Transcripts For CSPAN2 U.S. Senate U.S. Senate 20240714

To start the work week. Lawmakers are expected to continue working on allowing kelly kraft to upset the United States in the upcoming United Nations General Assembly in new york. They moved to advance her nomination is set for 5 30 p. M. Eastern today. Now to live coverage of the u. S. Senate here on the. The president pro tempore the senate will come to order. The chaplain, dr. Barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. The chaplain let us pray. Almighty god, sovereign of our nation and lord of our lives, thank you for infusing us with the confidence that you order our steps each day. Give our lawmakers courage and a strong resolve to glorify your name as they trust the unfolding of your providence. As they remember what you have already done to bless this nation, inspire them to march confidently toward tomorrows difficulties with a total dependence on your power. May they recommit themselves each day to faithfully fulfilling the awesome responsibility you have entrusted to them. Lord, be their strength and shield this day and always. We pray in your mighty name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President . The president pro tempore the Senate Majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell id like to welcome our colleagues back to the senate. I hope all of us took advantage of the past weeks that we spent in our home states and with our constituents. Washington is where we come to work but we come here to fight for our neighbors, the places we love, and are proud to hail from. The American People know this is a highly charged political moment but they havent sent us here to stage pitch battles or score political points. They elected us to make a difference for them and their families. We do that by taking care of the peoples business, by collaborating in good faith to complete our work, and attend to the pressing matters that are before us. While we were spread out across the country, we heard an unwelcome announcement from our dear friend and colleague, the senior senator from georgia. Senator Johnny Isakson has determined that his Health Challenges will lead him to conclude his distinguished 15year Senate Career at the end of december. Putting georgians first like always. His depr tur will be a significant lot for the people of georgia and for the 99 of us here in this chamber. Senator isakson is a tireless legislator. In particular, hes a dogged advocate for our nations veterans. But hes even more than that. Johnny is universally seen as one of the warmest, friendliest, most respectable and most collaborative members of this body. He has strong views and solid principles, but he knows that broad often bipartisan cooperation is the way to advance those very goals. So i hope that as the Senate Tackles the important matters before us in the weeks and months ahead, well not only make sure to savor our last few months working alongside of this great friend and colleague but also to embody his example in our work. And heres what that work will need to include. Right off the bat this week, the senate will begin working through a slate of nominations to important federal offices. The American People deserve to be governed by the government they voted for and every time we confirm another one of the uncontroversial qualified Public Servants whom President Trump has selected for these executive branch posts, we fulfill a constitutional responsibility and make manifests of peoples decisions. In the days and weeks ahead, the another duty before us is the appropriations process. Just like last year under the leadership of chairman shelby and ranking maybe leahy, im confident we can make significant progress on regular appropriations this month and then pass an interim continuing resolution to prevent any funding lapse while that work continues. So let me say that again. A major focus of the senate this month will be moving forward as many of the regular appropriation bills as possible and then passing a temporary continuing resolution for the outstanding parts of the government before the end of september. We have the parameters in place, thanks to the bipartisan Funding Agreement that President Trump signed last month. Now it is time for the rubber to meet the road and for the senate to pass appropriation bills this month. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is closed. And under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination which the clerk will report. The clerk nomination, department of state, kelly craft of kentucky to be representative of the United States of america to the sessions of the General Assembly of the United Nations. Mr. Grassley mr. President , i ask to speak in morning business as if in morning business. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley during august i continued my annual extra tradition of holding at least one q and a in every one of iowas 99 counties. I go to iowans where they work and live to hear whats on their mind so that i can better represent them in the United States senate. No matter the setting, my citizens of iowa set the agenda. On august 27 with a town meeting in spencer, iowa, i completed the 39th Consecutive Year of my annual 99county meetings. I look forward to continuing my dialogue with iowans throughout the rest of this year. Just to emphasize that i hold a lot more than just 99 meetings with my constituents every year. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call quorum call quorum call mr. Brown mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from ohio. Mr. Brown thank you, mr. President. I ask unanimous consent to dispense with the wrowrk. Quorum call. The presiding officer would you without objection. Mr. Brown i rise to honor officers knight, vincent carter, ryan nable and Jeremy Campbell. Last month, on august 4, sunday, august 4, people in my state woke up to devastating news, a shooter had opened fire overnight about 1 00 that sunday morning in dayton. In 3 1 seconds firing 40 bullets taking the lives of nine ohioans, injuring 27 more. Another senseless tragedy caused by gun violence. But as awful as it was, it could have been even worse were it not for the bravery and skill of the officers i mentioned. While others run from danger, these men ran toward it. They stopped the shooter within 31 or 32 seconds after the first shot was fired, saving certainly dozens of lives as the shooter was about to go into a very crowded nightclub. Had they not gotten to him in less than a minute, the shooter would have entered the door way he was headed toward to the Dayton Institution ned peppers which was filled with ohioans out on a saturday night. The Dayton Police chief said had this individual made it through the doorway of ned peppers with that level of weaponry, there would have been a catastrophic injury and loss of life. That didnt happen because these dedicated Public Servants did the job they signed up to do, to protect the people they serve. Over the past month, as we have mourned those ohioans we lost, weve also seen the incredible strength and solidarity of the dayton community. People from all over the city have come together to support the families of the victims and to support Law Enforcement officers, officials who threw themselves in harms way to protect their friends and neighbors. Chief beale reported that the Dayton Police department has received hundreds of emails, social media messages, and thank you cards all from people thanking them for what they did for this city. Dayton has faced so many challenges this year. Each time these officers and the entire department have risen to the occasion keeping the public safe when a kkk group held a hate rally, helping residents after the devastating tornadoes hit this summer, and now dealing with this awful gun violence, all kinds of tragedies that have fallen on this community. I thank my friend mayor nan whaley who is here in washington today helping honor these officers and held this community together. I think she put it best when she said dayton has had as i like to term it one hell of a summer and youve all been on the front lines of it. I met these officers at the Miami Valley Hospital three days after the shooting. The president of the United States was there to honor these officers and to see the victims and some of the injured daytonians who were victims of the shooting and their families. I said to the president the best way you can honor these Police Officers is bring the senate back into session and pass universal background checks. 93 of the American Public support universal background checks. The Congress Already passed it overwhelmingly. We could do it in a day. I want to thank sergeant knight, officer demlinger, officer carter and officer campbell and all of dayton Law Enforcement for responding far beyond the call of duty in saving the lives of so many people in the miami valley. I want to thank their families, many of whom are here today. We know how families sacrifice alongside Law Enforcement and service members, yet so often families dont get the recognition that they deserve. To the officers and your families, we are forever grateful. I note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call the presiding officer the senator from minnesota. A senator mr. President , today this the presiding officer the senate is in a quorum call. Ms. Klobuchar i ask the quorum call be vitiated. The presiding officer without objection. Ms. Klobuchar today, this chamber once referred to as the greatest deliberative body must take action. We have people all over the country who want to see action, people who want to see change, people who are crying out for their leaders in washington to do their jobs. These days the United States senate has become a place where legislation goes to die, and the important issues of the day go ignored. In addition to inaction on major, major issues, significant issues like Climate Change and infrastructure and immigration reform, today i will focus on three things that are right before us. Three bills in the Gun Legislation area that are right now on the leaders desk. Two other areas, Election Protection and bringing down the cost of Prescription Drugs where we could literally take action immediately. I focus on these because they all involve bills that have passed the house where the senate could literally