EXECUTIVE SESSION; Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 116
(Senate - July 11, 2019)

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[Pages S4797-S4802]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

                           EXECUTIVE CALENDAR

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session 
to consider Calendar No. 183.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion.
  The motion was agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the nomination.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read the nomination of Donald 
R. Tapia, of Arizona, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and 
Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Jamaica.


                             Cloture Motion

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The cloture motion having been presented under 
rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to read the motion.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination 
     of Donald R. Tapia, of Arizona, to be Ambassador 
     Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of 
     America to Jamaica.
         Mitch McConnell, Martha McSally, Pat Roberts, Mike Crapo, 
           James E. Risch, John Barrasso, Tom Cotton, Roger F. 
           Wicker, John Cornyn, Jerry Moran, Shelley Moore Capito, 
           Deb Fischer, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Richard Burr, Thom 
           Tillis, John Boozman, Chuck Grassley.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum 
calls for the cloture motions be waived.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.


                            Border Security

  Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, I rise to address one of the most pressing 
crises the American people are facing today. Our refusal to address the 
border crisis is inexcusable.
  Right now, Texas and other border States are being overwhelmed by 
thousands upon thousands of illegal immigrants who are flooding into 
small communities monthly. The inaction of the U.S. Congress leaves 
these communities responsible for paying for where these illegal 
immigrants will stay, for how they will receive medical care, and for 
where they will go when they are released.
  From Brownsville to McAllen, to Laredo to Eagle Pass, to Del Rio, to 
El Paso, and beyond, Texas communities are at their breaking point in 
terms of resources and manpower in dealing with this crisis. I am 
hearing from elected officials throughout South Texas--Democrats and 
Republicans--that the crisis has reached a breaking point.
  Our hard-working Border Patrol agents are also struggling with the 
enormous influx of illegal immigrants. It has been reported that there 
are now more illegal immigrants in custody than Border Patrol agents on 
the southern border and thousands more being apprehended daily.
  Since last October, over half a million illegal immigrants have been 
apprehended at our southern border, many of them having traveled 
through Mexico from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. Over 200,000 
of these illegal immigrants were single adults, and over 56,000 of them 
were unaccompanied children.
  During this time, the Border Patrol also apprehended nearly 700 gang 
members trying to illegally enter the United States. In the month of 
May alone, the Border Patrol apprehended over 144,000 people coming 
through the southern border--144,000 in a single month. If that pace 
were to continue for a year, we would be looking at nearly 2 million 
apprehensions in just 1 year. That is a staggering number of illegal 
immigrants for Texas and other border States to take in.
  Instead of acknowledging that this crisis exists, instead of doing 
the responsible thing and taking action, congressional Democrats 
instead have stubbornly clung to open-border fantasies. Speaker Pelosi 
has called the hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants coming 
through our border a ``manufactured crisis.'' Some of our colleagues on 
the Presidential trail have called it a ``fake crisis'' and 
``fearmongering of the worst kind'' or have said that climate change is 
a more serious crisis. All I can tell them

[[Page S4798]]

is to go to the border. The crisis at the border is very real, despite 
what the Democratic talking points say.
  Last week, I visited the Rio Grande Valley, as I have done many times 
in representing the State of Texas in the Senate. I have toured the Rio 
Grande Valley Centralized Processing Center, the largest immigration 
processing center in the United States. I also traveled to Rincon 
Village, which is ground zero for illegal border crossings near 
Mission, TX. What I saw there was staggering. When I was in the Rio 
Grande Valley, the RGV Sector Chief told me that in 2014, just 5 years 
ago, roughly 2 percent of single adult men crossing illegally into the 
Rio Grande Valley had a child with them. Today that number is roughly 
50 percent. It went from 2 percent all the way up to 50 percent. The 
word is out among traffickers, among smugglers, among others seeking to 
illegally enter the United States that coming with a child is a get-
out-of-jail-free pass. According to the Border Patrol, family unit 
apprehensions have increased by 463 percent since last year, with 
increases of 2,100 percent in El Paso and 1,034 percent in Del Rio.
  I also learned of a recent pilot program that used rapid DNA tests to 
discover whether these family units were real. Nearly 30 percent were 
found to be fraudulent in the Rio Grande Valley. In other words, the 
adults bringing kids into the United States illegally weren't related 
to the children.
  One of the most tragic elements of the crisis is the number of 
children who are being trafficked, who are being physically abused, 
sexually abused, and neglected. Often they are being used as pawns.
  That is not all. In the Rio Grande Valley, 60 percent of Border 
Patrol Agents are now helping to process and care for children and 
family units. That means only 40 percent are dedicated to border 
security. More than half the Border Patrol agents in our Nation's 
busiest crossing point for illegal immigrants are not on the border 
stopping narcotics traffickers and stopping human traffickers because 
they are instead changing diapers. Instead, they are caring for 
children because the volume is so massive.
  Just recently, the Rio Grande Valley Sector canceled their horseback 
patrol because they lacked the manpower because they are instead caring 
for the massive influx of illegal immigrants. On average, they make 30 
trips to the hospital a day. On average, in the Rio Grande Valley 
Sector, one child is born each day to an illegal immigrant who has come 
over. Last week, 12 people died.

