[Pages S5218-S5228]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      EXECUTIVE SESSION--Continued

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
resume executive session and, notwithstanding rule XXII, the time 
between now and 3 p.m. be equally divided between the leaders and their 
designees.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Indiana.


                     Whistleblower Appreciation Day

  Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, whistleblowers play a key role in holding 
the Federal Government accountable for waste, fraud, abuse, 
mismanagement, and illegal activity. It is therefore appropriate that 
even though Whistleblower Appreciation Day was yesterday, we take a 
moment to pause and thank the brave men and women who have the courage 
to speak up when they see ways to better or improve our government. I 
want to thank them for their efforts to ensure that our government 
never loses sight of why we are here--to serve the American people and 
to be good stewards of their resources and trust.
  I was also proud to introduce legislation with Senator Maggie Hassan 
of New Hampshire. Our bill ensures adequate protections for 
subgrantees--the folks on the firing line who are most important to 
revealing when something is not right. That needs to be protected in a 
way that is ensured so that they always feel comfortable coming 
forward.
  In 1989, Congress approved the Whistleblower Protection Act, thereby 
expanding whistleblower protections for Federal employees and later 
expanding protections for individuals in certain private sector 
employment.
  From time to time, it has been necessary for Congress to refine 
Federal whistleblower laws. We always want them to be working. In one 
such instance, Congress enhanced whistleblower protections as part of 
the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 for Federal contractor, 
subcontractor, and grantee employees on a pilot program basis. The 
program worked well, and, in 2016, Congress saw fit to make the pilot 
permanent. It makes sense. This is how the process should work. 
Congress saw a problem, addressed it on a test basis, evaluated it to 
make sure it was working as it should, and moved to make the program 
permanent.
  However, the subsequent amendments in 2016, to make sure the program 
was working, failed to guarantee subgrantees were recognized in the 
legislative text, as necessary, to make sure it would work on a 
technical basis. While 2016 amendments explicitly included Federal 
subgrantee employees, coordinated changes were not made in the 
statute's related sections.
  I am proud to introduce this legislation with Senator Hassan to close 
this gap because it needs to work in all cases. S. 2315, the 
Whistleblower Act, clarifies the scope of the protection statute 
specifically as to employees of Federal subgrantees who provide 
protected disclosures. Subgrantees are often in the best position to 
provide information regarding wrongdoing as to Federal subgrant funds. 
I am, therefore, pleased to play a small role in cleaning up our laws 
so they operate as they were intended--to protect whistleblowers.
  Finally, we take whistleblowers seriously in my office. If anybody 
would like to assist, contact me through our whistleblower assistance 
line. One can email me at whistleblower@braun.senate.gov.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.


                           Election Security

  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, over the past several weeks, we have seen 
numerous attempts by our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to 
take a serious issue and, frankly, I think, turn it into a political 
football. It is an issue on which the Presiding Officer and I have 
spent a lot of time looking at what we need to do, in our having served 
on the Committee on Intelligence and, in my case, on the Committee on 
Rules and Administration, to be sure that people have the maximum 
confidence that what happens on election day is exactly reflected in 
the results.
  Our friends came to the floor last week and sought unanimous consent 
to make sweeping changes to the election laws of the country. Then they 
somehow suggested there was a conspiracy that anybody would say no to 
that. Unanimous consent means exactly that. It is what we do when we 
name a post office. It is what we do when we make decisions that are 
unanimously agreed to. It is usually all it takes to get that issue 
settled. It is not how we shape the laws that are at the heart of our 
democracy. It is also not what we do, in my opinion, when we try to 
make a point about that. In fact, one of the bills on which they sought 
unanimous consent had passed the House. It had received exactly one 
Republican vote in the House. So, clearly, it was not unanimously 
consented to over there and would not be unanimously consented to here.
  This is about press releases, not policy. In fact, today, the 
President called for us to pass voter ID laws that would require voter 
ID in every State and a law that would have a paper trail in every 
State. Right now, I suppose, if I were to draft that bill and call for 
unanimous consent under the same standard, I should expect my friends 
on the other side to say: Oh, that is something that others say would 
help elections, so I should just be for that and be for that 
immediately. Of course, that would not be the case.
  These attempts have all been brought to the floor on the basis of 
saving democracy--that this is what we need to do to save our 
elections. This is in the name of election security, but it is really 
not what it is about at all. Three of the bills were about campaign 
committees, which are managed by lots of laws and may need to be 
managed by more, but how you run a campaign committee is not how you 
secure what happens at the voting place on election day.
  One of the proposals was for the Federal Government to secure the 
personal devices of Members of Congress and their employees. As the 
Presiding Officer and I know, one of the things we do on the Committee 
on Intelligence is to put a Fitbit, like this one, on the shelf before 
we go into a meeting. If you have a phone like this one, you put it on 
a shelf before you go into a meeting.
  This law would say that the Federal Government should secure those 
personal devices of mine so there would be absolute security so that if 
they were to interact with a Federal system, there would be no damage 
done to that system. I guess it would also mean that if one of my 
children were to call me on his personal device, whether he lives at 
home or not--and I would, of course, take that call immediately--he 
would then have gotten into my personal device. Would the Federal 
Government need to secure that as well?
  Even if it were appropriate for the Federal Government to do that for 
Members and their extended immediate networks, I am not sure it is 
possible.

[[Page S5219]]

I am certainly sure that it has nothing to do with election security. 
It might have something to do with the security of our system here in 
the Senate. Frankly, I think it might make it less secure, which is why 
I have chosen not to bring that bill up before our committee until I 
know more about it. I think it might make it less secure if everybody, 
without hesitation, thinks, well, somebody has looked at this personal 
device of mine and has secured it, so I can go into any of the secure 
systems in the Senate that I want to with this device and not have any 
sense that I might endanger that Senate system.
  This doesn't protect the elections. There have been numerous UC 
attempts we have seen on plenty of other bills that have claimed to 
secure elections. One included a provision that would take away the 
authority of the States to determine their own processes for voter 
registration. I am not for that. I also think it is hard to make the 
case that it would secure elections.
  In case you think it would, another one was to require every State to 
have online voter registration. I am pretty sure that this would make 
elections less secure.
  We have talked about all of the infiltration of bad information out 
there on the internet, and one of these provisions to secure elections 
would require States to have online registration.
  One was for there to be automatic voter registration, and another was 
for there to be same-day registration.
  In the nonurban part of our State of Missouri, we didn't have voter 
registration in all elections until 1975 or so. The view was, well, in 
small towns and school district elections and all, they are going to 
know everybody, so they really don't need to have registration. Yet, 
finally, it occurred to somebody that one might just think one knows 
five people, and the bond issue might be decided by five people, so we 
would have voter registration. In fact, not only would we have it, but 
we would have it enough in advance that anybody could look at those 
voter rolls 28 days in advance and see if there were any question as to 
whether one were registered or not.
  Other States have decided to have same-day registration, but one of 
these bills that would secure our elections would allow anybody to 
register to vote that day who would walk up to vote. If you think that 
works in your State, I am not really arguing you shouldn't do it, 
because if that is what the voters of that State believe to be the 
case, maybe it does. I am pretty sure it wouldn't work in every State. 
In revisiting that online voter registration again, I am sure that 
doesn't secure elections.
  There was one proposal that was rejected in these bills to secure 
elections, that being, for every $1 contributed at a certain level, 
there would be $6 given to that campaign by the Federal Government. 
That is one of the secure election things that was rejected, that 
wasn't accepted by unanimous consent.
  At this point, it does seem to me, if you are not willing to accept 
all of these things--there was sort of this ``hair on fire'' moment--or 
are not willing to accept anything somebody else says will secure 
elections, then somehow you are undermining the elections system. Yet 
we really undermine the system when we say this kind of thing helps it. 
Frankly, I have been watching this for a while, and that list of things 
I gave you has been on every Democratic wish list for about 20 years of 
what would be of advantage to them in the elections. Never before have 
they purported that these things have made elections more secure. They 
have just said it was a better system and more fair. It was obvious to 
them it would help them, and it was obvious to us it would help them. 
We haven't done it, and we are probably not going to do it right now.
  There are people in this building who simply will not accept the fact 
that there is not a Federal solution to every problem. Sometimes if 
there is a Federal solution, it is not the best solution. Frankly, I 
think the diversity of the election system that we have is one of the 
strengths of the system. I may get back to that later, but that is what 
President Obama said in October of 2016. In fact, he said that we 
didn't have a Federal structure and that it made it really more 
difficult to impact our elections than if we had.
  I believe everybody here clearly knows that State and local officials 
faced a significant threat from the Russians, particularly in 2016, 
that they had not faced before. One could probably add that the 
Russians, the Chinese, the North Koreans, and the Iranians could do 
very disruptive things for not much money. There is no question that 
the Russians affected our elections, but they have been trying to 
impact elections in Eastern and Western Europe for well over a decade. 
Why this would be a surprise to us is shocking to me and why, in 2016, 
we acted like we were totally flatfooted that, oh, the Russians would 
actually interfere with the elections just because they interfered in 
elections in a couple handful of countries in the previous decade. The 
world is pretty small when you get to that internet world we live in 
now.
  A critical infrastructure declaration came from the Obama 
administration in October whereby, frankly, it terrified most State 
election officials that, suddenly, the Federal Government, with about 2 
weeks left before the election, was going to Federalize a system that 
they were personally responsible for.
  As for the Intelligence Committee that started this process--the 
Presiding Officer and I were both on it, and I am still on it--it 
released some key findings about what the Russians had done. The 
committee found that the Russians had worked hard to find the seams 
between which the Federal Government could be helpful to State and 
local governments. They found that the FBI's and Department of Homeland 
Security's warnings to local officials came way too late in the process 
and were not well thought out. It scared the wrong people and confused 
more people when the FBI and the DHS did what they did. While there is 
no question that both of those agencies have redoubled their efforts to 
build trust with the States and deploy resources to help secure 
elections, we have to remain vigilant to see they continue to do that. 
Even when the Presiding Officer and I worked on a bill together last 
year, the local officials continued to have some problems with it. I 
know I said at the time that I had believed we had been doing 
everything this bill would do. I am not sure we would still be doing it 
10 years from now, so we need to memorialize that. I haven't 
significantly changed my view on that, but I haven't changed my view, 
more importantly, that we are doing what we need to do now.
  Congress needs to be vigilant. We have to insist that State and local 
officials have the clearance levels they need. Frankly, let me say this 
too. On that topic, I am not sure you can legislate that. I am not sure 
you can legislate ``here is what you have to be willing to tell State 
and local officials.'' I am not sure you can ever put that in writing, 
but you can ask them what they are telling people. I talked to one of 
our State election officials just last week.
  I asked: How is this going?
  He said: Well, everything we request seems to be one level above the 
security clearance I have.
  Too many of the things we ask meet that criteria. We are going to 
have to insist that this not be the case. While this is not likely to 
be solved by legislation, I think it can be solved by congressional 
oversight and inquiry.
  The Intelligence Committee also found that Russian activities demand 
renewed attention to vulnerabilities in the U.S. voting infrastructure. 
I certainly agree with that. We even said in that report we should 
replace out-of-date machines with improved ways to vote and improved 
cybersecurity. I think that is happening.
  Election officials have been taking this threat very seriously. DHS, 
the Department of Homeland Security, has reported that all 50 States 
and more than 1,400 local jurisdictions have signed up for the cyber 
threat information sharing program. We have had reports to the Senate 
on that, and the Committee on Rules and Administration has had hearings 
on that. The Committee on Intelligence has asked repeatedly about that. 
The monitoring sensors that help to detect malicious activity have been 
deployed to election infrastructure in most States.
  Remember that, in 2016, we had a cyber defense, but we didn't have a 
cyber offense. Early in the Trump administration, I remember people 
being asked in an open hearing: Do you have

