Dick clark and john culver. Berkeley would go on to represent iowas sixth Congressional District for six terms. From 1975 to 1987. And i presume he would have served a lot longer if his health had held out, even though he lived another 30 lets see, you add it up, about another 32 years after that. Although berkeley and i didnt share the same political points of view, we did share a common approach for representative government, meaning with dialogue and feedback that was very necessary from our iowans if we were going to represent them properly, and most often the forum for that was our respective town hall meetings. Throughout our Service Together in congress, party labels didnt displace our ability to work with and for iowans. As one example, during the farm crisis of the 1980s, which is much worse than this farm crisis we have right now, we used our voices to raise Public Awareness and steer help to struggling farm communities in our home state. We did Everything Possible to shape farm policy and restore hope to thousands of farm families coping with doubledigit inflation and with the farm debt crisis. As a federal lawmaker, berkeley took his oversight work seriously. Even though i take oversight seriously, i didnt do it quite the way he did, kind of an unorthodox approach, he would just venture willynilly into a federal bureaucracy here or a federal bureaucracy over there. He took the liberty of dropping in in person at these agencies, and he did it in a way of going up to people and saying, whats your job . I dont know exactly the questions he asked, but knowing berkley the way i do, i think he probably wanted to have a very calm conversation with them to determine what they did and maybe even see if they were doing it right, and particularly if theyre spending the taxpayers money right. So he wanted to do this to keep tabs on how these federal employees in these various bureaucracies were serving the nation, and particularly serving iowans. Now thats what id call an intheflesh gut check, a very different type of oversight that i have done. Berkley was born in spirit lake, iowa, and i presume spent his entire life in spirit lake, iowa, until he spent some retirement time in florida and the period of time he was in the military. Spirit lake, iowa, is a closeknit Farming Community in dickinson county. His neck of the woods is located in the iowa great lakes region, a regional destination for fishing, boating, and outdoor recreation. And ill bet the presiding officer has been there many times. The area is fondly known as the university of okobogee, where generations of families go year after year to vacation and enjoy life. And, by the way, the university is not really a university but is very much a selling point from an Economic Development point of view for that part of the state and has worked very successfully. So as i just described to you, this is where berkleys insatiable work ethic took root. It guided him for his nearly 100 years of life on earth. Through philanthropic good works, he leaves behind a legacy of conservation, stewardship, and historic preservation. With his wife, he helped launch the okobogee foundation more than three decades ago. Since then the foundation has awarded millions of dollars to scores of nonprofit organizations in that lakes region of iowa. Berkley believed in paying it forwards, next. He cared deeply about giving back to his community for future generations to enjoy. As you would expect an iowan to do, he rolled up his sleeves, opened his wallet and pitched in to make a difference. By my measure, he represents a life well lived and lived life well. As i mentioned earlier, berkley and eleanor became steadfast friends with barbara and this senator. He shared an abiding Mutual Respect and cherished their gracious regard for that friendship. After the Berkley Bedells moved to florida in retirement, barbara and i enjoyed an annual gift each february from the bedells. Very simple annual gift, but one that had a lot of meaning to it, more than the material that it represented, because they sent us a box of oranges from their home state of sunshine, just as regular as a clock we received these over many, many years. Through these many years, their annual christmas letter was something that we look forward to, and many years they even thanked us with personal notes for our friendship in that very letter. Berkley also stayed in touch with a friendly valentine note each year to my wife barbara. With berkleys passing, we are saddened to know that these tokens of friendship now come to an end. Berkleys story is an inspiration for younger generations of americans pursuing their dreams. Its never too early to dream big. So this was how Berkley Bedell was dreaming as a 16yearold he became an entrepreneur. Berkley launched a fishing tackle business called Berkley Fly Company with his brother jack. Im told he started the company with 50 from paper route money. He started tying fly fishing lures in his bedroom. Pouring years of sweat equity into the family business, boosted the local economy, and created jobs in his beloved iowa great lakes. His tenacious leadership developed a strong workforce for what was then called berkley industries. Today that company, which is now called pure fishing, is one of the leading fishing tackle manufacturers in the world. At 98 years young, berkley didnt let age slow him down by any stretch of the imagination. He remained active in Public Policy making and immersed in electoral politics in iowa. And usually at least once a year called on me in my Hart Office Building here in washington to tell me about some legislative issue he was interested in, and we worked together on some of those legislative issues. You know, everything here in washington is so political, so this may sound very unusual, and maybe today it is unusual. But despite our different political philosophies, he was a democrat, im a republican, we both appreciate how crucial it is to engage the next generation in civic life. Berkleys leadership and legacy will be remembered for generations to come. Im proud to call him a very good, good friend. Barbara and i extend our condolences to sons ken and tom and daughter jo ann. Your dad made a big footprint in his lifes journey. As my former colleague in the house of representatives, berkley later became my constituent when i was elected to serve here in the United States senate. I never have known Berkley Bedell to stop advocating for his community and for the good of our nation. It became berkleys lifelong hallmark to leave gods green earth better than he found it for generations to come. So i wish godspeed to my good friend, Berkley Bedell, who joins his beloved wife eleanor in eternal life. I yield the floor. And i suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call the presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley i ask the calling of the quorum be suspended. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley i ask to speak for two minutes. