The week lawmakers are excited to start the week with 2020 federal spending bills. Focus will be in a culture, commerce and interior environment and transportation hud department. First vote at 5 30 pm eastern eastern. Not to live coverage of the u. S. Senate here on cspan2. The president pro tempore the senate will come to order. The chaplain, dr. Black, will lead the senate in prayer. The chaplain let us pray. Eternal god, in spite of our d shortcomings, you have shortcomings, you have promised never to forsake us. In this decisive season of our nations history, grant our lawmakers wisdom and courage. May they remember that history is a fateful stenographer that will judge their words and deeds in the shining light of truth. Lord, provide our senators with the grace to glorify you as they remember you have appointed them for this moment in time. And, lord, we thank you for the courage and professionalism of the men and women in our nations military. We also thank you for the life and legacy of senator kay hagan. We pray in your great name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our 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. Mr. Grassley mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley i ask to speak in morning business for one minute. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley polling consistently shows that lowering the cost of Prescription Drugs is a top priority for americans. Thats why i hope that we can act on this pressing issue in the coming months. A failure to act would be remembered by americans. This week the democrat house is poised to pass a bill. There are many problems with that legislation, and it doesnt stand a chance of passage in the senate. Thankfully we have a Bipartisan Legislation in the house titled Prescription Drug pricing reduction act that President Trump supports and has a clear path to being signed into law. We need the full senate to act on this legislation. Republicans should not want to be the party that failed to act. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is closed. Under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of h. R. 3055, which the clerk will report. The clerk calendar number 141, h. R. 3055, an act making appropriations for the departments of of commerce and justice, science and related agencies, and so forth and for other purposes. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell first i was saddened by todays news that our former colleague, the senator from north carolina, kay hagan, had passed away. During the time representing the people of north carolina, kay was exactly that, a gentlelady. She paired an honest commitment to Public Service with a friendly approach. I know members on both sides of the aisle will fondly remember serving alongside her here in the senate and her perseverance in the face of serious illness was inspiring. Today prayers are with the body are with her husband chip, their children jeanette, tilden and carrie and with all their family and friends at this extremely difficult time. Now on a completely different matter, on sunday morning, we woke up to a better and safer world because one monster was no longer in it. Abu bakr albaghdadi was the founder and leader of isis in recent years that made him the single most important target in the fight against radical islamic terrorism. His band of fanatics has committed heinous crimes, shed an unimaginable amount of civilian blood and destabilized an entire region. Isis has been party to civil war in syria that has claimed hundreds of thousands of innocent lives. Theyve run slave auctions of women and girls and effected a general genocide of the yazidis. Across syria and iraq isis established a socalled caliphate, imprisoned entire communities, slaughtered vulnerable minority populations, destroyed priceless Cultural Relics and imposed their will through brute force on anyone they deemed insufficiently pious. Across the globe their message of hate has spurred further acts of violence in europe and africa and even here on american soil. So americans applauded President Trumps announcement yesterday morning that a Heroic Mission had eliminated the chief instigator of all this violence. We owe a debt of thanks to the men and women of our Intelligence Community for taking grave risk, cultivating key partnerships in the region, and laying the groundwork for a swift and precise operation. Of course were hugely grateful to the u. S. Military personnel who executed the strike. Our nation calls upon elite special operation units to take on missions of the utmost sensitivity. Their bravery and professionalism continue to make us all proud. My fellow kentuckians and i are especially proud that Lieutenant General scott howell, a kentucky native, is currently leading the joint special Operations Command and oversaw this daring mission. Lieutenant general howell is a Career Air Force pilot who has spent his career in deploying with and commanding special operations forces. Our nations lucky to have this son of the bluegrass serving where he is. And i commend President Trump, secretary esper and the entire Administrative Team for making the tough call to act on our intelligence and send u. S. Forces into the breach. That decision is never easy, but it was the right one. A total operational success. This victory offers us an important strategic reminder about the value of our nations investment and advanced military capabilities, American Military presence abroad, and deep relationships with foreign allies and local security partners. Without such factors, operations such as this become much, much more risky. The name of this terrorist is headed straight for the trash bin of history. There are other names id like for us to remember today instead. Peter kasich, born and raised in indianapolis, a former army ranger turned humanitarian worker in the middle east, isis beheaded him in 2014. He was 26 years old. Steven sotloff, grandson of Holocaust Survivors born in florida and a dual citizen of the u. S. And israel. He was a journalist who worked with refugees slaying the syrian civil war. He was kidnapped by isis and beheaded in 2014. James foley grew up in new hampshire. He spent four years as an embedded correspondent in afghanistan, libya and syria before his capture by isis. After two years of captivity and torture, he too was beheaded in 2014. And Taylor Mueller from california. Her Christian Faith led her to humanitarian work. She was brutalized by isis leaders and killed in 2015 at the age of 26. This weekends operation was code named in kaylas honor. So today we remember these brave americans and all the courageous u. S. Service members and d. O. D. Civilians who gave their lives to fight isis. In their memories, were glad justice has been done. In their memories, we resolve not to back down, but to persist in this fight until we secure the enduring p defeat of dangerous and determined enemy. On another matter, mr. President , on thursday the chairman of the Judiciary Committee and i introduced a resolution which quickly gained dozens of republican cosponsors. Our resolution states two things which are very obvious. Number one, any process as serious as an impeachment inquiry which seeks to cancel out the american peoples vote in a president ial election must, must adhere to the high standards of fairness and due process. And number two, what weve seen on display from House Democrats has been anything but that. Heres the way House Democrats have conducted their inquiry so far. Committees at the center of the inquiry denied President