[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9964-9976]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  TRANSPORTATION, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES 
              APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2016--CONFERENCE REPORT

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
resume consideration of the conference report to accompany H.R. 2577, 
which the clerk will report.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       Conference report to accompany H.R. 2577, a bill making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, and 
     Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies for the 
     fiscal year ending September 30, 2016, and for other 
     purposes.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the time until the 
vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the conference report will be 
equally divided between the two leaders or their designees.
  The Senator from New York.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I rise because I want to share a few 
words on the Zika component of the conference report on the MILCON-VA 
appropriations bill, which will be on the floor shortly.
  Unfortunately, but maybe not surprisingly, my friends on the other 
side of the aisle very well bowed down to their friends on the hard 
right and riddled this bill on Zika with poison pill provisions. If 
there was ever a bill designed to fail, it is what the Republicans have 
put together on Zika today. This bill is not only going to fail, it was 
designed to fail from the very beginning.
  Democrats have pushed for over 4 months for legislation on Zika, ever 
since the CDC and the administration requested $1.9 billion in 
emergency funding to deal with the threat. We tried to work with our 
friends on the other side of the aisle, but after we compromised at 
$1.1 billion, after we reached a supposed agreement, and passed it in 
this body with 89 votes--the overwhelming majority from both parties--
Republicans turned around, without any consultation with Democrats in 
the House and Senate, and rammed through a wish list of poison pill 
riders that defeat the very purpose of the effort. Rather than working 
with Democrats to produce something both parties can support, 
Republicans abandoned compromise in favor of an extreme rightwing bill.
  These changes reflected in the conference report have poisoned the 
bill. It now cuts Ebola funding by $107 million. It cuts funding for 
the Affordable Care Act by $543 million. It sets a precedent that 
emergencies have to be funded when, in the past, they have not been. 
Worst of all, it restricts funding for family planning services 
provided by health centers and providers like Planned Parenthood.
  We know Zika can be sexually transmitted. We know it poses the 
biggest danger to pregnant women and their unborn children, many of 
whom rely on health centers and Planned Parenthood as their primary 
health care provider, but Republicans cannot miss a chance to whack 
Planned Parenthood, even if their services are exactly what can help 
prevent the spread of this debilitating virus.
  I listened to my friend, the majority leader. Two words never passed 
his lips as he talked about the bill--Planned Parenthood. Why? Because 
he knows saying don't fund Planned Parenthood is a poison pill if there 
ever was one. He knows it was a poison pill last year when we were 
negotiating a short-term budget agreement and there would be no budget 
if it was in there.
  Our Republican leaders are engaged in a cynical game. They have to 
assure the hard right they are not funding anything, even something as 
important as Zika, but they know the American people demand funding, 
and so they put in these poison pills. It is a cynical game and it 
shall not stand.
  My prediction is Republicans will come back after this amendment, as 
they know this proposal will be defeated--they knew it--and they will 
come back within a few weeks with their tail between their legs saying: 
Let's pass something. We know we have to do something on Zika.

[[Page 9965]]

  Why they don't avoid that embarrassment is beyond me. To say that 
this Zika legislation is a day late and a dollar short would be a 
drastic understatement. It is 4 months late, $800 billion short, and 
now, to boot, it cannibalizes health care funding from other important 
priorities.
  Then, after all of this, the distinguished majority leader came to 
the floor yesterday to accuse Democrats of playing politics with the 
bill because we were concerned with these changes. What a cynical and 
hypocritical thing to do. All Democrats have ever asked for on Zika was 
to give the CDC and the other agencies the funding they said they 
needed to do the job of protecting the American people, pregnant 
mothers, and their babies from this dangerous virus.
  It wasn't Democrats who said: Let's give CDC only about half the 
money they said they need. No, Republicans did that. It wasn't 
Democrats who tried to jam through poison pill amendments to the bill 
in the dead of night with no debate. No, Republicans did that. It 
wasn't Democrats who dithered for months on end until mosquito season 
was already upon us to bring a bill forward. No, Republicans did that. 
And it wasn't Democrats who loaded up the bill with partisan plums, 
saying that unless the other side passes this bill, they are playing 
politics. Oh, no, it was Republicans who did that.
  Moreover, these tactics mean one thing: Our Republican colleagues and 
particularly the Republican leadership, in both the House and Senate, 
are not taking the Zika threat seriously. It is no way to handle an 
urgent public health crisis.
  We will shortly hear from my friend from Florida who can document 
what is happening in his State and what will happen in many other 
States as the warmer summer season moves on. There are 2,600 Americans 
who have been diagnosed with the virus, including over 400 pregnant 
women. Six pregnancies have already been deemed to have birth defects 
as a result of Zika. Americans in Puerto Rico are especially impacted 
with 1,800 locally acquired cases. It is a tragedy, and we should be 
doing something in a bipartisan way--Democrats and Republicans 
together--working to solve an emergency. But, no, we get a bill riddled 
with poison pills done by one party, designed to fail in obeisance to 
the rightwing, which doesn't want to spend any money.
  Our public health and safety is at risk. I hope my Republican 
colleagues will stop this partisan gambit and come around to work with 
us on the issue in a serious bipartisan way. We are willing to 
compromise, as the great leadership of the Senator from Washington 
showed when she came to compromise with the Senator from Tennessee on a 
proposal that didn't do everything we wanted, but we voted for it. I 
hope that can happen again. If saner heads are going to prevail, it has 
to be in this body. I hope Leader McConnell would rethink the strategy 
of going along with the cynical House bill so we can negotiate 
something that will do good for America.
  I yield the floor.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I am furious and fed up at Congress's 
inability to act in a bipartisan way to protect us from the Zika virus. 
The U.S. is facing a public health emergency. Americans are desperate 
for Congress to respond. Instead, the House of Representatives passed a 
Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Zika conference report 
at 3 a.m. with no debate and no Democratic input.
  The bill passed by House Republicans doesn't recognize Zika as a 
public health emergency. It nickels and dimes our efforts to respond. 
It makes it more difficult for women to access birth control. And it 
waives safety rules for the use of pesticides. Now the House has left 
town and expects the Senate to pass this terrible bill.
  The facts are clear: Zika is here. It disproportionately affects 
women and babies. It causes horrible birth defects. And there is no 
treatment or vaccine. If there was ever a time that Congress should act 
in a bipartisan way to counter a significant threat, it is now.
  We are now considering cloture on the conference report on Military 
Construction and Veterans Affairs and Zika appropriations. We began the 
conference with an open meeting between Democrats and Republicans, the 
House and the Senate. But when we got down to the last, hardest issues, 
Republicans decided among themselves and then told Democrats, ``take it 
or leave it.''
  That means no Democratic conferees signed the conference report, 
House or Senate. We can't sign it if it means leaving behind veterans, 
women's health, birth defects prevention, and clean water. I urge the 
Senate to reject cloture on this conference report and send conferees 
back to the drawing board.
  The Republican conference report is flawed for many reasons, 
including that it provides $1.1 billion, which is $800 million less 
than what the President requested to fight Zika.
  The Republican conference report also doesn't treat Zika like the 
emergency it is. The World Health Organization declared the Zika virus 
a public health emergency on February 1. And Zika meets the Budget Act 
criteria for emergency spending: It is urgent, unforeseen, and 
temporary. Yet Republicans insisted that we cut $750 million to pay for 
the response to Zika, including $543 million from the Affordable Care 
Act, $100 million from the Department of Health and Human Services, 
HHS, nonrecurring expense fund, and $107 million from Ebola response 
funds.
  When wildfires hit the West, Congress provided emergency funding. 
When flooding hit South Carolina and Texas last year, Congress provided 
emergency funding. Now, we have an infectious disease outbreak that we 
know causes serious birth defects, and Republicans insist our response 
be paid for.
  The conference report waives Clean Water Act requirements for the 
spraying of pesticides to control mosquitos. The need for this 
provision is a mystery to me, since the Clean Water Act already allows 
pesticides to be sprayed in pest emergencies.
  Under this bill, families can get birth control services from public 
health departments and hospitals, but not individual doctors or primary 
care clinics. This is important. The bill would make it more difficult 
for women to access birth control from their own doctors.
  I know the issue of birth control is difficult for some, but we know 
that Zika has terrible consequences for women and babies. The details 
about what Zika does to the brains of unborn children are truly 
horrific. In fact, evidence between Zika and birth defects is so 
conclusive that some countries are advising women to avoid pregnancy 
altogether.
  So the fact that this bill would make it more difficult for women to 
avoid pregnancy is truly astonishing to me. Republicans don't want to 
treat Zika as an emergency, and they don't want to expand access to 
birth control. It begs the question: Will they be willing to pay the 
costs associated with every child born in this country with Zika-
related birth defects? Dr. Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, estimated that cost to be $10 million per 
child.
  Lastly, the conference report is $500 million short of the Senate-
approved funding level for the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA. It 
cuts $250 million for needed maintenance for VA hospitals and clinics, 
more than half of which are 50 years or older. That means more leaking 
roofs and moldy conditions that make veterans sicker, not better.
  In the 4 months since the President requested Zika emergency funds, 
more people have been infected, and more babies have been born with 
birth defects. Today there are more than 2,600 people in the U.S. and 
its territories infected with Zika, including nearly 500 pregnant 
women.
  The number of those infected is growing, and the costs associated 
with infection are growing. We can't nickel and dime our way out of 
this emergency. We know what the threat is, and we know how to respond 
to it. So, please, whatever differences we have on other bills, let's 
come together to reach agreement on a better conference report.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.

