[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 95 (Monday, June 5, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3235-S3238]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  COMMEMORATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE REUNIFICATION OF JERUSALEM

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the 
Senate will proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 176, which the 
clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 176) commemorating the 50th 
     anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem.

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the time 
until 5:30 p.m. will be equally divided in the usual form.
  If no one yields time, the time will be charged equally.


                   Recognition of the Minority Leader

  The Democratic leader is recognized.


                          London Terror Attack

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, let me first express the profound sadness 
that we all felt this past week about the terrorist attacks in London. 
My heart is with the people of that great city and with the victims of 
this string of attacks and their families. They are all in our prayers.
  The morning after the attack, I was walking down the street in New 
York, and I saw a husband and wife--they looked like out-of-towners--
with three beautiful little girls, and the girls were skipping along 
happily. When they are with their parents when they are little, they 
get so happy. I thought: God, what if a bomb blew up and killed them. 
It just got to me.
  So we really feel for these people who were just taken from us much 
too soon by vicious, almost inexplicable viciousness.
  In this moment of trial for one of our fiercest friends and allies, 
the United States also stands shoulder to shoulder with the citizens of 
the UK in our joint fight against terrorists and those who support 
them.
  We wish a swift recovery to the injured and comfort to the victims 
and

[[Page S3236]]

their families. We certainly hope the perpetrators are swiftly brought 
to justice.


                             Infrastructure

  Mr. President, on infrastructure--another matter--we know President 
Trump will spend this week unveiling his infrastructure proposal in 
several phases. We will have to wait and see what the full details of 
the plan are before we judge it, but we Democrats welcome a discussion 
on infrastructure.
  We believe the Federal Government ought to invest more, not less, in 
rebuilding our roads, bridges and highways, our schools, electric 
grids, and our water and sewer systems. We should be investing in 
expanding broadband, which is so vital for our rural areas and a number 
of urban areas that are still underserved.
  So we have several concerns about the President's upcoming proposal, 
considering the President actually cut infrastructure investment 
significantly in his budget proposal to Congress. How can you be for 
infrastructure and then cut all of these proposals in your budget? That 
is what he did.
  Now, unfortunately based on recent reports, the entire focus of the 
President's infrastructure proposal this week is on privatization, 
which sounds like a nice word. But when you scratch beneath the 
surface, it means much less construction and far fewer jobs, 
particularly in our rural areas. It also means Trump tolls from one end 
of America to the other.
  If President Trump wants the private sector to finance the 
construction of infrastructure, it is going to demand a price. That is 
how the private sector works. The financiers will look to turn a 
profit. Let's remember that there is no such thing as a free lunch. If 
the financiers put in money, they are going to want to take it back.
  How are they going to turn a profit on infrastructure? Tolls, tolls, 
and more tolls--tolls paid by American workers, salesmen, truckdrivers, 
vacationers, and commuters; tolls paid by working families, middle-
class families, and consumers of all stripes. A private-sector-driven 
infrastructure plan means tolls, tolls, tolls paid by average working 
Americans.
  It also means that infrastructure that can't be built with tolls--
like repairing our crumbling schools, for instance--will get left 
behind. Moreover, a scheme that relies on private investment will leave 
rural areas of America behind. My friend the Republican Senator from 
Wyoming, a member of the Republican leadership, Mr. Barrasso, who 
understands the needs of his very rural State said: ``Funding solutions 
that involve public-private partnerships do not work for rural areas.'' 
That is not Chuck Schumer speaking, although New York has the third 
largest rural population in America. That is Senator Barrasso speaking.
  Let me repeat what he said: ``Funding solutions that involve public-
private partnerships do not work for rural areas.''
  That is the Republican Senator from Wyoming, saying an infrastructure 
proposal that involves privatization ignores a huge portion of the 
United States--rural areas--where infrastructure investment is greatly 
needed. When a Republican Senator says that, we all ought to pay 
attention at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.
  Privatization also ignores the ongoing maintenance needs of many of 
our Nation's more populated areas. Sure, maybe if the toll is high 
enough, a private company could build a shiny new bridge, but they 
won't do anything to fix the crumbling railroad switches, potholes, and 
water main breaks that are plaguing so many of our cities, particularly 
in the older areas--the Northeast, the Midwest.
  One aspect the President highlighted today is privatizing our air 
traffic control systems. This would put the same airline companies that 
have added baggage fees and change fees and shrunk leg room in charge 
of the air traffic control system. Worse still, it would let the 
airlines charge consumers even more than they charge now.

