Senator Cassidy: (3:03 PM)

• Spoke on Louisiana flooding.
  • "About 80% of the homes that were flooded did not have flood insurance, not because they didn't purchase it on purpose when they were told to, but because they were told they lived in low-risk areas, such low risk for flooding that flood insurance was not required. I will say that is why federal aid is so critical. We have thousands of families completely caught off guard, unprepared, no fault of their own, caught by a freak of nature, a 1,000-year flood, now struggling to pick up the pieces. They're trying to make the decision do I stay and rebuild or do I just move on? Family businesses, Louisiana needs help. I ask that we pass this funding bill quickly. People are hurting, people need help."

Senator Markey: (3:13 PM)

• Spoke on opioid abuse.
  • "We must make stopping the trafficking of fentanyl into the United States from Mexico and China one of our highest foreign policy priorities. We must elevate it up to what we are trying to put together as a plan to fight ISIS. We must put it up there with a plan to ensure that we protect our jobs from copyright or trade infringement. We must elevate this importation of fentanyl to the very highest level of foreign policy concern in our country. I was pleased to see reports of recent cooperation between the United States and China in combating fentanyl trafficking, including a commitment by China to target U.S.-bound exports of substances controlled in the United States and an agreement to increase the exchange of law enforcement and scientific information that can lead to coordinated actions to controlled substances and chemicals of concern."

Senator Rubio: (3:28 PM)

• Spoke on the Zika virus.
  • "But I think we've reached the point now where we, at least when it comes to Zika, can rally around the proposal that's before us. It is as good as we're going to get, given the time constraints that we face. And my colleagues, we've waited far too long. We cannot leave here on the 30th of September, next week, without moving something forward and I think this gives us the best chance to get it done. I would urge my colleagues here to support it as we go into the new week and I would urge the House members to begin to look at this and to really rally around this. We have to take action on this once and for all. This gives us the best chance of success. I am cautiously optimistic that we are going to be able to get this done over here. I say cautiously because I want people at home to understand that this provision of Zika is part of a bigger, much bigger, product that involves funding the federal government."

Senator Merkley: (3:40 PM)

• Spoke on climate change.
  • "We are in a race against time, and at this moment, we are losing that race. So we need immediate bold action, and that is why in the upcoming months I will introduce a plan that challenges our nation to transition to 100% clean and renewable energy by the year 2050, a plan referred to as 100 by 50. The 100 by 50 plan will set a goal of having no more than 50% of our country's energy come from fossil fuels by 2050 and a complete phase-out of energy from fossil fuels by the year 2050. There will be those who, as with President Kennedy's challenge, will say this is beyond reach. But we already have in hand the vast majority of the technology needed to meet this challenge. We need market incentives that will dramatically accelerate the introduction and deployment of these technologies. We need a continued effort to improve the affordability and efficiency of these technologies."

Senator Portman: (1:47 PM)

• Spoke on opioid abuse.
  • "Customs and Border Protection has told us if we had advanced electronic data on these packages coming from overseas as you must have again if you're a private carrier like UPS or FedEx, it would help to ensure these dangerous drugs don't end up in the hands of drug traffickers or worst yet in the hands of our neighbors, our friends, family members. We introduced legislation called the Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention Act, or the STOP Act. It's very simple. It's to try to help keep this poison off our streets by simply closing the loophole and requiring that same advanced electronic data to come with all these packages from oversees - where it's coming from, what's in it, and where it's going. Traffickers are using the mail system because they don't have to provide that now if they send it through the mail system."

Senator Peters: (2:01 PM)

• Spoke on automated vehicles.
  • "Earlier this week, the Department of Transportation, or DOT, made history by releasing its official federal policy for automated vehicles. This marks a major milestone in the effort to bring driverless cars to American roads and to ensure that our country remains the world leader in the next generation of transportation. DOT federal policy contains four key components. The first outlines a 15-point safety assessment for the safe design, development, testing, and deployment of automated vehicles. And this is a meaningful first step. The first federal guidance for automotive manufacturers seeking to develop and deploy these new technologies."
• Spoke on the National Historic Vehicle Register Act.
  • "Earlier today, I introduced the National Historic Vehicle Register Act which will establish a federal register of historic vehicles and document and preserve records of these vehicles for our nation's history. This legislation will ensure the engineering drawings, photos, and stories of historically important vehicles will be available to inspire Americans and celebrate the accomplishments of the American auto industry. The National Historic Vehicle Register Act would build on efforts of the Historic Vehicle Association to help document and preserve the legacy of some of our most historic vehicles."

