[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 160 (Saturday, September 30, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4885-S4887]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

    SECURING GROWTH AND ROBUST LEADERSHIP IN AMERICAN AVIATION ACT--
                               Continued

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the 
Senate will resume consideration of H.R. 3935, which the clerk will 
report.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 3935) to amend title 49, United States Code, 
     to reauthorize and improve the Federal Aviation 
     Administration and other civil aviation programs, and for 
     other purposes.

  Pending:

       Schumer (for Murray) amendment No. 1292, in the nature of a 
     substitute.
       Schumer amendment No. 1293 (to amendment No. 1292), to add 
     an effective date.
       Schumer motion to commit the bill to the Committee on 
     Commerce, Science, and Transportation, with instructions, 
     Schumer amendment No. 1294, to add an effective date.
       Schumer amendment No. 1295 (to (the instructions) amendment 
     No. 1294), to modify the effective date.

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. WELCH. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.


                      Remembering Dianne Feinstein

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I rise today in joining a number of my 
colleagues to pay tribute to the legacy of Senator Dianne Feinstein.
  In the last couple of days since her unfortunate passing, much has 
been said about my friend Dianne. She was a trailblazer who helped pave 
the way for generations of women seeking public office. As the first 
female mayor of San Francisco, she was elected to the Senate in 1992, 
the so-called Year of the Woman, and she helped triple the number of 
female Senators from two to six. Think about that. That was just in 
1992. Although we still have a long way to go as we march toward true 
representation in this body, today there are four times that many women 
sitting in this Chamber, and, as many of them have already noted from 
the floor, it is in part because of the legacy of Dianne Feinstein.
  Dianne was propelled into office because she believed in the power of 
public service to improve people's lives. It is why, having witnessed 
the devastating effect of gun violence firsthand--literally coming up 
on the murder of then-Supervisor Harvey Milk--she was such a champion 
of gun safety.
  Believing that weapons of war had no place on our streets, she 
authored and shepherded into law the assault weapons ban. Although I 
acknowledge that

[[Page S4886]]

my own record on this issue has been somewhat complicated, I am 
convinced that this country would be far better and would be far safer 
if that assault weapons ban was restored today.
  In this and so many other ways, Senator Feinstein was long ahead of 
the curve. She was a lifelong champion of equality, civil rights, 
immigrants, and the gay community. She was proud to call herself an 
environmentalist long before that term was even used.
  Much has been said about her legacy on these issues, but as the 
current chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I want to call 
particular attention to her leadership on national security.
  Let me cite right now that I have been in pretty regular contact with 
my dear friend, the former chairman of the Senate Intelligence 
Committee, the former Senator from North Carolina, Richard Burr, who 
also wanted, through me, to express his condolences as well.
  Among her many firsts, Senator Feinstein was the first woman to chair 
the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. She served as chairman 
from 2009 to 2015 and vice chairman from 2015 to 2017.
  During her time as chair of the committee, the Senator led the 
drafting and subsequent enactment of six consecutive authorization 
bills following a 6-year span where we didn't do the IAA. These bills 
are crucial tools to exercise oversight of the U.S. intelligence 
community. They authorize funding for intelligence activities and add 
or amend legislation affecting the IC.
  But perhaps one of her greatest legacies was her unflinching 
investigation into the brutal detention and interrogation methods used 
by the CIA in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
  As part of that report, which, I can tell you as a member of the 
committee at that point, without her persistence, her diligence, would 
not have gone through, as a part of that effort, the report that came 
out of her investigation into CIA methods was a report that--committee 
staff examined more than 6.3 million pages of records. They wrote a 
6,700-page report, backed up by 38,000 footnotes, and eventually 
released a public, 500-page, declassified, executive summary detailing 
a host of brutal practices used against detainees, without--and this 
was hard for those of us who supported the IC--without yielding 
actionable intelligence to prevent terrorist attacks.
  In doing so--again, I was a witness to this--Chairman Feinstein went 
toe-to-toe with the CIA, went toe-to-toe with Presidents of two 
different parties and others who were determined to bury that part of 
the CIA's history. She made sure that we had a full reckoning.
  I joined the committee in 2011, 2 years into Dianne's tenure as 
chair. From her, I learned about both the intel, the necessity that 
this committee be independent, that it needs to be bipartisan, and that 
our role in oversight was critically important.
  In so many ways, I am proud of the fact that under Senator Burr and 
now under my tenure as leadership, we call ourselves the Senate 
Intelligence Committee--the most bipartisan, fully functioning 
committee not only in the Senate but in the whole Congress.
  On a personal note, I remember--and I have such greater appreciation 
for this now--when I was the new guy on the committee, I sat at the far 
end of the dais. My particular interests were in satellites and 
overhead. Whenever we had a hearing on the essential role that NGA, 
NRO, and other Agencies play, in terms of overseeing the oversight of 
our satellite imagery, and the fact that I felt we were sometimes 
investing way too much in legacy systems, Dianne would always let me go 
the extra minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes in terms of my questioning. That 
is a type of courtesy and understanding that I have tried to emulate in 
my role as chairman.
  Sometimes, at the end of a long hearing, if you are the guy or the 
gal at the end of the dais in your chair, you like things to be wrapped 
up fairly quickly. She was always courteous. She was always 
understanding. She allowed me the lane where I slowly developed some 
level of expertise. And I stand here today proud of my work on that 
committee.
  But I learned so much from her about how to operate--how to operate 
with integrity, how to operate in a bipartisan fashion, and with always 
the eye on the ball that the work that the men and the women of the 
intelligence community does is absolutely critical. But it is also 
equally critical for those of us in Congress who are entrusted with the 
oversight responsibility of that community that we do our job as well.
  Like so many of my colleagues, we have lost a mentor. I lost a 
friend, and the Senate has lost a giant.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Virginia.


