On the fall congressional agenda. Funding for the federal government expires on september 30, so Congress Must pass a federal spending bill to keep the government open and avoid a shutdown. The house passed four of its 12 Appropriations Bills in a spending package. Here are the opening remarks of the floor debate from the House AppropriationsCommittee Chair and Ranking Member. Mr. Chairman, i rise today to present an amendment to hr 3219, the make america secure appropriations act. This legislative package revise critical appropriation for nafta security, including the department of defense, the department of Veterans Affairs, and the department of Energy Nuclear programs, and the legislative branch bill. My colleagues, this is the primary constitutional duty of the congress, to ensure the safety of the homeland and the American People. This legislation is carefully crafted to fund our Critical Military priorities, supporting veterans, and making our board making our borders more secure. The core of the package is fullyear funding for the department of defense and intelligence communities. I thank chairwoman granger for her leadership. The bill provides 658. 1 billion for these functions, an increase of 61 billion. There is no doubt that this is a significant increase from the current spending levels and certainly from the last eight years. But this increase is vitally important to continue the process we started this spring to rebuild, repair, reequip our armed forces that we started in 2017 appropriations package. Mr. Chairman, secretary of defense mattis has made readiness and modernization of our forces his top priorities. It is a fact today that we have too many aircraft that cannot fly, too many ships that cannot sail, too many troops who cannot deploy, either because they are not properly trained, or there are not enough of them. How do we get there . In recent years, we have been just getting by, reducing investments in our military as the world becomes more dangerous, and avoiding tough choices. The package before us today will sustain a muchneeded rebuilding of our military after a half decade of cuts, while our troops remained in constant combat, and they do so today. We provided prioritized funding to necessary but unfunded equipment and weapons platforms. We boosted missile defense, a program that has taken on critical importance as north korea unabatedly tries to marry its Nuclear Warheads with new ballistic missiles. We increased funding for the vital training that prepares our war fighter for any contingency. This legislation also supports our military families. After all, they serve, too. We include a 2. 4 pay increase for our servicemen and women, the largest raise in eight years, and they deserve it. Within the military construction of veterans, a portion of this bill and i thank the chairman for his leadership military infrastructure funding has increased by 25 above current levels. Continue our efforts to rebuild our armed forces, ensuring our war fighters have the support they need. We cannot forget those who served. This measure increases funding for the department of Veterans Affairs by 5 over current levels to provide veterans and a their families with access to medical care and other benefits they have earned and deserve. Within the energy and water section of this legislation, i thank chairman simpson for his leadership. Funding is prioritized for Critical Nuclear programs that will help strengthen our security and deter threats around the globe. We also support the maintenance of our nations waterways and support the work of our army corps and to ensure security of our electricity infrastructure. We recommit to opening Yucca Mountain as a safe location to permanently store the Nations Nuclear fuel and highlevel radioactive waste and promote basic science programs which lay the foundation for new energy technologies. Finally, mr. Chairman, this package also includes funding for important legislative branch functions. I thank chairman yoder for his leadership, improving security to ensure our members, our staff, and visitors to this wonderful capitol complex are always well protected. Mr. Chairman, before i close, i want to offer thanks to members of the Appropriations Committee for their hard work and have tough decisions over the past few months. Reducing two Appropriations Bills. Fiscal year 20172018 in less than three months. As you know, we received the president s budget on may 23, over two months ago. Since then, we have worked nonstop to put all 12 bills to the committee in record time. Each and every one of these bills deserves to be sent to the president s desk. I look forward to completing work on all of our bills. I would like to extend my personal thanks to the entire committee and to our remarkable staff of our hard work on these bills and on the aid yet to come. Gentleman from new jersey reserves. The gentlewoman from new york is recognized. Mr. Speaker, i yield myself four minutes. The gentlewoman is recognized for four minutes. Typically, the legislative branch, military construction, Veterans Affairs, energy, water, and defense bills would be debated and amended by the full house individually. Regrettably, we are debating this 790 billion socalled security minibus in only two hours, for some reason other than necessity. Substantive amendments chosen at the discretion of the chairman of the rules committee will be debated for 10 minutes. We also expect 1. 