Our website, cspan. Org, type attacks on federal employees in the search box which youll find at the top of our home page. The u. S. Senate is about to gavel in on this wednesday morning, Senate Lawmakers plan to resume debates on appealing wavers on states to offer low cost Insurance Plans with the Affordable Care act 12 15 eastern toed and lawmakers plan to turn to 2020 federal spending on several departments including agricultural commerce, and housing. Now to live coverage of the senate here on cspan2. The u. We offer you today a sacrifice of thanksgiving for we borrow our heartbeats from you. Inspire our lawmakers to love discipline and cherish your word, seeking always to glorify you. May they trust your power and wisdom to supply what is needed to keep our nation strong. Have your way, sovereign god. You are the potter. We are the clay. Mold and make us after your will while we are waiting, yielded, and still. We pray in your merciful name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in reciting 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. Grassley mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley id like to address the senate as if in morning business for one minute. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley before i read, i want to apologize to the Small Business women of america because october is National WomensSmall Business month, and my apologies because this speech should be given on october 1 rather than the end of the month. October is National WomensSmall Business month, and i want to recognize the many womenowned businesses. They really help make our economy stronger. In iowa, we work hard to inspire women to start businesses and support them in their entrepreneurial journey. According to the american express, iowa ranks eighth out of 50 states for the growth in the number of womenowned businesses as well as in their own growth in employment and revenues. The Network Growth for womens entrepreneur and access to resources have helped make the difference in these womens lives and our communities. I hope this growth will continue and we continue to have massive increase in the number of small women businesses in america. I would ask for one further minute. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley i know youre not going to believe this, what happened in addition to President Trump being sworn in, but on january 20, 2017, President Trump was sworn into office and became our nations 45th president. Now most president s enjoy what political scientists refer to as a honeymoon period. During that honeymoon period, these new president s are given a chance to push their agenda and partisan politics usually takes a back seat. But not this president. On his inauguration day, january 20, 2017, a Washington Post headline read so it had to be coming out even before he was sworn in quote, the campaign to impeach President Trump has begun. That campaign has been in full swing ever since. So lets make no mistake, this process about concerns over alleged high crimes and misdemeanors as the constitution speaks about the reasons for impeachment, they dont really mean much compared to an effort to impeach this president that started before he ever was sworn in. No, instead this is about the Democratic Party still bitter years later trying to undo the 2016 election. I ask unanimous consent to put that part of the Washington Post january 2017 in the record. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley i yield the floor. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell tomorrow the senate will vote on funding for the national defense. It will offer a test for our democratic colleagues. Will their partys impeachment obsession crowd out even the most basic governing responsibilities . Unfortunately, it seems we already have our answer. The democratic leader said at a press conference yesterday that his party intends to filibuster funding for our armed forces. Democrats have plenty of time and energy for their threeyearold journey to impeach the president , but they cant get to yes on funding our Service Members. Thats about as clear a statement of priorities as you can get around here. Just a few days ago u. S. Special forces executed a Daring Mission and took out the founder of isis. It was the clearest possible reminder that the National Security of the United States and the missions of our Service Members do not pause for partisan politics. But less than a week later, for political purposes Senate Democrats said they refused to secure funding for those very same missions. Washington democrats have talked up a storm in recent days criticizing the administrations approach to syria and the middle east. Lots of talk, but apparently theyre not concerned enough about the middle east and fighting isis to actually vote for the funding that keeps the missions going. And consider this, mr. President. If democrats filibuster this defense funding as they threatened to, they will literally be filibustering the exact kind of military assistance for ukraine over which they are trying to impeach the president. Let me say that again. This legislation is what appropriates the money for the Ukraine Security assistance initiative, precisely the program that democrats are trying to impeach President Trump for supposedly slow walking. And yet, tomorrow, right here in the senate, they say theyre going to filibuster funding for the exact same program. Only in washington only in