July 12, 2016 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S4975 materials, energy storage and improv- Standing Rules of the Senate, do hereby Moran Risch Tester ing cyber security, critical infrastruc- move to bring to a close debate on the mo- Murkowski Rubio Thune tion to disagree to the House amendment, Murphy Sasse Tillis ture, and the energy workforce for to- Murray Schatz Toomey agree to the request from the House for a morrow. Nelson Schumer Udall This was a very worked-over process, conference, and the Presiding Officer appoint Peters Sessions Warner the following conferees: Senators Mur- both in committee and on the Senate Portman Shaheen Warren kowski, Barrasso, Risch, Cornyn, Cantwell, Reed Stabenow Whitehouse floor, and it was a very collaborative Wyden, and Sanders with respect to S. 2012, Reid Sullivan Wyden effort among our colleagues on both an original bill to provide for the moderniza- NAYS—3 sides of the aisle. It did take some dis- tion of the energy policy of the United cussion with our House colleagues be- States, and for other purposes. Paul Perdue Scott cause the package they passed was a John McCain, John Cornyn, Marco NOT VOTING—13 very different product. I will say, it Rubio, Deb Fischer, Rob Portman, Barrasso Graham Shelby was a very less worked product on a bi- Roger F. Wicker, Richard Burr, Joni Coats Inhofe Vitter partisan basis and certainly a product Ernst, David Vitter, James M. Inhofe, Cochran Roberts Wicker Dean Heller, Pat Roberts, Lamar Alex- Cornyn Rounds that had a lot of veto threats in it. Cruz Sanders Our House colleagues have made ander, Ron Johnson, Tom Cotton, Thom Tillis, Mitch McConnell. some comments about that legislation The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this that have made it helpful for us to The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unan- vote, the yeas are 84, the nays are 3. move forward. We met with our col- imous consent, the mandatory quorum Three-fifths of the Senators duly cho- leagues, the Natural Resources and En- call has been waived. sen and sworn having voted in the af- ergy Committee chairs, Mr. BISHOP and The question is, Is it the sense of the firmative, the motion is agreed to. Mr. UPTON. They basically said: Look, Senate that debate on the motion to Cloture having been invoked, the they didn’t want to waste time on disagree to the House amendment, question is on agreeing to the com- things that would be vetoed by the agree to the request by the House for a pound motion. President of the United States, so we conference, and to appoint conferees The motion was agreed to. took that as a good sign that they were with respect to S. 2012, a bill to provide The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma- willing to sit down and talk about leg- for the modernization of the energy jority leader. islation that could move forward in a policy of the United States, and for f positive fashion. other purposes, shall be brought to a COMPREHENSIVE ADDICTION AND Senator MURKOWSKI’s staff, my staff, close? RECOVERY ACT OF 2016—CON- and we together have rolled up our The yeas and nays are mandatory FERENCE REPORT—Continued sleeves and tried to look at ways in under the rule. which we could talk about how we The clerk will call the roll. Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I move forward from here so that all of The bill clerk called the roll. ask that the Chair lay before the Sen- our colleagues could have confidence Mr. THUNE. The following Senators ate the conference report to accom- that we are going to work on some- are necessarily absent: the Senator pany S. 524. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The thing that would be a final product from Wyoming (Mr. BARRASSO), the clerk will report the conference report that really would get to the President’s Senator from Indiana (Mr. COATS), the to accompany S. 524. desk. I thank my colleague from Alas- Senator from Mississippi (Mr. COCH- The bill clerk read as follows: ka for her indulgence in that process. I RAN), the Senator from Texas (Mr. COR- Conference report to accompany S. 524, a know she had conversations with Sen- NYN), the Senator from Texas (Mr. bill to authorize the Attorney General to ator REID about no poison pills and CRUZ), the Senator from South Caro- award grants to address the national wasn’t going to sign off on those kinds lina (Mr. GRAHAM), the Senator from epidemics of prescription opioid abuse and of activities. Oklahoma (Mr. INHOFE), the Senator heroin use. We are here to say to our colleagues: from Kansas (Mr. ROBERTS), the Sen- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- Let’s continue the good bipartisan ef- ator from South Dakota (Mr. ROUNDS), ator from