September 12, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 146 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Pages S5453-S5461]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

                           EXECUTIVE CALENDAR

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following 
nomination, which the clerk will report.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read the nomination of 
Michelle Bowman, of Kansas, to be a Member of the Board of Governors of 
the Federal Reserve System for a term of fourteen years from February 
1, 2020. (Reappointment)
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Dakota.


                              South Dakota

  Mr. THUNE. Madam President, it was a good August. While I head back 
to South Dakota almost every weekend, August gives me the chance to 
spend multiple uninterrupted weeks back home visiting with South 
Dakotans and traveling to the far corners of the State.
  August is also fair season in South Dakota, and there is nothing 
better than a South Dakota fair. This year I got to attend the South 
Dakota State Fair, the Brown County Fair, the Sioux Empire Fair, the 
Turner County Fair, and the McCook County Fair, to name a few on the 
list. As usual, I had a great time at all of them. Of course, the 
people are the best part of the fair, although I have to say that the 
fair food is not far behind. I am still enjoying at this late date the 
Tubby Burger

[[Page S5454]]

that I had at the Brown County Fair, and I will tell you that they 
don't have burgers like that here in Washington, DC.
  Agriculture is the lifeblood of South Dakota, and, as always, a lot 
of my conversations over August were centered on agriculture. Farmers 
and ranchers have had a very rough few years, and addressing the needs 
of our agriculture community is one of my top priorities in Congress.
  One big concern for our producers is ethanol and biodiesel. While we 
received some good news this year with the approval of year-round E15 
sales, the ethanol industry is still facing significant challenges 
owing to the excess of small refinery waivers that have been issued--an 
issue we continue to try to address.
  Perhaps the biggest concern for our farmers right now is trade. 
Multiple protracted trade disputes have exacerbated an already 
struggling ag economy and have left farmers and ranchers unsure how 
markets are going to be going forward.
  While ranchers received some good news in August with the 
announcement that the administration has reached a deal to increase 
U.S. beef sales to Europe, that is just a tiny fraction of what we need 
to be doing trade-wise. Each time I speak with the President and his 
administration, I tell them what South Dakota farmers have told me: We 
need to conclude negotiations on the various trade deals we are working 
on as soon as possible to open new markets and to expand existing ones 
and to give agricultural producers certainty about what the playing 
field is going to look like going forward.
  One of my priorities right now is pushing for passage of the United 
States-Mexico-Canada free-trade agreement. The United States-Mexico-
Canada Agreement will preserve farmers' access to two of our Nation's 
most significant agricultural export markets--Canada and Mexico--and 
substantially expand market access for U.S. dairy products in Canada. 
Negotiations on this agreement have already been concluded. We need 
Democrats in the House to indicate their willingness to take it up and 
pass it.
  August is always a great time to share with South Dakotans what I am 
working on in Washington and to get their feedback, which is why I am 
glad I had the opportunity to host several townhall meetings across the 
State, toured numerous local businesses, and visited nearly every 
corner of South Dakota.
  As South Dakotans know, I am a longtime member of the Senate 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. I served as chairman 
of the committee in the last Congress, and I currently chair the 
Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and 
the Internet. This has given me the chance to address a number of 
issues facing Americans and South Dakotans, from the frustration of 
illegal robocalls to the data privacy concerns we all face in the 
internet age. It has also given me the chance to focus on digital 
issues that affect rural States like South Dakota, particularly the 
lack of high-speed internet access in rural areas.
  To residents of large cities, being without access to high-speed 
internet is unthinkable, but for families in rural areas, which lack 
the telecommunications infrastructure of cities and suburbs, even basic 
internet access can sometimes be a struggle. Broadband access is 
frequently just a dream, and that has real consequences for these 
Americans.
  It is not just a matter of being able to stream Netflix without 
interruption. In our digital economy, a lack of reliable, high-speed 
internet access means losing out on opportunities to grow your 
business, it means fewer educational opportunities, and it means fewer 
healthcare resources in areas that already lack easy access to 
specialty care services. Telehealth promises to reduce some of the 
geographic barriers to care for individuals in rural areas, but it 
depends largely on high-speed internet access. Then there is the 
rapidly developing field of precision agriculture. Precision 
agriculture, which uses tools like robotics and remote monitoring to 
help farmers manage their fields, promises to help farmers 
substantially increase their yields while reducing their costs. But, 
once again, it depends on reliable access to high-speed internet.
  That is why I have made this issue such a priority. Nationwide, the 
digital divide is shrinking, as more and more Americans gain access to 
broadband. In South Dakota, we are ahead of the curb, thanks to people 
like Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken, who has worked aggressively to 
remove barriers to telecommunications investment in cities like Sioux 
Falls. I was very encouraged by the Federal Communications Commission's 
recent announcement that it will invest $705 million over the next 
decade to bring broadband to rural areas in South Dakota that currently 
go without.
  There is more work to be done, and I am committed to pushing this 
issue until reliable broadband access is standard in rural America. 
During the last week of the August break, I brought the Commerce 
Committee to Sioux Falls to conduct a field hearing on rural broadband. 
We brought an FCC Commissioner with us so that he could hear directly 
from South Dakotans who are on the frontlines of rural broadband 
expansion and leading the innovations that come along with it. It was a 
great hearing, and I am very encouraged by the progress we are making 
on this issue. I look forward to doing more work on this issue in the 
coming months.
  I am energized by the time that I spent with South Dakotans during 
the August break, and I am looking forward to continuing to fight for 
South Dakota's priorities here in Washington this fall.


