Congressional Record, Volume 166 Issue 50 (Monday, March 16, 2020)

[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 50 (Monday, March 16, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1748-S1753]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

LEGISLATIVE SESSION

______

USA FREEDOM REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2020--MOTION TO PROCEED

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will
proceed to consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 6172, which
the clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:

Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 440, H.R. 6172, a bill to
amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to
prohibit the production of certain business records, and for
other purposes.

Mr. McCONNELL. 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. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Coronavirus

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, first let me thank the staff who are here
today under these difficult circumstances--here at the desk, the
Sergeant at Arms, the doorkeepers, the police officers, and the many
others who are here today. We thank them, as always. They are the
unsung heroes of the Senate.
Now, as the Senate returns this week in a time of extraordinary
challenge for our country, COVID-19, known as the coronavirus,
continues to spread rapidly. In less than a week, the number of
confirmed cases in the United States has grown from around 1,000 to
well over 4,000. The actual number of cases is probably higher.
Here in the Capitol, public tours are suspended, and much of our
staff is working from home. In a further effort to limit interactions,
Senate Democrats will not be holding our regular caucus lunch, which
will instead be conducted by conference call.
In my home State of New York alone, there are nearly 1,000 confirmed
cases. The State is doing everything in its power to treat those
afflicted, to prepare for future cases, and to limit the spread of the
virus. Residents in the tristate area--New York, New Jersey, and
Connecticut--are now under new restrictions on gatherings at bars,
restaurants, and other public places.
I urge everyone to stay safe and to listen to the advice of public
health experts. Practice good hygiene, follow the recommendations
issued by State and Federal governments about public gatherings, and
please--please--stay home if you feel sick.
As these important safeguards go into effect, there will be economic
consequences. Businesses will face shortfalls. Employees will not be
able to work. Families will bear the responsibility of childcare as
school closures mount. For millions of families who live paycheck to
paycheck, for parents who have to choose between keeping their jobs or
taking care of their kids, and for so many others--the small business
owner who has no liquidity even though it was a healthy business a few
weeks ago--these are all very, very difficult times. The Congress and
the Federal Government as a whole must take steps immediately to
provide relief to those American workers, families, and businesses.
Last Friday, the House of Representatives passed legislation to
provide for free coronavirus testing, extensions of paid sick leave,
food assistance for schoolkids and the elderly, and assistance to
States overburdened by Medicaid costs and expanded unemployment
insurance. The Senate should take up this bill and pass it immediately
by consent--today. We cannot wait.
It was my preference to keep the Senate in session over the weekend
so that we could have passed this bill already, but Leader McConnell--
regrettably and almost inexplicably--decided to send everyone home and
then call them back today. Many Members on my side of the aisle were
extremely upset by Leader McConnell's decision. There should be no
further delay in passage of this legislation because, surely, we must
move on to other necessary measures to address the coronavirus and its
widening impact on the medical, economic, and social fabric of this
country.

[[Page S1749]]

