he is distinguished b being the first member of congress to tear both the house and senate agricultural committee. in the next congreslt we will begin the process ofriting another farm bill and itas the first farm bill since the agricultal and food act of 1981 that will be written without pat roberts direct influence. have pat roberts legacy on farmers legacy will be a result of the 200 agricultural rich risk productio act that moderne crop insurance and many, many other pieces of consequential legislation. in his early years in the senate the senator roberts indicated he liked the senate intelligence committee during theime of the 911 attacks and under his leadership committee conducted a swping and exhaustive w review of u.s. intelligence which led to critical reforms t put us in a better position and to know more and protectmericans better and that work on the intelligence reform and intelligence reform earned him a spote in a very distinguished guest speaker program that prestigious land and lecture series kansas ste university.d combining his experience and agriculture and intellig

his heartbeats of the farmers oful the country and it serving as both the house and the senate agricultural committee during his career and as noted that is the first member of congress in history to have served in both the chairman and how side committee also the first member of congress to have written and pass the farm bill in both chambers with a farm bills and all which is an incredible number i'm a jew have worked with him on three farm lls in the senate including the 2018 formula pass the senate with the greatest number of votes than any farm bill in senate historys history, a tribute to the hardork that pat and his consensus to reach out to members from all over the country that represent different areas and commodities and crops to bring themg together to write a farm bill i've been associated with enough to know they tend to be contversial because some people represent cities h don't have those constituencies so the fact that he was successful to get a farm bill across the finish line with a record 87 votes is a remarkable accomplishment in and of itself is partnership isn't limit

the senate agriculture committee. it is really not that hard. first, we represent the best of our nation. farmers, ranchers, and the entire food value chain. we know we have a collective job to do on their behalf. and you do just that. small, we convene in hearing room in pre-covid times what across the table from each other. third, for the most part, we actually know what another. i used to be the wrecking republican when senator stabenow was the chairperson. we worked together on the 214 farm bill. this was not our first rodeo. we knew regardless of what each of us wanted, passing a farm bill was paramount. we had an agreement. no surprises. we held hearings together all over the country. i went to the campus of michigan state and more green and white. deborah came to kansas state and were purple. purple.ore we also became friends. i protected her. she protected me. we got 87 votes, setting a record for a farm bill. standing right there now where our leader is now sitting. i was trying for 90. he said what do you want? i said i want justice. h

agriculture committee. and it's really not that hard. first we represent the best of our nation -- farmers, ranchers, growers, and the entire food value chain. we know that we have a collective job to do on their behalf, and we do just that. second, we convene in a small hearing room in pre-covid times, right across the table from each other. third, for the most part we actually know one another. i used to be the ranking republican when senator stabenow was the chairperson. we worked together on the 214 farm bill. in 218, this wasn't our first rodeo. we knew regardless of what each of us wanted passing a farm bill was paramount. we had an agreement, no surprises, no press the other one did not know about, and we held hearings together all over the country. i went to the campus of michigan state and wore green and white. debra came to kansas state and wore purple. we not only agreed to work together, we gave staff marching orders to do the same. we also became friends. i protected her. she protected me in co

the senate agricultural commtee it's really not that hard. first he represent the best of our nation. farmers, ranchers, growers and the entire food value chain. we know thate have a collective job to do on their behalf. and we do just that. second, we convene in a small hearing room in preco times, right across the table from eachfr. other. third, for the most part we actually know o another. i used to be the ranking republican when senator stabenow was the chairperson. we worked together on the 214 farnborough. 2018 this is not her first rode rodeo. we knew regardless of what each of usanted passing a farm bill was paramount. we had an agreement, no surprises, no press the other one did not know about. and w held the all of the country. i went to the campus of michigan state and were green and white when he came to kansas state and were purple. we not only agreed to work together we gave staff marching orders to do the same. we also became friends. i protected her she protected me and we got 8 votes sending a record for a farm bill. standin