                        Tribute to Brendon Plack

  Madam President, before I close, I want to take a minute to recognize 
one of the people who has been instrumental in helping me serve South 
Dakotans throughout my time in the Senate.
  This week, my whip office chief of staff, Brendon Plack, is leaving 
my office after 14 years. He has been with me during my entire time 
here in the Senate, from the very first month on the job, and it is 
difficult to imagine the office without him.
  He started out at the bottom, as the guy who had to drive me to 
evening events so that I could squeeze in a little more work or a few 
more phone calls to South Dakota on the way. But he was always cheerful 
about it, and, even better, he drove well and never ran out of gas. It 
may not sound like a big deal, but having been subsequently stranded on 
the way to an event after running out of gas, I appreciate, as always, 
Brendon's preparedness.
  Brendon soon moved up to legislative correspondent, then to 
legislative assistant, and then up from there to policy director, 
legislative director, staff director, and chief of staff. He has been 
an indispensable part of my team.
  No job has ever been too big for Brendon, no task too hard. It 
doesn't matter how long the hours get. He is always willing to put in 
the work that needs to be done, and he stays cheerful through it all, 
lifting everyone else up with him.
  He is a natural leader who is not only exceptionally talented himself 
but is great at spotting talent in others. He helped me to put together 
an outstanding team for the whip office and has helped me to maintain 
an outstanding team in my personal office.
  In politics, as we all know, you meet people who are great at the 
nuts and bolts of policy and know every detail of an issue, and you 
meet people who aren't as focused on the details but have an ability to 
see the big picture and how what we are doing fits into our larger 
goals. You don't always meet people who can do both, but Brendon has 
always been able to get into the nuts and bolts of a policy and at the 
same time see the bigger picture.
  One of the things I have appreciated most about Brendon is the fact 
that no matter what we are doing, South Dakota is at the forefront of 
his mind. As a native of Madison, SD, and the son of a farmer, Brendon 
has a keen insight into South Dakotans' priorities. Whether it is tax 
reform or energy legislation or agriculture, Brendon is always thinking 
about how we can serve South Dakota on the national stage. He has 
played a key role in so many of the things I have been able to get done 
for South Dakota here in Washington.
  Now, I have described a pretty outstanding individual, but Brendon is 
not without his flaws. He is a longtime Vikings fan. Over the past 14 
years, I

[[Page S5455]]

have tried hard to convince him that he should be rooting for the Green 
Bay Packers, but so far I haven't gotten anywhere.
  Fortunately, our shared appreciation for the tuba has helped us to 
get over our major disagreements on football. Both Brendon and I are 
tuba players from way back, although I think he is a little more 
accomplished at the tuba than I am. I never made it beyond the high 
school marching band. Brendon went on to Augustana University in South 
Dakota on a music scholarship and played in the concert band. I just 
learned that he actually had lost his tuba scholarship--if you can 
believe this--to dedicate time to my first campaign.
  As I said earlier, it is hard to think of my office without Brendon. 
He will be deeply missed, but I look forward to watching him excel in 
all his future endeavors. I know that he may enjoy having a little bit 
more time to spend with his wife Lindsay and his little ones, Timmy and 
Katie Lou. As we all know, days on the Hill can be very long.
  If you ask Brendon how he got into politics, he will tell you about 
the meeting he attended in college where I was the guest speaker. That 
meeting, Brendon says, got him interested in politics for the first 
time. Shortly after, he applied to work on my first Senate campaign, 
and the rest, as they say, is history.
  To hear Brendon tell it, attending that meeting was a lucky day for 
him, but I know it was an even luckier day for me and for the people of 
South Dakota.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Scott of Florida). The clerk will call the 
roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Johnson). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.


                   Recognition of the Minority Leader

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader is recognized.


                             Appropriations

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, there are two possible paths when it 
comes to the appropriations process in Congress. There is a bipartisan 
path, where both parties work together in good faith to pass all 12 
appropriations bills. Then there is the partisan path, where one party 
breaks faith with the other, and we end up traveling down a road of 
brinksmanship. Continuing resolutions become the order of the day, and 
the risk of a government shutdown increases.
  We all know the bipartisan path is far preferable. It both avoids the 
possibility of another damaging government shutdown, and when we 
legislate the appropriations bills, we can intelligently allocate our 
resources for the future. Continuing resolutions, on the other hand, 
are blunt objects that simply recycle last year's priorities. It hurts 
our military; it hurts the middle class; and it hurts the American 
people.
  We are at an important crossroads between those two passes right now. 
After successfully negotiating the broad outlines of a budget deal 
earlier this year, we must now agree on the allocations to the 12 
appropriations subcommittees. These are known as the 302(b) 
allocations. This process was completely bipartisan in 2018; these 
allocations passed the Appropriations Committee unanimously 31 to 0.
  This year, the Republican majority, without consulting with 
Democrats, has proposed taking away $12 billion from urgent domestic 
priorities and from urgent military priorities and wasting it--wasting 
it on President Trump's ineffective and expensive border wall. This is 
the very wall President Trump promised over and over again that Mexico 
would pay for when he ran for office and garnered support for it from 
his constituency.
  No Republican--certainly not the Republican leader who knows this 
place well--could seriously believe Democrats would agree to that: $12 
billion for the wall, stolen from healthcare programs to fight opioid 
addiction and encourage cancer research, stolen from military families? 
No Republican could expect Democrats to support that, nor should they. 
It is terrible policy.
  This morning, in the appropriations markup, every single Republican 
on the committee, including Leader McConnell, voted to move forward on 
this idea. Republican Senators who oppose the President's emergency 
declaration voted for it; Republican Senators whose States would lose 
tens of millions of dollars in military funding voted for it. This is 
the clearest indication yet that Republicans may well be abandoning a 
bipartisan appropriations process. They would do so at their peril, as 
well as the peril of the Nation.
  Republicans have started off here on the wrong foot, repeating the 
exact same mistakes they made at the end of 2018, which resulted in the 
longest government shutdown in American history--a shutdown that 
President Trump and Republicans rightly shouldered the blame for.
  There is only one bit of good news in this maneuver. There is still 
time for Republicans to reverse course. The Republican majority should 
sit down with Democrats on the committee and start over on the 302(b) 
allocations, figure out an order to bring each bill to the floor, and 
get a bipartisan process back on track. That is how we Democrats want 
to do it. That is how we have always gotten appropriations bills done. 
No one wants to resort to a continuing resolution or, God forbid, 
another Republican, Donald Trump-inspired government shutdown, but it 
takes two to tango.
  My Republican colleagues must know that what happens in the next few 
days and weeks will determine whether we can proceed with a bipartisan 
appropriations process this fall or not.
  I urge Leader McConnell and every single Republican to reverse 
course--it is certainly not too late--and work with us and get it done. 
I spoke to Leader McConnell yesterday right here in the well and 
suggested just that. He seemed open to it. Let's hope our request is 
heeded.


