Weinhart issued a powerful opinion that clarified that justice in this case made a fortunately moral argument against President Trumps immigration policy. Judge weinhart wrote, it was fully within the governments power to once more grant his reasonable request. Instead, it has ordered him deported immediately. In doing so, the Government Forces us to participate in ripping apart a family. Three United States citizen children will now have to choose between their father and their country. If they leave their homeland with their father, the children would be forced to move to a nation with which they have no connection. All three children were born in the United States. None has ever lived in mexico or learned spanish. Moving with their father would uproot their lives, interrupt their educations, and deprive them of the opportunities afforded by growing up in this country. If they remain in the United States, however, the children would not only lose a parent but might also be deprived of their home, their opportunity for higher education, and their financial support. Subjecting Vulnerable Children to a choice between expulsion to a foreign land or losing the care and support of their father is not how this nation should treat its citizens. President trump has claimed that his immigration policies would target the bad hombres. The governments decision to remove mr. Ortiz shows that even the good hombres are not safe. Mr. Ortiz is by all accounts a pillar of his community and a devoted husband. The court went on to say, it is difficult to see how the governments decision to expel him is consistent with the president s promise of an immigration system with, and i quote, a lot of heart, end quote. I find no such compassion in the governments choice to deport mr. Ortiz. We are unable to prevent mr. Ortiz removal, yet it is contrary to the values of this nation and its legal system. Indeed, the governments decision to renew mr. Ortiz diminishes not only our country but our courts, which are supposedly dedicated to the pursuit of justice. Mr. Ortiz and his family are in truth not the only victims. Among the others are judges who are forced to participate in such inhumane acts suffer a loss of dignity and humanity as well. I concur as a judge, but as a citizen, i do not. End quote. Judge weinhart made an important point, and i agree. The government has the power to prevent this family from being torn apart. Even now, secretary of Homeland Security john kelly can issue an administrative stay to let andre stay in this country while the government processes his application to receive legal status. Earlier this week, i spoke to secretary kelly on the phone to discuss andres case and to urge him to issue a stay that would allow him to stay in this country. Hawaiis congressional delegation has also written him a letter and provided a variety of other letters of support that andres friends, family, and neighbors have written on his behalf. Secretary kelly, i renew our call once more. Let andre stay in our country. Let his children have a father present and active in their lives. Its not too late to keep this family together. This entire ordeal speaks to the fear and anxiety spreading through immigrant communities across our country. Even the good hombres as judge weinhart called him are at risk of being torn away from their families. In an email, a spokesperson for i. C. E. Said, quote, while criminal aliens and those who pose a threat to Public Safety will continue to be a focus, d. H. S. Will not, and the word not is all in caps, exempt classes or remove classes of removable aliens from potential enforcement. This is chilling. It means that 11 Million People in our country will live in fear, but they could be deported at a hometowns notice. We must pass comprehensive Immigration Reform that provides a pathway to championship and which prioritizes the unity of families. Andres case is a tragedy if not averted. There will be more cases like his in hawaii and across the country. We must continue to fight on behalf of the good hombres and not stop until we succeed. Id like to conclude by reading part of a letter i received from gerald personias, one of andres friends and a fellow coffee farmer from captain cook. Gerald said andre is a courageous, honest, caring, and dedicated person, so i ask you as a citizen of our beloved country to do the best you can to help this man continue to pursue his citizenship. He will not let america down. We cannot let mr. Ortiz down. I yield the floor. Ms. Hirono madam president , i note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Schumer madam president . The presiding officer the democratic leader. Mr. Schumer i ask unanimous consent that the quorum be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer madam president , id like to address the hearings that just concluded a few hours ago. Now, after hearing mr. Comeys testimony today, america is stunned. The cloud hanging over this administration has just gotten a whole lot darker. I want to commend both the chairman, senator burr, and the vice chairman, senator warner, for the way they ran this hearing. The senate and the American People are better informed as a result of their work. Few Committee Hearings in the history of the senate have produced the kind of eyeopening testimony that we heard today. In its wake id like to make a few points. First, for weeks media reports indicated that the president had directly and indirectly pressured the f. B. I. Director to end the f. B. I. s investigation into general flynn. Innuendos and intimidations sorry. Innuendos and intonations swirled around but we now know much more of the truth. Theres now no doubt that mr. Comey understood the president s request that he let go of the investigation into general flynn in a meeting during which it was discussed whether mr. Comey would keep his job as f. B. I. Directo director. As a direct effort to prevent that investigation from going further, that looks a lot like a quid pro quo. During questioning from a republican senator, senator risch, mr. Comey told us that he took the president s conversation with him about the f. B. I. Investigation into general flynn as a directive to scuttle that investigation. It is clear that the president that President Trumps