Tennessee. fort that existed in the Senate bill and the Senator from Alabama (Mr. (The remarks of Mr. ALEXANDER per- work with our colleagues in the House SHELBY), the Senator from Louisiana taining to the introduction of S. 3169 to resolve these issues. As my col- (Mr. VITTER) and the Senator from Mis- are printed in today’s RECORD under leagues know, there are many thorny sissippi (Mr. WICKER). ‘‘Statements on Introduced Bills and issues that still need to be addressed. Further, if present and voting, the Joint Resolutions.’’) Even though the Senate worked out Senator from Texas (Mr. CORNYN) The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- many of its issues, there are still sev- would have voted ‘‘yea.’’ ator from Wisconsin. eral thorny issues that are in the Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the JUDICIAL VACANCIES House bill, such as water, fire, and a Senator from Vermont (Mr. SANDERS) variety of other issues which will take Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, the is necessarily absent. American public is well aware that some dialogue and give us an oppor- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there tunity to talk. If we can reach a con- there is a vacancy on our U.S. Supreme any other Senators in the Chamber de- Court and, in addition, that there is ob- clusion, great, but if we can’t, I think siring to vote? we have all decided that moving for- struction going on in terms of our path The yeas and nays resulted—yeas 84, to do what the Senate is supposed to ward on the basis of an energy policy nays 3, as follows: we can agree to is a very important do—confirm a President’s nomination [Rollcall Vote No. 125 Leg.] concept for all of us. to the Supreme Court. Because it is the As my colleague from Alaska said, it YEAS—84 Supreme Court, because that term has is time to move forward on an energy Alexander Corker Hirono come to an end and we have seen a Ayotte Cotton Hoeven number of 4-to-4 ties, because of the policy, and I encourage my colleagues Baldwin Crapo Isakson to vote yes on this motion. Let us con- Bennet Daines Johnson consequence and the gravity of what it tinue to work to protect these key pro- Blumenthal Donnelly Kaine is that the Supreme Court does, that visions and move forward so we can get Blunt Durbin King has garnered a lot of attention. It has Booker Enzi Kirk resulted in the calling for the Repub- a bill to the President’s desk. Boozman Ernst Klobuchar CLOTURE MOTION Boxer Feinstein Lankford licans in the Senate to do their job, to The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant Brown Fischer Leahy not obfuscate and declare that they to rule XXII, the Chair lays before the Burr Flake Lee won’t hold hearings or won’t schedule a Cantwell Franken Manchin Senate the pending cloture motion, Capito Gardner Markey vote on President Obama’s nominee, which the clerk will state. Cardin Gillibrand McCain Merrick Garland. As a consequence, The bill clerk read as follows: Carper Grassley McCaskill that vacancy may persist for well over Casey Hatch McConnell LOTURE OTION a year when all is said and done. C M Cassidy Heinrich Menendez We, the undersigned Senators, in accord- Collins Heitkamp Merkley I rise today to draw attention to the ance with the provisions of rule XXII of the Coons Heller Mikulski fact that that is not the only judicial VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:36 Jul 13, 2016 Jkt 059060 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G12JY6.034 S12JYPT1 emcdonald on DSK9F6TC42PROD with SENATE S4976 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 12, 2016 vacancy we have here in the United ers Protection Act. This is a little bit mines—can you believe that—take pos- States of America. We currently have of a history class that is going to be session of all of the bituminous coal 83 vacancies in the Federal courts, and rolled into the facts of what we are mines in the United States and nego- 29 of those vacancies have been de- dealing with today. tiate with the unions. So basically he clared judicial emergencies, meaning Our coal miners are some of the hard- stepped in and started negotiating with that the continuing vacancy has est working people in America. Any of the unions, taking over the mines. caused serious problems and concerns, you who come from a family who had Senator ENZI stated that this agree- so they are deemed judicial emer- one as a relative—maybe your grand- ment was made between the members gencies. father, father, uncle—you know those and the companies, not between the Currently, because of the work that patriarchs are tough. They are hard- members and the American taxpayer. has been done by individual Senators, working but extremely patriotic.