[[Page 9966]]




                       Flooding in West Virginia

  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, wow, I come to the floor of the Senate to 
talk about a real emergency that just occurred in my State of West 
Virginia. I know many of you across the country have witnessed and seen 
the terrible destruction from the sudden flash flood that ravaged West 
Virginia on Thursday in the late afternoon and evening. I come with 
such a heavy heart.
  When I hear the debate going on again about who is more cynical and 
who has poison pills, all I can think about is the little boy I saw at 
the Volunteer Fire Department in Clendenin on Friday. His dad is a fire 
chief, and he had been going to the fire department all the time since 
the time he was born. He is about 10 years old. We were standing in 6 
inches of mud, with destruction everywhere in his town. I introduced 
myself to him, and I said: I am Shelley. I am your Senator. How are you 
doing? He just melted into tears because he was so distraught at what 
he saw, a place he loved, the fire station just ripped apart. People he 
knows were kicked out of their homes, trying to figure out how to 
rebuild.
  To me, that is a real emergency. That is a real something we in the 
Senate and those in the State and those local responders are responding 
to now. I think about our State, I think about all the nicknames of the 
State of West Virginia. The one I think I like the most is ``Almost 
Heaven.'' Well, ``Almost Heaven'' wasn't almost Heaven last Thursday. 
``Wild and Wonderful.'' It was wild, all right but not so wonderful.
  I think the one that really has come to epitomize our West 
Virginians, our people, is ``West Virginia Strong''. I saw the National 
Guard, the West Virginia Department of Transportation, public elected 
officials, emergency services personnel, and EMTs who were up all night 
doing very dangerous boat rescues to get people from the roofs of their 
homes and the roofs of their cars. It came so fast.
  I visited the shelter at Capital High School yesterday. A man told me 
he, the woman he lives with, and their dog just ran out with nothing. 
It started at his ankles, and 5 minutes later it was at his waist. That 
is how fast it was. Yet he still had that West Virginia strong attitude 
of: We are going to be OK. We are going to find a way. He had lost his 
car, his four-wheeler. All of his belongings are gone. He has nothing. 
Now he has a place to sleep in a high school gym.
  You know what. He has the American Red Cross right there, with 400 
volunteers from across the country so he has a warm place to sleep or a 
cool place to sleep away from the hot Sun, meals, the availability of 
cleaning supplies, and a very generous community that has come together 
to try to help him. That is West Virginia strong, and that is what 
fortifies me today.
  When I think of the stories of bravery and rescue, when you look at 
the 23 West Virginians who lost their lives so suddenly--a little 4-
year-old boy, Edward McMillion from Ravenswood, WV, was swept away in 
the rushing water. We just have story after story of people who didn't 
know what was going to happen to them, who didn't know how to get out, 
who found a way to brave through this awful thing.
  Then there were the stories of the communities coming together. When 
we were traveling through Kanawha County, I ran into some people from 
Parkersburg and some people from Martinsburg, which probably doesn't 
mean much to the folks in the Gallery or to the Presiding Officer 
because they don't know where that is, but it is 5 hours away. They 
just packed up their trucks, put water and food in them, and came to 
the aid of their fellow West Virginians. A lot of faith communities, a 
lot of churches, the Mountain Mission, all kinds of volunteers have 
come to help to be West Virginia strong, to be West Virginians helping 
West Virginians.
  The private sector has really stepped up. AT&T, Sprint, Frontier--our 
telecommunications people have really gone the extra mile to make sure 
that people have service and are able to charge their phones. When they 
had to leave their homes, they might have had their phone in their 
pocket, but they sure didn't have their phone charger. While that might 
sound like a little thing, it is a big thing. That is your lifeline to 
your family--to calling for help and for resources.
  Walmart, Proctor & Gamble, CSX, and Dow Chemical--I am leaving people 
out--also helped out. Anheuser-Busch brought a bunch of water in to 
help. I have more stories of companies that have given their corporate 
supplies to help West Virginia get back on its feet. I am basically 
here to say thank you.
  Some of the communities, such as Clendenin, White Sulfur Springs, 
Rupert, and Rainelle--I actually thought Rainelle's name is Rainelle, 
and, boy, did they get rained on. They are probably regretting the 
name. They lost a lot of people in Rainelle. That small community has 
been crushed.
  FEMA has been phenomenal. The declaration from the President, for 
which we are very grateful, came immediately for the three counties. We 
are hoping to get other counties, such as Webster County, Roane County, 
Clay County, Pocahontas County, and Fayette County included in these 
declarations. Fifty-five homes in Webster Springs were totally wiped 
out. It has a population of 750. We all know and love the beautiful 
West Virginia mountains, but when the valleys fill, they fill rapidly 
and disastrously.
  FEMA is on the ground. They have opened up their disaster recovery 
centers in White Sulfur Springs, Greenbrier, and other places. They 
will be all over the place.
  I will tell people that what I have learned from this is that you 
have to get registered for individual assistance immediately. Call the 
phone number, go to the Web site, or go to the disaster recovery center 
because that starts the process, and help is there. The Small Business 
Administration is there, as well, to try and help.
  The various health departments are providing tetanus shots free of 
charge because, as we know, sitting water and 90-degree temperatures 
are scenarios for disease.
  What I was astounded by was the mud. We know that you can get water 
in your home and business, but the mud is just so destructively 
horrifying to look at and so difficult to clean.
  West Virginians need help for all types of different things. People 
from all around the Nation have been offering to help. We have been 
inundated with people wanting to help. People want to come and lift up 
another American and lift up another family. I say thank you for that, 
but this is going to be a long-term project. When you have the kind of 
destruction we suffered, it goes on for a long time. During the first 
week you get a lot of help, but the weeks after that, when people are 
trying to rebuild and trying to get temporary transitional housing--
these are the kind of things that families need.
  Just to give a little perspective on the situation, the National 
Weather Service said that the rainfall was historic. There was 10 to 12 
inches of rainfall in 8 hours. It was a 1,000-year event in terms of 
the rising waters. I live a half mile from the Elk River, which crested 
at 33.37 feet on Friday morning. The water rose more than 27 feet 
between Thursday afternoon and Friday morning and hit its highest crest 
in 125 years. This was a record-breaking event and very tragic for many 
of us.
  I wish to thank FEMA for all of the representation they brought 
forward. I thank all of the faith community, which has been phenomenal. 
I also thank the nonprofits, the United Way, and the Red Cross. I have 
such admiration and gratitude in my heart for what I saw firsthand and 
will see as the days move on.
  I will close the way I started. West Virginia people are just 
phenomenal. They are able to pick themselves up and still have a 
glimmer of hope in their eyes. Knowing that they will be OK and will be 
able to rebuild after having lost everything is just phenomenal.
  I was in a meeting yesterday, and the guy leading the charge from the 
United Way said: Everybody close your eyes and think about the last 
time you lost everything. I don't think a person in that room had ever 
lost everything.

[[Page 9967]]