                           Background Checks

  Mr. President, on guns, yesterday, in an open letter to the Senate, 
the leaders of 145 companies--some of the most recognizable in our 
country--added their voices to the millions of Americans who want 
action on gun violence. Here are the words of these corporate leaders, 
hardly leftwing radicals: ``Doing nothing about America's gun violence 
crisis is simply unacceptable . . . the Senate must follow the House's 
lead by passing bipartisan legislation that would update the background 
checks law, helping to keep guns out of the hands of people who 
shouldn't have them.''
  They are correct, and the people who shouldn't have them, almost no 
one thinks they should. Should felons have guns? Should spousal abusers 
have guns? Should people adjudicated mentally ill have guns? Yet the 
enormous loopholes in the law allow them to have guns. Forty percent of 
the guns sold in America now are sold without background checks because 
they are sold either online or at gun shows.
  These corporate leaders are exactly right. They are not asking for 
anything radical. They are asking for something that 93 percent of the 
American people support.
  When it comes to gun safety legislation, no policy is a better 
starting point than universal background checks. We are certainly open 
to debating the finer points of legislation with our Republican 
colleagues, but we certainly will not settle for anything less than 
meaningful action to address gun violence. We know meaningful action 
begins with closing the loopholes in our background check system so 
guns don't fall into the wrong hands in the first place.
  After saying the issue of gun safety would be front and center when 
Congress returned, Leader McConnell has given no indication of when the 
Senate might have a debate. Instead, he has suggested it is up to the 
White House--a mercurial, inconsistent White House--to determine what, 
if any, legislation reaches the floor. Meanwhile, after Republicans met 
with President Trump at the White House this week, a few said President 
Trump was liable to let Congress take the lead.
  Well, Leader McConnell, President Trump, Republican Senators, it is 
the old Abbott and Costello routine again. They are going like this: 
Congressional Republicans point at the White House, the White House 
points at congressional Republicans, and nothing gets done.

[[Page S5456]]

  We know why nothing gets done. The public overwhelmingly--the vast 
majority of Americans, the vast majority of Republicans, the vast 
majority of gun owners, the majority of NRA members--want to close the 
loopholes, but the NRA has our Republican colleagues quaking in their 
boots, and they almost always bow down in obeisance to the NRA. The NRA 
says: Let us look at the legislation. Then it is so weakened, it 
virtually does nothing. That is not going to happen this time.
  We need a vote on H.R. 8--modest, bipartisan, universal background 
check legislation. Our Republican colleagues should realize this game 
they are playing of Pennsylvania Avenue hot potato has become a 
shopworn strategy to delay and kick responsibility around so 
Republicans can avoid addressing the tough issue--the issue the 
American people sent us here to take on.
  When Leader McConnell says he is just going to do what President 
Trump wants--how unreliable. President Trump has been all over the lot 
on gun safety, with no real results in the 2\1/2\ years he has been in 
office. What lack of leadership. Let's just do it. The public wants us 
to do it.
  What is different this time, my colleagues on the Republican side, is 
the public is so strongly on the side of what we want to do--closing 
the loopholes--that people will begin to pay a political price for not 
doing it. It used to be the equation was the other way, a small, 
dedicated core of advocates, quite extreme, on the pro-gun side had 
more weight than the vast majority of the American people who cared 
about this issue but didn't make it high up on their list. What has 
changed is this: It is one of the most important issues in the country. 
That is not I saying it; that is what the average citizen is saying.
  The idea now of bowing down to the NRA, of not doing anything they 
don't want you to do is a political loser. I urge my Republican 
colleagues, for the sake of our country, for the sake of lives, to 
change their minds and behave differently.
  The fact of the matter is this: The issue of gun violence is not 
going away, and the American people are not going to settle for half 
measures or half-baked solutions that the NRA crafts.
  While we continue to press the White House to make its position 
public, we urge Leader McConnell to do something very simple: Let us 
debate H.R. 8, the bipartisan, House-passed universal background checks 
bill on the floor ASAP.


                                 China

  Mr. President, on China, a report in the Wall Street Journal this 
morning describes how China will seek to narrow the scope of ongoing 
negotiations with the United States, hoping to focus on trade alone, 
leaving national security issues for a separate conversation. Of 
course, in many cases, these two issues are intertwined and 
indissoluble. Of course, China and the United States will invariably 
disagree about which issue is a trade issue and which issue is a 
national security issue.
  Regardless, this transparent attempt by China to dodge a conversation 
about its predatory actions against American companies should not 
stand. China has stolen an entire generation of innovation from the 
United States. Of course they don't want to talk about this topic, and 
of course they want to defer this conversation to a day in the future 
that will never come.
  Make no mistake about it, what the Chinese are doing is another 
effort to protect Huawei and similarly large Chinese corporations from 
further action in the United States. They don't let our best and 
biggest corporations sell goods in China. Why should we let them sell 
goods here, particularly when there is a national security risk as 
there is in Huawei? My late father-in-law, a New York City cabdriver, 
used colorful language. He said: Do you know what? When it comes to 
China, we are not Uncle Sam; we are Uncle Sack. Let's stop that 
already.
  President Trump has shown some strength in this issue, but then he 
also often backs off. We have to be tough on Huawei--very tough on 
Huawei. That is the best way to teach China that they can't sell 
whatever they want here in America and not let us sell in China.
  I have a concise and pointed request to the White House this morning: 
Tell China to forget about it. Don't let China exclude our Nation's 
security and Huawei from the negotiations.
  Let me remind President Trump and his advisors that over the past 
several years, China has endeavored to keep our blue-chip technology 
companies out of its markets. When it does allow American companies 
access, it makes the transfer of proprietary intellectual property and 
technology to Chinese companies a precondition. When American companies 
don't play by their rules, Chinese companies steal the technology.

  President Trump, you have been tougher on China than President Bush 
or Obama. I give you some credit for that, but it will all come to 
naught unless we actually take action. Don't let Huawei sell here. 
Don't let Huawei get the components made in America they need to 
continue to threaten both our economic and national security.
  If China keeps American companies out, we should keep important 
Chinese companies out, particularly those like Huawei, until China 
relents. They will if we stay strong and if we stay tough.
  President Trump, stay strong on China and on Huawei.


