Transcripts For CSPAN2 U.S. Senate U.S. Senate 20240713

Vote vote the presiding officer is anyone wishing to vote or change a vote . If not, the yeas are 73, the nays are 20. The motion to table is agreed upon. Mr. Mcconnell madam president. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell the senates not in order. The presiding officer senate come to order. The majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i ask that the first vote following the first vote be ten minutes in length. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i move to concur in the house amendment the presiding officer can we get order. I cant hear the speaker. Thank you. Mr. Mcconnell i move to concur in the house amendment to the Senate Amendment to h. R. 3055, and i send a cloture motion to the desk with the motion to concur. The presiding officer the clerk will report the cloture motion. The clerk cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22, do hereby bring to a close debate on the motion to concur on the house amendment to the Senate Amendment to h. R. 3055, an act making appropriations for the departments of commerce and justice and science and related agencies ending for fiscal year 2020 and for other purposes. The presiding officer i ask unanimous consent that the reading of the names be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent that the mandatory quorum call be waived. The presiding officer without objection. I have three requests for committees to meet drg. Mr. Mcconnell i have three requests for committees to meet during todays session of the senate. They have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. The presiding officer the clerk will report to invoke cloture. The clerk cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22, do hereby bring to a close debate on the motion to concur on the house amendment to the Senate Amendment to h. R. 3055, an act making appropriations for the departments of commerce and justice, science and related agencies and for other purposes. Signed by 16 parents. 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 motion to concur in the house amendment to the Senate Amendment to h. R. 3055, an act making appropriations for the department of commerce and justice, science and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2020, 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. Vote vote vote the presiding officer are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote . If not, on the vote, the yeas are 75, the nays are 19. Threefifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in the affirmative, the motion is agreed to. Under the previous order, all postcloture time is yielded back. The question occurs on the motion to concur. A senator i ask for the yeas and nays. The presiding officer sufficient . Is there a sufficient second . There appears to be. The clerk will call the roll. Vote vote the presiding officer are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote . If not, the yeas are 74, the nays are 20. The motion is agreed to. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of h. Con. Res. 75 which is received from the house. The clerk h. Con. Res. 75 directing are the clerk of the house of representatives to make a correction on the enrollment of h. R. 3055. The presiding officer is there objection to proceeding to the measure . Without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 386. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. The clerk will report the nomination. The clerk nomination, United States Postal Service, robert m. Duncan of kentucky to be a governor. The presiding officer i send a cloture motion to the desk. The presiding officer the clerk will report the motion. The clerk cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of Robert Duncan to be governor of the United States Postal Service signed by 17 senators as follows. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. The presiding officer without objection. The presiding officer the senator for new jersey. Mr. Menendez mr. President , i come to the floor again with respect to Senate Resolution 150, which i introduced with senator cruz to recognize the Armenian Genocide. Im glad hes with me today to call for unanimous consent on this resolution many were proud to report that we have 28 sponsors on this important resolution. Last month the house of representatives passed a version of this resolution by a vote of 40511 40511. That sent a strong bipartisan message of dedication to the truth, dedication to historical fact and dedication held by so many in congress that genocide is genocide. As a country we should do whatever we can to prevent future genocides, but when it happens we have an obligation as a country to call it what it is. If not, we are operating outside the facts and not honest to ourselves and the world. This sets the record straight, a record that so many administrations over years have sought to obscure, these administrations, republicans and democrats have dug their heads in the sand despite the words of u. S. Diplomats who were there at the time who saw the genocide with their own eyes. Let me share a couple of examples, the u. S. Ambassador to turkey from 1913 to 1916 wrote in his member war, quote, when the turkish authorities gave the authority for these dparrations, deportations they were giving a death warrant to a whole race. In their conversations with me they made no particular attempt to conceal this fact. Im confident that no there is no such horrible epidemic of this. This seemed almost insignificant when compared to the sufferings of the armenian race in 1915. That was henry morganthals comment. There is a living stream of armenians pouring into alepo from surrounding towns and villages, the primary once agesh, adol, hagan, the armenian government has been appealed to by prominent people and to put an end to these conditions it can lead to the greatest blame in reproach but to all to no avail. It is without a doubt a carefully planned scheme to thoroughly extinguish the armenian race. On july 24, 1915, in a report to ambassador morganthal, leslie davis stated, any doubt that may have been expressed in previous reports as to the governments intention to sending away the armenians has been removed. It is no secret that the plan was to destroy the armenian race as a race. Everything was apparently planned months ago. Close quote. And, finally, in