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

Shelter us until the violent storms are passed. Let your glory shine on your lawmakers. May their thoughts, words, and deeds prompt people to glorify you. Inspire our senators to place their confidence completely in you. Eternal god, you are our salvation. We will trust and not be afraid, for you are our strength and song. We pray in your loving name. Amen. The presiding officer please join me in the pledge. 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. The presiding officer the clerk will read a communication to the senate. The clerk washington d. C. , january 7, 2020. To the senate under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable cindy hydesmith a senator from the state of mississippi, to perform the duties of the chair. Signed chuck grassley, president pro tempore. Mr. Mcconnell madam president . The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i spoke yesterday about President Trumps decision to remove the chief architect of tehrans terrorism from the battlefield, and i discussed the senates obligation to approach this matter in a serious, sober, and factual way. It is right for senators to want to learn more about the president s major decision. Once again, i encourage all of our colleagues to attend the classified briefing, which the administration will provide tomorrow. Secretary of defense, secretary of state, chairman of the joint chiefs, and the c. I. A. Director will give classified context behind the president s decision, and theyll discuss the administrations strategy to protect our personnel and defend our nations interest in the new landscape. Id ask every senator on both sides to bring an open mind to the briefing. And, in particular, we should all remember that the history of iranian aggression began long long before this news cycle or this presidency. In the decades since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, as the white house has changed parties and our administrations have changed strategies, tehrans simmering antiamerican hatred, proxy violence, and steady support for terrorism worldwide have remained entirely constant through all of these years. In effect, iran has been at war with the United States for years. While they have taken painstoa void direct conflict to avoid direct conflict, irans authoritarian regime has shown no conpunks about kidnapping, torture, and killing americans since its earliest days or iraqis or fellow iranians, for that matter. From the 52 diplomatic personnel held hostage in tehran for 442 days back in 1979 to the hundreds of u. S. Service members killed in bombings carried out by irans proxies, beirut in 1983, riyadh in 1995, khobar in 1996, to the hundreds more killed or maimed in iraq by the explosives and indirectfire attacks ordered by general soleimani himself, to the constant flows of resources and equipment that prop up despots and terrorist organizations throughout the region, irans game plan has been an open book use thirdparty terrorism to inflict death and suffering on its enemies while avoiding direct confrontation. The threat iran poses is certainly not new. Its violence is not some unique reaction to President Trump or Prime Minister netanyahu or any other current leader. Violence runs in the bloodstream of this evil regime. In particular, our colleagues who apparently want to blame President Trump for iranian profligate Foreign Policy should reflect on the recent history of the Previous Administration. Iran exploited president obamas withdrawal from iraq. Soleimani and his agents filled the void dramatically expanding iranian influence inside iraq. They were able to impose a sectarian vision on iraq that disenfranchised sunnis, fueled the rise of isis, and plunged the region into chaos. And over in syria, more weakness from the Obama Administration opened yet another door for iran. The Democratic Administration failed to confront the Iranianbacked Assad regime as it slaughtered literally hundreds of thousands of syrians and displaced millions more. Once again, amid the chaos, soleimani worked and thrived. Of course, all of this was the backdrop for the brazen legacyshopping Nuclear Application that sent billions of dollars to fuel irans further violence. Even my friend, the current democratic leader, knew at the time, because he himself voted for a resolution of disapproval on president obamas deal. Senator schumer said at that time, quote, after ten years if iran is the same nation as it is today, we will be worse off worse off with this agreement than without it. That was the democratic leader, who opposed the Iran Nuclear Deal of president obama. Well, the democratic leader was prescient. Thats exactly what happened. The Previous Administration failed to confront iran when necessary, so the mullahs used their windfall from the Disastrous Nuclear Deal to down on the hegemonic as doesster all across the middle east. The Democratic Administration just had eight years to deal with the growing threat posed by iran. They failed. Demonstrably, iran was stronger and more lethal at thent of the Obama Presidency than at the beginning. So id ask my democratic colleagues today, do not rush to lash out at President Trump when he actually demonstrates that he means what he says. When he enforces his red lines, when he takes real action to counter lethal threats against americans, wishing away tensions with iran is really not an option. The iranians have spent decades making that perfectly clear to all of us. The question is whether we, as a body, would prefer the administration stand by as iran kills americans or whether were prepared to work with the president to stand up to tehrans terrorism and shadow wars. So, madam president , on another matter, every day that House Democrats refuse to stand behind their historically partisan impeachment deepens the embarrassment for the leaders who choose to take our nation down this road. You cant say we didnt warn them. You cant say they didnt warn themselves. It was less than one year ago that Speaker Pelosi said impeachment is so divisive so divisive unless theres something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, i dont think we should go down this path. That was the speaker a year ago. And back during the clinton impeachment, it was congressman jerry nadler who said, quote, an impeachment substantially supported by one of our Major Political parties and largely opposed by the other will lack legitimately legitimacy. Will lack legitimacy. Well, chairman nadler was right 20 years ago. At this point they may wish theyd taken their own advice. Instead, what the country got was the most rushed, least thorough, and most unfair president ial impeachment in american history. And now the prosecution seems to have gotten cold feet. Nearly three weeks after the rush vote they claimed was so urgent, they are still debating whether or not they even want to see the trial proceed. They have voted for it they voted for it three weeks ago. House democrats say theyre waiting for some mythical leverage. Ive had difficulty figuring out where the leverage is. Apparently this is their proposition if the senate does not agree to break with our own unanimous, bipartisan precedent from 1999 and agree to let Speaker Pelosi handdesign a different procedure for this senate trial, then they might not ever dump this mess in our lap. One cynical political game right on top of another. It was not enough for the house to blow through its own norms and precedents and succumb to a partisan temptation of a subjective impeachment that every other house had resisted for 230 years. Now now they need to erode our Constitutional Order even further. They want to invent a new sort of pretrial hostage negotiation where the house gets to run the show over here in the senate. Meanwhile, theyre creating exactly the kind of unfair and dangerous delay in impeachment that Alexander Hamilton specifically specifically warned against in the federalist papers. This is already the longest delay between Impeachment Vote and the delivery of the houses impeachment message in american history. Already. Its almost as though this House Democrat majority systemically took all the framers warnings about partisan abuses of the impeachment power, took everything the founders said not to do not to do and thought, now theres an idea. Why dont we try that . Impeaching a president is just about the most serious action that any house of representatives can ever take. How inappropriate and how embarrassing to rush forward on a partisan basis and then treat and treat, madam president , what youve done like a political toy. How contemptuous of the American People to tell them for weeks that you feel this extraordinary step is so urgent and then delay it indefinitely for political purposes. How embarrassing but also how revealing. Speaker pelosis actions over the past three weeks have confirmed what Many Americans suspected about this impeachment process all along. That House Democrats have only ever wanted to abuse this great constitutional process for partisan ends. Thats exactly what they had in mind. To use this grave constitutional process for partisan ends right from the beginning. Well, heres where we are. The senate is not about to let the speaker corrode our own senate process and precedence in the same way. The first organizing resolution for the 1999 clinton trial was approved unanimously. 1000. It left mid trial questions to the middle of the trial where they belong. If that unanimous bipartisan precedent was good enough for president clinton, it should be our template for President Trump. Fair is fair. The speaker of the house is not going to handwrite new rules for the senate. Its not going to happen. Look, these are serious matters. At some point in time, democrats rage at this democrats rage at this particular president will begin to fade, but the sad precedence they are setting will live on. The American People deserve a lot better than this. 