[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 46 (Thursday, March 14, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1882-S1891]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019--Motion to Proceed
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 15,
H.R. 268.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the motion.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 15, H.R. 268, a bill
making supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending
September 30, 2019, and for other purposes.
Cloture Motion
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The cloture motion having been presented under
rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to read the motion.
The legislative 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 the motion to
proceed to Calendar No. 15, H.R. 268, making supplemental
appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2019,
and for other purposes.
Mitch McConnell, David Perdue, John Boozman, Johnny
Isakson, John Cornyn, Pat Roberts, Mike Crapo, Thom
Tillis, Roger F. Wicker, John Thune, Richard Burr,
Steve Daines, John Hoeven, James E. Risch, Roy Blunt,
Susan M. Collins, Lisa Murkowski.
Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum
calls for the cloture motions be waived.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The Senator from Nebraska.
Nebraska's Bomb Cyclone
Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, I would first like to address the harsh
[[Page S1883]]
and very inclement weather that is sweeping across the State of
Nebraska.
My prayers are with the Nebraskans who have been affected by the
damaging storm.
This massive storm they are calling a bomb cyclone has brought
blizzard conditions, hurricane force winds, and dangerous floods to
Nebraska. Some people have had to evacuate their homes. Others have
been working tirelessly for the safety of their livestock.
I thank our emergency responders, the State, and local officials who
are helping the citizens of our State during this time.
I want all Nebraskans to know that my office stands ready to assist
you in any possible way.
Honoring our Armed Forces
Sergeant Cory Ryan Mracek
Mr. President, I rise to continue my tributes to the current
generation of men and women who have lost their lives in Iraq and in
Afghanistan while defending our freedom. Each of these Nebraska heroes
has a special story to tell.
I recall today the life and service of SGT Cory Mracek, who was a
native of Hay Springs, NE.
Though Cory spent most of his life in Hay Springs, he was born in
Chadron, NE. Both of his parents, Pat and Jim, were born and raised in
Nebraska as well.
As a young child, Cory was always trying to have a good time. He was
often found either laughing or trying to make others laugh. Cory talked
a lot, starting at age 1. Pat, his mother, fondly remembers that Cory
was a curious child, and when they would go into stores, Cory would
always touch different items because he wanted to know more about them.
He was an easygoing kid, and he loved watching Sesame Street on a
regular basis.
Cory was close to his grandfather, and they would often go places
together and spend time together. Both of Cory's younger sisters, Stacy
and Heather, came into the world when he was a young child, and he had
a very close relationship with both of them. As is often the case with
siblings, though, they sometimes quarreled.
Like many kids his age, Cory was fascinated by ``Star Wars'' and
``The Simpsons.'' The original ``Star Wars'' movies came out when Cory
was young, and he had all kinds of ``Star Wars'' figurines and action
figures around the house.
Cory attended several small schools in northwest Nebraska before
enrolling in Hay Springs High School. Around the time Cory started high
school, Michael Jordan was changing the sport of basketball all over
the world. The Chicago Bulls' legend became Cory's sports hero. His
bedroom was covered with Michael Jordan posters, basketball cards, and
memorabilia.
During his high school years, Cory became involved in many
extracurricular activities. Fishing was one of his favorites, and he
would often go to nearby Walgren Lake, southwest of Hay Springs.
In high school, Cory was also involved in basketball and football,
where he played fullback.
Pat vividly remembers when she worked in the eastern part of Nebraska
one week so that Cory could attend Tom Osborne's Big Red Football
School for 3 days. This was a popular football camp that many teenage
boys in Nebraska participated in over the years.
At Hay Springs High, Cory wasn't too fond of actually going to
school, but he was more than capable. He scored a 30 on his ACT, and
his armed services vocational aptitude battery score was also
exceptionally high.
After graduating from Hay Springs High School, Cory attended Chadron
State College, just down the road from where he grew up. While at
Chadron State, Cory had a hard time finding a good job. With his high
marks on the test, Cory decided to enlist in the Nebraska Army National
Guard. He graduated from basic training at Fort Sill, OK, in 1996.
After 1 year, Cory transferred to the Active Army because it provided
him with a year-round job. Cory's military occupation specialty was 13-
bravo or cannon crewmember for artillery, and he was stationed at Fort
Campbell in Kentucky.
Immediately after joining the Active Army, Cory was deployed to South
Korea for 1 year. He enjoyed his time in Korea, and he participated in
the tradition of the Manchu Mile, a daunting, 24-mile march in full
combat gear across Korea's mountainous terrain.
Cory was also involved in the honor guard.
In January of 2001, Cory returned home to Nebraska and transitioned
back to the National Guard. Months later, the September 11 terrorist
attacks changed our Nation and the world. The events of that fateful
day ignited deep patriotism within Cory. While he and his parents were
outside their home holding up candles in memory of the lives lost in
the 9/11 attacks, Cory told his mom that he was going to transition
back to the Active Army to serve his country.
In early 2002, Cory transitioned back to the Active Army from the
Nebraska National Guard. Cory then deployed to Korea for a second
time--this time for 15 months, serving near the demilitarized zone
between North and South Korea.
When he returned from Korea, Cory was assigned to the 82nd Airborne
Division at Fort Bragg and completed airborne school in November of
2003. Shortly after, Cory received notice that he was deploying to
Iraq. Cory arrived in Iraq for his deployment in January of 2004. Pat
had already sent care packages over for Cory so they would be there
when he arrived.
On the morning of January 27, 2004, Pat instant-messaged with Cory to
catch up and see how things were going. Later that same day, Cory and
his reconnaissance platoon were performing a mission near Iskandariyah,
Iraq. This particular area of Iraq saw major combat activity and
sectarian violence from 2003 to 2007. During Cory's reconnaissance
mission that day, his platoon came across an IED. Cory and two other
U.S. servicemembers were killed by that explosion.
On Wednesday, February 4, 2004, at the Chadron State College
gymnasium, more than 600 family members, friends, and military
officials gathered to celebrate and honor the life, service, and
sacrifice of SGT Cory Mracek. He was eulogized by many, including his
two sisters, Stacy and Heather.
He was laid to rest at the Gordon City Cemetery next to his
grandfather. The funeral procession from Chadron to Gordon was a short
drive by western Nebraska standards--46 miles. From Chadron to Hay
Springs to Rushville, people lined the streets to pay their respects,
wave American flags, and salute Cory.
For quite some time, Cory's parents thought about the best way to
memorialize him. Eventually, Pat came up with the perfect tribute:
renaming the local Chadron, NE, post office after Cory. Pat had
previously worked at the post office for 10 years, and she asked GEN
Roger Lempke, Retired, who is now a member of my staff, how we could
make this happen.
I had the privilege of working alongside former U.S. Senator Mike
Johanns on legislation to rename the Chadron Post Office the ``Sergeant
Cory Mracek Memorial Post Office.'' The bill was passed by Congress,
and it was signed into law on November 2014.
To this day, Cory's mother, Pat, remains heavily involved in many
veteran and military organizations. She is the president of Nebraska
Gold Star Mothers and the cochair of the Honor and Remember Nebraska
Chapter.
Both Pat and Cory's father, Jim, would like our Nation to remember
how happy Cory was. He liked to laugh, have fun, and enjoy life.
