[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 113 (Wednesday, July 13, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5019-S5020]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     LEGISLATION BEFORE THE SENATE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, today the Republican-led Senate will 
have two opportunities to make a difference for the American people by 
passing the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act conference report 
and the bipartisan, bicameral aviation agreement. Both bills are the 
result of months of hard work from colleagues on both sides. With 
continued cooperation, we can move these measures across the finish 
line now.
  The CARA conference report is a comprehensive legislative response to 
the prescription opioid and heroin epidemic which is devastating our 
Nation. By increasing prevention, treatment, recovery, and law 
enforcement tools, CARA can help prevent more people from struggling 
with addiction to begin with and it can help foster long-term healing 
for those already struggling with addiction.
  It is no wonder it has earned the backing of nearly 250 groups, from 
local hospitals like the Kent County Memorial Hospital in Rhode Island 
to law enforcement groups like the Fraternal Order of Police and 
antidrug groups like Voices of Hope in my own State of Kentucky.
  At a time when drug overdoses claim 129 American lives every single 
day, it is painfully clear we need to do more, and we need to do it 
now. That is why this Senate majority has provided more than double the 
funding the previous majority provided for opioid-related issues. That 
is why this Senate majority has made passing this comprehensive 
response a priority.
  I particularly want to thank those who made this moment possible, 
Senator Portman, Senator Ayotte, Senator Grassley, and Senator 
Alexander. I also appreciate those on the Democratic side who worked 
very hard on this bill, such as Senator Whitehouse and Senator 
Klobuchar. I know they are all proud to support it today.
  We can also pass the bipartisan, bicameral aviation bill, which is an 
important step to ensuring safety and security for American travelers. 
Recent terror attacks, such as those at airports in Brussels and in 
Istanbul, underline the significance of this bill, which represents the 
most significant airport security reform in a decade.
  By shoring up security for international flights coming into the 
United States, by enhancing vetting for aviation employees, and by 
improving security in prescreening zones that are often vulnerable, the 
airport security bill before us will take more steps to protect airline 
passengers.
  The bill will also take steps to keep Americans safe from active 
shooter threats by authorizing more so-called VIPR teams. It will also 
make sure airports are better equipped to respond and disarm threats 
that come their way by bolstering resources and training for security 
personnel.
  In addition to these smart security enhancements, the bill also 
includes a number of key items to improve safety

[[Page S5020]]

in our skies, such as ensuring that unmanned aerial vehicles don't 
interfere with emergency response and improving mental health screening 
for pilots. It includes a number of consumer protection provisions, 
too, such as refunds for lost or delayed baggage and improvements to 
travel for disabled passengers and parents with small children.
  I especially thank Senator Thune for guiding this critical bill 
through the legislative process and for his work to include even more 
security provisions to keep Americans safe.
  Every Senator should support this bill today so we can send it to the 
President's desk immediately. With cooperation now, we can finish our 
work on these critical bills. With continued cooperation in the coming 
days, we will be able to finish our work on other important legislation 
as well.
  For instance, yesterday we voted to go to conference on the Energy 
Policy Modernization Act, which represents the first broad energy 
legislation to pass the Senate since the Bush administration. By 
updating and reforming our energy policies and infrastructure, this 
bill can help Americans save more energy, produce more energy, and pay 
less for energy.
  This much needed legislation wouldn't have been possible without the 
resilient efforts of the Energy Committee chair, Senator Murkowski, and 
the ranking member, Senator Cantwell, to move it forward. I am pleased 
the Senate took the next step to advance this bill, and I hope we can 
arrive at a final agreement in the near future.
  Unfortunately, there are areas where our colleagues have blocked 
critical progress on issues such as Zika control funding and support 
for our veterans. Here was the headline in a newspaper this week: 
``Reid: Senate Dems will block Zika funding again.'' ``[W]hich means,'' 
the article explained, ``there will be no further avenues to pass a 
funding bill to combat Zika for the rest of the summer.''
  Democrats used to say Zika was an imminent threat. Now they are 
threatening to extend the filibuster of the funding we need to fight 
Zika and protect women's health. Why? It seems clear enough. They think 
dysfunction works well for them politically, so they are trying to 
manufacture some regardless of who gets hurt in the process. They have 
tried to muddy the issue with extraneous arguments and half-truths, but 
they just don't stand up to serious scrutiny.
  Let us examine a few of the things they have said about this 
compromise conference report. Our Democratic friends pretend it would 
underfund Zika. Actually, it contains the exact $1.1 billion funding 
they just voted for last month.
  Democrats pretend it contains partisan offsets. Actually, the offsets 
have bipartisan buy-in. Two of the three offsets have explicit 
bipartisan support. The third takes unspent money that was set aside 
for health care in the territories but cannot be used and actually uses 
those funds for--get this--health care in the territories.
  Democrats pretend the compromise conference report would weaken clean 
water protections. Actually, it temporarily--just temporarily--waives a 
duplicative paperwork provision that Democrats themselves call 
``unnecessary for the protection of our environment'' and a ``waste of 
taxpayer dollars.'' This temporary provision would only apply to 
pesticides already approved--already approved--by the EPA, and it 
represents the only real way to commence with the kind of anti-mosquito 
efforts we need--efforts the EPA Administrator herself assures us are 
not only safe but ``perhaps the most important tool we can use right 
now''--as the vaccine takes a period of time to develop.
  Democrats also pretend the compromise conference report would 
prohibit funding or deny access for birth control. Actually, it 
provides more resources for health care, including preventive care, 
than the Zika bill Democrats voted for just last month. This compromise 
bill directs those health care dollars to the very places you would 
expect, such as hospitals, public health departments, community health 
centers, and Medicaid.
  Democrats are now upset because a political supporter doesn't get a 
special carve-out, so they are demanding an earmark for this partisan 
group as the cost of ending their attack on women's health and their 
blockade of anti-Zika funding. Of course, Democrats would like us all 
to ignore the fact that the very same partisan campaign organization 
would not have been able to access these Medicaid funds in the 
President's Zika request either.
  So it is hard to decide which of these excuses is the most 
disingenuous. Maybe it is the false claim this bill cuts funding for 
veterans. It actually increases veterans funding to record levels, by 
the way. Just as Democrats are pushing a partisan proposal to provide 
political cover on Zika, it actually would leave veterans funding 
behind.
  So, look, I think we get this. Democrats have a partisan interest in 
blocking critical anti-Zika funding. That is what is going on here, but 
Americans are asking them to please just put politics aside for once 
and think of the national interest. Does anyone--anyone--seriously 
believe pregnant mothers care about manufactured squabbles over offsets 
and earmarks and duplicative paperwork? They want Washington to kill 
mosquitoes and they want them to do it now. They want to see a vaccine 
developed--and quickly. They want to see their unborn babies protected 
from a devastating virus that can have lifetime consequences. What they 
do not want to see, what they are not interested in observing, is one 
more manufactured partisan excuse from our colleagues over here on the 
other side.
  To quote the top Democrat on the Committee on Appropriations, 
``Mosquitoes don't care about the budget process.'' She is right.
  The time for games is over. This is our chance to pass anti-Zika 
funding, and there is only one way to do it. Vote yes on the compromise 
Zika control and veterans conference report before us and send it on 
down to the President.

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