[[Page S5220]]

any direction now to be fighting out there--to have a cyber offense? 
That was about 5 months into the Trump administration.
  The person said: No.
  You would think that, somehow, the old cyber offense had been turned 
off. In fact, there had been no cyber offense.
  Sometime in 2017, the cyber fighters were given what they needed, and 
they are out there helping. They are fighting back too. We had a report 
on that just recently of which all of the Senators are aware.
  One of the chief State election officials in terms of that cyber war 
said that in their system there are about 100,000 attempts every day to 
scam the voter registration system and see if you could possibly get 
in.
  I don't know how many thousands of those might be from foreign 
actors. I suspect a majority of them are from people who just say: 
Let's see if I can get into the system. But we should assume all 
100,000 are from somebody who wants to do something wrong, and I think 
the States are getting the help they need to fight that back.
  We have seen States use equipment that didn't have a backup so that 
when the election was over, you could count something individually and 
that the voter would have been able to look at and get their hands on 
and recount. As a matter of fact, if you ask me, the best proof you can 
have is a backup, a ballot that could be counted--a ballot where if I 
vote in Missouri, my voting machine generates something that I look at 
and then I put that in the ballot box and it is counted at the polling 
place. But if it ever had to be counted again, if there was any 
question about that precinct counter, they can go back and open that 
ballot box and count them again.
  On election day in 2016, and even in 2018, there were still four 
States that didn't have that system anywhere in their States. There are 
a couple of other States that have a partial system and four States 
that didn't have it. Delaware has it in place for this year's election. 
Georgia announced just last week that they had awarded a contract to 
replace their equipment that will be in place for the 2020 elections 
and have an auditable ballot trail. South Carolina made a similar 
announcement last month. The fourth State, Louisiana, is working 
through a contracting bidding process right now. Whether they are in 
place by 2020 or not in Louisiana I don't know, but I know they will be 
in as soon as they can reasonably be in and not confuse voters.
  Congress has to continue to move States to do that. We need to look 
and see what happened with the States that were given $380 million. In 
2018, 49 States took the money immediately. One State, Minnesota, has 
some glitch with their legislature so they don't have their money yet. 
But of the $380 million that States have, they have only spent 25 
percent of it. So there is still $285 million for which States have to 
do the kinds of things that the Congress thinks States should be doing.
  Now, there may be some States that have already spent all of their 
money and need more. That is something that, in the appropriations 
process, I am sure we will look at again, just like that $380 million 
came through the appropriations process.
  As I recall, the Presiding Officer was pretty involved in that 
discussion at the time.
  The Federal Government's role isn't to run elections for the State, 
but it certainly has a place in trying to be a valued partner, ensuring 
that the States have all the help they need.
  In fact, I believe that a larger Federal role requiring a one-size-
fits-all approach to the election would be a big mistake. I am not for 
federalizing the elections.
  I spent 20 years as an elections official, either as the individual 
responsible for elections in the third-most populous county in our 
State or the chief elections official as the secretary of State. In 20 
years of doing this, I guarantee you that the person on the ground, 
generally elected by the voters for whom he or she is trying to secure 
the election that day, is intensely interested in that election going 
well and people's having confidence in it.
  There is very little kicking the buck up to some Federal official in 
a faraway place and saying: Well, we can't prepare for that because we 
haven't been told we could prepare for that.
  Public confidence in elections is fundamental. It is the central 
thread in the fabric of democracy. Elected officials take it seriously 
when they are elected to do this job or supervise this job, just like 
appointed officials and boards of elections or election commissioners 
do.
  That system would not be improved if it was directed from Washington, 
DC, in a one-size-fits-all world.
  These public servants undertake an important job, and they understand 
it is an important job. We need to support them. We are supporting 
them.
  We need to have oversight. There may be a time when that oversight 
has produced a system that is so finely honed that we are ready to make 
it permanent, but every time you put something in law permanently, you 
reduce a lot of your flexibility to insist that something be done 
differently that needs to be done right now.
  Both the Intel Committee report--and both Senator Warner and Senator 
Burr have done a good job at keeping our committee on a bipartisan, 
nonpartisan track in this report--and former FBI Director Mueller 
focused on the insidious efforts to confuse voters. This is a much 
bigger question than what we could do at the government level about 
elections security.
  Let's not confuse that certain fight about bad information that is 
out there with a fight about whether our elections are secure and what 
happens on election day.
  Frankly, much more attention on what we can do about information is 
out there. Put people on alert. You know, sometimes even your political 
opponent says things that aren't true, and they don't have to be 
Russian to do that. People need to be on alert about information that 
is out there, but they also don't need to be scared to death that 
somehow we are not taking seriously the important moment of democracy 
when people decide.
  I believe we are doing that. I am committed to it. I believe the 
Senate is committed to it. I think this effort to make everything that 
might advantage one side on an election security issue is something 
that people need to be thoughtful about, and it needs to stop.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.