  If air traffic control is privatized, where are the protections for 
consumers? What will prevent costs of flying from going way up? Under a 
private system, what stops airlines from raising fees and taxes on 
consumers?
  So privatization, whether it is for the construction of roads and 
bridges or in aviation, often leaves the average American with the 
short end of the stick and gives big corporations way too much power.
  So, again, we will wait and see what the President proposes. We want 
to discuss infrastructure. We want to work with him on infrastructure. 
But if it is all or mostly privatization with minimal public 
investment, it will not be an effective way to rebuild our Nation's 
infrastructure. It will cost middle-class families more, and it will 
not create the kind of jobs our economy needs.
  Let's not forget that the President proposed a trillion-dollar 
infrastructure bill in the campaign. We Democrats were encouraged to 
hear this. It is one of the first things I talked with President-Elect 
Trump about on the phone, but so far we have been disappointed.
  Senate Democrats put forward a real, trillion-dollar infrastructure 
plan that would create millions of jobs and actually fix our crumbling 
roads and bridges while investing in every corner of America. We stand 
ready and willing to work with the President on a real plan that 
actually achieves what he promised on the campaign trail. But, 
unfortunately, if this week, on infrastructure, is all about 
privatization, it is going to be another broken promise that President 
Trump made to the working people of America.


                         James Comey Testimony

  Mr. President, later this week, former FBI Director James Comey will 
be testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee. I am glad he is 
doing so in the open and on the record. I hope he is as forthcoming as 
possible. Transparency and openness is absolutely vital if we are to 
get to the bottom of the events of the past few months. Knowing James 
Comey a little bit, transparency and openness have always been his way.
  I would expect that Mr. Comey's appearance before the Senate 
Intelligence Committee will not be his last appearance before Congress. 
I know the Senate Judiciary Committee has made a similar request of Mr. 
Comey. I support their request, and I hope he will go before them as 
well.


                            Paris Agreement

  Finally, Mr. President, a few words about the Paris climate accord. I 
was deeply disappointed by President Trump's decision last week to 
start the process for withdrawing the United States from the Paris 
Agreement, an agreement signed by every sovereign nation, except Syria 
and Nicaragua--Nicaragua, by the way, because they thought the 
agreement didn't go far enough.
  The decision will ultimately be viewed--the decision by Trump to pull 
out of the Paris climate accord--as one of the worst decisions of the 
21st century because of the huge damage it will do to our economy, our 
environment, and our geopolitical standing.
  Pulling out of the Paris Agreement doesn't put America first. It puts 
America alone and last. It puts America last in recognizing science, in 
being a world leader in protecting our own communities and working in 
concert with the family of nations in safeguarding the planet we all 
inhabit for future generations.
  Climate change is an issue where time unfortunately is not on our 
side. Every year that we don't work toward lowering our carbon emission 
standards is another year of irrevocable damage to the environment. 
Future generations will look back on this decision as a failure of 
historic proportions.
  President Trump's decision to withdraw is also a sucker punch to 
American workers, who should be building the next generation of wind 
turbines and solar panels. Now other countries, including China, our 
economic rival, will seize the mantel of innovation and clean energy 
away from America.
  Listen to this. This astounded me. Just last month, Ernest & Young 
published the latest edition of a report ranking nations by how 
attractive they are for renewable energy investment. For the first 
time, China and India both outrank the United States. So on one of the 
newer technologies that will ultimately be cheaper than the existing 
technologies, we are already falling behind and will fall further 
behind. Imagine that China and India are now ranked by Ernst & Young as 
being better places for renewable energy investment. That is not going 
to help American jobs next year and certainly over the next decade.

[[Page S3237]]

  It is a devastating loss to our economy, and the workers who would 
have benefited greatly from America's leading the way forward in a new 
industry will lose out.
  Moreover, if the United States doesn't have a seat at the table with 
the nations in the Paris Agreement, other nations could agree on 
policies that hurt American businesses and American workers, even more 
than this self-inflicted wound by President Trump.
  Now, I am glad that States like my State of New York and cities and 
businesses across the country are already stepping up, reaffirming 
their commitment to the goals set in Paris and pledging to continue to 
make progress in the fight against climate change. Our economy and our 
communities will be better for it.
  I seriously hope that the President reconsiders his decision for the 
sake of our planet, for the future of the American economy, and for the 
future of American jobs, which thrive on the kind of innovation 
President Trump has just turned his back on.
  Thank you, and I yield the floor.


