Through violence, attacks against commercial vessels in International Waters, sponsored attacks against civilian targets in the gulf and then last weeks unprovoked attack on our unarmed aircraft. So, madam president , we face a choice here. Will we legitimize and incentivize irans use of terror and aggression or will we stay resolute, applying appropriate and proportionate pressure until tehran respects fundamental norms of International Behavior . Last thursday President Trump consulted with a Bipartisan Group of l congressional leaders and National Security chairmen and Ranking Members. The president weighed advice from a number of sources. It is clear he was listening to congressional leaders, and clearly the president wants to avoid war. Hence the deliberate and judicious approach hes taken since the shootdown. Hence, his repeated efforts to give irans leaders an off ramp toward negotiations. Nevertheless, there is a general consensus that this act of aggression cannot stand. Tehran must understand that it may not respond to legitimate diplomatic pressure with illegitimate violence. It is in our National Security interest for the United States to deter attacks against American Forces operating legally in International Waters and to honor our long history of defending the freedom of the seas and freedom of international commerce. And since irans aggression and threats to Global Commerce threatened everyone, i hope all nations will join the u. S. And its allies in condemning tehran and imposing significant consequences for its hostile acts. Now look, i understand the significant appetite in congress for the president to consult with us as he continues to deliberate. Obviously thats appropriate. My colleagues should share their views with the administration. I understand the Foreign Relations and Armed Services committee will be Holding Hearings with Senior Administration officials after july 4. But what is not productive, madam president , is an effort being promoted by the democratic leader that would preemptively tie the hands of our military commanders, weaken our diplomatic leverage, embolden our adversaries and create a dangerous precedent. Therefore, i will strongly oppose the udall amendment which would gratuitously take crucial options off the table. It would hamstring both our commanders and our diplomats all of whose leverage depends on the knowledge the u. S. Reserves the right to act forcefully if and when necessary. Ten years ago my friend the democratic leader said verbatim, when it comes to iran, we should never take the military option off the table. Thats exactly what the amendment he supports would do. Nearly every president has utilized limited use of force against adversaries without i repeat without preauthorization from congress. Nearly every president has done that. Of course major hostilities require congressional concurrence and the support of the American People. So the democrats should stop their fearmongering because no one i repeat no one is calling for Major Military operations. Not the president , not his military commanders, not republicans in congress. This amendment would impose unprecedented limitations that would go far beyond the war powers resolution. As drafted, it could prevent u. S. Military forces from defending themselves against attack or conducting a timely counter attack. If we had actionable intelligence that an attack was imminent, it would prevent u. S. Forces from doing anything about it. If israel was attacked, it would prevent u. S. Forces from providing immediate assistance to our closest ally in the region. This amendment flies in the face of Many Democrats past clarity about iran and casts doubt on our seriousness in defending our own military personnel, much less, much less the freedom of the seas. Democrats are going to set a democrats must set aside the habit of unthinking reflective opposition to every single thing this president does. Thats why i call it trump derangement system tomorrow. Derangement symptom. Perhaps it would help if they remember what the candidate in 2016 had to say about her policy about iran in the gulf were she to be reelected. Heres what Hillary Clinton had to say. I will reaffirm that the region will be of vital interest to the United States, will keep the strait of hormuz open, will increase Security Operations with our gulf allies including Missile Defense and ensure they can defend against iranian aggression even if that takes the form of cyberattacks or other nontraditional threats. She went on, iran should understand the United States, and as president i will not stand by as our allies and partners are threatened. She concluded by saying we will act. Thats Hillary Clinton. So, madam president , nearly every word of that statement accurately describes the policy of the Trump Administration that the Trump Administration has pursued for the last two years. Our gulf allies and partners are threatened by iran. Israel is threatened by iran. The strait of hormuz is threatened by iran. And america has been attacked by iran. The threat is not in doubt. The question is whether democrats still mean it when they said or whether they completely changed their minds about how the u. S. Must respond simply because, simply because the white house has changed parties. Now, on a related matter, madam president , this week, the senate is considering the National Defense authorization act. The Current Situation with iran is a stark reminder of our urgent responsibility to ensure our military remains equipped and ready to deter threats and defeat potential challenges to our security. When we pass the ndaa this week, the senate will extend a 58year tradition of authorizing the resources that u. S. Forces need to stay on the cutting edge, and i hope well do so with wide bipartisan support. This years ndaa directs 750 billion to fund the priorities of the department of defense from the navys fleet strength to Missile Defense capabilities. It increases procurement for critical weapon systems, doubles down on research and development of nextgeneration technologies, and makes new investments in training and support services for Service Members and their families. In short, this is legislation that sends a clear signal to our men and women in uniform and to the rest of the world. Heres what it says. The u. S. Takes todays challenges seriously. We take our commitments seriously. And we take our defense seriously. So especially in light of current events, i was incredulous to hear the democratic leader call yesterday to postpone moving forward with the ndaa. Apparently, some of our democratic friends need to go hit the president ial campaign trail. They cant be here because they have to go campaign. Not one day but two. This week. Theyre too busy to stay in the senate and authorize the resources that our allvolunteer armed forces rely on. Postpone legislation on National Defense to accommodate the president ial race . In the middle of this ongoing crisis overseas . Come on. Come on. Im sorry our democratic friends feel compelled to skip out so they can compete for the favor of the resistance. The rest of us, the republican majority, were going to be right here. Were going to be right here working and voting to make america stronger and safer. Of course, the ndaa does not exhaust the urgent priorities we should attend to this week. As my republican colleagues and i have been arguing for two months now, two months, Congress Must address the humanitarian crisis down on the southern border. The situation is well documented. Nobodys in doubt. For months, record numbers of people have arrived at the border overwhelming, completely overwhelming agencies and facilities. The department of Homeland Security has had to redirect resources and personnel from other Critical Missions to assist the Border Patrol. Secretary of h. H. S. Has said were running out of money. This is the secretary of health and human services. Were functionally out of space. So i was encouraged last week when badly needed emergency funding finally garnered some momentum. Under the leadership of chairman shelby and senator leahy, the Appropriations Committee approved funding 301. Thats about as close to bipartisan as it could ever get. Theres no reason, no excuse why this noncontroversial measure should not get a similar overwhelmingly bipartisan vote here on the floor this week. This week. Not some other time. Actually, there is no reason it shouldnt happen today. Partisan delays have exacerbated this crisis long enough. Its well past time my democratic colleagues stop standing in the way and let the senate get this done. Mr. Mcconnell i note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call quorum call a senator madam president. The presiding officer the senator from minnesota. Ms. Klobuchar madam president , i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. The presiding officer without objection. Under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is closed. Under the previous order, the te senate will resume consideration of s. 1790. The clerk calendar number 114, s. 1790, a bill to authorize National Defense authorization act, and so forth and for other purposes. The presiding officer the democratic leader. Mr. Schumer thank you, mr. President , before i begin. I heard the leader conclude his remarks. He didnt mention he is meeting with several constituents of mine from new york, inincluding john including john thiel, and other 9 11 First Responders to discuss the compensation fund. Im glad he is meeting with them. It is not enough to just meet with them. These brave foanders deserve a commitment that their bill will be consideredded in a timely manner here on the floor. So, again, i urge leader mcconnell, listen to the 9 11 First Responders so, again, i urge leader mcconnell, listen to the 9 11 First Responders and give them your commitment, leader mcconnell, that you will put their bill on the floor as soon as it passes the house as a stand alone bill. It will pass it passed the house, it will certainly pass the senate, given the cosponsorship, and the president will sign. It the families of those who, just like our soldiers, rushed to danger to protect our safety can breathe a sigh of relief. Leader mcconnell is the one person this is not a dual responsibility, i wish it were, at least when we were in the minority, but leader mcconnell is the one person who controls the calendar on the senate floor. He can stand in the way, as he has done before, or he can right things and commit to give this bill the attention it deserves. Ill be eagerly awaiting to hear what the leader says after he meets with the First Responders this afternoon. Now on iran and the ndaa. Ever since President Trump unilaterally decided to abandon the iran Nuclear Agreement, our two countries have been on a path to greater conflict. In the past month, iran has heightened its aggressive actions in the region, prompting responses from the u. S. Government. No one looks at iran through rosecolored glasses, thats why americans, myself included, are worried about the current course of events. Escalation happens quickly in the middle east. Without a steady hand at the helm, without a coherent plan or strategy, things this president has lacked since the moment he took office, the danger of bumbling into war is acute. So democrats have been urging leader mcconnell to allow us a vote on the amendment to the ndaa concerning a possible conflict with iran. We have an amendment, led