Vote vote the presiding officer on this vote, the yeas are 96, the nays are one. The 60vote threshold having been achieved, the bill is passed. Senate will be in order. Please remove your conversations from the floor. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President . The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i withdraw amendment number 1419. The presiding officer the senator has that right. The amendment is withdrawn. The senator for alaska. Ms. Murkowski i modify the amendment amendment number 1407 with the chaplains at the desk. This modification includes, among other things, acceptance of amendment number 1419 offered by the senator from kentucky, mr. Mcconnell, for the senator from iowa, ms. Ernst. The presiding officer the senator has that right. The amendment is so modified. Mr. Mcconnell i send a cloture motion to the deck for the substitute amendment number 1407, as modified. The presiding officer the clerk will report the cloture motion. The clerk cloture motion we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on amendment number 1407 as modified. To calendar number 357, s. 2657, a bill to support innovation in advanced Geothermal Research. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that the reading of the names be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i send a cloture motion to the desk for the underlying bill, s. 2657. The presiding officer the clerk will report the cloture motion. The clerk cloture motion we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on calendar number 357, s. 2657, a bill supporting innovation in advanced Geothermal Research signed by 17 senators as follows mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the reading of the names be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. The senator from ohio e. Mr. Portman mr. President , i call up amendment 1514 and ask that it be reported by number. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk senator from ohio, mr. Port man, appropriate an amendment number 1514. Mr. Portman mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from ohio. Mr. Portman senator shaheen and i are here today to put forward this amendment. This is language that is being reinsserted back into the energy bill. It was taken out. I will say that it is clarifying language. We made some slight changes to show there are no mandates in this legislation. It has to do to show that we have incouragement of efficiency. I appreciate the fact that senator shaheen sheer on the floor. Mrs. Shaheen mr. President . The presiding officer the senator for new hampshire. Mrs. Shaheen senator portman and i have been working on this legislation for about ten years u. N. Its gone through committee, multiple times. Its gone through the floor of the senate multiple times. And were we hope that we have it in a position now where we can actually get this done as part of the Overall Energy package, which is significant and a tribute to the work of senators murkowski and manchin and so many other people in this chamber. As senator portman said, energy use in i would abouting is about 40 of our energy use. It is the single biggest sector in our economy. What an and Energy Efficiency is the cheapest, fastest way to deal with our energy needs. What these provisions would do they are voluntary but what they would do is provide significant savings to consumers. They would be the equivalent of taking every car and light truck off the road for a year, so significant emissions savings and Significant Energy savings. So this is a winwin. I hope that the amendment can be called up and passed. Mr. Portman i thank my colleague. I yield back. Mr. Sullivan mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from alaska. Mr. Sullivan mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that kyl wood, an intern in my office, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the month. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Sullivan mr. President , i also request unanimous consent that i be permitted to change my vote on the roll call vote earlier today, the vote was 65. I voted no. It was my intention to vote aye. It will not affect the outcome. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Sullivan mr. President , i ask that my following remarks be submitted in a separate area in the congressional record. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Sullivan mr. President , its thursday afternoon, and it is a time i love to come down on the floor, one of my favorite times of the week, because i get to talk about an alaskan who has done something really, really important for their community or their state or their country, and i know the pages like the speech because i talk about stories in alaska. The great state of alaska, whats happening in the state right now. Sometimes i call this person the alaskan of the week. Usually its one person. Sometimes we fudge a little and recognize more than one person. So today were going to recognize our alaskans of the week. In any case, these are people who help their communities, help their country, oftentimes do something thats unheralded, nobody knows about, very few know about. So i like to come down and tell the country about what theyre doing. And, as you know, mr. President , we have a alaska is a big state, holds a lot of imagination for our nation, the last frontier with good reason, because were filled with resilient people, some who have lived in alaska for thousands and thousands of years. I would abouting communities in some of the most extreme weather, environments on the planet. And they are tough. My constituents. But theyre also kind and they make it through our tough winter. Its below zero in many, many parts of the state. Well below zero. We make it through these winters through toughness, ingenuity, and importantly looking out for one another. Last week i highlighted a coast guard rescue,evan grills, in a real epic story for those who listened to this, what this young rescue swimmer did in his first mission. Ever in the coast guard, something that people should remember for a long, long time. And this week im going to talk about another rescue mission, an only in alaska mission. And im going to recognize four extraordinary Young Alaskans who stuck together, toughed it out, looked out for one another and were rescued in another perilous situation. This is christopher johnson, age 14. Frank johnson, age 8. Ethan camille, age 7. And trey camille, 2 years old. All of them are alive and recovering because of their own ingenuity, determination, and toughness, and looking out for one another. These four boys are from a upik village, over 400 miles northwest of anchorage, on the south fork of the yukon river. A 2005 Mission Statement written by the Community Leaders and elders describes the village like this a small, quiet, community of family, relatives, friends working together to pursue our yupik way of lifestyle with respect to our surrounding land and waters for subsistence. Like many places in alaska, temperatures there can be extreme, as they would be on february 2, when these four boys were inside the house, rambunctious playing in the house. Irene, the grandmother of the three and mother to one was watching them that day and it was her birthday. As boys do, they were getting restless. They wanted to go outside and irene, wanting to get them to have some exercise and play, rightly encouraged them to get outside in the great outdoors. But the weather was turning a little bit ugly. Storms were in the forecast. But irene said later they have to know how to be outside. Theyre tough alaskan kids. Theres always going to be a storm coming. Besides, the elders and their grandfather taught them to be prepared for the weather. This is teaching from their grandparents, their mothers and fathers. So the four boys christopher, frank, ethan and trey trudged outside to partake in one of the most popular winter hobbies we have in yak, snow machining. Snow machining is often referred to as snowmobiling by many americans. Due to the lack of road systems in our state it happens to be the primary mode of transportation during the winner ter months across dozens and dozens of villages throughout alaska. After they went riding around the small village, the boys were going to call it a day when they spotted a fox. They spotted a fox. And like curious young boys do, the irresistible urge to chase this fox began, and they chased it out on to the tundra. And before they knew it, they lost the fox, the snow machine was now stuck in the snow, and they were lost in a white blizzard. They were lost. Chris, the 14yearold, the oldest of the group, the leader, was determined to lift the snow machine free of the snow. He lifted so hard that later it was discovered that he suffered a hernia. This is one tough kid. Eventually the machine unfortunately ran out of gas, and the two, and the young boys were miles and miles away from their village, and lost. They began tracking through the deep snow in whiteout conditions in a direction that they thought was the way back home. At one point one of the boys briefly took off his glove, which the wind promptly took away in the storm. Yet, they continued walking and walking into winds as high as 60 miles an hour and wind chills way, way below zero. After fighting the deep snow and whiteout conditions for four miles, chris