  This is a crisis. By refusing to address our border crisis, we invite 
child smuggling and child abuse. That is shameful, and that is a 
tragedy. We know how many illegal immigrants are being apprehended. We 
know more and more illegal immigrants are trying to get into our 
country, and we know Border Patrol doesn't have the manpower or the 
resources to handle a humanitarian crisis of this scale. It is a fact, 
and it is a reality that our Democratic colleagues need to face.
  Nobody who is compassionate, nobody who wants to be virtuous, nobody 
who cares about other human beings would want to perpetuate what is 
happening at the border for even a single day. We should be angry. We 
should be angry at politicians who say this is a made-up crisis. We 
should be angry at politicians who keep the loopholes in place that 
ensure that more and more children--more and more little boys and 
girls--will be abused at the hands of human smugglers.
  While the passage of the $4.5 billion border supplemental bill a few 
weeks ago was a good first step, Democrats in Congress need to finally 
do their job and work with Republicans and work with President Trump to 
secure our border. We need to build a wall. We need to enforce 
immigration laws already on the books. We need to reform our amnesty 
laws to prevent asylum abuse, and we need to support the brave men and 
women of the Border Patrol with all the resources they need to 
effectively secure the border.
  I have introduced legislation to secure the border using the billions 
from El Chapo's criminal fortune that the Department of Justice is 
seeking to have criminally forfeited and use El Chapo's ill-gotten 
goods and those of other drug lords to build the wall. The EL CHAPO Act 
would reserve any amounts criminally forfeited to the Federal 
Government as a result of criminal prosecution of El Chapo or other 
drug kingpins for the building of a border wall and other border 
security assets.
  I am also a cosponsor of the WALL Act, which would fully fund the 
border wall by closing existing loopholes that provide illegal 
immigrants with Federal benefits and tax credits, all without affecting 
the benefits and tax credits used by American citizens.
  These bills are just two commonsense ways to secure the border. 
Everyone should support taking money away from murderers, from drug 
smugglers, and from human traffickers such as El Chapo and using it to 
prevent murder, drug smuggling, and human trafficking--all without 
costing American taxpayers even a dime or adding anything to the 
Federal deficit.
  We also need more judges. We need to close the loopholes in our 
asylum system. Right now, immigration courts have a backlog of about 
900,000 pending cases--nearly a million. Increasing the number of 
immigration judges and providing an expedited process for asylum claims 
is necessary so migrants who don't qualify for asylum can be quickly 
returned to their home countries rather than released into the United 
States.
  These reforms are necessary, and they need to happen. We know how to 
solve this problem. We don't have to ask theoretically because we have 
seen it happen specifically. In the first 6 months of 2017, right after 
President Trump was elected and sworn into office, illegal immigration 
dropped nearly 70 percent. It plummeted. I remember going back down to 
the valley in early 2017 and asking the Border Patrol agents: Why did 
the illegal crossings drop? We hadn't built a wall yet. We hadn't hired 
new Border Patrol agents. What changed? What those Border Patrol agents 
told me was the only thing that changed is the human smugglers, the 
traffickers, now believed there was an administration in office that 
would enforce the law that would deport them if they came here 
illegally. That one change--the traffickers believing the 
administration would send them home--dropped illegal immigration 70 
percent.
  Then what happened? Why did we see this enormous deluge we are seeing 
right now? Well, the answer is the Congress put loopholes in the law 
that mandate the release of children. In a short timeframe, and under a 
court decision called the Flores decision, adults with a child get 
released as well. That process is what is known as catch and release. 
It means someone who is apprehended is given a court date some months 
or years into the future and then are let go on the hope that they will 
magically show up. Far too many of them don't show up.
  What happened in the summer of 2017 was illegal immigrants would pick 
up the phone and call their friends or family back home and say: The 
policy hasn't changed. They still let us go. We still get to stay. 
There are still no consequences. Come on over.
  Even worse than that, smugglers learned that bringing a child is the 
ticket to crossing illegally into this country. There was a portion of 
the detention facility I saw in the valley that the officers refer to 
as ``daddy daycare'' because it was simply filled with young single men 
who had little kids with them. Five years ago, 2 percent of single men 
had kids. Today, 50 percent of single men have kids because if you grab 
a little boy or a little girl, you can come over. I will tell you 
because of the loopholes Congress has put in place, Border Patrol has 
been forced to release people who are convicted murderers, forced to 
release people who are convicted pedophiles, forced to release adults 
with sexual assault convictions and children in their custody. Why? 
Because it is so expedited that by the time they find out about the 
convictions, they have been forced to release them already.
  This is cruel. It is inhumane. When the rapid DNA testing is showing 
that nearly 30 percent of the adults are not related to the kids, it 
explains why we are hearing more and more reports of children being 
rented or sold by the cartels.
  This has to stop--the political posturing from the Democrats who are 
running for President and the Democrats in Congress who are refusing to