october 1 of 1916, a telegram to the secretary of state, robert lansing, Hoffman Philip wrote, the department is in receipt of ample details demonstrating the horrors of the antiarmenian campaign. The worst way of dealing with this situation would be to withdraw our diplomats from a country where barberus methods are tolerated and carried out which the by the order of the existing government. And the ambassador of the outman empire stated, in order to avoid a probing of the civilized world which the continuation of massacres or armenians would arouse, they are executing the unchecked policy of ex termination through starvation and exhaustion. American officials, those with the credible and legislate understanding of what took place made these statements. They are part of the historical record. They mark i of the prouder moments in the history of the state department and our diplomacy. And, finally, mr. President , there are 27 countries in the world that have already recognized the Armenian Genocide. 11 of them are nato countries, belgian, canada, the czech republic, greece, germany, poland, slow none of them have ended their relationship with turkey as it relates to recognizing the Armenian Genocide as an historical fact. Why is the greatest country on the face of the earth, the United States of america, incapable incapable of doing this when these 11 nato countries have . So i want to thank the many individuals over the years, particularly for the Armenian National committee of america, the armenian assembly, and so many others, who have worked so hard alongside of me to ensure that u. S. Abide by the commitment to the truth and to a world where genocide never happens again and i have a good friend and colleague who have been engaged with me in this latest effort and i want to yield to him at this time, senator cruz. The presiding officer the senator for texas. Mr. Cruz thank you, mr. President. Im proud to join with me friend and colleague from new jersey in urging the senate to take up and pass the resolution affirming United States recognition of the Armenian Genocide. From 1915 to 1923, the empire carried out a forced deportation of nearly two million armenians. Of whom 1. 5 million were killed. It was an atrocious genocide that it happened is a reality. That no amount of political doublespeak can cover up. In fact, the word genocide which literally means the killing of an entire people was coined by rafael limb kin to describe the nature of the empires calculated ex termination of the armenians. Thats the genesis of the word genocide. As america we must never be silent in response to atros can is. Atrocities. Over 100 years ago the world sat silently as the armenian people suffered and were systematically murdered. And many people today are still unaware of what happened. With this resolution, a bipartisan resolution, we are saying it is the policy of the United States to commemorate the Armenian Genocide through official recognition and remembrance. And let me echo what my colleague from new jersey just said. Doing so is not incompatible with continuing to deal with turkey as an ally. Just last week i sat down with president erdogan and President Trump in the oval office. Turkey is a nato ally, and an important one, but friends and allies can speak the truth, and we are not honoring america and who we stand for if we are afraid to speak the truth and willing to participate in covering it up. We have a moral duty to acknowledge what happened to 1. 5 million innocent souls. It is the right thing to do and its my hope that the senate will do so in a bipartisan manner. And i yield back the floor. Mr. Menendez mr. President. The presiding officer the senator for new jersey. Mr. Menendez as if in legislative senate, i ask that the Senate Foreign Relation Committee be discharged from consideration of s. Res. 150. I further ask that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection. A senator mr. President. Athe presiding officer the senator for georgia. Mr. Perdue reserving the right to object. Secretary pompeo joined the Foreign Ministers of nato including the Turkey Foreign minister. This administration is continuing its engagingment on the heels of the meeting of president erdogan and President Trump last week. I reject to this resolution at this time. While the content of the legislation before us measures undivided consideration, its passage today would undermine the administrations commitment to overcoming real challenges in our bilateral relationship with turkey. I look forward to working with the administration and senator cruz and senator menendez in holding our nato ally responsible for the commitment made when it joined nato, founded on democracy and the rule of law. For those reasons, i object. The presiding officer objection is heard. Mr. Menendez mr. President. The presiding officer the senator for new jersey. Mr. Menendez mr. President , im not new to this issue. I have been pursuing recognition of the Armenian Genocide for the greater part of a decade. And there always seems to be some reason why, in fact, its not a good moment. Well, you know, its like a ropeadope. Its like a ropeadope. Always another reason, always another excuse. If the 13 or so nato allies 11, i should say, nato allies have done this and they are still in nato and still working with turkey and still have diplomatic relationships with turkey, it is amazing the greatest super power on the earth can speak truth to history. Its amazing me. And so there never seems to be a good moment. Now, ive been here in the senate long enough to know that objections to unanimous consent work both ways. And so i am going to continue to bring this issue to the floor. I think armenian americans, the world, and history should record who stands on the side of recognizing genocide for what it is and who does not. And so im not going to relent. And, if necessary, im sure there will be moments in which those will seek consent on issues and if the only way is to get a vote on this through an actual process on the floor, i will force that issue because history demands it, our conscience should call for it, and a decade of waiting to make this happen is enough. With that, i yield the floor. Mr. Brown mr. President. The presiding officer the senator for ohio. Mr. Brown thank you, mr. President. I appreciate senator menendez always speaking out for human rights, regardless of who the