[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 32 (Thursday, February 17, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S775-S779]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          FURTHER ADDITIONAL EXTENDING GOVERNMENT FUNDING ACT

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
proceed to the consideration of H.R. 6617, which the clerk will report.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 6617) making further continuing appropriations 
     for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2022, and for other 
     purposes.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.


                           Amendment No. 4929

  Mr. LEE. Mr. President, I call up my amendment No. 4929, and ask that 
it be reported by number.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the amendment by number.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Utah [Mr. Lee], for himself and Mr. 
     Marshall, proposes an amendment numbered 4929.

  The amendment is as follows:

      (Purpose: To prohibit funding for COVID-19 vaccine mandates)

       After section 101 in division A, insert the following:
       Sec. 102.  None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made 
     available under the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2022 
     (division A of Public Law 117-43), as amended by this Act, 
     may be obligated or expended to--
       (1) implement or enforce--
       (A) section 1910.501 of title 29, Code of Federal 
     Regulations (or a successor regulation);
       (B) Executive Order 14042 of September 9, 2021 (86 Fed. 
     Reg. 50985; relating to ensuring adequate COVID safety 
     protocols for Federal contractors);
       (C) Executive Order 14043 of September 9, 2021 (86 Fed. 
     Reg. 50989; relating to requiring Coronavirus Disease 2019 
     vaccination for Federal employees);
       (D) the interim final rule issued by the Department of 
     Health and Human Services on November 5, 2021, entitled 
     ``Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Omnibus COVID-19 Health 
     Care Staff Vaccination'' (86 Fed. Reg. 61555); or
       (E) the memorandum signed by the Secretary of Defense on 
     August 24, 2021, for ``Mandatory Coronavirus Disease 2019 
     Vaccination of Department of Defense Service Members''; or
       (2) promulgate, implement, or enforce any rule, regulation, 
     or other agency statement, that is substantially similar to a 
     regulation, Executive Order, rule, or memorandum described in 
     paragraph (1).

  Mr. LEE. Mr. President, vaccine mandates are morally wrong and widely 
unpopular. Millions of Americans are still required by this Federal 
mandate to be vaccinated or lose their job.
  The people's elected lawmakers here in Congress haven't instituted 
these mandates. No, there is no Federal law putting them in place. 
President Biden and his bureaucrats are just treading deeply into the 
personal medical choices of Americans without an act of Congress 
authorizing them to do so.
  Now, Congress has the chance to make these millions of voices across 
America be heard. That is, after all, our job. Our sole job is to make 
Federal law, to give voice to those who elected us. We can state 
clearly, boldly, decisively today that Federal vaccine mandates do not 
belong in the United States of America.
  We can stand for millions of vulnerable Americans who just want to go 
to work so that they have the chance simply to put food on the table 
for their families. That is not too much to ask.
  The pandemic is waning, but it is waning just as our economic 
problems are just beginning. If we want to control the high price of 
everything, the lack of availability that comes with the related supply 
chain crisis, and keep the American economy moving, we must stand 
against these illegal, immoral, and unconstitutional mandates.
  Look, the American people are sick and tired of the Federal 
Government micromanaging every minute detail of their lives. They are 
exhausted from the mandates and from the bureaucrats who they didn't 
vote for and never could vote for and never would vote for.
  The brave men and women of our military, the Federal workers, the 
Federal contractors, people who work for Federal contractors--even a 
subdivision of a Federal contractor that doesn't actually provide any 
Federal contract work--along with medical professionals--all these 
workers across every part of our great land who are sucked up into this 
mandate, they all deserve better than pink slips and boots out the 
door, simply for making their own medical choices.
  So I implore my colleagues with all the urgency I am capable of 
communicating, to stand up for American workers, stand up for our 
economy, stand up for freedom, and vote to withhold funding from these 
unconstitutional mandates.
  It is quite significant that the very first clause of the very first 
section of the very first article of the Constitution says that ``all 
legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in the Congress of 
the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of 
Representatives.''
  It matters that this clause comes first, before everything else. And 
the reason it matters is because it is there to remind us of something. 
The most dangerous power within our Federal Government is not with the 
judiciary, it is not with the executive branch; it is right here in 
this branch because we have the power to prescribe law. We have the 
power within our Federal Government to provide what should be, what the 
law says, what people have to do. That is why the Founding Fathers were 
careful not to entrust it to any branch of government other than this 
one, not because those who would occupy these positions would 
necessarily be any wiser or any brighter or inherently more cautious 
than everyone else, except in one critical respect: This is the Federal 
branch most accountable to the people at the most regular intervals. 
You can fire every Member of the House every 2 years. You can fire one-
third of us every 2 years.
  We are the branch that is accountable. That is why we have been given 
the most dangerous power within government, the power to make Federal 
law. How then does this relate to illegal, unconstitutional, immoral, 
and wildly unpopular vaccine mandates? Well, it matters because that is 
an exercise of Federal law. It is an exercise of Federal law that 
Congress never enacted.
  They have arrogated to themselves within the executive branch an 
authority that they do not have based on a contrivance, based on a 
tortured, butchered manipulation of statutory text that doesn't tell 
people that they have got to choose between getting an unwanted medical 
procedure and unemployment, unemployment in a context that it is likely 
to lead to unemployability. And, indeed, it was designed to do that. We 
know that because those who put these policies in place have told us as 
much.
  Look, everybody has been through a lot in the last 2 years--
Democrats, Republicans alike. This virus has been no respecter of 
persons, of red States and of blue States. Just the same, the American 
people understand that we are ready to move on. We are ready to not 
have government dictating every aspect of our lives.
  COVID is no excuse for a government to do something that is 
categorically immoral. It is no excuse to do something that we all know 
is wrong. We would never justify anyone in rendering a threat against 
their friend, their neighbor, their employee, that if you don't bow, if 
you don't defer to Presidential medical orthodoxy, I am going to make 
you lose your job and make it impossible for you to put bread on the 
table for your children. No sane, moral, decent person would do that. 
We must not allow them to do that. We must never allow the executive 
branch of government to exercise authority