  I thank you for all the thoughts and prayers that you kept in your 
heart for us. We feel them, we need them, and we appreciate them. It is 
a long road to recovery, but we are on our way. With your help and 
God's help, we will get there.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I want to start by saying how 
disappointed I was by the comments I heard from Republican leaders last 
night on Zika. It seems that after months and months of their delaying, 
after they rejected our bipartisan plan, kicked Democrats out of the 
negotiating room, and passed a partisan bill in the middle of the 
night, Republicans are now scrambling to blame anyone but themselves 
for their own inaction on Zika. It is absurd, it is irresponsible, and 
people across the country are not going to buy it.
  Republicans control Congress. They blocked action for months and 
months. They fought us at every step, and now that they finally 
realized that the American people aren't going to stand for inaction, 
they are desperately searching for excuses instead of honestly looking 
for solutions. But women and families aren't looking for Republicans to 
point fingers; they are looking for a serious response to Zika.
  We all know very well that Democrats and Republicans don't always see 
eye to eye, but one thing we should be able to agree on is that when 
there is a serious, national, and global public health threat, we 
should put our differences aside and work together to protect women, 
families, and communities. Unfortunately, when it comes to the Zika 
virus, Republicans are now doing the exact opposite.
  It has been 4 months since President Obama first put forward a strong 
emergency funding proposal. Even though we are in the midst of mosquito 
season, the House Republicans chose last week to double down on a 
partisan, pandering bill when it comes to this frightening virus. 
Instead of working with Democrats on a serious response to Zika, they 
voted to end the conference, pass an extremely partisan report in the 
middle of the night, and leave town.
  There is a lot to be concerned about in this legislation, but, 
critically, this proposal would impose politically motivated 
restrictions that limit women's access to contraception and health care 
with providers they rely on. It should go without saying, but in the 
midst of a public health emergency that impacts women and families, the 
last thing Republicans should be doing is playing politics with women's 
health and making it harder for them to get care when and where they 
need it. It is truly frustrating, especially since just weeks ago, 
Senate Democrats and Republicans agreed on a bipartisan downpayment on 
the President's proposal, and that bipartisan legislation could have 
already passed the House and Senate, could have been signed into law by 
the President, and started helping women and families in need by now.
  Today, ahead of the Senate's vote on this partisan political proposal 
that came out of the House in the middle of the night last week, we 
have a clear message for Republicans: Enough is enough--enough with the 
partisanship, enough with the poison pills, and enough with using 
women's health to pander to the tea party. We have a narrow window to 
get an effective response to this virus under way, and every infection 
that we prevent now is a potential tragedy averted for a family in the 
communities we serve.
  Democrats are ready to work together, just as we have been for 
months. I urge Republicans to come back to the negotiating table and 
work with us on a real response to a truly serious public health 
threat. Women and families are expecting us to act and have already 
waited long enough.
  I thank the Presiding Officer, and I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.
  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, it was my understanding that the Senator 
from Hawaii was to speak next.
  I ask through the Chair if the Senator from South Dakota will let me 
go on and make a comment.
  Mr. THUNE. And I will follow, correct?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, we have just a short time before the vote. 
The President made a request for emergency funding in the amount of 
$1.9 billion 4 months ago. This is a time when the Nation has an 
emergency. It doesn't matter if it is an earthquake, a flood, a 
wildfire, a hurricane, or a volcano, we have always stepped forward. If 
you don't believe this Zika crisis is an emergency, well, just wait. 
The tale tell signs are coming.
  We already have 50 confirmed cases of Zika in the United States. 
There are 2,600 Americans who are infected with the virus, and that 
includes 500 pregnant women. Obviously, the southern States, such as my 
State of Florida, are affected much more than other States. Just 
yesterday there were three new cases of the virus reported in Florida, 
which brings the State's total to 223, including 40 pregnant women. 
These numbers are only going to increase.
  Four months after the request for emergency funding, the House--in 
the dark of night, with no opportunity to have a debate--passed a bill 
to deal with this virus, and as you have heard from many, it is not 
serious. Instead, it is another attempt to use an emergency must-pass 
bill to try to further extremist political agendas. It cuts money for 
Puerto Rico at a time that Puerto Rico can hardly stand on its own 
financially, and it cuts money for family planning.
  The CDC has confirmed that Zika can be sexually transmitted. What did 
I say? They cut money for family planning, and there are over 480 
pregnant women in the United States who are presently being monitored 
for signs of the infection. As we look for ways to prevent the spread 
of this sexually transmitted disease, the fact that this bill limits 
access to contraceptives that could help curb the spread of the virus 
is exactly the reverse of what makes sense.
  Why can't we grow up and get to the point that we don't have to play 
partisan politics? This is a real threat, and it is a serious threat. 
The CDC has confirmed that Zika does, in fact, cause birth defects. 
There have been four babies born with microcephalus in the country, and 
two of them died shortly after birth. We have seen the pictures, and we 
know how horrific and how tragic it is for the families involved. So we 
need to stop playing these political games. It is time to treat this as 
a real emergency, and it is time to pass the appropriations bill 
without all of this political agenda added to it.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Dakota.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, in a few short moments Senate Democrats 
will have a decision to make. Will they side with American families and 
expectant mothers dealing with the Zika virus or will they side with 
their far left political allies? According to media reports, 
unfortunately, that outcome is increasingly clear. Senate Democrats 
will once again side with their political allies rather than working 
with Republicans on a solution to keep women safe from the Zika virus.
  Mr. President, Democrats have apparently decided to engage in their 
favorite game of late--refusing to take yes for an answer. It happened 
last week with terrorism. Democrats urged us to pass legislation to 
keep guns out of the hands of terrorists, but when Senator Cornyn 
offered an amendment to do just that, Democrats opposed it almost 
unanimously. This week it is Zika funding.
  Six weeks ago, Democrats and Republicans from the relevant committees 
in the Senate got together and agreed on a bill to provide $1.1 billion 
to fight Zika. That bill then came to the floor, and every Democrat 
voted for it on the floor of the Senate--every single Democrat.
  Last week, House and Senate negotiators reconciled the House and 
Senate bills and agreed on Zika funding in the amount of $1.1 billion--
in other words, the exact same amount that

[[Page 9968]]

Senate Democrats unanimously supported 6 weeks ago. But now Democrats 
don't want to support it. Their reason is that the small grant program 
in this bill, most of which is intended for Puerto Rico, will not 
provide for more Federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
  This bill provides expanded funding for community health centers, 
public health departments, and hospitals. It actually funds more 
avenues for access to women's health care than what the President 
requested. The bill funds research into a Zika vaccine. It funds 
research into Zika treatments. It streamlines mosquito control efforts, 
since the best way to protect men, women, and babies from contracting 
the Zika virus is to make sure they do not get bitten by a mosquito in 
the first place.
  The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention--the lead 
government agency for fighting diseases--has said that the Republican 
bill will take care of immediate Zika funding needs. Yet Democrats are 
holding up this bill because it will not fund a handful of Planned 
Parenthood clinics in Puerto Rico.
  Seriously, Mr. President? Seriously? That is what this is about? 
Democrats like to position themselves as having the moral high ground. 
Again and again Democrats suggested that they were fiercely committed 
to fighting Zika while Republicans were dragging their feet on a public 
health crisis.
  Well, here is what I see today. I see Republicans ready to pass a 
Zika bill and send it to the President this minute, right now. And I 
see Democrats who are more interested in pacifying a Democrat special 
interest group than they are in actually doing anything about Zika. 
Purely and simply, that is what this is--a Democratic special interest 
group that snapped its fingers, and the Democrats have all come 
running.
  Forget all that urgency about getting Zika funding passed. Forget the 
scientists who are waiting for vaccine funding. And forget about 
mosquito control efforts. Apparently, none of that matters anymore. 
Republicans are ready to pass Zika funding, the same amount--I will 
repeat: the same amount--of funding Democrats already voted for 
unanimously in the Senate. We are ready to pass it right now, this 
minute, and send it to the President. We are just waiting for Democrats 
to agree.
  Mr. President, I hope they will not keep the American people waiting.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii.
  Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, yesterday I joined millions of Americans 
in celebrating the Supreme Court's decision that reaffirms a woman's 
right to access reproductive health care. This was the most important 
Supreme Court decision in decades to protect a woman's access to 
reproductive health care.
  I listened to my colleague just now, and, yes, the amount in the bill 
is the same. But this is not the same bill. This bill contains poison 
pills that will pay for the funding for Zika on the backs of the people 
of Puerto Rico and funding for Planned Parenthood. So today, in spite 
of yesterday's celebration of the Supreme Court's decision, it is clear 
we are reminded once again the fight to protect a woman's reproductive 
rights is not over.
  I was dismayed last week when House Republicans chose to play 
politics with a national public health emergency to continue their 
crusade against Planned Parenthood. The package we will be voting on 
this morning is profoundly irresponsible. Senators from both parties 
worked hard to forge a compromise Zika funding measure that would have 
provided the tools we need to prevent an outbreak. Instead, we will 
shortly be voting on an underfunded measure riddled with poison pills.
  This package is not equal to the crisis before us. It fails to 
recognize the real threat facing American women from Zika this summer. 
Zika is not just a mosquito-borne disease. It can also be sexually 
transmitted. That is why attacking Planned Parenthood in this bill is 
so foolish. Limiting access to family planning services now would put 
millions more women at risk of contracting Zika and giving birth to a 
child with microcephaly.
  The United States is fortunate not to have a widespread outbreak of 
Zika yet, but in Hawaii we are already feeling the impact of this 
virus. So far there have been 10 confirmed cases of Zika in Hawaii, and 
one child has been born with microcephaly.
  To meet this challenge, I have convened key leaders on Zika in 
Hawaii, including Governor David Ige, Hawaii director of health Dr. 
Virginia Pressler, health care providers, and Dr. Elliott Parks, who is 
developing a Zika vaccine on Oahu. They all shared one message: Federal 
funding right now is critical to get ahead of a widespread Zika 
outbreak. Dr. Parks has been using private funding to develop his 
vaccine, which could turn around our fight against Zika, and an 
infusion of Federal funds now could push him across the finish line.
  This summer is a critical moment in the fight against the Zika virus. 
In Hawaii, we already saw the devastating impact of a vector-borne 
disease when we confronted a major outbreak of Dengue. We need the same 
national commitment and investment to fight Zika that we provided to 
fight Ebola.
  Months have already passed since the President sent down his 
emergency funding request for Zika. We must act now by passing a clean 
supplemental spending bill, with no harmful riders to women.
  Zika is a public health crisis in the making, and I completely 
disagree with my colleagues who continue to say that we should support 
this bill because it is what we have already agreed to. It is not. It 
is a profoundly different bill that continues the Republican attacks 
against women's reproductive rights.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, do I understand that we are in the 
parliamentary procedure where the vote has already been called for at 
11 o'clock?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct.
  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, may I be recognized for 2 minutes?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has no time. That will take 
consent.
  Mr. NELSON. Say again.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. That will take consent of the Senate. There is 
no time remaining for the minority.
  Mr. NELSON. Well, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 2 minutes, 
until the vote at 11 clock, in order to bring the Senate up to date on 
what has happened to the community of Orlando.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. COCHRAN. Reserving the right to object, we are trying to set up a 
conversation about the conference report, and I wonder, would it be 
inconvenient for the Senator to defer?
  Mr. NELSON. I can certainly--I didn't see anybody on the floor, and 
that is why----
  Mr. COCHRAN. We were just passing through, checking to see what the 
order was, and I understand there is a standing order.
  So we are going to wind up, we hope, with just a few minutes of 
conversation about the conference report.
  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I can speak later in the day.
  Mr. COCHRAN. I thank the Senator.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Mississippi.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, we have come to a point where it is 
timely that we urge the Senate to approve the Military Construction and 
Veterans Affairs conference report.
  This conference agreement increases funding for veterans programs by 
nearly 9 percent, including a 4.1-percent increase in discretionary 
funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs. The agreement provides 
funding for veterans health care, benefit claims processing, and 
medical research. The agreement funds housing for military personnel 
and their families and enhances the capabilities of U.S. military 
forces.
  The conference agreement also includes $1.1 billion in emergency 
supplemental funding to fight the Zika virus. This is the same amount 
previously approved by the Senate. These funds will be used for 
mosquito control, vaccine

[[Page 9969]]

development, and health services. The conference agreement also 
enhances mosquito control efforts by eliminating duplicative permitting 
requirements for approved pesticides. This provision is specific to 
combating the Zika virus, and it expires after 180 days.
  The conference agreement carries rescissions of previously 
appropriated funds that are not needed for their original purpose. The 
fact that rescissions are included is not novel or unique. For example, 
the appropriations bill that provided funding to fight the Ebola virus 
included nearly $5 billion in discretionary rescissions and $2.5 
billion in mandatory rescissions.
  This conference agreement is the result of extensive bipartisan 
negotiations. It is a good bill, and it should be sent to the President 
without delay. I urge the adoption of the conference report.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time has expired.


