Mr. Portman madam president . The presiding officer the senator from ohio. Mr. Portman madam president , im on the floor today to talk about the epidemic officerster were in a quorum call the presiding officer we are in a quorum call. Mr. Portman i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Portman with snarks madam president , i am here on the floor to talk about an epidemic that has gripped my state of ohio and affected every single state in this body and every community we represent, and thats the issue of Prescription Drug, heroin, and now fentanyl and other synthetic heroin addiction. This epidemic is affecting our communities in fundamental ways. It is breaking families apart. Its causing crime. In fact, in my home state of ohio, as i talk to Law Enforcement first of all, in every county, they tell me it is the top reason for crime and the growth in crime. Its certainly affecting our First Responders. When i go to a
The Defense Department inspector general recently substantiated complaints that the senior executive sexually harassed subordinates and used racial slurs.
military families have been following the budget showdown in washington. if the government had shutdown, paychecks would have stopped but now that s not going to happen. that s great news. ryan roach is an aviation mechanic with the navy. you see him there with his wife and their family. his wife is joining me this morning. erica, thank you for being here with us. can you give me your initial reaction? i assume you re relieved that the budget showdown is over for the most part but at the same time you probably had to be upset that it got to that point. erica, are you with me? apologies. we just lost her. erica roach, a number of many and we have been talking to a number of military families this week quite frankly. many of them standing by. there was word that possibly a lot of military families may not get paid on time and unfortunately many people in the military live paycheck to paycheck.
glad you could be here with us, i m t.j. holmes. 10:00 a.m. here in atlanta and 10:00 a.m. in washington, d.c., where a lot of news is coming out and also 4:00 p.m. in cairo and we re there as a lot of newses is happening and new developments in tahrir square. protesters burn a bus. police attack with tear gas. the struggle for democracy goes on. we ll have more from there in just a minute. but we do need to start with that budget deal. no government shutdown we need to worry about for now. democrats and republicans came together with a compromise late last night, literally, an hour before the deadline and a deal that now cuts some $40 billion in spending but it doesn t touch planned parenthood. a lot of people wondering why this was part of the conversation in the first place. first up, a temporary short-term deal that has a one-week shelf life. cnn senior white house correspondent ed henry joins me, once again, this morning. ed, hello. tell me. do we have this right, th