[[Page S776]]

that they don't have because we didn't give it to them and they could 
never have it because the Constitution doesn't allow it.
  We have got the chance right now to bring together red States and 
blue States alike, because, remember, it is not just red States anymore 
that are ditching these kind of draconian measures within their own 
State government systems. No. It is blue States left and right--
Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Illinois. Many, many more blue States 
are joining the number of red States that have made this decision.

  Enough is enough. It is time for us to live our lives. I encourage my 
colleagues to vote yes on my amendment, No. 4929, and let America work 
again.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.


                           Order of Business

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for votes be as follows--Lee, Cruz, and Braun--and that upon the 
disposition of the Braun amendment, the Senate vote on the passage of 
the bill, with all other provisions of the previous order remaining in 
effect.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Texas.


                           Amendment No. 4927

  Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, I call up my amendment No. 4927 and ask that 
it be reported by number.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the amendment by number.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Texas [Mr. Cruz] proposes an amendment 
     numbered 4927.

  The amendment is as follows:

(Purpose: To prohibit the use of Federal funding for schools and early 
childhood development facilities that enforce COVID-19 vaccine mandates 
 on children in order to protect the rights of parents to make medical 
                   decisions that affect their child)

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. __. PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL FUNDING OF SCHOOLS OR CHILD 
                   CARE CENTERS WITH STUDENT COVID-19 VACCINE 
                   MANDATES.

       None of the funds made available under this Act or an 
     amendment made by this Act may be provided or awarded, 
     including by way of grant or subgrant, to any State 
     educational agency, local educational agency, public school 
     (including a public charter school), private or parochial 
     school, child care center, or Head Start facility, that 
     enforces any coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 vaccine mandate that 
     requires a child or student under the age of 19 years to be 
     immunized against COVID-19 as a condition of enrollment or 
     in-person attendance at such school, center, or facility or 
     to participate in any school-based or school-sponsored 
     activities, including extracurricular activities.

  Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, I rise today to speak in opposition to the 
abuse of power we have seen with vaccine mandates.
  Let me say that I emphatically support Senator Lee's amendment about 
which he just spoke.
  President Biden's vaccine mandates are illegal. They have, in 
significant part, been struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, and they 
are abusive.
  When this pandemic began, Senators on both sides of the aisle gave 
passionate speeches about the heroes in our society--about the doctors 
and nurses risking their lives to keep us safe. Well, now, under this 
vaccine mandate, Democrats are firing doctors and nurses and then 
complaining that we have a shortage of doctors and nurses.
  We have heard speeches about the heroes of our military men and 
women, and they undoubtedly are heroes. Yet, under President Biden's 
illegal vaccine mandates, this administration is preparing to fire 
soldiers and sailors and airmen and marines. This administration is 
preparing to fire Navy SEALs, who have spent decades training and 
fighting to defend this Nation, but because they will not submit to an 
arbitrary and illegal mandate, Democrats are preparing to fire them.
  We have heard Members from both sides of the aisle give speeches 
about police officers and firefighters--the heroes of 9/11--who, on 
that tragic day, ran into the building while it was on fire instead out 
of the building while it was on fire. Yet, under these illegal vaccine 
mandates, Democrats are firing police officers and firefighters.
  We are seeing airline flights canceled all over the country. Yet, 
under these illegal vaccine mandates, airline pilots and flight 
attendants and mechanics and ticket agents are being fired from their 
jobs.
  Typically, when I fly back and forth to Houston, I fly either United 
Airlines or Southwest. United, the company, has an arbitrary policy 
wherein they are firing or putting on involuntary and unpaid leave any 
employee who refuses to get the vaccine. United is different from other 
airlines in that regard. They have done so because they want to curry 
favor with the Biden White House because United's CEO believes that 
making Democrats at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue happy is somehow in its 
best interests.
  Without exaggeration, every single time I board a United plane, a 
pilot, a flight attendant, a ticket agent pulls me aside and says: 
Thank you. Thank you for standing up and fighting for my rights. Why 
the heck won't my CEO fight for my rights?
  We are seeing blue State Governors and blue State mayors who realize 
that firing American heroes and forcing people to make healthcare 
decisions against their wishes is bad politics. We are seeing blue 
State Governors and blue State mayors backing down. Yet I fear we will 
see blue State Democrats in the Senate--many of whom are not on the 
ballot, two-thirds of whom are not on the ballot this November--
believing they can arbitrarily ignore the will of the people.
  Just yesterday, the people of San Francisco--bright blue, leftwing 
San Francisco--voted out three members of the school board over their 
arbitrary and tyrannical COVID policies that shut down schools for a 
year. The vote was nearly 80 percent to throw them out. I would note, 
by the way, that their defense was, they said, that everybody voting 
against them was a White supremacist. These were closet Republicans, 
they said, in San Francisco. San Francisco voted 85 percent for Joe 
Biden, but apparently there are a bunch of closet Republicans there.
  My Democratic colleagues are ignoring the will of the people and 
giving in to extreme partisan positions on COVID.
  Any Democrat, particularly any Democrat on the ballot in November, 
ought to look to San Francisco, ought to look to the Virginia 
Governor's race, ought to look to the New Jersey Governor's race and 
realize the Democratic Party is out of step with the American people.
  Senator Lee's amendment repeals the illegal and abusive vaccine 
mandates from President Biden.
  My amendment is focused on an area that people, understandably, 
rightly, are deeply passionate about, which is stopping the vaccine 
mandates on children.
  We have seen jurisdictions all over the country impose vaccine 
mandates and say to parents: If you want your child to go to school, 
either give the child the vaccine or you can't send your kid to school.
  That is an absolute abuse of power.
  The choice of the healthcare your kid gets ought to be the choice of 
the parents. If you want to vaccinate your children, that ought to be 
your choice; you ought to have the right. Yet we are seeing arrogant 
blue State Democrats across the country say to moms and dads: I don't 
care what your views are.
  Indeed, the Democratic candidate for Governor of Virginia said quite 
brazenly: Parents should have no say in what is taught to their kids.
  By the way, this is applying to children as young as 5 years old. We 
are, right now, in the District of Columbia. If a Member of Congress 
has children in the schools in DC, the District of Columbia is 
mandating you must vaccinate your 5-year-old whether you want to or 
not.
  That is wrong.
  My amendment is very simple. It cuts off Federal funds for any 
institution that forces a vaccine mandate on kids. There are nearly 81 
million kids in America whose rights are in jeopardy.
  The arrogance of these petty authoritarians' at-a-time-of-crisis 
character is revealed, and we are seeing petty authoritarians who say: 
Mom, you don't have the right to decide whether or not your 5-year-old, 
your 6-year-old, your 7-year-old will get this vaccine.
  Who the heck do they think they are?
  I repeat: If you want to vaccinate your kids, that is your right, and 
you

[[Page S777]]

should do so, but these petty tyrants have no right to force parents to 
vaccinate children with a new and untested vaccine.

