Would make the balkan a debate on executive damnation of the 2020 spending. We taking live to the floor of the senate here on cspan2. The president pro tempore the senate will come to order. The chaplain of the senate, doctor black, will open the senate with prayer. The chaplain let us pray. Eternal master, we find shelter in your shadow, for you are our refuge and fortress. Lord, we place our trust in you. Rescue our senators from the forces that seek to threaten freedom. Remind our lawmakers that nothing is impossible for you. Be with them this day as they strive to serve you and country. We call on you because you have promised to answer us, so satisfy our longings with your saving power. Lord, use us all to help heal the wounds of a divided nation. We pray in your strong name, amen. The president pro tempore will you join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of americ, 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 i ask to speak as if in morning business for what time i might consume, and my guess itll be about 15 minutes. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley first of all, my usual oneminute speech after i open the senate. Last week i spoke about consistent congressional oversight, the checks and balances of government, congress to make sure that the executive branch of government faithfully executes the laws under the constitution. In that speech, i talked about how the democrats have ignored their own partys use of russian and Ukrainian Government connections to undermine trump. I noted how the democrats action literally fit thats right own definition of collusion. Congress ought to conduct aggressive oversight. Its a constitutional demand. However, if you want to be taken seriously in this body and by the american public, you have to be you have to be very consistent. And, of course, im pointing out some inconsist sis by the other inconsistencies by the other political party. When democrats ignore their own leadership collusion with foreign governments yet investigate the president after alleging he did the same, thats a lack of consistency and doubts about credibility. Now, on another subject, i recently introduced the Whistleblower Program improvement act of 2019, a bipartisan bill, and i have the support of the bipartisan whistleblowers caucus. This legislation strengthens whistleblower protection for whistleblowers working in a variety of key sectors, including our securities and Commodities Industries and the Foreign Service. Theres been a lot of talk about government whistleblowers lately. Thats very appropriate. Its important to remember that many of our whistleblower laws are there to protect just ordinary, average americans who dont work in government at all. Many of the groups helped by this bill work in the private industry. In some cases, theyre investors or Business People whove been on the receiving end of financial fraud. In others, theyre employees like stockbrokers, traders, investment advisors, administrative professionals, and other support staff who see activities in the course of their work that they know are outright wrong, and these good people decide to speak out, speaking out many times causes you to eventually seek whistleblower protection. Among these brave whistleblowers are people like the three employees at Merrell Lynch who had evidence that between 2009 and 2015 their company was misusing customer cash. Now just think how lucky these savers were, helped by whistleblowers willing to come out and say a wrong has been committed. They did it this way. The whistleblowers told the securities and Exchange Commission sec what they knew, and in doing so provided information critical to an investigation of the companys practice. That investigation uncovered multiple violations of federal rules. Among other things, the securities and Exchange Commission found the company was not depositing cash in reserve accounts, as law required. Instead, the company was using tricky accounting maneuvers to free up billions of dollars per week, and then you know what . Using that money to finance its own trading practices. And, in the process, its quite obvious the company was putting its customers cash at risk. The securities and Exchange Commission said that, quote and i quote had merril lynch failed in the midst of these trades, the firms customers would have been exposed to a massive shortfall in reserve accounts, end of quote. The information provided by whistleblowers led to a successful enforcement action, which involved an admission of wrongdoing by the company and a 415 million settlement. Now, getting back to the importance of whistleblowers, if these whistleblowers hadnt stepped forward, then who knows . Those shady Accounting Practices might still be going on this very day instead of having been stopped, stopped cold. Investors might still be facing the same unnecessary risk. Now, there are plenty of examples from the commodities industry as well. People like edward sidell, a whistleblower who informed the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that j. P. Morgan chase was failing to disclose conflicts of interest with some of its clients. Because mr. Sidell decided to speak out about what he knew, the government collected hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements. Whistleblowers like mr. Sidell and the employees at Merrill Lynch deserve our gratitude, and they deserve our support. They helped the securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to do their job, and they helped to promote transparency, and with transparency comes accountability, in this case, for our Financial System. I tell you Something Else they deserve. They deserve assures that when they put they deserve assurance that when they put their jobs and their reputation on the line, they wont be fired just for trying to do the right thing. They deserve to know that if the government recovers money because of their disclosures, theyll be able to get a decision on their award application and do it in a timely fashion. Currently whistleblowers dont have these assurances. Last year, despite strong objections that i raised in a brief to the Supreme Court in the case of Digital Reality v. Somers, the court ruled that a whistleblower who reports violations of our nations security laws is protected from retaliation not all the time but only when he or she discloses the wrongdoing directly to the s. E. C. Because of this ruling, if a whistleblower in the securities industry reports a concern to a supervisor at their place of work without also going to the s. E. C. , they can be fired without any recourse. In other words, fired for the socalled crime they did. And what did they do . They did nothing more than what you might call the crime of committing truth. So they have no Legal Protection or means of getting their job back. Thats not what congress intended when it created the current securities and Exchange CommissionWhistleblower Program, and that was done back in 2010. Its not what i intended when i voted for that whistleblower protection. That law was supposed to protect whistleblowers who report wrongdoing. It was supposed to prevent them from being fired just without just cause. This decision has farreaching implications that potentially affect others beyond those working in the securities industry. Because the commodities Whistleblower Program was established through the same public laws as the securities and Exchange Commission program, that program incorporates many of the same provisions, including similar language to that which the Supreme Court ruled on during the Digital Reality case. That means whistleblowers in yet another program face the prospects of having antiretaliation provision congress put in place a decade ago suddenly yanked away from them. Thats unacceptable to me. Its a scenario that should