[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 142 (Tuesday, September 5, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3873-S3875]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                 Texas

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, following a busy summer in the Senate, it 
was great to spend a little bit of time back home in Texas and, for at 
least a couple of days, in the great State of Vermont courtesy of the 
Presiding Officer's recommendation.
  I always look forward to the Washington break here in Washington 
because it gives me time to travel across my State and to hear from 
many of the 30 million Texans I am honored to represent. I enjoy 
getting an update from them on what is happening, to hear their 
concerns, and to talk to them about what I am working on.
  One example of that is the Carla Walker Act. This bill carries the 
name of a 17-year-old Texan who was tragically murdered in 1974 and 
whose case went unsolved for many decades--nearly five decades. It 
wasn't until September of 2020 when Carla's family finally received the 
answers they had been searching for. DNA evidence that was collected at 
the crime scene was sent to the State DNA testing facility in the The 
Woodlands, TX, called Othram.
  Now, just a little bit of detail. Traditional DNA testing frequently 
will not tell you everything you need to know about who this is a 
sample from, but thanks to forensic genetic genealogy, or FGG, enhanced 
DNA testing was able to identify Carla's killer, and justice was 
served.
  FGG--this enhanced DNA testing analysis--has the potential to provide 
answers for countless victims and their families, and I am working on 
legislation to make it more widely available when needed, especially 
for criminal investigations.
  As this legislation is being worked on, it is great to hear about the 
usefulness of this DNA testing technology from law enforcement as well 
as forensic DNA experts.
  I also had the pleasure of meeting Carla's family, who finally 
received closure after decades because of this enhanced DNA testing 
process.
  But it is not just the bills that are in the works; I also appreciate 
the chance to hear firsthand about how the laws that we passed recently 
are actually being implemented. One great example of this is the CHIPS 
Act.
  Last week, I visited the University of Texas at Austin for its first 
annual Semiconductor Day. The University of Texas has built strong 
partnerships with companies and other academic institutions across the 
State and Nation and is eager to do its part to help revitalize 
America's semiconductor industry.
  Just a refresher: We used to produce about a third of the advanced 
semiconductors in the world, but now that is down to about 10 percent. 
Ninety percent of the world's advanced semiconductors are manufactured 
in Asia. We all can imagine what would happen if, because of natural 
disaster--Heaven forbid, another pandemic--or an invasion by the PRC of 
Taiwan--what that would mean to our access to advanced semiconductors, 
things that power everything from your mobile phone to the Joint Strike 
Fighter, the fifth-generation Joint Strike Fighter. Everything these 
days requires semiconductors, these microcircuits.
  Well, the university launched the Texas Institute for Electronics, or 
TIE, as it is called, which will support the future of semiconductor 
manufacturing through education, training, and collaboration with 
industry leaders. The Department of Commerce staff who are responsible 
for actually implementing the CHIPS Act were there to learn about the 
incredible public-private partnerships that are driving the chip 
industry already forward in Texas.
  This is exactly the kind of collaboration I think we envisioned when 
I first introduced the CHIPS Act more than 3 years ago, together with 
our colleague Senator Warner from Virginia. It is gratifying to see 
this vision becoming a reality in the Lone Star State, as I am sure it 
is in other parts of the country.
  Over the last several weeks, I have also heard from my constituents 
about the many challenges that families and businesses are facing, 
starting with high prices on everything from food to housing, 
exacerbated by what President Biden calls Bidenomics. Like Texas 
Governor Ann Richards said in the summer of 1992 at the Democratic 
National Convention--she said: ``Well, you can put lipstick on a hog 
and call it Monique, but it's still a pig.''
  Nevertheless, I have come back to the Senate refreshed and ready to 
get back to work. So I listened to what the majority leader has said 
and written about his agenda for this period between now and the end of 
the month. We face a number of deadlines to fund the government and 
reauthorize critical Federal programs.
  This year, four major deadlines arrive on September 30, just 25 days 
from now or 16 legislative days--16 days. Of course, none of these 
deadlines popped up out of nowhere. We have had plenty of warning and 
plenty of time to advance each of these bills. But the Senate majority 
leader--the one responsible for the Senate agenda and who is the only 
person in the Senate who can actually schedule floor action--has 
created this mash-up and dysfunction.
  As it turns out, some of the biggest legislative achievements of the 
year have actually been led by this side of the aisle, by Republicans, 
who fought to overturn damaging Biden administration rules.
  The Senate did pass legislation to raise the debt ceiling and place 
caps on discretionary spending, but it is important to remember that 
this was a deal cut between the Speaker, Speaker McCarthy, and 
President Biden. The Senate was essentially a bystander.
  The biggest accomplishment of the year so far has been passing the 
annual Defense bill--not a small thing--but it is still a long way from 
reaching the President's desk.

