as an example, senator mccain's uncommon friendship with morse udall comes to mind. congressman udall was a liberal icon, yet he reached out to a young republican as a friend and mentor. they developed a close friendship that lasted until his death from parkinson's disease. he had once been among the most powerful leaders in washington, but almost none of his former colleagues came calling when he as he was leading ill at a veterans hospital not far from the capital, but it was senator mccain who visited quite often. senator, you would arrive with newspaper clips, and you would sit at your friend's bedside and ,. just as he reached out to you in the beginning, you reached out to him in the end with empathy and with true compassion. hearing this story, it is so clear the unique and unusual man we are speaking about and what a dear friend he was. we must also see a man with a desire to embrace people's humanity, regardless of their politics. this is no small feat in the today's vitriolic halls in our country. senator mccain is a man of strong conviction, yes, but he al

senator udall. mr. udall: thank you, mr. chairman. and thank you both for your service and thank you for being here today. secretary mattis, the existence of multiple local militia forces in iraq remains a major problem, as isil is driven out. kurdish aspirations ofhood may -- of the tip of the statehood may be just the tip of the iceberg. how many different groups are the department of defense advising and assisting in iraq? mr. mattis: we advise and assist iraqi security forces only in iraq and i would just mention that secretary tillerson just returned from there and this issue was brought up with the prime minister. mr. tillerson: yes. the prime minister is asserting authority himself over other various militias, including popular mobilization forces, the p.m.f., which are by and large iraqi forces, they are iraqi citizens who are fighting under militia arrangements. including the peshmerga forces of kurdistan during the war to defight isis, to liberate mosul. to liberate large parts of other provinces. these forces put themselves

as an example, senator mccain's uncommon friendship with mo udall comes to mind congressman udall was a liberal icon yet he reached out to a young republican from his state as a friend and a mentor. the two men developed a close friendship that lasted until udall's death from parkinson's disease. although udall had one spin -- once been a month the most powerful leaders in washington almost none of his former colleagues came calling as he's laying ill at a veterans hospital not far from the capital. -- it was senator mcgrane mccain who visited them quite often. you would arrive at the hospital with newspaper clips and you would sit at your friend's bedside and read to him. you in he reached out to the beginning, you reached out to him in the and with empathy and withdrew compassion. story, it is once again so clear of the unique and unusual man we are speaking about, and what a dear friend he was to mo udall. but we must also see a man with a desire to embrace people's humanity regardless of their politics. this is no small feat in today's patriotic halls of our of ournce and quarters

i amwa senator udall -- with senator udall's office. this deal being killed have on the negotiations with the next administration? would even on be more or -- iran be more or less likely to cooperate. >> it would make them less likely to negotiate because see -- they see the united states is less trustworthy. trustworthy. something i have to re-reference. if you were trying to renegotiate aspects of the deal, and if the rest of the world thinks it is working and we should stay in its, we had less leverage than we had. the obama administration knows a lot about this at a granular -- level. they have been making very significant concessions. alone, there is no way you can get more out of the country with less leverage, it doesn't work like that. it is very challenging for the next administration, how to fix what trump has set up. >> there is an all you toll a -- iran with a huge smile on his face. aid,hardliners in iran s negotiate. they will not be true to their word. the view of many people in the country right now, even those who stron

. >> udall took him under his wing. was one of the most well-known members of congress. >> he came to john and said, let's work together. >> we are an important check on the power of the executive. just implore his colleagues to come together. he defended the constitutional role of congress, as envisioned by the founding fathers. john mccain: whether or not we are a member of the same party, we are not subordinates, we are the president's equal. >> he challenges us to move fast partisanship and try to do right by the people web higher dust -- have higher dust -- the people who have hired us. >> he sure is the belief that we have to get back to the basics of leadership and the basics in the constitution because it is that respect for the country that will allow us to heal the wounds of vietnam, civil rights, recent times. mitch mcconnell: he approaches every issue i asking, what is the best outcome that can be achieved. there is no one who is more honorable and deserving than john mccain. announcer: ladies and gentlemen,

i am with senator udall's office. i want to know, in looking at the big picture, if the deal is killed, what effect would that have on renegotiating in terms of the next administration? would that make iran more or less likely to corporate with a greater or lower degree with the next administration if the trump administration does kill it? nahal: how about john, can you take that? mr. glaser: it would make them less likely to negotiate because they see the united states as less trustworthy. it is also something i have to re-reference something i said in the beginning. if we're trying to renegotiate aspects of the deal, when the rest of the world thinks it is working and we should stay in it, than we have less leverage than we had -- the obama administration did a lot of work, and rob knows a lot about this at a granular level, to bring the world along in the sanction regime to ratchet up the pressure against iran, and they ended up making significant concessions. if we are alone, and we don't have leverage over our al

