[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 186 (Wednesday, November 20, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6683-S6684]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   National Defense Authorization Act

  Mr. President, on the NDAA, the Defense authorization bill, the 
annual Defense bill, which passed this Chamber months ago, has been 
stalled in the process of reconciling the Senate's version with the 
House's version.
  One of the snags, it now appears, is the Republican leader's 
unwillingness to include a strong package of sanctions directed at any 
foreign nation that should try to interfere in our elections. That is 
right. One of the reasons the national defense bill has not been sent 
to the President's desk is because Majority Leader McConnell and his 
Republican colleagues do not want to include a strong deterrent to 
interfering in American elections.
  Earlier this month, all leading U.S. national security officials--
Attorney General Barr, Secretary of Defense Esper, Acting Secretary of 
Homeland Security McAleenan, Acting Director of National Intelligence 
Maguire, FBI Director Wray, and U.S. Cyber Command Commander Nakasone--
released a statement that read the following:

       Our adversaries want to undermine our democratic 
     institutions, influence public sentiment and affect 
     government policies. Russia, China, Iran, and other foreign 
     malicious actors all will seek to interfere in the voting 
     process or influence voter perceptions.

  Those are not my words. They are from the leaders of this 
administration, including the Secretaries of Defense and State and the 
head of the NSA.
  We know that Putin interfered in the 2016 elections. We know he is 
trying to do it again. That is clear. We need to send an unmistakable 
message to President Putin and other foreign actors--China and Iran--
that we will not tolerate any interference in our elections.
  Unfortunately, Leader McConnell seems to have missed that memo. How 
he could ignore a statement by the leaders of the administration he 
supports is beyond me. The Republican leader has repeatedly downplayed 
the threat to our democracy from foreign actors like President Putin. 
He has repeatedly blocked commonsense, bipartisan legislation to 
protect our elections and is now blocking the inclusion of tough, 
mandatory sanctions on Russia or on any other foreign country that 
seeks to interfere in our elections.
  I hope, for the sake of the Defense bill and for the sake of our 
elections, the Republican leader will relent and allow a package of 
tough sanctions to be included.
  Unfortunately, election security is not the only issue holding up the 
Defense bill. The Republican leader is blocking many other important 
provisions.
  The Democrats want to extend family leave benefits to all Federal 
employees. The majority leader and the Republicans are blocking that. 
This is a new world. Family leave is necessary to everyone. Here we 
have a chance to do it for Federal workers, and our Republican friends 
are saying no.
  The Democrats want to clean up our communities and military 
installations that have been poisoned by PFAS and other contaminants, 
but the majority leader and our friends, the Republicans here in the 
Senate, are blocking that.
  The Democrats want to send a signal to the Trump administration that 
it does not have a blank check to wage a war and that only Congress can 
approve major military operations. Majority Leader McConnell and the 
Republicans are blocking that as well.
  There are hosts of important issues that are holding up the final 
passage of the national defense bill. These are just a few of them. I 
strongly urge my Republican friends and, especially, Republican Leader 
McConnell to work with us to address these provisions. The Democrats 
want to see that this bill gets done and that it gets done in a way 
that safeguards our elections, our troops, our communities, and 
advances America's interests around the globe.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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