I join Nebraskans and Americans across our country in saluting Cory's
willingness to serve and the sacrifices he and his family made to keep
us free, and I am honored to tell his story.
I yield the floor.
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. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Braun). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Unanimous Consent Request--H. Con. Res. 24
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, this morning, something rather amazing
and wonderful happened in the House of Representatives. The House of
Representatives this morning passed a resolution expressing the sense
of Congress that the full report by Special
[[Page S1884]]
Counsel Robert Mueller should be made available to the public and to
Congress. The vote was 420 to 0. Not a single Member of the House,
Democratic or Republican, voted no.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the record of the vote,
including all 190 Republicans who voted yes, be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Final Vote Results for Roll Call 125
(Democrats in roman; Republicans in italic; Independents underlined)
H. Con. Res. 24: Yea-and-Nay, 14-Mar-2019, 10:30 AM.
Question: On Agreeing to the Resolution.
Bill Title: Expressing the sense of Congress that the
report of Special Counsel Mueller should be made available to
the public and to Congress.-
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeas Nays Pres NV
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Democratic.............................. 230--- ...... ...... 4
---
Republican.............................. 190 ...... 4 3---
Independent............................. ...... ...... ...... ......
Totals.............................. 420--- ...... 4 7
----
------------------------------------------------------------------------
YEAS 420
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abraham......................... Golden............ Ocasio-Cortez
Adams........................... Gomez............. Olson
Aderholt........................ Gonzalez (OH)..... Omar
Aguilar......................... Gonzalez (TK)..... Palazzo
Allen........................... Gooden............ Pallone
Allred.......................... Gottheimer........ Palmer
Amodei.......................... Granger........... Panetta
Armstrong....................... Graves (GA)....... Pappas
Arrington....................... Graves (LA)....... Pascrell
Axne............................ Graves (MO)....... Payne
Babin........................... Green (TN)........ Pence
Bacon........................... Green (TX)........ Perlmutter
Baird........................... Griffith.......... Perry
Balderson....................... Grijalva.......... Peters
Banks........................... Grothman.......... Peterson
Barr............................ Guest............. Phillips
Barragan........................ Guthrie........... Pingree
Bass............................ Haaland........... Pocan
Beatty.......................... Hagedorn.......... Porter
Bera............................ Harder (CA)....... Posey
Bergman......................... Harris............ Pressley
Beyer........................... Hartzler.......... Price (NC)
Biggs........................... Hayes............. Quigley
Bilirakis....................... Heck.............. Raskin
Bishop (GA)..................... Hern, Kevin....... Reed
Bishop (UT)..................... Herrera Beutler... Reschenthaler
Blumenauer...................... Hice (GA)......... Rice (NY)
Blunt Rochester................. Higgins (LA)...... Rice (SC)
Bonamici........................ Higgins (NY)...... Richmond
Bost............................ Hill (AR)......... Riggleman
Boyle, Brendan F................ Hill (CA)......... Roby
Brady........................... Himes............. Rodgers (WA)
Brindisi........................ Holding........... Roe, David P.
Brooks (AL)..................... Hollingsworth..... Rogers (AL)
Brooks (IN)..................... Horn, Kendra S.... Rogers (KY)
Brown (MD)...................... Horsford.......... Rooney (FL)
Brownley (CA)................... Houlahan.......... Rose (NY)
Buchanan........................ Hoyer............. Rose, John W.
Buck............................ Hudson............ Rouda
Bucshon......................... Huffman........... Rouzer
Budd............................ Huizenga.......... Roy
Burchett........................ Hunter............ Roybal-Allard
Burgess......................... Hurd (TX)......... Ruiz
Bustos.......................... Jackson Lee....... Ruppersberger
Butterfield..................... Jayapal........... Rush
Byrne........................... Jeffries.......... Rutherford
Calvert......................... Johnson (GA)...... Ryan
Carbajal........................ Johnson (LA)...... Sanchez
Cardenas........................ Johnson (OH)...... Sarbanes
Carson (IN)..................... Johnson (SD)...... Scalise
Carter (GA)..................... Johnson (TX)...... Scanlon
Carter (TX)..................... Jordan............ Schakowsky
Cartwright...................... Joyce (OH)-....... Schiff
Case............................ Joyce (PA)........ Schneider
Casten (IL)..................... Kaptur............ Schrader
Castor (FL)..................... Katko............. Schrier
Castro (TX)..................... Keating........... Scott (VA)
Chabot.......................... Kelly (IL)........ Scott, Austin
Cheney.......................... Kelly (MS)........ Scott, David
Chu, Judy....................... Kelly (PA)........ Sensenbrenner
Cicilline....................... Kennedy........... Serrano
Cisneros........................ Khanna............ Sewell (AL)
Clark (MA)...................... Kildee............ Shalala
Clarke (NY)..................... Kilmer............ Sherman
Clay............................ Kim............... Sherrill
Cline........................... Kind.............. Shimkus
Cloud........................... King (IA)......... Simpson
Clyburn......................... King (NY)......... Sires
Cohen........................... Kinzinger......... Slotkin
Cole............................ Kirkpatrick....... Smith (MO)
Collins (GA).................... Krishnamoorthi.... Smith (NE)
Collins (NY).................... Kuster (NH)....... Smith (NJ)
Comer........................... Kustoff (TN)...... Smith (WA)
Conaway......................... LaHood............ Smucker
Connolly........................ LaMalfa........... Soto
Cook............................ Lamb.............. Spanberger
Cooper.......................... Lamborn........... Spano
Correa.......................... Langevin.......... Speier
Costa........................... Larsen (WA)....... Stanton
Courtney........................ Larson (CT)....... Stauber
Cox (CA)........................ Latta............. Stefanik
Craig........................... Lawrence.......... Steil
Crawford........................ Lawson (FL)....... Steube
Crenshaw........................ Lee (CA).......... Stevens
Crist........................... Lee (NV).......... Stewart
Crow............................ Lesko............. Stivers
Cuellar......................... Levin (CA)........ Suozzi
Cummings........................ Levin (MI)........ Swalwell (CA)
Cunningham...................... Lewis............. Takano
Curtis.......................... Lieu, Ted......... Taylor
Davids (KS)..................... Lipinski.......... Thompson (CA)
Davidson (OH)................... Loebsack.......... Thompson (MS)
Davis (CA)...................... Long.............. Thompson (PA)
Davis, Danny K.................. Loudermilk........ Thornberry
Davis, Rodney................... Lowenthal......... Timmons
Dean............................ Lowey............. Tipton
DeFazio......................... Lucas............. Titus
DeGette......................... Luetkemeyer....... Tlaib
DeLauro......................... Lujan............. Tonko
DelBene......................... Luria............. Torres (CA)
Delgado......................... Lynch............. Torres Small (NM)
Demings......................... Malinowski........ Trahan
DeSaulnier...................... Maloney, Carolyn Trone
B..