Legal Defense is to refute mr. Comeys account. Well, the president threatened mr. Comey with the release of tapes of their conversation. Presumably, that includes the conversation when President Trump asked director comey to, quote, let go, unquote, of the flynn investigation. Its awfully curious that no one from the president s team will either confirm or deny the existence of the tapes. When the tapes are the only way to prove that mr. Comeys testimony which came under oath are false or misleading. President trump, if you disagree with anything the director said today, play the tapes for all of america to hear or admit that there were no tapes. Second, director comeys contrasting view of the clinton email case and the russia case is telling. Mr. Comey did not wish to see a special counsel in the clinton case because he looked at the facts and determined there wasnt a case for one. With respect to the russia probe, the director examined the facts and felt there was enough potential evidence that a special counsel was warranted. Again, the contrast is telling. Democrats and republicans alike, the American People as well, should be pleased that the investigation is in the hands of former directo director mueller. And third, the hearings raise serious questions about attorney general sessions, that he and the Justice Department must answer immediately. Senator wyden and senator harris repeatedly asked director comey about attorney general sessions voflt in the investigation involvement in the investigation before he recused himself. Director comey didnt have direct knowledge of his involvement but made clear that he suspected that the attorney general needed to recuse himself weeks before he actually did so and that he could not share the reasons for that in an unclassified briefing. So we need to know the answer to a number of questions regarding the attorney general. The Senate IntelligenceCommittee Investigation and special counsel mueller ought to get to the bottom of this matter. In conclusion, mr. Comeys testimony has been very enlightening, but there is much work ahead for investigators in congress and those under the direction of mr. Mueller. Thank you. I yield the floor and notice the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Mcconnell madam president . The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that at 5 00 p. M. Monday, june 12, the senate proceed to executive session for consideration of executive calendar number 65. I further ask there be 30 minutes of debate on the nomination equally divided in the usual form and that following the use or yielding back of time, the senate vote on confirmation of the nomination with no intervening action or debate and that, if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, and the president be immediately notified of the senates action. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i further ask that following disposition of executive calendar 6 5 00 the senate resume legislative session and consideration of the motion to proceed to s. 722, with all postcloture time considered expired. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Sullivan madam president . The presiding officer the senator from alaska. Mr. Sullivan madam president , are we in a quorum call . The presiding officer we are. Mr. Sullivan i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Sullivan madam president , every week to months now, ive been coming down to the senate floor and have been using the opportunity to talk about someone in my state, the great state of alaska who has made a difference. And we call that person the alaskan of the week. And these are individuals unsung in many ways who are doing something for their community, something for the state, and in many ways are inspiring everybody. Now, im a little biased here, but i believe i live in the most beautiful state in the country, probably the most beautiful place in the world, full of wonderful people, beautiful landscape, and we certainly encourage everybody here in the senate or watching on tv to come up to alaska, experience it yourself. You will have the trip of a lifetime guaranteed, guaranteed. We are also blessed to live in a land that provides so much for our physical and spiritual needs. Its a very spiritual place. Alaskans are a hearty people. However, like any place in the country, people have tough times. Some people are more fortunate than others. But thankfully we have people all across our state like we have people all across america who give of themselves so that those in difficult situations can be taken care of. So, madam president , today i want to take you to cotsabule, alaska or what we often refer to as counties. Cots. Its northwest of anchorage, 26 miles north of the Arctic Circle in alaskas Northwest Arctic borough. About 3,000 people live there. Its one of our bigger villages and its a hub for dozens of smaller villages that dot this enormous, beautiful region like most of alas carks its cold in the winter alaska, its cold in the winter and beautiful in the sun setting sun. The midnight son is high in the sky and its got wonderful, wonderful people in cotsabule. Like most places in alas alaska, community there is everything. People take care of each other. People ban together and help each other overcome challenges that can exphis in the extreme exist in the extreme environments in alaska. Let me tell you about marty shore, one of the very generous residents and who is our alaskan of the week. Marty is the general manager of cotsabule electric soarks where he has association where hes worked more than 24 years. Hes been married to his wife, lucy, since 1977. Ththey have six children, seven grandchildren and in his free time he fishes. Very common. Plays hoops and loves to cook for his family. Hes also involved in the boys and girls government and his tribal government. Heres why i want to talk about marty and why hes been a contribution. On thanksgiving 2015 marty got sick and over the next several weeks he had to go to the hospital repeatedly. While he was there he noticed a group of people who would gather around the free coffee that was served at the hospital. And he approached one of them, a woman named joanne and asked a very simple question. Why do you guys hang