by senators udall, merkley, murphy, and kaine, cosponsored by republican senators, paul and lee, that would prohibit any funds authorized by the current ndaa to be used to conduct whos tilts against the government of iran. Again, this is a dangerous situation. Even if the president doesnt intend war, his erratic, inconsistent, and offthecuff policies could lead us to bumble into war. And when we are in war, it doesnt matter how we got there, the loss of life and the loss of treasure when we need so much attention here in america is very, very real. So we have an amendment and we are urging leader mcconnell to allow us a simple vote on an amendment to the ndaa concerning a possible conflict with iran. Let me repeat. The amendment is led by udall, merkley, murphy, and kaine, cosponsored by paul and lee, so its bipartisan, and it prohibits any funds authorized by the current ndaa to be used to conduct whos tilts against the government of iran. Contrary to what the leader just said, the udall amendment would not would not diminish our militarys ability to respond to a provocation or act in selfdefense. The way the leader characterized the amendment is just not true. He deliberately distorted the amendment. He knows better. The udall amendment preserves absolutely our militarys ability to act in selfdefense. And it would make perfectly clear that if President Trump wants to send our nation to war, he would need congress to authorize it first, as stipulated by our constitution. There is no greater power that the Founding Fathers gave to congress than the ability to go to war. They were worried about an executive who might be overreaching, who might be erratic, who might be inconsistent, and we have never had an executive who fits those categories more than this present president. And they wanted congress to be a check. If the president had to explain why he wishes to go to war, he might be more consistent and certainly less opaque. And so we should have this amendment on the merits on the merits, but we also should have it because this is how the senate should work. Leader mcconnell said that he would have an open amendment process. Heres what he said. Quote, well be turning to the ndaa shortly, and thats one of the most important bills we do every year. It will be open for amendment, leader mcconnells words, not mine, we expect to have a lot of member participation, leader mcconnells words, not mine. It will be open for amendment, said leader mcconnell. That meaning is pretty plain, but i must have misheard, so must have america, because the ndaa is not, let me repeat, not open for amendment. Not even for a serious and timely and relevant debate on our policy with respect to iran. Not even for a matter of war and peace, the constitutional prerogative of this body to authorize it or not. Its not just this amendment thats being secluded. My friend, the senior senator from minnesota, will offer an amendment on Election Security are important to our National Security. Our republican colleague will block it. No amendments. There are so many clamoring on both sides of the aisle that the senate go back to amendmenting. Amending, if we cant do it on this bill, were not going to do it at all this year. This is too common, no amendments, no bills, a graveyard in leader mcconnells senate. No senator has been allowed to vote on any amendment for months on their amendments for months. This is simply not how the senate is supposed to be. So i would urge leader mcconnell, for the sake of the senate and for the sake of war and peace and for the sake of the constitution to allow us a vote on our amendment. The leader should not run the ndaa like hes run the senate for much of this year as a legislative graveyard where issues of consequence are buried so the callous political interest of the president and the leader can march forward atop their graves. Now on the border. As the senate moves to consider a supplemental appropriations bill on the border, i want to turn my colleagues attention to whats transpiring there at the border. Over the past few months we have read reports and seen images of deplorable conditions. At the homestead facility in florida, the Trump Administration has allowed a forprofit detention company to operate what amounts to a modernday internment camp. Children ripped away from their parents, kept in cages, denied nutrition, hygiene, diapers, toothbrushes. How can our country do this . And all because the some in the president s purview think that might deter immigrants, use these poor children, 2 years old, 4 years old, one was 4 months as hostages and crewly treat them cruelly treat them. It is a black mark on our country and those who allow it to happen at the homestead facility in florida and other places. Think of what Law Enforcement would do if a parent denied their child this type of basic care, toothbrushes and diapers and put them in cages. Why on earth would it be acceptable for our government to do the same . Along with millions of americans, im appalled appalled by these conditions. Im appalled by the thawrt that by the thought that some in the Trump Administration may want this to continue because they think it will deter future migrants, migrants who are running away, not because they are drug dealers or ms13 members, but because their children have been threatened by gangs, im going to murder your son if you dont do what i want. Im going to rape your daughter unless you do what i want. Who wouldnt flee . To rip kids away from families, to discourage them is sick and twisted. It is inhumane. The people who are in charge of this mess shud be ashamed of themselves, and i should be ashamed of themselves. And i can think of no other democrat, democrat, republican, liberty, conservative, who would allow this to continue. Were working on a compromised appropriations bill to provide better conditions for these kids and families, but we have to grapple with the real challenges at the border and do more to reduce the number of migrants who feel they need to flee their countries in the first place, and thats why democrats have proposed to hire more Immigration Judges at the border, to reduce the backlog of cases and reduce the number of immigrants held in limbo. Thats why we applied to have the Asylum Seekers apply for asylum in their own countries, not at our border. It makes imminent sense. Thats why we also proposed additional Security Assistance to Central American countries to crack down on drug cartels, kangs, and Human Trafficking gangs, and Human Trafficking to impel the violence that happen to so many to make the journey north that is so perilous. This is the kind of policies we should talk about. They are not partisan. They are Commonsense Solutions both parties have witnessed. The president , this president , needs to end the inhumanity of the Border Management and work with us on real solutions. Finally, i appreciate my colleagues waiting but theres a lot going on here this morning. Finally, today marks the sixth anniversary of the supreme courts disastrous decision in shelby v. Holder, where decades of progress were cut in the Voting Rights act. It will go down in one of the lowest moments of the roberts court. When roberts says hes not political, the shelby decision is an overwhelming and persuasive argument that that is not the case with this justice. Few have shaped america like the voting acts. In a narrow decision, the court eliminated important safeguards in the law. By the majoritys reckoning, such provisions were no longer needed because discrimination was no longer a problem. Discrimination was no longer a problem . Hello . Hello . The court said it. Justice roberts signed the decision. Mr. Balls and strikes saying theres no discrimination in america anymore. It wasnt a problem. Well, in the six years since shelby, 19 states have instituted voting restrictions, including laws in North Carolina that the Fourth Circuit said, quote, targeted African Americans with almost surgical precision. No more discrimination . Prior to the courts decision . Shelby, North Carolina would have been required to seek approval from the department of justices Civil Rights Division before knacking these pernicious laws before enacting these pernicious laws, one of many examples about how officials have been freed up to implement discriminateing laws. In ordinary times the senate would debate ways to abolish. We debate politics like voter registration, restrictions on voter i. D. Laws in efforts that we would make to make it easier, safer and more reliable for americans to vote. Thats what Senate Democrats have proposed. But of course once again leader mcconnell has transformed the senate into a legislative graveyard where inaction is the order of the day. What a shame that the leader believes something as crucial as ensuring that americans can exercise the franchise is unworthy of the senates time. I yield the floor and appreciate my colleagues from minnesota and oklahoma who have been patiently waiting. A senator madam president. The presiding officer the senator from minnesota. Ms. Klobuchar madam president , i share our leaders outrage over what is going on right know at the border over these private facilities where these children are being housed and about the lack of an ability to bring amendments on the National Defense authorization act. The one that the leader mentioned is imperative that we go forward with this right now. We have a situation where the president tweets us closer to war each day. Ten minutes short, got us out of an agreement that while imperfect would have prevented us from being in the situation that were in, and Congress Must be a check and balance on this administration, and under the constitution, we should have the ability to do this. I cannot stress how important this amendment is. And today im here to talk about another amendment that is also necessary to protect our democracy and protect our country, and that is about our elections, our very elections, the fundamental foundation of our democracy. We know one thing, and who do we know it from . We know it from the president s own National Intelligence director, his f. B. I. Director, we know it from all of his security leaders, and that is that russia invaded our democracy. They didnt use bombs, jets or tanks. Instead they planned a sophisticated Cyber Mission to undermine our democratic system. Special counsel mueller also concluded that russia interference in our democracy was, quote, sweeping and systematic. Madam president , our elections are less than 500 days a away. We know that russia is actively working to attack our democracy again, and our intelligence officials are again sounding alarms. The f. B. I. Director, President Trumps f. B. I. Director said russias efforts to interfere in our 2018 election were just a, quote, dress rehearsal for the big show in 2020. So has the administration worked with congress to help craft legislation to make sure our election systems are fortified against future attacks . No. They actually stopped the bipartisan bill that was moving ahead at the end of last year. I see my colleague from oklahoma here, senator lankford. He and i led that bill, and the cosponsors included the head of the Intelligence Committee as well as the Ranking Member. It was a bill that had significant support and still has significant support. But just as were about to mark up that bill in the rules committee, the white house made some calls to republican senators. Leader mcconnell