Testing capacity and public health infrastructure like hospital beds,
masks, ventilators, and more remain a very urgent priority. Economic
assistance for working families and small businesses must continue to
be a focus of our efforts, as well as broader macroeconomic policies.
Families will be without salaries, small businesses without liquidity,
and they will need help immediately.
As early as tomorrow, I will present a series of proposals to
congressional appropriators that Senate Democrats believe should be
part of the next bill to address the coronavirus. In consultation with
the ranking members of the committees of jurisdiction, we are proposing
an immediate and initial infusion of at least $750 billion to wage war
against COVID-19 and the economic crisis it is now causing. The
proposal will get money directly into the hands of the American people
and, among other priorities, include Federal funding to address
hospital and treatment capacity issues; expand unemployment insurance
and increase Medicaid funding; ensure that everyone can afford
treatment for coronavirus; provide immediate loan payment forbearance
for all Federal loans--student loans, mortgages, small business loans,
and others--and moratoriums on evictions and foreclosures; deliver
immediate help to small businesses; fund emergency childcare,
especially for healthcare workers and first responders; help schools
with remote learning; provide assistance to keep public transportation
running; address public health and economic needs in Indian Country;
and utilize the Defense Department to provide personnel, equipment,
supplies, and critical response capabilities to support the nationwide
response.
There will be other proposals that will be needed, and we will talk
about these as well, but, in sum, we need big, bold, immediate Federal
action to deal with the crisis. The kinds of targeted measures we are
putting together will mainline money into the economy and directly into
the hands of families who need it most.
Importantly, this proposal will ensure that our medical professionals
have the resources--including physical space and equipment--they need
to provide treatment and keep Americans safe. Our proposal does not
include every possible measure, nor must it. There will be multiple
legislative vehicles to respond to the coronavirus. But in the near
term, our proposal takes a comprehensive approach to dealing with the
issues that workers, families, and the health of America face today.
I strongly urge my House and Senate colleagues on both sides of the
aisle to review our proposal and incorporate our ideas into the next
bill we will consider here in Congress. Now, the road ahead will be
difficult. The disease will continue to spread and test our capacity--
as a Congress and as a country--to respond with the necessary urgency,
foresight, and cooperation.
Leaders in public office, from the President of the United States on
down, must communicate clearly and honestly and set aside politics on
behalf of the public good. Leaders in Congress must work together and
with uncommon speed to respond to a set of national challenges unlike
any we have faced in the recent past. Public health officials and
researchers and doctors on the frontlines must continue to do the
difficult and noble work they are now engaged in. We are all in their
debt for their courage, their dedication, their duty.
The American people must hunker down and follow the guidance of
experts until the cloud of this disease has passed. And it will pass.
But until skies clear, we must all pull in the same direction and do
what is necessary to ensure the health, safety, and security of the
American people--today and in the weeks and months to come.
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.
Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, right now, across New York State, the
country, and the world, we are facing a crisis not seen in a century.
It risks the health of our families and the health of our fellow
Americans as well as our economic present and future. We are at the
edge of a precipice, and lives are on the line. It poses a deep
challenge to our collective psyche. How do we defend against such an
overwhelming danger? How do we overcome our fear?
If you are a person who looks to history, you may turn to great
leaders of the past. If you are a veteran or serving in our military
today, you might look to your training. We are at war with this
invisible threat. How do we create the right strategy, tactics, and
assault plans?
If you are a person of faith, you might turn to scripture. The book
of Ephesians tells us how to fight against such fears: ``Put on the
full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able
to stand your ground.'' It calls us to take up our ``shield of faith,''
to wear our ``belt of truth,'' and to stand firmly with our feet
``fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.''
Regardless of where your inspiration comes from, in times like these,
we are afraid, and we need to be brave. We need to be selfless, and we
need to be courageous. We have to look inward to find our inner
strength, our resilience. We have to use our God-given common sense,
and we need to fight--fight far harder than we could ever imagine.
Our enemy is clear--a novel coronavirus that is at our doorstep and
taking lives. Our mission is to stop the spread, protect the
vulnerable, and ultimately prevent future outbreaks. Every blocked
transmission is a victory.
Our frontline defenders are our doctors, our nurses, our first
responders. Our National Guard is rightfully being called in to support
these actions. To defeat this enemy, though, we need far more support.
Mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, and all caregivers are going
to be essential in limiting the spread of this virus. We need them
added to the frontlines today--all of them.
The House passed a bill last week that takes a first step in
beginning to address these needs. It provides mandatory emergency sick
days and up to 3 months of coronavirus-related paid leave for some
workers. This puts us closer to helping those on the frontlines of this
crisis so they no longer have to face the impossible choice of whether
to stay home to care for themselves, for a child who is home from
school, for a loved one who is sick, or to risk public health to put
food on the table for their families.
Unfortunately, the bill falls short. First, over half of the private
sector workforce was left out of the paid sick and family leave
provisions. Let me say that again. Of the over 100 million private
sector workers in this country, over half will not be helped by this
bill. Companies with more than 500 workers are not required to provide
any paid sick leave, and the administration can give exemptions to
companies with fewer than 50 employees. Taken together, this could
amount to exemptions for about 75 percent of workers. Worse, it fails
to take care of many of those who are most at risk--low-wage workers.
These are the workers who are the least able to afford to take a day
off, let alone weeks to self-quarantine.
In order to fight this crisis, we must slow the spread of this virus
and ultimately stop its transmission. We must provide paid sick days
and paid family and medical leave to every American worker now. There
can be no exceptions or carve-outs, especially not for the wealthiest
companies in the world.
For those who say this can't be done, they could not be more wrong.
We should never send Armed Forces into battle without a plan, the right
equipment, and the resources they need to win. If we don't equip all of
our frontline defenders, including our parents and caregivers, we will
fail to limit this spread.
Second, it is clear that, in a matter of days, most public school
children in America will be out of school. The stress this puts on
working parents is truly hard to articulate with or without there being
guaranteed paid leave. Many low-income children rely on school meals
for the best meal of the day. A school lunch can often make the
difference between being healthy and being malnourished. Therefore, we
need