                         Continuing Resolution

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, thank you for the courtesy of allowing me 
to speak again. I just spoke about Dianne Feinstein.
  Later today, the House is potentially acting on legislation. One of 
the things Dianne was always clear-eyed about was our national security 
threats and the challenges posed by autocratic nation-states like 
Russia. I implore my friends in the House--a House that just this week, 
by a vote of 330-plus, said they did not want to walk away from 
Ukraine, our commitment at this moment, our military support, our 
diplomatic support, our State Department support at this critical 
junction in this world.
  Well, in a crass, crass move, Republican House leadership is not only 
trying to remove all assistance for Ukraine but literally trying to 
prevent our Defense Department, our State Department, and other 
Agencies from transferring already-existing funds to those necessary 
areas that are going to be most in jeopardy if we walk away from 
Ukraine at this moment in time. I implore those who have said time and 
again that we need to stand up for Ukraine not to walk away at this 
moment in time.
  The truth is, what happens today, as European elections over the next 
few weeks with forces that are not in support of democracy's continued 
fight against the autocracy that Putin represents, the brutal 
dictatorship that Putin represents--they will be watching.
  I hope that we stand firm, as so many of us in this body alone, north 
of 85 Senators, have come to the floor at one point or another or in 
voting have said they want to stand with the people of Ukraine in their 
strong fight. We are going to have to address that question later today 
as we sort through these final hours before the imminent and totally 
avoidable shutdown happens at midnight tonight.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I come to the floor this afternoon to 
urge my colleagues to keep moving this bipartisan CR forward and remind 
them that this isn't the be-all, end-all of legislating this year. I 
really appreciate the efforts, including considering a different 
message in this bill.
  I have a message for everyone who still wants this bill to do a 
little bit more. This is not the last bill this Congress is ever going 
to pass, but it is how we avoid a devastating shutdown. The issue that 
the Senator from Virginia just talked about in terms of making sure we 
are strong--not just here at home, but across the globe--I can assure 
you, whatever other issue you care about, whether it is childcare or 
the border or farmers or schools or air travel or rural healthcare or 
veterans, you name it--a government shutdown is not going to make it 
better. It will hurt our families. It will hurt our economy, and it 
will hurt our national security. And, by the way, it is going to be 
more expensive than just keeping things open.
  That is why the first order of business for all of us, no matter what 
you care about, has to be getting our bipartisan CR passed. Once we 
take care of priority No. 1 and keep the lights on, we can and we 
obviously will keep talking about how to deal with the pressing 
challenges of childcare, the border, natural disasters, and more. And 
we can get back to passing our 12 bipartisan appropriations bills to 
provide full-year funding.
  Let's get this done so we can avoid a complete disaster for families 
and get back to making progress on all the other issues we all care 
about. I urge my colleagues to vote yes on the motion to invoke cloture 
on the substitute.