made some calls to republican senators. And that bipartisan effort was stopped in its tracks, which would have paved the way to making sure that if federal election money was given out to the states that we would have had to have backup paper ballots. It would have paved the way for audits. But instead it was stopped in its tracks, blocked by the white house. Earlier this month the president invited more election interference when he said he would accept help from a foreign adversary once again. That happened. It is unprecedented and it is wrong. At a time when the president is failing to do his job to protect our democracy, Congress Must do its job. And in fact theres Bipartisan Legislation thats been introduced in the house right now that includes many of the things that i will be talking about today, that including funding, additional funding. And i do thank the senator from oklahoma, senator lankford. He and i helped led the way, in addition to our colleagues in the Appropriations Committee, senator shelby and senator leahy, senator coons and others, to make sure that we got 380 million out to the states over a year ago. But it is time to step up again. Everyone remembers what happened back in the 2000 election. We all saw those hanging chads displayed on tvs across the country. That experience taught america that we needed to update our election equipment. When we couldnt figure out who won for president of the United States, yeah, maybe you need to update your election equipment. So what happened back then . Well, we passed the help america vote act. I wasnt here then, but thats what they did. It was landmark legislation that provided more than 3 billion to states to help them update their election infrastructure. That was 17 years ago, madam president , before the iphone even existed. And the federal government has not made a big major investment to update our Election Technology since. Russia knew that. What better way to upend our democracy than try to break into our election equipment, than try to spread propaganda against campaigns and candidates in our election. And thats what they did. They conducted sophisticated influence operations in 2016, where do i learn this . I learn this from the trump intelligence advisors. They have political committees and campaigns. They targeted Election Administrators and even private Technology Firms responsible for manufacturing and administering election systems. In illinois, the names, addresses, birth dates and partial Social Security numbers of thousands of registered voters were exposed. Just recently we learned that the election systems in two florida counties were hacked by the russians, and the department of Homeland Security is conducting forensic analysis on computers used in North Carolina after it was revealed in the Mueller Report that a Voting Software company was hacked by russia. How much more do we need to know as we go into these 2020 elections . I dont think much more. We have a common set of facts about what happened and we know that theres a continued threat against our democracy. What we need to do now is address these facts with a common purpose, to protect our democracy, to make sure that our election systems are resilient against future attacks. We have a long way to go when it comes to making sure our election systems are resilient. Right now 40 states rely on electronic voting estimates that are at least ten voting systems that are at least ten years old. Do you think im telling a surprise to russia . No. They know this. 12 states have no or partial paper ballot backups. 12 states. 16 states have no statewide audit requirement to figure out after the fact what happened and if their elections were secure. These statistics are alarming because experts agree that paper ballots and audits are the baseline of what we need to secure our election systems. Many Election Officials continue to sound the alarm that they lack the funding necessary to replace outdated equipment, hire cybersecurity experts and make other muchneeded improvements to their election system. Maybe as a country we can say, well, state if youre not doing this, not our problem. Thats yours. No. This is a president ial election before us. And if a few counties in one swing state or an entire state gets hacked into and theres no backup paper ballots and we cant figure out what happened, the entire election will be called into question. No democrat, no republican, no independent can want that to happen, especially when we can prevent it from happening. The house bill, that includes the same amount of money as we did last time, and that is about 3 of the cost of one aircraft carrier. The bill that im proposing now that we moved forward to is about 8 of the cost of one aircraft carrier. And that is to protect our entire democracy from the kind of modern warfare, not oldfashioned warfare, modern warfare that we are seeing today, which is cyber warfare. Protecting our democracy from future attacks will require modernizing our election systems and building new safeguards to prevent cyberattacks, important steps that will require meaningful federal assistance. Do you really think that the state of arkansas or the state of maine, that theyre supposed to be fully responsible for protecting ourselves from a foreign powers cyberattack . I dont actually think so. If we could come together to quickly help the states address things like those hanging chads back in 2000, which were in fact just a function of bad election equipment, we certainly must come together to protect ourselves from a cyberattack from a foreign power. And, by the way, the last time it was one foreign power. Maybe this time it will be another one. We must do the right thing for our country. Thats why i worked with my colleagues in the house and senate, including senatorial lankford, on legislation that would provide critical election funding in the coming years. The bill before us today, our legislation, the Election Security act, would also require states to use paper ballots and it would provide funding for states to implement post election audits. It would require the president to issue a National Security strategy to protect u. S. Democratic institutions from cyberattacks and influence operations. And it would establish a Bipartisan Commission to develop recommendations drawing upon Lessons Learned from our european allies who feels been repeatedly subject to attacks from russia, to counter election interference. This is the kind of legislation that American People elected us to pass. As i noted, the house is taking action. It will consider similar legislation this week. The senate must take strong action on Election Security as well. Madam president , i ask unanimous consent that the rules committee be discharged from further consideration of s. 1540 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. Further, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no interfering action or debate. The presiding officer is there objection . A senator reserving the right to object. The presiding officer the senator from oklahoma. Mr. Lankford mr. President , i started working on Election Security with senator klobuchar in 2013. We have worked together from the beginning to make this a bipartisan, in fact nonpartisan issue. Elections are an american event. They have partisan results, but the act of voting is an american event, not a partisan event. We had a hearing in the rules committee. We worked through the process. We continued to get feedback. In fact, she and i worked incredibly hard to be able to reach out to and have multiple meetings with secretaries of state from all over the country to be able to hear as much feedback as we could from the states because elections are run by states. Elections are not run by the federal government. Each state runs their own election. Each county orprecinct or parish has its own structure for doing elections. One of the strengths of our system is the diversity of how elections are actually done. So we had to do a lot of work behind the scenes with all these different states and to be able to meet with their leadership, to be able to meet with governors, to be able to meet with as many different groups as we possibly could to be able to get it. The basic goal from the beginning was to achieve a piece of legislation that had a couple of features in it. Ensure timely information sharing between the state and government and local officials. In 2016 there is not timely information shared. The federal government had visibility on what russia was doing. The states and the precincts did not. And it took up to 14 months for the states to find out what the russians were doing. That can never happen again. Second, expedite security clearances for state and local Election Officials. Again, we had this issue in 2016 where federal officials saw what was going on by the russians, but said the state individuals didnt have enough security clearance, so instead they got a nebulous memo that said watch out for these i. P. Addresses, with no explanation of why. That can never happen again. And third, there is a way to be able to verify the results of our election, and that should be straightforward. Every state, every precinct should be able to verify that to be able to go back to the people in their area and to say this is how you voted and this is how we verified the number is accurate. There arent additional ballots showing up later that the machines didnt count that suddenly just popped up from nowhere, there is no hanging chadz that are happening, there is no inconsistencies with that. That people can look at it and go that was done efficiently and professionally. The administration has taken steps in the first two of these. In fact, we have had multiple hearings with d. H. S. To be able to talk about what theyre doing to be able to get security clearances. Now, every single state has individuals within their state that have security clearance. Every state has a greater cooperation now with the federal government. Multiple layers of cybersecurity have been offered to every single state so that each state can use their own Cyber Protection or add an additional layer from the federal government. Its up to that state to choose. Its not a mandated piece that comes down with them. Most every state has taken that step and says we want to be able to have those additional layers of Cyber Protection because its not just about the voting machine or its not just about the piece of paper. Its how its counted, how its presented, how the unofficial results even go out from the state the night of the election. All those things matter. D. H. S. Has leaned in and they have done aggressive work on this in the last several years. Thats why the 2018 election went so smooth, because d. H. S. Has done a tremendous amount of work already on this. I have been clear with this process. This cannot be a way of federalizing elections and trying to be able to run the elections where every piece of election equipment has to be run through some bureaucracy here in washington, d. C. , whatever it may be. This is a state responsibility that the state has to be able to take on. There is not a way for the states that do not have an election system, piece of hardware right now for their election to be able to change that hardware before 2020. The first of our elections are not november 2020. Its eight months from now. Eight months from now is when our primaries begin. States cannot purchase the