                              E-Cigarettes

  Mr. President, finally, on some praise for the Trump administration, 
I don't do it that often, but when it is due it is due. Yesterday, the 
Federal Drug Administration announced that it plans to pull most 
flavored e-cigarettes from the market. I have been concerned about the 
possible danger of e-cigarettes for a long time. I have been one of the 
first to bring attention to the fact that the e-cigarette manufacturers 
aim at kids with both flavors and advertising. I have called for 
greater scrutiny, asked companies to recall brands of e-cigarettes 
where the parts are exploding, and have particularly focused on getting 
the FDA to ban e-cigarettes with flavors that are designed to appeal to 
teenagers and young kids.
  I had several conversations and meetings with FDA Commissioner Scott 
Gottlieb about this issue. In fact, I brought him some kids from high 
school in Westchester who said that e-cigarettes were hurting their 
school and that so many kids were involved. I think it made a good 
impression--a strong impression--on former Commissioner Scott Gottlieb.
  We take wide-ranging steps to prevent tobacco companies from 
targeting underage children in their markets but so far have done 
little to prevent e-cigarettes from executing basically the same 
strategy. It is past time the FDA moved to take these kid-friendly 
products off the shelves, and I commend the FDA's announcement that it 
plans to take action.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.
  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I appreciate what the Democratic leader 
just said about the flavored e-cigarettes, and I, too, commended the 
Trump administration yesterday for taking this action. It is a big deal 
in our high schools in Ohio and in other venues as well, and this will 
help to keep a lot of young people from engaging in this, which is bad 
for their health. Certainly, just like cigarette smoke, it also leads 
to addictions. I commend him for that.
  The Democratic leader also talked about the fact that President Trump 
has been tougher on China than any previous President in modern times, 
certainly, and that is also true. Let's all hope the Chinese Government 
comes to the table in the next few weeks, as they get back to their 
discussions, ready to actually address some of these issues, 
particularly, the issue of their subsidies, which are contrary to our 
laws, but also the international rules, the technology transfer, and 
the taking of our intellectual property. These are changes in the 
structure of our trade relationship that are required for us to get to 
that level playing field that all of us should want.
  I also agree about the notion that we should have more reciprocity. 
If they are keeping our stuff out, we should be able to respond in 
kind. Ultimately, we all want a resolution to this issue. We want the 
tariffs to be eliminated, but we want to do it on a basis where there 
is actually fair trade between our two countries.
  With regard to the appropriations process, I, too, am hopeful we can 
get something done here on a bipartisan basis. The Democratic leader 
suggested

[[Page S5457]]

we might end up with a government shutdown. We should never end up with 
a government shutdown. It is terrible policy. It hurts government 
workers. It is bad for taxpayers.
  We will be issuing a report from the Permanent Subcommittee on 
Investigations tomorrow in this regard to show how the last three 
government shutdowns have resulted in tremendous pain, not just to 
those who get furloughed and those who work without pay but also to the 
taxpayer, and they are fairly inefficient. Let's not even talk about a 
government shutdown. Why are we going down this road?


                                  Ohio

  Mr. President, in the Senate, this is the first week back in session 
after what is called the August work period. Today, I want to talk a 
little bit about my travels around the State of Ohio over the August 
district work period and talk about what I learned that can help inform 
us here as to what we can do better in the Congress to help on issues 
that are important to people I represent in Ohio.
  One that was striking for me, and it has been for the last several 
years, is workforce needs. There aren't enough workers to fill the jobs 
that are out there. What a great opportunity it is for people to come 
in out of the shadows and get to work, but also what a necessity it is 
now for our economy to have these workers. I learned a lot about that 
and heard a lot about that.
  The changing drug crisis. We in Ohio have been hit hard with the 
opioid crisis, but it is evolving, as always. There is fentanyl, which 
is a synthetic form of opioids, but now crystal meth is much more 
powerful and cheaper than ever and is coming in from Mexico, and we 
need to be responsive to that change.
  Challenges in Ag country. Our farmers are hurting. Low prices the 
last few years have been compounded by terrible weather this year. It 
was the worst planting in my memory in Ohio. A lot of crops didn't get 
in at all. Of those that did, about half of them are not in good shape. 
This is tough on our farmers.
  Ways to do a better job in protecting Lake Erie. This is a huge issue 
for us in Ohio. It is our No. 1 tourist attraction, and it is an 
incredible source of income in jobs. We have about a $6 billion fishing 
industry now in the Great Lakes. The most important lake of all is Lake 
Erie. As an example, several million people get their drinking water 
from Lake Erie. I learned a lot about that over the break.
  Then, also, there is the importance of our military having the 
support they need. I went to our military bases around the State and 
learned about what we can do to help them more, and also I got the 
opportunity to visit two of our NASA centers in Ohio. One of the 10 
NASA research centers is in Cleveland, OH, NASA Glenn. There is Plum 
Brook Station, where we test equipment heading to the Moon soon. That 
was very helpful to understand better about how we can be providing 
steady funding in the Congress so that we can indeed fulfill our 
missions that we have always had here in this country, which is to push 
beyond the bounds and, in this case, to go back to the Moon and have 
the first woman on the Moon and, then, eventually, to go to Mars and 
the benefits of that.
  It was a busy month. I traveled to 39 different counties in Ohio over 
the last several weeks and more than 4,000 miles in my pickup truck, 
which now has over 180,000 miles on it, traveling around our State and 
to 75 different events.
  When I began my second term representing Ohio in 2017, I made it a 
goal of mine to visit all 88 counties in Ohio during this term. I am 
happy to report that just during August we achieved that goal. A few 
years early, we hit all 88 counties. We will continue to go around our 
State and to see people in every part of our State, hear them out, and, 
again, to know what the best thing is to do in Congress to be able to 
help them and their families and to help our State.
  I also traveled by train and by ferry in Lake Erie, by bike on 
charity bike rides, and even by kayak on the Cuyahoga River, to meet 
with constituents about how Washington can be a better partner for them 
and their families. I met with a lot of small businesses, and I talked 
to them about how they are doing. The tax reform and the regulatory 
relief has really helped, and this is why we have a stronger economy 
now than anybody projected. It is why we have more jobs being created. 
It is why we have wages going up for the first time in a decade in 
Ohio.
  Last month, we actually had nationally wage increases of 3.5 percent 
year to year, well above inflation. That is a welcomed change. Really, 
in Ohio, after about a decade and half of flat wages and not keeping up 
with inflation and people feeling like they are working hard and 
playing by the rules but they couldn't get ahead, now you finally see 
wages going up. The biggest increases are among lower income and 
middle-income workers. That is exactly what you want.
  I am happy to report that, and I am happy to report that small 
business owners in Ohio are happy that it is working for them because 
they expanded their plants and their operations and they hired more 
people.
  What I did hear consistently from employers at every level--and for 
that matter, from hospitals and nonprofits and from State and local 
government--is one thing: workforce. They don't have enough qualified 
workers to fill the jobs they have. Again, it is a great opportunity to 
bring people off the sidelines--people who are not applying for work, 
not looking for work--and to raise labor force participation, which 
economists say is relatively low, and bring them off the sidelines. We 
also need these people to be able to meet our economic needs.
  If you go on OhioMeansJobs.com, this morning, in that website you 
will see about 150,000 jobs being advertised--150,000 open jobs. When 
you look at those jobs, a lot of them require skills. They are not the 
kind of skills you get from a college degree but the kind of skills you 
achieve somewhere between high school and college--things like welding, 
machining, coding, other IT jobs, techs for hospitals, and 
truckdrivers. These jobs are open right now in Ohio. Economists call 
these jobs ``skilled jobs'' but, again, they are the kind of jobs that 
you can get the skills from in short-term training programs.
  I have been a big fan of improving those skills, and we have made 
some progress here. We started a caucus called the Career and Technical 
Caucus. I am the cochair and cofounder of that. It is to focus on these 
practical, hands-on, skills-training for jobs that can help us to be 
able to fill this need.
  The openings we have in Ohio are also all around the country. I was 
pleased that recently the President signed my Educating Tomorrow's 
Workforce Act into law, which allows States and localities to use 
Perkins grant funding to establish these career and technical education 
academies at the high school level, but we need to do more.
  One that would really help is if we could pass what is called the 
JOBS Act. It is legislation I have introduced consistently with Senator 
Tim Kaine from Virginia. It is really very simple. It says we ought to 
be able to use Pell grants not just for college but also for these 
shorter term training programs. In fact, they are much more relevant to 
what we need right now.
  Sadly, most people who get a Pell grant to go to college don't end up 
with a college degree. I support Pell grants in colleges and 
universities. It is an important way for lower income students to get 
access to education. But why not allow those same students to get a 
shorter term training program under their belt? Right now they can't 
afford it. If you want to get a welding degree to get an industry-
recognized credential to become a welder in Ohio, you can get a job 
right away--a good-paying job with good benefits. Yet it is costly to 
go through that program. They are less than 15 weeks. So they don't 
qualify for Pell.
  A student is told: You can go to college and get a history degree, 
but you can't get a welding certificate and use a Pell grant. That is 
just wrong. It is unfair. I heard the same thing again and again at 
visits I made to community colleges around Ohio over August and visits 
I made to career and technical schools around Ohio, which is why they 
want the JOBS Act, and they want it now because they know it will help 
them.
  I heard from one student at a welding program at a CTE school who 
told me she wanted to get an advanced welding certificate so she could 
get a great job. She knows exactly what she wants to