                             Cloture Motion

  Pursuant to rule XXII, the Chair lays before the Senate the pending 
cloture motion, which the clerk will state.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the conference 
     report to accompany H.R. 2577, an act making appropriations 
     for the Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban 
     Development, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending 
     September 30, 2016, and for other purposes.
         Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, Mike Rounds, Thad Cochran, 
           Roy Blunt, John Barrasso, Marco Rubio, Lamar Alexander, 
           Tom Cotton, Bill Cassidy, John Hoeven, Thom Tillis, 
           Jeff Flake, James M. Inhofe, Tim Scott, Shelley Moore 
           Capito, Steve Daines.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum 
call has been waived.
  The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the 
conference report to accompany H.R. 2577, an act making appropriations 
for the Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban 
Development, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 
30, 2016, and for other purposes, shall be brought to a close?
  The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 52, nays 48, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 112 Leg.]

                                YEAS--52

     Alexander
     Ayotte
     Barrasso
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Burr
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Coats
     Cochran
     Collins
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Donnelly
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Flake
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hatch
     Heller
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kirk
     McCain
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Paul
     Perdue
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Vitter
     Wicker

                                NAYS--48

     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Boxer
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Coons
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Hirono
     Kaine
     King
     Klobuchar
     Lankford
     Leahy
     Lee
     Manchin
     Markey
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Peters
     Reed
     Reid
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall
     Warner
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Flake). On this vote, the yeas are 52, the 
nays are 48.
  Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted 
in the affirmative, the motion is rejected.
  The Republican leader.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I enter a motion to reconsider the 
vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The motion is entered.


                            Order for Recess

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
recess from 12:30 p.m. until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus 
meetings.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, here is where we are. We have a public 
health crisis descending on our country. We have been talking about 
this for 3 months. The administration and the CDC--all involved--said 
we need to get this Zika funding bill done before the Fourth of July--
before the Fourth of July. This conference report, which was just 
prevented from passage, has exactly the same funding level that every 
single Democrat voted for when it left the Senate--exactly the same 
funding level.
  We know that if we don't get this job done, we won't have a vaccine 
within a year and a half. In the short term, we have been told that the 
single most effective thing we can do is kill as many mosquitoes as 
possible as fast as possible right here in the United States, in the 
southern part of our country.
  So here we are in an utterly absurd position of playing political 
games as this public health crisis mounts here in our country. Pregnant 
women all across America are looking at this with utter dismay, as we 
sit here in a partisan gridlock manufactured by the other side over 
issues that it is pretty hard for the general public to understand, 
refusing to pass the funds needed to address this public health 
concern.
  If that were not bad enough, we have also stopped the passage of the 
MILCON-Veterans' Administration appropriations conference report, which 
includes funding for our veterans and funding for construction at 
military bases.
  So here we are going into the Fourth of July and we have impeded the 
passage of funding to deal with an impending public health crisis and 
in the same vote managed to vote against veterans as well. I would say 
to my colleagues on the other side, that is where we will be when we 
come back here after this brief break for the Fourth of July. I have 
moved to reconsider. I have changed my vote and moved to reconsider. I 
would like to call on my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to 
think about this, to think about where they have left this issue for 
the American people. I have been approached in my State--and I know 
others have as well--by young women concerned about whether we are 
going to address this issue now, not at some time in the future.
  So when we get back, after we have had time to think about it all, we 
will address this matter again and hopefully respond, as our 
constituents all across America are asking us to respond, to this 
pending health care crisis that we all understand. There has been 
plenty of discussion about this for months. This Republican majority 
has met the deadline, but we can't pass it by ourselves here in the 
Senate. I hope our Democratic friends, upon reflection over the course 
of the few days we will be away, will come back with a different 
attitude, and I hope we can address this crisis and address it now.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, as I said this morning, and I will repeat 
it, I don't know what universe my friend is living in. What does he 
think--that we are all stupid, that the American people are dumb? They 
are not. They understand what is going on here.
  We have been trying for months--months. The President asked more than 
4 months ago that we would get money to fight Zika. He had already had 
to take $500 million from Ebola because the Republicans had done 
nothing. He said more than 4 months ago: We need money. The CDC needs 
money. The NIH needs money. We have a crisis on our hands.
  So we have been on top of this. We have worked hard. Republicans have 
objected five times to moving legislation that is meaningful. On April 
28, the senior Senator from Texas objected to my request. On May 18, he 
objected to my unanimous consent request again and to Senator Murray's 
request--all in the same day. On May 24, he objected to Senator 
Murray's request again for funding Zika. On May

[[Page 9970]]

24--the same day--Senator Enzi objected to Senator Nelson's unanimous 
consent request.
  He said that we need to reflect. Come on. Listen to this. If 
Republicans were sitting around, as I assume they were in the House, as 
we were all watching the takeover of the House floor by House 
Democrats--there wasn't anything going on on the House floor, so I 
assume--I assume--they were sitting around thinking: What can we do to 
fake funding for Zika? What can we do? Well, maybe what we can do is 
say we have money for Zika and then we could do everything we can to 
irritate them.
  So what they did is they said: Well, we realize this is a serious 
issue, but these pregnant women are the ones they are concerned about, 
so why don't we stop them from going to obtain birth control. We hate 
Planned Parenthood, so why don't we stop them from going to Planned 
Parenthood--these desperate women who need birth control and some 
advice about their situation.
  A significant number of American women--especially young women--go to 
Planned Parenthood. On the bill we have that was just turned down 
today, the Republicans said: You can't do that. We are not going to 
allow that.
  It restricts funding for birth control provided by Planned 
Parenthood. How about that one. But if that weren't enough, they cut 
veterans funding by $500 million. And then I guess they said: Well, 
maybe we can do something--we know we hate the environment. We don't 
like all those greenies, so why don't we do this. We know that it is 
important that we control mosquitoes. If we are going to do anything 
regarding mosquitoes, let's kill a lot of those mosquitoes. Oh, here is 
what we will do. We will exempt the Clean Water Act from the provisions 
of spraying pesticides.
  Against all environmental advice that we could get, they go ahead and 
do it anyway.
  They cut Ebola funding by another $107 million. They rescind 
ObamaCare by $543 million, after they have already failed 70 times to 
repeal it. But if that weren't enough, listen to this one. How about 
this one. I guess they said: What else could we do to really stick it 
in their eye? There is a prohibition now in the law that says that you 
can't fly the Confederate flag at our military cemeteries. Let's take 
that away. We want to be able to fly Confederate flags at military 
cemeteries.
  So they put that in there too. What do they think this is?
  When we passed here by almost 90 votes a bill that gave not as much 
money as we wanted, but $1.1 billion, it was treated as an emergency, 
as emergencies should be treated. It is no different from a flood or a 
fire or an earthquake. We passed it here and sent it to the House.
  The night they were there on the House floor, there was chaos. One of 
the Presiding Officers came out and in a matter of a minute said: We 
are going to pass a conference report funding Zika--funding Zika--but 
it makes it so that you can't go to Planned Parenthood for birth 
control. We are cutting $500 million from veterans, we are going to 
affect how we spray pesticides, we are going to cut Ebola funding, we 
are going to cut ObamaCare, and we are going to, just for good 
measure--just for good measure, we will throw in the Confederate flag 
thing.
  I was here a week ago, and 2,200 women at that time were infected 
with Zika. Here it is 1 week later, and it is 2,900. About 100 women a 
day are being infected with Zika. We don't know how many of these 
pregnant women--there are about 500 now who are pregnant who have been 
infected with Zika--we don't know how many of those women are going to 
give birth to children who are tremendously handicapped. They have 
shrunken brains, and their skulls are caved in sometimes.
  As we sit here dithering because of this foolishness on Planned 
Parenthood, the Clean Water Act, cutting veterans funding, Ebola 
funding, ObamaCare, Confederate flag, each day more women are prevented 
from getting the attention they need for birth control.
  It is unbelievable that someone would have the audacity to come to 
the floor and say: Well, it is the Democrats' fault. It is the 
Democrats' fault. We think you should get some money for Zika funding. 
It should be offset; it wouldn't be truly emergency funding. But in the 
process, go ahead and let's whack ObamaCare, Ebola money, veterans, 
Planned Parenthood, the Confederate flag.
  I mean, I can't imagine how anyone would have the audacity to come to 
the floor and talk about what a great piece of legislation this is. We 
know what is in the bill. We have had a woman who has worked so hard on 
this who is one of the premier Senators ever to serve in this body, 
Senator Mikulski from Maryland. Bill Nelson cares about this in Florida 
because his State has been hit harder than any other State. But Senator 
Mikulski has worked hard on appropriations bills. We know how important 
this bill is. We know how much she wants it passed, but she doesn't 
want it with this awful stuff that they have tried to do with Planned 
Parenthood, the Clean Water Act, veterans funding, and all of this 
other craziness, including the Confederate flag.
  It is hard to describe. I sat here this morning when the Senate was 
opening. I have been here a long time. I don't remember anything as 
outrageous and as shameful as this piece of legislation. Believe me, in 
the last 7\1/2\ years, the Republicans have come up with a lot, but 
this is the worst.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Republican whip.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I will tell you what shameful is. It is 
allowing more women of childbearing age to contract the Zika virus so 
their babies can end up looking like this. That is shameful.
  Make no mistake about it--our colleagues across the aisle have 
filibustered on a partisan basis a bipartisan bill that funded our 
anti-Zika efforts. It also included measures to support our veterans.
  So we need to be absolutely clear. I heard the Democratic leader 
basically saying that, because his party is a sore loser in a 
conference report they don't love, they are going to block funding to 
prevent more babies from contracting the birth defect that is suffered 
by this baby shown in this picture.
  Microcephaly, basically, is a shrunken skull. This baby's prognosis 
is not good. Women of child-bearing age are scared to death that their 
baby will end up like this baby. Yet their concerns have fallen on deaf 
ears among those in this Chamber--largely Democrats--who voted against 
advancing this legislation.
  We are getting closer to mosquito season. The warmer weather means we 
are going to see more mosquitoes, and we need to get this on the 
President's desk as soon as possible. The President himself asked for 
$1.9 billion in funding and is calling this a public health emergency, 
but our Democratic friends blocked it because they are sore losers in a 
conference negotiation report that they don't like.
  We know that this virus can affect an entire generation. This birth 
defect is heartbreaking and life-altering, and we know it has taken a 
tremendous toll in much of Latin America. Fortunately, so far the only 
cases of Zika virus in the United States, according to the Centers for 
Disease Control, are from people who have traveled to South America and 
Central America and contracted the virus there and came home. So at 
least so far, the mosquitoes that carry this disease are not spreading 
it in the United States, but we know that will change soon. That is why 
we heard from the Senators from Florida, Texas, and others. They talked 
about its potential impact in the United States and particularly in our 
warmer States.
  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, severe 
microcephaly like this is associated with seizures, intellectual 
disability, hearing and vision problems, and developmental delays, and 
that is assuming this child survives into adulthood, which most, 
unfortunately, do not. So how can our friends across the aisle who 
voted against this conference report, which provides Zika funding, look 
the mother of this baby in the eye and say: We have plenty of good 
reasons to deny help for more children like yours.