equipment, put into place, train the volunteers, make that transition before the 2020 election. So the emphasis is what can we do to be able to assist states in their Cyber Protection, what can we do to be able to get information to them, how can we run this . Now, in the days ahead, senator klobuchar and i completely agree every state should have a system with a backup paper ballot. Every state, every precinct. Right now, thats not so, but no matter how much money we threw at the states right now, they could not make that so by the 2020 president ial election. Its not possible to be able to get there. In the 2018 omnibus, we added 380 million to go to the states. Not all of that 380 million has even been spent yet. Theres still quite a bit of it thats still banked. But that has all been allocated to the states and the states are deciding whats the best way to do that. States like mine in oklahoma, we used optical scanners and paper ballots. That money was used in my state to be able to assist in Cyber Protection of the system, the transition of the information, and how the unofficial results actually get out to the public. It was a good way to be able to use those funds to make sure any threats are mitigated. My state, like 21 other states, was one of the states that the russians tried to engage in our election systems. They came to the state election board in my states, tried to be able to get into it, found out the door was locked, and they moved on to another state. They did not get into our system. But there are other ways where we could protect it. But of that 380 million that we allocated just last year, much of it has not even been spent yet, so i object to doing another 380 million on top of that when the first part of it has not even been spent yet, and it wont be eligible or wont make a difference in this years election because 380 million we did last year was really preparing for the 2020 elections. Heres my concern long term. I dont want Election Security to become a partisan issue. Its easy to become that. H. R. 1 when it came out of the house was clearly a very partisan bill. I find myself at odds today with a partner in this, senator klobuchar, who we have worked together in a very nonpartisan way to be able to resolve this issue. I think we still can resolve this and we can actually get a result, but a partisan proposal will not get us an end result where both parties come together and get to resolve this. I reiterate again, Election Security should never be a partisan issue. This is about the preservation of our democracy, and its something both parties in fact, independents, republicans, democrats, all parties agree that this should be a central issue for us. So stating all of that begrudgingly in this proposal because its not a bipartisan proposal, i look forward to working through and getting a bipartisan proposal done in the days ahead, so i must object. The presiding officer objection is heard. The senator from minnesota. Ms. Klobuchar mr. President , i appreciate the work my colleague has done with me and others on this issue, but i do want to point out a few things. One, i agree this should not be a partisan issue. In fact, our bill was as bipartisan as it gets, with the two of us leading the bill and with senator warner and senator burr, the leaders of the Intelligence Committee, as cosponsors, and with senator graham and senator harris from the judiciary committee. It was a strong bill. And i would be glad to call that up as an amendment if you would be willing to do that, but you wonder why wouldnt we be able to advance this bipartisan bill, and it is because the white house made it decidedly partisan, because they objected to it moving forward. Our own bipartisan bill. And leader mcconnell did not want that bill to move forward. He made it very clear. So lets be very precise about why we were having this discussion today, and that is that we could have done this bill with the backup paper ballots attached to the funding a year ago, but it was blocked by the republicans. So now we are where we are, and this idea that we just wait and every year say it wont help that next election, it wont help that next election, i believe in the importance of urgency and getting this done. Secondly, i am not trying to federalize our elections. In fact, this model, while there is more money attached to it, is very similar to the model that we have discussed and that is included in our bill. Its this idea that if the states are willing to do what they are supposed to do, then they get the federal money. It does not federalize elections. Third, the North Carolina example that i just brought up, that didnt just happen back in 2016. That happened much more recently. And so our concern based on the assessments that we have been given by the trump security advisors, based on what President Trumps f. B. I. Director said just last month. He didnt say it last year. He said it last month. That this is happening now, and that Congress Must do more to help defend our elections. I will repeat, Election Security is National Security. We must remember this. Last week, 22 state attorneys general, 22 states sent congress a letter asking for us to take action to protect the integrity of our election infrastructure. We received similar letters from state Election Officials and leading law officials, Law Enforcement officials in nearly half the country are begging us to take action. Think about that. So while i have no doubt that there has been some progress and there is better communication, i tend to believe the people that are on the ground, and that is the chief Law Enforcement officers in nearly half the states in this country. I tend to believe the f. B. I. Director for President Trump himself, the National Intelligence director for President Trump himself. The integrity of our election system is the cornerstone of our democracy. The freedom to choose our leaders and know with full confidence that those leaders were chosen in free and fair elections, that is something that americans have fought and died for since our country was founded. You can go back to 1923 when stalin said you know what . To the communist party. Who votes . That may not matter. What matters is who counts the votes. History is repeating itself, and obstructing efforts to improve Election Security is an insult to those who have fought for our freedom and those who work every day to protect our democracy. This is not about one election or one party. That is why we worked so hard to have a bipartisan bill. And i was willing to make compromises on that bill. We were gut punched by the white house. Senator blunt had sent that rules committee markup. It was ready to go. I think 75 of the senators right here in this chamber, if that bill was called up right now, would vote for it, but we were gut punched by the white house. They didnt want the backup paper ballots, they didnt want to have those audits, they didnt want to have the additional money for Election Security. So i dont want to hear about how this is a partisan effort to try to push this right now, because this is not about one election or one party. Its about our democracy. We need to be a united front in fighting against those who interfere with our democracy, and we must do everything in our power to prevent foreign interference from letting this ever happen again. This is the bill that should be on because it is the Defense Authorization act, it is about the security of our country, and free and fair elections. That is the fundamental basis for the security of america. I look forward to working with my colleagues. I hope we will find some way to overcome these objections from the white house. I yield the floor. I note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Durbin mr. President. The presiding officer the assistant democratic leader. Mr. Durbin i ask that the pending quorum call be suspended. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Durbin mr. President , do we have a schedule this morning in terms of debate on the floor . The presiding officer theres no consent agreement penning. Mr. Durbin i will defer to the chairman and Ranking Member if they want to move forward on their legislation, but i would like to ask consent to speak for ten minutes. Mr. Inhofe mr. President , we have an amend that, i ask that the two leaders and Ranking Member be allowed to speak for such time as they shall consumer. Mr. Durbin i will be happy to accept that as a friendly amendment. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Durbin mr. President , it pains me to say this on the floor of the united united stats senate but there is no other way to describe it. By every objective standard the policies of our government constitutes child abuse when it comes to the treatment of these children at our border. Hardly a day goes by that we dont hear another horror story involving these migrants, and particularly their children and babies. Now, i will concede, having been there and seen it and read the numbers, were being overwhelmed, and for that there should be some understanding and perhaps even forgiveness if we dont respond as quickly as possible, but this has dragged on and on and on for months. There are children who are being held in detention under circumstances and conditions which are an embarrassment to this country and unacceptable in any civilized nation on earth, period. It led to me to join with 20 other senators to write to the International Red cross several weeks ago. The International Red cross is called in this countries around the world when jails and detention facilities have reached such a point ha you that you need an International Arbiter come in to declare to that government and the world how deplorable the conditions are. I never dreamed there would be a moment i did that asking the International Red cross to view our own detention facilities in the United States. What brought me to this point . Its well publicized in the press. A june 21st story. A chaotic scene of sickness and filth is unfolding in a border station in clint, texas, where hundreds of young people are being held according to lawyers who visited the facility this week. Some of the children have been there for nearly a month. Children as young as 7 and 8, many of them wearing clothes caked with snot and tears are caring for infants they just met. Toddlers without diapers are relieving themselves without pants, mothers are wearing clothes stained with breast milk. Most detainees have not been able to shower or wash clothes since they arrived at the facility. They have no access to toothpaste, toothbrushes or soap. There is a stench said the writer. The overmajority of children have not bathed since they crossed the border. I might find that hard to believe had i not seen for myself at the el paso Border Crossing whats happening. Albeit, it was several weeks ago, but the circumstances described in this article on june 21st, mirrored what i saw in el paso. Let me say at theout set, and clearly say, that say at the outset, and clearly say, that many of the men and women at the border and Border Protection are good people, caring people and privately told me how heartbreaking these circumstances are. Im not going to make excuses for any wrongdoing by any of them or any federal agency. I wouldnt try, but i do want to concede the point that there are many who want to do better but dont have the resources to do it. So why arent we doing more here . Why in this empty chamber isnt