DesJarlais...................... Maloney, Sean..... Turner
Deutch.......................... Marchant.......... Underwood
Diaz-Balart..................... Mast.............. Upton
Dingell......................... Matsui............ Van Drew
Doggett......................... McAdams........... Vargas
Doyle, Michael F................ McBath............ Veasey
Duffy........................... McCarthy.......... Vela
Duncan.......................... McCaul............ Velazquez
Dunn............................ McClintock........ Visclosky
Emmer........................... McCollum.......... Wagner
Engel........................... McGovern.......... Walberg
Escobar......................... McHenry........... Walden
Eshoo........................... McKinley.......... Walker
Espaillat....................... McNerney.......... Walorski
Estes........................... Meadows........... Waltz
Evans........................... Meeks............. Wasserman Schultz
Ferguson........................ Meng.............. Waters
Finkenauer...................... Meuser............ Watkins
Fitzpatrick..................... Miller............ Watson Coleman
Fleischmann..................... Mitchell.......... Weber (TX)
Fletcher........................ Moolenaar......... Webster (FL)
Flores.......................... Mooney (WV)....... Welch
Fortenberry..................... Moore............. Wenstrup
Foster.......................... Morelle........... Westerman
Foxx (NC)....................... Moulton........... Wexton
Frankel......................... Mucarsel-Powell... Wild
Fudge........................... Mullin............ Williams
Fulcher......................... Murphy............ Wilson (FL)
Gabbard......................... Nadler............ Wilson (SC)
Gallagher....................... Napolitano........ Wittman
Gallego......................... Neal.............. Womack
Garamendi....................... Neguse............ Woodall
Garcia (IL.).................... Newhouse.......... Wright
Garcia (TX)..................... Norcross.......... Yarmuth
Gianforte....................... Norman............ Yoho
Gibbs........................... Nunes............. Young
Gohmert......................... O'Halleran........ Zeldin
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANSWERED ``PRESENT'' 4
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amash..................................... Gosar
Gaetz..................................... Massie
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOT VOTING 7
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cleaver-........................ Marshall.......... Schweikert
Hastings........................ McEachin-
Lofgren......................... Ratcliffe
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. SCHUMER. Now, why did every Republican vote for this? That is
because there is no good reason that the special counsel's report
should not be made public. The American people are overwhelmingly for
making the report public. They have a right to see it. No one should
stand in the way of that. In fact, in the House, no one did. The only
reason to not make this report public would be to cover up what is in
it. What a shame that would be.
The Senate should pass this resolution with the same unanimity that
the House did. The special counsel has been investigating one of the
greatest affronts to our democracy--the deliberate interference by a
foreign power in our elections. The American people have an undeniable
right to see the results of that investigation for themselves, and so
this resolution should pass.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the
immediate consideration of H. Con. Res. 24, expressing the sense of
Congress that the report of Special Counsel Robert Mueller be made
available to the public and to Congress, which is at the desk; further,
that the concurrent resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to,
and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the
table with no intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, reserving the right to object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Carolina.
Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, I will try to be very brief as far as
where I am coming from here.
We were told that Mueller may be imminently fired. The President said
some things that were at times disturbing about the investigation. I
was asked many times, let's make sure we protect Mueller and let him do
his job. So I first introduced the Special Counsel Independence
Protection Act on August 3, 2017, with Republicans and Democrats.
To my good friend from New York, I think Mueller is just about done.
To all those who are worried about Mueller not being able to do his
job, he has. He is about to tell us what he found.
There is a regulation that determines what is disclosed and how it is
disclosed. I have all the confidence that Mr. Barr will be as
transparent as possible. That regulation is specific. You can look at
it for yourself. I would like to know as much as possible and share it
with the public. However, I have also been consistent in trying to find
balance here.
In February of 2018, I called for a special counsel to look at the
abuses, potentially, by the Department of Justice and the FBI regarding
the Clinton email investigation and the handling of the FISA warrant
process against Mr. Carter Page, someone associated with the Trump
campaign.
So since 2018, I have asked a simple thing. If this stuff about Page
and Strzok and Ohr doesn't bother you, then that bothers me. Were there
two
[[Page S1885]]
systems of justice in 2016--one for the Democratic candidate and one
for the Republican candidate, where the Republican candidate's campaign
had a FISA warrant issued against somebody associated with it based on
a document that was known to be unreliable, politically charged, on
four different occasions? That should bother every American.
Rather than my telling you whether it happened or not, why don't we
appoint a Mueller-like figure to look at how the Clinton email
investigation ended up the way it did, what the tarmac meeting was all
about between Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton?
I can quickly say to my colleagues, if the shoe were on the other
foot, if the Republican Party hired a foreign agent to go to Russia to
investigate dirt on Hillary Clinton, gave it to the Justice Department,
and it was used on four separate occasions to get a warrant against
somebody working with or associated with the Clinton campaign, all hell
would pay.
If a member of the Justice Department told the investigators: Before
you get the warrant, the person who is involved in collecting this
information hates Clinton; if there were exchanges between an FBI agent
and a Department of Justice lawyer talking about getting an insurance
policy to make sure that Hillary Clinton is never elected and how much
they hated Trump, it would be front-page news all over the world.
I don't know what happened between Trump and Russia, but we are about
to find out, and we will see if there is something there, and we will
use a process to disclose it to the public.
But I ask the Democratic leader to modify his request and allow my
amendment at the desk to make a simple change--and every Republican
will be with me, if you wonder about how Republicans vote in the
House--that this resolution be modified calling for the Attorney
General to appoint a special counsel to investigate Department of
Justice misconduct in the handling of the Clinton email investigation
and in the handling of the FISA warrant process as it relates to
warrants obtained on Carter Page and to publicly release the results of
those investigations--be agreed to consistent with law. I ask that the
resolution to be modified in accordance with this.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Will the Senator so modify his request?
Mr. SCHUMER. Reserving the right to object, Mr. President, I am
deeply disappointed in my good friend from South Carolina. This
amendment appears to be a pretext for blocking this very simple,
noncontroversial resolution. Four hundred-twenty Members of the House
voted for it. Congressman Jim Jordan, a friend of the President's,
voted for it. Congressman Devin Nunes, a friend of the President's,
voted for it.
This resolution should pass the Senate in the blink of an eye. I have
absolutely no idea why a Member of this body would object to this basic
level of transparency, whatever their concern on other issues.
My friend from South Carolina says the report ought to be made
public. Let's not stand in the way for other issues. He is chairman of
the Judiciary Committee. He can deal with that separately but not block
this resolution.
So let the American people know that the Republican majority in the
Senate--at least for now--is blocking a resolution that the Mueller
report should be made public. I hope my friend from South Carolina and
all of my Republican colleagues take time over the recess to thinks
about this. We are going to be back here asking for consent again when
the Senate is back in session, and my Republican colleagues ought to
think long and hard before they block this resolution again.
I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Is there an objection to the original request?
Mr. GRAHAM. I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, I thank Senator Schumer. I appreciate
getting this done quickly.
I will just say, there are a lot of Americans, including Jim
Jordan, who believe that what happened in 2016 with the Clinton email
investigation and the FISA warrant against Carter Page showed
corruption at the highest level of the government. I agree that there
are more than smoking guns here. There is overwhelming evidence that
somebody outside the political system should look into. I can't find
anybody much on the other side who seems to give a damn about that.
Mueller, I get. Mueller has been allowed to do his job. We are going
to find out what he found pretty soon, as much as we can, consistent
with the law. But I am not going to give up on the idea that we are
just going to look at one problem of 2016. I have been talking to
myself for the most part; now I have a forum.