                            Opioid Epidemic

  Ms. HASSAN. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss the need to hold 
the pharmaceutical industry accountable for putting profits before the 
health and well-being of our people and our communities.
  I know that my colleague, Senator Brown from Ohio, came to the floor 
earlier this week to call out bad actors in the pharmaceutical industry 
who have fueled our country's substance misuse crisis, and I am 
grateful for Senator Brown's leadership in calling attention to this 
issue, and I join him in the effort.
  We are constantly learning more and more about the unconscionable 
ways that pharmaceutical companies fueled the substance misuse crisis--
a crisis that is killing more than 100 people a day in the United 
States.
  Recent data released by the Drug Enforcement Administration showed 
that between 2006 and 2012, just 6 years, companies distributed 76 
billion pills of oxycodone and hydrocodone throughout the country, 
including 290 million pills that were sent to New Hampshire, a State 
with only 1.3 million people. That works out to about 30 pills per 
person per year in the Granite State.
  As they distributed those unfathomable amounts of opioids, 
pharmaceutical companies pushed these drugs with deceptive marketing 
tactics, despite the known risks of addiction, to maximize their 
profits. One of these tactics even included pushing the unproven 
concept of pseudoaddiction. This false claim asserted that patients 
showing signs of addiction weren't actually addicted but instead needed 
even higher doses of opioids. The solution that these scam artists 
pushed to address addiction was to encourage the prescribing of even 
more opioids. So instead of providing actual addiction treatment to 
those suffering from substance use disorder, some patients just 
received more drugs.
  That kind of strategy enabled the pharmaceutical industry to dole out 
those billions of doses of opioids and profit enormously from it, 
leaving in

[[Page S5221]]

their wake an opioid crisis that is devastating communities.
  Outrageously, as they have aggressively pushed doctors to prescribe 
these opioids, a tax loophole has enabled Big Pharma to write off the 
cost of television ads that blanketed the airwaves, encouraging more 
and more people to seek opioids from their doctors for pain relief, 
oblivious to the harm that these drugs could do. I have joined with 
Senator Brown, as well as Senator Shaheen, on legislation to close that 
loophole and end taxpayer subsidies for drug ads, and I am going to 
continue to push for transparency from these companies.
  In addition to the devastating impact that Big Pharma has had in 
fueling the substance misuse crisis, the industry has also hurt 
patients by massively increasing the cost of prescription drugs.
  One of the top issues I hear about from people in New Hampshire is 
that affording lifesaving medications is becoming more and more out of 
reach, and high drug costs are too often forcing seniors and families 
to make agonizing decisions.
  No one should have to decide between buying their prescriptions and 
heating their home or putting food on the table, but these are the 
types of choices Americans are devastatingly having to make, all the 
while big pharmaceutical companies are reporting profits that are 
higher than ever. We need to change this system, bring down costs, and 
hold Big Pharma accountable.
  Last week, the Finance Committee moved forward with bipartisan 
legislation to begin to take on Big Pharma and lower prescription drug 
prices. This bill would cap out-of-pocket costs for seniors on Medicaid 
Part D and crack down on pharmaceutical companies that raise drug 
prices higher than inflation.
  It is a really big deal that a bill to take on the pharmaceutical 
industry in a meaningful way advanced out of committee on a strong 
bipartisan vote. Pharma did everything they could to try to kill and 
weaken this bill in committee, and they will keep trying. I am really 
encouraged that we have gotten this far. That is no small 
accomplishment. We will continue working with colleagues from both 
sides of the aisle to get it across the finish line.
  At the heart of the issue with Big Pharma is the blind pursuit of 
profits at the expense of people's health and wellbeing. 
Representatives from the pharmaceutical industry have told us often how 
important innovation is and how much innovation costs because they say 
they want to save lives and innovation is critically important.
  In my own family, like so many across our country, medical innovation 
has been critical not only for saving life but to improve the quality 
of life. Our son Ben regularly has a compression vest that helps clear 
his lungs without the incredibly labor intensive respiratory therapy 
that we used to have to do. He is able to get nutrition through a 
feeding tube that runs smoothly, steadily through the night so that he 
can have the kind of nutrition he needs.
  Innovation in pharmaceuticals have also helped Ben improve his 
quality of life, and the combination of pharmaceutical innovation and 
medical device innovation means that a baclofen pump inserted in Ben's 
abdominal cavity helps his muscles to relax.
  But if innovation is about saving lives, then, how did we get to a 
point of crisis that started from the drugs that they produced? How did 
we get to a point where many patients can't even afford the lifesaving 
prescription that pharma promotes?
  It seems that, at least for some pharmaceutical companies, they only 
want to save lives when it makes them money or when it gives them an 
excuse not to restrict their profits.
  From the substance misuse crisis to the skyrocketing costs of 
prescription drugs, this body has failed to hold Big Pharma accountable 
for far too long. That must change, and I am committed to working with 
anyone who is serious about finally acting to put patients first.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Romney). The Senator from Alaska.


                       Tribute to Cheryl Venechuk

  Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, it is the time of week again when I come 
to the floor to recognize a very special person in my State--someone 
who I believe helps to make Alaska the best State in the country. We 
refer to this person as our Alaskan of the Week. It is one of my 
favorite times of the week because I get to brag about my State and 
brag about my fellow Alaskans and constituents. I think the pages enjoy 
these stories about Alaska and what we are doing up there.
  This week, that person is Cheryl Venechuk. She is our Alaskan of the 
Week. She is a wife, a mom, a grandmother, an active member of her 
community in Healy, AK, which is in the interior of Alaska, and a woman 
who is very active not just in her community but in her chosen 
profession. She is a proud member of Laborers Union Local 942 in 
Fairbanks. That is part of the construction union, Laborers' 
International Union, LIUNA.
  Many people know it for its great men and women across our country--
one of the biggest construction building trades in North America. These 
are men and women who like to go out and build stuff--roads, pipelines, 
mines, build things. These are the type of Americans who made our 
country great.
  Let me talk about Cheryl's life--about raising her five children in 
Healy, about her job, and about all she does for her community, which 
is a lot. I certainly think she personifies the kind of self-
sufficiency, toughness, kindness, and independent spirit that Alaska 
and Alaskans are known for, not just in Alaska but really throughout 
the country and the world. She personifies it.
  Let me tell you a little bit about Cheryl's life. She was originally 
from the Midwest--Michigan. When she was about 23 years old, a friend 
of hers, Tom Bodett--who was a high school friend and eventually became 
the voice of Motel 6's motto, ``We'll leave the lights on for you''--
told her that Alaska was a good place to make a living and raise a 
family. So Cheryl and her husband Tim, with a child on the way, moved 
to a beautiful part of Southeast Alaska, a community called Petersburg, 
which is a beautiful fishing community in the southeast part of our 
State.
  They settled there. They made friends. They began to raise a family. 
She worked at the local cannery, at the daycare, at the grocery store. 
She loved Petersburg. We all love Petersburg. I encourage people 
watching or watching on TV, when you visit Alaska, make sure to make 
that part of your stops.
  Eventually, three kids later, Cheryl and her husband Tim moved north 
for Tim's work as a surveyor for Usibelli Coal Mine in Healy, AK. That 
is about 100 miles southwest of Fairbanks in the interior.
  Usibelli is another great story in Alaska. Several generations of 
Usibelli family members have been producing coal for Alaska and the 
world, and they are still doing it--a great company, great families.
  What did Cheryl find in Healy? Certainly another welcoming community, 
but a lot smaller, with a lot fewer amenities than she found in 
Petersburg.
  So as she does, Cheryl rolled up her sleeves, and along with other 
young mothers in the area, she got to work to create a community that 
her children--eventually five children--and all the other children and 
families could enjoy in interior Alaska.
  ``We made stuff happen,'' Cheryl said. They started a daycare. They 
started Boy Scout and Brownie troops. They made sure hungry children 
got a hot lunch. They went around town picking up cans and started a 
recycling effort before recycling was even the rage. They helped build 
an ice rink for the kids to play hockey on. They even went so far as to 
haul the water for the rink in a truck and then spread it out to form 
ice. She mentored countless kids and always had time for her five kids.
  This is what one of her children said about her: You have a hockey 
team that needs a hot meal? Call Cheryl. You need food for a wedding? 
Call Cheryl. Your kid is in trouble? Call Cheryl. You need something 
built? Call Cheryl.
  Every community has a Cheryl--the backbone, the go-to person--who is 
usually unsung. We all know someone like that, and they make our 
communities so strong and caring, and in

[[Page S5222]]

many ways these kind of people are exactly what my ``Alaskan of the 
Week'' series of speeches is all about. So it is very appropriate we 
are talking about her right now.
  When Cheryl was in her mid-forties, with her kids settled and in 
college, like a modern-day homesteader, she yearned for the next 
challenge. One day, she saw a group of workers doing road 
construction--hard, but very important work--and she thought, I can do 
that. Soon, she became a proud member of Alaska Laborers Local 942. 
That was almost 20 years ago. Her hard work, along with fellow 
laborers, is seen all across the State of Alaska, wind farms, trails, 
roads, bridges, and pipelines.
  Many people talk about the great natural wonders in Alaska, and we 
have so many, but the manmade wonders are also remarkable--bridges, 
roads slicing into giant mountains, oil rigs, mines--and she and her 
fellow laborers have done so much to build up that part of the State.
  She is a strong advocate for anybody who decides to work in the 
building trades, and she is particularly focused on women in the 
construction and building trades and recruiting them for these good 
jobs. She said: These are good jobs. They are good-paying jobs, and 
they build confidence. It is a great way to make money and to learn how 
to use your hands and of course to give back to your community.
  To that end, she and her daughter Halle created, at their own 
expense, an Alaska ``Women in the Trades'' promotional calendar. The 
calendar features women of all ages who are employed as heavy equipment 
operators, welders, truckdrivers, tree trimmers, and on and on and on. 
With her own money, she put this calendar together.
  She drops these calendars off at laundromats, schools, cafes, union 
halls, churches, and always keeps a few on hand to give to women who 
might need a new way of thinking about a career, who might need hope. 
She also gives them to people she just runs into--people like me. I was 
out in Fairbanks, AK, a couple weeks ago in the O'Reilly Auto Parts 
parking lot, and bumped into Cheryl and her daughter Halle, and I got 
one of these.
  This calendar, Alaska Women in the Trades, is a great calendar with a 
couple of inspirational quotes:

       Nothing is impossible. The word itself says, ``I'm 
     possible.''

