We cannot lose sight of the fact that none of this would be possible without that spectrum, and that is owned by the American People. That spectrum is essential. As a result of the efforts of some swamp creatures, both in and out of government, we came that close to having this spectrum, which belongs to the American People and is worth as much as 30 billion to 60 billion, given away in a back room through a private auction to three Satellite Companies, which happen to be domiciled in foreign countries. The excuse given was that these three foreign Satellite Companies can conduct an auction themselves and allocate it to the american Telecommunication Companies faster than the f. C. C. Can, even though the f. C. C. Has only conducted about 100 of these public auctions, generating about 123 billion for the American People. Why . Because the American People own the spectrum thats being auctioned off. Its theirs. But there was a proposal that came that close to passing at the f. C. C. To just give this spectrum to these three companies, let them keep the 30 billion to 60 billion that the spectrum auction would have generated and let them decide who was going to get to participate in the 5g effort throughout our country. Fortunately and i want to thank the f. C. C. ; the f. C. C. At the last minute said no, and i want to thank them. Hence, the legislation by senator wicker and myself and senator cantwell and senator schatz and the good news about the legislation is that it would require a public auction by the f. C. C. Of the spectrum that belongs to the American People. That auction would be open to anybody who wants to bid. There would be a fair and level playing field, and it would be conducted in front of god and country in a public meeting. The best way to resist temptation, mr. Chairman, is a strong set of values, a proper upbringing, and witnesses and there would be witnesses to this auction. What we can agree on is how much money, if any what we cant agree on is how much money, if any, to give to the foreign Satellite Companies. You say, why should we give them a dime . Well, the foreign satellite company, the three companies to which the spectrum was almost given, theyre currently using this spectrum. They dont need all of it. They dont even need close to all of it, but theyve been using it for a number of years. The f. C. C. Just gave it to them. They didnt pay a dime for it. Now, im not criticizing them. They put it to good use. But they dont own it. They dont have a license. They have sort of a 30day, monthtomonth lease. Thats the way i think of it. And their Lease Agreement says that the f. C. C. Can take it back any time it wants to anytime it wants to. Since the Satellite Companies have been using the spectrum, and the Satellite Companies have customers, we want to be fair to these companies. And certainly when we decide how to allocate the proceeds of the public auction in front of god and country, that the f. C. C. Is going to conduct, we certainly want to consider the sat lie companies interests the Satellite Companies interests. But im not going to support giving them half of the mona this auction general of the money that this auction generates because this money belongs to the American People. And it can be used to extend 5g and other forms of broadband to those of us who dont live in major cities but happen to live in rural areas, but we are all still very much americans. So i rise today to say, mr. Chairman, thanks to senator wicker and i mean that from the bottom of my heart. I learned so much from working with him. I want to thank senator cantwell, senator schatz. Were going to keep working toward a compromise here in a way that will allocate this money to everybody fairly and efficiently. But im going to end as i began, mr. President. First and foremost in my mind is the American People because the American People own this spectrum. I dont own the spectrum. The United States senate doesnt own the spectrum. The three foreign Satellite Companies dont own the spectrum. The f. C. C. Doesnt own the spectrum. The Telecommunication Companies for which were grateful dont even the spectrum. The American People own the spectrum. And the vast majority of the money generated by this public auction should go to them. I yield the floor, mr. President. A senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from north dakota. Mr. Cramer mr. President , before i give my comments about an upcoming nominee, i want to say in response to senator kennedy, i agree 100 . Thank you. Mr. President , later today the senate will have the opportunity to vote on President Trumps second nomination to the u. S. District court for north dakota, my friend dan traynor. Ive known dan a long time. Thats why i was honored to recommend him to the president and was pleased when the president nominated him earlier this year. Dan received his bachelors degree from the university of north dakota and a juris doctorate from the school of law and clerked for the legendary chief justice vanderwahl, before returning home where he joined his familys law firm and where he works today. Since that time, he has spent a couple of decades in various capacities of law practicing various tapes of law, including serving as City Attorney for devils lake. Serving as both a prosecutor and