agriculture affects everyone and no one knows that better than senator roberts. senator roberts and i have never given up on farm bills and we never gave up in passing the 2018 farm bill, even when it got tough. at the beginning of the negotiations, we made a commitment to work together. we visited each other's home states. in fact, twice we visited. i arrived in the middle apple of kansas, wearing k state purple, and i am wearing it today and robert came to michigan and wore an m.s.u. green tie. around this time we also made a commitment to each other to write a bipartisan farm bill. throughout the entire process i never doubted that pat had my back. even when negotiations got tough and he knew i had his back as well. thanks to this partnership we achieved the most bipartisan bill in history. as he said, the first time around it was 86 votes and then the final bill was 87 votes, and that was the most yes votes on a farm bill ever. we were able to do that because we have a unique partnership built on trust and mutual respect. and the outcome was a strong bipartis

with senator stabenow and senator boozman as leaders of the agriculture committee. next, senator alexander. senator alexander has served the people of tennessee for more combined years as governor and senator than anyone else from their state. with both senator roberts and senator alexander, we will be missing people who bring to this place a long sense of commitment and service to our government. senator alexander worked to find consensus on the issues that mattered most like education, health care, mental health and addiction. i saw him work day by day with senator patty murray. they were able to pass so many bills to show this chamber that, in fact, you can get little things done, yes, but you can also get big things done, including the changes that they made that were long needed to no child left behind, included the changes that they had done when it comes to health care. as he gave advice to his successor, incoming senator big haggart said it is hard to get here, it is hard to stay here and while you are here, you might as well try to accomplish good for the c

and senator boseman as leaders of the agriculture committee. next senator alexander. senator alexander served the people of tennessee for more combined years for their state. with both senator roberts and senator alexander, we'll miss the long commitment and service to the government. senator alexander has served our country as he worked to find concensus on issues that matter most, like education, health care, mental health and addiction and i saw him workday by day with senator patty murray and they were able to pass so many bills to show this academy bills, to show you can get things done, including the changes that they made, no child left behind, including the changes in the work they've done when it comes to health care. as he gave advice to his successor, incoming senator bill haggerty, lamar said, it's hard to get here in the united states senate. it's hard to stay here and while you're here you might as well try to accomplish something good for the country. like his many quips and i read his book, his red plaid book of advice and his m

i applaud senate agriculture committee chairman pat roberts and ranking member debbie stabenow on their bipartisan efforts. this re-authorization provides necessary certainty for buyers and sellers throughout the grain supply ms. cheney:. food and agriculture products have long remained the largest category of exports for minnesota. the federal grain inspection service provides reliable competitive and cost-effective official grain inspection and weighing system to facilitate the marketing of u.s. grains in export and domestic markets. just last year, minnesota produced over $7.5 billion worth of corn, wheat and soy beans. the employees in my district keep our grain markets moving along the mississippi river and off to destinations across the globe. while this year has presented its challenges, re-authorizing grains standards provides a glim mere of stability for our producers as they continue to secure additional support in export markets. this legislation shores up the infrastructure that will make sure those exports continue into 2021. i look forward to the passage of this bill for t

the senate returns at 9:00 a.m. for more debate on the bill. the continuing resolution has already passed in the house. at an event hosted by the council, sisi director dr. robert redfield gave his

and when asked about why we need agriculture programs, the senator once said, you can't eat shoe. on life, he once said, when making a mistake he suggested that you go hunker own and take it like a donkey in a hailstorm. and remember this, he once said, remember when you roll around pigs, you both get dirty but only one of you enjoys it. sports, at football games he was often said, throw the ball to the tight end. open.wide of course, we all know the senator was the unofficial tight nd coach for the ever-optimistic and fighting kansas state wildcats. when a rabid constituent gave him an opposing opinion he once said, i'll mark you down as undecided. when he referred to kansas university as that school baker. as the senator, once a marine, a marine, he was often take the heel g and semper fi. my favorite favorite, there's in the world es but you don't have to go sit on every one. successful, meet influential people, people who i read about or know of, i often ask myself, is there any substance to this person? is their character and integrity? what's truly important to them? i'd lik

