[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 105 (Wednesday, June 29, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4699-S4702]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NATIONAL SEA GRANT COLLEGE PROGRAM AMENDMENTS ACT OF 2015--Continued
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
(The remarks of Mr. Alexander and Mr. Corker are printed in today's
Record during consideration of S. Res. 516.)
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.
(The remarks of Mr. Vitter pertaining to the introduction of S. 3120
are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills
and Joint Resolutions.'')
Mr. VITTER. Thank you, Mr. President.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Lee). The Senator from Texas.
Zika Virus Funding
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, about 24 hours ago our Democratic friends
filibustered an appropriations bill for $1.1 billion that they
themselves had said was an emergency, denying mothers pregnant with
babies potentially like this one depicted here from suffering the
devastating birth defects associated with microcephaly. You can see the
shrunken skull associated with a shrunken brain--a devastating impact.
This is the principal danger of the Zika virus, which heretofore had
been limited to South America and Central America, places like Puerto
Rico, sadly, and Haiti. The mosquito that carries this virus is native
to Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and the southern most parts of the United
States. So far the only cases--save one recently in Florida--of
infection from the Zika virus have been from people who traveled to
those regions and then returned to the United States. As I said, it
appears there has been one reported case in Florida that has been
contracted on the mainland of the United States.
I simply do not understand how the Democratic leader from Nevada and
his colleagues could turn this public health crisis into a political
circus. When a pregnant woman contracts Zika, it can cause microcephaly
like this. Of course, you can imagine, even if you are just a woman of
childbearing age, the possibility that you might contract Zika--not
knowing how long that virus remains in your body--would cause
tremendous anxiety. You can imagine what this devastating birth defect
does not only to the baby involved but to the families who must
necessarily support them.
This condition is tragic. It can cause seizures, intellectual
disabilities, hearing and vision problems, and developmental delays,
and of course a premature death. That is the kind of life that awaits
these children and the families of children born with microcephaly if
they are fortunate enough to survive. As I mentioned yesterday, it was
reported that a child with microcephaly was born in Florida. In this
case, I stand corrected. That was not as a result of a mosquito bite in
the United States, but rather the mother contracted the virus while in
Haiti and traveled back to her home in Florida.
The simple point is, this is playing with fire. It was just a few
weeks ago, actually May 23, 2016, when the Democratic leader insisted
we immediately fund the President's request of $1.9 billion in
emergency funding. He said:
Instead of gambling with the health and safety of millions
of Americans, Republicans should give our Nation the money it
needs to fight Zika and they should do it now. Not next
month, not in the fall--now.
I think the urgency Senator Reid was expressing was felt by all of
us, but we know there is a right way and a wrong way to appropriate
money in the U.S. Congress. We have to pass legislation in the Senate,
we have to pass legislation in the House, and then we have to come
together in a conference committee to reconcile those differences. It
is the conference report that is the product of a negotiation between
the House and the Senate that funded this effort at the level that
actually passed the Senate just a few short weeks ago. Every single one
of our Democratic friends voted for funding the Zika crisis at $1.1
billion. Yet yesterday, all but I believe one of our Democratic
colleagues then voted against the very funding they said was an
emergency back at the end of May.
We know given the warmer weather in the southernmost part of the
United States and the fact that the mosquito that carries this virus is
native to the southern part of the United States--we know this risk is
on our doorstep, and it is really shameful our Democratic colleagues
put politics ahead of sound public policy.
Here are some of the excuses they gave, and none of them withstand
any sort of scrutiny.
First of all, they said: Well, this doesn't provide enough money,
even though all of them voted for funding at this level of $1.1
billion. They know that if in fact the public health needs in the
country are significant enough that more funding is necessary, there
will be an opportunity at some point, after due deliberation and
discussion and appreciation for the nature of the problem and what the
proper response would be for us to act again--but they already voted
for funding at this level.
The next bogus argument is that this is somehow an attack on women's
[[Page S4700]]
health; specifically, on Planned Parenthood. The fact is, there is not
a word of Planned Parenthood in this bill. You will look in vain for
the word ``Planned Parenthood'' because it is simply not there. What
the Appropriations Committee decided to do and what the Senate and
House working together decided was to direct funding for contraceptive
birth control purposes to community health centers. It didn't exclude
Planned Parenthood. In fact, if you are a Medicaid beneficiary, Planned
Parenthood is a Medicaid provider and you can get those services
provided at Planned Parenthood.
