Forcing people to violate their conviction is just something that the constitution doesnt permit. [inaudible] whether or not [inaudible] i think were going live to hear from Senate Leaders as they return from their party lunches. Well, good amp, everyone. This week on the floor of the senate well be going through process of going to conference on tax reform. As you already know, pelosischumer, ryan and i have a meeting with the president on thursday to talk about the way forward on the Government Spending issue. What we anticipate is a two week c. R. And a december 22nd into december 22nd which ought to give us a little room to the talk about the larger understanding about how were going to, what the caps are are going to be and the other provisions that are going to be part of the yearenspending measure. Yearend spending measure. So thats the agenda for us for the week, and with that, ill turn to senator cornyn. Well, i know our democratic colleagues have been talking about their desire to find a solution for the recipients of daca, the deferred action for childhood arrivals. Weve indicated to them, led by chairman grassley, chairman of the judiciary committee, that were willing to enter into good faith negotiationings. But it simply does not advance the interests of these Daca Recipients to try to force this into a shutdown narrative and to jeopardize our National Security and other governmental functions just in order to help these young adults. We are certainly willing to enter into those good faith negotiations, but they do not belong in a end of the Year Spending appropriations debate, and i hope our colleagues on the other side of the aisle will take our word for it as demonstrated by our good faith in making an offer to them that we do want to resolve this, but its not going to be before the end of this year. We theres no negative action that occurs for any daca recipient before march of next year, and we have a couple of months in january and february to figure this out if the theyre willing to to meet us halfway and negotiate in good faith. Well, as the leader said, were hoping to get tax reform across the finish line soon. And working with our house colleagues to make that happen. And the thing thats really neat about this issue is, you know, if you think about americas always been a place of opportunity, its been a place where people come to build a better life. Many of us had ancestors who came here for that reason. But unfortunately, in recent years getting ahead in americas been replaced by just getting by. Weve seen sluggish growth, an anemic economy, the jobs, the good paying jobs havent been created in this economy, and as a result of that weve seen wages that have been flat for a long period of time. We believe that our tax reform bill starts us down toward the path of changing that. We double the standard deduction, we double the child tack credit in our bill, we lower rates, deliver meaningful tax relief to middle income families in this country. Youve heard in this used a lot on floor last week, but if youre an average family of four with a combined annual income of 73,000, you get a 2200 tax cut which represents a 60 savings over current law for that family. And with the investment that were making in changing the tax code with respect to businesses, businesses are going to be able to invest and expand and grow their operations. And what that means is that youre going to get those higher paying jobs and those higher wages for people in this country. Weve seen a lot of analysis done on that that suggests anywhere from 3500 to 4,000 a year annually for people, households in this country in terms of additional wagings. So thats what this is really about, making our businesses more competitive so they can get out there and compete and win in the Global Economy, create those better paying jobs, create those higher wages for American Workers and to the deliver muchneed tax relief to middle income families in this country. Were looking forward to getting it across the finish line, putting it on the president s desk. Des moines be a real victim itll be a real victory for the american people. So last wednesday we had a media event with several Small Business people, people involved in bigger businesses like the guy who was there who runs the home depot or person who runs his familys salvage business, and somebody made the observation there, one of those people representing their family and their business that if you had a less complicates tax code, one, he could spend more time doing business, less time figuring out what the tax code thinks his business should be about, but then he said it means i can spend more time with my daughters, more time volunteering at church. You know, the government can needlessly get in the way of so many things. We said at the very first what we wanted to do in this tax bill was see that working families had more takehome pay anded and that immediately. People in early next year are going to see those checks increase. Thats when theyll know for sure that what weve been saying is whats going to happen. And we also said on the other end of the tax code we wanted it to be more competitive to people had better jobs in the future. Theres an open letter or out there from 137 economists who say this tax code, both i think the senate model we like it because its the senate model, but both of these tax colds according to those economists drive our economy in an extraordinarily positive way. More opportunity, better competitors, less spending time trying to comply with the technical tax cold and more tax code and more believing that everybodys been treated the same way in a country that admires and rewards work and opportunity but also appreciates family and responsibility. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible] can you explain the change of heart [inaudible] yeah. Theres been no change of heart. I had hoped earlier he would withdraw as a candidate. That, obviously, is not going to happen. If he were to be elected, he would immediately have an Ethics Committee case, and the committee would take a look at the situation and give us advice. Leader mcconnell . You said you anticipate a two week c. R. , i just spoke with the Speakers Office on the other side of the building, and they indicate that the date has not been set yet for the length to have c. R. Are you and the speaker and the House Republicans on the same page . Well, the date hasnt been set yet. Thats what were talking about. My preference would be a two week c. R. Into december 2nd. [inaudible] december 30th . I dont think thats the best way to go forward. [inaudible] yeah. Look, ive made my position perfectly clear. Let me say it again. I had hoped that judge moore would resign, in other words, withdraw from from the race. That obviously is not going to happen. If he were to be elected, i think he would immediately have an issue with the Ethics Committee which they would take up. Mr. Leader . Yeah. [inaudible] well, youll have to talk to senator gardner, but my expectation is they will not get revolved. [inaudible] if judge moore is elected [inaudible] my understanding is based on a 1969 Supreme Court decision we would have no option but to swear him in because, apparently, the Supreme Court held that the only criteria are do you meet the constitutional standard. As a member of the senate, ive already predicted what would immediately begin to unfold, and well see what happens if that happens. [inaudible] i think ive pretty well covered that subject. You open to [inaudible] 22 . Yeah, no. I think the corporate rate should be at 20. Both bills reflect 20 . We think thats important, to make sure were competitive in the Global Economy of thank you. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] you just heard from Senate Republican leaders as they are returning from their party lunches to discuss their agenda. Its something that they typically do on tuesdays. Theyre talking about things like daca, job creation, tax reform legislation, all those. Senate republicans were joined by Vice President pence during their Party Meetings to look at some of those agenda items which also would include the extended government spuppedding past the saturday deadline spending program. When they gavel back in shortly, theyre expected to continue debate on Kirsten Nielsen to be the new director of homeland security. A vote expected at about 4 p. M. Eastern this afternoon in the senate. Lawmakers are returning to the chamber a little later than usual this afternoon. Usually its about 2 15, but today is the day they pose for their official portrait of the 115th congress. Well, of course, have live coverage when they gavel back in. Waiting to hear from Senate Democrat leaders as they are coming back from party lunches. We plan to bring you their remarks live here on cspan2. The house is also in session this afternoon, members considering a number of bills on suspension of the rules. See live coverage of the house on our companion network, cspan. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] again, we are hoping to hear from Senate Democrat leaders here in just a moment as the senate is about to return to session. [inaudible conversations] i am proud to be joined by jeanne shaheen, tammy baldwin, and we were just going over all the various names that different people have called sharon. My favorite is Barbara Mikulski who made him very elitist and calls him sherwood. [inaudible] oh, really . Well, you look so much alike. Especially in the hair. Okay. Thank you, everybody. We hope you enjoyed our rye post. Is that a right word . [laughter] i hope so. Okay. Well, thanks for joining us, everybody. As leader pelosi and i said yesterday, we were pleased to accept the president s invitation to meet at the white house on thursday to discuss the yearend agenda. We hope that this time, unlike last week, the president will come to the meeting with an open mind and be willing to work many a bipartisan in a bipartisan way to tackle the many issues were confronting before the end of the year. We have a lot of things to do. We need to raise the budget caps to prevent harmful cuts that would be devastating to the economy and to our military, we need to pass an omnibus appropriations bill, fund our Community Health centers, cm h. I. P. And disaster aid, and we need a bipartisan agreement pairing the dream act with smart Border Security measures. Unfortunately, just three day the away from shutdown it doesnt seem like republicans in the house have their act together. They dont seem to have a feasible path forward. Now, we hope that speaker ryan and leader mcconnell wont be led around by the Freedom Caucus. Thats a family thats a formula for disaster. Putting funding of the federal government in the hands of the Freedom Caucus can only lead to no good, grid lock and hurt for tens of millions of americans. We hope instead leader mcconnell, speaker ryan work with democrats in a bipartisan way to keep the government open, tackle the long todo list ahead of us. One of the most important things we immediate to do in the next several weeks is strike a budget deal to fund the government for the remainder of the year, and we democrats are doing what weve done before, and that is push for parity between funding our military and key domestic programs that bidding class middle class families rely on. We believe we need both. We believe both have a very strong claim on the budget. Along with raising the sequester cap for the military, we want to raise it on domestic investment so we can fully fund or our efforts to combat the Opioid Crisis, so that we can invest in Rural Infrastructure around the country, 5 of rural 25 of rural homes dont have broadband. And so we can prevent pensions that tens of millions of americans paid into month after month so theyd have a good retirement and theyre not sure theyre going to be there, we want to prevent pension benefits from drying up for millions of americans. Middle class americans need and deserve a fair budget that funds the programs they rely on. So wed ask our republican colleagues, do our republican colleagues want to cut veterans funding for next year . Do they want to cut Scientific Research . Do they want to cut funding to fight the Opioid Crisis . We hope, for the sake of of our country, that they dont. As these negotiations move forward, we democrats hope to work with our republican colleagues in a bipartisan way to strike a fair deal to keep the government open, fun our military fund our military, protect the middle