[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 117 (Thursday, June 25, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3278-S3281]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



  NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2021--Motion to 
                            Proceed--Resumed

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 4049, which the 
clerk will report.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       Motion to proceed to S. 4049, a bill to authorize 
     appropriations for fiscal year 2021 for military activities 
     of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and 
     for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to 
     prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, 
     and for other purposes.

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for the quorum call be rescinded.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


                   Recognition of the Minority Leader

  The Democratic leader is recognized.


                        Justice in Policing Act

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, the House of Representatives will pass 
the Justice in Policing Act today--a comprehensive, strong bill to 
bring lasting change to police departments across America and tackle 
the extremely large and difficult problem of police bias, police 
violence, racial bias, and the lack of transparency and accountability 
in law enforcement.
  Unlike the Republican policing bill, the Justice in Policing Act will 
fully ban choke holds. The Justice in Policing Act will ban no-knock 
warrants in Federal cases, not just study them like in the Republicans' 
bill. Unlike the Republicans' bill, the Justice in Policing Act will 
also bring sorely needed accountability to police officers who are 
guilty of misconduct, including qualified immunity reform, use-of-force 
standards, and policies to end racial profiling.
  My Republican colleagues should look to the House today if they want 
to see what a serious attempt at policing reform looks like and if they 
want to understand why their bill failed to earn enough votes to 
proceed yesterday.
  The Republicans' policing reform bill failed because it was not a 
serious enough effort at reform. The legislation itself was so 
threadbare, so weak, and so narrow, it could hardly be considered a 
constructive starting point. That is why more than 138 civil rights 
organizations, which want nothing

[[Page S3279]]

more than to see progress on these issues, strongly urged Senators to 
oppose the Republicans' bill. That is why the Leadership Conference on 
Civil Rights called the bill ``deeply problematic'' and a ``menial, 
incremental approach.'' That is why the lawyer representing the 
families of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor said he was shocked that 
the Republicans' bill could even be ``thought of as legislation.''
  As I said the other day, I know my friend from South Carolina is 
trying to do the right thing, but the problem we have and the problem 
so many civil rights groups have is with the substance of the bill and 
with the way the Republican leader--Leader McConnell, who controls the 
floor--set up the process. The Republican majority drafted a bill on 
its own, and instead of putting it through committee, where members of 
both parties could analyze and amend it, he dropped it on the floor and 
dared the Democrats to block it.
  Let me be very clear: The debate on policing reform is only over for 
those who want it to be over and for, maybe, those who never truly 
wanted this debate in the first place, because the truth is, by the end 
of the day today, the House will have passed the most serious policing 
reform bill in decades. Here in the Senate, the Senate Democrats have 
been clear that we want to sit down with our colleagues and try to 
negotiate a bipartisan product that can go through committee and come 
to the floor.
  As I said a week ago, I know my friend from South Carolina is trying 
to do the right thing, but Leader McConnell decided to go about this 
the wrong way--the partisan way. Let's start over the right way--the 
bipartisan way. I have no doubt we can arrive at legislation that, 
unlike the bill that failed yesterday, would bring comprehensive and 
lasting change that protesters, civil rights organizations, and the 
families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery demand.