                   Recognition of the Majority Leader

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


                          London Terror Attack

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, over the weekend, our friends and 
allies suffered yet another tragic loss as terrorists struck in London, 
claiming several innocent lives and injuring dozens more. Our steadfast 
allies, the British, have confronted terrorism for decades, and our 
friends have endured so much these past several months at the hands of 
terrorists. Our hearts go out to them.
  The Senate holds the victims of the attack and their families in our 
thoughts, and we once again express our gratitude to all of the first 
responders, medical professionals, and citizens who bravely stepped in 
to help.
  Our fight against terrorism will go on, and together we will target 
terrorist networks and propagandists. We will continue to stand by the 
British people, especially in this time of great difficulty.
  Mr. President, this week marks the 50th anniversary of the beginning 
of the Six-Day War. Confronted by the massing Arab armies and the 
closing of the Tiran Straits, Israel responded, and in a fight for 
survival, ultimately prevailed. As a result, the city of Jerusalem was 
finally reunified after years of division. The reunification of the 
city allowed for people of all faiths to worship and to access the 
respective holy sites throughout Jerusalem.
  In honor of this significant anniversary for our close ally, many 
Senators from both sides of the aisle--including the Democratic leader 
and myself--are joining together in a resolution to mark the occasion 
today.
  While we know Israel continues to face a number of threats, 
bipartisan adoption of this resolution will serve as yet another 
indication of the commitment of the United States of standing by our 
friends in Israel. I look forward to supporting it later this afternoon 
and working to strengthen our relationship with that nation in the 
years to come.


                        Remembering Jim Bunning

  Mr. President, on May 26, the Commonwealth of Kentucky lost a 
legendary figure with the passing of Senator Jim Bunning. For more than 
two decades, Jim was my colleague here in Congress. Before that, he was 
a storied Major League Baseball pitcher, earning him a spot in 
Cooperstown. Today, I remember Jim Bunning, a Hall of Famer in life.
  Jim's career in the majors spanned 17 seasons, where he pitched 
primarily for the Tigers and the Phillies. In that time, he earned 224 
career wins and struck out 2,855 batters. Of his many impressive 
accomplishments on the diamond, Jim's two greatest pitching 
achievements were his no-hitter in 1958 and the perfect game he threw 
in 1964, a feat that has only been accomplished 23 times in all of 
baseball history.
  In recognition of his career with the Phillies, the team retired 
Jim's No. 14 jersey, and his baseball career was finally capped off by 
his election to the Hall of Fame in 1996 by the Veterans Committee.
  Anyone would be proud with such a resume, but for Jim it was only the 
first act. Jim moved back to Fort Thomas in northern Kentucky. Over the 
next three decades, he served at all levels of government, from the 
Fort Thomas City Council to the Kentucky State Senate, to both Chambers 
of the U.S. Congress, including 12 years in the House and 12 in the 
Senate. Jim dedicated his life to serving the people of Kentucky, and 
Kentuckians are truly grateful for his work.
  He was a man of principle from start to finish. He stayed true to 
himself. As Congressional Quarterly once wrote, ``All agree . . . that 
[Bunning] is unafraid to go his own way.'' Throughout his career, Jim 
took many principled stands, even if it meant standing alone. In his 
farewell address to the Senate, he said: ``I have been booed by 60,000 
fans in Yankee Stadium, standing alone on the mound, so I never cared 
if I stood alone in Congress, as long as I stood by my beliefs and my 
values.''
  That summed up Jim Bunning, but in his life, Jim really never did 
stand alone. Through trials and hardships, he always had his loving 
wife Mary by his side. Jim would have been the first to tell you that 
his success in life would not have been possible without Mary. She 
stood with him through both the glory and the hardships of his baseball 
career, and was, in Jim's words, his ``rock,'' his ``best fan,'' and 
his ``best friend.'' Together, they helped raise the nine children Jim 
is survived by today. He is also survived by 35 grandchildren--one of 
whom, by the way, once worked in my office--and 21 great-grandchildren. 
It is clear the two most important things to Jim were always his family 
and his deeply held Catholic faith.
  Jim was a man of strong beliefs and good character. Never one to make 
excuses, he worked hard at whatever he put his mind to; first, in 
baseball as a legendary pitcher and then as a voice for the people of 
Kentucky for over 30 years. With an unshakeable commitment to his 
family and the firm principles guiding him, Jim was truly a ``hall of 
famer'' in life.
  On behalf of the entire Senate family, I would like to offer 
heartfelt condolences to Mary, their family, friends, and all who knew 
and loved Senator Jim Bunning.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Ernst). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Moran). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.


            Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization

  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I want to talk about a subject that is 
near and dear to the Presiding Officer's heart, as well as to this 
Senator, because we both have had the privilege of serving on the 
Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.
  Congress finds itself facing a year of deadlines, and the two most 
talked about are the debt ceiling and continued funding for the 
government. But if that were not enough, a very important deadline is 
looming that affects the safety of the traveling public. By the end of 
September, Congress must reauthorize the Federal Aviation 
Administration or risk the shutdown of the agency's core safety 
mission.
  This Senator has the privilege of being the ranking member of the 
Senate Commerce Committee, and I have the privilege of working with the 
chairman, Senator Thune, on a comprehensive and long-term FAA 
reauthorization bill. Unfortunately, what prevented the long-term bill 
from passing Congress last year is threatening to do the same again 
this year.
  This morning, the White House formally announced its intention to 
privatize the air traffic control function of the FAA, a move the White 
House claims will be self-sustaining. This so-called plan for ATC 
privatization includes an entity that would be run in large part by--
you guessed it--the major airlines, and that entity would receive, free 
of charge, government-owned FAA assets, and that entity would collect 
user fees to finance its operations.
  Well, this is how many of us interpret this proposal: Let's hand over 
to the airlines all the people and the equipment essential to the safe 
operation of our Nation's air traffic control

[[Page S3238]]

system and trust them--the airlines--to manage our skies and the 
increasing air traffic. On top of that, here on the other side, they 
say: Well, let's finance the airlines' control of our skies through 
user fees paid for by the general aviation community.

  We know that several airlines in the past year have had to cancel 
thousands of flights and strand passengers at airports for hours 
because they couldn't effectively manage their IT systems. How can we 
trust airlines to govern an entity that manages our skies when they 
can't even manage their own basic IT systems?
  The FAA, our government's Federal Aviation Administration, safely and 
effectively manages the largest and most complex airspace in the world. 
Supporters of air traffic control privatization can cite other 
countries all they want that have privatized, but none of those 
privatized systems hold a candle to the complicated and densely 
populated air traffic system the FAA has accomplished.
  Rather than helping the FAA continue its progress toward modernizing 
our air traffic control system through NextGen--that is being 
implemented as we speak, and in 3 years, the process of handing off 
most of the air traffic to satellites instead of ground-based radar--
that is in just 3 years. On the other hand, the transition to a 
privatized air traffic control entity is only going to disrupt and 
delay the FAA's modernization efforts.
  One has to ask, if it isn't broken, what exactly is the 
administration trying to fix?
  We actually have real issues that need to be addressed in this FAA 
bill, such as continuing to safely integrate drones into our Nation's 
airspace, reforming the process for aircraft certification, and, very 
importantly, helping the FAA hire more air traffic controllers. We need 
to work to ensure that consumers, the flying public, have real 
protections in place that protect them when things go wrong. I wish the 
administration would focus on those issues, which received nearly 
unanimous support in the Senate last year, rather than try to up-end 
the world's safest air traffic control system.
  Let's not get sidetracked by proposals that have neither bipartisan 
consensus in Congress nor agreement among aviation stakeholders. Last 
year we came very close to enacting a bipartisan and comprehensive FAA 
bill. It passed the Senate 95 to 3, although it didn't have air traffic 
control privatization. I know we can do it again, and I look forward to 
working with Senator Thune and the members of the committee, who will 
have the first crack at this when we bring up the FAA bill. Hopefully 
we can go with a consensus bill that will give us an authorization for 
the FAA for many years--5 to 7 years into the future--so that we can 
have the certainty of the authorization with which to continue to build 
a safe airline and air safety record and implement the next generation 
of air traffic control.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. HEITKAMP. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The question now occurs on agreeing to the resolution.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, 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. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the 
Senator from Arizona (Mr. Flake), the Senator from Alaska (Ms. 
Murkowski), the Senator from Alaska (Mr. Sullivan), the Senator from 
North Carolina (Mr. Tillis), and the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Toomey).
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Bennet), 
the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker), the Senator from Illinois 
(Ms. Duckworth), the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez), and the 
Senator from Oregon (Mr. Merkley) are necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Lankford). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 90, nays 0, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 138 Leg.]

                                YEAS--90

     Alexander
     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Brown
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Capito
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Cassidy
     Cochran
     Collins
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cortez Masto
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Donnelly
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Feinstein
     Fischer
     Franken
     Gardner
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Grassley
     Harris
     Hassan
     Hatch
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Heller
     Hirono
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kaine
     Kennedy
     King
     Klobuchar
     Lankford
     Leahy
     Lee
     Manchin
     Markey
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Moran
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Paul
     Perdue
     Peters
     Portman
     Reed
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sanders
     Sasse
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Scott
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Stabenow
     Strange
     Tester
     Thune
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden
     Young

                             NOT VOTING--10

     Bennet
     Booker
     Duckworth
     Flake
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murkowski
     Sullivan
     Tillis
     Toomey
  The resolution (S. Res. 176) was agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the preamble is 
agreed to.
  (The resolution, with its preamble, is printed in the Record of May 
24, 2017, under ``Submitted Resolutions.'')
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motions to 
reconsider are considered made and laid upon the table.
  The Senator from Nevada.

                          ____________________