S5154 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 29, 2021 The reason we have this in the and persisted, and I want to thank him The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without Leahy-Shelby bill is that there is bi- as well. objection, it is so ordered. partisan understanding that this is an Senator SHELBY persuaded the Mem- Mr. SCHUMER. One more point. I urgent need, and we have, as the bers on his side that we had to move, hope this will be unanimous. It is hard United States of America, a moral re- and they have come up with a good for me to believe that any Member sponsibility to address it immediately. compromise. It is not everything our would not want to support our Capitol Now, some have said we should just side wanted, but it is very good. Police. For Members to take umbrage do the bare minimum. Some will say: I also want to thank Senator KLO- at the Capitol Police when they did Let’s take care of the most pressing BUCHAR and Senator BLUNT. Their work their job and protected us for some needs now and work on this maybe on the authorizing committee, the kind of crazy ideological reason would later on—maybe. But I have served in Rules Committee, helped pave the way be disgraceful. I hope there will be a the U.S. Senate long enough to know for this, with all the information they unanimous vote for this. that a promise to do something later is brought out, and they deserve a lot of Mr. President, I ask unanimous con- no promise at all. I cannot accept a credit. sent that the agreement now be exe- Now, look, to keep the Capitol Com- piecemeal approach to the urgent secu- cuted. plex safe and secure, we are lucky to rity needs facing our Nation. They are The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without have the best of the best. As I said ear- facing us today, not sometime when we objection, it is so ordered. lier today, our Capitol Police risk their Mr. SCHUMER. Thank you, Mr. may think about it a few months or lives for us. They go all out for us. years from now. President. They are really, really important. The Thank you, Senator LEAHY. Vice Chairman SHELBY has a proven National Guard went all out for us, too, track record of reaching bipartisan Thank you, Senator SHELBY. on that fateful day and then for f compromise. I would note that this months afterwards. I remember walk- agreement does not include everything ing through the halls early in the EMERGENCY SECURITY SUPPLE- I want. I am sure it includes some morning, thanking them as they were MENTAL TO RESPOND TO JANU- items that he would have preferred to bivouacked out through the Capitol ARY 6TH APPROPRIATIONS ACT, not be included. But it is a strong bi- Visitor Center and everything else. 2021 partisan bill. We have come together to Now we are about to run out of The PRESIDING OFFICER. The give the best piece of legislation pos- money. Already, the Capitol Police clerk will report the bill by title. sible for the U.S. Senate. have forgone some of the things that The senior assistant legislative clerk A pandemic happened. A violent in- they usually do in terms of training, in read as follows: surrection happened. And the President terms of other types of activities, and A bill (H.R. 3237) making emergency sup- announced the withdrawal of American soon, salaries, bonuses, and new hiring plemental appropriations for the fiscal year troops from Afghanistan. The needs are will be on the chopping block. Simi- ending September 30, 2021, and for other pur- urgent. We must address them now. larly, many of our National Guard poses. So I am urging all Senators to not units from around the country that The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- only support the bill but actually to sent troops here, soldiers here, men ator from Alabama. pass the bill today because it still has and women here, are running out of Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I will to go back to the House of Representa- money. just take a few minutes here. This is tives this week. There is no time. We can’t let that happen. So passing very important, that we get this sup- There is no time left. It is a good piece this amendment is living up to our re- plemental passed. of legislation. It is a necessary piece of sponsibility to keep this grand Capitol I want to first thank my colleague legislation, and some would say, at safe, this temple of democracy, this and the chairman of the Appropria- least on the Afghan part, inevitable. citadel of democracy safe, and to make tions Committee, Senator LEAHY, for Both President Trump and President sure that the people who risk their the work he has done here, working to- Biden said they wanted to withdraw lives for us and protect us get the help gether to get where we are today. This our troops this year. Well, they are they need. has been a lot of work, working to- withdrawing. Now we have to fulfill It shouldn’t have taken this long, but gether, but it also shows that we can our responsibility. here we are, and I am glad we are on work together in a bipartisan way and Mr. President, I know that Senator the floor. put the country first, and this is evi- SHELBY will be on the floor to speak in UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT—H.R. 3237 dence here. a few moments, so I will suggest the Therefore, I ask unanimous consent What does this bill do? It sticks to absence of a quorum and ask that Sen- that notwithstanding rule XXII, at a immediate security needs, the urgently ator SHELBY be recognized when we time to be determined by the majority needed funding to safeguard the Cap- come out of the quorum call. leader, following consultation with the itol, ensure National Guard readiness, The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without Republican leader, the Senate proceed and protect our allies in Afghanistan. objection, it is so ordered. to the consideration of Calendar No. 63, That is among other things. It is just The clerk will call the roll. H.R. 3237; that the only amendments in over $2 billion total, more than half of The senior assistant legislative clerk order be the following: the Leahy- which is for the Department of De- proceeded to call the roll. Shelby substitute, No. 2123, and the fense. Out of the defense funding, $521 Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask Cotton amendment to the Leahy sub- million is to fill National Guard short- unanimous consent that the order for stitute, No. 2124; that there be 6 min- fall and about $500 million to evacuate the quorum call be rescinded. utes for debate equally divided between Afghan allies; $600 million for the State The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without the two leaders or their designees; that Department to fund Afghan special im- objection, it is so ordered. upon the use or yielding back of time, migration visas; $100 million for our Mr. SCHUMER. I ask that I be al- the Senate vote in relation to the Cot- own Capitol Police here, to fund that; lowed to speak for a few minutes, do ton and Leahy amendments; that if a and $300 million for security enhance- my unanimous consent, and then go budget point of order is raised and a ments around the Capitol. right to Senator SHELBY. motion to waive is made, the Senate I strongly urge my colleagues to vote The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without vote on the motion to waive; and that yes for this. objection, it is so ordered. if waived, the bill, as amended, if Again, I want to thank Senator Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, first, I amended, be considered read a third SCHUMER and Senator MCCONNELL, our want to just give my great thanks to time and the Senate vote on passage of leaders on both sides of the aisle, for Senator LEAHY and Senator SHELBY for the bill, as amended, if amended, and helping bring this to where we are bringing this vote here right now. The the motions to reconsider be consid- today. bottom line is very simple: This wasn’t ered made and laid upon the table, all The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. easy to get done. A UC on these kinds without intervening action or debate, KING). The Senator from Indiana. of issues should be easy, but it is not. with 60 affirmative votes required for Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, we need Senator LEAHY persisted and persisted passage of the bill. to support our Capitol Police, and we

VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:20 Jul 30, 2021 Jkt 019060 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G29JY6.015 S29JYPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE July 29, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5155 will. We need to repay our National (A) The total number of visas issued under The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a Guard, and we will. We need to protect such program, disaggregated by fiscal year. sufficient second? our allies who kept our troops safe, and (B) With respect to principal aliens issued There appears to be a sufficient sec- we will. special immigrant visas under such program, ond. a description of the types of roles performed Emergencies arise, and the biggest for which such aliens earned eligibility for The clerk will call the roll. threat to dealing with them, in my such visas. The bill clerk called the roll. opinion, is fiscal irresponsibility in DC. (C) Information regarding the average Mr. THUNE. The following Senators We could have easily paid for the major processing times for visa applicants under are necessarily absent: The Senator parts of this legislation with offsets such program, disaggregated by the fiscal from Kansas (Mr. MARSHALL) and the within the DOD. year in which visa applications under the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. I think our spending process is bro- program were submitted. ROUNDS). ken at every level. We don’t do budgets (D) The number of individuals who have Further, if present and voting, the pending applications for visas under such anymore. We vote that the rules don’t program, including— Senator from Kansas (Mr. MARSHALL) matter. It seems like Congress can (1) The number of individuals approved of would have voted ‘‘nay.’’ only agree on one thing: Deficits and the total number of applications processed The result was announced—yeas 72, debt don’t matter anymore. But they by the Chief of Mission; and nays 26, as follows: do. And both parties are to blame. And (2) The number of successful appeals of the [Rollcall Vote No. 286 Leg.] total number of application appeals filed. they threaten our ability in the long YEAS—72 (E) The estimated total number of individ- run to respond to emergencies when Baldwin Grassley Portman they arise, like the important ones in uals who have performed the requisite em- ployment to apply for a visa under such pro- Bennet Hassan Reed Blumenthal Heinrich Romney this bill, not to mention that every- gram, but who have not yet applied for or re- thing we do here currently is on bor- Blunt Hickenlooper Rosen ceived a visa, including a description of the Booker Hirono Rubio rowed money literally from our kids methodology used to create such an esti- Brown Hoeven Sanders and our grandkids. mate. Burr Hyde-Smith Schatz My point of order reference has my (3) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- Cantwell Kaine Schumer friend Mike Enzi’s name at the top of TEES DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘ap- Capito Kelly Shaheen propriate congressional committees’’ Cardin King Shelby it. I am speaking here today for the Carper Klobuchar Sinema means— reasons I just mentioned and in honor Casey Leahy Smith (A) the Committee on Appropriations, the of him as well. Cassidy Luja´ n Stabenow Committee on Armed Services, the Com- Collins Manchin Tester I yield the floor. mittee on the Judiciary, the Committee on Coons Markey Tillis AMENDMENT NO. 2123 Foreign Relations, and the Committee on Cortez Masto McConnell Tuberville (Purpose: In the nature of a sub- Homeland Security and Governmental Af- Cramer Menendez Van Hollen stitute.) fairs of the Senate; and Cruz Merkley Warner (B) the Committee on Appropriations, the Duckworth Murkowski Warnock Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask Durbin Murphy Warren unanimous consent that my amend- Committee on Armed Services, the Com- Ernst Murray Whitehouse mittee on the Judiciary, the Committee on ment and Senator SHELBY’s be called Feinstein Ossoff Wicker Foreign Affairs, and the Committee on Gillibrand Padilla Wyden up. Homeland Security of the House of Rep- Graham Peters Young The PRESIDING OFFICER. The resentatives. clerk will report. NAYS—26 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- The senior assistant legislative clerk Barrasso Hagerty Paul ator from Indiana. read as follows: Blackburn Hawley Risch POINT OF ORDER Boozman Inhofe Sasse The Senator from Vermont [Mr. LEAHY] Braun Johnson Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, Senate Scott (FL) proposes an amendment numbered 2123. Cornyn Kennedy Scott (SC) (The amendment is printed in today’s amendment No. 2123 would make new Cotton Lankford Sullivan budget authority available for fiscal Crapo Lee RECORD under ‘‘Text of Amendments.’’) Thune Daines Lummis Toomey The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- year 2021. The Senate Committee on Fischer Moran ator from Alabama. Appropriations has not filed its sub- allocations as required by the Congres- NOT VOTING—2 AMENDMENT NO. 2124 TO AMENDMENT NO. 2123 sional Budget Act. Marshall Rounds Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I call up Therefore, I raise a point of order amendment No. 2124 and ask that it be The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this against the amendment pursuant to reported by number. vote, the yeas are 72, the nays are 26. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The section 302(c) of the Congressional Three-fifths of the Senators duly cho- clerk will report the amendment. Budget Act of 1974. sen and sworn having voted in the af- The senior assistant legislative clerk The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- firmative, the motion is agreed to and read as follows: ator from Vermont. the point of order falls. The Senator from Alabama [Mr. Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, pursuant VOTE ON AMENDMENT NO. 2123 SHELBY], for Mr. COTTON, proposes an to section 904 of the Congressional The PRESIDING OFFICER. The amendment numbered 2124 to amend- Budget Act, I move to waive all appli- question is on agreeing to the Leahy ment No. 2123. cable sections of that act or any appli- amendment, as amended. The amendment is as follows: cable budget points of order for pur- The amendment (No. 2123), in the na- (Purpose: To require a report to Congress on poses of the pending amendment. ture of a substitute, as amended, was the health of the Afghan special immigrant I ask unanimous consent to yield agreed to. visa program) back all time. The amendment was ordered to be On page 17, between lines 2 and 3, insert The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there engrossed and the bill to be read a the following: objection to time being yielded back? third time. (c) Report to Congress.— Without objection, it is so ordered. The bill was read the third time. (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after Mr. LEAHY. I understand we are the date of the enactment of this Act, the The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under going to have a voice vote on the Cot- the previous order, the bill is consid- Secretary of State, in consultation with the ton amendment. Secretary of Defense, shall submit to the ap- ered read a third time. propriate congressional committees a report, VOTE ON AMENDMENT NO. 2124 The bill having been read the third including a classified annex, if necessary, on The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time, the question is, Shall the bill the Afghan special immigrant visa program question is on agreeing to the amend- pass? as described in Section 602(b) of the Afghan ment. Mr. HEINRICH. I ask for the yeas and Allies Protection Act of 2009 (8 U.S.C. 1101 The amendment (No. 2124) was agreed nays. note) and Section 1059 of the National De- to. fense Authorization Act of 2006 (8 U.S.C. 1101 The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a note). MOTION TO WAIVE sufficient second? (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required by Mr. LEAHY. I ask for the yeas and There is a sufficient second. paragraph (1) shall include the following: nays on the motion to waive. The clerk will call the roll.

VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Jul 30, 2021 Jkt 019060 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G29JY6.017 S29JYPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE S5156 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 29, 2021 The senior assistant legislative clerk do within this timeframe—as we with- munity, maybe the State, maybe the called the roll. draw—they face retribution from the country, and, occasionally—occasion- Mr. THUNE. The following Senators Taliban. We had to show our commit- ally—the world. That is what I call our are necessarily absent: the Senator ment to protect them and to save Alaskan of the Week. from Kansas (Mr. MARSHALL) and the them, and there is money and laws Now, this is going to be a little bit of Senator from South Dakota (Mr. that are in this that will help. a historic ‘‘Alaskan of the Week.’’ I ROUNDS). All in all, it meant a lot of Repub- have been doing this, gosh, going on 6 The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. WAR- licans and a lot of Democrats had to years almost, and while this is a his- REN). Are they any other Senators in come together. I have been here longer toric moment, because we have never the Chamber desiring to vote? than anybody else in this body, and I made someone an Alaskan of the Week The result was announced—yeas 98, have seen days when Republicans and twice—it has never happened. We are nays 0, as follows: Democrats come together and we ac- making Senate history right now. But [Rollcall Vote No. 287 Leg.] complish something, and I have seen you might know that we had a historic YEAS—98 times when we don’t and nothing gets week in the Olympics because our Alas- Baldwin Grassley Peters accomplished. kan of the Week a month ago, whom Barrasso Hagerty Portman I have also found, over these years, we talked about here on the Senate Bennet Hassan Reed that nobody gets every single thing floor, Lydia Jacoby, when she made the Blackburn Hawley Risch they want, but you try and do things Olympic team, she won Gold. And for Blumenthal Heinrich Romney Blunt Hickenlooper Rosen that will make the country better, that anyone who saw that race, that 100- Booker Hirono Rubio will help the United States of America, meter breaststroke race a couple of Boozman Hoeven Sanders that will help the things that we stand nights ago, you will probably never for- Braun Hyde-Smith Sasse for. get it. We certainly are not going to Brown Inhofe Schatz Burr Johnson Schumer This bill, the fact that it has passed forget it. Cantwell Kaine Scott (FL) 98 to 0, is an example of that. So I And I guarantee you, Lydia’s home- Capito Kelly Scott (SC) thank my colleagues. Cardin Kennedy town of Seward, AK—a beautiful, in- Shaheen Carper King I yield the floor. credible town of 3,000 people, wonderful Shelby Casey Klobuchar I suggest the absence of a quorum. Sinema people—they are not going to forget it. Cassidy Lankford The PRESIDING OFFICER. The So history is right here on the Sen- Collins Leahy Smith Coons Lee Stabenow clerk will call the roll. ate floor. Lydia Jacoby, gold med- Cornyn Luja´ n Sullivan The senior assistant legislative clerk alist—as the Washington Post called it Cortez Masto Lummis Tester proceeded to call the roll. in a headline, ‘‘an Alaskan Stunner’’— Thune Cotton Manchin Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I ask is our Alaskan of the Week for the sec- Cramer Markey Tillis Crapo McConnell Toomey unanimous consent that the order for ond time. Cruz Menendez Tuberville the quorum call be rescinded. You know, I always talk a little bit Daines Merkley Van Hollen The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without about Alaska before I do my ‘‘Alaskan Duckworth Moran Warner objection, it is so ordered. Durbin Murkowski Warnock of the Week’’ speech. A lot of people, Ernst Murphy Warren Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I ask particularly at this point in the sum- Feinstein Murray Whitehouse unanimous consent that further re- mer, when they are visiting, are curi- Fischer Ossoff Wicker marks of mine, that I be able to add ous about the light: if the Sun ever sets Gillibrand Padilla Wyden them to the RECORD, including so many Graham Paul Young in the summer, when it rises. So what of the people who needed and should I always try to do is tell people: Come NOT VOTING—2 have been thanked for what they have on up and see for yourself. We would Marshall Rounds done, that they be added in the RECORD love to have you. We are having a beau- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under along with my earlier statement. tiful summer. the previous order requiring 60 votes There being no objection, the mate- I will give you a hint. Right now in for the passage of this bill, the bill, as rial was ordered to be printed in the Seward, AK—that is the home of our amended, is passed. RECORD, as follows: Gold medal Olympian athlete, Lydia— The bill (H.R. 3237), as amended, was CHAIRMAN LEAHY LIST FOR H.R. 3237 STAFF the Sun will rise today at 5:32 a.m. and passed. FOR THE RECORD set around 10:35. We lost about 5 min- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- I would like to thank the staff of the Com- utes from yesterday. But if you are ator from Vermont. mittee on Appropriations on a bipartisan still thinking about coming up to Alas- Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I basis, for their significant contributions on ka for a summer trip, come on and do thank my colleagues for joining both HR 3237, the Emergency Security Supple- it. There is still lots of Sun. myself and Senator SHELBY on the mental Appropriations Act 2021, including There is tons of excitement across Leahy-Shelby amendment. There have Charles Kieffer, Chanda Betourney, Erik my State, and there is tons of excite- been weeks of negotiation, most of it Raven, Katy Hagan, Brigid Kolish, Drew ment across Alaska, in Seward and ev- Platt, Jean Toal Eisen, Jennifer Eskra, Alex quiet but weeks of negotiation going Keenan, Mike Gentile, Jessica Berry, Han- erywhere else, because of this incred- on in this. nah Chauvin, Tim Rieser, Sarita Vanka, Kali ible young 17-year-old. And if you saw I am sure I can speak for both Sen- Farahmand, Madeleine Granda, Jenny it on TV, Seward, AK, Monday night ator SHELBY and myself. We each Winkler, Valerie Hutton, Jay Tilton and was probably the site of the best Olym- might not have gotten everything that Maddie Dunn, as well as Shannon Hines, Jon- pic watch party ever—I hope people we wanted, but on this specific issue, athan Graffeo and David Adkins from Vice saw that—ever. we got what the country needed. We Chairman Shelby’s staff. So I talked about Lydia about a got the improvements for the security Mr. LEAHY. I suggest the absence of month ago when she cinched her spot of our Capitol, the symbol of our de- a quorum. on the team, and she did that by actu- mocracy. We showed what we can do to The senior assistant legislative clerk ally swimming the second fastest time help take care of the damage to the proceeded to call the roll. in the world in the women’s 100-meter Capitol Police, what we can do to help Mr. SULLIVAN. Madam President, I breaststroke finals in the Olympic those who work so hard here in the ask unanimous consent that the order trials for the United States. So we, in Capitol, the men and women through- for the quorum call be rescinded. Alaska, knew she was something. out the Capitol and Capitol Complex The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without I will mention this again: Alaskans, facing the threat of COVID. objection, it is so ordered. we punch above our weight in the Win- And thanks to bipartisan efforts, we TRIBUTE TO LYDIA JACOBY ter Olympics. We do really well in the had the issue of people who had worked Mr. SULLIVAN. Madam President, it Winter Olympics, for reasons that most with our military and our government is Thursday. It is my favorite time of people probably understand, and we in Afghanistan. And, now, as we with- the week. I get to come down on the have done pretty well in the Summer draw, something that both President Senate floor and talk about someone Olympics, particularly in trapshooting, Trump and President Biden wanted to who has made an impact on their com- riflery. We have an Olympic veteran

VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:20 Jul 30, 2021 Jkt 019060 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G29JY6.020 S29JYPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE July 29, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5157 rugby player right now. Alev Kelter In Tokyo, the NBC announcers start- So I want to thank them. I want to from Eagle River is also competing. ed to notice the underdog. And if you thank Lydia’s coaches, including Sol- Her team made the Olympic quarter- haven’t watched the race, go to omon, who put so much training and finals. She might be on the field later YouTube. It is so exciting. And they dedicated so much time and effort to tonight, so good luck to her. We are saw her starting to pull ahead in the her skills; and, of course, to her mom going to be rooting for her as well. final seconds. You could hear the an- and dad for their very hard work, early But Alaska has never sent a swimmer nouncers getting excited. They said: morning practices, raising an excep- to the Olympics, ever, let alone won a Then you’ve got Jacoby, lane 3, chal- tional daughter; to the competitors; gold. As the NBC announcer said after lenging Schoenmaker. Watch Jacoby. Lydia really, everybody. the race, Alaska ‘‘is not exactly your Jacoby, the 17-year-old from Alaska, is put- And, of course, to Lydia: Great job on hotbed of swimming in America.’’ ting on the surge of her career. your hard work, dedication, grit, deter- Someone else pointed out that Alas- Watch it. It is so exciting. And, of mination. Throughout the years, so ka is dead last in the United States in course, she did. Now, there is a video of many people—throughout the decades, terms of swimming pools per mile by everybody watching in Seward, which so many people have dreamed of find- far. We don’t have a lot of swimming quickly went viral, of Lydia’s friends ing gold in Alaska, and you are an pools. And, as a matter of fact, Lydia’s and classmates and neighbors jumping Alaskan who found gold in a way that story is even more impressive because up and down, stomping the floor, when has inspired and overjoyed not just there is only one Olympic-sized pool in the announcer yelled, ‘‘Alaska has an your community of Seward, not just the whole State of Alaska, and that is Olympic Gold Medalist. Oh, my gosh.’’ our State, but literally our country The place went nuts. in Anchorage, a 21⁄2-hour drive from and the world. Seward, her hometown. Anyone watching, if you want to get Olympic joy, go on the website and So, Lydia, congrats on the gold So I will just reiterate a little bit medal; congratulations on your win; more about this remarkable young look at the Twitter video that the Olympics put up. It is a split-screen and congratulations, for the first time woman and her dedicated mom and dad in Senate history, on being the only who raised her. Her parents, Leslie and shot of the race at the top and the great fans in Seward, AK, cheering. person ever to be our Alaskan of the Richard, are both boat captains. Leslie Week two times. Great job. is the educational coordinator for the And when she wins, watch what hap- pens. It is priceless. It is Olympic joy I yield the floor. Marine Science Explorer Program at at its best. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. DUR- Kenai Fjords Tours, and Rich is a mari- Lydia’s parents, Rich and Leslie, BIN). The Senator from Connecticut. time instructor at the Alaska Voca- were in Florida, where NBC and the REMEMBERING SEPTEMBER 11TH tional Technical Center—AVTEC, as Olympic Committee had set up a watch we call it—and he also is a guide for Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, party for families of the athletes. in just a few weeks, our Nation will Arctic and Antarctic trips. They, too, knew that she had it in her They raised their daughter Lydia in come together to remember September to win the gold. Her dad said: ‘‘When Seward, signed her up for swim classes 11. It will be the 20th anniversary of she hit the wall at the turn, we knew that unspeakable act of horror, an at- when she was a toddler. Good job, Mom she was right in there. She likes to run and Dad. She joined the swim club tack on our Nation that devastated us [people down]’’ in her races. and, most particularly, the families when she was just 6 years old. When On television, the joy and the pride she was 10, she was selected for the and loved ones who lost members of of her parents was also priceless. They their family and friends—the fallen— Alaska Swimming Zone Team. State are still filled with excitement and qualifying meets allowed her to go on who will be remembered on that day pride and, let’s face it, a little bit of and honored. trips. shellshock. And they are so grateful for In between all of this, she was and And I have been honored to stand the outpouring of support from Alas- with those families over the years, as continues to be a musician, learning to kans and, let’s face it, Americans many of us have, as they remember play the guitar and upright bass. She across the country. their loved ones and continue to face sings. She plays at folk festivals. Her ‘‘It’s true,’’ Rich said, ‘‘about Alaska band is the Snow River String Band. being the biggest small town in the the trauma and immeasurable grief of She was also in theater and in track. world.’’ Rich said that Lydia is doing their loss. And in these years, many of She likes to write, take pictures, and great; she is happy, tired, a bit over- those families have sought justice. explore tidal basins. This is just a whelmed. We don’t know yet. She They have tried to honor their loved good, all-American teenager in Alaska. might be competing in an upcoming ones with action to vindicate not only And, of course, she excelled in swim- relay race, which she is super excited their individual grief and mourning but ming. Her parents continued to be, in about. We will see if that happens. also justice for our Nation, truth, and their words, surprised and amazed and, As for what is next, her dad said truth-telling in the courts of law in of course, so proud. Lydia is going to continue her life of this country. They have brought legal One of her coaches, Solomon being a normal teenager; participate in action against the Kingdom of Saudi D’Amico, described her as ‘‘kind, quiet, high school sports, no doubt, continue Arabia in the face of mounting, signifi- and yet confident’’ and said that Lydia to play music; and she is still planning cant credible evidence that, in fact, the had an ‘‘intense fire,’’ one that you on attending the University of Texas in Saudis aided and abetted that attack might not see immediately in her. But the fall, a normal teenager but who has on our Nation. neither her parents nor her coach touched so many lives across Alaska, As a Congress, we have acted to sup- pushed her too hard. They wanted the particularly Seward, but across the port that effort, and I was proud to drive to come from her, and it cer- country—really, across the globe. help to lead the Justice Against Spon- tainly did. As one Washington Post columnist sors of Terrorism Act, known as On Monday night, when this historic put it on Lydia’s win, ‘‘There are mo- JASTA, when we passed it overwhelm- race started, the NBC announcers were ments at [the] Olympics that redefine a ingly here, and then on a bipartisan focused mostly on the reigning Olym- town. And there are moments at [the] basis, we overrode the President’s veto. pic champion and world record holder, Olympics that make you say: ‘That’s It was President Obama who vetoed it, American Lilly King, as well as the why I watch [the Olympics]. That’s and many of us, including the Pre- newly minted Olympic record holder, why I came. That’s what [the Olympics siding Officer, voted to override that Tatjana Schoenmaker of South Africa. is] all about.’’’ veto, I believe. In the announcers’ minds, that is where And I think we all saw that when we We opened the courthouse doors to the competition was. watched this race. We saw that, includ- the 9/11 families in their legal effort to But we knew better, especially in ing the two other competitors who won hold Saudi Arabia accountable in the Seward, AK, where about 400 people the silver and bronze, Lilly King and face of that evidence of its potential gathered for the race. All eyes were on Tatjana Schoenmaker, who came over complicity. Again, I was proud to stand Lydia. They knew all along she could to Lydia and were so gracious, hugging with these families in 2018 when I in- do it. her, joyful. troduced, with the help of Senators

VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:20 Jul 30, 2021 Jkt 019060 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G29JY6.022 S29JYPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE S5158 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 29, 2021 CORNYN, SCHUMER, GILLIBRAND, MUR- nation—let alone meaningful justifica- Waycross, GA. Their grieving widows PHY, and MENENDEZ, a resolution urg- tion for why there has been no disclo- did the only thing they could, bringing ing that documents related to the Sep- sure. That denial of explanation or jus- a wrongful death action in Federal tember 11 attack be declassified to the tification is itself also unacceptable court against the government. But the greatest extent possible. and unconscionable. These families invocation of the state secrets privi- That resolution passed the U.S. Sen- will never get their loved ones back, lege prevented them from receiving ate unanimously—unanimously—be- but at the very least, they should get justice and the truth. cause all of us recognized that the sur- answers. In fact, they deserve answers. In 2003, Macedonian officials ab- vivors and the families of the fallen They deserve the truth. The American ducted a German citizen at the request and the American people deserved an- people deserve the truth. of the CIA. In that instance as well, swers, the truth about what happened Now, what the executive branch has justice was sought unsuccessfully, and on September 11, who was behind it, done is to invoke broadly and the case was dismissed because the who supported it, who aided and abet- unspecifically something called state government invoked the state secrets ted, and who was complicit in enabling secrets privilege. State secrets privi- privilege. that handful of terrorists to do such a lege was and remains intended to pre- In 2006, the FBI allegedly engaged in devastating attack and unspeakable vent court-ordered disclosure of gov- the targeted religious profiling of Mus- horror on this Nation. Many of us have ernment information when genuine and lims in Southern California. If true, it stood with those families to ensure significant harm to the national de- was and it remains an egregious abuse, one that led these individuals to sue that the 9/11 families not only get their fense or foreign relations is at stake the FBI. But rather than let the case day in court but are also able to go to but only to the extent necessary to proceed and rather than let the truth court with all the evidence they need safeguard those interests. come to light about what the FBI did to have a fair chance to prove their It is also clear under the Department and why, the government asked the case. of Justice rules that it should be in- I have asked questions at oversight voked only upon sufficient showing trial court to dismiss the case on the basis of the state secrets privilege, and hearings, including of Director Wray of that it is necessary ‘‘to protect infor- the trial court agreed. This case, how- the FBI. I have sought commitments mation the unauthorized disclosure of ever, is not yet over because the Su- from nominees like Attorney General which could reasonably be expected to preme Court will hear it in the fall Garland. I have written letter after let- cause significant harm to national se- after it has wound its way through the ter after letter, with Democrats and curity and that the invocation be nar- lower courts. As we know, justice is Republicans alike, calling on the De- rowly tailored for that specific pur- often delayed. In this instance, justice partment of Justice and the FBI to pose.’’ delayed is justice denied, again because provide information that the 9/11 fami- Here is the problem: We don’t know if of the state secrets privilege. lies have requested. that is what happened in the 9/11 fami- Let me close with a bit of history. On I am proud to continue to stand with lies’ case or in many other cases. We September 11, 2019, the then-President those families as we approach this 20th don’t know whether decisions to in- of the United States, Donald Trump, anniversary date, but I also, in fairness voke this privilege met this high and made a promise. He made a promise to to this administration, want to say exacting standard or were narrowly the 9/11 families. He made a promise to that the moment of truth-telling now tailored. And we don’t know because in them to their faces. He looked them in has arrived, and there is a moment of the 9/11 families’ case, the Department the eye, shook their hands, and he told reckoning here. of Justice and the FBI have claimed them that the Department of Justice These families, since JASTA, have that even the Trump administration’s would disclose documents relative to been engaged in an epic legal struggle ‘‘justification for secrecy needed to re- their case against the Kingdom of against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia main secret’’ and the ‘‘public discus- Saudi Arabia. The next day, the Attor- for aiding and abetting the terrorists sion of the issue ‘would reveal informa- ney General of the United States, Wil- who attacked the United States on tion that could cause the very harms liam Barr, in a sworn declaration to September 11, but now that struggle is [the] assertion of the state secrets the Southern District of New York also one against their own government, privilege is intended to prevent.’ ’’ Federal Court, invoked the state se- our government, because while Con- These blanket assertions and vague crets privilege to prevent the release of gress did our job in passing JASTA, justifications undermine both public the very information that the Presi- opening the courthouse door to give confidence that our government will dent of the United States had promised those 9/11 families a chance at justice, only invoke the privilege to protect na- those families, the same documents, the last administration invoked the tional security and the pursuit of jus- the same evidence that the President state secrets privilege without expla- tice. of the United States had vowed to dis- nation to shield the documents and in- Now, let’s be very clear. There are close. The very next day, the Attorney formation the 9/11 families need to times when disclosure can imperil General of the United States went into make their case. methods and secrets and sources in in- the Federal District Court in New York The last administration denied them formation gathering. There are times and said no. their fair day in court, and I say with when secrecy is important to protect The 9/11 families, whom I have come great regret that the current adminis- an ongoing investigation. We are talk- to know and admire, deserved so much tration seems intent on doing the ing here about disclosure of informa- better from the last administration. same. My hope is otherwise. That is tion relating to an attack 20 years ago. But it is not about one administration the reason I have raised this issue pub- There is no indication of any ongoing or another. It is about the United licly and privately repeatedly, not only investigation into the attack on our States providing them with the truth. in the last years but in the last weeks. country. There has been no explanation It is about our government providing To deny information to the 9/11 fami- that sources and methods may be im- the people of the United States with lies and, equally important, to the periled. There has been no justification the truth. American people is unacceptable, and whatsoever. I will be coming back to the floor in it is unconscionable. Similar rationales, blanket asser- the weeks ahead, and I hope my col- The requests that I and so many of tions of protection, have prevented ex- leagues will join me in raising this my colleagues have made to the De- planations in other cases as well and in issue, in calling on the Department of partment of Justice and the FBI to dis- some instances have led to the with- Justice and the FBI to review their de- close and declassify what can be dis- holding of documents or information cision invoking this privilege, to de- closed and declassified in the national and outright dismissal of cases, depriv- classify and disclose information that interest—those requests have gone un- ing victims of an opportunity for jus- they have withheld. They have yet to answered. Sadly, the executive branch tice. explain why the national interest is across administrations has repeatedly In 1948, three civilians were killed served by this blanket, unjustified, and failed to provide any explanation—let when a B–29 aircraft testing secret unexplained invocation of the state se- me repeat: failed to provide any expla- electronic equipment crashed in crets privilege. The 9/11 families and

VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:20 Jul 30, 2021 Jkt 019060 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G29JY6.024 S29JYPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE July 29, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5159 the American public deserve that much literally said to me: Oh, I wasn’t aware than a million dollars, a million sec- and more. And this case is about ac- there was a problem. onds is about 111⁄2 weeks. That is a lot. countability. It is about holding ac- Listen, there is a problem, and it is But a billion seconds is 311⁄2 years. That countable the Kingdom of Saudi Ara- not just in the State Department. It is is a big difference. Brace yourself be- bia. in multiple other agencies. As America cause a billion seconds is 311⁄2 years, I am not here to argue the case in opens back up, trying to be able to but a trillion seconds is 31,688 years. court. I am not here to take issue with manage all the issues with COVID, These are big numbers that are being any legitimate, urgent, narrowly-tai- they are very aware of masks and vac- thrown around and it is hard to wrap lored interest that may be served by cines and spacing. our head around how much spending is this Privilege, but there is no indica- But companies have figured out how really going on, but the concept of tion of any such interest and, in fact, to do this. For some reason, multiple throwing out $3.5 trillion is mind-bog- neither the FBI nor the Department of agencies have not and it is causing real gling. Justice should stand in the way of jus- problems. It is not just problems in our Let me give you one more. A trillion tice for these families in court. economy with permitting and other miles—if I were to say: How far is a They owe the American people an ex- things, some of the policies that have trillion miles? A trillion miles is if you planation, and they owe the 9/11 fami- been put in place are causing real prob- left Washington, DC, today and flew to lies the truth so they can bring it to lems across our economy for just indi- the planet Pluto 334 times. From DC to bear in their quest for justice. viduals. our furthest planet 334 times, that is 1 Thank you, Mr. President. We have an unemployment rate right trillion miles. I yield the floor. now in June at 5.9 percent. We don’t This is a lot of money that is being The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. COR- know what it will be for July, but it is thrown around and has real con- TEZ MASTO). The Senator from Okla- getting better and better all the time. sequences, knowing the debt and the homa. In Oklahoma, we have one of the low- borrowing and the tax changes, but THE ECONOMY est unemployment rates in the coun- how much things actually cost. Mr. LANKFORD. Madam President, try. We have a lot of people employed I am continuing to challenge my col- there are a lot of issues we are working because we turned off the extra unem- leagues when they discuss all these big through right now in the Senate. ployment benefits at the end of June numbers and say: Let’s throw all this Obviously, infrastructure is in con- and people came back to work. That is money out there; it will have no con- versation, and what is going to happen a good thing for them, for their fami- sequence. with some spending dealing with Na- lies, for their kids, and for our econ- I will tell you, the people in Okla- tional Guard, Capitol Police. omy. As we continue to be able to re- homa feel what is going on. They may We are working a lot on issues, like engage, that is helpful. not know, but they feel it in the prices Afghan translators—trying to get But what we are seeing right now is every day, what is going on in supply those folks who walked alongside our inflation, consumer price increases like chains, and they are very aware. And soldiers for 20 years and risked their we have not seen in more than a dec- the No. 1 question that I get asked lives out of harm’s way before the ade. The Consumer Price Index in- when I am out and about in places in Taliban slaughters them. creased by 5.4 percent. That is the most Oklahoma is: Where is all this money We are engaged in a lot of issues. in 13 years. coming from? There are a lot of things happening be- We are watching the rapid rise in It is a fair question. hind the scenes. I thought it might be prices that Americans feel. It is a di- There is this back-channel conversa- helpful to be able to give a couple of rect result of this $2 trillion bill that tion right now happening on immigra- things I think we need to consider. was done in March, where it paid peo- tion as well. Right now, the news is fo- One is what is happening in the State ple not to work, sent checks to individ- cused on 10 million other things, and I Department right now. State Depart- uals, and did lots of other benefits. literally have people in my State say- ment engagement on the issues of pass- Many people, even economists from ing: Things must be going better at the ports is a major issue. It is a frustra- the Obama administration, said: Don’t border now because I don’t hear about tion for a lot of Americans. And I do this. It will cause inflation. it much anymore. would tell you, a lot of Oklahomans What have we seen? I will smile at them and I say: I hap- that we deal with on a day-to-day basis In just the last 5 months: milk prices pen to be on that committee and be on our team are very frustrated with up, bread prices up, bacon prices up, very engaged in the issues of border trying to get their passport renewed. price of gasoline up, price of wood up, management and border security. They didn’t travel last year, obviously, price of building materials up, price of Things are not getting better; they are with COVID, but now they want to be rental cars up, prices of used cars up, getting worse. able to do some traveling in places shortages in different supply chains— March was the highest number of il- where they can. things we all identified in February legal crossings in 20 years. It was beat- Good luck with that, as we have and March and said we need to be at- en in April; it was beaten in May; it found. Right now, the backlog at the tentive to. was beaten in June. Current trend, that State Department is about 18 weeks. If you dump $2 trillion into the econ- will be beaten in July. Just last week— Today is the 29th of July. That means omy, what does that do? just in 1 week, last week, the Rio if you turn in your application for your In the middle of this dialogue about Grande crossing—just that one sector passport today, you may get your pass- inflation rising right now and everyone in 1 week had 20,000 interdictions—in 1 port December 2. Merry Christmas. If in America is seeing the rise in prices, week. At one time, they had 15,000 peo- you plan on traveling Thanksgiving, there is a conversation about trillions ple who they were detaining. you need to pay the extra fee to do an of dollars more of spending—more of So what is happening with that? expedited delivery though we are at the spending. I keep hearing from the administra- end of July right now. What effect do you think that will tion that we are going to take on the The problem? have? We have already seen the effect root causes. The root causes is a simple The State Department still hasn’t of what happened in March. What ef- way to say we will deal with this later. brought all of their staff back. They fect do you think it will have to add Because if you want to talk about root are not engaging. The rest of the coun- another, as is being forecast, $3.5 tril- causes, it is a statement saying that, try is open and operating, and the lion more spending? basically, the problems are in Central State Department is still studying how Sometimes we can’t wrap our head America; we can’t stop it. they are going to come back in, and around the issues of millions and bil- Well, that is a nice note, except for millions of Americans are just waiting lions and trillions because it all seems here is a list of the countries that have for their passport. like numbers. There is a big difference crossed our border illegally just this I have spoken to leadership in the ad- between millions and billions and tril- year. It is over 100—over 100 countries ministration about this exact issue. In lions. The best way I can describe this where individuals have illegally fact, I talked to some leadership who is, if you have a million seconds rather crossed the border.

VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:20 Jul 30, 2021 Jkt 019060 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G29JY6.026 S29JYPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE S5160 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 29, 2021 So what about Brazil? What about enforcement-career folks who are in Listen, we have all said in this room Chile? What about Colombia? What the country, arresting individuals who that we should engage with criminal about Guinea? What about Indonesia? are illegally present in the country, aliens and that criminal aliens should What about Mauritania? Are we going with the first priority being criminal be deported. I don’t know of a person in to go after the root causes there? What illegal aliens. That is their first pri- this room who hasn’t said it. We about the Philippines, Indonesia, Ro- ority, the safety and security of the stopped in May deporting criminal mania, Ukraine, United Arab Emir- United States. Of the 6,000 agents in aliens. Are we going to do nothing ates? the United States, in May, they did about that? This is just a few of the people who 3,000 total arrests—3,000 among 6,000 If you don’t believe me, call Sec- have illegally crossed this year in big agents in a month. That is a record low retary Mayorkas. He will send you a numbers. because the administration changed copy—that I have as well—of the in- Listen, this whole conversation the rules for ICE agents on who they terim guidance that was put out in about root causes is a distraction. We could interdict. May for ICE agents, limiting who they do need to be engaged in the Western The first big rule change they made could deport and the process for depor- Hemisphere. We do need to deal with is that ICE agents cannot arrest some- tation. I have asked him specifically: If our drug addiction in this country that one who is not legally present unless someone goes to pick up a criminal causes the flow of drugs to be able to they get permission from regional lead- alien and there are other aliens who move through South America, Central ership by name to arrest that indi- are there, can they be picked up? The America, Mexico into the United vidual. This means, if they go into a answer has been no. States. We do need to be aggressive in place to arrest someone and they en- We have a problem not just on our how we are handling cartels. But to counter one person they received per- southern border but what is happening somehow believe that if we poured mission to actually arrest but also find in our country and the issue of enforce- enough money into the Northern Tri- three other criminal aliens there, they ment, and we would be wise if we would angle that suddenly this would all end cannot detain or arrest them. They pay attention to this. is false. have to leave them and request by I am fully aware that there are many We are the greatest country in the name later to go back and get them. individuals in this body who do not world. The root cause of immigration And guess what. They are not there. like the southern border wall. That has into this country is the great power of Shocking. And it is not all criminal been a topic of great debate in this the United States, both for freedom aliens. There are only certain criminal room for several years. But is this body and for our economy. People from all aliens they are now allowed to actually aware that in January of this year, over the world want to come here. detain. That is a big shift from every when President Biden ‘‘paused’’ the We have a million people a year who previous—every previous—administra- border wall construction and said: I am legally come to the United States—le- tion. going to spend 60 days studying it, that gally, a million—and folks who don’t Let me give an example that I actu- 60-day study is still not complete 200 want to wait in line, who pay a cartel ally gave to Secretary Mayorkas and days into the Presidency? He has still and move through Mexico to be able to asked specifically about some recent not completed the 60-day study. get here literally from all over the frustrating moments from our ICE On top of that, the pause of that con- world. If we do not enforce our borders, agents. struction, during that time period, we Just a few days ago, ICE reached out these numbers will continue to rise as are still paying contractors to not do on a previously deported alien by they have every single month in this construction. So far this year, we have name. This person had been convicted administration. Every month, the paid contractors $2 billion—billion of a sex assault of a minor under age numbers get bigger. with a ‘‘b’’—not to construct the wall. 14. The alien was at large, and they We have got to get on top of this. I Now, you may think it is a waste to asked permission to be able to go after wish I could say the administration is construct the wall. I do not. But please this alien and to be able to do a street taking it seriously. I wish I could say tell me you at least believe it is a arrest. Remember, they had been de- they have a plan. I wish I could say waste to not construct a wall and still ported before. They knew they were in they have released out their studies pay contractors—to not construct a the area. There were previous sex of- that they said they were going to do. wall. fender convictions. They were denied But they have not released out their We are currently paying contractors the ability to go after that person. studies. They have not released out $3 million a day to watch the materials They were told, no, they don’t meet that had been delivered by January 20 their plans, and I continue to ask the standard. that were sitting on the ground—for week, after week, after week. Case No. 2. Another person who was The first hint that I got of what they previously deported had a previous con- steel, for fiber, for cameras, for light- planned to do came out in their budget. viction for indecency with a child, sex- ing, for roads. We are paying $3 million In their budget, they reduced funding ual contact. They were a registered sex a day to have them watch the mate- for ICE, and they reduced the number offender. They believed they were in rials on the ground to make sure they of bed spaces for ICE. I was shocked. the area. They were asked if they could are not stolen—$3 million a day. That The numbers continue to skyrocket, pursue an arrest. Regional leadership is a waste. and in their first release of what they told them no, they could not. As people cross our border in record plan to do on it, they asked for a 1,500- Case No. 3—this just happened last numbers, a new policy has been insti- bed space reduction in ICE capacity for week—is of a previously deported alien, tuted on our southern border, called a detention. twice. So this means they were for the notice to report. This, again, has never Now, honestly, when I got it, I third time in our country illegally. been done by any administration. A no- thought: I can’t believe they are put- There were previous convictions for tice to report is when the line gets too ting this in print, but I already knew alien smuggling—that is, trafficking of long on the southern border, with peo- that it was going on. Why did I already people—theft, and illegal entry. They ple crossing the border, when they are know that it was going on? Because, as knew they were in the area. They trying to check everyone in—if the line I have tracked the numbers all the asked if they could do the arrest. Re- gets too long, Border Patrol is in- time, I have watched the number of de- gional leadership told them no. structed to grab the folks in the back portations and ICE detentions dramati- I could go on and on. of the line and give them a notice to cally decrease. While some people are ICE has a different set of rules now report. That is a card telling them focused on the border, they lose track from what they had in the past. It is where ICE Agency offices are around of the fact that not only is this admin- not just criminal aliens anymore; it is the country, and they can just go istration not enforcing our southern that they have to be really high crimi- ahead and go and turn themselves in at border, they are not enforcing the inte- nal aliens. I could give you lists of peo- whatever ICE Agency they want to rior of the country. ple who have multiple DUI offenses, turn themselves in to anywhere in the We have 6,000 ICE agents in the and ICE asked if they could detain country. So far, 50,000 people this year United States, 6,000 professional law them, and they were told no. have been given one of those cards at

VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:20 Jul 30, 2021 Jkt 019060 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G29JY6.027 S29JYPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE July 29, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5161 our southern border and told ‘‘turn morning Prayer Breakfast, where to about him that I want to tell that has yourself in wherever you go in the say he was a regular participant is an stuck with me, and I have told it 100 country’’—50,000. understatement. Even after he left the times, although I never told it while he My shock, as I am trying to track Senate, he was at every single Prayer was with us. Now that he is lost to us, the number, is that 13 percent have ac- Breakfast, including last week’s, from I think he would be OK with my telling tually done it. I was surprised the num- his home in Wyoming via Webex. this story. ber was that high. But that means 87 He was a devoted family man and a I was having dinner with him one percent of the people who we have devoted man in the service of his coun- night early on when I was here in the handed a card to and said ‘‘turn your- try in this body. He had a rare quality. Senate, and he mentioned that he was self in wherever you go in the country’’ Unfortunately, I don’t think it was all concerned about the possibility of hav- have not. Eighty-seven percent—we that rare some years ago, but it seems ing a primary opponent in the Repub- have no idea where they are of the to be becoming rarer and rarer. It is a lican primary in Wyoming, and I was 50,000 people who were released into the quality my father preached to me years incredulous. country because the line was too long ago. You can disagree without being I said: Mike, you are one of most con- at that moment. disagreeable. That was the way he was. servative Senators here. How can Listen, we can disagree about a lot of He and I disagreed on a large number of somebody possibly get to your right? things on immigration, but handing matters, particularly on the Budget And here was my precise question: people a card and saying to just travel Committee, but he never was over- What will they charge you with? bearing; he never was condescending; anywhere you want to go in the coun- And his answer was as profound as it he never was harsh. It was always in try and turn yourself in when you get was disturbing. He said: there—can we at least agree that is a the spirit of disagreement, in good They will charge me with being reasonable. bad idea? Can we at least agree that faith, based upon principle. paying contractors $2 billion not to I want to talk about Mike Enzi, but Think about that for a minute. He construct the wall is a bad idea? Can I also want to put him in the context of was concerned about the possibility of we at least agree that criminal aliens modern politics because I think there losing a primary election because he who had been previously convicted and are a couple of lessons we can learn had been reasonable; because he ap- are being picked up for another charge from him to try to change the course plied the 80–20 rule and tried to work should at least be deported in the proc- that we seem to have embarked upon. together to solve problems, even ess? Can we at least agree, if you want One of the problems with modern though there were disagreements on to deal with the ‘‘root causes’’ in the American politics is, we don’t have op- other areas. But he could lose—he Northern Triangle in Central America, ponents; we have enemies. We have could have lost his election because he converted those we disagree with to that it does not deter the people from was willing to listen to the other side, people we demonize and say are bad over 100 countries who have crossed our to be reasonable, to try to find accom- people; they are evil. They aren’t. They southern border this year illegally? modation, and, yes, compromise. have different views. They have dif- There is a bigger problem. Can we at And this isn’t only a Republican ferent values. Perhaps they have dif- least agree that we should address issue; this is a growing issue across our ferent principles. But to convert oppo- this? country in primaries, particularly in nents into enemies is to poison our We have a great deal of work to be gerrymandered districts where the pri- democratic system. It is to poison our done. I would encourage all of us to get mary is the election. ability to work together in the com- the facts, to get the details of what is And we are getting a new crop of mon good. If you make someone into really happening, and to understand Representatives and Senators who are an enemy, they are going to be an that when over a million people have coming here who have been told: Don’t enemy even when it comes to some- illegally crossed the border just this you dare compromise. Don’t you dare thing where you might agree, and Mike year, that we know of, that is a prob- listen to those other people. You better Enzi never did that. watch whom you are having lunch lem. It is a problem that hasn’t been One of the things Mike Enzi taught there in the past anywhere close to with. me was the 80–20 rule. We have all I remember spending some time with this kind of number, and we should ad- heard of 80–20 rules in various contexts. dress it in this body. our immortal Senator Margaret Chase His 80–20 rule was, if you are working Smith from Maine, whom I got to know I have written letters. I have made on a difficult public issue, work on the phone calls. I have done reports. We fairly well before we lost her in the 80 percent where you can agree, and midnineties. And she said, during the have done research. I have sat down put the 20 percent where you disagree with Secretary Mayorkas. I have held McCarthy period, you literally had to aside. He was able to do that through- worry about whom you had lunch with nominees for DHS. I have done every- out his career. thing I can do to bring this issue to the in the Senate dining room. Because of He was famous before I got here, but guilt by association, you would be as- forefront. Although others seem to ig- he was famous for working with Sen- nore it, this is an issue that we should sociated with some liberal Senator. ator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts We don’t want that to be the case. It not ignore. National security is not when they were both on the HELP shouldn’t be the case. But if you can something we should be flippant about, Committee. lose a primary because you are viewed and not everyone crossing that border I said: Mike, how did you get along is just coming for a job. We should en- with Ted Kennedy? as someone who is willing to com- gage. He said: It was easy—80–20. We put promise, whether you are getting that I yield the floor. the 20 percent aside where we knew we primary from the left or from the The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- were going to differ, and we worked on right, imagine what it does to our abil- ator from Maine. the 80 percent where we could, and if ity to get things done. REMEMBERING MIKE ENZI everybody applied that principle If people come here knowing that one Mr. KING. Madam President, I rise to around here, we would get a lot more of the ways they can jeopardize their speak of a friend and colleague whom done. career is by listening to the other side, we lost this week. He was also a principled Senator. In- trying to get to know what is going on Mike Enzi, a Senator from Wyoming, deed, he would have been on the floor on the other side and compromising to retired from this body in January of today, making a point of order about get something done, it is paralysis. It this year when his successor was seated the supplemental budget that we just is one of the reasons we are in paral- but served here honorably for several passed because he believed in the prin- ysis. decades. ciple of the Budget Act; he believed in Mike Enzi said: I think the simplest description I can the principle of balancing budgets. He They are going to charge me with being give of him is that he was a kind, good, was an accountant, and he was a prin- reasonable. and decent man. I worked with him on cipled man. I think this is one of the hidden prob- the Budget Committee, but I got to And he was also decent and kind, as lems in American politics today. It is know him best through the Wednesday I mentioned, but there is one story not what your position is on abortion

VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:20 Jul 30, 2021 Jkt 019060 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G29JY6.028 S29JYPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE S5162 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 29, 2021 or gun rights or foreign policy or any person that we need in this body. I cities across our country have experi- other—immigration—it is whether you didn’t agree with him on a lot of issues, enced an alarming spike in violent are willing to talk to the other side, but he was always willing to listen. crime and murder rates. listen, and try to get to a compromise And I did agree with him. There was New York City has seen nearly dou- to solve a problem. That can cost you some measurable percentage—I don’t ble the number of shootings from 2019 your seat. What a pernicious doctrine. know, 10, 20, 30 percent—where we did to 2020. Nationwide, homicides are up What a dangerous situation. agree, and he was a very effective ally 25 percent during that same period. Democracy is built upon compromise. because he was so respected here be- That is the largest single-year increase We have 535 people in this building. We cause people knew that he made his since 1960. are going to have 535 different view- own decisions. Not only are the American people no- points, interests. We represent dif- And we need more people like him, ticing these increases with growing ferent States, different areas. We have and we need to remember the principle alarm, they are eager to see solutions different principles. We have different that he shared with us, which is be rea- that help make things better by im- values. We have got to compromise, sonable. proving public safety. otherwise it is just perennial gridlock, When we are in a place where being A recent poll found that 90 percent of which, by the way, our constituents reasonable is an offense that can cost Detroit residents said they would feel hate. you your job, we are in real trouble as safer with more cops on the street, not When I talk to people in Maine, what a country. We are in real trouble as a fewer. That seems intuitive. It seems they most—the biggest question I get democracy. obvious but apparently not to every- is, Why can’t you people work to- It is hard enough in a democracy to body because this is the antithesis of gether? Why can’t you get anything make decisions and to get things done. the rhetoric we have heard over the done? Why can’t you talk to one an- That is inherent in our system. The past year, as many on the left have other and sit down and break bread to- Framers wanted to design a system called to defund the police and reduce gether and solve problems? that was difficult and cumbersome to the role that law enforcement officers This idea of not being able to com- operate, and they succeeded beyond play in our lives. promise—this body is a product of com- their wildest dreams. A number of major cities took the promise. At the Constitutional Conven- But it was always based upon a prin- recommendation of these activists and tion in 1787, the debate almost fell ciple of listening, of debating, of eliminated funding for their police apart on the issue of representation. changing minds, and, yes, of compro- departments. There was the large State plan and mising. New York City, Oakland, Baltimore, the small State plan, and the worry So I want to pay tribute to Mike Enzi are among the many cities to cut po- was, if it was only one body of the leg- today not only because, as I said, he lice funding. Today, they are among islature, that the big States with more was a kind, good, and decent man, but those increasing police budgets to ad- population would overrun the smaller because I think he was an example of dress rising crime rates that I think States. They couldn’t figure out what the kind of people that we need here are directly related to the ‘‘defund the to do, and finally one of the delegates and the way we should conduct our- police’’ effort. from Connecticut proposed what was selves and the way we should do our It is important to note that not all called the Great Compromise, which work. the leaders of our major cities are on was the invention of the U.S. Senate. And we also have to talk to our con- board with this trend. Last summer, This body itself is built on com- stituents and say to them: You have to promise. But there is no human prob- when I was in Dallas visiting my let me listen to the other side. You lem that can be solved without com- friend, Mayor Eric Johnson, it was on have to give me a little space to try to promise. Nobody has it all right. No- its way to recording the highest num- body has all the answers. No party has do something good. It may not be per- ber of murders in 16 years. The city all the answers. No group of people fect. It may not be just what you like. council cut the police department’s have all the answers. You always are But it may be what we need. It may be overtime budget by $7 million. Mayor better off listening to other people, de- the best we can do in a pluralistic, Johnson pushed back against these ir- bating, and coming to some consensus democratic system, where people have responsible cuts at the time when solution. different outlooks, viewpoints, values, crime and domestic violence were al- I have a friend in Maine who has a and priorities. ready on the rise, and now he is push- big sign in his office that says: ‘‘All of So we lost a great man this week. We ing the city to hire 275 new police offi- us are always smarter than any of us.’’ lost a great person. We lost a great cers and increase officers’ salaries. And I think that is a profound observa- Senator. We lost a great friend. We will The truth of the matter is, Texans, tion. It means that there is wisdom miss him. like other folks across the country, are throughout this room and throughout I miss not only Mike and that great concerned about the increasing crime this body and that we have to tackle smile, but I miss what he stood for, the in their communities. Leaders should these difficult problems—difficult, way he conducted himself, the way he want to focus on the needs of their con- challenging problems that we have treated his fellow Senators and every- stituents, but a small but loud group of using all the wisdom that we could pos- one that he encountered. liberal activists who want to reimagine sibly get our hands on, and that means Mike Enzi was a great man. I hope we law enforcement—whatever that listening to other people even though can live up to his example. means—apparently have prevailed on we may not agree with them. I yield the floor. those who would like to see our com- I just sat and listened to the Senator The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- munities safer. from Oklahoma make an impassioned ator from Texas. Well, we are starting to see a re- and, I think, powerful statement about CRIME sponse, really a boomerang, from these immigration. He raised questions in Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, let ‘‘defund the police’’ efforts. For exam- my mind that I want answers to. That me state the obvious: There is a big ple, take a look at the new Democratic is the way this place is supposed to and growing problem in our country, nominee for mayor of New York City. work. and the American people are becoming At this point last year, protesters But if I can’t go back to Maine—if I more and more alarmed. marched in the streets of New York can’t go back and admit I listened to A recent poll found that 60 percent of chanting ‘‘defund the police.’’ One year the Senator today and he raised ques- Americans are worried about crime. later, the presumed winner is a former tions that bothered me, if I can’t say The percentage of those who say they NYPD captain who ran on a tough-on- that, if that in itself would endanger are extremely concerned is at the high- crime platform. my career, then if people are coming est point in more than two decades. As it turns out, practical solutions to here fearing that kind of being locked And it is easy to see why. Even our real problems carry more weight than out, we will never get anything done. former colleague from California, Sen- ideological warfare. So, to me, Mike Enzi was a hero and ator Barbara Boxer, was recently as- Here in the Senate, we are in the a model—and a model of the kind of saulted and robbed in California. But process of finding solutions to deliver

VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:20 Jul 30, 2021 Jkt 019060 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G29JY6.031 S29JYPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE July 29, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5163 tangible results. Our friend, Senator show that there are devastating and Concerns about crime are shared by TIM SCOTT, is leading negotiations with dangerous consequences to an unfet- both Republicans and Democrats. My our Democratic colleagues. And I know tered flow of people and drugs and friend, the mayor of Dallas, Eric John- I am not alone in hoping we can take other contraband across the southern son, who I mentioned a moment ago, bipartisan action to restore trust and border. We need to know exactly who had to fight with his own city council accountability in our police while at and what is crossing our border, and to get the police adequately funded. He the same time having their back. But this applies both to people and contra- is a proud Texas Democrat. So these we have to remember that this crime band. are not partisan matters. surge is tied to far more than police de- Cartels and criminal organizations This is not the time to pull critical partments. are paying very close attention to the funding from our police or villainize of- Make no mistake, law enforcement state of our border security. They see ficers or paint such a broad brush that plays a key role in stopping crime, but when gaps are created by fewer officers the actions of one taint the reputation there is a lot more that can and should on the front lines, and they are simply and our support for the rest of law- be done to prevent crime from hap- exploiting those gaps. abiding and patriotic law enforcement pening in the first place. One factor we Fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, meth- officers. can’t ignore is the crisis on our south- amphetamine, and marijuana are pour- This is not the time to relax our en- ern border. Despite the fact that we ing across our border at a growing rate. forcement at the border or create even reached migration levels not seen in As I mentioned, there are con- more opportunities for crime, cartels, the previous two decades, the Biden ad- sequences, with 93,000 Americans dying and gangs to exploit our laws. ministration has simply failed to pro- of drug overdoses last year alone. That So crime in America is a very real vide law enforcement with the re- is up 30 percent over the previous year. problem, and the Biden administration sources they need in order to secure And the experts tell us there is an as- needs to wake up and address this full our borders. sociation between substance abuse and range of contributing factors before the Border Patrol agents, who should be crime. There are crimes involving the situation becomes even more dan- on the front lines of this crisis, are car- drug users themselves, both who steal gerous in all of our communities across ing for children instead of stopping to buy drugs as well as those who are the States. criminals and illegal drugs from com- under the influence of drugs when they I yield the floor. ing across our border. They are chang- commit their crimes. And we can’t ig- I suggest the absence of a quorum. ing diapers and supervising playtime. nore the dangers drug dealers and traf- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Meanwhile, the drug cartels, that are fickers create for our communities. clerk will call the roll. very sophisticated, understand that Last week, the police chief of the The bill clerk proceeded to call the when you take 40 percent of the Border District of Columbia held a press con- roll. Patrol off the border and have them ference to discuss crime increases in Mr. WARNOCK. Madam President, I processing unaccompanied children, this city. He talked about the dangers ask unanimous consent that the order that that is a prime opportunity to of marijuana use, saying, ‘‘I can tell for the quorum call be rescinded. smuggle illicit drugs into the United you that marijuana is undoubtedly The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without States, which, unfortunately, contrib- connected to violent crimes that we objection, it is so ordered. uted to the deaths of 93,000 Americans are seeing in our communities.’’ The Senator from Georgia. last year alone just in drug overdoses. He went on to say this creates a very MEDICAID SAVES LIVES ACT So when our Border Patrol is not dangerous ‘‘situation, because those in- Mr. WARNOCK. Madam President, I adequately funded and resourced, or be- dividuals get robbed, those individuals believe healthcare is a human right. cause of bad policy decisions diverted get shot, those individuals get involved And with all the incentives on the from their primary tasks, we don’t in disputes all across our city.’’ table for Georgia to expand Medicaid, know who is crossing the border and we Those are his words, those are not it is past time to do so. My home State are creating more risk for our commu- mine. of Georgia, where State leaders have nities across the country. The lack of But those dangers apply to any type refused to expand Medicaid, has the op- personnel creates huge gaps; and make of drug being moved and distributed by portunity to provide affordable no mistake, the criminals and cartels illegal channels, whether it is mari- healthcare to 646,000 people who could know how to exploit those gaps. juana, heroin, cocaine, fentanyl, or qualify. In 2019, a 33-year-old Honduran na- anything else. We have a fundamental I refuse to allow Georgians to suffer tional was arrested in North Carolina responsibility to stop criminals, stop and be cut off from care while politi- on rape and child sex offense charges. the cartels, stop gang members, stop cians play games. This is why I intro- This man had been previously de- the drug dealers, and the host of un- duced recently the Medicaid Saves ported, but he illegally reentered the known dangers from quietly slipping Lives Act. This is legislation that United States. After his arrest, the across our border and infiltrating our would allow people in States like mine, county jail refused to honor the de- communities. that haven’t expanded Medicaid, an al- tainer from ICE—Immigration and Cus- The Biden-Harris administration ternative path to health coverage; be- toms Enforcement—and so the man needs to take these responsibilities se- cause for far too many, access to af- was released. It took 2 months before riously. The Biden-Harris administra- fordable, reliable healthcare is the dif- ICE was finally able to arrest him. tion needs to take their responsibilities ference between life and death. But this type of story is not unique. for public safety seriously. The only I agree with Martin Luther King, Jr., We all remember the tragic murder of thing worse than the increase in crime who said that, ‘‘of all the injustices, in- Kate Steinle in 2015. She and her father and the growing concern among the equality in health care is the most were walking along a pier in San Fran- public is the prospect of things actu- shocking and the most inhumane.’’ So cisco when she was shot and killed. The ally getting worse. I am grateful that this plan, the Med- man who killed her was an illegal im- If we are not stopping dangerous peo- icaid Saves Lives Act, which I intro- migrant who had been deported not ple and drugs at the border, or handi- duced the other day, is positioned to be once, not twice, but five times, and he capping local police departments by included in the forthcoming economic had seven felony convictions. defunding them, what do we expect to package. Now, I want to be clear about one happen? Do we think there will actu- That is why I rise again on the Sen- point. The actions of these criminals ally be a positive outcome? ate floor to tell the story of another do not and should not reflect on the That is detached from reality, of Georgian, a story that gets to the heart tens of millions of law-abiding immi- course. The American people are over- of why this bill is important. grants, period. Any attempt to frame whelmingly concerned about the in- This is Amy Bielawski. Amy is the immigrants in general as a threat to creasing crime in America, and they owner of a small business, Hare- our country is completely devoid of deserve to have a government that Brained Productions. It is an event facts and detached from reality. But prioritizes the safety of them and their planning and entertainment company my point in sharing these stories is to families. in Tucker, GA. As you can imagine,

VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:20 Jul 30, 2021 Jkt 019060 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G29JY6.033 S29JYPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE S5164 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 29, 2021 Amy’s company took a significant hit costs would be avoided, for the hospital rules like that will bar him from the during the pandemic. and for Amy herself, if she had access Olympics. There is no consideration for Unable to book regular gigs and plan to a primary care provider through the fact that his test—one of thousands events—events that all of us miss as we Medicaid, and more regular, affordable, of tests administered daily—may very have been clawing our way back from consistent access to care? well have been a fluke. this pandemic—Amy qualified for un- In other States, Amy would be eligi- As Sam told the world, he is not sick, employment benefits this past year. ble for Medicaid. And, according to he is not displaying symptoms, and he And with that critical support, Amy Amy, access to reliable, quality, af- has already had COVID–19 and should had temporary access to affordable fordable healthcare through Medicaid be immune. And, again, he tested, ac- marketplace plans created by the Af- would be nothing short, she says, of cording to U.S.A. track-and-field team fordable Care Act. ‘‘MIRACULOUS.’’ tests, immediately after getting this But with the end of Georgia’s unem- Amy is one Georgian who represents false positive. ployment benefits looming and the en- the stories of hundreds of thousands in Obviously, the fair thing for the tertainment sector still suffering from our State and across the country who Olympic Committee to do would be to the effects of the pandemic, her access need the Medicaid Saves Lives Act. follow up immediately on another test to coverage—the coverage she so des- And until we get this done—because I to verify whether all these negatives perately needs—is on the brink again. believe that healthcare is a human were correct and, undoubtedly, they At the same time, she will have to right—I am going to keep lifting up were. But the powers that be won’t manage her thyroid disease, high blood Amy’s story and the stories of other allow Sam Kendricks to get an official pressure, pituitary gland tumor, Georgians who would benefit from this followup. No, according to protocols, fibroids, and all the other health hic- lifesaving legislation. he must wait 6 days. Then he can have cups that come along with aging. I yield the floor. a followup test, which no doubt would If Georgia was to expand Medicaid or The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- show that he doesn’t have the if there was a Federal Medicaid Pro- ator from Mississippi. coronavirus gram for nonexpansion States like OLYMPICS What is magic about 6 days? What Georgia, Amy would no longer have to Mr. WICKER. Madam President, I am about the young athlete? What about worry about getting reliable health told that the distinguished Senator fundamental fairness? As Sam coverage for her chronic conditions. from Georgia may have some followup Kendricks’ father said: These athletes This is the human face of the public unanimous consent. OK. If not, I am traveled too far, worked for too many policy we make or the public policy we happy to proceed. years, made too many sacrifices not to fail to make. I rise today pointing out an injustice confirm a positive test—a very inex- As our State’s healthcare options done by the authorities running the pensive thing to do. stand now, Amy says she ‘‘doesn’t Tokyo Olympics. This morning, Ameri- I agree with Mr. Kendricks. These think they care about people like me cans learned the news that Sam athletes should be given a confirming falling through the cracks.’’ Even more Kendricks, an American double world test—one test to minimize the chances disappointing, when asked what Med- champion pole vaulter from Oxford, of a false positive. But that is not the icaid expansion would mean for her, MS, has been shut out from competing way the Olympic authorities in Japan Amy was reluctant to even picture at the Tokyo Olympics after a positive see it. that future. She said: Well, it is really COVID–19 test today—almost certainly My question is this: What is the difficult to say ‘‘because I’ve never had a false positive COVID–19 test. This is health risk of a followup test? How consistent healthcare—it is hard to an injustice that can still be rectified could it possibly hurt anyone or any- imagine.’’ if the Olympic Committee will be fair. thing to make sure you have got it Think about that. It is hard for For those of you who don’t know right when you tell a young American somebody who works every day with a Sam, he is an alum of the University of that he can’t compete for his Nation in kind of entrepreneurial thrust and seri- Mississippi, Ole Miss, where he took the Olympics? ous work ethic, grit, and determina- back-to-back NCAA championships be- So I say I am not just disappointed, I tion, in the richest country on the fore launching his professional career. am outraged, outraged that a young planet. She says it is hard for her to He won the U.S. Olympic trials in 2016 athlete is unfairly missing out on his imagine having consistent healthcare. and went on to the Rio Olympics, chance to show his talent to the world She says she is ‘‘used to being shoved where he took home the bronze medal. and win a gold medal on behalf of his aside and doing without.’’ With all of Then again, you probably do remem- country, and aghast that a proud glob- Amy’s health issues, doing without, as ber Sam Kendricks. He is the pole al tradition like the Olympics, a cele- she puts it, can only work for so long. vaulter who stopped mid-run in the bration of sport, competition, and We are costing Georgia more and 2016 Olympics to stand and salute for international cooperation, has been re- more every day by not providing access his national anthem. That is Sam duced to testing protocols and rigid to healthcare to the people who need it Kendricks, Olympic champion from the rules that are fundamentally unfair— most. Like Amy’s story speaks to, State of Mississippi. He has made his inflexible rules that assume there is no without affordable and comprehensive school, his State, and his Nation very such thing as a false positive. coverage, preventive care and annual proud, and by all accounts he was ex- I send my best wishes and congratu- appointments are skipped. Conditions pected to be a contender for the gold lations to Sam Kendricks and his fam- that could perhaps be treated or seen medal this year. ily for the good grace they have dis- at their early stage and prevented, But after testing negative for the played in the face of this unfair and worsen, and Georgians end up using COVID virus three times, Sam received pointless disqualification. emergency rooms instead of addressing a positive test result earlier today. The And allow me to state emphatically these health issues in primary care ap- timeframe is different in Tokyo, but it that I am not willing to be so gracious. pointments months prior. was on Thursday. And under Inter- If this action stands—and I hope it This past year, Amy herself had to go national Olympic Committee rules, he will not stand—this high-bound deci- to ER because of chest pains, and with was immediately disqualified from sion by the decisionmakers at Tokyo a history of high blood pressure, she competition, even though he had pre- should make them ashamed of them- couldn’t ignore the sharp pain in her viously tested negative three times and selves. It is not too late, even today. It chest that wasn’t going anywhere. So even though he has already had the is Friday morning in Tokyo. Even she made her way to the ER. After all, coronavirus. And even after a followup today, the Olympic committee can use what if it was a heart attack? test, administered according to U.S. common sense and fairness. It is Fri- A short stay later, after spending less Olympic standards, came up negative, day morning in Tokyo. When the Sun than an hour in a hospital room, she the rules are that you have to wait 6 comes up, give Sam Kendricks a con- went home with a $3,000 bill. That is days. firming test and allow this young man bad policy for her. It is certainly bad Well, guess what, his competition is to represent his country. policy for every Georgian. What kind of Friday, and adherence to high-bound I yield the floor.

VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:20 Jul 30, 2021 Jkt 019060 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G29JY6.034 S29JYPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE July 29, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5165 The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. atives? Whatever the reason, the arrest ing to respond. This is not hyperbole; WARNOCK). The Senator from Utah. of peaceful House staffers shows the this is not conjecture; this is based on CORONAVIRUS total loss of political grace in the my own personal experience. I will Mr. LEE. Mr. President, the word House of Representatives. point to the fact that on April 24, more ‘‘republic’’ means public thing in I cannot fathom a legitimate reason than 3 months ago, I sent a letter to Latin. to arrest a person in this building for the Centers for Disease Control asking We bring our different perspectives not wearing a mask. I cannot fathom a a very simple question, a simple ques- and our different identities together re- legitimate reason for arresting anyone tion that I would hope anyone here spectfully to make decisions for an en- based on a failure to wear a mask. would want to be asked. I wanted to tire Nation. The United States is a na- Members are not treated as the le- know why is it, when there are so tion with diverse, varied beliefs, dif- gitimate representatives of their con- many of our peer nations around the ferent cultural origins, and different stituents, as in fact they are, under our world that don’t require masks to be politics from the different regions and system of government, when they are worn on airplanes, for example, by chil- different States that we represent. It subjected to this kind of manipulation dren as young as 2, as we do in the has been this way from the very begin- and when they are subjected to this United States—you know, many of our ning. type of oppressive order. Staff, under peer nations, a mask requirement may As much as some of us imagine oth- this type of oppressive directive, aren’t not kick in until 10 or 11 years old or, erwise, from the very outset of our Re- treated as hard-working, dedicated in some cases, 5 or 6 years old. But, public, there were immense, regional Americans, which truly they are. In- here, the CDC has said that it has got differences. Depending on which State stead, everyone who doesn’t comply is to kick in at 2 years old. I would ask someone represented, they might have deemed the enemy of the current House the question: Did any of these people different views. of Representatives. There is no room who made this recommendation, who Now, our Republic—and, for that for disagreement or dissent. made that conclusion that 2-year-olds matter, any republic ever in the his- It is tragic, indeed, to see a key de- should have to travel with a mask, tory of republics—has relied on the liberative body where dissent and de- have they ever known an actual 2-year- willingness of the citizenry to be kind, bate are supposed to be tolerated and old? Have they ever raised a child? for individuals who play a role in that appreciated and decided and have been Have they ever traveled on an air- plane? Have they ever traveled in a car, Republic to be kind and respectful and not just for decades but for centuries— in a bus, on a train, in the rain, any- decent to each other, even when—espe- to see that turned into a place where where with an actual child? This cially when—we disagree with each disagreement and dissent are disdained doesn’t work. other. Our Founders knew that, and and punished by arrests. Congress works on collegiality and Now, when you add that to the fact they enshrined it into our Constitu- respect. We need to get back to those that children react to the virus dif- tion. basics. ferently than adults do—and that is As much as anything, they assumed Regardless of what you might think putting it mildly—when you add that it, and it was on that set of assump- about the coronavirus, about the vac- to the fact that this creates other prob- tions that the norms enshrined in the cine, about masks, there is never a lems for children, not just for those Constitution became possible, because good reason to arrest someone for not handling them but for the kids them- without them they would not be. With- wearing a mask. selves, it makes it especially impor- out them none of this would work. This decision falls into the larger tant to know why. You see, the only way a republic can context of the Centers for Disease Con- Now, my letter wasn’t attempting to possibly function now or 250 years ago trol’s recent flip-flop on masks and the make any case. My letter was simply or 250 years from now is that it always Biden administration’s worrying push trying to obtain information. You see, has to follow a somewhat similar for- toward masks and vaccination man- because when the CDC makes these mula. The only way it can function is dates. sweeping recommendations, and some- when citizens and leaders are gracious The CDC issued updated rec- times they like to make them feel easi- to those with whom they disagree and ommendations earlier this week, stat- er by calling them recommendations, grant the freedom necessary to allow ing at its outset that masks should be when, in fact, they precipitate a whole others to make choices, even if those worn indoors in areas of ‘‘substantial host of things that feel a whole lot choices might be things that they dis- or high transmission,’’ even by individ- more binding than recommendations. agree with. uals who have been fully vaccinated. You see, because if you get on an air- We have witnessed the degradation of Now, this new guidance claims that plane or a bus or a train or you go to American political discourse for some ‘‘[e]merging evidence suggests that a bus depot or a train station or an air- time now. It has been a sad, tragic re- fully vaccinated persons who do be- port, and you have got a 2-year-old who ality unfolding, but it is not an inex- come infected with the Delta variant won’t wear a mask, as any red-blooded orable conclusion. It is not one from are at risk for transmitting it to oth- American 2-year-old will not do, you which we cannot depart. But we must ers.’’ But one glaring thing is missing are told that you are subject to arrest make a choice to do better and to from that conclusion: evidence backing and that you are violating Federal law choose a better path. up the CDC’s claims. if you do that. So it is not unreason- We received a bulletin earlier today— In fact, the CDC didn’t publish any able to ask that they pony up with in- a bulletin from the Capitol Police—in- new research on the effectiveness of formation. If they are going to make dicating that all visitors and all House the COVID vaccines against the newer recommendations, they should explain staffers and, in fact, all House Members variants when it issued its latest edict. to us what those recommendations are. are required to wear masks indoors or The CDC’s website simply cites ‘‘un- So I asked them what scientific proof be denied entry or forced to leave the published data’’ from its own COVID–19 is there that a 2-year-old needs to wear premises. And at least in the case of Response Team when it makes this a mask? staff and visitors, if they fail to com- new, rather significant, rather jarring, Well, I sent that on April 24. I didn’t ply, they will be arrested—arrested for rather impactful, and rather unwise hear anything on April 25 or April 26 or unlawful entry. Conviction for a viola- claim. the 27th or the 28th, 29th, or 30th, or tion of this rule will, according to the The CDC is undermining its own any of the days of the months of May bulletin, be punished by a fine of not credibility and, thus, I believe placing or June or July, and we are almost to more than $1,000, imprisonment for not public health and safety at risk by the end of the month of July. They more than 6 months, or both. The Sen- going back and forth on recommenda- didn’t respond to this. I don’t know ate, which happens to be housed in the tions and failing to be upfront about why. Maybe they are really busy doing same building as the House, is not sub- whether there is any actual reliable other stuff. Maybe they are really busy ject to these same requirements. scientific evidence to support or com- figuring out where they are going to But is this decision based on science pel those recommendations. flip-flop next and where they are going or is it based on the will and whim of In fact, even when asked questions by to issue their next edict that the Amer- the Speaker of the House of Represent- Members of Congress, the CDC is fail- ican people are expected to follow, all

VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:20 Jul 30, 2021 Jkt 019060 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G29JY6.037 S29JYPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE S5166 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 29, 2021 in the name of it being science, that we the most personal decisions that a Thank you. have to defer to blindly, without any human being can make for themselves. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- evidence. But this isn’t acceptable, and We need to trust the people’s rep- ator from Tennessee. it doesn’t inspire confidence, nor does resentatives in Congress to make deci- Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I it inspire confidence for an Agency sions regarding the law. We need to be am pleased to come and join my col- that makes these sorts of recommenda- able to trust each other, to be decent, leagues on the floor today and have a tions that have a really significant im- and to be kind when we disagree. discussion about what is taking place pact to flip-flop and not justify its own We have to learn from our own his- here in this Capitol Building. analysis, not provide even a scintilla of tory, from our own nature as individ- Now, my colleague from Utah just scientific proof for what it did. uals, and from the history that we have mentioned something that I think is so So let’s get back to its more recent experienced as a nation. We cannot important: being able to disagree flip-flop. The fact that it has flip- stand by while those in power simply agreeably, having a difference of opin- flopped this week, coupled with the decide on their own whim that they are ion, and showing respect to other peo- fact that it hasn’t backed up its other going to arrest political opponents for ple. claims over the last few months, is un- disagreeing. This Nation has remained strong and derstandably troubling to many of us, At what point did we decide that it vibrant and free because we believe in especially so, when you consider the was OK to cross that threshold? I get robust, respectful, bipartisan debate. fact that in my personal experience, I it. We always need to be able to dis- We do not lock up or silence or push or have been vaccinated. I chose to get agree without being disagreeable. disappear people who disagree with us the vaccine. I respect those who have Sometimes that is really hard. Some- and our beliefs—and what we see hap- chosen not to. times all of us fall a little short of that pening in the House, where the Capitol Many of those I have known who mark. But I think all of us should be Police would have the ability to haul have been reluctant to get the vaccine, able to agree that we shouldn’t arrest staffers and visitors to jail for their de- who eventually got the vaccine, most those who disagree with us merely be- cision not to wear a mask. of them, I would say, ended up getting cause they disagree with us. That is Now, think about that. It would be it when they realized that certain as- wrong. We are better than that. not wearing a mask—a choice, making pects of life could be made more pre- This time calls for more political un- a choice to not wear a mask. So it is dictable and more convenient if they derstanding and hardy, legitimate de- important for us to realize this is a dif- did get the vaccine. bate, not blind mandates and manipu- ference of opinion. Many people, when they walked into lation. We have told the American people: a hotel lobby or a restaurant or a gro- We have to remember that, at its Get vaccinated. I have chosen to be cery store or at Costco or at Sam’s heart, at its core, government is not vaccinated. So have most of my family. Club, if they would see signs saying deity. It is neither omniscient nor om- Get the vaccine. That is kind of like that vaccinated persons need not wear nipotent. Government doesn’t have your ticket to freedom from wearing a masks, they would realize there is eyes to see you. It doesn’t have arms mask, if you choose. You don’t have to some benefit there; that if they got the with which to embrace you. It doesn’t put that mask on if you get vaccinated. vaccine, they could walk in there and have a heart with which to love you. But now what are we hearing? Masks say, well, I don’t have to wear the Government is force. It is the official are coming back. The science is very mask. use of coercive force. divided on the value of a mask. Is it Now, obviously, we don’t ever want Now, we need that. We need that to just to protect you? Is it to protect to get to the point where somebody has protect safety, to make sure that we others? Do masks serve as a disincen- to wear an arm band to prove whether don’t hurt each other; that we are not tive for people to actually get the vac- they have been vaccinated or not. In harmed by others; that we don’t take cine? Which is what we have encour- fact, it would be an absolutely horri- each other’s possessions. But we have aged people to do: Talk to your physi- fying experiment that we should not to be very careful how we operate it be- cian, make certain the vaccine is right attempt. But the fact is, that when cause otherwise force is just force. And for you, and get the vaccine so you people see that there might be some if we start arresting everyone with don’t have to wear the mask. benefit, they are more likely to do it. If whom we disagree, we are not going to Now, one of the things that we know they see that something different will be able to do the things we need to do, is this: COVID is here to stay. We are happen in their life if they get the vac- which is to make sure that government going to continue to have COVID–19 in cine, they are more likely to get it. is there to prevent people from hurting our presence. We know that, but we But when you are constantly moving each other and taking each other’s also know that this that is happening the goalpost, you are saying: ‘‘Here are things. today is not necessarily about masks. the benefits of the vaccine. Oh, psych, We need to be kind to our neighbors, This is about continuing to perpetrate just kidding. We are moving along. We even when—especially when—we dis- these lockdowns; that we have had a are going to take those away,’’ people agree. We need to be helpful and caring series of lockdowns and scares and are not going to get it. So if you want to those around us, even if they vote, things where we are pulling back on more people to get vaccinated, you feel, believe, or even act very dif- freedom and giving power to the gov- darn well better have the CDC getting ferently than we do. We must not allow ernment and lessening the ability for its act together, providing scientific for arrests and mandates to Members individual choices. That is what this is evidence for what the CDC is recom- of Congress and their staffs without about. mending and what it is not. providing sufficient evidence. There is no deliberation that appears So, look, I am still waiting for an- And, yes, all of this stuff goes both to have gone into this newest mandate swers from the CDC on my April 24 let- ways. We all need to be respectful of from the Speaker of the House, but you ter. And I am still waiting for answers each other’s opinions. But, look, we are don’t need deliberation when you have from the CDC when it comes to sci- not talking here about activity that, decided that you can just resort to entific evidence supporting their most by its very nature, is so harmful that it threats such as this: locking up staffers recent flip-flop. But while we wait for warrants the use of blunt political and visitors if they do not wear a mask those answers, and that clock is tick- force in the form of an arrest. on the House side. ing—I don’t know whether we need to I cannot fathom a circumstance in Just over the past few days, we have start humming the tune to ‘‘Jeop- which it is ever appropriate to arrest seen high-profile Democrats buying ardy,’’ but they do need to provide another human being for not wearing a right into this new tactic. Here is some those answers. And while we wait for mask, COVID or no COVID. That is not of what we have been hearing. And, you those answers, here are a few principles arrest material. know, as a mom and a grandmom, I that I think might help guide some of In Congress and across the country, hear a lot from moms and grandmoms. our discussions: what we need now is a return to Amer- And my text threads and email and Our government needs to trust Amer- ican graciousness. Our way of life and phone calls—Mr. President, you just icans to make these decisions, some of our precious Republic are at stake. wouldn’t even believe it. They feel like

VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:20 Jul 30, 2021 Jkt 019060 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G29JY6.038 S29JYPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE July 29, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5167 our colleagues across the aisle are just Operation Warp Speed and issued a She does so for one reason: political forgetting that science—science—has challenge to our Federal Agencies, theater. weighed in on this issue. issued a challenge to our pharma- We are coming through a very dif- And now they are hearing these ceutical companies, and said: Let’s see ficult year and a half. Our Nation and threats, threatening to keep our chil- if we can find a way to defeat this the world has endured a pandemic. We dren out of school, not letting them go virus. have collectively taken extraordinary back to school in September. We don’t There is a vaccine there. I think steps to defeat this pandemic, and we need to go to school. Teachers unions, what you see happening with the are coming out on the other side. We not sure they want to go back to school Democrats and with the Speaker of the saw our Nation, we saw the private sec- in September. But, oh, by the way, if House is what we in Tennessee call tor come together with remarkable in- you do go back to school, they might having a good old-fashioned come- ventiveness and produce vaccines in want to put your children in masks. apart because they are not getting record times, and we have seen hun- Children, little kids in school, we their way. dreds of millions of people getting have heard it from pediatricians, we And the American people do not be- those vaccines. We are in the process of have all read the articles—there are lieve that they are getting serious beating this pandemic. truly some adverse side effects to little about doing serious business that the Not too long ago, the CDC recognized children being told to wear a mask American people want to see: address- what was obvious then and is obvious every day. There are physical, there ing out-of-control spending, addressing now: vaccines work. And if you are vac- are emotional, there are psychological the needs of this country. cinated, you don’t need to wear a adverse effects to these children—not The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- mask. mentioning some I have heard from pe- ator from Texas. The CDC issued that ruling, and I re- diatricians about the danger of chil- Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, in 1887, member that day well. I had been vac- dren not knowing how to wear the Lord Acton wrote a series of letters to cinated a couple of months before then, mask. And they touch the mask, and Bishop Creighton, letters that would and after allowing the time for the vac- then they put a dirty mask back up echo down across the centuries. Lord cine to become effective, I decided I over their nose and their mouth and Acton wrote: was going to stop wearing a mask. Why the concerns that that brings. I cannot accept your canon that we are to is that? Because vaccines work, be- What we are hearing about our chil- judge Pope and King unlike other men, with cause I believe in science. So I stopped dren in school is of tremendous concern a favourable presumption that they did no wearing a mask. And there were a to the moms who are out there. We are wrong. If there is any presumption it is the handful of Senators on the Senate floor hearing they are threatening families other way against holders of power, increas- who had been vaccinated, who stopped and small businesses with yet another ing as the power increases. Historic responsi- wearing masks. bility has to make up for the want of legal lockdown to come. responsibility. Power tends to corrupt and Then the CDC, like the Oracle of Del- I have a lot of friends who are in the absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great phi, issued its proclamation. Hold on to retail industry. And right now, you men are almost [exclusively] bad men, even your seats now. The CDC said that vac- know what they are doing? They are when they exercise influence and not author- cines work, that if you are vaccinated, beginning to get in merchandise for the ity: still more when you superadd the tend- you don’t need a mask. It was truly mi- fourth quarter. They have used their ency or the certainty of corruption by au- raculous in this Chamber watching lines of credit to make certain there is thority. what occurred, as within days, every merchandise in their stores. Mr. President, those words were true Senator in the Chamber began remov- These are mom-and-pop stores. These in 1887, and they are true today. If you ing their masks, one after the other, are small businesses. They are on Main want to understand how power corrupts after the other—not just Republicans; Street in every small town in this and absolute power corrupts abso- Democrats too. We all had our masks country, just like they are in Ten- lutely, look no further than the other off. nessee. And the decisions that are Chamber in the U.S. Capitol. Mr. President, I ask you, the day be- being made here make them very nerv- Speaker NANCY PELOSI is drunk on fore the oracle of Fauci spoke, did vac- ous and very uncomfortable because power. The orders that Speaker PELOSI cines not work? Did science not oper- they are thinking: All right. What if we is issuing are abusive and unprece- ate? No. It was obvious then and it was go into a lockdown? What if people dented. Speaker PELOSI has decreed to obvious on the day that the oracle of can’t get into my store? And here I Members of the House of Representa- the CDC spoke that vaccines work, have finally made it through COVID tives, elected by the people, that: If which is why every Democrat took and I am looking forward to a good you dare walk onto the floor of the their mask off. fourth quarter, and now we are getting House of Representatives without a But fast-forward to this week. The this kind of information out of Wash- mask, I, Speaker PELOSI, shall fine CDC issues the new proclamation. Ap- ington, DC. you. parently, according to the CDC, vac- All of this is not rational. There is no Who the hell is she to be fining Mem- cines don’t work anymore. That evidence—none—to suggest that yet bers of the House? science thing? Inoperative. We have another about-face on masking is going But you know what? She is not done more important things to worry about, to keep people healthier, is going to with that. She is not done with dis- like politics. make them healthier. There is no evi- respecting our Constitution, dis- As an aside, has there ever been an dence for that. respecting our democratic system that institution in American public life that So let’s call it what it is. This is left- elects leaders. She goes further, to the has more discredited itself more rap- wing hysteria. This is hysteria. Fright- good men and women who work here in idly than the CDC? A year and a half en people. Make them think a the U.S. Capitol. We are surrounded by ago, the CDC was one of the most re- lockdown is coming. Make them think men and women who have chosen to spected medical and scientific organi- things are worse than what they are. come and work for the public good, and zations on the face of the planet. No. This is the United States of here is what Speaker PELOSI has de- Today, the CDC has willingly allowed America. We do not lock up people we creed: If you dare walk in the hallway itself to be politicized, to behave as an disagree with. We don’t push forward without a mask, I, Speaker PELOSI, will arm of the DNC, and their credibility is with this type of activity. We don’t si- arrest you. I will put you in jail. I will in tatters. It is a joke. lence our opponents. We believe in free fine you. We have seen the emails from Dr. speech. We believe in individuals being That is an absolute and complete Fauci where he said in the midst of the able to make their choices. abuse of power. She has no authority to pandemic: Masks don’t work. They are And I think that it is fair to say what disrespect the men and women who not effective. People shouldn’t use the Speaker of the House has done is work here, to threaten you with phys- them. not trusting the science that brought ical harm, to threaten you with impris- Then we saw him say: Oh, no, no, no; us this vaccine. And thank goodness onment. masks work. But I lied to the Amer- President Donald Trump brought about And why does she do so? ican people when I said they didn’t

VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:20 Jul 30, 2021 Jkt 019060 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G29JY6.040 S29JYPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE S5168 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 29, 2021 work because I didn’t want them to concerning COVID–19. There should be their damn choice. We don’t have to be wear masks because I wanted first re- no vaccine mandates. Joe Biden wants a nanny state, making decisions for ev- sponders to get them. to mandate Federal employees must erybody else. Now, pause for a second and think, get the vaccine. Who the heck is the I have to tell you, in my family, my what the heck is a scientific leader Federal Government to tell people they dad didn’t want to get vaccinated. My doing lying to the American people must stick a needle in their arm and father, like the Presiding Officer right supposedly for our own good? The will- inject themselves with a vaccine? We now, is a pastor. My dad is 82. ingness to twist facts to meet political should have no vaccine mandates. We When I got vaccinated, I called him expediency has been stunning. should have no mask mandates. We and said: Dad, I want you to get vac- The CDC’s ruling this week is not ac- should have no vaccine passports. cinated. companied by any data. They did not Let me be clear. I am someone who He said: No, I don’t want to. I don’t roll out studies. They did not roll out believes in vaccines. I have been vac- trust it. It is new. I don’t know. I don’t facts. They did not say suddenly vac- cinated. Heidi has been vaccinated. My want to. I spent about a month trying to con- cines aren’t working. Instead, they just parents have been vaccinated. Heidi’s vince my dad to get vaccinated. My fa- said: Trust us. We have double-super- parents have been vaccinated. But I secret studies that we are not going to ther can be pretty stubborn. I know also believe in individual choice. I be- that is hard to believe. For those of tell you based on double-secret-super lieve in freedom. I believe in responsi- data that we are not going to show you who know my dad, you know ex- bility. It is your choice if you want to actly that is the case. you, but trust us because we behave get vaccinated. It is not some drunk- like political hacks and obey us any- But, ultimately, I told my dad—I on-power Democrat in Washington’s said: Look, you have been largely stay- way. choice to force you to do it. By the way, the CDC plays an inter- ing home during this pandemic. You Doesn’t anyone in the Democratic want to get out. You want to be esting little game. The CDC says: Party believe in medical autonomy? These are recommendations. These are preaching in churches again. You want Doesn’t anyone in the Democratic to be traveling. You want to be with just recommendations. Party believe in medical privacy, or Then their faithful little foot sol- people. Get the vaccine, and you will are you so willing to exert power that diers, the Democratic officeholders, have the freedom to go do that. it doesn’t matter what the people say? come in and make those recommenda- You know what. He did, and he did. You know, one of the great ironies of He is now back in the pulpit. He is tions mandates. And there is no one the CDC’s order: It will decrease the more willing to do so than Speaker back preaching. He has freedom again. rate of vaccination in the United That was his choice. PELOSI. And then, by the way, the local States. The CDC is telling America: Why don’t Democrats believe in indi- government Democrats who mandate Hey, this vaccine stuff doesn’t work vidual choice anymore? Why do Demo- ‘‘you must obey the CDC,’’ they throw very well because, you know, if you get crats believe they can abuse power? their hands up and say: Hey, we are a vaccine, it doesn’t matter; you have And let me be clear. NANCY PELOSI is just following the CDC. And the CDC to put the same mask on, and you have telling someone who is an employee of says: Hey, we are just making rec- to behave exactly the same. When the the House: If you are vaccinated and ommendations. And no one is account- CDC rightly said ‘‘If you are vac- you don’t wear your mask—she will ar- able for anything. cinated, take your mask off,’’ it en- rest you and throw you in jail. This makes no sense. How dare she? That is an abuse of One of the things the CDC rolled out couraged people to get vaccinated. Hey, I want to take my mask off. Hey, I power. And I will tell you, the Amer- this week is an edict that in schools, ican people are watching this political everybody must be masked—child, want to live my life. I want to go back to doing things that I like to do. theater play out in Washington, and adult. It doesn’t matter if you are vac- they understand what is coming next. cinated; it doesn’t matter; you must Let me point out one particularly ri- diculous argument. This week, one of They understand the same CDC that wear a mask. Why? Who knows? It is said, even though there is no science to not based on science, not based on med- the commentators on one of the news networks said—I am paraphrasing here, back it up, even though there is no icine. data to back it up, because the teach- This virus has been unusual. We have but I am paraphrasing pretty closely— that anyone who isn’t vaccinated is ar- ers union bosses want masks for every- seen that in certain populations, one in schools, we will decree it. They COVID–19 can be profoundly deadly. If rogant and rude and inconsiderate. I want to point out how imbecilic understand the risk of what is coming you are very elderly, if you have seri- next is that authoritarian status ous comorbidities, this virus can and that argument is. So let’s go back to this thing called science, which actu- Democrats will order more shutdowns. has been deadly. But we have also seen We will order businesses shut down. We ally works. So here is the science: If among children that the odds of chil- will order schools shut down. We will you have been vaccinated, the odds of dren getting seriously ill from COVID– order churches shut down. 19 are extremely low. We have seen your getting COVID–19 are exception- As we look at the past year and a that children have not proven to be a ally low. Depending on which vaccine half, few things are clearer than that meaningful vector in the spread of this you got, the percentages vary but let’s the shutdowns were a catastrophic mis- disease. The science doesn’t support say on the order of 3 to 5 percent. Even take. The politicians who ordered the special rules for schools, but do you if you do get COVID–19, the odds of shutdowns committed a catastrophic know what does? Politics. Because the your getting a serious case of COVID– mistake. They destroyed millions of teachers union bosses came to the CDC 19, a case of COVID–19 resulting in hos- small businesses—restaurants, bars, and said: We want this rule in place. pitalization or death, are extremely stores gone out of business. And the partisan enforcers at the CDC low. This vaccine has been very, very You look at great cities like New said: Ma’am, yes, ma’am, we will issue successful. York City that became practically a the order demanded by the union If you understand that basic fact, wasteland. You look at something like bosses. then the next fact follows from it. If Broadway. You think of all the actors Mr. President, give me any plausible someone is unvaccinated and has and actresses, all of the writers and argument that that is science, that COVID, they are little to no threat to musicians, all of the sound and lighting that is medicine, that that is anything someone who is vaccinated. If you have engineers, all the carpenters, everyone but rank politics. If a Democratic poli- gotten your vaccine, you ought to be who worked on Broadway—with a dic- tician wants to say ‘‘We are going to fine. The odds are very low that you tatorial flick of a pen, their jobs were obey the union bosses,’’ fine; that is are in jeopardy. destroyed. The American people are their prerogative to do so. They can be Now, could someone who is watching Democrats and recognize held accountable by the voters. But the unvaccinated give COVID to someone they are ready to do that again. CDC is supposed to be following else who is unvaccinated? Absolutely. For people who go to church, we have science. This is an abuse of power. That is why we are encouraging people seen Democratic officeholders discrimi- Let me point out my view. I think we to get vaccinated. But, you know what, nate against churches and say: Wor- should not have government mandates the person who is unvaccinated—it is shipping God in church is a public

VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:20 Jul 30, 2021 Jkt 019060 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G29JY6.042 S29JYPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE July 29, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5169 health menace. We have all seen the here that people be able to speak and whether or not by compelling people to hypocrisy of the so-called experts who otherwise communicate in a way that wear a mask, you are compelling peo- say: If you go outside and march and is clear and unvarnished, unfiltered. ple to engage in state-sponsored chant ‘‘Black lives matter,’’ zero risk In fact, we go so far even as to pro- speech. You are telling them that they of COVID transmission. Perfectly safe. tect Members of Congress from liabil- must send a message, a message with If you go to church and sing ‘‘Halle- ity in what they would say on the floor which they may well disagree. lujah,’’ oh my God, everyone is going of the Senate or the House of Rep- Now, if I am wrong on this, if this is to die. People understand the hypoc- resentatives. We do that because we strictly a medical issue, then it will be risy of that. feel that a full, frank, informed discus- backed up by scientific medical evi- This virus isn’t political. I recognize sion is important. We don’t want Mem- dence. That is the nature of the prob- perhaps you could tongue-in-cheek bers being threatened with some sort of lem that I have with the CDC’s man- make an argument that since it origi- action, civil or criminal, based on date, its ever-fluctuating mandate, its nated in Wuhan, China, maybe it is a things that they would utter here. mandate that, as recently as a few days Communist. But the last I checked, vi- So freedom of speech is important for ago, flip-flopped yet again. If, in fact, ruses don’t have political views. Do all citizens. It is also important to it were medical and scientific, it would you know who does have political make sure that that freedom of speech be backed up as such, but it is not. views? Politicians who are interested is protected here. This is a form of compelled speech, in their own power and want to convey It occurs to me that with the ques- not as we traditionally understand it a narrative regardless of the facts. tion of masks, the decision whether to because compelled speech usually in- What Speaker PELOSI is doing is wear a mask is not only deeply per- volves the utterance of specific words. wrong. What the CDC is doing—cor- sonal, but it is also, in this context, But we know that speech can be pro- rupting science with politics—is wrong. quite arguably expressive. Even before tected, even if it doesn’t involve words, And it is time for the U.S. Senate and you utter a single word and regardless if it is a type of expressive conduct, the U.S. House to stand on the side of of whether you utter a single word, in which wearing a mask is, especially if the American people, to stand on the many respects, your decision to wear a as here. We don’t have scientific evi- side of freedom, and to say: It is your mask or not wear a mask is, itself, a dence making it a medical issue. choice to go to work, to go to school, form of expression. And as a form of So I would ask the Speaker of the to go to church, to live your life free of suppression, it is protected. House: Are you really going to arrest Lord Acton’s abuse of absolute power. In a long line of cases, the Supreme people for not saying what you want I yield the floor. Court of the United States has identi- them to say? That is not OK. If it The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- fied conduct that is expressive and would never be OK for you to arrest ator from Utah. therefore protected by the First people for not saying words that you Mr. LEE. Mr. President, as we have Amendment, notwithstanding the fact have prescribed for them, why is it OK undertaken this conversation, I can’t that it doesn’t necessarily involve for you to compel them to engage in help but reflect on the fact that we are words. expressive conduct now amounting to here in a representative body. We are When you merge that with another speech? It is not. here in order to have an exchange of line of analysis under First Amend- Make no mistake, this isn’t medical. ideas. We are here to engage in polit- ment jurisprudence, we remember the This isn’t scientific. If it were, we ical speech, not the kind of political fact that it is a problem whenever gov- would have evidence of such. We don’t. speech that people think of when they ernment suppresses speech in one way In light of that, separate and apart think of the word ‘‘politics,’’ where or another. It is especially problematic from all the other problems—problems they think of something necessarily when the government tries to compel that inhere in our form of government, unpleasant. You know, when people speech. When the government tries to problems that inhere in the fact we do, hear the word ‘‘political’’ or ‘‘politics,’’ direct an individual that he or she in fact, have three distinct branches of they think of the two great roots of the must utter certain words in order to be our Federal Government, that most word ‘‘politics.’’ You have poly, which compliant with the dictates of the gov- laws are not Federal laws to begin means many; and ticks, which are ernment, that implicates the com- with. Most laws originate in the States blood-sucking parasites. And they as- pelled speech doctrine, and the com- and in the localities. Most laws are not sume if it is political, it is unpleasant. pelled speech doctrine is an especially Federal, and they should never be. But I am using the word ‘‘political’’ rigid one. It is an especially rigid one But for those things that should be here in a different sense, the sense that with very good reason. Federal laws, we have got one and only refers to the body politic. It refers to You don’t want to force people to say one branch of government that makes the fact that we are doing the people’s stuff. That is the not government’s laws. It is no coincidence that the very business. The exchange of information, role. That is the whole idea behind the first clause of the very first section of of ideas is essential to everything we First Amendment, is that the govern- the very first article of the Constitu- do. ment needs to stay out of our tion provides: Then it occurs to me that the mask headspace. It needs to stay out of All legislative Powers herein granted shall discussion does carry a deeper meaning where we worship; it needs to stay out be vested in a Congress of the United States, here, a deeper meaning that takes into of our relationship with God; it needs which shall consist of a Senate and a House account the fact that when we commu- to stay out of printing presses; and it of Representatives. nicate—sometimes with words, some- needs to stay out of what we say. Article I, section 7 then goes on to times without words, sometimes in Sometimes what we say can consist outline the formula contemplated in print, sometimes with the spoken of things that don’t even involve article I, section 1. In article I, section word, sometimes without any words at words, something as simple as whether 7, it says that you can’t make a law all—we are engaging in activity that is or not to wear a mask. In addition to under our form of government—at least protected by the First Amendment. all of the other public policy reasons, not a Federal law—without passage in Now, this is important to note in a in addition to all the problems with the House of Representatives and pas- wide swath of areas. It is important for having a CDC issuing these sweeping sage in the Senate and presentment to how we worship or decline to do the mandates and edicts without bothering the President of the United States. same. It is important in how we ex- to back up those edicts with scientific In many respects, these recommenda- press our viewpoints in our news, in justification—even after months and tions issued by the CDC end up car- our entertainment, media. In every as- months of receiving inquiries from rying the force of generally applicable pect of our lives, it is important. Members of the U.S. Senate that they Federal law. That is wrong. And in It is regarded as especially important do so—separate and apart from all of many, many respects, that is on us. We in a body politic that people be able to those issues, I think it is important for have done a horrible job over the last express their feelings about govern- us to look at the speech element, the few years—I would say over the last ment and about the role of govern- expressive conduct that is inherent in few decades—I would say over the last ment. It is also especially important whether or not you wear a mask, and 80, 85 years, really. I won’t lay the

VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:20 Jul 30, 2021 Jkt 019060 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G29JY6.043 S29JYPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE S5170 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 29, 2021 blame entirely at the feet of either medicine but based on political consid- EXECUTIVE SESSION party. In fact, this has happened under erations that are ever-changing—it is the control of different parties. It has why they are so sweeping. It is why --- happened with Senates and Houses of they are so troubling. EXECUTIVE CALENDAR Representatives and White Houses of But they are maybe even more trou- Mr. HEINRICH. I ask unanimous con- every conceivable partisan combina- bling, still, for the additional constitu- sent that the Senate proceed to execu- tion. We have seen the de facto out- tional reason that, at the end of the tive session to consider the following sourcing of our lawmaking authority day, to whatever degree these are not nominations: Calendar Nos. 273, 274, to unelected, unidentifiable bureau- 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, crats; men and women who, while well- rooted in medical science and fact— which I believe they are not or at least 284, 285, 286, 287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292, educated, well-intentioned, hard-work- and all nominees on the Secretary’s the CDC hasn’t established as much, ing, and highly specialized, don’t work desk in the Air Force, Army, Foreign and they really do amount to some- for the people. They don’t work for Service, Marine Corps, Navy, and Space thing compelling expressive conduct, you. You do not have the ability to Force; that the nominations be con- the suppression of an official orthodoxy elect them or unelect them. firmed en bloc; that the motions to re- mandated by the government—we You don’t have the authority to re- consider be considered made and laid shouldn’t accept this. We shouldn’t ac- place them. That is why it is so dan- upon the table with no intervening ac- cept any affirmative legal obligation gerous for us to give them this sweep- tion or debate; that no further motions placed on those we represent, to whom ing authority. And even where they be in order to any of the nominations; and for whose been we have sworn an don’t technically have authority that and that the President be immediately oath to uphold, protect, and defend the extends very far—and in this case, it is notified of the Senate’s action. far too far, as evidenced by the fact Constitution of the United States, The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without that anytime you get on an airplane or which requires us to make any law we objection, it is so ordered. other mode of public transportation, force on the American people. We have The nominations considered and con- you are told that, under penalty of an obligation to them, a solemn obliga- firmed are as follows: Federal law, you must wear a mask. tion to make sure they are not subject IN THE ARMY But I would ask, where is the act of to laws made by those not of their own Congress providing that? In what year The following named officer for appoint- choosing. ment in the United States Army to the grade did the Congress of the United States It is these very features that James indicated while assigned to a position of im- pass through the House and through portance and responsibility under title 10, the Senate and submit to the President Madison had in mind when he authored Federalist No. 62. When he wrote, and I U.S.C., section 601: of the United States for signature or To be lieutenant general veto a law stating that you must wear am paraphrasing a little bit here: It will be of little benefit to the American Lt. Gen. Paul T. Calvert a mask on a plane or a train or a bus The following named officer for appoint- or in a bus depot or in a train station people that their laws may be written by men of their own choosing if those ment in the United States Army to the grade or in an airport under penalty of Fed- indicated while assigned to a position of im- eral law? There is no such law. You laws be so voluminous, complex, and portance and responsibility under title 10, will not find it. ever-changing, if they can’t reasonably U.S.C., section 601: Now, you will find some other stuff understand what the law means and To be lieutenant general predict what it will say from one day in which we delegated far too much au- Maj. Gen. Donna W. Martin to the next. thority and given broad authority to IN THE NAVY the executive branch—to people like Today—this week even—we have seen The following named officer for appoint- the CDC—to issue regulations. But as a the law be so unpredictable and ever- ment as Judge Advocate General of the Navy matter of proper form, whenever they changing, that we can’t expect what and appointment to the grade indicated exercise that power, it is not appro- the law says from one day to another. while assigned to a position of importance priate for that to take effect by itself. But even worse, contrary to what and responsibility under title 10, U.S.C., sec- It is not really a law in the constitu- Madison assumed would always be the tions 601 and 8088: tional sense of the word unless Con- case because the Constitution required To be vice admiral gress has enacted it. it, the laws aren’t even being written Rear Adm. Darse E. Crandall, Jr. We have given them far too much by men and women of our own choosing The following named officer for appoint- power anyway. That is on us. We but instead by unelected, unaccount- ment in the United States Navy to the grade shouldn’t do that. That is why I have able bureaucrats who, despite how indicated while assigned to a position of im- been calling for years for reforms to portance and responsibility under title 10, this; why I have been calling for years well-educated, well-intentioned, hard- U.S.C., section 601: for reforms, including but not limited working, and highly-specialized they to be vice admiral may be, don’t work for you, nor do to the REINS Act, which would require Rear Adm. Daniel W. Dwyer they have authority under this docu- for any economically significant Fed- IN THE AIR FORCE eral regulation, before it takes effect, ment, to which we have all sworn an oath, to make laws. The following named officer for appoint- it must be passed by both Houses of ment in the United States Air Force to the Congress and presented to the Presi- That is our power. Shame on us if we grade indicated while assigned to a position dent for signature or veto. It is why I relinquish to them the power that only of importance and responsibility under title have introduced the Global Trade Ac- we can exercise, that is, itself, nondele- 10, U.S.C., section 601: countability Act, which would do for gable. Shame on us, further, if we allow To be general trade policy what the REINS Act does those same people who, lacking the au- Lt. Gen. Anthony J. Cotton for regulatory policy. It is why we need thority to legislate in the first in- IN THE MARINE CORPS to reform so many aspects of our laws, stance, then transgress another affirm- The following named officer for appoint- where we, as a practical matter, made ative constitutional command by com- ment in the United States Marine Corps to the unelected and the unaccountable pelling compliance with official gov- the grade indicated while assigned to a posi- the supreme lawgivers, the lawmakers, ernment-mandated orthodoxy. tion of importance and responsibility under law interpreters, and law enforcers. title 10, U.S.C., section 601: This is not just something that can This cannot be. This cannot stand. I To be lieutenant general lead to tyranny; it is the very defini- will not stand for it, and I will con- Maj. Gen. Christopher J. Mahoney tion of tyranny, as every signer of the tinue to draw attention to this issue The following named officer for appoint- U.S. Constitution understood well. It is until we have resolved the problem. ment in the United States Marine Corps to why they went to great lengths to sep- Thank you. the grade indicated while assigned to a posi- arate out these three branches of gov- tion of importance and responsibility under I yield the floor. ernment. title 10, U.S.C. section 601: In addition to those problems with The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- To be lieutenant general these edicts not based on science or ator from New Mexico. Maj. Gen Stephen D. Sklenka

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