president is, regardless of any colleagues running for president whenever the president calls on them. And senator menendez has always been a senator here that stands up for his principles on International Human rights. Mr. President , thank you thanks to senator manchin and my colleagues for coming to the floor earlier today to remind this body we need to act now on behalf of almost 90,000 miners living under the threat of mass i cuts to the pensions they earn. 12,000 miners could lose their pensions. The Bankruptcy Court could allow these corporations to quote, unquote, shed their liabilities, a fancy way of saying they could walk away from paying the miners the benefits they earned. We passed this two and a half yeergs ago, we cant leave these workers behind just because of the date their companies filed for bankruptcy. We have to make sure they dont lose their Retirement Security on top of that. 86,000 umwa miners are facing crippling pension countries. The Retirement Security of hundreds of thousands of teamsters and iron worker workers and many others is also at risk. The crisis is real, its immediate and could have ripple effects across the country. This week the pbgc released a new report showing it would run out of money even sooner and we should be concerned about that. If the pbgc fails, we are looking at a potential recession. Small businesses that have been in the family for generations could face bankruptcy, workers lose jobs at businesses forced to close up shop, retirees face crippling cuts to their income. Congress gave a decade ago gave wall street a bailout after they wrecked peoples lives many these mine worker did what they were supposed to, they gave up money. Is Congress Going to abandon them . Its about whos side youre on and the dignity of work. We should be committed to miners, these workers, these retirees, we are continuing to work on a bipartisan solution. When people have dignity, when work has dignity, we honor the Retirement Security that they have earned. I yield the floor. A senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator for oregon. Mr. Wyden mr. President , i think we are running a few minutes behind. Weve had a real crush of business here in the last hour. I would ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 15 minutes. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Wyden thank you, mr. President. Mr. President , every senator knows the house is now in the middle of an impeachment inqui inquiry. Here in this chamber the senate has been considering the nomination of dan bryette to be Energy Secretary replacing rick perry. In my view, questions about secretary perrys conduct in ukraine and what mr. Bryette may know about that conduct tie this nomination to the impeachment inquiry in an important way. Ive come to believe that there are several significant Unanswered Questions about secretary perrys role in changing the board of a stateowned Energy Company called netta gas. With secretary perry, his campaign donors, and certain crooked associates of rudy dual annie Rudy Giuliani stood to gain from those changes is something the senate ought to be digging into. Secretary perrys role in Donald Trumps scheme that weve been hearing about with respect to holding a meeting of military aid until president zelensky agreed to to interfere in the 2020 elections in the United States. The investigations seem to be piling up. Every time a new piece of information comes to light, it raidses yet more and more questions about schemes that sure look based on the facts to be corrupt. Somehow secretary perry seems to be making his way out the door without facing much if any scrutiny. Now the senate is trying to fast track his replacement. Ill just put it simply. Enough. Enough. Its time for the senate to get some answers instead of just saying everything is aokay at the Energy Department. So im going to take just a few minutes to explain what this is all about. Mr. Perry is famously one of the three amigos who took control of u. S. Ties with the ukraine under the direction of the president and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Secretary perry attended president zelenskys inauguration in may. They held a private meeting. Its been reported that secretary perry pushed president zelensky to fire members of the board of nafta gas, a Ukrainian Energy giant and replace them with secretary perrys own political donors. At a second meeting with Ukrainian Government and Energy Secretary officials, secretary perry reportedly said that the entire board ought to be replaced. The Associated Press reported that one person who extended the meeting said, and i quote, he said he was floored by the american request because that person had always viewed the u. S. Government as having a higher ethical standard. The changes secretary perry was seeking to line up, line up two shady characters named lerve parnas and egor freeman, associates of judy giulianis giulianis. They also wanted different leadership at nafta gas. Im going to read now from an Associated Press report. Quote, as Rudy Giuliani was pushing ukrainian officials last spring to investigate one of Donald Trumps main political rivals, a group of individuals with ties to the president and his personal lawyer were also active in the former soviet republic. Their aims were profit, not politics. Quote, the circle of businessmen and republican donors touted connections to giuliani and trump while trying to install new management at the top of ukraines massive state gas company. Their plan was then to steer lucrative contracts to companies controlled by trump allies according to two people with knowledge of their plans. Unquote. Federal prosecutors are now investigating Rudy Giulianis role. A nafta gas official is reportedly cooperating in the investigation. And some of rick perrys political donors did get a Lucrative Oil and gas deal in ukraine after perry began pressuring the ukrainian president for changes. Perry admits he was in contact with giuliani about the ukraine. It was also revealed in impeachment testimony that perry was seemingly made aware in july of the trump scheme where it seems like everybody was involved in ukraine. So to get it straight, i think here is the bottom line. Secretary perry has somehow managed to stay on the fringes of this whole scheme, but it sure looks to me like he was right at the hart of serious ethical compromises. President trump has