[[Page S3874]]

  I would say that considering the number of must-pass bills still on 
our agenda for the year, that is an embarrassingly short list of 
accomplishments. So now we have a lot that needs to be done in the next 
4 weeks, but really I think you would have to acknowledge that this 
schedule is designed to fail--designed to fail.
  One of the biggest tasks we have to complete in that time is to fund 
the government, and it looks like we are in for a bumpy few weeks. But 
I would hasten to point out that this is not a bug but a feature of the 
majority leader's plan. In other words, it didn't have to be this way. 
This is all according to Senate Majority Leader Schumer's plan.
  Why? Well, it maximizes his leverage on the final product to the 
detriment of every other Senator on our side and on yours. Why, Senator 
Schumer might ask, would I let 99 other Senators participate in the 
appropriations process when I can hold it hostage for my demands?
  And, to be clear, the Senate Appropriations Committee has done its 
job, passing 12 bipartisan appropriations bills out of committee, and 
they did that before the August recess.
  You know, when you look at the schedule and what it is that hasn't 
been done and needs to be done in such a short period of time, it is 
incredible to me that the Senate majority leader decided that the 
Senate would be out of session for 40 days--40 days; that is how long 
it has been since we were here last--especially with all this work to 
do. And we have not been in session on most Mondays recently, starting 
on Tuesday and then wrapping up 2 days later on Thursday afternoon. So 
I think the picture of the majority leader's plan is becoming very 
clear.
  Party-line disagreements over funding levels are nothing new, but the 
path to success is especially muddy this year. Several months ago, 
Speaker McCarthy and President Biden reached a deal that raised the 
debt ceiling in exchange for deeply needed spending cuts. The national 
debt has ballooned to more than $32.8 trillion, and the American people 
are unhappy with Washington's out-of-control spending. Well, that is 
exactly what the Speaker sought to address during the debt ceiling 
negotiations with the White House this spring, and it is no question 
that he made substantial progress toward that goal. He negotiated 
across-the-board spending cuts, marking a small but significant step to 
curb Democrats' reckless spending habits.
  Now, with the funding deadline just 3\1/2\ weeks away, Republicans on 
both sides of the aisle are eager to make good on our promise to return 
to responsible government spending bills. House Members are knee deep 
in discussions over the best way to pursue those spending cuts, and I 
expect we will hear more when the House returns to Washington next 
week.
  But still, that hasn't stopped the majority leader from criticizing 
them. Just last week, he referred to the Republicans in the House and 
their spending cuts discussions as political games. Well, if this isn't 
a game, I don't know what is--planning for the failure of the 
appropriations process and trying to jam through a spending bill with 
16 legislative days left. I suggest the majority leader look in the 
mirror for the identity of the person who has brought us to this point, 
the one who has been playing the games.
  As I said, he is already trying to blame Republicans in the House for 
a potential shutdown, and, right on cue, the press has started the 
drumbeat driving that narrative. That is all you are going to hear 
between now and the end of the fiscal year--is there going to be a shut 
down or is there not going to be a shut down?--all of which is 
absolutely unnecessary if the majority leader had used the authority he 
has to schedule a vote on 12 appropriations bills that we could take up 
and pass out of the Senate. The House could do the same. We could 
reconcile the differences and avoid all of this drama.
  Well, thank goodness our Democratic colleagues no longer control all 
levers of government. Senator Schumer and the President now only have 
some say, not total say, over legislation. With divided government, 
Democrats no longer have the power to jam spending bills through both 
Chambers of the Congress, like they did last year. The American people 
elected a Republican majority in the House, which has pledged to rein 
in reckless Federal spending. Well, I hope that Speaker McCarthy and 
our other Republican colleagues in the House will succeed in their 
efforts this time on appropriations bills.
  It is nothing unusual for the House and the Senate to have a 
different approach when it comes to spending money, what those 
priorities are, and what the top line should be. It is entirely within 
their authority and their responsibility. But they have to have a dance 
partner. Senator Schumer has to be willing to engage in a negotiation 
in good faith, not play these kinds of games and threaten another 
government shutdown.
  If Senator Schumer wants to avoid a shutdown, he needs to drop the 
preemptive blame game and actually listen to the concerns of House 
Republicans on the Federal government's out-of-control spending and 
then negotiate a compromise. He needs to accept his responsibility.
  Funding is only one major item on the to-do list. Congress also needs 
to pass a farm bill, as you can see on the list.
  My State is home to nearly a quarter of a million farms and ranches, 
more than any other State in the country. One out of every seven 
working Texans has an ag-related job. I had a chance to sit down with 
some of these constituents in Lubbock last month and hear how their 
lives and livelihoods are affected by the farm bill. It is important to 
them, which means it is important to me.
  This legislation is critical to America's supply of food and fiber, 
as well as to the livelihoods of the hard-working men and women who 
grow and produce it. We simply can't let this legislation continue to 
shift and be delayed. I know Senator Boozman and, I suspect, Senator 
Stabenow are committed to passing a strong bill that will meet the 
growing needs of our ag industry. That is on this list, and that is not 
going to happen either between now and the end of the month.
  Then there is another item on the list: reauthorize the Federal 
Aviation Administration. We all heard news of some of the near misses 
or collisions of some of the aircraft at our airports, which is 
harrowing to listen to, especially for those of us who do a lot of 
flying. It is important that we update and reauthorize the Federal 
Aviation Administration in the reauthorization bill.
  Over the last couple of years, travelers--millions of travelers--have 
dealt with widespread flight cancellations, paralyzing staffing 
shortages, and rising prices. As I said, we witnessed or read about 
some jarring safety issues, including these near collisions on runways 
in Austin, where I live, and in Minneapolis and New York. The Agency is 
clearly lacking when it comes to safety, efficiency, and reliability. I 
hope we can address these and other issues with the FAA 
reauthorization.