Trump important rights and protections that president nixon and president clinton enjoyed. Theyve impeded his right to have counsel attend hearings and depositions, call and crossexamine witnesses and even access the evidence theyre producing. Democrats are also flouting past practices that gave minority parties basic procedural rights during past impeachments. House republicans have not been granted subpoena power and their participation in closed door proceedings has been severely limited. So, mr. President , its no secret that washington democrats have been looking for a way to remove President Trump since his inauguration. That does not remove the basic requirements of fairness and due process. Thats what our resolution makes clear, and im proud to sponsor it, along with chairman graham. Now, on a related matter, washington democrats have been assisting their threeyearold insisting their threeyearold impeachment journeyy will not keep them from attending to the peoples business. Well, well have an opportunity to find out later this week when the senate votes on advancing funding for our armed forces. You will recall that last month, our democratic colleagues made the stunning decision to filibuster legislation to fund our national defense. They blocked resources for our men and women in uniform. They have blocked the funding of our our commanders need to keep us safe in this dangerous time. Oh, and that wasnt enough. They block a pay raise for the men and women in uniform. Democrats filibustered all this for the sake of picking a fight with the white house. Think about that. Can our colleagues be so ruled by partisan politics that they are ready to leave the United States in limbo than get along with President Trump for two minutes, for two minutes. Obviously, this cannot continue. Our commanders need funding. Our men and women in military need support. Congress needs to do its job. So later this week, the senate is going to vote again one more time to advance defense funding. Well complete the domestic appropriations we are currently considering including votes on several amendments, and then well turn back to defense. This will present a Crystal Clear test. Do our democratic colleagues mean it when they say they want to legislate or not . No more important legislation than this. Or is there impeachment is their impeachment obsession crowding out critical priorities . So imagine the spectacle, mr. President , if the same Senate Democrats who give lengthy speeches criticizing the administrations actions in syria and the middle east literally block the funding that our commanders need to keep up the missions. Imagine the embarrassment if Senate Democrats filibuster funding for our men and women in uniform just days after this past weekends heroics. Just days after the whole country was reminded that our brave Service Members risk everything every day and their missions in their mission to not wait for washington politics. Imagine the supreme irony if the same democrats who want to impeach the president for supposedly delaying military assistance for ukraine literally themselves delay military assistance for ukraine by blocking the funding legislation. So i would urge my friends across the aisle to do the right thing. The whole country knows what washington democrats are not members of the President Trump fan club. We got that. We understand that. But there is no reason why money to fight isis, money to pay and supply our Service Members, and, yes, money for military assistance for ukraine ought to be used as democrats political pawns. Enough is enough. We need to move forward with the defense funding bill this week. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call stuart. Quorum call quorum call mr. Schumer mr. President . The presiding officer the democratic leader. Mr. Schumer i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer thank you, mr. President. Well, mr. President , the scripture tells us that the lord is close to the brokenhearted, psalm 34 146789 i pray those words are true because we have lost a member of the Senate Family today and many of us have lost a dear friend. We are brokenhearted at the news that former senator kay hagan passed away at the age of 66. I spoke to her husband, chip, a few hours ago. And i told him that from the moment i first met kay hagan, i knew she was special. She remained that way every day since. She was an amazing force, never loud but always strong, effective, hardworking, dedicated, principled, and just a kind hearted person. He told me that he and kay had just had a wonderful weekend, a dinner, a wedding, surrounded by friends and family. She even got to spend some time with joe biden who was in town. Chip said she was just beaming. I take some comfort in knowing that. In fact, it reminded me of how kay lived her life. She was never one to let sometimes painful realities of life and politics get her down. I knew kay for over a decade as a state senator, as a candidate, a brilliant senator, and as former senator who returned to private life without an ounce of regret or ill will. In all that time i never heard her once, never heard her once complain. She was never sour or sarcastic or dejected. She remained always to her last day a cheerful optimist, a happy warrior. Its only one of the many reasons that kay hagan was beloved by members on this side of the aisle and i believe by a great number on those of those on the other side as well. Boy will we miss her. My heart goes out to chip, to their three kids, jeanette, tilden, and carery, and carrie, and their wonderful grandchildren whom kay was so proud and loving. Now on another subject. Yesterday morning it was announced that u. S. Special Operation Forces killed abu bakr albaghdadi, the leader of the islamic state, the death of albaghdadi is a great victory for the safety of our country and the safety of our allies and partners. All americans salute the special forces operations who executed this mission. The Intelligence Community professionals whose work helped enable the mission, and our allies and partners, particularly the syrian kurds who have contributed to the Global Coalition to defeat isis. Despite this great victory, however, we must not confuse the death of this one very evil man with the defeat of isis. There are still potentially hundreds of isis prisoners and sympathizers who have escaped in recent weeks. As a result of President Trumps abrupt decision to withdraw american troops from Northern Syria and greenlight irans invasion. We cannot allow isis to regroup or gather renewed strength. New yorkers know all too well the destruction a small group of terrorists can cause from half a world away. So make no mistake. We still need a plan for the enduring defeat of isis. They are not gone. We must include details on how we will deal with escaped prisoners. Nobody knows. These are evil people that want to hurt us and they can escape from the prisons and lord knows where theyll go. But we know a good chunk of them will want to do damage to our homeland. So far the administration unfortunately has articulated no coherent plan. Its top official secretary pompeo, secretary esper seem unable to find time to even brief congress. In all likelihood because me have nothing real because they have nothing real to say, no plan. For almost a month now weve been requesting an allsenators briefing from the administration on its syria policy. That is the bear minimum we expect from the administration when it comes to major policy decisions and yet we have had two briefings scheduled and then canceled and