[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 137 (Tuesday, September 22, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6868-S6870]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HIRE MORE HEROES ACT OF 2015--Resumed

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, what is the pending business?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the pending business.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A joint resolution (H.J. Res. 61) amending the Internal 
     Revenue Code of 1986 to exempt employees with health coverage 
     under TRICARE or the Veterans Administration from being taken 
     into account for purposes of determining the employers to 
     which the employer mandate applies under the Patient 
     Protection and Affordable Care Act.

  Pending:

       McConnell amendment No. 2640, of a perfecting nature.
       McConnell amendment No. 2656 (to amendment No. 2640), to 
     prohibit the President from waiving, suspending, reducing, 
     providing relief from, or otherwise limiting the application 
     of sanctions pursuant to an agreement related to the nuclear 
     program of Iran.
       McConnell amendment No. 2657 (to amendment No. 2656), to 
     change the enactment date.
       McConnell amendment No. 2658 (to the language proposed to 
     be stricken by amendment No. 2640), to change the enactment 
     date.
       McConnell amendment No. 2659 (to amendment No. 2658), of a 
     perfecting nature.
       McConnell motion to commit the joint resolution to the 
     Committee on Foreign Relations, with instructions, McConnell 
     amendment No. 2660, to prohibit the President from waiving, 
     suspending, reducing, providing relief from, or otherwise 
     limiting the application of sanctions pursuant to an 
     agreement related to the nuclear program of Iran.
       McConnell amendment No. 2661 (to (the instructions) 
     amendment No. 2660), of a perfecting nature.
       McConnell amendment No. 2662 (to amendment No. 2661), of a 
     perfecting nature.


                        Vote on Motion to Commit

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to table the motion to commit.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion.
  The motion was agreed to.


                       Vote on Amendment No. 2658

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to table amendment No. 2658.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion.
  The motion was agreed to.


                       Vote on Amendment No. 2640

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to table amendment No. 2640.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion.
  The motion was agreed to.


                           Amendment No. 2669

       (Purpose: Making continuing appropriations for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2016, and for other purposes.)

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I have a substitute amendment at the 
desk that I ask the clerk to report.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Kentucky [Mr. McConnell], for Mr. Cochran, 
     proposes an amendment numbered 2669.

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the 
amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of 
Amendments.'')
  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask for the yeas and nays on my amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.


                Amendment No. 2670 to Amendment No. 2669

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I have an amendment at the desk that I 
ask the clerk to report.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Kentucky [Mr. McConnell] proposes an 
     amendment numbered 2670 to amendment No. 2669.

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
reading of the amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

       At the end add the following.
       ``This Act shall take effect 1 day after the date of 
     enactment.''

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask for the yeas and nays on my amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.


                Amendment No. 2671 to Amendment No. 2670

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I have a second-degree amendment at the 
desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Kentucky [Mr. McConnell] proposes an 
     amendment numbered 2671 to amendment No. 2670.

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the 
amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

       Strike ``1 day'' and insert ``2 days''.

                           Amendment No. 2672

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I have an amendment to the text 
proposed to be stricken.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Kentucky [Mr. McConnell] proposes an 
     amendment numbered 2672 to the language proposed to be 
     stricken by amendment No. 2669.

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the 
amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

       At the end add the following.
       ``This Act shall take effect 3 days after the date of 
     enactment.''

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask for the yeas and nays on my amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.


                Amendment No. 2673 to Amendment No. 2672

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I have a second-degree amendment at the 
desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Kentucky [Mr. McConnell] proposes an 
     amendment numbered 2673 to amendment No. 2672.

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the 
amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

       Strike ``3'' and insert ``4''

                Motion To Commit With Amendment No. 2674

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I have a motion to commit with 
instructions at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the motion.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Kentucky [Mr. McConnell] moves to commit 
     the joint resolution to the Committee on Appropriations with 
     instructions to report back forthwith with an amendment 
     numbered 2674.

  The amendment is as follows:

       At the end add the following.
       ``This Act shall take effect 5 days after the date of 
     enactment.''

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask for the yeas and nays on my motion.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.


                           Amendment No. 2675

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I have an amendment to the 
instructions.

[[Page S6869]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Kentucky [Mr. McConnell] proposes an 
     amendment numbered 2675 to the instructions (amendment No. 
     2674) of the motion to commit H.J. Res. 61.

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the 
amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

       Strike ``5'' and insert ``6''

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask for the yeas and nays on my amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.


                Amendment No. 2676 to Amendment No. 2675

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I have a second-degree amendment at the 
desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Kentucky [Mr. McConnell] proposes an 
     amendment numbered 2676 to amendment No. 2675.

  The amendment is as follows:

       Strike ``6'' and insert ``7''

                             Cloture Motion

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk for 
amendment No. 2669.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The cloture motion having been presented under 
rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to read the motion.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     do hereby move to bring to a close debate on Senate amendment 
     No. 2669 to H.J. Res. 61.
         Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, Marco Rubio, Tom Cotton, 
           Orrin G. Hatch, Joni Ernst, Jeff Flake, Lindsey Graham, 
           David Vitter, Chuck Grassley, Thom Tillis, Steve 
           Daines, Bill Cassidy, David Perdue, John Boozman, James 
           Lankford, Thad Cochran.