[[Page 9971]]

  We know this impacts not only children and these babies, but it also 
impacts whole families. It means mothers and fathers anxious about the 
welfare of their baby are regularly going to the doctor to gauge 
progress and check development. It means finding speech, occupational, 
and physical therapies to help the child live as long of a normal life 
as they can. One neurologist quoted in the New York Times said: ``There 
is no way to fix the problem, just therapies to deal with the 
downstream consequences.''
  So once a baby like this contracts the Zika virus, there is no way to 
fix the problem. The only defense is to prevent children like this from 
getting the Zika virus by getting the funding that Democrats just voted 
down to the medical authorities so they can look for a vaccine and so 
we can do mosquito eradication and the other things we know we need to 
do from a public health perspective to prevent more babies like this 
one from developing these devastating birth defects.
  As I said, there is no cure. Once a baby has it, he or she has it for 
life. That means that the family will have to live with the great 
uncertainty about the health and well-being of their child as they 
consider the lifelong implications of caring for a child with this kind 
of disability.
  We know we don't have to accept this as the outcome. We know there is 
a way to fight it, and that is by preventing the Zika virus from 
spreading to the United States, but unfortunately Senate Democrats just 
voted against that.
  As I said, there are already hundreds of travel-related cases of the 
virus scattered throughout the country, and I hope the administration 
does more to underscore the real health threats that exist when people 
travel to areas where Zika is at its worst. That is why I joined with 
one of our House colleagues who is a medical doctor, Congressman 
Michael Burgess, in asking Secretary of State Kerry and the Director of 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Frieden, how they 
are coordinating travel warnings to regions where Zika has run rampant. 
Texans and all Americans need to understand the risks associated with 
travel to those areas, and they need real-time, accurate information so 
they can determine whether they should alter their travel plans.
  Over the past few months, the mosquitoes who carry this virus have 
been inching their way north, and today locally transmitted cases have 
been reported in Puerto Rico and throughout the Caribbean. In other 
words, this virus, along with its devastating effects, is at our 
doorstep.
  I had a chance to visit with experts in my State at the University of 
Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and the Texas Medical Center, and 
they agree this is a major public health concern and we need to act and 
act soon. That is why we have to prepare for the arrival of the 
mosquitoes that carry this virus in the United States, something that 
our Democratic colleagues have just prevented. Fortunately, counties 
and cities throughout Texas have already been working hard to counter 
the spread of the virus.
  When I was in Houston recently, public health officials back in April 
told me about measures they were implementing to track and manage the 
spread of Zika throughout the Houston area, one of the most populous 
urban areas in the country, and the efforts to eradicate the breeding 
grounds of the mosquitoes that transmit the virus. Governor Abbott of 
Texas is also taking steps to make sure that we are as prepared as 
possible. But we can't do it alone. Unfortunately, the sort of help 
that is needed by States like mine for mothers and fathers who could 
have children like this has just been blocked.
  Governor Abbott invited the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention to review the State's plan to combat the virus and he 
appointed an infectious disease task force to make policy 
recommendations on how to prevent and respond to infectious diseases 
including Zika. States like mine and communities like Houston are doing 
their part, but Senate Democrats refuse to do their part. So it should 
go without saying that now on the frontlines of this major public 
health concern we need to respond at the Federal level. That is why it 
is shocking and shameful to see so many Senate Democrats oppose this 
bipartisan effort to guard against the virus, particularly because they 
have repeatedly called for an expedited resolution of this 
appropriations request.
  Over a month ago, the minority leader made clear that he viewed Zika 
funding a major priority and one that demanded action.
  Senator Reid, the Democratic leader, on May 23, 2016, said: ``Instead 
of gambling with the health and safety of millions of Americans, 
Republicans should give our Nation the money it needs to fight Zika, 
and they should do it now. Not next month, not in the fall--now.''
  Well, of course, Senator Reid was advocating bypassing the Senate 
legislative process, and it was really inappropriate for him to demand 
a $1.9 billion spending appropriation that adds to the deficit and debt 
without letting Congress do its job, but now the House and Senate have 
both passed legislation and agreed to a conference report that Senate 
Democrats have just voted down.
  Senator Reid said for us to fail to meet this crisis would be 
irresponsible, and yet he just advocated failing to meet that 
responsibility and address the crisis. We can't gamble with the health 
and well-being of women and children in this country just to serve 
partisan political needs, and most of the things that the Democratic 
leader raised in terms of objections to this conference report are just 
figments of his imagination.
  There is no mention of Planned Parenthood in this conference report. 
I would challenge anybody to find Planned Parenthood mentioned once. As 
the Democratic leader knows, Planned Parenthood is a Medicaid provider, 
and so Medicaid eligible individuals can still seek whatever services 
they want through Medicaid at Planned Parenthood.
  Then there is the Senator from Washington, the top-ranking Democrat 
on the Appropriations subcommittee, who actually crafted the bipartisan 
Zika response and then walked away from it and voted against it. She 
said on May 26, 2016:

       Families and communities are expecting us to act. Parents 
     are wondering if their babies will be born safe and healthy. 
     In Congress, we should do everything we can to tackle the 
     virus without any further delay.