we still cannot get the department of defense or the department of state to commit to a time for those secretaries to brief congress. And according to reports, the Trump Administration gave russia and turkey some kind of advanced notice of the raid of albaghdadi but seemingly by the deliberate choice neglected to notify the leaders of congress as is custom in this case. Based on the president s remarks yesterday, it seems he may have made a solitary exception to the chairman of the senate Judiciary Committee. Thats not what the founders envisioned when they imagined congress and the executive branch working together to conduct the nations foreign policy. It seems clear that the Trump Administration is either reluctant or simply unwilling to Keep Congress in the loop on its plan to defeat isis and protect american interests in the region. The most likely explanation, unfortunately, is that this does not have one. This needs to change. There needs to be a plan. There needs to be some accountability to congress. We need to hear from secretaries pompeo and esper in congress this week. And now on another matter, as the house of representatives continues to do its constitutional duty to conduct oversight of any wrongdoing by the executive branch, our republican colleagues in both chambers have made great pains to make its process an issue. A group of House Republicans stormed the secure facility in the capitol to highlight the purported secrecy of the process. It was later revealed that fully onethird of those members were already allowed in the closed hearings. Here in the senate, senator graham introduced a resolution with a list of trumpedup complaints about the house process, and i just heard my friend, the republican leader, talk about the process in his opening remarks. Now, im going to Say Something that might surprise everyone listening out there. I actually agree with what President Trump said this morning about the impeachment inquiry in the house. The president said, id rather go into the details of the case rather than the process, adding, i think you ought to look at the case. The president the president himself is saying all this stuff about process is a diversion. Look at the substance. We want to look at the substance. Thats what the house is doing. Thats what our republican friends either those who in a fit of rage or whatever stormed the House Committee room. Thats what so many of other colleagues on this side of the aisle are doing, just focusing on process because theyre afraid to focus on the substance. And how wrong it was what the president did, if the facts prove he did it, which i believe the house is looking at. So lets not forget, the impeachment inquiry stems from a very serious allegation that President Trump pressured a foreign leader to investigate a domestic political rival. Allegations were deemed credible and of urgent concern by a trump athe pointee, allegations which are further corroborated by a memorandum released by the white house, testimony gathered by the house, and Public Comments made by no one less than the president s chief of staff. We have a responsibility, a responsibility, a constitutional responsibility to grapple with the facts in the Public Record and make ultimate and ultimately make ultimate judgments baste on the merits of the case so the president of the United States, in this case happens to be right republicans in the house and the senate should focus on the details of the case, rather than the process. Later this week another subject, later this week Senate Democrats will again use their authority under the Congressional Review Act to force a crucial vote on the future of Health Care Protections for americans with preexisting conditions. The Trump Administration has done nearly everything imaginable to undermine these protections over the past three years, including by suing to repeal our Health Care Law in its entirety. But this vote concerns the administrations expansion of junk insurance plans which offer ways around the requirements to cover americans when they need health care most. This rule states, the green light, to use taxpayer dollars, to buy junk insurance plans. Oftentimes the plans are so skimpy, they hardly cover anything at all. Theyre barely worth the paper theyre written on. Imagine youre a mother with a child with cancer, a father, and you sign one of these plans and the Insurance Company say, we dont have to take care of your kid, for something as devastating as lifethreatening as cancer. Imagine how youd feel. Yet our republican friends and this Administration Want to give Insurance Companies the green light to make a ton of money and write this junk junk insurance, and have hundreds of thousands, millions of americans not covered for even the most important and vital of coverage. Well, thats whats at stake this week. The senate will vote. Republicans will have to go on record. Either defend the administrations actions or protect americans who have preexisting conditions. I know several of my republican colleagues have publicly declared their support for these protections when they have their campaign ads going. That hasnt been the case here in congress, where republicans have repeatedly voted against the same protections. Wednesday will be another important test for senate republicans. And finally, mr. President , on climate on friday, i announced a new proposal to rapidly phase out gaspowered vehicles and replace them with clean vehicles like electric cars. The goal of the plan, which also aims to spur a transformation in american manufacturing, is that by 2040 all vehicles on the road should be clean. We need a plan of this scale and ambition to fight one of the largest drivers of Carbon Emissions transportation. Scientists tell us that to avoid the most devastating effects of Climate Change, the world needs to be carbonneutral by midcentury. At moment, were not on track, even remotely, to meet that target. So we must act urgent lids and ambitiously, which includes building a Diverse Coalition of support. What distinguished my proposal is not only its scale but its ability to unite the American Environmental movement, the American Labor movement, and large automakers. Listen to whos supporting this proposal. The sierra club, the Natural Resources defend counsel and the league of conservation voters. Yet unions like the united autoworkers and the International Brotherhood of electrical workers and the aflcio and Car Manufacturers like ford and general motors. When have we ever seen the Car Manufacturers and the unions and the environmentalists agree on a major proposal that will stop carbon from poisoning our atmosphere . Well, here it is. How would this plan work . First, it would provide a large discount on an americanmade vehicle when drivers trade in a gaspowered car. Second, it would provide grants to states and cities to build charge stations with a particular income particular emphasis on lowincome, rural, and underserved communities. And, third, the plan aims to establish the u. S. As the Global Leader in electric vehicle and battery manufacturing by providing grants to retool existing manufacturing plants in the United States and build new ones in this country that specialize in those technologies. Itll clean our atmosphere, save families money, and the cost of these cars will be less than the cost of maintaining a gasolinedriven vehicle, and it will establish america once again as the preeminent automobile power, as electric cars become the way of the future. Critics say that acting on Climate Change has cost us jobs and money. Its simply not true. My plan is actually estimated to create tens of thousands of new jobs, goodpaying jobs, right here in the u. S. Much as america experience add revolution in auto manufacturing at the outset of the 20th century, america under this plan will experience a revolution in clean auto manufacturing at the beginning of this century. But if we are to reach our goal, we have to move fast. Coalmine now accounted for more than half of the electric vehicle market. Were going to miss a tremendous opportunity if we dont act. Weve missed too many already. If democrats win control of the senate in 20, in 2020, i will introduce legislation for clean energy. This is about american jobs, American Global economic leadership, and protecting our dear planet. Nothing could be more worthy of pursuit. I yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call quorum call the presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley i ask the calling of the quorum be suspended. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley in march of 2015, i began our long investigation into secretary clintons use of nongovernment email for official business. Since then, i have written hundreds of letters, held hearings, and discussed my findings and concerns right here on the senate floor. After all, the publics business ought to be public. Today we can add more findings to that ongoing list of secretary clintons and her associates wrongful conduct. The other week, i released a report from the state department that finalized their administrative review of how secretary clintons private server setup caused hundreds of security violations. That review found, i think, five things im going to mention. First, 91 valid security violations were identified and attributable to 38 individuals. That means 38 individuals mishandled classified information and were punished for it. The sanctions for a violation included suspension or revocation of their security clearance, suspension without pay, or termination, among other forms of punishment. Second, an additional 497 valid violations were identified, however the state department was unable to determine who was culpable. The state department was unable to identify culpability because some former Department Employees didnt sit for interviews or because secretary clinton kept her server secret from government officials, so it was impossible for the department to monitor security protocol in real time. The review also noted that there was a five to nineyear gap between beginning of secretary Clintons State Department tenure when the security incidents began and when she finally turned over the emails, which she initially refused to do. This many years long gap made it very challenging to determine who was culpable for every violation of regulation and law covering National Security issues and the need for classification. In total, secretary clintons use of nongovernment server for government business caused 588 security violations for mishandling classified information. Some of that classified information was classified at the very highest levels, including topsecret special Access Program information. According to the f. B. I. , secretary clinton sent and received emails that contained highly classified information. Now, its hard to fathom how this wouldnt undermine our National Security. If the average american did that, they would lose their clearance, their job, and might even go to jail. Thats what happened to navy sailor christian saucire. He took six photographs inside his submarine that exposed information classified at the confidential level. He mishandled classified information. He pled guilty and was sentenced to one year in federal prison. So people ask me how come some people go to prison for violating classification and other people dont . Lets go to the third point. The review found secretary clintons nongovernmental Service Server increases the risk of unauthorized disclosures. Fourth, the review found that the nongovernment servers increased the risk of security compromise. Clintons private server setup had been described as being so badly secured that its almost impossible to detect who attempted to attack it and gain access to it. Anyone could have done it. Fifth, and last, the review found that some classified information was deliberately transmitted via unclassified emails and resulted in adjudicated security violations. Any in the press as well as partisan clinton defenders have hung their hat on the state departments finding that there was, quote, no Persuasive Evidence of systemic deliberate mishandling of classified information, end of quote. Take, for example, the newspaper washington post. Their headline, quote, state department probe of clinton email find no deliberate mishandling of classified information, end of quote. Well, that headline was entirely wrong. The state Department Report said, quote, instances of classified information being deliberately transmitted via unclassified emails were the rare exception and resulted in adjudicateed security clearance clearance security violations, end of quote. That statement clearly says some individuals deliberately transmitted classified information on untransportationn unclassified systems. Those individuals were subject to security sanctions, but the state department failed to describe who the violators were and what the sanctions were. Those answers ought to be forthcoming, so consequently you know my reputation, i intend to follow up. Ensuring the proper handling of highly classified information is an issue that should garner bipartisan support. This may sound like history, but there is a lesson to be learned from this history, that classified information should be classified for protecting National Security. Furthermore, if government officials deliberately expose classified information on an unclassified system, why didnt the f. B. I. Find the same during their investigation . We all know, thendirector comey, refused to recommend any charges related to the clinton investigation because the f. B. I. Could not identify the requisite criminal intent. Now, it seems to me that deliberately sending classified information on unclassified channels is intentional conduct. Again, if the average american did that, theyd be in big, big trouble, as i pointed out about the navy sailor spending one year in prison. Now, during the course of my oversight tifts, activities, i acquired drafts of comeys july 12, 2016 statement, exonerating clinton. Comeys original draft stated the following this is the initial draft. Quote, there is evidence to support a conclusion that secretary clinton and others used a private email server in a manner that was grossly neglect with handling material. Comey also said, similarly, the volume of information classified as secret at the time it was discussed on email, that is secluding the unclassified emails, supports an inference that the participants were grossly neglect. Gross negligence is a criminal standard under title 18, section 93. Now he later dumbed down his statement to a noncriminal standard. Quote, although we did not find clear evidence that secretary clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive highly classified information. End of quote. And that was before he finish the investigation and interviewed 17 witnesses, including secretary clinton. Director comey never once said that some individuals deliberately sent classified information on an unclassified system. According to the state departments findings, comey should have come to that conclusion and made