act today. I focus on these because in all three cases the timing is urge urgent. I am talking about inaction in the wake of terrible tragedies in dayton and el paso and in midland, odessa, all in just the last month. Inaction in protecting our elections and making it easier for people to vote. Inaction in response to serious issues of Health Care Costs and particularly Prescription Drug prices. First gun safety. Think about the courage, the incredible courage of the people who were in dayton and in el paso and in ow odessamidland. The mom who literally shielded her baby from death as she perished herself to gunshot wounds but she kept that baby alive. Or how about the grandpa who died shielding his wife and granddaughter or the offduty soldier who carried children away to safety. All that happened in that store. As we approach the anniversary of 9 11, i think also about the First Responders and all of these Mass Shootings. The ones in dayton, ohio, who got there in one minute, one minute but still we lost nine people in 30 seconds. But they were there in one minute and saved so many lives. That is courage. That is the courage of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. And i believe in this place of extraordinary power that their courage must be matched. The courage must be matched to that mom, to that grandpa, to that soldier, to those First Responders. These are ordinary citizens that stepped up and saved lives. It is the least that we can do to match their courage. The American People cant afford more inaction, but over the past few years to me it seems that we have lost our resolve. Today i implore my colleagues, i implore the Republican Leadership to find the resolve once again and act with courage just like those men and women did in el paso and dayton and midland and odessa and gilroy and parkland and newtown and charleston and order and how and orlando. And how about all those families where they lose a loved one every single day to gun violence in homes, to gun violence on the streets. 1,300 children die from gunshot wounds each year. Thats a classroom of kids every single week. Yes, we are back today. Congress is back. I believe we should have come back sooner. We were in recess for mere hours when the gunman in el paso claimed the lives of 22 people. And for only a few hours more when the gunman in dayton claimed nine lives. I was among those who immediately called for the senate to come back from recess so that we could vote on gun safety measure, gun Safety Measures that had passed the house of representatives with some republican support. I said that we should come back for that vote back then on background checks, which, by the way, nine out of ten americans support, sensible background checks which the majority of hunters support sensible background checks, which the majority of voters who voted for President Trump support sensible background checks. I know the history here. As the lead sponsor of the bill to prevent perpetrators of Domestic Violence, perpetrators, people who have been convicted of serious Domestic Violence and stalking from possessing a gun and a long time supporter of universal background checks as well as the assault weapon ban and limits on magazines, i was invited to the white house right after parkland, right after all those kids died in that school. And i thought, well this is a moment where we can act. I was seated across from the president of the United States. And i had a piece of paper that i saved, and i wrote down with hash mashes how many times he said that we should pass the bill for universal background checks and stop that gun show loophole. Nine times he said it, nine times. I was seated next to the Vice President and across from the president. I told the president that i come from a proud hunting state and that when i look at proposals like this, i say to myself, do they hurt my uncle dick in the deer stand . Do they do anything to hurt our hunting tradition in our state . They dont. Thats why the vast majority of hunters support universal background checks and a lot of these other measures that we talked about that day in that Conference Room in the white house. It was on tv so people can see it. Theres a video of it. Theres evidence of it. I thought it was a done deal. But then what happens . The president the next day goes and meets with the n. R. A. And he folded. He folded despite the fact that on tv in front of the nation, in front of those kids, those surviving kids from parkland, in front of the families of the kids that had died he made a promise that he didnt keep. Thats the history that i know and ive lived. But it doesnt end there. I go back in time. I go back to the saddest day in the United States senate for me, and that was the morning of the vote on background checks. That was years before. That was after that sandy hook shooting. Those families were there, and i had been working with some of the senators who were leading that bill. And i had to tell them that morning those parents who had lost their kids, their Elementary School age kids in that school that we didnt have enough votes to pass that bill. And i remember one of the moms said to me, she said, you know, ill never forget that day. Ill never forget the last time i saw my son alive. He had severe autism so he really couldnt speak but every morning he would point at the picture of the school aide that he loved so much that would never leave his side because he loved her and he would point at her picture on our refrigerator. And thats what happened that last day when she saw him alive. And then he went to school and then just a few hours later she was waiting in that firehouse with all of those parents. And one by one those children came into that firehouse and pretty soon the parents that were left, they knew they would never see their babies again. And as she is sobbing in that firehouse, she has this fleeting moment where she thinks of that teacher, that school aide. And she knows at that moment that that school aide would never leave the side of her little boy. And when they found them both shot to death, that school aide had her arms around take little boy around that little boy. That mom, she was in my office that morning. And she had the courage to advocate for something that she knew wouldnt have saved her kid because of the particular circumstances of how that guy got that gun. But what she knew about the background checks was that it would save more lives than a lot of these other measures . Why, because the states that have it helped. They have reduced rates of domestic homicide. And it helps with suicide as well. And it probably would have helped in midland, odessa. We dont know all the facts but what we do know is one time that guy failed a background check and then somehow he was able to get a gun. Those parents had the courage to do that and then a few hours later this place didnt have the courage to pass that bill. Thats the history that ive had with this issue. But it goes back even further. It goes back to when i was a prosecutor and we had cases all the time every day gun violence. We had officers killed. We had children killed. We had women killed in their homes. But the case i most remember actually happened after id left that job and i was in the senate and we had a shooting of a Police Officer in a small town. He was just doing his job. He showed up for a Domestic Violence call which maybe sounds legal to sounds regular to a lot of people but not to officers because they know how dangerous those calls are. It was a young woman, the victim of the Domestic Violence, 17. The guy was in the house. The officer comes to the door just doing his job. Opens the door. The guy shoots him in the head. He was wearing a bulletproof vest but it didnt protect him. And they told me, the widow told me because i was there for that funeral the last time that they had been in that church was for the nativity play that the kids were in. And the next time after christmas when they were in that church, she was walking, a widow, down that aisle with her little children, with a little toddler in her arms and a blue dress covered with stars. Thats gun violence. Its not just about one family. Its not just about one victim. Its not just even about that Police Officer and that family that will never be the same. It is about our entire community. Thats my history with this issue. So when i come back here and i think of the courage of all those people and all those survivors and i think about those Mass Shootings and how by one by one if we had made and passed these sensible bills, we could have prevented some of this from happening. I dont know what our excuse is anymore. The leader on the republican side said, quote, that if the president took a position on a bill so that we knew we would actually be making a law and not just having serial votes, i would be happy to put it on the floor. And then the president says, congress is going to be reporting back to me with ideas. The time for ideas is done. The ideas passed in the house of representatives, not all the ideas i would like put into law but some really good things got passed that would prevent a lot of violence, including the background checks, including closing the charleston loophole when that White Nationalist went into that church and gunned down those parishioners only because a background check hadnt been completed. Just giving a few more days. Thats what that bill does so Police Officers can do their job and complete the background checks. Or how about my bill . Thats a bill thats sitting on leader mcconnells desk. That closes the boyfriend loophole. Whats the status of the law right now sph if you get convicted of a serious offense or Domestic Violence against your husband or wife, most of the time its wives, or against someone who lives in your house, then you cant go out and get an ak47. You cant go out and get a gun. Thats the law right now. But if you get convicted of the same crime against a boyfriend or a girlfriend, usually girlfriend, you can go out and get that gun. We have had hearing after hearing about this bill. We have had hearings because it is so sensible to close that loophole. Why . Because half of those domestic homicides involve girlfriends. I remember back at the one we had a few years ago. We heard from the sheriff from Racine County in wisconsin. He described himself as a