with senator stabenow and senator boozman as leaders of the agriculture committee. next, senator alexander. senator alexander has served the people of tennessee for more combined years as governor and senator than anyone else from their state. with both senator roberts and senator alexander, we will be missing people who bring to this place a long sense of commitment and service to our government. senator alexander worked to find consensus on the issues that mattered most like education, health care, mental health and addiction. i saw him work day by day with senator patty murray. they were able to pass so many bills to show this chamber that, in fact, you can get little things done, yes, but you can also get big things done, including the changes that they made that were long needed to no child left behind, included the changes that they had done when it comes to health care. as he gave advice to his successor, incoming senator big haggart said it is hard to get here, it is hard to stay here and while you are here, you might as well try to accomplish good for the c

and with a two-year stint as a senator in kansas as chief of staff. a leader on the house agricultural committee especially with rega to improvements andmp restoration. upon retirement thought about it talk to frankie and she said this is what you always wanted to do, let's do it. so for nine months with no paycheck or health insurance and limitedav savings, with three young children the house came our home. most candidates would not attempt to go door to door in a district larger th most states. howeverwe we wanted a tough primary nozzle jeff general election. the first of 24 straight victories. when the 94 revolution republans in the majority after being in the minority now suddenly i was chairman. . . . it's not jt having the gavel it's what you do with it. taking part h and leaving the bills in the house and senate i've touched and improved many lives and i've bn mindful of what they do for the nation and as we crafted each bill. i was fortunate that my first committee assignments were to serve on the armed services committee asmm well as agricult

i spent a number of years in the senate serving as counselor on -- agricultural policy. since i took over as commissioner i started thinking climate change because i spent my previous time in the senate thinking about climate change in the context of agriculture and forestry and how climate change over the course of many years is having an communities,al urban cores, and disproportionately affecting low to moderate income families and as i started to take my role as a financial regulator, reading a fair amount of literature that has been done overseas on financial rated climate risk, i thought what can i do within my capacity to elevate the issue and do something from a u.s. perspective. i convened an advisory committee, a pretty traditional tool for regulators across the u.s. government and i was able to convene a pretty diverse coalition of economic stakeholders from banks and investors to energy companies, agricultural companies, environmental groups, public interest groups, and convened group with the task of putting together a report that would provide policy recomm

the farmers are demanding the repeal of plans to open up the agriculture sector to more private firms. a senator in argentina has proposed that images of the late football star, diego maradona, should appear on new bank notes. maradona, who led argentina to the 1986 world cup title, died two weeks ago at the age of 60, after a long struggle with substance abuse. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: remembering the former beatle, john lennon, who was killed a0 years ago today. john lennon was shot at the entrance to the dakota building in the centre of new york. there‘s been a crowd here standing in more or less silent vigil, and the flowers have been piling up. the 1ath ceasefire of this war ended at the walls of the old city of dubrovnik. this morning, witnesses said shells were landing every 20 seconds. people are celebrating the passing of a man they hold responsible for hundreds of deaths and oppression. elsewhere, people have been gathering to mourn his passing. imelda marcos, the widow of the former president of the philippines, has gone on trial in manila. she's facing se

he served two terms in the senate. he's related to sonny perdue, the former governor of georgia and trump's secretary of agriculture, and there's more to lose. as many viewers know, there was a viral moment where jon ossoff took david perdue to task mishandling the pandemic and spending more time on his stock portfolio than the concerns of everyday georgians. i think perdue is playing it safe, thinking he has more potential voters on his side and he can only dampen enthusiasm by showing up. >> lots on the line for both races, and lots of ants pace for this evening's debate. charles, appreciate it. thank you. >> thank you. >>> you can watch the loeffler/warnock debate right here tonight on cnn starting at 7:00 p.m. eastern time. >>> next, inside look of a hunger crisis, for a woman who knows about the problem all too well. >> there were times my mom would cook one can of beans and it was split up. we were struckling, but she never, like, talked about it. >> now she is on the front lines to help other. she joins me to ta

