[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

[[Page S1887]]

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

[[Page S1888]]

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.

[[Page S1889]]

  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.

                          ____________________