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, Small Business administration, carnz Jovita Carranza of Jovita Carranza of illinois to be administrator. Mr. Schumer madam president. The presiding officer the democratic leader. Mr. Schumer no quorum. Thank you, madam president. Now, in the aftermath of the u. S. Military operation that took out iranian general soleimani, we need to be asking the right questions and remain cleareyed about what might happen next. Ive grown increasingly concerned about the strike against soleimani and what it might mean for the safety of american troops in the region and the future of americas involvement in the middle east. The president has promised that he would not drag the American People into another endless war in the middle east. The president s actions, however, have seemingly increased the risk that we could be dragged into exactly such a war. Unfortunately, this contradiction is far too typical of how the president has conducted Foreign Policy over the last three years. The president s decisionmaking has been erratic, its been impulsive without regard for the longterm consequences of americas actions abroad. He prefers reality show diplomacy and photo ops with foreign leaders to substantive progress. As a result, the president s Foreign Policy has been dangerously incompetent. When you look at nearly every hot spot around the globe, hes made the situation worse, not better. North korea, three years after failed, quote, negotiations, north Korea Remains belligerent, defiant, and intent on developing icbms. Syria, after years of sacrifice and struggle against isis, one impulsive decision to withdraw our troops risks undoing all our progress. Russia, every meeting the president holds with putin always seems to result in putin coming out ahead. We are now at risk of the situation with iran heading for a similar deterioration. The president s Foreign Policy actions so far in north korea, in syria, in russia, and just about everywhere else can be described in two words erratic, impulsive. I am worried a few months from now, his iran policy will be described in exactly the same way. As the president s circle of advisors has gotten smaller and more insular, as nearly all the dissident voices have been forced out of the administration, there seems to be no one left to tell the president no. At times like this, skeptical voices need to ask the right questions, and congress, Congress Must provide a check on the president and assert our constitutional role in matters of war and peace. In my view, President Trump does not, does not have authority for a war with iran. There are several important pieces of legislation by both senators kaine and sanders to further limit, to limit further escalation with iran and assert kongs prerogative on these matters. Both should receive votes in the senate. Also, i plan to ask pointed questions of this administration at a briefing for the gang of eight later this afternoon. We need answers to some crucial questions, and there are many. Here are the two that are most on americans minds what are irans most probable responses to the strike on soleimani . And are we prepared for each of these responses, and how effective will our counterresponses be . There was some alarming confusion yesterday about the militarys position on the future of u. S. Troops in iraq. What in truth does the soleimani strike mean for the longterm stability of iraq and our presence there . How does the Administration Plan to prevent an escalation of hostilities and the potential for large scale confrontation with iran in the middle east. These are just some of the questions the administration has to answer. The safety and security of our american troops and of American People are at stake. Now, on impeachment. This morning, i returned to the most pressing question facing my colleagues at this moment will the senate conduct a fair impeachment trial of the president of the United States of america . The framers suspected that any impeachment would ignite the passions of the public and naturally would create partisans who are either sympathetic or animical to the president s interests. But thats why the framers gave the senate the responsibility to try impeachment cases. When it came to a matter as serious as the potential removal of a president , they believed the senate was the only body of government with enough independence to rise above partisan considerations and act with the necessary impartiality. Will we live up to that vision . Right now, the republican leader and i have very different ideas about what it means to conduct a fair trial. Democrats believe a fair trial considers all the relevant facts and allows for witnesses and documents. We dont know what the evidence will say. It may exculpate the president. It may further incriminate him. We only want a trial that examines all the facts and lets the chips fall where they may. The republican leader, in contrast, apparently believes that a trial should feature no witnesses, no relevant documents, and proceed according to the desires of the white house, the defendant. The republican leader seems more concerned with being able to claim he went through the constitutional motions than actually carrying out our constitutional duty. Because the republican leader has been completely unwilling to help get the facts for a senate trial, the question will have to be decided by a majority of senators in this chamber. That means four republican senators at any point can compel the senate to call the fact witnesses and subpoena the relevant documents that we know will shed additional light on the truth. Now ive heard several arguments from the other side why we shouldnt vote on witnesses and documents at the outset of the trial. The republican leader and several republican senators have suggested that each side complete their arguments and then we decide on witnesses. This idea is as backward as it sounds. Trials should be informed by witnesses and documents. Theyre not an afterthought. Theyre reasoning. Mcconnells reasoning has an alice in wonderland logic to it. Lets have each side make their case, he says, and then vote on whether the prosecutors and defense should have all the Available Evidence to make those cases. We know whats going on here. Our republican colleagues, even leader mcconnell, knows that the American People want witnesses and documents. 60 of over 60 of republicans do. So theyre afraid to say no, but they dont want to vote on them because that might offend the defendant in this trial, President Trump. So theyre trying to kick the can down the road. Its a strange position for republican colleagues to take. Theyre willing to kick the can down the road, as i said, on questions of witnesses and documents, but theyre not willing to say when or if they will ever support them. Just yesterday one of the four witnesses we requested, National Security advisor bolton, said hes ready to testify and has new information to share related to the case at hand. Republicans were dodging and twisting themselves into pretzels trying to explain why someone with direct knowledge of what the president did shouldnt testify under oath immediately. I believe that illustrates the fundamental weakness of the republican position. None of our republican colleagues can advance an argument about why this evidence shouldnt be part of a trial from the beginning. To put it another way, none of our republicans have advanced an argument about why it would make sense for the senate to wait until the end of the trial to obtain all the evidence. Make no mistake, on the question of witnesses and documents, republicans may run but they cant hide. There will be votes at the beginning on whether to call the four witnesses weve proposed and subpoena the documents weve identified. America and the eyes of history will be watching what my republican colleagues do. Another argument ive heard from the other side is that its not the senates job to go outside of the record established by the house impeachment probe. Id reply, it very much is the senates job. The constitution gives the senate the sole power to try impeachment cases, not review impeachment cases. Not go over impeachment cases. The sole power to try them. It is not the senates job to put the house impeachment proceedings on a weeklong rerun on cspan. Our job is to try the case, to hold a real and fair and honest trial. That means examining the arguments, that means letting the prosecutors request witnesses and documents to make their case. And this is not just my view. Its been the view of every Senate Facing an impeachment trial in our history. Every single impeachment trial of a president has featured witnesses. Andrew johnsons impeachment trial had 41 witnesses. Several of my republican colleagues here today voted for witnesses in the clinton trial, except for one solitary case every impeachment trial of any official in the history of the senate and there have been a bunch had witnesses. A trial isnt a trial without evidence. A trial without all the facts is a farce. If the president is ultimately acquitted at the end of a sham trial, his acquittal will be meaningless. Thats why the president himself should demand a full and fair trial. President trump, if youve got nothing to hide, if you think the case is as flimsy as you say, call your chief of staff. Tell him to release the documents. Call leader mcconnell and tell him what youve already told the country, that you would love for your aides to testify in a senate trial. Mr. President trump, if you believe youve done nothing wrong, you have nothing to be afraid of from witnesses and documents. And contrarywise, if youre afraid of witnesses and documents, most americans will believe youve got something to hide if you fear you have done something very, very wrong. If my republican colleagues believe the president has done nothing wrong, they should have nothing to fear from witnesses and documents. In fact, they should welcome them. What better way to prove to the American People that we are treating this matter with the gravity it requires . What better way to prove to their constituents that theyre not just doing the president s bidding and not just making this a sham trial because of obeisance to the president of the