Transcripts For CSPAN2 US Senate 20160519

Mr. Mcconnell mr. President . The presiding officer the Senate Majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell are we in a quorum call . The presiding officer we are. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President , senators have been working diligently this week, continuing our efforts to advance american priorities and responsibly Fund Important programs through the appropriations process. Weve made Good Progress so far. The Senate Already has passed one funding bill by a broad majority at a record early time. Another Appropriations Committee approved its own funding bill the other day and it is my hope well be able to move two more measures across the finish line very shortly. We continue work and cooperation, we can do just that. The two measures before us today are the result of hard work, negotiation and compromise. They are the product of strong leadership by senators collins and kirk, and they are the culmination of a good deal of input from senators on both sides of the aisle. Heres what we know these bills can achieve the transportation, housing infrastructure appropriations bill will invest in our Transportation Systems and help ensure safety and efficiency. The veterans and military Construction Funding bill will help improve care for veterans and increase oversight and accountability efforts at the v. A. The legislation before us will also include a provision to help address zika. This compromise provision will focus on immediate needs while also providing resources for longerterm goals like a vaccine. Its another reminder that keeping americans safe and healthy is a top priority for us all. So lets continue our work today and move these important funding measures closer to passage. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call the presiding officer the senator from washington. Mrs. Murray thank you, mr. President. I ask unanimous consent the quorum call be lifted. The presiding officer without objection. Mrs. Murray thank you, mr. President. A roam is more than a roof over someones head. It is where a family builds their lives. In our coun country, we need to do everything we can to make sure that families have options when it comes to finding a place to live, and they need access to affordable, safe and fair housing. Unfortunately today, republicans want to deal a significant blow to fair housing. The amendment they are offering would tear down the civil rights protections in the Fair Housing Act of 1968, and im here today to strongly urge my colleagues to vote against it. Mr. President , before the civil rights movement, africanamericans faced an enormous amount of injustice and racism in housing. People of color were often relegated to substandard housing. They were denied mortgages and rent in an africanamerican neighborhood was often higher than rent in a white neighborhood, even though the apartments were smaller and more run down. The Fair Housing Act went into effect in 1968 and banned discrimination in the sale, rental and financing of housing. But it also went a step further. A new federal Housing Agency was charged with proactively rooting out discrimination and segregation in communities across the country. That is an important part of the law because today people across the country still face systemic and sometimes racially motivated barriers to housing. People with disabilities, people of color, families with children and religious groups in many areas have limited housing choices. So last year the department of housing and urban development, also known as h. U. D. , issued a long overdue rule to help carry out that mission to proactively eliminate housing segregation and discrimination. For states and local governments that get h. U. D. Investments, this rule would improve the quality and the access to data on demographics and help researchers analyze the barriers that people face to access to fair housing and help set priorities and goals for carrying out the mission to actively fight back against discrimination and segregation. Based on pilot programs from around the country, we know this rule can help us expand opportunity to more americans. One of those pilots was in seattle, in my home state of washington. After an assessment of high poverty areas in puget sound, the city saw that neighborhoods that historically have been disenfranchised lacked job opportunities. Armed with that data, the city is setting up a Food Distribution center and a job incubator in those neighborhoods. The city is working to help now foster job growth in the places where lowincome residents actually live. And through that work, the city expanded Economic Security to more people. That would not have been possible. Without that data that this long overdue overdue rule provided us. That is the kind of success this new rule will help further. But unfortunately we are seeing that some republicans want to put a stop to those positive changes and backtrack on the gains that we have made on civil rights and housing, and to me thats just unacceptable. Here in congress, we should be clearing pathways for more americans to access fair housing, not blocking the way, so im here today to urge my colleagues to vote against that amendment that will be voted on later. Now, mr. President , while i have the floor, i want to talk about another topic that is very important to me, and i have i am really honored to come to the floor today with good news, actually, for thousands of military families, including three couples i met last week here in the nations capital. Each of the veterans that i met with had suffered a catastrophic injury while fighting for our country. It changed the course of their lives and their families forever. Matt kyle was shot by a sniper and paralyzed. Kevin jay was injured by a roadside bomb in afghanistan. And day letter black was paralyzed during a firefight. And what was the one thing each of these veterans wished for after he returned home and got out of