  Well, I agree, and I frankly do not understand how Senate Democrats, 
having taken this position previously, can come in here and engage in a 
partisan filibuster to stop funding for this impending public health 
crisis.
  Just last week, the senior Senator from New York said: ``Every day we 
wait, every day is increasing the risk that we will have problems with 
Zika.''
  Well, today we had the chance to send a bill to the President's desk 
that would meet the demands of Senator Reid, Senator Murray, and 
Senator Schumer, but they blocked it for fanciful and imagined reasons.
  One of the arguments that Senate Democrats make against the bill is 
that more money is needed, yet this is funded at the very level that 
the Senate agreed to--$1.1 billion. President Obama and our Democratic 
colleagues repeatedly make the argument that throwing money at the 
problem will fix everything. Well, throwing no money at the problem 
will fix nothing, which is what they voted for today.
  Less than 7 percent--just $40 million of the $589 million transferred 
from the Ebola fund to fight Zika has been obligated as of early June. 
That translates to easily more than $500 million the President can 
still use to fight this cause in addition to the $1.1 billion included 
in this bill.
  We have heard from our colleagues on the other side of the aisle 
about this great need to prepare the country for this upcoming health 
crisis and how essential it is to quickly get resources to those 
studying the virus and working on prevention efforts and perhaps 
discovering a vaccine. But when given the chance to do that, Democrats 
shut it down. They filibustered the bipartisan bill that they 
themselves have been

[[Page 9972]]

asking the Senate to pass, which is absolutely disgraceful.
  So I hope our colleagues on the other side of the aisle will 
reconsider their misguided efforts and follow through with what they 
have been saying we need all along--the funding to fight a real public 
health threat. It is a public health priority that demands our 
attention and must be addressed now and not later.
  Mr. President, I wonder what the Senators who voted against this 
bipartisan Zika funding bill would tell the mother of this child or 
perhaps another woman who is pregnant and wondering whether her child 
will end up with this virus and this terrible birth defect. Could they 
possibly look that woman in the eye and justify the reasons they have 
voted against funding so that other children and families can avoid 
this terrible devastating birth defect? I bet none of them could look 
that prospective mother in the eye and say: Well, we voted against 
protecting your baby and your family for good and sufficient reasons. 
As I said earlier, many of the reasons stated by the Democratic leader 
are imagined and not real--like this idea that somehow Planned 
Parenthood has been targeted, which is not even mentioned in the 
legislation.
  I can't imagine a more disgraceful vote than what some of our 
colleagues have cast to deny funding for this impending public health 
crisis. I hope they will reconsider. I hope the families who worry 
about the health of their children will call their offices and say: Why 
did you vote against funding the money necessary to eradicate the 
mosquitoes that carry this disease? Why did you vote against further 
scientific research to learn how to combat it? Why did you vote against 
our developing a vaccine that can prevent the spread of this disease 
not only here in the United States but around the world?
  I will bet none of them could look that mother in the eye because 
what our Democratic colleagues did today by voting down this funding 
was absolutely hypocritical, it was cynical, and it was shameful.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, in response to the remarks of the senior 
Senator from Texas, I just wonder, if we had had a real conference 
where things were discussed, where would we be. That was impossible 
because the Republican leadership took the House of Representatives out 
of session. Had they stayed and done their work, as we are, I am sure 
we could have worked something out. But that, of course, was their 
decision.


                  Genetically Engineered Food Labeling

  Mr. President, on another matter, this week marks a historic moment 
in Vermont. This coming Friday, July 1, Vermont's Act 120, the first-
in-the-Nation labeling law for genetically engineered--so-called GE--
foods will take effect. But unfortunately for consumers everywhere, it 
could be a short-lived celebration.
  Late last week, a so-called deal was reached on a national mandatory 
labeling law. During the weekend, I had the chance to review this 
proposal closely. Vermonters have reviewed it closely. I can say this: 
It falls short.
  This is an extremely complex issue--from how we define genetically 
engineered foods, to how we treat animal products; from the impact on 
the organics industry, to how small businesses respond.
  It is actually not something you just talk about; the details matter 
here. That is why the Vermont Legislature, Republicans and Democrats 
working together, spent 2 years debating it. They had over 50 committee 
hearings featuring testimony from more than 130 representatives on all 
sides of the issue.
  The Senate has not held a single hearing on labeling. They had only 
one hearing on the issue of biotechnology, and they have had none on 
the issue of labeling foods or seeds.
  I would note that the proposal unveiled late last week--and we were 
able to review it this weekend--is an improvement over the legislation 
the Senate wisely rejected in March. That bill, the one we rejected, 
would continue the current status quo. It proposed a meaningless 
``volunteer-only'' approach, a thinly veiled attempt to block Vermont's 
labeling law and to keep any other State from acting. This current 
proposal at least acknowledges that States like Vermont have enacted in 
this area. That is why I stayed on the floor and blocked that first 
bill. I thank those Senators who joined with me.
  We heard from the organic industry, expressing reservations about how 
they might be treated under a Federal GE-labeling program. Some of 
those concerns have been addressed, and the proposal reinforces that 
the USDA Organic seal remains the gold standard.
  The proposal follows what Vermont's Act 120 does with respect to 
animal products, and it addresses the gap in the Vermont law for 
processed foods inspected by USDA, specifically those foods with meat.
  The proposal now before us also acknowledges at long last what I have 
been saying for the past year. In many rural parts of this country, 
including most of Vermont, we have significant technological challenges 
that make it nearly impossible for consumers to access the electronic 
or digital disclosure methods allowed in this bill. By requiring the 
Secretary of Agriculture to complete a study on this issue, I believe 
these difficulties unavoidably will be recognized, and the Secretary 
should be given the authority the needs to require additional 
disclosure options. I do hope, however, that proponents of this 
proposal will not try to put the burden on our retail establishments to 
install costly digital scanners.
  The proponents of this deal were sent back to the drawing board after 
we derailed them on March 16. As I said, I was very proud to be the 
Vermonter leading that effort. While it is true that this new attempt 
is an improvement in several ways, it is clear that this revised 
proposal is driven more by the perspectives of powerful special 
interests, than by a commitment to honor consumers' right to know. 
Consumers' right to know merits only grudging acceptance in this plan; 
consumers are far from this plan's highest priority. We see evidence of 
that in the broad loopholes included in the definitions for which GE 
foods this proposal would apply to.
  While this proposal makes some positive, though modest, improvements, 
I remain deeply concerned that it is not going to offer transparency 
for consumers. Transparency is something that many companies have 
already opted to provide.
  Look at these products. I bet most Americans can go to their 
cupboards and find them. Campbell's, General Mills, Frito-Lay, Cheez-
It, and the iconic Wonder Bread. All of them are already putting on 
their labels that they are produced with genetic engineering or 
partially produced with genetic engineering. It is easy. Just print it 
on there. Print it on there in the same way--if you have a child or a 
grandchild who has a peanut allergy or who requires gluten-free, you 
can go look for a label, and immediately, you know what you are feeding 
them.
  Thanks to the citizen-led efforts in Vermont, we are seeing more and 
more consumer-friendly information easily accessible to shoppers. No 
scanning some code. No calling an 800 number. You don't pick up a 
product and say, ``Gee, I have to scan a code in here'' or ``I have to 
call an 800 number.'' No. You just pick up the product and look, and 
you find out what it has in it, everything from water, to celery, corn, 
cottonseed, and genetic engineered ingredients. We have seen countless 
pictures sent in by shoppers finding these labels. Labeling is not 
complicated or cost-prohibitive in practice. They are constantly 
printing new labels. You just add a line.
  Of course, to make matters worse, the bill we have before us has 
absolutely no enforcement mechanism. The negotiators of this proposal 
seem to think public pressure would be enough to force these 
multimillion-dollar corporations to comply. What they are saying is 
``You guys be the cop on the beat. You be the ones to tell them what to 
do.'' Surely families squeezing every

[[Page 9973]]