conservative. He said this. Dangerous boyfriends can be just as scary as dangerous husbands. They hit just as hard and they fire their guns with the same deadly force. That bill that bill is in the violence against women act right now and sitting on leader mcconnells desk. That bill passed with 33 republican votes in the house of representatives. There is absolutely no reason we should stop a vote on the entire violence against women act simply because it includes this commonsense provision. Those are the three bills right now soon to be joined by a bill on limits on magazines. Why that bill . Well, because in 30 seconds, nine innocent people were killed in dayton, ohio. The cops did everything they possibly could. They were there in one minute and still nine people died. Those are the bills background checks, closing the loopholes so that the cops have time to simply finish their vetting. Why would you want to cut off their days at three. Third, closing the boyfriend loophole to helping cases of stalking and Domestic Violence. And fourth, the magazine. Commonsense bills. Would i like to do more with the assault weapon ban . Yes, i would, but right now we could get these done. So what do we hear instead . We hear this. The president took a position on the bill so then we can wait to see if we have serial votes and then put it on the floor. The president is saying congress is going to report back to me with ideas. This is a dangerous game of whacamole that has to stop. People are dying while people are pointing fingers. We could point our fingers and do both. Yes or no. We could do that today, and we ask that those bills be called out immediately. But you know what . It doesnt end there. There are other really important bills that we should be voting on right now. Election security. We know that a foreign country invaded our election. We know that because we heard it from President Trumps top intelligence official. In fact, dan coats, the director of intelligence, back then he said that they were getting bolder. We know that. We know what happened. We know they did it in multiple ways. They did it by trying to hack into elections in all 50 states and to the election equipment. We found that out. In illinois, they got as close as the voter files. We also know that they tried to do it with social media, and there they were more successful. They ran a bunch of ads, paid for them in rubles to try to suppress the vote. I will never forget the one that was shown at our judiciary hearing, paid for in rubles, and it was a facebook ad that went on African American facebook pages in swing districts. It was a picture of a woman, an nont woman. They had just taken her face, someone from chicago, and it said why wait to vote in line for hillary . You can text your vote, and it gave a number. Something like 86513. Thats illegal. That is a crime. If we had known about that ad and found the perpetrators, they would have gone to jail. But that kind of activity by a important country was allowed to run rampant, and when the president was asked about it, when he was at the g2, standing with vladimir putin, he made a joke about it and looked at vladimir putin, and they laughed. You know what i thought . I thought to myself, well, you know what . Hundreds of thousands of americans have lost their lives on the battlefield fighting for democracy in our own country and around the world, and i thought four little innocent girls in a church in birmingham, they lost their lives. Innocents in that fight for civil rights, in that fight for our democracy, in the fight to vote, and he made a joke about it. This isnt a joke. And we have an opportunity, we have several bills on this that i am leading to push for backup paper ballots in the remaining states that dont have them, to push for funding, funding for audits, funding to get the right election equipment. This isnt a joke. It doesnt matter if youre a republican or a democrat or an independent. This is about protecting our democracy from the invasion of a foreign country. This is what our founding fathers, this is why we started this country, because they wanted to be independent and didnt want to have foreign influence. Its what we fought for war after war is protecting the freedom and democracy. So this is the new ground for invasion. They didnt do it with missiles. They didnt do it with tanks, but theyre doing it with computers, and its called cyber warfare, and we have to be as sophisticated in our country as they are when they try to invade it. And when we try to call up one of these bills and senator blunt had nicely called that hearing and the rules committee of which i am the ranking member, we got gut punched, senator lankford and i and the other authors of that bill, senator burr, the head of the intelligence committee, senator warner, senator harris, senator graham. That got stopped, by the white house, calls were made, and by the leader. It is time to bring back this bill or pass one of the many versions that are out there. The last area that im going to bring up and there are many other things. I mentioned Climate Change, immigration reform, but the reason i am focusing on these things, gun safety, for the obvious reason, as well as Election Security and Prescription Drugs, because these bills are things that have passed the house of representatives. Theyre something that we could do right now. So what about Prescription Drugs . Well, it feels like years ago now, but it was actually just last january when i went to the state of the union with my guest, nicole smith holt. Nicoles son aleck was a 26yearold. He was a restaurant manager in the suburbs of minneapolisst. Paul. He had aged off his parents insurance. Three days short of his payday, a hardworking kid, he wasnt able to afford his insulin. He was diabetic, pretty severe diabetic. So he did what so many diabetics are doing right now because of that incredible cost of insulin. He started rationing it. He saved it. He took less than he was supposed to take. I have talked to seniors who literally keep the injectors with those precious drops of insulin so they can use them the next day. Well, when aleck tried it, tragically it didnt work. He died. A restaurant manager. This should never happen in the United States of america. Not with a simple drug, thats insulin, that has been around for nearly a century. So i brought his mom with me to that state of the union. She is sitting right up there, looking down at the president while he had claimed, of course, many times that hes going to do something about the prices of pharmaceuticals. And i would say those who are blocking and slowwalking Bipartisan Legislation to reduce the cost of Prescription Drugs, i think that they should give nicole a call, because she is smart, she is pretty straightforward, she is a nice person, and listen to her story. Health care is onesixth of our economy, and total drug spending accounts for over 15 of our nations Health Care Costs, from consumers to hospitals and nursing homes. Between 2012 and 2016, the price of brandname Prescription Drugs increased 110 . And if we dont act now, that number will keep increasing. As the profit margin for big pharma increase hand over fist. They have two lobbyists for every member, every desk in this senate, pharma has two lobbyists. Thats what nicole, that mom looked down on when we saw the state of the union. And that number also applies to the house of representatives where we were that night. But there are solutions on the table. We could, first of all and i think this would make the biggest difference because it involves so many people, and that would be to pass my bill that i have led for years that would harness the negotiating power of 43 million seniors and allow medicare to negotiate to bring drug prices down. The v. A. Does it, medicaid does it. They have much less expensive drug prices. Because that negotiation is allowed. I figure the power of 43 million seniors, they could get pretty good deals, 43 million seniors done through medicare, but right now its locked in. Why would it help people who are not of the age to be on medicare . Well, it helps you because its this biggest block of drug prices, and once it starts going down for medicare, it starts going down for everyone. We can also pass my bill that i worked on for years with senator gravel to stop big brand Name Companies from paying off other drug manufacturers to keep less expensive products off the market. Lets think what that means. What that is is pharma has a drug. A lot of times they have a monopoly. Then someone comes along with another version of it thats less expensive. That would be great for us, especially when there is three or four competitive drugs, you always see those prices go down. Do you know what they do . They actually pay the generics to keep the product off the market. The Big Companies then have a monopoly. The new company thats bringing the drug and the generic, they are fine. They get the money from big pharma. And the only one that gets the short end of the stick is us. Its the consumers of this country. So thats why senator grassley and i have worked across the aisle, and it is time to get that bill passed. The third one i would suggest, which is a bill that i first introduced with senator mccain, who we all miss very much, which would allow americans to bring in less expensive drugs from canada. You could do it with other countries as well. We know that those drug prices in canada are so much less expensive than they are in the United States. States have tried to do this on their own, states like maine, but they said no, you have to have a federal law to make this really work. Individuals have tried to do it. Bus tours of seniors go up there. We had bipartisan support for this nn minnesota. Former governor pawlenty supported changing this bill, but we couldnt do it as a state. It really has to be done on the federal level. I am also pleased that senator grassley has now stepped into senator mccains views and is carrying this bill for me. He is the chair of the Senate Finance committee, so there is no reason that we shouldnt be able to call this bill up for a vote. In conclusion, i started this speech by questioning whether this chamber is even capable of action on big things anymore, and i will end by asking a question that should be simple. Will the United States senate respond to the needs of the American People . When americans are shot in cold blood, laying their bodies littered on the floor of a walmart, will we respond to their needs . Will we respond to their family . When their votes are threatened by foreign attacks from a foreign country, will we respond to the citizens of this country . Will we respond when we know these drug prices have gone completely out of control and we uniquely could do something about it . Today what this Chamber Needs are leaders. Leaders dont hesitate. They dont drag their feet or put politics over country. They dont block or obstruct progress. And if my colleagues dont want to find common ground, at least we could show some commonsense. Its time to live up to the promise of this esteemed body. Inaction wont do. The American People cant afford inaction in the wake of unprecedented attacks on our elections and our democracy. They cant afford inaction when people are actually dying because they cant afford common Prescription Drugs. They cant afford inaction when we have people being slaughtered on our streets. Going to a festival in california, out on a weekend night with friends, going to a movie theater, following shopping for movie supplies. Historically, this chamber has done great things. Its one of the reasons that all of us that work here, that got elected to this office decided to do it. We fought for and passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Our predecessors did that in the u. S. Senate. This place expanded Voting Rights the following year. This place helped provide a safety net for families and seniors and kids across the country by passing medicare and medicaid. Guess what . When those things were passed, they werent totally popular at the time, but now they are. Because they did the right thing. They were leaders. They didnt wait. They didnt hesitate. They led. We can and should come together and do great things now. Thats the america we love. Thats the america we know. Thats the america we can be again. I ask that these commonsense measures come up for a vote. Thank you, madam president. I yield the floor, and i note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call the presiding officer the democratic leader. Mr. Schumer are we in a quorum call . The presiding officer we are. Mr. Schumer i ask unanimous consent that quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer first, let welcome my colleagues back from the august state work period. It was taunt to travel our states and meet with constituents, to hear from them about the issues that matter most in their lives. Some of the things i heard middleclass families are struggling with costs that keep going up while wages barely budge, recent College Graduates are saddled with Crippling College Debt and are worried about their future, their ability to buy a home and do the things they want for their children; families and seniors are worried about rising Health Care Costs, particularly Prescription Drugs; and voters asked if were doing enough to keep our elections safe from foreign interference. I spent time talking with educators in upstate new york about teacher short annals, with farmers about the production of agriculture, with homeowners about improving Flood Insurance policies and with middleclass families about keeping more of their earnings in their pocket after the republicans repealed the state and local tax deduction. I heard from new yorkers in every corner of my state and the overwhelming consensus was that washington has to work to do and has to do more to shore up the middle class and those struggling to get there. Typically, with congress out of session, the president can spend the month of august highlighting issues and Building Support for laws and initiatives and programs to help working americans, but not this president , not President Trump. As we all could have predicted, he spent the month of august sowing discord and division at home, comforting our adversaries, alienating our allies abroad and spending selfaggrandizement on twitter. 20 years ago if you read what the president done this year, that would be fiction, this august, that would be fiction. But unfortunately its true. And although weve become a bit inured to the president s volatility, it is hard to recall a president having a more destructive or bizarre summer. On the world stage, President Trump canceled a planned trip to denmark because they refused to consider selling us greenland. He release add reportedly classified satellite image on twitter and suggested inviting putin to return to the g7, hoping of course that he could host the next one, at of all places, his own priority h. Private resort in florida. Here at home, the president called the chairman of the Federal Reserve an enemy, continued to attack the f. B. I. , again falsely claimed hed won the popular vote, and called jews who voted for democrats disloyal. On the issue of policy, the president began the month vacillating wildly on support for gun Safety Measures despite three Mass Shootings and ended the summer by diverting funds intended for our Nations Defense and for our soldiers and their families, taking that money away from them for the construction of the border wall that we all know he promised mexico would pay for. And of course weve now spent the past week and a half watching the president desperately trying to justify sometimes with a sharpie his warning that the state of alabama lay in hurricane dorians destructive path. What a circus. This is america. Were so proud of this country. We cant be proud of the president s actions in the last month. No one can. No matter what your politics. Id say to President Trump, there are real issues facing real americans, and its our job as their elected representatives, whether we be in the executive branch or the legislative branch, whether we be democrats, independents, or republicans, to do something to help them. But this president seems uninterested or maybe simply incapable. So as we return to work in washington, let us aim for progress on the issues President Trump ignored during his strange, lost summer. Gun safety, Election Security, health care, infrastructure making progress on funding the government in order to avoid another Government Shutdown that the president caused and had to back off from last time. Thats the peoples business. Even if the president isnt interested in it, its our job to be. Lets roll up our sleeves and get to work and sometimes we have to ignore the president s shenanigans. One issue of particular importance looms on this Upcoming Senate work period. That is gun safety. In the month of august, more than 50 americans were killed in Mass Shootings. The latest barrage in the i think knee of Mass Shootings that have become all too routine in our country, to say nothing of the american lives lost in everyday gun violence in our communities. Its on the minds of the American People. I think h. I was i was at the airport. Someone at the airport said, do something about gun violence. I lost my nephew to gun violence lastee. Thats why our first order of business in the senate should be to take action on h. R. 8, the housepassed bipartisan background checks act. We must grapple with the stark reality that gun violence is becoming an alltooroutine occurrence and that we in congress have both the ability and responsibility to do something about it. H. R. 8 is the most commonsense way for the senate to save american lives. Its bipartisan. It has already passed the house and, as a matter of policy, its absolutely necessary to close the loopholes in our background check system in order to make other gun laws effective. We can and should pass a very strong red flag law, but what good would a red flag law do if you were were adjudicated, unable to have a gun, and he could go online and get that gun with no check at all . If you dont have background checks, bad people will get guns felons, spousal abusers, those mentally ill and people will get red flags. So its critical that we pass a universal background check law and close the loopholes, that we do everything we can to prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands in the first place. Background checks must be the base, the foundation we start from when we talk about gun safety legislation. Just look at the case of the shooter in odessa, texas, who reportedly failed a brac ground check in 20 a background check in 2014 but was able to purchase a firearm through a private sale with no background check. This is one of the loopholes that the bipartisan background check act would close. And these loob holes were never intended i was the author of the broad did i law. It saved tens of thousands of lives back in 1994 when i was a house member and the chair of the crime subcommittee. But back then, there was no internet. When some of the gun advocates here said, well, exempt gun show loopholes, gun shows were simply a place to show antiquetype guns. Your 1938derringer. But now, of course, theyve become a huge loophole that felons and other people who shouldnt have guns seek. To use to get guns. Weve got to close these loopholes. Its not doing anything more to take away the rights of legitimate american citizens who want to bear arms, something i believe in, than it was when it passed. Its just closing loopholes as time has evolved. There are two people in washington to make this legislation which would greatly reduce gun violence pass. Leader mcconnell and President Trump. Leader mcconnell have the power to make sure this legislation passes this body or to make sure that it doesnt pass. Its in their hands. The republican leader determines the senates business. After the shootings in el paso and dayton, we demanded the leader call the senate back into session so we could respond to the crisis. He refused. Maybe he hoped the scenes of violence would fade from the minds of the public and the issue would fizzle out. Well, thats certainly not happened. And democrats wont let it happen. And unfortunately, the increased frequency in Mass Shootings wont let it happen either. As democrats return to washington, we carry with us the frustration of americans who demand action but have seen far too little. These are demands of democrats and republicans, people northeast, south, and west, men and women, people from urban areas, suburban areas and rural areas. And so, with their importuning and mine, we will make sure the