that statement. Clearly deliberate conduct rises beyond gross negligence. So who deliberately sent unclassified information on let me start over again. So deliberately sent classified information on unclassified channels and has the department communicated this new finding to the f. B. I. Just last week i spoke on this floor about how the f. B. I. Pulled its punches during the clinton investigation. I talked about how the f. B. I. Agreed to limit the scope of review to her time as secretary of state. That decision eliminated potentially highly relevant emails before and after her tenure that could have shed light on why she operated the nongovernment server. It also eliminated emails around the time of the Conference Call between clintons attorneys and the administrator of her server that led to the deletion of her emails. That limitation of scope defies reason. And, lastly, the f. B. I. Greed to agreed to destroy records and lab taps of clintons associates after reviewing them. That is an astonishing agreement in light of the fact that those records could have been relevant to the ongoing inquiries that the f. B. I. New about. Secretary clintons actions cause 588 security violations and highly classified information to be exposed to a nonclassified system. Some of those violations were very deliberate, but thats the first that weve heard of it. The public ought to know if those folks involved were punished according to the letter of the law or were given special treatment. Equal application of the law without regard to power, party, or privilege ought to be the norm. With what we know up to this point, the clinton investigation failed to hit its mark. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the cl will call the the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call the presiding officer the senator is recognized. A senator i ask the quorum be vitiated. The presiding officer without objection. A senator i call up amendment 961 provided under the previous order as ask it be reported by number. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk the senator from nevada proposes an amendment numbered 9612 961 to number 948. A senator i rise to support this amendment which is a native and our native American Communities that face food insecurity. Ms. Cortez masto the Food Distribution program on indian reservations commonly known as fdpir provides Food Assistance for 90,000 people and 276 tribes across this country. Often on tribal land, certainly in the rural parts of my home state of nevada, people live miles from a snap office or Grocery Store and so it provides a crucial source of nutrition but many enrolees in the Program Still have to pick up fdpir benefits in person. For elderly or disabled tribal members, its too difficult to make that trip. So i urge my colleagues to vote for this important amendment to study ways to improve access to the program for the homebound and elderly. And i thank my colleague and fellow member of the Indian Affairs committee, mr. Lankford, senator lankford, for his support on this important effort. We want to ensure that no one is going hungry when theres food waiting for them just a few miles away. I thank the Senate Leadership for allowing open debate and discussion of the issues facing on the floor of this chamber and look forward to conversations on how to help members of tribes to thrive, grow their communities and chart a more vibrant future. Thank you, mr. Chair. Mr. Lankford mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from oklahoma. Mr. Lankford mr. President , this is an amendment that has just been called up that were going to vote for here in a few moments. I would encourage my colleagues to be able to pass. Senator cortez masto and i, she has been the lead on this whole issue. Im proud to be able to cosponsor with her. This is a basic study on how we can make sure the food benefits that usda is choosing to provide and were providing as a federal taxpayer together towards indian reservations to make sure the food is actually getting to people that need it the most. At this point the usda program is set up to ensure that people have to come to a Central Distribution area to get access to food. Many elderly and disabled cannot just go to a Central Distribution area to be able to get access to food. If were going to have a food program like this, lets make sure were actually getting food to where people need it the most. There are other programs in the federal government like meals on wheels and other programs that are designated where we can partner with groups to make sure food gets there. But there are some of the programs like this program, the Food Distribution program on indian reservations, that program may not be getting to where food is needed the most for the most number of people. Other programs i think well need a study like this as well. We have other child nutrition programs, for instance, that happen in the summertime that children just like this program set up on indian reservations have to come to a Central Location to be able to get access to food. And many children dont have the ability to get transportation to be able to get food, in those and those individuals and families that need the most help were making yet another hurdle to get help. This is a study and i think its the first step to make sure what we do is done well and is done efficiently and that the intended outcome to be able to help people is actually occurring. So i thank senator cortez masto, her leadership for this and being able to step up, proud to be able to coimportancor cosponsor with us and look forward to our colleagues voting for this, getting the results of the study and making sure in the days ahead that Food Assistance is getting to the place where people need it the most. With that i yield back. The presiding officer the senator from kentucky. Mr. Paul were set to borrow nearly a trillion dollars this year. Our overall debt is over 22 trillion. In my office i have a debt clock. You can see it at debtclock. Org and its spinning out of control. The numbers are mind boggling. Just the interest on the debt to exceed a trillion dollars. Thats a trillion dollars simply wasted because were not fiscally responsible enough to balance our budget. There are ramifications to having so much debt. When we monetize the debt or the Federal Reserve creates money to pay for the debt, what ends up happening is it dilutes the value of your current dollars. Over time weve been doing that for a long period of nearly a hundred years or over a hundred years since the Federal Reserve was created. And the vast majority of the dollars value has been lost over time. Inflation is not what it used to be but there are still other problems. As the interest grows, the debt crowds out other spending. When we get to a trillion dollars on the interest of the debt, its going to crowd out other spending, whether youre on the right and want more military spending, on the left you want more welfare spending, its being crowded out by the debt growing so much that interest is pushing out other projects. What ive offered is i think a commonsense approach to this. Everybody has got their sacred cow. Everybody has some money they want to spend somewhere. Why dont we cut every program by two pennies. We have a 2 acrosstheboard cut. Wed spend 98 of what we spent last year. Its interesting. When groups come in to see me in the office and they say well, weve got this Dramatic Program and its to cure aids or alzheimers or diabetes and its going to be this wonderful project. I say, well, last year