defender in federal court are the main qualifications i think he brings to this important position. And im honored again to support him. Hes tried about Something Like 80plus cases to verdict or judgment or to final decision, which i think is very good experience for somebody who is going to then stand in judgment. In addition to his work on the a. B. A. , the a. B. A. Did give him a unanimous, wellqualified rating. He has also been recognized since 2015 as a superlawyer. In 2017 is he received martindalehubbells preeminent rating. His experience and qualifications are more than adequate for a good district judge. But what i think makes him exceptional is that dan and his wife, trish, who is an air force veteran, raising a beautiful family, are what we would call pillars of their state. His mom and dad, jack and jane, i know both of them quite well, are what you would call legends in their community and our state. The bottom line is, mr. President , that dan is eminently qualified in every way, including qualified with the character, the demeanor, the temperament, as well as the intellectual capacity to be an excellent judge, and i look forward to voting for him and urge my colleagues to do the same. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call Ronald Douglas quorum call quorum call mr. Manchin mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from west virginia. Mr. Manchin i vitiate the quorum call. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Manchin i rise to talk about something that is rare in congress these days, on monday after four long years of working hard, congress came together, democrats and republicans, to secure Health Care Pensions for our nations coal miners. We did our job and this confirmed to me we can do so much more. This was so important. It was the coal miners of america that made us look beyond politics. These were hardworking people. They werent democrats or republicans. They were hardworking americans that built america. I want to give my sincere thanks to all my colleagues for putting partisan politics aside and rising above the tribalism to keep the promise made in 1946. Harry truman recognized the importance of the workers that produced the coal for this country. After world war ii we had to keep the economy moving and keep it churning and we couldnt do it without the energy and coal was the driver of this. And it promised that coal miners would benefit for their sses. This was a sacred promise with workers and our country and it captured the very best of our american values. This week we kept the promise by including the bipartisan american miners act in the end of the year funding bill. We kept our promise to 13,000 retired coal miners and their families who wont lose their health care by the end of the year. We kept our promise to the 92,000 coal miners and their families who wont see their pensions drastically reduced starting next year. Coal miners are the most patriotic people in america. They have done the heavy lifting, they have done everything asked of them by this country. They provided the energy that made us the greatest country on earth and today the super power, the only super power in the world. Because of what they have done for our country, we have won two world wars, we built an iconic american citizens and have a strong middle class. They continue to provide the resources that make us the Energy Leader of the world all by advancing the american dream. The journey has not been short and it sure hasnt been easy. In 2015, we knew the United Mine Workers of americas 1974 pension plan was severely underfunded. Unlike other public and private pension plans, the 1974 pension plan was well managed and funded prior to the crash in 2008, the economic financial crisis we had, which hit at a time when the plan was being drawn down more than ever because more people were retiring and the mining of coal with the new automation was being replaced so a lot of miners were retiring out of it. This coupled with the fact that many of the beneficiaries are orphaned retirees, and the fact that there are only 10,000 active workers for 120,000 retirees. It doesnt take that mathematician to figure out this is not going to work. Placed the plan on the road to insolvency and that started the collapse. If the plan became insolvent these coal miners would have their pension cut and the guarantee corporation would have to step in and assume billions of dollars in liabilities. That would start a tumbling effect of all of our private insured and private pension plans, and thats what we were trying to prevent from happening. Thats why i wrote the coal miners pension act with senator capito and senator brown. I was told to go through the regular order, which i did. The president of the c. M. A. Testified and the miners protection act was passed with strong bipartisan support and the chairman of the majority. But a month later, 16,300 retired coal miners and their widows received notices that their health care would be terminated by the end of that year and i knew i knew we could not let Congress Leave for christmas without fixing it. We have a in december of 2016, i at that time said i would shut down the government, i will hold, make us go through the process and stay here as long as it would have taken to get this taken