[[Page S1750]]

a surge in food stamps, food distribution, and emergency meal delivery
programs.
Third, we need a surge of testing. Without this critical information,
we cannot reopen schools or businesses. To ensure universal free
testing, we must authorize testing by all labs and hospitals and remove
burdensome restrictions.
From the start of this crisis, public health officials have uniformly
highlighted the importance of there being widely available testing and
have decried our lack of it. As we have more fully grasped the
magnitude of this crisis, States have developed their own tests, and
their labs and hospitals are ready to conduct them. However, the
approval process is still lagging. We are testing below our capacity
because the FDA and CDC have yet to approve testing methods.
This is not the time to let redtape stand in our way. The
administration must authorize States to utilize their own testing
methods in their own facilities in order to try to keep up with the
spread of this virus. Again, fighting a war without facts on the
ground, without critical intelligence, cannot prevail. We need this
information--yesterday.
Fourth, I support Governor Cuomo's call to deploy the Army Corps of
Engineers to build temporary medical facilities so that when hospitals
are overwhelmed, we can move people into those temporary facilities.
The Federal Government must work aggressively to help our States
increase hospital capacity.
Finally--and I can't emphasize this enough--every future policy that
we debate here must put families and workers first--no half measures.
These are the people on the frontlines of this crisis. They deserve our
unwavering support. Just like we give the troops the resources they
need, we have to have the same war footing today.
The very next piece of legislation before this Chamber must extend
full-paid sick and family leave to every American worker. It must deal
with the strain caused by the shuttering of our public schools, and it
must increase our testing capacity and build more capacity for urgently
needed care. We must pass it without further delay. Anything less will
be a failure of government in this time of need. Anything less is
defeat before the battle has even begun. This is how we fight. Every
person we protect is a victory. This is our shared duty.
God bless America.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Ernst). The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. COTTON. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. COTTON. Madam President, I sat at this very desk 2 months ago
during the impeachment trial, where I read news, oftentimes from East
Asian sources, about a viral pneumonia from an unknown virus emerging
from central China. From those earliest days, I began calling for
drastic measures to prevent this virus from reaching our shores and to
prepare for its potential arrival. I cannot claim any special
expertise. I am not a doctor. I am not a scientist. I am not an
epidemiologist. But I could tell from the very beginning that the
Chinese Communist Party was lying about everything related to this
virus, and that we had to be prepared for the worst.
That is why in January I called for a travel ban from mainland China.
That is why in February I began to call for crash approvals of
laboratory-developed testing kits or the use of the kind of testing
kits the World Health Organization approved or that South Korea has
been using. That is why I urged a Manhattan Project level of investment
in rapid testing and approval for therapeutic products and vaccines.
That travel ban and some other measures taken has bought us some
time, but our hour of great national testing has arrived. The moment of
decision is upon us. The time has come for extraordinary measures.
Look at what has happened to Italy just over the last 2 weeks. Two
weeks ago, Italians were enjoying early spring weather, sipping coffee
and wine in restaurants and bars--just 2 weeks ago. Today, elderly
Italians are being denied care and instead administered last rites
because their healthcare system is totally overloaded. It is time to
take extraordinary measures to avoid that fate. What seems extreme