[[Page S4799]]

solve this problem. It is past time for those games. It is time to 
solve this crisis.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.


                              Human Rights

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, America's strength is in our values. In 
that vein, I rise to talk about human rights and America's historic 
role as a defender of universal human rights for all peoples.
  I have been a member of the U.S. Commission on Security and 
Cooperation in Europe for many years. It is also known as the Helsinki 
Commission. The Helsinki Commission is an independent entity that 
brings together lawmakers and members of the executive branch to 
represent the United States at the OSCE, the Organization for Security 
and Cooperation in Europe, which was created to explicitly promote 
human rights, democracy, and economic, environmental, and military 
cooperation among its 57 member nations, including the United States 
and Canada, all the countries of Europe, and the former Soviet Union 
countries.
  When the Helsinki Final Act was signed in Finland in 1975, it 
enshrined among its 10 Principles Guiding Relations between 
Participating States a commitment to ``respect human rights and 
fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of thought, conscience, 
religion or belief, for all without distinction as to race, sex, 
language or religion.''
  Few people have predicted the sweeping, largely unforeseen 
consequences of the adoption of this document. From this one provision, 
among the 10 that focus on human rights and fundamental freedoms, there 
were movements sprung that embraced the Helsinki process as a sword and 
as a shield. Independent civil societies coalesced around this basic 
principle and used the followup processes that were set in motion by 
the Helsinki Final Act to hold their governments' feet to the fire.
  In 1976, Congress established the Helsinki Commission with the 
mandate to monitor and report on compliance with the Helsinki Final Act 
and, most importantly, to press successive administrations to make 
human rights and democracy priorities in the conduct of U.S. foreign 
policy.
  In the subsequent years, Charter 77 in Czechoslovakia, Solidarity in 
Poland, and Watch Groups in Moscow, in Kyiv, and in Vilnius sprang up 
to push for the release of political prisoners and to defend the rights 
of those who wanted nothing more than to worship and to have the 
freedom to advocate for refuseniks and others who sought to reunite 
with their families across borders.
  Through what became known as the Helsinki process, Congress and 
previous administrations supported the rights of Lech Walesa, Vaclav 
Havel, Natan Sharansky, and countless others who emerged as leaders in 
their supporting of the historic transitions to freedom 30 years ago 
with the fall of the Iron Curtain, the end of communism, the 
unification of Germany, and as President Bush proclaimed, a ``Europe 
whole and free.'' The Helsinki process of monitoring, reporting, 
advocating, urging, meeting, and witnessing was a catalyst for these 
historic changes.
  Most importantly, at a time of historic transition, the countries 
participating in the Helsinki process all acknowledge that democracy 
was the only form of government that we could accept and that issues 
related to human rights and democracy were never matters of internal 
interference but were matters of direct and legitimate concern to all 
participating states. This means, quite frankly, that we have, under 
the Helsinki Accords, the legitimate right--I would say the 
obligation--to challenge the failure of any one of those 57 states in 
its meeting of its Helsinki commitments. That is why it is right that 
we in the U.S. Senate speak out against Russia or speak out against 
Turkey or speak out against any member state in the OSCE when it 
violates these basic principles.
  Over the July 4 work period, I was proud to participate in the 
largest delegation we have ever had to the annual session of the OSCE 
Parliamentary Assembly. The Parliamentary Assembly--facilitating 
lawmaker-to-lawmaker interactions and discussions--was established to 
complement the intergovernmental work being done. One of the OSCE's 