udall: thank you, madam president, for the recognition. madam president, today is a day of mourning for las vegas and for america. my heart goes out to all those touched by the ruthless and cowardly shooting last night. one of the victims was lisa romero, a secretary at a lie school in new mexico. the on -- high school in new mexico. the students knew her well by miss lisa and she was adored by everyone at the school. her loss will be deeply felt. i send my condolences and prayers to her family as well as her school family and to everyone in gallop, new mexico. i also want to recognize the true bravery of first responders, the police, the firefighters, the e.m.t.'s, some of whom risked their own lives to save others. there are heroes in america and we saw them in action last evening. madam president, las vegas, nevada, and new mexico share a long kinship. nevada is a sister western state. many new mexicans have family in las vegas. and new mexicans are reeling because of this tragedy. as westerners and as americans, we must all come togeth

udall: thank you, madam president. madam president, i wanted to rise today to talk a little bit about something very obscure that's buried in this budget bill but something that's very, very important to me. i -- first, before i talk about the specific policy issues, i just wanted to talk about a personal exploration i had, and this is with regard to the arctic wildlife refuge and this area called the 1002 area. i had the opportunity in the 1980's to take a raft trip down across this arctic coastal plain and down to the sea. and part of the reason was that many of the alaska senators at the time said if you're going to make policy in alaska, you ought to see that part of alaska. i took the opportunity to see it and took a raft trip down the river called the houla river which flows into the beauford sea there. i can say from my personal experience this is one of the wildest, most magnificent places on the earth. and to talk a little bit about the creatures and critters that we saw there. we saw the beginning of the cari

udall: thank you, madam president. madam president, i rise in opposition to the renomination of mr. ajit pai to the federal communications commission. mr. pai both as f.c.c. commissioner and now as chairman has not been a vigorous watchdog for free speech. he has not put the people's right to information first. in fact, he has put corporate interest first. and he has opposed policies outright that ensure underserved communities have access to essential technology. i strongly oppose his renomination to the commission. let's begin with his responsibility to guard first amendment rights. president trump has relentlessly attacked nbc, cbs, abc, cnn, "the new york times," and "the washington post." he called these established and esteemed news outlets fake news. he even called them the enemy of the people. earlier this year in february during a senate commerce hearing, this was an oversight hearing, i asked chairman pai point blank whether he agreed with the president that these mainstream news organizations were itself enemy of the people -- were the enemy of the people. he refused to a

udall: thank you, madam president for the recognition. madam president, republicans have spent months trying to repeal the affordable care act. they knew tens of millions of americans would lose their care. they knew it would betray our federal trust responsibility to native americans. and they knew twho throw one -- it would throw one-fifth of our economy into chaos. trumpcare failed because the american people opposed it. americans spoke out against it in record numbers. trumpcare failed to pass four times. we hope now we've put that to bed and we can move on. but rather than listening to millions of americans, president trump has responded by sabotaging the affordable care act. his reckless behavior is already causing chaos in the marketplace. his actions have hiked up the cost of premiums, he has sent out-of-pocket costs through the roof. and instead of helping americans get better health care, he has put it out of reach for millions. i commend my colleagues, senator alexander and senator murray. they have found a bipartisan solution

duckworth and senator udall. senator crapo is a good friend of mine. he's doing his duty and defending his position well, but no other republican senator, no supporter of this resolution. nobody wants to come down here and speak. why? because they don't want to be seen at home as defenders of wall street and they don't want to be defenders of the most powerful people in this country. so they stay in their offices quietly, come meekly on the floor, then they'll vote yes and go home and hope nobody really knows about it. they're not willing to give. senator crapo, whom i admire and respect greatly, he knows that. he means it. he's doing his duty as chairman of the banking committee. none of the rest of them want to join him. i think that tells you a whole lot. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. mr. franken: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to discuss the consumer financial protection bureau's recently finalized rule to limit the use of predispute forced arbitration clauses in contracts fo

stuart udall during the kennedy and johnson administrations. and then representative mo udall succeeded in doubling the size of the refuge protecting even more of this untrammeled wilderness, protecting this special place has always been a special issue that rose above party lines. and it should continue to do so. in 2015 the interior department recommended that congress designate this area as a wilderness, not open it to drilling. in making that wilderness recommendation, the department of interior concluded that the arctic refuge exemplifies the idea of wilderness, to leave some remnants of this nation's natural heritage intact, wild and free, to control or manipulate the order. the coastal plain is the biological heart of the refuge. the fish and wildlife service has called it the center for wildlife activity in the refuge. it supports more than 250 species, including caribou, polar bears, migratory bird. but that is precisely the area where this republican legislation would allow big oil to drill forever spoiling this ecosystem. two years a

among them senator tom udall of new mexico who accused the president of filling the swamp with some of the swampiest creatures ever. durson is slated to appear at a senate confirmation hearing on wednesday. >>> meanwhile the president is receiving a rash of criticism this morning after he paid a visit to prooko following the island's devastation after hurricane maria and making controversial remarks that raised more than a few eyebrows. >> i hate to tell you, puerto rico, but you've thrown our budget a little out of whack. because we've spent a lot of money on puerto rico. and that's fine. we've saved a lot of lives. if you look at the -- every death is a horror. but if you look at a real catastrophe like katrina and you look at the tremendous hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people that died and you look at what happened here with really a storm that was totally overpowering, nobody's ever seen anything like this. >> those comments came after images of the president tossing paper towels to hurricane victims went viral. that action coming just after the president toured some of th