E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 116 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 165 WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2019 No. 63 House of Representatives The House was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Friday, April 12, 2019, at 2:30 p.m. Senate THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2019 The Senate met at 10 a.m. and was CONCLUSION OF MORNING for them. A single-payer healthcare called to order by the President pro BUSINESS system would be devastating for our tempore (Mr. GRASSLEY). The PRESIDING OFFICER. Morning seniors, people with disabilities, and people with preexisting conditions. f business is closed. I yield the floor. f PRAYER RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY LEADER EXECUTIVE SESSION The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma- fered the following prayer: jority leader is recognized. NOMINATION OF DAVID BERNHARDT Let us pray. EXECUTIVE CALENDAR Almighty Savior, the way, the truth Mr. MCCONNELL. Today the Senate and the light, shed Your light today The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under will vote to confirm the President’s upon the pathway of our Senators. Be the previous order, the Senate will pro- choice to serve as Secretary of the In- for them a source of light, life, and wis- ceed to executive session to resume terior. As I have discussed this week, dom, as You use them for Your pur- consideration of the following nomina- David Bernhardt is no stranger to the poses. Lord, keep them on the road of tion, which the clerk will report. Department. He has served twice be- integrity, guiding their thoughts, The senior assistant legislative clerk fore. In fact, this body has confirmed words, and deeds. As they walk the read the nomination of David Bern- him twice before. Each time his profes- straight and narrow path, may they hardt, of Virginia, to be Secretary of sionalism and dedication proved us not stumble or slip. Give them the wis- the Department of Interior. right. As Solicitor and as Deputy Sec- dom and grace to be worthy stewards The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- retary, Mr. Bernhardt has offered capa- of Your mercy, grace, and love. Keep ator from Iowa. ble leadership and a firm grasp on the their hearts in warm fellowship with Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, I complex policy environment sur- their colleagues and their ears open to ask unanimous consent to speak for 2 rounding our Nation’s public lands. the voices of the people they serve. minutes as in morning business. His expertise has not gone unnoticed. We pray in Your wonderful Name. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without Praise for Mr. Bernhardt has poured in Amen. objection, it is so ordered. from a list of more than 40 stakeholder MEDICARE organizations; from agriculture, trade, f Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, conservation, and Native American or- PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE some officials are proposing radical ganizations. changes to our healthcare system. They describe him as a leader whose The President pro tempore led the These proposals include Medicare for ‘‘experience is sorely needed.’’ They Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: All, Medicare Buy-in, Medicaid for All, laud his commitment to ‘‘make the I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the and expansion of the Affordable Care lands he manages accessible to the re- United States of America, and to the Repub- Act. All of these are versions of govern- creating public.’’ lic for which it stands, one nation under God, ment-run healthcare. So we have before us an opportunity indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. These are, of course, better campaign to confirm a well-qualified steward of f slogans than serious solutions to the our Nation’s public lands and re- problems facing Americans. sources. Yesterday, a bipartisan major- RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME On a certain level, I have found that ity of our colleagues voted to end de- The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. most people would rather have control bate on his nomination, and I hope HYDE-SMITH). Under the previous order, over their own healthcare than have each will join me in voting yes once the leadership time is reserved. the government make those decisions more later today. ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S2399 . VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 Apr 12, 2019 Jkt 089060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A11AP6.000 S11APPT1 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with SENATE S2400 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE April 11, 2019 Of course, confirming Mr. Bernhardt entrepreneurs, and working families, these farmers’ fields were just recov- will be just the latest in a series of the headlines are continuing to pour ering from previous years of major many Executive Calendar accomplish- in. flooding. In this area of Iowa, that ments. Following on the heels of last With Tax Day just around the corner, would have been in 2011. week’s turn back toward the Senate’s millions of working families have filed This is compounded by many losing historic tradition concerning nomina- for the first time under a law that has their previous harvest through having tions, we have been able to approve a allowed, according to nonpartisan ana- their on-the-farm storage bins de- number of the President’s nominees at lysts, the vast majority of Americans stroyed, as you can see here. a much more reasonable pace in the to keep more of their money. They Throughout the Midwest area that last several days. have pocketed higher take-home pay, had severe flooding, 832 on-farm stor- I have noted, with particular interest wage increases, and special bonuses, age bins have been identified as being that, for all the breathless warnings and they benefited from the booming like these, destroyed. We don’t have a my Democratic colleagues issued about job market these policies have helped complete estimate of that, but I think the kinds of people we would be con- ignite. 832 on-the-farm storage bins would be firming, these unobjectionable nomi- But old habits die hard. The Wash- at least a figure up to a certain date. nees have actually mostly coasted ington Democrats who were content to These bins hold an estimated 5 to 10 through on a bipartisan basis. watch as the Obama era piled up 75 per- million bushels of corn or soybeans, so, We saw support from both sides of cent of new jobs and 90 percent of popu- collectively, that would be a loss of the aisle for Roy Altman to the U.S. lation growth to the biggest metropoli- worth between $17 million and $34 mil- District Court for the Southern Dis- tan areas are back to their same old lion. trict of Florida, and for Daniel tricks. There is an existing program that Domenico to the District of Colorado. In recent months, we have seen a goes by the acronym WHIP in the De- We saw an overwhelming bipartisan steady drip of leftist daydreams mak- partment of Agriculture that is de- vote in favor of confirming GEN John ing their way into press conferences, signed to address agricultural losses Abizaid to serve as Ambassador to resolutions, and out on the 2020 cam- not covered by crop insurance and Saudi Arabia and a voice-voted con- paign trail: a massive rewrite of Amer- other programs. I reached out to the firmation for Jeffrey Kessler to serve ican election laws and a power grab on U.S. Department of Agriculture to see as Assistant Secretary of Commerce. an individual’s right to exercise polit- if this program could be used for losses These are not lightning-rod people ical speech, a mandatory, one-size-fits- such as those seen here, particularly in whom my Democratic colleagues would all government-run replacement for Iowa and Nebraska, for corn and soy- have eagerly debated and investigated private healthcare for over 180 million beans. for an additional 30 hours. They are the Americans, and an estimated $93 tril- I was told because the WHIP program kind of thoroughly qualified public lion in taxpayers’ money to be spent was designed for other commodities af- servants who used to sail briskly testing out new Federal social planning fected by hurricanes and wildfires, they through the Senate without opposition. schemes and abolishing the affordable needed a few words added to the law to Now, even as my Democratic col- energy sources American families rely extend the same help to these problems leagues continue to require us to file on. Tax Day seems like an especially we now have in the Midwest. I asked cloture on individuals whom they actu- fitting day to tell Washington Demo- what those words were, and I spoke to ally go on to support, we are able to fill crats no thanks—no thanks. Senator SHELBY, who manages this bill out the President’s team at a more rea- The Kentuckians I represent prefer on the floor of the Senate, and to Sen- sonable clip. There are still many to keep more of their own hard-earned ator PERDUE, who has a great deal of empty seats left to fill, but this week’s money. They prefer to make their own interest in the bill because of agricul- progress marks a great new beginning decisions about their own families in- tural losses in Georgia. These two Sen- not just for the administration that stead of ceding more power to bureau- ators agreed to work with me. These needs its personnel but for the health crats.