Transcripts For CSPAN2 U.S. Senate U.S. Senate 20240713

Our heavenly father, may your holy name be honored. May your name be held in high regard in this senate. We give thanks to you for you are good, and your steadfast love endures forever. You have watched over this nation through various times of peace, prosperity, turmoil, and war. May we continue to look to you and be a people who seek your face. Draw us near, and may we draw near to you. Blessed is the nation whose god is the lord. Reveal to us our sins and forgive us. Reveal to us also your love, and enable each of us to love you with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Today, i pray that you grant to these senators of the United States the spirit of wisdom, the fear of the lord, and the courage to act by the counsel of the lord in all matters great and small. May they have your perspective on all things. May your kingdom come and your will be done here in our nation as it is in heaven, in and through these senators. Bless their families and their health. Give them your peace. O god, fill this place with your presence, and unite us as one nation under your leadership, inindivisible with liberty and justice for all. I pray in the name of jesus. Amen. The presiding officer please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Grass mr. President . The presiding officer the clerk will read a communication to the senate. The clerk washington d. C. , october 15, 2019. To the senate under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint th hon earable honorable thom tillis, a senator from the state of North Carolina to perform the duties of the chair. Signed chuck grassley, president pro tempore. Grass i ask to speak in morning business for to minutes. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley two subjects today. On october 13, the United States navy celebrated its 244th birthday. The United States navy was founded by the Continental Congress in 1775. To disrupt british shipping and navy power in the revolutionary war. At the time the navy was just a simple ragtag band of converted merchant ships. Today the United States navy is the most powerful naval force anywhere in the world. They provide the military with the ability to protect power to every corner of the globe. Americas navy works tirelessly to protect freedom of navigation, commerce, and travel around the world. On another point, for the last three decades, des moines has hosted something this week every year called the World Food Prize. As the word food prize kicks off this week in des moines, i pay tribute to an outstanding iowan and president of that foundation. Later in his Foreign Service career, ken quinn was ambassador to cambodia. But earlier in that career, ambassador ken quinns life of service took him from a small town iowa to Southeast Asia and back. Decades ago he identified an avenue to peace and prosperity. As a young Foreign Service officer, he saw that roads secure Economic Freedom and Food Security for impoverished people of Southeast Asia. For the last 20 years, ambassador quinn now not in the Foreign Service has cultivated the World Food Prize into the nobel prize for agriculture. Thanks to his stewardship of the seeds freedom seeds first planted by Nobel Peace Prize laureate of 1970 dr. Norman burr burrlog the World Food Prize will yield humanitarian goods for generations to come. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call a senator madam president . The presiding officer the senator from North Carolina. Mr. Tillis madam president , i seek unanimous consent to speak for a period of the presiding officer the senate is in a quorum call. Mr. Tillis im sorry. I ask the quorum call be vitiated. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Tillis thank you, madam president. Madam president , i ask unanimous consent that i be able to speak for the presiding officer without objection. Mr. Tillis a period of five minutes as if in morning business. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Tillis thank you, madam president. Madam president , and maybe for those who were watching the opening prayer, that was Pastor Andrew Brunson from North Carolina. Pastor brunson this month marks a year since he was released from a turkish prison. And he and his wife were swept up and his wife far reen is in the norine is in the gallery as well. They were swept up in what i consider to be an overreaction by president erdogan and the turkish regime in imprisoning thousands of people after the coup attempt in turkey. I found out about this case actually first pastor brunson was from North Carolina and then slowly but steadily, diplomacy wasnt working. And he found himself in a turkish prison at one point really in what we would consider to be despicable circumstances in a prison cell designed for maybe eight or ten people. It had more than 20 in it. None of them speaking the english language. Pastor brunson was a missionary in turkey for almost 20 years. He had a church in izmir where all they tried to do for those who wanted to hear the word of god is to speak it. For that he was ultimately incarcerated and accused of being a part of the turkish coup attempt. Then it was about a year later that they issued an indictment for him. A 62page indictment that read like a horrible, fictional novel. Some of the most absurd allegations you could possibly imagine, certainly things that wouldnt keep you in jail overnight in the United States that were potentially going to have pastor brunson convicted and spend 35 years in a turkish prison. We got word back that after the indictment was issued against pastor brunson, that he was afraid that the American People were going to believe it and that we would simply move on and hed be left there at the fate of the turkish judiciary. When i heard that, the first thing i told my staff is ive got to go to turkey. I want to go to the prison that pastor brunson was in. Ive got the opportunity to meet his wife norine the day before and i went to i went there and i told pastor brunson across the table about as wide as this desk is that were not going to forget you and were not going to stop until we get you released from prison. I then had a series of efforts here that i have to really compliment all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, more than 72 senators signed on to a letter encouraging pastor brunsons release. More than a Hundred House members signed on to a similar letter. We did everything that we could diplomatically to get pastor brunson released. I decided i wanted to see how the court case was going so i went back to turkey a few months after i first met pastor brunson in the prison and i sat through 12 hours of socalled turkish justice. I saw this man stand before a dais of three judges and a prosecutor where basically youre assumed guilty until you prove innocence. His defense attorney was as far away from him as that wall. Thats turkish justice. Thats not anything we can imagine in this country but thats what this man was subjected to. But over the course of several months working with the president , working with secretary pompeo, Vice President and a number of other people, we were able to get president erdogan to recognize this was a political exercise. It was not an exercise in justice and he needed to be released. To a year ago this month he was so a year ago this month he was released and now hes opening the senate in prayer. I want to thank pastor brunson for his perseverance. He went through things that most of us could not imagine. And norine who is his strongs advocate. I see the parliamentarian looking at me as if im not supposed to recognize the fact that Norine Brunson is in the gallery. So i will not recognize that fact because that would be a violation of the rules. But they are a sight for sore eyes and im so glad to have them back in this country. I know theyre going to continue their missionary work wherever they k. I thank them for their leadership and deep faith and thank you for opening the senate today. Madam president , i yield the floor and i note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Mcconnell madam president . The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell congress is returning to washington for a work period that will be filled with important todo items, but we already know what will top the agenda over in the house of representatives. House democrats are finally indulging in their impeachment obsession. Full steam ahead. Many of us remember the Washington Post headline that was literally published on Inauguration Day back in 23017. Heres what it said. The campaign to impeach President Trump has begun, and sure enough House Democrats have been at it ever since. One prominent House Democrat called this presidency illegitimate before it had even begun. One of Speaker Pelosis Committee Chairs whom she has tasked with leading this process promised years ago that shed find a way to impeach the president. So, madam president , now that Speaker Pelosi has finally crumbled and allowed her leftwing impeachment caucus to dictate the houses actions, i dont think many of us were expecting to witness a clinic in terms of fairness or due process. But even by their own partisan standards, House Democrats have already found new ways to lower the bar. This is about the most consequential process the house of representatives could possibly engage in, overruling American Voters and nullifying an election. Surely any such process must be conducted with the utmost fairness and transparency. It must be held to the most exacting of standards. And yet, House Democrats have wasted no time flowing fairness and precedent throwing fairness and precedent to the wind. Already theyve denied their republican counterparts certain minority rights, like equal subpoena power that republicans provided democrats during the clinton impeachment. Already theyve made clear that President Trumps counsel will not be allowed to participate in hearings, present evidence, and crossexamine witnesses all important rights that republicans provided to president clinton. Already one house chairman has been caught publicly mischaracterizing his committees handling of the whistleblower inquiry on which this whole investigation hinges. So, madam