you got 100 million. Could you deal with 98 million this year . And interestingly, whether theyre conservative, liberal or independent, they look at me and say, well, gosh, yeah, i think i can deal with 98 million instead of 100 million. I think we could deal with a 2 cut. We get 98 of what we got last year. And most of the groups that are involved in this have a Family Member with the disease. We think we could deal with it. The people weve elected have become so distant from you that they wont vote for any cuts. Woe is me. Its so much money. Even a freeze in spending for ten years is a 10 trillion cut. How can that be . If we spend the same amount of money they can year as we did this year, how can that be a cut . The left is aided and abetted by the media. Were going to spend 5 more so you cut 5 by not increasing the spending from last year. Thats ridiculous. So they call freeze a spending cut. If your salary is going to be the same next year as it was last year, is that a cut or are you getting the same salary . Im proposing we cut it by 2 . Why . Because we would like to balance the budget annually. It isnt getting rid of the 2 trillion debt. It is so we quit digging the hole deeper. We would put 1 a year for five years. But nobody listened. Not one democrat cares at all about the debt, not one of them will ever vote to cut any spending. Now, on the republican side, they profess to care, but over half of them wont vote to cut any spending. So there is a lot of hypocrisy to go around. When i first started introducing the penny plan, a 1 cut would have balanced the budget in five years. Since we didnt do it Government Spending kept growing and growing and growing, so now it takes a 2 cut. This would be a 2 cut of everything but social security. The problem is, though, nobody has introduced a bill in decades, or nobody has had a vote in decades on a bill to fix the real problem, which is entitlements. So many of the people will bemoan, oh, we could never fix it by cutting discretionary spending, so im not going to cut any. But thats the only thing defeat to vote on. Still in order to balance it, you would have to have a 2 cut of the entitlements as well. Some are saying, government is so essential. We would cut government . What would happen to the people who depend on it . The National Science foundation probably gets the award for some of the most ridiculous spending in all of your government. Evening since the times of William Proxmire in the early 1970s they would get the Golden Fleece award. One of his first awards gave them an award ford spending 50,000 to determine what makes you happy. It was thought to be ridiculous at the time, and then for the last 50 years weve continued to do it. In fact just this last year, the National Science foundation is still concerned about what makes you happy. So they spent a half a Million Dollars this year i guess thats inflation studying whether or not if you take a selfie of yourself while smiling, whether or not that makes you happy. And if youll keep looking at the picture of yourself smiling, the selfie you took, is that worth a half a million bucks . Do we not have Something Better we could do . Maybe we could reduce the deficit by cutting the National Science foundation. They also studied what Neil Armstrong said when he landed on the moon. Did he say, one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind . Or did he say, one small step for a man . They spent 700,000 of your money studying whether or not Neil Armstrong said a man or man. The experts said, after listening to the tape crackle, crackle, crackle over and over again for 700,000, they still dont know. 700,000. We spent 1. 2 million studying online dating. Look, they seem to be successful. I think it must be working. The websites are making a ton of money. Millions of people use them. Why in the world would government study whether dating sites work . They spent 1. 5 million trying to make tomatoes taste better. Iyoyo know where that came i dont know where that came from. They fund add book on appreciativing the metric system for 188,000. There was a conference sponsored on balding for 22,000. Department of commerce got into the game. They developed a digital downs marker for Football Games for 130,000. I think that existed already. They spent a half a million on a movie about the kilogram. Raise your hand if you will stay up tonight to watch the department of commerce documentary on the kilogram. The department of agriculture provides marketing assistance for specialty crops, including christmas trees. It turns out there are more specialty crops than regular crops. 50,000 was given to the university of georgia to the state of georgia for marketing christmas trees. The department of interior studied peoples experiences with sea monsters in alaska. 150,000. Now, i thought sea monsters were fake news, but i guess in an era of fake news, it is difficult to determine what it really fake news. But your government spent 150,000 studying sea monsters in alaska. They built a parking lot at an indian casino for 500,000. These casinos apparently multiple millions of dollars and we spent money on a parking lot for a forprofit enterprise. We built a selfcleaning toilet in a new york park, city park. We give 1 million to subsidize lyft rides. I thought uber and lyft were doing we will without our help. Gave money to d. C. Metrics one of the most mismanaged metros in the country. Lets see. National endowment for the arts. We spent 25,000 on a museum to hollywood. If theres any person in the country who really does not need anymore adoration and the taxpayers to pay for adoration, it is hollywood. But you spent 25,000 bidding building a human. So i guess they can appreciate themselves even more. In order to combat homelessness in l. A. , we paid to tut on plays. If youre homeless, it must make you feel better to watch street performers performing a play in front of you. We also paid to put on dances with cars. Now while that may sound entertaining, it might be that we have other things we might want to spend that money on. Were told every year we couldnt possibly cut any spending. Theres no way we could do it. And i put forward these spending proposals because i ran for office and said we should balance the budget. I actually believed when i ran and i thought id get harder and i thought there would be momentum and republicans they all talked about the debt, said the democrats are not going to vote for it. No democrat will vote for a spending cut. Never have, never will. But the republicans at least tell you they will and then they dont. So what im putting forward today is a 2 cut across the board. They get to spend 98 of what they spent last year and we could be serious about actually bringing our budget intoline. Ive yet to meet someone who doesnt think isnt a good idea. And i have yet to meet anyone here willing to entertain the idea. There is a disconduct between washington, d. C. , and the people. If you were to ask the people of any states who are represented at least by the republican side and i venture to say, by some on the democrat side if you are to ask them do you think we could live with 98 of what we spent last year, i think the people would say, we ought to do it. Most people would have to deal with most money. Ive often the had to deal with a lot less than 98 of their previous salary. Government just keeps spending and spending and spending. So my vote will on my amendment will come up in the next few minutes and will be a 2 across the board, and i urge the other senators to vote in favor of it. At