Undersecretary for strategy, policy and plans. And now live coverage of the u. S. Senate here on cspan2. The president pro tempore the senate will come to order. The chaplain, dr. Black, will lead the senate in prayer. The chaplain let us pray. Gracious god, our rock of ages and lifes shifting sands, give our lawmakers this day the abiding assurance of your presence. May they strive to be your instruments, accompliing your will and being concluded by your glory. Enable them to experience your contentment and peace, facing lifes chaos with quiet hearts and vibrant faith. Lord, refresh their spirit, quicken their thinking, reinforce their judgment, and empower them to fulfill your purposes on earth. We pray in your mighty name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The presiding
Ill have more on this and the fire danger coming up. Mike, do you have any update on the wrong way driver . No news on that. A wrong way driver reported southbound on the north side of 17. From hamilton they may be heading down across the santa cruz mountains. Usually with those situations no news is good news. That driver usually gets off the freeway without injury or incident. Were looking at the rest of the bay and tracking a smooth flow of traffic. We have a new crash, west 580 and a little slowing at vasco. Back to you. 5 01 now. Searing heat and high winds fueling possible fires in the bay area. The red flag warning remains in effect. There are shut offs expected to help prevent any fires from sparking power lines. We have a reporter live for us is santa rosa. Whats todays plan . Reporter were in a stand by mode for north bay. That means about 55,000 pg e customers waiting to find out if their power will be shut off as part of the Public Safety power shut offs as pg e monitors it
Will also be held from december 29 to bahman 5. Visit the discussion about book introduction reports and comments the persian language is one of the most important topics raised in this visit hosted by the broadcasting news agency from the head of the persian language and Literature Academy on the journalists day. I congratulate you and all your colleagues, especially the colleagues we have in the Book Department in the news agency , dr. Gholam ali haddadadal. He was a special reporter of the Editorial Office who has a daily introduction of the book on his agenda. Besides the important issues of the country, you should dedicate 12 minutes to introduce the book. This has a message for the society, and the message is that the book is important for a group that, in addition to telling stories for the audience, is also a persian language constable. That you are ringing this alarm and you blame the violators of the law, why did you use a foreign word when it is a persian word . One point of
Ladies and gentlemen, the troops representing armed forces from front to left the United States army band under the direction of kernel holton and scott little. Elements of the armed forces the old guard, led by captain michael, Sergeant First Class gary gordon. Next almost on line jason and sergeant leo. The colors have been one of the most important elements of a military unit in an armed forces colored guard and the service flag of the army, marine corps, navy and coast guard. Platoon officer sullivan. Next element on line members from the United States air force guard led by first lieutenant. Flight noncommission Michael Michael moore. And platoon officer mike gizer. Last on guard gore. Musician wore the reverse colors, men and women of the old guard man maintained tradition. Led by major hayes. The platoon sergeant is first class joseph brown. To the right of the formation is the president ial salute gun battery led by sergeant. Marching on the joint staff army captain alexander,
Regarding the Security Checks. We will not cut corners. The Security Check requirements were developed in the inner agency with the consultation and expertise of the fbi, our dhs partners, and the Intelligence Community partners and the security regime was set up with all that input. And i have heard no discussion of making any cuts to it for any reason. I would like to point out that the grant grants of Refugee Status are discretionary so that if there is a doubt, the case is referred for further review and if theres a National Security concern, that individuals application is denied. As the refugee situation continues to evolve, the administration is assessing its capacity and resource needs for fiscal year 2016 within an increased number of refugees it will be important to preserve currently available resources and fund this at a sufficient level. Mr. Chair, if i may just one question related to accountability. Mr. Bartlett, i understand that youre working with the decisions that ha