care of. I wanted to ensure that not one coal miner would lose health care, and Mitch Mcconnell would not agree at that time. So 16,300 coal miners were forced to sit through the holidays and another four months of uncertainty. You talk about cruel and unusual punishment, that was it things started to look up. I received from President Trump that he was going to find a fix. But by march 26,000 coal miners received a letter telling them their health care would be terminated by the end of april. In typical Fashion Congress waited until the last minute. But on may 1, we secured Permanent Health care fix for 22,600 retired coal miners and their families. Although this was a huge win, we still needed to fulfill other obligations and secure the miners pension because it was in dire need and it was in jeopardy of being cut drastically. Now i was more determined than ever. I turned around and diewferred the miners protection act with senator capito and congressman mckinley and congressman welch to secure pensions. It was not only bipartisan, it was bicameral. In february of 2018, i was appointed to the bipartisan, bicameral joint select committee to solve the countrys pension crisis including our coal miners with our Central States that are in dire need of our help too. In february and the United Mine Worker Pension Fund was the first fund in jeopardy. So i made it clear. I said if this starts tumbling, if we go down, well have to come on the ppgc, which is the federal government funded and if that happens were going to put that in insolvency and then everything tumbles in a faster rate and it would be a financial calamity to this country. Things came to a head in october of this year. Murray energy declared bankruptcy so just this october the largest coal producer we have with with the Union Workers was murray coal company, they declared bankruptcy that significantly basically spread out the deadline for pensions and put us in a death spiral. Instead of going insolvent in 2022, which was which was what was predicted, the umaw pension fund would speed up to insolvency by 2020, next year. Not only that, but in between the time of securing health care and now three Coal Companies had gone bankrupt, putting another 13,000 more coal miners in jeopardy of losing their health care, 1,000 would have lost theirs end of this month, another 12,000 end of march. This bankruptcy in particular got the attention of many of my colleagues and i appreciate all of you so much knowing how difficult this was going to be on so many people and their families. And it was a call to action for congress to step up to the plate and on to the promises made to our miners. And that is the only Pension System in america that has the silver approval by congress and the president of the United States in 1946, the only one. In november i was proud to partner with a Bipartisan Group of my colleagues again, including the majority leader this time, which im so appreciative. An act that would introduce the bipartisan american miners act. That would secure pensions for 92,000 coal miners and their families and the 13,000 coal miners and their families that would get health care. Even though that was good news we still werent over the finish line. On december 11, the First Time Since i have been here for nine years, i put a hold on all Senate Legislation and i said theres no way that im going to go home or anyone else is going to go home and enjoy a christmas with their family and a new year when you have this many people in dire straits and jeopardy, people that build america. If we cant stand up for them, who do we stand up for . So i said this is what were going to do. I was very clear. I telegraphed by december 11, it was no surprises. After many negotiations with the house of representatives and the white house, we finally secured a permanent fix in the spending deal ensuring retired coal miners wont lose their health care or pensions. Throughout all of these years thousands of retired coal miners from all over the country have come to congress, i know youve seen them walking around, they have their shirts on, the proud green shirts walking the halls and meeting with every person in congress they possibly can to tell their stories and meeting every member. The reason they do that these are the people who have given their heart and soul and blood and sweat to this country and they are saying this is something we negotiated, we didnt take the money home, we basically invested this money into our pension and health care, and now because of a bankruptcy loophole, were the last in line and we lose everything. Somethings wrong. Its not who we are as americans. So we worked through all of this. They walked the halls tireless fighting for what they earned and paid for and truly what they deserved. This would not have happened without their relentless dedication and i have said this. Dedicated themselves religiously for almost four years day in and day out coming here at their expense. And it has been an honor of my life to fight alongside them. I cant be more proud of anything i have been able to do in Public Service than to stand shoulder to shoulder with people who made america. I would like to thank all of my colleagues, current and former members of this body who have stood with them throughout the years even when the going got tough. I ask unanimous consent to add a list to all of those who cosponsored these bills to the record, mr. President. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Manchin they have recognized, like president truman, our country would not be where it is today without them and we needed to get this done and we did. I want to give you a little bit of a background history of why this is so near and dear to me. My grandfather came to this wonderful country, the United States of america, in 1919, and he started working in the coal mines, he was able to get a fourth grade education before he helped his family. In 1947, my grandmother had four children and was pregnant with my uncle, so she would have four and threefourths of a child at that time and my grandfather would tell me, joey, we couldnt pay the bills at the end of the month. He said i never did see any money because it was all script and it went to the company house. The old song, i owe my soul to the company store, he truly did. He said we cant make it. He would tell people, we have to do better than this. We have no health care, nothing to look forward to and cant pay our bills and were working six days like dogs. Papa had a mule, a buggy and a car by light and have to do everything. He he loved to say fire in the hole. He would always tell me, and basically what he told me, he would have to go into the mine, get a block of coal, he would have to drill it, put the dynamite in it, pack it and go back and fire it and everything would blast away and have to load the coal by hand. This is what he did from 9 years of age. He was trying to improve the life of all coal miners. He said this is not right. He fought for the right of coal miners, it is ingrained in my family history. The rest of the story in 1937 with those 1927, with those four children, because of he was talking about the improving the equally of life, when he was talking about when it was needed, the Industrial Age was coming on, Christmas Eve oo they eve they took all their furniture in the middle of the street and threw him out because he was told he was an organizer. Papa was a survivor and he wanted other people to have the same quality of opportunity to survive so i know this is ingrained in me. Its something that let me tell you, when you saw all these miners and you saw the fight they had in them, thats why. But theres still more that we have to do. We have to do much more, mr. President. If you want to stop this from continuing and repeating itself in so many different professions, weve got to change the bankruptcy laws of america. We cannot allow the bankruptcy laws in this country to put hardworking people, that takes money out of that you out ofr paycheck and let people from wall street come and rob them and put them at the back of line. Every working person in america that pays out of their paychecks and their sweat and blood and hard work should be at the front of the line getting equal treatment. Thats why im asking in a bipartisan way, if were going to continue to treat the people who make this country go, make this economy turn, weve got to make sure we protect them too. We can do that in this body and nobody else. In january ill be working with my colleagues to move this legislation it through congress because if we cannot continue to stand up with American Workers a head of the almighty dollar and wall street purpose, what in the world are we here for . How can you look at people, so sorry you lost everything. We showed we can do more for the miners. Lets make sure every working person is protected. Ive said we must set our priorities based on our values. If you cant, you better check the box in the morning before you go to work. We have done that with the fight for our coal miners and we will continue to do that for all American Workers. By working together across party lines since 2016 weve been able to secure Lifetime Health care benefits for 36,000 coal miners and their families. Think about it. If you are one of those members of the family, if youre one of the coal miners, weve also secured for 92,000 miners and their families, pension. Most of these pensions are going to widows. The husbands have passed away. You know what the average pension for a coal miners widow is today . Less than 600. She doesnt have a portfolio. She doesnt have investments in the stock market. She has Social Security and that 590 pension, and they want to take that away. Thats what we fought for. Thats why every one of us should be proud. Democrats and republicans, we did our job because we stood here as americans. We stood here as representing america, not representing our parties and our tribal interests, and not condemning each other. We did this working together, and we can continue to do a lot more. Again, i want to thank you, mr. President. I want to thank all of my colleagues. I want to thank cecil roberts, president of the United Mine Workers for being shoulder to shoulder all the way with this and all the coal miners and their families. My colleagues in the house and senate and President Trump for coming together to keep the promise that we made, that weve all made and we should continue to make and keep. So i want to thank you all very much from the bottom of my heart. Merry christmas to all, and to