6 billion in border wall funding to be added through a rules gimmick meant to prevent an up or down vote on the law. On the wall. The undemocratic maneuver by the rules committee to unilaterally remove congresswoman barbara lees amendment to debate a new aumf, which received bipartisan support in the committee, is simply outrageous. All the promises of Republican Leadership of returning to regular order have been broken. I do, however, want to thank the chairman for conducting business in the Appropriations Committee markups fairly and collegially, as the minority offered amendments late into the night. On top of the many procedural inequities, however, the majoritys increased defense spending is a mirage. Shattering budget control caps would trigger automatic acrosstheboard cuts of 13 to every defense account. Yet the majority pretends to sequester, which would cut 72 billion in defense funding in this bill. Isnt real. I want to make it very clear that democrats are ready to work with our republican colleagues to raise the caps on defense, but we must also raise the cap on important domestic priorities. Playing politics with the bill that funds the troops by inserting the toxic border wall to it is really beyond the pale. Why not include the fbi or the entire Homeland Security bill . If the intention is to pass securityrelated bills, securing our homeland goes beyond the department of defense and our own budgets in the legislative branch. The republican approach to funding our government for fy 18 all but guarantees shortterm if not a fullyear continuing resolution. Just like every year, democratic votes will be needed to enact appropriation law, and i really do hope we will soon start to Work Together again to invest responsibly in both defense and nondefense priorities to grow the economy, create jobs, and secure the country. As i conclude, i want to thank our distinguished chairman, mr. Frelinghuysen, his outstanding staff, as well as my outstanding staff. An additional minute. Recognized for an additional minute. Rep. Lowey however, i urge my colleagues to vote no on this bill, which would waste 1. 6 billion on trumps border wall, use fraudulent defense numbers, guts critical investments in clean energy, includes poison pill riders, and leaves the remaining spending bills with no path forward. Joining us now for an update on the fall congressional agenda from capitol hill is christina marco, a reporter with the hill. Cristina, now that the house has passed four of the 12 federal spending bills, what are the plans for the august recess . Guest the house expects to take up the remaining eight spending bills for the next fiscal year. However, Speaker Paul Ryan has said in the last week or so, while over the august recess, but because the senate has such a backlog of nominations, they are still dealing with that, it appears likely nonetheless that the house will turn to a shortterm spending extension. Putting programs on autopilot, in congressional parlance is known as a continuing resolution. The real funding fight may well go into december, since the spending bill that they will likely pick up will likely only be for a few months. Host you mentioned the Trump Administration and continuing resolution. President trump has called for a border wall between the u. S. And mexico, and he said, one way or the other, mexico is going to pay for the wall, but he also talked about a shutdown in conjunction if he doesnt get the funding for that. How do you think we are going to see this resolve itself to avoid a Government Shutdown september 30 and also the continuing resolution you say that will be needed . Guest hard to say how it will play out. Trump has never Held Elected Office before. This is the first year of his presidency. The last time that he was switching for funding of the wall to be included in a spending package was earlier this spring, when congress had to keep the government funded. In the end, the administration backed down in the face of widespread democratic opposition and even some opposition from republicans, especially in the texas delegation and other states estate on the border. They are the ones on the ground, and they are saying this is not really practical and we should invest in things like Border Technology and other kind of infrastructure, not necessarily a wall as envisioned by donald trump on the campaign trail. In any case, as it would be approved by congress, mexico would not be paying for this wall as trump famously promised in his rally. Host right. On the other side of the capitol, if we take a look at the senate, what are their plans to deal with federal spending . Guest the senate faces the same problems as the house. They are at this point not planning to take up any kind of spending package like the house is the first week back, but it is possible that in the end, the senate could pass a shortterm spending bill and send it over to the house. That game plan has not really been meshed out at this point. Host well, another issue that congress is going to be dealing with this fall, raising the debt ceiling to avoid a default on u. S. Debt. Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin testified in july before the senate Appropriations Committee, and he was questioned about the debt. We will take a look at some of his testimony. Sec. Mnuchin as we spoke about addressed, u. S. Reached the debt limit in march, and you are using a surname measures to avoid default, do you agree that allowing the government to default on its debts is a terrible idea that would have significant consequences for our market, our economy, and the threat of default has the potential for costly applications patience for cash implications for the implications for the government and it undermines our credibility . Secretary mnuchin senator, yes. Thank you for asking a question, which is on one of my favorite subjects and has also been one of the previous secretarys favorite subjects. Let me again emphasize that the United States credit is of utmost importance. We are the reserve currency, and we must pay our bills on time. So as i have suggested in the past, based upon our best estimate at the time, we have the funding through september, but i have urged congress to take this up before they leave for the recess. Let me ask you a couple questions. I wanted to pick up where senator coons left off on the issue of debt ceiling. We are using extraordinary measures. Do extraordinary measures have cost to the taxpayer . Sec. Mnuchin yes, they do. Give me a guess as to what they cost the taxpayer when we move past the time period and wait and delay the decision on the action. Sec. Mnuchin well, there is a significant cost. It is twofold. The first cost is a real cost, which is right now effectively, as opposed to borrowing in the market at lower rate, we are borrowing and making our trust funds hold at slightly higher rates. There is a real cost to doing that. There is also an implied cost of uncertainty into the market. The longer we wait, the more that uncertainty will be. Again, i fully urge congress to deal with this issue as soon as possible. A couple things on that. The best guess i have been working with your team and trying to get an accurate cost of extraordinary measures, is 2. 5 billion to the taxpayer in real dollars. We pay in because we are covering our own interests to be able to do that. That is a significant cost and loss to the taxpayer. Second thing is, you and i have spoken about this before. We should and will do a debt limit issue, because that is taking care of already when budget decisions are made. There is something that has to be resolved at that point. My request to you is to be able to work with congress and figure out a way that when we get to a debt limit moment, we do address the issue of debt because we cannot ignore that and pile on debt and assume there is no consequence. Those key moments should be in the fiscal decision we make. And to be able to find some sort of consistent calendar. I have recommended a twoyear debt limit time period that every two years we have to address this, and determine if we have the deficit going up or down . If the deficit is going down, the president has the authority to make the decision on the debt limit. If the deficit is rising or is static, congress has to debate it. That forces us to get back to how are we dealing with the issue of deficit . For me, we have half a trillion dollars in overspending this year. We cannot pretend that will go away. We have to address it and i believe a debt ceiling moment is a moment to address it, but if we are actually cutting away at the deficit, i think that should be a process that is ongoing and very predictable. The only time it is not predictable is the moment when the deficit is static, because something has to be addressed at that moment and we have to take that on. Cristina marcos is with us, a reporter for the hill. The Trump Administration called on congress to vote to raise the debt ceiling before the august recess. Obviously, they did not do that. What have you heard from house and Senate Leaders about their plans to schedule a vote on the debt ceiling . And when is the deadline to avoid default . Guest the default deadline that has been issued by the Treasury Department is september 29, which, incidentally, is one day before funding for the federal government expires. What is likely at this point to happen is that congress may lump both of those things into one vote rather than forcing the republicans to take two votes. So they can lift the debt ceiling and keep the government funded at the same time. Speaker paul ryan, senator mcconnell, Steve Mnuchin, have emphasized the market should not worry because they are confident this will be dealt with in a timely manner. Host are we expecting a clean vote on the debt limit as the white house has been calling for . Guest there has been mixed messages on this front. Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin has been calling for a clean debt limit increase. Speaker paul ryan and Mitch Mcconnell have not been ruling any options out, because there is a highly influential faction of conservatives in the house and senate who have always called for pairing spending cuts with the debt limit increase. Especially now that Republicans Control Congress and the white house, they are really insistent that i mean, during the obama years, they had president obama saying they should have a clean debt limit. It was not really a realistic possibility, but this time, since theoretically they have conservative control, this is something they can theoretically deliver on. But it is unclear if they can actually coral the votes to do that. Host you mentioned the factions. Can you take us through which ones could prevent a clean vote . Guest the House Freedom caucus has been at the forefront of this since earlier this summer and calling for a corresponding spending cuts with debt limit increase. We could see some support for that in the republican spending committee, which is very conservative, but they generally have not taken as many hardline positions as the freedom caucus, but in the end, since there is a need to keep the government funded, it is entirely possible that they will end up with a clean debt limit. Host another issue is the tax code, and Congress Plans to take up a rewrite of the tax code this fall. In the next video we will show from early august, we are going to be hearing from house ways and means chair kevin brady on the republicans proposals for tax reform, and then we will hear from the senate. Floor remarks from minority leader Chuck Schumer on the democrats plan. [video clip] rep. Brady for years, americans have watched our jobs, our manufacturing, our research, our headquarters move overseas. They have seen america struggle in raising paychecks for every american. So, after all these years, it really begs the question of every american why are we standing idly by and watching our jobs leave our shores . Why and at what point, you know, have we given up on the reagan principles of simplicity and fairness and competitiveness . And when did we decide to give in to Washington Special interests at the expense of hardworking americans who truly contribute to americas economy . You know, i just do not accept where were at right now in the tax code. Our local businesses, our middleclass families, they dont accept it either. And so, on this historic day, it is time for us to come together and show the world as a nation that we do not accept this tax code. It is time to change it. For the first time in 31 years, we have a white house, house, and senate truly committed to fixing the broken tax code and providing relief for every family while we are growing jobs and paychecks. And it will not be easy. Tax reform, legislatively, it is the biggest challenge of any generation. Social media on twitter already has a hashtag for it. Trih, tax reform is hard. And it is. It is. To be successful, as president reagan was, it is important to remember what we are fighting against, and more importantly, it is important to remember what we are fighting for. We are fighting against this monster of a tax code. This tax code has been winning. It is on a 31year winning streak. It has tripled in size since president reagan reformed. Once again, we have all these lobbyist loopholes, exclusions, deductions, and carveouts. And today, our tax code is backed by powerful special interests who will fight tooth and nail to preserve their deals, even if it means to bring tax reform down. We cannot let the status quo win. If you remember nothing else i say today, we cannot let the status quo win. What we are fighting for is too important. And who we are fighting for is too important. We are fighting for what president reagan termed as the greatest special interest of all, the American People. We are fighting for those reagan principles of simplicity and fairness and growth and competition. More importantly, i think we are fighting for a bigger and Better Future for our children and grandchildren. A Better Future, a future like kathy and i hope for our two boys. When this fight gets tough, and it will over the coming months, we cannot give up. We will not give up. The American People are counting on us to persevere, to win, and together, with your support, we will. So as you know, coming from texas, i do not necessarily talk fast, and i dont talk long either. Let me close with this. Today, we commit to a new chapter in americas great story. Today, we commit to a new tax code written for a new era of american excellence and prosperity. With the American People, we can cut all these loopholes out and lower the tax rate for every family, for every business, for every neighborhood in america, and we can vault america from nearly deadlast in the world back into the lead pack. The best place on the planet for next new job, the next new plant , the next new technology. And together, working with President Trump, congress, and the American People, you know, i am confident we can meet this challenge. We can rise to this challenge just as our nation has risen to and prevailed over so many challenges before in our history. I believe this with all my heart, because just as president reagan did, i believe that there is no limit to what this nation can achieve when we put our faith in god, in each other, and in the boundless potential of americas ingenuity. 