[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 124 (Tuesday, July 24, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5230-S5240]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, FINANCIAL SERVICES, AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT 
                        APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
resume consideration of H.R. 6147, which the clerk will report.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 6147) making appropriations for the Department 
     of the Interior, environment, and related agencies for the 
     fiscal year ending September 30, 2019, and for other 
     purposes.

  Pending:

       Shelby amendment No. 3399, in the nature of a substitute.
       Murkowski amendment No. 3400 (to amendment No. 3399), of a 
     perfecting nature.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.
  Mr. SHELBY. Madam President, this week the Senate takes another step 
toward regular order in the appropriations process in the Senate.
  The package before the Senate today contains the fiscal year 2019 
appropriations bills for the Subcommittees on Interior; Financial 
Services; Agriculture; and Transportation, Housing and Urban 
Development. We have not debated an interior appropriations bill on the 
floor of the U.S. Senate in nearly 10 years.
  The Financial Services appropriations bill has not seen floor action 
in several years either. Why? Because year after year, party-line votes 
in committees represented the end of the line in the legislative 
process. Yet here we are today debating both of these appropriations 
bills and more on the Senate floor.
  So what changed? What changed was the mindset of appropriators on 
both sides of the aisle who embraced a willingness to sacrifice 
partisan riders and priorities outside the committee's jurisdiction for 
the good of the process. Together we have committed to do what is good 
for the process because we want to do what is right by the American 
people.
  This approach is yielding meaningful results thus far. The Interior 
and Financial Services bills in this package both won the unanimous 
approval of the Appropriations Committee, which is generally unheard 
of--unanimous, Madam President. We haven't seen that level of support 
for these bills in quite some time around here.
  The Agriculture and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development 
bills also garnered unanimous support of the Appropriations Committee.
  I want to take a minute to commend the chairmen of these 
subcommittees--Senator Murkowski, Senator Collins, Senator Hoeven, and 
Senator Lankford--for their leadership in the process. I also, again, 
thank Vice Chairman Leahy and the ranking members of these 
subcommittees for their hard work. These Senators have worked together 
to produce strong and, I believe, bipartisan bills.
  This broad bipartisan support paved the way for the full Senate's 
consideration of these bills, and I thank Leaders McConnell and Schumer 
for agreeing to bring this package to the floor.
  As we begin debate this week, we can leverage our recent success in 
passing appropriations bills. Just last month, the Senate passed a 
package of three fiscal year 2019 appropriations bills with 
overwhelming support. This support was facilitated by an open amendment 
process and a willingness to work together to address legitimate Member 
concerns. As a result, the process was both open and, I believe, 
disciplined.
  More importantly, it was successful, passing by a vote of 86 to 5--
yes, 86 to 5.
  The bill managers on both sides of the aisle will seek to replicate 
this process and success with the package now before the Senate. We ask 
for the continued cooperation of all Senators in this effort.
  Critical mass, that is what we are building in the Senate--critical 
mass for returning to regular order in the appropriations process.
  By completing our work in a deliberate and timely manner on this 
package, we can turn next to the Defense and Labor-HHS-Education 
package. While completion of our work on the current package will mean 
we have passed more than half of the 2019 appropriations bills, the 
lion's share of discretionary spending, as my colleagues know, is 
contained in the Defense and Labor-HHS bills. That is very important to 
all of us here, very important to our constituents, and very important 
to our country.
  Again, I encourage our colleagues to participate in this process and 
help sustain the momentum we have generated thus far. We have a lot of 
work to do, but we are making real progress. I hope my colleagues find 
this encouraging. I certainly do.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I am pleased to join my friend, the 
senior Senator from Alabama, Chairman Shelby, as we prepare to debate 
the second set of appropriations bills to reach the Senate floor this 
session. Senator Shelby has noted that this is a change in recent 
years. I commend him, and I commend both Republicans and Democrats who 
have worked together in the way we used to and now are again. This 
minibus contains four important bills for fiscal year 2019: the 
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies bill; the Financial 
Services and General Government bill; the Agriculture, Rural 
Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies bill; 
and the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development and Related 
Agencies bills.
  Now, that was something significant to be on the Senate floor in past 
years. What is even more significant--and Chairman Shelby would agree 
with me--each of these bills was reported by the Appropriations 
Committee unanimously. Every Republican, every Democrat voted for them. 
They fund programs that provide important services to the American 
people across the country. They invest in the future of this country.
  Let me take one example, the Agriculture appropriations bill. This 
bill is a win for farmers, for families, and for rural communities 
through its investments in rural development, housing, food, nutrition, 
agriculture, research, and clean water programs. Every State in this 
Nation--yours, Chairman Shelby's, and everybody else's, and of course 
my own State of Vermont--has rural communities and farm economies that 
benefit from these important programs, every one of us does.
  The Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development bill will make 
critical infrastructure investments across the country and, of course, 
also in my home State of Vermont. It includes $10 billion in new 
funds--new funds--to help address our crumbling bridges and railways 
and roads. Let me just say, if I might be parochial for a moment, what 
that means in Vermont. It will help invest in safety improvements on 
Amtrak's Vermonter and Ethan Allen lines but also will make much needed 
repairs to our railroads and bridges. These increases in every one of 
our States are a direct result of the bipartisan budget deal reached 
earlier this year, and they are critically needed.
  I have been here for over 40 years. What Senator Shelby and I have 
done is we have brought the Senate back to the way it used to be to 
actually get things done with Republicans and Democrats working 
together.
  Improving the Nation's infrastructure was one of President Trump's 
key campaign promises. Unfortunately, he criticized the very budget 
deal that made these increases possible. He proposed cutting--not 
increasing--funding

[[Page S5231]]

for infrastructure programs that this bill supports. I am glad to say, 
again, that Republicans and Democrats came together on appropriations 
and took a different path. This bill also protects key investments in 
affordable housing and community development programs, such as HOME and 
CDBG. That is crucial funding that communities leverage to construct, 
rehabilitate, and maintain affordable housing. This is housing that is 
desperately needed across America--certainly in my State of Vermont--to 
shelter families, but it also promotes economic mobility and stability.
  The Interior bill makes critical investments in programs to help 
ensure we have clean water to drink and clean air to breathe. I can't 
think of any State in the country that doesn't want clean water and 
doesn't want clean air.
  It also supports important conservation programs, including support 
for our national parks. Our national parks attract millions of visitors 
each year. What a treasure, allowing families to come and see such an 
important part of America. I think it is quite in the tradition of 
Teddy Roosevelt and others who had supported such parks, but it also 
has the Forest Legacy Program and the Land and Water Conservation Fund. 
The Land and Water Conservation Fund is going to be beneficial for 
Vermont, New York, and, truly, the whole northeast region. The bill 
continues our commitment to regional efforts to protect, restore, and 
preserve Lake Champlain, the largest body of fresh water in the United 
States outside of the Great Lakes.