the senate coming together and working on a collusion . We came up with 400 million in february for humanitarian purposes at the border supported on a bipartisan basis. Last week we reported a bill out of the senate Appropriations Committee, 311, to appropriate 5 billion to come down and do something about the circumstance at the border, a humanitarian response and more, irsupported it, i supported it, most supported it on both sides of the aisle. It is quickly to do it we can do it again. In the meantime, we need to ask the question, how have we reached this point in this country . How have we reached the point when it comes to immigration that it is such a National Embarrassment . Look at the record of this administration in two and a half years. As you tick off the items of major policy decisions, you can find how we reached this point today. Remember the first one, the muslim travel ban. We were banning people from muslim countries from coming into the United States. Not too long after this president decided that he was going to eliminate daca, a program that allowed 780,000 young people in this country a chance to live here without fear of deportation. And then he turned around and eliminated the status of several hundred,000 in the United States and several hundred thousand in the United States because they were escaping emergencies and crisis in their own countries and natural disasters. He followed that up with the notion of zero tolerance. Remember zero tolerance . Remember when attorney general sessions quoted the bible, for goodness sake, as justification for separating infants, mothers, and toddlers from their mothers and fathers at the border. Zero tolerance. Finally a federal court judge in san diego said enough. I want to know who those children are and i want to know where they are and where their parents are. It was a common thing to ask. Sounds like an easy request, doesnt it . But it turns out we didnt keep records. These kids were separated from their parents without a record of where they were going and where the parents were going. It took weeks, if not months, and still we cant resolve the whereabouts of some of those children who were separated. Then came the president s decision that he announced by tweet a couple of weeks ago that he was going to engage in mass arrests and mass deportations in the United States. You know what that means . It means children will be coming home from school to empty homes and wonder where mom and dad are. They are gone. Theyve been deported. And the fact that they lived here for a number of years has nothing to do with the law and the fact that others may be citizens in the household doesnt seem to be important to this administration. So when we come down to it, we reached a point where it comes to immigration, a stage ive not seen in modern times, where were being inundated at the border and in complete chaos here in the United States. The president announced he was going to get tough when elected, he is tough, but he do doesnt know how to be effective. He doesnt know how to cope with something with the economies and the social Justice System in three Central American countries that leave people to cash in everything they own on earth to give to a transporter or smuggler to take them and their kids to the border. Thats where we are. And thats why we need to act. First humanitarian assistance, yes. Count me in. The sooner, the better, to put diapers on these babies, to give them basic food stuff, perhaps clean clothes, not too much to ask in the great United States of america. And, secondly, lets come up with an approach on Central America that makes sense, swearing at them, tweeting at them, saying youre going to cut off all assistance, hasnt worked very well, has it, mr. President . The president uses the tough talk to sell their case, you better get moving. Hes going to get tougher, hes going to build a wall, and in panic they do. This is not working and its clear its not working. Finally, havent we reached a point in the United States of america where we know we need comprehensive immigration reform. I was part of that effort six years ago, four democrats, four republicans, chuck schumer, bob menendez, marco rubio, lindsey graham, jeff flake, michael bennet. We sat for months every night working on another aspect of immigration reform. We put together, not a good bill, i think it was a great bill and there was a lot of compromise in it that i didnt like. Thats what happens when you sit down across the table and in good faith try to resolve your differences. We brought it to the senate. 68 votes, democrats and republicans, said were for immigration reform. And senator alexander from tennessee said a couple of weeks ago, if we passed that law and made it law we wouldnt be facing the mess were facing today. Hes right to a great degree. I dont think it would have solved all the problems, but it would have solved a lot of them. What happened with that bill . It died in the house. The Republican House refused to consider it. Here we sit with this mess on our hands with a president who tweets people and threatens mass arrests and deportation and the situation goes from bad to worse and even worse when it comes to the treatment of children. We can do better as a nation, this nation of immigrants, which im proud to be part of, this nation of immigrants has absorbed people from around the world in a systemic orderly way in the past and we can do it again. We need border security. No one should come in this country that we dont know who they are and what they are bringing in. Secondly, we cannot accept everyone who wants to come to america. It has to be done in an orderly, thoughtful way, and third, we should never accept anyone coming into this country who is a danger, period. If they are here, undocumented, and dangerous, they should leave, period. Now having said that, dont we all agree on that . Cant we move forward in a constructive, bipartisan way to solve this problem, to end this embarrassment. Once and for all, weve got to say to the president , the tweets are not enough. What this reporter saw, what she reported as stench on the border is something that should be an embarrassment to all of us. Were better than that. We need to prove it. Mr. President , i yield the floor. Mr. Inhofe mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from oklahoma. Mr. Inhofe mr. President , yesterday we got down to work on amendments. We for the National Defense authorization act, we filed a substitute amendment that included 9393 bipartisan amendments. When i say 93, there are 44 democrat, 44 republican, and i think five more that were on both sides, and so we you know, this is what weve been trying to do. Senator reed and i both have been encouraging people to bring amendments to the floor for a long period testify time. In fact for a long period of time. In fact, the majority leader, senator mcconnell, has made several appeals in the event that this gets bogged down, to go ahead and bring your amendments down so we can work on them. And thats what we did on this amendment that the substitute that we used yesterday incorporated 93 amendments and they were actually brought to us for fear that what happened a year ago was would happen again. Now, im not sure that the systems wrong when it does this, but any one member of the democrats or republicans can stop an amendment from coming forward. It it takes unanimous consent. People dont understand that. But right now were in a position where one individual last year one individual at one point two individuals just said they are stopping all amendments unless they had a certain consideration for their own amendment. Again, that seems to be happening again now. Nonetheless, thats why we have all these amendments and thats what weve done. I do want to comment, though i heard a couple of my colleagues say the republicans are blocking consideration of an amendment on iran, the senator udall amendment. Thats holding up the bill. Both the members of both parties are raising objections to not just one single amendment but to all amendments. Were following a process that allows all senators to have their say, and thats a good thing. But it means that anyone can hold this bill up. And so what do we do to preclude something damage, irreparable damage to the most important bill of the year, the ndaa, and weve taken that initiative to bring up amendments and discuss amendments. And i have a list. I have a list with me of all the amendments that are in the bill that were talking about, the substitute bill. The cotton amendment, the open Source Fusion centers, Pacific Island states im just going from one, two i could go through all 93 of them. The d. O. D. Financial improvement and audit remediation plan. Thats what senator perdue has been talking about for a long period of time. Weve got it now. Its in the bill. Cornyns bill, overseas absentee balloting for overseas members. Thats in the bill. Thats what weve been doing. Thats why i found the whole idea of senator schumer objecting to finishing this bill as we had planned to do it this week because of the political debates, the president ial debates that are going on. I was pretty shocked yesterday to hear that my colleague from new york, the minority leader, said that we should delay votes on the ndaa so that seven democrat senators can participate in primary debates. Now, thats clearly saying the politics is more important than the National Security. Whether its seven or just one democrat senator who wants to participate, my answer would be the same. We need to get this bill done to protect the nation. And i say without apology the National Security preempts politics. This is the tradition of the Armed Services committee. Its our tradition for a reason. I repeat, senator schumer said we should delay votes on most the most important bill of the year, a bill that has a quickly approaching deadline, that has wide bipartisan support for political purposes. I said, and i quote he said, and i quote, theres no rush to complete the ndaa. He said that there will be no harmful consequences to our military. I disagree. We got to enact the ndaa by september 30, the start of the new fiscal year. So that we dont have that much time to spare. When you stop and think about all the things we have to do between now and september 30. If we dont pass the ndaa on time, we delay the needed reforms to privatizing the the privatized housing, i call it a scandal, and weve had two hearings on that. Up until february no one said anything about it, no one said there was a problem. They talked about back in the days we did privatize housing. I thought it was a good idea. I was here at the time. Im personally responsible. And it worked for a while, a couple of years. And then i think a lot of the contractors got greedy, and they found there to be shortcuts. I think we in the uniforms were somewhat responsible, too, because they did some things that they you know, they didnt have the oversight that they had before. Therefore, they didnt have the responsibility. So thats a big deal and thats something that needs to be corrected, and thats in the bill. Thats going to be a part of the bill. Now, if we dont pass the ndaa, its not going to be. If we dont pass the ndaa on time, well delay 11. 