[[Page S5458]]

do, but she can't afford it. This is an 18-year-old in her last year of 
high school. She is working three jobs right now, but she can't afford 
the cost. So she is probably going to take a Pell and go to college 
when she would prefer to take a Pell and get this advanced certificate 
that is internationally recognized so she can get a good welding job. 
Again, that is something we should pass here and do it soon.
  The Higher Education Act may well be passed this year. It is a 
perfect vehicle for it. I want to thank Senator Lamar Alexander, who 
has been supportive of this commonsense change to be able to get our 
young people and others the training they need to be able to access the 
jobs that are out there.
  Elsewhere around the State, I did meet with our farmers in several 
counties. The heavy flooding has led to the worst planting season in 
our modern history in Ohio. We have helped a little bit because the 
Department of Agriculture, at our urging, has included Ohio in disaster 
declarations. So some of these farmers who have not been able to plant 
are getting low interest loans right now and eventually will get some 
grant money. That is good.
  These farmers also want to have the access to more markets around the 
world because they know that is going to increase their prices and 
enable them to get back on their feet after these tough times with the 
weather.
  They are particularly concerned about what is happening with regard 
to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Remember, we have this existing 
agreement called NAFTA, which is with Mexico and Canada, our two 
largest trading partners. For Ohio, they are by far our two largest 
trading partners. But right now, the NAFTA agreement is 25 years old, 
outdated, not keeping up with the times, and not opening up markets 
enough. So we have this new agreement that has been signed by Mexico 
and signed by Canada. We are ready to go with it, but it has to be 
confirmed in the U.S. Congress. Right now, unbelievably, it is being 
held up, even though our farmers desperately want it. You know who else 
wants it? Our workers, because it is going to help manufacturing.
  The people who are involved in trade understand the importance of 
Canada and Mexico because they are our largest markets, and it is going 
to be so helpful for our country and for my State of Ohio if we can get 
it done. The International Trade Commission, which is an independent 
body, studied this and said: Yes, it is going to create over 150,000 
new jobs in the auto industry. It is great for Michigan, Ohio, and 
other States. Again, all we have to do is have a vote here in the U.S. 
Congress to be able to confirm this, and we can put it in place. It 
will help our economy. It will help create more jobs. It will help 
create some certainty going forward. We need to get this done.