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley last week the world bank adopted a plan for lending more than 1 billion annually to china despite our objection, meaning the United States objections. China is the worlds secondlargest economy, and its per capita income is well above the level at which countries are supposed to graduate from needing world bank assistance. Americas tax dollars should not be used even indirectly for lending to wealthier countries, particularly when they violate human rights. China seeks legitimacy to International Institutions for its bad practices, including its own predatory lending through belt and road initiatives. Despite what the recent World Bank Country Partnership Framework says, china is not an example of a developing country should follow. Sum up on that point, china is the secondlargest economy in the world, and they still want to be considered a developing country. And lastly use some taxpayers dollars to accomplish that goal of lending around the world for greater influence for the communists. We should not stand as taxpayers for that to happen. Mr. President , on another point, this past weekend marked the 78th anniversary of japans attack on pearl harbor, a raid that plunged the United States into world war ii. Almost 2,500 u. S. Soldiers lost their lives that day. I am proud of the many iowans who have served and sacrificed for our great country. Earlier this year three of these people who died there returned to iowa to be laid to rest. Robert f. Bennett, william l. Kavidra, and burt k. Mckeanan. Today i honor them and all of our Service Members for their sacrifice serving our people, protecting the Constitutional Rights of freedom and liberty we have. I yield the floor. Mr. Durbin mr. President. The presiding officer the assistant minority leader. Mr. Durbin id ask consent that the short statement im about to make about congressman bedell be placed in the record immediately after the senator from iowas remarks. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Durbin thank you. I was in my office and learned by his floor speech from senator grassley about the passing of Berkley Bedell and i wanted to add my voice to his. A wonderful man. I served with him in the house of representatives. Storm lake i believe spirit lake was his home in iowa. A real knowledgeable man when it came to issues of agriculture and i didnt learn until many years later he was a very successful businessman, in the fishing tackle business, if i remember, in sporting goods. He had many interests. He was a spirited, friendly, good person who worked hard at his job and was a credit to the u. S. House of representatives, regardless of party. And i think that senator grassleys remarks reflect that. Im going to miss his annual christmas card. His wife passed away as well. And they would send a big card, an oversized card and i looked forward to it. I thank my friend senator grassley from iowa for paying tribute to him. Now in a separate place in the record with unanimous consent. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Durbin mr. President , im going to take a chance thb afternoon and this afternoon and vote for one of the president s nominees. Some of my colleagues said im making a big mistake, but i hope im not. His name is mr. Hahn. He is a doctor, an oncologist, and he has been named to serve as the food and Drug Administration commissioner. This is a relatively small agency by federal standards that has a majorsized impact on the lives of americans and beyond. I think its one of our most important agencies. It regulates so many things relating to safety and the quality of life. And dr. Hahn would come to this position at an as you pishus auspicious moment in our history. We are now battling a vaping epidemic across america. The presiding officer and i have worked on this together. And i thank him for his leadership in this regard. I asked dr. Hahn questions. I had him in my office and i had him on the phone last night and he is patient about answering my questions. I asked him about the vaping epidemic that we face. He readily concedes this is something that he feels very strongly about. The latest disclosure about youth cigarette and tobacco report suggests that 22 or more of students across the United States are using ecigarettes or vaping. I asked some High School Students yesterday who said, youre wrong be, its over half. They are using juul, vaping, these flavors and developed nicotine addictions that has been controlling in their lives and affected the way they feel and perform as students. And thats why its so important from my point of view for dr. Hahn to make this a major priority. He assured me that he would. He reminded me he is a lung cancer doctor, and we had a long conversation about my father who died of that disease and tobacco and the impact it had on his life. And i felt sincerity on the part of the doctor when he was discussing this with me. He talked about working with dr. Azar who has been a ally in this area about controlling vaping devices and cigarettes. He said regardless of how i voted for him, he looked forward to working with me. Im going to vote for him as the new f. D. A. Commissioner. Its a leap of faith because im not certain where the president of the United States is at this moment. The presiding officer was in a meeting at the white house last week and i commend him for the questions he asked there, hoping to hold the president and the first lady with their promise to take on the epidemic of vaping and ecigarettes. I dont know at this moment if hes going to continue in that effort or whether the vaping industry has diverted him to a different point of view. Dr. Hahn may find himself in a compromised position soon and i told him as much. If it comes to the point where the president has abandoned his position on vaping and, im afraid dr. Hahn will wear the collar for some of the things that follow. Even though he may not agree with the president , he will be working for the president as part of his administration. I know dr. Hahn said to me he doesnt want to be the head of the f. D. A. That saw this epidemic grow dramatically when it comes to vaping. I will give him my vote and do it with the hope that he has a persuasive vote with dr. Azar to move in the right direction. I applauded President Trump, which is unusual from my side of the aisle when he decided take action against ecigarettes. I hope he will resume this effort. I hope the first lady, who rarely gets engaged in issues, but seems to feel very strongly about this will join us in persuading the president to keep true to his promise of septembe. I so so i will support mr. Hahns nomination. I would like to make a statement in a separate place in the record. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Durbin last friday night was an amazing evening. I went to the Fellowship Baptist Church on the south side of chicago and there was a Memorial Service for the longtime pastor of that church, reverend clay evans. He said friday night is for the politicians for the government people. A lot of people showed up on friday night because a lot of us considered clay evans to be a friend. He was more than a friend, he was a legend. The reverend died peacefully in his home at the age of 94. If you ever had the good fortune to witness him preach, youre lucky. With his rowing sermons and the ship, which is what he called the legendary, which was the fellowship baptist choir behind him, he was mesmerizing. His singing could bring you to your feet. His sunday services were so moving and uplifting that the legendary sam cook would come and attend for inspiration. Even in chicago, the birth place of modern black gospel music, james clayton, reverend evans stood out. It wasnt just his beautiful voice that drew people in, he was a man of moral courage. He persuaded Martin Luther king to come to chicago and use it as his base. It was not a popular position at the time, believe me. Chicago power brokers, fearful of the unrest in the streets warned black ministers dont let dr. King into your churches. Many of them listened to that warning and turned him away. Not clay evans. He invited dr. King to his church and opened his droor to southern breadbasket and persuaded other chicago ministers and churches to join him. He paid pa price for it. Offers of loans, Construction Loans he needed to build his church were withdrawn when he made this controversial decision, Building Permits were withheld for several years, but chicago, over time, became more just thanks to the work of reverend evans, dr. Martin luther king, and the man whom he ordained, the reverend Jesse Jackson, and many others, operation breadbasket opened up thousands of jobs for black chicagoans in previously all White Grocery chains. Recently reverend evans told a reporter that he is dedicated to freedom and equality. For him faith was not just what you believed, it the way you lived. Clay evans born in 1925, large churchgoing family in brownsville, tennessee. His family were share croppers, he was one of nine kids. At night he liked to listen to jazz music on the radio he moved to chicago in 1945, part of the great migration that enriched that city in so many ways. The most successful man he knew in brownsville, tennessee, was an undertaker and thats what he thought he would become but he couldnt afford the tuition for school. He worked in a pickle factory, as a window washer, drove a truck delivering pies. He was working in a brass rail Cocktail Lounge in Downtown Chicago had he prompted him to join in song an marveled at his voice. He might have been a successful nightclub performer, but he attended the baptist tins ought to and ordained a reverend. He went to the university of chicago divinty school. He founded his church in 1958 and served as pastor for 42 years. He used radio and later tv to bring his ministry to homes throughout the south and to introduce gospel music throughout the nation. The Fellowship Baptist Church quickly became one of the most influential churches in chicago. He helped launch the careers of nearly 90 up and coming ministers, including the first woman to be ordained a baptist minister in the city of chicago. He ordained Jesse Jackson and in 1971, the two he could founders founded cush. He would say, its no secret what god could do. He helped to increase hope in chicago and far beyond. I remember as a downstate congressman, i made my early trips to chicago to meet the movers and shakers, reverend clay evans was hien the list. As luck would have it, we were seated next to one another at a dinner. He leaned over to me and said, congressman, im reverend clay evans. I said thats not what i heard. I heard youre reverend chicago. He laughed and said they call me that from time to time. Thats the kind of respect he commanded, not just because of his ministry, but also because he was part of the faith scene in that great city. We got to be great friends and always looked forward to the times we could get together. With a choir led by his sister, pastor evans produced and recorded over 40 gospel albums, two that topped the billboard gospel chart. His first hit was called, im going through, released in 1993. The title song talks about staying on the righteous road no matter how steep the climb, how large the obstacles. Reverend evans would sing, im going through, im going through no matter what they may do. The world behind, heaven and view, im going through. Reverend clay evans walk that righteous road. He overcame obstacles so others could follow. He will be missed. And the crowed of speakers friday night evidence of the lives he touched. My wife and i want to offer our condolences to his wife of nearly 74 years, their children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and all of those in the family of clay evans who will try to maintain warm a warm smile at a time for sadness for many of them. What he has left behind is something we will all point to for years to come. Mr. President , i yield the floor. The presiding officer the senator from missouri. Mr. Blunt , mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that layton grant, who is the military fellow in our office, and who has been for this last year, will be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the congress. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Blunt mr. President , monday i spoke at the annual meeting of the Missouri Farm Bureau and in our state, as virtually every state, the number one Economic Activity in terms of value produced is in agriculture. Frankly where we live in the middle of the country we do better in an economy that focuses on growing things and making things than we do on an economy that focuses on giving advice. Not that we dont want to give a lot of advice, but the truth is we dont want to get a lot of advice either. So nothing wrong with a servicebased economy and nothing wrong with a Service Sector in your economy, but america, in so many ways, was built on a productive economy, on an economy that produced something and something tangible. I think we have a chance to see those things happen again. Where were located, almost exactly in the middle of the country, the Mississippi River valley, is the biggest piece of contiguous Agricultural Land in the world. Compared to the near competitors in size, its the only one of them that has its own builtin natural transportation center. In fact, mr. President , theres more theres more miles of navigable river in the Mississippi River valley than in the rest of the world put together. I didnt say more river than the rest of the world put together because that wouldnt be true, but more miles of river that you could actually navigate, river you can use as an avenue of transportation and commerce than everywhere else in the world put together for an economy thats trying to reach out to the world or trying to efficiently compete, thats a big advantage. So at the farm bureau meeting, at least three of the things that the people i talked to were most interested in were regulation and transportation and trade. When it come to comes to regulation, missouri farm families understand that really many of the best things that have happened to them in the past three years have been the things that didnt happen. There was a terrible regulation proposed, waters of the u. S. , to where the e. P. A. Was trying to decide that their authority over navigatible water would be authority over all the water. That navigable water had become under the obama e. P. A. Would be water that could run into water that would run into any water that would run into navigable water, and that congress should decide that not the e. P. A. I stood on this floor many times during that terrifying time when the e. P. A. Was about to take over anything related to water, from the new sidewalk in front of your house to whether you paved your driveway to whether you could set a utility pole without e. P. A. Approval, and with that farm bureau map of missouri, i think 99. 