  But it ain't going to happen between now and the end of September, 
when the current authorization expires. Again, this is part of a 
design--a design to fail--to meet our responsibilities to do things 
like pass the FAA reauthorization.
  I know Senator Cruz and Senator Moran are leading the effort on our 
side of the aisle on the FAA reauthorization, and I know they are 
committed to helping the Agency meet the challenges of today and the 
future. I am sure Chairman Cantwell feels exactly the same way.
  But last and, certainly, not least, the two Chambers need to resolve 
the differences between the two bills that we passed--our respective 
versions of the National Defense Authorization Act--so we can send the 
final bill to President Biden. Thanks to the hard work of Senator Reed 
and Senator Wicker and the bipartisan effort in the Armed Services 
Committee, the Senate bill received an overwhelming vote of support, 86 
to 11. It invests in our military bases, our defense stockpiles, our 
modernization efforts, and, of course, American servicemembers.
  The NDAA is vital to our military readiness, and there is no reason 
it couldn't be completed before the end of the month. But under Senate 
Majority Leader Schumer's leadership, the Senate has developed a major 
legislative pileup. If these were cars, this would be

[[Page S3875]]

a major pileup. The majority leader has procrastinated when it comes to 
the Senate's most important duties.
  In the next few weeks, we need to pass government funding, the farm 
bill, FAA reauthorization, and the final version of the NDAA. These are 
some of the most fundamental responsibilities of Congress, each of 
which comes with a clear deadline, which we are preparing to blow 
through.
  I am disappointed that we are now rushing to complete an impossible 
task of completing all of these bills before September 30. It is 
impossible. It is not going to happen.
  As I said, it didn't have to be this way. There is only one person 
with the authority and the responsibility to avoid this situation: the 
senior Senator from New York, the Senate majority leader. He is the 
only one who can set the Senate agenda and move a bill across the 
floor. The Presiding Officer and I can't do it as rank-and-file 
members, but the majority leader can, and he simply has failed to do 
so.
  There is a lot riding on the Senate's productivity this month, and we 
owe it to the American people to do our best to get the job done with 
the cards that the majority leader has dealt us.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Tennessee.