[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 137 (Monday, September 12, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5487-S5489]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2017--MOTION TO PROCEED

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to H.R. 5325.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the motion.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 516, H.R. 5325, a bill 
     making appropriations for the Legislative Branch for the 
     fiscal year ending September 30, 2017, and for other 
     purposes.


                             Cloture Motion

  Mr. McCONNELL. I send a cloture motion to the desk.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The cloture motion having been 
presented under rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to read the 
motion.
  The 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 the motion to 
     proceed to Calendar No. 516, H.R. 5325, an act making 
     appropriations for the Legislative Branch for fiscal year 
     ending September 30, 2017, and for other purposes.
         Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, Orrin G. Hatch, Shelley 
           Moore Capito, Thom Tillis, Mike Rounds, Marco Rubio, 
           Cory Gardner, Pat Roberts, Roy Blunt, John Barrasso, 
           Roger F. Wicker, Steve Daines, Daniel Coats, John 
           Thune, Thad Cochran, Susan M. Collins.

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call 
with respect to the cloture motion be waived.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.


                         Continuing Resolution

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, Members on both sides have been working 
toward an agreement to responsibly fund the government. We have made a 
lot of important progress already. I expect to move forward this week 
on a continuing resolution through December 9 at last year's enacted 
levels that includes funds for Zika control and our veterans. Talks are 
continuing and leaders from both parties will meet later this afternoon 
at the White House to discuss the progress and the path forward.


                   Recognition of the Minority Leader

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The minority leader is recognized.


                         Continuing Resolution

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, my staff has been working diligently to work 
with the majority to come up with a way to go forward on spending. We 
especially need to take care of that, but we also need to address Zika 
funding. I am not going to lay down any markers here today because we 
are still trying to work something out, but I do want to say this. 
Republicans need to get away from their vendetta against Planned 
Parenthood. We are not going to play any funny games and try to find 
the money someplace else. Planned Parenthood should not be part of Zika 
funding.
  More than 2 million women received care at Planned Parenthood clinics 
around the country last year. They didn't go there for abortions. They 
went there because they needed help with their health care. The women 
needed that, and they still need it. They need it more than ever now 
with this scourge that is sweeping our country, which is Zika. I just 
want to make sure that everyone understands that we

[[Page S5488]]

are not going to play any games with Planned Parenthood. It is through. 
Do your vendetta someplace else because it will not be on the Zika 
funding.