The other bogus argument is somehow there are environmental
protection concerns. Well, the very virus that causes this terribly
devastating birth defect is carried by mosquitoes. Why in the world
would our colleagues across the aisle interfere with efforts to try to
kill more mosquitoes before they cause this sort of devastating birth
defect? This legislation doesn't erode environmental protections. It
provides targeted regulatory relief to combat mosquitoes that carry
this virus for a short period of time by making more insecticides
available to public health officials like those in Houston I visited
with recently who said part of their frontline effort to combat this
virus is to kill mosquitoes, and it has informed the public that if you
have pooling water in a flower bed or somewhere that can be a breeding
ground for mosquitoes, you need to be attentive to that and eliminate
that place where mosquitoes can breed and propagate.
So there is simply no good reason to deny funding to mothers who are
worried about the possibility that they may contract the Zika virus
that results in the devastating birth defects like that exhibited by
Laura here. That is her name, Laura. She is 3 months old.
I hope when we come back next week, as the majority leader has said,
the Democratic colleagues who voted against this emergency funding bill
they so ardently had insisted upon for so long will have another chance
to vote. I hope in the interim our friends across the aisle will search
their souls--really their consciences--and they will have maybe a
little twinge of regret for having voted to deny the funding for
development of a vaccine and insect control and for research so we can
learn more about this virus so we can learn how to combat it more
effectively. That is what they denied us yesterday. That is what they
denied women like Laura's mother who need this money so this doesn't
happen to anybody else's child.
Mr. President, in just a few moments, we are going to have a chance
to vote on a fiscally responsible bill to help Puerto Rico better take
care of its economy. We know the government of Puerto Rico has gotten
themselves into an impossible situation--$70 billion of debt that its
government can't repay. We can all think about reasons they shouldn't
have done that, and obviously it is fiscally responsible to do so, but
they are in dire financial trouble, and they are going to have some $2
billion of payments they owe on July 1 to avoid defaulting on the debt.
I have been here long enough to know what happens when there is a
fiscal crisis, and Puerto Rico is after all part of the United States.
Puerto Ricans are American citizens. I have been here long enough to
know that in an emergency setting with a fiscal financial crisis, one
of the first things that happens is people will come to Congress and
say: Can you provide a bailout--a bailout using taxpayer dollars. Well,
a good thing--maybe the best thing--about the legislation we are
getting ready to pass, which passed in the House of Representatives, is
that not one penny of tax dollars is going to be used to deal with this
financial crisis in Puerto Rico. You can look at the Congressional
Budget Office score. They scored zero in terms of expenditure of tax
dollars for bailing out Puerto Rico.
Some of us have seen ads on television that claim this bill is a
bailout. Those are run by the very hedge funds that enjoyed the profits
from investing in Puerto Rican bonds that are going to take a haircut
because of the restructuring of that debt. Of course they are going to
try to discourage us from trying to do anything about it, but we
shouldn't listen to the hedge funds on Wall Street and the people who
have gotten rich investing in these risky bonds. We ought to do right
by all American taxpayers and make sure they are protected from a run
on the Treasury by passing this legislation. As we know, this
legislation would establish a Federal oversight board that would help
to restructure their debt and going forward help them get on a fiscally
responsible path because what our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico need
most is an economy that is growing, creating jobs and opportunities so
people can live where they were born, if they want to. They can stay
there. Many of them have been leaving the island for some time because,
frankly, it has turned into a fiscal and health-related nightmare.
I am glad we advanced this bill a little bit earlier today. We need
to pass it and get it to the President's desk. I realize it is not
perfect. I know many of us wish we had an opportunity to offer
amendments and constructive suggestions, but given the timing for both
the deadline for default on July 1 and the fact that we did not get
this bill from the House until recently, we are on this constrained
timeline, which makes it hard, if not impossible, to offer additional
amendments, but it is important we pass this legislation and get our
work done.
We will have a chance to vote on three matters. We will have an
effort by the Senator from New Jersey to tear down the so-called
amendment tree so he can offer some additional amendments. Those
amendments are measures such as eliminating some of the protections
that I think are necessary to make this bill a better bill.