  Get it? Pretty clever.
  How about another one:

       Do something today that your future self will thank you 
     for.

  Think about that, pages. It is good advice, even for Senators.
  This is the kind of work she does, on her own dime, giving this kind 
of inspiration to her fellow Alaskans.
  My team and I have gotten many emails from Cheryl's five children 
over the past few days, all of them talking about what a great mother 
she is, how giving, caring, hard-working she is, how she is a hero to 
all of them, and how she is an inspiring example. Let me quote from one 
of the emails.
  Her daughter Emmaline Hill, who, by the way, signed up for the U.S. 
Marine Corps when she was 18, then went on to graduate from Notre Dame, 
got her commission in the Marine Corps, and now is stationed in Japan 
as a major in the U.S. Marines--here is what she said about her mom:

       My mom believes in people, especially those who have a hard 
     time believing in themselves or don't think they are worthy 
     of it. She is a rugged champion for the underdog and a 
     tireless advocate for employing Alaskans and building our 
     communities through volunteerism and action.

  That is a beautiful testament to her mom from her daughter who is a 
major in the Marine Corps in Japan.
  We are going to be going into our August work session. I am going to 
be back home in Alaska the whole time. We are going to be coming up on 
Labor Day, a very important holiday. I think it is important, when we 
are thinking about Labor Day, to think about people like Cheryl, her 
fellow laborers, and particularly the women who are doing this kind of 
hard work. You don't always think about that in terms of the 
construction and building trades, but they do great work.
  So, Cheryl, thank you for all you have done. Thank you for your hard 
work, your inspiration, your dedication and faith, your indomitable 
spirit, and your example to your kids, to your fellow Alaskans, and now 
to Americans, as we congratulate you for being our Alaskan of the Week.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.


                    Nomination of Elizabeth Darling

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, in the coming hours, the Senate could take 
up the nomination of Elizabeth Darling to serve as Commissioner for 
Children, Youth, and Families at the Department of Health and Human 
Services. If she is confirmed to that role, she would be a key official 
overseeing the foster care system.
  I previously had a hold on Ms. Darling's nomination, and I am going 
to begin my remarks by saying my hold was never about her personally or 
about concerns with her qualifications. In fact, I believe she is 
qualified for the position. I placed a hold on her nomination because 
of serious problems at the Department of Health and Human Services 
affecting child welfare policies that would fall in her area of 
jurisdiction if she is confirmed. I think this involves a matter the 
distinguished Presiding Officer of the Senate might be particularly 
interested in at this point.
  I authored, with the former Finance Committee Chair, Senator Orrin 
Hatch, landmark families legislation called the Family First Prevention 
Services Act.
  Family First, that Chairman Hatch and I authored, is a once-in-a-
generation bipartisan update of child welfare laws in America, inspired 
to a great extent by Marian Wright Edelman, the head of the Children's 
Defense Fund. The implementation of that law, in my view, is moving too 
slowly.
  Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services followed 
through on a request from me and a group of colleagues from both 
parties and both Chambers to open up the availability of prevention 
programs for States that Chairman Hatch and I felt so strongly about 
under Family First. This was an important first step, and, if Ms. 
Darling is confirmed, I expect to see the Department take more.
  What I would like to address for a few minutes, though, is a deeply 
discriminatory policy change that has been made by the Trump 
administration in the child welfare system. Until the Trump 
administration intervened, Health and Human Services regulations 
explicitly banned religious discrimination in federally funded Social 
Services programs, discrimination that should be barred by our core 
constitutional protections. Unfortunately, under this administration, 
that safeguard is no more.
  This year, the Trump administration has set a precedent that foster 
care agencies that receive Federal dollars can turn away qualified 
prospective foster parents simply because they are Catholic, Jewish, 
Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Mormon, or any other faith, or simply because 
they are nonbelievers.
  What this is all about, in short, is a green light for taxpayer-
funded discrimination on the basis of religion. It stems from a case 
involving Miracle Hill Ministries, a foster agency in South Carolina. 
Miracle Hill is a faith-based social service organization--the largest 
provider of foster care services in South Carolina. It serves around 15 
percent of the State's foster care population. I have no reason to 
doubt that Miracle Hill has a lot of wonderful staff and volunteers who 
wish to do a great deal of good work.
  Last year, the Governor of South Carolina asked the Department of 
Health and Human Services for a waiver that would allow Miracle Hill to 
continue receiving taxpayer dollars despite its practice of turning 
away qualified foster parents based solely on their religious beliefs. 
In effect, it was a request for a loophole to evade the Federal policy 
banning religious discrimination. The Department of Health and Human 
Services OK'd it.
  At a time--the Presiding Officer of the Senate and I have talked 
about this--when there are too many vulnerable kids and too few safe 
foster homes in America, the Trump administration actually gave the 
largest foster care organization in South Carolina permission to turn 
away prospective foster parents because of their faith.
  This is not an academic matter. Let me give an example of the 
consequences. In 2018, Beth Lesser--a woman who unintentionally brought 
this issue to light--went to Miracle

[[Page S5223]]

