Senate the Senate Met at 3 P.M
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E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 116 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 165 WASHINGTON, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2019 No. 143 Senate The Senate met at 3 p.m. and was Washington is where we come to work. of nominations to important Federal called to order by the President pro We come here to fight for our neigh- offices. The American people deserve to tempore (Mr. GRASSLEY). bors and for the places we love and are be governed by the government they f proud to hail from. voted for, and every time we confirm The American people know this is a another one of the uncontroversial, PRAYER highly charged political moment. They amply qualified public servants whom The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- haven’t sent us here to stage pitched President Trump has selected for these fered the following prayer: battles or score political points. They executive branch posts, we fulfill a Let us pray. elected us to make a difference for constitutional responsibility and make Almighty God, sovereign of our Na- them and their families. We do that by manifest the people’s decision. tion and Lord of our lives, thank You taking care of the people’s business and Of course, in the days and weeks for infusing us with the confidence that by collaborating in good faith to com- ahead, another major duty before us You order our steps each day. plete our work and attend to the press- will be the appropriations process. Just Give our lawmakers courage and a ing matters that are before us. like last year, under the leadership of strong resolve to glorify Your Name, as While we were spread out across the Chairman SHELBY and Ranking Mem- they trust the unfolding of Your provi- country, we heard an unwelcome an- ber LEAHY, I am confident we can make dence. As they remember what You nouncement from our dear friend and significant progress on regular appro- have already done to bless this Nation, colleague, the senior Senator from priations this month and then pass an inspire them to march confidently to- Georgia. Senator JOHNNY ISAKSON has interim continuing resolution to pre- ward tomorrow’s difficulties with total determined that his health challenges vent any funding lapse while that work dependence on Your power. May they will lead him to conclude his distin- continues. recommit themselves each day to guished 15-year Senate career at the faithfully fulfilling the awesome re- end of December, putting Georgians Let me say that again. A major focus sponsibility You have entrusted to first, like always. of the Senate this month will be mov- them. Lord, be their strength and His departure will be a significant ing forward as many of the regular ap- shield this day and always. loss for the people of Georgia and for propriations bills as possible and then We pray in Your mighty Name. the 99 of us here in this Chamber. Sen- passing a temporary continuing resolu- Amen. ator ISAKSON is a tireless legislator. In tion for the outstanding parts of the government before the end of Sep- f particular, he is a dogged advocate for our Nation’s veterans. But he is even tember. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE more than that. JOHNNY is universally We have the parameters in place, The President pro tempore led the seen as one of the warmest, friendliest, thanks to the bipartisan funding agree- Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: most respectful, and most collabo- ment President Trump signed last I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the rative Members of this body. He has month. Now it is time for the rubber to United States of America, and to the Repub- strong views and solid principles, but meet the road and for the Senate to lic for which it stands, one nation under God, he knows that broad, often bipartisan pass appropriations bills this month. indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. cooperation is the way to advance f those very goals. f RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY f LEADER BUSINESS BEFORE THE SENATE RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- Mr. MCCONNELL. I hope that as the The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. pore. The majority leader is recog- Senate tackles the important matters BLUNT). Under the previous order, the nized. before us in the weeks and months leadership time is reserved. f ahead, we will not only make sure to savor our last few months working f TRIBUTE TO JOHNNY ISAKSON alongside this great friend and col- Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I league but also to embody his example CONCLUSION OF MORNING welcome my colleagues back to the in our work. Here is what that work BUSINESS Senate. I hope all of us took advantage will need to include: of the past weeks that we spent in our Right off the bat this week, the Sen- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Morning home States and with our constituents. ate will begin working through a slate business is closed. ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S5345 . VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A09SE6.000 S09SEPT1 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with SENATE S5346 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE September 9, 2019 EXECUTIVE SESSION certainly, dozens of lives as the shooter and servicemembers. Yet so often fami- was about to go into a very crowded lies don’t get the recognition they de- nightclub. Had they not gotten to him serve. To the officers and their fami- EXECUTIVE CALENDAR in less than a minute, the shooter lies, we are forever grateful. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under would have entered the doorway he was I suggest the absence of a quorum. the previous order, the Senate will pro- headed toward of the Dayton institu- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ceed to executive session to resume tion Ned Peppers, which was filled with clerk will call the roll. consideration of the following nomina- Ohioans who were out on a Saturday The bill clerk proceeded to call the tion, which the clerk will report. night. roll. The legislative clerk read the nomi- Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I nation of Kelly Craft, of Kentucky, to said: ‘‘Had this individual made it ask unanimous consent that the order be Representative of the United States through the doorway of Ned Peppers for the quorum call be rescinded. of America to the Sessions of the Gen- with that level of weaponry, there The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without eral Assembly of the United Nations would have been catastrophic injuries objection, it is so ordered. during her tenure of service as Rep- and loss of life.’’ That didn’t happen be- BACKGROUND CHECKS resentative of the United States of cause these dedicated public servants Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, America to the United Nations. did the job they signed up to do—to today this Chamber, once referred to as The PRESIDING OFFICER. The protect the people they serve. the greatest deliberative body, must President pro tempore. Over the past month, as we have take action. We have people all over Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask mourned those Ohioans we have lost, the country who want to see action, unanimous consent to speak as in we have also seen the incredible people who want to see change, people morning business. strength and solidarity of the Dayton who are crying out for their leaders in The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without community. People from all over the Washington to do their jobs. objection, it is so ordered. city have come together to support the These days, the U.S. Senate has be- come a place where legislation goes to IOWA TOWN MEETINGS families of the victims and to support die and the important issues of the day Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, dur- the law enforcement officers and offi- go ignored, in addition to inaction— ing August, I continued my annual tra- cials who threw themselves in harm’s major, major issues, significant issues, dition of holding at least one Q&A in way to protect their friends and neigh- like climate change and infrastructure every one of Iowa’s 99 counties. I go to bors. Chief Biehl reported that the Dayton and immigration reform. Iowans where they work and live to Police Department has received hun- Today I will focus on three things hear what is on their minds so that I dreds of emails, social media messages, that are right before us—three bills in can better represent them in the Sen- and thank you cards—all from people the gun legislation area that right now ate. No matter the setting, my citizens thanking them for what they have are on the leader’s desk—and two other of Iowa set the agenda. done for this city. areas, election protection and bringing On August 27, with a town meeting in Dayton has faced so many challenges down the cost of prescription drugs, Spencer, IA, I completed the 39th con- this year. Each time, these officers and where we could literally take action secutive year of my annual 99 county the entire department have risen to the immediately. meetings. I look forward to continuing occasion. They kept the public safe I focus on these because they all in- my dialogue with Iowans throughout when a KKK group held a hate rally, volve bills that have passed the House, the rest of this year, just to emphasize and they helped residents after dev- and the Senate could literally act that I hold a lot more than just 99 astating tornados hit this summer.