decided it was time to try to build a snow cave for shelter. Smart young man, knowing how to survive. They did it. They built a shelter out of snow, a hole for them to crawl into and he escape some of these most brutal wind gusts. A snow cave, mr. President , is only used as a last resort, but this was the last resort and these young boys knew it. So they crawled in and they huddled and they waited for a rescue. Back in the village, as you can imagine, the boys family was getting frantic. They called out to the community to help search for them, and thats what people did. All throughout the community, they couldnt be found. And then, that does happen in our state often, the coast guard, National Guard, local search and rescue group from neighboring villages were all activated. Alaskans throughout the state going to look for these four boys. It was all hands on deck. Irene and the mother of three of them and one of the mothers of three of them, karen, were heartsick. Hours and hours went by. The whole state was holding its breath. It had been over 24 hours. A cold night fell. Around 2 00 a. M. The search and rescue was called off. In the snow cave, however, these young, tough alaskan boys continued to protect each other other, almost 20 miles away from home. They huddled. They try to keep each other warm to keep each other alive. Ethan didnt have a glove. Christopher was only wearing sweat pants. And they were particularly concerned for the twoyearold, trey. The first one of them crawled on top of trey, but they were afraid that might be too much for him, so they created a kind of cross, crisscross barrier to keep this young twoyearold alive and warm as best they could. The eightyearold, frank, refused to close his eyes throughout the night for fear of falling asleep and really never waking up. So he continuously stayed awake and poked the other boys throughout the night to keep them awake, which was successful. The next morning the storm had cleared, the sun started to come up, and the search throughout the state, with all these other alaskans looking for these four boys, continued. For hours and hours the search teams kept their ice peeled for anything unusual on the tundra, and about one hour before the sun was going to to go down again the next day, the search party from scaman bay, about 50 miles south, saw something. They knew how to read the tundra. They knew what a snowdrift would look like, and this one looked different. Then they saw movement. The search party investigated and came upon the four missing boys huddled and bundled together. Because it looked like just one big mass, at first they didnt think any of the boys were alive. And then they realized what was going on. They were protecting the baby. One of the rescuers, herschel sundown told the reporter they were protecting trey. The rescuers got to work warming the boys up and within 15 minutes, a coast guard helicopter, our brave men and women on the coast guard always on the scene quickly transported these boys after picking them up to a local boy. Ethan, the sevenyearold, is now recovering from severe frostbite on his hands, but all the kids are back at school and doing well. The rescuer, herschel sundown said honestly, i dont know how they survived. The will to survive in these young boys was amazing. I have never seen anything like it. Irene, the grandmother of the three and mother of one, is so very proud of them. If i were to get lost in alaska in the wilderness, id want to be with these four boys. Thats what she said. Mr. President , so would i. She also asked for the prayers of the country and for ethan and for his hand to heal, and thats starting to happen. These are the kind of young men and boys in alaska that make us so unique, tough, resourceful, and they uplift us and they make us proud. They are the protectors of their lands, their homes, and importantly, each other. So to the rescue crews, thank you again. Hard work, perseverance, risking your own lives for these young boys, christopher, frank, ethan, and little twoyearold trey, thank you for your inspiration, your ingenuity, your toughness, for being able to survive in the elements and looking out for each other. And thank you for staying alive and staying safe. And congratulations on being our alaskans of the week. I yield the floor. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from florida. Mr. Scott first i want to thank the senator from alaska for his alaskans of the week each week. I have had the opportunity to preside a few times when he recognizes the alaskan of the week, and the stories are unbelievable. The story last week with the young man from the great state of florida, what he did up in alaska was just remarkable. So thank you for what you do. I speak today in honor of the three victims of the tragic terrorist attack that took place at Naval Air Station pensacola on december 6, 2019. Airmen muhammad hadam known to friends and family as mo, 19yearold from st. Petersburg, florida, was a great athlete. Ensign, 25 from alabama, a natural born leader and selfless volunteer who lifted others up. Many joshua died a hearing after giving First Responders information on the shooters location while he was mortally wounded. Scott walters of richmond hill, georgia, 21 years old, with a contagious smile whose dream was to serve his country. Our sailors and Law Enforcement officials showed heroism and bravery in the face of evil as they ran towards the shooter that day, saving lives. And our First Responders came to the swift aid of those in need. Following this attack, i promised to do Everything Possible to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again. I called for a hard reset of the entire foreign Nationals Training Program and for all saudi nationals who train in the u. S. To be sent home until the u. S. Department of defense completed a thorough review. We now know that 21 of the Foreign Military students were withdrawn from the program and returned to saudi arabia after an investigation found that they were engaged in dangerous activities, including accessing antiamerican jihadist websites and child pornography. Withdrawing these students was a positive step, but theres still more than 850 military students from saudi arabia that remain in the u. S. At 38 military locations or installations in 17 states. And there are thousands of additional foreign nationals from countries around the world training at u. S. Military bases across our great nation. I am not calling for an end to these programs. Our alliances around the world, including our longstanding relationship with saudi arabia, are invaluable in defending American National securities and our interests abroad. These programs play an Important Role and we cannot put the lives of our military men and women at risk. We need to make sure that our men and women in uniform are safe at all times, especially when theyre training right here in the United States. Today im proud to join with my colleagues, senator joni ernst, to introduce the secure u. S. Bases act to make sure these programs are operated with american interests first, that our men and women in uniform are protected. The secure u. S. Bases act does three things. First, it creates a new visa category for Foreign Military students training on u. S. Bases bases, with restrictions on their travel and actions while theyre in our country. Individuals who receive the new visa will be prohibited from possessing, acquiring or using firearms, except for uses specifically required by their training program. And they will be under the continual oversight of their commander. Second, the bill changes the application process and venue requirements for Foreign Military students. The application to train on u. S. Bases will now require an official endorsement letter from the chief of intelligence of their home country. Additional personal increasing and ininterview and background check that will include a review of social media activity. The u. S. Director of National Intelligence will also be responsible for the final decision on whether to admit an applicant into this program. Finally, the secretary of defense must develop a method for classifying risk by country and consider the overall risk profile of each country when making determinations of an applicants eligibility. If a program could be implemented in another country instead of the United States, the department should consider that when appropriate. This terrorist should never have been allowed into our country, let alone on any American Military base with easy access to American Military men and women. The secure u. S. Bases act makes sure that Foreign Military students trained at bases are thoroughly vetted and monitored and our troops are vetted. I had the opportunity to serve in the u. S. Navy and cant imagine our military men and women feeling unsafe on their posts. Its a place where they train and serve, where their families live. Some on base, some off. And where they deserve to feel safe and secure. I hope all my colleagues join me in this effort and keep our u. S. Bases secure. Thank you. I yield the floor. Mr. Cornyn mr. President. The presiding officer the senator for texas. Mr. Cornyn mr. President , yesterday our colleague, the senior senator from new york, headed across the street to join a proabortion rally outside the Supreme Court building where he made deeply disturbing comments