strengths is that there is a parliamentary dimension. It is not just 
government officials; it is also parliamentarians who meet to implement 
these commitments to human rights and good governance.
  The OSCE and its Parliamentary Assembly have been used to advance 
U.S. interests, including their support for human rights, free 
elections, combating anti-Semitism and human trafficking, and other 
initiatives that have come from the U.S. Congress that have then served 
as the foundation for U.S. positions and, ultimately, agreements that 
have been adopted by all 57 states that have participated in the OSCE.
  I remember discussions in the Congress that dealt with fighting 
modern-day slavery and trafficking and fighting anti-Semitism. We 
initiated them in the Congress. Through the Helsinki Commission, we 
raised them in the Parliamentary Assembly. They then got raised in 
Vienna, which is where the Ambassadors who represent all of the states 
meet, and they were adopted as policy in all 57 states. We have had a 
very positive impact.
  During this recent Parliamentary Assembly, I hosted an event called 
``Countering Hate: Lessons from the Past, Leadership for the Future.'' 
As I stated during the event--and I will underscore now--we have 
observed an uptick in hate-based instances across the OSCE region and 
beyond--from Pittsburgh and Poway to Christ Church. When we fail to 
act, we endanger not only the most vulnerable within our societies but 
the very foundations of our democracies.
  Given how much has been accomplished by the United States and others 
through the OSCE over the past 30 years, it is deeply concerning to see 
our own American President embrace a drawback of universal human rights 
in our own country and embrace dictators around the world, who rule by 
promulgating fear and hate.
  President Trump has called Turkish President Erdogan a ``friend'' and 
has shared love letters with the very brutal Kim Jong Un after calling 
him ``very talented.'' Turkey, which has been a member of the OSCE 
since its inception and a member of NATO, has witnessed a dramatic 
acceleration in President Erdogan's efforts to consolidate power and 
hobble his political opposition.
  His unrelenting pressure on the judiciary and purges of its ranks of 
judges and prosecutors have left respect for the rule of law and due 
process in crisis. Tens of thousands have been detained in sweeping 
dragnets following the failed coup, including independent voices from 
virtually every sector of society--opposition politicians, civil 
society activists, journalists, academics, and many more. These vast 
purges have had a chilling effect on the free press and the freedom of 
expression.
  The Committee to Protect Journalists considers Turkey the world's 
worst jailer of journalists, with 68 documented cases, although a local 
Turkish press freedom organization lists more than 130 who have been 
detained. Reporters Without Borders ranks Turkey as the 157th out of 
180 countries for press freedom--its lowest ranking ever. Under 
emergency powers assumed by President Erdogan after the coup attempt, 
the Turkish Government closed around 200 media outlets.
  As for North Korea, Kim Jong Un has one of the most deplorable human 
rights records in the world.
  According to Human Rights Watch:

       Kim Jong Un--who serves as chairman of the States Affairs 
     Commission and head of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea--
     continues to exercise almost total political control. The 
     government restricts all civil and political liberties, 
     including freedom of expression, assembly, association, and 
     religion. It also prohibits all organized political 
     opposition, independent media, civil society, and trade 
     unions.

  President Trump has been repeatedly willing to take the word of 
former KGB agent Vladimir Putin over his own intelligence services.
  On March 3, 2018, in speaking about Chinese President Xi during a 
private fundraising speech at Mar-a-Lago, he said:

       Xi is a great gentleman. He's now president for life--
     president for life. No, he's great. And look, he was able to 
     do that. I think it's great. Maybe we'll have to give that a 
     shot someday.