president , for all the public hyperventilating over institutional no remains that weve heard from norms that weve heard from House Democrats, it appears that they have no intention of letting norms, precedents, or basic due process stand in the way as they seek to cancel out a presidency. In the meantime, here in the senate well keep our focus squarely on the substantive work that we need to complete for the American People. In the coming days, well confirm another slate of President Trumps wellqualified nominees. For starters, later this afternoon well advance the nomination of barbara barrett, the president s choice to be secretary of the air force. And speaking of our armed forces, congress can waste no more time inest going our appropriations in getting our appropriations process back on track and delivering the funding that our Service Members need. Just two months ago the president and the speaker of the house produced an agreement to guide the appropriations process. The white house and congressional leaders set topline funding targets for defense and nondefense and agreed to forego poison pills. But last month, unfortunately, our democratic colleagues went back on the deal. Routine funding negotiations were again threatened to poison pill threats and urgent resources for the operations of the pentagon were withheld for the sake of politics. Look, we need to put these political games aside. Democrats need to stop filibustering a pay raise for our troops and the funding our commanders need. We need to gettered funding process back on track for the entire federal government. And House Democrats need to stop slowwalking the usmca, the landmark trade agreement stands to create 176,000 new american jobs. Mexico is ready, canada is ready. And a majority here in the senate is ready. The entire continent is just waiting on Speaker Pelosi to stop blocking this win for the United States and stop blocking these new jobs. I dont care how much my democratic colleagues in the house may dislike the president , they shouldnt throw 176,000 new american jobs on the scrap heap. On all these fronts, i hope sincerely that our democratic colleagues will be able to separate this vital business from our animus toward the administration and join republicans in moving forward with the work of the American People. Now, one final matter i know i speak for many of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle in expressing my grave concern at the events that have unfolded in syria in recent days. Turkey is our nato ally. Yes, it hosts millions of Syrian Refugees and has a legitimate security concern about the situation in syria. But turkeys escalation of hostilities with the Syrian Kurdish partners who helped the United States fight terrorism is completely and totally unacceptable. This violence needs to end. Syrian Kurdish Forces have stood proudly alongside u. S. Forces in the fight against isis. Over years of joint effort, their shared sacrifices have put isis on its heels and rendered its fiscal fate essentially cali fate caliph ate nonexistent. Creating a power vacuum begging for the meddling influence of russia, leaving northeastern syria wide open for iran to extend its reach unimpeded all the way from tehran to the doorstep of our friends in israel. And destroying the leverage we currently have to compel bashar assad to stop his slaughter of the Syrian People and negotiate an end to this terrible conflict and humanitarian catastrophe. So, madam president , i want to make something clear. The United States has taken the fight to syria and afghanistan because that is where our enemies are. Thats why were there. Fighting terrorists, exercising leadership in troubled regions, and advancing u. S. Interests around the world does not make us an evil empire or the worlds policeman. It makes us a prudent and responsible world power that stands up for our own security and the freedom of others. Alongside the 80 Coalition Partners that u. S. Forces have led in a counterisis coalition, that is what we must continue to do. We must continue to provide support to the local forces that carry the lions share of the responsibility to defend their homeland. And this effort must continue to include our allies and partners. Even the imperfect ones who sometimes behave rashly and dangerously, as both saudi arabia and turkey have recently. When it looked like President Trump would withdraw from syria at the beginning of the year, 70 70 senators joined in warning of the risk of precipitously withdrawing from syria or afghanistan. The vetoproof majority vote for my amendment s. 1 demonstrated strong and bipartisan appreciation for our enduring security interests in that region. The senate spoke clearly and said that we must ensure we have set the conditions for an enduring defeat of the terrorists before any withdrawal. Regrettably, many of the Democratic Senators running for president , along with my friend, the democratic leader, parted with this bipartisan consensus and voted against this amendment. So i hope those aspiring commanders in chief are asked to explain how they reconcile their criticism of the Administration Today with their votes just a few months ago. Maybe theyll even be asked on the debate stage this very evening. Im heartened to hear that Vice President pence will soon lead a delegation to begin immediate talks with turkey to end this violence. I expect turkish allies listened carefully, welcome our Vice President and take steps to repair our important relationship. It would be a tragedy for both of our nations if turkeys escalation in syria imperils our common fight against isis and emboldens adversaries like iran and russia. This would be bad for u. S. Interests but it would be terrible for turkey. And i look forward to discussing with members on both sides and with the administration how the u. S. Can stand with our partners and provided strong principled and consistent global leadership. Madam president , i understand there is a bill at the desk due a second reading. The presiding officer the clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. The clerk s. 2593, a bill to amend title 31 United States code to provide for ought automatic continuing resolutions. Mr. Mcconnell in order to place the bill on the calendar under rule 14 i will object to further proceedings. The presiding officer objection having been heard, the bill will be placed on the calendar. Mr. Mcconnell i suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. 123450 quorum call quorum call the presiding officer the democratic leader. Mr. Schumer thank you, madam president. Are we in a quorum . The presiding officer yes, we are. Mr. Schumer i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer thank you. Now, madam president , over the past month evidence has emerged that the president of the United States pressured a foreign leader to investigate one of his leading political rivals. A whistleblower inside the Intelligence Community first raised alarms that the president applied pressure on ukrainian president zelensky to pursue an investigation that would benefit President Trump politically. The president himself then released a memorandum of his conversation with president zelensky which demonstrably validated the whistleblowers concerns. In the weeks that followed, the house has received testimony from a number of state Department Officials who have filled in additional pieces to this very troubling puzzle. Rudy giulianis efforts to dig up dirt on the president s political rivals were well known within the state department and the National Security council. Is ambassadors to the e. U. , Gordon Sondland was heavily involved with mr. Giuliani. And we continue to receive Additional Information about mr. His scheduled testimony in the coming days will undoubtedly be relevant and important. Amidst all this, the white house is engaged in stonewalling and outright defiance of congressional prerogatives. The state department instructed its officials not to comply with congressional subpoenas. The white house has refused to cooperate with the house impeachment inquiry. And the president has publicly and repeatedly sought to bully and intimidate the whistleblower. As additional facts were unearthed as additional facts are unearthed, we have a responsibility to consider them with the best interest of our country in mind. The whistleblower was doing a courageous and patriotic act and must be protected. Must be protected. The constitution made congress a coequal branch of government. That role must be respected. The matter at the heart of the inquiry concerns the very integrity of our democratic elections, and it must be investigated thoroughly, completely, and in a nonpartisan manner. Our Founding Fathers feared foreign interference in our elections and considered it one of the greatest threats facing our fledgling republic. Once again the wisdom of the Founding Fathers shines through. If a foreign country can meddle in or effect the outcome of our elections, americans will quickly lose faith in our democracy if russia controls our elections or china or iran. What the heck do we vote for . So the alleged offense by the president is clearly serious enough to warrant an investigation by congress, and that is exactly what the house of representatives is doing in its impeachment inquiry, and it must continue unimpeded. But we can do two things and must do them. We can protect the constitution and take action to help average working families at the same time. We here in the senate can do both. Protect the constitution and help average working families. Its not either or. Its not one or the other. From the very beginning democrats have been committed to doing the peoples business, but while the democratic majority in the house of representatives has passed hundreds of bills dealing with health care, infrastructure, gun violence, Climate Change and much more, leader mcconnell has turned our chamber into a legislative graveyard. Not one of these bills has received a vote in the senate. No vote to save protections for people with preexisting conditions, although the American People are pleading with us to do it. No vote on bipartisan background checks although more people die from gun violence committed by people who