around here . What are you doing . And she told him, well, we dont really have another place to go right now. And this disturbed him greatly. At that time of year in kotzebue, it can get down to ten and 30 below zero, a difficult place. You must be hungry, he asked joanne and she said yes, they were. So the next day and the day after that, five days a week marty and lucy together have used their own money and their own lunch hour during the work week to make sandwiches. Simple act. 30 to 40 sandwich foz that group in sandwiches for that group in the hospital. Every day, every person that needs one gets a sandwich. Sometimes turkey and cheese. Sometimes caribou and fish spread. He is anxious for the salmon season to start so he can make salmon spread sandwiches. She also get a juice box and dessert. Simple. Simple but generous. Recently another generous kotzebue resident Sophie Foster began making sandwiches as well. And before you know it, you have a whole community thats doing this. Taking this simple example and getting involved. So now some people drop off Cinnamon Rolls or fruit. Others bring back bulk items when they travel to anchorage. And so dozens of people in kotzebue, alaska, are now helping in this effort because of martys simple act. Madam president , people like marty and his wife, lucy, make my state truly unique and a wonderful place. His generosity, doing something seemingly so simple, making a sandwich for someone whos hungry has now had a big impact not only on kotzebue but alaska. Marty didnt know the impact he would have when he began making sandwiches. Quote, i was just trying to help a few people that day, make them happier. But his actions have initiated a growing conversation in kotzebue about how best to take care of people who need help. Its drawn attention to homelessness and hunger, very important issues not only in alaska but throughout the country. Marty spurred this important conversation in the state in kotzebue through his simple actions. And thats inspired all of us. So congratulations, marty, for what youre doing, for your simple acts of inspiration, and for being our alaskan of the week. I yield the floor. A senator madam president . The presiding officer the senator from missouri. A senator may we suspend the quorum call. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Blunt i come to the floor to highlight the importance of travel and tourism in our economy and also to make the point that we are welcoming of people from other countries as well as we are welcoming of people in our country who want to be part of for a short time or a long time america. The travel and Tourism Business is an incredibly important part of the tourism economy. Last month i along with my fellow cochairs of the Senate Tourism caucus, senator Amy Klobuchar and senator heller and senator brian schatz led the senate in passage of a resolution recognizing the week of may 7 as the National Travel and tourism week. There are really good statistics whether its missouri or West Virginia or the country at large on this topic. One out of every nine jobs in the United States depends on travel and tourism. It accounts for over 15 million jobs nationwide. InterNational Travel to the United States is our single largest export industry, the single largest thing where people bring money into our country is tourism to the United States. It generates a trade surplus of roughly 87 billion. And of that trade surplus with foreign travelers, foreign travelers stay longer. They spend more. And they like us better when they leave virtually 100 of the time than they did when they got here, even if they thought they were going to like us a lot, they wind up liking us more. If they question whether they were going to like us at all, they almost always wind up on the very Positive Side of that question. So not only a huge economic benefit of 87 billion but also a huge Foreign Policy benefit, a huge diplomatic benefit. Just like when students come here and go to school, they have a connection to the United States that is almost always positive, so positive that many of them would like to stay with that bachelors degree or that bachelors degree, that engineering certificate and degree because they have liked what they found when they were here. So 87 billion, the surplus on just interNational Travelers to the United States. But all told, travel and tourism generates nearly 2. 3 trillion in annual economic input for our country. In missouri its been estimated that the tourist industry, which is usually right behind agriculture in the list of our top industries, provides more than 15 billion in annual Economic Impact and directly supports almost 300,000 missouri jobs. When International Tourists come here and spend their money at hotels, restaurants, and shops, theyre not only supporting u. S. Businesses but theyre contributing to local, state, and federal tax receive fle x revenue. We have a great deal to offer when it comes to attracting these international visitors. We also have a lot of things we can do as a congress that make a difference in how people travel and where they travel. We have a role to play in promoting the United States as a travel destination and helping our state and local tourism economies be part of that travel. The Visa Waiver Program sometimes questioned, madam president , by some of our colleagues who say, gee, anybody can get on a plane in any of these visa waiver countries, and we particularly hear that when something bad has just happened in one of those 38 countries, Great Britain or france or germany. We hear anybody could come here because they dont have to go to the u. S. Embassy and get a visa except thats not how it works. Thats not how the Visa Waiver Program works at all. Now, in truth it does enable citizens of the 38 countries that we permit to travel here for tourism and business for 90 days or less without the need to obtain a specific visa. And by the way, in return, americans go to those 38 countries without having to go to the embassy of that country and to get a visa and have an interview that allows them to travel there. But both ways and most importantly from our perspective in people who are coming here, the program has a lot of security built into it. Of all the travelers that