the numbers in the senate change tomorrow. the reason that mark kelly, who defeated martha mcsally, he wilt be sworn in the senate. the numbers for senate in this congress, starting with swearing in of kelly, 42 republicans, 48 democrats. we don't know the balance of power until 2021 because of the georgia runoffs non-the until the 5 january. neil: if republicans win that, it will be 22 seats for democrats, 213 for republicans has it ever been that close? reporter: two decades in 1990s break down with seat or two. the democrats have not had majority that narrow since the 1940s. here is the other thing that is interesting. you have the iowa race marionette miller meeks, supposedly won, republican flipping the seat from blue to red, winning by 10 votes. i mentioned 339 vote total in the garcia, christy smith contest there. it is up to the house of representatives under article i, section 5 to determine its members. if you have races that are that close you could have seats be contested on the house floor. we really haven't had s

on c-span2 the senate returns in the morning at 9 am for more debate on the defense program bill, also pending a bill funding the federal government for one week. the continuing resolution is already past in the house. >> next a look at the economic and fiscal policy of the incoming biden administration and the next congress, the brookings institution heard from treasury secretary wrence summers and been burning key. this is 2 hours. >> am david wessel, director of monetary policy at the brookings institution. on behalf of the peterson institute welcome to our timely event, fiscal policy advice for joe biden and congress. as we gather today we congratulate hudson center colleague janet yellen, joe biden's choi

but that is certainly one of them. >> and jeff, agriculture secretary is not usually the most sought after position in a cabinet, but it has turned into kind of a proxy war between republicans, moderate democrats and progressives and black democrats as well. senator grassley of iowa this week publicly advised biden to select former north dakota senator or congressman collin peterson. both are deserveticonservatives. jim clyburn who is the reason that joe biden got the nomination, he's pushing for martha fudge, a leading african american member for that role. what does this fight tell us about biden's approach and problems? >> senator grassley, fers, does not necessarily have a say in this. we'll have a vote in confirming, but his vote isn't needed. he opens a window into what is going on with this. and as you said, dana, congressman jim clyburn was the most important endorser and supporter in this process. he has a very loud voice in this. but i think what it's highlighting is the overall picture of the cabinet. there has to be a person of color likely an african american, at the def

the senate returns at 9:00 a.m. for more debate on the bill. the continuing resolution has already passed in the house. at an event hosted by the council, sisi director dr. robert redfield gave his assessment of coronavirus fatalities in the u.s. over the next few months. >> so, my question for you is, why is the u.s. leading the world in deaths? >> you know, it's obviously an excellent question. kind of a sad answer. and i'll give you the answer. i do think your point is important, as i was talking to the chamber of commerce the other day. we are in the timeframe now that, probably for the next 60-90 days, we're going to have more deaths per day than we had at 9/11 or had at pearl harbor. this is really, as i said, this is going to be a real unfortunate loss of life as all that we've had so far. in the reality is that vaccine approval this week is not going through the impact it for any degree in the next 60 days. and this is where we have to do everything. when you look at the mortality of this virus, this virus is really -- it's very unusual

>>well a group of state senators are urging governor gavin newsom to allow restaurants to resume in person dining state senator patricia bates wrote a letter to the administration requesting that it re classify restaurants as critical infrastructure. a bipartisan group of 11 senators have signed on to support the effort. >>it's vital to our to our families to our economy so why not give them a path that they can meet on safety protocol they are in conversation with the governor that we want to be. >>as we said science and data-driven want to see the data until we see the data and we'll do we'll do otherwise we really have to be focused around being solution driven it. >>the effort comes as governor newsom faces lawsuits up and down the state over his regional stay at home rules which shut down many businesses in areas based on icu capacities. >>time now is 7.37 and still ahead on the kron 00:00am morning news, the fbi is offering $50,000 if you can help them solve a church arson case right here in the bay area will have the latest. and charges are filed in 3 fraud schemes targeting califor

now, all of those are senate confirmed posts. so they will all go through the senate confirmation process. we're also going to hear about susan rice today. of course, she was in the mix as a potential running mate to biden and also as secretary of state, but she has been tapped to lead and be the director of the white house domestic policy counsel. so her portfolio will oversee, as it says, all of the domestic policy here in the united states. that's a lot of biden's build back better plan that we heard about on the campaign trail infrastructure, clean energy. there are a host of things that she's going to be walking through and working on. that is not a senate-confirmed post. that is an appointee post. now, we are also learning that biden is hoping to complete his cabinet by christmas. so there's a deadline, it might move around, but right now the hope is to get everyone announced by christmas, before the christmas holiday. now, all of this is coming as overnight, "time" magazine named president-elect biden and vice president-el