2017 is the year we make history, and together, i mean truly together, we will. Sen. Schumer my friend, the majority leader, brought down the curtain on bipartisan tax reform before a discussion between our two parties could even start. Dismissing the prospect of democratic input, promising the republicans would again use reconciliation to lock us out of the process, repeating the same mistake they did with health care. Leader mcconnells announcement just came a few hours after 45 members of the Democratic Caucus sent him a letter saying we were open to bipartisan discussions on tax reform. We have three simple, straightforward principles. Let me read the principles. Democratic principles on tax reform. First, dont cut taxes for the 1 , the top 1 . They are doing fine, god bless them. Second, dont increase the debt and deficit, something many of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have been talking about for a long time. And third, negotiate in a fair and open process, not reconciliation, but hearings, amendments, the things that have made America Great and have brought the acclaim over the decades it has had. I would like to know which of these principles the majority leaders do not agree with. Is he closing the door on bipartisanship . Does he so dearly want to cut taxes on the top 1 . The wealthy are doing great right now. God bless them. But they dont need another tax break, while middleclass families and working americans are struggling to make ends meet. Many of us on the side of the aisle suspect that to some that the number one motivation is to no caps off form, not close loophole not tax reform, not close loopholes, but give that top 1 a huge tax break to please so many like the koch brothers. Again, i asked the leader, are you closing be door on bipartisanship simply because you want to cut taxes on the top 1 . Or maybe the leader is closing the door on bipartisanship because he has a fervent desire to blow up the deficit. That doesnt sound like something that republicans have been interested over the years. They have been spending lots of time, with good reason, with deficits golfing and with deficit scolding and debt scolding. Or, is the majority leader closing the door on bipartisanship because he thinks reconciliation, which means you exclude the democrats, is a good process . Because he doesnt want to have hearings . Because he doesnt want amendments . Maybe it is the same reason on health care, maybe they are ashamed of their proposal. I would like to see somebody on the floor say, we believe in tax cuts on the republican side, we believe in tax cuts for the top 1 . That is why we want to do this. But, no, they want to hide it, give a crumb to the middle class and say, see, we are helping you. We all know that what happens after we have a big deficit, they come back and say, let us cut social security, lets cut medicare, because we dont have the money. We dont have money because they cut taxes on the very wealthy. So i dont know which of these three principles the majority leader is against, but when he closed the door on democrats, when we sent him this letter we simply outlined our principles. That is all we wanted to do. Give them notice that we agree on these three things, at least on our side. Which one or all of them made him close the door . We democrats hoped that we could Work Together on tax reform, but the majority leader has drawn down the curtain before the play has begun. Republicans will spend the entire first year of congress trying to pass their agenda on reconciliation, a process that deliberately excludes democrats, hearings, excludes amendments, with no shred of bipartisan input. Just like with health care, i believe it will be another dead end for republicans. I tell my friend the majority , i quote his speech in 2014, restoring the senate. I truly believe mcconnell believes in the institution of the senate. He has shown examples of that when he said, we dont want to change the rules, despite President Trump pushing to do that. Here is what he said in 2014. When the senate is allowed to work the way it was designed to, it arrives at a result acceptable to people along the political spectrum. But if it is an Assembly Line for one partys partisan legislative agenda, it creates instability and strife rather than good, stable law. That is the majority leaders words. If you believe that, my dear friend from kentucky, why are you instituting reconciliation, the exclusionary process, before we begin the debate . Why might the American People have to learn the lesson of health care if the process doesnt work . The American People want to see us Work Together. We may not always succeed. It may not be easy. It is hard work. But we ought to try. This Assembly Line, a partisan legislation, no democratic input or hearings, no amendments, is not what any of us want. It is not what the American People are calling for, and it wont produce good, stable law. Host what is the current timeline for congress to pick up tax reform . Guest there has been a shifting timeline for a tax reform bill. Initially, republicans hoped they could have finished something by the august recess. That didnt pan out. The idea that the house could take up a plan in october and the senate could then take it up in the following month would be theoretically something that could be on President Trumps desk by the end of the year. But as we saw with republicans