come, that Visa Waiver Program is administered by the department of Homeland Security. It works in consultation with the state department. Visa waivers use a riskbased multilayer approached to protect terrorists, criminals, and other bad actors from traveling here. If youve been in some country lately you shouldnt have been this, if you have a history of traveling back and forth to countries that weve had bad experience with people who have been in those countries, not only do you not get awaiver, you get in get a waiver, you get a much more extensive interview than if we were trying to interview everybody from all of those 38 visa waiver countries that wants to come to the United States. Now, you know, the president announced about four months ago that we were going to have a more extensive visa process in countries that need a visa, but that also can be a more extensive visa process in countries that have visa waiver if someone needs to be talked to. If you want to come to the United States and one of the question is wed like to see question is wed like to see who you have been talking to on your phone, you dont have to show that but you also dont have to come to the United States of america. And those kinds of questions are easily answered if you have been are being interviewed in that system and youre a traveler. We want to see here and maybe not so easily answered if youre not. There are comprehensive vetting programs for individuals prior to the time they can get here as well as when they get here, if theyre in that visa waiver structure of somebody who needs to have that kind of intense scrutiny. And also a different level of what happens to those individuals while they travel in the United States. Believe me, if we tried to have that kind of Screening Network on everybody in the 38 countries that we travel to without a visa and that travel here without a visa, we wouldnt have a very good system that would go into much depend pt because we just depth because we just simply couldnt deal with it that way. Visa waiver works. I think the visa program is working now with more extensive vetting than weve had in the past. I think theres a clear understanding that in places like syria where this country has basically not only imploded but then exploded after that, its very hard to do the background check. Because the village isnt there. The jobs that somebody says they might have had and in fact they might have had them but very hard to verify that, and i think weve gotten more concerned with that. The Program Requires participants to have an electronic passport that has a chip in that passport that makes it virtually impossible to suggest that youre somebody or try to pretend that youre somebody that youre not. The passport much more secure than it used to be, both our passports and passports from those countries. In 2015 i worked with a Bipartisan Group of our colleagues to reform and improve this program and to secure its robust security protocols would work as intended. We were also able to move visa waiver eligibility for nationals of participating countries that have visited our country with a tourism nexus and for foreigners who participate who are originally from countries that pose a terrorist threat. There are just ways to screen that process that americans should feel secure about and, frankly, a process thats Getting Better all the time. Still not absolutely without risk but travel has some risk and thousands of people bringing billions of dollars in tourism revenue to be part of our economy, to see our country, to pay our taxes, we ought to be sure were minimizing the risk and maximizing the welcome for people we want to have traveling here. You know, i also worked with my colleagues ties now twice now to offer a Publicprivate Partnership called brand u. S. A. The United States of america just a few years ago was one of the few countries in the world that made no real effort to encourage people in other countries to visit our country. Brand u. S. A. Was something in 2014, senator klobuchar and i worked to reauthorize brand u. S. A. Through 2020 in a combination of visa waiver fees and private dollars. Efforts have been made and successfully made to encourage people who want to be part of our economy, even for a short period of time as a tourist, to be part of our economy. Its estimated that across all markets each dollar of brand u. S. A. Marketing generated more than 30 in visitor spending. Everywhere we spent a dollar of brand u. S. A. , and thats a publicprivate dollar, more than 30 came to the United States, its estimated, because of that. Its important for the senate to support programs that work. Brand u. S. A. Is one of those programs. The Visa Waiver Program and many others have significant positive Economic Impacts on our country, on individual states, on local communities, and, by the way, on people whose Business Travel necessarily takes them to other countries. Travel and tourism is one area where we have successfully worked together that bipartisan manner. I hope we can continue that progress in this congress. Ill keep working with my colleagues to ensure that we have the right policies in place to keep america safe while allowing our travel and Tourism Industries to continue growing and creating jobs. And, madam president , i believe we have i believe we have the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call mr. Carper mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from delaware. Mr. Carper i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be vitiated. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Carper when i came on the floor, you were not presiding. You were speaking on the floor. Talking about the Visa Waiver Program. Its an agreement we have with almost 40 other nations which allow for the free flow of visitors from those countries to our countries. Its viewed in part as a way to promote tourism and to help grow that part of our economy and the economies of these other 28 38 or 39 nations with whom we have this agreement. Some people believe its a gaping hole for fomenting terrorism and the ability to giving the terrorists the ability to infiltrate our country and do mischief here and other places around the world. I want to applaud the presiding officer, the senator from missouri, for his comments in actually explaining how the system works. Its actually not just a way to enhance and promote tourism, which is important to all of our economies, but it also enhances our security as well, if done correctly. I appreciate very much. The chairman of the committee on Homeland Security, i appreciate you very much you making those comments today. I come to the floor today. I am going to do something today, mr. President , i have never done this before. I have never come to the floor and actually read a resolution or a piece of legislation that were going to be voting on i think later today. This is a resolution that came out of discussions yesterday as we were contemplating voting on additional sanctions with respect to iran, sanctions relating not to their violations of the joint agreement on nuclear weapons. They appear to be in full compliance with what they profess to do, promise to do promised to do a year or two ago, there doesnt seem to be a question there, doing what they promised to do. Thats good. There is a what we believe is an obvious violation of a u. N. Requirement that says the United Nations doesnt believe that iran should be testing Ballistic Missile systems, and even though they have no nuclear weapons, we dont believe theyre going to have them any time soon, hopefully not, because that would help spark a Nuclear Arms Race in that part of the world. We still have along with the u. N. This prohibition against developing testing of Ballistic Missiles. They have violated that a number of times. A lot of other nations, including us, are concerned about that. We have before us this week and again next week legislation dealing with that. My hope is that next week well consider that legislation, have a chance to offer amendments to it. My strong hope is we will not only be talking about the the desire for them to fully comply with the u. N. Guidelines, but also couple with that legislation sanctions dealing with russia. And this is a country that continues to make mischief in this country and countries around the world. We have a lot of attention rivetted today on the testimony by the former f. B. I. Director jim comey on whether or not there was an attempt by the russians to influence our elections, our president ial elections last year. All 17 intelligence agencies in this country have decided unanimously that the question is not only did they attempt to want to influence the outcome of the president ial elections, they also said yes, the answer was yes. And the second thing is they feel that the russians succeeded in what they wanted to accomplish because the person they wanted to see defeated, secretary clinton, lost, and the person they wanted to see win, donald trump, won, and he now serves as the president of the United States. The issue that is going on right now in the hearings before the Intelligence Committee are involve whether or not there was collusion between the Trump Organization and the russians during or prior to the time of the election. So ultimately well find out the truth and we will let the chips fall where they may, but i think we make a mistake in simply Going Forward and admonishing the iranians for testing Ballistic Missile weapons while at the same time this effort by the russians to really make a mockery of our election system and change the governance of this country is a far greater threat. My hope is we can come back and take this issue up next week. We will not just address the one involving iran but we will certainly address in a thoughtful way the actions that russia has taken and not let them get away with this. Thats the debate for next week. And the runup to debate this this week. In iran, actually two weeks ago, they had elections, about two or three weeks ago. I have spoken about this before on the senate floor. In the election, they had the president ial elections. Here in this country, we have president ial elections every four years. It turns out they have them in iran every four years as well. In this country, most people of age 18 or older are eligible to vote. The percentage of people who vote are among the electorate who actually vote is not great. Its actually for the longest democracy in the history of the world, it sometimes is a bit disappointing. But the percentage of people who turned out to vote in the president ial election in iran a few weeks ago approach 75 , which is a good deal higher, i believe, than what we have accomplished in recent years. They have a lot of young people in that country. The average age is of the 80 Million People who work there is under the age of 25. It turns out that young people, not like the young people in vietnam and a bunch of other countries, they like our country, they want a better relationship with our country. I think the voting that occurred in iran two or three weeks ago actually reflected that the president rouhani who ran on a campaign that included better relations with, among others, the United States. I think the election of a lot of mayors in places like tehran, the capital of tehran, which has changed from a hardliner who didnt want, didnt agree with president rouhanis view on this matter when they were turned out of office. Thats a very encouraging development. There are still people in that country who dont like us, and they wish us harm, wish us ill. They support terrorism. Its a source of concern. But the there is a particularly with the younger people there, its a new day there, and i think thats encouraging. We shouldnt be blind to the missions that some of the country would create but also not be blind to the encouragement, encouraging things to happen among young people especially, reflected in the voting. And we can congratulate them for actually having an election where that many people voted. Its in some of our countries around the world where faith is muslim is the principal faith. They dont allow women to vote. They dont allow women to participate in the elections. They dont allow them to get elected. In iran, the elections i think in tehran and the city council alone, women do vote in iran. I guess they run for office. The city council in tehran alone, six women were elected to serve on the city council. Thats a positive. We commend them for having