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent to waive the mandatory quorum 
call for this cloture motion.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I was struck by some things the 
Democratic leader said this morning about funding the Government. First 
he said it was not the Democrats' responsibility to work toward 
sensible solutions because ``we've helped in any way we can, we've not 
held up anything procedurally.''
  That was just minutes before his party voted again to hold up a bill 
procedurally that would fund the military at a time with unprecedented 
international threats. Then he said this: ``We've made it clear that 
we're not going to proceed to appropriations bills''--talk about a 
mixed message.
  His party has crowed for months about its filibuster summer strategy 
of blocking every last funding bill in the hopes of taking Americans to 
the brink. They have now succeeded in taking us there. They think it is 
the only way to force America to accept their demands for more debt and 
more bureaucracy. But that is not what Americans want. Americans want 
Democrats to now work with us responsibly to help our country get out 
of the situation that they, in fact, have engineered.
  The bill before us would do that. It would keep the government funded 
through the fall while adhering to the bipartisan spending levels 
already agreed to by both parties. For 1 year, it would defund Planned 
Parenthood and protect women's health by funding community health 
clinics with the $235 million instead. This would allow us to press the 
pause button as we investigate the serious scandals surrounding Planned 
Parenthood.
  I know Democrats have already blocked virtually every bill to fund 
the government this year, but I am asking them to allow the Senate to 
fund the government now. I know Democrats have relied on Planned 
Parenthood as a political ally, but they must be moved by the 
horrifying images we have seen. Can they not resolve to protect women's 
health instead of their powerful political friends?
  I am not happy that we have been forced into pursuing a CR instead of 
the normal appropriations process. After all, for the first time in 6 
years, a Senate under new leadership actually passed a budget. After 
all, for the first time in 6 years, a Senate under new leadership 
passed all 12 necessary bills to fund the government out of committee. 
It is truly regrettable to see the actions of the party on the other 
side that led us to this point. The bill before us now represents the 
best option to keep the government funded, to protect women's health, 
to press the pause button on funding for a scandal-plagued organization 
as we investigate further into some truly shocking allegations.


                            Order for Recess

  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in 
recess until 2:15 p.m. today for the weekly conference meetings.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, will my friend allow me to speak prior to 
that?
  Mr. McCONNELL. After the remarks of the Democratic leader.
  I am sorry, Mr. President. I didn't realize the Democratic leader 
wished to speak.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Democratic leader.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I served in the House of Representatives. It 
was standard over there for Members at committee hearings and on the 
floor to always say: I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my 
remarks. That was standard practice in the House. We don't do that 
here. But certainly in the House it would have been totally 
inappropriate to say: I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend the 
remarks of my friend from California or wherever they might be from, 
but that is basically what my friend, the Republican leader, has done.
  He has no right to make up what I said this morning. What I said this 
morning is in the Record. The fact is that he can't rewrite what I 
said. Here is what I said earlier today: We have made it clear that we 
will not proceed to appropriations bills under the Republicans' 
partisan budget. That is what I said verbatim this morning.
  We seek a budget agreement that fairly prevents mindless sequester 
cuts to defense and the middle class alike. We want negotiations to 
start, and I said I am gratified our votes on this measure have caused 
the Republican leader to acknowledge that we need to negotiate, and 
that is true. I am happy to see that, and I have publicly commended the 
Republican leader for the statements he has made in recent days about 
how we need a clean CR. I also said this morning, as far as the 
upcoming vote, that there is no reason for Senators to change their 
votes from how they voted earlier, and that was on the Defense 
appropriations revote. This is yet another case of the Republican 
leader just wasting time before we address the real deal.
  We read in this morning's papers that the Republican leader plans to 
bring a clean continuing resolution before the Senate later this week. 
That is not a day too soon. That is what I said, and that is what I say 
again.
  This vote on Planned Parenthood this Thursday is another rerun vote. 
I do not in any way take away from people who feel strongly about their 
position on abortion, Planned Parenthood, and the 20-week abortion. I 
understand how strongly people feel on both sides of that issue, but 
this is yet another rerun vote.
  The Republicans--in the 9 months they have been running the Senate--
have had more revotes than any other majority party in the history of 
our country. They are No. 1 in revotes. We have revoted and revoted and 
revoted. We voted on Planned Parenthood earlier this year in August, 
and we voted on abortion today. How many times will the Republican 
leader need to return to this same show vote?
  We are going to prevent a government shutdown with a clean continuing 
resolution. That is what he said, and I agree with him.
  When will we avoid a default by addressing the debt limit? When will 
we address cyber security and the highway trust fund? All of these 
things are important to do, and I am anxious to get them done. We have 
a lot of problems out there in our great country. We have so many 
things to do. We haven't addressed the energy problems that face this 
Nation.

[[Page S6870]]

  We have fires that are ravaging the great Western part of the United 
States. The government entities that are fighting these fires don't 
have the money to fight them. The two worst fires in the history of the 
State of California are just being tamped down, but they are still not 
completed. Hundreds of homes have burned. We have a country that is 
burning up.
  The Governor of Nevada is a good man. He is a Republican Governor, 
and I have great admiration for him. I suggested his name to the 
President of the United States to become a Federal judge, and he 
accepted my recommendation. He then resigned that position to run for 
Governor. He is now conducting a 3-day event in Nevada--bringing people 
in from all over the West and all over the country--to talk about what 
is happening to Nevada. We are having so many problems in Nevada. Lake 
Mead is drying up, and Lake Tahoe is having tremendous problems. We 
have a snowpack that basically doesn't exist. We don't have many rivers 
in Nevada, but those little rivers that we have, including the mighty 
Colorado, are in deep trouble. We have snowpack in upper Colorado that 
evaporates before it gets into the river.
  I am willing to do whatever is necessary to move forward in funding 
this government, but to blame us for not funding the government is 
really carrying things to extremes.
  I have completed my statement, Mr. President.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Will the Senator withhold his suggestion of 
the absence of a quorum?
  Mr. COCHRAN. I withhold my suggestion.

                          ____________________