[[Page S4800]]


  That is not who the President of the United States should be 
embracing.
  He has repeatedly praised Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines. This is 
the same leader who independent press, civil society groups, foreign 
governments, and international organizations have all confirmed is 
engaged in the extrajudicial killing of his own citizens--work that 
President Trump praised as doing an ``unbelievable job on the drug 
problem.''
  Mr. Duterte himself, as a former mayor, has admitted to murdering 
people. That Mr. Trump would laud Mr. Duterte for his barbaric 
atrocities is outrageous and is another indication that instead of 
standing up for America's values, President Trump continues to endorse 
leaders around the world who violate the very principles that America's 
Founding Fathers enshrined in our Constitution.
  I mention our Founding Fathers not in passing, but as we recently 
celebrated our Independence Day on July 4, I quote from the Declaration 
of Independence, which set our Nation on a path with the ideal that we 
hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; 
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights; 
and that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
  So I was particularly troubled that within days of July 4, the Trump 
administration, through Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, unveiled what 
he referred to as a Commission on Unalienable Rights. In his 
announcement, Secretary Pompeo called this new Commission ``one of the 
most profound reexaminations of the unalienable rights in the world 
since the 1948 Universal Declaration.''

  I, along with many colleagues in the U.S. Congress, fear that this 
Commission, whose purpose it is to advise the Secretary of State based 
on the principles of natural law and natural rights, will undermine or 
curtail State Department advocacy in critical human rights arenas, 
including women's health as well as LGBT rights.
  For 243 years, with all of her imperfections, America has been a 
beacon for peoples around the world. Those who have embraced natural 
law have not been welcoming. They peddle in hate and division. The ACLU 
notes that references to ``natural law and natural rights'' are code 
words often used to undermine the rights of women and the LGBT 
community. This is just the latest in a string of attacks on women and 
the LGBT community by this administration. If the President and the 
Secretary of State want to build on protecting human rights, they will 
work within the framework that the United States helped to establish, 
not question the definition or universality of human rights.


                              Immigration

  Mr. President, on immigration, during his first days in office, the 
President began his administration by signing an Executive order that 
attempts to impose travel bans on Muslims and to ban refugees. He 
signed an Executive order that greatly expanded the number of people 
who were subject to detention and deportation, and practically 
speaking, he eliminated the focus on the most dangerous, violent 
criminals in our communities.
  The President has tried to deny sanctuary and asylum to those 
refugees who legally seek protection in our country as they flee 
violence and persecution in their homelands.
  He rescinded protections for the Dreamers and those with temporary 
protective status, which cast a cloud of uncertainty over the futures 
of these individuals and their families. It basically put an expiration 
date on their backs.
  In our communities, I think we all know that the Dreamers and those 
with temporary protected status now have a fear as to whether their 
futures will be here in the United States. They have been here for a 
long time, and as we all know, they are part of our communities. The 
American values of empathy and compassion seemingly no longer find a 
champion in the White House.


                             Voting Rights

  Mr. President, on voting rights, the Trump administration has rolled 
back the clock by creating a so-called Presidential Advisory Commission 
on Election Integrity--designed to suppress the vote--under the guise 
of trying to prove the problem of nonexistent voter fraud.
  The Justice Department changed its position and supported the use of 
voter ID laws. It backtracked from its earlier position that such laws 
were intentionally racially discriminatory and designed to suppress 
minority votes. One of the principles of a democratic state is to get 
the maximum participation in elections.
  The Department of Justice has tried to make it easier for States to 
purge voters from their rolls, as well as to make it easier for States 
to make voting changes that could disenfranchise minority voters 
without there being the proper Federal review or oversight.