elections. Its their job to figure out who they are going to elect. I am personally encouraged by it. The turnout, especially the election of women, the president and a lot of Young Leaders in that country who have a different view of us and their willingness to work with us and other nations likeminded in the future. On the heels of the election less than two weeks later, the terrorist attacks in london, in republican, i think in australia in the last couple of weeks, and just the last few days in iran. The can you imagine terrorists coming in and attacking those of us who work in this building, whether it happens to be the pages, whether it happens to be the senators and staffs. Thats what happened in tehran a couple of days ago at 10 00 in the morning with folks breaking into the parliament and trying to kill folks. The officer attacked a sacred site of the mausoleum in another part of the country. About close to 15 people were killed. Many times that number were wounded, some very seriously. On the heels of that attack, on the heels of the election, on the heels of the attack by isis, both of the attacks on iran, the attacks masterminded apparently by isis. We dont know for sure given the isis is trying to take credit for attacks they had nothing to do with or little to do with, but there are people in Great Britain who have lost loved ones, family members, friends, and they are suffering and hurting, they are mourning today. The same is true of iran. Great britain, maybe one of our two or three closest allies in the world. They are like brothers and sisters to us. We feel a special skinship to the loss of life there. We extend our condolences to those whose lives have been ended, whose lives have been shattered and whose lives will be forever changed. While we do that with our friends and allies in britain who suffer from these attacks from isis, on the heels of a different kind of election in iran, encouraging election in iran, and similar attacks by isis on iran. Some suggest its because they have a willingness to have a better relationship with us, and maybe thats what drew the attacks by isis. In any event, we certainly express our condolences to the people of iran who have lost their brothers and sisters, their parents, their aunts, uncles, their friends. We we remember them today. A joint resolution has been drafted by senator corker, by senator cardin. The resolution is not very long. Im going to read it. Its a resolution that speaks to these attacks and mentions, actually, both countries that i just mentioned, Great Britain, our ally, and iran, with whom weve had difficulty with the last 30, 40 years, but is now interested in a new days with us. And if we can work together, especially on commerce. The iranians want to buy boeing aircraft. They have an Airline Fleet that is awful. It is unreliable. They want to buy 10 billion to 12 billion worth of boeing aircraft. I say lets sell them. If we do that, we will not just put 5,000 to 10,000 people to work, we would have goodpaying jobs for more people than that. I hope that we allow that to go forward. Its good for us and ultimately good for them and maybe provide a foundation working closely together. I dont know if we will have the same relationship that we have with britain, but as a veteran of the vietnam war, i can tell you when i go for a run, some mornings when i stay down here and go for a run, when i run by the lincoln and vietnam memorial, i take my fingers and as i go along the wall, i let my fingers brush over the names of those i served with, over 55,000 are dead died in that war. They are our friends, colleagues, neighbors who served in that war and now they are gone. We have been able to put that behind us and let bygones be bygones and developed an august friendship with the vietnamese. We are the strongest buying partner. They are buying aircraft from us today. We are going to sell weaponry. We are not going to do that with respect to weaponry. But if we can get over, finally, our difficulties in our war and hostilities and so forthwith the vietnamese, maybe some day with change in leadership in iran, begin to look toward a more constructive relationship in the future. I just want to take this resolution, mr. President , and actually read that which senators corker and cardin and their staffs have worked on and thank them for their good work. There will probably be a vote later this even on wrapup where there will be a unanimous consent request where this bipartisan resolution will be approved. It is a good thing. Its the right thing. Its a fair thing to do. How would we want to be treated by other countries if isis attacks us and kills our people . We want them to be sympathetic and have some feeling for us and not be quiet about it. Thats essentially with a we want to do here. The resolution goes Something Like this, mr. President , it says, condemning this is a resolution condemning the recent terrorist attacks in the United Kingdom, in the philippines, in indonesia, iraq, and iran. It offers thoughts, prayers, an sincere condolences to the families and people of those countries. Since may 22, 2017, the Islamic State of iraq and syria, that is isis, has claimed responsibility for multiple terrorist attack its that have left more than 180 dead and many more wound. Whereas isis frequently claimed attacks by individuals perpetrated across perpetrated by individual actors or other groups for propaganda purposes. Whereas the people of the United Kingdom are grieving after the two terrorist attacks claimed by isis, in manchester, they targeted innocent men and children, whereas Government Forces in the philippines are currently fighting isis militants, including isis affiliated in the philippines, saudi arabia and yemen, who launched an assault in mraa city to ; whereas, isis claimed responsibility for two explosions in gentleman cardia and and attacked a bus on may 22 killing 29 people. Whereas 22 people were killed when isis detonated a bomb in baghdad in an ice cream parlor during and then killed elderly iraqis collecting their pensions. A terrorist attack killed one person in australia and wounded three police officers. Whereas on june 7, in an attack claimed by isis, at least 12 people were killed when gunmen and suicide bombers targeted irans parliament. I think it involved a moss it involved a shrine in two coordinated attacks in iran. One more whereas, whereas these attacks have no place in a Peaceful World and now we have the resolve clause. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the senate, one, condemns isis horrific terrorist attacks in the United Kingdom, philippines, indonesia, iraq and iran. We express our deepest condolences to the victims of these attacks and their families. Third, we express solidarity with the people of the United Kingdom, egypt, iraq, and iran. Four, recognize the threat posed by isis and recommit to u. S. Leadership in the Global Coalition working to defeat isis. My my father served in world war ii. He was a chief petty officer, and most of my uncles served in world war ii and and or korea. One of my my uncles i never met him is my moms youngest brother, served in the United States navy. He was on a ship called the u. S. S. Swaney. They were on duty in the western pacific in 1944. Their group of ships came under attack by japanese kamikaze pilots and dived their aircraft into several ships, including the ship that my uncle bob was stationed. He was 19 years old. I think on his ship they were trying to launch aircraft to go up and take on the kamikaze pilots and several of the kamikaze aircraft apparently crashed into the Aircraft Carrier in which my uncle bob was doing duty up on the deck of the Aircraft Carrier. His body, along with the bodies of a number of people that were on the deck, were never recovered. They were killed, missing in action for an extended period of time, but the bodies were never recovered. And my grandmother i told folks in delaware during ar memorial day during a memorial day observance in delaware we have places of honor where our gold star families sit, and i told the gold star families that a ceremony near the delaware memorial bridge, i said i pointed out where the gold star families were sitting, and i said, my grandmother, if she were still alive would be 110, i said she would be sitting there with the gold star families and mothers. But she never saw her son again after he went off to serve in the war. A lot of sorrow in that family for years and years and years. They had pictures a picture of him, my uncle bob, age 19, sort of frozen in time in his dress blue uniform. He was i was like a dead ringer for him. And the where my sister and i after we were born in West Virginia and i went to Southeast Asia during the vietnam war. I would go home to visit my relatives in West Virginia, including my grandparents, i would go back to that house and always look at him as i grew older, the resemblance was remarkable. My grandmother would always call me bobby. That was his name, not mine. I was tommy. But she would call me bobby. Kind of eerie. She would call me bobby. My grandfather, sometimes people have nicknames for us as kids, and my grandfather always called me joe. We would spend a week or two with them in the summer and my sister and i my grandmother would call me bobby and my grandfather called me joe. I know that my frand mother grandmother loved her son bobby. The folks who took his life were japanese. In the navy ive flown plenty of missions with Japanese Forces during the vietnam war and cold war when i was a naval flight officer. Japan is among our best friends and one of our closest allies. Despite the hundreds of thousands of lives lost at their hands because of the attack on pearl harbor and the war that ensued, germany were an enemy in world war ii and now among our closest allies and sort of a bulwark in that part of the world. The adversaries, vietnam, where i served, a great adversary for a number of years and one of our closest trading partners and one of our partners our wonderful trade agreement, Transpacific Partnership that should have been approved by us, but never was, negotiated in the last administration. History will say that was a huge mistake not to approve something that was worked with over years. The vietnamese were amazingly close. They love americans. They love us more than we love us. You can feel it every time i go over there. Im reminded of that. Things have a way of changing. Leadership changes. The attitude of people around the world, including us, will change. The results of the iranian elections give me some encouragement. I hope some day some of those young iranian people who admire this country might have a chance to p come here and to come here and visit the the other night, ironically, today is the last day we had a lot of young people here in this chamber, mr. President , who are leaving us. We paul them pages. Some are sitting down here. I walked in earlier today and these one, two, three, four, five, six, seven doors, and when were having votes, a lot of senators coming in, we have two pages stationed at every door and we have pages that are down here at the foot of the presiding officer on either side and i try to shake their hands and say goodbye and thank them for their service during what has really been, as you know, mr. President , a challenging time for all of us. I would say, have as i have a chance to address these pages as well as the rest of our colleagues here, but i went to say to our pages, thanks for your service and we hope that you have you have been inspired not by our shortcomings, but by the potential that you see here for continuing to send us a ship of state forward into the future. A lot of people are concerned about the direction our country is taking, and i like to remind them especially our pages to keep in mind that 150 years ago we fought a civil war in this country. I grew up in danville, virginia, the last capital of the confederacy. I think some people were still fighting the war when i got there at 9 years old. During the civil war hundreds of thousands people were killed, many more were crippled and maimed, after that we saw our president assassinated, after that, our president , andrew johnson, was impeached. Somehow we got through all of that in the 19th century. When we finally made it to the 20th century, what happened . World war i, fought it, won it. World war ii, fought it won it. Cold war, won it, led our allies to victory in the cold war. Great depression, fought our way out of it and led the world to a stronger economy. When the 21st century dawned on january 1, 2001, heres where we were as a nation strongest economy on earth, most productive workforce on earth, our nation at peace, four balanced budgets in a row. We hadnt balanced our budgets since the last clinton administration. 