shouldnt have guns. No vote on bipartisan Election Security as Russia Threatens us. No vote on the violence against women act when abuse of women continues. President trump over the course of his presidency has also failed to offer proposals to address any of these pressing issues. In many cases his policies, his executive actions have made things worse. So as Congress Comes back into session, Senate Democrats will force our republican colleagues to vote during this work period on three measures that are important to millions of americans. These votes will occur under the procedures of the Congressional Review Act. The Congressional Review Act, i know the public is not familiar with the arcane parts of these things, is one of the rare instances where the minority can force a vote. We want to debate these other issues. We want to debate gun violence. We want to Debate Health care. We want to debate infrastructure. We want to debate preexisting conditions. Were not saying our republican friends are going to think exactly as we do, but lets have a debate and vote. Leader mcconnell, much to the discredit of this chamber as well as his own, has said no. But here the Congressional Review Act at least allows us to review some of the overreaching actions of the executive branch and get a vote on them. Each of these c. R. A. Review act votes will present our republican colleagues with a choice whether to protect americans with preexisting conditions or not to protect them, whether to protect middleclass americans from a tax hike or not to protect them them, whether to fight Climate Change or to do nothing. Well also demand that our republican colleagues take up legislation to protect hardearned pensions for millions of American Workers. Several of my colleagues will come to the floor this evening to do just that. Senators manchin and brown, stabenow, peters, smith, baldwin and tester have been real leaders on these pension issues. Workers who for decades put money into their pension and thought when they retired at least theyd have some modicum to leave decently may lose all that unless we act. We hope our republican colleagues will listen to the debate and help us move to deal with the millions of workers struggling to preserve their pensions. As we continue to fulfill our solemn constitutional duty to hold the president accountable, democrats will not, not stop putting pressure on leader mcconnell and our friends in the majority to get the senate back to work for the American People. Democrats will use every tool we have there are not that manyr mcconnell from making the senate a legislative graveyard when the American People need help and action in so many ways. Now on turkey and syria, a major issue that deserves the senates attention this week and that shows we can again fulfill our constitutional obligations as well as help the American People, one thing were going to be talking about this week is President Trumps precipitous and dangerous decision to withdraw from Northern Syria. A few weeks ago the president abruptly announced that the United States which has long maintained a presence in Northern Syria to root out isis terrorists would stand aside as turkey launched a military incursion into the region. For years a Global Coalition of the u. S. And our partners and allies, particularly the stout kurds in syria, have worked tirelessly and sacrificed much to defeat isis. Now only in a matter of days the president s quick unstudied and illadvised syrian decision has jeopardized all of that progress. For years american soldiers have fought hard. Some have given their lives to vanquish isis. For years our great military and diplomatic leaders have strategize withed about how to get rid of isis, and in one fell, quick, unthoughtout sw swoop the president has undone that. Its despicable. Its dangerous. And the consequences have proven dire. Bashar alassad, the syrian dictator and war criminal has strengthened his position greatly, cutting a deal with the kurds and moving his forces into the gap left by our withdrawal. Who else has benefited from President Trumps illthoughtout, precipitous and wrongheaded action . Iran, his greatest enemy; one of our great enemies in many ways. As you know, im no friend of the iranian government. Irans benefited. Who also has benefited . President putin. Russian troops have swept into the region, according to reports. Russia envies the oil in syria that it might control. When the president does some kind of action that makes everyone scratch their heads and benefits putin, one doesnt know if hes doing it to actually help putin or if he just doesnt get it. I tend to think its often the former, unfortunately. So now our kurdish partners are paying the ultimate costs of their betrayal and tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced. Maybe most concerning of all, reports say that more than 10,000 isis fighters currently held and guarded by the kurds could walk out of their cells. By pulling out of Northern Syria, President Trump has encouraged nothing short of an isis jail break. And i say to my fellow americans, some may say we dont want any troops anywhere, bring them all home. We dont care. I care. Most people care. But some might say, i dont care what happens to the kurds. The one thing everyone should care about, whatever their views on geopolitics in the middle east and in syria, is our own security. We have spent a decade of treasure and often lives rooting out isis. Why . Because isis presents a danger to our homeland. We in new york know more than anybody how a small group from far away could do huge damage and kill thousands of innocent americans here. And now President Trump, through this thoughtless action, is allowing isis to gain new strength. What is going on here in . This is here . This is a threat to our own National Security here in our homeland and we must do everything to stop testify. To stop it. Who is the most angry at the president , from what im told . Our own military. Our own military. Who fought shoulder to shoulder alongside the kurds, watching kurds risk their lives and lose their lives to help protect americans, and they werent even consulted. The military wasnt even consulted. You heard what general mattis said. He may be the most respected military leader we have, even though hes in retirement. He said this makes it much more likely that isis gains strength and can hurt us. What the heck is going on here . This transcends any ideological differences we have whether we agree with President Trump or disagree, whether we think hes a good president or awful president. This goes beyond that. What is going on . And years that our republicans spent criticizing our former president , president obama, from simply failing to recite the phrase radical islamic terror, then our republican friends should be apoplectic at what the president has done. The president , through his actions, whether its inadvertent or not, has made radical islamic terror more real and more dangerous. In one fell swoop, President Trump has diseertd our partners, em deserted our partners, provided lifeline to isis fighters who have been taken off the battlefield and put american troops and america in harms way. Truly this is one of the most thoughtless and dangerous policy changes that President Trump could have made. That it was made seemingly on a whim, without consulting our military commanders, without notifying congress, and most a egregiously thinking its consequences through makes it more alarming. It is increasingly clear that the president s erratic decisionmaking has endangered our security and the security of our partners and allies around the world. Strong sanctions will not be sufficient in undoing that damage, nor will they stop the consequences stemming from the isis jail break. So the first step as Congress Returns is for democrats and republicans to join us in passing a resolution making clear that both parties demand the president s decision be reversed. And this is bipartisan, but our republican colleagues have special place here because they will have far more success in getting the president to reverse course and change his views. So theres a solemn obligation on every one of the 53 republican members here. They know its dangerous. Are they going to still be afraid to criticize President Trump . They have not so far, but this resolution is the strongest action we can take. Ultimately, of course, the only person able to immediately stop this tragedy from unfold something the president himself. The president made the decision alone. He alone is responsible for its consequences. President trump hopefully with congress, republicans and democrats in the house and senate, will use this moment must use this moment to step up, admit his grave mistake and correct course. I yield the floor. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is closed. Under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. The clerk nomination, department of defense, Barbara Mcconnell barrett, of arizona, to be secretary of the air force. The presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley i ask to speak as if in morning business. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley weve heard a lot about whistleblowers in the past several weeks. Theres been an outpouring of concern for whistleblowers ever since the word came out there was a whistleblower complaint that implicates the current administration. A lot of those on the other side of the aisle expressing support for whistleblowers, to the best of my recollection, havent expressed the same level of concern for whistleblowers in the last administration. Well, welcome to the table. I hope you stay at the table quite a while. Ive said for years that its critical that we protect whistleblower process to incentivize the disclosure of true waste, fraud, and abuse of the taxpayers money. Those processes must be carefully followed by all whistleblowers, and that process must be respected by our governments institutions. Those legal processes are especially important for Government Employees who work in the intelligence field. Whistleblowers who act in good faith, who comply with the disclosure process set out by law, and who report their concerns through proper channels deserve to be heard. And they deserve to be protected. Ive also said that first, second, and thirdhand information doesnt make or break a whistleblower. If they follow the procedure, thats really most important. However, here say is a hearsay is a factor to consider and take into account when analyzing the strength of underlying allegations. Clearly firsthand knowledge is much more powerful than second and thirdhand knowledge. Thats just common sense. Its common sense no matter what the allegations are or who is the or who the subject is, and there needs to be be a consistent approach in the way that congress conducts oversight. On april 8 of this year, i spoke on this senate floor about the need for consistent oversight. I pointed out clear double standards between what the democrats are doing to the Trump Administration and the blind eye that theyve used on any fact pattern that might damage their political narrative. So let me remind the democrats that i threatened a subpoena threatened to subpoena the president s son and my staff later deposed that son. In fact, i investigated alleged russian inclusion with the Trump Campaign and the june 2016 trump tower meeting that many of them them many of them Trump Campaign officials. By the way, i also welcomed interviews. Unfortunately, and the democrats did participate. Unfortunately the same equal access and transparency doesnt exist in the house of representatives these days as they do oversight of whats going on with the famous telephone call to the ukrainian president. I have routinely challenged the administrations policies and engaged in robust oversight to hold this administration accountable. My oversight and investigation units has sent out almost 300 letters to executive branch since President Trump took his oath of office. So i think i can declare myself an equal opportunity overseer because i seek facts irrespective of party and no matter where they lead. I dont think many of the democrats today can say the same thing. These folks today, who are suddenly so concerned about congressional oversight, are the same ones who had no interest whatsoever in defending the institutions of the legislative branch when the Obama Administration was in office. And, quite frankly, i find it all too convenient that the democrats today have used allegations of wrongdoing against the president that actually apply much more clearly to their own political leaders. Let us begin down this road with the now debunk russia collusion investigation. First, the Clinton Campaign hired g. P. S. To do Opposition Research against candidate trump. Second, the Democratic National committee did the very same thing. Third, fusion g. P. S. Hired christopher steele, a former British Intelligence officer to compile the famous steele dossier. And even james comey, former f. B. I. Director, a man who leaked information called the steele dossier called it unverified. That same steele doesa factored in the investigation against trump. And g. P. S. Used russian government sources for information for that steele dossier. Now, thats a fact, not merely an allegation that the Clinton Campaign and the Democratic Party used foreign intel officer and information from the russian government to undermine the Trump Campaign and later the Trump Administration. And thats not trump. No, trump didnt do any of that. It was the democrats. The democrats action literally fit their own definition of collusion. Maybe thats why the democrats have failed to seek documents and information relating to how and why the now debunked f. B. I. Investigation into russian collusion started because the democrats would be front and center in that investigation. Special counsel muellers investigation didnt even look at the democrats role in collusion either. After two years, more than 2,800 s pes, approximately 500 search warrants and witness interviews and 30 million in taxpayers money, that report ignored what the Clinton Campaign and democrats did. I can see then why President Trump would be so frustrated at being incorrectly painted as a russian agent. So whats next . Now that the conclusion narrative has collusion narrative has been destroyed, the democrats have turned to ukraine. First the news reports said President Trump offered a quid proquo. Then trump released not only the call transcript with the ukrainian president but the Intelligence Community complaint. Those were extraordinary acts of transparency and transparency becomes accountability. The call and complaint showed no pro quit showed no quid pro quo. Trump was concerned whether ukraine had a role in the debunked russian collusion narrative. This is a reasonable concern and its a concern that i share. Accordingly, since i shared that concern on july 20, 2017, i wrote to the Justice Department about report, of reports of brazen efforts by the Democratic National committee and Hillary Clintons campaign to use government of ukraine for the express purpose of finding negative information on thencandidate trump in order to undermine the Trump Campaign. Ukrainian officials reportedly, quote, helped clinton allies research damaging information on trump and his advisors. End of quote. Moreover, nelly ore, the wife of Justice Department official bruce ore stated during a congressional interview that fusion g. P. S. Used a ukrainian politician as a source for derogatory material against thencandidate trump. Its no wonder then that President Trump is concerned about ukraines involvement in the debunked russian collusion narrative. The phone call also showed that he was concerned about thenVice President biden firing a prosecutor that was investigating one of the largest natural gas firms in the world. That firm happened to employ bidens son. Yet years later biden bragged about getting the prosecutor fired and this is a quote that youve seen on television a lot. Quote, were not going to give you the billion dollars. They said, you have no authority. Youre not the president. The president said and i said call him. I said im telling you, youre not getting the bill dollars the billion dollars. I said youre not getting the billion dollars. Im going to be leaving here soon i said that wrong. Im going to be leaving here in i think it was about six hours. I looked at them and said im leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, youre not getting the money. Well, then he used a cuss word. He got fired. And they put in place someone who was solid at the time. End of quote. The democrats have argued that trump has tried to get the government of ukraine to look into this matter to benefit his political campaign. Yet it doesnt sound like theres much concern for many on the other side of the aisle about what biden claimed to have done. Theres also another call transcript that id like to share. This one says the following, quote, we put some more ideas down to resolve the airport dispute that we have with british airways, u. S. Air and american airlines. Would you take another look at that and see if we can get it done. Further quoting, its sort of a big deal here in a political season. It would be big over here to get this open sore resolved if you could have somebody take a look at it. End of quote. Well, that was president bill clinton asking for a political favor during the 200 president ial election between al gore and george bush. I dont hear any objection whatsoever from the democrats about the substance of that call. Now, the democrats have also accused the president of obstructing congress. Here, too, i think they have selective memory. The democrats and the obama Justice Department didnt bat an eye when Clinton Associates deleted records subject to congressional subpoena and orders. In march of 2015 secretary clintons attorneys had a Conference Call with paul combata, the man who helped manage clintons nongovernment server. After that call, he deleted clintons emails with a Software Program designed to prevent forensic recovery. Combata admitted that he lied to the f. B. I. In his initial interview and you know what . Got immunity from the f. B. I. In exchange for agreeing to tell the truth. So the Obama Administration gave immunity then to a person that deleted clintons emails after a call with her attorneys. To this very day the f. B. I. Has yet to explain why they took that course of action. During the course of the f. B. I. s investigation it recovered thousands of workrelated emails that were not turned over to the state department by secretary clinton. The f. B. I. Also recovered workrelated emails that senator clinton and her associates apparently deleted. All of this is very clear evidence of alienation of federal records which happens to be a federal crime. What also troubles me about one aspect of the clinton investigation is that the f. B. I. Agreed to limit the scope of her review to her time as secretary of state. That eliminated potentially highly relevant emails before and after her tenure that could have shed light on why she operated a nongovernment server. It also eliminated emails around the time of that Conference Call that could have shown what exactly was intended by deleting those emails. That limitation of scope defies reason. And lastly, the f. B. I. Agreed to destroy records and laptops of clintons associates after reviewing them. Thats an astonishing agreement in light of the fact that these records could have been relevant to an ongoing congressional inquiry that the f. B. I. Knew about. So where were the democrats when all of that happened . Where was their outrage at the potential obstruction of justice and obstruction of congressional oversight . Seems to me that if the democrats want to be consistent, theyll have to address what was done and what was totally ignored in the clinton investigation. Russia, clinton, ukraine, the democrats have ignored facts relating to these investigations that would destroy their political narrative. But facts matter and the facts are not going to go away. Its a shame that weve gone down this road in such a blatant attempt to remove a duly elected president from power simply because they cant get over the 2016 election. Instead of coming together to work for the American People in the past trade deals and legislation that would lower drug costs for seniors, the democrats choose