[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 129 (Tuesday, July 31, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5468-S5469]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             CLOTURE MOTION

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there will now be 5 
minutes of debate equally divided prior to the cloture vote on the 
Shelby amendment No. 3399.
  The Senator from Alabama.
  Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I rise this afternoon to urge my 
colleagues to invoke cloture on the substitute amendment before us.

[[Page S5469]]

  In debating this measure over the past week, we voted on several 
amendments. We hope to include dozens more in a managers' package that 
we are working with the Democrats on that continues to evolve. We 
sought to achieve a fair process on this package. The bill managers 
have gone to great lengths to accommodate Members' interests within the 
framework that has allowed us to make so much progress thus far in the 
appropriations process.
  I want to thank my colleagues. I especially thank Senator Leahy for 
working together with us in a bipartisan way. We hope this will 
continue to be a constructive process because all of us benefit. In 
this light, I urge my colleagues to vote yes so we can continue to move 
forward on this package and build upon the momentum we have generated 
thus far.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I applaud what the senior Senator from 
Alabama said. We worked very closely together on the weekend, 
yesterday, and today, and we are continuing to work on a managers' 
package. I also want to be able to bring up my elections security 
grants amendment, especially as we know that Russia and others continue 
to try to interfere with our elections.
  I believe the Senate has to act as a coequal branch of government in 
defending against a threat to our democracy. The threat is very real. 
Our intelligence community unanimously agrees that Russia interfered in 
the 2016 elections. There is an imminent threat to our 2018 elections. 
Just last week, we learned that a Russian hacker targeted the office of 
a sitting Senator. We can't ignore such a threat against this Chamber 
or our government.
  My amendment, if I bring it up, will provide $250 million for State 
election security grants to protect our elections. It improves election 
cyber security, replaces outdated election data equipment, and 
undertakes other anti-cyber efforts.
  In fiscal year 2018, Congress came together--Republicans and 
Democrats, House and Senate--and appropriated $380 million for state 
election security grants. It was the first new funding for election 
security in years. In just a few short months since then, all the 
States and territories--55 in all--requested funding, and 100 percent 
has been committed to the states and 90 percent disbursed.
  Last week, 21 State attorneys general signed a letter pleading with 
Congress to provide more funding to address this crisis, writing: 
``More funding is essential to adequately equip states with the 
financial resources we need to safeguard our democracy and protect the 
data of voting members in our states.''
  Securing our elections and safeguarding our democracy should not be a 
partisan issue. The House Republicans blocked Democrats from even 
having a vote on the House floor. I am still hopeful the Senate will 
not make that same mistake.
  Let us heed the warnings of our intelligence agencies. Of the lights 
blinking red. Of the appeals from the attorneys general, the 
secretaries of state, and the state and local election officials who 
are sounding the alarm. This duty has fallen to us, and we must not 
later be found to have been asleep at the switch, with so much at 
stake.
  I join with Senator Shelby on this next vote, but I do want Senators 
to be on notice that I will be bringing this up at some point.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant to rule XXII, the Chair lays before 
the Senate the pending cloture motion, which the clerk will state.
  The assistant bill clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     do hereby move to bring to a close debate on Senate amendment 
     No. 3399, to H.R. 6147, an act making appropriations for the 
     Department of the Interior, environment, and related agencies 
     for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2019, and for other 
     purposes.
         Mitch McConnell, Thom Tillis, Johnny Isakson, Orrin G. 
           Hatch, John Hoeven, Bob Corker, James Lankford, Lindsey 
           Graham, Mike Crapo, David Perdue, Mike Rounds, Steve 
           Daines, Roger F. Wicker, John Boozman, James M. Inhofe, 
           Roy Blunt, Jerry Moran.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum 
call has been waived.
  The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on 
amendment No. 3399, offered by the Senator from Alabama, Mr. Shelby, to 
H.R. 6147, an act making appropriations for the Department of the 
Interior, environment, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending 
September 30, 2019, and for other purposes, shall be brought to a 
close?
  The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the 
Senator from Arizona (Mr. Flake) and the Senator from Arizona (Mr. 
McCain).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Hoeven). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 94, nays 4, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 175 Leg.]

                                YEAS--94

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

                                NAYS--4

     Gillibrand
     Lee
     Paul
     Toomey

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Flake
     McCain
  

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 94, the nays are 4.
  Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in 
the affirmative, the motion is agreed to.

                          ____________________