                             Koch Brothers

  Mr. President, Webster's dictionary defines an oligarchy as ``a 
government in which a small group exercises control for corrupt and 
selfish purposes.'' I will state that again: ``a government in which a 
small group exercises control for corrupt and selfish purposes.'' By 
that definition, it appears that our government is moving ever closer 
to an oligarchy just like Putin's Russia.
  For the last 8 years, Charles and David Koch and their inner circle 
of billionaires have wielded immense power within our democracy. 
Indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that the Republican Congress is 
bought and paid for by the Koch brothers. These two brothers, who are 
worth $100 billion, are going to spend any amount necessary to ensure 
that their interests are represented in city halls, statehouses, and 
even the very Capitol.
  Last year, at one of their secret planning meetings, the Kochs and 
their cronies vowed to spend unlimited monies to exert influence in 
this year's elections. I have been disappointed that this Republican 
Senate has done nothing to stop the Koch's crooked oligarchy agenda. 
Campaign finance reform is a nasty word to Senate Republicans.
  The Senate has a history of standing up to the corrupt interests of 
tycoons like the Kochs. The Sherman Antitrust Act was written by the 
Judiciary Committee against the wishes of the Carnegie family, the 
Carnegie monopoly, the Vanderbilt family, the Vanderbilt monopoly, the 
Rockefeller family, and the Rockefeller monopoly. When the system is 
broken, we have a responsibility to try to fix it. Our system of 
government is being attacked by the Koch oligarchy money, but 
Republicans have done nothing to oppose this march toward an oligarchy.
  This Republican Senate has showed no spine--zero--in confronting the 
Kochs, who are trying to buy America. In fact, the evidence suggests 
that they are more than content to go along with the billionaire 
brothers from Kansas.
  The Republican leader's voting record is a perfect example. Between 
2009 and 2015, the senior Senator from Kentucky has voted in lockstep 
with the Koch brothers at least 178 times. Think about that--178 times 
in 7 years.
  The senior Senator from Kentucky is not the only Republican with a 
documented history of siding with the Kochs. The junior Senator from 
Florida has voted with the Kochs 92 percent of the time. The senior 
Senator from Oklahoma has voted with the Kochs 85 percent of the time. 
The junior Senator from Pennsylvania has voted with the Kochs 84 
percent of the time. The assistant Republican leader has voted with the 
Kochs 82 percent of the time. There are many others in the Republican 
caucus who I could refer to, but I think the foregoing gives us all an 
idea of this unprecedented hold on Senate Republicans by the Koch 
brothers.
  Let's look at another example. We all remember--and we should if we 
don't--what happened earlier this year when the junior Senator from 
Kansas, Mr. Moran, had the audacity to admit and suggest that Merrick 
Garland's nomination to the Supreme Court deserved consideration. He 
didn't say he was going to vote for him. He simply said he deserved 
consideration.
  What happened after that? Senator Moran may be the Kochs' biggest and 
most outspoken supporter in the Senate. He has proven that time and 
again. He has defended his home State billionaires here on the Senate 
floor multiple times, but even the loyalty he showed could not spare 
him from the Kochs' wrath. The Koch brothers rallied their massive 
political machine against their home State Senator, Mr. Moran. One of 
their groups, the Judicial Crisis Network, threatened to launch an ad 
campaign against Senator Moran.
  What happened? Senator Moran performed a breathtaking about-face in 
about 10 minutes, and he has since refused to support a hearing or a 
vote for Merrick Garland. Whether it is the nomination for the Supreme 
Court, the Keystone Pipeline, or the Export-Import Bank, Senate 
Republicans always seem to take the Koch brothers' side, and the Kochs' 
interest is always based on the profit motive--their profit.
  Since Republicans took control of the Senate, they have done nothing 
for the middle class, nothing to increase the minimum wage or to help 
to ease the burden of student debt--nothing. But the Republican leader 
has scheduled multiple votes on Keystone and has tried to roll back EPA 
greenhouse gas emissions often.
  How long will it take Republicans to deny climate change? Climate 
change is real, and it is here. A week ago yesterday, the New York 
Times had an unprecedented article giving specific examples of what is 
happening now--not in the future but now--with climate change, but 
Senate Republicans, because of the Kochs, continue to close their eyes 
to the reality that the water levels are rising, putting neighborhoods, 
whole cities, bridges, and military installations under water. There 
are the islands off our coasts that have causeways that go to them. You 
can't go many weeks of the year because they are now swamped with 
water.
  It is clear who this Republican Senate is trying to help, and it is 
certainly not working American families. But Charles and David Koch are 
not satisfied. They want to expand their budding oligarchy until it 
consumes our American democracy. The Kochs don't even mask their 
intention. Their own publicist explained that the Koch brothers are 
trying to buy a new government. Here is what he said: ``It is because 
we can make more profit, OK?'' That is a direct quote. In order to add 
a few more billion dollars to their bottom line, the Kochs are dumping 
piles of money in Senate races across the country. They are trying to 
tighten their grip on the Chamber by electing more stooges.
  The Kochs and their dark-money empire are flooding the airwaves with 
misleading and false advertisements. The ads from the Koch brothers are 
not always easy to identify. The groups that sponsor them have names 
that sound harmless enough. Turn on your TV or open your mailbox, and 
you will see a quick disclaimer in tiny print that says who paid for 
it. It says things like: ``Sponsored by Concerned Veterans of 
America,'' ``Sponsored by Freedom Partners,'' ``Paid for by the LIBRE 
Initiative,'' or ``Paid for by Americans for Prosperity.'' They are 
afraid to tell us how much money they get from the Koch brothers. Take, 
for example, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. No one knows and they won't 
tell us. It has been suggested that 80 percent of their money comes 
from the Koch brothers. I don't know if that is right, but I do know 
that they are doing a lot of spending against the interests of 
Democrats. As to this disclaimer, such as being paid for by Americans 
for Prosperity, the LIBRE Initiative, Freedom Partners, or Concerned 
Veterans of America, it would be accurate to simply say: Paid for by 
the billionaires, the Koch brothers.
  Take a look at Nevada, where the Koch brothers are spending millions 
of dollars through their shadow organizations so they can tip the 
scales for their anointed Senate candidate, Joe Heck. He is their 
puppet. Who is he going to side with on issues that are important to 
Nevada? The out-of-State billionaire barons who spent millions in 
buying his election or Nevadans? We already know the answer to that 
question. Joe Heck's voting record in the House of Representatives says 
it all. He voted with the Koch brothers 90 percent of the time--in the 
last year, 90 percent, and in the past, just about the same. So it is 
90 percent of the time.
  I will give one example from earlier this year. House Republicans had 
a bill called the Preventing IRS Abuse and Protecting Free Speech 
Act. The names are a little misleading, and that is an understatement.

  Notwithstanding that bill's misleading title, the legislation sought 
to make it even easier for the Koch brothers to funnel even more dark 
money to their dark money groups. That is what it was all about.
  The Koch network got the word to House Republicans to vote for this 
bill. So how did Joe Heck vote? Of course he voted with the Kochs. He 
and his Republican colleagues overwhelmingly voted with the Kochs. That 
is whom the Kochs want in the Senate--lackeys who will gut consumer and 
environmental protection and streamline Koch Industries' path to even 
more profit. Bankrolling extreme candidates is seen as an investment by 
the Kochs, and they want these investments to pay off--for them.

[[Page S5489]]

  Charles Koch admitted as much in an interview last year. When asked 
what he hoped to get from his hundreds of millions of dollars in 
political donations, here is what he answered--and this is a direct 
quote: ``I expect something in return.'' Yes, he does.
  This is not the American democracy our Founding Fathers established.
  The Supreme Court's disastrous Citizens United decision has 
constructed a political system that has effectively put our government 
up for sale to the highest bidder. Because of Citizens United, our 
country has no real restrictions on the money a billionaire or anyone 
else can spend to buy the government they want. This is proven day 
after day with the Kochs. They are in fat city. They have unlimited 
amounts of money.
  I went to one of these minor billionaires a couple of years ago, and 
I said: You have wasted your money. It didn't help. You know what he 
said to me? He said: It doesn't matter. I have it to waste. I guess the 
Kochs, with their $100 billion--the man I met was just a billionaire, 
but they have even more to waste.
  As a country we must reject the Koch brothers' efforts to buy our 
democracy. We must work to rid the system of this dark money. We must 
address the issue of campaign finance and the unrestrained spending 
that is squeezing the American people out of their own government.
  It is time we revive our constituents' faith in the electoral system 
and let them know their voices are being heard and not just the Koch 
brothers' voices.
  Mr. President, will the Chair announce the business of the day.

                          ____________________