washington will you see a show like that. They want to impeach the president for delaying assistance to ukraine while they block funding for the program themselves. Id say its unbelievable except thats exactly whats happening. Look, i think its pretty clear our democratic colleagues do not have a great affinity for President Trump. But the country cannot afford for democrats in congress to take a oneyear vacation from any productive legislation just because theyd rather obsess over impeachment. Isis and other radical terrorists are not going to hit the pause button because democrats wont fund the u. S. Military. Strategic competitors like russia and china are not going to hit pause because democrats would rather hurt the white house than fund our military commanders. Look, Congress Needs to do its work. We need to fund our armed forces. Tomorrows vote will tell us which senators are actually ready to do it. Now speaking of impeachment, yesterday House Democrats released their muchhyped resolution which was advertised as bringing fairness and due process into Speaker Pelosi and chairman schiffs closed door partisan inquiry. Unfortunately, the draft resolution that has been released does nothing of the sort. It falls way short, way short. As ive said repeatedly, an impeachment inquiry is about the most solemn and serious process the house of representatives can embark upon. It seeks to effectively nullify democratic collection and cancel out the American Peoples choice of a commander in chief. For that reason, any such inquiry must be conducted by the highest standards of fairness and due process, but thus far this time around instead of setting a high bar, House Democrats seem determined to set a new low. Speaker pelosi has initiated a bizarre process, starting with the fact that she began it with a press conference instead of a proper vote of the house. The process seems to be treating chairman schiff as though he were a de facto special prosecutor, notwithstanding the fact that hes a partisan member of Congress Whose strange behavior has already included fabricating a lengthy quotation and attributing to President Trump during an official hearing which he was chairing. House democrats inquiry thus far has been conducted behind closed doors. They have denied their republican counterparts privileges which democrats received during the clinton impeachment when they were in the minority. And unlike during the inquiries around both president clinton and president nixon, they have denied President Trump basic Due Process Rights and are cutting his counsel out of the process in an unprecedented way. House democrats new resolution does not change any of that. It does not confer on President Trump the most basic rights of due process or seemingly alter chairman schiffs unfair process in the House Intelligence Committee in any way whatsoever. Chairman schiff can contribute can continue doing this behind closed doors without the president s participation so long as he holds at least one public hearing at some point. Hes not even required to make all the evidence he obtains public. He alone gets to decide what evidence goes in his report. And the resolution doesnt even give the president any rights in the public hearing that it requires chairman schiff to hold. The resolution merely seems to contemplate that maybe, maybe someday in the future at some other phase of this due process might might finally kick in. But only if the House Judiciary Committee feels like Holding Hearings and calling its own witnesses. In other words, no due process now, maybe some later, but only if we feel like it. No due process now, maybe some later, but only if we feel like it. Well, thats not even close to fair. No due process now, maybe some later, but only if we feel like it is not a standard that should ever be applied to any american and it should not be applied here to the president of the United States. Now i understand that many House Democrats made up that you ur minds on impeachment years ago but justice does not evaporate just because washington democrats already made up their minds. Now on one final matter, our democratic colleagues do apparently have time to push show votes on messaging resolutions with no chance of becoming law. This weeks installment is a democratic effort to limit the flexibility that governors of both parties have utilized to lighten the burdens of obamacare. States have jumped at the opportunity to use waivers to reduce the costs associated with obamacares mandates, and the states that have taken advantage premiums decreased significantly. In 2018 the donald trump expanded this policy with an even more flexible interpretation of this part of obamacare. The goal was to give states even more of what they had been asking for, even more latitude to preserve Consumer Choice and lower premiums. But notwithstanding all the evidence that says this is the right direction for the American People, our democratic colleagues want to roll back the Trump Administration guidance and limit state flexibility. Since this position is virtually impossible to explain on its merits, our democratic colleagues have instead turned to a familiar talking point. The false claim that republicans are trying to undercut protections for americans with preexisting conditions. Sound familiar . But, of course, thats not true. As Senate Republicans have said over and over and over again, we support protections for americans with preexisting conditions. And