2 billion in military Construction Projects in 44 states. Some of those are in my state of oklahoma. We would handicap the missioncritical infrastructure for combatant commands, protecting american and its u. S. Interests across the globe. These are milcon projects that need to be done. If we dont pass the ndaa on time, well delay Disaster Relief for military installations still recovering from the devastating storms and disasters in florida, in North Carolina, in nebraska. If we dont pass the ndaa on time, well lose authorities for ongoing Security Cooperation with afghanistan and iraq, reducing pressure on terrorist threat, encouraging our enemies and undermining our partners. If we dont pass this ndaa on time, well be slowing enactment of sanctions act which senator schumer is very much concerned about and has been critical to get this thing done. I think its very important to inhibit the flow of these deadly drugs across our borders. If we dont get the ndaa done on time, well let the e. P. A. Continue kicking the can down the road on the pfas crisis and providing america safe drinking water. All of these things are going to happen if we start delaying it. You might say were only delaying it for maybe two weeks but still that delays Everything Else and that also puts an end to the time frame where well be busy doing all these other things that we have to do. We have a lot to do before september 30 and only a limited number of legislative days to do it. Weve got the pass the ndaa. Weve got to get a budget deal. Weve got to bring the appropriation bills to the floor. These are all vital into getting our troops the resources they need on time and with predictability. This is a simple request that our military leaders have made. In fact, they said its the best thing we can do for our National Security. So this is whats going on right now. I also listened to a lot of the discussion on the floor. Theyre talking about the concentration camps, all these the treatment of our kids. And let me say even though that is not the defense in the per view of the committee in the purview of the committee that has the bill, thats health and human service, i have done some looking into that and don archer in my office has spent time with h. H. S. And they find out these kids are being kept well. 1,400 are going to my state of oklahoma and im going to be sure theyre healthy when they get there, theyre fed properly. Everyone will have their own bed, their own resources. And the staff, the staff servicing these kids, its a 21 ratio. I know it sounds great, sounds proper lar. If you want to demean this president , make it look like hes abusing kids. Thats that rings high but its just not true. Were going to have to do something to correct the misuse. Its doing a great disservice not just to the kids but to the bill. Our responsibility to provide for the common defense is so important. Its in the opening lines of the constitution. Now, i know a lot of people dont read the old document anymore, but i think its pretty important. I would hope that my colleagues agree, especially those on the campaign trail that a candidate for a Higher Office in this country who truly understands the importance of defending this nation and our ideas should understand the need to pass this bill on time. Now, weve got to pass the bill. Weve got to pass the bill as soon as possible. And i want to again commend the Ranking Member of the Armed Services committee, senator reed, for his unwavering commitment to our women and men in uniform. He understands as i understand this is the important thing we have to do. So i really would like for everyone to be aware that there is an effort to delay this bill for what i would have to say would be purely political reasons. So that people who are on the committee could be participating in a president ial debate. Well, youve got a daytime job and they need to be doing the daytime job when is defending america and passing the ndaa. And thats what we intend to do. Now, i plan to be on the floor all day today, and i want to make sure that this idea that somehow were not getting amendments through anticipating we might not be able to get them through, we have taken the and yesterday actually passed 93 amendments. 93 amendments. Its taken several weeks to get all these amendments in, but i think and im going to be reading off some of these amendments and making sure the authors come down to the floor and talk about their amendment. John boozman, senator boozman of arkansas has an amendment that would modify, authorize, strengthen the air force reserve. Its a very important amendment. Im sure that he is going to be coming down and talking about his amendment as are the other members. Some 44 members actually have amendments they need to talk about. So well have that opportunity. And i think that we have all day long today to get that done and get this thing done and get back on track, pass the ndaa, the most important bill of the year. With that ill yield the floor. Mr. Reed mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from rhode island. Mr. Reed thank you, mr. President. First let me thank senator inhofe for his leadership and cooperation which has gotten us to this point in consideration of the fiscal year 2020 National Defense authorization act. The chairman has been thoughtful. Hes been very reasonable. We had a record hearing in our committee in terms of the number of amendments we dealt with and how we did in a very collegial fashion. And as a result, we were able to once again, as hes indicated, include 93 additional amendments in the substitute package thats been submitted. That is testimony to the good work of the chairman, the outstanding work of our staffs who have been working very, very diligently. And i appreciate both of this. This is a very good bill. It passed our committee on a vote of 252, totally bipartisan vote. It contains many needed authorities, funding authorizations, and reforms that will help the men and women of our Armed Services. It also, as weve indicated, both of us be contains numerous amendments from many of my colleagues on other issues of great importance. For example, as the intelligence authorization, we have included in this legislation the work of the Intelligence Committee, not just for this year but for the past three years. So well now have an up to date authorities for intelligence community. Well authorize the maritime administration. Weve had provisions that range far and wide. We have an amendment on the an amendment dealing with the pfas in our water and around our military bases. This is a significant crisis that were beginning to recognize more and more each day. And so this legislation is extremely supportive to the men and women in the uniform and indeed touches on many other important aspects that are necessary as we move forward. And as we both said in our open statements last week, wed like to have a robust debate on this bill and vote on amendments. That used to be the way we did things around here. It was a process of many years. And we need to get back to that process where we would have amendments, some of them contentious, some of them not so contentious, but there would be an greedupon path, reasonable time for debate, and then a vote. In fact,s a the chairman and i we try to Work Together but when we have differences we say, well, thats resolved by a vote. If you cant agree to a consensus compromise, then in this chamber you ultimately hope you can get a vote and that will be the zig factor will be the zig factor. The deciding factor. I understand there are differences about the proceedings, particularly with respect to the issue of potential military action against iran. I do not think anyone would argue that this is not a very pressing issue and that the senate has a role that were obligated to fulfill. Last week the chairman and i were both in the white house as the president very graciously listened to our thoughts and ideas about the response to the drone strike. So were in a situation where potential conflict or interaction with iran is not hypothetical. Just four or five days ago we were confronted with a very serious situation. The president made a decision not to use a kinetic strike on iran. I think that was an appropriate decision. But were at a point now where the senate as an institution, not as individuals accommodating the president , but as an institution has to take the position that i view. We understand too that as the administration applies more and more pressure on the iranian regime, there are several likelihoods. One is that these reactions to our pressure take place, as the president indicated in his televised comments with the prime minister, his first sense was this was probably not officially authorized. It may have been a subordinate who took the action, which minimized, to a degree, the severity and, of course, the most significant factor involved was that we lost an expensive piece of equipment. But thank goodness we didnt lose any american personnel. But, nevertheless, this Pressure Campaign is producing a counterreaction, and that counterreaction could be more and more dangerous to our interests. It could escalate. It could create a situation where the question of Armed Conflict with iran is not, as i said, theoretical at all but something that we have to confront. The dangers of miscalculation on both sides are acute at the moment. So we have to, i think, as a senate, take a position with respect to this issue. Thats why i think the amendment is extremely important. What i would like to see, i think i would hope we would all like to see is that were able to accomplish two things were able to get adequate debate and a vote on this amendment and there may be other amendments that people propose and feel strongly about a vote. We could consider those also. And then were able to conclude our debate on the Defense Authorization bill and move forward. I dont think we give up that pathway yet. I think we still try to find a pathway to accommodating these Critical Issues of National Security, particularly the issue with respect to potential conflict with iran, as well as finishing in a timely fashion not months from now but literally days from now or a week or more from now we finish this bill. So i look forward to working with my colleagues to find this pathway forward. Again, the chairman has been exextremely responsive and thoughtful about these efforts in his views and participation and his views and participation will be critical to that effort. With that, mr. President , i would yield the floor and note the absence excuse me. I would yield the floor. Ms. Duckworth mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from illinois. Ms. Duckworth mr. President , the past week has laid bear just how laid bare just how dangerous it can be to have a president that approaches Foreign Policy as if as it relatety show where the worst case that can happen is getting kicked off before the next episode airs. The president doesnt seem to recognize that his decisions can have lifeanddeath consequences for our military. What weve seen from the white house of late should worry every single one of us. In one breath trump is beating the drums of war, thumping his chest and pushing for a conflict that would kill an unimaginable number of people, Service Members and civilians. In the next breath he tries to act like a peacemaker who wouldnt even think of starting a war. Its gaslighting, plain and simple. Yet its the closest thing to a trump Foreign Policy doctrine that weve seen since his inauguration. So while im glad that he called off a military strike last week, that hasnt made me forget that he and aides like