  I am pleased to report that the committee rejected the misguided cuts 
to the Environmental Protection Agency proposed by the administration 
that would have set back the progress we have made in recent decades to 
preserve our environment not just for ourselves but for future 
generations.
  Finally, the Financial Services bill helps to support small 
businesses and local economies through the Small Business Development 
Centers Program and other related programs. Every one of us knows that 
small businesses and local economies make up the strength of our 
States.
  It also funds regulatory agencies that U.S. citizens rely on to 
protect them from unfair, unsafe, or fraudulent business practices, 
like the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Federal Trade 
Commission, which protect consumers. Yet we were able to reach consent 
to consider such a broad package of bills in the Senate.
  This is a broad cross section of issues, and every one of us had 
different views. With the vast array of issues here, every one of the 
100 Senators here, if writing this legislation by himself or herself, 
may include something different or something else, and, then, of 
course, we would have nothing. Instead, Republicans and Democrats came 
together. I think a lot of this comes from the direct result of the 
Shelby-Leahy-McConnell-Schumer commitment to move forward on a 
bipartisan basis.
  Senator Shelby and I met with the two leaders and said we wanted to 
do that. We wanted to actually show the Nation that the Senate can 
work, and we did it at spending levels agreed to in the bipartisan 
budget deal. We rejected new poison pill riders from the right and the 
left or controversial authorizing legislation.
  We will all have issues about which we care deeply, but we had to 
come together on what is in the best interests of the country, and, 
frankly, as a Senator for almost 44 years, it was in the best interests 
of the Senate.
  I think Senator Shelby would agree with me that achieving this goal 
of reporting strong, bipartisan bills took considerable restraint on 
both sides of the aisle, but that restraint is what is required to get 
these bills through the Senate. But I worry that the House is 
proceeding on a different path. They have passed partisan bills filled 
with poison pill riders that cannot and will not pass the Senate.
  Funding the government is one of our most basic constitutional 
responsibilities. If you go across this country, you will find that the 
American people expect us to work together. They expect us to reach 
across the aisle and to reach agreement on these bills. The programs 
funded in these bills make a real difference in the American people's 
lives, and they shouldn't be held hostage to unrelated partisan policy 
fights. So I hope that when we get to conference on these bills, the 
House will reverse and do their work in a bipartisan fashion for the 
benefit of all Americans--not just Republicans, not just Democrats, but 
all Americans.
  I especially want to thank Chairman Shelby for his partnership on 
these bills. I also thank the chairs and ranking members of each of the 
subcommittees. If they hadn't been willing to work and cooperate 
together, we wouldn't have these four bills before us. Again, I note 
that they went through unanimously. We had reached a point where some 
thought that we couldn't get unanimous agreement in the Senate that the 
sun rises in the east. Maybe we couldn't, but we did get unanimous 
agreement here, and thank goodness.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, I am pleased to begin the Senate debate 
on the fiscal year 2019 appropriations bill for Transportation, Housing 
and Urban Development, and Related Agencies. Our bill has been included 
in the appropriations package now before this Chamber.
  Let me begin my remarks this morning by thanking Chairman Shelby and 
Vice Chairman Leahy for their leadership in advancing these 
appropriations bills in record time. It is great to see the Senate 
getting back to regular order in moving the appropriations bills across 
the Senate floor, allowing for robust debate and amendment, and then 
bringing those bills to conference with our House counterparts. That is 
the way the system should work, as opposed to all of these bills being 
bundled together in an enormous, many thousand-page omnibus 
appropriations bill. I am very pleased to see the progress that we are 
making.
  I also want to acknowledge the hard work and commitment of my friend 
and colleague Senator Jack Reed, who serves as the ranking member of 
the T-HUD Subcommittee. I have worked very closely with Senator Reed in 
drafting this bill. We have also received input from more than 70 
Senators, with in excess of 800 requests, each of which we very 
carefully evaluated. So I can assure this Chamber that this legislation 
is truly bipartisan.
  The T-HUD bill provides $71.4 billion for our Nation's critical 
infrastructure and housing programs. This bill continues the 
significant infrastructure investments provided in fiscal year 2018 for 
our Nation's highways, bridges, airports, transit, and rail networks. 
As a result, communities across this country will be able to improve 
their transportation infrastructure to enable more efficient and safer 
movement of people and goods. Improving our infrastructure is essential 
for our continued economic growth as well as for personal mobility.
  The fiscal year 2019 T-HUD bill continues the increases for 
infrastructure programs resulting from the 2-year budget agreement that 
was reached by Congress and the administration. I would note, however, 
that the budget agreement does not provide for the long-term funding 
structure necessary for our Nation's transportation infrastructure. I 
want to strongly encourage the administration to work with the 
authorizing committees to provide that long-term, sustainable funding 
for transportation before the FAST Act expires at the end of fiscal 
year 2020.
  Our bill provides $1 billion for BUILD grants, previously known as 
the popular TIGER grants program. These grants have supported not only 
much needed infrastructure projects but also jobs and economic growth 
in each and every one of our home States. I want to provide my 
colleagues with an indication of just how popular this program is and 
how strong the demand is.
  In the 2017 round of TIGER grant applications, the Department of 
Transportation received 452 applications requesting more than $6 
billion, well above the $500 million provided last year, which could 
fund only 41 projects. You can see that the demand far exceeds the 
amount of funding. So we are taking action in this bill to double the 
funding for BUILD grants. That will help many more projects become a 
reality. I have seen in my own State the investments in bridges, ports, 
and transportation projects that have made such a difference.

[[Page S5232]]

  I would now like to turn to the aviation provisions in our bill. We 
provide $17.7 billion in budgetary resources for the Federal Aviation 
Administration, or the FAA, which fully funds air traffic control 
personnel, including more than 14,000 air traffic controllers and more 
than 25,000 engineers, maintenance technicians, safety inspectors, and 
operational support personnel. The bill also provides $1 billion for 
the FAA Next Generation Air Transportation Systems Program, also known 
as NextGen, and $168 million for the popular Contract Towers Program. 
The NextGen Program is so important to the modernization of our air 
traffic control system, and we have consistently funded that program, 
and it is being implemented in a way that is going to make a real 
difference.
  Consistent with the FAST Act, $46 billion is made available for the 
Federal-Aid Highway Program from the highway trust fund. In addition, 
the bill provides $3.3 billion from the general fund for our Nation's 
highways, of which $800 million is for bridge replacement and 
rehabilitation in rural areas of our country.
  The American Society of Civil Engineers conducts a comprehensive 
assessment of our Nation's infrastructure every 4 years. Its most 
recent report card from 2017 shows that America's infrastructure 
remains poor and in desperate need of investment. In fact, the 
engineers award a grade of only D-plus for our Nation's infrastructure.
  To give you some statistics to emphasize why we are receiving such a 
low grade, let me talk about our Nation's bridges. One in nine of our 
Nation's bridges is rated as structurally deficient, and the average 
age of our country's more than 600,000 bridges is 42 years old. Our 
national highway system contains infrastructure that is now well past 
its useful life. Some bridges are more than 100 years old, and many are 
unable to accommodate today's traffic volumes.

  I was recently in Piscataquis County, where a TIGER Grant Program was 
allowing the replacement of some very old rural bridges. The amount of 
rust on these bridges and the narrow width made them extraordinarily 
dangerous. They were at risk of being posted so that traffic could go 
across only in one direction. When you looked up at the trusses, you 
could see where trucks loaded with lumber had dented the trusses 
because they were far too low. They were built for a different era. It 
is important for safety reasons--as we have seen with bridges 
collapsing in this country or having to be posted--that we make this 
kind of investment.
  Our bill also invests in our Nation's rail infrastructure by 
providing $2.8 billion for the Federal Railroad Administration. This 
includes $1.9 billion to Amtrak for the Northeast Corridor and National 
Network, continuing service for all current routes.
  In May, our subcommittee held a hearing in response to serious rail 
accidents, such as the tragic derailment last December in Washington 
State. Our bill continues to fund positive train control implementation 
to improve the safety of our trains. In addition, the bill provides 
$255 million for the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety 
Improvement Grants Program and $300 million for the Federal-State 
partnership for the State of Good Repair Grants Program. These 
investments in rail will help ensure that both passengers and freight 
move more safely and efficiently throughout our country.
  The State maritime academies play a critical role in training the 
next generation of U.S. mariners. Our bill provides $40 million for the 
maritime academies as well as an additional $300 million for a special 
purpose vessel to be used as a training school ship.
  In accordance with MARAD's guidance, the new training ships will go 
to replace existing training ships in the order in which these ships 
are expected to reach the end of their useful life. That is the only 
logical way for us to proceed.
  Last year, we appropriated funds to replace the 57-year-old ship used 
by the New York State maritime academy, and this year's funding will go 
to replace the Massachusetts Maritime Academy's aging vessel. Again, we 
are going in the order that the Maritime Administration tells us these 
ships will be at the end of their useful life.
  It would be great to be able to replace all of the ships at the same 
time, but we simply can't afford to do that, and that is where 
prioritizing the ships as the agency recommends comes in. Replacing 
these ships is, however, important to providing training capacity for 
all six of the State maritime academies, including the one that I am 
very proud of, the Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine. It will 
ensure that cadets receive the training hours they need to graduate on 
time and join the workforce.
  In the area of housing, our priority is to ensure that our Nation's 
most vulnerable families and individuals do not lose the assistance 
they are now receiving, which prevents many of them from being at risk 
of homelessness. Therefore, the bill provides the necessary funding to 
keep pace with the rising costs of housing these families in order to 
avoid their becoming homeless. Much of the increased funding covers the 
higher costs of rental assistance for the most vulnerable among us, 
including our homeless veterans, our youth, our disabled citizens, and 
low-income seniors.
  Senator Reed and I share a strong commitment to reducing, and someday 
ending, homelessness. We have therefore included $2.6 billion for 
homeless assistance grants. We have also made critical investments to 
reduce homelessness among our veterans, our youth, and survivors of 
domestic violence. Specifically, to assist our homeless youth, we have 
provided $80 million for grants targeting this underserved population.
  I visited a wonderful youth shelter in Lewiston, ME, called New 
Beginnings. I was so impressed with the work they were doing with 
teenagers, in particular, many of whom had been exiled from their 
homes--as much as I hate to say it--or abused or otherwise found 
themselves homeless. Because of the safety of this shelter, they were 
continuing their schooling, they were learning life skills, and they 
were safe. Yet, I will tell you, this is the only shelter in the State 
of Maine that is devoted solely to the needs of homeless youth.
  There is such a need in this country. There are other shelters that 
try to accommodate young people in the State of Maine and are doing 
their best, but this is an area where we need to provide more 
assistance.
  To better support youth who are exiting the foster care system, the 
bill includes $20 million for family unification vouchers. That is the 
real gap in our system. What happens--and I know that many Members 
share my concern--is young people ``age out'' of the foster care 
program, and they may have nowhere safe to go.