Then we are going to have a budget point of order. I talked to the
chairman of the Budget Committee. He said the budget point of order is
a technicality because it has more to do with jurisdictional matters
and not the fact that it busts the budget. In fact, this bill doesn't
spend a penny--net--of Federal taxpayer dollars. Finally, we will have
a chance to vote on final passage and then get it up to the President's
desk.
I hope our colleagues will work with us. We had 68 votes on the
earlier vote earlier today. I hope we will have a big vote in favor of
fiscal responsibility, in favor of legislation that would avoid the
potential for a taxpayer bailout, and demonstrate that we can simply
work together on a bipartisan basis to pass good legislation.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.
Tribute to Federal Employees
Brian Kuleski and Amalie Zeitoun
Mr. CARPER. Good afternoon, Mr. President.
For more than a year now, I have come to the Senate floor on a pretty
regular basis. One of our colleagues sitting here I think is the
Presiding Officer's relief, and he has heard me come and talk about
some of the great work that is being done by some of the 225,000 men
and women who work for us at the Department of Homeland Security.
As you know, the Department of Homeland Security is made up of some
22 component agencies, has more than 220,000 employees all over the
world. These men and women perform some of the toughest jobs in the
Federal workforce, including from stopping drugs from crossing our
borders to protecting our cyber networks from hackers, to securing
nuclear and radiological materials. The Department of Homeland Security
has a diverse, complex, and difficult mission. In fact, they have a lot
of really tough missions. Each and every day tens of thousands of
Department of Homeland Security employees work quietly and diligently
behind the scenes to achieve their mission which, at its core, is
helping to keep 300 million of us in this country safe as we go about
our daily lives.
One of the smaller teams within the Department of Homeland Security--
and one that punches above its weight--is called the Domestic Nuclear
Detection Office. Let me say that again. It is not one we heard of very
much. It is called the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office. As you might
imagine, we have an acronym for them. It is called D-N-D-O, but I am
not going to use that acronym today because I don't like acronyms,
especially ones that are rarely used. The Domestic Nuclear Detection
Office has a staff of only 125 people out of the 220,000 that make up
DHS, but they are responsible
[[Page S4701]]
for keeping all of us safe from the threats posed by radiological and
nuclear materials.
From tracking known radioactive materials to supplying detection
equipment to Federal, State, and local law enforcement, to conducting
research and building better detection technologies, the men and women
at this office play an integral role in our Nation's effort to, No. 1,
detect radiological materials and, No. 2, to keep them from falling
into the wrong hands.
Very shortly we will see to my left some images of just a few of the
technologies that are used at this agency and also a few of the
employees who work there as they try to detect and track some of the
most dangerous materials that are known to mankind. On the top half of
this poster, we will see a couple of images. One is a field agent who
is using mobile detectors mounted on a jeep to determine if a substance
is radioactive or not. The other shows radiation portal monitors. These
are right over here. Some of you have been to our border. At the border
crossings between this country and others, you will see them, and you
will see them at our ports too.
The second image is the radiation portal monitor, these tall yellow
posts that are stationed at the ports of entry and exits that can
passively scan. They can scan cars, they can scan trucks, and they can
even scan shipping containers as they pass through between those tall
yellow posts at our borders.
The men and women at the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office are
charged with detecting and reporting unauthorized attempts to import,
possess, store, develop, or transport nuclear or radiological material.
They rely heavily on strong partnerships with local, State, Federal,
and tribal law enforcement to achieve this mission. They act as a force
multiplier as they equip thousands on the frontlines with the resources
and with the knowledge they need to protect our communities from
nuclear and radiological threats.
One of the individuals who takes on this task every day is a fellow
named Brian Kuleski. As an operational support program analyst, Brian
oversees detection operations in eight States and one U.S. territory.
Brian Kuleski makes sure that first responders have the training to
coordinate and carry out detection operations, whether at a major event
or in a sudden emergency. Through regular training, exercises, and
strategic planning, Brian Kuleski gives our first responders the tools
they need to protect some of our most vulnerable areas from the threat
of nuclear materials.
Before joining the Department of Homeland Security, Brian worked for
the Florida Department of Transportation as a State police officer. In
that role he was supporting to detect and track radiological materials
throughout his State. He conducted radiological and nuclear detection
operations at over 18 large-scale events, including the 2009 Super
Bowl, the 2008 World Series, and the 2008 Republican Governors
Association conference.
