[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 36 (Wednesday, February 28, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1288-S1290]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. SCOTT (for himself and Mr. Booker):
S. 2465. A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize
a sickle cell disease prevention and treatment demonstration program
and to provide for sickle cell disease research, surveillance,
prevention, and treatment; to the Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions.
Mr. SCOTT. Mr. President, as we close out Black History Month this
week, I wanted to recognize a few people and initiatives that we are
really excited about.
Yesterday, I joined Congressman Mark Walker, Chairman of the
Republican Study Committee in the House, to host our Second Annual
Historically Black Colleges and Universities Fly In.
We hosted Presidents and Administrators from HBCUs throughout the
country, including four from my home State of South Carolina--South
Carolina State University, Claflin University, Allen University and
Benedict College.
We were able to host some great panels on ensuring curricula are
matched with the needs of the workforce, how to best encourage
entrepreneurship among students, and what steps we are taking at the
Federal level to help our HBCUs provide an invaluable education for
students for generations to come.
Representatives from the HBCUs heard from Google, McDonalds,
Starbucks, Bank of America the Morehouse College Entrepreneurship
Center, John Deere, Wal-Mart, the Center for Entrepreneurship &
Economic Development, and the Koch Foundation. I also want to thank my
friends Senator Lankford and Congresswoman Terri Sewell for joining us
on our member panel.
For decades, HBCUs provided Americans of color with educational
opportunities they would not have otherwise had. For generations, they
have given low-income students an education they could not otherwise
afford.
We have stood by them with the restoration of year-round Pell Grants,
a top legislative priority from last year's fly-in, which benefits more
than one million students.
I joined a bipartisan group of members of Congress, including
Representative Alma Adams, to ensure an increase in the Department of
Defense's HBCU and PMI grant program, boosting funding for this
important collaboration to $40M.
And earlier this month, we saw the Environmental Protection Agency
renew its partnership with Bowie State University to provide
professional experiences and advanced resources to Bowie State
students.
We will continue to stand with our HBCUs, and help ensure they are
providing the opportunities sought by so many people of color and low-
income families from across the Nation.
I also want to talk about legislation my friend Senator Booker and I
introduced today to help combat Sickle Cell Disease.
Our Sickle Cell Disease Research, Surveillance, Prevention and
Treatment Act will do exactly what the title suggests . . . aid in
fighting sickle cell through research, surveillance, prevention and
treatment.
Currently, we don't really know exactly how many people have Sickle
Cell Disease. There's no real surveillance and reporting in place at
the Federal level, and only a handful of states have a reporting
process.
To best battle Sickle Cell, we have to know the universe of what
we're fighting against. So, our bill establishes the National Sickle
Cell Disease Research, Surveillance, Prevention, and Treatment program
to collect data on the demographics and prevalence of Sickle Cell as
well as identify and evaluate strategies for prevention and treatment.
We're also reauthorizing the Sickle Cell Disease Treatment
Demonstration Program (SDTDP) for four years, making some smart reforms
and expanding support services for kids and young adults making the
transition to adult care.
If you've ever met someone with Sickle Cell Disease, you know the
pain they go through. You see how hard it is on their families to watch
them suffer.
The Medical University of South Carolina has put so much effort into
finding a cure, and over the past few years I've gotten to know some of
the patients. Their perseverance is amazing.
We have taken some great steps forward, but we have to keep that
momentum going. I want to thank Senator Booker again for joining me in
this effort, and I look forward to our colleagues supporting the Sickle
Cell Disease Research, Surveillance, Prevention and Treatment Act.
Mr. President, Black History Month allows us to not only study and
learn from our past, but to see where we can go in the future. Our
Nation has made amazing progress in the past 50 years.
Without a doubt, there are still challenges ahead of us, and by
remembering the strength of folks like Dr. Martin Luther King, the
Friendship Nine, Cleveland Sellers, and so many other civil rights
heroes, I am heartened that despite those challenges, we will continue
to make progress.