  For our Nation's senior population, many of our seniors receive 
section 8 housing, but our bill also includes $678 million for housing 
for older Americans. Of this amount, $10 million will provide grants to 
nonprofit and State and local entities to do home modifications for 
low-income seniors, enabling them to stay in their own homes and to age 
in place.
  I am very excited about this program because of hearings I have held 
in the Senate Aging Committee, which I am privileged to chair. What we 
have learned is, oftentimes, upgrading and putting grab bars in a 
bathroom, widening door openings, putting sensors on the refrigerator 
door--doing modifications like that can allow our seniors to stay where 
they want to be, in the comfort, security, and privacy of their own 
homes. Not only will these low-cost home modifications enable seniors 
to remain in their homes, but they also reduce the need for more costly 
nursing homes and other assisted housing options.
  For our Nation's homeless veterans, the bill provides $45 million for 
the highly successful HUD-VASH Program, including $5 million to serve 
our Native American veterans living on Tribal lands. Despite the 
administration, once again, proposing to eliminate this effective 
program, the subcommittee continues to provide adequate funding.
  This program is a real success story. Since we initiated it in 2010, 
veterans homelessness has fallen by 46 percent. Let's continue our work 
to reach the goal of ending homelessness altogether among our veterans.
  Another important issue--and a passion of our ranking member, Senator 
Reed, and I--that is addressed by the bill is lead paint in homes, 
which is of

[[Page S5233]]

particular concern to families with children under the age of 6. Our 
bill provides $260 million to combat lead hazards. These grants will 
help communities protect children from the harmful effects of lead 
poisoning.
  Again, I have seen this in my home State. Lewiston, ME, our second 
largest city, has very old housing stock, and it has a great deal of 
lead paint. Grants are helping this city deal with this problem, thus 
improving the health and safety of pregnant women and young children 
and avoiding disability and developmental problems for those young 
children.
  These grants will help communities across America protect children 
from the harmful effects of lead poisoning. While our bill certainly 
helps vulnerable families, it also recognizes the challenges facing 
local communities. Boosting local communities is critical to job 
creation and helping our community neighborhoods thrive and our 
families obtain financial security.
  The bill supports local development efforts by providing $3.3 billion 
through the Community Development Block Grant Program. That is one of 
the most popular programs we provide. If you talk to any mayor or town 
council, they will tell you how flexible the CDBG Program is and how, 
as the mayor in Maine with whom I recently met told me, it helps them 
customize the funding to meet the program needs of their communities. 
It may be infrastructure. It may be affordable housing. It may be 
sprucing up the downtown. It may be supporting local businesses. This 
is a great program. It is not a Washington dictated program. It is one 
that responds to local needs.
  We also provide $1.4 billion for the HOME Program. The CDBG and the 
HOME Program support the development of infrastructure projects, 
community development, affordable housing, economic development, and 
job creation.
  I appreciate the opportunity to present this legislation to the 
Chamber. As we begin debate on the Transportation-HUD bill, I urge my 
colleagues to support the investments in this bill, which will pay 
dividends to our communities, our veterans, our children, our low-
income families, and our seniors. Our bill was unanimously reported by 
the Senate Appropriations Committee. We are certainly open for business 
for amendments.
  I commend my friend and colleague Senator Reed for his hard work and 
for that of our staffs on both sides of the aisle in crafting this 
bill.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Young). The Senator from Rhode Island.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I rise in support of H.R. 6147, the so-
called appropriations ``minibus,'' which includes the fiscal year 2019 
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies 
Appropriations bill, as well as three other bills.
  I am certainly proud to have worked with Chairman Collins. She has 
put together a thoughtful, bipartisan T-HUD Appropriations bill that 
reflects the priorities of more than 70 Senators, who provided more 
than 800 funding or language recommendations. Her leadership and her 
commitment to fairness and to ensuring that all of our colleagues had 
the opportunity to help make investments in their States are remarkable 
and deeply appreciated.
  We looked at all of our colleagues' suggestions and recommendations. 
We also received guidance from Chairman Shelby and Vice Chairman Leahy, 
and I appreciate their creative and constructive role. As a result, we 
were able to produce legislation I am remarkably proud of, and I again 
thank the chairman for her great work.
  The bill does not include any poison pill riders, which follows the 
principle established by Chairman Shelby and Vice Chairman Leahy.
  This agreement has given the committee space to evaluate the requests 
of the administration and Congress and to provide funding levels that 
support national priorities. I strongly urge my colleagues to maintain 
this effort and not get diverted by very peripheral and narrow 
interests in the form of what is frequently referred to as ``poison 
pills.''
  Having said that, as the chairman indicated, we welcome amendments 
and encourage Senators to file them as soon as possible so we can begin 
to work through them. We have already heard from a few colleagues, and 
we have several amendments we are preparing to move forward.
  Substantively, let me share some of the significant accomplishments 
in this year's T-HUD bill. Consistent with the budget agreement, the 
bill includes $10.9 billion in budgetary resources above fiscal year 
2017 levels to improve our Nation's infrastructure, grow our economy, 
and spur job creation.
  The bills include $3.3 billion above the levels provided in the FAST 
Act for highway programs, including $800 million for a bridge repair 
and replacement program.
  On rail and transit, we have maintained Amtrak's funding level from 
fiscal year 2018, including $650 million for the Northeast Corridor, to 
make meaningful state of good repair and safety improvements. We have 
also fully funded the need for Capital Investment Grants and have 
increased transit formula and competitive grant programs above FAST Act 
levels. These modes of transportation are essential to reducing 
congestion, driving economic growth, and improving quality of life 
throughout the country.
  I am also pleased that we have a bill before us that protects rental 
assistance for more than 5 million low-income individuals and families, 
over half of whom are elderly or disabled, and rejects the 
administration's harmful proposals to increase rent burdens and work 
requirements for many of our assisted households, who are already 
struggling to make ends meet.
  The bill also provides $285 million for programs that remediate lead-
based paint hazards in low-income and assisted housing. This includes 
$25 million to address lead-based paint hazards in public housing and 
$45 million for a new Lead Safe Communities Demonstration Program, 
which has the potential to reduce the cost of remediating lead-based 
paint hazards in homes.
  For our Nation's seniors, the bill includes more than $50 million to 
develop new senior housing and $10 million to modify low-income 
seniors' homes to make them more accessible. In Rhode Island--and we 
are not unique--nearly half of our senior households lack an affordable 
housing option. This funding will be used to develop innovative housing 
strategies and ensure that our Nation's seniors are able to remain in 
their communities. It is remarkable. Half of our seniors are without 
affordable housing, and that number is only going to grow as the 
demographics of this country continue on their present course.
  Again, in terms of housing, let me single out an issue where the 
chairman has been extraordinarily not only conscientious but also 
courageous. That is homelessness among youth, veterans, and survivors 
of domestic violence. Chairman Collins has done remarkable work. She 
has been building on the work we did together on the HEARTH Act to 
develop innovative, targeted ways to comprehensively address 
homelessness nationally. I am pleased we are able to include more than 
$2.6 billion in assistance for communities to continue to provide 
emergency and community-driven solutions to prevent and end 
homelessness.
  Let me also say a few words about the other bills that are part of 
this minibus package--the Agriculture Appropriations bill, the Interior 
Appropriations bill, and the Financial Services-General Government 
Appropriations bill. Each of these bills includes important funding for 
key programs, and each has steered away from the kind of controversial 
legislative provisions that would prevent them from moving to the 
floor.
  I am pleased the Agriculture bill includes critical funding for 
nutrition, conservation, and research, including additional funding to 
help foster the growth of shellfish aquaculture.
  The Interior bill continues to make important investments in 
infrastructure through the State Revolving Loan Fund programs for clean 
water and drinking water, which Senator Crapo and I have championed on 
a bipartisan basis for many years.
  The bill highlights the need to establish a maximum contaminant level 
for PFAS, a category of chemicals that has been used in a wide variety 
of products, including firefighting foam. Frankly, as Ranking Member of 
the Armed Services Committee, I have been told of numerous military 
facilities across the country where this firefighting foam has been 
used for 30 or 40