  Many of the things in the agreement are things that Democrats have 
been calling for for years--tougher labor standards that are 
enforceable, as an example. It actually has a minimum wage--40 to 45 
percent of vehicles made under USMCA must be produced by workers 
earning an average of $16 an hour. It has a 70-percent requirement to 
use North American steel. It has a number of things that the Democrats 
have called upon us to do for years.
  If we don't pass USMCA, the alternative is the status quo, which is 
NAFTA. In effect, if you don't support USMCA, it must mean that you 
support the status quo, which is NAFTA, which, again, so many Democrats 
have been criticizing over the years. Let's get this done. The 25-year-
old NAFTA is not the status quo that anybody should want when we have 
this better agreement in front of us.
  Specifically, if the House of Representatives were to bring the bill 
to the floor, I believe they could pass it just because of the logic, 
the fact that this agreement is so much better than the status quo. 
Then, over here in the Senate, we would have no trouble passing it, in 
my view.
  During my tour over the August break, I also spent time visiting with 
a lot of groups and organizations that are combating the drug epidemic 
that has gripped my State of Ohio and our country. As you know, we now 
have more people in Ohio dying from overdoses than from any other cause 
of death. It is unbelievable. In 2017, 72,000 people died of overdoses 
in this country, more than we lost in the entire Vietnam war, just in 
one year--72,000 Americans.
  We have made some progress recently. We should be proud of that. Last 
year, for the first time in 8 years, we saw a reduction in overdose 
deaths. It is partly because Congress has stepped up--over $4 billion 
in new funding for prevention, longer term treatment programs, recovery 
programs, and more Narcan for our first responders. This is important, 
but we also have to realize that the threat is evolving and changing.
  One thing I learned when I was home and talking to groups all over 
the State about this issue is that, yes, the legislation we passed is 
helping. I got to see how it is helping and to see how my legislation, 
the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, is being put to work in 
Ohio.
  The new threat in Ohio is these new drugs that are coming in, 
particularly crystal meth. The crystal meth coming in from Mexico is 
more powerful and less expensive than ever. We used to have meth labs 
in Ohio. You may have had them in your communities as well. You 
probably will not hear much about meth labs anymore. Why? Because the 
stuff on the street is even more powerful than you can make in a meth 
lab, in someone's home, and it is less expensive.
  In fact, the law enforcement folks in Ohio are telling me that the 
meth on the street in Ohio is less expensive than marijuana, and it has 
a much more corrosive effect on our communities and a devastating 
impact on families and individuals, increasing crime. This is the 
psychostimulant, like cocaine, that is causing more aggressive crimes, 
in fact.
  With regard to the opioid crisis, we need to keep our eye on the 
ball. We need to continue what we are doing. Congress deserves credit 
for expanding the treatment, longer term recovery programs, some of the 
prevention money, the use of Narcan, but at the same time, we have to 
be more flexible.
  The legislation I have introduced--and I hope we will be able to 
pass--will provide more flexibility to our communities to take that 
money for opioids and use it for whatever the community needs to 
address substance abuse.
  When I was home, I also heard a lot about Lake Erie, which is our 
treasure in Ohio. It is the No. 1 tourist attraction in the State. It 
is the place where Ohioans have come for generations and generations 
for recreation, for fishing, for swimming. Also, so many Ohioans depend 
on it for their drinking water.
  There are several million Ohioans who require us to have clean 
drinking water out of Lake Erie, and those individuals are worried. 
Why? Because in Toledo a few years ago, we actually had a 
recommendation that we shut down the water system because of the toxic 
algal blooms that are in Lake Erie. This year was another tough year 
for the toxic algal blooms, cutting off fishing opportunities and 
swimming opportunities. We need to do more to address it.
  Again, Congress has made progress in this area. We have passed 
legislation that is helping. We have added more money that is helping. 
My legislation to deal with harmful algal blooms is giving the Federal 
Government a bigger role. That is important.
  Clearly, we need to do more, and one is to ensure that the Great 
Lakes Restoration Initiative, Federal legislation, continues to be 
funded. That is the fight we are having now in the appropriations 
process. Senator Stabenow and I have introduced legislation to 
authorize that program going forward and to increase the funding 
slightly. Why? Because it is working. These are public-private 
partnerships all around the Great Lakes to deal with the harmful algal 
blooms, to deal with the pollution, and to deal with the invasive 
species coming in. It is one of those Federal programs that works well.
  We also had the opportunity to go to all of our military bases around 
the State of Ohio and to go to our two NASA facilities. Again, I am so 
proud of the individuals in Ohio who are standing up for our troops in 
their own way--whether it is the Lima tank plant, where I got to visit 
individuals making our M1 Abrams tanks and our Stryker vehicles, or 
whether it is at NASA, where we are preparing for the next mission to 
the moon.
  NASA Administrator James Bridenstine came with us to the Glenn

[[Page S5459]]

Research Center in Cleveland and the Plum Brook testing facility. We 
got to see how those scientists and engineers--the best in the world--
are working to complete the Artemis Program. Again, this is an 
ambitious effort to put a woman on the moon and the next man on the 
moon within the next 5 years, laying the groundwork for our mission to 
Mars.
  It was great to be home. It was great to have the opportunity to 
visit with folks all over the State of Ohio. We were busy, but it is 
also great now to have the opportunity to come back refreshed and to 
talk about how we can make a bigger difference for them here in the 
U.S. Congress with some of the legislative initiatives I have talked 
about today.
  There is so much we can and should do this fall. I am eager to roll 
up my sleeves and have a productive session here, working on a 
bipartisan basis to get things done for the people I represent and for 
all Americans.
  Thank you.
  I yield back my time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.


                          Vietnam Human Rights

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I think people are surprised when they 
come to Texas and find out how diverse a State it really is. Not 
everybody there looks like me or pronounces their last name the same 
way.
  In fact, we are a huge melting pot of people from all over the 
country and, literally, many from around the world who come to the 
State because we have a growing economy, creating jobs and opportunity. 
People can find work to provide for their family and achieve their 
dreams.
  It shouldn't surprise anybody that Texas is increasingly diverse. We 
have benefited a lot from the variety of folks and cultures and ideas 
that have come around the world and planted roots in the Lone Star 
State.
  When I ask folks if they know what the second most spoken language in 
Texas is, they say: Well, that is easy. It is Spanish.
  I say: Well, that is right. Let me give you a harder one. What is the 
third most commonly spoken language in Texas?
  After a couple of guesses, they are usually surprised when I say 
Vietnamese.
  It is not in the overall numbers of Spanish or English, to be sure, 
but we have a vibrant Vietnamese community in Texas that was 
established after the fall of Saigon and the Vietnam war. Many of them 
immigrated to the Houston area or to the metroplex area.
  Of course, they have faced many of the same struggles as those who 
have come to America throughout our country's history. In addition to 
adjusting to a new home, language, and culture, they have dealt with 
some ugly aspects of their new home: racism and bigotry.
  From those challenges and from overcoming those challenges, they have 
derived tremendous strength, demonstrated outstanding drive and a 
desire to succeed.
  Our Vietnamese-American communities in Texas are growing and 
thriving, and they continue to play a very important role in our 
increasingly diverse State.
  I had the chance to meet with a number of my Vietnamese-American 
constituents during the August break, and we talked about some of the 
issues that concern them the most.
  Just last weekend, in fact, I visited Cali Saigon Mall in Garland, 
TX, for their annual children's festival. I participated in an on-stage 
discussion with a number of community leaders. Although the children 
seemed more interested in the tiger dance or musical performances and 
the colorful costumes, it was a great opportunity for me to hear from 
these folks firsthand. We had a serious discussion about the human 
rights climate in Vietnam, which has continued to decline.
  The Vietnamese Government limits political freedom by denying its own 
citizens their right to vote in free and fair elections. It denies them 
the freedom of assembly and expression and due process rights--the 
sorts of basic rights we call human rights here in the United States.
  Last year, one of my constituents, a young man named William Nguyen, 
was unjustly beaten and detained for participating in demonstrations in 
Ho Chi Minh City. We were fortunate enough to secure his release back 
home after the government convicted him on trumped-up charges. I was 
glad to welcome him back to the good old U.S. of A.
  Sadly, the people who continue to live in Vietnam have to escape from 
a brutal Communist regime, which continues to disregard the most basic 
human rights, threaten religious freedom, and silence the press.
  Vietnam remains one of the lowest ranked countries in the world when 
it comes to freedom of the press. In 2018, Reporters Without Borders 
ranked Vietnam 176th out of 180 countries worldwide.
  It should come as no surprise that Vietnamese Americans who have 
lived under this type of rule--or who have family members who still 
do--don't take our freedoms here in America for granted. It is just the 
opposite. These immigrants are great patriots who fully appreciate the 
freedoms they enjoy here in America because they realize how close they 
came to seeing those same freedoms denied in their home country.
  With them, I share their concerns about the rising interest here at 
home in failed ideas, like socialism, and will continue to dispel 
rumors that socialism can provide more than the free enterprise system, 
which has created the very prosperity that Vietnamese Americans and 
other immigrants enjoy here in the United States.
  In addition to our efforts to strengthen our own democracy, we need 
to do more to strengthen democracies around the world and to protect 
basic human rights. Earlier this year, I reintroduced the Vietnam Human 
Rights Sanctions Act to try to do just that. This bill would impose 
travel restrictions and other sanctions on Vietnamese nationals 
complicit in human rights abuses against their fellow citizens. These 
sanctions would not be lifted until the Vietnamese Government releases 
all political prisoners and stops the use of violence against peaceful 
demonstrators.
  We simply can't avert our gaze and allow these practices to continue 
without any sort of accountability. I say the same for what is 
happening now in Hong Kong.
  I appreciate the many Vietnamese Americans who have shared their 
experiences with me on this topic, and I will continue to advocate for 
a brighter future for the people of Vietnam.


