Every good and perfect gift. You shower us with your mercies. Each day we are further aware of our unworthiness because of your goodness. All we like sheep have gone astray. Lord, we are prone to wander, to leave you, the god we love. As our senators work today, make them extensions of your power in our world. Use them as your eyes, ears, hands, and feet to accomplish your purposes. Lord, make them your ambassadors. May they arrange their priorities according to your will and view their challenges from an ethical perspective, striving to seek your will in all they think, say, and do. May they find in challenging moments opportunities to renew their faith in you. We pray in your merciful name. Amen. The president pro tempore please help me with 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 i ask permission to address the senate for one minute. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley i want to wish all iowans and maybe, in turn, all americans a happy new year. As 2020 begins, im focused on passing the United Statesmexicocanada trade agreement. Im leading a meeting of the finance committee tomorrow to report out the bill so the senate floor can have a vote as eminent as possible. Im continuing to work in a bipartisan way to lower the cost of Prescription Drugs with the grassleywyden Prescription Drugpricing reduction act. In the coming weeks, i will begin my 40th annual 99county tour of my state to continue to hear whats on the minds of iowans so i can better serve them in the United States senate. I look forward to remaining in touch with iowans as the new decade begins. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell as the senate convenes this afternoon, we find our nation facing two grave and serious choices. One concerns our unity at home and the future of our constitution. The other involves our strength abroad and the security of our homeland. Both situations demand serious, sober treatment from congress. Both require that we put enduring National Interests ahead of the factionalism and shorttermism the Founding Fathers warned us about. But unfortunately, mr. President , seriousness is in short supply. Lately, in very short supply from the determined critics of President Trump and our nation, of course, is worse for it. Last thursday, the United States took Decisive Action to end the murderous scheming of irans chief terrorist. Qasem soleimani had spent new nw numerous years in expanding irans influence. Despite sanctions, despite prohibitions by the u. N. Security council, he roamed throughout the region with impunity. His hand bore the blood of more American Service members than anyone else alive. Hundreds of American Families have buried loved ones because of him. Veterans have learned to live with permanent injuries inflicted by his terrorists. And in iraq, and in syria and beyond, the entire region felt the effects of his evil tactics. We should welcome his death and its complication of tehrans terrorism industrial complex, but we must remain vigilant and soberly prepare for even further aggression. Now, it is completely appropriate this decision would generate interest and questions from this body. We can and we should learn more about the intelligence and thinking that led to this operation and the plan to defend american personnel and interests in the wake of it. Im glad the administration will hold an allsenators briefing on wednesday. It will be led by secretary of defense esper, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general milley, secretary of state pompeo, and c. I. A. Director haspel. Unfortunately, in this toxic political environment, some of our colleagues rushed to blame our own government before even knowing the facts, rushed to split hairs about intelligence before being briefed on it, and rushed to down play soleimanis evil while presenting our own president as the villain. Soon after the news broke, one of our distinguished colleagues made a Public Statement that rightly called soleimani a murder and then amazingly walked that message back when the far left objected to the factual statement. Since then, i believe all her criticism is directed at our own president. Another of our democratic colleagues has been thinking out loud about middle east policy on social media. Mere days before President Trumps decision, this senator tore into the white house for what he described as weakness and inaction. No one fears us, he complained. Trump has rendered america i am potent in the middle east. Impotent in the middle east. But since the strike, a complete 180. That same senator has harshly criticized our own president for getting tough. Ludicrously, he and others on the left have accused the administration of committing an illegal act and equated the removal of this terrorist leader with a foreign power assassination of our own secretary of defense. Well, heres what one expert had to say about it. Jeh johnson, president obamas own former pentagon general counsel and secretary of Homeland Security. Heres what he said. If you believe everything that our government is saying about general soleimani, he was a lawful military objective and the president under his Constitutional Authority as commander in chief had ample domestic Legal Authority to take him out without, without an additional congressional authorization, whether he was a terrorist or a general in a military force that was engaged in armed attacks against our people, he was a lawful military objective. Thats the former secretary of Homeland Security in the obama administration, jeh johnson, an expert on these things. And our former colleague, Joe Lieberman, who ran for Vice President on the democratic ticket in 2000 wrote this morning that in their uniformly skeptical or negative reaction to soleimanis death, democrats are creating the risk that the u. S. Will be seen as acting and speaking with Less Authority abroad at this important time. Thats how former a former democratic senator sees it. Look, the senate is supposed to be the chamber where overheated partisan passions give way to sober judgment. Can we not at least wait until we know the facts . Can we not maintain a shred, just a shred of National Unity for five minutes, for five minutes before deepening the partisan trenches . Must democrats distaste dominate every thought they express and every decision that they make . Is that really the seriousness that this situation deserves . The full senate will be briefed on wednesday. I expect the committees of oversight will also conduct hearings and the senators will have plenty of opportunities to discuss our interest and policies in the region. So i would urge my colleagues to bring a full awareness of the facts, mindfulness of the long history of irans aggression towards the United States and its allies and a sober understanding of the threat iran continues to pose. Could we at least remember were all Americans First and were all in this together. Meantime at this dangerous time, House Democrats continue to play political games with their partisan impeachment of the commander in chief. Last year House Democrats conducted the least thorough, most rushed, most unfair impeachment inquiry in history. For weeks democrats said they could not wait for due process, could not conduct a normal