7 of our state would have met the new e. P. A. Definition of the water that the e. P. A. Would regulate. The other. 3 i think were sinkholes that went directly back into the middle of the earth. So virtually 100 of all missourians would have been affected by that. It would have slowed the economy in an incredible way because the e. P. A. Could have never exercised effectively the jurisdiction they were asking for. Well, the good news is it didnt happen. The good news is it didnt happen. The Trump Administration moved forward with a clean water act that made more sense. They listened to rural america. They listened to people who build houses. They listened to people who provide power. They listened to people who provide jobs. And they said were not going to go in that direction. Then there was the obama Clean Power Plan it sounds like a good thing. Clean power. Im not opposed to that. I dont know anybody who is. We want power to be as clean as you can reasonably expect it to be, but the obama Clean Power Plan was so aggressive in its approach that where i live the average utility bill, at home and at work, would have doubled in about ten years. Lots of things work at todays utility rate or some gradual increase of todays utility rate that just frankly wouldnt work if the utility bill doubled. And that didnt happen either. In fact, we reversed course. There is now an Affordable Clean Energy rule making into law, into regulation that really understands if you at home write your utility check and then write it out of your checkbook again, a lot of the things that you do at your house, you wouldnt be able to do if you had to pay your utility bill twice. And, frankly, the job you have might not be there if you had to pay the utility bill twice. And also when youre thinking about making something in america today, mr. President , and i think there is a lot of interest in bringing overseas manufacturing or manufacturing thats gone overseas back to this country for lots of reasons, but when youre thinking about making something in america today, the first two questions you would ask yourself would be can you do what we want to do and pay the utility bill, and the second question would be does the Transportation System work for what we want to do . And if the answer to either of those questions is no, theres no reason to ask a third question. Theres no reason to talk about work force. There is no reason to talk about tax structure in the place youre thinking about locating. Theres no reason to ask any other question if you cant do what you want to do, pay the utility bill, and still have some profit. No reason to talk about it if you cant do what you want to do and have a Transportation System that allows you for what you want to do. And so those things are critically important and they were critically important at the farm bureau meeting. They certainly understood it takes good highways, it takes good state roads, it takes a strong understanding of connecting highway and road and railroad and water together that allows you to compete. The last continuing resolution on this issue that we passed just a few weeks ago actually funded the fifth year of the highway bill that was passed four years ago. Five years of authority, only four years of money, and thats thats that 7. 6 billion allows the Transportation Systems in our states and many things in our communities to happen. It allows county bridges to be built. In missouri, were going to lose 350 million in federal highway funds if we hadnt figured out how to fund that fifth year, which we did figure out just a few days ago, and knowing thats going to happen allows people to begin to look for other things. On trade, on monday, i was predicting that we would get to usmca before the end of the year. I was pleased on tuesday when it was announced we had an agreement between the house and the administration. The votes have been there for a long time to pass this, but the house has to pass it first. And so its important to understand elections have consequences. Speaker pelosi got to decide and got to do some final negotiation, but trades important. Trade policy, tax policy, regulatory policy are the three federal policies that make a difference in how competitive we are and how strong our economy is, and certainly when you have our number one and two trading partners, mexico, our number one trading partner, canada, our number two trading partner are involved, clearly when theyre the only two countries that we share a border with in the continental United States, mexico and canada, for the neighborhood to do well, its important. Whats happened in mexico since nafta incredible. Whats happened in the United States in a positive way also incredible. So hopefully well see the continuation of that commitment to have a vote in the house this year and a vote in the senate as soon as we meet the deadlines that the law requires us, the waiting periods once we get a bill from the senate. A lot of people are going to be relieved to know that theres more certainty about that. Mr. President , today i also want to take a moment to recognize layton grant who i asked earlier to have floor privileges for the rest of this congress. Leighton grant has been critical both to my work in appropriations and in our work on Foreign Policy in our office. He has handled many of our National Defense matters in the 116th congress so far. Leightons 15 years of service to our country, both as an active duty and as a civilian in the United States air force have allowed him to cultivate a deep understanding of National Security issues that affect the state of missouri and affect our country. His Prior Experience at the pentagon where he worked extensively on generating the air forces budget and strategy documents has been particularly valuable in my work as a defense appropriator. The air defense of the country, critical. The appropriations decisions we make, critical. The order we keep them in, critical. Keeping the defense lines active so that youre not stopping and starting to meet our future needs, doing that in a reasonable way matters. Leig hton certainly understands that, and he should. He joined the air force in 2004 as a command and control Battle Management operator, served four deployments in iraq and afghanistan as part of the global war on terror. He also deployed to qatar and jordan as well as latin america. He holds a bachelors degree in aeronautics as well as a masters in project management. While working as our military fellow, he completed work at the Air War College and a certificate of legislative studies at georgetown university. Hes contributed greatly. Hes helped us in supporting veterans casework, defense appropriations, military Construction Projects that will