the administration has made it very clear that this Waiver Program poses no threat, no threat to those protections. The administrator of the centers for medicare and Medicaid Services has stated, quote, a section 1332 waiver cannot, cannot undermine coverage for people with preexisting conditions. And whats more is the white house as the white house has already made clear, democrats resolution has zero chance of becoming law. This is just another political messaging exercise with no path to making an impact. So i would urge my colleagues to reject this resolution, keep fighting to lower premiums for the American People, and protect those with preexisting conditions. Now, mr. President , i understand there is a bill at the desk due a second reading. The presiding officer the leader is correct. The clerk will read the title of the bill a second time. The clerk h. R. 4334, an act to amend the Older Americans act of 1965 to authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2020 through 2024, and for other purposes. Mr. Mcconnell in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule 14, i would object to further proceedings. The presiding officer objection having been heard, the bill will be placed on the calendar. Under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is closed. Under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of s. J. Res. 52, which the clerk will report. The clerk calendar number 278, s. J. Res. 52, providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States code, and so forth. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call mr. Schumer mr. President , i notice the are we in a quorum call . The presiding officer we are. Mr. Schumer i ask that it be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer even as we consider the package of appropriations bill on the floor this week, we have to think about how both parties can reach an agreement on all 12 bills that need to pass before thanksgiving. Its way past time for democratic and republican appropriators to sit down and hammer out a bipartisan agreement on allocations to the various agencies, known as the 302bs. Thats how we got this done in the past. Democrats, republicans in congress have successfully negotiated two budget deals. The key to those agreements was that the president allowed congress to do its work and stay off to the side. I believe that again if left to our own devices, congress could work out an agreement to fund the government. As everyone remembers, the president s meddling and erratic behavior caused the last government shutdown, the longest in our nations history. The best way to avoid another shutdown would be for the president to keep out of the appropriations process and for republicans to stop the games and get serious about negotiating in a bipartisan way forward. I believe there was a meeting yesterday and maybe some progress i think some progress was made. Lets continue moving in that direction. The four corners of the Appropriations Committee, house and senate, democrats and republicans, and put together an agreement that we can all support. On the whistleblower, as the house of representatives continues impeachment inquiry into whether the president jeopardized National Security by pressuring ukraine to interfere with our 2020 elections, the white house, their allies in congress, and the media have resorted to despicable tactics to falsely discredit individuals who have provided the house testimony. Yesterday, Lieutenant Colonel alexander vindman, an active Duty Army Officer serving on a detail in the white house, testified before congress. Since l. T. C. Vindmans testimony was announced and especially in the past 24 hours, he has been vilified by individuals in the media and elsewhere. Although he has woifd our country for more than 20 years, although he is recipient of the purple heart after being wounded serving in iraq, he has been called derogatory terms and some have even gone so far as to call him a spy and question his loyalty to the United States. These tacts are outrageous, they are unacceptable, and they are not much and they are not much unlike the attacks the president and his allies have levied against the whistleblower whose account first alerted congress to the president s misconduct with ukraine. The president has publicly suggested the whistleblowers treasonous and a spy and separately recent public reports suggest that a republican member of the House Intelligence Committee is actively trying to expose and leak the whistleblowers identity. This is so, so wrong. Disclosing or causing to be disclosed the identity of a whistleblower is such a breach of faith with our whistleblower laws, which are designed to see that the truth gets out. Anyone seeking the release of the whistleblowers identity is frustrating the truth and is potentially in violation of federal law. Not only that, the disclosure of the whistleblowers identity may result in reprisals and threats to their personal safety and the safety of their families. So today im sending a letter to the secretary and chief of staff of the army asking them to provide us with what actions the army has taken to ensure that l. T. C. Vindman is afforded appropriate protections, l. T. C. Vindman and whistleblowers like him are standing up for the constitution they swore an oath to defend. Their lives and families must not be put in jeopardy by an outrageous attack or disclosure. On health care. Today the senate will hold