S2736 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE May 17, 2018 right woman at the right time. Sen- this train in motion—not one. They RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME ators on both sides of the aisle agree. voted against cutting redtape for The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- So I urge each of my colleagues to rise American manufacturers. They voted pore. Under the previous order, the to the occasion and swiftly confirm our against the tax reforms that are grow- leadership time is reserved. next CIA Director. ing paychecks and helping to create f f new jobs. They voted against the newly lowered utility rates that benefit both TAX REFORM CONCLUSION OF MORNING families and employers. BUSINESS Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, on My Democratic colleagues like to another matter, with Republican poli- talk about supporting the middle class. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- cies shaking the regulatory rust off of These days, it is looking more and pore. Morning business is closed. the U.S. economy, American job cre- more like that is all it is—just talk. f ators, entrepreneurs, and working fam- Yet, while they occupy themselves ilies have been thinking big again. with partisan politics, Republicans will CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON For 8 years, Democrats pushed a one- keep on clearing the tracks and letting THE BUDGET, FISCAL YEAR size-fits-all agenda that heaped out- the American economy roll on ahead. 2019—MOTION TO PROCEED sized benefits on the largest cities and f Mr. PAUL. Mr. President, I move to left the rest of the country struggling proceed to the consideration of S. Con. TRIBUTE TO BRENDAN DUNN to catch up. Now Main Street busi- Res. 36. nesses across America feel the wind is Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- at their backs. So they are expanding now, speaking of tax reform, I have to pore. The clerk will report the motion. their operations, buying more equip- bid farewell to an outstanding member The legislative clerk read as follows: ment, and hiring new workers. of my staff. Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 384, S. For too long, taxpayers grappled Brendan Dunn has been a key mem- Con. Res. 36, a concurrent resolution setting with an outdated Federal Tax Code ber of my leadership office team for the forth the congressional budget for the United that seemed to keep more of their last 6 years. He has made an outsized States Government for fiscal year 2019 and hard-earned income every year. Now, impact as a trusted counselor and setting forth the appropriate budgetary lev- thanks to Republican tax reform, friend. els for fiscal years 2020 through 2028. working families are seeing paychecks I, actually, stole Brendan from the The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- grow, special bonuses hit their bank Finance Committee in 2012. I am not pore. Under the previous order, there accounts, and will send thousands of sure if Chairman HATCH ever quite for- will be 45 minutes under the control of dollars less to the IRS next year. gave me for it. If you have ever had the Senator PAUL or his designee and 45 Now that Congress and the President pleasure of witnessing Brendan in ac- minutes under the control of the have put a stop to the last administra- tion, you will understand why he is a Democratic leader or his designee. tion’s rampant, top-down Federal rule- sought-after commodity, whether you The Senator from Kentucky. making, U.S. manufacturing is churn- need deep expertise on tax policy or the Mr. PAUL. Mr. President, this year ing back to life as well. The new eco- perfect movie quote for any occasion. there will be no budget presented by nomic climate that is taking hold Brendan has been my trusted adviser the Republicans or the Democrats. I across the country has producers feel- on issues including tax policy, banking, think that is a bad idea. I think the ing more confident about planting trade, and pensions. So I am just glad government should have a budget. deeper roots right here in the United that his last few months in the office There should be a document that says States—new capital investment, new could be a calm and laid-back period. what we are for, what we are against, factories, new American jobs. All he had to do was play a leading role and how we are going to spend our Novelis, a leading producer of rolled in crafting generational tax reform and money. I think it is particularly impor- and recycled aluminum, broke ground help steer it across the finish line. Oh, tant because we are incurring so much just this week on a new factory in then came Dodd-Frank reform, for Guthrie, KY. The company is choosing debt. good measure. We may remember when Republicans the Commonwealth in which to build This Maryland native holds degrees the 400,000-square-foot facility and cre- campaigned against enormous spending from Holy Cross, Fordham, George- by President Obama and $1 trillion an- ate at least 125 new jobs, and they are town, and Notre Dame, but you would not keeping any secrets about what is nual deficits. Now we are faced with not know that this unassuming leader enormous spending and $1 trillion an- helping them make this investment. and reliable source of comic relief Here is a quote: ‘‘A favorable economic nual deficits from Republicans. I think holds a J.D. and a Ph.D. in political it is important that we have a discus- environment,’’ including ‘‘the signifi- philosophy unless you needed to. That cant positive impact of tax reform in sion about this. is the kind of guy Brendan is. Do we have too much debt? Some will the U.S., reinforces Novelis’ decision to His many contributions to my team say: Well, I have debt for my house, expand at this time.’’ have benefited this body, the people of and that is not bad. The country has a This is not just a Kentucky phe- Kentucky, and the Nation. I know ev- lot of debt that they borrow against nomenon. According to new survey eryone who has gotten to work closely capital expenditures—things that don’t data from the National Association of with him is sad to see him depart the expire. I think there is some truth to Manufacturers, more than 93 percent of Senate. I certainly am. Yet I have a that. You can have a manageable U.S. manufacturing firms have a posi- hunch that his lovely wife, Lee, and his amount of debt, particularly if it is tive outlook. Already, 77 percent of children—Patrick, Audrey, and Mary— against something you are borrowing manufacturers are reporting hiring will not mind seeing a little bit more that doesn’t go away. But if you are new workers, and 86 percent say they of him. are investing in plants and equipment. So I offer Brendan my sincere thanks borrowing money for the grocery store Many American communities revolve for a job very well done and wish him or for your apartment, that might be a around these manufacturing facilities. Godspeed for what lies ahead. bad thing. It will not last very long. Sadly, during the Obama years, they I suggest the absence of a quorum. You will do it for a month or two, and were among the most likely to be left The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- pretty soon the bank will come calling. behind by the so-called ‘‘recovery,’’ but pore. The clerk will call the roll. So there is a point at which debt is too now that is changing. Today, manufac- The legislative clerk proceeded to cumbersome, and there is too much of turing wages are growing at their fast- call the roll. it. est pace in 17 years. These are just a Mr. PAUL. Mr. President, I ask unan- Carmen Reinhart of the University of few signs of our Nation’s economic imous consent that the order for the Maryland and Kenneth Rogoff of Har- comeback under Republicans’ pro- quorum call be rescinded. vard did a study linking debt to eco- growth, pro-opportunity agenda. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- nomic growth. They concluded that Remember, not one of our Demo- pore. Without objection, it is so or- when a country exceeds 90 percent of cratic colleagues voted with us to set dered. their GDP, when their debt is almost

VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 May 18, 2018 Jkt 079060 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17MY6.003 S17MYPT1 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with SENATE May 17, 2018 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S2737 equal to their GDP, economic growth will. As economic growth begins to So in the abstract, they are for a bal- begins to slow, and you lose probably 1 pick up, you are going to see an accel- anced budget. They are for a balanced to 2 points just because of the burden eration in interest rates. What happens budget amendment. They will all vote of the debt. This is all of the debt— at 5 percent? Can we even manage our for it. They will all come down here. I what the government owes to the pub- debt at 5 percent? think we had a unanimous vote a few lic at large and to themselves. They People have looked at what the inter- years ago. Republicans all voted for the said that when it exceeds 90 percent, it est will be, even saying interest rates balanced budget amendment. Just a is a problem. Currently, our debt is at stay stable, and they say that within month ago in the House, all the people 105 percent; our gross public debt is 105 about a decade, interest rates will ex- who voted to bust the budget caps, all percent of our GDP. ceed all other payments of the govern- the people who voted for the extra We now have a national debt of about ment. The estimate is that within 10 spending, all these Republicans then $21 trillion. Historically, Congress had years, interest payments alone will be voted for the balanced budget amend- sort of a cover on this. Congress would about $761 billion—greater than na- ment, which says you have to balance try to rein in the debt. There would be tional defense, greater than any other in 5 years. Typically, when they have a big debate every time we raised the area of the budget. Even now, the sec- brought forward a budget, they have debt ceiling. Congress would have to ond biggest item in the budget after de- tried to balance it in 10 years and lift it each time, and there was some fense is interest. struggled. So they vote for a balanced punishment out there for those who So some say: But we have to finance budget amendment that balances in 5 voted to raise the debt ceiling. the military, and the military needs years, and yet they struggle to come Now we don’t raise the debt ceiling more money. That is why you hear Re- up with a budget that is not fake to by a certain amount because that be- publicans now no longer caring about balance in 10 years. came embarrassing and limiting, mak- the debt. They got more money for the We passed a budget last year. It was ing them come back each time to try military, but they had to make an un- a Republican budget. I voted against it to raise the debt ceiling. Now what we holy alliance with Democrats and give because I think it had fake cuts in it, do is raise it for a period of time. them more for social welfare. So we and it had fake reporting, and they Currently, the debt ceiling has been have guns and butter. Everybody gets weren’t serious about it. I will give an raised, and you can spend as much as what they want—except for the tax- example. The budget last year that the you want for a little over a year. We payer and those of us who care about Republicans passed had about $4 tril- did it, I believe, back in December. For the debt. lion in entitlement savings over 10 about 11⁄2 years, the government can So the debt has exploded now under years. You say: Well, did they enact borrow as much as they can possibly Republican control. You say: Well, any of that? Zero. Do they have any borrow for that period of time. Basi- don’t we need it for the military? bills to do any entitlement reform? cally, there is no limit. The debt ceil- Well, I think there are some argu- Zero. Did we ever debate and vote on ing vote has become a meaningless ments we should probably engage in be- any bills that would have done any- vote because we just raise it for a pe- fore we decide that. We have doubled thing to entitlement spending? No. In riod of time. the amount in nominal terms that we fact, in the first year of the Republican Is the debt a problem? How much in- spend on the military since 9/11. In real budget last year, there was $96 billion— terest do we pay on the debt? We pay terms, there is about a 36-percent in- that is a significant savings—all in en- $300 billion in interest. You say: Well, crease in national defense. We spend titlements, and yet nobody had a bill is that a problem? Paying on the inter- more on the military than the next that even went to committee. There est crowds out other things that you eight countries combined. was never a committee vote. There was want from the government. So when There is an argument that it isn’t never a floor vote. No one lifted a fin- people come to my office and say ‘‘I necessarily that the budget has not ger to do anything about entitlement want this from my government,’’ I say grown enough, but it is that maybe the spending. ‘‘Well, part of the problem is we are military mission is too large. Maybe it So it is a canard for those who say: paying $300 billion in interest, and part is not that the budget is too small but Well, the real problem is not military; of the problem is we don’t have any- that our military mission is too large, the real problem is not nonmilitary thing to give you because we are bor- that we are at war in too many places discretionary; the real problem is enti- rowing about 25 percent of every dollar around the globe and that we should tlements. Sure, entitlements are grow- we spend.’’ reassess that. ing faster, but unless we are doing Every time the government spends a Many Republicans will say: Well, something about it, it is simply saying: dollar, 25 percent of that is borrowed. that is all good and well, but really the Oh, we have to keep spending over here This is on current accounts of things culprit is entitlements. because the real problem is over here, people want. For example, if I were to Entitlements are growing at 6 per- but we are not going to do anything ask you: Is it a good idea to borrow cent—Social Security, Medicare, food over here, which runs into really the money to give to your church? People stamps. There is truth to that, but hypocrisy that we face today. say: Well, my church is a good thing, watch closely the people who tell you I have often said that the Republican and I want to give money to my that the problem is entitlements and Party is an empty vessel unless we church. But is it a good idea and will it ask yourself if they are doing anything imbue it with value. We say we are last very long if you go to the bank to to fix entitlements. Ask them whether against big spending. We say we are borrow 25 percent of every dollar you they have put forward a bill on the against big government. We say we are spend and tithe 25 percent to your floor of the Senate to rein in spending for devolving power, structure, and church? You say: My church is a good and entitlements. Ask them whether money back to the States. Yet the gov- thing. But is it a good thing to borrow they have even cosponsored a bill or ernment grows under Democrats and it that money, and will the bank keep whether they are agitating for a bill to grows under Republicans. loaning you that money, and are there rein in entitlements. No. They are pet- Democrats are sometimes more hon- repercussions to having so much debt? rified of looking at entitlements. So est about wanting to grow government. We have a $300 billion interest pay- everybody complains about it, and no- They will go home and say they are ment at about a 2-percent interest body does anything about it. going to make government big enough rate. The interest rate is manipulated Everybody says they are for a bal- to put a ham on every table, a chicken by the Federal Reserve, and there are anced budget. Yet, when we have a vote in every pot. They are a little bit more those who report that the main reason in a few minutes on a budget that actu- honest about it. Republicans go home the interest rates are kept low by the ally balances in 5 years, consistent and say they believe in the free mar- Federal Reserve is not necessarily to with the balanced budget amendment, I ket. They go to the Rotary Club and stimulate economic growth; it is to fi- think we will get a handful—maybe a say: Well, I voted for the balanced nance this enormous burden of debt. dozen or maybe two dozen. But the ma- budget amendment. But the question What happens when interest rates jority of Republicans will say: Oh my is, Why won’t they vote for an actual normalize? Many are predicting they goodness, we could never cut spending. budget that balances? Why won’t they

VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 May 18, 2018 Jkt 079060 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17MY6.004 S17MYPT1 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with SENATE S2738 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE May 17, 2018 vote for a budget that actually is con- of this enormous government, if it were that corporate welfare is over $100 bil- sistent with the balanced budget cut each year, would go a long way to- lion. I know for certain that we could amendment? ward making us a stronger nation. find enough corporate welfare that we So what I have done is put forward People say: Well, what about the could actually, by eliminating cor- my own budget. It is something I have military? I think that if the govern- porate welfare, do 1 year of the penny talked about for several years now. It ment ran a balanced budget, we would plan. wasn’t originally my idea; others have have a stronger and more secure na- Waste. Our office alone has found $3 talked about it. It is called the penny tion. Admiral Mullen said he thought billion in waste. plan. It says that we would cut one the No. 1 threat to our national secu- Interest. It is $300 billion, going up to penny out of every dollar the Federal rity was actually our debt. So there are $760 billion. Government spends—1 percent. Could many realistic people, even high-rank- There are a lot of areas in our gov- we not get to a point where we could ing people in the military, who are say- ernment that we could actually look at actually cut one penny out of every ing: You know what, if we want to se- and actually adhere to the penny plan dollar? Isn’t there enough waste going cure our Nation, we have to make sure and balance our budget. I would like to on in government that we could actu- that we have a sound economy and that go through a few items. ally cut a penny out of every dollar? we have a sound government that is If there is anybody in America who Like everything else, people argue not borrowing so much money. believes their government is not wast- the numbers. There is a lot of fake How rapidly do we borrow money? We ing their money, I would like to show math that goes on around here. Those borrow $1 million every minute—$1 them a few areas where the govern- on the left will say, oh, but this will be million a minute. In fact, it is a little ment is wasting their money. cutting $13 trillion, when, in fact, it bit higher than that now. It is about My staff recently went to Afghani- might not cut any. For example, if we $1.5 million, and the curve over the stan. This is a picture of a luxury hotel were to freeze government spending for next 10 years gets to about $2 million a that your taxpayer dollars went to 10 years, the left would say: You have minute. Imagine how fast the money is build. Your first question might be why cut spending by $15 trillion because we flying out of here. How big is $1 mil- your taxpayer dollars would be going were going to increase spending by $15 lion? People have said that if you put to a luxury hotel in some Third World trillion. So it is sort of fake account- hundred-dollar bills in your hand, it is country. It is about 400 feet from our ing. If we spend $3.2 trillion and next about 4 inches high to get to $1 million. Embassy, and this is what it looks like. year we spend $32 billion less, that is a We are borrowing $1 million or more They have been building it for 11 years, 1-percent cut, but the left will say: Oh, every minute. and it is unfinished. Nothing was done no, we were going to increase spending How would we get to $30 billion? How to code, it is falling down, and at this by 6 percent, and so you are really cut- could we possibly cut $30 billion from point, the hotel is so dangerous that we ting spending by 7 percent. This enor- the budget? I will give examples of have to send our soldiers to patrol it to mous number comes up, but in reality, where some of the money is. make sure snipers aren’t using the we are taking last year’s spending—3.2 Foreign aid is about $30 billion. You hotel to shoot at our Embassy. So it is trillion—and we are going to cut it by say: Well, I want to help the poor peo- not only a waste of $90 million, never 1 percent, $30 billion. If we do that ple in the world. I am all for you. If having been completed, but it is now a every year for 5 years, the budget bal- you want to give out of your savings to danger to our troops. The talk now is ances. help poor people around the world, all on how they are going to fix the prob- You say: Well, some people might not the benefit and all the accolades for lem. get all their money. Yes, there would being generous, but if you want to bor- Does anybody in Washington think be some programs across government row money, you won’t be able to do it we should spend less in Afghanistan? that would get less. I challenge any for very long. Virtually no one. Both sides of the American to call up my office and Should the U.S. Government borrow? aisle, Republicans and Democrats, present proof that there is not 1 per- We are going to borrow $1 trillion this can’t spend money fast enough in Af- cent waste and fraud in any program year. Should we borrow money to send ghanistan. No one is making a stand going on. I will give an example. The it to poor countries, or should we bor- and saying: Enough is enough. It is earned-income tax credit and the child row money to send armaments to coun- time to announce that we won, and it tax credit are estimated to have 25 per- tries? I think it is a big mistake. That is time to come home. The money just cent fraud. For years, you could get is about $30 billion. So if you were to keeps going, good money after bad—$90 this credit without a Social Security cut 1 percent next year, you could ac- million for a hotel that will never be number. You could simply say: My kids tually cut 1 percent by simply elimi- built. and I don’t have one. The government nating foreign aid. To add insult to injury, do you know would generate a taxpayer ID number How much do we spend in Afghani- what they are going to do now? They for you and give you a refund. This is stan building their roads, building are talking about selling the unfin- to the tune of billions of dollars. It is their bridges, building their schools be- ished hotel. Do you know who they are about $100 billion in the EITC, the fore they blow them up again and then going to sell it to? Another branch of earned-income tax credit, and the addi- we rebuild them again? We have rebuilt government. So government built tional child credit—many of those some buildings in Afghanistan seven this—U.S. taxpayer dollars built this— going to people who were in our coun- times. That is nearly $50 billion, which and now they are going to sell it to the try illegally and had no Social Secu- is about a year, year and a half, of the State Department. Do you know what rity number. penny plan right there if we were to the State Department is going to do There is waste from top to bottom in say: Guess what. We won the Afghan with this luxury hotel in Kabul? They government. How would you ever find war, and we are not going to stay for- are going to tear it down. So that is $90 it? See, many people in this body on ever. We have some needs here at home million flushed down the toilet. both sides of the aisle will say: I am for that we are going to take care of and You can’t tell me this waste isn’t rooting out waste. Yet you never find not send all that money to Afghani- rotting in our government from top to waste if you keep giving them more stan. bottom, and it is never rooted out. money. If you reward government Corporate welfare. Rich corporations Why? Because we never give any agen- agencies with more money, you are in our country—I am all for them. If cy less money; everybody gets more never going to get less waste. they freely sell something to you and money. If you are running an agency or The penny plan budget I am pre- they make money because you like business and someone gives you more senting would cut 1 percent. Does any- their product and buy it, more power money, are you more likely to root out body in America think government to them, but if they want money from waste or less likely to root out waste? couldn’t do with 1 percent less? Many the Federal Government, that is ridicu- The only way they would ever root out American families have had a bad year lous. I don’t think private business waste is if they got a commandment— here and there and have to deal with should be getting any money from the thou shalt do this—from Congress, more than 1 percent less. One percent Federal Government. It is estimated from the Senate, to say: Enough is

VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 May 18, 2018 Jkt 079060 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17MY6.006 S17MYPT1 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with SENATE May 17, 2018 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S2739 enough. Let’s declare victory and come complained about it for 10 years before all kinds of different mythological ani- home. he retired. I have been complaining mals, landscape features that had spe- This hotel—$90 million flushed down about it for 6 years. cial powers, and, of course, you the toilet. It is now a danger to our What do the Republicans and Demo- wouldn’t want to leave out sea mon- troops, and they are going to tear it crats do? They say: Oh, it is science. sters. People say: What is $150,000? down. It was never completed. You wouldn’t know, sir, about science. That is the problem with government. Also, in Afghanistan, there is We have to give them more money. Milton Friedman had it right when he brandnew equipment that we send over You are not smart enough to know said: ‘‘Nobody spends somebody else’s there that is shredded. They have big, there is a lot of science in taking money as wisely as he spends his own.’’ huge industrial shredders. My staff saw selfies. We could learn something real- Why does nobody care about the them. They found boxes of new equip- ly important, and it is so important for $150,000? Because it wasn’t their money ment—electrical outlet boxes, all kinds the future of mankind to learn whether to spend. This is the problem with gov- of things—being shoved into the shred- selfies of people smiling will help the ernment at-large and why the govern- der. So we buy brandnew equipment, world in the end. ment is never good at anything they and it is shoved into the shredder. NIH. Everybody loves the NIH. They do. They are terribly ineffective be- There is $50 million of brandnew, can do no wrong. NIH did a $2 million cause they are spending somebody never-used equipment that has been de- study to see whether, if you are fol- else’s money. stroyed. This doesn’t even count the lowing somebody in the cafeteria line Government should be so small that old stuff we are destroying. There are and the guy or woman in front of you they have less room to make errors reports that $7 billion—7 with a ‘‘b,’’ sneezes on the food, you are more or like this. We should devolve most of billion dollars—of used equipment, less likely to take the food. Really? I the power of this place back to the such as tanks, humvees, et cetera, has think we could have polled the audi- States. That is what our Founding Fa- been destroyed. Why? Our allies are so ence on that. I mean, how ridiculous is thers intended, and we should try to unreliable, we are afraid that if we that? Money like that—particularly say we are not going to tolerate this leave a tank or a humvee there, it when there are things the government kind of stuff. might be taken by the opposition and needs to do. There is a trillion-dollar This $250,000 was spent to send 24 kids used against us. So we have destroyed deficit, and we spend $2 million study- from Pakistan to Space Camp and $7 billion of it because it is cheaper to ing what your reaction is to people Dollywood. My first question would be: destroy it than to load it on planes and sneezing on the food? Is there anybody in America who didn’t bring it over here. That is $7 billion. Then $356,000 of your money was get to go to Dollywood or Space Camp The Department of Defense loses $29 spent studying whether Japanese quail last year? I think when everybody in million of heavy equipment. What does are more sexually promiscuous on co- America has gone, we might consider that mean? They can’t find it. It can’t caine. These guys have some great sending some Pakistani kids. Frankly, be accounted for. They don’t know studies. This is, once again, I believe, there is nothing in the Constitution where the equipment is. There is $29 the National Science Foundation. that says we should be sending Paki- million unaccounted for in heavy Hurray for the National Science Foun- stani kids to Dollywood. There is noth- equipment. dation. I know I am going to get hate ing wrong if you want to send your They tried to establish an Afghan mail from them. They spent $356,000 to kids from Pakistan to Dollywood—by equivalent for the Army Corps of Engi- study whether Japanese quail are more all means. You should not take tax- neers and lost $20 million of heavy sexually promiscuous on cocaine. You payer money to do things like this. equipment in the process. can’t make this stuff up. May I ask the Presiding Officer how There is $28 million worth of uni- The reform I have proposed is that much time I have remaining of my 45 forms that are missing. Someone got we have a taxpayer advocate on the minutes? paid. We can’t find the uniforms. We committee to determine who gets these The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. can’t prove that anyone ever got the grants. Do you know what they say? HYDE-SMITH). There is 19 minutes. uniforms. We can’t have any nonscientists. They Mr. PAUL. Thank you. Even more troubling than that, there wouldn’t understand the science. I This is here in Washington, about a was $700,000 worth of ammunition miss- want the scientist who did this to come mile from here. We call it a ‘‘Streetcar ing. You would think we could at least forward and explain why we need this Named Waste.’’ Spending $1.6 million keep up with ammunition. Do you study. There is no point to us spending to study the expansion of the DC think that might be a danger and an this money. There could have been streetcar—and this is a streetcar that insult to our young men and women we something better. nobody is actually riding on. It is a send to Afghanistan, that we can’t ac- I offered one thing to try to fix it. ghost car. Nobody is riding on it. It count for where the ammunition is? I Put a taxpayer advocate on the com- goes nowhere. It goes about a mile, think if you can’t account for it, there mittee approving grants, and I think from nowhere to nowhere, and is much is a decent chance the enemy has your we should have a scientist who isn’t in slower than walking. I walked, and I ammunition or rogue elements in the that field. This is sort of behavioral can outwalk it. We thought about film- Afghan Government—which could be science for Japanese quail, I guess. We ing me in a race with the streetcar to anyone—have sold it on the black mar- need to have somebody who studies di- see who wins, me walking or it driving; ket to make money. abetes, heart disease, cancer, AIDS— once again, going back to some tech- Where does your money go? I want some of the diseases that affect more nology from hundreds of years ago that you to realize as Americans where your people. They need to be on the com- still requires wires to be running down money is going. They spent $500,000 to mittee because they need to be scratch- the street, and it is really not a useful study if selfies make you happier. You ing their heads saying: We can spend it expense of government money. DC gets take selfies of yourself smiling, then on Japanese quail and their sexual hab- a lot of Federal money. you look at them to see if that makes its or we can spend it on diabetes. The Where else do they spend your you happier. Now, you may want to do taxpayer advocate could say: We can money? This is one of my favorites. I this on your own time, but do you want spend it on Japanese quail or maybe we just can’t even imagine who spent this to spend $500,000 of taxpayer money can reduce the debt. Maybe both could money. When I tell you, you will say: when we are a trillion dollars short? happen. Maybe we could reduce the Certainly, that person was fired. No This stuff has been going on with the debt and try to do only better sci- way. He works for the Federal Govern- National Science Foundation since the entific projects. ment. Nobody is ever fired in the Fed- 1970s. William Proxmire was a Senator This one looks like something you eral Government. They spent $700,000 back in the 1970s—a conservative Dem- really want your government to spend to study what Neil Armstrong said ocrat or a Democrat of some stripe. He money on. They spent $150,000 to inves- when he landed on the Moon. Did he used to do the Golden Fleece Award. tigate supernatural events in Alaska. say, ‘‘One small step for man, one giant Many of them went to the National They can look at unexplained lights, leap for mankind,’’ or did he say, ‘‘One Science Foundation around 1972. He animals with transformative powers, small step for a man’’? They wanted to

VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 May 18, 2018 Jkt 079060 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17MY6.007 S17MYPT1 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with SENATE S2740 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE May 17, 2018 study whether the preposition ‘‘a’’ was fices are still open in California, they expensive. You are subsidizing the de- mentioned by Neil Armstrong or are spending money as fast as they can. mand for it. We ought to expand health whether he said: ‘‘One small step for If they don’t spend it, they will not get savings accounts where people pay for man.’’ Where did the money come it next year—use it or lose it. their healthcare. People say: I don’t from? The grant was originally sup- It is a phenomenon of government want to pay for my healthcare. When posed to be for autism. We can debate that has been going on forever. This you pay—when you have skin in the whether the Federal Government kind of stuff happens. As long as you game—you ask the price of things. should be involved in that. It sounds give them more money, they will do it. When the government pays or some- like a much more just study if it had As long as they are rewarded for doing body else pays, you don’t ask the price something to do with autism than the spending, we should study which of things, and the price rises. studying Neil Armstrong’s statement agencies do it. We should study which Competition is the fundamental as- on the Moon. agencies go to Las Vegas and have pect of capitalism, but you have to You can’t make this stuff up. This is their conference there for a million have freely fluctuating prices, which incredibly ridiculous, but it should be dollars, sipping champagne in a hot we don’t in Medicare, Medicaid, and ac- insulting. There should not be a tax- tub. That agency should get less tually mostly private insurance. We payer at home in America who says: money. I think those people actually have never really adjusted the funda- All right. Today they are going to vote did get fired—one of the few people mental problem of healthcare, which is on a budget to cut one penny out of ever fired. that we don’t have capitalism in every dollar. We spent $700,000 on what We could have a debate on another healthcare. Neil Armstrong did or did not say on occasion about climate change, but we What do we do? Because we don’t the Moon. You know what their con- probably agree that a $450,000 app for have enough capitalism, we take more clusion at the end was? They don’t your phone so you can play a climate capitalism away and add more govern- know. It is inconclusive. They listened change game that will, I guess, at- ment, and it is more broken since we to the tape over and over again. Some- tempt to convince you and ensure that have done Obamacare. One of the an- one should be fired. you are convinced that we are having swers—since many Republicans will It also should be a message to our climate change—$450,000 for an app on not vote to repeal ObamaCare—is let us body that we should cut some spend- a phone. Apps are everywhere. People try to start expanding the market- ing. Instead, we have done the oppo- are developing them all the time. Gov- place. site. Under Republican control of the ernment doesn’t need to be spending My budget today could pass if every Senate and the House, we busted the $450,000 for what somebody probably Republican voted for it. If it passes, we budget caps by $300 billion just 2 spends $1,000 in their garage to develop. could move on to doing something like months ago. Part of what my plan Remember ObamaCare, when they expanding the health savings accounts. would do would be to restore the caps. tried to set up the website with mil- This gets to an argument that is an in- They are put in place for a reason, to lions of dollars, and then it failed? Re- side baseball argument that happens in try to control our proclivity to spend member the IRS just 3 weeks ago fail- Washington. They will tell you: Young too much money. We put the budget ing? We need to be very careful about man, you must vote for our budget be- caps in place, then we cut 1 percent a giving government more money. cause the budget is simply a vehicle to year—about $30 billion every year for 5 The budget I am introducing is called do other good things. I look back at years, and then the government would the penny plan budget. It cuts one him and say: If it is a vehicle, and you begin to grow again at about 1 percent. penny out of every dollar. This is im- don’t care what is in it, why not put I know we could live within our portant for the country to see we are something good in it? We always put means. What would happen is this guy having this vote. They are not that ex- something crappy in it that never would be fired, and that kind of study cited to have this vote. We are only works, never balances, and does not would not happen when they have 1 having this vote because the Senate represent who we are as a party. They percent less. Maybe a program like the rules basically mandate it. It can’t be shove it down our throat and say: Vote National Science Foundation would get avoided because Republicans didn’t for it. You have to do it because that is 50 percent less or 75 percent less to create a budget. Democrats didn’t cre- the only way to get to a tax cut. That really put them on notice that we are ate a budget. So I decided, what the is the only way we get to repeal tired, after 30 years of crazy research, heck, I will create my own budget. ObamaCare, although they are not of them continuing without reform. The penny plan budget has come for- really for that anymore. But the thing This was also spent in Afghanistan. ward. If we were to pass this, there are is, they can do it by voting for some- This is your money. They used $850,000 many good things. Through a simple thing they actually are for. Everyone to set up a televised cricket league. majority, we could do many good in our caucus is for the balanced budg- The first problem is, most people don’t things that conservative Republicans et amendment. If we put it forward on have TVs in Afghanistan. Really, a have wanted, like make the tax cuts the floor, they will all vote for it, but televised cricket league? They don’t permanent, and get rid of more regula- there will not be enough votes for it to even have TVs to watch it on. This is tions. We could do the REINS Act, be law, so it is a free vote. This would $850,000 to make them feel better about which would say, new regulations that be the actual platform, the actual sym- their National Cricket League. Boon- are very expensive have to be voted on bol of what we run on and what we do doggle. It has nothing to do with na- by Congress. We should cut out more next year. Yet we will not have a tional defense. It makes us weaker by waste. There are all kinds of things we chance to do that unless they are will- putting us further into debt. could do. ing to do it. Will this get better if we continue to What we have chosen to do in our They want the budget to be meaning- increase money? No, it only gets worse. budget is actually give instructions to less. They want it to be a vehicle, but If you give them more money, they will expand health savings accounts. One of then they want it to be their meaning- spend it. In fact, we have studied the big problems we have in healthcare less symbol, and I can’t do that. I spending at the end of the year. When is rising costs. Costs are going up think there has to be someone left in you get to the end of the year, the gov- about 25 percent a year. The answer the Republican Party who says enough ernment spends money four to five around here has been, I think, lame, is enough. We are not going to not tol- times faster than any other month in uneducated, ill-informed, and counter- erate the waste, spending, and debt, the year. The last 30 days of the fiscal productive. Other than that, they are and we are going to say the same year spending increases every day. In right on target. What they are trying things we said to President Obama: Big fact, on the last day of the fiscal year, to say is: Oh, your individual rates are government spending and debt are you can watch spending accelerate as going up 25 percent a year. Here is wrong. the Sun sets in the West. As offices some money so you can pay for it. It I don’t think we should change this begin to close in the East, the spending does nothing to bring the curve down. because we are in power. When the Re- shifts to the Midwest. As the Sun sets It may accelerate the curve. If you sub- publican Party is out of power, they farther in the western sky and the of- sidize something, it will become more are the conservative party. But the

VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 May 18, 2018 Jkt 079060 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17MY6.009 S17MYPT1 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with SENATE May 17, 2018 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S2741 problem is, when the Republican Party I thank my friend. to get him, they certainly would have is in power, there is no conservative NET NEUTRALITY leaked information about that during party. What I am arguing for today is Madam President, yesterday was a the election campaign. They didn’t. that we should be who we say we are. I good day for the future of the internet. The probe led by Special Counsel urge a ‘‘yes’’ vote on the penny plan Democrats forced the Senate to take Mueller, a Republican and decorated budget. an important step closer to restoring marine veteran, concerns the campaign Madam President, I will reserve the net neutrality. It is another step closer of a hostile foreign power to interfere remainder of my time if I can get an to ensuring that large internet service in and influence the outcome of an update of what I have left. providers don’t get to hold all the American election. There is nothing— The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is cards, another step closer to protecting nothing—more serious to the integrity 9 minutes. equality of access to the internet. In of a democracy than the guarantee of Mr. PAUL. Perfect. Thank you. doing so, Senate Democrats stood with free and fair elections. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who the 86 percent of Americans who oppose The Founding Fathers warned about yields time? the repeal of net neutrality. foreign interference. When I used to Mr. PAUL. I will reserve the bulk of I am proud to say that Senator MAR- read that clause in high school, I said: my time that is remaining and suggest KEY’s Congressional Review Act resolu- What do they mean? That is not going the absence of a quorum. tion passed yesterday afternoon with to happen. Well, they were a lot smart- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without the votes of every single Democrat, as er than we are—as always. They knew objection, it is so ordered. well as three of our Republican col- this danger. Here it is, 2018, and we see The clerk will call the roll. leagues. I thank Senators COLLINS, how real it is. It is the core of the spe- The senior assistant legislative clerk MURKOWSKI, and KENNEDY for sup- cial counsel’s investigation. proceeded to call the roll. Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I porting this fine legislation. The investigation has already yielded ask unanimous consent that the order Here is what my friend the Repub- multiple indictments and guilty pleas. for the quorum call be rescinded. lican Senator from Louisiana had to Yesterday the Senate Intelligence The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without say after the vote: Committee, in a bipartisan manner, objection, it is so ordered. If you trust your cable company, you won’t confirmed that Russia sought to inter- like my vote. If you don’t trust your cable fere with our elections, sow discord, RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY LEADER company, you will like my vote. and tip the scales toward Donald The Democratic leader is recognized. Trump and against Secretary Clinton. Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I He is right. It is that simple. So you The Trump administration itself has ask unanimous consent to use leader have to wonder why 47 Republicans even taken punitive action against time. voted no yesterday. Do they trust the Russia’s actors named in Mueller’s in- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without cable companies and the large ISPs to vestigation. objection, it is so ordered. do what is level best for the average Mr. SCHUMER. Thank you, Madam American family? Do they believe that I salute the chairman of the Intel- President. cable companies are really popular ligence Committee, the Republican Before I get into the substance of my with the American people? I don’t Senator from North Carolina, for being remarks, I always listen diligently to think so. straightforward about this. Not so my friend from Kentucky. There is a Now Republicans in the House have many on the other side of the aisle are. number that is missing in his charts; it to take up this bipartisan resolution. Yet, again this morning, President is 1.5 trillion. The reason we don’t like We hope they will. Trump called the investigation a ‘‘dis- government spending is—he thinks—a This isn’t some partisan stunt. Abso- gusting, illegal, and unwarranted witch lot of it is wasteful, but, ultimately, lutely not. It is a real, bipartisan effort hunt . . . the greatest witch hunt in the reason is also that there is a huge to right the FCC’s wrong and protect American history.’’ The rhetoric this deficit. the free and open internet. It is very man uses is amazing. Our side scratches our heads not only crucial to the future of the country. I say to the President: It is not a with our friend from Kentucky, but House Republicans don’t have to witch hunt when 17 Russians have been with everyone on the other side who choose the same path that the vast ma- indicted. It is not a witch hunt when rails about too much government jority of Republicans in the Senate de- some of the most senior members of spending and creation of the deficit cided to follow. Speaker RYAN should the Trump campaign have been in- when they created the deepest hole bring this up for a vote immediately. dicted. It is not a witch hunt when they could have with the tax break The American people have spoken. The Democrats and Republicans agree with that could have been paid for by clos- Senate has spoken. Speaker RYAN the intelligence community that Rus- ing loopholes. A group—a bipartisan should listen and bring the net neu- sia interfered in our election to aid group—had put something together trality CRA to the floor of the House. President Trump. that would have reduced the corporate RUSSIA INVESTIGATION Any fair-minded citizen, even the rate to 25 percent, brought the money Madam President, 1 year ago, former most ardent partisan, should be able to from overseas at 8, 9 percent, increased FBI Director Robert Mueller was ap- look at the facts and say that this in- the child tax credit, left the individual pointed to lead the FBI’s investigation vestigation is not a witch hunt. The side alone, and would have barely in- into Russia’s interference in the 2016 FBI Director, Christopher Wray, ap- creased the deficit. So our side, at election. Of course, the investigation pointed by President Trump, a Repub- least, rankles when we hear these began long before that. According to lican, said as much yesterday. budgets that relate to deficit spending the New York Times, it began in the Truly, we should all be aghast, on when, on the tax side, that doesn’t middle of 2016 as a result of informa- this 1-year anniversary of Mueller’s ap- seem to apply at all. tion we received from the Australian pointment, at the smear campaign by I say that with due respect to my Ambassador, who told the FBI that the President and his allies. We should good friend, who I know is sincere in Russian intelligence was working to all be aghast at the relentless parade of his beliefs. He will argue with me that share information with the Trump conspiracies manufactured by the most cutting taxes increases the economy. I campaign. extreme elements of the Republican would say that spending money on edu- At that time, we heard a lot about Party and conservative media to dis- cation and infrastructure also in- the FBI’s investigation of Hillary Clin- tract from the special counsel’s inves- creases the economy. It is a slippery ton’s emails, but remarkably, we heard tigation. From ‘‘deep state’’ leaks to slope once you say: We can cut all the nothing about this other investigation. unmasking requests, phone taps at taxes we want; the deficit doesn’t mat- Now we know that one of those two in- Trump Tower, Uranium One, Nunes’s ter. It would be like our side saying: vestigations is much more serious than midnight run to the White House, and You can spend all the money you want; the other one was. We also know that if the Nunes memo—these are all at- the deficit doesn’t matter. We don’t it were a witch hunt—as the President tempts to derail a legitimate and im- quite say that. seems to think it is—if they were out portant investigation.

VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 May 18, 2018 Jkt 079060 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17MY6.010 S17MYPT1 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with SENATE S2742 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE May 17, 2018 Now House conservatives are badg- pursuit of the unvarnished truth on been talking about this, is that sexual ering DOJ officials for classified docu- such an important issue. harassment and discrimination in the ments, hunting desperately for any I yield the floor. workplace is far more pervasive and scrap of information that would help The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- egregious than we previously might them sully the investigation. By the ator from New York. have recognized. way, for all of their ranting and raving MEASURE READ THE FIRST TIME—S. 2872 We have all witnessed harassment and interfering, they don’t have a scin- Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Madam Presi- and discrimination. We all see what it tilla of evidence to support that this is dent, I understand there is a bill at the actually does to society—whether it is a witch hunt, that this is unfair, or desk, and I ask for its first reading. happening in factories, in restaurants, that this is politically motivated. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The in Hollywood, in the Halls of Congress, The President and his allies don’t clerk will read the bill by title for the or right here in this building. But the quit with all these conspiracy theories, first time. difference is that while practically with all these ridiculous fomentations. The senior assistant legislative clerk every other industry in the country Frankly, it is because they are afraid read as follows: seems to be taking this issue far more of what Mueller’s investigation will re- A bill (S. 2872) to amend the Congressional seriously and at least trying to make veal. Accountability Act of 1995 to reform the pro- an effort to change their workplaces, Every American who looks at the cedures provided under such Act for the ini- Congress is dragging its feet. President’s actions says that he is tiation, investigation, and resolution of Once again, a problem is staring us afraid of what the Mueller investiga- claims alleging that employing offices of the right in the face, and we are looking tion will reveal. Yet the volume of legislative branch have violated the rights the other way. Enough is enough. We mistruth, the weight of all the distor- and protections provided to their employees should do better. We have waited 100 tion and fabrication is hurting our de- under such Act, including protections days, and we should not have to wait mocracy. against sexual harassment and discrimina- any longer. tion, and for other purposes. The double standard is enormous. So I urge my colleagues to do the The Times article shows no leaks when Mrs. GILLIBRAND. I now ask for a right thing now, to support this bill. Trump was under investigation during second reading and, in order to place Fix this system here in Congress that the campaign; obviously, it was made the bill on the calendar under the pro- is failing our staffers on this issue of public when Hillary Clinton was. visions of rule XIV, I object to my own sexual harassment. This one is as easy Again, if this were a witch hunt, why request. as it gets. So let’s have a vote and let’s didn’t the FBI, which the President The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- pass it. seems to feel is politically motivated tion having been heard, the bill will be I yield the floor. with no scintilla of proof—why read for the second time on the next The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- wouldn’t they leak it? legislative day. ator from South Carolina. One more point before I leave the Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Madam Presi- Mr. GRAHAM. Madam President, I floor—yesterday, the words of former dent, 100 days ago, the House of Rep- appreciate being recognized. I am going Secretary Tillerson were these: ‘‘If our resentatives voted unanimously to pass to talk about a budget proposal by my leaders seek to conceal the truth or we the Congressional Accountability Act colleague from Kentucky, Senator as a people become accepting of alter- of 1995 Reform Act, the bill that would PAUL. native realities that are no longer fix the way we deal with sexual harass- To those who want to balance our grounded in facts, then we as American ment and discrimination here in Con- budget and get us out of debt, count me citizens are on the pathway to relin- gress. in. How do we do that? I would like to quishing our freedom.’’ The current system is broken. It do it without destroying the military. I He is exactly right. When distortion, makes no sense that a staffer who is would like not to open up the wound lies, and intimidation come repeatedly sexually harassed or discriminated when it comes to the effects of seques- from the other side and some conserv- against has to possibly wait months for tration. ative news media, and that becomes mediation, for counseling, or for a Unfortunately, Senator PAUL’s ap- the accepted way, when it is just he cooling off before she or he is able to proach is devastating to the military. said, she said, where one side is bla- even file a claim. It creates unpredictability at a time tantly lying, and that becomes accept- This bill would also make sure that when we need predictability. It throws ed, our democracy is at risk. when a Member of Congress has sexu- us back into the old system where no- We are a beautiful thing here—found- ally harassed or discriminated against body knows what is going to happen. ed on facts, real facts. What we have someone on their staff, the taxpayers Let me tell you about how you bal- seen from the President and some of are not left holding the bag. That is ance the budget and get us out of debt. his allies, the way they are behaving, what the bill does. There is no reason- In 2008, this blue line represents dis- makes you worry about the future of able excuse for anyone to stand in the cretionary spending. This is about 30 this democracy. way. percent of overall Federal spending. Ultimately, I have a firm belief that Our constituents do not deserve to You can see that from 2008 to 2028 it they will not succeed. The Founding have their hard-earned dollars paying has been relatively flat. In the budget Fathers were geniuses—geniuses—when for these settlements. What they de- agreement we entered into just a few they set up a system of checks and bal- serve is a vote on this reform now. But weeks ago, we are spending less on non- ances that we read about in our classes what have we seen since the House defense discretionary spending by $2 and we study, but it is almost mys- acted? Nothing but politics as usual, billion than we did in 2010. This red tical. It always rises to the occasion. It despite having significant bipartisan line represents about the 65 to 70 per- will again, despite the efforts of the support on this issue. cent of Federal spending called entitle- President, despite the efforts of some I thank my colleagues—Minority ments, and it is going through the roof. of his allies who have gone way over- Leader CHUCK SCHUMER, Senator KLO- So if you want to balance the budget, board; I might mention Chairman BUCHAR, and Senator MURRAY—for you have to deal with the red line. You NUNES on the other side. I believe the their strong leadership on this issue can’t take it all out of the blue line. checks and balances of this country and all of their efforts to pass this bill Sequestration has taken about $1 will hold, and we will eventually find in the Senate. They have been great trillion out of the military. I com- out the truth, no matter where it leads. partners in trying to move this for- pliment President Trump for entering Today is a good day to remember ward. into a budget agreement that will re- that the special counsel’s investigation It is long since time that we should store funding to the military at a time is serious, it is nonpartisan, and it is be acting on this issue. We need to pass when we need it the most. critical to the integrity of our democ- this bill and send it to the President’s What did sequestration do to the racy. We must allow it to proceed with- desk so he can sign it into law, because military? According to Secretary out political interference, without in- what we have seen so clearly, after the Mattis, ‘‘no enemy in the field has done timidation, to follow all the facts in several months and years that we have more to harm the combat readiness of

VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 May 18, 2018 Jkt 079060 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17MY6.011 S17MYPT1 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with SENATE May 17, 2018 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S2743 our military than sequestration.’’ do you get $13 trillion if you take So- I can tell you this: $404.8 billion is What a stunning statement that is. In cial Security and defense off the table? coming out of the fiscal year 2019 budg- other words, Congress has sunk more Well, we won’t because you can’t. et. If you believe we can do that with- ships, shot down more planes, and So to those who claim to be defense out affecting the military, then the taken more soldiers off the battlefield hawks—which I proudly claim to be— last 7 or 8 years seems not to have than any enemy. this is a symbolic vote. Yes, the sym- meant anything, because for the last 6 Under sequestration, we are at the bolism here is that we don’t care about or 7 years we have been cutting the smallest level for the Navy since 1915, predictability when it comes to defense military a lot because of a budget the smallest Army since 1940, and the spending, that we are undercutting the agreement that everybody thought smallest Air Force in modern history. agreement we achieved just a month would never happen. Nobody believed That is about to change with the budg- ago to give the military the funds they that sequestration would actually hit, et agreement—$700 billion for the mili- need to defend this Nation. that we would do $1 trillion over a dec- tary to retool, to buy new equipment, Now, if you live in a world where the ade. The sequestration clause was a to have more people so that our sol- military is small and we don’t have penalty clause to urge people to get it diers, sailors, airmen, and marines can any troops deployed anywhere, this right by putting the Defense Depart- spend a little bit of time with their might work. On September 10, 2001, we ment at risk, with 50 percent of seques- families instead of being deployed all didn’t have one soldier in Afghanistan. tration cuts coming out of defense. The the time. So I applaud Senator PAUL’s We didn’t have an embassy, and not reason they put it on the table is be- zeal to balance the budget. one dime in foreign aid went to Af- cause they thought Congress wouldn’t What I want to do is to expose what ghanistan. The next day, we got at- be dumb enough to actually get into this budget actually does. If you are a tacked, coming from Afghanistan, be- sequestration. Guess what. We were defense hawk, you should be against cause radical Islam will not leave you that dumb. According to General this approach because it does the one alone just because you want to leave Mattis, we have done more damage to thing we can’t afford to do. It creates them alone. the military than any enemy in the unpredictability when it comes to our President Trump is right to rebuild field since 9/11—what a title to claim as national defense strategy. the military. He campaigned on setting a Congress. At times like this, I miss Senator aside sequestration. It was dumb. It This budget throws us back into that MCCAIN because I know he would be hollowed out our force. It has been a situation on steroids. So, symbolically, here with me. nightmare for our military. Planes I stand for balancing the budget, doing Under this proposal, we are going to have been falling out of the sky. it in a responsible way that has entitle- cut $404.8 billion next year. How much What does this budget do? It puts us ment reform as the heart of the effort comes out of defense? Well, we will fig- back into a level of unpredictability. It in a bipartisan fashion. ure that out later. We know $6 billion requires $404 billion out of the 2019 Symbolically, I will not vote for a has to come out of it, but it effectively budget. It says that $6 billion has to budget that does not give the Depart- sets aside the budget agreement that come from defense. After that, we don’t ment of Defense the resources they plussed up defense. Over the next dec- know. need and the predictability they need ade, $13.358 trillion will be cut. Of that, Here is what I know. It is going to to protect this country. That is what how much comes out of defense? Well, undercut everything we have done to this budget does. we will figure that out later. provide predictability. At the end of So to those of us on the Armed Serv- Let me tell you what that means to the day, this budget puts everything ices Committee, you should know bet- the military: devastation. Here is what every defense person has been hoping ter. You should know that of the $13.5 Secretary Mattis said on April 26 about for in jeopardy. It takes the efforts of trillion being cut over the next decade, predictability: We need predictability President Trump to rebuild the mili- a lot of it is going to come out of de- fense if it actually was a reality. If you so that we can actually put a strategy tary and throws it in a ditch, because if take defense and Social Security off into effect. If you do not have a budget you take Social Security off the table, the table, it is a joke. Now is not the that reflects the strategy, it does not if you took defense off the table, then time to be funny. Now is the time to be work. you can’t get there from here. Do you serious. I am deadly serious about vot- Under the budget agreement, we have want to destroy the FBI, the CIA, the ing against any budget that doesn’t predictability for the next couple of Department of Justice, the NIH? give the military the predictability years. We are restoring the cuts, and This is a symbolic statement. These they need to defend this Nation. This we have to build on what we have done budgets usually don’t get many votes. I budget throws our military in a ditch, in the next 2 years through the next 10 am tired of symbolism at the expense and I am tired of doing that. years. of our fighting men and women. I am going to vote no. I urge every- Here is my message. I will engage in What does this budget proposal do? It one who cares about Defense Depart- entitlement reform. Senator PAUL had destroys predictability. It requires ment funding and predictability to an entitlement reform bill for Medi- $404.8 billion, and it doesn’t tell the De- vote no. Balance the budget, yes. partment of Defense how much they care. I joined with him. As for Social Throw the military to the wolves, no. are going to have to pay. We know $6 Security, to my friends on the other I yield the floor. billion. side, let’s do something like Simpson- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- Here is what I would suggest. If the Bowles. Let’s go ahead and find a way ator from Oregon. past is any indication of the future, our to do entitlement reform and deal with CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND friends on the other side are not going the discretionary budget, not in a hap- HARASSMENT REFORM BILL to let us exempt defense. Sequestration hazard guessing kind of way. Mr. MERKLEY. Madam President, I was half out of defense, half out of non- Count me in for wanting to balance am pleased to be here on the floor in defense, and left entitlements pretty the budget, but you have to go where support of my colleague Senator GILLI- much alone. the money is. You have to do what BRAND’s bill, the Congressional Ac- Senator PAUL says we are not going Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill did. We countability and Harassment Reform to deal with Social Security. Social Se- have to do things for Medicare like the Act. I am pleased that so many Mem- curity is going broke. Somebody needs Gang of Six, Simpson-Bowles. What I bers of the Senate have supported the to deal with it. Ronald Reagan and Tip will not symbolically lend my vote to earlier version of the bill and are sign- O’Neill dealt with it by adjusting the is an approach to balance the budget ing up to support this version as well. age of retirement to save Social Secu- that doesn’t give you a clue about how It has been 100 days since the House rity benefits. So when you take Social much money we are going to spend on acted on a significant and substantive Security off the table—and let’s say, the military for the next decade. That, reform of the process here in Congress magically, that everybody agreed with by its very nature, undercuts all of the on how we address sexual harassment. me that we should not undercut the de- gains we have achieved to rebuild the There have been plenty of stories about fense budget, that we should actually military, to throw the military budget how unacceptable the current system add to it and give predictability—how to the wolves. is.

VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 May 18, 2018 Jkt 079060 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17MY6.013 S17MYPT1 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with SENATE S2744 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE May 17, 2018 In spite of how far women’s rights fairness, for transparency, and for ac- agencies in our government to protect and equality have come in America, countability and to bring this bill to our national security. too many women continue to face in- the floor immediately. Surely a person who is seeking to be equality, discrimination, and harass- The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. SUL- the Director of the CIA in 2018 should ment day in and day out. Our congres- LIVAN). The Senator from Massachu- agree with this assessment or be able sional workplace is not immune to setts. to give a really good explanation of that. NOMINATION OF GINA HASPEL why not. Someone seeking to be the The world is changing, and the world Ms. WARREN. Mr. President, I am Director of the CIA should be able to is changing quickly, and movements here to express my strong opposition to state clearly that torture is wrong, but like the ‘‘me too.’’ campaign are fi- President Trump’s nomination of Gina when repeatedly asked a yes-or-no nally giving women the voice they need Haspel to be the next Director of the question by my colleague Senator to stand up and say no more. Central Intelligence Agency. There are KAMALA HARRIS: Were the CIA’s ac- Yet, in spite of this tide of change, two reasons I oppose this nomination: tions immoral, Ms. Haspel danced the Senate refuses to act on our unac- Ms. Haspel’s support for torture and around the answer. These are not the ceptably obscure, complex, and dif- her willingness to destroy evidence of answers of a person who can be trusted ficult system for staff members to ad- the CIA’s use of torture. to administer the powerful CIA. dress sexual harassment and discrimi- For years, apologists for the CIA’s That question of trust goes to my nation—a system that is difficult to program have tried to redescribe this second objection: The Director of the navigate and void of transparency. It inhumane practice to make it seem CIA will make many decisions that will needs to change. It must change. One less appalling to the American people. be held in secret and never reviewed by hundred days ago, the House said abso- They have even renamed it. Torture the American people. It is critical we lutely it must change, and we have has been rebranded as ‘‘enhanced inter- trust her judgment and that we have seen no bill allowed to come to the rogation.’’ complete confidence in her honesty and floor to address it in the Senate. There is no way to hide the basic willingness to submit to congressional The House did its duty. They put for- facts. The techniques used by the CIA oversight. I do not have that con- ward a vision of updating and strength- were torture: waterboarding so the per- fidence in Ms. Haspel, and here is why. ening procedures to protect women son had the repeated sensation of As we now know from the public re- from sexual harassment and to address drowning, confining people to small ports, between October and December it, should it occur. Now it is time for boxes for hours on end, depriving peo- of 2002, Ms. Haspel oversaw a CIA pris- the Senate to act, to hold ourselves to ple of sleep for days, forcing people to on in Thailand. Under her leadership, a much higher standard, to lead by ex- hold painful stress positions. at least one detainee was waterboarded ample on Capitol Hill and for the rest The CIA did not invent these tactics. and subjected to other torture meth- of the Nation, to give those who work Listen to an American war hero de- ods. As far as we know, Ms. Haspel on our team who have been victimized scribe what he endured as a prisoner of raised no objections. by sexual harassment or discrimina- war in Vietnam. According to news reports, in 2005, tion a fair and transparent process to I was being forced to stand up continu- Ms. Haspel recommended that the CIA tell their stories, to pursue justice, to ously—sometimes they’d make you stand up destroy 92 videotapes of interrogations be free from the fear of professional or or sit on a stool for a long period of time. I’d of detainees. CIA officials remember, political retribution. That is exactly stood up for a couple of days, with a respite at the time, Ms. Haspel was one of ‘‘the what the Congressional Accountability only because one of the guards—the only real staunchest advocates inside the build- and Harassment Reform Act does. It human being that I ever met over there—let ing for destroying the tapes’’—‘‘the me lie down for a couple of hours while he requires sexual harassment awareness was on watch in the middle of one night. staunchest advocates inside the build- training. It simplifies a process for ing for destroying the tapes.’’ She went staffers to file complaints. It elimi- Speaking about his captors, this so far as to draft the order for her boss, nates a mandatory, laborious process former American POW said: the Director of the National Clandes- of required counseling and mediation. They bounced me from pillar to post, kick- tine Service, to sign, urging them to ing and laughing and scratching. After a few It protects a victim’s option to pub- hours of that, ropes were put on me and I sat use ‘‘an industrial strength shredder,’’ licly discuss their claims. It prohibits that night bound with ropes. just to make sure they were com- members found responsible for such be- They beat me around a little bit. I was in pletely destroyed. havior from using government funds— such bad shape that when they hit me it Ms. Haspel destroyed these tapes de- their office funds—to settle the claims, would knock me unconscious. They kept say- spite Federal court orders requiring and it requires all settlements to be ing, ‘‘You will not receive any medical treat- the preservation of the CIA’s records, disclosed publicly unless the victim ment until you talk.’’ despite the objections of Members of prefers otherwise. No longer would we I was getting about three or four spoonfuls Congress, and against the order of the of food twice a day. Sometimes I’d go for a be able to silence the victims or hide day or so without eating. Director of National Intelligence, the the misdeeds of the perpetrators from I had learned what we all learned over CIA Director, two White House Coun- the American people. there: Every man has his breaking point. I sels, and senior Department of Justice I understand Members on the floor of had reached mine. . . . I had been reduced to officials. In a convenient coincidence the Senate may say: I want to hide an animal during this period of beating and for Ms. Haspel, the tapes she ordered from my actions; I want to pay off any torture. destroyed reportedly documented the settlement with my government funds, These are the words of Senator JOHN interrogation of detainees at the very but being able to hide from your ac- MCCAIN—our distinguished colleague, same CIA prison in Thailand that Ms. tions is unacceptable, and using gov- the senior Senator from Arizona, a Haspel previously supervised. Even ernment funds to pay off the situation decorated Naval aviator who was beat- more conveniently, some of the tapes is completely unacceptable. en, broken, and tortured for 2 years reportedly documented the interroga- Action is way past due. I am glad to after being captured in North Vietnam. tion of the very detainee who was join with my colleagues Senator GILLI- No matter how you dress it up, tor- waterboarded under Ms. Haspel’s lead- BRAND, Senator WARREN, Senator HAR- ture is torture, and it is wrong. It is in- ership. RIS, and Senator MURRAY—so many humane, it is infective, and it is un- When Senator ANGUS KING asked who have come into this battle of American. about her destruction of the tapes, Ms. equality, fairness, and fighting for That was the conclusion of the 2014 Haspel could come up with no credible those who have been victimized. That Senate Intelligence Committee report explanation. How can we trust her to is what this act is about, and it is not on the CIA’s Detention and Interroga- be fully forthright with Congress in the acceptable that for 100 days the leader- tion Program during the Bush adminis- future if she cannot acknowledge ship of this body has sat on this bill, tration. The committee drew a defini- missteps of the past? blocking it from being considered. tive conclusion: Torture did not work. Ms. Haspel had numerous opportuni- Let us recognize that we have a re- In fact, not only does torture not work, ties to question the directives she was sponsibility to our team members for it makes it more difficult for other given during this era. According to the

VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:06 May 18, 2018 Jkt 079060 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17MY6.014 S17MYPT1 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with SENATE May 17, 2018 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S2745 Senate Intelligence Committee report, first serving as a public safety officer colleague Senator RAND PAUL from other CIA officers regularly called into and later becoming a police officer Kentucky. question the effectiveness and safety of with the Yarmouth Police Department, This is a budget that would lead to the techniques being used but not Gina where he served for 8 years. Sergeant devastating cuts to Medicare, Med- Haspel. It was happening right before Gannon loved working with police icaid, Social Security, and education, her eyes, and she did nothing to stop it. dogs, and he was the first full-time while paving the way for even more tax While her colleagues questioned the le- K–9 narcotics officer at the Yarmouth breaks to the top 1 percent and large, gitimacy of the CIA’s program, accord- PD. His loyal patrol dog, Near-Oh, was profitable corporations. ing to public reports, Ms. Haspel vigor- seriously injured in the incident that Make no mistake about it: Senator ously defended it. According to those claimed Sergeant Gannon’s life, but he PAUL’s budget is an immoral budget. It same reports, the Trump White House is expected to recover and return to the is bad economic policy. While I am con- reviewed CIA message logs that ‘‘made Gannon family. fident that this resolution will be de- it clear just how accepting she had Sergeant Gannon had a huge heart feated in the Senate, let me be very been of since disavowed interrogation and spent his free time volunteering clear. Senator PAUL’s vision of America— techniques.’’ with Big Brothers, Big Sisters, trav- balancing the budget on the backs of The fact is, so far as the record indi- eling, enjoying the outdoors, and work- working families, the elderly, the sick, cates, the only action Ms. Haspel has ing with his hands. the children, and the poor in order to taken with regard to U.S. torture prac- Thousands of mourners, including make the richest people in America tices has been to do her best to cover it law enforcement officials from across even richer—is the exact same vision of the country, gathered to pay their re- up. the Republican Party in the House and Why relitigate the choices that were spects at Sergeant Gannon’s wake—a the Republican Party in Washington, made during those dark days after 9/11? testament to the high esteem with DC. Because this matters, especially with a which his community held him and to So let me commend Senator PAUL for President like Donald Trump. As a can- the power of his sacrifice. being honest with the American people didate, Donald Trump said he would Yarmouth police chief Frank in terms of what he believes and for ‘‘bring back a hell of a lot worse than Frederickson calls Sergeant Gannon putting down on paper what a majority waterboarding’’ because even ‘‘if it the ‘‘Tom Brady of our department’’ of Republicans in the House and bil- doesn’t work, they deserve it anyway.’’ and posthumously promoted him to the lionaire campaign contributors like As President, Donald Trump pulled rank of sergeant. the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson back from his plan to reinstate the use Last month, I spoke with Sergeant believe. of secret CIA prisons overseas only Gannon’s wife, Dara, and his parents, And this is what they want. after overwhelming bipartisan outrage. Patrick and Denise, to offer my condo- At a time of massive wealth and in- The stakes are high. The use of tor- lences, my thoughts, and my prayers, come inequality, Senator PAUL and the ture is one of the darkest chapters in and I continue to hold them in my Republicans in the House do not be- our Nation’s modern history. We can- heart. lieve that it was good enough to pro- not give this President any reason to Next year, Sergeant Gannon’s name vide over $1 trillion in tax breaks to drag this country back. We cannot will be added to the National Law En- the wealthiest people and most profit- allow any room for that mistake to forcement Officers Memorial, recog- able corporations. The budget that we occur again. nizing law enforcement officers who are debating today would give the Gina Haspel has spent 33 years at the have made the ultimate sacrifice in wealthy and the powerful an even big- CIA. She has a decorated career and service to their communities. We owe ger tax break. has sacrificed for this country in many Sergeant Gannon and all of them a Last year, the congressional leader- ways Americans will never know. I deep debt of gratitude. They died as he- ship came up with a bill to throw 32 have no doubt her current and former roes. million Americans off of health insur- colleagues who praise her as a patriot I would also like to recognize the five ance. Senator PAUL and many Repub- are sincere, but patriotism and judg- Massachusetts officers whose names licans in the House do not believe that ment are not the same thing. Someone were added to the memorial this year. bill went far enough. The budget we are who puts protecting the Agency above Patrolman Seth A. Noyes, of the Bos- debating today would throw up to 45 following the law cannot be trusted. ton Police Department, died on Octo- million Americans off of Medicaid. When announcing his opposition to ber 18, 1870, from injuries sustained in A few months ago, President Trump Gina Haspel’s nomination, Senator the line of duty. He was 41 years old. proposed a budget calling for Medicare MCCAIN recently said that ‘‘the meth- Sergeant John J. Shanahan, of the Re- to be cut by nearly $500 billion. Sen- ods we employ to keep our nation safe vere Police Department, died on No- ator PAUL and a majority of Repub- must be as right and just as the values vember 19, 1928, when he was hit by a licans do not believe those cuts went far enough. The budget we are debating we aspire to live up to and promote in truck while directing traffic around today would cut Medicare by up to $3.3 the world.’’ I agree with Senator the scene of a car accident. He was 54 trillion over the next decade. MCCAIN, and I urge my colleagues to years old. Patrolman Jeremiah J. At a time when 10,000 people die each reject her nomination. O’Connor, of the Lawrence Police De- and every year waiting for their Social NATIONAL POLICE WEEK partment, died on November 14, 1950, Security disability benefits to be proc- Mr. President, I rise to honor the when he had a heart attack after pur- essed, Donald Trump’s budget proposed lives of six Massachusetts police offi- suing a subject. He was 61 years old. making a bad situation even worse by cers who lost their lives in the line of Patrolman Frederick A. Bell, of the cutting the Social Security Disability duty. On April 12, our Commonwealth Newton Police Department, died on Insurance Program. suffered a terrible loss when Sergeant September 5, 1954, 4 months after he Senator PAUL and a majority of Re- Sean Gannon of the Yarmouth Police suffered severe injuries in a car crash. publicans do not believe that those Department was killed while serving He was 39 years old. Sergeant Raymond cuts went far enough. The Paul budget an arrest warrant. He was only 32 years P. Cimino, of the Chelsea Police De- would not only cut Social Security for old. partment, died on February 28, 1985, the disabled, his budget would cut the A native of New Bedford, MA, Ser- after suffering a heart attack. He was entire Social Security program by $442 geant Gannon graduated from Bishop 44 years old. billion over the next decade compared Stang High School in North Dartmouth We honor their service, we honor to current law. and then earned a bachelor’s degree in their sacrifice, and most importantly, Overall, Senator PAUL’s resolution criminal justice from Westfield State we honor the lives they led and the leg- calls for slashing the budget by more University and a master’s in emer- acies they leave behind. than 51 percent by the end of the dec- gency management from the Massa- Mr. President, I yield the floor. ade. chusetts Maritime Academy. Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, this Not too long ago, if someone pro- After college, Sergeant Gannon morning we will be voting on a budget posed ending Social Security, Medi- jumped headfirst into public service, resolution written by my Republican care, and Medicaid as we know it so

VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:06 May 18, 2018 Jkt 079060 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17MY6.016 S17MYPT1 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with SENATE S2746 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE May 17, 2018 that billionaires could get a huge tax Let us not only defeat the Paul reso- $300 billion in interest. What happens break, that would have been considered lution, but let us have the guts to take when interest rates rise? The Federal a radical and extreme agenda. Today it on the greed of Wall Street, the greed Reserve has artificially kept interest is the mainstream position of the Re- of the pharmaceutical and healthcare rates low. What about when interest publican Party in Washington. industry, the greed of Big Oil, and the rates go to 5 percent? Could that hap- The reality is that Republicans in greed of corporate America and break pen? Yes. Could it be precipitated by a Washington have never believed in So- up the oligarchy that is destroying the foreign nation no longer buying our cial Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Fed- social fabric of our society. debt? Yes. eral assistance in education, or pro- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- If interest rates were to go to 5 per- viding any direct government assist- ator from Kentucky. cent currently, I don’t know that we ance to those in need. They have al- Mr. PAUL. Mr. President, shortly, we would be able to manage our debt. That ways believed that tax breaks for the will be voting on the penny plan budg- would probably be a doubling of our in- wealthy and the powerful would some- et. This is a budget that cuts one penny terest payment, or more—$600 billion. how miraculously trickle down to out of every dollar. If we do nothing and the Federal Re- every American, despite all history and As we have gone through time and serve is able to keep our interest rates evidence to the contrary. again, we have seen that there is so in the 2 percent range, interest rates Needless to say, and I am only speak- much waste in government, from will still be about the same as the De- ing for myself, I have a very different $700,000 spent studying Neil Arm- partment of Defense within 10 years. vision of America. strong’s statement on the Moon—did The Department of Defense is about In my view, we need to create a gov- he say ‘‘one small step for man and one $700 billion, and it will grow probably ernment and an economy that works giant leap for mankind,’’ or did he say to $800-and-some-odd billion, but inter- for all of us, not just a handful of bil- ‘‘one small step for a man’’? We spent est rates will be $761 billion within a lionaires. $700,000 trying to discover whether Neil decade. If that is not a threat to our What does that mean? Armstrong said ‘‘a man’’ or just national security, I don’t know what is. It means that instead of giving over ‘‘man.’’ It is a complete boondoggle, a Really what we have is a threat to a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the complete waste of money. But does it our honor as public servants who make top 1 percent and large profitable cor- promises to voters. We came to power porations, we must demand that Wall get better? No, because we keep giving people more money. in Washington because we said Presi- Street, the billionaire class and large, dent Obama spent too much and bor- profitable corporations start paying Some have come to the floor and said: Well, this is just an end-around rowed too much. We said it over and their fair share in taxes. over and over again until voters chose Instead of trying to abolish the es- attempt to cut military spending. We can’t cut any military spending. us. But what if, when we come into tate tax, which impacts less than two- power, we forget who we are? When Re- tenths of 1 percent, we must substan- That is simply not true. The penny plan budget says nothing about cutting publicans are in the minority, they are tially increase the inheritance tax not the conservative party. The problem is only to bring in needed revenue, but to military spending. The penny plan budget says this: We cut 1 percent of that when the Republicans become the dismantle the oligarchs that now con- majority, there is no conservative trol so much of our economic and polit- the budgetary spending. Where it is cut in the budget is left up to the appro- party. ical lives. What I am arguing for today is to cut priations committees. It could be cut Instead of making it easier for cor- one penny out of every dollar. There is equally, or it could be cut more in porations to avoid paying U.S. taxes by waste from top to bottom in every de- some areas and less in other areas. We stashing their cash in the Cayman Is- partment of government, including the could cut some from military; we could lands, we need to crack down on off- military. shore tax haven abuse and use this rev- cut zero from military. It is left up to Defense Logistics—they build stuff. enue to create 15 million good-paying the appropriators. They have $800 million they say is American jobs rebuilding our crum- Some would argue: Well, it doesn’t missing. bling infrastructure. define where it would come from. Defense spending or military spend- Instead of cutting Social Security, Well, that is the job of the appropri- ing in Afghanistan—$700 million of am- we need to expand Social Security so ators and the job of the Senate to vote munition missing. Do we think that that every American can retire with up or down on it. might be a little bit worrisome given the dignity and the respect they de- To those who argue that unlimited all the different characters in the Af- serve. We pay for that by making sure spending for the military is good for ghan civil war? There is $700 million in everyone who makes over $250,000 a our national security, they might want ammunition that cannot be accounted year pays the same percentage of their to think about whether there is a pos- for and $28 million in uniforms that income into Social Security as the sible problem in that China has $1 tril- cannot be accounted for. middle class. lion worth of our debt. They built a $45 million gas station Instead of cutting Medicare, we need Let’s say for some reason there was a in Afghanistan, but it is for natural to guarantee healthcare as a right to conflict in the South China Sea and we gas. The first problem is that they every man, woman, and child in Amer- were somehow involved militarily don’t have cars in Afghanistan. The ica through a Medicare for all, single- there. What if China were to say: We second problem is that none of them payer healthcare program. are going to dump your dollars. We are run on natural gas. So how did we fix Instead of slashing Federal aid to going to dump your Treasury bills. that problem? We bought them cars. education, we must make every public Could they wreak havoc, dumping $1 We bought them cars that run on nat- college and university in America tui- trillion? Yes. Would it hurt their as- ural gas, and they still couldn’t afford tion free, and we pay for that by impos- sets? Yes, but it could be used as a the gas, so we gave them credit cards. ing a tax on Wall Street speculation. If weapon against the United States. How moronic are we as a people to we could bail out Wall Street 10 years Our insecurity is our enormous keep flushing money down a rat hole in ago, we can tax Wall Street so that debt—$21 trillion. Afghanistan—nearly $50 billion. every American who has the desire and In some ways, the budget vote is What I am asking is that we cut 1 the ability can get a higher education symbolism, but the question is whether percent—1 penny out of every dollar. regardless of their income. that symbolism will be who we are as a Could we save some in the military? Instead of listening to the Koch Republican Party or whether that sym- Absolutely. Is this done to punish the brothers, Sheldon Adelson, and other bolism will be that we are simply the military? No. It is to make us stronger multibillionaire campaign contribu- same as the Democrats, that we simply as a country. Could the military suffer tors, it is time to start listening to the don’t care about the debt, we don’t a 1-percent cut and actually become overwhelming majority of Americans care that interest on the debt is the more efficient? Absolutely. It is not a who want a government and an econ- second biggest item. question of whether our military budg- omy that works for the many, not just After the Defense Department—about et is too big or too small; it is a ques- the few. $700 billion—the next biggest item is tion of whether our military mission is

VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:06 May 18, 2018 Jkt 079060 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A17MY6.004 S17MYPT1 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with SENATE May 17, 2018 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S2747 too large. We are at war in half a dozen Department of Commerce—$14 billion— My concern is—and I think Senator countries or more. We have 6,000 troops and the Department of Education—$70 GRAHAM said it very well—in the event in Africa, and I would suspect that billion—I think we could find $30 bil- that we pass this—if it did pass; it there is not one person in 1,000 in lion that we would never know was won’t, but if it did—that is going to be America who knows whom we are gone. a problem and a problem that we can’t fighting or why we are fighting in Afri- The bottom line is whether the debt overcome. ca. is threatening our national security, Right now, our No. 1 concern should But that is not really what this is whether it is threatening the security be defending this Nation. This is the about. It is about spending in every de- of the economic foundation of our opportunity to at least let people know partment of government. It is about country, and I think without question that there is a legitimate vote for con- whether one penny out of every dollar it is. servatives to vote for a strong national is being wasted. This vote is a litmus test for conserv- defense. People say: I am against the waste. I atives. Are you a conservative? Do you I don’t want to send a signal to our am against all the waste. I am against think we could cut one penny out of kids overseas—our kids in battles and the study on Japanese quail to see if every dollar? I think it is a conserv- in harm’s way—that we are not going they are more sexually promiscuous on ative notion that we have long said we to take care of their needs, as we just cocaine. I am against the Neal Arm- are for. Now it is time to step up to the started just a year ago to do. We have strong study on whether he said one plate and actually vote what you say to continue that. man on the Moon or just man on the you stand for. For the sake of our national security, Moon. With that, I yield back my time and I suggest that we vote against the Paul The thing is, we can’t get rid of ask for the yeas and nays. proposal. waste unless we actually reduce top- Mr. INHOFE. Will the Senator yield The PRESIDING OFFICER. The line spending because nobody has any for a moment for a unanimous consent question is on agreeing to the motion incentive to do it. request? to proceed to S. Con. Res. 36. When the sequester first came into The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a The yeas and nays were previously place, even though people didn’t like sufficient second? ordered. it, people throughout government The PRESIDING OFFICER. There The clerk will call the roll. began finding savings. You cannot get does not appear to be a sufficient sec- The bill clerk called the roll. rid of waste in government if you keep ond at this time. Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator giving people more money. Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I ask to is necessarily absent: the Senator from The National Science Foundation has propound a unanimous consent request. Arizona (Mr. MCCAIN). wasted millions and millions of dollars The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the over a 30-year history. William Prox- ator from Oklahoma. Senator from New Jersey (Mr. BOOKER), mire first reported in the early 1970s, Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I ask and the Senator from Illinois (Ms. and he said that one of the first studies that I be recognized for 1 minute. No, I DUCKWORTH) are necessarily absent. was $50,000—back then, that was more don’t. I ask that I be recognized at the The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. money than it is now—to study why conclusion of this vote to explain why FISCHER). Are there any other Senators men like women. Really? That is a the Paul amendment would be dam- in the Chamber desiring to vote? The result was announced—yeas 21, good use of taxpayer funds? aging to our national security. That is This year, we will spend $1 trillion we my unanimous consent request. nays 76, as follows: don’t have. There will be nearly a $1 The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there [Rollcall Vote No. 99 Leg.] trillion deficit this year. That is what objection? YEAS—21 Without objection, it is so ordered. we complained about under President Barrasso Fischer Moran Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask for Obama, was big, annual $1 trillion defi- Cornyn Flake Paul the yeas and nays. Crapo Grassley Risch cits. Are we going to be the party that The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a Cruz Johnson Rubio is actually true to what we say we are sufficient second? Daines Kennedy Sasse for, that we are fiscally conservative? Enzi Lankford Scott There appears to be a sufficient ques- Ernst Lee Toomey Can we not cut one penny out of every tion. NAYS—76 dollar? The yeas and nays were ordered. So I implore my colleagues to think The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- Alexander Hassan Peters long and hard about this vote. Think Baldwin Hatch Portman ator from Oklahoma. Bennet about how the people at home would Heinrich Reed Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, would it Blumenthal Heitkamp Roberts want you to vote. You have gone home be appropriate at this time for me to Blunt Heller Rounds and said you were for a balanced budg- ask for 1 minute prior to the vote? Boozman Hirono Sanders Brown et amendment to the Constitution. The The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there Hoeven Schatz Burr Hyde-Smith Schumer balanced budget amendment to the objection? Cantwell Inhofe Shaheen Capito Isakson Constitution, which virtually all of my Without objection, the Senator from Shelby Republican colleagues voted for, says Oklahoma is recognized for 1 minute. Cardin Jones Carper Kaine Smith we will balance the budget in 5 years. Mr. INHOFE. Thank you very much. Casey King Stabenow Well, we are either honest and serious I know the intentions are good; we Cassidy Klobuchar Sullivan or we are not. So if you can vote for a have voted on the same thing for the Collins Leahy Tester Thune balanced budget amendment that bal- last 5 years. I can tell you right now Coons Manchin Corker Markey Tillis ances the budget, why would you not what the vote result is going to be be- Cortez Masto McCaskill Udall vote for a budget that balances in 5 cause it has been the same for the last Cotton McConnell Van Hollen years? 5 years. Donnelly Menendez Warner Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, will the No one has had a more consistently Durbin Merkley Warren Feinstein Murkowski Whitehouse Senator yield for a unanimous consent conservative record than I have, but I Gardner Murphy Wicker request? would have to say that this would undo Gillibrand Murray Wyden Mr. PAUL. I will finish in a few min- a lot of what we have accomplished Graham Nelson Young Harris Perdue utes. with the last vote to allow us to start It is a canard to say that the cut is rebuilding our systems. We got in a po- NOT VOTING—3 coming from the military. The cut is a sition where we didn’t have brigade Booker Duckworth McCain 1-percent cut. It is $3.2 trillion spent, combat teams that were adequately The motion was rejected. and it is $32 billion that would be cut. prepared to go to battle. Sixty percent Mr. WARNER addressed the Chair. Every year, we send $30 billion to for- of our F–18s were not flying. We are The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- eign countries that hate us. We spend trying to recover from all of these ator from Virginia. nearly $50 billion in Afghanistan every things. We have now started that re- Mr. INHOFE. Madam President, will year. If we were simply looking at the covery. the Senator yield?

VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:06 May 18, 2018 Jkt 079060 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17MY6.018 S17MYPT1 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with SENATE S2748 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE May 17, 2018 Mr. WARNER. The Senator will We have gone through a lot over the Many people at the CIA participated yield. last couple of years, and I appreciate in the program. They were told it was The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- the fact that in terms of timing, he is legal by the Justice Department and ator from Oklahoma. going to allow me to speak first on ordered by the President, but some of Mr. INHOFE. Madam President, I Gina Haspel. the actions undertaken were repugnant thank the Senator, and I appreciate Gina Haspel is among the most quali- and amounted to torture. Since those that very much. fied people to be nominated for the po- days, America has had a long debate I just want to make a brief statement sition of the Director of the CIA. She about the standards that we, as a na- about the vote that just took place. I has served with the Agency for 33 tion, can and should apply to the treat- tried to communicate this, and there years, including tours as a Case Officer, ment of detainees regardless of who wasn’t time before the vote. Right now, four times as a Station Chief, the Dep- they might be. That is why I was one of we have more threats than we have uty Chief of National Resources Divi- the 17 cosponsors in the Senate of the ever had in the history of this country. sion, the Deputy Director of the Na- McCain-Feinstein amendment to pro- I think we all realize that. tional Clandestine Service, and cur- hibit torture and to prohibit any inter- General Dunford said that we are los- rently as the Deputy Director of the rogation techniques not authorized by ing our qualitative and quantitative Agency. In many ways, her story is the U.S. Army Field Manual. That is advantage over our adversaries. He was representative of the thousands of peo- why I voted to both approve and to de- talking about Russia and China, in this ple at the Agency and throughout the classify the Senate Intelligence Com- case. We have adversaries out there intelligence community who serve mittee’s extensive study of the RDI that are actually ahead of us in terms quietly, without recognition, and often program. of their capabilities in artillery and at great personal risk in order to keep I strongly believe that we, as Ameri- other areas. our Nation safe from those who wish to cans, have a duty to look squarely at Here we are, and, quite frankly, we do us harm. our mistakes and not to sweep them knew how this vote was going to come In addition, while she has not empha- under the rug but to learn from them out. I have a list of the same vote that sized this, we should not overlook the and, in the future, to do better. Nor do has taken place for the last 5 years, historic nature of Ms. Haspel’s nomina- I believe that we can excuse torture or and it came out the same way it did be- tion as the first woman to be nomi- the way in which detainees—no matter fore. The point here is that even nated as Director of the CIA. Seeing who they were or what crimes they though it wasn’t going to pass, the her portrait in the halls of the Agency were guilty of—were treated. We are problem is, it is sending a message to next to the long line of former Direc- better than that, and we need a CIA Di- our kids who are out there in harm’s tors will be a long overdue but impor- rector who will ensure in an ironclad way. tant breakthrough for the intelligence way that we will never return to those We look and we see that we have community. days, that we will follow the law as en- started our road to recovery, and it has I would also note that as a Senator acted by Congress. This is why I pushed Ms. Haspel, both been an exciting thing because we from Virginia, the home to thousands in our hearings and in our private came so close to being in a position of CIA personnel and the vice chairman meetings, on this very point: What is where one-third of our brigade combat of the Intelligence Committee, I have her view now of the RDI program? And teams didn’t work. The F–35s in the heard from many Agency officers—and for that matter, members of the rank how will she react if she were asked, as field—the Marines could use less than Director, to undertake something simi- half of them. All of these things were and file of other intelligence commu- nity agencies—and almost to a person, lar in the future? In both our one-on- going on because of what has happened one meetings and in classified sessions to our military. the rank and file have supported her nomination. before the committee, I found Acting Finally, we turned the corner. We Director Haspel to be forthcoming re- turned the corner on the last vote—not Let me be clear. This has not been an easy decision for me. Over the past sev- garding her views on that program. the one we took today but the one we However, I thought it was important took a few months ago—and we now eral weeks, I have held multiple meet- ings and calls with Ms. Haspel and that she say this in public, not just pri- are rebuilding our military. vately, which is why I asked her to me- I had breakfast this morning with many others about her record and her character. In our open hearing, I raised morialize those comments in writing. the Secretary of the Army and with Gina Haspel wrote: ‘‘With the benefit questions about her involvement with the Chief of the Army, and really good of hindsight and my experience as a the rendition, detention, and interroga- things are happening. I can’t think of senior Agency leader, the enhanced in- tion program and, if she were to be anything worse than to send a message terrogation program is not one the CIA confirmed, her willingness to push to our kids in the field that we are should have undertaken.’’ going to go back and undo the positive back if President Trump asked her to I believe this is a clear statement of things that have pulled us up into a undertake any immoral or legally growth as a leader and learning from competitive position. questionable activity. I questioned her mistakes of the past. While I also wish For the sake of our military, for the willingness to declassify, to the extent that she would have been more force- sake of defending America, the vote possible, more information about her ful, I also understand her reluctance to there was to vote against sending the background at the Agency. I still wish condemn the many men and women at wrong message to our kids in harm’s more could be done to discuss her back- the Agency who thought they were way. ground in an open setting. The Agency doing the right thing at that time. I thank Senator WARNER for yielding. just recently has declassified more in- I first met Gina at one of her over- formation about her service with the f seas postings, but I didn’t really get to counterterrorism center. I thank them work with her until this last year, EXECUTIVE SESSION for that but still believe it would have when the former Director appointed been preferable if we could have found her to be Deputy Director of the Agen- a way to be even more transparent. If EXECUTIVE CALENDAR—Continued cy. Over the last year, I have found her she is confirmed as Director, I would to be professional and forthright with Mr. WARNER. Madam President, I encourage Ms. Haspel to keep this in our Intelligence Committee. ask unanimous consent that the Sen- mind. I have had the ability to have candid, ate resume executive session and con- To those here who have concluded unfiltered discussions with her. Wheth- sideration of the Haspel nomination. that Ms. Haspel’s background with the er the challenge we confront is North The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without RDI program should preclude her from Korea, ISIS terrorists, or the long-term objection, it is so ordered. leading the CIA, well, I respect their challenges of countries like China and Mr. WARNER. Madam President, I arguments, and I know the passion Russia, I will feel safer knowing that thank our friend, the chairman of the with which they put forward their posi- the CIA has Ms. Haspel at the helm. committee, the Senator from North tion. I myself struggled with this Most importantly, I believe she is Carolina. point. someone who can and will stand up to

VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:06 May 18, 2018 Jkt 079060 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17MY6.021 S17MYPT1 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with SENATE