I will introduce a resolution asking you to do a simple thing. Ask
somebody outside of politics--a special counsel--to look into how in
the world the system got so off track, to use a document prepared by
foreign agent, paid for by the Democratic Party, collected in Russia,
to obtain a warrant against an American citizen that is garbage to this
day? How in the world could the investigation get so off track that the
two people in charge of it openly talked about making sure that there
was an insurance policy against Trump if he won and openly espoused
support for Clinton. How do you interview Clinton the way she was
interviewed? Any American out there who did what Secretary Clinton did
you would see in jail now.
The question I want to know is, Does anybody other than me believe
that? I don't ask you to believe me. We let Mueller look at all things
Trump related to collusion and otherwise. Somebody needs to look at
what happened on the other side and find out if the FBI and the DOJ had
two systems--one supporting the person they wanted to win and one out
to get the person they wanted to lose.
Some of these people have been fired for lying, and it is now time to
have a special counsel look at all things 2016, not just Trump.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
2019 Iditarod
Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I am here on the Senate floor today to
talk about a sporting event--an event that captures the attention of
people not only in my State of Alaska but around the country and around
the globe. I am talking about the ``Last Great Race on Earth.'' It is a
pretty fancy, big, and impressive title for what really happens--the
ultimate challenge with man, woman, and dogs--a 1,100-mile sled dog
race from Anchorage to Nome, up north.
I will share with you all a picture that was taken at 3:39 a.m. on
Wednesday morning, March 13. Obviously, it is the middle of the night.
I know everybody thinks that it is always dark in Alaska this time of
year, but it is not. This is at 3:39 a.m. on Wednesday, March 13. It is
pitch dark. You can't really see it in this picture, but the snow is
coming down. The wind is blowing. It is pretty dang cold. Temperatures
are down in the teens, but you have some wind blowing. So it gets your
attention.
What you are seeing here is Front Street in Nome, AK. At 3:30 in the
morning, the street is packed. It is lined with hundreds of people who
are cheering loudly. These are people from all over the country--fans,
friends, and family who have come from across Alaska and flown into
Nome. Some of them chartered an aircraft coming out of the YK Delta.
They flew into Nome, a community of about 4,000 people, to witness this
moment--to witness the moment that Pete Kaiser, born and raised in
Bethel, AK, came into town with eight dogs in harness and came down the
street to cross the finish line and claim victory as the 2019 Iditarod
champion. He was just 12 minutes ahead of the defending champion, Joar
Leifseth Ulsom, who is originally from Norway but who now lives with us
in Alaska. This is probably one of the closest Iditarod races we have
in some time.
Jessie Royer, of Fairbanks, a friend of my family and a great lady,
came in at third place.
When you talk about the ``Last Great Race'' of 1,100 miles across
extraordinary terrain, Pete Kaiser took 9 days, 12 hours, and 38
minutes to complete this--9 days, 12 hours, and 38 minutes.
Think about how you cover 1,100 miles on the back of a dog sled.
Typically, with dogs, when you are moving
[[Page S1886]]
really fast, you are moving along at about 10 miles an hour, but you
are going over some incredible terrain, and you are doing this not just
between 8 and 5, but you are running the trail over the course of days
and weeks.
Here is Pete Kaiser. He has just crossed the finish line. He has his
hands thrown up in the air in celebration. He hugged his family. He
wiped the tears from his face. It is one of those moments that he will
always, always remember. The feeling is probably hard to fathom, but
for Pete, a young man who grew up in Western Alaska, somebody who is
often referred to as an encyclopedia of racing knowledge, somebody who
is known in his community for his hard work and dedication, somebody
who has now won the Kuskokwim 300 four times in a row--a race qualifier
for the Iditarod--and for his family and his extended family who
supported him, who cheered him along the way, and for so many in the
community of Bethel who joined together, who chartered an aircraft to
get there in time to see him finish and celebrate this achievement,
this truly is a victory that is an accomplishment and an extraordinary
highlight to a remarkable career.
So the excitement that comes when you are finishing a grueling race
like this and when you and your team come across the line is something
that you really have to experience to understand. There is fatigue, but
there is great excitement with the accomplishment.
It is not just the accomplishment of the musher, because the musher
would still be sitting back in Willow were it not for these
extraordinary animals, which truly, truly live to run. They live to do
this race and others like it.
Nothing beats the finish here. I don't have very many opportunities
where I can actually be at the finish because you never quite know when
it will be. Usually, race winners come in between 8, 9, or 10 days. So
if you are starting on a Sunday, usually we finish during the week when
we are back here working. So I haven't had the opportunity to be on
that end, but I have had multiple opportunities--in fact, this is an
opportunity that I do not miss--to be at the front end and to be at the
start of the Iditarod.
So just 9 days prior, this is me and Pete Kaiser at the start of the
Iditarod. He is looking pretty fresh in this picture. He probably
didn't look quite so fresh after 9 days on the trail.
We gathered in downtown Anchorage with 52 mushers--that is how many
mushers ran this year--and all of their teams. With the rules change
this year, there were 14 dogs to a team at the start. But you are in
downtown Anchorage, and you not only have your teams who are going to
be moving you through the first day of the ceremonial start but you
have your other dogs. So you have dogs, you have mushers, you have
people, and you have kids. It is like a carnival atmosphere.
This year I had an opportunity to do something I have never done
before, and that was to drive the tag sled of one of our four-time
champions, Jeff King.
During the ceremonial start, you go from Anchorage to Campbell Creek
Airstrip. It is an 11-mile portion of the trail. I can say that I did 1
percent of the Iditarod by driving on the back of this tag sled. I
didn't have the dogs directly in front of me, but I still had to
operate the brake on the sled. I still had to lean into the curves and
still had the opportunity to experience just the majesty of the dogs in
front of you and the way the mushers communicate with their team.
The Iditarod is a race like none other, and it is perhaps made so
because of the challenge of the terrain that this race goes through.
The journey that led the mushers through these valleys and across these
mountain ranges is hard. It is challenging. The weather is not unlike
the terrain. It was up, and it was down. We had areas along the trail
where it was raining, and then we had areas where we had freezing
temperatures. You had wind. You had snow. You had ice. So when you
think about how much work it is to get through the burled arch, it is
really a tremendous accomplishment to be able to say that you have
completed this race.
As we speak, there are still dozens more mushers and their teams that
are out along that trail working to complete it.
You might think that this is something where there is a significant
prize, and that is what motivates people. Well, if you are successful
and you finish the Iditarod, you will be able to claim $1,149. Your
dogs are going to eat up that money pretty quickly. Most of this is so
much for the love of mushing and the love of the animals.
People always ask: Well, how hard is it? What kind of challenges do
the mushers encounter along the way?
It is everything from encounters with animals, whether it is a moose
along the trail--and we have seen some bad outcomes from that--to just
physical obstructions along the trail.
Richie Diehl of Aniak ran smack into a tree--literally, smack into a
tree. He hit his face on the trail near Nikolai. He said he was kind of
cruising along and he had his head turned. It was still dark. He looked
forward and, bam, he ran into a tree.