minute out of every day will not have time to hold companies 
accountable in the court of public opinion. Public pressure is not 
enough. You cannot ask consumers to go around and try to figure out 
whether they can buy something and then bring pressure. That is what we 
have legislatures for.
  At the end of the day, each of us have different reasons for wanting 
to know what is in our food. The fact is that, without labeling of GE 
foods, consumers cannot make informed choices. This purported deal does 
not go far enough to give consumers what they are asking for, which is 
a simple, on-package label or symbol.
  Of course, the bill does more than just block States from enacting 
GE-food labeling laws like Vermont's Act 120; it also blocks a 
longstanding seed-labeling law in Vermont, one that Vermont's organic 
farmers appreciate, as do conventional farmers and even backyard-hobby 
gardeners. This is a law that has been on the books since 2004. It 
ensures clear, meaningful information for farmers to know exactly what 
they are buying, and that is why they buy it.
  Perhaps in a State such as Kansas, where the last organic farm survey 
in 2014 counted only 83 organic farms, or Michigan, a State which is 10 
times the size of Vermont and has some 332 organic farms--maybe in 
States that don't have organic farms, having access to that seed 
information is not considered useful or important, but in a State such 
as Vermont with only 626,000 people, where, our Northeast Organic 
Farming Association of Vermont assures me, we now have over 600 organic 
farms, our seed-labeling law is important. The industry has complied 
with it the last 12 years; yet, with no hearings and no debate, this 
bill will block Vermont's seed law and will prevent any other State 
from enacting one.
  When I was chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I was proud 
that I wrote the law that set the national organic standards and 
labeling program. I was proud of that. It started out following a 
discussion across the kitchen table with organic farmers in Vermont; it 
is now a $40 billion industry nationwide.
  I continue to closely monitor and work to protect the high standards 
for the organic program. They have given consumers confidence in the 
organic label. They have given organic producers the strong, clear, and 
meaningful standards they have demanded. They have worked hard to 
follow these standards, but they want to know what the standards are 
such that those who work hard and follow the rules are not going to 
have somebody come in and say, ``Well, we followed the rules,'' with no 
proof that they actually did.
  Labeling of genetically engineered products is an outgrowth of the 
organic movement. As a watchdog of the organic program, I simply cannot 
support this proposal. I don't support it. We are not saying you cannot 
have these genetically engineered foods; just let consumers know. Label 
it. Then they can decide whether to buy it, just as a parent with a 
child who may require a gluten-free product knows when they come in 
whether a product is gluten-free when it says so on the label. It 
doesn't say you outlaw products with gluten in them; it says to give 
people a choice--the same as those with a peanut allergy. In this case, 
people want to know how their food was produced, and they want it on 
the label, not in some electronic code.
  Vermonters have a long tradition of leading the debate on issues 
crossing the spectrum. Vermonters stand for transparency the consumer's 
right to know. Vermonters want to make informed decisions for their 
families and with their limited grocery budgets. I acknowledge--we 
Vermonters acknowledge that powerful interests are allied against 
Vermont's law and against the Nation's consumers, as has been the fact 
from the beginning.
  The proposal released last week does not respect the work that 
Vermont has painstakingly done in this space. This Vermonter reflects 
the feelings of my constituents. I will not and cannot support it. 
Vermonters deserve better and so do all Americans.
  Mr. President, I see my good friend from Oregon, Senator Merkley, on 
the floor. He knows how important Vermont's work has been in this 
national public debate. I have been proud to cosponsor his legislation 
that recognizes and respects Vermont's law.
  I yield to my good friend from Oregon.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cruz). The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, I appreciate the comments of my colleague 
from Vermont and the work his State has done to take on this very 
important issue. I wish to amplify somewhat or add to the remarks he 
has made.
  This debate is about one simple concept; that is, a simple, mandatory 
label that is consumer-friendly to inform consumers whether a product 
has been produced with GMO ingredients. That is it. It is the 
consumer's right to know and nothing else.
  It has been quite an interesting journey we have been on to this 
point. We have had the DARK Act--the Deny Americans the Right to Know 
Act--about the GMO status of the foods they consume, and now we have 
the DARK Act 2.0 coming to this floor in a deceptive strategy to 
persuade Americans that we are doing something important in order to 
justify the preemption of our State legislators from taking on this 
issue State by State. Unfortunately, the bill before us is an echo of 
what we have seen before.
  So let's ask the simple question: Does it meet the 1-second test for 
consumers knowing what is in their foods? That is, by the way, 
information 89 percent of Americans want to know. This is an issue 
where if you poll Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, they 
essentially all say the same thing. Nine out of ten Americans say: We 
want this information on the package. It is relevant to us. We think 
consumers should have the right to know.
  It is unusual to have an issue 9 out of 10 Democrats and 9 out of 10 
Independents and 9 out of 10 Republicans all agree on, but here we are 
at this moment, with this Senate about to consider a bill written by 
and for the most powerful agricultural groups in America to deny 
Americans the right to know.
  Let us take a closer look at what is wrong with the bill that is 
coming before us--the Roberts bill. First of all, it does not require 
that simple consumer-friendly label. Instead, it says: Well, that can 
be an option. A company could do that, if they would like to. Well, you 
know what. They can do that right now, without the permission of our 
Federal Government.
  Then it says it could be an option for a company to put a symbol on a 
package. Well, that option is there for a group right now. They can put 
a symbol on a package, if they want to.
  So we have granted nothing. Then it says: In lieu of putting actual 
information on the package, they can put a computer code on the 
package. A computer code is a square, like this, or it could be a 
barcode, but when you put that on the package, people say: Well, those 
are on the packages already. Why is it there?
  This bill does have a little information in it. It says: If you put 
this quick response code or computer code on the package, you have to 
say it is for additional ingredient information--no reference to 
biotechnology, no reference to GMO ingredients. It could be what 
version of peanuts is in the product, what version of corn, where was 
it raised. These are all questions a consumer might possibly want to 
know. All it says is, for more information on the ingredients.
  So if you look to the ingredients, and the ingredients say: tomato 
puree, high-fructose corn syrup and wheat flour and water, you get a 
little more information about those ingredients. That is what it is 
suggesting, even with the language in this bill that says ``for more 
information on ingredients,'' and nothing about the fact that this 
product was or wasn't produced with bioengineering, nothing about the 
fact that this product does or doesn't contain genetically modified 
ingredients.

[[Page 9974]]

  So this is a sham because it doesn't give that consumer-friendly 
information, and it is easy to give that consumer-friendly information. 
For example, let's take a look at what is happening right now on M&Ms. 
Here it is. The Mars corporation has said: We want to have integrity 
with our consumers so we are just going to tell them: partially 
produced with genetic engineering. It is a simple phrase. It meets the 
1-second test. You can grab that candy bar or that bag of M&Ms, you can 
turn it over, and, boom, there it is, right there.
  That is what States have wanted to do in response to their 9 out of 
10 citizens who desire simple information on the package. But let's 
turn back. What does this bill do? This bill says companies can put on 
a barcode with no reference, no reference to the fact there are GMO 
ingredients. This is a completely different thing.
  The bill also says it can put on an 800 number. We have been through 
this territory before too. You can put an 800 number on it. OK. That 
certainly is not consumer-friendly. You have to call up, wait for 20 
minutes to go through a phone tree and talk to somebody on the phone. 
Maybe you are talking to somebody in the Philippines. Maybe they know 
the answer or maybe they do not. Are you kidding me? A shopper is going 
to go down the aisle of the grocery store, wanting to know the status 
of these different options before them, and they are going to make a 
call for each of them, standing there for 30 minutes, when it could 
have been answered in 1 second? No, of course not. The authors of this 
bill know this is a sham.
  This is disturbing that we are seeing DARK Act 2.0 coming back again. 
If you ever do get to that person on the phone line or you ever do get 
to that computer Web site, there is a provision in this bill that says 
the information on the Web site has to be on the first page, it has to 
be presented clearly, but it is being done by the company itself. So 
how big is that first page going to be, and how is it going to 
incorporate other information about the ingredients?
  This is not something being produced in a standard fashion, easy to 
use. Let's realize this. In order to use the 800 number, you have to 
have a phone in your pocket. In order to use the barcode, you have to 
have a smartphone in your pocket. You have to use up your monthly 
digital plan. You have to expand your money to find out this 
information. Furthermore, some of your information is captured by the 
Web site when you go there. You have to give up your privacy.
  Again, we are seeing the sham and the scam brought forward in a new 
version, and that is not all. This bill has a definition that excludes 
the food derived from major GMO crops. I have the bill in front of me, 
and right up front it says what is covered. It says food that contains 
genetic material--that contains genetic material. Why is that 
important? Well, when you process crops into the ingredients that go 
into our food, you basically strip out, in many cases, the genetic 
material. Therefore, the things that are commonly thought of as GMO 
ingredients wouldn't be GMO ingredients under this bill.
  I have a commentary from the Food and Drug Administration, and here 
is what it says. It says the phrase ``that contains genetic material'' 
means that many foods from GE sources will not be subject to this bill, 
and it gives the example of genetically engineered soy--oil made from 
that. It goes into all kinds of products that everyone thinks of as a 
GMO ingredient that wouldn't be covered.
  What about high-fructose corn syrup? What about oil derived from 
corn? Corn oil. What about sugar derived from GMO beets--the sugar that 
has the genetic material stripped from it. So in the very start of this 
bill, it excludes the three major crops or major components of the 
three major crops that are GMO in America--soybeans and corn and sugar. 
That is disturbing, but if that isn't disturbing enough, another 
loophole has been put into this bill. Let's turn back to what the bill 
actually says. It says not only must it contain genetic material, 
thereby bypassing the soy oil and the corn oil and the sugar from the 
three major GMO crops, you also have to prove the ingredient ``could 
not otherwise be obtained through conventional breeding or found in 
nature.'' So all a person has to do is to assert it is possible, it 
could be, and then you have another massive loophole.
  To what point? We know it is a GMO ingredient. It is in the food. But 
they could say: Yes, but you could have possibly developed the same 
thing from a non-GMO process, and they assert that so they don't put it 
on their can, they don't put it on their label.
  There are two major loopholes undermining this bill, showing there is 
no serious intent to do a consumer-friendly label that justifies State 
preemption. I would like to say that is all, but then, as was pointed 
to by the Senator from Vermont, there is no enforcement in this bill. 
There is no authority for the USDA--U.S. Department of Agriculture--to 
do a recall of products improperly labeled. There is no enforcement 
power to exercise a fine on companies that fail to use some option 
under this bill.
  We can see the basic facts. This does not give a consumer-friendly 
label and instead sends people off through a maze, through a rat hole 
of telephone calls and Web sites, not in any way practical to a shopper 
in a store. Second, it has a definition that excludes major products 
from the major sources of GMO crops in America. Third, it has a huge 
loophole expressing the theory that if you can assert something could 
have been derived from a conventional breeding program, you don't have 
to label. Then, fourth, no enforcement.
  This is completely different than the power that Vermont has under 
their existing bill. They have a simple 1-second test label, they have 
a definition that does not exclude the major crops, they do not have a 
loophole about some theory you could possibly have reached the same 
thing through conventional breeding, and they have enforcement. So this 
represents not even a shadow of what Vermont is doing.
  I have supported the idea that you could have a strong case to have a 
single Federal standard. It makes sense in the production of food in 
the country not to have different label standards in different States--
the food runs through warehouses. It is spread out through different 
locations. Fair enough, but if you are going to take away a consumer-
friendly label--the power to do that from a State--if you are going to 
preempt that, then we need to replace it with a credible, mandatory, 
consumer-friendly label at the Federal level.
  This bill fails the test in every major way, and that is why we 
should not strip States of their power. That is why we should reject 
this bill, and I encourage my colleagues to do so. A consumer's right 
to know about the food they put in their bodies is a powerful right, 
and we are taking it away if we pass this bill. Let us not do that.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.
  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, may I inquire of the Chair, is the 
Senator from Connecticut due to speak next?
  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. I would be happy to yield to the Senator from 
Georgia, as long as I be permitted to follow him for up to 10 minutes.
  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be 
recognized for up to 5 minutes, to be followed by Senator Blumenthal 
for up to 10 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I find it unbelievable that today the 
United States Senate said no to pregnant moms and veterans.
  The vote earlier to deny cloture on the VA-MILCON legislation and the 
Zika virus is to say to pregnant moms in America: We don't think the 
case of the Zika virus is that important; you are going to have to run 
the risks yourself. To say to our veterans who fought and risked their 
lives for us that we may not fund their health care is just not the 
right thing to do.
  I deeply regret the fact that the cloture motion was denied this 
morning. I