all a good night. This has been very emotional, as you can tell. But this is i know what the place can do, mr. President. Ive been here long enough and ive heard enough. When i was governor of the state and bob byrd was sitting in his seat over there, i saw the good that came from it, everybody in here has good in them. They wouldnt be here. Everybody came here for the right reason or they wouldnt have gotten here. This is not an easy place to get to. By golly, when we get here i want to do the right thing. And we did it. I can go home and you can go home and be proud of what we did here and we finally did the job we were asked to do and i want to continue doing that with you. Thank you, mr. President. A senator mr. President , i want to start by thanking my friend and colleague from west virginia, senator manchin, for his remarks and for his steadfast support for workers throughout the United States of america and for working to try to bring us together in a bipartisan manner to get things done in the United States. Mr. Van hollen thank you, senator. Mr. President , i rise today to give thanks to all who serve our country in uniform and as civilians. Even as partisan division and anger seems to reach new depths every day, democrats and republicans have remained united in our support and our high regard for our fellow americans who honorably serve in the United States armed forces. Those who serve have earned every measure of gratitude shown to them by friends and neighbors and by all of us here in the United States congress. Mr. President , other Public Servants deserve our thanks as well. But unfortunately, support for them is not nearly as unanimous or as universal. I will focus the remainder of my remarks on them. While they do not go into combat, they share the same dedication and love of country as those who do. Many of them also go into harms way. Law enforcement officers, diplomats in wartorn lands, Smoke Jumpers fighting forest fires, and all of them swear an oath to our constitution. Just like our troops, just like members of congress. Mr. President , im talking about federal Civil Servants. These dedicated Public Servants, men and women, are not normally public figures, but the nation saw their strength and their character at the witness table in last months house impeachment hearings. Americans like laura cooper, david hale, george kent, bill taylor, jennifer williams, marie yovanovitch, all of whom have served in nonpolitical positions for all or most of their careers, all of them who testified before congress under subpoena. These are just a few of the 2. 1 million americans who make up the federal Civil Service and the Foreign Service. They Work Together here at home and abroad in every field of endeavor and on behalf of all of us. For example, budding entrepreneurs can call on the Small Business Administration Loan officers for help accessing capital and Foreign Service officers to help sell their inventions to the world. Farmers know that the Natural Resources Conservation Service employees can help them keep their land productive for the long term, and Foreign Agricultural service diplomats help American Farmers make a living feeding the world. Yet, too many of our colleagues , including many on the other side of the aisle, have defamed Public Servants and now accuse those who testified in the house of attacking the president. That accusation has it exactly backwards. The modern Civil Service was created after an attack on a president in order to prevent future attacks on president s. Yes, president garfield was assassinated in 1883 by a disgruntled job seeker because in those days president s held out most of the federal jobs mostly based on allegiance more than skill. Imagine if that system existed today. Small Business Loans going only to campaign aides. Law enforcement only protecting certain communities that voted for the president. Farm assistance being denied to those who backed the wrong president ial candidate. Countries today with corrupt systems like that are among the poorest on earth. None of this came to pass in america because the president who came after garfield, chester a. Arthur, signed a law creating the modern Civil Service. Today the president still has the authority to make political appointments to the most senior positions in the executive branch, but the overwhelming majority of positions are career Civil Servants who are hired based on merit, not political connections. The diplomatic corps was similarly professionalized in the decades that followed. Put simply, that swamp was drained. Now other swamps have arisen, and actions Like Campaign finance reform are badly needed to address them. But professional Civil Servants are not the problem. In fact, since the Civil Service and Foreign Service were created, they have risen to every challenge. They mobilized americas resources to protect the public health, to beat back the Great Depression and wage war on fascism and on poverty. And over the last half century, as the number of americans theyre serving has grown by more than 120 million, the number of Civil Servants has remained flat. Thats doing a lot more with less. If problems arise in the conception or execution of federal programs, they must always be acknowledged and they must be fixed, and Congress Works hard