to gin up false political controversies while ignoring the false involvements of their own faults and involvements of their own political leaders. Get over yourselves. All of us will be footnotes to footnotes in history. Its the policies that we leave behind that will matter for future generations, not smear campaigns. I yield. Mr. Brown madam president . The presiding officer the senator from ohio. Mr. Brown thank you, madam president. I thank senator manchin and senator stabenow for joining us today. Also senator baldwin and senator casey will come later to shine a light on the more than one million, one million workers and retirees across this country who are on the verge of facing massive cuts to the pension theyve earned. I want to thank the workers and retirees in washington this week. You will see teamsters and sheet Metal Workers and fine workers and mine workers and carpenters and iron workers and others and bakery and confection workers walking the halls of congress. Retirees mostly who have earned this retirement but because of inaction in this body simply havent had that retirement promise fulfilled. They are demanding that congress honor the dignity of their work and honor the promise of those pensions. This crisis in my state affects the mass of Central States pension plan. United mine Workers Pension plan, ie won work iron workers local 17 plan, the bakers and confectionary pension plan and others. It touches every state in this country. Were talking about our entire multiemployer Pension System. If it collapses it wont be just the retirees who feel the pain. Current workers will be stuck paying into pensions theyll never receive. Small businesses will be left drowning in pension ie lil by they cannot liability they cannot afford. It will have ripple effects across our economy. Lets be clear f. We do nothing, madam president , this could trigger a recession perhaps on par with the housing crisis. We know what wall street greed did on the housing crisis and we know what could happen here if senator mcconnell doesnt move on this. We know who gets hurt the most every single time. Small businesses that have been in the family for generations could face bankruptcy. Workers lose jobs as businesses are forced to close up shop, these businesses and their employees did everything right. They contributed, these employ employees to these pensions. In many cases over decades. People in this town too often dont understand the whole point of collective bargaining, dont understand the collective bargaining process. People give up dollars today for the promise of a secure retirement with Good Health Care and a pension. They give up dollars today with the promise of having a pension and health care. These workers lives and livelihoods will be devastated if congress doesnt do its job. When i think of the responsibility we have, i think about the words of worker larry ward at a hearing in columbus at the state house last year. He said i dont understand how it is congress would even consider asking us to take a cut in my pension or see it go away entirely when it had no problem sending billions to the wall street crooks who caused this problem in the first place. Dont forget these are my words now what happened with wall street had an impact on these pensions. He goes on, they use that to pay themselves bonuses. We use our pensions to pay for medicine and food and heat. Theres something wrong with this picture. Mr. Ward is right. Its bad enoughle wall street squander workers money. Its worse that the government is supposed to look out for these folks ignores the promise made to these workers. As the president who stood by, essentially done nothing, as the president would say its disgraceful. Its why these workers fight back. Weve kept this on the agenda because of them, because they refuse to give up. Workers rallied, workers called, workers wrote letters. Weve seen those umwa mine worker tshirts around the capitol. These workers have rallied in the name of butch lewis, a great sin natian who helped lead the fight and passed away far too soon fighting for his fellow workers. His wife rita has continued this fight. Shes become a leader and inspiration to me and so many of us. She told me retirees and workers struggling with this crisis feel like theyre invisible. Well, theyre not invisible to senator manchin. Theyre not invisible to senator stabenow. Theyre not invisible to me. I know they arent invisible to my colleague senator portman who has put in months of work and good faith on this issue on the committee and continuing this year. I know hes committed and im committed and my colleagues on the floor today, again senator manchin and senator stabenow and senators casey and baldwin will be joining us, were committed to these mine ears, to these teamsters, to these workers, retirees and small businesses. Were not delivering up until we deliver on n. Were continuing to work for a bipartisan solution. It comes back, madam president , to the dignity of work. When work has biggity, we honor the Retirement Security people earn. We respect collective bargaining. We know collective bargaining created a middle class. I urge my colleagues in this body, everybody here has a good pension and Good Health Care paid for by taxpayers. I urge my colleagues in this body to think about those retired workers and the stress theyre facing. Join us. Lets pass a solution that honors their work and keeps our promise. Madam president , if you love this country, you fight for the people who make it work. I yield to senator manchin. Mr. Manchin madam president. The presiding officer the senator from West Virginia. Mr. Manchin i want to thank my colleague from ohio, senator brown, senator stabenow, senator casey, all those who feel strongly as we do and have constituents in our state who helped build this country to what it is today and deserve the respect we give them and also the hard fight that we will make sure we do for them. Were here to bring attention to the issue of the american Workers Pension. I want to thank you for allowing me to speak today in the everpresent issue that our retired workers face in the issue of their pensions. I come to the floor today to speak on behalf of some of americas hardest workers. It has been 285 days, 285 days since i introduced the american miners act which would protect miners pension from becoming collateral during coal mine bankruptcies. This is something that should have been done. Its been on leader mcconnells desk for quite some time. We could have taken care of this a few years ago. We got the health care done, but they split it apart and we werent able to get the pensions. The miners rely on their hardearned pensions and retirement that should be secured even if the Coal Companies file bankruptcy. We must act, and this cannot happen without bipartisan support. The coal miners, auto workers, teamsters, steelworkers, and every other worker that invest in their pension fund deserve to have stability and security in their retirement. The multiemployer Pension System in the United States is in crisis. Approximately 130 multiemployer Pension Plans, including the umwa, america 1974 pension plan or pension fund are expected to become insolvent in the next few years. The Miner Pension Fund alone, a critical plan which covers 82,000 retired miners. 25,000 of those in West Virginia and 20,000 full vested current workers. It is projected to become insolvent by 2022. Remember that date, 2022. But there is a catch to that. We have one Major Coal Company, one major coal producer in the United States that is on the fringe of bankruptcy as i speak to you today. If they fall into bankruptcy, this whole pension plan for the miners becomes in turmoil. By september, 2020, within a year from now, the coal miners could see drastic cuts to their benefits if we dont act. If the umwa pension fund becomes insolvent, its going to be a snowball effect, an absolute snowball for the central pensions. If that happens, the that has been said that the recession of 2007 and 2008 will be a blip on the radar screen compared to what this will do to our economy nationwide. And the companies are going to walk away scotfree. It is unacceptable to some of our hardest workers to have to beg for the money that they put into the pension fund over years and years of hard work. This is not only coal miners pension. Its bringing attention to all the Pension Plans in america. Everyone deserves to have stability in their retirement, especially those who have paid in to Pension Plans for decades. This fight is for each and every one of them. To be clear, to be very clear, a pension is not a given. You just dont go to work and say were going to give you a pension. Thats going to be figured into your pay. It will be deducted from your pay for you as the employee to pay a part and the employer is supposed to match. Someone is taking money from someones paycheck and they are putting it hopefully into a safe place or a safe investment. Well, how can that be that when they go bankrupt, they lose everything . Who gets it . Who walks away with their money . Thats what were talking about. Its a funding set aside from the employees paycheck through their career and it is matched by their employer. Workers invest their pensions, they take cut in their pay over time to make sure they have a secure retirement. Rather than taking home money for their families, they say this will be fine, 20 years from now, 30 years from now, i will have something that i can rely on that will be basically stability for my family. So its truly their money were talking about. The law of the land, the law of this great country allows companies, allows companies to not pay their former employees hardearned pensions when they are bankrupt. They dont say if you are going to declare bankruptcy, the first thing you have to do is fay the employees. Make pay the employees. Make sure they get their money. Thats all. Then we can work out the rest. No, we dont do it that way. Their c. E. O. s receive bonuses. At the bankruptcy hearings, they will get a bonus. All of the Financial Institutions get taken care of first. There is nothing left for the employee. Basically its their money, its gone. Somebody else got it. This doesnt make any sense at all and its not who we are as a great country. How the laws have evolved into that makes no sense whatsoever unless there was just pure, unadulterated american greed that allowed this to happen. And we have got to reverse it. Its the law of the land. Guess what . Were the lawmakers of the land. Were the ones that can change this. Its permitted because the courts, the courts and our bankruptcy laws continue to allow the companies to break their promises to their workers, shed their obligations to pay the hardearned pension benefits, and they are able to reemerge from bankruptcy in good financial shape. Theyre able to shirk all of their responsibilities, take all of somebody elses money, and come out of this and say okay, were ready to do business again. Im sorry, the same old same old is not going to happen. Then the federal government is left with the burden of providing a pension of the pensions to these employees. This comes because we have federal guarantees. Thats about ready to go bankrupt, too. Were going to break it because of people not taking care of the people that did the work. So this comes straight out of the pockets of Everyday Americans through their taxes instead of from the companies who walk away without managing their obligations to their employees and the families. Thats why my colleagues and i have come together today to bring to light these issues that affects 10. 