but giving farmers the ability to purchase affordable crop insurance means they have the ability to survive the farm for another year. and it's critical that we continue to promote and protect crop insurance in the upcoming farm bill. cattle producers and feeders also experienced losses due to this storm. about 75% of the cattle that are being fed in this country for ultimately consumption in the grocery store and restaurants are located in the area hit by this winter storm. feed lots are reporting that they have a loss that will total into the,000 of head of cattle. this comes only weeks after wildfires in texas and oklahoma that destroyed ranches and killed thousands of cattle. farmers and ranchers are some of the most resilient people. they remain optimistic in times of very difficult circumstances.

facing potential disaster and adversity every year, these men and women continue to bear the burden of producing food, fuel, and fiber for the country and the world. i offer my prayers to those farmers and ranchers harmed by the snowstorms and prairie fires and i am committed to make sure they have the tools necessary to survive this and future weather disasters. in discussing the challenges facing farmers, i want to take a moment to mention my disappointment that the cotton provision was left out of the omnibus legislation that was released earlier this week and we expect to vote on tomorrow or the next day. as a result of the 2014 farm bill, cotton farmers, including those in kansas, were no longer to participate in title 1 of the farm programs. without an effective safety net,

cotton producers felt the impact of the downturn in the farm economy due to those low prices. for over a year the cotton industry has worked with both authorizers and appropriators to fix the issues stemming from the 2013 farm bill so it is really discouraging when the proposal met with resistance at the last minute, not because of the merits of the proposal but because of unrelated issues with dairy policy that were not resolved. i too want to strengthen the protection provided for dairy producers, kansas is one of the biggest dairy producing states in the nation, but this should not be contingent on issues with dairy policies. i heard from a number of cotton producers about this proposal, and my message to them remains the same. i understand the economic hardship they are facing and i look forward to working with the

new secretary of agriculture for those facing difficulties in farming. mr. president, i ask my colleagues to keep in their thoughts and prayers those farmers and ranchers who, through no fault of their own, are struggling today because of weather an fire. mr. president, i -- and fire. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island and the providence plantations. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business for eight minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: thank you, mr. president. the last two weekends have surged with political activism. around the world millions of people took to the streets to stand up for science and to call attention to the global crisis of climate change.

this past weekend my wife and i marched here in washington alongside 200,000 people from across our country in the people's climate march. i joined faculty and students from rhode island's green school, an environmental charter school named after the great nathaniel green. the gentleman presiding may well know that nathaniel green worked his way through the state during the course of fighting the southern revolutionary campaign -- so we are very proud of in in a nathaniel green in re island and the school that bears his name. the students traveled overnight through the night to participate in that march. joined by 375 sister marvs world -- marchs worldwide, we came together with one voice in

fight against climate change. the march over earth day weekend was joined by people in 600 satellite marchs around the world. i went toe earth day texas, a truly impressive event with 150,000 people, making it the largest earth day event in the world. it's the passion of businessmen trammel crow who has been bringing democrats and republicans together to combat climate change since 2011. so for my 150th time to wake up speech, i thank all those who made their voices heard these past few weeks in the streets or online with the trump administration locked in climate denial, these marchs matter. and how tone deaf this administration is. data from yale's program on climate change communication show national support for climate action across a broad

range of questions. nationally, 71% trust scientists about climate change. right here, trust climate scientists about global warming, 71%. so many folks came out to the science march to show that. a majority of americans, 53%, believe climate change is caused mostly by human activities. that compares to 9% -- 9% of the republican caucus here in a vote taken just last congress. history will have to look back and explain why 53% of the american people say that that's the case and only 9% of our republican caucus was able to recognize that. 82% of americans want research

into clean and renewable energy sources. 75% want us to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant, and 69% right here want strict co2 limits on existing coal-fired powerplants. the president is disparaging the paris climate agreement, but seven out of ten registered voters say the u.s. should stay in. republicans favor staying in the paris agreement by two to one. this chart shows that support for research into renewables is strong across the country, even in coal country. 79% in kentucky, 81% in west virginia, and 82% in wyoming.

same in the oil patch. 79% of texans support research into renewables. despite this overwhelming public support, even in the reddest and most fossil fuel states, president trump is proposing massive cuts to this research. clearly tone deaf. it's the same free missions limit on coal plants. in all 50 states, in all 435 red, blue, and purple congressional districts, there is majority support for emissions limits. every single congressional district in the country has majority support for emissions limits. and then, of course, in some it goes up into huge numbers like over 75% here in vermont. but the baseline is that every

single congressional district, a majority, want emission limits. but, of course, tone-deaf president trump has directed his epa administrator to look at dismantling the clean power plan. a majority of americans in every single state and in every single congressional district, which obviously includes every republican congressional district, agree that climate change is happening. whether you break it down by state or break it down by congressional district, the results are the same. from here 50% and down are various shaiz are -- shades of blue and from here 50% and up are orange. as you can see there is not a remaining speck of blue on this map. the american people have settled this question in their minds. here's what, by the way, the next generation of republicans

thinks. the thompson reuters foundation surveyed 20 republican clubs of half said that they believe human activities are changing the climate. the people that are in power right now, for whatever reason, don't have that same global view said grace woodward, the president of the davidson college republicans. she continued, when our generation is in power, we will take climate change much more seriously. i'm not sure we have the time for that, but i appreciate grace's sentiment. ken hef never -- heffner said he too believes it will eventually become politically unviable for republicans to keep dismissing climate change. he said, i think that the folks that are our age are going to have to reshape the party and take in a different direction. it sounds like these future