United States. Because if every Senate Republican votes to prevent witnesses and documents from coming before the senate, if every republican senator votes for a rigged trial that hides the truth, the American People will see that the Republican Senate is part of a large and awful coverup. I yield the floor. A senator madam president. The presiding officer the senator from tennessee. Mrs. Blackburn thank you, mr. President thank you, madam president. I have come to the floor today starting this new year and really here to encourage my friends on each side of the aisle to approach this coming legislative session with some optimism, because there are some good things that we can do. You know, we come to the floor and we hear about iran and we hear about soleimani, and there are differences of opinion there. Im one of those, i represent a Major Military post, and i know that so many of our men and women in uniform said, you know what . This should have been done long ago. This is a known terrorist, conducted terrorist attacks on six continents, even tried it here in the u. S. And they felt like the president was justified. We hear about impeachment. And of course we know, and its been widely reported, that our friends across the aisle and over in the house, they started three years ago trying to find something that they could impeach donald trump on. Just something. It was going to be emoluments, or it was going to be collusion, or it was going to be coercion or russia, or it was going to be bribery. There had to be something there because you know what . They just dont like the guy. They dont like him. So they have been at it nonstop. They let that get in the way of some good things that people would like to get done, and for the next few minutes i would like to encourage us to think beyond subpoenas and trials and negativity and witness statements and instead focus in on three things that are right in front of us to two successfully negotiated trade deals that will benefit farmers, manufacturers, Small Business owners and producers not only in my state of tennessee, but across the entire country. In the volunteer state alone, we have 967 foreignbased businesses, and they have invested 37. 3 billion in capital improvements, and currently they employ more than 147,000 tennesseans. That is good for our state. And trade is important to us in tennessee. Insourcing these jobs. And of particular importance to us is the maintaining great trade relations with japan. And you know what is so amazing, madam president . We have so many people that didnt even know that the japan trade agreement went into effect on january 1. The Mainstream Media was so busy, so busy focused on impeachment and other things, they didnt even realize it that this was a deal that will do a good job for us. Our former u. S. Ambassador to japan, who was a tennesseean, ambassador hagerty, had negotiated this before he left. And this recently agreed to japan trade deal will support 40,000 jobs that are already provided by japanese companies. The new deal will also solidify tennessees relationships with japanese partners like nissan, north america, toyota, bridgestone, nidaq, all with the presence in tennessee, all employing tennesseans. Its going to create greater Market Access to tennessees agriculture products, specifically, pork, cheese, and wine. And it will eliminate or lower tariffs on 7. 2 billion worth of u. S. Exports, including beef, which will put tennessee and American Farmers on a level Playing Field with their competitors. Thats a good thing for our agriculture community. And, madam president , i cannot overstate how big a win this is for tennesseans and for americans. And there is more on the horizon. Later this month President Trump will solidify a trade deal with china that will eliminate or roll back the section 301 tariffs and provide some muchneeded protection for our patents and trademarks and copyrights that will allow innovators and our Creative Community like our tennessee songwriters and screen writers and tv producers and our actors to enjoy the benefits of a free market. This has been a long time coming. And theres a lot more to do. And, madam president , you may recall that at the end of 2018 not 2019, but at the end of 2018 President Trump notified congress that he would soon provide us with implementing legislation for the newly signed United Statesmexicocanada trade agreement. We call it the usmca. Now at that moment, at the end of 2018, our colleagues in the house were put on notice that this highly anticipated and desperately needed legislation was on its way. Get ready, it is coming to you. And at that moment the House Majority leadership, they were presented with an opportunity to prioritize American Workers over partisan politicking, but what was their choice . Their choice was to choose partisan politicking and leave the American Workers on the sideline, leave these auto manufacturing workers on the sideline while they focused in on partisan bickering. We all know what happened. In 2019, petty revenge games took priority and trade relations with our closest allies were shoved aside to accommodate a yearslong campaign. As i said at the beginning of my remarks, three years. They wanted to undo the 2016 election. In may instead of prioritizing the creation of nearly 176,000 jobs, House Democrats decided to spend their time drafting subpoenas. In june instead of focusing on the 12 million jobs already depending on good trade relations with canada and mexico, House Democrats held four votes on these subpoenas. It was the same story in july, in august, in september. House democrats pushed forward with their impeachment ambitions at all costs. They had to do it. They had made a promise. They were going to go get him. They neglected the owners of over 120,000 american Small Businesses that export goods throughout north america. They put themselves and their priorities before the needs of the American People. Even as late as october, the speaker of the house continued to stall inventing excuse after excuse when it came to pushing the usmca negotiations to the sidelines in favor of partisan attacks. Even members of her own caucus sought to distance themselves from those attacks. By the end of the year the House Majoritys resolve to ignore their duty finally began to splinter. They struck a deal with the white house, but even then the compromises they pushed for were barely, hardly worth wasting an entire years worth of potential economic opportunity. A lot of opportunity cost to businesses to make way for House Democrats partisan bickering. We have brokered successful trade deals with japan, with china, deals that americas farmers, manufacturers, producers, and Small Businesses have waited for for a very long time, and now after years worth of delays, excuses and outright obstruction on the part of House Democrats, were forced to ask those farmers and workers to wait just a little bit longer. It real lay isnt fair, and it certainly is not what is best for our nations economy; certainly not what is best for tennessee. But in the coming weeks, i encourage my colleagues to stay focused on policies that may not dominate the headlines but that are dominating the thoughts of tennesseans from one end of the state to the other and certainly of americans all across this country who are looking for trade opportunities and opportunities to grow their businesses in this robust and growing economy. I yield the floor. Mr. Durbin madam president . The presiding officer the senator from illinois. Mr. Durbin madam president , this morning the republican majority leader took to the floor and spoke at great length about the execution of general soleimani. General soleimani, who was the head of the military forces in iran, was killed by a drone strike at the authorization of the president of the United States, donald trump. Senator mcconnell this morning made a lengthy case about the background of general soleimani. Its hard to argue with the facts that he brought to the floor, but in fact i would concede and most would degree agree that general soleimani was an architect of terrorism and during the course of his career there is american blood on his hand. Thats a fact. But it wasnt a fact discovered in the last few weeks. President s of both Political Parties have known this about general soleimani for a long period of time. They have had opportunities to end his life, and yet they didnt seize those opportunities. President s of both parties decided that it was prudent not to do it. The question thats been raised now is the why this president at this moment made the decision to execute the general. We know that this general and his past activity have had an impact not only on the United States but on the middle east and many other innocent people. But the question that has been raised is why at this moment . Why did it make sense at this moment . But for a few members of the senate, most of us have not had extensive briefings or an opportunity to ask questions of this administration about the timing of this critical decision. Well get our chance tomorrow. There is a classified briefing, where representatives at the highest level of this administration will come before us and explain why they believed that the president s decision at this hometown was the right thing at this moment was the right thing to do for the United States of america. Some of us come to the floor and defend that decision and question that decision really have not had the benefit of a classified briefing, which will be offered to members tomorrow. I am going to withhold any comments about those elements, as much as i can possibly say publicly, until i get the chance for more information. But this much i do know. Regardless of that decision on general soleimani, we know for certain that the constitution of the United States empowers the American People, through their elected representatives in the senate and the house, to make the ultimate decision about whether the United States will go to war with iran or any other country on earth. We have learned bitterly that the ignorance or refusal of congress to