He probably could have ducked if he noticed it, but he didn't, and
then he was kind of knocked off. He did an all-out sprint to chase his
team down and dove to catch his sled. He lined up the dog team, again
got everybody organized, grabbed some toilet paper, some wet wipes, and
started mushing down the trail as he wiped the bleeding off his skin.
You are just not stopping. You are not stopping for yourself. For your
dogs, if your dogs are injured, you absolutely stop.
Anja Radano of Talkeetna fell in a large hole in the ice crossing the
infamous Dalzell ice hole. While she is making her way across the
frozen river, her sled slipped into the hole. She falls into the water,
and she injured her ribs and her legs. She had been having a little bit
of a struggle along the trail, but she said she would not have been
able to get out of the waterhole there without the help of her dog
team.
Then there is Linwood Fiedler, who was on his way to Nikolai, and his
entire dog team got separated from the sled when his biner broke, but,
fortunately for him, there was a fellow musher coming up, Mats
Pettersson, who shows up on the trail shortly after. He helped him get
his whole team, and potentially--potentially--saved the lives of these
dogs.
You have trail conditions that are hard this year, and part of the
trail, quite honestly, because of the warmer weather we have seen, they
were what we call tusset, which is just mounds of hard, matted grass in
just kind of a bumper strip all the way going through. It is very hard
on sleds. There were a couple of mushers who took 30 hours to go
through this one stretch, and they ultimately decided enough and
scratched.
You have the terrain. You also have the fact that you are going all
out for days on end, and limited sleep has its effect. We heard some
comments from Lance Mackey, who is a four-time Iditarod champ. He was
talking about how he was imagining things on the trail, a little bit of
a hallucination, seeing and hearing things that aren't there, thinking
he was hearing people say, ``Go, Lance,'' as he was making the run
between Rohn and Nikolai. You have to do all you can to keep yourself
awake because you are in the back of a sled.
Remember, you are not sitting down. This is not all comfy and cozy
for 1,100 miles. You are standing on the back of the sled. Oftentimes,
you are running along or walking along behind. You are helping your
dogs move through. You have to constantly replenish yourself and your
dogs, and that means taking trail snacks and drinking nonstop.
There is always a question about what everybody eats. Aliy Zirkle,
who has come in fourth, attributes her diet to rolled oat bars made out
of peanut butter, banana, sesame seeds, and other things because they
are easy, and they don't get frozen. You have to think about things
like how do I eat while I am still moving and things don't get frozen.
They do have an opportunity to get some good meals. They get wined
and dined, if you will, when they get to a checkpoint. When you are in
a village, you have the kids come out, and everybody is looking for
autographs. They want to say hello to them. They want to find out what
position everybody is in, but they also, oftentimes, get a warm meal
like a stew, but before the humans eat--before the mushers eat, the
dogs have to eat. The dogs have to
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be cared for. The dogs have to be taken care of first because life on
the trail is taking care of the dogs. They are making sure they have a
warm and a comfortable place to rest, are fed, and they are watered.
They are checked out by the veterinarians.
This is one thing that is pretty interesting. People think, well, you
are just going into a town. A lot of these places, it is not a town. It
is not like you can just go to a tap and fill up your dog bowls for
water for your dogs. Now, your dogs have been on the trail for several
hours. They are thirsty. They have been eating snow along the way, but
they are thirsty. They need to be hydrated.
If you are out on the trail and you have 14 or 15 dogs, what do you
do? You melt snow or you melt ice. Where is the stove? Well, you have
your little camp stove that you have in the back of your sled. Think
about it. You are sleep-deprived, you are hungry, you are tired, but
you have to take care of your dogs first. You put your straw down to
bed them down. You check their feet, and you put dry booties on them.
You melt the water. You have to then heat up the dog food that has been
dropped along the way in places where you know your team is going to be
stopping. You could be working with your dogs for a good hour before
you can even start thinking about yourself and how you satisfy your
hunger, your thirst, your sleep.
It is a pretty amazing race. Again, I am just in awe of the animals.
I am in awe of the mushers. I am also in awe of the many, many, many,
many people who come to be volunteers for it, this race. Most people
have no idea what it takes to pull off a race like this, but I am told
there are more volunteers who help us at this race than any other
organized race like this in the country.
What we have is a volunteer Air Force, if you will. Those stashes of
food I talked about, those don't get there by accident. There is no
road to drive them by, so you have pilots who will volunteer to take
whatever it is, straw for bedding or big coolers and containers of
food, to the various checkpoints. They will drop them off so they are
pre-positioned out there, but those guys, they are all volunteers.
At the banquet in Nome, at the end of this week, the people who put
on the banquet are volunteers not necessarily from Nome but from all
over the country. The last time I was up there, I went back in the
kitchen to say thank you to the men and women who were working there.
They all had their little nametags, and they say where they are from.
There is a whole group who was from a little town in Florida. They had
all taken a week's vacation from their work to come up and just be
there for the Iditarod, to welcome the mushers coming in.
I asked: What do you do here as a volunteer? They said: We are in
charge of rolls and butter. Ok. But this is how much of a commitment
they have made to this race. They have been doing it for years. They
are a group who just comes up from Florida, they cash in their miles,
they take leave from work, and this is where they take their vacation
because they realize this is such an extraordinary happening. You have
volunteers from all over the country, from Canada, and the communities
along the trails.
The veterinarians. There are 50 veterinarians along the trail because
at the checkpoints, the dogs must be checked by the vets. We are going
to take care of those animals and make sure--so you have veterinarians;
you have dog handlers; and you have vet techs who come from across the
Nation. They are there volunteering their time to be at this
extraordinary event.
Again, the pilots who fly to drop the supplies are volunteers. They
act as race judges. They aid in the event of an injury or a lost dog.
The list goes on and on and on in terms of those who volunteer.
Ultimately, it simply could not happen were it not for the volunteers
who put the extra mile in to make it happen.
So today we are celebrating and acknowledging the efforts of all
those who pitched in to help, the fans who cheered on the teams
throughout the race, the communities that served as hosts along the
way, and all the mushers and all their teams who put their hearts and
put their souls into this really tough but incredible expedition.
We, in Alaska, are all congratulating Pete Kaiser on his win. He is
the only musher from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta since the inaugural
Iditarod back in 1973. He is the first Yup'ik Iditarod champion in the
history of the Iditarod race. He is an incredibly humble man. He is a
great role model. He is an inspiration to his community, and I know
they are all exceptionally proud.
After he won, Pete said he hoped his victory would be celebrated not
just by the Yup'ik people within his region but by all Native people
throughout Alaska.
So, Pete, I think, we are here to tell you that today, Alaskans in
the western part of the State, all over the State, including as far
away as Washington, DC, are all celebrating and recognizing you and
your extraordinary canine athletes.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. GRASSLEY. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum
call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Sunshine Week
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, we are celebrating an important week in
our system of self-government. This week is known as Sunshine Week. For
the last 14 years, advocacy groups, good government watchdogs, and
media organizations have joined forces to observe the importance of
transparency and freedom of information. With transparency and freedom
of information, there is more accountability in government. As a long-
time champion of an open, accessible government, I speak today in
support of those enduring principles.
Sunshine Week coincides each year with March 16. That is the day one
of the Nation's Founding Fathers and fourth President of the United
States was born. That person was James Madison, widely known as the
Father of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
From his writings in the Federalist Papers, it might be said that he
was the architect who framed our system of checks and balances. Madison
believed all powers of the government are derived of, by, and for the
people. That is what brings me to the floor today.
