[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 81 (Wednesday, May 10, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S2864]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



       Unanimous Consent Request--Authority for Committee to Meet

  Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, today our friends across the aisle have 
decided to hold up Senate committee meetings. Because the Democrats 
object to the dismissal of James Comey from the FBI, they have chosen 
to play politics and prevent scheduled hearings from occurring. That 
means everyone who has taken time to fly to Washington, DC, to testify 
before Congress--per our request--and update us on important issues 
that face the Nation will not be heard.
  One of those scheduled hearings is in the Energy and Natural 
Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power, of which I am a member. This 
hearing was going to investigate the Dry-Redwater and the Musselshell-
Judith Rural Water Systems. This is a critically important issue to 
Montana.
  This hearing was going to focus on water from Circle, MT. These are 
water samples from different families in the Circle, MT, area. This is 
from the Arensons' tap. This yellow-tinted water here is from the 
Goods' tap. This cloudy sample here is from the Hances' tap.
  These are all from Circle, MT. This is from the Carlsons' tap. You 
probably can't see it--perhaps on camera and on the floor--but there is 
particulate in here, floating, something you wouldn't want to drink. 
This is water from the Rosaaens' tap. These samples all came from a 
small town in Eastern Montana, Circle, MT, and the image here to my 
left is from Roundup, MT. This unacceptable, unclean tap water is in 
the homes of Montanans and North Dakotans right now as we speak.
  The mayor of Harlowton, MT, a town of about 1,000 in rural central 
Montana, is here today to testify. I met with him just yesterday. He 
came to our Montana coffee this morning. He spent over $1,000 on a 
flight. He spent almost $600 on hotel accommodations, not to mention 
the cost of other incidentals. Now the Democrats will not let him 
speak.
  Why? As the chairman of the Senate Western Caucus, it is shameful--as 
other witnesses have flown and spent thousands of dollars--to prevent 
improving water quality in our States. The Arizona witness, for 
example, spent $2,400 and 3 days out of the office to come back and 
testify today. The North Dakota witness spent $1,300.
  Yes, the FBI needs to regain the trust of the American people. In 
fact, Senator Schumer on November 2 said: ``I do not have confidence in 
[Comey] any longer,'' and on that very same day, House Minority Leader 
Nancy Pelosi said: ``Maybe he's not in the right job.''
  But this water, as we can see these samples in front of me, has 
nothing to do with the FBI. There are over 36,000 Americans spread 
across Montana and North Dakota without access to clean water. If the 
mayor of Flint, MI, flew here to testify about the quality and 
challenges facing their water system, no one would have blocked that 
hearing. Frankly, this is just another sign of the marginalization of 
rural Montana and rural America. I was sent here to fight for rural 
Montana, to stand for rural America, and that is what I will continue 
to do. This hearing needs to happen today.
  Mr. President, I have a request for the Energy Committee to meet at 
2:30 p.m. today. I ask unanimous consent that the committee be allowed 
to meet.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The Senator from Hawaii.
  Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, these are 
not usual times. Representing the State of Hawaii, of course, we care 
about clean water. So with all due respect to my colleague from 
Montana, we understand the importance of this issue to the people of 
his State. However, as I said, these are very unusual times, and, on 
the President's decision to fire Director James Comey in this manner, 
under this pretext, and at this time, it is also a total disservice to 
the American people.
  This attempt, intended to derail and disrupt the FBI's ongoing 
investigation into Russia's attempt to disrupt or interfere with our 
democracy and the Trump team's ties to those attempts, should be a 
matter of national concern, not a Republican or Democratic concern. We 
need a bipartisan call for a special prosecutor who will conduct an 
impartial, thorough investigation, untainted by political 
consideration.
  Therefore, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, if I could respond to my colleague from 
Hawaii.
  The folks who have been derailed today are the men and women who have 
traveled thousands of miles to be here from very small communities 
across our country. They have taken time away from work and their 
families to be here to show our committees what is going on in rural 
America and the unacceptable quality of water.
  Water is a basic need. We have water samples here that I think would 
be shocking to most Members in this body. I am just saddened to see 
that Democrats are going to derail these hearings this afternoon. Yes, 
let's have a fight about the FBI and the firing of Comey. We can have a 
good-spirited debate about that. But why are we preventing these folks 
from rural America, who have traveled thousands of miles, to testify 
today at our request.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.