Throughout Brian's career, he has earned the respect of his
colleagues and is recognized as an authority on radiological and
nuclear detection. Through his thoughtful leadership and, I am told, a
little bit of humor along the way, Brian has helped Federal agencies
and State and local law enforcement work together as one team to
protect against terrorist attacks.
To Brian and to his team, we want to say a very big thank you today
and every day.
While Brian and his team are hard at work tracking nuclear material
and stopping it before it enters our borders, others within the
Domestic Nuclear Detection Office are working to track the sources of
these materials so they can cut off the pipeline before it ever becomes
a threat in the United States.
When Brian or anyone in the Federal Government detects and
confiscates nuclear materials, they are delivered to the National
Technical Nuclear Forensic Center at this agency. The experts there use
advanced technologies to break down and analyze the origins of nuclear
and radiological materials.
In the bottom half of these images to my left, you can see some of
the sophisticated technologies in these two frames right here. We can
see some of the sophisticated technologies that we need to analyze the
materials and track their sources. By the way, operating this state-of-
the-art scientific equipment and instruments requires years of training
and education.
With the right information, employees of this office can track
materials to their source, find out who produced those materials, and
arrest the criminals who buy, sell, or transport them.
This is an essential part of our efforts to keep nuclear and
radiological materials away from terrorists whom we know would like to
use them in an attack against our country.
One Domestic Nuclear Detection Office employee charged with making
sure that we are the best in the world at tracing the origins of
nuclear material is Amalie Zeitoun. Amalie serves as a program analyst
with the National Technical Nuclear Forensic Center, overseeing nine
university and National Laboratory initiatives. Amalie is responsible
for hiring the best and the brightest in the field of nuclear
forensics.
Since 2008, Amalie has hired 42 Ph.D.s for our nuclear forensics
workforce. These individuals work every day to improve our technologies
and to help us track down the sources of these dangerous materials. Her
continued work will ensure that we continue to attract and retain some
of the top scientists in the world.
Partnering with our detection experts in the field, like Brian and
his team, the forensics experts hired by Amalie help State and local
law enforcement track down and bring to justice those who seek to
traffic nuclear material and sell it to criminals and to terrorists.
Without Amalie's efforts to keep our technology and expertise moving
in the right direction, detection experts in the field, such as Brian,
and countless first responders and law enforcement personnel across our
country would have a lot more material to track and a much harder job
ensuring the safety of our communities.
Amalie's colleagues describe her as the ultimate team player. She
works tirelessly to bring together government agencies in the academic
community to make sure we are the best in the world at tracking nuclear
material. She is intently focused on maintaining our abilities and
reaching the goals set for her program, knowing that failure to reach
them will make it much more difficult for Brian to achieve his goals.
As a country, it is to our benefit that many say Amalie rarely takes no
for an answer.
Both Brian and Amalie are the ultimate team players. With just 125
employees, the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office can't be everywhere at
once. It requires everyone--Federal agencies, State and local law
enforcement, emergency planners, and even the academic and scientific
community. Together we can do more with less, continuously improving
our training and equipment, and staying one giant leap ahead of the bad
guys who seek to use these materials to harm Americans here at home.
To Brian, to Amalie, to all of the folks with whom they work at the
Domestic Nuclear Detection Office and to everyone around the country
who helps detect and track nuclear and radiological materials, we thank
each of you. We thank the members of your team, and we thank you for
coming together to keep the rest of us safe.
To all of you, we say thanks, and God bless.
With that, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Perdue). The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I yield back all our time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. All majority time is yielded back.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I yield back all the minority time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time has been yielded back.
Motion to Concur With Amendment No. 4865
Under the previous order, the question is on agreeing to the motion
to table the motion to concur with amendment No. 4865.
The yeas and nays have previously been ordered.
[[Page S4702]]
The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk called the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr.
Manchin) and the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Warner) are necessarily
absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 44, nays 54, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 114 Leg.]