______
By Mr. HATCH (for himself and Mr. Leahy):
[[Page S1289]]
S. 2466. A bill to encourage and facilitate international
participation in the performing arts and for other purposes; to the
Committee on the Judiciary.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, Vermont has a rich history of supporting
vibrant arts in communities throughout our State and across the world.
Local and foreign visiting artists alike make invaluable social and
economic contributions to our communities. Today our complex,
overloaded, and outdated immigration system often prevents foreign
artists from coming to the United States and engaging in international
cultural exchange.
That is why I am reintroducing the bipartisan Arts Require Timely
Service, ARTS, Act with Senator Orrin Hatch. Our bill would assist
nonprofit arts organizations in obtaining visas for foreign artists by
ensuring enforcement of current statutory requirements. The O visa is
available to individual foreign artists, while the P visa is available
to groups of foreign artists. The Immigration and Nationality Act
currently requires that O visa and P visa petitions be processed within
14 days. However, artists and nonprofit arts organizations routinely
confront lengthy and uncertain wait times in the adjudication process.
Many nonprofit arts organizations are unable to afford the exorbitant
filing fee necessary for expedited processing of petitions.
The ARTS Act would require USCIS to provide premium processing
services, without a fee, if an O visa or P visa is not adjudicated
within the statutorily required 14-day timeframe and if the petition is
filed by or on behalf of a nonprofit organization.
The many problems plaguing our immigration system demand responsible
reforms. This bill is just one small piece. As we look ahead to
comprehensive immigration reform, I hope that Congress will consider
commonsense legislation like this that will help create permanent
solutions. Foreign visiting artists provide an important public service
and support our international diplomacy. It is time we start working to
create results that can best help our communities as a whole.
______
By Mr. FLAKE (for himself and Mrs. Feinstein):
S. 2470. A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit
the purchase of certain firearms by individuals under 21 years of age,
and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the
introduction of the ``Age 21 Act'' by Senator Flake and myself.
Two weeks ago, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland,
Florida, our Nation experienced yet another horrific mass shooting that
has shocked the conscience of us all.
The shooter--a 19-year old former student of the high school--used an
AR-15 military-style assault rifle that he legally purchased at a gun
store, to kill former classmates and educators. Along with 14 wounded,
17 beautiful lives were lost in this horrific attack. Many of them were
children and young adults. Their whole lives were ahead of them.
The overwhelming agony so many victims and their loved ones are
experiencing is all too familiar to gun violence victims and survivors
all across America. This palpable agony and grief has emboldened
students from Parkland and all across this Nation to speak out about
gun violence and demand that we as lawmakers act. I am deeply inspired
by the courage of these young people, and I hope my colleagues will
join me in working with them.
The bill that Senator Flake and I are introducing is straightforward
and simple--it raises the minimum age to purchase a military-style
assault rifle and high capacity ammunition magazines to age 21. In so
doing, this legislation closes the loophole in current law that allows
teenagers to legally walk into a gun store and buy an AR-15. It further
prohibits private individuals from selling or transferring AR-15s to
teenagers under the age of 21. In this way, it brings the minimum age
requirements for buying handguns and military-style assault weapons
into parity.
It makes perfectly clear that in America, if a person is not old
enough to buy a handgun--or, for that matter, old enough to buy a
beer--they should not be able to purchase a military-style assault
weapon. In my view, this bill is one small step in the right direction.
It was developed following the attack in Parkland that had students
asking ``why was this teenager able to legally walk into a gun store
and buy an AR-15?'' In fact, one student named Samuel Zeif, who lost
his best friend in the shooting, asked President Trump why a young
person in America ``can still go in a store and buy a weapon of war?''
So we worked in the spirit of bipartisanship to let Samuel, and these
students, know that as lawmakers we hear them. And we will work
together to make sure that they feel safe in their schools and in their
neighborhoods.
