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

udall: thank you, mr. president. i would ask to speak in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: mr. president, i'm joined today by my colleague from new mexico, senator heinrich. we thought we would come down together and talk about senator domenici, our former colleague that passed away recently. he was born to italian immigrants in albuquerque, new mexico in 1932. he was the grocer's son, worked in his parents' store, attended catholic school. he graduated from our own university of new mexico, pitched in college on the albuquerque dukes farm team and taught high school mathematics. went to law school and built a law practice. he got his start in politics on the albuquerque city commission, was elected to the u.s. senate in 1973 and became new mexico's longest serving senator. he was a us bansdz, father, and grandfather. he married nancy burke right out of law school and his beautiful wife of 59 years was key to his long and successful career. she was a good friend of ours and we spent an hour with her in albuquerque a littl

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 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

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

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 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

heinrich: i am really proud today to come and join my fellow senator from new mexico, senator udall, to recognize the life and service of the longest serving senator from our incredible state of new mexico, senator pete domenici. senator domenici dedicated his entire life to the state and the people that he loved. he served our state in the senate for 36 years. his decades of service to new mexico left a lasting impact that will continue to be felt in every corner of our state for many years to come. many in new mexico called him st. pete because of how relentlessly he fought on the appropriations and the budget committees to secure resources for the people of new mexico. and you can still see the fruits of his labors at our state's national labs, at our military installations, at our colleges and universities and water systems and community centers all over our state. and that is because while he worked on the forefront of major policy debates here in the senate, pete domenici always put the interests of new mexico above all else. like myself, senator domenici's first public service