plans to repeal obamacare, that quick sort of timeline didnt work out so well, given the complexity of the issue. With all the other deadlines that Congress Faces this fall and in december if they push the Government Spending fight, it is entirely possible their plans to take up tax reform could be pushed aside. Host what have you heard from house and Senate Leaders about legislation going through regular order, where we have hearings, a floor debate, or with the reconciliation process, would it be used like it tried to be used for health care . Needing only 51 votes to pass . In the house, i guess that worked. Guest thats right. The republicans have been planning to take up tax reform under the same process with reconciliation, so they wouldnt need democratic votes. Members i have been talking to in recent months say they want to avoid the mistakes they made on health care. Maybe they are hoping they could find some probusiness democrats who would be interested in working with them. And possibly, another option is that they want to stick to regular order more so than with the health care bill, rather than rushing the bill to the floor without extensive hearings ahead of time, they want to be thorough with this and avoid that kind of public criticism they encountered last time when they kept rushing the votes. Host what has the Trump Administrations input been on tax reform proposals . Should we expect to see more meetings between congressional leaders and the white house for any final bill . Guest im sure we will see a lot of meetings in the coming months. With the house and Senate Leaders, administration officials, tasked with working on tax reform. They are known as the big six. They have been meeting for months. I am sure we will be seeing a lot more of that in the weeks to come. Host a fourth key issue, and you have mentioned it already, Health Care Reform legislation, Congress Planning to take that up this fall after repeal efforts in the senate have failed. Tennessee senator Lamar Alexander chairs the Health Committee. He announced that bipartisan meetings to stabilize the Health Insurance markets were going to hear his remarks on this first, and it will be followed up by the Senior Committee democrat, sheldon whitehouse. [video clip] alexander mr. President , this afternoon senator murray, the senator from washington state, a Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on health, education, labor, Pensions Committee i am the chairman of the committee made a joint bipartisan announcement that the Senate Health committee will hold hearings beginning the week of september 4 on the Actions Congress should take to stabilize and strengthen the individual Health Insurance market so that americans will be able to buy insurance at affordable prices in 2018. Well hear from state Insurance Commissioners, patients, governors, from healthcare experts, and Insurance Companies. Committee staff will begin work this week, working with all Committee Members to prepare for these hearings and discussions. That was the announcement that senator murray and i made today. Now, in my own words, the reason for these hearings is that unless Congress Acts by september 27, when Insurance Companies must sign contracts with the federal government to sell insurance on the federal exchange next year, millions of americans with government subsidies in up to half our states may find themselves with zero options for buying Health Insurance on the exchanges next year. Many others without government subsidies will find themselves unable to afford Health Insurance because of rising premiums, copays, and deductibles. There are a number of issues with the American Health care system, mr. President , but if the house is on fire, you want to put out the fire. The fire in this case is the individual Health Insurance market. Both republicans and democrats agree on this. Our committees, the Health Committee, held one hearing on the subject on february 1. We are working intensively in order to finish our work in time to have an effect on Health Insurance policies next year in 2018. I am consulting with senator murray to try and make these hearings as bipartisan as possible. And to involve as many Committee Members as possible. I will be consulting with senator hatch and senator wyden so the finance committee is matters wey discussed that might be within its jurisdiction. A number of senators had said they would like to be involved. We are going to find a way for them to be involved and update them on our progress. In these discussions, we are dealing with a small segment of the total Health Insurance market. Only about 6 of insured americans buy their insurance in the individual market. Only about 4 of insured americans buy their Health Insurance on the Affordable Care act exchanges. But while these percentages are small, they represent large numbers of americans, including many of our most vulnerable. We are talking about roughly 18 million americans in the individual market. About 11 million of them buy their insurance on the Affordable Care act exchanges. About 9 million of these 11 million have Affordable Care act subsidies. Unless we act, many of them may not have policies available to buy in 2018 because Insurance Companies will pull