[[Page S4887]]

  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Warren). The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. MERKLEY. Madam President, the bill that we will be voting on 
shortly reflects intense bipartisan collaboration here in the Senate, 
the type of collaboration that we need to see a lot more of in this 
institution.
  I share a lot of credit--let me put it differently. I thank the 
coleads, Senator Murray and Senator Collins, for working so hard to get 
all the appropriation bills out of committee and finding a path forward 
for us to make sure that, with the CR, we can keep the government open.
  It doesn't have things in it that I would like--a lot more disaster 
aid for folks around the country, a lot more support for Ukraine. But I 
think it represents exactly the type of modest package that is 
appropriate at this moment, while, as the chair of Appropriations 
pointed out, we will continue to work together in the month to come to 
pass the actual appropriation bills.
  The issue that I am very concerned about on the House side right now 
is that they are taking and putting together a package that has no 
support for Ukraine and that bans the administration from moving funds 
throughout the Defense Department and the State Department to be able 
to support Ukraine.
  If you want China and Russia being No. 1 and No. 2 in the world, then 
that would be the path to go. If you want to have dictatorships, 
authoritarian governments crush democracy, then that would be the way 
to go.
  But I want our vision of a republic, our vision of a democracy, our 
vision of a state that has freedom of speech and freedom of assembly to 
be able to be the model that expands freedom in this world.
  Let's support this package before us, and let's support a package 
that has both disaster aid and aid for Ukraine.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana.


                              Quorum Call

  Mr. BRAUN. 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. MURRAY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. BRAUN. I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard.
  The clerk will continue to call the roll.
  The legislative clerk continued to call the roll, and the following 
Senators entered the Chamber and answered to their names:

                             [Quorum No. 2]

     Braun
     Brown
     Cortez Masto
     Duckworth
     Hyde-Smith
     Kelly
     King
     Markey
     Merkley
     Murray
     Padilla
     Reed
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Warner
     Warren
     Whitehouse
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. A quorum is not present.
  The majority leader.


                           Motion to Instruct

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I move to instruct the Sergeant At Arms 
to request the presence of absent Senators, and I ask for the yeas and 
nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Michigan (Ms. Stabenow) 
is necessarily absent.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from South Carolina (Mr. Scott).
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 49, nays 48, as follows:


 =========================== NOTE =========================== 

  
  On page S4887, September 30, 2023, second column, the following 
appears: The result was announced--yeas 49, nays 48, as follows:
  
  The online Record has been corrected to read: The yeas and nays 
resulted--yeas 49, nays 48, as follows:


 ========================= END NOTE ========================= 


                      [Rollcall Vote No. 246 Leg.]

                                YEAS--49

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

                                NAYS--48

     Barrasso
     Blackburn
     Boozman
     Braun
     Britt
     Budd
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Collins
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hagerty
     Hawley
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     Lummis
     Marshall
     McConnell
     Moran
     Mullin
     Murkowski
     Paul
     Ricketts
     Risch
     Romney
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Schmitt
     Scott (FL)
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Tillis
     Tuberville
     Vance
     Wicker
     Young

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Scott (SC)
     Stabenow
  (Mr. OSSOFF assumed the Chair.)
  (Mr. HICKENLOOPER assumed the Chair.)
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Ossoff). A quorum is present.
  The majority leader.


 =========================== NOTE =========================== 

  
  On page S4887, September 30, 2023, second column, the following 
appears: The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Ossoff). The majority leader.
  
  The online Record has been corrected to read: The PRESIDING 
OFFICER (Mr. Ossoff). A quorum is present. The majority leader.


 ========================= END NOTE ========================= 


  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote, and I lay 
it on the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________