claimed he made the call to ukraines president that prompted the whistleblowers complaint at perrys request. And everywhere you look in the ukraine scandal, it looks like theres crooked behavior all over. Now, mr. President , i have a hard time believing that secretary perry booked his own flight for these meeting, sawntserred out of the back door of the Energy Department, and freelanced his own shady ukraine policy without anybody knowing about it. And that brings me back to the brouillette nomination. Dan brouillette is currently the deputy Energy Secretary. He is the number two person at the department. He is the deputy to the amigo. So at his confirmation hearing sitting on the energy and Natural Resources committee, which i at one time chaired, i thought it was important to ask mr. Brouillette some basic questions about what ive outlined here. And what i wanted to know wasnt real complicated. Who did secretary perry meet with regarding ukraine and nafta gas . He was a powerful, powerful guy. And he wielded major influence over a nation thats dependent on aid from the United States as it resists aggression by russia. Who else was in the loop with secretary perry . Now, deputy secretary brouillette acknowledged in my questions only that there were meetings but provided no further details about who took part in them. In followup written questions, again he just wasnt forthcoming. He wouldnt provide any answers. So im sending a letter to deputy secretary brouillette to give him yet another chance to answer basic questions. To who was mr. Brouillette referring to when he acknowledged that perry held meetings on seeking changes at naftogaz. When and where did those meetings take place. Who outside the department did secretary perry speak to regarding changes in naftogaz and the substance of those communications. And then whether Department Staff were involved in meetings at which changes to naftogaz leadership came up, who the staff were, and what materials were produced. Mr. President , here ill just make it clear, i find it implausible that the secretary of energy just was unstaffed on all this. I would think for an important meeting like this, the secretary secretary perry would have individuals from the department of energy who were involved in these discussions with mr. That mr. Brouillette has now acknowledged took place. But we cant get any names. We cant get any answers at all. And i think it is serious seriously an error for the senate to just rush to this nomination without getting answers to the questions that i have outlined. Indictments are flying. Investigations reveal major wrongdoing. Every stone that gets overturned in this process reveals a lot more generally about a rotten scheme. And it just seems to me that secretary perry is a significant figure in this scandal, and he is just trying to get out of dodge. So, to me this ought to be an opportunity for this body, the United States senate, to stand up and demand accountability from the Trump Administration and all of those in t the in the administration who can provide information that i think provides really a modest amount of information, a modest amount of information about discussions that could very well be relevant to this whole ukraine scheme. Mr. Giuliani has already had associates indicted.  and the more we learn just yesterday, mr. President , there were differences of opinion in the testimony about what mr. Perrys involvement was all about. So practically every day there are Unanswered Questions about this matter. So because i believe the senate deserves to have answers to the questions ive raised, because i think that this is just accountability 101 to have this information, i will be voting no today on cloture. And my understanding is that no matter how the senate is recorded today, there will be some opportunity over the holiday break for senators, staff, and those who are doing investigative work in this to get more details. So i certainly think without the questions ive been asking and the modest amount of information they would disclose, information, frankly, i think secretary perry and the Energy Department and the Trump Administration can produce quite quickly if they didnt want to spend their time stonewalling. I think given that, its just not responsible to advance this nomination through a cloture affirmative cloture vote today. So i will be voting no. My hope, over the next week or so, we can start to get some answers to these basic questions, and ill tell you, mr. President. Ive just gone through five town Hall Meetings at home, rural areas, urban areas. Everybody i represent at home thinks that there ought to be more accountability in washington, d. C. , rather than less. Without answers to the questions ive outlined today, there is no question that with respect to accountability, without answer to those questions, the senate, by voting cloture today, will be settling for less. Mr. President , i yield the floor. Ms. Murkowski mr. Chairman . The presiding officer the senator for alaska. Ms. Murkowski mr. President , i am pleased that any moment now we will move to invoke cloture on the nomination of Dan Brouillette to be our next secretary of energy. As folks know, he is currently serving as our deputy secretary of energy. He has, in my view, excelled in that role since being confirmed by this body with strong bipartisan support back in august of 2017. He has run the department on a daily basis. Hes been helping secretary perry set an agenda thats been focused on energy security, technological innovation. He has been a good partner at the energy committee. Honest, open, responsive. I have certainly appreciated all of his leadership and would commend him to this body. He did very, very well in his nomination hearing before the energy and Natural Resources committee. I believe he will do very well in his new role. I would encourage all members to work with us to confirm him as soon as possible today. The presiding officer the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. The clerk cloture motion we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of Dan Brouillette of texas to be secretary of energy, signed by 17 senators. 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 nomination of dan r. Brouillette of texas to be secretary of energy shall be brought to a close . The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. The clerk will call the roll. Vote vote