YEAS--44
Baldwin
Bennet
Blumenthal
Booker
Boxer
Brown
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Coons
Cruz
Durbin
Franken
Gillibrand
Heinrich
Heitkamp
Hirono
Kaine
Klobuchar
Leahy
Lee
Markey
McCaskill
Menendez
Merkley
Mikulski
Murphy
Murray
Nelson
Paul
Peters
Reed
Reid
Sanders
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Stabenow
Tester
Udall
Warren
Whitehouse
Wyden
NAYS--54
Alexander
Ayotte
Barrasso
Blunt
Boozman
Burr
Capito
Cassidy
Coats
Cochran
Collins
Corker
Cornyn
Cotton
Crapo
Daines
Donnelly
Enzi
Ernst
Feinstein
Fischer
Flake
Gardner
Graham
Grassley
Hatch
Heller
Hoeven
Inhofe
Isakson
Johnson
King
Kirk
Lankford
McCain
McConnell
Moran
Murkowski
Perdue
Portman
Risch
Roberts
Rounds
Rubio
Sasse
Scott
Sessions
Shelby
Sullivan
Thune
Tillis
Toomey
Vitter
Wicker
NOT VOTING--2
Manchin
Warner
The motion was rejected.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
Mr. McCONNELL. Let's have everybody stay close to the Chamber because
the next three votes are going to be 10 minutes each.
I ask unanimous consent that the votes following this vote we just
completed be 10 minutes in length.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
Motion to Concur
Under the previous order, the question is on agreeing to the motion
to waive all applicable budget provisions for the motion to concur.
The yeas and nays have previously been ordered.
The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr.
Manchin) and the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Warner) are necessarily
absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
desiring to vote?
The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 85, nays 13, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 115 Leg.]
YEAS--85
Alexander
Ayotte
Barrasso
Bennet
Blumenthal
Blunt
Boozman
Burr
Capito
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Cassidy
Coats
Cochran
Collins
Coons
Corker
Cornyn
Cotton
Crapo
Cruz
Daines
Donnelly
Durbin
Enzi
Ernst
Feinstein
Fischer
Flake
Franken
Gardner
Gillibrand
Graham
Grassley
Hatch
Heinrich
Heitkamp
Heller
Hirono
Hoeven
Inhofe
Isakson
Johnson
Kaine
King
Kirk
Klobuchar
Lankford
Leahy
Lee
McCain
McCaskill
McConnell
Mikulski
Moran
Murkowski
Murphy
Nelson
Paul
Peters
Portman
Reed
Reid
Risch
Roberts
Rounds
Rubio
Sasse
Schatz
Schumer
Scott
Sessions
Shaheen
Shelby
Stabenow
Sullivan
Thune
Tillis
Toomey
Udall
Vitter
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
NAYS--13
Baldwin
Booker
Boxer
Brown
Cantwell
Markey
Menendez
Merkley
Murray
Perdue
Sanders
Tester
Warren
NOT VOTING--2
Manchin
Warner
The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 85, the nays are
13.
Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in
the affirmative, the motion is agreed to.
Under the previous order, all postcloture time is yielded back.
Motion to Concur With Amendment No. 4865 Withdrawn
Under the previous order, the motion to concur with an amendment is
withdrawn.
Vote on Motion to Concur
The question is on agreeing to the motion to concur in the House
amendment to S. 2328.
Mr. THUNE. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr.
Manchin) and the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Warner) are necessarily
absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 68, nays 30, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 116 Leg.]
YEAS--68
Alexander
Ayotte
Barrasso
Bennet
Blumenthal
Blunt
Burr
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Cassidy
Coats
Cochran
Collins
Coons
Corker
Cornyn
Crapo
Donnelly
Durbin
Enzi
Feinstein
Fischer
Flake
Franken
Gardner
Gillibrand
Graham
Hatch
Heinrich
Heitkamp
Hirono
Hoeven
Inhofe
Isakson
Johnson
Kaine
King
Kirk
Klobuchar
Lankford
Leahy
McCain
McCaskill
McConnell
Mikulski
Murphy
Nelson
Paul
Peters
Reed
Reid
Risch
Roberts
Rounds
Rubio
Schatz
Schumer
Sessions
Shaheen
Stabenow
Sullivan
Thune
Toomey
Udall
Vitter
Whitehouse
Wyden
NAYS--30
Baldwin
Booker
Boozman
Boxer
Brown
Cantwell
Capito
Cotton
Cruz
Daines
Ernst
Grassley
Heller
Lee
Markey
Menendez
Merkley
Moran
Murkowski
Murray
Perdue
Portman
Sanders
Sasse
Scott
Shelby
Tester
Tillis
Warren
Wicker
NOT VOTING--2
Manchin
Warner
The motion was agreed to.
____________________