[[Page S5234]]

years, and now we are beginning to recognize the potential 
environmental effects. Dealing with this issue now, or beginning to 
deal with it, is a very thoughtful approach.
  In addition to providing critical dollars for our national parks, 
wildlife refuges, and cultural institutions, this bill also funds the 
Southeast New England Program for Coastal Watershed Restoration to 
support collaborative and science-based projects that improve the 
health of Narragansett Bay and other coastal watersheds in Rhode Island 
and Massachusetts.
  Finally, the Financial Services-General Government bill makes 
important investments in our leading financial regulators--the SEC and 
the CFTC--as well as provides funding for the Community Development 
Financial Institutions program, the High Intensity Drug Trafficking 
Areas program, and the SBA's State Trade Expansion Promotion program.
  I commend the chair and ranking member of each of these subcommittees 
for their hard work on these bills.
  Before I conclude, I note that these smart investments and well-
crafted bills would not have been possible without the passage of the 
2-year Bipartisan Budget Act, which provided much needed relief from 
sequester-level budget caps, but that is only a 2-year deal, which 
expires at the end of fiscal year 2019. With the return of harmful 
sequester cuts looming in 2020, this bill should serve as a reminder of 
why we must pursue another bipartisan agreement to provide relief on 
both the defense and nondefense sides of the ledger. Without such a 
deal, we will not be able to continue our infrastructure and other 
investments that make a positive difference in communities across 
America.
  Again, let me conclude by thanking, recognizing, and deeply 
appreciating the chairman for her extraordinary vision and her 
commitment to those values and those issues that are remarkably 
demonstrated in this bill: affordable housing for seniors, assistance 
for the homeless, and ensuring that we have money for infrastructure.
  This bill shows a remarkable commitment to infrastructure across the 
country. When the President was campaigning, he talked about a 
trillion-dollar infrastructure bill. That has not materialized. What 
has materialized is robust funding for infrastructure in this bill, and 
that is a direct contribution of the chairman.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
  Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce the fiscal year 
2019 appropriations bill for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and 
Drug Administration, and Related Agencies. I am glad we are considering 
appropriations bills on the floor in a manner that allows us to fully 
debate amendments.
  I am pleased also to join my colleagues from the Subcommittees on 
Interior; Transportation, Housing and Urban Development; and also 
Financial Services in putting together this legislation.
  For now, I am going to limit my comments to the ag provisions. I will 
defer to my colleagues on their provisions, but I look forward to our 
partnership in moving these bills across the floor.
  The activities funded by the Agriculture bill touch the lives of 
every American every day. I like to talk about how important good farm 
policy is because good farm policy benefits every single American every 
single day with the highest quality, lowest cost food supply.
  As we move this Agriculture appropriations bill, that is what it is 
about. It is about our farmers and ranchers, no doubt about that, but 
it is something that benefits every single American every single day.
  These activities include ag research, conservation activities, 
housing and business loan programs for rural communities, domestic and 
international nutrition programs, and food safety and drug safety.
  Funding for each of these deserves thorough and thoughtful 
consideration. The subcommittee has made difficult decisions in 
drafting this bill. We had to choose and we had to prioritize in terms 
of putting this legislation together, but I think we brought forward a 
bill that works. It is one that got broad-based bipartisan support from 
the Appropriations Committee.
  It is written to our allocation of just over $23 billion. That is 
about $200 million above the current enacted level. We worked hard to 
invest taxpayer dollars responsibly, funding programs that provide 
direct benefits to our farmers, our ranchers, and rural communities, 
supporting programs that provide direct health and safety benefits, 
again, to every single American every single day.
  Ag supports more than 16 million jobs nationwide. It forms the 
backbone of our rural communities. Our agricultural producers are the 
best in the world at what they do, and we have to work hard to give 
them a level playing field because they produce food, fuel, and fiber 
for this country but also for countries around the world. We really do 
feed the world, so we need access to those markets to do so.
  This is, of course, in part, the result of smart investment in 
America's ag research infrastructure, something that truly helps our 
farmers and ranchers, our producers do what they do every day. Ag 
research helps us do it better, more cost-effectively, with higher 
quality, and more productivity.
  That is why I am pleased this bill puts significant emphasis on 
maintaining research programs at our land-grant schools, colleges and 
universities, across this Nation and funding for competitive research 
programs such as the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative.
  These programs are critical to helping our farmers increase 
production, and they expand our Nation's economic growth. As I say, 
they feed not only this country but really the world. Not only does 
every dollar spent on ag research result in a $20 return on invest to 
the U.S. economy, research investment also results in a food supply 
that is safe, abundant, and affordable.
  I am also glad the agriculture bill prioritizes funding for rural 
infrastructure. Included is $425 million for rural broadband grants and 
loans, putting our 2-year investment in rural broadband at over $1 
billion. Through fiscal year 2018-fiscal year 2019, we will put over a 
billion dollars into rural broadband, making sure all Americans, 
wherever they may live--whether they are in an urban area or out in the 
most rural part of our country--have the opportunity to access the 
world wide web and be part of the innovation and technology that goes 
with it. With this funding, we will make tremendous strides in bridging 
the digital divide in urban and rural communities.
  Broadband availability remains a challenge for States like mine, a 
rural State, and other rural States. Farmers need access to new 
precision technologies to help their operations run more efficiently. 
It is also essential for rural communities to have sufficient broadband 
if they hope to attract new businesses and grow their local economies. 
I am proud to say that we put funding in this bill to help to do just 
that.
  I thank Senator Merkley, our ranking member, for the bipartisan 
working relationship that we have on the Agriculture Subcommittee. I 
also want to applaud and express my appreciation to Chairman Shelby for 
working to return our Appropriations Committee to regular order. I 
think this ag bill that we are presenting today reflects a well-
balanced compromise, and it illustrates that the Senate can work 
together on important issues like this one.
  I certainly hope that my colleagues will join me in supporting this 
legislation. With that, I turn to our ranking member, Senator Merkley.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, as ranking member of the Agriculture 
Appropriations Subcommittee, I rise today to discuss the Agriculture 
appropriations bill. This is a good bill that was drafted in a 
bipartisan manner and passed out of committee unanimously.
  A big thanks goes to Chairman Hoeven for his hard work on the bill, 
as well to members of his team who worked closely with members of my 
team throughout this process and considered requests and concerns from 
Senators on both sides of the aisle.
  In his budget request, President Trump proposed more than a 25-
percent cut to USDA's funding. He also zeroed out a number of very 
important programs, including programs that benefit

[[Page S5235]]

rural America, along with research programs and domestic and 
international nutrition programs. The bill that came out of the 
Appropriations Committee rejects those devastating cuts that were 
presented in the President's budget request.
  This bill, which is within the subcommittee's discretionary 
allocation of $23.2 billion, makes smart, targeted investments in 
programs that are important to the American people while keeping out 
controversial policy riders. In this bill we maintain funding for 
important rural development programs while building on the increases 
provided last year for rural infrastructure initiatives, including 
rural water and waste programs and a broadband pilot program. These 
programs are vital in providing rural communities the ability to 
support entrepreneurs to be able to grow their businesses, creating 
much needed jobs in the community.
  The bill protects vital research programs and makes important new 
investments for the organic industry. The Organic Transitions Program 
is funded at $6 million. The National Organic Program is funded at $15 
million. The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program is 
funded at $37 million. All of these are historic funding levels that 
demonstrate the commitment to a vital and rapidly growing industry.
  What else does this committee bill do?
  It supports funding for farm ownership and farm operating loans. With 
farm incomes on the decline, access to credit is crucial for farmers to 
stay in business. Farm loans will serve the most disadvantaged in the 
farming sector, including farmers who are just starting out, as well as 
ranchers, minorities, women, and veterans.
  I am also pleased that we were able to include $150 million in 
funding for the Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations Program to 
protect our watersheds and help to prevent floods, reduce erosion, and 
protect wildlife habitats. With a backlog of $850 million for projects 
that have already been authorized, this funding is much needed.
  For domestic nutrition programs, our bill maintains funding for the 
Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children Program, which provides 
access to food for low-income children during the summer months when 
schools are out of session. Beyond that, the bill provides for $30 
million for school meal equipment grants, $18 million for the Farmers' 
Market Nutrition Program, and $238 million for the Commodity 
Supplemental Food Program. This bill also protects SNAP, or the 
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which 42 million Americans 
rely on. It does not provide provisions that would eliminate benefits 
to those who qualify.
  On the international front, the bill maintains strong funding for 
nutrition programs such as Food for Peace and McGovern-Dole. Since its 
inception, Food for Peace has reached over 3 billion people in 150 
countries and more than 32 million people last year alone.
  I have been in the field to see the impact of this program for 
communities that rely on it in some of the hardest hit parts of the 
world affected by conflict and climate chaos and corruption. This 
support is a considerable feature of what people around the world see 
in terms of the United States reaching out to assistant communities in 
need worldwide.
  Meanwhile, in 2017, the McGovern-Dole Program fed 4.5 million 
children, and it helps to support education and food security for low-
income countries, as well as increasing school attendance. This program 
supports good health and better education for children around the 
world, with a particular emphasis on girls. In the state of the world 
today, we need programs like Food for Peace and McGovern-Dole, which 
have a proven track record. I am pleased that we have worked in a 
bipartisan to ensure that these programs are funded.
  The bill in front of us supports the important work of the FDA, or 
the Food and Drug Administration, through a $159 million increase in 
the agency's funding. Included in that funding increase, among other 
things, is full funding for the Oncology Center of Excellence, 
modernizing the generic drug review process, investment and innovation 
for rare diseases, and the continuation of last year's work on opioid 
prevention activities. I know, and my fellow Senators understand, just 
how important that opioid addiction prevention program is.