out of the collapsing markets. It will be like having a bus ticket and no bus is coming. Just as important, unless we act, costs could rise and make health care unaffordable. For the additional 9 million americans in the individual market that receive no Government Support to buy insurance, roughly 2 million who buy their Health Insurance on the exchanges, but who dont qualify for a subsidy, and roughly 7 million buy their insurance outside of the exchanges. This means they have no government help paying for their premiums, copays, and deductibles. As we prepare for these discussions, i have urged that President Trump temporarily continue the costreduction payments through september so that congress can work on shortterm solutions for stabilizing the individual markets in 2018. These costsharing reduction subsidies reduce copays and reduce deductibles and reduce other outofpocket costs to help lowerincome americans by buy their Health Insurance on the exchanges. We are talking about those who make under 50 of the federal poverty level, 30,000 for an individual, 60,000 for a family of four. Without payment of these costsharing reductions, americans will be hurt. Up to half the states will likely have bare counties with zero providers offering insurance on the exchanges. Insurance premiums will increase roughly 20 , according to the american Health Insurance plans. In my opinion, any solution that Congress Passes for a 2018 stabilization would need to be small, bipartisan, and balanced. It should include funding for the costsharing reductions. But it also should include greater flexibility for states in improving Health Insurance policies, which should reduce costs. It is reasonable to expect that if the president were to approve the continuation of costsharing subsidies for august and september, and if congress in september should pass a bipartisan stabilization bill that includes costsharing for one year, 2018, it is reasonable to expect the Insurance Companies in 2018 would lower their rates. They have told us oliver wyman, an independent observer of health care, has told us that lack of funding for costsharing reductions would add 11 20 for premiums in 2018. So the president over the next two months and the congress over the next year should take steps to provide certainty that there will be costsharing subsidies. That should allow Insurance Companies to lower the premiums that they have projected they will charge in 2018. In fact, many Insurance Companies have priced their rates for 2018 at two different levels. One with costsharing, and one without costsharing. It is important the president only to approve temporary costsharing for august and september, but that the congress in a bipartisan way find a way to approve it for at least one year so we can keep the premiums down. This is only one step with what we want to do about Health Insurance and the larger question of health care costs. We will proceed stepbystep. A subsequent step will be to provide a way to create a longterm, more robust individual insurance market. But in the short term, our proposal is that by midseptember, we will see if we can agree on a way to stabilize the individual insurance market, keep premiums down, and make insurance affordable to all americans. I thank the president , and i yield the floor. The senator from rhode island. Sen. Whitehouse i am here to speak about something else. But let me take a moment and thank my chairman for what he has done. I had the experience of serving on the Health Committee with ranking alexander and member murray we did the Education Bill last year. Education is nearly as fraught a topic politically around here as health care is. And what we saw in a thoughtful, regular order of process that was developed under chairman alexanders leadership was a very considerable piece of work, with real effect. Sometimes we agree with something on both sides of the aisle because there is nothing to it. It is National Peaches week or something, everyone is for that. When it is Something Big and consequential, that is where difficulties begin to emerge. And what the chairman was able to work in the committee with Something Big and consequential on health care, and to the end of my days in the senate, i am going to remember that closing vote. When the clerk of the committee called the roll, and every member of the Health Committee voted in favor of the measure. It came out of committee unanimously. And with that burst of energy, it came through the floor, passed the house without too many changes, and it was a remarkable piece of work. I have seen what the Health Committee can do under chairman alexander and Ranking Member murray, and i am filled with confidence that the process can be terrific there. I am filled with goodwill towards a successful outcome. I just think it is terrific what the chairman has said. I just want to say that word of appreciation. Host the Senate Health committee is scheduled for two days of hearings on health care beginning september 6. Cristina marcos, what is the purpose of these hearings . Guest well, since the Senate Health care bill went down in flames earlier this summer, the plan is that the Senate Health committee will have hearings with state Insurance Commissioners and several