the hospital . Well, like so many women and men in our country, they dreamed of having a family of their own. And even though each veteran suffered injuries that made it nearly impossible to conceive naturally, they had hope because in this day and age the medical technology exists to make their dream of having a family come true. The most popular path is in vitro fertilization known as i. V. F. But, mr. President , because of a policy that was actually enacted decades ago, the v. A. Today is barred from covering the costs of i. V. F. , so that forced matt and kevin and tyler with their partners to go down that road alone, even though this had been caused by an injury serving all of us overseas. Collectively, they have paid tens and tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket. As matt told me, when he heard the v. A. Wouldnt cover the one medical procedure he and his wife wanted so badly, he felt like his country had abandoned him. We are talking about a man who sacrificed his body for our country. So, mr. President , i believe this is wrong. When this country sends brave men and women to war, we promise to take care of them when they return home, and that is why i have been fighting to change this policy once and for all, and today im very proud to see this effort take a big step forward with bipartisan support here in the United States senate. My provision in the underlying v. A. Appropriation bill will finally allow the v. A. To cover those costs and let our veterans know your country is there for you when you come home. It is the right thing to do for matt and his wife tracy, for kevin and lauren, for tyler and crystal and every other military family in this country. So now as we move to fast this bill through the senate, i call on our colleagues in the house to follow suit and get this done because this isnt about politics or partisanship, and we shouldnt be cutting corners when it comes to our veterans and their families. This is a chance to support our veterans and the dreams that they have fought so hard for to have a family. Thank you, mr. President. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call quorum call a senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from utah. Mr. Lee i ask unanimous consent to suspend the quorum call. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Lee mr. President , i call for the regular order with respect to the blunt amendment number 3900. The presiding officer the amendment is now pending. Mr. Lee mr. President , i rise today not to debate the broad question of the federal governments proper role in protecting and advancing Public Health. Instead, im here to stress to my colleagues that with a growing National Debt that will soon exceed 20 trillion, we cannot continue to spend money we dont have. If this passed since 2016, totaling about 190 billion in deficit spending. This is not how responsible governments budget. Its not how responsible governments behave. Indeed, we have the ability to provide the resources the country needs to fight the zika virus without adding to our National Debt. For starters, we could undo the 500 million president obama took from the International Infectious diseases account and place them in his own approved Green Climate fund. Usaid is sitting on is. 2 billion 1. 2 billion in unobligated ebola funds. The office of the assistant secretary for preparedness and response currently has 347 million not being put to use, and there is 525 million in c. D. C. s Global Health agenda that is unspoken for to the extent the zika virus is truly an emergency, one that deserves the federal governments attention, we already have more than enough unused emergency funds to pay for the fight against this emerging threat. Yesterday my colleague, the distinguished junior senator from oklahoma, senator lankford, illustrated that this administration has tens of billions of dollars in unobligated discretionary funds to pay for this as well. What we should not do, however, is allow the zika virus to be yet anotherexcuse to run you the National Debt so appropriators can come back and use unspent emergency money on nonemergency parochial priorities at some later date. The entire emergency spending label is perhaps to some a little bit misleading. It does not mean that the money gets spent any faster. All it does is give congress the ability to spend the money without having to pay for it, to spend the money without having to offset it somewhere else. That is not how we should operate. I urge my colleagues to uphold this budget point of order. And so, mr. President , with that pursuant to section 314e of the congressional budget act of 1974, i raise a point of order against all of the emergency designations contained in amendment number 3900, a list of which im sending to the desk. Ms. Collins mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from maine. Ms. Collins mr. President , i certainly share the deep concern expressed by my colleague from utah over the growing size of the federal debt. It is a serious problem. I would encourage him to look at the chart that senator alexander has produced which shows where the problem is, and the problem is on the mandatory side of the budget, not the discretionary side of the budget which due to efforts we have made has been held relatively flat for several years. But the mandatory spending side of the budget is soaring. There is no doubt about that. And many of us when the administration presented its budget rejected the gimmicks that were included, for example, in the transportation budget to shift some 7 billion to discretionary to mandatory spending, that was unwarranted. We did not do that. But, mr. President , if ever there were an emergency, it is the threat posed to Public Health by the zika virus. About two weeks ago, senator Johnny Isakson and i went to the centers for Disease Control and prevention in atlanta, georgia, and heard briefings from the top experts in the world about the threat posed by the zika virus. And