about two of the justices sitting on the Supreme Court. He said these words, and i quote, i want to tell you gorsuch, i want to tell you kavanaugh, youve released a whirlwind and you will pay the price. You wont know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions. Close quote. He certainly didnt mince worts. The minority leader of the senate threatened two sitting Supreme Court justices based upon the potential outcome of a case they are considering. Thats the only way to interpret what he said. Its no surprise to any of us that the senator from new york is no fan of the two most recent additions on the court, but a fiery floor speech and a downright threat of violence are two very different things. Weve heard some of our democratic colleagues voice their misgivings about the court but no one, to my knowledge, has sunk so low as to threaten sitting justices. As you would expect, the shock and outrage was immediate. Liberal legal scholar Laurence Tribe denounced senator schumer. Even chief Justice Roberts issued ra rare public rebuke, calling the comments not only inappropriate but dangerous. Now, the simple end to this story would be that our colleague would apologize to justice gorsuch, justice kavanaugh, and to the American People. But instead of doing that, he has doubled down. His office has accused the chief justice somehow of bias and said that senator schumer was referring to republican lawmakers not the associate justices, as if inciting violence against Senate Lawmakers is acceptable in the wake of what happened to scalise. He named justices gorsuch and kavanaugh in his threat. When it caught an inevitable firestorm, he tried to mislead the American Public what he said. Pay the price. You wont know what hit you. Those are not the type of statements we need from any elected official let alone from one of the highest ranking democrats in the country. Nor are they a good example because others may be incited to take things into oir own hands their own hands in ways that we cant anticipate. Unfortunately, some of our colleagues on the other side, including the junior senator from rhode island, fell in line and echoed the majority leader in criticizing the chief justice. Now, it doesnt matter what case is before the Supreme Court or what ruling is ultimately handed down. Congressional leaders must set an example for the American People and respect the independence of the judiciary and the three coequal branches of government. Weve had numerable discussions about hate speech and threats of violence against our leaders and politicians. The last thing we need is one of the most powerful men in the country to make a threat against Supreme Court justices. It doesnt matter whether youre a fourth grader on the playground or a United States senator, our lesson should be that violence is never the answer and that words matter. A simple end of this would be for senator schumer to apologize to the justices for his attacks by name on justice gorsuch, justice kavanaugh, and chief Justice Roberts. Mr. President , on another matter, at the beginning of february, the air force announced that my hometown, san antonio, would be one of the qairn teen sites for americans evacuated from china. Lackland air force base is home to an Incredible Group of airmen and i thank them for housing them. Also the state of texas have many hardworking medical professionals and i have no doubt that these patients who develop symptoms have received topnotch care while at Methodist Hospital and the texas center for infectious diseases. But there was and still is serious concern about the largest Public Health impact this virus could have. A couple of weeks ago i brought together the city of san antonio officials like the mayor and two members of city council for meetings with the department of health and Human Services and the Defense Department to discuss the mission concerns and challenges. The mayor and the city council had serious questions and legitimate concerns that they needed answered. I felt that at the time it was a positive step to encourage coordination between federal officials and local partners but now there is higher concern after we learned that one patient was released only to find out that her virus was still active. At the end of her treatment, and in accordance with c. D. C. Guidelines, the patient was tested on two occasions and with a 24hour intervening period, which was the protocol at the time. And she was ultimately released. Following her release, those, a test that the c. D. C. Was unaware that was conducted returned results that indicated the patient was still a weak positive for the virus. At that point she was returned to isolation after spending 12 hours in the broader San Antonio Community including time at a Shopping Mall and a hotel. Im glad this mistake was caught and corrected. It raises serious questions that need to be answered to ensure the continued protection of the American People. Earlier this week senator cruz and i sent a letter to dr. Robert redfield asking him how to to explain how this incident happened and how it could be avoided in the future. Now that the majority of the individuals that have been evacuated from the diamond princess cruise ship and those from china, what steps is the centers for Disease Control taking and what Public Health risks does the Larger Population face after their release . After a lot of conversations, we also asked director redfield if additional ee vac ewees would be brought to texas for quarantine and what would happen if the facility reaches its maximum capacity. I think its fair to say my hometown is carrying more than its share for this outbreak. As we continue to see headlines about the spread of the virus in washington state, new york, california, and others, its clear that time is of the essence. As we seek those answers, i encourage all of my constituents and all americans to read the best guidance on how to keep themselves and their families safe. While this is a new virus, the same old techniques that your mother taught you while you were growing up apply. Wash your hands, disinfect commonly touched household surfaces, and avoid contact with those who are sick. Thats just common sense. Try to avoid touching your face and cover and stay home if you are not feeling well. Those are the commonsense ways we can protect ourselves. Im incredibly grateful to the Health Care Workers who are battling this virus and to the dedicated scientists developing a vaccine. I have spoken to President Trump, secretary azar, my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee who did good work on this supplemental appropriation we just voted on and the need for additional coordination and resources. I thank each of them for their commitment in keeping americans and texans safe. In this supplemental appropriation bill that we just voted on, i requested funding for state and local communities, including san antonio, which had been at the forefront of this battle, and today we delivered a big win for them. The supplemental funding bill we just passed will make 950 million available for reimbursement for the cost of texas and other states across the country, the cost they incurred while monitoringern treating individuals monitoring individuals exposed to the coronavirus. I thank senators shelby and leahy for their work and im glad this muchneeded relief is on the way. Mr. President , i yield the floor and i note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Cassidy mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from louisiana. Mr. Cassidy i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Cassidy mr. President , one thing that is on everybodys mind right now is how do we prepare to address the coronavirus. And i speak not just as a senator but perhaps even more particularly as a physician who has done Public Health in my previous practice. Working with immunizations, looking at all those issues as to who is vulnerable and who needs to be protected. There are a couple of things that are quite apparent from what weve already learned from this epidemic. And let me compliment the chinese. Theyve come in for some criticism that was well deserved but in other things, they have helped determine a lot of things that will benefit the rest of the word in terms of the Natural History of coronavirus. And by the way, the theme of this talk is that we have to make sure that coronavirus medications are going to be available and affordable for Senior Citizens. Why do i emphasize Senior Citizens . One thing we have learned from the chinese is that those who are 50 and beef and and above and 65 and above in particular are the ones that are most likely to die from being exposed and infected with coronavirus. That is our Medicare Part d population. And if you have a chronic illness and chronic illness can be hyper tension, high blood pressure, again, you are particularly susceptible. So if we know that our medicare population is most vulnerable, let us focus particularly upon them. First, science is working. Theres at least six vaccines that are being developed to attempt to address the coronavirus. Hopefully one of them works. Theres other therapies being developed. Some of them are medications. Four different medicines are now being are under testing to see if they are the ones that absolutely prevent coronavirus. But we know that whatever drug that is could end