  Let me be clear. I am vaccinated--I am pro-vaccine--but I believe in 
individual choice. If you want to be vaccinated, fantastic, but it 
ought to be your choice in consultation with your doctor, and if you 
have kids, you ought to talk to your doctor and say: Hey, Doc, what 
does the evidence show about the impact on kids? You ought to have a 
real and candid conversation with your doctor, not with some political 
bureaucrat in Washington, DC, or in the State capitol or at city hall.
  These mandates are wrong. They are wrong in every capacity but 
especially as it concerns kids.
  I say to the petty tyrants--the same people, by the way, who shut 
down schools for a year. I mentioned a second ago the San Francisco 
school board. One of the school board members voted out by nearly 80 
percent of the voters in San Francisco said--and I mentioned this--the 
people who voted against me and the people who want to open schools are 
White supremacists.
  The millions of kids who have been hurt by school closures will be 
academically behind for the rest of their lives, and that harm has 
fallen disproportionately on low-income kids. It has fallen 
disproportionately on African-American kids. It has fallen 
disproportionately on Hispanic kids, and we have got a bunch of rich, 
White liberals saying to low-income minority kids: Well, tough luck. 
You don't get to go to school.
  Mind you, many of those rich, White liberals can afford to send their 
kids to private schools so their kids keep getting educated, but the 
low-income kids are out of luck.
  Then, in this ``Alice in Wonderland'' world we live in, arrogant 
leftists say: If you want schools open--if you want African-American 
kids and Hispanic kids to be able to go to school and learn to read and 
learn to write and learn math and history and science and art and climb 
the economic ladder and have a chance at the American dream--and if you 
want minority kids to have a chance to succeed, you are a White 
supremacist.
  Anyone listening to those words understands why the American people 
are angry.
  I pray that, in just a few minutes, the Senate does the right thing 
and rational thing. These votes, in any sane world, should be 100 to 
nothing. We should stand for people's individual rights, individual 
liberties. We should stand against petty tyrants trampling on our 
rights. In just a few minutes, we will see where every Senator in this 
body stands. I pray that we stand with the people.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.


                           Amendment No. 4929

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I rise to speak against the Lee 
amendment, which we will be voting on in just a minute.
  We are working to rebuild our economy, and we are working to end a 
pandemic that has killed over 900,000 people. So why are a few Senate 
Republicans, once again, risking a government shutdown and creating 
problems rather than trying to work with us on the ones that our 
country already faces?
  This is not the first time I have had to point out to a handful of 
Senate Republicans that shutting down the government in the middle of a 
pandemic is a bad idea. It should be obvious, but here I am, once 
again, because my colleagues are here, once again, pretending that the 
biggest threat to our Nation is not the virus but, instead, vaccines 
and tests and masks, which have helped to actually save lives. This 
makes about as much sense as blaming the rescue crew for a shipwreck 
and threatening to sink the lifeboat unless they don't stop helping.
  We all want this pandemic to end; we want our schools to stay open 
safely; and we want people to be able to go to work safely and go about 
their lives like before.
  We are making real progress toward the goal of putting this pandemic 
behind us. One way to continue this progress is to do what the vast 
majority of Senators--Democrat and Republican--are prepared to do: vote 
to keep the government open so we can work together on funding the 
Nation's priorities through regular order.
  I urge all of my colleagues to vote against this completely 
unnecessary amendment, against a government shutdown, and for common 
sense.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.