class. Senator brown. Thank you, leader schumer. Right now more than a million workers across this country teamsters, mine workers, iron workers, bakery and confection workers, carpenters, many others are are on the verge of facing massive cuts to their pensions. Wall street squandered their pension money over the last decade, now this body, this senate, the house of representatives, we have a responsibility to keep the promise to protect the pensions that those workers earned and to do it this year before its too late. Last week the senate had the time to pass a massive tax giveaway that will give even more incentives for companies to shut down in cleveland or dayton and move overseas, get a tax break, sell products, manufacture, sell products back into the united states. They did nothing for hard working americans who worked their whole lives to earn their retirement. Time is running short. Saving these pensions must happen before the end of this year. This isnt a partisan issue. It affects communities we all represent. My colleagues on both sides of the aisle have voiced support and the desire to Work Together to pick this pension issue and to keep this promise. Now we need the get it done. Last month i sood in this building stood in this building down the hall with rita lewis, the widow of butch lewis, who worked 40 years as an ohio teamster. And if he were here today, butch would tell you he didnt work those 40 years in order to get a 40 cut in his pension. Butch couldnt be there, he couldnt be here today because he passed away far too soon after this fighting for the retirement that he is and these workers earned. Keeping our promise to tens of thousands of ohio workers and wisconsin workers and workers all over in this country, hundreds of thousands across the country, ought to be our number one priority before the end of the year. This is about whose side are you on. Are you going to side with wall street and corporate see sew owe ceos, or are we going to fight for workers and people who have dedicated their lives to their country as middle class, hard working Blue Collar Workers and others and fight for those pensions. Thank you, sherrod. Senator shaheen. Thank you. Im here because i believe we need to support our men and women in the military, but we also need to support the domestic side of this budget. And one of the areas where we have been devastated in my state of New Hampshire and across this country is in terms of the Opioid Epidemic. In New Hampshire we have the second highest number of Overdose Deaths in the country percentage, and its costing our state and the economy of this country billions and billions of dollars. So if were going to address this, we need to give states and communities the resources they need. We immediate to make sure that we fund we need e to make sure that we fund the domestic side of our budget in our negotiations. And i hope that our colleagues on both sides of the aisle will support that. Support to address the resources we need for the Opioid Epidemic has been bipartisan in the past. Hopefully, it will continue to be bipartisan, and we can get a deal done that will help the people of this country. Thank you. Senator baldwin. So those in the majority in washington need to stop their obsession with the wealthiest 1 and the big, powerful corporations as they have in their tax plan and focus sharply on the challenges people across this country face. Whether its combating the Opioid Crisis or keeping the promise to people who have earned their pensions or insuring that rural or Rural Americans are not left behind. Americas small towns face serious challenges, and they need the support and partnership from washington. If we dont maintain our rural roads, you cant get your goods to market, your kids the school or get to the doctor when you need to. If you dont have access to highspeed internet, you cant market or sell your Products Online or use an Electronic Health record. Youre basically left in the dust of everything the digital age has to offer. In the budget control act as it currently stands, Rural America is being shortchanged by arbitrary funding caps that will threaten rural access to basic things like clean drinking water, highspeed internet and the opportunity to own a home. Today im proud to stand with Senate Democrats to call for stronger Infrastructure Investment in Rural America. Instead of deep and unnecessary funding cuts that will that includes rebuilding rural Water Infrastructure so commitments can all have communities can all have clean drinking water. Home loans so that thousands of low income rural residents will have the chance to own a home and enhanced access to highspeed broadband service. These are not luxuries, these are priorities for us and for Rural America. So lets start working together now and get the job done. We will not leave our nations Rural Communities behind. Back to senator schumer. Well take only a couple because theyre waiting to take the class picture. [inaudible conversations] we dont think were going to get to that. There are good negotiations occurring between democrats and republicans to come up with a good daca program as well as some good Border Security. So we think were moving in the right direction there. [inaudible] thursday amp, isnt that a little thursday afternoon, isnt that a little close to youll have to ask the president. What can you get at that meeting in 3 00 to keep the government open at 11 00 on [inaudible] well, we dont know what the house is going to do, but if its a shortterm c. R. , it gives us a little more time to do the things were talking about now, plain and simple. [inaudible] last one. [inaudible] absolutely. We showed the president no games, this is serious stuff. We think he learned, and he invited us back this week. Thank you, everybody. [inaudible conversations] and wrapping up with Senate Democrat leaders as theyre returning from their Party Meetings. Shortly, they will be heading back into the senate chamber. We wont be able to show the picture event, but well bring you live coverage as soon as they gavel back in here on cspan2. While we wait, a discussion from this mornings washington journal about president trumps decision to shrink the size of two national monuments. Host joining us now is kno noel sb