be unacceptable to every member of this body who cares about keeping our Financial System very strong. Protecting the investors, my bill prevents the Supreme Court ruling from becoming the status quo. It makes it clear that whistleblowers who report concerns about possible violation of our federal securities and commodities laws are fully protected, whether they take their concerns to the securities and Exchange Commission or to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Or to anyone else in their company who they reasonably believe has the ability to address their concerns. Thats what companies should want. They should want it anyway to keep their public respectability. Its also a commonsense goal that we ought to be seeking, and it is common sense. When an employee tells his or her company about concern, it gives the company a chance to investigate and address the concerns, and if necessary to selfreport any problems to the federal regulators. Companies that come clean and selfreport almost always receive reduced penalties. Now, thats an outcome thats better for the company, and its obviously better for the investor. On another matter, my bill addresses a concern for securities and commodities whistleblowers. I said before that if the government recovers money as a result of a whistleblowers disclosure, the whistleblower deserves at least an initial disoition concerning their award application, and to do it in a timely fashion. Unfortunately, my office has heard of far too many cases where whistleblowers have to wait years to get a decision from the securities and Exchange Commission after they applied for an award. And you apply for the award after you make the case for the government. And that waiting, that long to wait is not acceptable. A year should be more than enough time for regulators to reach an initial determination regarding an award application. My bill makes the oneyear standard law for both the securities and Exchange Commission and the commodities future Trading Commission whistleblowers. And if the agency takes longer than a year to reach an initial decision, the Whistleblower Office must notify the chairman, and the whistleblower of the cause for the delay. Recently, i had a chance to sit down with securities and Exchange CommissionCommission Chairman clayton to discuss these changes. My staff worked closely with the securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to craft the language. Now i urge all my colleagues to support change as well. In addition to these changes, my bill irons out other differences between the securities and Exchange Commission and the commodity future Trading CommissionWhistleblower Program and ensures that whistleblowers reporting to both of these bodies have access to the same judicial remedies. It also enables the commodity future Trading Commission to hold more in customer protection fund. That is the fund used to pay out its awards to the whistleblower, and it allows the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to use money from the fund to teach stakeholders about the opportunities that are available to them through the Whistleblower Program. Finally, my bill addresses the critical gap in protection provided to Foreign Service employees through the whistleblower protection act. Due to a drafting error in the law, the office of special counsel has stated that it doesnt have the authority to investigate instances of possible retaliation against Foreign Service workers when the retaliation comes in the form of a poor performance evaluation. Thats an important task of the office of special counsel and an important protection that congress has afforded to other government whistleblowers, so the Foreign Service offices people should have that as well. My bill closes that gap and makes it clear that Foreign Service workers should receive those same protections. Now, in closing, this bill contains commonsense changes. It reinforces and extends protections that Congress Already granted in the past and ensures that whistleblowers working in Different Industries who make similar kinds of disclosures are equally treated and equally protected under the law. It also tells the Supreme Court of the United States that you didnt get it right. Thats something i am certain we can all get behind, straightening out the Supreme Court when they dont follow congressional intent. The Bipartisan Coalition of support for this bill is strong testament to that. I want to thank my original cosponsors, senators balled wynn, durbin, and ernst for their enthusiastic support of this legislation and when it comes before the senate for a vote, i urge all of my colleagues to do the same. I yield the floor. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. Con. Res. 27. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk s. Con. Res. 27, concurrent resolution providing for the use of the catafalque situated in exhibition hall of the capitol visitors center, and so forth. The presiding officer is there objection to proceeding to the measure . Without objection, the senate will proceed. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the concurrent resolution be agreed to, 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 , this week the senate has several opportunities to make headway on important matters facing our country. First we will tend to a pending treaty protocol on the accession of a new member to nato and reaffirm the importance of the alliance to the security of u. S. Interests around the world. Then well consider yet another of the president s wellqualified nominees to the diplomatic corps. But while the senate can take care of some of these matters on our own, much of the pressing business of the American People requires coordination with our colleagues across the capitol. And unfortunately, the only thing that seems to really inspire House Democrats these days is their obsession with overturning the results of the 2016 election. In the weeks since the speaker of the house gave in to her farleft members demands for an impeachment inquiry, she and other prominent House Democrats have insisted over and over and over again that impeachment will not stop them from making Real Progress on legislation. They say their threeyearold impeachment parade doesnt have to block traffic and bring other important priorities to a standstill. Thats what they have been saying. But actions speak louder than words. We have yet to see any actual indication that House Democrats intend to make good on that commitment. For months, we have heard the speaker claim she would like to get the yes on usmca. We have heard that her caucus is, quote, making progress, end quote. But nearly a year after this landmark agreement with mexico and canada was announced, the most significant update to the north american trade policy in a generation is still waiting for the house to take action. Billions of new dollars in economic growth, 176,000 new american jobs are still waiting on House Democrats, and thats not all. So far, even something as completely basic as funding our armed forces, funding our men and women in uniform has met the same fate. Democrats have elected to stall it and block it in order to pick fights with the white house. Notwithstanding our bipartisan, bicameral agreement to wrap up the appropriations process in good faith, Senate Democrats voted a few weeks ago to block funding to the department of defense. No Critical Resources for u. S. Service members, no predictable planning process for our commanders, no pay raise for our allvolunteer armed forces, none of that was allowed to travel through the senate because our democratic colleagues just dont care for the occupant of the white house. Ironically, many of these same colleagues of ours have spent recent days making loud pronouncements on u. S. Foreign policy. By the sound of th