40 in balanced budgets. We were the worlds mightiest nation. We are the most admired nation on the planet. And i would just keep in mind the words of harry truman, the only thing in the world is the history forgot or never learned. But we were going through a tough time now. Well get through it. My hope is that our pages who have provided a Great Service here in the recent months of their service will someday come back as interns, maybe someday as staff members, maybe someday as senators and representatives and chiefs of staff and play other roles and guide and lead our country. Soaway thank all of you. And my hope is that as time goes by, that the tensions around the world, the hatred and the vitriol, the murder and mayhem will have dissipated, and that countries just like japan, world war ii, germany, world war ii, vietnam, vietnam war, countries with whom we were bitter enemies at one time now with our friends, that maybe we can turn the page with iran and they can turn the page with us. And they will be better for it, and in the end we will, too. And especially your generation will be better for that. Mr. President , with that, i want to thank senator corker, again senator cardin, their staffs. I want to thank our leadership, senator mcconnell and senator Chuck Schumer for making sure that this resolution was taken up and written, and we will have a chance to vote on it. I just dont want for some time later this evening or tonight when somebody asks for unanimous consent to pass a Senate Resolution with a certain number, what was that all about . I want people to know that this is this is about something thats important, and im grateful to all who had a hand in it. Thank you very much. I note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from kentucky, the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell as if in executive session, i ask unanimous consent that upon the reporting of the nomination of david p. Pekoskey of maryland to be assistant deputy secretary of transportation of transportation by the committee on science and transportation, the nomination be referred to the committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs for a period not to exceed 30 calendar days, except that if the 30 days elapse while the gnat is in recess, the committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs shall have an additional five session days after the senate convenes to report the nomination, after which the nomination if still in committee be discharged and placed on the executive calendar. I ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to executive session for the consideration of all nominations placed on the secretarys desk in foreign service, that the nominations be confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, that no further motions be in order, that any statements related to the nominations be principled in the record, the president be immediately notified of the senates action, the senate then resume legislative session. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate be in a period of morning business with the senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of h. J. S. J. Res. 45 submitted earlier today. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk s. J. Res. 45, joint resolution condemning the deadly attack on may 26, 2017, in portland, oregon, and so forth. Mr. Mcconnell i further ask consent the joint resolution be considered read a third time and passed, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the Armed Services committee be discharged from further consideration and the senate now proceed to s. Res. 115. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk Senate Resolution 115, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the first infantry division. The presiding officer is there objection to proceed . Without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that the moran amendment to the resolution be considered and agreed to, the resolution as amended be agreed to, the moran amendment to the preamble be considered and agreed to, the preamble as amended be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. Res. 188, submitted earlier today. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk Senate Resolution 188, condemning the recent terrorist attacks in the United Kingdom, the philippines, indonesia, egypt, iraq, australia, and iran, and so forth. The presiding officer is there objection to proceeding to the measure . Without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to immediate consideration of s. Res. 189 submitted earlier today. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk Senate Resolution 189, designating the week of june 5 through june 11, 2017, as hemp history week. The presiding officer is there objection to proceeding to the measure . Without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i further ask the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 91, s. 826. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk calendar number 91, s. 826, a bill to reauthorize the partners for fish and Wildlife Program and certain Wildlife Conservation funds, and so forth, and for other purposes. The presiding officer is there objection to proceeding to the measure . Without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the committeereported substitute amendment be agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell so, mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 4 00 p. M. Monday, june 12. 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, and morning business be closed. Finally, following leader remarks, the senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to calendar 110, s. 722 postcloture. 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 the price is president for human rights abuses. The free number is administrator of the federal emergency, white house Budget Deputy and the head of the office of information and regulatory affairs