exercise that constitutional right can be disastrous. Many of us have memories of the war in vietnam, where 58,000 american lives were lost, 2 million vietnamese were killed, and 170 billion now, in todays terms, 1 trillion, were spent son a conflict that divided america and cost so Many American lives. Congress did not exercise the Authority Given to it under the constitution to make the initial decision about that war in vietnam, and many times thereafter people said, why didnt you step up and make the decision before this costly mistake was made . If there is to be a war winner, i join with senator kaine of virginia in saying that the American People once again need to make this decision under the constitution through congress, article 1, section 8, provides in clause senior senator 1 that only in clause 11 that only congress has the power to declare war. If we are going to proceed down a path of war with iran, the American People have to have debate. I have seen colleagues come before the senate with flimsy evidence, or even misleading evidence to justify military action. I know the bitter consequences of war, even the best american troops are going to suffer casualties and deaths in the execution of a war. Let us make certain that if we are going to move forward with hostilities against iran, we do it under our constitutional requirement to have a fulsome debate before the American People and an official declaration of war before we move forward. We owe the American People nothing less. Secondly, madam president , i would like to address the issue of the impeachment trial, which the Senate Majority leader, senator mcconnell, raised this morning. Before i was elected to congress, i made a living as a lawyer and took many cases to trial. Few, if any, ever moved to a final decision without the introduction of evidence. The evidence, of course, consists of documentation, sometimes physical evidence, but often the testimony of people hortiwere witnesses who were witnesses to events critical to a jurys final decision. This impeachment trial should be nothing less. This is an opportunity for us, a rare opportunity in american history, to come forward and to demonstrate that we are going to hand a trial in the United States to handle a trial in the United States senate in a professional manner. For the majority leader, senator mcconnell, to announce that there will be no witnesses, there will be no evidence in advantages is the basic denial of a trial. If this president believes, as he said so often, that the charges in the impeachment articles do not rise to any serious or credible level, then certainly theres evidence that could prove his case. He will have his managers on the floor of the senate when the articles are presented to us. They can certainly call witnesses. They can bring evidence before us. But so far the record is not very strong for that to happen. One of the articles of impeachment, the second one, relates to the president s refusal to cooperate with the investigation in the house, refusal to provide documentation and witnesses. For a president whos arguing theres really nothing to these charges, he has refused to provide even the most basic evidence to prove his point. If it exists. What we are saying on the democratic side is if theres to be a trial for impeachment in the United States senate, commonsense and the common sense and the constitution require that it be a fair trial with evidence for not only the senators but the American People to see themselves. What we have asked for so far is limited in terms of what we are looking for four witnesses and documents that can be clearly identified. Those are things which i think should be part of this trial record, so that regardless of the outcome of the trial, the American People believe that it was handled fairly in a dispassionate and nonpartisan way. Madam president , id now ask unanimous consent that the statement im about to be making be placed in a separate part in the record. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Durbin thanks madam president. Ive come to the floor many times to speak to the American People about an industry, the most heavily federally subsidized industry in America Today. No, its not a defense contractor, has nothing to do with american agriculture. What im speaking of is the forprofit colleges and universities of the United States. These colleges and universities, sadly, have i think weren a notorious record when have written a notorious record in comes to their students. They have often cheated them, luring them to sign up for expensive, often worthless College Courses with false promises about inflated outcomes, if they graduate. At the end, the students are left with massive student debts, a diploma that is worthless, hours that cant be transferred anywhere to any other Reputable College or universities, and the prospects of a job, which are almost impossible to typed. In many cases, the sham operations actually go out of business in the middle of the students education. As an industry, forprofit colleges need to be remembered for two numbers two numbers that tell the story of this industry. 9 of High School Graduates go to forprofit colleges and universities in the United States. The university of phoenix, devry youve heard their names. They advertise quite widely. 9 of High School Students are attracted to these forprofit colleges and university us, but 33 of all the student loan defaults in the United States are the students who chose to attend those colleges and universities. Whats going on here . 9 of the students and 33 of the student loan defaults . The answer is obvious the expense of education at forprofit colleges and is too high. Students acquire more debt than they would if they attended community colleges, city colleges or other universities and colleges which have good reputations. Secondly, the education is substandard. You can advertise everything online about this great education. I can recall an ad that was on television here in the washington, d. C. , area a few years ago, and it showed a young woman, probably a teenager, not much beyond it, in her pajamas on her bed saying, im going to college on my laptop here. Well, that kind of easy education many times is no education at all the, and at forprofit colleges and universities, too many students end up taking these expensive courses that are meaningless. Turns out none of these courses can be transferred to some other school or university. When you take these courses and you spend your money and you spend your time and you end up with socalled College Credits by forprofit colleges and universities, no one else will take them. No one else accepts them. They laugh at them. And then the students, if they can hang in there long enough with massive student debt end up with a diploma thats a joke, a diploma that cant be lead to a job. Thats what the for the colleges and universities are all about. And despite the fact that they have been pretty widespread across the United States, many of them have gone bankrupt. Well, what happens to you as a student if youve gone to one of these universities that made all these promises you to along the way about taking College Courses and how its going to end up being an education that will lead too job and it turns out they were all lies . Fraud, deceit, deception. Youve got the debt, right . Youve got the student debt, but you cant find a job. You went through four, five years of these socalled courses at forprofit colleges and universities, and the only thing you have to show for it is a debt thats going to decide the rest of your life, if youre not careful. Well now its not just the forprofit College Industry that is burdening and exploiting our students. I come to the floor this morning because, sadly, at this moment in time, an agent of our government an agency of our government is complicit. Secretary devos has made a decision. After a forprofit college defrauds a student, lies to the student, federal law gives that student the right to have his or her federal student loan discharged under a provision known as borrower defense. Follow me. Ive gone to a school, incurred a debt, they lied to me about their courses lead to go a certain degree or to a job, now the college is going out of business, ive still got the debt, but under american law im protected as a student. The law says if you were defrauded, you can use something called a borrower defense to discharge the student debt, wipe it clean, and get another chance at life. Congress has rightly decided with this law that we shouldnt leave students hold being the bag when these schools should be held responsible. Is that something that most americans agree with . Take a look at this new american poll. Americans agree that students should have their federal Student Loan Debt canceled if their college deceived them. Republicans, 71 agree with that statement. Democrats, 87 . 