Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 116 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION
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E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 116 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 166 WASHINGTON, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2020 No. 29 Senate The Senate met at 9:30 a.m. and was I am dedicated to keeping weapons Army leadership to select Fort Knox called to order by the President pro from dangerous people. That is why I for this new corps headquarters, and, tempore (Mr. GRASSLEY). have introduced the EAGLES Act over obviously, we think they made a great f the past 2 years. This bipartisan, bi- choice. cameral bill reauthorizes and expands Now Fifth Corps will join the eight PRAYER the leading center in threat assessment commands already stationed there, in- The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- and prevention. This bill is a tribute to cluding the Army’s Human Resources, fered the following prayer: the victims and the families. Recruiting, and Cadet Commands. I Let us pray. Also, the Justice Department still have worked for years to help ensure O God, who sustains our universe by hasn’t provided to Congress its report that Fort Knox receives the national Your boundless power, preserve our on the shooting. I hope the Department attention that it deserves. Senators with Your goodness, and rule of Justice will get off the stick. It owes It is really great to see the Army them with Your justice. Lord, we cast it to the families to get this report agrees that its high-quality facilities ourselves entirely upon Your faithful- done. are perfect for this new headquarters. ness, for You are the source of every I yield the floor. The extraordinary work of the Knox blessing. I suggest the absence of a quorum. Regional Development Alliance has Stabilize our lawmakers in the midst The PRESIDING OFFICER. The made it a wonderful place both to live of the contradictions of reality. Grant clerk will call the roll. and to work—both for servicemembers that they will be able to make sense The legislative clerk proceeded to and for their families. out of life’s complexities. Lord, help call the roll. Last year I was proud to host Defense our legislators know the constancy of Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, Secretary Mark Esper in Kentucky to Your presence and the certainty of I ask unanimous consent that the order meet with members of the Fort Knox Your judgment as You guide them with for the quorum call be rescinded. community. I am certainly grateful to The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without Your higher wisdom. him, Secretary McCarthy, and General We pray in Your generous Name. objection, it is so ordered. McConville for recognizing our poten- Amen. f tial. f RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY f PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE LEADER WAR POWERS RESOLUTION The President pro tempore led the The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma- Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: jority leader is recognized. Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, on another matter, today, the Senate I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the f United States of America, and to the Repub- will consider a War Powers Resolution lic for which it stands, one nation under God, FORT KNOX offered by the junior Senator from Vir- indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, ginia. Our colleague’s resolution is The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. yesterday, the U.S. Army and the Com- deeply flawed on a number of levels. BLACKBURN). The Senator from Iowa. monwealth of Kentucky both received As I explained yesterday, it is too Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, I some really great news. blunt and too broad. It is also an abuse ask unanimous consent to speak for 1 Secretary of the Army Ryan McCar- of the War Powers Act, which was de- minute as in morning business. thy and Army Chief of Staff GEN signed to strike a balance between the The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without James McConville announced that Fort President’s constitutional war powers objection, it is so ordered. Knox will be the headquarters for the and Congress’s own war powers and f new Army Corps. They stopped by my oversight responsibilities. office last night to discuss the good Some of us believe the War Powers PARKLAND SHOOTING news. Act went too far in undermining the ANNIVERSARY The new Fifth Corps will support separation of powers and infringing Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, U.S. forces and operations in Europe, upon the authorities of the Commander this Friday marks the 2-year anniver- helping fulfill requirements of the na- in Chief. But apart from that debate, sary of the shooting at the school in tional defense strategy. It is expected everyone should acknowledge that it Parkland, FL, where 17 innocent lives to bring more than 600 additional sol- was designed to stop Vietnams—the de- were lost at the hands of evil. We will diers to Fort Knox. ployment of thousands of troops into never forget that tragic moment and Along with Congressman BRETT sustained combat without congres- day. GUTHRIE and Senator PAUL, I had urged sional authorization, not the one-off ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S999 . VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Feb 13, 2020 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A12FE6.000 S12FEPT1 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with SENATE S1000 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE February 12, 2020 uses of limited force that Presidents toed if it does. If my colleagues want to Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, have carried out literally for centuries. make a real difference, this is not the in order to place the bill on the cal- Until recently, most in this body rec- way to go. endar under the provisions of rule XIV, ognized the need for Presidents to have The amendments my Republican col- I would object to further proceedings. flexibility with respect to the threat of leagues and I have filed expose the The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- military force. They saw the deterrent shortcomings and unintended risks of tion having been heard, the bill will be effect and diplomatic utility of keeping this approach. placed on the calendar. Senator KAINE has drafted a rule of our options open. f During President Obama’s tenure, construction that tries to provide an Democrats said frequently that when it exception allowing U.S. troops to de- RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME fend themselves against an attack if it comes to Iran, we should never take The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under is ‘‘imminent.’’ My amendment exposes the military option off the table. But the previous order, the leadership time the absurdity of this by simply remov- now they seek to use this privileged is reserved. resolution to do precisely that. ing the word ‘‘imminent.’’ The collateral institutional damage How imminent, exactly, is imminent f enough? When do our men and women of this action would fall on our mili- CONCLUSION OF MORNING in uniform get to defend themselves? I tary. Its ability to operate quickly and BUSINESS would like to know. Should our serv- adaptively to emerging threats would icemembers need to sit on intelligence The PRESIDING OFFICER. Morning be jeopardized. until an attack is a week away? A day business is closed. Colleagues, if you want to take the away? An hour away? Until they see truly significant step of preemptively f the whites of the enemy’s eyes? taking options off the table for defend- And who makes the determination EXECUTIVE SESSION ing our troops, if you really want to re- about imminence? Five hundred thirty- move troops from Syria or Iraq alto- five Members of Congress? The Presi- gether, why don’t you just be honest dent? A Pentagon lawyer? A battlefield EXECUTIVE CALENDAR about it and make your case? Find 60 commander? Some young private? The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under votes to pass legislation. Find 67 votes This resolution imposes a new con- the previous order, the Senate will pro- to override a Presidential veto. Don’t straint on the military without an- ceed to executive session to resume use a blunt and imprecise War Powers swering any of those questions. consideration of the following nomina- Resolution to end-run around the con- If we have intelligence warning that tion, which the clerk will report. stitutional structures that make this a an enemy is planning to attack our The legislative clerk read the nomi- difficult proposition by design. forces, can we not disrupt the plot nation of Joshua M. Kindred, of Alas- There is no ongoing, protracted com- until the attack is almost underway? ka, to be United States District Judge bat with respect to Iran. Our troops are Senators COTTON, ROUNDS, and SUL- for the District of Alaska. not mired in unending hostilities. The LIVAN have also filed amendments. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- War Powers Act aims to impose a 60- They propose sensible additions to give ator from Illinois. day clock on combat operations. The our troops and their commanders more strike that killed Soleimani took confidence we aren’t trying to tie their WAR POWERS RESOLUTION maybe 60 seconds. Let me say that hands against precisely the threat they Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, last again. The strike took about 60 sec- might face if Iran were again to be- week the Senate concluded the im- onds. come emboldened enough to attack peachment proceeding. I heard one of Clearly, this is the wrong tool for us—oh, and to make sure we can defend my colleagues say it is the most seri- this subject.