impact our state. Just on sunday night, i ran into a mom who said i just want to thank you for all you did to get my son out of out of syria. This was a young man that got caught up while hiking in syria. She knew leighton grants name because he took that seriously and after several weeks of working to get him out of syria, thats the kind of thing hes helped us do. Hes helped us on matters that relate to iran, colombia, australia, china, and other issues. Glad to have him. I want to thank his wife jennifer, his daughter and son for supporting his career as he served the nation but also i wish he and his family well as they embark on a new chapter. I hope this year working with the senate and with the congress and with the vast breadth of issues he has helped us with turns out to be as valuable to him as his help was to us. And with that, i note the lack of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Braun mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from indiana. Mr. Braun thank you. Its been almost a year since the presiding officer the senate is in a quorum call. Mr. Braun could you vitiate the quorum call, please. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Braun thank you. Its been almost a year since i was sworn in. I thought it was a good time to kind of reminisce a little bit about the first year being a u. S. Senator from indiana. I want to cite that when you come from a place like indiana, it is where america really works. Think about it. We still believe in balanced budgets. We have rainy day funds. We take on big issues and talk about how were going to pay for it, not borrow the money, throw it on the backs of our kids and grandkids. So in being here now nearly a year, i want to reminisce back what motivated me to stick my neck out and do it in the first place. I saw in november of 2016 that it looked like we might have a different dynamic here in our u. S. Government. I look back and see that in december of 2017 as being a main street entrepreneur, someone that has always lived by those rules of stick your neck out, take a risk. You dont really exceed mediocrity unless you do things that push the envelope a little bit now and then. But do it in the context of where its sustainable. I noticed in december of 2017 finally got some legislation across the finish line that rewards enterprisers, rewards main street u. S. A. That was in the jobs and tax cut act passed then. Didnt know how it was going to unfold. Of course, even our c. B. O. Said it was going to end up costing the government, not rewarding it through more enterprise, greater revenues. Well, weve now got some evidence from it. Weve got the hottest economy that weve had in modern history and, yes, were raising record revenues despite having lower tax rates. Well, that sounds like the math wouldnt work out. Well, theres a point especially in Small Business on main street that you will not keep enterprising. You will not work hard if you end up having to send too much to a place like this that over the years didnt, to me, look like it was delivering good value. So been vindicated. Its working. So what else has happened in the first year. That happened before i got here. I ran because i wanted to weigh in on things like the cost of health care. Tackle that in my own business back in 2008. Found a way to make it consumer driven to where the people that use health care actually have some skin in the game. Did it in a way i wanted to emphasize wellness, not remediation. Tried as a state legislator back in 2015, served three years in the indiana state house, how hard it was going to be. I had three really good bills. Now ironically that are pertinent here on the main stage. Couldnt even get a committee hearing. The Health Care Industry has dug in to the point where i think if they dont start embracing the fact that they need to reform themselves, they could be under a drastically new system. So we had a president that was elected that wasnt going to be happy with business as usual. And i was hoping that we might parlay some of that into real results here. Well, weve worked a year on trying to reform the health care system, and we are really not any further ahead than what we were a year ago. And thats because the system is digging in and fighting it. That doesnt mean im going to give up. Thats kind of bad news other than the fact that 80 senators have come forward to say hey, youre not doing a good job. Weve got suggestions. That ought to be a real wakeup signal that you get with it. One thing weve done here that has been immensely valuable is we as conservatives have been able to impact our court system which got lopsided over the years to where many laws that were passed here get into the court system and then either get overturned, get impacted in ways that didnt have the original intent. We here in our own conference i think have addressed that imbalance and i think here soon we will have appointed in the three years that President Trump has been at the helm the 50th circuit judge. Thats impressive. Were also filling slots now that we made a change in the rules here to not only get jumgs appointed about judges appointed but also to fill a lot of slots in our government that are vacant. So thats good news. You dont hear much about the fact that Household Incomes, Household Incomes have increased more than 5,000 a family in the three years since President Trump was elected. Went up a total of 1,000 in the 16 years through the bush and obama administrations. That should be the banner, the headline. And sadly, were mired in other discussions that ill address here in a moment. I believe in the long run that if were going to change the dynamic, we will need more disruption in an institution that in the year ive been here, ive been surprised how many people come here actually wanting more not realizing that when youre running trillion dollar deficits, thats a bad Business Partner. Thats a Business Partner that i would hegemony bets and maybe that i would hedge my bets and maybe find other ways to pave the way in the long run. Sadly i dont think were going to fix that component until we probably have a crisis or two, and then we solve it in that fashion. So the budget is in my opinion in the long run what we need to do here if we want to be helpful to the american public, its got to straighten itself out. Whether that will happen i dont know. Lets talk about some of the things that have been occupying time here. And lets talk about something that looks like finally its going to get across the finish line. Usmca. We hear about trade issues. And its correct to be concerned about trade. Our focus is normally on the chinese. And i do believe this has been the time to take them on, call them out for their bad behavior when it comes to stealing intellectual property, force technology transfer, manipulating currencies, creating gluts, dumping them on the market. No one else is doing that. Until President Trump came along, nobody was talking about it. As well as he was over in europe recently reminding our allies that when youre running trillion dollar deficit, you can no longer afford to be paying the bills for the rest of the world. That isnt business