john bolton are the ones that brought us to the brink of war in the first place. Trump wont get any points from me for taking a small step to avert a disat the that he himself disaster that he himself created. And i have no confidence that his carelessness wont bring us back to that same brink again. Trumps erratic behavior is potentially deadly for the men and women willing to sacrifice everything to keep the rest of us safe. Look, i ran for congress so that when the drums of war sounded, i would be in a position to make sure that our elected officials fully consider the true costs of war, not just in dollars and cents but in human lives. That was the vow i made to the troops i deployed with and all those with whom i served since i hung up my uniform. Today i am standing here on the floor to keep that promise. Right now more and more americans prosecute preparing to head to a war zone 6,000 miles east to protect this nation. They are ready to do their jobs, no matter what, just as they have done time after time after time, even as their president and, yes, the representatives in this very chamber, neglect theirs. Again and again, this administration has laid out two scenarios they say would justify war with iran. Then theyve taken actions to make sure that those circumstances are a reality, setting us 0en a collision course with setting us 0en a collision course with lifeanddeath stakes and to off ramp. You dont need to be a physicist to understand that trump himself made the possibility of iran having a Nuclear Weapon by pulling the United States out of the Nuclear Agreement and in doing so, he freed iran from having to abide by the deal that i want willed their nuclear production. Now hes raging about iran doing the very things his actions encouraged them to do. It is circular logic with potentially fatal consequences. The second scenario theyve laid out is an attack on u. S. Troops in the region, another possibility made more likely by a series of trumps recent moves as hes made clear through his statements and tweets that hes looking for excuses to send more troops into the area. Now we are dealing with predictable fallout from those actions, the stoked tensions and the louder calls for war from some on the far right. Look, iran is no friend of ours. Weve been adversaries since long before trump took office. But what were facing today is in part a manufactured crisis by this president. The Trump Administration seems to be making Foreign Policy decisions not made on our nations interests but to serve some ideology or political purpose and in that effort, theyre using our troops as bait, as if theyre trying to manufacture their over 21st century gulf of tonkin crisis that they can use to justify war. In some kind of nightmare deja vu, it is as if theyre drawing from the same script that led us to iraq, sowing chaos, putting troops in harms way for no clear reason and with no clear end state in mind. On some days, it almost seems like theyre provoking, even promoting, war just for wars sake. Repeating those mistakes of years past that cost us so many heroic lives. It is a if trump and his administration dont remember the sacrifices our troops have made in the war that were still waging just ways of iran. Its as if theyre forgetting the veterans that came ohm with scarce, most of whom will never be the same. Look, i am no dove. I understand that war is sometimes necessary and our troops certainly do as well. And while trump and bolton may have never deigned to put on the uniform, i served in the military for 23 years. I chose to fight in a war i did not support on the orders of a president i didnt vote for. Why . I did it because i may not have believed in war, but i do believe and still believe in the constitution. And my commander in chief gave a lawful order after having been authorized to do so by congress. So while i may not have supported the war or that president , i am proud to have deployed to iraq to serve my country. So i know what is at stake for the thousands of troops this administration is sending into harms way, and i can tell you this its a whole lot easier to cover your eyes and order other americans to sacrifice if you dont have to sacrifice anything yourself. Trump may have responded no all five times his nation called him to duty, but our troops respond with a salute and report for duty every single time, time after time after time one, two, three, four. I know of troops who have done eight deployments. Its much easier to ignore the everyday realities of war from inside the security of the white house, but its nearly impossible if youve been outside the wire yourself. So with the drums of war beating loudly again, i am standing here under the great capitol dome today trying to keep my promise to hold the members of this body accountable, trying to make sure that we do our jobs. Our troops do their jobs every single day. You know, because the war the cost of war in both dollars and cents and human lives will no longer just be theoretical if we keep to the paths aides like bolton are pursuing, our homeland will be in greater danger, more Wounded Warriors will be sent to walter reed and more Fallen Heroes will be laid to rest in arlington. Even if youre okay with that, the fact of the matter is that the president does not have the authority to declare war. Only congress has that power. We are the ones tasked with deciding when and how we send americans into combat. We are the ones the constitution charged with that most solemn duty. Not donald trump and certainly not unelected warmongers like bolton. Lately, though, the white house has acted as if article 1 simply doesnt exist. Trump has acted as if he can just usurp this power in the legislative branch, as if obeying the constitution is optional. Well, its not. This snoot be a partisan this should not be a partisan issue, not matter if you are a factory worker pulling double shifts or the president of the United States, no one is above the law. No matter if youre struggling to pay rent or your name is plastered in gold on the front of a building on fifth avenue, no one can overrule the constitution. And our troops should never, ever be chest chess pieces in some game. So now in the midst of the week dedicated to congress debating next years defense funding, it is past time for congress to reclaim the solemn responsibility, the sacred responsibility of declaring war. For too long, too many on the hill have shrugged off that most solemn duty, scared of the political risks staring down election days. Congress has shirked its constitutional responsibility to our troops, refusing to take up any new discussion of authorizations for use of military force. For decades, congress has ceded its authority to the white house by failing to act, handing president s from both parties the ability to command our military without clear authorization, effectively cutting the peoples representatives out of the war making process entirely. Enough. Enough of being so worried about political consequences that we fail to do our own jobs, even as we expect our troops to do theirs without complaint every damn day. We need to do better by our Service Members. We owe it to them to honor their sacrifices. And part of that means ensuring that no american sheds blood in a war that congress has not authorized. Because despite what some in the administration say, theres just no way that the aumf has to go after the perpetrators can justify military action against iran nearly two decades later. Sending our troops overseas who may not have even been alive when that aumf was voted on. So if trump and company want to go to war, they must bring their case to congress and give the American People a say through their elected representatives. They must respect our Service Members enough to provide and prove why war with iran is worth turning more moms and dads into gold star parents. And they must testify about what the end state in iran actually needs to look like. Then when their case has been made, when Congress Debate is done, we in this body should vote. It is our duty. It is the least we can do for those willing to safeguard our democracy, our way of life, our constitution, even if it means laying down their lives. But in these days ahead, vigilance is key. We cant simply believe that people trying to convince us that in order to support our troops we need to authorize this war as soon as possible. As a former unit commander, i know that is not true. The best thing we can do for our Service Members is to make sure they know that their actions are legally justified by their government. If that takes a week, if that takes two or three, then it is worth a discussion. And if the vote to authorize military force passes, whenever that is, then i will be the first person to volunteer to deploy. I will be ready to pack and dust off my uniform. I may no longer have legislative session, but i can man a truck. I can do whatever it takes to defend this nation we love no matter what. Mr. President , i note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call mr. Inhofe mr. President . The presiding officer the senator for oklahoma. Mr. Inhofe i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call in progress will be vitiated. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Inhofe mr. President , i just want to make one comment. I know that somehow its popular to say demeaning things about our president. And john bolton i can remember the years that john bolton was the with the United Nations representing us, the United States. And he did such an incredible job. Hes really one that has all the talent you could have in the background. He certainly knows more probably about defense than anyone else that i know in this administration. And the president you know, to one of the proudest moments that i had of this president is when he did away with that thing that john kerry had during the last administration. Theyre always referring to our the iranians in the media. I assure you that was i happened to be with Benjamin Netanyahu got us out of the arrangement with iran where we gave them 1. 