                      Tribute to Jessica Schulken

  Mr. President, before I conclude, I wish to take a moment to 
recognize an outstanding member of the Agriculture Subcommittee team.
  Jessica Schulken will be leaving us in the next few weeks after 
almost 19 years on the Appropriations Committee. Her accomplishments 
are numerous. During her years on the committee, she has been a 
tireless advocate for our Nation's farmers and ranchers, a fierce 
protector for rural America, a staunch advocate for ensuring that the 
Food and Drug Administration has all the resources it needs, and a 
defender of transparency who has worked hard to ensure that these 
agencies are answerable to Congress.
  I cannot begin to adequately express the tremendous work that she has 
done on this committee as clerk. I speak for many who know how sorely 
she will be missed. Here is a big thanks to Jessica Schulken for her 
years of service and dedication, and I wish her well in her new chapter 
of life.
  The process on this agriculture appropriations subcommittee bill has 
been emblematic of the type of good, strong bipartisan work that we 
would like to see much more often here in the Senate--bipartisan work 
that has assisted our ranchers, bipartisan work to assist our farming 
communities, bipartisan work to support rural communities and rural 
infrastructure. So I look forward to getting this bill passed, getting 
it through conference, and getting it to the Oval Office.
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. 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. LANKFORD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss the Financial 
Services and General Government appropriations bill for 2019. As 
chairman of the subcommittee, I have really enjoyed working with the 
ranking member, Senator Coons, and all of the members of the 
Appropriations Committee.
  However, for many Members of this Chamber who are not on the 
Appropriations Committee, today will be their first close look at an 
appropriations bill from our subcommittee. It has been months in 
process, with many oversight hearings, a lot of debate, a lot of 
amendments, a lot of back and forth with a tremendous amount of input 
from Members of this body, and it is finally actually on the floor.
  It has been nearly 7 years since the Financial Services and General 
Government appropriations bill has actually been considered on the 
Senate floor. In November of 2011, the Senate began consideration of 
the combined appropriations package for Energy and Water, Financial 
Services, and State and Foreign Operations. Unfortunately, the floor 
consideration of that bill was halted shortly after it began, and 
Members were not able to offer amendments or have their voices heard. 
We are looking forward to that changing today.
  This week's debate will subject the Financial Services and General 
Government appropriations bill to public scrutiny and an open amendment 
process on the Senate floor for the first time since the subcommittee 
was established in 2007. It is too long in coming. I applaud the 
leadership of Chairman Shelby and Ranking Member Leahy, who were 
determined to see the committee return to regular order.
  A little bit of sunshine will help us in this process. I am a firm 
believer that openness and transparency result in a better legislative 
product. It is my hope that today starts a trend where the 
appropriations bills that are seldom seen outside the committee, such 
as the Financial Services and Interior appropriations bills, can be 
debated openly and amended on the Senate floor.
  We have made a concerted effort to make responsible decisions in 
allocating resources and to be responsive

[[Page S5236]]

to the requests we have received from Members of both sides of the 
aisle, and we welcome continued input and proposed amendments from 
other Members.
  This Financial Services and General Government bill totals 
$23,688,000,000. It includes funding for a diverse group of 27 
different independent agencies. It includes the Executive Office of the 
President, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Judiciary, and 
the District of Columbia. The bill does not include any budget gimmicks 
or empty CHIMPS, or changes in mandatory program spending, which are 
often used as a gimmick by appropriations. It does not include those.
  The bill provides targeted funding increases for the Treasury 
Department to combat terrorism financing, for the Federal courts to 
support their administration of justice, and for the GSA's Federal 
Buildings Fund, including the acquisition of the headquarters building 
for the Department of Transportation, rather than continuing to pay 
$49.4 million in annual rental payments for a building that is their 
headquarters. We will move back to actually owning that building to 
save the taxpayers that money.
  This bill also fully funds GSA's request for basic repairs and major 
repairs. Basic and major repairs are not glamorous appropriations 
accounts, but they are exceptionally important to maintain and protect 
the taxpayers' dollars.
  The bill also makes critical investments in our Nation's financial 
markets, by providing targeted increases for the Securities and 
Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
  After years of flat funding for the CFTC, or the Commodity Futures 
Trading Commission, including a $1 million cut last year, this bill 
provides an increase to the CFTC in recognition of their critical role 
overseeing our swaps, futures, and options markets. Support for the 
CFTC was a priority for a number of Senators in this Chamber on both 
sides of the aisle, and I am pleased that we were able to accommodate 
it this year.
  The bill provides $11.26 billion to the Internal Revenue Service for 
the administration of our Nation's tax laws. Of this amount, $77 
million is dedicated to implementing the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. 
That bill has been enormously successful in helping to turn around our 
economy, wherein our GDP growth has grown exponentially over the last 
year. Yet we have to fully implement that bill, and the additional $77 
million is dedicated to that.
  Aside from tax reform, we are able to provide an increase of $75 
million in base funding for the IRS. This increase to the Operations 
Support account over the fiscal year 2018 enacted level will provide 
for investments in information technology infrastructure to reduce 
reliance on legacy systems. The total amount for the IRS includes $2.5 
billion for Taxpayer Services and $4.86 billion for Enforcement.
  We have two critical goals for the IRS--improving taxpayers' access 
to quality customer service and addressing the tax gap, which is the 
amount owed but actually not paid.
  The IRS needs help in the customer service area. It has asked for 
additional funding, and we have asked it for additional focus on 
customer service. We have given that this time. We have also asked the 
IRS to deal with the tax gap, which are taxes owed that individuals do 
not pay. This is not a change in tax law; it is enforcing existing tax 
law. Our current tax gap is right at $400 billion a year. Addressing 
this tax gap is critical to reducing the deficit and restoring our 
Nation's fiscal health.
  The bill prioritizes the Federal Government's response to the opioid 
crisis. Our bill keeps our Nation's focus on the High Intensity Drug 
Trafficking Areas Program, with there being $280 million allocated, and 
on the Drug-Free Communities Program, with there being $99 million 
allocated through the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
  The bill provides a funding increase to the U.S. Postal Service 
Inspector General to address the growing concern of narcotics 
trafficking through the mail system. We have to pay attention to that. 
The bill includes $2 million in new funding for the Council of the 
Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency for improvements to the 
website oversight.gov. If folks have not already gone to oversight.gov 
to see the work of our inspectors general, I would encourage them to do 
that if they need some additional help. Their work needs to be 
highlighted, and we need to actually implement those recommendations.
  IGs are on the frontlines of efforts to reduce waste, fraud, and 
abuse in the Federal Government, and their recommendations produce 
billions of dollars in cost savings. We need to actually see those cost 
savings and implement them. Oversight.gov has improved the 
accessibility and prominence of their work, and I am confident this 
effort will produce even greater savings in the future by maintaining a 
database of open IG recommendations at oversight.gov.
  Again, I thank my friend Senator Coons and express my appreciation 
for the way he and his staff have worked with us this year.
  As this bill moves forward, I look forward to hearing from all of our 
colleagues about how we can further address their priorities through 
the amendment process. We look forward to doing something historic--of 
actually passing an FSGG bill on the floor of the Senate and of working 
through this process in an open and transparent way.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.
  Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I am proud to join my colleague, Senator 
Lankford of Oklahoma, in bringing our committee bill--the Financial 
Services and General Government appropriations bill--to the floor.
  I thank the full committee chair and the vice chairman, Senators 
Shelby and Leahy, for their leadership and their bipartisan work that 
has laid out the process we are now following to make real progress on 
our appropriations process.
  I thank Chairman Lankford for working with me on this bill, and to my 
colleague Senator Lankford, of Oklahoma, I express my appreciation for 
his being a great partner, for our positive experience in working 
together, and for how much I value our collegial relationship.
  I also thank the key staff of this subcommittee--Andy Newton, Lauren 
Comeau, and Brian Daner--as well as my own staff--Ellen Murray, Diana 
Hamilton, and Reeves Hart. These six folks are, I think, exemplars of 
the people who work here year in and year out, week in and week out and 
who help make it possible for us to craft large and complicated, 
bipartisan compromise bills like this one. We are grateful for the 
positive working experience they have had together and for the spirit 
with which they have worked to make this bill possible.
  I am confident this bill fairly allocates funding among many 
competing priorities, given the subcommittee's allocation and its broad 
jurisdiction. Senator Lankford and I have followed the guidance of the 
full committee chair and vice chair and have kept this bill free of new 
controversial riders. Overall, this bill appropriates $23.688 billion, 
which is a small increase over that in the fiscal year 2018 omnibus 
bill that was enacted earlier this year.
  I would like to take this opportunity to briefly highlight how this 
bill will impact both Delawareans, whom I represent, and Americans 
across our whole country.
  The bill provides $250 million for the Community Development 
Financial Institutions Fund, which supports development in some of 
America's poorest communities. The President's budget had recommended 
cutting this vital program down to just $14 million, which would have 
completely eliminated any new grant funding, but I am proud this 
bipartisan Senate bill restores all of the funding for this effective 
and vital program.
  This bill rejects the transfer of two vital anti-drug programs--the 
High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program, known by its acronym 
HIDTA, and the Drug-Free Communities--from the Office of National Drug 
Control Policy to the Justice Department.
  I am grateful that at this time when opioids are a crisis of academic 
proportions, which I hear about week in and week out in my home State 
of Delaware, that we have rejected an ill-conceived proposal to move 
these programs to other agencies, where I have been concerned they 
would receive reduced funding and scant attention. I