[[Page 9975]]

hope that before we leave town this week, cloture will be granted so we 
can approve MILCON-VA appropriations and approve our response to Zika. 
But let me underline how important that is with two quick, brief 
remarks.
  In terms of Zika, I represent the CDC--the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention--in Atlanta, GA, the world's health care center. 
I was there 2 weeks ago for a briefing on the Zika virus. There are 
more than 1 million Zika cases in Latin America, there are Zika cases 
in the Caribbean, and there are 150 in the United States of America. 
The Zika virus is very unique. It attacks a pregnant mom, it attacks 
the child in the womb, and it attacks the brain and central nervous 
system, causing manifested, terrible brain problems and deformities, 
some that we hope we can stop and prevent. But you can't do it if you 
don't fund the Nation's response, and the $1.1 billion in this bill, 
which was denied today, would go to Zika response.
  There are two responses we need to fund. One is the research and 
development for preventive vaccines so we can find them as quickly as 
possible. That is obviously important. But the other is the education 
to do the most we can to see to it that Zika is prevented wherever 
possible.
  A lot of people think that if you don't have mosquitoes, you don't 
have to worry about Zika. Zika is transmitted in two very distinct 
ways. One is through one of two types of mosquitoes, both indigenous to 
my State of Georgia and most of the southeastern United States. But 
Zika is also transmitted by sexual intercourse, which means whether you 
are in Colorado where there are no mosquitos or Georgia where there 
are, there is another way to transmit it as well. If we don't have a 
good education process in terms of how people can protect themselves 
against transmitting the Zika virus during sexual intercourse or 
protect themselves against bites by mosquitoes carrying the virus, we 
are going to be in big trouble. We will have a lot of babies born who 
will have lives of tragedy because we didn't do our jobs as U.S. 
Senators.
  It is estimated that the cost of a live birth and the lifetime of a 
child born with the effects of the Zika virus will be $10 million per 
child on the taxpayers of America--$10 million. Think of the cost that 
adds up to.
  We should come to the table immediately, come back, vote again, and 
vote for cloture on the Zika virus--the $1.1 billion response that 
passed the House--to pass the Senate and see to it that we tell the 
American people that we understand the dangers of Zika, and we are 
going to do everything we can to allow them the education they need to 
prevent it. We are going to respond to it, and do it in the right way.
  As far as the VA is concerned, I have never understood how anyone can 
look a veteran in the eye and say no. As chairman of the Veterans 
Affairs Committee in the Senate, I know what these people have done. As 
one who served in the military, I know what sacrifice means in terms of 
serving in uniform. To say no to the funding of VA health care is just 
unconscionable, and it is wrong. Our veterans volunteered. We don't 
have a draft anymore. We don't conscript people anymore. People 
volunteer. We have had 16 straight years of deployment in the Middle 
East of Americans who volunteer to protect this country. They deserve 
to know that when they come home, their health care is going to be 
provided for, their benefits are going to be provided for, and the 
promises we made to them to get them to volunteer to join our military 
are promises we keep to them, regardless of the condition they may be 
in or the difficulties they have.
  So as one Member of the Senate, I can't say no to a pregnant mom, and 
I can't say no to a veteran. I don't think anybody in here really wants 
to say no to them at all.
  I would encourage members of the Democratic Party to come back to the 
floor and join all of us in the Republican Party to vote for cloture on 
the MILCON-VA and cloture on the Zika virus, and do it as soon as 
possible. Time is wasting. Time is of the essence. Time is important. 
Our response is important. Our pregnant moms are important. There is 
nobody more important than the veterans of the United States of 
America.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.


                              Puerto Rico

  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I strongly agree with colleagues who 
have supported effective, real measures to confront the spreading toll 
that Zika is taking around the world and, I assume, will take an even 
greater number and magnitude in this country. But we need effective 
solutions that will provide funding for research, eradication of 
mosquitoes, and education of the public without harmful restrictions 
that prevent women from seeking family planning services that, in fact, 
help to prevent the spread of Zika.
  Nowhere is the threat of Zika greater than in Puerto Rico. That 
island has been particularly hard-hit. In fact, the spreading financial 
crisis is combining with the spreading epidemic of Zika to create a 
true humanitarian crisis. That crisis will only be aggravated and 
deepened by a failure to deal effectively with the financial default 
that faces the island in just a few days from now.
  On July 1, $2 billion of loans will come due, and Puerto Rico simply 
lacks the resources to pay those debts. It is insolvent, so far as 
those debts are concerned. If the Bankruptcy Code applied, it could 
seek relief from its creditors and prevent the race to the courthouse 
and the enormous litigation costs and other expenses that will ensue.
  We have an opportunity to act on behalf of the people of the United 
States who have a powerfully important stake in the people of Puerto 
Rico and the welfare of that island. It is Americans who live there--
3.5 million American citizens, who have fought in our wars, given of 
their culture and heritage to all of us, and have helped make America 
the greatest, strongest country in the history of the world. They are 
American citizens who are part of the fabric of this Nation, and the 
people of Puerto Rico will be the ones who pay the price of a failure 
on our part to act effectively.
  The simple fact is that Puerto Rico cannot afford to pay all of its 
creditors and continue to provide a basic level of services for its 
people. That fact is undisputed. The question is simply whether this 
situation is addressed in an orderly and productive way or permitted to 
enter the sea of chaos--financially and in humanitarian terms--that 
will ensue without action on our part.
  Already we have seen the beginnings of this crisis. The island's only 
24/7 stroke center has closed because too many Puerto Rican 
neurologists have left for the mainland. The Puerto Rican Department of 
Education has not paid hundreds of firms that provide education and 
transportation services. Hospitals are barely keeping the lights on. 
Schools cannot pay bus drivers.
  My colleague from Florida, Senator Nelson, told the story yesterday 
of the neonatal dialysis center that is providing services only to 
customers who can pay cash up front. Imagine, in the United States--
Puerto Rico is part of the United States--children in need of 
lifesaving services are being turned away and denied basic health care.
  There is no need to guess as to what will happen on July 1. Creditors 
have told us--in fact, they have told us very explicitly in court 
papers already filed last week. They wrote: ``It has long been settled 
law that Constitutional Debt is constitutionally required to be paid 
first in times of scarcity, ahead of even what government deems 
`essential services.''' They will claim to be paid in advance and in 
priority over essential services. That is the stark, harsh truth of 
litigation, and a judgment in their favor will have lasting and 
irreparable effects on the people of Puerto Rico. If the creditors win, 
the people of Puerto Rico lose, and they lose tremendously and 
irreparably.
  The Senate has a choice. Instead of allowing a chaotic process that 
costs tremendously in scarce resources and benefits financially the 
lawyers and some of the creditors more than anyone, we can pass 
legislation before us today. It is not the legislation I would have 
preferred. In fact, this deal is not

[[Page 9976]]

one that I find attractive. There are defects and weaknesses in its 
provisions relating to minimum wage and overtime and pensions and the 
structure of the board, among others. But the question is, What is the 
alternative?
  With PROMESA, the parties will have a workable judicial mechanism 
with a stay on litigation, ensuring that chaos is avoided and the 
current mess is resolved. If we devise a system that only the creditors 
like and works only for them, it will benefit a small group of wealthy 
investors that could threaten to block Puerto Rico's economic recovery. 
In fact, the longest lasting and most alarming effect will be the 
uncertainty that results from our failure to act, which almost clearly 
and unavoidably will cause a deep recession in that island. It will, in 
effect, impede investment in the island and quash economic recovery.
  Representative Nydia Velazquez put it best. She has never stopped 
fighting for her homeland of Puerto Rico. Before PROMESA passed the 
House she said:

       Some would have you believe that if we only yell louder, 
     there will be a third option. But let me tell you, I have 
     screamed so loud that I no longer have a voice.

  Like the vast majority of her House colleagues, she voted for PROMESA 
because it is the best option available now that both sides can 
support. No amount of wishing or yelling will change that fact.
  PROMESA has the support of experts across the political spectrum and 
editorial boards across the country. It has won support from Puerto 
Rico's Governor and its sole representative in the U.S. House. It has 
won support from business leaders in Puerto Rico and in the United 
States. And, crucially, the Treasury Department says it is an essential 
step--a first step--to avoid humanitarian catastrophe. We can come back 
next month, next year, or sooner to try to make it better. But there is 
no better bill available this week, before July 1, and the impending 
humanitarian crisis will most affect and most enduringly hurt the 
people of Puerto Rico. The choice is hope or disaster for the Americans 
who live in Puerto Rico.
  PROMESA could be better, but at the end of the day, we cannot permit 
the perfect to be the enemy of the good. I will continue to work for a 
better bill, seeking to offer amendments that improve it, and fighting 
afterward for still more improvements in this measure.
  Today I urge my colleagues to join in supporting PROMESA.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.

                          ____________________