as usual. Thank goodness because we simply cant afford it anymore. Usmca reflects arrangements between our two largest trading partners, canada and mexico. Many inequities there mostly because i guess we were kind in those original agreements but needed to be changed because we cannot sustain that into the long run. This is going to help manufacturing. Its going to help farmers. The number of jobs it will create even in this low unemployment context are amazi amazing. So when you look at that, it finally gets across the finish line. And we now over the next couple of weeks, couple of months, who knows, we are dealing with whats going to happen in one of the biggest political events thats occurred in the history of this country. All i can tell you we will get through it. I dont think were going to find any more than what we know currently, but hopefully when we do get it resolved, were going to give full credit due to getting tasks like the usmca, lowering taxes, creating more enterprise across this country and hopefully relying less on this institution and all parts of our daily lives until it sets the example until it starts to live within its means, live sustainably, and then where we start tackling issues like the cost of health care, where we Start Talking about climate, when we Start Talking about the issues that future generations will have to deal with and that are currently paying all the bills through the money that were borrowing, hopefully that dynamic will change and hopefully we will be back on track in november 2020 with the leadership thats put us in a position to actually change things here to where we do live in a way in the future that is sustainable setting the example starting right here. I yield the floor. Mr. Isakson mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from georgia. Mr. Isakson i would move the quorum call be vitiated. The presiding officer the senate is not in a quorum call. Mr. Isakson ill proceed then, mr. President. The presiding officer the senator is recognized. Mr. Isakson mr. President , i always come to the well or to the senate with a purpose. I try not to talk too long and i try to the to get out before i e a mistake. When you say thank you to people, you leave people out. Im going to do something ive never done before, but i know i will leave nobody out. I have two pages that i would like to ask unanimous consent they be submitted for the record. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Isakson they contain the list of people who helped me to get to this chamber. Millimeter of many of them are here now. They were so happy, we were being happy together because of the years we had together. I had 15 years ago with members of the United States senate and its been the greatest 15 years of my life. I learned as much about myself as i learned about everybody else, but i learned more about my country. I want to take a few minutes today to talk about a few people what they said about me and how they helped me and tell people who may be watching cspan to understand there are a lot of people who make us work. We do all the mistakes ourselves without any help, but the good things we do takes a lot of help, a lot of strength, a lot of time and a lot of commitment. The senate has hundreds of people behind them to do the job they otherwise couldnt do them. I represent 10 million, the senators from california almost 30 million, from new york, almost 15 million. All of them have a lot of people who need help. Thats what members of the senate are there to do and that is the same with the house and fif them the help they need from the countries they love and the countries they were born in or became a naturalized citizen in. I want to talk about the hard work, of licking stamps, dont do that anymore, we have a stamp hp that says distribute to all. Technology allows us to communicate at the drop of a hat. The biggest challenge i have every day, communicating because of whats on television at midnight. President trump makes a tweet at 3 00 in the morning and the rest of the day we responding to what he said at 3 00 p. M. Knowing the next morning at 3 0w tweet and during the afternoon when people respond to it, their response to it will be setting the pace. All of us are acting in the third person or for the thiempletd its a challenging job. With communications with 247 television, it is really a challenge. The men and women who work for me help to make that communication. I want to thank them. The lady sitting to my left, on the screen would make it your right, amanda maddox. I stole her from one of the house members because i knew she was the best person on the floor of the house. She wasnt an easy steal, about but i but i knew she was a tough lady. She helped me through a lot of difficults. Health challenges i had, training for trips i took, going on trips i took, dealing with the media during the things we took on that were tough. Every day she did it with skill. Every day she did it right an every day she made me look better than i deserve. When i open my amanda helps me. Shes a firstclass lady. Another lady who is not here, marie gordon, who is in atlanta. Maria works in atlanta. They are really my communication. You heard of left brain, right brain. This is my left brain and maria is my right brain. Theyve been wonderful to meed and i will miss them a lot. I know they will be here to help someone else to do help them do a good job. I want to publicly thank amanda and marie for what theyve done. A harder job is getting me around with my current difficulties. Where is logan. Hes on the floor somewhere. Hes my pusher. Its not the kind of pusher youre thinking about. Hes my wheelchair pusher. He doesnt sell anything else. He gets me a lot of bad places im not supposed to get into. He does it safe lip. I could not do without logan and his willing to get up early hours to get me in a truck or an airplane or get me in my own car and places to get safely, and get me back home to see my wife or my many supporters in the office. Hes my instant communication, that also means hes my right brain. Hes there thinking ahead to make sure we have enough time to get to go and get to places where she have to make our stops. When somebody helps you, they are a lifetime friend and logan is a lifetime friend for me. Theres a real tall guy somewhere in the room who is a real good golfer, his name is tray kilpatrick. He started with me in my second or third reelection, one of my reelections in the first half of this century and sometimes it seems like a isntry, and not a day or hour but a century. Trays done everything. Hes made appointments and substituted for me and given me advice on what not to say. When he does this, i know what it means. I know what it means from my wife too. When tray does it, its even tougher, he says shut up, dummy. Thats a valuable person. Hes also valuable because he can play in my stead. Hes a scratch golfer. If he plays for me i get half the money. Hes got his third child coming soon, so hes producing some good voters for us in 15, 20 years from now. And i appreciate sally, his wife and the sacrifice she has made to take as much time as they have taken. I appreciate