up being quite expensive. And for the Medicare Part d beneficiary that leads into a discussion to how do we make sure those drugs are effective. Well, let me show you the current situation. This is the Medicare Part d standard benefit parameter under current law. And in the orange is that which the beneficiary pays, the Medicare Part d beneficiary. The blue is what the Insurance Plan pays. The green is what the manufacturer pays. And then the dark blue is what the taxpayer pays, the medicare system. And what you see is initially beneath a deductible, the part d beneficiary, the Senior Citizen on Medicare Part d pays a hundred percent. Then you go into what is called the initial coverage phase, 25 . Coverage gap phase 25 and and then above the catastrophic coverage the Senior Citizen pays 5 of no matter how much that drug costs. That drug could cost a Million Dollars and theyre going to pay 5 under current law. There is no and by the way, that is the list price. So even if the manufacturer and the pharmacy benefit manager have a deal where the drug might be priced at 100,000 but the rebate is a is at 50,000. It goes back to the manufacturer so your net pies is 50,000. The price is 50,000. The beneficiary is paying 5 of the list price. She is paying 5 of 100,000. She does not benefit from any rebates. This is current law. We can imagine if a drug which is quickly developed, expensive to develop and expensive to produce, it could be priced and its the only one that works against coronavirus, it is going to be an expensive drug. We can also imagine if it is an old drug which happens to work, that there might be somebody who buys it, closes down all the competition, and then charges an arm and a leg for this one old medicine off patent for decades that happens to be the one medicine that actually works to prevent progression of coronaviral infection. How do we protect the Senior Citizen . Because right now one more time shes exbostonned to 5 exposed to 5 of the cost no matter how expensive it is under current law. There is a couple of proposals out there right now. One of them is the on the house side called h. R. 3. And the other bill over here on the senate side is called grassleywyden. Im going to rename it in a second but let me just say those are the two bills. Mr. President , you know this, but for the folks watching, ill explain the tension. Whatever we do to control the cost of medication has got to preserve the incentive for industry, for pharmaceutical companies and vaccine manufacturers to continue to innovate. If you take away all their profits, they will just go home. Why invest billions of dollars if you dont make a profit. On the other hand, if they are able to charge so much that no one can afford no matter how innovative they are, it is as if the innovation never occurred. And if the theme of this discussion is how do we make sure that coronavirus medications are available and affordable for the Senior Citizen, we have to strike that balance. It has to be the balance between encouraging innovation by allowing a profit but not so much profit that the Senior Citizen cannot afford and it is as if the innovation never occurred. So far theres two options. Theres a bill on the house side called h. R. 3. And a lot of what they have is very similar to that which has passed in the senate which i personally think is a very good bill. But they have one provision which says the federal government can dictate to the pharmaceutical company, this is how much you charge, and if you dont accept our price, ultimately we will take 95 of your profits. Now, mr. President , if were going to try to incentivize companies to come up with new medications to fight cancer, to fight coronavirus, to fight alzheimers disease, you cant go to them they getgo and say, if you dont accept the price we dictate, were going to take 95 of your profit. That is the way that you end up with no innovation whatsoever. So even though theres a fair part of that bill which is constructive, that one is a deal breaker, and i can tell you, this doctor who has seen a tremendous amount of innovation, which is saving so many lives, will not agree to a provision that kills innovation. But then we go to the other side. What about the bill that we have here in Senate Finance. Came out of Senate Finance committee on a bipartisan basis, and on that bipartisan basis, it saves taxpayers 80 billion to 100 billion over ten years. Drug Companies Still make their profit. They still have the incentive to innovate. But taxpayers also save. And, most importantly, for the sake of this talk, which is how do we make coronavirus medications affordable to the Senior Citizen when they become available, we cap the amount of money the Senior Citizen has to pay for her drugs. No more 5 of list price, even if the list price is 1 million. Were going to cap that so the Senior Citizen can afford. One thing we also do is we protect the taxpayer from having to pay so much and instead ask the manufacturers and the pharmacy benefit managers to pay their fair share. But, for the purposes of this talk, instead of current law where it is 5 no matter how much it is, what the Senior Citizen has to pay is capped. So however much that coronavirus drug cast costs, the senior can afford. She wont die because she cant afford to pay 5 of a list price, no matter how high that list price is. Now, this bill is passed out of the socalled grassleywyden bill is passed out of the Senate Finance committee. It needs to come to the floor of the u. S. Senate. We need to have a vote on it. Because as we prepare to fight the coronavirus, to literally put in policies that will save lives of our Senior Citizens, one of those has to be one of those has to be one of those has to be how do we make sure the drug is affordable . So im renaming grassleywyden. Im now calling grassleywyden the making coronavirus drugs affordable. It caps outofpocket expenses, it lets patients pay over time not all at once in january and february, it protects patients when price gouging, it preserves innovation that brings us these new drugs. So, madam president , weve got lots of stuff coming to this congress to address our nations vulnerability to coronavirus. We need to focus on those who are most vulnerable, who are those 65 and above. We applaud industry pharmaceutical companies, researchers, vaccine manufacturers for the effort theyre putting in to find those drugs. We thank the chinese for running many of these Clinical Trials that will hopefully establish one of these drugs is actually effective. But what we must do is continue to allow innovation and at the same time make sure that coronavirus drugs are affordable. This bill will pass the United States senate if it comes to the floor, and i ask that it be brought to the floor. Mr. President , i yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call ms. Murkowski mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from alaska. Ms. Murkowski mr. President , are we in a quorum call . I would ask that proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Ms. Murkowski thank you, mr. President. I appreciate the strong vote that we had yesterday, 904, to advance and continue debate on s. 2657. Just after the that vote was concluded, i laid down a substitute amendment that contains the full text of the bipartisan American Energy innovation act. Having done that we would normally begin the process of voting on amendments, whether by voice or by roll call in this socalled regular order. We certainly have no shortage of options. Weve got some 200 amendments that have now been filed to the bill. What were missing is a little bit of cooperation here so that we can actually reach consent and move to votes. We could not Reach Agreement to have votes throughout the course of this week from monday until effectively now. Its been frustrating. Both senator manchin and i have been working to try to facilitate that. We want to take amendments. The leader wants us to take amendments. Weve got a good bill. We think weve got a pretty strong bill, but we know its always possible to make it better, gathering those ideas from colleagues who have not been part of the process on the energy and Natural Resources committee. We want to address those priorities from as many members as we can. So while we were blocked on votes this week, our staffs have been working together senator manchins and mine to develop a modified substitute that will add to the original text, a total now of 18 filed amendments. These will be included as part of the underlying text. So weve been working this week, maybe not actively out on the floor with a process where folks are voting on, but we have been able to take some of these consensus areas, bring them together and put them into a modified text. This is not this is not my preferred approach if we could do it the goodoldfashioned way, full, through individual votes or through a managers amendment a managers panel, thats great. Really where we were was a modified substitute was the option that was available to us. Recognizing that weve got limited time on the floor and we were still not able to form that path forward. But i want to speak real quickly, very much highlight the modified substitute includes an even number of priorities from both sides, some are amendments, some with modifications, but weve been able to take provisions from the senator from arizona, the senator from rhode island, senator ernst of iowa, feinstein from california, tillis of north carolina, from new hampshire, south dakota, senator hassan and senator had a sheen, senator enzi of wyoming, duckworth of illinois, kramer, casey, brown, romney, wicker, stabenow michigan, risch of idaho, senator markey of massachusetts. 