                              Coronavirus

  Madam President, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread and swell 
across the United States. Yesterday afternoon, the New York Times 
reported that new cases of COVID-19 are now at the highest levels in 
the United States since the month of April, as 35,000 new cases were 
identified on Tuesday alone--the third worst single day of the entire 
pandemic. Hospitalization rates in Arizona and Texas have hit daily 
records, and Florida is not far behind.
  The rise in cases, scientists warn, is not explained by the current 
rate of testing in this country. One of the main reasons our Nation has 
struggled so to contain the coronavirus is President Trump's complete 
mismanagement of the government's response. In the early days of the 
virus, the President's lack of attention led to a shortage of PPE, 
ventilators, and a painfully, damagingly slow ramp-up of testing
  Here again, 4 months into the virus, as the case numbers continue to 
grow in so many places, the President's lack of attention is causing a 
national failure to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. The President is 
gallivanting from State to State and holding political rallies in two 
of the most affected areas.
  The President joked--or perhaps didn't joke--about instructing his 
administration to ``slow down the testing, please,'' because the number 
of coronavirus cases might make him look bad. Can you believe that? 
Again, the President urged the administration to ``slow down the 
testing, please,'' because the number of cases might make him look bad. 
Whether it was a joke or not, it is not a joking matter; it is serious 
stuff.
  Throughout this struggle with the coronavirus, the administration, at 
best, has been late to the debate or asleep at the switch or, at worst, 
has been doing things that actually harm rather than help.
  There were reports yesterday that the administration will, in fact, 
halt Federal funding for a number of community-based COVID testing 
sites, many of which are in Texas--a State that is getting hit hard. 
The administration is actually preparing to slow down the testing, 
amazingly enough. A lesson from so many countries is that good, strong 
testing and contact tracing is the key, but this President seems to be 
blithely dancing along, going to his little events, and not paying 
attention to the crisis and doing what is necessary to get a real 
handle on it. We are witnessing the highest number of new cases since 
April, and the Trump administration is cutting funding for testing in 
some of the worst hotspots--a terrible decision at a terrible moment 
but, unfortunately, not atypical of this administration's total 
ineptitude.
  To cap it all off, today the Trump administration is filing briefs in 
the Supreme Court in an attempt to invalidate the Nation's health law 
at a time when roughly 27 million Americans have lost job-based health 
coverage, and their only backstops are the exchanges in the healthcare 
law, but the administration is proposing to get rid of it. It is sort 
of similar to yesterday, with the nomination on the floor of somebody 
so anti-voting rights to go to the Fifth Circuit. A total contradiction 
of what they say is what they do.
  From the beginning, the President has downplayed the severity of the 
disease. He has spread misinformation about how to stay safe and put 
his political interests--his desire for credit and avoidance of blame--
above the medical needs and safety of the American people. As a result, 
President Trump has helped put America first in the number of COVID-19 
cases in the world, and unfortunately the situation is not much better 
in the Senate.
  It has been 2 months since the passage of the last COVID relief 
legislation. The Democrats had hoped to continue the bipartisan work--
work that produced the CARES Act--in April, May, and now June but to no 
avail. The House passed the HEROES Act over a month ago, which includes 
hazard pay, housing assistance, extended unemployment insurance, and 
aid to State and local governments. Yet, as the pandemic continued to 
spread and unemployment skyrocketed, the Senate Republicans said they 
felt no urgency to act immediately. There have been more than 40 
million unemployment claims--another 1.5 million this week alone--and 
still Leader McConnell and the Republican Senate don't feel an urgency 
to act.
  Leader McConnell originally said that another emergency relief bill 
was likely during June. Now he is saying late July. A few days ago, the 
Republican leader said:

       If there is something that's going to happen, it will 
     emerge in the Senate; it will be written beginning in my 
     office.

  Once again, Leader McConnell seems to prefer partisan pronouncements 
to bipartisan legislating.
  This is the same failed approach that delayed the CARES Act 2 months 
ago and that failed yesterday on policing reform. It will only delay 
another emergency relief bill, and such delays will be measured in 
hospital beds, deserted storefronts, and pink slips.
  There is one other point--the lack of oversight. This morning, the 
GAO announced that $1.4 billion in relief checks were sent to people 
who were dead. Where is the oversight? This is a $3 trillion package, 
and every small bit of oversight that the Republicans have done has had 
to be pushed by the Democrats. We should be having far more robust 
oversight over what has happened as well as moving forward on a new 
bill.
  The Democrats are not going to wait until July to bring some 
attention to COVID-related issues. Next week, on the floor, we will ask 
our colleagues to take up some important legislation on housing and 
rental assistance, hazard pay for essential workers, small business 
relief, funding to help schools open safely, and aid to State and local 
and Tribal governments. With cases rising in more than 20 States and 
with emergency unemployment insurance for American families set to 
expire, we cannot wait another month to act.
  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. INHOFE. 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. INHOFE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to be recognized 
for such time as I may consume.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

[[Page S3280]]

  