issue of gun safety remains front and center for these next three weeks and beyond until meaningful change is achieved. By contrast, leader mcconnell did not even mention gun violence in his opening remarks today. After promising that we would have a debate in the senate when we returned. We await word from the leader when that debate might take place. One thing we do know is that leader mcconnell has said that the question of background checks will come down to President Trump. If the president took a position on a bill leader mcconnell said id be happy to put it on the floor. Thats what he said. Those are his words. If thats the case, the president has an historic opportunity to save lives by significant nalg his support fot for the house passed background checks bill. So far hes been all over the lot. The president told me hes going to get the strongest possible bill, but has not committed to what he might support, and then in future days seemed to have backed off that statement. Thats why Speaker Pelosi and i sent President Trump a letter today urging him to support h. R. 8, the universal background check bill, and to make his position public. President trump can lead his party to do something that the n. R. A. Has long prevented republicans from doing, by providing these republicans cover under a republican president s support. President trump, please read our letter. Support the universal background checks bill. Its common sense. Its enormously popular with the public, 93 , popular even with republicans and gun owners. And above all, it would save american lives. Maybe that man at the airport i dont know his name or where he was from would not have to come up to me and tell me his nephew died of gun violence if we had passed some of these laws. The time to act is now, before more lives are lost. The pressure is on President Trump and leader mcconnell to act. I yield the floor. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from texas. Mr. Cornyn madam president , i came to the floor and heard the democratic leader talking obviously about some terrible incidents that occurred in el paso and dayton and now in odessa. So since we were here last in session, weve had two shootings, one in el paso and one in odessa. And i, i will confess that these are terrible tragedies that cause us to first ask the question, why . And then cause us to ask the question, what . What can and what should we do to try to stop incidents like these in the future . I remind the democratic leader, we actually have a great template for bipartisan support for gun safety legislation, which is the bill we sent to the president last year called fix nics, nics being the National Criminal background check that the f. B. I. Operates. If you were convicted of a felony or dishonorably discharged from the military or subject to a protective order or youve been committed as a result of a Mental Health crisis, all of these under existing law prohibit you from purchasing or possessing a firearm. But if the background check system doesnt work, it doesnt really count for much. And im proud of the fact that we came together on a bipartisan basis and passed this fix nics legislation by over whemg margins overwhelming margins. So anybody suggesting we simply havent done anything has a faulty memory, at the very minimum. But i would also add that we passed legislation that would enhance school safety. One of the problems is these cowards that commit these terrible acts, they dont go shoot up police stations. They go to the soft targets, like the schools. And no parent should send their child to school wondering whether they are going to be safe from attacks like weve seen occur at places like santa fe at the School District in texas. We passed Bipartisan Legislation to deal with that as best we could. We also recognize that many of the people who commit these acts are a danger to themselves and others because of a Mental Health crisis. And in the 21st century cures bill, a broad bipartisan bill, we passed legislation that provides for piloting of assisted outpatient treatment. The reason why thats so important is because if youre dealing with an adult, an adult child, an adult spouse obviously, or a parent, theres very little you can do to make them follow their Doctors Orders or get the kind of treatment that they need, to take their medication. But as a result of assisted outpatient treatment orders, a Family Member or Law Enforcement or Mental Health professional can petition a court for a court order requiring people to it comply with their Doctors Orders to show up for their appointments, and to take their medication. And theyve reaped tremendous benefits around the country protecting people from themselves when theyre in a Mental Health crisis and protecting other people from potential acts of violence that they might commit. Its not true that people who are mentally ill are somehow more prone to violence, but certainly when they lose control of themselves and they are in a Mental Health crisis, they can be a danger to themselves and to others. So this assisted Outpatient Treatment Pilot Program that we pioneered in the 21st century cures act, i think provides another tool. And then we provided Law Enforcement with additional training. Thats where the active Shooter Training came from, actually pioneered down in saint marcus, texas, at texas state university, where they train Law Enforcement not to sit on the perimeter while the shooting goes on inside a building, but to attack the shooter where they are. But also we went one step further, to make sure not only that we could stop the shooter, we can actually save lives and keep people from bleeding to death, by training emergency medical personnel to follow the police into an active shooting scene to save lives. Now part of the problem with discussing this topic is theres just a lot of mythology out there. I heard my friend the democratic leader saying if we just pass another background check system, maybe dayton or el paso would not have happened. Well, both of those shooters passed a background check. So are you suggesting we ought to pass a law just to pretend like were doing something but would actually not have a positive impact on saving lives . Thats not what we did in the fix nics bill because, as you may recall, the particular shooter there was disqualified from purchasing firearms, but the air force had not uploaded that, his felony conviction for Domestic Violence into the background check system. So when he went in to buy a firearm, it didnt catch it. He was able to lie and then buy. And im proud to say that as a result of this Bipartisan Legislation we passed, there have been a 400 increase in the federal government providing additional background check information into the National Instant criminal background check, the nics system. I think its safe to say as a result of the Bipartisan Legislation we passed working together that lives will be saved. Thats what we ought to be about. Not about show votes or political posturing. We ought to be about solving the problem. And lets be clear. Lets get our facts right first. The democratic leader mentioned odessa. Well, it is true that the shooter in odessa did have a Mental Health commitment, and he tried to buy a gun through traditional means, and he failed a background check so he wasnt successful. And while the details are still being investigated, it looks like he purchased a firearm from an unlicensed firearm dealer, which is a crime. And if the dealer sold the firearm to the shooter knowing that he was disqualified from purchasing or buying a firearm, that would be another crime. So trying to suggest that some sort of additional background check would have solved that problem when what the dealer did and what the purchaser did were already illegal, i just dont think holds up. So i look forward to continued discussion and debate on this topic. Its on the mind of an awful lot of people as i traveled across my state, the state of texas, this august, as we all did during the august work period. But i always benefit from going back home and getting refreshed by the thoughts, the ideas, the aspirations of real people instead of living here inside this fantasy land known as washington, d. C. I always tell people washington is a fascinating place to visit. Its like disney land. Just remember one thing, its not real. Whats real are the people we represent back home. And what the laboratories of democracy produce, which are the states, including the great state of texas. I also, as i traveled back home, enjoy sharing updates about what weve been working on here in washington and seeing how legislation we passed can actually make a difference back home. One example is a program authorized by a law that i introduced called the project safe neighborhoods, which is now the law of the land. Its a bill i introduced which is now the law. I invited attorney general barr to come to dallas, texas, to hear how this initiative has already begun driving down crime rates in a couple of our communities in dallas. This Program Partners with local, state, and federal Law Enforcement officials together with federal prosecutors to target violent offenders, people who have no legal right to possess a firearm, who use firearms routinely in committing crimes, targeting those offenders and engaging with the community and thus help create safer neighborhoods. Its already having a positive impact in communities across my state, and im eager to see the longterm benefits of this incredible program. In austin, i visited the university of texas during the month of august and met with some student veterans who are reaping the benefits of a bill that we passed this last summer. Its called the veterans stem scholarship improvement act, stem for science, technology, engineering, math. The veterans stem scholarship improvement act which made a seemingly small change to an existing program which provides extended g. I. Bill eligibility for student veterans pursuing stem degrees. Because we made an, a technical but important change, more students are able to continue their education with significantly less financial stress. And the president of the university of texas system said that instead of just three courses that veterans could qualify for using their g. I. Bill, they could now qualify, i think he said the number was 25. It may have been 28. But multy but