                           Amendment No. 4927

  Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, I rise to speak in opposition to Senator 
Cruz's amendment, No. 4927.
  Everyone in this body who attended school in the United States had to 
get vaccines to attend school--measles, mumps, rubella, polio, 
chickenpox. Everyone in this body who sent a child to school in the 
United States had to make sure that they got their children vaccinated.
  Is that because of a big Federal mandate? No.
  All 50 States--Utah, Texas, New York, Maine, Washington, Rhode 
Island, Wisconsin, Virginia--embraced their own vaccine mandates--all 
50. There are some variations. Iowa doesn't mandate a mumps vaccine, 
and Virginia mandates a human papillomavirus vaccine, but we leave it 
up to local school boards and State superintendents of instruction to 
decide if a vaccine is warranted.
  This is unprecedented in this body, an effort by the Federal 
Government to force local school boards and State superintendents of 
instruction to not have a vaccine mandate at the cost of taking money 
away from the students and the teachers and the parents.
  In Virginia, parents very strongly support vaccination of children. 
Why would we not listen to parents? Why would we not listen to the 
local school boards that are hearing from parents about this?
  I urge my colleagues to reject a massive Federal overreach that would 
disempower school boards and States and take funding away from their 
children's education.
  Please vote no on the Cruz amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.
  Mr. LEE. Mr. President, the American people do not want a Federal 
vaccine mandate. The American people just want to be able to go about 
doing their jobs. They want to be able to go work. They don't want to 
be told by someone who lacks the authority that they have to choose 
between an unwanted medical procedure on the one hand and on the other 
hand, losing their ability to put bread on the table.
  It is not just illegal; it is not just immoral; it is wrong. We all 
know it is wrong, and we know that it is time to end this.
  Please vote yes on my amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.
  Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all remaining 
time be yielded back before the Lee and Cruz amendment votes and that 
the Senate now vote in relation to the Lee amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.


                       Vote on Amendment No. 4929

  Under the previous order, the question occurs on agreeing to 
amendment No. 4929, offered by the Senator from Utah, Mr. LEE.
  Mr. LEE. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. 
Feinstein), the Senator from Arizona (Mr. Kelly), and the Senator from 
New Mexico (Mr. Lujan) are necessarily absent.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from North Carolina (Mr. Burr), the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. 
Graham), the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. Inhofe), and the Senator from 
Utah (Mr. Romney).
  The result was announced--yeas 46, nays 47, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 61 Leg.]

                                YEAS--46

     Barrasso
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Braun
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Collins
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Grassley
     Hagerty
     Hawley
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith

[[Page S778]]


     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     Lummis
     Marshall
     McConnell
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Paul
     Portman
     Risch
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott (FL)
     Scott (SC)
     Shelby
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Tuberville
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--47

     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Coons
     Cortez Masto
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Gillibrand
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Hickenlooper
     Hirono
     Kaine
     King
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Manchin
     Markey
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murphy
     Murray
     Ossoff
     Padilla
     Peters
     Reed
     Rosen
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Sinema
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warnock
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--7

     Burr
     Feinstein
     Graham
     Inhofe
     Kelly
     Lujan
     Romney
  The amendment (No. 4929) was rejected.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I think the Members will like this 
announcement. I ask unanimous consent that the remaining votes be 10 
minutes in duration each.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                       Vote on Amendment No. 4927

  Under the previous order, the question occurs on agreeing to 
amendment No. 4927, offered by the Senator from Texas, Mr. Cruz.
  Mr. CARDIN. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The yeas and nays have been requested.
  Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. 
Feinstein), the Senator from Arizona (Mr. Kelly), and the Senator from 
New Mexico (Mr. Lujan) are necessarily absent.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from North Carolina (Mr. Burr), the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. 
Graham), the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. Inhofe), and the Senator from 
Utah (Mr. Romney).
  The result was announced--yeas 44, nays 49, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 62 Leg.]

                                YEAS--44

     Barrasso
     Blackburn
     Boozman
     Braun
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Grassley
     Hagerty
     Hawley
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     Lummis
     Marshall
     McConnell
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Paul
     Portman
     Risch
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott (FL)
     Scott (SC)
     Shelby
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Tuberville
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--49

     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Collins
     Coons
     Cortez Masto
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Gillibrand
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Hickenlooper
     Hirono
     Kaine
     King
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Manchin
     Markey
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murphy
     Murray
     Ossoff
     Padilla
     Peters
     Reed
     Rosen
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Sinema
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warnock
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--7

     Burr
     Feinstein
     Graham
     Inhofe
     Kelly
     Lujan
     Romney
  The amendment (No. 4927) was rejected.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Indiana.