to do that, often with the help of whistleblowers who raise the alarm about fraud, waste, and abuse. But some of my colleagues and our predecessors have made the terrible mistake over the last 40 years of systematically disparaging all, quote, bureaucrats. Mr. President , this causes incalculable harm by turning good people away from Public Service and demoralizing those who are there. It hurts dedicated Public Servants to hear bureaucrats spat out as some kind of insult. When the senator or candidate doing so was probably more upset by the policies they were directed to implement than the Civil Servants implementing those policies. The attacks and criticisms leveled against federal employees in the past were a love fest compared to the hostility demonstrated by this administration and this president , assaulting those with namecalling, assaulting bargaining rights and even moving offices 1,000 miles away to get people to quit. Mr. President , a new report by the partnership for Public Service finds plummeting morale at the United States department of agriculture driven by a huge decline in scores at the Usdas Economic Research Service and the National Institute of food and agricultural. The Trump Administration did not like the reports that those researchers, that those agencies were publishing and punished them by suddenly moving their jobs halfway across the country and in the process losing hundreds of experienced, knowledgeable nerl federal employees in the area of agriculture. The vast majority of staff of those agencies lost their job when they decided not to move, and many of their jobs now remain unfilled. This is needlessly caused an upheaval delaying reports that those in the farm economy rely on. This administrations hostile atmosphere has been cited as contributing to a 61 increase in Civil Servants resigning during the first 18 months of this administration, including almost 1,600 leaving the e. P. A. Nearly half of our most senior Foreign Service officers left the government during President Trumps first two years along with many midcareer diplomats. And applications to the Foreign Service are at a tenyear low during this president , a hollowing out at why every level. It will take a generation to recover. But as vicious as the attacks on federal employees have been during the first three years of this administration, in recent months we faced an even more insidious threat, from a president who inkites incites his followers to violence in a tweet to use individual Public Servants by name in the next. These verbal assaults have led to harassment of government employees, like those who appeared as witnesses in the house. The president s supporters have acted in many cases on his incitements. There have been at least 29 criminal attacks or threats prosecuted in our courts where the attacker was echoing the president s rhetoric, according to one analysis. This need to maintain support for our federal employees is going to be especially important in the next several months when events will unfold that are sure to evoke strong passions across the political spectrum and around the country. First, the election season is heating up, as will no doubt the president s criticisms of those with whom he disagrees. And we are going to consider the question in this body of impeachment as they are doing so today in the house. Mr. President , i know its hard, but i ask our fellow americans to set aside for a moment how they feel about the impeachment case. Set that aside and think about the particular individuals who testified, what they did and what they did not say. Think about ambassador taylor and mr. Kent who learned four languages not to seek personal wealth or personal glory, but to advocate for our country. Think about being raised on stories of nazi and soviet oppression like your parents by marie yovanivitch. No one could have faulted her for seeking a more comfortable life here, but instead she ventured out to some of the most dangerous parts of the world and at personal risk to herself. She went abroad to extend the American Peoples hand of friendship and pursue our interest. She went as the direct chosen representative of three president s. These Public Servants dont have the luxury of choosing the policies they pursue or of just speaking their own minds at any time. Setting aside the personal beliefs that they may hold and all Public Servants ive spoken to so far have served america under administrations of both parties. And even last month they did not have the luxury of speaking their minds on subjects of their choice or at a time of their choosing as we do right here in the United States senate. No, congressional subpoenas compelled them to testify, not to opinions, but to facts. The witnesses spoke about their love of country and pride in serving it. They did not speak about political affiliations or show any desire to undermine, let alone overthrow this or any other president. They honored their oath of office just like other dedicated Civil Servants and Foreign Service officers do every day, striving to accomplish what congress, the president , and their Agency Leaders ask of them. Nobody nobody who swears the same oath to the constitution as we do here in this chamber should criticize them for honoring their oath. Far from a nefarious deep