[[Page S5237]]

am pleased, instead, that they will stay with the Office of National 
Drug Control Policy.
  This bill provides $281.5 million for the CFTC, the Commodity Futures 
Trading Commission. This is an increase of $32.5 million. It is 
critical the CFTC is able to keep pace with the dramatic changes in the 
marketplace as it regulates, particularly with the emergence of 
cryptocurrencies and complex financial products and international 
trading platforms. I think it is critical that the CFTC be able to 
modernize its investments, as this is what it is responsible for.
  The Federal judiciary will receive $7.251 billion in funding, an 
increase of $140 million over the fiscal year 2018 enacted level. In 
particular, the defender services and court security accounts, which I 
have long been attentive to, will receive robust funding.
  This bill vitally increases funding for the basic operations of the 
Internal Revenue Service. The IRS may not be the most popular of 
Federal agencies, but it touches almost every American and is central 
to the legal and appropriate and efficient collection of revenue and 
for being responsive to constituents and customers. This bill increases 
funding for the basic operations of the IRS, and it fully funds the 
request for the cost of implementing the comprehensive new tax law.
  I hope we continue to work to increase funding for this vital agency 
in conference because the IRS has IT systems that are out of date, and 
customer service can still improve. As the chairman and I have both 
commented in previous hearings, we need to continue to make progress in 
closing the $400 billion tax gap--the gap between what is owed and what 
is collected in tax revenues every year.
  This bill includes $1.66 billion for the Securities and Exchange 
Commission, the SEC. Given the number of publicly traded firms that 
have an incorporation footprint in my home State of Delaware, I am 
particularly interested in making sure the SEC has the resources it 
needs and is investing those funds efficiently and effectively, as it 
is the watchdog that helps to make sure our securities are being 
exchanged in ways that are transparent and legal and appropriate.
  There is a provision within the Department of the Treasury that I 
want to highlight briefly of $159 million being appropriated 
specifically for the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. It 
is an increase of $17 million over last year, just over 10 percent. 
This office has the responsibility of enforcing economic sanctions 
across the globe.
  It also has a very broad and very important responsibility, and it is 
key that we have been able to work on a bipartisan basis to ensure 
funding is adequate not only to continue the implementation of 
sanctions against North Korea and Iran but also to make sure we are 
fully enforcing the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act 
and that we are enforcing sanctions in other places in the world--
Africa, for example--where we have longstanding sanctions that need 
more thorough enforcement.
  This bill provides funding for the Small Business Administration--a 
remarkably effective Federal agency that punches above its weight. This 
bill rejects the President's proposed cuts to the SBA's grant programs 
by either restoring or increasing funding to virtually every initiative 
within the SBA.
  These grants are essential to the SBA's mission of supporting small 
businesses so local communities across our country have greater 
economic opportunity. I am particularly pleased, within the suite of 
SBA-related services, to support the SCORE Program, which has one of 
the highest ratios of volunteers and civic outreach and impact to 
Federal investment. Groups of volunteers all over the country offer 
business tools, workshops, and mentoring to dedicated entrepreneurs and 
small business owners. SCORE was initially founded in my home State of 
Delaware, in the city of Wilmington. So I have enjoyed working in a 
bipartisan way to reauthorize it during this Congress.
  This bill also includes a well-deserved pay adjustment for Federal 
civilian workers. Last year, Federal employees received a cost-of-
living increase of 1.9 percent. The cost of living is growing at a 
faster rate than that. So, this year, the bill includes that same 
level, which, I think, is an important bipartisan compromise to ensure 
that our civilian workforce receives the support it has earned.
  Lastly, we did include, last year, election security grants of about 
$380 million in the fiscal year 2018 omnibus to help protect States and 
their voting systems from cyber attacks. The chairman is the cosponsor 
of an authorizing bill that is critical we take up and move independent 
of the appropriations process. I also do think, this year, we should 
have provided more for appropriations to our States to make sure they 
are strengthening their cyber security as we are just 4 months from a 
general election.
  In closing, let me again thank the staff members of the subcommittee 
who worked so well together.
  Let me thank Senator Lankford, my colleague from Oklahoma, for his 
great and positive attitude and for his determination in making sure 
these dollars are spent wisely. We may not agree on everything, but we 
have been able to agree on this thing, which is significant and 
historic progress, as the very first ever floor markup of the FSGG bill 
now begins.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                     Nomination of Brett Kavanaugh

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, this week, we will continue the 
confirmation process for Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who, as we all know, 
has been nominated by President Trump to serve on the U.S. Supreme 
Court. I say we will continue the confirmation process because there 
has already been a questionnaire issued by the Judiciary Committee to 
which the nominee has responded. I know White House Counsel and others 
are already trying to put their heads together with the George W. Bush 
Presidential Library, down in Dallas, as well as with the National 
Archives, to be responsive to the document requests that have been made 
for the judge.
  As the author of more than 300 published opinions, Judge Kavanaugh is 
a well-known judicial nominee. I think his experience from the last 12 
years on the DC Court of Appeals has clearly demonstrated he has the 
experience that the job on the Supreme Court requires.
  He is also enormously well respected among the legal community. We 
have seen op-eds written by professors--all of them scholars--who say 
that Judge Kavanaugh can more than hold his own when it comes to legal 
analysis. We have heard this from people who share his judicial 
philosophy and those who do not share his judicial philosophy. They 
have a broad mutual respect for his intellect and his integrity.
  We have heard about his mentorship of law clerks, both men and women, 
liberals and conservatives. As I say, we have received testimonials 
from professionals across the ideological spectrum. Last week, a group 
of 80 former students from Harvard Law School, where Judge Kavanaugh 
taught, sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee. As you might 
imagine, they have a variety of perspectives on judicial philosophy and 
a wide range of political views, but they all agreed that Judge 
Kavanaugh is a rigorous thinker, a devoted teacher, and a gracious 
person.
  Lastly, we have heard from the nominee himself. On the night 
President Trump announced his choice, Judge Kavanaugh said that he 
believes an independent judiciary is the crown jewel of our 
constitutional Republic. He promised to keep an open mind in every 
case, as a judge should, to uphold the Constitution of the United 
States, and to preserve the rule of law. Those words and the opinions 
from his many supporters demonstrate that Judge Kavanaugh is the right 
person to replace Justice Kennedy on the Supreme Court. Most people 
agree that it is the Supreme Court's job to fairly interpret the law, 
not to substitute their own

[[Page S5238]]

judgment--political, ideological, or personal--for that of Congress's 
when Congress has spoken, and I believe Judge Kavanaugh understands 
that deeply.
  A number of our colleagues across the aisle have been left grasping 
at straws given his outstanding qualifications and the fact that he was 
confirmed back in 2006 to the second most powerful court in the Nation, 
the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.
  Judge Kavanaugh is a well-known nominee both to the Senate Judiciary 
Committee and to the Senate itself, but some have recently criticized 
Judge Kavanaugh for expressing opposition to the independent counsel 
statute even though, once upon a time, they supported ending that very 
same statute themselves. There was bipartisan consensus to essentially 
let that statute lapse. So it is ironic that some are now using that as 
a point of criticism.
  For example, in 1999, my colleague, the senior Senator from Illinois, 
called for getting rid of the statute, claiming that it allowed 
independent counsels to be unchecked, unbridled, unrestrained, and 
unaccountable. That just goes to show you--if you are in the Senate 
long enough, you are likely to find yourself on both sides of an 
argument. But in this case, there is no merit to any criticism of Judge 
Kavanaugh for something that Democrats and Republicans both agreed to 
do, which is to let the independent counsel statute lapse.
  Another weakness in their argument is that there is a real difference 
between special counsels, such as Robert Mueller, and independent 
counsels under the old statute. They are not the same thing.
  When Judge Kavanaugh spoke years ago about the independent counsel 
statute, he was referring to a law that Congress ultimately agreed in a 
bipartisan fashion to let expire and not renew because it was felt that 
independent counsels--particularly the last independent counsel, Ken 
Starr--had too much autonomy to investigate and prosecute any 
misconduct without clear rules and guidance and without clear oversight 
by Congress and the Department of Justice. We know that special 
counsels are different. They are constrained by regulations and are 
overseen by senior lawyers at the Department of Justice, and in the 
case of Director Mueller, by the Deputy Attorney General himself. It 
would be useful if our friends across the aisle would acknowledge this 
difference and this history.
  A new poll has shown that significant majorities of voters in States 
such as North Dakota, West Virginia, and Indiana all want to see Judge 
Kavanaugh confirmed. Support is even stronger among Independents. I 
expect that as more Americans get to know him in the weeks ahead, those 
numbers will rise.
  This nomination for a vacancy on the Supreme Court is Chairman 
Grassley's 15th Supreme Court confirmation hearing, and I have no doubt 
that when he says this one will be the most searching and thorough of 
all of them, he means it.
  I look forward to working with all of our colleagues on the Judiciary 
Committee to ensure that Judge Kavanaugh has a full and fair hearing, 
and not pull any punches whatsoever, but if the object is to delay for 
delay's sake or to criticize for criticism's sake, we intend to call 
that out during this process.
  Based on what I have read and seen so far, I believe Judge Kavanaugh 
will ultimately be confirmed.


          Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States

  Mr. President, there is one other item of business I want to mention, 
and it is some very good news we received yesterday. The House and 
Senate conferees announced an agreement on the National Defense 
Authorization Act, the NDAA. I am glad to hear that the final version 
included legislation I sponsored called FIRRMA, the Foreign Investment 
Risk Review Modernization Act. The senior Senator from California, Mrs. 
Feinstein, was my bipartisan cosponsor.
  I thank Senator Crapo, the chairman of the Banking Committee, who 
ushered this legislation through that committee, where it passed 
unanimously, and Senator Inhofe for leading the conference here on the 
Senate side and seeing that this important piece of legislation was 
included.
  In June, President Trump called on Congress to pass a strong piece of 
legislation to modernize what is known as the Committee on Foreign 
Investment in the United States, or CFIUS. Now we are going to do 
exactly that. The Senate version of the bill updates CFIUS so we can 
guard against attempts--primarily by China but not only by China--to 
acquire sensitive dual-use technology and know-how by exploiting gaps 
in the U.S. rules on foreign investments.
  This legislation takes a carefully tailored approach to updating the 
review process without hamstringing our ability to meaningfully engage 
in trade with partners around the world. It is not anti-foreign 
investment--just the opposite is true--but it is all about protecting 
our crown jewels when it comes to leading-edge technology that can be 
easily acquired through creative investment strategies, and then, along 
with the intellectual property and know-how, our competitors, such as 
China, can gain tremendous advantage.
  I appreciate the support we have gotten from Secretary Mnuchin, our 
Treasury Secretary; Secretary Mattis, the Secretary of Defense; and 
many others. I again thank Senator Feinstein for being the chief 
Democratic cosponsor. This has been a bipartisan effort from day one.
  The message is, we simply can't let China erode our national security 
advantage by circumventing our laws and exploiting investment 
opportunities for nefarious purposes. The backdoor transfer of 
technology, know-how, and industrial capabilities has gone unchecked 
for too long. That is why I am glad that once our bill becomes law, a 
newer, stronger CFIUS process will better protect us from evolving, 
investment-driven threats to our national security.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cruz). The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                      Table Rock Lake Boat Tragedy

  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, I am here today to remember the 17 victims 
who lost their lives last week in the tragic boat accident on Table 
Rock Lake in Missouri.
  At one time, I lived in Branson. Our home is now in Springfield, 
MO. It is a community that I represented in the Congress for 14 years 
before having the chance to represent them in the Senate.

  Of course, the community has responded. But one of the reasons the 
community has responded in the way that it has is the truly tragic loss 
of life. There were 31 people on the boat that was overwhelmed by the 
water. Of those 31 people, 17 died. Of the 17 that died, 9 of the 
victims were members of the Coleman family from Indianapolis, IN.
  Tia Coleman lost her husband, Glenn, and all three of their children.
  On Saturday, Tia asked that her family members be remembered as they 
were. She said that her daughter, 1-year-old Arya, was a little 
fireball with 1,000 different personalities. Her 7-year-old son, Evan, 
according to his mom, was a great brother who was extremely smart and 
witty and loved life. Her 9-year-old son Reese, according to his mom, 
was the happiest little boy and made every day worth living.
  Tia's nephew, Donovan Hall, who was the other surviving member of 
that family, lost his mother Angela and his brother Maxwell. Tia 
described her sister-in-law Angela as a loving mother who would do 
anything for her family, and 2-year-old Max loved big hugs.
  Tia was laughing through her tears as she remembered her Uncle Ray as 
a man who liked to laugh and have a good time.
  Tia's father-in-law, Horace ``Butch'' Coleman, is being remembered in 
Indianapolis as a legend in the community, having volunteered for more 
than four decades as a youth football coach. He and his wife, Belinda 
Coleman, were involved in the community. Belinda was described as a 
loving mom, a loving grandmother, and as a leader in their church.
  Tia asked that all of us keep the Coleman family in our prayers as 
they adjust to this terrible tragedy.

[[Page S5239]]

  Rosemarie Hamann and William Asher, from the St. Louis area, had just 
celebrated Rosemarie's 68th birthday. Their friends say they loved to 
dance and live life to the fullest. They both gave back to their 
community through local veterans organizations.
  William and Janice Bright, from Higginsville, MO, were in Branson 
celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary. They are survived by their 
3 children and 16 grandchildren, with another grandchild on the way, 
who will never get a chance to see their grandparents.
  The Smith family of Osceola, AR, is mourning the loss of 53-year-old 
Steve Smith, a retired educator, and his 15-year-old son Lance. The 
Smiths were very active in their church. Steve was a deacon and Lance 
felt the call to the ministry at 15. He had just recently delivered his 
first sermon.
  Leslie Dennison from Illinois died a hero. This 64-year-old 
grandmother pushed her 12-year-old granddaughter to the surface of the 
water, helping save that girl's life before she was overwhelmed by the 
water.
  Former church pastor Bob Williams, who was driving the boat, was 
remembered by the Branson mayor, Karen Best, as ``a great ambassador 
for Branson'' and an active member of the community.
  Certainly in the coming days we will learn more about these men and 
women and children and the lives they led and the lives that were ended 
tragically. We will also learn about the accident itself.
  Senator McCaskill and I were both there on the day after the accident 
as Federal officials arrived--the Coast Guard, responsible for 
certifying equipment like the boat that sank, and the National Travel 
Safety Board, which has the responsibility to investigate the accident 
and tell us what happened. Senator McCaskill met with them early in the 
day. I met with them exactly 24 hours after the boat sank.
  As we were finished with that meeting and looking out at the placid 
Table Rock Lake, it was impossible to imagine that was the same lake 
that was in videos of what had happened the day before.
  Certainly Senator McCaskill and I were also thinking of the first 
responders, the medical staff, looking at what mental health care was 
available not only for people who survived the accident but also for 
the people who responded.
  There were people who were on a nearby showboat, the Branson Belle, 
who dove off the boat and immediately swam out to do what they could to 
help the people who were trying to save their own lives. One boat dock 
sent three or four different boats with basically high school guys who 
are working at that boat dock in the summer. I am sure if you are a 16, 
17, 18-year-old young man, you think everything is OK, but we were both 
insistent that they try to have the kind of mental health counseling 
they needed, along with the families and the survivors who were there, 
and certainly the community, with services that reacted in the right 
way.
  It is unfortunate that we don't think as much as we should about the 
NTSB and their efforts. One of the things that certainly they will be 
looking at is their investigation of a similar accident almost 20 years 
ago in Arkansas on Lake Hamilton. The questions would be, I think, Did 
the Coast Guard do what they were supposed to do? Did the operators do 
what they were supposed to do? Did the equipment do what it was 
supposed to do? Certainly we will be looking carefully at the report to 
decide what needs to happen as a result of that report. Certainly this 
is an accident we wouldn't want to see happen ever again.
  Since its inception, the NTSB has investigated thousands of aviation 
and surface transportation accidents. They are busy right now 
investigating what happened in Branson, MO. Other examples are the 
Southwest Airlines engine incident in April, the autonomous vehicle 
crash in Tempe, AZ, and the collision of the Amtrak train and the CSX 
freight train in South Carolina. That is what they do. Its staff and 
leadership are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
  Unfortunately, we have had two nominees for the National 
Transportation Safety Board who have been pending for consideration for 
many months--one a Democrat, another a Republican. The confirmation of 
those two people would ensure that the NTSB has a full board to fulfill 
its critical mission.
  I have been assured that we are going to move forward with those 
confirmations later today. I can also assure my colleagues that Senator 
McCaskill and I and Congressman Long will be closely monitoring the 
investigation as we learn what happened and do what we need to do to 
make sure it never happens again.
  So with gratitude to the first responders, the medical staff, and the 
members of the Branson community who stepped forward to assist in this 
tragedy, I close my remarks and turn to Senator McCaskill for whatever 
she may have to say about this event.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.
  Mrs. McCASKILL. Mr. President, I would like to thank my colleague. He 
and I were both in Branson last Friday. We didn't have a chance to see 
each other, but we were both there for the same reason; that is, an 
unspeakable tragedy in our State that has Federal involvement because 
the investigations will occur jointly with the Coast Guard and the 
NTSB.
  I would echo many of the remarks that my colleague made. I 
particularly was struck when I was there--the highway patrol divers had 
just finished their work. They had the worst job maybe in the country 
last Friday, but certainly in Missouri. Their job was to go to the 
bottom of the lake and find the bodies that had been trapped in this 
amphibious vehicle at the bottom of one of the most beautiful lakes in 
the world.
  We never want a tragedy like this to strike in our State. I will tell 
my colleagues that the only silver lining I can find is that it 
happened in a part of our State where there is a great deal of love. 
There is a lot of openness in Branson, MO, for the travelers who come 
through, for all the tourists who come to Branson. We are very proud of 
that area of our State. The Ozarks have some of the most beautiful 
terrain God has created. These lakes that we have, both in the central 
part of our State and in the southwest part of our State, we are very 
proud of. They turned ugly and deadly last Thursday, and we have had a 
tremendous loss of life.
  This investigation will take a year or more. I join my colleague in 
urging the Senate to approve these two nominees that have been pending 
for too long. It is my understanding we have gotten movement on that 
today. It is sad that it would take a tragedy like this to get this 
moving, but I believe that by the end of the day--I am at least 
optimistic at this point; I don't know what my colleague Senator Blunt 
has learned, but I have learned that it appears that these nominees 
will be approved by the end of the day.
  There were incredibly difficult weather conditions, but there are 
inherent dangers in these amphibious vehicles. We know this. How do we 
know this? Because it has been investigated before. We have had 40 
deaths associated with duck boats since 1999, yet there has been little 
done to address the inherent danger of these amphibious vehicles. We 
had 13 deaths in Arkansas in Lake Hamilton in 1999, 4 deaths in the 
Ottawa River in Ontario, Canada in 2002, 2 in the Delaware River in 
Philadelphia in 2010, and then the 17 deaths that occurred last week. 
Additionally, we had five deaths when a vehicle collided, when it had 
an on-land collision in Seattle in 2015.
  Back when the NTSB investigated the incident in Arkansas, which is 
about 200 miles south of Branson, they found contributing factors to 
that accident to be the lack of adequate buoyancy that would have 
allowed the vehicle to remain afloat in a flooded condition, the lack 
of adequate oversight by the Coast Guard, and, importantly, also the 
canopy. When these vehicles are on water, the canopy serves as a trap 
if they take on water and are sinking. People who are trying to get out 
have no easy way to escape this sinking vehicle because the canopy 
traps them within the vehicle.
  It also is a problem in terms of wearing life jackets because if 
someone has a life jacket on and one of these vehicles goes down in the 
water, they get trapped against the roof even more because the buoyancy 
of the life jacket holds them against the roof and makes