today will seem obvious tomorrow.
Here are a few of the measures whose time has come, regrettably.
First, we need to stop all nonessential business activity in this
country. You can call it a shutdown. You can call it quarantine. You
can call it curfew. You can call it whatever you want, but no one
should be going to work in this country unless they are involved in
essential activities--groceries, pharmacies, delivering goods to those
places, electricity, water, sanitation, public safety. Anything else
poses too great a risk to public health.
Second, it is time for nonessential government services to shut down,
as well, at the Federal, State, and local levels. Anyone who is
involved in trying to arrest the spread of this virus or to mitigate
its economic impact or provide other essential services, like food aid
to the needy or care for other kinds of patients in a VA hospital, must
come to work, and we must be prepared to work extremely long hours. But
anyone else in government at any level should be telecommuting, if they
can, and staying home, in any case.
Third, it is time for our military to prepare to provide advanced
support of civilian authorities. This is a mission the military long
plans for. They are rarely called upon to do so, but an urgent hour is
approaching, especially at our hospitals and our nursing homes and
other healthcare facilities, when our young men and women in uniform
could be called upon to support our great doctors and our nurses to
provide additional capacity to treat patients, not just with this
coronavirus but with other urgent needs as well. That planning is in
its infancy. It needs to accelerate immediately.
Again, I know these are extraordinary measures, and they will impose
hardship and pain and dislocation, but the faster we arrest the spread
of this virus, the faster things can get back to normal and our economy
will heal. We will protect ourselves, and we will protect our well-
being.
In the meantime, this Congress will be called upon for some pretty
drastic measures, as well, to ensure that all those persons affected by
steps taken on this day and the steps I am calling for can make ends
meet, can put food on the table, and keep a roof over their head and
pay their bills.
The House, over the weekend, passed a bill that has many important
provisions that I support and I suspect will pass unanimously from this
Chamber: free virus testing; provisions for school lunches for those
whose schools have closed, like the children all across Arkansas;
liability protection for the manufacturers of respirator masks, which
need it so we can get millions of more masks out to doctors and nurses.
But the House bill doesn't go far enough, and it doesn't go fast
enough. The centerpiece of the House bill providing aid to affected
workers is a new kind of tax credit for paid sick leave. Unfortunately,
that is wrongheaded on both counts. First, a tax credit--even a
refundable one, even one on which you can get an advance from the IRS--
will not do much good if a business has no revenue whatsoever. Imagine
all those restaurants, all those bars, all those gyms that are going to
come to a screeching halt today or tomorrow. They will have no cash to
pay their dislocated workers. They will not be sending anything to the
Treasury every 3 days in the form of payroll taxes, from which they can
get an advance. They will have nothing. They will go bankrupt if we
force them to advance sick leave with no revenue whatsoever.
But, also, it doesn't go far enough on the sick leave front. That is
a misguided category error. Yes, we should take care of those who are
sick with this virus. But there are so many others, as well--those who
are quarantined but are not sick, as some of those in the Senate have
done; those whose businesses are shuttered but are perfectly healthy,
if they work in a bar or restaurant or theater or gym; those who have
children whose schools have closed and have no means to provide for
childcare so they can get to work. They all have bills to pay as well.
They all have mouths to feed. So the House approach simply doesn't go
far enough or fast enough to create a complicated