state, the depth of knowledge, the expertise, the diligence of Public Servants shows the depth of our agencies of government and the depth of the depth of our state, they are the balancist that keeps the ship of state on course. We believe that americas strength springs not only from the undisputed benefits of a free people pursuing our ambitions and dreams, but also from sometimes harnessing those talents for Important National purposes. We believe that americas greatness has resulted not only from a collection of individuals acting alone, but from our capacity to Work Together for the common good. We should not see government as the enemy but as the imperfect instrument by which we can accomplish together as a people what no individual corporation or person can accomplish alone. So i ask my colleagues to stop, to think about what weve built in this country, a system of government that has helped eradicate many diseases, sent mankind to the moon, built the infrastructure to connect the continent and so much more. American ingenuity through the government helped to power these achievements. So as we look to the future, lets consider what it will take to maintain our momentum and maintain our greatness as a united country. It takes people. It takes skilled people and it takes, among others working in our free society, a dedicated Public Service. And we will lose those Public Servants as were already seeing if people keep attacking them. So lets ask ourselves a simple question. What kind of country do we want to be . A country that embraces all who serve in uniform and out of uniform or a country that retreats even further into tribalism and political echo chambers. I am proud to stand with our Civil Servants and in twecht, senator sullivan and i cofounded the Foreign Service caucus to support our diplomats, a bipartisan start toward turning the tide. Mr. President , this week we have taken additional steps forward with the passage of paid parental leave for federal employees and we will pass a welldeserved pay raise shortly, but there is so much more that we can do. Senators did start right now and take personal responsibility for ushering in a new era of respect for all our Public Servants, and i ask my colleagues on both sides of the capitol to stop the insults, stop the verbal assaults and stop questioning the patriotism of these fine americans. We can fight over programs, we can fight over budgets, but lets not speak ill of civilians who serve. Lets not hurl the term bureaucrat as a slur. Lets not call people in certain Government Agencies scum. Lets disagree with witnesses without questioning their patriotism. Lets remember that those who join the federal service do so out of a desire to help their fellow americans and they deserve our respect and our thanks and if we want to know whats really going on with the federal program, we should be talking to our Civil Servants to get ideas about whats working and what needs to be fixed. They are always willing to offer their opinions for those purposes. If you want to root out waste, fraud, and abuse, lets keep open the lines of communication with federal employees and whibilities. Federal employees cannot bargain for wages and benefits so instead they bargain for a workplace that works better for the American People. Mr. President , on april 19, we will mark 25 years since the bombing of the al ferd b. Muro Federal Building where 168 people perished. Many of them federal workers. As we honor those killed that day, we must come together across the aisle and reject the idea of politically motivated violence. We must do it every day and not just on the anniversary of that tragedy. Mr. President , we can do this. We can do this. I have confidence we can do it because weve done Something Like it before. I mentioned at the outset of my remarks our universal respect for our fellow citizens and aspiring citizens who serve in the military, but it wasnt always universally so. During the war in vietnam many of us remember how polarized and divided our country was and how in some cases disagreement over the war morphed for some into directing anger at our troops, but this country learned from that mistake. We turned the tide. We came together and now we have near universal agreement that its wrong to blame Service Members for carrying out decisions to go to war that they had no part in making themselves. That you can disagree with the war but still embrace the warrior. Mr. President , for too many of our colleagues, especially as we witness whats happening on the other side of the capitol, that fallacy is playing out again today. People who are blaming and attacking Public Servants for following the laws they are sworn to uphold, for obeying lawful subpoenas and for doing their duty to tell the truth. Mr. President , im an optimist and i believe that todays critics will learn from our past mistakes and correct our approach in the future just as we learned after the vietnam war that it was wrong to criticize or focus our anger on our soldiers even if we disagree with the war that they were deployed to undertake and fight. And so i hope we will take that same approach with respect to our Civil Servants. That we will understand and honor their service and i hope we will all then jointly proclaim that alongside the greatest