[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 81 (Wednesday, May 10, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S2859]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                Authority for Committees to Meet Request

  Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, all of us, every Member of the U.S. Senate, 
all 100 of us, whether we are Republicans or Democrats, want the U.S. 
Senate to function. We ought to want the Senate to be able to 
accomplish its work. It is a challenge all the time but learning what 
transpired this morning on the Senate floor, in my view, reaches 
another low for the Senate.
  It is hard to explain, but it takes unanimous consent for committees 
to meet while the Senate is in session, and that is a request that is 
made on an ongoing basis when the Senate convenes, and it happened 
again this morning. Almost without exception, it is routine. The rules 
require that 2 hours after the Senate convenes, no committee can then 
meet unless there is agreement. So the majority leader today requested 
that the unanimous consent be granted, just like in almost every other 
day in the Senate, but what was different today was an objection was 
raised by the minority whip, and apparently the explanation is it is 
because of the firing of the Director of the FBI last night.
  Now, how the Senate is functioning or not functioning seems to me to 
be unrelated to what transpired last night relating to the Director of 
the FBI. So in this place, where we are trying to do the people's work 
and make decisions and do good for America, the spillover over partisan 
politics, the spillover about playing a political game, highlighting a 
point has now caused the Senate to not be able to conduct hearings 
today. In fact, the minority Members of the Senate were instructed, 
requested, on their own volition--all left the hearings that were 
already being conducted this morning in protest over what transpired 
last night.
  I am of a view that this is a diverse country. I am of a view that 
people of the U.S. Senate represent folks from across the country with 
different philosophies, different political parties, different people, 
different backgrounds. We all bring to the Senate a set of 
characteristics that are different, one from another, but I have great 
regard and respect for every Senator's point of view, and I would say 
that every Senator ought to have the ability to express their views on 
behalf of their constituents, but we can only do that if we allow the 
Senate to function.
  I was on the Senate floor not long ago praising the fact that we 
finally were successful in the appropriations process; that we passed 
the fiscal year 2017 appropriations bill. For too long, the 
appropriations process has been broken down, and we have conducted 
business in the United States by continuing resolution. I thought we 
were back on a path in which there was enough agreement, respect among 
Members, enough setting aside of partisan differences to actually 
accomplish legislation. I was pleased that we did that, but today we 
fall back into the pattern of when something happens we want to make a 
political point. We then obstruct the ability of others in the Senate 
to conduct their work, to express their opinion, to gather the 
information they need.
  This came to my attention--what transpired today--because this 
afternoon at 2:30 was scheduled a hearing by the Senate Veterans' 
Affairs Committee. That hearing has absolutely nothing to do with the 
FBI. We have the new Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs 
scheduled to testify about the Department's plan for modifications to a 
program called Choice that is important to me, my constituents, and to 
the veterans of Kansas. I was so pleased the hearing had been 
scheduled, and I was looking forward to the questioning and having a 
conversation with the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs 
about how to make this system of Choice work for veterans who live in 
Kansas, from the rural side of our State to the suburban and urban side 
of our State, but because of a pique of anger, political posturing, and 
partisanship, the hearing is apparently no longer able to take place. 
The hearing this morning, which could only last for an hour and a half 
and which I guess the minority members walked out--seemed to me, at 
least sounded like, to be things that would be very important for us to 
pursue.
  The Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities 
was to have a closed briefing this morning. The Homeland Security 
Committee was to examine cyber threats facing America, focusing on an 
overview of the cyber threat landscape. The list is significant in the 
things that we ought to be paying attention to, and yet, because of an 
objection, those hearings will not take place or were shortened or 
disrupted by only one party's participation.
  I am not here trying to create further partisanship between 
Republicans and Democrats. I am here trying to remind ourselves that 
there is value in allowing cooperation between the minority and 
majority, not for our own benefits but for the benefit of the country 
and the citizens we represent. Everything does not have to be partisan. 
Everything does not have to be political.
  Today we see the Senate sliding back into the habit of making things 
that we have really nothing to do with and weren't the cause of taking 
place--apparently to make a political point and perhaps to score votes 
for support in a political way. We ought to all, as U.S. Senators, 
respect the opinions, values, and the positions of others, but we do 
that in a setting in which we all come together, not in which we cancel 
meetings as a result of a political statement.
  I appreciate the opportunity to express my concerns about what has 
transpired and to ask for us to go back to the time in which we worked 
together on a daily basis and we don't use an excuse to shut down the 
committee hearing process.
  With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. KING. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.