[[Page S1751]]

new system that doesn't cover enough of America's workers and families.
So I would suggest a better approach. We simply need to use existing
systems to get cash in the hands of workers and their families as
quickly as possible. One approach is instant tax refunds or rebates--
call them what you will--to anyone who filed taxes last year,
especially those in the lower tax brackets, who are most likely to
struggle to make ends meet if they are not bringing home a paycheck.
That can be done almost instantly.
A second approach is to use existing social welfare agency programs
to get cash out the door and into the hands of displaced workers and
their families. Take unemployment insurance, for instance. The whole
point of unemployment insurance is to get checks quickly in the hands
of those who need it.
I consulted this weekend with our State officials. I consulted today
with Federal officials. We don't have to redesign the unemployment
system. We don't have to set new parameters and criteria in 50
different information technology systems in our States. All we simply
do is treat someone who is sick with this virus or quarantined because
of potential exposure or who is furloughed from a job or who is caring
for a child as if they were unemployed.
The cash stipend may not be their full wage, but it will be enough,
and it will be in their hands immediately so they can feed their kids
and so they can pay their bills. That can be done right now--
immediately. We don't have to use employers and tax credits as a
middleman or a conduit.
Third, we have to think about all those businesses that are
essentially going into a self-protective shutdown--all those
restaurants and bars and gyms and theaters and I suspect many more in
the days ahead. They are not making payroll. They are probably cutting
supplies. They still have other debts to pay, though. We should help
them get through this short period of testing, whether with loans or
loan guarantees or grants--what have you.
We have to remember, though, that when small businesses and medium-
sized businesses run out of cash, they go into chapter 7 bankruptcy.
They liquidate. Those jobs don't come back. When giant businesses have
a cash crunch, they go into chapter 11. Sure, the owners may change,
but they come back into business.
Those are just a few of the steps we have to take to mitigate the
economic harm this virus is inflicting on our people and to ensure that
no one, not a single person in this country, has any financial
incentive to go to work when they are sick or when they even may be
feeling sick or to go out to try to find another job because their
workplace is shut down and they can't get any support from the
government.
Again, I know these are extraordinary measures, but these are also
extraordinary times, and the faster we act, the more aggressively we
act, the shorter these times will last. We will stop the spread of this
virus; we will get our people back to work; our markets will come back;
and we will be stronger on the back end of this crisis than we were
coming into it.
Nothing I have said here is a Republican idea or Democratic idea. I
don't have partisan objections to what the House has proposed. I simply
want to make sure that the action we take will work and will get relief
to all of those displaced workers and their families in a timely
fashion, when they need it, to put food on the table and keep a roof
over their kids' heads and pay for medicine and make car payments. That
is why the Senate is here today. That should be our focus in the days
ahead, and that is something we can accomplish together this week.
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. LEAHY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, families across the country are facing an
unprecedented challenge, and we must act, and act now, on solutions
that put families and the American people first. The Families First
Coronavirus Response Act takes a substantial step toward providing the
relief and assurance communities need as we face this public health
crisis.
Families should not be forced to choose between a paycheck and their
own health and safety, or the health and safety of their community. A
restaurant worker in Vermont cannot afford to stay home from work for
several days or several weeks and still afford to pay her rent or feed
her family, but staying home is exactly what we are asking waitresses,
store clerks, gas station attendants, hourly workers, and many other
employees to do. To contain this virus, we must address this reality.
Today, I am strongly urging Republicans and Democrats to drop their
labels and support this emergency relief package, and pass it now. The
American people need leadership, not political battles. The Families
First Coronavirus Response Act creates two weeks of emergency paid sick
leave so that people who work for small businesses are able to stay
home from work if they are sick or must quarantine due to coronavirus.
It creates up to 12 weeks of job protection under the Family and
Medical Leave Act, and allows an employee to stay home for a longer
period of time to recover from illness, or take care of a sick family
member, or care for a child who must be at home because of school and
daycare closures. These are commonsense solutions. Not only is it the
right thing to do, it is a critical step if we want to contain and
defeat this public health crisis. It means employees won't have to
choose between going to work when they are sick and potentially
spreading the virus and missing a paycheck. This bill also makes
important changes to the unemployment insurance program to help those
that lose their job during this crisis. I hope, as Congress considers
further steps to help address this crisis, we further support the small
businesses that are supporting these employees and are the backbone of
our local economies.
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act would inject $500 million
into the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and
Children (WIC) and contains legislative changes to free up funding to
help children who would go without breakfast or lunch if their schools
closed. It would provide $400 million for the Emergency Food Assistance
Program to ensure that food banks have the resources they need to serve
their communities and provide $250 million for senior nutrition
programs. These are common sense proposals to help families where they
are in their communities.
Importantly, this bill will provide $1 billion to help cover the cost
of testing for people who are uninsured. This virus does not
discriminate between the rich or the poor, or between those who have
insurance and those who do not. Our approach to address this crisis
cannot discriminate either. Nothing can help our country make up the
ground we have lost because of the failed policies and poor execution
of this administration of testing for the coronavirus. Because of the
delays in getting the tests to State and local governments where they
are needed, we do not fully understand the scope or spread of this
disease in our country. We cannot compound these mistakes by denying
the coronavirus test to those who can least afford it. Cost cannot be a
barrier to seeking medical treatment during a public health crisis.
This bill is not perfect. As currently drafted, the paid sick leave
benefits and Family Medical Leave Act polices extend only to companies
with 500 employees or fewer. That leaves many workers in this country
without these important protections. I understand this was the price of
securing White House support for this bill. I would like the White
House to explain why it thinks hourly workers at Target, Walmart, or
McDonald's are less deserving of these protections. If we had the
luxury of time, I would join other Senate Democrats in offering an
amendment to close this gap, but we do not have that luxury. This bill
was a product of compromise, and any change risks a threat of delay at
a time when delay is our greatest enemy.
To my friends across the aisle who also want changes in this bill, I
urge you to stand down. We need to pass this bill today, without delay.
We do not have time for a lengthy debate.