6 million americans. In West Virginia, every time a mine closes, our miners get the rug pulled out from under them. Its been happening for far too long. Many lose their jobs and lively hoods. Many others lose their health care and pensions. By the end of this year alone, 1,200 coal miners, widows and families, members could also lose their health care coverage. For those of you who think this is just another Big Government program, let me share a little history with you. In 1946, due to the horrendous working conditions our miners faced every day, there was a nationwide strike. I mean, right out of world war ii. It brought our nations economy to its knees. President truman knew this could not continue. He dispatched the secretary of the interior, julius crew, to meet with the president of the United Mine Workers of america, john l. Lewis. They ended that strike by signing the crewlewis agreement which created a Retirement Fund and Health Care Benefits for our nations coal miners and their families that had the full backing of the United States government. What were saying, it was so important that we continue to work and produced the energy this country needed. And it wasnt the government giving them anything. They were just saying every ton of coal that was sold, a portion of that revenue from that coal that was sold would have to go towards the miners pension and the miners retirement. Over 70 years ago, president harry truman recognized the importance of coal that our miners produced for this country and promised that the government would guarantee the coal miners benefit in return for their services. He was guaranteeing that money would be there for them. In return, our coal miners propelled the american economy, ushered in decades of economic growth, started an energy boom that made the u. S. A superpower and helped our nation to victory in two world wars. This agreement was a sacred promise between worker and our country, and it captured the very best of america. Unfortunately, over 70 years later, were still fighting to make good on that promise. After securing Health Care Benefits for retired coal miners, we proved that congress can Work Together and put partisan politics aside. Its a philosophy that i have followed throughout my life in public service, in the West Virginia state legislature, as the former governor of the state of West Virginia, and now as a u. S. Senator representing the state of West Virginia. I know that my fellow colleagues here today are fighting for a solution with me. Im asking all of our colleagues here in the senate and in the house to join us in this fight. To be successful, we must address this in a bipartisan way. Its not who we are to be divided as we have been. Its not who we are as a country to have this toxic atmosphere that we come to. I tell people every day i go to work in a hostile Work Environment every day. People dont want to Work Together, are not expected to Work Together anymore. Its the norm to fight. Not where i come from. We never got anything accomplished fighting in West Virginia. It was always when we Work Together. I hope that together we can work out a solution to this terrible issue facing our nation and our workers. So that they can retire and live peacefully without a constant worry of losing their hardearned pension. Let me tell you what the average pension is paid to a miner when they retire. And most of this goes to the widows because the miners have passed away. Around 600 a month. 600 a month. And they work 20 or 30 years in the mine. So this is not a windfall for anybody. Its a substance. Its a substance that just keeps them, absolutely keeps them alive. So they can retire and live peacefully. Thats all theyre asking for. Im proud to stand here today with my fellow colleagues, and we are going to fight to honor our commitment to our citizens of our respective states and this great country. With that, im glad to have my my dear friend, my colleague from michigan, senator stabenow. Ms. Stabenow mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from michigan. Ms. Stabenow thank you, mr. President. First i want to thank my colleague. Looking around here, i think he stepped to the back. No one has been a better champion for our miners and their families than senator joe manchin. He brings to us every single day the needs of our coal miners, the people who have literally fueled a generation and beyond our economy, and i want to thank senator manchin for your leadership and also thank senator brown for his leadership as well. The two of them together are leading our efforts. Im proud to be joining with them to focus on an issue that is hurting working men and women across michigan and across the country and one that quite frankly, mr. President , i cant believe that in the United States senate were having to actually talk about why people should get the pension that they have paid into their whole lives. The fact that we even have to have this as an issue, the fact that we are having to fight to get attention of the majority leader and the majority in the senate to actually bring up legislation to help people get the pension they have paid into their whole life, their whole working life. This ought to be be a given. We used to think it was. And its wrong that its not today. For generations, millions of working people build better lives for themselves and their families with jobs that provided more than just a paycheck. Folks worked hard. They worked really hard. In exchange for a job well done, they could count on basic benefits including health care and a secure retirement coming through a pension that they paid into while they were working. These workers didnt just build their own families. They literally built the middle class. I can tell you coming from michigan, thats exactly what happened. They built our economy. They built our american way of life. And they just assumed that america would keep its promises, that the companies would keep their promises, that our laws would be set up in a way that they could trust their work, the money they were putting in a pension, and that Retirement Security would be there for themselves and their families. And i dont think thats too much to ask. Many of these coal miners, truck drivers, construction workers, auto workers, others gave up raises, as my colleagues have already talked about, pay raises in exchange for Retirement Security. So they would negotiate and they would say well, rather than get that money now in my paycheck, i want to put it into my retirement so that i know its there for myself and my family going forward. And do you know what . They held up their end of the bargain. Unfortunately, for too many, that bargain is now crumbling. Imagine what it would be like to have to cut your Family Budget 50 or 60 or even 70 and still get the bills paid and keep food on the table. I talked to a gentleman from michigan, john, who lives in monroe who doesnt have to imagine that because he and his family are now living that every day. John is a desired diesel mechanic whose pension benefits were slashed 72 . Imagine if any one of us, our incomes were slashed 72 . And that started for him a year ago in january, january, 2018. The past two years have been a tremendous hardship. As you can only imagine for him and for his family. Theyve been using their savings to pay the bills for the past two years. Theyve cut everything nonessential, even now into essentials, in their budget. And john and his wife kathy used to be able to help out their children, including a son whos disabled, but they no longer have the means to do that. And thats something that is really devastating for them. John said this the mental strain and anxiety we are enduring because of the lois of a guaranteed income has been because of the loss of a guaranteed income has been increasingly difficult. Damagely added that its hard for people to understand what its like to i have will on just one quarter of the income that you used to have. And kathy and john arent alone. Thats why were here on the floor. Thats why we are asking, demanding action be taken on their behalf. Between one million and 1. 