18 different provisions which added to what we had done previously. Weve got priorities from nearly 70 members of the senate. That makes a good, strong bipartisan bill, even better and stronger. We now need to move to our final steps. Just a bit ago the majority leader filed cloture on our modified substitute amendment, which will allow us to hold that vote on monday evening. So as we look to complete our work on this bipartisan innovation package, no he that were going to be doing know that were going to be doing that throughout today, tomorrow, and through the weekend. I want to just address very quickly now some of the support that this American Energy innovation act has drawn. We focused on the priorities that it contains for members here in the senate, but weve also drawn strong support from many stakeholders outside. A group of 39 major trade associations, think tapings, advocacy groups, and environmental groups wrote us to express their strong support for our Energy Innovation passage of the the signatories include the u. S. Chamber of commerce, the National Association of manufacturers, the Environmental Defense fund, the Nature Conservancy this is just a few of the many. Some of the comments that weve heard, they wrote that our diverse organizations recognize and agree that Climate Change is an Important National priority that demands congressional attention. While we may not agree on everything, we believe that there is much Common Ground upon which all sides of the debate can come together to begin to address Climate Change, promote american technological leadership, and foster continued economic growth. In particular there is a growing consensus that the development in commercialization of new technologies are important factors that will determine how quickly and at what cost Greenhouse Gas emissions can be reduced. The American Energy innovation act will help do just that. It will accelerate these breakthroughs and enable adoption of lower emitting and more efficient technologies. Congress now has its best opportunity in more than a decade to enact Significant Energy legislation. Thats a pretty strong statement from those organizations. The National Mining association whose members understand as well as anyone that Clean Technologies rely on raw materials. N. M. A. Anna may wrote to us said this forward looking legislation takes steps to address the nations alarming import reliance and brings the United States to the forefront of research and developments in carbon technologies. The Consumer Energy alliance wrote that our American Energy innovation act, quote, provides opportunities to make Real Progress on the Energy Issues and environmental protections that all americans support. The Bipartisan Policy Center wrote that our bill is, quote, a landmark piece of legislation representing a downpayment on the innovation necessary to decarbonize our Energy Sector and modernize our Nations Energy policies. And the Business Council for Sustainable Energy wrote that, quote, the bipartisan introduction of the American Energy innovation act demonstrates Congress Commitment to innovation in the u. S. Energy sector. All told weve received support from more than 200 groups, companies, and organizations for this legislation. And these are groups who are really involved in doing everything from keeping the lights on in big cities, in small communities all across the nation. These involve folks from Edison Electric institute, the American Public power association, the National Rural electric cooperative association. These are groups whose members are working to keep energy affordable, like the American Petroleum institute, the National Ocean industries association. And we do. We appreciate all of them. Clear path action, citizens for responsible energy solutions, the coronet work, the American Wind Energy association, the Nuclear Energy institute, the Clean Air Task force, third way, the Energy Storage association. So many more who have contacted us and have shared their support. Were hearing a lot from alaskans as well. As the Alaska Power Association wrote in a letter we received this week, they said a. P. A. And our member electric utilities throughout the state reiterate our support for the many energy law modernization elements that comprise your American Energy innovation act. Aeia, will help alaskas farflung electricity providers and their consumers. The u. S. Chamber of Commerce Global Energy Institute wrote, we urge the senate to seize this opportunity to fuel American Innovation and promote Climate Action by passing this legislation without delay. Some pretty good words coming from them. We certainly would agree. We had an opportunity this morning, mr. President , in the energy and Natural Resources committee to hear from the head of the i. E. A. , the International Energy agency based out of france, paris, france. And he heads up the member countries that are part of the i. E. A. And they track trends in energy markets. We do an annual update with dr dr. Burele and as usual his words were important, telling, resounding. But as we reflected on what he is, is highlighting as areas of opportunity for the United States as not only an Energy Leader but a Global Energy leader. What we have what weve put in this American Energy innovation act is exactly, exactly the recipe that we should be pursuing. To continue to be a leader in the Energy Sector, to be a strong leader from the economic perspective, to be a strong leader with energy security, national security, and in environmental security. Were doing the right thing. We have it within this legislation. Well be moving forward, more aggressively with it next week so we can get to a good and a positive conclusion for the senate and for the country. With that, mr. President , i yield the floor. Mrs. Loeffler mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from georgia. Mrs. Loeffler i was sworn in two months ago and left behind a nearly threedecade Business Career to serve the people of georgia and our nations capital. This triewl it is truly my honor to support and defend the constitution. I arrived as impeachment began, one of the most divided and partisan times in the history of congress. Now with impeachment behind us and the president acquitted, ongoing partisanship is undermining the American Peoples access to facts during a Public Health emergency. What ive seen in the last few weeks has been alarming. Day after day i witness exactly why the American People are fed up with washington. The partisan rhetoric, the media sensationalism, the negative political news all while america is facing a Public Health emergency. The government at all levels must carry out the responsibility to keep americans safe. Federal agencies and the Vice President and our president are working relentlessly to do just that. We need to be united in our efforts to protect the health and safety of all americans. This is not a time to score political points through baseless commentary. It is a time for facts. I hope my colleagues, the media, the political leaders across america will continue to put Americans First and put politics aside while we prepare to combat this outbreak. I note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call mrs. Blackburn mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from tennessee. Mrs. Blackburn i ask we waive the quorum call. The presiding officer without objection. Mrs. Blackburn thank you, mr. President. As i begin my remarks today, i want to express my thanks to the colleagues here in this chamber and certainly all across capitol hill who have the who have extended their thoughts and their prayers and have asked how are you doing when it comes to talking citizens and those who have been so adversely impacted by the tornadoes this week. The damage is just absolutely indescribable. And even though early Tuesday Morning when the started watching some of the local tv stations that had put drones up there around nashville and Putnam County and over in wilson county. I could not appreciate the extent of the damage until i walked these neighborhoods. And that is something i did yesterday. But the damage, as you can see, communities are now debris fields. And it is just indescribable how the power of this storm, an e3 and e4 tornado that ripped through tennessee, carroll county, gibson county, benton county, davidson, wilson, putnam, and the damage that they have seen sometimes on the ground for 50 miles. It is just absolutel what we have seen is many families that have been left homeless. Their home is now a pile of rubble. We have seen thousands of tennessee tennesseans, over 100,000 were initially without electricity but because of the good work of t. V. A. Who is the Power Generator and our local power distributors, we have that number worked down to 23,550. So that is beginning to improve and the lights are indeed coming back on. The damage is still there. The loss of property. It is going to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. And those estimates are beginning to take place but there is a lot of work to do and the loss of life which is indeed the most tender. 