So I'm proud of this bipartisan piece of legislation and would urge
that this body take it up and pass it immediately. However, I would be
remiss not to mention that so much more remains to be done. Already
this Congress, I have introduced legislation to ban bump stocks and
assault weapons from our streets. I've also introduced legislation that
would provide states with a legal framework for courts to issue gun
violence restraining orders to prevent dangerous individuals from
accessing firearms. Additionally, nearly 100 percent of Americans
support legislation that would require universal background checks on
all gun sales, something that ordinary Americans are shocked is not
already the law.
I ask my colleagues to work with us on these common-sense, broadly
supported proposals. I strongly believe that lives are at stake. We
can't continue to watch our children get slaughtered.
Martin Luther King, Jr. once said that ``we are confronted with the
fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history
there is such a thing as being too late'' and ``we must move past
indecision to action.''
Today, as students and communities all across our nation cry out for
stronger gun laws, this message continues to ring true. Now is the time
for us to act, and to show the American people that we can come
together when they are looking for leadership.
I yield the floor.
______
By Mr. BURR (for himself, Mr. Tillis, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Blunt,
Mr. Carper, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Corker, Mr. Cornyn,
Mr. Cotton, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Donnelly, Mr. Enzi, Mrs. Fischer, Mr.
Gardner, Mr. Graham, Ms. Heitkamp, Mr. Hoeven, Mr. Inhofe, Mr.
Isakson, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Manchin,
Mrs. McCaskill, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Paul, Mr.
Perdue, Mr. Portman, Mr. Thune, Mr. Toomey, Mr. Wicker, Mr.
Daines, Mr. Scott, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Warner, Mr. Roberts, Mrs.
Ernst, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Heller, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Moran, Ms.
Collins, Mr. Hatch, and Mr. Sasse):
S.J. Res. 53. A joint resolution honoring the life of William
``Billy'' F. Graham, Jr; considered and passed.
S.J. Res. 53
Whereas William ``Billy'' F. Graham, Jr., was born on
November 7, 1918, in Charlotte, North Carolina;
Whereas, in 1939, Reverend Graham was ordained by Peniel
Baptist Church in Florida;
Whereas Reverend Graham studied at Florida Bible Institute
and graduated from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, in
1943;
Whereas Reverend Graham married his wife of nearly 64
years, Ruth McCue Bell, in 1943;
Whereas Reverend Graham had 3 daughters, 2 sons, 19
grandchildren, and numerous great-grandchildren;
Whereas, in 1950, Reverend Graham founded the Billy Graham
Evangelistic Association, which is based in Charlotte, North
Carolina;
Whereas Reverend Graham preached to nearly 215,000,000
individuals in more than 185 countries and territories on 6
continents;
Whereas Reverend Graham provided spiritual counsel for
every President since Harry Truman;
Whereas Reverend Graham prayed with members of the Armed
Forces in combat zones in South Korea and Vietnam;
Whereas Reverend Graham spoke against the communist Soviet
Union, saying, ``Communism has decided against God, against
Christ, against the Bible, and against all religion.'';
Whereas Reverend Graham--
(1) fought for racial integration;
(2) invited Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to preach with him
in New York City in 1957; and
[[Page S1290]]
(3) bailed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., out of jail when
Dr. King was arrested for protesting segregation;
Whereas, following the terrorist attacks on September 11,
2001, Reverend Graham spoke words of hope and comfort to the
people of the United States at the Washington National
Cathedral;
Whereas Reverend Graham authored 34 books, including the
bestselling autobiography, ``Just as I Am'', which began by
discussing his early days on a dairy farm in North Carolina
and continued through his career as a preacher and
evangelist; and
Whereas Reverend Graham received numerous honors,
including--
(1) the North Carolina Award for Public Service;
(2) the Presidential Medal of Freedom;
(3) the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award; and
(4) the Congressional Gold Medal: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That
Congress--
(1) extends its sympathies to the family of William
``Billy'' F. Graham, Jr.; and
(2) honors--
(A) the life and ministry of Reverend Graham; and
(B) the contributions of Reverend Graham to--
(i) the State of North Carolina;
(ii) the United States of America; and
(iii) the moral and religious lives of millions of
individuals.
____________________