The public has a right to know what their government is doing and how
their government is spending the taxpayers' dollars. What is more, the
American people owe a debt of gratitude to our fellow citizens who
bravely come forward, often at great professional risk, to report
wrongdoing in government. We ought to expect that out of government
employees or any fellow citizen who knows something is wrong.
I am here today to talk about a ray of sunlight coming from the
Defense Department. More specifically, I want to alert you about the
whistleblower hotline managed by the inspector general. Once in a
while, good news comes out of that Department.
I spend a lot of time on government oversight. Congressional
oversight is part of our constitutional assignment to protect the power
of the purse and to ensure that the laws we pass are faithfully
executed.
My sights are set quite often on the Pentagon when it comes to
oversight. The U.S. military is the strongest and mightiest in the
world. Our men and women in uniform put their lives on the line to
protect our sacred freedoms. Each of us should be fighting tooth and
nail to make sure that they have the resources they need. I am not,
however, talking about writing blank checks; I am talking about making
sure that defense dollars are spent wisely.
The Pentagon shoulders a strategic and vital mission for America but
is by no means infallible--not by a long shot. As with almost any
bureaucracy or corporate organization, its workplace culture dictates
that each individual should go along to get along, and that is not how
it should be. Institutional foot-dragging at the Pentagon, for example,
has hampered efforts to root out sexual misconduct. You read about it
too often. A systemic bookkeeping system has plagued the Department of
Defense for decades.
Nevertheless, I keep pressing the Pentagon to fix this fiscal mess.
Every
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dollar lost to waste, fraud, and abuse is a dollar that could be put to
better use for our men and women in uniform for better housing, as just
one example.
I learned long ago that one of the best ways to expose wrongdoing is
by listening to whistleblowers. Whistleblowers are the ones who have
their noses and ears to the ground day in and day out. They are
patriots doing their job in reporting wrongdoing. These patriots know
the difference between right and wrong. So when their good conscience
compels them to come forward, we should hear them out, and we need to
encourage others to do the same.
Whistleblowers within the Defense Department help weed out improper
payments, procurements, fraud, and other unethical schemes and
misbehaviors that come at taxpayers' expense and the expense of
military preparedness.
As cofounder and cochairman of the Whistleblower Protection Caucus, I
lead efforts from Capitol Hill to strengthen protections and raise
awareness for what is often an uphill battle for whistleblowers. In the
rigid command of the U.S. military, the civilian workforce and
uniformed members of the military are trained to follow protocol and to
respect the chain of command. Instead of receiving a pat on the back
for exposing wrongdoing, too many of these whistleblowers face
retribution and reprisal. I often say they are treated like skunks at a
picnic.
That brings me to the DOD whistleblower hotline, a vital conduit for
whistleblower complaints. Once again, there is some good news about DOD
and whistleblowers and trying to improve things there in a November IG
report. It shows the huge backlog of tips has been reduced. You could
say that it is a glimmer of hope in an otherwise swamp of secrecy.
You see, the report also exposes the bad news. The playbook of
Federal authority--defend, delay, and deny--is alive and kicking. From
fiscal years 2013 to 2018, the Office of the Inspector General found
the number of reports tripled. It also showed the number of reprisal
complaints doubled.
The report found that 350 Defense Department officials, most of them
in the branches of the Armed Forces, retaliated against and sought to
intimidate 195 whistleblowers. I can't speak about 195 cases, but I
will bet, in many cases, many higher-ups in the chain of command would
be embarrassed, and that is why it wasn't reported, and that is why
these folks were retaliated against. This tells me also that higher-ups
who are accused of retaliating against whistleblowers are going
unpunished.
Consider, about 85 percent of the people who reported wrongdoing and
faced professional punishment or personal embarrassment are still
waiting for any remedy according to this inspector general report.
This sends a very unsubtle signal to whistleblowers: Blow the whistle
at your own risk. When the top dogs who dish out retribution go
unpunished, and some are even promoted, the message to the rank and
file is loud and clear: Blow the whistle at your own risk.
Nearly 2 years ago, I came to the floor of the Senate to sound the
alarm on this very subject. At that time I shared statistics from a
2016 IG report. It listed 406 hotline cases that had been open for more
than 2 years. Nobody is in a hurry to do anything about wrongdoing in
the Defense Department when things like that can accumulate. More than
half of those 406 cases--246 cases to be exact--had been open for more
than 1,000 days, and some had been lying around for 4 years. So back
when I gave that speech a couple of years ago, I noted that the IG's
office wasn't moving the needle, despite increases in personnel and
money in the IG's office. The workforce-to-workload ratio was
mismatched. Cases were adding up, and the corrosive workplace culture
within the IG was a festering sore. Allegations of tampering with
investigations and whitewashing cases were tarnishing the reputation of
the premier whistleblower oversight unit at the Pentagon. Congressional
watchdogs, like myself, should not have to watch the Pentagon watchdogs
to keep oversight on track.
As I said, there is some good news. Things seemed to turn the corner
when Acting Inspector General Fine recognized the antics of a
bureaucracy run amuck.
I am glad to see a ray of sunlight coming from the IG's office.
However, we still aren't out of the woods.
I want to thank those in the IG's office who are toiling to reduce
this hotline backlog; however, the DOD needs to step up and face the
music. DOD needs to own these failures in letting retaliators off the
hook.
Failing to hold these folks accountable is a huge slap in the face to
those in the Department who are performing their responsibilities every
day with dedication and excellence, being patriotic people, blowing the
whistle, and pointing out waste, fraud, and abuse.
It also happens to be a slap in the face of the taxpayers. It is
telling these patriotic whistleblowers: Thanks but no thanks. Feel free
to disclose your report, but we may press the mute button after
processing the claim.
Make no mistake about it--the hotline becomes meaningless if
whistleblowers lack confidence in the system. They will stop calling
and stop reporting waste, fraud, and abuse.
My advice to Inspector General Fine is this: Put some mustard on it,
and add some hot sauce while you are at it. Get down to the brass
tacks, and recommend disciplinary action against those who retaliate
against patriotic people pointing out waste, fraud, and abuse.
In closing, I would like to share a tip with the Department of
Defense. This U.S. Senator will continue shining the spotlight on
waste, fraud, and abuse at the Pentagon--and, of course, elsewhere--and
I will continue advocating for whistleblowers with every tool at my
disposal.
As an Iowa farmer, I know what a load of manure smells like. I am
also very aware of why farmers make hay when the sun shines, and that
is a very good lesson for good government. Sunshine helps hold
government accountable to the American people, and that is why we
celebrate Sunshine Week this week and every year now for, I think, 14
years--because Sunshine Week promotes openness and transparency in
government.
That is why the Congress passed the Physician Payments Sunshine Act
in 2010. This law establishes a mandatory national disclosure program
in which drug and medical device manufacturers report payments to
prescribers in teaching hospitals. However, it appears that some
parties may not be disclosing this information.
That is why, in addition to what I told you about overseeing things
in the Defense Department, it is necessary to call out HHS and CMS to
be forthcoming about whether opportunities exist for us to work
together to strengthen the law where all these things aren't being
reported as they should be. Sunshine is the best disinfectant.