                            Criminal Justice

  Mr. President, on criminal justice, the Department of Justice has 
aggressively rolled back its use of consent decrees, like the one put 
in place in Baltimore under the Obama administration after Freddie Gray 
died in police custody.
  It is interesting. Since that episode, we have had Members of 
Congress, along with city officials, ask the Federal Government to do a 
pattern-or-practice investigation on what led to the consent order 
because we knew we had a problem in Baltimore's policing.
  The Baltimore consent decree is a perfect example of a joint local-
Federal partnership that will help overhaul the police department and 
provide long-overdue constitutional policing to the citizens of 
Baltimore.
  This Federal civil rights role is critically important--especially 
after a series of officer-involved shootings of African-American 
residents--as we try to rebuild trust between the police and the 
communities they serve.
  In terms of free press, President Trump has consistently attacked the 
free press, notwithstanding the First Amendment's protections, and 
particularly has labeled critical news stories as ``fake news'' in an 
effort to undermine any critical coverage of his administration. He has 
shown callous disregard for protecting journalists and the free press 
both at home and abroad.
  As Thomas Jefferson famously wrote, ``The basis of our governments 
being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to 
keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should 
have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a 
government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.
  In terms of LGBTQ rights, the Trump administration has consistently 
argued that businesses and government contractors have a right to 
discriminate against customers based on their sexual orientation or 
gender identity. He has nominated judges who want to turn back the 
clock on equality and force transgender individuals from the ranks of 
our military.
  Our Nation and form of government are founded on ``We the People of 
the United States.'' Yet this President is doing all he can to lessen 
the power and squelch the voices of perceived opposition.
  As we approach the second anniversary of the deadly protests in 
Charlottesville, VA, I will never forget how President Trump used his 
bully pulpit to further divide our Nation by equating those who 
espoused White supremacy with those who were protesting against such 
White supremacist views.
  Let us remember the great civil rights leaders in our history who 
have struggled to help our Nation form a more perfect union, establish 
justice, and secure the blessings of liberty, as promised by our 
Constitution. The deadly violence that occurred nearly 2 years ago must 
never be permitted to happen again.
  I strongly condemn all acts of intolerance and remain certain that 
the moral arc of history, although long, bends toward justice. What is 
good and just in America is stronger than hate and will prevail.
  The Trump administration's attack on women's healthcare is 
unconscionable. Women's rights are human rights.
  The President has taken action to undermine the Patient Protection 
and Affordable Care Act, the ACA, finalized administrative rules that 
allow discriminatory practices to domestic and global family planning 
providers, as well as women seeking reproductive healthcare.
  One of the first actions President Trump took in office was to impose 
an expansion of the global gag rule, which

[[Page S4801]]

forces global health providers eligible for U.S. assistance to choose 
between receiving U.S. funds and providing comprehensive healthcare and 
family planning services to their patients. What a horrible choice. You 
need the money, but you have to provide the services.
  Trump's global gag rule restricts virtually all global health 
assistance provided by the U.S. Federal Government, including from the 
Department of State, USAID, and the Department of Defense, impacting 
$8.8 billion in financial support for global health programs. Where is 
the U.S. leadership on global health? The rule has eliminated access to 
contraceptive services and supplies for almost 26 million women and 
girls around the world. This hurt women in conflict zones and rural 
areas, as well as refugees, women with disabilities, and indigenous 
women.
  President Trump has also imposed the domestic gag rule, which 
restricts physicians from providing complete information to patients 
about their healthcare options and providing appropriate referrals for 
care.
  The new rule guts title X, the Nation's only Federal grant program 
dedicated solely to providing individuals with comprehensive family and 
related preventive health services.
  Women make up more than half the population of this Nation. It is 
outrageous that President Trump continuously implements policies that 
discriminate against women's healthcare. We cannot allow women to be 
treated this way here in the United States or anywhere around the 
world.
  ``We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created 
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable 
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of 
Happiness.'' This has been the American ideal and a guiding principle 
for our Nation since our founding. All men and women are created equal. 
Each one of us on this Earth deserves freedom, respect, and dignity.
  For generations, the United States has stood as the sentinel, 
defending these universal rights. I would think Republicans and 
Democrats alike agree with that statement. The outlier is President 
Trump. This President has done everything in his power within the 
borders of our Nation and overseas to diminish human rights and 
disregard the rule of law. He continues to embrace dictators, opening 
the doors of the Oval Office to men who deserve prosecution more than a 
welcome embrace by the leader of the free world.
  I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to uphold their oath 
to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States and to work 
together to restore America's role as the defender of universal human 
rights.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Braun). The Senator from Ohio.