governors, both democratic and republican states, to talk about maybe there are some Bipartisan Solutions lawmakers can agree on, rather than going with the original republican plan of straightup repealing and replacing the Health Care Law. Some of these governors have been working on Bipartisan Solutions of their own, like Governor John Hickenlooper of colorado. He has been working on a proposal to stabilize the Health Market with Ohio Governor john kasich, republican. They are hoping to get some more input on that. As chairman alexander said, these governors and state Insurance Commissioners are at the center of the problem. Host will there be more effort in the fall to repeal the Health Care Law or fix the current problems . Guest republicans in both the house and senate have indicated they would like to move on and start working on tax reform. A lot of them have acknowledged privately that this is what they really want to work on. At this point, whatically and votewise, they can pass through both chambers may be a slimmeddown insurance stabilization markets. Host several items were not on the agenda until recently have come up. Possible Disaster Relief for Hurricane Harvey, and plans to reauthorize the National Flood insurance program. That is set to expire september 30. What is the status of some of these issues . How do they impact efforts to fund the federal government . Guest the Flood Insurance program was already expected to be dealt with in september. Now that Hurricane Harvey is in the spotlight, it will probably get a lot more attention. Federal aid for harvey, once local officials assess how much aid is needed, that will likely become part of the spending five. That could be a way to use the skids on passing the shortterm spending bill. Historically in recent years, democrats have had to carry most of the votes on that. While a lot of republicans vote colloquially around here is known as a vote no, hope yes. Host were expecting house investigations into the russian influence in the 2016 u. S. Election to continue. As well as calls from democrats to censure President Trump. What is the status of these efforts . Guest democrats are pushing censure of President Trump after his response to the violence stemming from the white supremacist march in charlottesville. Some democratic aides have suggested that democrats might find ways to for some quotes on this, through committees through the resolution of inquiry. That is a way for the Minority Party to demand documents from the administration. For example, they could ask for documents on how the administration is addressing white supremacists, for example. And a variety of other ways that they could force the vote on how to address the threats from racial violence to directly censure President Trump. Ruled outul ryan bringing up a censure resolution during a town hall this month, so it is extremely unlikely that republicans would sign on to that. Host Christina Marcos from the hill, thanks for joining us. Guest thanks so much for having me. When Congress Returns next week, we expect quick action on aid to Hurricane Harveyaffected areas. Press,om the associated the white house has prepared a request to congress for an additional 9. 5 million package on harvey aid, a first down payment to make sure that efforts are adequately funded. An official said that the plan would be sent to congress on friday and house and senate vote appears likely next week. We are expecting more about the situation in texas later this afternoon. Governor greg abbott will give an abbott will give an update. He is scheduled to brief reporters around 2 00 p. M. Eastern. We are preparing live coverage. We are alive today with a daylong discussion on the opioid epidemic. The oxford house is the host. Expected topics include preventive measures as well as treatment. See that live today on our companion network cspan 2. When you think about a one festival, the National Book festival, and you have over 100 authors, from childrens authors, illustrators, graphic novelist, all of these different authors there all day. And 100,000 people come in celebrate books and reading. You cannot have a better time. I am a little prejudiced, because i am a librarian, but if any reader once to get wants to get inspired, the National Book festival is vertigo. Atthe book festival begins 11 00 a. M. , including the former secretary of state, condoleezza rice, and thus selling authors Michael Lewis and bestselling authors. Beginning at 11 00 a. M. Eastern on cspan 2s book tv. Book tv recently visited capitol hill to ask members of congress are they are reading this summer. What are you reading this summer . I have already gotten through a few novels. I have a couple on my list. One of the books i recently read was the nightingale, which is a the nightingale, which is a story about women resisting nazi rule during world war ii and her efforts to help the resistance. Excellent book. So much of history is written by men, and the stories of women are not told. That was an interesting book from that perspective. The book i am in the middle of his option b how to build resiliency and deal with loss and find joy in life. That is by sheryl sandberg. Year ago. Er husband a this book is a great way to give some hul