                        Tribute to Sandy Edwards

  Mr. President, on one other matter, I want to take a moment to 
recognize a member of my staff who is nearing her retirement--Sandy 
Edwards.
  Sandy is the regional director in my Austin field office. She has 
been with me for nearly two decades--first, in my office when I was 
attorney general of Texas and now in the U.S. Senate, where she serves, 
as I said, as my central Texas regional director.
  Everybody who knows Sandy knows she has the heart and spirit of a 
public servant. She works hard to make sure that every Texan who 
contacts my office feels appreciated, understood, and is happy with the 
support they receive.
  She knows that our faces represent what people get for their tax 
dollars. With Sandy, central Texans have gotten some serious bang for 
their buck. Over the years, she has, of course, developed countless 
relationships with people and organizations that are working to improve 
our Texas communities in Central Texas.

  I will never forget one year spending a December evening out in East 
Austin at an incredible nonprofit called the Community First! Village. 
We joined formerly homeless people for a Christmas tree lighting and 
spent a cold, rainy night with them rejoicing at what this organization 
and the good-hearted people who work there have helped them to achieve.
  At one point, in 2012, Sandy had me biting down on a Starburst candy 
so students attending Girlstart Summer Camp could analyze my dental 
impression. I never got a report back of exactly how that turned out.
  Sandy is not a fair-weather friend. She has also been by my side 
during some very difficult times. For example, in 2009, following the 
horrific shooting at Fort Hood, she was there as I fought to find words 
to provide even an ounce of comfort to the grieving post and the 
families there. We paid our respects to these American heroes and 
watched the ramp ceremony as their flag-draped caskets were loaded into 
a C-17 for their flight to Dover.

[[Page S5460]]

  Then there was 2013 in West, TX. That is not the region. That is the 
name of the city. Following a massive fertilizer plant explosion, it 
tore through a tight-knit community and claimed the lives of 15 people, 
including most of the town's volunteer fire department. Sandy, of 
course, was on the ground, as she always is, helping to connect with 
the first responders and local officials, making sure they had the 
support we could provide from our office.
  She was there during the Bastrop fires in 2011, the Wimberley 
flooding in 2015, and the deadly hot air balloon crash in Maxwell, TX, 
in 2016. Sandy has been a gracious helping hand during the tough times 
and an enthusiastic cheerleader during the good ones. I am sorry to 
lose such a devoted staffer and friend, and I know my team in Texas 
will miss her bighearted participation in our team effort.
  I don't think it is really a coincidence that Sandy chose the month 
of September to retire because, of course, this is the start of her 
beloved Texas Longhorns' football season. I know she is looking forward 
to attending UT games this fall, along with her husband Stan and 
perhaps her son Kyle and his wife Brittney. I know for sure she will 
enjoy spending more time at her family's ranch in the Texas Hill 
Country.
  I come to the Senate floor to publicly express my appreciation, as 
well as that of my entire staff and I would dare say every single Texan 
who ever met her, and to thank Sandy Edwards for the lives she has 
touched and made better. I say, thank you, Sandy, and I wish you a 
well-deserved next chapter in your life.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Fischer). The Senator from Louisiana.