Free Trade
Mr. President, lastly, I would like to talk about free trade for a
minute. I am calling on the administration to promptly remove the
section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and
Mexico. This will help clear the path for the United States-Mexico-
Canadian Agreement to be ratified in all three countries. These tariffs
and their retaliation are having a negative impact on Americans. The
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement is supposed to be a free-trade
agreement, but we don't have free trade with these tariffs in place.
As chairman of the Committee on Finance, I look forward to helping
the President with this important task. And a little bit of advice for
the President would come this way: I think he imposed tariffs on
Mexican and Canadian steel and aluminum because he didn't think they
were going to negotiate and said that is why he put the tariffs on.
Obviously they negotiated in good faith because the President said he
has a very good agreement. I happen to agree that he has a very good
agreement. So wouldn't you think, then, that the tariffs ought to come
off?
Somebody down at the White House recently told me: Well, you can't
conflate the tariffs on aluminum and steel with the USMCA agreement.
Well, don't tell me you can't conflate them when you conflate them when
you say to the other side: If you don't negotiate, we are going to put
these tariffs on.
I think there is a clear path to getting this done.
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The President is concerned about the transshipment of steel from
China, through Canada, into the United States, which obviously wouldn't
be fair. They are concerned, as well, about surges in exports to the
United States.
I think he would find Prime Minister Trudeau very open to receiving
assurances that if the House of Commons in Canada moves ahead with
approval of it, these tariffs would go off. At the same time, I think
they will get assurances from the Canadian Government that they will
make sure transshipment from China, through Canada, to the United
States won't happen and that surges in exports won't happen as well.
If we can get the Canadian Government to approve this agreement, it
seems to me it is going to be a lot easier to get through the Congress
of the United States. And I think that just as soon as Mexico changes
some labor laws they promised they would change to make labor more fair
and less unfair to the American worker, I think the Mexican Senate will
approve this agreement. But time is a factor here because Canada has to
get this all done before they adjourn in June for their October
elections.
It seems to me that when the President says he has a good agreement--
and there is a certain amount of anxiety out there about all these
trade negotiations that are going on--we could get this thing settled
pretty fast and reduce that anxiety, and we could make sure we enhance
our economy more than the fine policies of this President, through
taxes and through deregulation, have already improved the economy and
keep it growing.
I would ask the President to consider moving this as fast as he can
and get off of this business of negotiating trade and tariffs for
quotas because that is not much better for the United States and not
much better even for the Canadians, and it isn't going to satisfy the
Canadians that they can move ahead before their election.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nebraska.
The Green New Deal
Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, Democrats have put forward proposals
claiming that it is the duty of the Federal Government to create a so-
called Green New Deal.
My colleagues have listed a variety of goals, like net-zero
greenhouse gas emissions within a decade, good jobs for all, and a
sustainable environment and infrastructure, but they haven't proposed
any specific policy changes or a roadmap of how to reach these goals.
The reason for that is clear. As the resolution's authors have said,
these proposals would require a massive Federal Government takeover and
reorganization of our country as a whole. We are learning that what it
would take to accomplish these goals is unrealistic. We should call the
Green New Deal exactly what it is--an attack on what should be the
limited role of the Federal Government in our lives.
I want to address Nebraskans directly, and I want to analyze a few
details that are part of this resolution's attack on rural America,
which is an attack on Nebraska because our State's economy and the
well-being of all Nebraska families is reliant on a strong agricultural
economy.
One section of the resolution speaks to our Nation's agriculture
sector. Properly managing our environment is important, and Nebraska's
agricultural producers who feed and fuel our world know better than
anyone about conservation and stewardship. This is a serious issue, and
it deserves a serious and a sensible approach.
The early fact sheets that came out describing the Green New Deal
offered mind-boggling proposals, like eliminating cows. This idea was
so ridiculous that the Democrats balked and distanced themselves from
this concept. In fact, while the Nebraska Democratic Party announced
their support for the Green New Deal, Nebraska's Democratic Party
chairman recently apologized to fellow Nebraskans for the anti-
agriculture ideas that are included in it.
Tom Vilsack, a former Iowa Governor and former Secretary of
Agriculture in the Obama administration, was spot-on with his comments
about the greatness of American agriculture during a congressional
hearing in 2016. He pointed this out:
Every one of us that's not a farmer, is not a farmer
because we have farmers. We delegate the responsibility of
feeding our families to a relatively small percentage of this
country. Eighty-five percent of what's grown in this country,
it's raised by 2- to 300,000 people. It is an incredible
freedom that we take for granted . . . and rather than being
criticized, we ought to be celebrating these people . . . and
we don't do it enough.
I could not agree more. Nebraska farmers and ranchers feed a hungry
world. Our soybeans, dairy, wheat, pork, eggs, and potatoes reach
family dinner tables around the globe.
Nebraska is known as the Beef State. We are the No. 1 exporter of
beef in the Nation. In 2017, Nebraska exported well over $1 billion in
beef products. Our beef producers are known around the globe as the
best at what they do.
Here are some facts.
Fact: According to a recent USDA report, beef production accounts for
only 3.3 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.
Fact: According to a Smithsonian article published in 2016, wetlands
account for nearly 22 percent of global methane emissions. I would
suggest to you that no one wants to eliminate wetlands.
Nebraska ag producers care for our land and our water, and our cattle
producers already have elevated levels of water regulations. For
example, our feedlots must maintain a livestock waste control facility
permit from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality. Existing
and new livestock operations must be inspected by the DEQ to determine
if a waste control facility construction permit is required. Our
producers also need a national pollutant discharge elimination system
permit if their livestock facility has the potential to discharge into
surface waters.
As I said, Nebraska is the Beef State, but we are also the
Cornhuskers, and the two go hand-in-hand. Nebraska is a top producer of
corn, and that corn is fed to livestock and establishes Nebraska as the
No. 1 cattle on feed State in the Nation. Our producers do this while
conserving our natural resources--our land and our water.
Consider this: The Omaha-based Lindsay Corporation recently developed
a tool that connects to the center pivot irrigation system and remotely
controls the water based on the irrigation prescription for each
individual field. The company estimated that since the tool was
launched, it has saved over 21 billion gallons of water, over 34
million kilowatt hours of energy, and over 57 million pounds of carbon
dioxide emissions globally.
Nebraska also has a unique system of 23 natural resources districts.
The districts are managed by locally elected boards. The boards have
tax levy authority to support conservation efforts tailored to each of
the district's unique needs. Through this process, we regulate our
groundwater more than any other State, and it is an effective use
because our local communities are the ones in control. No other State
in the country has this advanced form of ground and surface water
management. Because of the adoption of more efficient irrigation
systems by our corn and soybean producers, water applied in three
natural resources districts in Nebraska has decreased significantly,
conserving our water.
Nebraska's producers also take good care of our soil. Our natural
resources districts can require landowners to manage soil erosion on
their land and connect them with cost-sharing programs to help
implement effective soil management practices. The use of planned
grazing on our ranches--my family's ranch included--improves the amount
and the diversity of grass available to cattle, and cattle improve the
overall health of that rangeland.