Senator Coats: (2:12 PM)

• Spoke on uncollected fees by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
  • "Even though CBP is legally directed to collect all of these fees, recently the General Accountability Office, or GAO, discovered that from 2001-2014, the CBP has failed to collect about $2.3 billion in anti-dumping and countervailing duties. Now, there are a number of reasons for why CBP has trouble collecting these fees, but one key reason the General Accountability Office highlighted is that CBP has simply not assessed the fees once the item is initially imported or once Commerce determines how much is owed. Basically, they are just behind the curve here. So the agency that is responsible for collecting these fees simply is not doing its job successfully enough. CBP is supposed to collect the fees within the first six months of entry of the product, but the GAO in its accountability process found out that of the 41,000 uncollected bills - 41,000 uncollected bills -- the median age of the bills was 4.5 years, and they were supposed to do it in the first six months."

Senator McConnell: (12:59 PM)

• Spoke on the continuing resolution.
  • "There have been broad requests for a clean continuing resolution, so that's what I've just offered. It's the result of many, many hours of bipartisan work on both sides of the aisle. It's a fair proposal that funds all current government operations through December 9 while also providing funding for the new legislation we've just passed overwhelmingly and that the president has signed. That's legislation to address the heroin and prescription opioid epidemic as well as the TSCA bill. It contains sufficient down payment on flood relief for many states including Maryland, West Virginia and Louisiana. And of course it includes important resources to support our veterans and to combat Zika. These are resources needed to help develop a vaccine and promote mosquito control. Members will have the next four days to review before any votes are taken in relation to the issue."

Senator Mikulski: (1:06 PM)

• Spoke on the continuing resolution.
  • "Now the Republican leader, the majority leader, has filed a Republican-only bill, the substitute that has now been placed before the Senate today. We Democrats cannot vote for for that substitute, and urge others to vote against it. What we want to be sure is that we avoid a government shutdown and a government showdown and continue the constructive talks that we've had. But the substitute offered by the Republican majority leader falls short. What is wrong with the bill before us? Well, one, it fails to help the people of Flint, Michigan. One hundred thousand people in Flint, Michigan, are still waiting for their water to be clean and safe. Nine thousand children have already had lead exposure that can cause permanent and irreversible damage. It tells Michigan to keep waiting in line."

Senator Isakson: (9:51 AM)

• Spoke in tribute to a retiring Georgia congressman, Rep. Lynn Westmoreland.
  • "I want to pause for a moment and pay tribute to a great Georgian who will be retiring at the end of December who served our state for six terms in the United States House of Representatives, Mr. Lynn Westmoreland. Lynn Westmoreland is a true entrepreneur, a native Georgian, a dedicated father, an outstanding businessman, and an unquestioned leader in the United States House of Representatives. As the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee in the House, he's been instrumental since 9/11 seeing to it that we remain safe in this country and we have the information we need to make the decisions we need to make to keep America safe. But I go back with Lynn Westmoreland a long, long time. I was a realtor in Georgia. I was in the brokerage business for 33 years, dealt with homebuilders all the time and one of them was Lynn Westmoreland."

Senator Markey: (10:07 AM)

• Spoke on opioid abuse.
  • "None of us can be silent anymore in the face of this epidemic. But in order to get Patrick and all the families who are suffering the help that they need, when they need it, the federal government needs to invest in funding treatment and recovery programs. So far, Congress has failed in this task. In Massachusetts, I am hearing enormous frustration from people who don't feel that adequate resources are being brought to bear on this epidemic of prescription drug and heroin addiction. Countless individuals and families suffering with addiction cannot find a bed for detox. And then when they are at their most vulnerable moment in recovery, they cannot find a place or provider for long-term treatment."

Senator Klobuchar: (10:15 AM)

• Spoke on opioid abuse.
  • "Doctors shouldn't be giving these prescriptions out. And that's why I've introduced a new bill that would require doctors and pharmacies to report when they give these prescriptions out immediately and require physicians to check this list. Many states have these programs in place, prescription drug monitoring programs, but they are voluntary. Not everyone does them. Some states like Florida don't even share their data with the rest of the country. And I truly believe that doctors and pharmacists are on the front line. And if they check these, we're going to stop people from getting addicted and get them into treatment like we should, which leads me to the next piece which is treatment itself. I've had many people tell me that they are better off committing a felony to get treatment. Why is that? Well, a lot of states like mine have good drug courts."

Senator Shaheen: (10:26 AM)

• Spoke on opioid abuse.
  • "It's ironic that we're here during Prescription Opioid and Heroin Epidemic Awareness Week to once again call on this Congress and this Senate to pass emergency funding to address what is the most pervasive, most destructive and, I believe, most urgent public health crisis that faces this nation. I certainly don't want to minimize the gravity of the other health challenges we're facing in America, especially the Zika outbreak which I believe is absolutely critical. But by any objective measure, these challenges are dwarfed by the destruction and loss of life that is being inflicted every day by the uncontrolled epidemic of heroin and opioid abuse. This epidemic is raging in all 50 states. It is an uncontrolled public health epidemic of staggering dimensions. In 2014, some 47,000 people died from drug overdoses, far more than the number of Americans who died in motor vehicle accidents the same year."