leaders of the republican party are putting their elders on notice. it's not just a majority of the american people and it's not just young leaders of the republican party who don't buy president trump's tone-deaf climate agenda. corporate america isn't buying it either. in the lead up to the inauguration more than 630 companies and investors representing nearly two million employees and more than $1 trillion in revenue wrote to donald trump counseling him to combat climate change. food giants, kellogg's, campbell's and mars, nike and levi's, and mon santo and johnson and johnson urged the incoming president to maintain

national efforts to invest in the low-carbon economy at home and abroad and keep the united states in the paris agreement. just last week 13 of the largest and most successful companies in america wrote to the president to, and i quote them here, urge that the united states remain a speart to the -- a party to the paris agreement, work constructively with other nations to implement the agreement, and work to strengthen international support for broad ranges of innovation technology. i don't know how the business community could state its position much more clearly. that group included b.p., dupont, general mills, google, intel, microsoft, national grid, novartis, pg&e, shell, unit lever -- unilever and wal-mart.

as michael bloomberg put it, washington won't determine the fate of our ability to meet our paris commitment. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to enter both of these letters into the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: these companies know that climate change could disrupt their supply chains, make water or commodities more costly or royal their international markets so they are moving ahead whether the president and congressional republicans are with them or not. mars, the maker of m&m's and snicker bars has pledged to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from its facilities by 2040. when asked by "the new york times" if president trump's threats to leave the paris accord would affect mars' plans, global sustainability director kevin rebenovich replied this doesn't change our commitments. we're doing this because we see

a real business risk. walmart which already has set a goal of deriving half its energy from renewable sources by 2025 recently announced project gigaton, an initiative to eliminate one gigaton of carbon emissions by 2030 from its entire supply chain. big league sports is engaged, too. major league baseball stadiums and national basketball association arenas have installed wind turbines to generate their own low carbon energy or solar panel, like at the red sox fenway park. the national hockey league has partnered with energy star and the natural resources defense council to make its facilities more energy efficient. salt lake city's major league soccer stadium built one of utah's largest solar panel arrays providing more than 70% of that facility's energy. the national football league has a program to reduce overhaul

greenhouse gas emissions during every superbowl which has resulted in the planting of more than 50,000 trees in super bowl host communities. in 2016 outdoor retailer rei hit 100% renewable energy for the fourth conl secretive year, and they just opened a new net zero energy distribution center in the arizona desert. starbucks announced plans to power 116 stores in washington state, all on renewable energy. patagonia created an incentive program for employees who commute to work without driving saving more than 25,000 gallons of fuel last year. and it invested more than $50 million to purchase 2500 residential solar units. and it's not just the business community that makes things. financial firms are urging their clients to factor climate change

into their investment decisions. last year the investment firm blackrock with more than a trillion dollars in assets under management issued a report titled "adapting portfolios to climate change." which describes and i quote, how investors can incorporate climate factors to reduce risk and seize opportunities. the asset owners disclosure project last week reported that 60% of the world's 500 biggest asset owners with funds worth $27 trillion -- hold your breath on that -- $27 trillion now recognized the financial risks of climate change and opportunities in the low carbon transition, and our taking action. bill gates, along with more than 20 of the world's most successful business people

launched a billion dollar investment fund in late 2016. breakthrough energy ventures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by financing clean energy technology. these cleareyed assessments of the business effects of climate change are not entirely new. back in 2009, donald trump was joining business leaders to warn us about the catastrophic and irreversible effects of climate change. there will be catastrophic and irreversible consequences for humanity and our planet, their advertisement read. that was then i guess. mr. president, the country is moving on without president trump and without the republican party. state and local officials are on the march leading their

communities on a path to reduced carbon emissions. companies are on the march greening their operations and supply chains. and on campuses across the country, young republicans and young democrats are on the march coming together to prepare for a cleaner future. as the marchs and the events of the past two weekends demonstrated, there's no going back. i realize it is hard for my republican colleagues to go against the fossil fuel cartel, but it is not too late for them to finally say enough is enough. to wake up and to join the march. i yield the floor, mr. president. and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: will the senator withhold his request? mr. whitehouse: the senator will withhold his request. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate stands adjourned till 9:30 a.m.

stands adjourned till 9:30 a.m. >> the senate voting today to repeal obama labor law. it allowed workers to do state rent payment plans to encourage savings by private-sector workers. it passed on the party line vote. in houston, members passed an omnibus spending bill that funds the agencies to the end of the fiscal year, the end of september. the senate is expected to take a procedural vote tomorrow. current spending authority runs out friday at midnight. you can watch more lives in a coverage tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. eastern on c-span to.

>> sunday night on afterwards, pulitzer prize winning journalist helene cooper discusses the life and presidency of liberia's first elected female president. in her book, madame president. the extraordinary journey of ellen johnson. ms. cooper is interviewed by congresswoman karen bass of california. >> when did you first meet meta- president? >> have known about her my life. >> she became famous in 1979 in 1980. i was 13 or 14 and i knew who the administer finance was. she knew my parents and so she was somebody as a child growing up i heard of. she speaking truth of power and criticizing the same government should work for. in 1985 when she was arrested and thrown into jail, i heard all about that. she became at this time a political icon. >> watch afterwards, sunday night at 9:00 p.m. eastern on c-span twos, book tv.

>> c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979 c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies. it is brought to today by your cable or satellite provider. >> this week marks the start of college placement exams and high schools across the u.s. on sunday, we spoke with two teachers about the u.s. government of politics example which will be administered tomorrow. this is just under one hour.ts >> it is that time of year again for high school students around the country. for a lot of young folks out there it is one of the big finals, the ap advanced placement u.s. government exam. some call it the kentucky dirt the of civics exam. once