[[Page S5240]]

it even more difficult for them to get to some point of ingress or 
egress.
  These are not open vehicles. When they are in the water, it is almost 
like an enclosed bus. It is almost like--imagine if you are on an 
airplane in the water or on a bus in the matter. It is not a boat; it 
is a vehicle. So the NTSB recommendations were pretty straightforward. 
Unfortunately, nothing happened as a result of those recommendations.
  I am in the early stages of drafting legislation with input from the 
NTSB and the Coast Guard to require that the design issues with these 
passenger vessels be addressed and that the boats that are not 
compliant be taken out of service until they can be compliant. We think 
that their past recommendations are reasonable and common sense. We 
really think the biggest problem that has to be addressed is this 
reserve buoyancy that has been pointed out in the past as part of the 
significant problem. If they can't do the buoyancy on a really timely 
basis, at a minimum, remove the canopies if they are going on the water 
so there is an opportunity for people to escape what is a sinking 
coffin, which it was; it was a sinking coffin for way too many people 
last Thursday.
  As always, I want this to be done in a way that makes sense, but I 
don't think it makes sense for us to wait another year to address some 
of these glaring issues in terms of passenger safety.
  I also would like to take a moment to recognize the victims in this 
tragedy. We had five victims who were from Missouri: William Asher, 69, 
and Rose Marie Hamann, 68, who both lived in St. Louis; Janice Bright 
and her husband, William Bright, 63 and 65, from Higginsville, MO, 
closer to Kansas City; Bob Williams, the driver, not the captain of the 
vessel, 73 years old, who lived in Branson.
  From Arkansas, Steve Smith was 53, and Lance Smith was 15 years old.
  From Illinois, Leslie Dennison was 64 years old.
  Maybe the most heartbreaking, in some ways, was the large family who 
lost so many members as a result of this vehicle sinking in the Table 
Rock Lake: Angela, 45; Belinda, 69; Ervin, 76; Glenn, 40; Horace, 70; 
and then the Coleman children, including Reece, who was 9; Evan, who 
was 7; Maxwell, who was 2; and Arya, who was only 1 year old.
  We mourn their deaths. I do think this is a situation where you do 
feel helpless. On the other hand, I do think there are steps we can 
take so that these particular amphibious vehicles are addressed in 
terms of passenger safety so that there is never again a feeling of 
helplessness when one of these boats finds itself in a situation where 
it is taking on water but the people in the vehicle cannot get out of 
the vehicle in order to save themselves and can't even avail themselves 
of life preservers in a way that would protect them if for any reason 
they were not capable swimmers.
  I am very proud of both NTSB and the Coast Guard, who were working 
well together when I was down there. Mayor Best was doing a terrific 
job. The Red Cross was there in full display in terms of providing 
services. The people of Branson were in the midst of an outpouring of 
love, affection, respect, and sympathy--and the entire State. Our 
Governor has done a good job.
  Frankly, it is the silly season for me. This is the time when there 
are relatively few weeks until an election, and the fur is flying, and 
the politics go back and forth. It was like an oasis on Friday in terms 
of everyone coming together, setting their politics on the side of the 
road, and trying to work together to find answers to these difficult 
questions and come together as we should and find a way to protect the 
traveling public and the people.
  The saddest thing about this is the people who went on this vehicle 
went because they were there having a great time. That is probably a 
cruel irony of this situation. They weren't taking a bus on the way to 
work. They weren't taking a plane on a business trip. They were 
enjoying a beautiful location with their family in the middle of what 
should have been a carefree moment, and it turned deadly and tragic. We 
do need to come together and try to make sure this doesn't happen in 
the future.
  With a respectful nod to all the first responders and the people of 
the Branson community who have been so supportive, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, before the two Senators from Missouri 
leave the floor, let me express my personal condolences to them, which 
I know are shared by each and every Member of this body. The tragedy in 
Missouri is absolutely heartbreaking for the families, for the 
community, and for the State, and I want our two colleagues from 
Missouri to know that we stand with them during this very difficult 
time.


          Amendments Nos. 3405 and 3422 to Amendment No. 3399

  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
following amendments be called up en bloc: Heller amendment No. 3405 
and Durbin amendment No. 3422. I further ask consent that at 2:15 p.m. 
today, there be 5 minutes of debate, equally divided in the usual form, 
and that following the use or yielding back of that time, the Senate 
vote in relation to the Heller and Durbin amendments in the order 
listed and that there be no second-degree amendments in order to the 
amendments prior to the votes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report the amendments by number.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Maine [Ms. Collins], for others, proposes 
     amendments numbered 3405 and 3422 en bloc to amendment No. 
     3399.

  The amendments are as follows:


                           amendment no. 3405

 (Purpose: To increase the amount available for a Community Volunteer 
     Income Tax Assistance matching grants program for tax return 
                        preparation assistance)

       On page 154, line 14, strike ``$15,000,000'' and insert 
     ``$20,000,000''.


                           amendment no. 3422

 (Purpose: To require the Inspector General to update an audit report 
               concerning on-time performance of Amtrak)

       In the matter under the heading ``salaries and expenses'' 
     under the heading ``Office of Inspector General'' under the 
     heading ``National Railroad Passenger Corporation'' in title 
     III oCf division D, in the fourth proviso, strike 
     ``Government.'' and insert the following: ``Government: 
     Provided further, That not later than 240 days after the date 
     of enactment of this Act, the Inspector General shall update 
     the report entitled `Effects of Amtrak's Poor On-Time 
     Performance', numbered CR-2008-047, and dated March 28, 2008, 
     and make the updated report publicly available.''.

                          ____________________