                  50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing

  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I am here on the floor this afternoon to 
talk about a landmark moment in human history that occurred 50 years 
ago next week--the Apollo 11 mission that landed the first person on 
the Moon.
  Today, 50 years after that incredible feat, we sometimes take for 
granted that we explored the Moon. But think for a moment about the 
generations of men and women from the beginning of time until July 20, 
1969, who looked up at the Moon's pale light in wonder at what secrets 
and insights may lay on its surface. Think about the countless 
paintings and poems depicting the Moon as an unchanging and unknowable 
presence in the sky. Think about how, after hundreds of thousands of 
years of such mystery and reverence, we actually went there.
  On July 20, 1969, the world watched in breathless awe as grainy 
footage came in of the Moon landing. It was beamed in from the lunar 
surface 289,000 miles away to millions of TV screens all around the 
globe. As a 13-year-old teenager, I saw two figures clad in bulky 
spacesuits bounce across the screen against the stark black-and-white 
landscape.
  As anyone who witnessed it can remember and tell you about, there was 
a great sense of pride as Americans--Americans who broke the earthly 
bonds that had tethered our ancestors for eons, to set foot on the 
surface of a body we only saw in the distant night sky. I also felt 
pride as our pristine American flag was unfurled and planted on the 
Moon's surface, forever marking our country's trailblazing spirit. I 
felt pride in being from Ohio, as my fellow Buckeye, Neil Armstrong, 
was the very first man to step onto the Moon, continuing our legacy in 
the State of Ohio as a pioneer in flight and in aerospace.
  In 2003, actually, Congress officially designated Ohio the 
``Birthplace of Flight'' due to the Wright brothers. They were born and 
raised in Dayton, OH, and it was in their bicycle shop that they 
dreamed up and researched the first fixed-wing aircraft anywhere. But 
for such a lofty title, Ohio has played an even greater role in the 
story of mankind's progress in the skies and beyond--even beyond the 
Wright brothers. In fact, one of my predecessors in this seat here in 
the Senate was John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth. In 
all, two dozen astronauts to date are natives of Ohio--more than any 
other State--and I am proud to say that many more call it home today.
  Our legacy of flight in Ohio continues today. In Dayton, OH, we have 
the National Air Force Museum, which houses more than 300 historic 
aircraft. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base--one of the largest in the 
country--trains not only our pilots in our Air Force, but those of our 
allies all around the world.
  Just last month, I had the honor of announcing, with Neil Armstrong's 
widow, Carol Armstrong, that the Smithsonian will be bringing a special 
exhibit on the Apollo 11 mission entitled ``Destination Moon'' to 
Cincinnati's own Museum Center.
  On that day in 1969, Neil Armstrong became all of our heroes, and it 
was at a time when our country was deeply divided over the war in 
Vietnam and other social and cultural issues. At a time when we were 
yearning for heroes, Neil Armstrong inspired us and brought us together 
as a country.
  I have one story I would like to share that I thought about while 
walking over this afternoon. It is about how Neil Armstrong inspired a 
particularly important group of Americans.
  In 2011, the year before Neil Armstrong died, he came here to the 
U.S. Capitol at my request to join my wife Jane and me at our swearing-
in ceremony. I was elected in 2010, and the swearing-in was early in 
2011. As we walked into the Capitol, we looked up on the left and saw a 
mural, and it is a mural that is still down on the first floor of this 
Capitol on the Senate side, and it is of Neil Armstrong on the face of 
the Moon. I pointed it out to Neil and his wife Carol--his wonderful 
wife Carol who was with us. Neil's comment was, that is interesting. 
The 30 or 40 people who were with us walking into the Capitol that 
day--they didn't think it was interesting; they thought it was amazing.
  I later found out that Neil Armstrong was the only American living to 
have a mural painted of him in the U.S. Capitol.
  That night at dinner, one of my other friends, Col. Tom Moe, came to 
me and asked if he could speak with Neil Armstrong and whether I would 
introduce him to Neil. I said: Of course.
  Col. Tom Moe is a hero in his own right, an Air Force pilot who was 
shot down over North Vietnam. He spent many years in the prison called 
the Hanoi Hilton with our former colleague John McCain--a true hero.
  When we went over to see Neil Armstrong, Col. Tom Moe shared a story 
with him. He said that the prison guards in the North Vietnamese prison 
were intent upon telling the prisoners that America was falling apart, 
that there were protests on the streets, which was true, that the 
country was deeply divided, and that America was going backward. He 
said in particular they didn't want the prisoners to know that America 
had accomplished what President Jack Kennedy had laid out as an 
ambitious vow, which was to go to the Moon by the end of the decade. 
They had kept that from them. Then one day, the prison guards somehow 
let a letter go to one of the prisoners from his mom, and that letter 
included a postage stamp, of course. Guess what was on the postage 
stamp. A photograph of Neil Armstrong stepping onto the Moon.
  Colonel Moe told Neil Armstrong that it was incredibly inspiring. It 
lifted the spirits of all the prisoners. Immediately they went to the 
pipes and they tapped out what had happened, which was the way they 
communicated with one another in the Hanoi Hilton. Through the pipes 
and the tapping, he