Hill Ministries to volunteer as a foster mentor. Before she moved to 
South Carolina, she was a foster parent in Florida. You would think any 
foster care organization would be thrilled to have Ms. Lesser walk 
through their door--an experienced foster care parent coming to 
volunteer her time, her energy, and her love--but during orientation 
training, Miracle Hill found what they consider to be a problem: Ms. 
Lesser, like me, is Jewish. After Miracle Hill discovered Ms. Lesser's 
religion, they quickly turned her away.
  Ms. Lesser is not the only person to experience this discrimination. 
Another was Aimee Madonna, who grew up in a foster care home and has 
three kids of her own. She contacted Miracle Hill and volunteered to 
open her home in the screening process. But when Miracle Hill learned 
that Ms. Madonna is Catholic, she got turned away too. She was 
devastated by the decision. In February, she sued the State of South 
Carolina and the Department of Health and Human Services over this 
unconstitutional discrimination. I commend her for fighting for her 
rights, and I believe she speaks for people of so many faiths whom I 
mentioned earlier.
  I do want to explain why I find this precedent the Trump 
administration has set to be so objectionable, starting with the most 
obvious.
  It is horrendous policy because it is going to hurt vulnerable kids 
all across this country, particularly if and when the Trump 
administration hands out more waivers in more States. If they do it 
this way, it is going to reduce the number of safe and loving foster 
homes available to youngsters in the child welfare system. That is the 
wrong way to go.
  This policy is going to limit the diversity of foster homes and 
foster parents and growing up around people of different views and 
philosophies and religions. Diversity is important for kids. That is 
particularly important for LGBTQ youth, who make up one in five kids in 
foster care. There are homes where LGBTQ kids are not safe. They 
benefit from the chance to grow up in these more inclusive 
environments, where there are more diverse families who respect their 
sexual orientation and their gender identity.
  It raises troubling questions about what is going to happen to 
children who were raised outside of evangelical Christianity before 
they entered the child welfare system. What is going to happen to a 
Jewish kid or a Muslim kid or a Mormon kid who is placed in a home 
where they are considered heretics?
  This is a personal matter for me. That kid could have been me. I was 
so proud of my parents. They fled the Nazis in the thirties. Not all 
got out. All my dad--just about the most red, white, and blue fellow 
around--wanted to do was serve in our Army so he could drop propaganda 
pamphlets on the Nazis, telling them they ought to give up. You can 
read about my dad, Peter Wyden, in the Holocaust Museum. I am so very, 
very proud of my dad.
  I thought about, for example, what might have happened if my parents 
had died in a car crash when I was 12 years old and I had been put in 
one of these evangelical families through a foster agency that 
discriminates. I could have been told that everything my wonderful, 
patriotic, Jewish parents had taught me to believe was wrong; that my 
parents--that my dad, who was honored in the Holocaust Museum--that his 
beliefs were sinful. It would have added a lot more difficulty to a 
situation that was already traumatic.
  The thought that children who have lost their parents could have 
another part of their identity stripped away is appalling. That 
religious discrimination in particular, that fundamentally un-American 
act--the idea that it is going to be propped up with Federal tax 
dollars is just wrong.
  In my view, what the Trump administration has done with the South 
Carolina waiver is unconstitutional. I also believe it is the latest 
iteration of a much larger assault on individual religious liberty.
  From a legal perspective, the Department of Health and Human Services 
justifies its discriminatory waiver by pointing to the Religious 
Freedom Restoration Act, what is known as RFRA. Here is the problem: 
That law was intended to stop religious discrimination, not promote it. 
In this case, however, the administration is interpreting that law to 
protect only the religious freedom of Miracle Hill, not the freedom of 
Jewish or Catholic or Muslim or Buddhist individuals who want to become 
foster parents in South Carolina.
  HHS's waiver disregards the establishment clause in the First 
Amendment of the Constitution, which prohibits the government from 
``respecting an establishment of religion.'' This is a Federal agency 
using taxpayer dollars to elevate some religions above others. That is 
unconstitutional every way you cut it.
  The consequences at this point are limited to one State, but because 
of this precedent, that is one too many. It only takes one small step 
to set a harmful, dangerous precedent that will change everything. 
There are already rumors that HHS plans to turn this waiver into a 
nationwide policy. Make no mistake about it--that would be nationwide 
religious discrimination.
  The consequences of an action like that would reach far beyond our 
child welfare system. It is not much further down the road before out-
and-out discrimination against people of particular faiths, gender 
identities, and sexual orientations under the guise of religious 
freedom bleeds into other areas of American life. These debates are 
going to keep hitting the courts, and they are going to keep 
confronting the Congress. The Trump administration, Republican 
lawmakers, and Republican judges are ensuring that will happen.
  I mentioned at the outset that this debate is tied to a nomination 
the Senate may take up today--we will see about later in the week. It 
involves the Commissioner on Children, Youth, and Families at Health 
and Human Services. I made that judgment, after a lot of reflection, 
that I am not going to stand in the way of that vote. I believe Ms. 
Elizabeth Darling is qualified. But in making that judgment, I was not 
willing to let today pass without sounding an alarm on a very dangerous 
precedent the Trump administration has set in this field. This is about 
the prospect of State-sponsored religious discrimination. In this case, 
it is going to come down hardest on vulnerable kids in our country. I 
believe it is clear that what is happening is unconstitutional.
  I will close by saying again that there is bipartisan interest in 
improving our child welfare system. The distinguished Presiding Officer 
of the Senate is from Utah. I wish he could have seen Chairman Hatch 
and me work together on Families First. As you know, when Chairman 
Hatch got enthused about something, he was really enthused.
  Marian Wright Edelman came to both of us. This had been her dream for 
30 years, to try some fresh approaches in terms of helping these kids. 
In effect, what Families First does is it creates a third option. You 
have kids in homes where a parent might have gotten caught up in drugs 
or alcohol. We can get them some help. There is the foster care option. 
We have some very good foster care facilities in this country, and we 
have some that aren't exactly so great. So what Chairman Hatch and I 
said and what Democrats and Republicans on the Finance Committee said 
and what eventually the Congress on a bipartisan basis said was ``We 
are going to do better by these vulnerable kids,'' and we created a 
third option.
  One of them is built on a dream that I was part of. Back when I was 
director of the Gray Panthers, we were advocating for something called 
kinship care where grandparents could play a bigger role in stepping in 
and trying to help these vulnerable families, where maybe if a son had 
gotten in trouble with the law or a daughter-in-law had problems with 
alcohol and the like, the grandparent could help out.
  Under Families First, Chairman Hatch, a Republican, and I, a 
Democrat, said: We are going to try to help those families. We are 
going to try to give them help. If you have a son who has had problems 
with alcohol and drugs, they are going to be able to get some help. The 
grandparents can step in and get some help. We are going to create more 
options for the most vulnerable families and most vulnerable youngsters 
in America.
  We were moving forward. We were moving forward to be able to say--and 
this, of course, is not driven from Washington, DC; it is driven at the

[[Page S5224]]

State level. The Presiding Officer of the Senate is a former Governor. 
We were moving forward. Now we have the Trump administration seeking to 
move backward.
  There are nearly half a million kids in foster care in this country. 
Democrats and Republicans ought to keep building on the work that 
Chairman Hatch and I--and I was proud to be his partner, with him as 
the chairman, in this effort to help those kids stay safe and get ahead 
in life. Now the Trump administration is spending taxpayer dollars not 
to help those kids but to promote discrimination. That is not the way 
to help these kids, not the way to help these families. I hope my 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join me in opposing these 
policies of discrimination.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


              Tribute to Lieutenant General Aundre Piggee

  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize a remarkable 
Arkansan at the end of a 38-year Army career.
  LTG Aundre Piggee, who will retire in September, is the Deputy Chief 
of Staff of the Army for Logistics. His nearly four-decade career has 
taken him literally all over the world, but his roots are and always 
have been in Arkansas.
  The general was born in Stamps, AR, which is a small town in 
Lafayette County with fewer than 3,000 people. The son of a World War 
II Army veteran, the general didn't have his sights set on a career of 
military service from a young age. After graduating from high school, 
he chose to go to the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, which is about 
2\1/2\ hours from home. He was a smart kid, so he received an academic 
scholarship to attend school.
  There was no real reason for him to choose to go into the ROTC. In 
fact, according to him, the only reason he entered the Army ROTC was 
because the school allowed him to substitute it for an otherwise 
mandatory physical education class that would have required him to walk 
all the way across the campus. That seemingly mundane decision to save 
himself a few steps each day and maybe allow him to sleep in a few more 
minutes ended up being a life-changing decision for him. It set him on 
a path to an extraordinary career that he probably couldn't have 
dreamed of at the time.
  Years later, the general served in jobs in Fort Hood, TX; Seoul, 
South Korea; Kaiserslautern, Germany; MacDill Air Force Base in 
Florida, and many other places. He deployed to Kuwait, Bosnia, and 
Iraq. He commanded thousands of soldiers and managed an $11 billion 
Army portfolio. He led capacity-building efforts in Iraq and headed 
train-and-equip missions in Syria. He also directed logistics works in 
the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia. For his exemplary 
service, the general earned the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, the 
Distinguished Service Medal, and many other recognitions.
  Throughout all of his great accomplishments and prominent positions, 
he has maintained a strong connection to his alma mater and his 
Arkansas roots.
  For his work with and on behalf of his school, the current chancellor 
at UAPB, Laurence Alexander, said of the general:

       He not only serves as a beacon of light and hope to our 
     university and our community, but also to our state and our 
     country. He continues to positively impact the lives of many, 
     as well as inspiring a new generation of future military 
     leaders.

  For all of his accomplishments, the general was inducted into the 
Arkansas Black Hall of Fame last year. Now he has decided that it is 
time to take off his Army uniform and pursue his next adventure with 
his wife, Kassi.
  The general has risen to such incredible heights during his career. 
He is a hero in the sense of his outstanding military service, but more 
importantly, he is a hero in the sense that when you talk about duty, 
honor, country, and integrity, he is the guy who is a great example for 
all of us, one of the best we can find and look to. I am so proud to 
call him a fellow Arkansan and a friend. On behalf of all Arkansans, I 
wish him and his wife, Kassi, much happiness in the next chapter of 
their lives.
  Thank you.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                                  Iowa

  Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, with August just around the corner, 
countless Iowans are preparing to fill up their gas tanks--many with 
Iowa-grown E15--and take to our scenic highways for one last summer 
road trip. I can tell you one thing: I will be hitting the Iowa 
roadways myself, and I really cannot wait, folks. Throughout the month, 
I will be continuing on what I call my 99 County Tour, an annual 
tradition where I visit each and every one of Iowa's 99 counties. I 
will be logging hundreds of miles and speaking with thousands of 
Iowans.
  It doesn't get any better than heading back home, getting out of this 
DC swamp, and talking with folks about the issues that matter most to 
them--like solutions to lower prescription drug prices, policies to 
help our farmers and small businesses thrive, and efforts to cut 
wasteful spending and to make them squeal here in Washington.
  So far, this year, my tour has brought me to over 50 Iowa counties, 
and I am aiming to visit another 30 or so before Labor Day. I will be 
crisscrossing the State, hosting townhalls and visiting the small 
businesses, farms, plants, and everyone else that are currently 
creating jobs and contributing to Iowa's current economic boom and 
record unemployment.
  Meeting with and hearing from my fellow Iowans is one of the best and 
most important parts of my job. Our elected officials should always be 
out there listening to the people we work for. It is our job, and it 
really does make us more effective lawmakers.
  For Iowans and folks across the Nation planning to hit the road this 
August, I hope you will take advantage of all that Iowa has to offer. 
With 99 counties, it means 99 unique communities for road warriors and 
families to visit and enjoy.
  There are national treasures like the Effigy Mounds National 
Monument, a sacred site that is located in Allamakee and Clayton 
Counties, featuring more than 200 American Indian mounds. There are 
historic gems like the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site in Cedar 
County and Lewis and Clark State Park in Monona County.
  I am sure folks will be willing to fill their social media feeds with 
one-of-a-kind Iowa attractions like the American Gothic House in 
Wapello County, the world's largest concrete gnome, in Story County, 
and the famed Field of Dreams in Dubuque County.
  And who could forget the Iowa State Fair, truly the best State fair 
in North America and the crown jewel of Iowa attractions, with 
everything from the butter cow to peanut butter and jelly on a stick, 
hot beef sundaes, and, of course, good old-fashioned hotdogs. In fact, 
the Iowa State fair lists over 69 foods on a stick. That is right. It 
is on a stick, folks. You can try that at the fair this August.
  But while you are out on the road, there are a few things that you 
will not be able to avoid. First and foremost, it is Democrats running 
for President. Folks, they are everywhere in Iowa. You will not miss 
them. You also can't avoid Casey's Pizza. Why would you want to? That 
is my question.
  Now, inside the DC swamp, people may turn their nose up at gas 
station pizza--that is what it is, Casey's Pizza--but Iowans know it 
doesn't get any better than pizza from Casey's.
  One more thing Iowans will not be able to avoid on the roads this 
August is me. So, as I am out on my 99-county tour this August, if you 
happen to see me at a townhall or at a local business or organization 
or maybe even gassing up my Harley-Davidson at Casey's or waiting in 
line for a slice of pizza, please be sure to stop and say hello.

[[Page S5225]]

  So, folks, hit the roads this August. Make that one last trip with 
your family. Get out and see those sites, and for heaven's sake, swing 
through Iowa. Visit our Iowa-nice folks.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Perdue). The Senator from Montana.


                                Montana

  Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, as we are getting ready for a busy August 
work period, I am very much looking forward to spending time in Big Sky 
Country back home in Montana, away from the swamp, enjoying the 
beautiful State that I am so lucky to call home.
  In between meetings, I am taking a few days to enjoy Montana's great 
outdoors, including spending 3 days backpacking in the Beartooth 
Wilderness with my sweet wife Cindy and a couple of our dogs. As an 
avid outdoorsman, I was raised to appreciate our public lands, and I 
can assure you, nothing beats going off the grid for a bit, where there 
is no cell phone coverage on top of the peaks, with my sweetheart and a 
couple of our pups and enjoying Montana's beauty, the fly rod with an 
elk hair caddis and chasing cut and sometimes even goldens in Montana's 
highest lakes.
  I will also be spending a lot of time on the road traveling all over 
Montana. I get to each of Montana's 56 counties every congressional 
period, to every corner of our State, from West Butte down to Ekalaka, 
even Alzada, over in Monida, up to the northwest corner of our State to 
places like Libby, Troy, and even Yaak.
  I will also work to get to one of my favorite places in Montana, the 
famous Jersey Lilly in Ingomar. This place is not well known. It is off 
the beaten path. But the Jersey Lilly in Ingomar, MT, is home to the 
best bean soup in Big Sky Country. If you ever find yourself in east 
central Montana, Rosebud County, you have to get off of Highway 12 and 
stop in. I have known the owners of that restaurant for many years--
Boots and June. There is a Montana name for you--``Boots.'' They not 
only serve up great food and even better conversation, they are also 
yet another example of a local family business--the bedrock of our 
small towns and counties across Montana. The fine folks over at the 
Jersey Lilly are what Montana is all about. It is about hard work, 
family values, passion for their community, and passion for our great 
country. I am a proud and frequent customer of the Jersey Lilly, and I 
can't wait for the next bowl of bean soup.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.


                                Missouri

  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, first of all, I wanted to talk about 
everything you could be doing in Missouri in the next month or so with 
your family, and then I was told I have 5 minutes. That seems to be an 
impossible restriction for me. So let me see how many things I can talk 
about here as we end the summer travel season. But there are other 
people traveling after the summer. Some families still have their 
summer vacation. Some schools start after Labor Day, some before. I am 
sure I will be leaving things out that I will be glad to talk about at 
a later time. Let me first just mention a couple of our national parks.
  If you leave my hometown of Springfield, MO, and you head west, 
pretty quickly you get to the Wilson's Creek National Battlefield park. 
There was a battle in August of 1861. Several thousand people fought 
who really weren't prepared to fight. They weren't trained. They 
weren't ready. It was a big battle that made a big difference in what 
happened in Missouri in the war.
  Not too far from there, you get to Diamond, MO, where there is the 
George Washington Carver National Monument. It is a 240-acre park on 
the farm where George Washington Carver grew up. He was born as a slave 
but was quickly freed and raised by the older White couple who lived 
there. He managed to get to school there a little bit and in those 
years after the Civil War became a leading scientist and spokesman for 
agriculture in the country. This monument was established in 1943, and 
it was the first national park dedicated to an African American.
  I have to circle back a little bit to get to Branson. With 50 
theaters in Branson, there are more theater seats than Broadway. It is 
never too early to find a show you want to see in Branson.
  In Silver Dollar City, in the summer of last year, their great park 
was named the No. 1 Christmas venue in America to visit.
  Now back to my hometown of Springfield, which is the way this comes 
up on my list. It is the home of Bass Pro Shops. The Wonders of 
Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium right there by Bass Pro was named 
``America's Best Aquarium'' by USA TODAY Travel last year. That museum 
has 3,000 fish, birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibious animals there.
  A park we just added to our National Park System--I will pop right up 
to almost St. Louis, to St. Genevieve, where you have French 
architecture that dates back to the 1700s. This is the first summer 
that there has been a full-time park person there. This park is rising 
out of what the community has preserved so well for so long. There are 
a number of houses there that reflect that early French architecture 
along the Mississippi River.
  South of there, at Perryville, is the full-sized replica of the 
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. There have been some traveling 
memorials, and there are a couple of memorials that are miniature in 
some way, but in Perryville, MO, you can see a full-sized replica on a 
47-acre family farm that Jim Eddleman and his family made possible, 
along with other donations. I was there not too long ago, and I was at 
the Vietnam Wall here not too long ago. They are in different places, 
but they are the same wall, exactly the same size, with the same names, 
and are the same in every way.
  On the other side of our State, in Kansas City, is the Negro Leagues 
Baseball Museum. Just this week, Senator Kaine and I introduced 
legislation for a memorial coin to benefit the Negro Leagues Baseball 
Museum in Kansas City. Congressmen Cleaver and Stivers in the House did 
the same thing.
  While you are in Kansas City here at the end of the centennial of 
World War I, the World War I Museum in Kansas City was the World War I 
Memorial dedicated in the 1920s. It is the No. 1 place in America to 
visit and think about the war and the impact of that war in the 100 
years that have passed since then.
  If you want to go north to St. Joseph, you, of course, pass some 
baseball stadiums and football fields that are good places to visit if 
you are there at the right time. In St. Joseph, there is the Pony 
Express Museum. The Pony Express didn't last very long, but it became a 
very important part of the lore of the West, these young riders--before 
the telegraph--taking a message as quickly as they could ride and 
changing from one rider to another to go from St. Joe to California.
  I wouldn't want to leave out the Mark Twain Boyhood Home in Hannibal. 
There was a time when Mark Twain was by far the best-read American 
author anywhere in the world. Hannibal is the setting for the classic 
American novel ``The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.''
  We will circle right back down to the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. More 
than 135 million people have visited the arch since 1963. It just went 
through a major overhaul and a 60-year renewal of the facility, better 
connecting it to downtown. It is the first example of what the National 
Park Service hopes will be the next century of the park, a true public-
private partnership.
  In going to all these places, we drove by lots of lakes and lots of 
fishing and boating. There are a lot of things to do in our State. Like 
many States, tourism is our second biggest industry. We look forward to 
people visiting us this summer and next year and the years after that.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.