                                S. 4049

  Mr. INHOFE. Madam President, for the next week, the Senate is going 
to be debating what I consider to be and what I think most people 
consider to be the most important bill of the year--the National 
Defense Authorization Act. It is an act that we passed and have passed 
every year for 60 years.
  In just a few days, American families across the country will 
celebrate the Fourth of July, Independence Day--the day that honors our 
blessings of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Not all 
countries share these values; in fact, they reject them. China and 
Russia would rather have an authoritarian world, one where democracy 
doesn't exist, where the rest of the world yields to them.
  The national defense strategy is a document that I refer to all the 
time. It was put together a few years ago when actually 12 really 
expert Democrats and 12 expert Republicans came to an agreement as to 
what our defense should look like in the future. According to this 
book, China and Russia are our greatest threats right now. They are 
building up their militaries and expanding their influence around the 
world.
  The fiscal year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act is about 
sending a message to China and Russia that there is no way you can 
defeat us, so don't try. That is a pretty blunt message. We couldn't 
have sent that message 2 years ago. We have been building up, but we 
are still not where we should be.
  We know the way we preserve peace is by demonstrating our strength. 
We have the best military in the world, and our enemies need to know 
that. We can't rest on our laurels. We have to implement the national 
defense strategy because our comparative military advantage is at risk 
right now. China and Russia are actually catching up and have surpassed 
us in some areas. Here is one big reason: China and Russia have 
invested in their military.
  This is a shocker when you talk to people because they don't expect 
it. I learned many years ago--or at least I believed--that we had the 
best of everything ever since World War II, and it was true for a long 
period of time. Yet, during the period of time between 2009 and 2018, 
China increased its military spending by 83 percent. That is just 
remarkable. Russia has grown its budget by 35 percent. During that same 
period of time, from 2010 to 2015, for that 5-year period during the 
Obama administration, we reduced our military by 25 percent. Think 
about that. China increased theirs by 83 percent, and we reduced ours 
by 25 percent during that same time period.
  Don't forget that these countries willfully mislead on many things, 
including on the actual sizes of their defense budgets. Russia's is 
almost three times larger than most people think it is. They look at it 
and think, well, ours is larger than theirs. It is just that we don't 
get accurate information, and we know the threats that are out there.
  Because of these investments, China and Russia have grown not just 
the sizes of their militaries but their capabilities as well. Last 
October, China paraded a hypersonic weapon. I remember that so well 
because it was live on TV. I saw it on television. This was state-of-
the-art for both offense and defense, and China had it. Some people 
said China was maybe faking it, but I believe it had it. It was in a 
parade, and China showed us that it had something we don't even have. 
We don't have it yet.
  Their investments aren't restricted by their borders, and I have seen 
their buildup, actually, across the world. One prime example is that 
China recently built its first overseas military base. It was in 
Djibouti. Now, prior to this time in Djibouti and throughout Africa, 
there was nothing. There was a lot of Chinese presence but not a 
military operation. In fact, historically, military operations from 
China have always started in and were evident within its own city 
limits. I mean, this is where China worked--not in Djibouti, not in 
northern Africa. In fact, I actually flew over the area. It was 
supposed to be a restricted area.
  So there is China over there in Africa, where they have never been 
before, and in Djibouti, and not just in Djibouti but all the way into 
southern Tanzania.
  And so that is what is going on right now. It wasn't going on before. 
Now we see China and Russia grow more and more aggressive and 
antagonistic.
  China, in particular, has used the pandemic to lash out in every 
direction. They have antagonized and harassed the Taiwanese, the 
Vietnamese, the Indonesian vessels in the South China Sea, and they 
have used every tool that they could to harass them.
  Do you know what they are doing in the South China Sea? And I did 
witness this. They did something that most people don't know is going 
on. China has actually built seven islands, and when you see what they 
have on these islands--they don't hide it--it is as if they are 
preparing for World War III.
  Now, we saw 20 Indian soldiers dead, killed by what are essentially 
baseball bats with spikes when the Chinese conducted a military 
incursion in territory claimed by China. That just happened.
  I called and talked to their Ambassador and gave them our 
condolences, but that is what China is capable of doing.
  Meanwhile, Russia continues to prop up the murderous Assad regime. 
Putin has sent mercenaries to Libya and throughout Africa.
  Both countries have been supporting the corrupt Maduro regime in 
Venezuela.
  We have seen warning signs of this for at least a decade. Meanwhile, 
the previous administration let our military advantage erode. For 8 
years, we had a President for whom the military was not a top priority. 
I respected him because he had other areas that he thought were more 
significant. Of course, he was President of the United States, and he 
did it.
  But I have to remind you of what I just said a minute ago. We went 
down by 25 percent between the 5-year period of 2010 and 2015. At the 
same time, Russia was increasing by 35 percent. We were reducing 25 
percent, and they were increasing. China was increasing by 83 percent. 
Defending America wasn't his top priority, but he was honest about it, 
and we learned that there were areas where we were falling behind.
  Now we have started turning around. Now we have a President whose 
priority is keeping American families secure, and over the past few 
years, we began rebuilding our military. Thanks to President Trump--the 
guy that everyone criticizes--we are restoring our military might with 
new planes, new ships, and new weapons.
  Take what we are doing at Fort Sill, as an example. Fort Sill is in 
my State of Oklahoma. Right now, we are outranged and outgunned by 
Russia and China. Fort Sill is leading the Army's modernization efforts 
on the long-range precision fire to restore our combat advantage. That 
is what is happening all over the country too. So we are pulling out of 
this thing.
  Restoring our might is important, but it is not the only thing that 
matters. We have to make sure that the planes, the ships, and the 
weapons are in the right places at the right time, and that is what the 
NDAA does. That is what we are talking about right now.
  The NDAA, as I stated before, I think is the most significant bill 
that we have all year round, and this will be the 60th year that we 
have passed it. It makes sure that we have a credible military 
deterrent that signals to any potential adversaries that they don't 
stand a chance against us. That is what we are in the process of doing. 
That is what this bill is all about.
  We introduced it and started talking about it yesterday. We probably 
should have this finished prior to the 4th of July recess. We should 
have it passed, although that may be a little bit ambitious.
  So we are implementing the National Defense Strategy. That is this 
book that we are all so proud of. It is bipartisan. It is saying what 
we need to do to defend America, and this document is one that we are 
following to the letter right now. It is our roadmap.
  The bill establishes the Pacific Deterrence Initiative. That is kind 
of patterned after the European Deterrence Initiative. It focuses 
resources on the Indo-Pacific, addressing key military capabilities and 
gaps. That is the area that we are concentrating on right now, and that 
is what our document says we should be doing. That is what we are doing 
with the Defense authorization bill.