he called me more than sonny and sonny is in agriculture. david would call all the time. remember how tough the democrats were in they didn't want to give them anything. senator perdue helped pass the 2.5 trillion dollars investment in our united states military delivering the largest pay raises for our warriors in a decade. and we now have the greatest, most modern military in the history of our country. we have brand-new missiles and rockets and bombers. hypersonic missiles. and we have hydro sonic. water. we have missiles that go 7 times faster than any missile in the world. [crowd chants usa!] >> when we took over our military was decimated, our military was tired, our military was in trouble. one of our generals came to see me and said sir we have no ammunition. i said tell me you are not saying that. think of it. we had very little ammunition. i said that should never happen to a president of the united states. nor should being spied on ever happen to a president of the united states. senator perdue has been a tremendous leader on pro american immigration reform lik

there had been talk of her going to agriculture, but the talk moved to housing and urban development. and of course, she would be another african-american woman in her cabinet, where there have been calls for diversity. also, later this afternoon, president-elect joe biden will formally introduce retired arm general lloyd austin as his defense secretary right here in wilmington. john, as you said, a lot of this filling out as the days roll by. >> a flurry of activity. jim clyburn, a congressman from south carolina, previewed that marcia fudge was going to get something right here on this show. i think he knew something and i think he's got some pull in this whole thing. jessica dean, thank you very much. keep us posted. more picks could be coming in the next few hours. >>> we have some breaking news. regulators in the united kingdom just issued new advice about who should not get pfizer's new coronavirus vaccine. you'll want to hear this. details, next. that? [man] uh, mine. why? it's just that it's... lavender, yes it is. old spice, it's for men. but i like the smell of it. [music pl

he's going to officially introduce his picks for secretary of agriculture, hud, and veterans affairs as well as trade representative and director of white house domestic policy. all these positions need senate confirmation, except for domestic policy adviser, which susan rice will lead. the incoming administration likely wanted to spare rice from having to undergo what was sure to be a contentious confirmation battle over her comments about benghazi, the benghazi attack while she was u.n. ambassador. i'm pretty sure there was wide understanding that she was not going to get senate confirmation. >>> meanwhile, earlier this week, president-elect joe biden's son, hunter, disclosed that federal authorities are investigating his taxes. now a source familiar with the inquiry tells nbc news that those investigators are examining hunter biden's business dealings in china and that the probe started back in 2018, before joe biden even announced his candidacy for president. in a statement, hunter biden said in part that he is confident a review of the matter, quote, will demonstrate that i hand

she currently serves on the department of agriculture. vilsack, of course, previously served as agriculture secretary under president obama for eight years and is expected to bring a source of institutional knowledge to that post. meanwhile, alabama senator doug jones is the leading contender to be nominated for attorney general, by biden three sources familiar with the discussions tell nbc news, jones, of course, leaving the senate in january after he lost his bid for re-election. he would become the second alabama senator nominated for attorney general in four years. joining us from delaware, nbc news correspondent mike memoli. mike, always good to see you. >> reporter: good morning. >> let's start with the broad view of the cabinets. how the biden team thinking, i know they've been under pressure for the diversity front in their picks. how are they handling it and how is it affecting how he's making the decisions? >> reporter: yeah, kasie, it's so interesting we've seen the pace of nominations accelerate significantly. we're going to h

senator doug jones. among them, reverend al sharpton saying he and others raised the concerns in a two hour meeting last night. >> what i said in the meeting yesterday is that i prefer a black to be attorney general. but the least you could do, i said, is to have someone that has a civil rights background that meets this moment of george floyd and breonna taylor. >> i want to bring in somebody else who was in the meeting with the president-elect and vice president elect, derrick johnson. it's good to have you on the show. welcome back. >> good to be here. >> did you also voice your concerns about doug jones to the president in the meeting? >> none of us talked about doug jones. the name didn't come up in the meeting. many of us talked about the characteristic of the person who should step into office day one with the ability to rally the support of the existing staff of doj. understand how it functions. there's no need to bring anybody in to have on the job training. i don't know doug jones' background.