those who make me look good all the time and i appreciate what they have done to help me along the way. Theres another person i want to talk about for one minute. I will do it some more tomorrow. I will break it up. I want to take as much time as i can to talk aboutonkur to talk withonkur joan. She changed her last name because she married my chief of staff. She came with me as a deputy chief of staff. Hes the attorney general of georgia and she married my chief of staff. So i have good luck for somebody who wants to get married. Come to my office, you will find a husband or wife. Thats not a bad thing to find in washington, d. C. Joan is fantastic. She covered for me when i was almost a little guy. In the early 1970s, she was working for pamplet and the georgia legislator and wrote speeches about all the people. I was one of them. I was the minority leader. I was the minority leader of a leader of 19 republicans who had 161 democrats. Custer had better odds than we had. We didnt have good odds at all. She was a great writer, great reporter and i fell in love with her, not in the physical sense, because i respected how good she was. Over the years she respected me so much i brought her into whatever campaign i brought her along in the office i had and had became my press secretary and deputy chief of staff and best friend. When you cover all of those bases, youre doing good. Joan does exactly that. Im grateful for all those who help me along the way. All those who gave a lot, those who gave a little, but mostly who gave of themselves. Politicians are always asking for men, always talking about money. Relationships are impossible to replace. You particular a Good Relationship with somebody who worked hard to help you get to where you want to go theres nothing more valuable, no money is worth more than the act of love or that act of kindness or support that gets you where youre going. From this one guy who is leaving the United States senate from under his own power enjoyed the years more than you ever know, i want it thank the people who help me get here and particularly those who i pointed out now and will point out later in my speeches. May god bless them, all of you and the United States of america. I yield back. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from West Virginia. Mrs. Capito thank you, mr. President. And im really, really pleased to be here on the floor with my colleagues to honor our friend a and our colleague, Johnny Isakson, from georgia. I can almost tell you he is probably hating this about now. But i wanted to get my two cents in for you. I dont need to read off his impressive resume or thank him for his service in the Georgia National guard, his real estate business and his public service. I want to talk about Johnny Isakson, my friend. Now, everybody in this body, you hear us get up and we say, my colleague and my friend. Well, sometimes i think im not sure that were really talking about friends, but i want to tell you, johnny, im not making this up. I am talking about you as my friend. Im not just being polite. You know me better than that. And ill tell a little story. Hes heard me tell it. But when i was elected to the congress in the house of representatives in the year 2000, literally i was walking down the aisle, probably our first vote. Had no idea really what i was doing, didnt know anybody in the 435 member body and i must have had it written all over my face because i was sort of wandering, and this hand reaches out and says and he said why dont you sit down next it me and we can talk about whats going on. That was my introduction to Johnny Isakson. So we talked about what was going on the floor. We talked about who his friends were. We talked about the fact that my mothers family was from perry, georgia, and had a lot i had some georgia blood running through these veins. But, you know, johnny, as we heard. He doesnt care if youve been here 20 years or 20 minutes, he wants to be a friend. I heard him say that the other day that he has friends then he has future friends. So ive actually thought about a about that a lot over the holiday weekend. He doesnt care if youre a republican or democrat, from the north, or the south, south would probably help a little bit. East or west. He has an ability to put everybody at ease. He doesnt count anybody as an enemy. Weve been to the Prayer Breakfast, we shared our highs and lows together i think in our respective lives. He never cares who gets the credit. He just cares about getting things done and i think youve seen that through everybodys wonderful tributes to johnny. He brings people together and thats hard to do but he leads by example and youve been a great example to me. My colleague from north dakota, john hoeven has called you mr. Congeniality of the senate. But i cant think of a you are mr. Congeniality but youre a very forceful, strong with a steel spine also to know whats right and whats wrong. The bible asks what does the lord require of you . And johnny has lived that is living that. To act justly, to love and to walk along with god. We can use a few more humble walkers around here, i think. And we could sure use a more use a few more Johnny Isaksons but youll be cheering us on i know because your heart is with many of your friends here. Ill miss you and coming around the corner because our offices are very close. Ill miss our car rides together, our golf games together. Ill miss that extended hand in friendship. But i know that youll still be extending it from your home with your family and your many, many friends. So im just really happy to be here. This is a happy for me because i think i think its happy for you. I think as much as you probably regret leaving and feel theres more work to be done, that you could go in peace and love and know that youve that youve got happy days ahead of you and a lot of well wishers on the way. So johnny, thanks a lot. Thanks for extending that hand in friendship. It meant so much to me then as it does today. Good luck and godspeed. Thank you. A senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator if familiar familiar. A senator mr. President , i rise today to join my colleagues like my colleague from West Virginia to pay tribute to our friend, senator Johnny Isakson. Ms. Hassan mr. President , it has been an incredible privilege to work with senator isakson. Senator isakson and i got to know each other first through the Bipartisan Senate Prayer Breakfast and then serving together on the health, education, labor, and pensions and finance committees. Ive always appreciated his commitment to bipartisanship, problem solving, and getting results for the people in his home state of georgia and for people all across our country. Because of that commitment, senator isakson and i have worked together to cosponsor a number of pieces of legislation, including efforts to improve care for veterans and to make hearing aids available over the counter. We also partnered together to pass a resolution designating march 25 Cerebral Palsy awareness day. Mr. President , in addition to being kind, thoughtful, and bipartisan, one thing stands out to me about senator isakson the most. His bravery in speaking out on