                           Election Security

  Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, $1 million a minute--not $1 million an 
hour or a day or week, $1 million a minute. That is how much we borrow 
every minute to operate the Federal Government. It is $1.4 billion--
that is nine zeros--a day. That is how much more we spend than we take 
in. Some people have said--I have heard Americans say this--that we 
spend money like a drunk sailor. That is not accurate because a drunk 
sailor stops when he runs out of money. We just borrow.
  We don't just print this money. We issue Treasury notes and Treasury 
bonds and Treasury securities. We borrow it. Some Americans loan it to 
us. Some folks in other countries like Japan and China, they expect to 
be paid back, and we do have to pay them back. In a couple of years, we 
are going to be spending more in our budget on interest on our debt 
than we are spending on defense.
  Now we are in the middle of putting together a budget for the 
American people. The first thing we had to do was agree on how much 
money we are going to spend. They call that the topline number, but 
that just means how much money we are going to spend for the next 2 
years. You will not be surprised to learn we are going to spend more.
  I think it was a bad deal. I voted against it. Our agreement on what 
we are going to spend in the budget we are putting forward now, 
according to the CBO, is going to add to our $22 trillion--that is 12 
zeros--deficit. In fact, what we just agreed to, the additional 
spending, is going to add, according to our Congressional Budget 
Office, $12 trillion over the next 10 years.
  I voted against it. I lost. The majority rules. Now we are trying to 
put together a budget with all this extra money, and our challenge is 
or ought to be: How do we spend the money the American people are going 
to give us in an efficient way? I think every single Member of the 
Senate wants to do that.
  I want to talk for a few minutes about an issue that is going to come 
up. It is going to come up through the subcommittee I chair. It has to 
do with elections, and it has to do with money.
  Russia tried to interfere with our election. You can write that down 
and take it home to mama. It is true. They did it. They didn't change a 
single vote, but they did try to influence the way Americans did vote. 
To try to prevent that from happening again in 2018, this Congress gave 
our States $380 million to shore up their election systems. They 
haven't spent all that yet.
  This Congress also took other steps. The Senate has unanimously 
approved two bipartisan election security bills. I think they are both 
now pending in the House. We passed the Defending the Integrity of 
Voting Systems Act. That is going to make it a Federal crime to hack 
any voting system in a Federal election. We passed the Defending 
Elections Against Trolls from Enemy Regimes Act. We call that the DETER 
Act. It will bar people who interfere in our elections or attempt to do 
so from entering the United States. Our Department of Homeland 
Security, very able women and men, and our cyber security advisors 
there, smart people--they are helping our State and local officials, on 
a daily basis, guard against threats.
  We had a classified briefing. By ``we,'' I mean all Members of the 
Senate, Republicans and Democrats. ``Classified'' means it is in our 
room down in the basement where foreign agents cannot listen in. The 
FBI Director was there. The Director of National Intelligence was 
there. Most senior ranking members of our military were there, and the 
topic was: How did we do in 2018? We know the Russians and others took 
a run at us in 2016. They didn't succeed, but they tried. How did we do 
in 2018?
  Let me tell you, our men and women at the FBI and in our military and 
in Homeland Security, they are on it. Our 2018 election went off 
without a hitch. I am not saying some foreign despots didn't try to 
influence how we voted, but they didn't change a single vote. Our 
people did a great job, and every Senator, Democratic and Republican, 
in that room, in that classified setting--I can't tell you the details. 
I wish I could. If I could, you would be impressed. But everybody 
walked out of there and said: Man, we are on it. The 2018 elections 
went off without a hitch, and, by God, we are ready for 2020.
  We didn't just do that. I am going to go back to what I just said. We 
gave our States $380 million. They haven't even spent all of it yet, 
but there is going to be an effort to spend a whole bunch more to give 
it to the States. I don't know how much, but at least $200 million, 
maybe $400 million, maybe a billion. If I thought it was necessary, I 
would vote for it.
  Some of my colleagues, in perfectly good faith, think the States need 
more money, even though they haven't spent what we gave them to begin 
with and even though all of our intelligence officials say we are ready 
for 2020. Some of my colleagues, in good faith, think they need more 
money, but some of my colleagues see this as a first step to 
nationalizing elections, and that is what worries me.
  Do you know what makes our elections safest of all? You can't just 
hack one system. You have to hack 50. You have to hack 50 because the 
States run elections, and they do a pretty good job. They do a really 
good job.
  There is an effort--not by all but by some--to get the Federal 
Government in charge of elections. Do you know how you do that? You 
don't just jump in and grab them. You sneak up on them. I will tell you 
how you sneak up on them. You start giving them money, and you get them 
addicted. You give them a little more money, and you get them addicted. 
Then, the next thing you know, the Feds are running the elections, and 
not for all but for some of my colleagues that is what this is about.
  This country started out as a self-reliant, tax-averse Union of 
States. They were very skeptical of the Federal Government. Our 
original States and all those after them, they insisted on running 
their own elections, and it has worked. We don't need the Federal 
Government in charge of elections.
  There are some of my colleagues coming this time--and, look, I am not 
impugning their integrity. They are entitled to their opinion because 
this is America, but I am entitled to mine. In the effort last year, we 
were able to beat it back. I am afraid some of my friends on this side 
of the aisle this time are having second thoughts. I am hearing all 
kinds of rumors. It is amazing what you can pick up around this place 
if you just walk around the floor and keep your mouth shut and your 
ears open. You hear all kinds of stuff.
  I am here to say, if we do it, we are going to look back, when the 
Federal Government is running our elections and screwing them up, and 
say this is where it began. If you want to put the U.S. Federal 
Government in charge of your elections instead of the States, if

[[Page S5461]]

you think that is a swell idea, I want you to close your eyes for a 
minute and imagine living in a world designed by the post office 
because that is what you are going to get.
  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. KENNEDY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                   Return of Papers Request--S. 1790

  Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, as if in legislative session, I ask 
unanimous consent that the Secretary of the Senate be authorized to 
request from the House of Representatives the return of the papers to 
S. 1790 to provide for a correction. I further ask that if the House 
agrees to the Senate's request, upon receipt of the papers from the 
House in the Senate, notwithstanding passage of the bill, the amendment 
at the desk be agreed to and the papers be returned to the House.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the question is, 
Will the Senate advise and consent to the Bowman nomination?
  Mr. KENNEDY. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Tennessee (Mr. Alexander), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Roberts), 
and the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio).
  Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. 
Alexander) would have voted ``yea'' and the Senator from Florida (Mr. 
Rubio) would have voted ``yea.''
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker), 
the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Coons), the Senator from California (Ms. 
Harris), the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Klobuchar), the Senator from 
Vermont (Mr. Sanders), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Ms. Warren) 
are necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 60, nays 31, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 280 Ex.]

                                YEAS--60

     Barrasso
     Bennet
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Braun
     Burr
     Capito
     Carper
     Cassidy
     Collins
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hassan
     Hawley
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Jones
     Kaine
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     Manchin
     McConnell
     McSally
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Perdue
     Peters
     Portman
     Risch
     Romney
     Rounds
     Sasse
     Scott (FL)
     Scott (SC)
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Sinema
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Warner
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--31

     Baldwin
     Blumenthal
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Casey
     Cortez Masto
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Gillibrand
     Heinrich
     Hirono
     King
     Leahy
     Markey
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murphy
     Murray
     Paul
     Reed
     Rosen
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--9

     Alexander
     Booker
     Coons
     Harris
     Klobuchar
     Roberts
     Rubio
     Sanders
     Warren
  The nomination was confirmed.

                          ____________________