the fact is the news keeps getting worse and worse. Zika has now been linked for certain to a severe kind of birth defect making pregnant women particularly at risk. It has also been linked to a disease known as guillainbarre disease which can cause paralysis and even death. And those of us who live in northern states where this kind of mosquito, for example, is found only in the very southern tip of maine should take no comfort from that fact. The c. D. C. Has documented cases of the zika virus in virtually every state in the union, and thats because disease knows no boundaries in this world of international travel. In addition, the c. D. C. Has documented approximately a thousand cases of zika. It is an epidemic in puerto rico where there are more than 475 documented cases, a true crisis for that u. S. Territory. So from my perspective, we have to act. We have to act quickly. And the bluntmurray compromise bill deserves the emergency designation which is attached to it. Therefore, mr. President , pursuant to section 904 of the congressional budget act of 1974 and the waiver provisions of applicable budget resolutions, i move to waive all applicable sections of the act and the applicable budget resolutions for purposes of the bluntmurray amendment 3900 and i ask for the yeas and nays. The presiding officer is there sufficient second . There appears to be. The yeas and nays are ordered. Ms. Collins mr. President , i believe we are going to have that vote a little bit later so i would yield the floor. A senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from georgia. A senator mr. President , last night i was off the floor when senator mccain from arizona offered an amendment regarding the veterans choice bill. I wanted to make sure and memorialize my support for the mccain amendment. As chairman of the Veterans Affairs committee, we waived jurisdiction so it could be offered on the v. A. Component of the bill. Mr. Isakson i want to add one further comment. The cost associated with extending the eligibility of choice by three years which is the mccain amendment scores at a cost. To recognize the cost you have to assume we would not have treated an eligible veteran under any other program if choice expired. Were not going to abandon our veterans. We have a commitment to the veterans for the health care they signed up for. What center mccain is doing is trying to improve access to health care, maintain the access through the choice of a private sector provider or v. A. Provider. Theres no additional cost unless you assume that you want to take away a benefit that weve given two years ago in the omnibus bill we passed. I commend senator mccain for extending the eligibility for choice for three more years. I will support the amendment when it comes before the senate and i encourage all the members to do the same. I yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call ms. Collins mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that proceedings urntdz ed under the call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Ms. Collins i ask unanimous consent that there be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to each amendment in relation to h. R. 2577. The presiding officer without objection. Under the previous order, all postcloture time is expired. The question owe cuss on the notion waive. The yeas and nays have been ordered. The clerk will call the roll. Vote vote the presiding officer on this vote, the yeas are 70, the nays are 28. Threefifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in the affirmative, the moaghts is agreed to and the point of order falls. There are no two minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to amendment 3946 offered by the senator from maine, ms. Cal lins. Ms. Collins. Ms. Collins mr. President , could weve order . Officerster could we have order. Ms. Collins i yield back the time on this amendment on our side. The presiding officer without objection. Is all time yielded back . Mrs. Murray mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from washington. Is all time yielded back . It is. The question occurs on the amendment. All in favor say aye. Opposed, nay. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The amendment is agreed to. There are tbhow minutes of debate prior to a vote in relation to amendment 3900 offered by the majority leader for mr. Blunt and ms. Murray. Can we please have order. A senator mr. President . We have looked at the proposal. I think weve reached an agreement on the proposal that takes this issue up through september of next year. Mr. Blunt i think now is the time to move forward. I urge my colleagues to vote for the amendment and at that point well work with the house for a final conclusion. Mrs. Murray mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from washington. Mrs. Murray mr. President , i just would say that i am disappointed that republicans refused to work with us to fully fund the president s emergency supplemental proposal, and is it shouldnt have ta taken us so lg to goat to this point. But i am please that this will move us to a down payment on the president s emergency funding passage through the senate. I want to commend chairman blunt for his work with us on this and all the democrats and republicans who are supporting it. But i want to remind all of us, this is only a first step, and we have to make sure that this agreement gets through the house and to the president s desk in the least amount of time. I would hope that we could separate it from this bill and move it quickly. That was objected to yesterday over payfors. Which are not part of this amendment. But this is a critical emergency. We need to move forward on this first step, around i hope we can and i hope we can do it in a timely manner. Thank you, mr. President. And i yield the floor. The presiding officer question now owe cuss on amendment 3900. The yeas and nays is there a sufficient second . There appears to be. The clerk will call the roll. Vote