78 of the American People say if these colleges lied you to or, the students shouldnt end up holding the bag. Pretty obvious. But sadly, secretary of Education Betsy Devos is trying to make it difficult, if not impossible, for defrauded student borrowers to get the relief. Not only has secretary devos allowed a backlog of listen to this more than 223,000 claims by students with student debts who blame they were defrauded by these colleges and universities, 223,000 cued up, waiting in line for this department of education to implement the law, she has failed to approve one single claim of the 223,000 who say they were defrauded. Not one. She couldnt find one, not one student who was defrauded of the 223,000. Now she wants to change the rules to make it impossible for these student borrowers to be relieved from their student debt when the schools had deceived them and defrauded them. She has put forward a new rule that places unreasonable burdens on these student borrowers to seek and receive relief. Under this rule, the applicants looking for discharge of their student debt must prove that the school intentionally misled them. Now, how is a student supposed to do that, prove intention on the part of the school . Borrowers must also file a claim within three years of leaving the school even though the conduct is not discovered until many years later. The new rule also requires borrowers to apply individually instead of receiving automatic discharge on the part of a group that has been harmed by similar widespread misconduct. Weve seen it before. Some of these names may ring a bell with you. Corinthian colleges. They were all over the United States. They went bankrupt. It turned out they were defrauding students, saying go take these courses, you can qualify for these jobs. Turns out it was a lie. After they went bankrupt under the Obama Administration, many of the students as a group were protected by this law, the borrower defense rule. Secretary devos says every student, youre on your own at this point. Lawyer up. Youre going to have to prove your case as an individual. This new rule also requires borrowers to apply individually instead of receiving this automatic discharge which was the case under the Obama Administration. With this new rule, secretary devos is saying to borrowers we are not on your side. You are on your own. In addition, if a borrowers claim for relief is denied, they would not be allowed to appeal under secretary devos new rule. Even if more evidence of deception or misconduct is found. This new rule puts taxpayers on the hook for relief, shielding schools from being held directly accountable by students. The devos rule eliminates the current restrictions on institutions and mandatory arbitrations as conditions of enrollment. These practices which you have seen over and over again by corinthian and i. T. T. Tech requires borrowers to sign away their rights when they go to school. Think about that. Youre 19 years old. Youre starting your College Education. Youre going before one of these schools. They push in front of you that you have to sign up for 10,000 or 20,000 in tuition and sign the following contract. There you are at age 19 without much Life Experience being asked to sign up. Do you know what the fine print says . The fine print says if im lying to you, you cant go to court. Most students dont even understand that. They sign it because they are off to college. Finally our students to be educated, have a life, a future. They dont know they are being deceived by these schools. And now secretary devos has said sorry, students, you sign that signed that paper when you were 19 and now youre stuck with it. Its impossible for student borrowers to get relief under this new rule by secretary devos. According to an analysis by the institute of College Access and success, the new secretary devos rule will end up forgiving at most 3 of the students who have been in some ways exploited by these schools. And they will be able to recoup just 33 of that relief from the schools themselves. Taxpayers will foot the difference. The current rule is estimated at 53 . Secretary devos has loaded up the u. S. Department of education with people who were in the forprofit College Industry. These are folks who are difficultizing rules good for their industry but not good for the american student borrowers. The bottom line is the devos rule makes it harder for borrowers to receive relief and the schools to commit the who commit the misconduct will pay for a lower portion of the relief thats given. I introduced Senate Joint Resolution 56 last september to overturn secretary devos borrower defense rule. Representative suzy lee introduced a companion resolution in the house. Many organizations have endorsed my bill. Leadership conference on civilian and human rights, aflcio, American Federation of teachers, National Education association, student veterans of america, the naacp, but theres one most recently that i want to share with you because i think its important that members of the senate of both Political Parties realize that we now have a major organization, a Nonpartisan Organization that speaks for the veterans of america who have endorsed this effort. I have in my hand a letter submitted to me by james oxford. Goes by the nickname bill. National commander of the American Legion of the United States of america, sent to me on december 18, 2019. He tells the story of veterans, veterans who were exploited by these forprofit colleges and universities. They served our country, earning our g. I. Bill of rights, then losing their benefits to these schools, these worthless schools, and going further in debt to pay for education. Commander oxford sends this letter. I ask unanimous consent, mr. President , that it be entered into the record at this point. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Durbin thank you, mr. President. Let me read just one paragraph from commander oxford. As veterans are greafg targeted due to their service to this country, they must be afforded the right to group relief. The department of educations borrower defense rule eliminates this right, forcing veterans to individually prove their claim, share the specific type of financial harm they suffered, and prove the school knowingly made substantial misrepresentations. The preponderance of evidence required for this process is so onerous that the department of education itself estimated that only 3 of applicants would get relief. Whether you are a democrat or republican, dont go waving that flag and telling everybody how much you love our veterans and ignore this letter. The leader of the Largest Veterans Group in the United States of america, a bipartisan, nonpartisan group, has told us that these schools exploited veterans and secretary devos new rule means that these veterans will never get relief. 97 will never get any relief. In a matter of a few days, maybe weeks, i will be calling this matter to the floor. Im asking my colleagues on both sides of the aisle put the party labels outside, hang them up in the cloakroom, come on inside here. Stand up for students across america who did their best to get a College Education and were deceived in the process. Stand up for students who are loaded up with student debt which could destroy their lives. Give them a fighting chance for a future by saying that secretary devos borrower defense rule is unfair to veterans, unfair to students, and unfair to american families. I ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, do the right thing when the time comes. Give these borrowers a Second Chance at being financially independent americans who can contribute to their families and our National Economic growth. For our cens, please join me in making sure that secretary devos borrower defense rule is disapproved by both the house and the senate. Mr. President , i yield the floor. A senator thank you, mr. President. Mr. Murphy before my remarks, i would like to make a unanimous consent request for floor privileges for the First Six Months of this calendar year for a list of interns in my office, student interns. That list is aileen murphy, raylin debazi, julia courtina, chris obrien, and megan brown. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Murphy thank you, mr. President. Mr. President , at a time of International Turmoil and crisis like this, all of us, i think, are sometimes prone to hyperbole. I count myself as part of that club, and i endeavor to do better. It doesnt serve this body well to warn of bad decisions that could lead to war. If were only doing it to serve political ends or to bloody up a political opponent. Crying wolf also anesthetizes the public and risks dulling the countrys senses for a moment when the peril is real. Any time were considering asking the men and women of our armed forces and their families to make further sacrifices for their country, we have to treat those moments with the gravity that they deserve. And so let me state at the outset of my remarks that there are Important Reasons why i believe that both iran and the United States do not want to enter into a conventional conflict that would likely involve the United States taking steps to remove the Supreme Leader from power and which would likely involve an invasion that would make iraq in 2003 look like childs play. The United States, of course, remembers the iraq war. At least i think we do. Our military leaders know that a shortterm fight in iran would be much bloodier, would be much more costly than the initial invasion of iraq. Iran, for instance, has twice the population of iraq. And a longterm counterinsurgency in iran would be endless, potentially costing hundreds of thousands of lives. The iranian leadership also knows this, that the United States might never definitively defeat a drawnout insurgency on iranian turf. But irans leaders also know they wouldnt be around to see that eventual conclusion because the United States at the very least would likely be successful in ending the existing regime. So neither side is likely war gaming for victory. Even those of us who are deeply critical of President Trumps iran policy should acknowledge this. But as a student of history, i know that the annals of war are replete with cataclysmic conflicts that began not by choice but by descend, negligence, and incompetence. And so today when i warn of the United States being on a potential path to war with iran, that is my concern. The utter lack of strategy, the complete absence of nuance, the abandoned communication and coordination with our allies, and the alarming deficiency of experienced counsel will end up getting thousands of americans needlessly killed. Now, this is not the first warning of this kind that i have presented. A year and a half ago, the president ignored the advice of his first secretary of state and his first secretary of defense, and he unilaterally pulled the United States out of the Iran Nuclear Agreement despite the fact that every expert agreed that iran was in compliance. Then to make things worse, President Trump enacted a series of devastating unilateral sanctions on iran. No other nations joined with us. In fact, most of our allies actively and aggressively worked against us, trying to undermine and work around those sanctions in order to save the Nuclear Agreement. That fact in and of itself is simply