Tim Kaine

if we can slow that problem down by investing in these regions so that they can reduce violence and grow jobs, why would we want to cut the funds that do that.

Today is World Refugee Day. June 20 every year, we think about the needs of refugees around the world.

I rise to talk about the accomplishments the Senate was able to achieve yesterday with the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act. In doing that, I want to highlight a couple of items as a member of the Armed Services Committee…

the fiscal year 2019 budget proposes 30 percent cuts to these funds, a significant reduction in funds that are going to the worthy USAID programs.

Yes, thank you. Appreciate it.

In my view, the Administration should end that new policy immediately and work with Congress, in a bipartisan way, to secure the border.

Thank you for stating strongly the need that we should act in accord with our values and our laws, and support families.

This policy, that is a completely invented policy of this Administration, is just absolutely heartless.

Because I am still very connected there, I know why they are coming.

They live in neighborhoods in a very, very poor country whose institutions have been completely corrupted by something in the compass of this Committee; the sad reality of Americans' desire to buy illegal drugs.

We are not the Article Two-and-a-Half Branch. We do not have to wait around. We are the Article One Branch and we should act like it.

Virginia, just in the last month, finally, thank goodness, embraced Medicaid expansion. Four hundred thousand Virginians are going to have the opportunity to have Medicaid who did not have it before.

I want to just begin and thank the Chairman and Ranking Member for your strong statements at the beginning of this hearing about the problem on the border with the family separation.

The statement that I read to you generally agrees with the drift of that.

What is the rationale for the repeated delay in the draft guidance that would have clarified standards around 340B and imposed fines on manufacturers that did not offer the correct discounts?

I would also like to rise to talk about this important issue of healthcare. I have heard my colleagues, Senator Murphy, Senator Merkley, and Senator Wyden, and I know Senator Murray will speak in a minute. We are focusing on the great…

I would like to give you... the ability to go to the manufacturer of Gleevec and say, 'I have the biggest and the most important market in the world, and I will pay you your best price.'

Here's an idea. How about a pilot project? How about pick Gleevec and about five cancer drugs and say, 'Well, I don't think it'll work, but we haven't tried it.'

Why don't we try it? Why don't we pick a couple of drugs and try it, give you that power, get a most favored nation or a best price contract, and let's test whether it works or not, and help a lot of Americans who are suffering through…

I'm going to call this the blame Canada argument.

Why not do a pilot program on the drug that Senator Kaine asked you about so that we can see the actual instead of just listening to stakeholders.

Preventing this exploitation is something every American can agree on, an issue that has lives in the balance.

This is, to me, an absolutely unacceptable exploitation of extremely vulnerable Americans who have quite literally no other options to get this lifesaving treatment without searching for loopholes in the law or outright breaking it.

I think we have all kinds of concerns about, does each side describe 'denuclearization' the same way?

I would not want to do a deal that would ultimately, for example, be celebrated in China as the U.S. backing away from the region.