[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 194 (Thursday, December 5, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6878-S6879]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             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 bill clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination 
     of Aurelia Skipwith, of Indiana, to be Director of the United 
     States Fish and Wildlife Service.
         Mitch McConnell, Thom Tillis, Richard Burr, Pat Roberts, 
           John Cornyn, John Hoeven, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Roger F. 
           Wicker, Marco Rubio, John Boozman, James E. Risch, John 
           Barrasso, John Thune, Roy Blunt, Lamar Alexander, Mike 
           Braun, Shelley Moore Capito.

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, 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 for Louisiana.


                                   5G

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, last week, of course, was Thanksgiving, a 
day that we all set aside in America to count our blessings. As we do 
that, we always say to ourselves: Gee, we really ought to be thankful 
every day of the year for the many blessings that have been bestowed 
upon us.
  I know I say that to myself. So I thought today, for a few minutes, I 
would mention two things that I am especially thankful for, even though 
this isn't Thanksgiving, but it is another day that the Lord has 
blessed us with.
  The first thing--and there are many things that I am thankful for, 
but the first thing I am thankful for that I want to mention today is 
the many public servants who care for and protect American taxpayer 
money.
  I want to highlight one in particular: the Chairman of our FCC, Mr. 
Ajit Pai. Let me explain why I am thankful for this public servant--one 
among many who get up every day and work hard to protect taxpayer 
money. About 2 weeks ago, the Chairman of the FCC, over many obstacles, 
announced that he was going to hold a public auction for the C-band.
  Why is that important?
  We all have a cell phone now, and many of us have iPads and 
computers. The internet has changed our world and changed our lives. It 
has made it more complicated, of course, but on balance, I think the 
internet has been good for our lives.
  We are about to move into a new phase of telecommunications called 
5G. It stands for fifth generation. It is really an extraordinarily 
fast internet. It can carry huge amounts of data. The ingenuity of the 
American people takes my breath away.
  I am pretty impressed with 4G, and 5G is going to be 100 times 
faster. It is going to make things possible like telemedicine, where a 
specialist in a field of surgery through robotics and now an incredibly 
fast internet can operate on a sick patient 1,000 miles away and save 
his or her life, thanks to 5G. We will be able to hook up all of our 
devices through 5G, saving time. It will give us more precious time to 
spend with our family. There will be driverless cars. Maybe I will not 
see them in my lifetime, but our assistants and our pages in the Senate 
will see them in their lifetime.
  I could go on, but the point is, to make 5G possible, a lot of people 
have to work together. So 5G is made possible through the airwaves. 
When internet devices talk to each other, data in the form of radio 
waves--the scientists call them electromagnetic radiation--these radio 
waves go through the airwaves from one device to another.
  We have all sorts of different airwaves. It is called spectrum. We 
have airwaves for radios and TVs. Well, 5G can be used in a number of 
different airwaves or different parts of the spectrum. But one part of 
the spectrum, one part of the airwaves, is just perfect for 5G. It is 
called the C-band. That part of the airwaves is able to carry these 5G 
radio waves in a manner that can cover a huge geographical area but 
also carry lots of data.
  It is called the C-band, and it is perfect for 5G. It is perfect. It 
is not too hot, not too cold. It is just right.
  Some swamp creatures, both in government and out, came that close--
that close--to getting control of the C-band, which is owned by the 
American people. Led by three foreign satellite companies, they had 
almost convinced the powers that be to give them the C-band--just give 
it to them--and let them decide who is going to get to use that C-band 
for 5G.
  Oh, and, by the way, in picking the telecommunication companies that 
would get to use the C-band that was going to be given to them for free 
by the powers that be, these foreign companies were going to get to 
keep the money--about $60 billion. That is just the upfront money--$60 
billion. That would build 7,000 miles of interstate in this country.
  Not only would the companies get the $60 billion, they would get to 
decide who could use the C-band, and they were that close. But the 
Chairman of the FCC stopped it. He is going to recommend next week--and 
I hope the rest of the FCC goes along with it. I am going to be there 
to watch. He recommended and is going to recommend that we have a 
public auction.
  Doing a public auction is nothing new for the FCC. The FCC auctions 
off different airwaves all the time. In fact, the FCC in the last 25 
years has held right around 100--I think it is 93--public auctions 
where anybody who wants to, any company that wants to--competition, 
moral good--can come in and bid on that part of the airwaves.
  The good people at the FCC have brought in to the American taxpayer 
about $123 billion in the last 25 years by auctioning off these 
airwaves and giving everybody a fair chance in a fully transparent way 
in front of God and country. That is the way it ought to be.
  But a lot of swamp creatures were pushing hard for this private sale. 
The American taxpayer not only would have lost $60 billion, they would 
have lost control of the C-band, which, according to the Communications 
Act, doesn't belong to me, doesn't belong to the businesses; it belongs 
to the American people.
  We can't let our guard down. I have learned in my short 3 years here 
that those swamp creatures--if they can't get in the front door, they 
are going to try the side door, and if they can't make it through the 
side door, they are going to try the back door. We have a lot of money 
at stake here, so we have to remain vigilant.
  I want to thank Ajit Pai for standing up. He made the right people 
mad.

[[Page S6879]]

That is easy to talk about, but it is hard to do. It takes courage, and 
he did it, and I wanted to single him out.
  The second thing I want to say I am thankful for, among so many 
things, is this: I am so thankful for our neighbors to the North--
Canada. I have visited Canada so many times. I am so proud to call them 
friends. There are 37 million people in Canada, some of the finest 
people that God ever put breath in.
  We have fought together in wars. We have fought for freedom that we 
all take for granted. We trade with each other. I mean, the country is 
just a wonderful country with extraordinarily friendly, decent, and 
God-fearing people.
  Our leaders squabble sometimes. That is just the way life is. 
Sometimes good friends have disagreements. We are having a few little 
disagreements right now. But on this beautiful Thursday, I just wanted 
to come and say how thankful I am that Canada is our friend and how 
honored I am to call them friends and how grateful I am for all 37 
million of the fine men, women, and children in that great country.
  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. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.