oppition among your colleagues. senator tom cotton of arkansas says, yes, he likes some these changes, but it still would allow for e arly releaof criminals who committed violent offenses, bank robberies where they were using dangerous weapons, sexual assaults. how do you answer a criticism like this? >> well, e's wrong, first of all. there isn't anybody going to get out of prison as a result of our sentencing reform part of it. everybody realizes with mandatory minimums there are some unfairness in it, aisnd is to address the unfairness issue. , so you know,ou might have a 25-year sentence, and somebody in prison feels it's not fair, so you go

and i knew bill nelson, and i know bill nelson as a person and as a man. now i'm an enormous admirer of his knowledge of florida. he knows every nook and cranny of the state. i recall -- he'd probably remember this -- but we were together on a coast guard aircraft after one of our storms, and as we overflew the state from above, he was like pointing out and identifying down to the street level every corner of the geography of the state. and i remember thinking, you know, i've been in florida politics for awhile. i know the state fairly well, and he knew it down to the street level. and so to try to keep pace, i went back and opened up the atlas and tried to replicate 25, 30 years of state service to try to at least be in the same neighborhood as he is in in his knowledge of our state. it was incredibly impressive. it wasn't something he memorized by looking at a book, though. it was back he had been to all of these places at some point during his service to our state. i would say that certainly in the last quarter century there has been no greater champion