issues regarding human dignity. He demonstrated that bravery early on in his career as a state senator who spoke out against a local antigay resolution. At a time when standing up for the rights of people of all sexual orientations wasnt easy or convenient, he did. That took real courage. In adpition, in addition, im in awe of senator isaksons bravery in sharing publicly his familys experience losing his grandson charlie to an overdose, by opening up and sharing this tragedy, senator isakson helped reinforce that this crisis affects families from all walks of life. His public discussion has and continues to make a real difference as we work to break down the stigma that comes with addiction. And i know that he has continued working here in the senate to prevent more families from experiencing a loss like his own. Mr. President , i am also grateful for senator isaksons leadership on behalf of our countrys veterans. In june senator isakson led a Bipartisan Senate delegation to normandy to mark the 75th anniversary of the dday landings. During that visit i saw firsthand johnnys incredible kindness and commitment to our countrys veterans. I also saw how quickly he dismissed compliments and thanks directed his way to ensure that others got credit for their part in his success. And i know that carries over to his tireless efforts and hard work on behalf of veterans as chairman of the Veterans Affairs committee. Mr. President and senator isakson, above all i appreciate senator isaksons friendship. He has represented the people of georgia in the United States senate with dignity, determination, and grit as well as a really good sense of humor. And he has made a real difference. As senator isakson confronts a Health Challenge of his own right now, i am confident that he will face it with the bravery, humility, and humor that he has exemplified throughout his life and here in the United States senate. Senator isakson, we will all miss you terribly, but we are looking forward to traveling to georgia to see you and to continue the many conversations that have made us all better people and better senators and makes this country a better place. Mr. President , i yield the floor. The presiding officer senator from alabama. Mr. Jones mr. President , i know were not in the right order but since we have a gap here, i thought i would just judgment in. Jump in. Mr. President , i am honor to be here today for the Johnny Isakson memorial tribute part two, being the lower person in the senate on the tote empole here toteem pole, i didnt get a chance to talk. I have found Johnny Isakson to be very compelling. You know, there are times there are times when you watch a movie or a tv show that there are these special moments when two people meet and there is one person that has that spark, that has that magic. And when they touch, when they embrace with a hug or a shake of the hand, all of a sudden the other person realizes that they are talking to somebody very special. That is Johnny Isakson. That moment is built around joan johnny from the Johnny Isakson from the first time i had chance to meet him on january january 3, 2018. I knew all of those things being said about his bipartisanship, about his friendliness and how about how he wants for people and care about people was true. I could tell by the first handshake and the welcome to the senate, doug. I will say that i think meeting me and having that spark was a real test of senator isakson more than anybody in this body because you have to understand that when we first met it was about five days before his beloved georgia bulldogs were going to face the university of alabama in the National Championship game. For those that dont know this, im telling you, you can think about partisanship and tribalism in a political term in washington, d. C. , but if you aint experienced football partisanship and football tribalism as far as f. C. C. Thrives, you havent experienced nothing. The fact that Johnny Isakson embraced me, a democrat from his neighboring state of alabama was very special and something i will always cherish and i truly mean that, johnny. I have watched you as a member of the help committee with me. I have watched so many hearings and listened to you and your wisdom and that wisdom often came from personal experiences, whether it was business or education or whether it was a tragedy with your grandson, everything about what you have done in the United States senate has been personal and i think that is something that we should all strive to do. Everything that we do in this body needs to be personal because all of our constituents its personal to us. Its personal to our state. Its personal to everyone, but we dont always seem to act that way. We always, you know, a lot of times we act in a way that it seems to be more political than personal. Ive never seen that in senator isakson. I have seen that time and time again where everything that he has spoken about, whether we whether i agreed with him or not was not the issue. I could tell that what he was speaking of was personal, that it meant something to him, that he knew how it was going to affect those in the state of georgia and across the United States. You know, i can remember last year when we were moving toward trying to find a way trying to find a way to help farmers in south georgia and South Alabama that had been so devastated by hurricane michael, and this was crossing party lines and he and senator perdue and i talked a lot about how this was affecting people and peoples lives and how frustrating it was for all of us to see the politics kind of cake over take over for a period of, i dont know, four or five months while these farmers suffered. Thats the Johnny Isakson that reaches across the aisle. Thats the Johnny Isakson that cares about people. Thats the Johnny Isakson that goes to funerals and sits in the back of the room and then works to make sure he does the right thing for all those that could be affected. Johnny, im going to miss you a lot. I enjoyed our talks about football. I enjoyed kidding you. I enjoyed you ribbing me. But more importantly, i just enjoyed the camaraderie. I enjoyed the warmth, the feeling that i belong here, i, a democrat from alabama belong in this body. Maybe not after 2020. I aint gonna push you that far, johnny. I get that. But theres always been, for me, a sense that you belong in this body and you have a voice and its an important voice and we need more of that. We need to make sure that everything that Johnny Isakson said is remembered in this body. We are about to go through some rough seas, the ship of state, as i said before, is about to charter some rough seas. We need to remember the words of senator isakson as he leaves this body to make sure that we continue to do the work. And i think what weve done this last couple of weeks is reflective of the legacy of Johnny Isakson whereas what all was going on in the house and what was dominating in the media, we still got an ndaa done. We still got the futures act done. We are still over in the house and negotiated the usmca. Things that this body can work if we Work Together and we make sure that whatever happens after the first of the year does