24 individuals have lost their lives. 18 in Putnam County. We have children that have lost their lives. We have dozens that are injured, that are hospitalized. We still have some individuals that are unaccounted for and are missing. So there is a long way back to normalcy as we look at this situation. I will tell you our governor and i give a lot of credit to our governor and the leadership that he has shown as we have worked through this. He did get a formal request submitted to fema today asking for President Trump to issue a major disaster declaration. This is going to include individual assistance for davidson, putnam, wilson counties, public assistance for benton, carroll, davidson, gibson, putnam and wilson counties and Hazard Mitigation statewide. He has also requested Small Business administration loans for several counties. This is catastrophic damage. And, mr. President , one of the things that was so significant as i worked yesterday with our states insurance commissioner and our tema, Emergency Management agency director, director she hahn and general holmes and the National Guard and fema and their director, as we worked and as our teams worked together to assess this situation, the debris field, it goes for miles and miles outside of the area that was hit. So we know this is going to take a little while. I do have some information i want to say. The tennessee Emergency Management agency has taken the lead in organizing the shelters and the command centers on the ground in order to get this information out to individuals in the state and to individuals around the country, mr. President , who have family that live in these areas. There are three contact points that i want to bring the attention to. The home and property cleanup hotline, the statewide crisis phone line and then for individuals that are trying to figure out how to access help for recovery, the website tn. Gov tema. There is a website with information about where to go to find information. The crisis phone line is a Mental Health phone line because the impact of this kind of tragedy just cannot be understated. So as i said, two important phone numbers, one can help you if you need emergency cleanup; another will connect to you trained Mental Health professionals. And individuals should be encouraged to call if they have need there. And the website and on that you will find shelter locations, emergency accommodations and transportation, and just some practical information on that cleanup and then kind of next steps as you go about filing claims and rebuilding. So we do look forward to individuals having access to this information and using it because we know that we want to be there and help them to recover during this terrible time. Tennessee is the state that is known for its volunteer spirit. And as you look through some of the social media posts that were coming out during this storm and after the storm and you see the horror of what was transpiring with the tornadoes, you also see hope. And you see how the elected officials, those local officials in these communities, have stepped up and have taken the lead, and our mayors, our sheriffs, they are to be commended for the work that they are doing for our Emergency Response personnel, all of our First Responders, the way they have shown up and they have worked through. Some of them worked through 3640 hours without a break in order to respond to this. I was at the state Emergency Operations center in tennessee, and we have at our National Guard facility the tema response facility. And individuals would be so encouraged to see this working, because you have representatives from the Highway Patrol and from the t. B. I. And from the red cross and from so many different state agencies. And theyre working there together to meet the needs of tennesseans. So on tuesday evening, when i landed, i went straight over to the Operations Center and there was one gentleman, and he had his puppy that was there. So of course that was the first thing i wanted to do was meet his pet who was there working with him. And i found out that this employee, brandon ward, actually had slept on a cot there at the facility because he had lost his home. So what did he do . The storm hitsnd hit. He heads over to work. He has his pet with him, and he was staying there helping others, even though he had experienced loss. We were at a shelter, and there was a nurse, a paramedic who was there, and found out she was from Bowling Green, kentucky. So i asked why she had chosen to come. She said, we knew you needed help. So she came from Bowling Green to fill in until someone could get there and handle a shift. Helping people, meeting their needs. And we have seen tennesseans by the thousands show is up, big smiles. Theyve got water, they have a he got food, theyve brought along chainsaws and tractors and bulldozers and fourwheelers, everything needed to clear these debris fields, to move into these communities where houses once stood and to help these individuals who are seeking to push forward and rebuilding their lives, cleaning up the damage that has been left by this storm. Sifting through what was once their home and finding those precious mementos. That is what is happening in tennessee this week. We know this is going to be a long road back. But we also know that we are getting special attention with fema being on the ground, and tomorrow we are going to welcome President Trump to the state, and he will be able to see firsthand what has happened by an unprecedented storm that swept through the state on the ground for 50 miles an e4 ef4 tornadoes, and hes also going to see tennesseans working together. I yield the floor. Mr. Perdue mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from georgia. Per mr. President , i rise today to talk about mr. Perdue mr. President , i rise today to talk about what turns into a perennial topic, and that is how do we fund our military . We are in a situation, mr. President , that in the last 45 years weve only funded federal government four times on time. And we sit in a situation where the world is more dangerous than any time in my lifetime. We face five threats across five delays. This has increased over the last 1520 years. Statement we have been against war, against terrorism. That war has not abated, it has not gone away. It is still is there. We still face five threats, china, russia, iran, north korea,and terrorism across five domains air, land, sea, cyber, and now space. Yet with that backdrop, the world being more dangerous than at any time during my lifetime, and i remember the cold war, i remember the cuban missile crisis. These are things that in my childhood imprinted on my brain how dangerous the world can be. Yet today i say with some qualification that the world is more dangerous than at any time in my lifetime. And yet three times in the last 50 years, mr. President , three different the last three democratic president s cut spending in our military by 25 . That was in the late 1970s, the mid1990s and just in the last decade. Mr. President , this is devastating. We saw that in january of 2017, twothirds of our f18 teams couldnt triumphant this was a devastating thing we did to the United States military. It hasnt gone away. Today even today, under Republican Leadership in this senate, this is something thats been going on for decks. That is, we use something called continuing resolutions. Were in the the reason im here speaking to the body is that were beginning the authorization process for defense and other authorizing functions within committees, leading to the appropriations process, which were supposed to be complete which were supposed to be completed by september 30 this year. Were in the sixth fiscal month of this year which ends september 30 and year just now beginning this process, for a lot of reasons. Impeachment being one, several other reasons contributing to the fact that were late in this process. So were staring down the barrel of another continuing resolution, which we now know cost the United States military 5 billion per quarter. Now, 12 of the last 13 years, mr. President , the congress has put a continuing resolution in place for the Fourth Quarter or the First Quarter of each new fiscal year. Only in 2018 when this body stayed here in august and wrestle the this issue to the ground did we fund the military by the end of the fiscal year. Only one time in the last 13 years. As a matter of fact, in 2018 we got 75 of the budget funds. That was the first time in 22 years that wed gotten that you understand ifed. It is ridiculous. It is broken. We have to fix it. The victim has been the United States military. This is devastating on their operation of rebuilding readiness and now in the Recapitalization Program that were beginning in earnest. Over the last 20 years, ship i woulding about has been devastated. Weve lost shipbuilding has been devastated. Weve lost some 20,000 vendors across the d. O. D. Almost 14,000 vendors primary vendors, have been lost in the supply chamber. Even if we were to fund a recapitalization effort that would get us back on par with our peer competitors, i question whether we have the supply chain to do that. This is a major challenge for us right now. Technology is building. Our lethality is building. The way we build our fleet is building. But