[[Page S4802]]

said you could just feel the momentum building and the morale improve.
  Neil Armstrong was not a very emotional guy, but when he heard that 
story, he became very emotional, as did Colonel Moe.
  That is just one more example of where Neil Armstrong inspired all of 
us--in this case, a group of Americans who richly deserved and badly 
needed that inspiration.
  Over the years, my family and I have come to know the Armstrong 
family. Carol Armstrong is still in Cincinnati, a dear friend. We were 
his neighbors in Cincinnati.
  As we have shared stories in the lead-in to the 50th anniversary of 
the Moon landing, I have been reminded of how extraordinary it was that 
this towering figure had truly been such a modest, unassuming man 
despite all the notoriety.
  In my view, how he handled the spotlight into which he was thrust 
said as much about Neil Armstrong as the time he spent on the Moon a 
half century ago. He was a true hero, but even before he blazed trails 
through the cosmos, Neil was already contributing to Ohio's rich legacy 
of pushing the boundaries of flight. He had already served his Nation 
with bravery and skill on Gemini 8. As a test pilot pushing the 
envelope, he had strapped himself into terrifying-looking contraptions 
with gigantic flame-belching engines tied onto huge fuel tanks.
  Before he was a test pilot, he distinguished himself through his 
service to his country as a naval aviator--among other things, flying 
78 combat missions over the Korean Peninsula. In one such mission, in 
fact, he was forced to eject from his plane into enemy territory, 
holding out long enough, thank God, for the U.S. Marines to locate him 
and escort him to safety.
  For all of these accomplishments, this son of Ohio received the 
highest honors a grateful nation could bestow: the Presidential Medal 
of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, and the Congressional Space 
Medal of Honor.
  God smiled upon Neil Armstrong throughout his extraordinary life. 
Neil returned the favor by living his life with honor and dignity.
  In 2012, Neil returned to the heavens above, this time venturing into 
the Kingdom of Heaven. I had the honor of being among those who 
delivered the eulogy at his funeral. Then, as today, I remembered him 
as a hero and as a friend. He was a humble Midwesterner and a proud 
Ohioan who believed that the honor of serving his country and meeting 
great challenges in his own stoic way was all the reward he deserved. 
He was a refreshing counterweight to the celebrity culture we too often 
embrace today.
  The Apollo mission was many things to many people. To the world, it 
was mankind's greatest journey to date, a daring sojourn to the crown 
jewels in the night sky. For Americans, it was an affirmation of 
America's exceptionalism, that we could beat the Soviets and respond to 
their Sputnik Program by following through on President Kennedy's bold 
vow to land a man on the Moon by the end of the 1960s.
  For me, and for thousands of other young boys and girls across Ohio, 
it was simply the next act in our State's leadership in aviation, done 
with that quintessential Midwestern resolve and humility.
  As Neil once so eloquently said, ``The important achievement of 
Apollo was demonstrating that humanity is not forever chained to this 
planet and our visions go rather further than that, and our 
opportunities are unlimited.''
  Fifty years on, as we look ahead to chart our next voyage to the 
stars, let us always remember the bravery and patriotism and the 
humility of Neil, also of his other astronauts--Michael Collins, Buzz 
Aldrin--and the thousands of men and women who supported them on Earth, 
and the many courageous astronauts who preceded and followed them. Let 
the Apollo 11 mission be an example of what our great country can do 
when we come together to achieve the seemingly impossible.
  Let us commit to come together into the future, into the distant 
horizons. Like the Apollo 11 exhibit exhibiting American leadership and 
benefiting all of mankind, there is more for us to do.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader is recognized.

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