                               Tennessee

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I appreciate the opportunity to 
participate today and talk a little bit about my State of Tennessee. I 
will tell you, as we are talking about what we are going to do and how 
we are going to be working across our State during the August work 
period and how we are looking forward to having people visit our State 
during that time, one of the things that strikes me so very often when 
people talk about Tennessee and when they hear that I am from 
Tennessee, they will stop and say: That is

[[Page S5226]]

one of the most beautiful States. Our State is beautiful, with its 
rivers, lakes, rolling hills, mountains, and the flatlands over toward 
Memphis. Indeed, it is beautiful. It is also very long, and that is 
also quite remarkable to people when they start to drive through the 
State. They say: I spent a whole day driving through the State of 
Tennessee. From the time they enter up around Mountain City and Bristol 
and make their way through to Memphis, it does really take the whole 
day.
  I think one of the things that interest people when they cross into 
Tennessee as they are going down I-81 is seeing the Bristol Motor 
Speedway. They realize that it is truly a feat of engineering--NASCAR 
is very popular--and realize the innovation and creativity that has 
gone into creating that speedway. Then to be there on race day, I will 
tell you, that is something that is quite amazing, to see those cars 
speeding around those banked turns and realize it is people who are 
handling these feats of engineering.
  People also appreciate, in addition to the Bristol Motor Speedway and 
car racing, that Tennessee is a State that is very important to the 
automotive industry. You have Volkswagen in Chattanooga, and you have 
the GM facility at Spring Hill. Nissan North America's headquarters are 
located in Cold Springs, right outside of Nashville. Their 
manufacturing plant is in Smyrna. You have the Toyota plant that is 
over in West Tennessee.

  We Tennesseans are also excited about the prospect of having an 
aerospace park that is going to be in East Tennessee, up at the Tri-
Cities. As a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation 
Committee, I have had the privilege of working with the Tri-Cities 
Airport and local officials to make that a destination and to make it a 
reality.
  A little further down in the State, as you get on I-40, you will find 
yourself in the middle of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the 
most visited park in our National Parks System. Senator Alexander and I 
are continuing the work to designate the Dean Stone Bridge on the 
Foothills Parkway there in Blount County. Dean Stone was a pillar of 
the community, and naming the bridge in honor of him is the perfect way 
to thank him for his dedication in improving the lives of all those who 
live and enjoy the Smokies in that part of our State.
  The Smokies are second in my heart to just one Tennessee landmark in 
Nashville that I think everyone wants to see. They are all country 
music fans, and they want to see the mother church of country music, 
which is the Ryman Auditorium. The best singers and songwriters in the 
world leave their stadiums and their festivals because they want to 
have the opportunity to play just one song on the stage of the Ryman 
Auditorium. It is a wonderful place to be and to celebrate Tennessee's 
creativity and to celebrate the music that fills our hearts and our 
lives.
  When I was a Member in the House, I worked tirelessly for several 
years and fought for the unanimous passage of the Music Modernization 
Act. That is something that fixed a lot of loopholes that were in U.S. 
law that adversely impacted our songwriters as they were facing 
copyright many times.
  Upon coming to the Senate, I worked with Senator Feinstein, 
continuing the fight on behalf of our songwriters to close the 
loopholes that exempt broadcast radio from paying royalties to music 
creators.
  Tennessee is also known for some other wonderful music, a little bit 
further down I-40, and that is the blues. You can't leave the State of 
Tennessee without going through Memphis and having a visit over on 
Beale Street, right there on the banks of the mighty Mississippi.
  The Mississippi River is our Nation's original superhighway, if you 
will. It is vitally important, not only to river but to rail, air, and 
highway transportation networks. All of these have found their way 
along West Tennessee's river lands.
  Shipping and logistics giant FedEx has its corporate headquarters in 
Memphis. Memphis is the city of their founding and their headquarters 
location, and that takes advantage of Memphis International Airport and 
their cargo operations center.
  All that being said, one of the things that individuals repeatedly 
comment on when they talk about Tennessee is how nice the people are in 
Tennessee, how welcoming they are, and how they engage you and want to 
make certain that you come back.
  You will find in Tennessee a very diverse community. Yes, we are the 
home to artists and athletes. We are the home to engineers, to farmers, 
to doctors, to soldiers, and to veterans. It is, indeed, one of the 
best places on the face of the Earth to call home and, indeed, a 
certain not-to-be-missed destination for all Americans.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 10 
minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                                 Alaska

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. My colleagues have been to the floor here for the past 
little bit talking about various road trips in their State and 
destinations, including their favorite destinations. When you think 
about where your favorite place is, it is like saying which son is your 
favorite son. We all have our favorite places all around our State.
  I got to thinking about road trips. I thought, well, road trips in 
Alaska perhaps take a little bit of a different meaning than in other 
States. We all know the State I come from because we talk about it a 
lot. Senator Sullivan and I come from a big State. We have over 663,000 
square miles, but within those 663,000 square miles, we don't have a 
lot of roads. Over 82 percent of the communities in the State of Alaska 
are not connected by roads. We are not part of the road system. So 
traveling in Alaska can be a little bit of an adventure. Flexibility is 
always key.
  More often than not, when you are in a big State, you move around 
from town to town, and you rely on the commercial carriers. You rely on 
Alaska Airlines. You rely on Ravn. You rely on some of the others. We 
pretty much move around by air.
  But sometimes it is impossible to get around by air all the time. 
Sometimes we have what I call ``forest road trips.'' It is not that I 
don't want to be on our roads, but once you get on the roads, you are 
on them for a fairly long time. Sometimes the jets don't fly. Sometimes 
the jets don't fly because you have bad weather. Sometimes the jets 
don't fly because you have a volcano that goes off.
  I was holding a field hearing in Fairbanks and needed to get down to 
Anchorage, and Pavlof blew. Pavlof is one of our more active volcanos, 
and it shuts down the air space. What was going to be a 45-minute trip 
home turned out to be a 359-mile drive home--7 hours--that evening.
  We had another trip going out of Valdez to Anchorage, and we needed 
to get back to Anchorage that night, but the fog and the wind in Valdez 
said there are no planes coming in to take you out, and they might not 
be there the next day and they might not be there the next day after 
that. There is bad weather. The pass is shutting down so you better 
move now. When that happens, you get in a car and 300 miles later--5 
hours later--you are in Anchorage.
  I had Senator Manchin with me just over the Fourth of July break. We 
were headed from Anchorage to King Salmon to attend a ribbon-cutting 
for a National Park Service facility. We got fogged out in the morning 
and waited for hours in the airport, and then we got word that the fog 
had lifted, and we were getting ready to get on a plane and they called 
a mechanical. If there is a mechanical, I am with you, and we just 
don't fly. Senator Manchin turned to me and said: I know it is a long 
way, but can't we just drive there?
  That was my opportunity to turn to my colleague in another learning 
moment and tell him: No, this is one of those 82 percent of our 
communities where there is no road. So Joe, we are not flying.
  Aviation really is our lifeline here. If you are not on Alaska 
Airlines, you are on one of our many bush carriers. This is a picture 
of a pilot I had an opportunity to fly with, Eric, who is the pilot and 
owner of Arctic Backcountry Flying Service. This is his Cessna 206. 
More often than not, these are the type

[[Page S5227]]

of aircraft that we are in. We are not flying in some fancy leased jet. 
We are in a small aircraft, what we call a bush carrier. That is when 
we have airstrips that we can land on.
  But we don't have airstrips in many of our communities. What we do is 
we come in and out on the water on our floatplanes. Some people call 
them seaplanes out here. We call them floatplanes.
  Here is a picture of me and Secretary Perry on Kodiak Island. We had 
flown over on Alaska Airlines. But to get around the island, you either 
take a boat or fly in a floatplane. We were flying over to Old Harbor 
there on Kodiak Island, but we got around on the water.
  Sometimes you don't have the water though. In a place like Alaska, 
what we do have in the wintertime is a fair amount of snow. You take 
your floats off and you put your skis on. You can see the wheels there. 
This plane can land in Anchorage and take off in Anchorage on the 
wheels, but when you are up on Ruth Glacier, as this Cessna 185 is, you 
are landing on skis. That gets your attention because it is a little 
bit different than a floatplane, but it gets you in and out of what you 
need to get in and out of.
  There are some places, though, where you don't have an airstrip, a 
floatplane can't land, and the only way to really get in and out is by 
helicopter.
  Little Diomede Island sits out in the middle of the Bering Straits. 
It is 2 miles from Big Diomede. Big Diomede is owned by Russia. Little 
Diomede is owned by us. There are about 150-plus people who live out 
there on Diomede. They have a school, and they have a community center, 
but how do they get the mail? People move in and out by helicopter. The 
mail is delivered by helicopter. There are a few weeks in the 
wintertime--maybe, sometimes, as much as a couple of months--when the 
ocean freezes over and they can make a strip where a plane can land on 
the ice. But most of the year, you fly in and out on helicopter. So we 
fly.
  The other way we get around when we don't have a lot of roads is on 
our rivers. One thing that Alaska is blessed with is a lot of rivers. 
We have 365,000 miles of rivers. That makes for a lot of roads because 
in the summertime, those rivers are our roads.
  This is a picture upriver in the village of Napaskiak. There are 
about 500 people there. We had Attorney General Barr with us in May. We 
took him upriver. This is how he traveled. These are the Bethel Search 
and Rescue boats there. They are not fancy boats. They are not yachts. 
These are functional. They have decent motors on them because these are 
workhorses. Yet how we travel in the summer is up and down these 
rivers.