this time i call up my amendment 1019 and ask that it be reported by number. The presiding officer without objection, the clerk will report the amendment. By number. The clerk the senator from kentucky, mr. Paul, proposals amendment 1019 to amendment 948. Mr. Jones mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from alabama. Mr. Jones i promise not to bring up anything about College Football this past weekend. That will be for another discussion. But i rise today, mr. President , to urge my colleagues to take an important step to correct one of the great injustices in america, an injustice that many in this body may not have a full appreciation for because it just might not affect too many of your particular constituents. Im speaking of the injustices faced by Real Property owners known as heirs landowners. Typically African Americans in the deep south own land that has been informally passed down within families for several generations without any clear title. Sadly, that has often led to costly legal complications. Its prevented landowners from qualifying for federal assistance and in many cases resulted in actual loss of landownership. This issue overwhelmingly impacts African American landownership of which an estimated 60 is heirs property and created barriers to building generational wealth. Its no coincidence, mr. President , that this has impacted black landowners when you consider the challenges faced by previous generations of African Americans, faced to purchase that they had to face obstacles in purchasing the land. To obtain Legal Services and to have their wills prepared. The heirs property facing these families today is yet another vestige of the jim crow era that was with some exceptions has lasted far too long and that we must seek to correct. These injustices have had longlasting consequences for the families who have struggled to prove their claims, including the untold emotional cost for those who have seen their family land taken or sold out from under them. Because a significant portion of minorityownerred rural land was passed down through generations as heirs property, these farmers and ranchers have been unable to obtain farm numbers and, thus, access to a multitude of usda programs. Those programs are vital to these landowners who already face significant risk and uncertainty in their work. Thats why when came to the Senate Last Year i teamed up with my friend from south carolina, senator scott, to Work Together to initiative changes initiate changes that will start to help these farmers gain access to federal aid and help us better understand the full spectrum of challenges they face as a result of their heirs property status. Im really proud of the fact is that we secured several provisions in the final 2018 farm bill that addressing heirs property. I think want to thank senators roberts and stabenow for their assistant one of the biggest components will allow heirs Property Owners with the appropriate documentation to attain usda farm numbers so that they can gain access to the departments programs like Crop Insurance and disaster relief. However, that is just one of the obstacles they face today. Another provision focuses on consolidateing landownership. Heirs often faced with issues of, quote, fractional ownership among relatives. Their own family had the fractional shares of the land that has been passed down for generations and that increases the chances of one heir petitioning the land or causing the land for lost due to a tax default. Some states even require the entire property to be sold if the courts find that dividing the land would prejudice one owner. Under these circumstances, it is no wonder that between 1910 and 1997, an estimated 90 of land owned by African Americans in this country was lost due to heirs property issues. Mr. President , that statistic bears repeating and emphasizing. Between 1910 and 1997, an estimated 90 of land owned by African Americans in the United States was lost due to heirs property issues. But last year together we barked on the journey to right these wrongs much the 2018 farm bill Gave Authority to the usda secretary to make loans to eligible entities like cooperatives and Credit Unions that have experienced helping minority farmers so that they can relend funds to assist heirs with undivided interest to resolve ownership and succession on farmland. My amendment that we will be voting on shortly will provide 5 million to help get this program off the ground. That is the same amount of money in the house version appropriations bill. This is an important next step to fulfill the attempt of last years farm bill and to help these families maintain land that is rightfully theirs. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this amendment and continuing our efforts together to remove these barriers and right these wrongs. Mr. President , id like to call up amendment number 1067 as provided for under the previous order, and i ask that it be reported by number. The presiding officer without objection, the clerk will report the amendment by number. The clerk the senator from alabama, mr. Jones, proposes an amendment numbered 1067 to amendment numbered 948. Mr. Wicker mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from from mississippi is recognized. Mr. Wicker i ask there be two minutes equally divided between each vote in each series and each vote after the first be ten minutes in length. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection. Under the previous order, the question now occurs be on amendment number 961 offered by the senator from nevada, ms. Cortez masto. Is there a sufficient second . There appears to be. The clerk will call the roll. Vote vote vote the presiding officer has any senator not voted . Does any senator wish to change their vote . On this vote, then, the yeas are 90, the nays are one. The amendment is agreed to. There will be now two minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to amendment number 1019, offered by the senator from kentucky, mr. Paul. The senate will be in order. Senator leahy again, the senate will be in order. The senate is not in order. The senator from vermont. Mr. Leahy i thank the chair. Mr. President , i dont see the senator from kentucky on the floor. I will speak briefly in opposition to it and many others feel the same. His amendment will slash spending below the bipartisan budget act that we all negotiated with, slash it by 14 billion. The bureau of the census would be 3. 8 billion blow the below the previous level and cut the ability to fight wildfires. All you have to do is look at tens of thousands of acres in california, arizona, colorado, and see what that would do. We have 3. 6 billion to fight wildfires. He would eject those increases and cut it by 1. 6 billion. It would cut funding for roadways and bridges by over 1. 