                           Amendment No. 4930

  Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, I call up my amendment No. 4930 and ask 
that it be reported by number.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the amendment by 
number.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Indiana [Mr. Braun] proposes an amendment 
     numbered 4930.

  The amendment is as follows:

(Purpose: To strike the Statutory PAYGO exemption and require balanced 
            budgets in concurrent resolutions on the budget)

       On page 8, strike lines 3 through 6 and insert the 
     following:
       (a) Point of Order Against Budget Resolutions That Do Not 
     Include a Balanced Budget.--
       (1) Point of order.--It shall not be in order in the Senate 
     to consider a concurrent resolution on the budget that does 
     not reduce the deficit to zero on or before the end of the 
     9th fiscal year after the budget year.
       (2) Waiver and appeal.--Paragraph (1) may be waived or 
     suspended in the Senate only by an affirmative vote of two-
     thirds of the Members, duly chosen and sworn. An affirmative 
     vote of two-thirds of the Members of the Senate, duly chosen 
     and sworn, shall be required to sustain an appeal of the 
     ruling of the Chair on a point of order raised under 
     paragraph (1).

  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, there will be 2 
minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote on amendment No. 
4932, offered by the Senator from Indiana, Mr. Braun.
  There are 2 minutes of debate.
  Mr. BRAUN. I came here 3 years ago with a mission to rein in debt and 
deficits. I think few of us actually care much about that here, in my 
observation. If we did, we wouldn't be passing our third short-term 
spending measure in 5 months. It should have been done last year.
  In a few weeks, we will pass an Omnibus bill that we will all say was 
bipartisan, and we will go on down the road. Meanwhile, inflation will 
be surging ahead--7 percent, 8 percent--the highest since 1982. The 
last time we voted on a balanced budget amendment was in 2011. By the 
way, both Democrats and Republicans supported it back then.
  I am proposing something very simple, very low-threshold. It creates 
a point of order against any budget resolution that doesn't reach a 
balanced budget in 10 years. That is so simple, everyone, including the 
Presiding Officer banging the gavel, ought to be for it for the sake of 
our kids and our grandkids.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, the amendment offered by the Senator from 
Indiana would mandate extreme, across the board cuts to Federal 
programs that the American people rely on.
  Under this amendment, Congress would need to callously slash $1.4 
trillion in a vain effort to close the budget deficit through spending 
cuts in the 10th year of a budget resolution. Spread evenly across all 
Federal programs, this would result in a $350 billion cut to Medicare, 
a $180 billion cut to Medicaid, and an $82 billion cut to veterans' 
programs, in just 1 year.
  Nutrition programs that help families make ends meet by putting food 
on the table would be slashed by a quarter. Affordable housing, 
healthcare, education, name the Federal program that people in your 
communities rely on, and it will be cut by a quarter.
  The Senator's amendment would require a two-thirds vote to pass any 
budget resolution that does not balance the budget in the 10th year. 
The last two budget resolutions written by Senate Republicans would 
have violated this rule.
  Being responsible stewards of Americans' hard-earned tax dollars is a 
bipartisan priority, but this is not responsible stewardship. I urge a 
no vote.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Does anybody yield back in opposition?
  Mrs. MURRAY. I yield back our time.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator yields back time.


                       Vote on Amendment No. 4930

  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on adoption of the 
amendment by the Senator from Indiana (Mr. Braun).
  Mrs. MURRAY. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. 
Feinstein), the Senator from Arizona (Mr. Kelly), the Senator from New 
Mexico (Mr. Lujan), and the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Rosen) are 
necessarily absent.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from North Carolina (Mr. Burr), the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. 
Graham), the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr.

[[Page S779]]

Inhofe), and the Senator from Utah (Mr. Romney).
  The result was announced--yeas 47, nays 45, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 63 Leg.]