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The American people are looking to us for leadership and swift action;
let's provide it.
This bill is the first step toward meeting American families where
they are as they confront this crisis. In my more than 40 years in the
United States Senate, few moments have demanded our bipartisan
leadership more than this crisis. We must provide the protections in
this bill--paid sick leave, unemployment insurance, nutrition
assistance, and affordable testing for the American people--and we must
do it now.
I this time of uncertainty, concern, and fear, I want to remind my
fellow Vermonters and all Americans: We are all in this together. We
can be smart about how we conduct our lives, while being good
neighbors. We can support our communities, our first responders,
healthcare workers, store clerks, and shelf stockers, and all those
providing essential services. I am confident that our country will
emerge from this crisis stronger than we were before, as we always
have. I strongly encourage Republicans and Democrats to support this
bill.
I see nobody else seeking recognition. I suggest the absence of a
quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Boozman). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

H.R. 6172

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I entered the Senate in the wake of
Watergate in 1975. The very first vote I cast was in favor of creating
the Select Committee to Study Government Operations with Respect to
Intelligence Activities and the Rights of Americans--that is, the
Church Committee. Through that Committee's work, the American public
soon learned of years of abuses that had occurred at the hands of the
executive branch's intelligence agencies. In response, the Senate
passed sweeping reforms to rein in this overreach.
Since then, more flaws and occasional abuses have been documented
within our surveillance authorities, but the Senate rarely has had an
opportunity to debate and improve them. We did so in 2015, when Senator
Lee and I led the effort in the Senate to pass the USA FREEDOM Act.
Senator Lee and I strongly believe the Senate should do the same now.
We should strengthen the amicus program, ensure that all exculpatory
information is provided to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court,
and make other basic changes to better protect the civil liberties of
all Americans.
I am thankful that Majority Leader McConnell today has agreed to what
Senator Lee and I requested last week--that we pass a short extension
of the expiring FISA authorities to give us an opportunity to both
review and improve the House bill with a limited number of amendments.
Critically, this will give us time to take up this issue after the
Senate responds to the coronavirus.
I am particularly thankful to Senator Lee, who has tirelessly worked
to reform surveillance authorities since he came to the Senate. With
today's agreement, we will have the next 2 months to build consensus
around important reforms, and I hope all of you will join us in this
effort. That is what the Senate did when confronted with abuses
documented by the Church Committee, and that is what the Senate must do
now.
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. LEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. LEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to receive permission
to complete my remarks before any vote is conducted.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. LEE. Mr. President, I came to the floor several days ago in
connection with the expiring national security provisions. We have
three provisions of our national security system of laws that are set
to expire and have been set to expire for a long time. In fact, they
expired yesterday, the 15th of March.
We have known that this was going to happen for a long time. When the
USA FREEDOM Act was passed in 2015--a bill that I authored, along with
my distinguished friend and colleague Senator Leahy from Vermont--we
knew those three provisions known as lone wolf, 215, and roving wire
taps would expire at the end of 2019.
We got to the end of 2019, and we found ourselves up against a
spending cliff, and the Senate decided, with the concurrence of the
House of Representatives and the President, that we should postpone
until March 15 the expiration of those three provisions that I just
mentioned.
I came to the floor on Thursday to raise concerns that we needed to
be able to amend and reform these provisions of the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, for a number of reasons. Among
other reasons, I noted that the President of the United States found
that his own rights as an American citizen were abused, as this law was
manipulated, was abused in an unholy alliance of partisan political
interests against him.
For that reason, the President of the United States has, quite
thankfully, made this point clear to the American people. Even though
the abuses that we know of that occurred with respect to the President
of the United States were not themselves one of these expiring
provisions, we note the law itself as a whole is subject to abuse and
that at moments like these, when these provisions are expiring, it is
appropriate for us to take a broader look at the overall legal
framework in which FISA operates and to bring about reforms.
I came to the floor on Thursday, and I asked that we simply
reauthorize these three expiring provisions for a period of a few
weeks--that we reauthorize them cleanly and without any modification to
give us a few weeks to deal with the immediate crisis surrounding the
coronavirus. I asked that, at the end of that period, we proceed with
the understanding that the Senate be allowed to vote on a small handful
of amendments--proposed reforms--to FISA.
This, unfortunately, drew an objection, resulting in the expiration
of these three provisions over the weekend. This was unnecessary. As I
pointed out at the time, I and my bipartisan group of colleagues, who
have been concerned about these and other foreign intelligence
surveillance provisions, didn't necessarily want it to expire. In fact,
we believed that this was an unnecessary step. It was unnecessary to
allow the law to go through the uncertainty of an expiration without
having something to put in its place.
We could have and would have and should have done it differently.
Fortunately, we were able to reach a deal--a deal that is still
unfolding but a deal that is about to be announced on the Senate floor,
whereby we will be extending for a few weeks these three expiring
provisions, and, at the end of that time, we will be able to vote on a
small handful of provisions, amendments to the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act framework.
This is necessary. We ought not wait until the President of the
United States himself becomes a victim of this. When he has been a
victim, we should assume that there are other victims--people whose
rights have been invaded, violated as the law has been abused. We know
that to be the case.
For that reason, we have negotiated this agreement, whereby we will
be able to receive votes on amendments to improve and reform the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
I want to thank President Trump for bringing this issue to the
attention of the American people and for reminding them of the
importance of reforming this law. I want to thank the lead cosponsor of
the legislation that I have filed in connection with this and of the
amendments that we will be considering.
Pat Leahy from Vermont and I have worked on FISA-related issues for
basically the entirety of the 9 years I have spent in the U.S. Senate.
I am grateful to him for working with me on this.
I also want to point out that it shouldn't have to come to this. We

