Their counterparts. Both of those motions are later this afternoon. And now live to the senate floor here on cspan2. The president pro tempore the senate will come to order. The chaplain, dr. Black, will lead the senate in prayer. The chaplain let us pray. Eternal god, thank you for your sanctifying truth. Use our lawmakers to live your truth for the glory of your name. May your truth keep us from the things that can pollute our lives and dishonor you. Forgive us when we are reluctant to submit to you with our bodies, minds, and spirits. Make us all vessels of honor, prepared for every good work. We pray in your strong name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. 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. Grassley mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley id like to address the senate for one minute as if in morning business. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley were getting towards the end of the year, and one of the issues i would like to get done, but it has to go through the house of representatives first is the United Statesmexicocanada agreement. So if regard to that agreement helping agriculture, i start out by laying out the fact that theres a lot of anxiety in agricultural america even though the harvest is about to start across iowa. We had really difficult had a really difficult, tough spring getting the crops in. There is a crop to be harvested, however, and farmers will now be about that job, hoping that they cover their costs, and while they are doing that they are thinking about next year putting in next years crop. Passing the United Statesmexicocanada agreement would inject some more certainty into the plans that the farmers have about this years harvest and the plans they have for next years crop. And passage of that would signal to the world that we here in the congress are very serious about passing new, modern trade arrangements, but were running out of calendar days in 2019. So Congress Must step up and deliver for our hardworking farmers, as well as workers in america and Small Business in america, and in a sense by getting this dpreement passed, agreement passed, helping all america. The time for the United Statesmexicocanada agreement is now. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell are we in a quorum call . The presiding officer we are. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell so, mr. President , yesterday even Speaker Pelosi announced that the house of representatives will begin what she called an official impeachment inquiry. But, really, mr. President , we know that House Democrats have been indulging their impeachment obsession for nearly three years now. A neverending impeachment parade in search of a rationale, the very day President Trump was inaugurated, the Washington Post ran this headline, the campaign to impeach President Trump has begun. The day of his inauguration. Later that year there were articles of impeachment introduced over the president s language. So, clearly, this has been an ongoing project for House Democrats since practically the moment that secretary clinton lost the election. For months democrats insisted that special counsel muellers investigation or the work of the Senate Intelligence committee would prove their theories about a conspiracy between the Trump Campaign and russia. It didnt happen. The facts disappointed them. But the impeachment parade kept marching along. And yesterday, even though Bipartisan Committee investigations into the new whistleblower allegations are under way, and just hours after the president offered to publicize the details of his phone call with the president of ukraine, the dam finally broke. Speaker pelosi couldnt hold back the farless any longer. Before any of far left any longer. Before any of us had the facts in hand, she caved to the left and announced an impeachment inquiry. If this all sounds familiar, thats because at the time one week ago, they were talking about impeaching justice kavanaugh. That was after a sketchy newspaper article that had to publish an enormous correction. One week later, here we go again, threatening impeachment without the facts in hand. Senate republicans support proper procedures for considering this whistleblower report. In the meantime while our friends across the capitol rush to judgment an dive deeper into their nearly threeyearold impeachment addiction, we will stay focused on the American Peoples business. On another matter. President trump led the government to recognize the insecure southern border for what it is, a National Emergency, a humanitarian and National Security crisis. Congress had heard plea after plea for more Border Security funding. We heard from Senior Leaders and career Border Patrol officers. We heard about all the surging illegal crossings, the unprecedented numbers of family units, and the strain on our facilities. But washington democrats decided that giving this very real crisis the resources it required might anger the far left which wants them to oppose President Trump at any cost. So the president tapped into long standing 40plusyearold president ial authorities and reprogrammed narrow sets of funds to address the urgent crisis. Now ive never been shy about my commitment to the institution of congress and its unique authorities, not least being the appropriation of taxpayer dollars, but were talking about 40plusyearold president ial shorties currently in law, unlike president obama who shrugged off the federal code when he established his daca policies President Trump was was the senate voted to undo the declaration. Their resolution fell far short of earning a vetoproof majority. Now, still unwilling to work with the president and republicans on a longterm bipartisan solution for Border Security, Senate Democrats are making us repeat the same show vote again. I would urge my colleagues to vote for Border Security and vote against democrats resolution when it comes up later today. Now, i understand the democratic leadership would like to invent a false choice between Border Security and other important military Construction Projects. They want to tell the American People they could have Border Security or these other important projects, but for some reason we cant have both. There are two problems to that argument. Problem number one is that its a false choice of democrats own invention. The only reason there could be any tradeoff between Border Security and these other priorities is their refusal to support commonsense Border Security. The only reason theres any tradeoff is that democrats have refused to work with the president. And problem number two of their argument is that congress has full power to ensure all the military Construction Projects are fully funded. Work is ongoing on appropriations and the ndaa. It would be easy to ensure that these projects get all the money they need. So, mr. President , later today, the senate will vote on exactly that. Well vote on several motions to instruct our ndaa conferees. And one of those motions will be a republican proposal that we insist on fully funding these projects for our own service members. With the kentuckians i represent, this is pretty simple. Kentuckians want our nation to have a secure southern border. Kentuckians want full funding for the middle school at fort campbell, funding they have been waiting on for years, fungi proudly probably secured in the first place. And kentuckians know perfectly well that with everything the United States of america spends money on, there is no earthly reason why democrats should force us to have one or the other. They dont want to be used as pawns in democrats political games. Even my democratic colleagues who dont support the administrations Border Security agenda should not take out their frustrations on our armed forces. Every Single Member of this body should be able to support the measure to fully Fund Military construction. So i would urge all of my colleagues to vote yes on that motion later today. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Under the previous order, the senate will be in a period of morning business until 10 30 a. M. , with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 450. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All in favor say aye. Opposed no. The ayes have it. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. Morning business is closed. The clerk will report the nomination. The clerk nomination, department of labor, Eugene Scalia of virginia to be secretary. Mr. Mcconnell 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 Eugene Scalia of virginia to be secretary of labor, signed by 17 senators as follows mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the reading of the names be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Thune mr. President. The presiding officer the majority whip. Mr. Thune mr. President , is the senate in a quorum call . The presiding officer we are. Mr. Thune i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be lifted. The presiding officer under the previous order, the senate will resume legislative session. S. J. Res. 54 is discharged and the senate will proceed to the consideration of the joint resolution which rp p the clerk will report. The clerk Senate Joint Resolution 54 relating to a National Emergency declared by the president. The presiding officer the senator is recognized. Mr. Thune thank you. Readers of forbes might have seen an article earlier this month entitled russian navy to be the first to field cruise missiles on submarines. Articles like this are a timely reminder of the everpresent need to invest in our military. It can be easy to take u. S. Military superiority for granted, but our military preeminence did not come out of nowhere. Our military is strong as a result of senior senator as a result of sustained investment in commitment. Meanwhile, as the forbes articles reminds us other countries are busy investing in their militaries. Great powers are investing in the weapons and equipment of the future. We need to ensure that our military is not falling behind. Later today we will vote on additional measures related to the National Defense authorization act, legislation that we take up every year to authorize funding for our military and our National Defense. Both the house and Senate Passed versions of this legislation this summer. Now members from both houses are working on reconciling the house and Senate Versions of the bill. The Senate PassedNational Defense authorization act was a strong bill, and i hope that the final bill will look a lot like it. Right now our military is rebuilding after years of underfunding and the strains of the global war on terror. In november 2018 the bipartisan National DefenseStrategy Commission released a report warning that our readiness eroded to the point where we might struggle to win a war against a major power like russia or china. The commission noted that we would be especially vulnerable if we were ever called on to fight a war on two fronts. Here in the senate, members of both parties have been working to address the militarys rebuilding needs and ensure were prepared to meet any threat. The bipartisan National Defense authorization act that we passed in the senate in june authorizes funding for our militarys needs and the equipment and technology of the future. It invests in ships, combat vehicles, and planes, including development of the future b21 bomber which will be based at Ellsworth Air force base in my home state of south dakota and continued procurement of the f35 joint Strike Fighter which i hope will someday soon be based in sioux falls. It authorizes funding for research and development and advanced technology. It authorizes funds to maximum our deterrence caibts and focuses capabilities and focuses on ensuring we will meet new fronts in the space and cyber domains. Of course, mr. President , while up to date equipment and technology is essential the greatest strength is our men and women in uniform. The senate and house versions of the act authorizes a 3. 1 pay increase for our troops, the largest increase in a decade. This is not only something our troops have earned, its also an important way to retain troops in our allvolunteer force when the economy is as strong as it is. Both the house and senate bills also focus on addressing the recent Significant Health and safety issues faced by many families with private onbase housing. I hope house and Senate Conferees will produce a strong bill and both houses will be able to pass this legislation in the near future. Mr. President , in a 1793 address to congress, president George Washington noted, and i quote, if we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it. If we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known that we are at all times ready for war. End quote. Mr. President , the surest way of preserving peace is to be strong militarily. Weakness is a tempting target for aggressive regimes and for evil men. Strength, on the other hand, can and does restrain those who might otherwise pursue war with the United States or our allies. Maintaining our military strength helps ensure the security of our country and her inhabitance and it also helps promote peace around the world. Mr. President , we cant change the fact that there will always be bad actors who will threaten our freedom and security, but we can ensure that we are always prepared to meet any threat. I look forward to passing a strong National Defense authorization act in the very near future. Mr. President , i yield the floor. Mr. Schumer mr. President. The presiding officer the democratic leader. Mr. Schumer last night Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the house of representatives would begin a formal impeachment inquiry of President Trump. I have spoken to her many times over the past few days. I know she did not make this decision lightly and took no pleasure in making it. It is her carefully considered judgment that it is now in the best interest of our country and our constitution to proceed with an impeachment inquiry. I strongly support Speaker Pelosis decision. If we dont reckon with President Trumps persist entrance gregss, the transgressions, the very foundation of this Great Republic is at risk. The president kept pushing and pushing and pushing the constitutional envelope. Finally the president s conduct made an impeachment inquiry unavoidable. The events of recent days have brought sharply into focus the question of whether President Trump abused the powers of his office and betrayed the public trust for personal, political gain. In open defiance of the law, his administration has thus far sought to block the transmission of an official whistleblower complaint to congress. The nature of that whistleblower complaint has been deemed both credible and urgent by one of President Trumps own senior level appointees, the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community. According to public reports, this complaint may detail how the president of the United Stat