                                YEAS--47

     Barrasso
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Braun
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Grassley
     Hagerty
     Hawley
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     Lummis
     Manchin
     Marshall
     McConnell
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Paul
     Portman
     Risch
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott (FL)
     Scott (SC)
     Shelby
     Sinema
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Tuberville
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--45

     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Collins
     Coons
     Cortez Masto
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Gillibrand
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Hickenlooper
     Hirono
     Kaine
     King
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Markey
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murphy
     Murray
     Ossoff
     Padilla
     Peters
     Reed
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warnock
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--8

     Burr
     Feinstein
     Graham
     Inhofe
     Kelly
     Lujan
     Romney
     Rosen
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. On this vote, the yeas are 47, the nays 
are 45.
  Under the previous order requiring 60 votes for the adoption of the 
amendment, the amendment is not agreed to.
  The amendment (No. 4930) was rejected.
  The bill was ordered to a third reading and was read the third time.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. There are two minutes of debate equally 
divided prior to the vote on passage.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The yeas and nays have been requested.
  Without objection, all time is yielded back.
  There is a request for the yeas and nays.


                           Vote on H.R. 6617

  The bill having been read the third time, the question is, Shall the 
bill pass?
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. 
Feinstein), the Senator from Arizona (Mr. Kelly), the Senator from New 
Mexico (Mr. Lujan) and the Senator from Nevada (Ms. Rosen) are 
necessarily absent.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from North Carolina (Mr. Burr), the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. 
Graham), the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. Inhofe), and the Senator from 
Utah (Mr. Romney).
  The result was announced--yeas 65, nays 27 as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 64 Leg.]

                                YEAS--65

     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Capito
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Cassidy
     Collins
     Coons
     Cornyn
     Cortez Masto
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Gillibrand
     Hagerty
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Hickenlooper
     Hirono
     Hyde-Smith
     Kaine
     Kennedy
     King
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Manchin
     Markey
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Ossoff
     Padilla
     Peters
     Portman
     Reed
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Sinema
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Tillis
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warnock
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden
     Young

                                NAYS--27

     Blackburn
     Boozman
     Braun
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Grassley
     Hawley
     Hoeven
     Johnson
     Lankford
     Lee
     Lummis
     Marshall
     Paul
     Risch
     Sasse
     Scott (FL)
     Scott (SC)
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Toomey
     Tuberville

                             NOT VOTING--8

     Burr
     Feinstein
     Graham
     Inhofe
     Kelly
     Lujan
     Romney
     Rosen
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Kaine). On this vote, the yeas are 65, the 
nays are 27.
  The 60-vote threshold having been achieved, the bill is passed.
  The bill (H.R. 6617) was passed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.


                      Nomination of Michele Taylor

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, earlier this afternoon, I made it clear I 
was going to put forward a unanimous consent request asking the Senate 
to take up and approve the nomination of Michele Taylor, to serve as 
the U.S. Representative to the UN Human Rights Council with the rank of 
Ambassador, and in just a minute and a half or so, I will make that 
unanimous consent request.
  Ms. Taylor has an exceptional record with respect to humanitarian 
issues. She has served on the Anti-Defamation League, the U.S. 
Holocaust Memorial Council. She has been a strong advocate for the 
rights of women.
  I come from a family who lost relatives in the Holocaust. Ms. Taylor 
is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. And it is absolutely essential 
that we up the ante in the fight against anti-Semitism, and that is a 
key part of this country's diplomacy.
  The reason that I am making this unanimous consent tonight is that 
Michele Taylor is unquestionably qualified for this important post, but 
there is a real time sensitivity to her nomination being cleared 
tonight. The regular session of the U.N. Human Rights Council begins on 
February 28, obviously just a few days away. It is absolutely essential 
that we confirm our representative now. Delaying Ms. Taylor's 
confirmation would obviously hinder the U.S. ability to advocate for 
American values and help vulnerable people who suffer under abuse and 
oppression around the world. And she will be able to build on some 
particularly important work that is going on in the Senate Committee on 
Finance, led by Senator Brown and Senator Crapo, working, for example, 
on forced labor and other issues that involve critically important 
human rights questions.

                          ____________________