7 billion to do anything they want to with and they had to admit that they would be promoting terrorism with the money that we gave back to them. It was an absolute disaster. But anyway, theres something about this president. In spite of the fact right now we have the best economy weve had in my lifetime. Its right now we have a type of full employment nationwide, minority employment. Weve never had anything at all like were having right now. And its the result of two things that this president did and he did with the help of the republicans. We all lined up and helped him with this. One was reducing the marginal rate. Reducing the marginal rate to increase the revenue coming into the United States is something that weve known for a long time. Its not a republican idea. That was john kennedy. John kennedy came up with the idea that we want to go ahead and increase revenue. At that time he said and his words were we need more revenue for the Great Society programs. The best to increase revenue is to reduce marginal rates and it worked. Unfortunately john kennedy died right after that and couldnt see the product of his efforts. And then after that, of course Ronald Reagan did the same thing, had the same effect on the economy. Then when this president did it, we knew it would have that effect. But he did one more thing that they didnt do, and that was he recognized, yes, you can increase the economy by reducing marginal rates, but the other way to do it is reduce the onerous overregulations that we got during the obama administration, during that administration. Thats the biggest problem that we had. People are leaving the country to go to places where they could find energy. It was a war on fossil fuels. Fossil fuels, oil, gas, and coal. And he ended that war and as a result of that just in my home state of oklahoma, our exports on crude have gone up 250 . The economy, rebuilding the military. Look at what happened with the military back during the time during the obama administration. If you look at just the last five years of the obama administration. He knocked down the amount of money that went into our military by 25 just in five years. Thats never happened before. Of course, all thats over with now. We have a president thats been a strong supporter. I will be talking about that later. Its just that the American People know better when they hear all the name calling of it president. They dont like his style. Sure, i shudder a little bit when i hear a tweet coming. When you stop and think about what hes been able to accomplish with his tweets, atlee now people know there is another side, there is a truth out there that you can access to instead of depending on just the liberal media. The main thing i want to do is encourage think we have people scheduled starting in right after the lunch time. And that is to come downing and talk about your amendments come down and talk about your amendments. Its true we knew we would have some problems and we expected to have some problems getting to amendments because our rules provide that one senator can stop the amendment process. All an amendment cant come to the floor except by unanimous consent. So they object to the unanimous consent until certain things can happen. Well, i dont you know, i dont criticize anyone but we knew because of that that were not going to be going to be able to really get a lot of amendments on the floor for a debate. And so we did it with in fact, we did it yesterday. 93 amendments yesterday. Now, those 93 were from equally divided, democrats and republicans. I have a list here. And theyre going to be coming down to the floor. But i want to encourage our members to come down because people have to know that this is a good bill. This Defense Authorization bill, we know its going to pass. Its passed for 53 years. And so we know its going to pass. But we also know its the most important bill of the year. Its the one that takes care of our military who are fighting for our country. So we have all these amendments, and i encourage any of the members of the democrats or republicans who are not scheduled to come down and taw and talk this afternoon, to call up. We have lots of time open. We want to encourage them to do it. We want to make sure not just the members of this body and the other body across the aisle but also the American People know that were doing something really great in terms of a Defense Authorization bill. So i encourage you to call. With that i will suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Thune mr. President . The presiding officer the majority whip. Mr. Thune mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be lifted. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Thune madam president i am ape sorry, mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that the firstdegree filing deadline for the cloture motions filed yesterday be at 2 30 p. M. Today. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Thune mr. President , i have seven requests for committees to meet during todays session of the senate. They have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. The presiding officer duly noted. Mr. Thune mr. President , later today we will hopefully be taking up legislation to address the humanitarian crisis alopping our southern border along our southern border. 2019 has seen an overwhelming flood of migrants. So far this year roughly 600,000 individuals have been apprehended at our southern border. 600,000. Thats approximately 200,000 more people than were apprehend ed during fiscal year 2018. And we still have more than three months to go. Agencies that deal with the situation on the border are stretched to the breaking point. Shelters are overloaded and providing adequate medical care is becoming more and more difficult. The department of Homeland Security has been forced to pull nearly 1,000 Border Patrol officers from other areas to assist with the surge of migrants. The department of health and human services, which is tasked with caring for unaccompanied children who cross the border, will be out of money to care for these children by early july. That means that caregivers for these children would have to work without pay and private organizations with federal grants to care for these children would go without their funding. The president sent over an emergency funding request to address this humanitarian crisis more than seven weeks ago. And republicans were ready to take it up immediately, but the democratcontrolled house was not interested. Why . Because the president was the one doing the asking. House democrats numberone priority is obstructing the president. Doesnt matter if he is asking for desperately needed funds to address the crisis. When it became clear that the house was not serious about addressing this crisis, the senate decided to move forward. Last week the senate Appropriations Committee approved a measure to provide desperately needed resources for the southern border. Now the house is seeking to take up a supplemental of its own. This should be good news. But unfortunately the house bill is just another exercise in partisanship. The house is attempting to take up a bill that the president wont sign, as house leaders have known from the beginning. Well, i suppose we should be glad the house is at least acknowledging the situation at the border. Passing partisan legislation will go nowhere in the senate or with the president. The senate has become the as soon as has come together, i should say, and will pass a real bipartisan measure that the president is expected to sign. The house should drop the partisan posturing and obstruction and pass the senate bill so that we can get these desperately needed funds to the southern border. Mr. President , ive been down to the floor several times in recent weeks to talk about the challenges facing our agriculture producers. While the economy as a whole continues to thrive, our nations farmers and ranchers are struggling. Thanks to natural disasters, protracted trade disputes and several years ago of low commodity prices, farmers and ranchers have had a tough few years. As the senior senator from south dakota, i am privileged to represent thousands of farmers and ranchers here in the senate and addressing their needs and getting the ag economy going are big priorities of mine. Thats why i spent a lot of time talking to the department of agriculture about ways we can support the agriculture community. And im very pleased that we have one big victory to celebrate this week the department of agricultures adjustment of the haying and grazing date for cover crops planted on prevent plant acres. Farmers and ranchers throughout the midwest are currently facing the fallout from severe winter storms, bomb cyclones and spring flooding. Many farmers will be forced to plant quick cover crops once their fields finally dry out and to protect the soil from erosion. Before last weeks Agriculture Department decision, farmers in northern states like south dakota faced a problem the department of agriculture had set november 1 as the first date on which farmers could harvest cover crops planted on prevent plant acres without having their Crop Insurance indemocrat nut reduced. Farmers who do it before this date face a reduction in their Crop Insurance payments designed to cover their income loss when fields cant be planted due to flooding or other issues. Now november 1 is generally a pretty reasonable date for farmers in southern states. For if a remains in for farmers in southern northern states it is fao late to maximize the use of cover crops for pastures since the killing frost is liable to flatten cover crops before they are grazed. I hear from a lot of farmers about this november 1 date and the dilemma that they were facing about whether to plant cover crops that he this might not be able to harass vet or graze. Society beginning in early may, my office i led a group of Bipartisan Group of members and sent willer to the department making our case to farmers. Then i followed the willer were request for a facetoface meeting with top Agriculture Department officials so that i could explain the challenges that farmers were facing in person. A week and a half ago, usda deputy secretary and usda under secretary came to my office. During our meeting, i emphasized that not only did the date need to be changed but it needed to be changed now so that farmers could make pleads to seed cover crops. The decision about whether or not to plant a cover crop is a timesensitive decision. And farmers were rapidly rundsing out of time to make that call. One week after our meeting, the department of agriculture announced that it would move up the november 1 date for this year by two months to september 1, a significant amount of time that will enable a lot of south Dakota Farmers to plant cover crops without worrying about whether they will be able to successfully harvest or graze them. I met with south Dakota Farmers on friday. They were very happy about the department of agricultures decision. Mr. President , cover crops are a winwin. Theyre good for the environment because they prevent soil erosion which can pollute streams and rivers and worsen flooding, and theyre good for farmers because they protect soil from erosion and can provide an important source of feed. That second benefit is particularly important for farmers right now. Due to last years severe and lengthy winter, feed supplies disappeared leaving no reserves. Corn stocks, a source of grazing and bedding, will be in short supply in year and so will the supply of alfalfa due to winter kill. Cover crops will be crucial to alleviating this feed shortage. I am currently working with the department of agriculture to ensure that farmers have flexibility to use existing supplies of available seed for cover crops. I will be encouraging the Agriculture Department to release conservation reserve acres to further address the feed shortage. Mr. President , im very pleased the department of agriculture heard the concerns that we were expressing and moved this november 1 hay and grazing date up to september 1 for this year. South Dakota Farmers and ranchers can rest assured that i will continue to share the challenges they are facing with the Agriculture Department. I will continue to do everything i can here in washington to support our nations farmers and ranchers and to get our agricultural economy back on its feet. Mr. President , i yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call the presiding officer the senator from rhode island. Mr. Reed i would ask for the vitiation of the quorum. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Reed i would also ask that we pursuant to the order in place recess. The presiding officer without objection, the Senate Stands in recess until 2 15
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