5 billion, eliminate new jobs. Mr. President , i will put my full statement in the record and i would oppose the amendment. The presiding officer without objection. Who yields time . Mr. Leahy mr. President , if nobody is seeking, i would move to yield back all time. The presiding officer all time is yielded back. The question somebody on the amendment. Is there a sufficient second . The clerk will call the roll. Vote vote vote the presiding officer does any senator wish to change their vote . Has any senator not voted . On this vote the yeas are 24. The nays are 67. The amendment is not agreed to. There will now be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to amendment number 1067 offered by the senator from alabama mr. Jones. The senate will come to order. The senate will come to order. The senate will come to order. The senator from alabama is recognized. Mr. Jones thank you, mr. President. Mr. President , this amendment will continue a process that we started last year in the farm bill to correct one of a grave injustices to the African American population here. This deals with property that has gone down through generations without clear title. These land owners have been denied access to usda programs and other instances. The presiding officer the senate is not in order. The senator from alabama. Mr. Jones thank you, mr. President. To continue, this amendment deals with heirs property. African americans have long since been denied property based on the fact that so much of it has been passed down through the generations without clear title. Theyve been denied access to the usda programs and also have lost property. Between 1910 and 1997, an estimated he 60 of land opponents by African Americans was lost. Last year egan to correct that, one of which was to begin a program at usda to loan money, to help folks get back on their feet to get them into the programs they need this. Amendment provides 5 million to start that program. It is the same amount of money thats in the house bill, and i would urge my colleagues to continue this opportunity to correct this wrong and right this injustice. Thank you, mr. President. I yield. The presiding officer who yields time in opposition . The time is yielded back. The question is on the amendment. Mr. Jones i ask for the yeas and nays, mr. President. The presiding officer is there a sufficient second . There is. The clerk will call the roll. Vote vote the presiding officer are there any senators wishing to vote or change their vote . If not, the yeas are 90, the nays are 1. The amendment is agreed to. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i send a cloture motion to the desk for the shelby substitute amendment number 948. The presiding officer the clerk will report. 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 amendment numbered 948 to h. R. 3055, an act making appropriations for the departments of commerce and justice, science and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2020, and for other purposes, signed by 17 senators as follows mr. Mcconnell i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i send a cloture motion to the desk for the underlying bill. The presiding officer the clerk will report. 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 calendar number 141, h. R. 3055, an act making appropriations for the departments of commerce and justice, science and related agencies, for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2020, and for other purposes, signed by 17 senators as follows mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the reading of the names be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to calendar number 140, h. R. 2740. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk motion to proceed to h. R. 2740, an act making appropriations for the departments of labor, health, and human services, and so forth. Mr. Mcconnell i send a cloture motion to the desk for the motion to proceed. The presiding officer the clerk will report. 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 motion to proceed to calendar number 140, h. R. 2740, an act making appropriations for the departments of labor, health and human services, and education and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2020, and for other purposes, signed by 17 senators as follow mr. Mcconnell i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent the mandatory quorum calls be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to executive session and the consideration of the following nomination executive calendar 467. The presiding officer without objection. The clerk will report the nomination. The clerk nomination, department of justice, david m. De vi. Illers of ohio to be United StatesDistrict Attorney for the Southern District of ohio. Mr. Mcconnell i ask the senate vote on the nomination with no intervening action or debate, that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, that the president be immediately notified of the senates action, that no further motions be in order, and that any statements relating to the nomination be printed in the record, and the senate resume legislative session. The presiding officer without objection. Is there further debate on the nomination . If not, all in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The nomination is confirmed. The president will be immediately notified of the senates action, and the senate will resume legislative session. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the committee on judiciary be discharged from further consideration of s. 134 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk s. 134, a bill to amend title 18, United States code, with regard to stalking. Provided is there objection to proceeding to the measure . Without objection, the senate will proceed. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that the toomey amendment at the desk be agreed to and the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed and that motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that if cloture is invoked, the following deadline for the firstdegree amendments for the shelby substitute amendment number 948 and the underlying bill h. R. 3055 be 2 30 p. M. Tomorrow. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 00 a. M. Tuesday, october 29. Further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning business be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, morning business be closed, and the senate resume consideration of h. R. 3055. Finally, that the Senate Recess from 12 30 until 2 15 to allow for the caucus meetings. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell so if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. The presiding officer the Senate Stands adjourned until Senate Stands adjourned until focus was the agriculture and commerce of justice and science inferior environment and transportation department. Well have more live summit coverage with the governor comes down tomorrow. Right here on cspan. Tomorrow, boeing his ceo and chief engineer will be on capitol hill testifying on the safety of the 737 that their plate. You can watch the Senate CommerceCommittee Hearing live Tuesday Morning ten eastern over in cspan2 three. Online cspan. Org partisan live on the free cspan2 radio app. Will make any easier for you watching the impeachment inquiry. Search all of our coverage on all of the congressional briefings and hearings as well is the administrations response during the impeachment inquiry process. Log on to our impeachment inquiry webpage on cspan2 impeachment. Your fast and easy way to watch cspan2 his unfenced or unfiltered coverage anytime. Cspan2 tonight on the communicators, when it comes to facebook, we recently find the company, headed to come up with 5 billion awareness of mexico. Update your second question first the u. S. Taj treasury and in terms of the monetary, obviously the monetary is only one aspect of the relief that we obtain from facebook yes 5 billion penalty but also brought injunctive relief that constrains the way in which facebook can handle consumer data moving forward. After interviewer tonight at 8 00 p. M. Eastern. On the communicators. I cspan2. Now the secretary and more and joy chief of staff and more millie, reveal new details that ended with the death