the lloyd austin thing is not a done deal, it has to pass the house and senate and be confirmed, the ag pick unknown. marcia fudge to be secretary of housing and urban development isn't the place that jim clyburn and others wanted to see her, they wanted to see her in agriculture but there was a need to get a african-american woman in the cabinet and marcia fudge clearly qualifies for many things given her role in the house but this is a delicate balance. >> they also have to think who can get through the senate and that's not an easy deal and i think this will be -- we've talked in recent days about, you know, the strength of biden as a legislative tactician and washington hardships, can he work with mcconnell and others, this will be an early test on that on how these cabinet picks g i think they didn't do a great job in waiting on the big four, you know, that we've spent time on. they named tony blinken as secretary of state, but clearly attorney general and at defense there was a lot of thinking going on and i think they should have been ready to roll that out because that's wher

senator: well, we had ten basically that worked on it diligently for the last weeks. more people are seeing this is something that can be doable, it's acceptable and can be passed. we need leadership to get on board. both sides of the leadership are not happy with it, some want less and some want more. this is an emergency relief package. it's not a do-all end-all, brian. in mcconnell's package there's nothing for hospitals, there's nothing for nutrition, nothing for state and local, nothing for opioid treatment and nothing for broadband. these are things that need to be done to get through because the next quarter is going to be tough. if they want to do more, if president elect biden wants to do that, we can come together and see what they need. in the house and in the senate. that's unbelievable. brian: i can't tell you how many average everyday americans have said do you think they will get something done in the interim because you have to hit -- you are talking over 100,000 small businesses that are not coming back. 4 and 5 million americans will be permanently u

the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: one minute for morning business, please. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: i want to the tell my colleagues about a disappointment i have in some u.s. department of agriculture recent revisions of a proposed rule. here's background. i've long fought to strengthen the safety net so that iowa family farmers and other farmers are protected from natural disasters or other unforeseen events that they have no control over, like flooding or windstorms. family farmers work hard to make sure that americans have food on the table. these same family farmers operate on very thin margins. these farmers ought to qualify for help during tough times since losing these operations would risk our nation's food supply. however, taxpayers and nonfarm state lawmakers may stop supporting a federal farm safety net if spending programs aren't held accountable or left unchecked. losing urban support for this farm safety net is why i'm deeply concerned that the usda's recent prop

if you count his office in the house and the senate on the agriculture committee and his good humor and his resoluteness in terms of rural america and making sure that the farmers of our country have an environment in which they can succeed are legendary. i suspect all of us when we go to sleep at night, if pat roberts comes into our brain, the words crop insurance come right along behind it. doug jones only served a short period of time, like martha mcsally, but he made his mark as well. when he made his farewell address, i was here and i said, he reminded me of ted kennedy in this way -- he kept his liberal principles. i never seen him deviate from them. just like ted kennedy did. he was stand back there and roar about this, that, and the other. i used to say when i was elected that if they elected my opponent, my opponent would come up here and move fred thompson's desk over and he'd set it right down between ted kennedy. and republicans like that because they heard ted kennedy's liberal speeches. but i also say that when i made my maiden address, without my knowing it, senator kenne

signed by 17 senators as follows -- mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 904. the presiding officer: question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, department of transportation, eric j. soskin of virginia to be inspector general. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture to motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby mov

and in the senate. his tireless work to pass farm bills over those carries to help growers and ranchers has made him a friend to farmers everywhere. just as important was his work as chair of the senate intelligence committee. some may not recall this, but he is the one that spearheaded the reforms to our intelligence service after 9/11 to avoid another such tragedy. i hope you and frankie get a well-deserved retirement and i look forward to continuing to stay in touch. we're also going to be losing a relatively young and energetic member of our caucus here who is also an accomplished bipartisan legislator when cory gardner leaves next year. only a few short years in the senate here, yet cory has proven that he knows thousand get things done -- how to get things done. he's a smart guy. we've worked together on a lot of critical issues to address some of the biggest issues facing our country. he loves the outdoors and his work for the outdoors is something i've had an opportunity to work with him on, inc