ultimates of what they could multiple, of what they could qualify under it law. This change could make a big difference. I heard from the . Iewntses using the g. I. Benefits about their career goals and look forward to seeing all that they will accomplish. In addition to those meetings and those visit, i attended a Ribbon Cutting of a brand new v. A. Clinic in san angelo, texas. I spoke to survivors of Sexual Assault in grapevine about the need to pass the debbie smith act to reauthorize the money we appropriate to help test backlog rape kits and i was able to join my friend congressman Henry Cuellar to discuss the usmca, the u. S. Mexicocanada trade agreement, the successor to nafta. So it was a busy and Productive Work period but sadly it was also marked by a number of heartbreaking moments that i alluded to a moment ago. On the moment of august 3, a gunman stormed into a walmart in el paso, texas, killing 22 innocent people and wounding two dozen others. It became the deadliest mass shooting in the United States this year. In a community as tightknit as el paso the devastation was immeasurable and i would note that the shooter traveled from another part of the state to el paso. He was not from el paso but the heartbreaking confusion quickly turned into rage when we learned the shooter was a white supremacist whose crime could only be described as one of domestic terrorism. The day after the shooting, i visited el paso and met with several of the victims as well as the Law Enforcement officers responding to the tragedy. Members of the Community Created a memorial to honor those who lost their lives and on that first day, it was relatively small, about four feet wide. By the time i returned to el paso with President Trump and the first lady three days later, this four feet wide memorial had grown to hundreds of feet wide. The outpouring by the community was overwhelming. In the face of tragedy and unthinkable grief, the strength and support of the entire community from that memorial to the long line of folks waiting to donate blood, to the donations to help the victims was truly remarkable. But as i also indicated at the beginning of my remarks, less than a month later, we experienced another shooting. A man went on a shooting rampage between midland and odessa killing seven people and wounding 25 others. When i visited odessa this last week, i met odessa Police Officer James Santana who was injured in the shooting but fortunately is expected to make a full recovery. When i asked the police chief or excuse me the police chief in ecter county what do you think we might be able to do in washington that would help, he said well, we just dont have adequate resources to deal with people suffering from a Mental Health crisis. That might be one area where you could help. I had the pleasure of thanking the men and women in blue, our Law Enforcement officers, for their Quick Response in odessa and thanked them for the work they do every day. By the way, i also had the opportunity to travel to the white house this morning. President trump gave an award to the Police Officers in dayton, ohio, who were able to stop the shooter there and offered certificates of commendation to some of the employees at walmart who helped save lives in the shooting episode there. While major events like these are ones that grab the headlines, texas Law Enforcement officials and officials all over the country are on the streets each and every day doing everything they can they can possibly do to keep our communities safe. And i think it would just be negligence on our part, not to continue to thank these men and women and especially those who have responded to tragedies like el paso, midland, and odessa. As our state continues to grieve from this senseless loss of life, the question is, of course, how did this happen . How can we prevent it from happening again . Well, i know were going to try just as weve done in the past to try to identify gaps and problems with the law and fill those gaps and save lives in the process. If i knew how we could pass a law here that would prevent people from committing crimes, we would pass it unanimously. But unfortunately that is not the human condition. Ive been speaking with my constituents as well as colleagues here in the senate over the last few weeks about what legislative solutions might look like. And i do expect us to have a wideranging debate on the subject in the coming days. I just spoke to a representative at the white house. They say they are putting together a set of proposals to provide the president later this week. And we look forward to hearing what the president believes these proposals should consist of. Again i think the model we used after the Sutherland Springs shooting in 2017 was a pretty good one where we browsed a bill to improve the background check system and to prevent people who shoot not be able to purchase a firearm from doing so. And we passed that legislation on a broad bipartisan basis. Had that legislation passed sooner, it could have prevented the Sutherland Springs gunman from acquiring his weapon in the first place by lying on his background check system, knowing perhaps that the United States air force had not uploaded his conviction for Domestic Violence into the background check system so he was able to get away with it. These are the kind of reforms i believe we should be looking at, Real Solutions to real problems. We owe it to the American People to focus on making changes that will actually work, not show votes, not talking points. We ought to be about trying to solve this problem. The American People are smart, mr. President. They can see whats happening up here when we resort to the same old tired talking points and are not really engaged in trying to find solutions. They see through it. And we owe it to them and owe it to ourselves and owe it to people who might otherwise become future victims to do everything we can to provide the tools to Law Enforcement, to try to prevent as many of these deaths as we can. In the case of the fix knicks act fix nics act it had brought support from democrats and republicans as well as the president so this will guide my approach again. Im not interested in scoring political points or introducing bills so we can pat ourselves on the back and run our next campaign on it. Im actually introduced in trying to solve the problem and saving lives in the process. Thats what we did on the fix nics act. They made it clear if theres a proposal out there that is able to meet the same criteria, we will consider it on the floor of the senate. Hes asked us to come together and figure out what that legislation would look like. While theres certainly differences on both sides of the aisle about what we should do, i hope all of us can remember we share a common goal of stopping these Mass Shootings to the extent we humanly can. Again, if we knew how to pass a law to prevent people from committing crimes, we would have already done that. So we may not be able to do that but we sure can, i think, make some progress and hopefully save some lives in the process. There are a lot of discussions about ways to do that, and im hopeful we can reach an agreement soon. We cannot allow these acts of violence to somehow become the new normal. So as we keep the victims and their families and the dedicated Law Enforcement officers impacted by the shooting in our prayers, we owe it to all of them and to ourselves to work on solutions to prevent more communities from experiencing these type of tragedies. Mr. President , i yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call quorum call the presiding officer the clerk will reporter 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 kelly craft of kentucky to be representative of the United States of america to the sessions the General Assembly of the United Nations during his tenure of service, signed by 17 senators. The presiding officer by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum has been waived. Is the the of the senate that kelley craft to be the representative to the United States of america to the sessions of the general asystemmably of the United Nations 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 do any senators wish to change their vote . Have any senators not voted in on this vote, the yeas are 54, the nays are 38. The motion is agreed to. The senator from georgia. Mr. Isakson i rise for a moment to pay tribute to a great georgia began and his wife, who this past saturday in athens, georgia, before the university of georgia Football Game were honored by naming the field dooley field. He coached the team to a National Championship in 1980. He coached herschel walker. He contributed millions of dollars 20 see that libraries were built, writing seven books including a book on flowers which is the one that all botanists Pay Attention to. An expert historian on the civil war. A great american. Went to auburn but he recovered, he came to georgia. He did better and better until he got us a National Championship. This year as our senior past athletic director, we named the field of georgia after vince duly after 25 years of Outstanding Service to the university. May god bless him and his wife and their family. Congratulations, university of georgia. Congratulations to vince. Iryield back. I yield back. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President . The presiding officer the Senate Majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule 22, the post cloture time on the craft nomination expire at 11 50 on tuesday, september 10. If cloture is invoked on the darling nomination, the postcloture time expire at 2 15 and if either of these nominations were confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the president be immediately notified of the senates action, finally you that notwithstanding rule 22, following disposition of the darling nomination, the senate vote on the cloture motions for the akard, cabaniss, and byrne nomination. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection, so ordered. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of h. Con. Res. 75 received from the house. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk h. Con. Res. 57, concurrent resolution authorizing the use of emancipation hall for an event to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first african slaves to the territory this would become the United States. The presiding officer is there objection to proceeding to the measure . Without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the concurrent 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 without objection. Mr. Mcconnell now, mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 00 a. M. Tuesday, september 10. Further, following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, morning business be closed, and the senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the craft nomination under the previous order. Finally, i ask that the Senate Recess following the cloture vote on the darling nomination until 2 15 to allow for the Weekly Conference meetings. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it standard adjourned following the remarks of senator gardner. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Gardner mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from colorado. Mr. Gardner thank you, mr. President. Of course, the senate back in session after the august work period where all of us were able to go home and, in the case of colorado, go corner to corner to visit with constituents to have meetings, to talk about those issues that are concerning to the people of colorado and what we can do to help provide solutions to the greatest challenges that they see in their lives, their businesses, and in their state. It really is a remarkable time to go through such an incredible and beautiful state. In colorado, in the west, we are blessed with amazing beauty and splen at the. Our public lands one of the greatest ideas that our nation has created. To be able to spend time in southern western colorado down by Mesa Verde National park, by the rocky National Park, to be in the Eastern Plains of colorado to visit places like the sand creek massacre flight to reflect on what that dark chapter in our American History spent, to look at what were trying to do to include the japanese american internment site into our National Park service. It really is a chance to reflect on the greatness of our country. This is a state that is composed of almost 50 public lands, a significant number of acres that are controlled, owned, managed by the state of colorado and of course a vast amount of acres controlled and operated by the federal government, whether thats the u. S. Forest service or the bureau of Land Management, the National Park service. But its the bureau of Land Management that brings me to the floor of the senate tonight because prior to our departure for the august work period, an announcement was made from the department of interior, the secretary of interior, that the headquarters of the bureau of Land Management would finally be moving west and indeed would be moving to Grand Junction, colorado. The bureau of Land Management manages roughly 250 million acres of surface land, surface area in our country, and almost all of it over 99 is west of the mississippi river. You can see the land that is highlighted in the red here. Some of this land is just mineral rights and not surface land. But over here, the vast amount of acreage are all surface land, 240 millionsome acres of land, 99 of which are west of the mississippi river. We have been assumed that the public lands are managed better when you manage them from within the communities that those public lands surround them in. So in the case of Grand Junction, colorado, the bureau of Land Management, almost 73 of mesa county is public land. Why not make the decisions facing these millions of acres of public lands in the west where the lands reside instead of thousands of miles removed in washington, d. C. . Moving the bureau of Land Management headquarters closer in proximity to the land it oversees and regulates makes sense. Its common sense, two things that we dont hear very often in washington. This is a priority, moving the b. L. M. Is a priority i have been working on for a number of years, going about a being to the under president obama. There was a hearing where almost every county commissioner in the west had objected to a regulation that the b. L. M. Was pursuing and yet the b. L. M. Continued to pursue it. I remember being frustrated in this hearing and finally saying to director corncy, if you were just located in the west, if you had your offices in the west, your headquarters, you would understand why this is a bad idea and at the time he kind of laughed and said, well, we should think about that. Well, you know what . We d aim pretty excited to say in a couple of weeks well be signing the lease for the new office space in Grand Junction to house that headquarters of the bureau of Land Management. But this is not and i think this is important because this seems to get lost in the daytoday shuffle of media coverage. This is not a partisan issue. This is not a republicandriven idea who are a democratdriven idea. This is a bipartisan approach to that has been embraced by leaders on both sides of the aisle. In fact, democratic colorado governor said in july said of moving the bureau to Grand Junction, quote, we are thrilled to welcome the bureau of bLand Management and their employees to the great state of colorado. As i stated to secretary bernhardt, Grand Junction is the perfect location for the b. L. M. Because of the community support. Location closer to the land b. L. M. Manages and the positive impact it will have on our western colorado economy. That wasnt a republican that said that. That was the democratic governor of the state of colorado embracing the move of the headquarters b. L. M. We had both democrats and republicans cosponsoring legislation that i introduced in the senate, congressman tipton introduced in the house, to legislatively move the headquarters of the bureau of Land Management to the west and now in colorado. Unfortunately were starting to hear some partisan debate, though, creep into this incredibly important move because what were seeing in washington, of course, are washington democrats trying to stop the process. In the news weve read about bausch bureaucrats opposed to the move. But it is important to thralls this decision but it is important to realize that this decision is not about the bureaucrats. It is about the job that we are doing to represent our public lands. This is an agency that doesnt just work for each other. Its an agency that works for the people of this country, to do the best job they can representing and managing our public lands. The public lands that they are charged to manage and to protect, why wouldnt you do that job from where the public lands reside . Moving the headquarters to the west will improve support. It will improve engagement. It will improve oversight. It will improve collaboration with western governors whose states in some cases are overwhelmingly dominated by public lands. It will improve relationships with state and local elected officials. It will improve relationships and management decisions and work with the tribes and tribal officials and sportsmen and women and ranchers and grazers and farmers and recreationalists and energy users. It will also save states and western communities thousands of dollars this travel expenses. If you live in western colorado, you no longer have to fly thousands of miles to washington, d. C. You dont have to buy an expensive roundtrip airplane ticket, spend a night in an expensive hotel. You get to travel, drive to western colorado, great air service, greater interstate access. You dont have to pay for a Washington Hotel or a washington meal. These are things when the b. L. M. Is actually located where 99 of the land they represent resides. Under the department of the interiors proposal, every single Western State will get every Western State will get additional staff, 296 current washington positions will be moved to locations throughout the west from alaska to arizona, california, idaho, montana, the dacas, nevada, new mexico, oregon, washington, and wyoming will all receive new staff out of washington, d. C. , and into the public lands that they represent, that they oversee. For those of us who are uteenly in washington, well still be able to get information immediately and meet with officials from the bureau of Land Management, the Deputy Director of policy and programs will continue to be located in washington, along with 60 other positions that are responsible for budgetary items, legislative affairs, Regulatory Affairs and public affairs. Theyll still be here. So it is not Like Washington is saul of a sudden going to have no one to call with no one answering their calls. It is a little bit absurd. It talks a little bit about the i guess the lack of hubris that government has to think that only washington knows best and only washington can lead. To think you cant manage these lands from where theyre at. This will improve the management of our public lands and b. L. M. Employees will see a benefit as well. The cost of living for b. L. M. Employees that move from washington to a state office will be considerably lower. And that will result in a significant increase back into his or her pocketbook. Leasing costs are also worth raising when we talk about the b. L. M. Headquarters. The b. L. M. Compared leasing space for 27 staffers in washington versus the leasing staff available in Grand Junction, colorado. The difference is 50 per square foot in washington versus just over 32 per square foot in Grand Junction. If you think about what that means, thats a significant savings. You think about p what you think about what if means for travel expenses for b. L. M. Employees. According to the department in fiscal year 2018, b. L. M. Employee travel from washington to the west was more than 3. 