extraordinary, a sign of how weak President Trump has made america abroad. But the sanctions still took a dramatic toll on irans economy. Like everybody predicted, the iranian government didnt sit still. They began to push back, attacking saudi oil pipelines, capturing european oil tankers, and ratcheting up threats against u. S. Forces in iraq. During this time, the president changed his story every week. Some days he said he would sit down and negotiate with the iranians without preconditions. Other days, his top people said they wouldnt sit down unless iran met a certainly long list of preconditions. Other days, President Trump said he wanted to blast around off the map. It was a comedy of diplomatic errors, compounded nearly weekly with conflicting message after conflicting message that made it difficult for iran to approach negotiations with us, even if they wanted to. By this winter, the situation was spiraling out of control. Iranianbacked militias launched a rocket attack that killed a u. S. Private contractor in iraq. The u. S. Responded by killing at least 24 Iraqi Militia members. Then Iraqi Militia supported by iran stormed our embassy, culminating, for now, in the drone strike that killed general Qasem Soleimani last week in iraq. There is no reason that things had to get to this point. When President Trump came into office, iran had stopped their quest for Nuclear Weapons capabilities, and iran was complying with an Intrusive Inspections regime that made sure they didnt cheat. Iranianbacked militias had stopped firing rockets at u. S. Personnel in iraq. In fact, they were actually working on a u. S. Led project in iraq, the eradication of isis. President obama united the entire world against iran. Even russia and china were working side by side with the United States to constrict irans Nuclear Weapons program. And with the Nuclear Agreement secured, this Global Coalition was teed up and ready to be mobilized by President Trump to pressure iran to make the next set of concessions on their Ballistic Missile program and their support for terrorist patriotic proxies across the region. But trumps bizarre and nonsensical iran policy threw all that leverage away willingly, voluntarily. Despite the economic sanctions, iran today is more powerful, is more menacing than ever before. Just weeks ago iran had been racked by antigovernment protests, but President Trumps recent actions have united a country against america, against our allies in one fell swoop. One only needs to look at yesterday when millions of iranians took to the streets for soleimanis funeral, a mass outpouring of support that the Iranian Regime could never have hoped to inspire on its own. Compared to three years ago at the end of the Obama Administration, today iran is closer to restoring its proxy state in syria, iran is more influential in yemen, iran is more threatening to u. S. Troops in iraq and across the middle east, and iran is closer to a nuclear weapon. The simple truth is that iran is stronger and we are less safe today than when President Trump was inaugurated. But it gets i am plusably even i plausibly even worse. Because the strike on soleimani is so destabilizing and so unstrategically provocative. The u. S. Position in iraq is unraveling. All u. S. Citizens have been ordered to evacuate and counter operations have been suspended. The Iraqi Parliament has begun the process of kicking out all u. S. Forces from the country, exactly what Qasam Soleimani had worked for years to achieve. All of that on the back of irans newfound strength in the region is the reason why there is so much head shaking happening right now about why President Trump has so willfully bungled iran policy, emboldening iranian hardliners and putting our nations safety at risk. And so with that for context, we come back to the crisis moment of today and the real possibility that more of President Trumps stumbling will lead us into a worldchanging conflict with iran. Weve seen senators, no evidence that the assassination of soleimani was necessary to prevent an imminent attack on the United States. I remain opening to seeing that intelligence. Five Days Later Congress has not received a briefing from the administration. Were apparently going to get that tomorrow. But both president obama and president bush had the ability to kill soleimani. They didnt because their experts believed that executing the secondmost powerful political figure in iran, no matter how evil he was, no matter how Many American deaths he was responsible, would end up getting more, not fewer, americans killed. Now we dont know in what form the reprisal from iran will come or when, but it will come. And listen, we shouldnt be afraid of reprisals in the wake of truly necessary military actions by the United States to protect our interests abroad. But when that attack arrives, President Trump has telegraphed that hes preparing to respond by committing war crimes against the iranian people. He says hell bomb cultural sites filled with civilian visitors in retaliation. I cant believe that this needs to be said on the floor of the United States senate, but thats something that terrorists do, not the United States. And although this administration keeps saying that they dont want war, there is no logic to their circular thee theory of iran policy. Chum believes that to trump believes to change irans behavior we need to escalate our own actions. Then trump comes to the conclusion that this must be due to the fact that our escalation wasnt serious enough. The theory becomes unprovable because it is contended failure after failure that we need one more escalation and one more escalation and one more escalation. This is the exact behavior that could land us in a conflict with iran that costs american lives. Now as i said at the outset, this is likely not going to be a fullon conventional war. At least i hope its not. It may be that iran sends missiles into israel or ramps up the temperature in yemen. They may try to assassinate American Military or political leaders or use entire warfare to go after political infrastructure. Maybe we dont invade iran. Maybe we just blister their countryside with bombs or try to disable their military from above. No matter the scope of the conflict, no matter how long this escalatory cycle lasts, the one thing we know is this, none of this has anything to do with making us safer. This cycle started with trumps rejection of a diplomatic agreement with iran that he didnt like just because it had obama obamas name on it. A political grudge set off a series of events that now has us lodged in a crisis of harrowing scope, a crisis that this president so unstable, so reckless, so capricious likely cannot handle. And unfortunately his rejection of diplomacy and lack of concern for our allies has left america more isolated than at any other perilous time in our history at a moment when we cannot afford to be out on a limb out on our own we are. Politics is part of what got us here, but maybe politics is part of how we get out of this mess. Congress can cut off funding for President Trumps war of choice with iran. We can make clear, republicans and democrats, the president cannot take military action without congressional consent. And of course the American People can have their say too. They can rise up, as they did in many cities this past weekend, and cry out in protest over President Trumps decision to put politics over our nations security. And that public pressure may push allies of the president here in the senate to stand with democrats in opposition to this reckless risk to our nations security. It is not too late to put a stop to this madness. Now iran is an adversary. I dont want anything ive said today to paper over all of that nations misdeeds in the region. It is in our National Interest to conduct a Foreign Policy that weakens irans ability to threaten us, our allies, and our interests. But for the last three years President Trump has done exactly the opposite. Irans Nuclear Program is back on. Iran has restarted attacks against the United States. Iran is more influential in the region. Everything that the president has done has worked to degrade our nations safety, has worked to make iran stronger. The order to strike soleimani has already been given, but what happens next is not predetermined. My fear, my belief is that last weeks killing of Qasam Soleimani will end up fitting into this pattern. We have serious choices to make in this body, and we can choose to get off this path of escalation and make decisions that correct this president s recklessness and keep america safe. I hope we step up to that challenge. I yield the floor. I would note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Blunt mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from missouri. Mr. Blunt are we in a quorum call . The presiding officer we are. Plunt blunt i move it be suspended. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Blunt Qasem Soleimani was killed by u. S. Forces last week. That has been well discussed and well understood. The failing regime in iran has done everything it could between his death and right now to make the most of it, to make him a martyr to the cause of terrorism, and i think we should all understand that the cause of terrorism was his cause. He is not a general in any traditional sense of what that would mean, though he had been described a number of different ways. Hes been referred to as irans top general. Dont think for a minute that means anything like almost any other countrys top general. One newspaper called him irans most reverent military leader. That might be true, but, remember, irans purpose as a state is to encourage terrorism all over the world. I heard one news broadcast where he was referred to as an irreplaceable figurehead, though they went on to explain he was a significant person. There apparently are no editors anymore because figurehead doesnt mean what they were suggesting. It means that he is an irreplaceable figure and hope he is. I think hes hard to replace. I hope hes hard to replace. Id like to think that in many ways he wont be able to be replaced, but that doesnt mean he deserves our sympathy, our respect, our grief. He was, in fact, a bad person. He spent his career largely outside the boundaries of what any civilized nation would consider of what you could do or how you could behave. He led irans terrorism agenda around the world. They funded and provided weapons to the shia militias in iraq. They provided arms depots and military forces to the assad regime in syria. They supported hezbollah terrorists in lebanon. They provided advanced weapons to the Houthi Rebels in yemen. Hundreds of military personnel in iraq were either killed or injured by the i. E. D. Attacks encouraged an funded and funded by iran and iraq. Thats what the soleimani agenda was all about. Over just the past year, iran has continued his campaign of aggression against the United States and our allies in an almost and in almost every report of these activities, soleimani is one of the persons thats mentioned as, again, structuring masterminding, encouraging, taking credit for these things as they happened in some cases and denying responsibility in others that he and iran were responsible for. Last june iran shot down a u. S. Intelligence drone flying in international space. In july the Iranian Revolutionary guard corps captured a british flagged commercial ship vessel in the strait of who hormuz, they used drones and cruise missiles. Earlier iran had been behind an attack on a saudi airport used by civilians. Quds force also launched a crackdown on iranian citizens to protest oil prices and are also vigorously seeking out others who are complaining about the failing economy in iran in a failing system. Someones already been named to replace soleimani as the head of the quds force, but hopefully no one really can fully replace him. Im not at all sympathetic to the idea that this action to eliminate this individual somehow came out of the blue. The president have been has been presented multiple times with this as one of the things we would do if we wanted to send the clearest possible message to iran. The president was criticized most of the last year because going down that list of things i mentioned, that he was hesitant to act was the criticism until last week. The same exact critics in many cases decided after a year of thinking what would be the best response, then the president did act and that suddenly and thats suddenly a hasty action, you go from a hesitant action to a hasty action if youre looking for ways to criticize the president. The president took action after an American Contractor was killed by forces associated with iran and soleimani. After the u. S. Embassy in baghdad was attacked and weapons were used to get into the building, there have even been some suggestion that we shouldnt have done this because we should be afraid of how iran will react. Now, mr. President , we do have to be thinking about how iran would react. We need to be thinking about what their next aggressive act might be, not, mr. President , what their first aggressive act might be. Because ive already gone down a pretty long list on what others can expand on of what aggressive acts iran has done up until the last few days. We do have to be thinking about whats an appropriate response. But maybe in ways that they havent in some time, its now time for iran to be thinking about what our response would be to their next aggression. The aggressive list is long. The response that the u. S. Government took was significant, but we cant fail to act decisively just because it might upset our terrorist enemies. We cant fail to act decisively just because it might upset the number one state sponsor of terrorism, iraq. Soleimani was not a highranking military official in any acceptable military structure. If your idea of a leading general is a general that leads and terrorist efforts, i think youve got the wrong idea of what a military leader is supposed to do. Soleimani was not a highranking Government Official in any job that a responsible government would have. Soleimani was the mastermind of terrorist activities of the number one statesponsor of terrorism in the world today. Soleimanis been eliminated and hopefully will be impossible to fully replace. Id say in response to that decision good job to the u. S. Forces that executed the strike and good job, mr. President , in being willing to make the call. A bad person, a determined enemy of freedom and democracy and the United States of america has been eliminated. Its time the iranians started thinking about what our action next action might be instead of planning on what their next action might be. And with that, mr. President , i would yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call quorum call quorum call quorum call quorum call the presiding officer the senator from south dakota. Mr. Thune mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Thune mr. President , i have three requests for committees to meet during todays session of the senate. They have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. The presiding officer duly noted. Mr. Thune mr. President , many of us here in the senate thought that we would be opening the new year with an impeachment trial. But thats not whats happening this week because the senate is still waiting, waiting for Speaker Pelosi to actually send over the articles of impeachment. Democrats rushed impeachment through the house throwing fairness and due process to the winds in their haste to impeach the president. But now theyre apparently content to sit on the articles of impeachment for the foreseeable future. Mr. President , if democrats really believe that impeachment this impeachment is a serious matter, that theres literally a crime spree in progress as theyve claimed, they would have already sent over the articles. But the truth is democrats impeachment efforts which basically started before the president even had taken the oath of office have been politically motivated from the start. Democrats thought they could damage the president politically by rushing to impeach him. Now they think that they can damage the president politically by stalling a trial. Speaker pelosi is also attempting to force the senate to conduct the trial she would like to conduct in hopes of getting the outcome that she would prefer demonstrating once again the fundamentally political nature of the democrats impeachment quest. Here in the senate, mr. President , well continue working on the business of governing until the speaker decides that she is ready to stop playing games. Mr. President , friday we learned that iranian general Qasem Soleimani had been killed in a u. S. Air strike. Irans terrorist activities throughout the middle east are well known. Iran is a key backer of hamas and hezbollah and fomented conflict throughout the entire middle east escalating sectarian conflict in iraq, fueling civil war in yemen and supporting syrian president bashar alassads brutal regime. The iranbacked mish la ya, hezbollah or k. H. As they are called fired more than 30 rockets at an Iraqi Military base killing an American Contractor and wounding four u. S. Troops. Days later, iranbacked protesters stormed the u. S. Embassy in baghdad conducting a twoday siege of the embassy before withdrawing although not without setting fire to parts of the embassys exterior. The list of iranian terror activities is long. And at the center of all these activities has been general Qasem Soleimani. As head of the quds force of irans revolutionary guard corps, general soleimani has been masterminding irans terrorist activities for two decades. Iran aslinked to one in six u. S. Military deaths in iraq notably through the i. E. D. s that have become so emblematic of the war on terror. This, mr. President , was soleimanis work. He is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of americans and thousands of innocent civilians throughout the middle east. And it is a good thing that his reign of terror is over. While i hope we can all agree soleimani was a just target, there are naturally questions about the timing of the strike and what options were laid before President Trump. The senate will be briefed tomorrow and i hope my colleagues and i will be given a clear intelligence picture of the imminent and significant threat that secretary pompeo and other officials have described. Soleimanis death provides iran with an opportunity to change course to rethink its participation in terrorist activities throughout the middle east, and its aggression against the United States. Unfortunately, iran doesnt seem ready to take that opportunity. And there are rightfully concerns about how iran might retaliate for soleimanis death. Iran has vowed severe revenge but i hope, mr. President , that irans leaders recognize that the u. S. Will not tolerate irans aggressions. The United States is obviously closely monitoring any iranian response or escalation from attempted Cyber Attacks to threats against u. S. Troops or citizens or our allies. The chairman of the joint chiefs, general milly has cautioned there remains a significant risk and weve seen the department of defense and state department adjust their postures accordingly. As i said, with soleimanis removal, iran has the opportunity to change course and both in iran and iraq we have seen protests bravely displaying the desire for a new way forward and in the case of iraq, for freedom from irans malign influence. But the path to that new day is a difficult one. Soleimanis decades of work building terrorist networks will not easily be undone and his replacement has already been named and has vowed revenge. In addition under pressure from iran, Iraqs Parliament advanced a nonbinding resolution calling for the removal of u. S. Troops from iraq. I hope that cooler heads will prevail in iraq and that we can come to an agreement that upholds our mutual security interests and is beneficial to both the United States and to the people of iraq. We invested a lot in Regional Security efforts that we should see through. And as we know all too well from the rise of isis, the consequences of leaving a power vacuum can be dire. I hope that power vacuum will not be resurrected as the United States suspends counterisis operations in order to defend our installations. Mr. President , the world may enjoy a degree of closure with the killing of Qasem Soleimani. Citizens of the middle east who suffered at the hand of soleimanis terror may have hope for a safer future. But this will require the Iranian Regime to recognize the opportunity it now has to rid itself of soleimanis agenda and chart a new course. Irans leadership knows full well the consequences of maintaining its vendetta against america, our allies, and those who seek to live in peace and freedom. It got a preview of our military and intelligence capabilities last week. This is not a call for escalation but a frank acknowledgment that the United States will stand resolutely against those who threaten american lives. While the initial reaction from iran has not been promising, i hope that general soleimanis death will encourage iran to think carefully before it proceeds any further on its path of terror. And i look forward to talking with the defense secretary, the c. I. A. Director, and others tomorrow about what we need to do to minimize the threat of retaliation and to keep americans and our allies safe. Mr. President , i yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call the presiding officer the senator from florida. Mr. Rubio i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be suspensed. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Rubio im very happy that our first votes not only of the session but of this decade will be focused on supporting Small Businesses. In america we tend to speak about Small Businesses with a sense of reverence that i think is absent in other countries, and theres good reason for that. So many of the Great Companies in this nation started out as Small Businesses. Some of the greatest companies in America Today are Small Businesses. We also have 60 million individuals, just under that number, employed by over 30 million Small Businesses throughout the country, and the Small Business administration can play a very Important Role in our success and the success of these businesses by providing entrepreneurs and firms with Technical Assistance and with access to capital and so its critically important for the country. Today as we consider the vote of Jovita Carranza to be the administrator of the Small Business. This is crucial to ensuring that the agency is functioning well and is successful. Its also important that the administrator be someone who is open to and supportive of the need to modernize the Small Business administration and its many programs. You know, as we move into this new decade, its really important that the agency evolve to meet the unique and special needs of the entrepreneurs of today at a time in which we have ever changing and increasing global and Business Climate adjustments that are occurring. I think sometimes we forget that businesses today face a very different environment than we saw ten, 20, 30 years ago. And so as we are aware of these changes, its important on policymakers who have an obligation to identify the goals that achieve our National Interests and then provide and that provide for our National Defense that create good jobs for American Workers and then that we organize the laws that we propose and the reforms that we propose around those important items of National Interests and how to achieve furthering them. Now, the last time the Small Business administration was fully reauthorized was 20 years ago in the year 2000 when just 42 of households, for example, in 2000 had internet access. Nearly everyone was using dialup phones for access. It would be another six years before the i phone even exists and americans back in 2000 bought more than 10,000 electric hybrid cars, just from 2000 to 2020 that this was changed. It was the year when china became a member of the world trade organization. I say that because if you think our big businesses face unfair competition, imagine the unprecedented threat in competing against the Chinese Government and its communist party and its systematic industrial espionage and coercion for their own industries and sweeping access of market to its own country. The challenges are extraordinary and they require resources that allow our Small Business sector to compete against these conditions and to operate dynamically to grow to be innovative, to be creative. Small businesses need access to services and programs that better position them to support not just our nations competitiveness on an International Scale but particularly with regard to beijings continued economic aggression toward our nation. Just as the s. B. A. Was critical in building the technologies and theming to spur the creation of the technologies that allowed us to be successful in the space race and ultimately in the cold war, i believe the s. B. A. Can play an Important Role in our efforts to compete with chinese economic hostility. And in that regard its important to note that the status quo is just not enough. We need an agency that incorporates new and creative programs that fows focuses that focuses on supporting advanced manufacturing, promoting innovation, expanding our export opportunities and its important to note, as i said earlier with regard to the s. B. A. s role in the space race and the cold war, that innovation breakthroughs that we have often seen in our history have often been con contingent n privatepublic collaboration, especially in the Space Program that had commercial operation and furthered our National Security. Small businesses and startups have always historically been essential to developing the technologies and commercialization of products that often come out of these partnerships, but unlike what we saw in silicon valley, startups tend to gravitate over there, these technologies that are in our National Interest that i just spoke about, those require significant time and resources to finance. So on the committee, the Small Business Administration Entrepreneurship committee, we will work toward a re to achieve these ends that i just outlined. But the leadership and guidance of a forwardthinking s. B. A. Administrator is essential not just to get it passed but to make sure it works. As chairman of the committee, im very eager to see that the position of administrator be filled. President trump nominated ms. Carranza to serve in this Critical Role back in august of last year. She has a long and successful Year Spending many years in the private sector and government service. She started her career at u. P. S. And retired then after 29 years as Vice President of air operations and was nominated by george w. Bush and confirmed by this body to serve as the s. B. A. s deputy administrator in 2006. She served there for two years and returned to the private sector until she returned in 2017 when President Trump named her secretary. The Small Business administration and entrepreneurship held a hearing and we voted favorably to report her nomination to the senate floor. And in that hearing ms. Carranza made commitments to working with eef of us on the pressing issues that is facing the s. B. A. She assured us, the ranking member, senator cardin and others that she would address the management challenges in the Small Business administration to ensure the integrity of its programs. But most important that she would appear before the committee after her confirmation to provide an update on how shes addressing those challenges. She committed to do other important things, assessing the agencys critical access to programs so its not restricting access to capital for Small Businesses, to be communicative and transparent with us on the subsidy models and calculations they are using for the federal credit programs, to fill the backlog of staff that is needed to run the s. B. A. s innovation programs, to ensure that federal grant dollars are being properly used for the Entrepreneurial Development programs, to modernize the agencys disaster loan programs and have better internal controls to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. To committed to establish a businessowned Small Business Certification Program and to provide responses to congress on several of our past communications to the agency outlining proposals to aid Small Businesses to Cyber Threats which is indicate tall for our Small Businesses today. In our business meeting we had after the hearing, we considered her nomination. I was pleased to see that the overwhelming majority of our members on both sides of the aisle, including the ranking member, supported sending the nomination here to the full senate because theres a lot of work to be done, but we storing and expanding the s. B. A. s historic legacy of assisting businesses and meeting the International Challenges at hand are very important, very crucial. And so i look forward to working with ms. Carranza to modernize our existing programs, to meet the challenges we have before us and working towards solutions to make sure that Small Businesses have the access they need to start and grow and empower the nation at large and i ask that all of my colleagues support this nomination here, well have a vote in a few minutes. Thank you, mr. President , i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call a senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from florida. Mr. Rubio mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be suspended. The presiding officer without objection. Under the previous order, all postcloture time is expired. The question is on the nomination. Is there a sufficient second . There appears to be. The clerk will call the roll. Vote vote vote united. Vote the presiding officer are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote . If not, the yeas are 88, the nays are 5. The nomination is confirmed. Under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will be immediately notified of the senates actions. Under the previous order, the Senate Stands in recess until 2 15 p. M. You can follow the senatelive when they returned 2 15 eastern. Next, comments by leaders in