weve got to be serious about maintaining continuity of funding across decades with regard to this capability we have. Were the 800pound gorilla beneath the sea today. Today we are outgunned by one of our near peer competitors, and thats china. We have a 23016 shipbuilding plan that was done prior to the 19 2017 National Defense strategy, the n. D. S. In the shipbuilding plan of 2016 it called for 355 ships by 2034. These are submarines, amphibious ships, heavy combatant ships, aircraft carriers over the next 15 years. Well, the n. D. S. Was done in 2017. We still dont know what that shipbuilding plan is to support the n. D. S. The new plan is on the desk of the secretary of defense. I understand hes taking his time to make sure he understands the requirements. Hes got a particular problem because of the budget. I guess get that. But i want to highlight today what were up against. Today china has 35 ships in their navy. Today china has 355 ships in their navy. Thats a disadvantage we already have today in 2020. Most people dont know that. And oh, by the way, they really have only one area of operations, the indo pacific region. Although thats change. But the we have multiple areas of operation around the world. So this is a huge disadvantage we already have today. If you look at the next 15 years to 2034, they are projected to go to 435 ships. Were hoping to get to 355. Under the current plan of 2016. The that may change when we see this new shipbuilding plan, which by the way was due when the budget was submitted to congress. Thats an 80ship delta. 80ship disadvantage we have to china. That doesnt count what russia sin vesting in their new technology submarines and surface fleet. We also know what china is doing with the belt and road initiative, on the back of this incremental capability they have in the naval power that theyve been developing for the last 30 years. Thats the beltroad initiative. Theyve gone to over 50 ports in latin america, central america, where they make these proprietary loans. Theyve already closed on two of the loans. One in karachi, pakistan, where theyve taken position and now Building Military naval bases in those ports. Add to that what we see them doing and have done in the south china sea. I actually was blessed to be able to go with the navy on a flyover, part of a freedom of navigation operation in the south china sea, to see exactly what china has done there. We saw coast guard ships 1,000 kilometers patrolling the waters as if they were within the 12mile legal limit of china. We believe that we can compete. Today were still the 800pound gorilla. Our technologies, our sailors and pilots in the navy and marines are the best in the world. We can stand up to the threat today. My question and caution today as were looking at this authorization for our defense and budgeting therein, weve got to make sure that over the next 15 years we do this shipbuilding plan, that we maintain a more consistent and better funding for that plan, so we can rebuild the supply chain in order to build this capability. Let me say one other thing. The number of ships is a function of the distribution of those ships, how many small ships, large ships, carriers, submarines and so forth. But the other is its also a function of how the navy will fight that. There are new doctrines being put in place, advanced Battle Management system is going on and the weapons and munitions on this these vessels. Thats the encouraging part. The discouraging parpt is that china has a lead with regard to range and speed and a few other things in terms of their munitions. Im confident well catch up with that. Thanks to President Trump, we have the first ever audit of the d. O. D. It came to us a year ago. Weve been looking at that. It identified 4 billion of obsolete programs they want to get rid of that. Between that and the 5 billion thats going to be wasted this year if we end up with another c. R. In the septemberoctober time frame, thats 9 billion, thats almost 40 of one years shipbuilding plan, mr. President. Thats serious money, and this is up to us to get that taken care of and to find that money and to rebuild this navy. Let me close with this, mr. President. The next 50 to 100 years will be determined in the next three to five years in terms of our relationship not only with china but with russia and iran, north korea, and the other threats that we have around the world. We have got to establish with our allies, particularly our nato allies and also japan, to make sure that they get their investments moving in the right direction so that collectively we can stand up to this growing threat around the world. With that, mr. President , i yield the floor. Thank you. Mr. Lankford mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from oklahoma. Mr. Lankford in the fall of 2001, it seemed like forever ago, tray young, the great o. U. Point guard, now Atlanta Hawks phenom was just 3 years. Barris blazely was barely 1 year old in the fall of 2001. That same time period, now almost 20 years ago, there was a man named Osama Bin Laden. He was working with a small group of people in a country called afghanistan that most americans could not even find on the map at the time. And he was meeting privately with them to be able to organize an attack on americans that we could have never maidged. Training imagined. Training individuals, sneaking individuals into the United States, training them further to be pilots, preparing them for an attack that happened september 11, 2001. Not a soul alive that was alive during that time period doesnt remember where they were and what was happening on september 11, 2001. All of us, we were locked to our tvs watching an airplane fly into the side of a building and kill thousands of our friends and neighbors. On september 14, the United States Congress Passed use for military force for those individuals that carried out that attack three days after that attack. By october 7, the first troops had landed in afghanistan. They were organizing an effort to be able to find Osama Bin Laden and to be able to eliminate the threat of them carrying out that again. The very clear mandate at the time was working with the government at that time in afghanistan, the taliban, who were a ruthless dictatorship. They spread their hatred through afghanistan and were able to hide them in afghanistan. And the taliban who willingly allowed Osama Bin Laden and the terrorist group who they knew were a trust group remain there became a spark for us to go to the taliban and say, either turn Osama Bin Laden over to the United States for trial and those who were with him in al qaeda or we will come get them. And the talibans choice was to say come and get them. Which we did. Over the years 775,000 american troops have deployed to afghanistan at least once. 775,000. 40 different nations have participated with us in Operation Enduring freedom to be able to remove the threat of al qaeda attacking us. Our twofold purpose was remove Osama Bin Laden and their Leadership Organization to be able to attack the United States or our allies, number two, remove the taliban from leadership of afghanistan because they allowed al qaeda to be able to function and to be able to operate in their country and they would willingly do it again so they could not be allowed to remain in afghanistan as leaders. Those were our two agendas going into afghanistan. And i am proud to say that the United States has won this war with afghanistan. Al qaeda has been decimated. We hunted down Osama Bin Laden until in 2011 we found him and took him out and his core leadership at his facility in pakistan. We continue to be able to drive al qaeda into chaos and oblivion. We continue to be able to hunt down the taliban and their leadership, pushing them out of any semblance of leadership in afghanistan and isolating them in every area that we can. They have sanctions from all over the world against them. And their name has become synonymous with those who allow terrorism. Since the time period we moved in and weve won this war, four president ial elections have happened in afghanistan as theyve seen the peaceful transition of power, as messy as it is in many parts of the world, including us, theyve seen four elections happen there. Previously under the talibans ruthless thumb women could not work or attend school. Now 36 of the countrys workforce is female, 40 of Elementary Students are female, 33 of University Students are female. Theres been a tremendous transition in whats happening in afghanistan. Theres still its still a third world country and struggling in many areas, weve begun to see afghanistan begin to get traction there. Their military training is partnered with u. S. Military leadership from generals down to the infantry level to be able to meet with americans and to be able to have a professional fighting force there. Are there issues that remain in afghanistan . Absolutely. Afghanistan has a long history of being a tribal region with tribal leaders in multiple areas and the difficulty of uniting a very large country. But after four president ial elections and through multiple areas of peaceful growth, it is time to be able to bring this war to an end. To answer the question, why did we go to afghanistan in the first place and has that been accomplished . The answer is, we went to remove the taliban from the leadership there so they would