2 million. Theres no question that these resources could have been better spent on state offices and field offices that have been starving for resources for years. And in its own analysis, the department of interior projects that the total costs over 20 years for the relocation and relocations to other Western States will have a net savings, get this, will have a net savings of over 123 million. Not only will we have better decisionmaking, not only will the leadership of an agency that is the largest holder of public lands and manager of public lands in the country be located finally in the lands that they oversee, better decisions coming as a result, were going to save 123 million. Its a commonsense move designed to save taxpayer money, management decisions being bettered by the fact that these lands are now in their front yard instead of thousands of miles away. Bringing these decisions closer to the American People. The only reason to oppose this move is if you dont care about the people of the western United States or you dont think the people of the western United States are smart enough to figure out how to run public lands or to manage public lands or maybe you dont think that colorado is up to the task of being the headquarters of the b. L. M. Because apparently you dont trust the people in the confident. Theres no other reason to oppose it. This is common sense. Colorado is already home to significant portions of the usgs. Colorado is already home to northcom and norad. In fact, just today, the new Space Command, the United States Space Command stood up in Colorado Springs at Peterson Air Force base, and yet somehow there are people in washington, democrats, who dont think colorado can handle the management of our public lands. Its offensive. It really is to think that there are people in washington who think that only washington can do this job. Its wrong. We should stand up against that kind of, i guess, idea that only washington can do something and fight back against that mentality. Colorado is home to significant e. P. A. Offices, the National Institute of standards and technology, significant resources of the National Oceanic and atmospheric administration, the Regional Office of the u. S. Patent and trademark office, all in colorado. With so many acres of public lands, yes, we can manage public lands. Colorado should be the gateway to our public lands in this country and all of the wonderful access to opportunity that this means to our economy, recreation, conservation. Ask any one of the thousands of federal Government Employees currently living in colorado if they believe we can do this, and the answer is a resounding yes. Only in washington do they think its only washington that can do the job. Washington bureaucrats and washington democrats can oppose colorado all they want, but i believe in colorado. I believe in our ability to manage these public lands better than they have ever been managed before. I believe this is the best place in the nation to manage our public lands, to house and headquarter the bureau of Land Management, and as a result we will have a cleaner, better environment, more conservation opportunities, and a Greater Public lands economy as a result. Im excited about this future. The people of Grand Junction are excited about this future. Its far time that we now have a little bit less washington and a lot more colorado common sense. Thank you, mr. President. I yield the floor. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from ohio. Mr. Portman mr. President , i would like for unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Portman today six Police Officers from the Dayton Police department were awarded our nations highest honor for Law Enforcement. These were the six individuals who stood tall at 1 00 a. M. On august 4 in dayton, ohio, standing up to a shooter, engaging him within 30 seconds of the tragedy beginning. Nine people had already died. Another 27 were injured. But by standing up to him and doing it so quickly and responding so effectively, they saved so many lives. They put their lives in danger because they were standing between the shooter and innocent civilians who were out that evening having a celebration, enjoying themselves, not imagining that this horror could be committed. These six individuals were well trained. As chief rick bealle of the Dayton Police department has told me, and he is a friend of mine, the training worked, and he is right. But it was more than just training. It was instinct. It was heart. It was their willingness to step up as soon as they saw the danger and run in to the danger, literally. President trump today awarded the highest honor to these individuals, and when he did so, he said, and i quote, the light from these intrepid souls defy the darkness and confronted the most sinister danger. Well said. Sergeant william knight, officers vincent carter, david denlinger, ryan nabel, brian rolfes and Jeremy Campbell deserve the gratitude of all of us. Tonight ill have the opportunity to be with them here on this floor. Theyre going to come see the worlds greatest deliberative body, and i know that everyone here in the senate joins me in expressing our gratitude to them for the work they do every single day to protect all of us and for their extraordinary bravery that horrible night. We thank them and we say god bless them for what they do. Thank you, mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from ohio. Mr. Portman mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that the senate now proceed to immediate consideration of the calendar number 116, s. 349. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk calendar number 114, a bill to require the secretary of transportation to request nominations for and make determinations regarding rates to be designating for the National Scenic Byways Program and for other purposes. The presiding officer is there objection to proceeding to the measure . Without objection the senate will proceed. Mr. Portman i ask unanimous consent that the committeereported substitute amendment be agreed to, the bill as amended be considered and read a third time many. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection. Mr. Portman i know of no debate on the bill as amended. The presiding officer is there further debate . If not the question is on passage of the bill as amended. All in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The bill as amended is passed. Mr. Portman i ask unanimous consent that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Portman mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 125, s. 169. 1689. The clerk a bill to permit states to transfer certain funds from the clean water revolving fund, and so forth and for other purposes. The presiding officer is there objection to proceeding to the measure . Without objection, the senate will proceed. Mr. Portman i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Portman i know of no further debate on the bill. The presiding officer is there further debate . If not, all in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The bill is passed. Mr. Portman i ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Portman i ask unanimous consent that the committee on e. P. W. Be discharged from further consideration of h. R. 831 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk h. R. 831, an act to direct the secretary of transportation to request nominations for and make determinations regarding roads to be designated under the National Scenic Byways Program and for other purposes. The presiding officer is there objection to go proceeding to the measure . Without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed. Mr. Portman i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Portman i know of no further debate on the bill. The presiding officer is there further debate . If not, all in favor say aye. All opposed, no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The bill is passed. Mr. Portman i ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Portman mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar 116. I yield back my time. The presiding officer under the previous order, the Senate Stands adjourned until 10 00 a. M. Tomorrow morning. Ninth Congressional District and will campaign for republican candidate dan bishop. That district is decided from the 2018 term elections. See President Trump his comments on cspan2 to and if the senate is still in session, we will bring you live coverage. Tonight and the communicators, the tech policy roundtable on the issue of the congress and truck focus on this fall. Such as social media bias antitrust action against tech giants and Election Security. We put ashley gold from the information. Alexander levine, and the hills amber. People digest things very quickly. Experts were staying were going to be much more threatening leading up to the election and there is also this question of is the government ready. Is the public ready and were our Tech Companies ready. The answer and the consensus seems to be that none of this or anyone is ready. March the communicators tonight on cspan2 to cspan2. Cspan2 his washington journal. News and policy issues that impact you. Coming up tuesday morning, Stephen Moore of the Heritage Foundation will join us to talk about the Trump Administration economic record, and how it could impact the 2020 elections. They will also talk we put kim who was recently named as the jerky nations first delegation to congress. And chief also the cherokee nation, about native american representation in congress. Also joining us previous smart line abby ellis, to talk about her documentary on michigans issues we put water. Watch cspan2 washington journal live at seven eastern on tuesday morning. To marine the discussion. Tomorrow testimony from housing and urban development and treasury secretary on Housing Finance reform. Theyll be speaking for the Senate Banking committee. I gets underway tuesday on cspan2 three. Following that the House Judiciary Committee is considering several gun prevention bills. Banning highcapacity magazines. A process to stop high risk individuals from buying firearms. Stars like tuesday on cspan2 three. Wednesday is the 18th anniversary of the 911 terrorist attack. Watching on cspan2. From the new york city, a moment of silence, the reading of the names, the ringing of the bell. At 9 00 a. M. Eastern on cspan2, a ceremony at the 911 memorial. Live coverage of the 18th anniversary of the 911 terrorist attacks. On cspan2. On three and online at cspan2. Org or listen live on the free cspan2 radioactive. Up next, the acting customs and border protection. Number of migrants brent apprehended at the border. When it also talks about the displaced residents of the bahamas. After hurricane derek and dorian. Claimed asylum. Cspan2. [inaudible conversation] good morning and thank you all for being here today. The commissioner, i am pleased to announce the officials release south of the border statistics coming up in august. Ive said this many times that congress has fle