The Natural Resources and Conservation Service estimated that soil
erosion and planned or, as some call it, rotational grazing practices
have saved over $80 million in annual damages from flooding or
erosion. Additionally, with the adoption of no-till farming practices
in row crop production, combined with cover crops like millet and rye,
we have vastly improved the health of our soil.
The bottom line is this: Ag producers are conservationists who
utilize proven practices to manage our land and water resources.
As more facts have come out, we have learned that the cost alone of
the Green New Deal is astounding. One estimate by the American Action
Forum
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found that if the deal were fully enacted, it would cost anywhere from
$51 trillion to $93 trillion over the next 10 years--$93 trillion. That
is a staggering expense that our families, our businesses, and our
economy simply cannot afford.
One of the main goals of the Green New Deal is a mandate to move our
country to 100 percent renewable energy and achieve carbon neutrality
within the next decade. The American Action Forum's estimate warns that
households would shoulder this weight with up to a nearly $4,000
increase in their yearly electric bills, and if our country relied on
foreign energy, those rates would skyrocket even higher.
Higher electricity bills are a concern for me, and they are a concern
for Nebraska families, but my colleagues across the aisle don't seem
fazed. Recall that in 2009, former President Obama said he was willing
to have the average household pay nearly $1,600 per year to reduce
carbon emissions by 15 percent. Hard-working families said then that
they could not afford that. So how can people now afford up to spending
$4,000 a year?
Attempting to move to all renewable energy would also mean shutting
down every nuclear, coal, and natural gas plant. According to some
estimates, this would cost Nebraskans and the American people $7
trillion by 2030. If we eliminated the use of natural resources like
gas, oil, and coal production, the United States would rely on other
countries to supply our energy.
The United States leads all G20 countries with the best record of
carbon dioxide emissions reduction in recent years. From 2005 to 2017,
the United States reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 862 million
tons--a 14-percent cut. Comparatively, in the same timeframe, India
increased its carbon emissions by 1.3 billion tons, and China raised
its emissions by 4 billion tons--a 70-percent increase. Though China is
moving toward plants with higher efficiency, China already accounts for
nearly half of the global coal consumption.
The Green New Deal misses a crucial point: The United States is
already making voluntary changes to lead the world in reducing carbon
dioxide emissions. A line from the 16-page resolution reads that the
Green New Deal would include ``overhauling transportation systems in
the United States to remove pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.''
A background document released by the Green New Deal's author called
for a plan to build out high-speed rail and replace every combustion
engine vehicle at a scale where air travel stops becoming necessary. As
chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee's Transportation and Safety
Subcommittee, I welcome all commonsense, bipartisan proposals to
improve our infrastructure so that we can provide the safe and
efficient movement of our people and our goods.
Yet the Green New Deal is a far cry from a commonsense proposal. The
call to replace every combustion engine wouldn't just hurt our Nation's
infrastructure; it would mean scrapping our personal cars and the
commercial trucking industry. It would mean eradicating planes and air
travel altogether. Don't forget that we are a Nation of vastness. Light
rail is not feasible. It is not feasible in many parts of our country,
and people in sparsely populated areas have a right to receive
services, participate in commerce, and have transportation options that
meet their unique needs.
In closing, as the activists continue to push their wish lists, I am
going to continue to focus on addressing those regulations that make
life difficult for families and businesses in Nebraska. Excessive
regulations cause our ag producers to focus on mountains of paperwork
instead of on ways to innovate and implement new practices so they can
continue being good stewards of our land. The key to finding realistic
solutions in addressing carbon dioxide emissions lies in the hands of
America's innovators, not in the heavy hand of the Federal Government
through an economic takeover.
In moving forward, I am going to work on updating the aging
infrastructure that our citizens rely on in their everyday lives. I am
going to fight for policies that will help to promote economic growth
and help families across this country provide for their loved ones, and
I will continue to highlight the good work our farmers and ranchers are
doing to protect our air, water, land, and wildlife.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
The Great Lakes
Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, I rise to speak on the need to vigorously
protect the Great Lakes.
The Great Lakes are a vital natural resource not only for my home
State of Michigan but for the entire Nation. In addition to providing
drinking water for nearly 40 million people, the Great Lakes serve as
an economic engine for our entire country. This freshwater system is
associated with adding nearly $6 trillion to the U.S. GDP while
supporting millions of jobs. It accounts for more than 50 percent of
all U.S.-Canadian border trade and facilitates the shipping of over 200
million tons of cargo every year.
But ask Michiganders what the Great Lakes mean to them, and they will
tell you that they are a great deal more than simply a source of
commerce; the Great Lakes literally define our State. They not only
define our borders but who we are among the States. We are, in fact,
the Great Lakes State. We love to spend our summers on or near the
lakes and, in the process, form the family memories that we hold for a
lifetime. It is no exaggeration to say that for Michiganders, the Great
Lakes are part of who we are. It is in our DNA.
Over the years, Democrats and Republicans alike have understood the
importance of maintaining the vitality of the Great Lakes. That is why,
in 2004, President George W. Bush signed an Executive order to promote
a Great Lakes regional collaboration.
Then, in 2010, President Obama built on his predecessor's leadership.
In his very first budget request, President Obama called for the
funding for what would later be known as the Great Lakes Restoration
Initiative. The GLRI today remains a bipartisan success story because
it provides a platform for Federal Agencies and States to come together
to address the biggest threats to our lakes.
Let me give you a few examples of the positive impact that the GLRI
has had in my home State of Michigan.
In Deer Lake, near Ishpeming in the Upper Peninsula, GLRI funds were
used to successfully eliminate mercury runoff that had contaminated
local wildlife. Over just a few years, these funds were used to restore
the natural habitat, and as a result, Deer Lake was no longer
considered a Federal area of concern.
Thanks to the support of the GLRI, sufficient improvements were made
to prevent runoff at the Gloede Drain in the Clinton Township of Macomb
County, reducing flooding and soil erosion in an area that many
Michiganders call home.
In Detroit, 30 steel mills, oil refineries, chemical manufacturers,
and other plants discharged pollutants into the Detroit River for
decades. However, with the implementation of $89 million worth of GLRI
waterway cleanup projects, the water quality has improved, and Detroit
now has a thriving and vibrant downtown RiverWalk that has become an
economic engine for small businesses.
There is no question the GLRI is a proven success and has been vital
to Michigan's environment and to Michigan's economy. Yet, despite this
success, President Trump, once again, is willing to risk the health,
safety, and vitality of one of the world's largest freshwater systems
by proposing a 90-percent cut--yes, a 90-percent cut--to the Great
Lakes Restoration Initiative. Unfortunately, this is not the first
time. Since taking office, President Trump has tried to eliminate the
funding to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative each and every year
he has been in office, and each and every year, Congress has united in
a bipartisan way to ensure that this critical program remains funded.
Let me be clear. Slashing GLRI funding would have an immediate and
catastrophic impact on the future of the Great Lakes and on both the
nearly 10 million Michiganders whom I represent as well as our entire
country.
I again ask my Senate colleagues for their support. The Great Lakes
are not just a Michigan priority; they are not just a regional
priority--they are truly a national priority. Fully funding the
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Great Lakes Restoration Initiative should never be a partisan issue--it
is simply the right thing to do--and, together, we can protect the
Great Lakes for this generation and future generations to come.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
____________________