  In the summer, it makes it possible to move around these communities. 
In the winter, you move around by snow machine. You have trucks and you 
have vehicles out there as well. When the rivers freeze, you then have 
your frozen highway, and you can have 100 miles of it. The Kuskokwim, I 
think, plowed out 250 miles of road on the river.
  This is a frozen river. This is actually a picture that was taken 
when we took Secretary Moniz from Bethel to Oscarville. We had with us 
about four other Members of the Senate because we had a field hearing 
for the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. We held it out there 
in Oscarville, and we had a motorcade on ice. It was basically about 
six trucks that went down the river, but the Secretary said it was his 
first official truck motorcade on ice. That really does allow us to get 
around when the rivers are frozen over.
  Down in the southeastern part of the State, where I was born and 
spent a lot of my growing-up years, they are all islanded communities. 
There are 32 or 33 islanded communities in the southeast. So to move 
around, we either fly Alaska Airlines, fly smaller carriers, or we rely 
on our Alaska marine highway system, our ferry system. This is our 
marine lifeline. This is how we move freight, how we move vehicles, how 
we move goods, and how we move people.
  Right now, our very system is threatened on a host of different 
levels, which really hurts my heart because, as one who knows how 
dependent we are on being able to move on the water, this is our road, 
and these types of vessels can move us in ways that are efficient. The 
marine highway system is our road. So we are working in the State right 
now to address it. Again, this is one more way that I do my road trips 
when I am back home in the State.
  In the interior, you have communities, again, that are isolated. 
There is no road system that gets you there. There are small villages, 
Arctic villages, that are about 500 people strong.
  I was in an Arctic village just in July, and this is how I was picked 
up at the airport. There are not many trucks. There are basically four-
wheelers. There are ATVs, and everybody just hops on. This was my 
driver for the day. Again, you just hop on the back and ride.
  Then, there are some communities in which, really, the way that you 
get around is not on a road and not on a sidewalk but on just a wooden 
trail, a wooden boardwalk. This is the village of Napaskiak. This is 
out in the Bethel region, in the Y-K Delta. These are just planks that 
are put down on top of the tundra because the area is so marshy that 
you cannot walk on it. You would need hip waders to be better able to 
travel through it. Just walking around on the boardwalk is the extent 
of your road trip in a place like Nunam Iqua or Napaskiak.
  Whether it is freedom to be on a frozen river or freedom to be out on 
the Arctic Ocean, wintertime gives us a little bit more freedom. This 
is a picture of me with a friend, off of Utqiagvik, which is on the 
Arctic Ocean. It looks like a lot of fun. We were going out snow-
machining. We were going out to work because the community had 
harvested a whale, and the whaling crew and the community were taking 
their snow machines out to load the muktuk onto sleds to haul back to 
the community so it could be shared as part of their subsistence food. 
So we were going out to help the community harvest that whale. This is 
not fun and recreation. It is your means of transportation. This is 
your workhorse.
  We do have a little bit of fun every now and again. Everyone asks: Do 
you ever travel around by dog sled? That is my dream. That would be the 
next career opportunity for me. I would love to run the Iditarod, and I 
would love to have my own dog team, but, right now, I don't have enough 
hours in my day. Yet, every now and again, you can hop on the back of a 
dog sled.
  I am looking forward to being back home and traveling around the 
State, visiting from Ketchikan to Barrow. It is 4,000 miles for Senator 
Sullivan, Congressman Young, and me to get back and forth between 
Washington, DC, and Alaska. I have kind of mapped out my trip for the 
month ahead. Once I get back to Alaska, in that first couple of weeks, 
I will have doubled that airtime, if you will. Then, with the 
additional travel that we have toward the end of August, I am looking 
at about 15,000 miles of travel within my State.
  I know many of my colleagues are going to exotic locations that will 
take them to places that will be a long, long ways away. Yet I am just 
reminded every day of the privilege and the honor of being able to 
travel through an extraordinary State like Alaska, where we use a 
little bit of everything to get us to where we need to go in order to 
visit some of the finest Americans whom I know and am blessed to be 
able to serve.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.


                                Oklahoma

  Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. President, August is coming quickly. It is the time 
that we have a gap in the legislative calendar. As this body knows 
well, Congress is in session for 11 months of the year. We have one 
month in which we are not in Washington, DC, which gives us the 
opportunity to be home and to, quite frankly, catch up with family but 
also to be able to travel around our States, see what is going on in 
our States, and talk to folks.
  I happen to live in an unbelievably beautiful State. In August, 
Oklahoma is crazy hot and humid, but it is a great time to get a chance 
to see people and to see what is going on.
  In just the few weeks around this time period, I have already been to 
Ada and Durant and Calera, and I will be heading quickly to Chickasha, 
Lindsay, Lawton, Vinita, Miami--that is not ``Miam--ee''; the correct 
pronunciation is ``Miam--ah''--Afton, Grove, Jay, Chelsea, Hennessey, 
Enid, up to Kaw Lake, and, of course, all around the

[[Page S5228]]

Oklahoma City area and all around Tulsa, to spend as much time as I can 
with as many different people as I can to find out what is going on in 
Oklahoma. I get this one precious month a year to make sure I have 
focus time in the State to see as many people as I can.
  I got to thinking about this and the privilege that I have really had 
in being able to travel around my State and see so many people and so 
many places, to get on Route 66, travel the State from east to west, 
and see exactly what is going on.
  I have had the opportunity to be out at the E.W. Marland Mansion in 
Ponca City. I have had the opportunity to be at Roman Nose State Park 
in Watonga. I have climbed up to the top of Black Mesa in Kenton, and I 
have been to the lowest point, by sea level, in far southeast Oklahoma 
in Broken Bow. I have been out to Mount Scott in Lawton and have 
climbed on its tumbled rocks. I have been to the Blue Whale in Catoosa.
  I have had the great privilege of getting a chance to walk around 
through the Gathering Place in Tulsa. This is an absolutely spectacular 
park and gathering place. In fact, USA Today just named it the No. 1 
new attraction in America. For folks who have not been to Tulsa or for 
the folks who have been to Tulsa before, they need to go back and just 
enjoy the Gathering Place.
  I have had the opportunity to walk the streets around Black Wall 
Street and to visit with the fine folks who are there. I have had the 
opportunity to be in Davis at Turner Falls and the Arbuckle Mountains, 
and, of course, Falls Creek. I have had the opportunity to be in 
Hochatown, which is down near Broken Bow Lake, and the chance just to 
enjoy the time there, around the tall trees, in beautiful southeast 
Oklahoma. I have had the opportunity to visit Lake Murray State Park in 
Ardmore and visit the Ole Red restaurant in Tishomingo. I have driven 
the Talimena National Scenic Byway in the fall and have seen the 
spectacular scenery in those mountains. I have been to the Robbers Cave 
in Wilburton and the Ouachita National Forest in McCurtain County.
  I have had the opportunity to walk around through the Heavener 
Runestone area and see the Norse Viking carved stones that are there in 
eastern Oklahoma. I could see, most definitely, by far, amongst those 
high trees and those rolling hills, that I wasn't the first person to 
go there.
  I have been to the Round Barn, off Route 66 in Arcadia. I have 
stopped to get a great hamburger at Pop's, which is there on Route 66. 
I have quietly stood at the national Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial in 
downtown Oklahoma City, and I have seen the amazing western art at the 
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. I have walked through the 
Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.
  You can't go through Oklahoma without stopping at Cattlemen's 
Steakhouse and enjoying a great steak or without driving out west to 
see the Stafford Air & Space Museum. People who travel to Washington, 
DC, go to the Air and Space Museum, and I will often smile at them and 
say: Do not miss the Air & Space Museum that is in Weatherford, OK, 
because the Stafford Air & Space Museum has a remarkable collection 
from a fantastic Oklahoma astronaut.
  The Great Salt Plains in Jet and the Oklahoma Territorial Museum in 
Guthrie are also really remarkable places.
  I do have to brag about a spot because, on my 50th birthday, my wife 
surprised me by our taking a trip to the Little Sahara State Park and 
the sand dunes in northern Oklahoma. We rented dune buggies and drove 
them as hard and fast as we wanted on that day. It was a great day to 
just enjoy Oklahoma. It was just like the day I was able to drive to 
Pawhuska and eat at the Pioneer Woman Mercantile restaurant and just 
enjoy the downtown area.
  It is really a fantastic State, and the people and the places that I 
miss while I am here in Washington, DC, for 11 months of the year I 
look forward to getting a chance to see when I get back home in August. 
With as much work as we have to get done here--and we still have a lot 
of work to get done--we will spend some time on the phone, we will walk 
through legislation, and we will continue to do writing. Yet, 
thankfully, I will be able to write and spend time on the phone while I 
look out my windshield and enjoy some Oklahoma scenery at the same 
time.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cotton). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

                          ____________________