not allow al qaeda to thrive. Al qaeda is decimated, Osama Bin Laden is dead, and the taliban have been removed from power. Now, is everything perfect in afghanistan . Far from it. The goal was not peace and daisies when we left. The goal was to be able to accomplish what we chose to accomplish, to be able to establish a functioning government so that they would not have to go back to the taliban, and then to be able to leave. The president has been negotiating an agreement with the leadership of the taliban and with the leadership of afghanistan to determine can we begin the process of peaceful transition out. That conversation has gone on for two years. Obviously the afghan leadership likes our forces to be there. Its a stabilizing force for their country. But we have no intention to be able to remain in afghanistan forever. Our intention is to be able to accomplish what we need to accomplish and then to be table to withdraw. Now i think its entirely likely that we would have a longterm agreement with afghanistan to remain some troops in the region much like we do in hon did yourus right now. Were not fighting a bar a war in honduras, so when there are disasters in that area, or Drug Trafficking in that area, we have a base of operation. I believe we should have a base of operation in afghanistan. It would be wise to be table to do that. What is called isisk, they are thriving in that region and it would be wise for us to keep our eyes on other terrorist organizations that may try to rise, but we have no intention to stay long term and forever or to be table to control or manage or to be the Security Forces for the afghan government. Were the United States of america and we have issues that we want to be able to take care of at home and we want our sons and daughters to be able to live life with their sons and daughters. In the last 48 hours, since this peace treaty, this organization, this reduction of whos title, hostilities, whatever you want to call it, since this kicked in we found out how fragile they are. The taliban reached out against attacks, not against our forces, but against some afghan forces. We actually reached out yesterday and brought a defensive attack against the taliban in that region. Its the first violence weve had in 11 days. We fully expect there will be moments like that. And there is no expectation that everything is going to be perfect when we leave afghanistan. Quite frankly, the United States does not operate in every location and expect it to be there to be peace and harmony in every location in the world. Thats not our standard. Right now in venezuela, that governments in great chaos right now, but we dont have troops on the ground trying to manage that situation, were diplomatly working to bring peace to venezuela and putting aggressive economic sanctions there to be able to help. We will continue to stay engaged in afghanistan. We have friends there and people we worked with for a very long time side by side. We will stay engaged in afghanistan, but it is not our intent to stay and remain forever. Our sons and daughters need the ability to be able to come home and live their lives. Folks like terry hill. Terry hill, from kellyville, oklahoma, he enlisted in the army in 2003, right in the heat of the war with afghanistan. He served as an engineer and then later became an officer and a pilot of a helicopter. He flew 750 combat missions in afghanistan 750. And after 13 years of serving in the army, and after some very hard landings, including one final hard landing for him, terry came home. Hes back home in oklahoma where he runs the rapid application group. Its a 3D Printing Company. Its a remarkable place. He started in his house and it is a thriving company. And that three D Printing Company does remarkable work for a lot of great customers. He hires a lot of veterans. Loves to be able to hire other veterans, in fact. And he knows the unique needs and issues there. Every friday terry and a whole bunch of others across the area and all the folks there all will water shirts wear shirts, what they call rag friday, its to recognize and bring awareness to veteran suicide. Hes got way too many friends that he wish he had back. Terry is one of those 775,000 people that served in afghanistan from the United States. Were glad to have terry home. Were proud of his company and what hes doing and the leadership that theyve got. Were proud of his continued engagement in the veteran community to continue to be able to make a difference. We want all these folks to be able to come home and to be our neighbors again and for us to hang out with them. So in the days ahead i look forward to a peaceful resolution. And after winning this war in afghanistan, to be able to come home, to have continued diplomatic engagement with them, a small military footprint just to be able to help in the region when needed. But im grateful that were directing our nation and directing our military towards home. And i could not be more grateful for the folks like terry and the 775,000 others that have done everything that their country has asked them to do to be able to push back on al qaeda and their ruthless attack on the United States and to make sure that that does not happen again. Im proud of them for what they did. Our family lives in safety and freedom, and millions of americans live in gratitude because of those 775,000 folks that went there to keep the war from coming here again. With that, i yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that the committee on banking, housing, be discharged from s. 3357 and the senate proceed to its consideration of. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk s. 1757, a bill to reward of world war ii in recognition of their Extraordinary Service during world war ii. The presiding officer without objection, the senate is discharged and the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the ernst substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed, 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 i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 370, s. 2683. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk calendar number 370, s. 2683, a bill to establish a task force to assist states in implementing hiring requirements for child care Staff Members to improve child safety. The presiding officer without objection, the senate the senate will proceed to the measure. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the committeereported amendment be withdrawn and the alexander substitute amendment at the desk be agreed to and the bill be considered read a third time. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i know of no further debate on the bill. The presiding officer if theres no further debate, the question is passage is on passage of the bill, as amended. All in favor say aye. All opposed, no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The bill, as amended, is passed. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that the committee on judiciary be discharged from further consideration of h. R. 4803 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk h. R. 4803, and act to an act to facilitate the automatic action of citizenship for children of military personnel residing abroad and for other purposes. The presiding officer without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the bill 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 i ask unanimous consent the committee on banking, housing, and urban affairs be discharged from further consideration of s. 2321, and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk s. 2321, a bill to require the secretary of the treasury to mint coin in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of negro leagues baseball. The presiding officer without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the blunt substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to and 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 i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. 3414. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk s. 3414, a bill to authorize Major Medical facility projects for the department of Veterans Affairs for fiscal year 2020, and for other purposes. The presiding officer without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the bill 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 i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. Res. 535, submitted earlier today. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk Senate Resolution 535, designating march 5, 2020, as National Slam the scam day and so forth. The presiding officer without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. 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 now, mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 3 00 p. M. , monday, march 9, further, following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. Further, following leader remarks, the senate resume consideration of s. 2657, further, notwithstanding rule 22, the cloture motions filed during todays session of senate ripen at 5 30 p. M. On march 9 and the mandatory quorums under rule 22 be waived and finally the firstdegree filing deadline with regard to the motion cloture motions filed be at 3 3. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask that the senate stand adjourned under the previous order. The presiding offi