[[Page S3281]]

  The bill ensures that we have a combat-credible forward posture, and 
it helps us develop and field the joint capabilities needed to take on 
the conflicts envisioned by this NDS report.
  We push back on China's and Russia's attempts to expand their 
influence by building new alliances and partnerships and strengthening 
existing ones. They are busy. They are out there.
  We protect against intrusion from China and Russia in space and 
beyond. That is what we have in the bill. That is what we are 
envisioning we will be able to do.
  We safeguard proprietary technology and intellectual property from 
being infiltrated by the Government of China.
  We also reduce our reliance on foreign countries like China as a 
source for a variety of materials and technologies, including some of 
the microelectronics and rare earth minerals, but also medical devices.
  Last but not least, we accelerate investment in research and 
development into technology that would help us catch up with China and 
Russia--hypersonic weapons, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, 
and more.
  We are not leading in all areas, as most people in America think we 
are, but we are making such great progress. Our Defense authorization 
bill last year put us way ahead of where we were before, and this bill 
does the same thing. So the bill sends a message--a strong message--to 
China and Russia and anyone else who would try it: We know what you are 
up to. We know how to stop you. You simply can't win against us.
  So I encourage my colleagues, first of all, to get all of their 
amendments in. We are trying to get our amendments in by Friday. If we 
can do that, we will probably get this thing done possibly even by a 
week from today.
  So we have been working on it all year long, and this is one of the 
bills that we work on all year long, and we have a whole team working, 
including Liz King and John Bonsell. John Bonsell is the Republican 
staff director, and Liz is with the Democratic staff group, working 
with my partner in this. They have worked very well together, and we 
should have this bill done and ready to take out.
  Of course, let's keep in mind what we want to accomplish. We want to 
put our country ahead of China and Russia and get us out of this 
problem area that we have--an area where our allies believe they are 
preparing for World War III. So that is what the bill is all about. 
Hopefully, we will get this thing done and have the necessary 
ingredients in there. This should be the year that we actually go ahead 
of China and Russia. We want to make it happen, and this is the only 
way to do it.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Scott of Florida). The clerk will call the 
roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________