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shouldn't have to wait until the moment when we are on the eve of the
expiration of some important legislation and where we have to wait for
the President of the United States to weigh in and lean in and exercise
as much leadership as he has to tell us that we ought to reconsider
laws that we ourselves have enacted. From time to time, laws require
revision, review, and reform. That always, necessarily, requires
amendments, and we ought to be ready, able, and willing to vote on
amendments as necessary.
Finally, this has become all too symptomatic of a Senate in which
amendment votes, while once the norm, have now become the exception.
This is unacceptable. It is not a partisan issue. It is neither
Republican nor Democratic. It is neither liberal nor conservative. It
is simply an American issue. The American people, including each of our
constituents from each of the 50 States that we represent, deserve and
expect for us to be more than a rubberstamp.
We can't justify our pattern of waiting for legislation to come over
from the House of Representatives and then accepting the highly flawed
proposition that the House must have gotten it right and we, therefore,
must accept as a binary choice the entirety of what they have done,
without considering or voting on amendments. This isn't acceptable. We
can do better. I am encouraged that in this instance we have chosen to
do better. I hope and expect and will continue to demand that we vote
on more amendments and that this become the norm once again rather than
the exception.
Finally, I am grateful that Senate leadership--Republican and
Democratic alike--has chosen to allow us to consider amendments here.
We are doing the right thing, and I look forward to more of precisely
this kind of activity, not just voting on amendments pivotal to FISA
but also broader issues. This isn't just about FISA. This is about
everything we do. The minute any of us ever hears an argument
suggesting that we have to accept whatever a handful of Senators or a
committee or the other House of Congress has proposed and we ought to
accept it or deny it--lock, stock, and barrel--without amendments, that
is almost always an injurious and a dangerous argument, one that runs
contrary to the very purpose for which this body exists.
I am grateful for this opportunity we will have to vote on these
amendments.
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. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The majority leader is recognized.
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
cloture motion with respect to the motion to proceed to H.R. 6172 be
withdrawn.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The cloture motion was withdrawn.

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