or fair inquiry, because removing the president from office was so incredibly urgent, incredibly urgent. Well, the unseriousness was obvious then and should be even more obvious now. Because Speaker Pelosi is now sitting on the articles she claimed were so very urgent. Shes delayed this indefinitely so that the architects of the failed house process can look for ways to reach over here into the senate and dictate our process as well. Democrats have tried to insist that the senate deviate from a unanimous bipartisan precedent set in the 19 1999 trial of president clinton and write new rules for President Trump. They are pursuing avenues that chairman schiff himself didnt bother to pursue. Mr. President , the senate has a unanimous bipartisan precedent for when to handle midtrial questions such as witnesses in the middle of the trial, was when that was done the last time, and thats the way it should be done this time. In 1999, every single u. S. Senator agreed to establish basic parameters for the start of the trial up front and be reserved midtrial questions such as witnesses until later. The vote was 1000. That was good enough for president clinton, so it ought to be good enough for President Trump. Fair is fair. House democrats hunger to break our Senate Precedents just like they broke their own house precedents could not be more telling. But the senate does not just bob along on the currents of yef news sigh every news cycle. The house may have been content to scrap their own norms to hurt President Trump, but that is not the senate. Even with a process this constitutionally serious, even with tensions rising in the middle east, House Democrats are treating impeachment like a political toy. Like a political toy. Treating their own effort to remove our commander in chief like some frivolous game. These bizarre stunts do not serve our constitution or our National Security. They erode both. My democratic colleagues should not plow away american unity in some bizarre intra mural competition to see who dislikes the president more. This should not disdain our constitution by rushing through a purely partisan impeachment process and then toying around with it. Governing is serious business. The American People deserve better, a lot better than this. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is closed. Under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination which the clerk will report. The clerk nomination, Small Business administration, Jovita Carranza of illinois to be administrator. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to legislative session session. The presiding officer the question sont motion. Is on the motion. All in favor say aye. All opposed no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 329. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All in favor say aye. All opposed no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. Is the motion is agreed to. The clerk will report the nomination. The clerk nomination. The judiciary. Math it thiew h. Solomson of maryland to be a judge of the United States court of federal claims. 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 matthew h. Solomson of maryland to be a judge of the United States court of federal claims for a term of 15 years, signed by 17 senators. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent the reading of the names be wavered. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to legislative session. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All in favor say aye. All opposed no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 462. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All in favor say aye. Opposed say no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. The clerk will report the nomination. The clerk nomination, the judiciary. Eleni maria roumel of maryland to be a judge of the United States court of federal claims. 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 Eleni Maria Roumel of maryland to be a judge of the United States court of federal claims for a term of 15 years signed by 17 senators. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to legislative session. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 525. The presiding officer the question is the on the motion. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. The clerk will report the nomination. The clerk nomination, department of state, Michael George desombre of illinois to be ambassador to the kingdom of thailand. Mr. Mcconnell i send a cloture motion to the desk. The presiding officer the clerk will report. 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 Michael George desombre of illinois to be ambassador to the kingdom of thailand signed by 16 senators. Mr. Mcconnell i . End the reading of the names be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i . End the mandatory i ask consent the mandatory quorum calls be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer mr. President. The presiding officer the democratic leader. Mr. Schumer now its been four days since the United States carried out a military operation that killed Major General qasam soleimani, the commander of the Islamic RevolutionaryGuard Corps Quds force. In the days since ive become increasingly alarmed about the strike, a strike that was carried out with insufficient transparency, without consultation of congress, and without a clear plan for what comes next. President trump had promised to keep the United States out of endless wars in the middle east. The president s actions, however, have seemingly increased the risk that we could be dragged into exactly such a war. Its indicative of President Trumps Foreign Policy record which is riddled by chaotic, uninformed, erratic and impulsive Decision Making without adequate consideration for the consequences. In just about every Foreign Policy area President Trump touches, were worse off than we were before he started with it. With china, north korea, syria, russia, the president has careened from one action to the next with no coherent strategy. North korea today, despite what President Trump said we dont have to worry about them, is a greater Nuclear Threat than they have ever been. Trumps actions have been disastrous. North korea has more Nuclear Weapons and by all reports has developed or is close to developing an icbm that can hit the United States mainland. That is a result of President Trumps bumbling. The situation in syria is much worse than before. Doing what he did in syria, pulling out those troops made no sense to anybody, even the most hawkish Foreign Policy people we have. And every time the president seems to deal with putin, putin seems to come out ahead. Looking at the president s chaotic and rudderless Foreign Policy in hot spots around the globe, its hard to conclude that any of the situations are better off than when the president took office three years ago. His policies seem to be characterized by erratic, impulsive and often egotistical behavior with little regard to a longterm strategy that would advance the interests of the United States. At times like this its essential for congress to provide a check on the president and assert our constitutional matter, our constitutional role in matters of war and peace.