5 million American Workers and retirees are in Pension Plans that are at serious risk of becoming insolvent within the next 20 years. And by the end of this year, as senator manchin said, more than 1,200 coal miners and their family members could also lose their health care coverage. These hardworking americans deserve better. They deserve better than this. But right now theyre just waiting and waiting and waiting for the United States senate to act, for the Senate Majority leader and the republican majority to decide that its important to act on their behalf. Its now been 83 days, 83 days since the house of representatives passed the rehabilitation for multiemployer pensions act. 83 days. We got plenty of time to take this up on the senate floor, plenty of time to take it up. And there needs to be a sense of urgency about doing that because john and kathy certainly feel that sense of urgency, as theyre trying to pay the bills and do what they can to support their children. They feel that every day. Now, this bill is the companion legislation to what we have called the Butch Lewis Act. And thanks to senator brown for introducing this important legislation. I am a proud to be a cosponsor along with many of my colleagues. And its been 285 days, as senator manchin said, since senator manchin, kaine, warner, brown used the american miners act. We have two bills before us. One thats been held umfor 285 days. One thats been held up for 83 days. And we need to have action. The miners act secures retired miners pensions and saves their Health Care Benefits. It is past time for Senate Majority leader mcconnell to stop stalling and to take action on behalf of folks who did nothing more than work their whole lives, create the middle class of this country, and believe their country and believe the companies when they said if they paid into a pension, it would be there. Hardworking American Families have been waiting way too long. Mr. President , ive always believed that a pension was a promise. Just plain and simple. Its a promise and its a promise that deserves to be kept. People like john who worked hard to earn their Retirement Benefits shouldnt have to worry about paying the power bill, putting food on the table, keeping their homes. They should know that the pension their pension will be there for them, the pension they paid into all the time they were working, that that will be there for him. They earned it over a lifetime of work, and that pension is a promise that needs to be kept. I urge my republican colleagues to join us join us to help keep that promise for john and hardworking americans like him. We could do this very quickly this week, if we came together and had a sense of urgency about what is affecting folks whove worked hard all their lives and are now retired and just need to know that that pension is going to be there for themselves and their families. Thank you, mr. President. I would yield the floor. Mr. Manchin mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from West Virginia. Man were not in a quorum call . The presiding officer no. Mr. Manchin i ask unanimous consent that the finance committee be discharged from further consideration of senate bill 27, which is the miners protection act. The senate proceed to its immediate consideration and the billable considered a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. The presiding officer is there objection . Mr. Grassley mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley reserving the right to object and let me give a short explanation of where im coming from the issue facing miner Pension Plans are of critical importance, but i have to tell my colleagues, so are the issues facing a large number of multiemployer plans, and ill just mention one of the biggest ones of concern is the Central States pension plan. Since last year, the finance committee has been working on a bipartisan basis to address the issues facing the multiemployer system. Were nearing employees of a comprehensive proposal that will include Financial Assistance to the critical and declining multiemployer Pension Plans and provide a longterm solvency to these plans and also to the longerterm solvency of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, or as we know it around here by the pbgc. That proposal will include Financial Relief for miners and mining companies. Because the situation with the miners pension should be handled in the context of these broader multiemployer plan reforms, i must say, because the senator from West Virginia is a person i work with very often and like personally, i must object to this, to take the course of action of dealing with this in a larger context than just for miner pensions. So i object. Mr. Manchin mr. President . The presiding officer objection is heard. Mr. Manchin if i could respond very quickly to my dear friend from iowa. Senator, my reason for my request as far as being urgent we are on the cusp of one Major Coal Company going bankrupt as we speak right now. Theyre out there trying to restructure. If they declare bankruptcy, our timetable moves from 2022 to 2020. If the miners go down first, circumstance it creates a if the miners go down first, sir, it creates a whole tumbling effect. This one can keep us from going into insolvency with the pbgc. Thats all were trying to do is protest that from happening because this is going to move very quickly if unfortunately this one large coal company goes bankrupt and thats why i brought it to the floor today, sir, with all due respect. I would hope that you and i could talk some more about this and you could understand the gravity of what were dealing with. Because it is really concerning to me right now. Thank you. Mr. Grassley i heard what my friend said and i still stick by what i told you that were working on a plan to deal with multiemployers on many, many different situations of which yours is a very important part of it. Mr. Manchin klein look forward to working with you. The presiding officer the senator from wisconsin. Ms. Baldwin mr. President , i rise today on behalf of nearly 25,000 workers and retirees in wisconsin who have paid into the Central States pension fund. It has been three and a half years since the Treasury Department denied an application by the Central States pension fund to slash pensions that had already been earned by thousands of plan members. In that time, retirees have organized at home. Theyve called on their members of congress and theyve come to washington countless times, all to remind us of the promises that they were made when they earned their pensions. And to fight for a solution to this looming crisis. I have been proud to work side by side with wisconsin workers and retirees and with senator brown to introduce the Butch Lewis Act. This legislation will put failing multiemployer Pension Plans, including Central States, back on solid ground, and it does so without cutting the pensions retiressees have earned. And today i introduced my legislation to help shore up the governments Insurance Plan for these pensions. The pension stability act would add funding to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and its Multiemployer Program by imposing a fee on Financial Firms that are convicted of financial crimes. This weekend i was in endeavor, wisconsin. I was meeting there with retirees who meet once a month at the fire station to update one another on the progress here in washington. In the months since the house passed the Butch Lewis Act, there hasnt been much progress to speak of. The senate hasnt taken up the bill. No other proposals have been presented. And all the while retirees and workers in the Central States pension fund continue to doubt their Retirement Security. If washington does not act, workers and retirees face massive cuts to the pensions that theyve earned over decades of hard work. Ive come to the floor many times over these past three and a half years to remind this body about the retirees that stand to lose 50 , some more than 50 , of their pensions if washington fails to act. Since then, nothing has been done. And so im here to once again remind my colleagues that this is about a promise that must be kept. This is about a promise made to bob broccoli. He stands to lose more than half of his monthly pension. Bob retired in 1999. Hes made the trip to washington to be a part of the solution, even when his wife margie would rather he stayed at home, and he organizes the meetings that are held every month in endeavor. This is about a promise made to thomas from hartland, wisconsin. Thomas is a 72yearold retired semitruck driver and army veteran. Hes also a cancer patient and his wife has significant medical bills. Thomas wrote to me this summer. He said, i put many, muchneeded home repairs on hold since this whole mess started. Weve had no vacations or any other extravagances since i retired. We did nothing wrong. We paid into Central States, and somehow the government dropped the ball. And this is about a promise made to donald. Donald and his wife janet in beaver dam, wisconsin. Donald wrote to me to tell me, quote, after 25 years working at a company where i earned a pension as part of a wage and benefit package, i retired. I retired four years ago because my body wouldnt let me perform the tasks nth factory tasks in the factory that could more easily be performed in my yearning years. My pension and in my younger years. My pension and Social Security allow me to pay for heat, electricity, food and maintenance on my home, but a 50 reduction in my monthly pension payment would mean we could no longer afford visiting our children or grandchildren, buying christmas or birthday presents or seeing an occasional movie. And without this pension, i doubt we could afford the most basic of household expenditures. This is about a promise made to mary in greenfield, wisconsin. Mary wrote to tell me, quote, my story is simple. In november 2014, my husband passed away. In december i learned the bad news about my pension. Worrying all this time has taken its toll. What will i be able to afford . I will probably have to move. I need a new car, but thats on hold. And the list goes on. Im turning 70 in a few days, and i never thought at this age id have to worry about how i will survive. End quote. If washington does not act, we will be breaking a promise made to 1. 5 million retirees nationwide. Pension promises must be kept, so once again ill say washington needs to act, and we need to do it now. I yield. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from pennsylvania. Mr. Casey thank you, mr. President. I rise as well today to talk about pensions, as so many of my colleagues have been not just talking about but acting to advance legislation with regard to pensions. As weve heard today and well keep saying this because it bears repeating, pensions are a promise. Theyre a promise of a secure retirement. And when a worker enters into that promise with a company, when the federal government is involved, weve got to make sure that we keep the promise to workers just as we did a couple of years ago after a lot of hard work to make sure that health care was there for coal miners who are retired. Pensions are an issue that both houses of congress have a responsibility to act on. The house just recently i shouldnt say not recently, a couple of l months ago passed the Butch Lewis Act. That was three months ago. But like a lot of legislation thats come from the house, its sitting here in the senate day after day, week after week, and in this case three months, three months since passage in the house. Its time for the United States senate to have a vote on the Butch Lewis Act, which ill get to in a moment. In pennsylvania i know this is true of several other states but in pennsylvania were talking about coal miners, teamsters, bakery and confectionary workers who through no fault of their own are seeing their hardearned pensions threatened. Failure to act could result in devastating economic consequences across the commonwealth of pennsylvania and across our nation. Just think about it this way in terms of pennsylvania, one estimate has it over 60,000 workers 60,000, including 11,831 coal miners, 21,460 teamsters as part of that larger number. Despite the challenges ahead, the good news is that we have Bipartisan Legislation that i mentioned a moment ago, the Butch Lewis Act which has passed the house three months ago. Senator brown and others senator brown and ohio senator brown of ohio and others have worked hard to make sure this is in front of the senate. The Butch Lewis Act will create a loan program for troubled pensions. It is a commonsense solution that brings the Public Sector and the private sector together to address this looming crisis for workers. We must also pass legislation so we can address Coal Miner Health care and coal miner pensions. Senator manchin from West Virginia has shown great leadership in this process over many years. And we also owe thanks to the members of the United States Senate Democratic caucus, many of whom are i should say few if any have coal miners in their states. But because of concerted effort in the democratic caucus, we have made coal miners and their health care in retirement and their pensions a priority. Those Democratic Senators stood with senators like me from states that have a large number of retired coal miners because its the right thing to do. Those Democratic Senators know its the right thing to do, and some republican senators do as well. Its the right thing to do because, as i started with, pensions are a promise, and weve got to make sure that we keep our promise to those workers. Thousands of pennsylvania families are counting on us, and many more thousands of American Families across the board outside of pennsylvania are counting on us to keep our promise on pensions and to make sure that well continue to fight until that promise is kept to our workers and to their families. Mr. President , i would yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer and the clerk should crawl the roll. The clerk should call the roll. Quorum call quorum call quorum call a senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from louisiana. Mr. Cassidy i request that we vitiate the work. The presiding officer without objection. The clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. The clerk cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of Barbara Mcconnell barrett of arizona to be secretary of the air force signed by 17 senators. The presiding officer by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. The question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of Barbara Mcconnell barrett of arizona to be secretary of the air force shall be brought to a close. The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. The clerk will call the roll. Vote vote vote vote the presiding officer are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote . If not, the yeas are 84, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to. Mr. Mcconnell madam president . The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule 22, the cloture motions for the volk, eskridge, novak, and kovner nominations ripen on thursday. All postcloture time on the barrett, v some of the lk, eskridge, novak, and kovn. R nominations be expired. The presiding officer objection . Without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with permitted to speak for ten minutes each. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i have one request for a committee to meet during todays session of the senate. It has the approval of the majority and minority leaders. The presiding officer duly snotted. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the Commerce Committee be discharged from further consideration. The senate now proceed to s. 322. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk Senate Resolution 322, expressing support for the designation of the week of september 22, through september 28, 2019 as rail safety week and so forth. The presiding officer without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9 30 a. M. Wednesday, october 16. Further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, morning business be closed you and the senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the barrett nomination under the previous order. Finally, that the Senate Recess from 12 30 until 2 15 to allow for the caucus meetings. If. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of senator blackburn. The presiding officer without objection. Mrs. Blackburn madam president . The presiding officer the senator from tennessee. Mrs. Blackburn thank you, madam president. In nashville we have a saying, it all begins with the song. I will tell you, thats not where the story ends. That is where it begins. Every record that makes it out into the world is backed by a team of hardworking and creative individuals whose job it is to bring the music to the masses. The songwriters who find way to express feelings that we mere mortals could never hope to put down on paper. The studio musicians whose refined techniques satisfies even the most sensitive microphones. The producers whose vision and intuition can turn a song into a hit cut. And the label heads whose job it is to take a chance on new artists in hopes of discovering the next Country Music superstar. Each year the music industrys morphs and shakers come together to decide who amongst them is worthy of a place in the industrys most soughtafter circle the Country Music hall of fame. The Country Music association inducted their first hall of fame class in 1961 and since then the c. M. A. Has welcomed some of the most wellknown and beloved members of nashvilles Entertainment Community into the halls ranks. This years inductees have made their mark on both sides of the studio glass. Kix brooks and ronnie dunn. We know them as brooks and dunn. They start out as solo, single songwriters but rocketed to stardom as a duo. Their first album produced four four numberone singles and sold almost three million copies. And that was all in the presmartphone, prescreening era. Since then kix and ronnies over top 40ten hits, 20 numberone singles and 12 platinumplus albums have earned them the distinction of being one of the most successful country duos of all time and theyve done it all while writing their own songs designing their own shows and supporting the art of upandcoming performers. This dedication to the future of country is why brooks and dunn will be unducted into the hall of fame in the modern era artist category. Ray stevens now, when we think about Country Music, many times were thinking about steel guitars and broken hearts a, but this years second hall of fame inductee really just wants to make you smile. Ray stevens is one of the most successful comedy recording artists of all time. But he made his mark on nashville as a songwriter. The studio musician, producer and gospel singer in addition to being a star comic and country entertainer. If you look at his catalog, there real lay is something for everyone. His work spoke to fans in need of a laugh or sometimes spiritual guidance or a song to singalong with after a hard days work. Rays wonderful sense of humor, open heart and commitment to entertainment as an art form made him a standout and the Perfect Choice to earn the distinction of veterans era artist in the Country Music hall of fame. Jerry bradley, this years third and final inductee, may not have invented Country Music but no one on music row would deny the impact his work has had on the success of generations of country stars. Jerry bradley began his career in music as nashville was on the brink of transformation. He understood that fans and artists alike were looking to explore a new sound, and he gave them exactly what they were looking for. He gave them the nashville sound. He signed bands that no other label would take a chance on. He mixed records no other producer could match. And he embraced the importance of the crossover artist as the ambassador of that new nashville sound. His tendency to ignore conventional wisdom, well it more than paid off. He achieved commercial success and earned the attention of nashvilles taste masters before becoming one of them himself. This year the Country Music association will induct jerry into the hall of fame as a nonperformer, but also as one of the most influential people in the history of the entertainment industry. Today i encourage all of my colleagues to take a moment to think about their favorite song, whether its a country song, pop song, a classic rock hit, it is the sound track of our lives. And to remember how it made them feel the very first time they heard it and how many times they have enjoyed singing it when a memory pops in their head. This years Country Music hall of fame inductees, kix brooks, ronnie dunn, ray stevens, and Jerry Bradley are responsible for making millions of people feel that exact same way after their very own favorite song. The body of work these men represent is more than just a series of accomplishments. It is a gift to all of us who enjoy the music that they have made. I yield the floor. The presiding officer under the previous order, the Senate Stands adjourned until 9 30 a. M. Tomorr