military in the world, we have the greatest Civil Service and the greatest Foreign Service the world has ever seen. I thank you, mr. President , and i yield the floor. The presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley im here today to commemorate and celebrate the oneyear anniversary of a groundbreaking achievement. On december 18, 2018, the Senate Passed the First Step Act. Three days later, President Trump signed this farreaching legislation into law. The first step is the most significant criminal Justice Reform law in a generation. Im proud of the work that we accomplished a year ago here on the senate floor by voting it out of this chamber with a roll call vote of 8712. This historic vote means a lot to this senator who then was chairman of the judiciary committee. In fact, in one of the Conference Rooms in my office here in washington, i have the official tally sheet from this bills vote framed and hung on the wall. Now iowans, advocates and those who visit my office can see this piece of history. Our criminal Justice System is based on the rule of law. That means when you commit a crime, you should be punished, but the punishment should fit the crime. If the penalty is too harsh, it doesnt do any more to deter criminal activity and its a bad value for our taxpayers when you keep people in prison if it doesnt do any good to have them there. Overly harsh penalties can also make it harder for prisoners who are trying to change their lives to turn over a new leaf. Its worth noting that almost all criminals are eventually released from prison. So our criminal Justice System must do much more than punish and deter. It should rehabilitate and prepare prisoners to reenter society, and thats exactly what the First Step Act does. It gives nonviolent prisoners an incentive to participate in programs in prison like job training, drug treatment programs and counseling that have been shown to reduce recidivism. The First Step Act also makes sentencing for fair more fair. It leaves tough penalties in place for the worst criminals, but it reduces mandatory minimum sentences, giving judges the ability to tailor punishment to fit the crime. Today marks a very happy occasion in a time of reflection. However, we must remain focused on the future and implementation of that law with vigilant and consistent oversight into the implementation of the First Step Act, we can ensure that these goals of reducing recidivism and improving our criminal Justice System are met. Now, ive had the opportunity to meet with dozens of former prisoners who have been released because of the reforms in the First Step Act and also had a chance to meet with some of the families. These former prisoners are inspiring. They are finding jobs, they are taking care of their families, they are paying their taxes, contributing to their communities. Theyve told me that the First Step Act gave them hope. It reminded them that the rest of the country had not forgotten about them, but wanted them to succeed. The First Step Act gives former prisoners a better chance at changing their lives, and every day there are more success stories. No doubt there will be some prisoners who dont learn a lesson and return to a life of crime. But the reforms that we put into place have been shown at the level of several states to reduce crime by reducing recidivism. Its the right thing to do for people in the criminal Justice System, but its a good value for the taxpayers as well because it costs tens of thousands of dollars to keep people in prisons. As we commemorate the First Step Act, its important to acknowledge that this was a bipartisan effort. A lot of people didnt think that it was even possible, but we did it by working together and finding a way to work out a reasonable compromise. First and foremost, i want to acknowledge senator durbin. I guess you would call us, the two of us partners in crime. Theres no better advocate for criminal Justice Reform than senator durbin, and this bill would never have passed without his hard work and willingness to forge this bipartisan compromise. And then i point especially to senator lee because he knows the criminal justice code inside and out. And when we needed people to tell us what you could do or not do, what was reasonable, he had an answer. So i want to thank senator lee. But i also thank senator cornyn, scott, whitehouse, booker, and leahy, among others. I also want to recognize President Trump and give a sincere thank you to him and his team, particularly Jared Kushner for the support and leadership in this space. Today, december 18, will always be an important day for me as a legislator. I look forward to making sure that this law is implemented successfully and to find additional ways to improve our criminal Justice System. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call a senator mr. President. I ask consent to vitiate the quorum call. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Young mr. President , i request the yeas and nays. The presiding officer is there a sufficient second . There appears to be. The yeas and nays are ordered. The presiding officer the question occurs on the nomination. The yeas and nays, previously ordered, the clerk will call the roll. Vote vote vote vote
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