December 14, 2015 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S8629 I write because I believe her case has been [Rollcall Vote No. 335 Ex.] Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I one that has damaged our republic. She has YEAS—45 ask unanimous consent that the order been maligned for performing her duties as a Baldwin Franken Mikulski for the quorum call be rescinded. public servant, and her nomination was held Bennet Gillibrand Murphy The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without up because of events that occurred after she Blumenthal Hatch Murray objection, it is so ordered. left the committee staff. Booker Heinrich Nelson I encourage you in the strongest terms to Brown Heitkamp Reed f confirm her for this position. Losing her Cantwell Hirono Reid MORNING BUSINESS services to the rankling of partisan disputes Cardin Isakson Schatz Carper Kaine Schumer would be to the detriment of both the De- Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I Casey King Shaheen ask unanimous consent that the Sen- partment of Defense and the country. Collins Klobuchar Tester Sincerely, Coons Leahy Thune ate be in a period of morning business, JOHN D. HUTSON, Corker Manchin Udall with Senators permitted to speak Rear Admiral, USN, JACG, (Ret.). Donnelly Markey Warner therein for up to 10 minutes each. Durbin McCaskill Warren Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Thank you very The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without Feinstein Menendez Whitehouse objection, it is so ordered. much. NAYS—34 f Madam President, I yield the floor. Alexander Daines Perdue I suggest the absence of a quorum. Ayotte Enzi Portman TRIBUTE TO KENTUCKY ADJU- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Barrasso Ernst Roberts TANT GENERAL EDWARD W. Blunt Fischer Rounds TONINI clerk will call the roll. Boozman Gardner Sasse The legislative clerk proceeded to Burr Grassley Sessions Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I call the roll. Capito Hoeven Shelby wish to pay tribute today to a distin- Cassidy Inhofe Tillis guished airman and honored Ken- Cochran Lankford Mr. COTTON. Madam President, I Toomey Cornyn Lee tuckian who has given over four dec- ask unanimous consent that the order Wicker for the quorum call be rescinded. Cotton McConnell ades of his life to military service. Maj. Crapo Murkowski Gen. Edward W. Tonini, for 8 years the The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without NOT VOTING—21 adjutant general of the Commonwealth objection, it is so ordered. Boxer Kirk Rubio of Kentucky, retired from service on Mr. COTTON. I yield back all time. Coats McCain Sanders December 8. The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time Cruz Merkley Scott General Tonini is a career Air Na- is yielded back. Flake Moran Stabenow tional Guard officer and was appointed Graham Paul Sullivan The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Heller Peters Vitter adjutant general by the former Gov- question is, Will the Senate advise and Johnson Risch Wyden ernor in 2007. As adjutant general, he consent to the Starzak nomination? The nomination was confirmed. served as the commanding general of both the Kentucky Army and Air Na- Mr. COTTON. I ask for the yeas and VOTE EXPLANATION tional Guard and as executive director nays. ∑ Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, un- of the Department of Military Affairs. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a fortunately, due to inclement weather In his 8 years of service in that role, sufficient second? that delayed my flight to Washington, he successfully led the National Guard There appears to be a sufficient sec- DC, I was unable to attend today’s roll- and Kentucky through many difficult ond. call vote on the nomination of Alissa challenges with great skill and ability. The clerk will call the roll. M. Starzak to be General Counsel of He leaves Kentucky’s National Guard The legislative clerk called the roll. the Department of the Army. Had I stronger and more effective than when Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators been able to attend, I would have sup- he found it. ∑ are necessarily absent: the Senator ported her nomination. During his tenure, Kentucky’s Na- from Indiana (Mr. COATS), the Senator VOTE ON CONGER NOMINATION tional Guard continued to deploy sol- from Texas (Mr. CRUZ), the Senator The PRESIDING OFFICER. The diers and airmen to Iraq, Afghanistan, from Arizona (Mr. FLAKE), the Senator question is, Will the Senate advise and Kuwait, Djibouti, Kenya, Ethiopia, from South Carolina (Mr. GRAHAM), the consent to the Conger nomination? South America, and even Antarctica. Senator from Nevada (Mr. HELLER), the The nomination was confirmed. In fact, Kentucky National Guard sol- Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. JOHNSON), VOTE ON WELBY NOMINATION diers and airmen were deployed in sup- the Senator from Illinois (Mr. KIRK), The PRESIDING OFFICER. The port of contingency operations every the Senator from Arizona (Mr. question is, Will the Senate advise and day of General Tonini’s tenure, to the MCCAIN), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. consent to the Welby nomination? tune of over 16,000 servicemembers over MORAN), the Senator from Kentucky The nomination was confirmed. the years. In January 2009, Kentucky experi- (Mr. PAUL), the Senator from Idaho VOTE ON PARKER NOMINATION enced one of the worst natural disas- (Mr. RISCH), the Senator from Florida The PRESIDING OFFICER. The (Mr. RUBIO), the Senator from South ters in the State’s history when 10 question is, Will the Senate advise and inches of snow fell on top of 3 inches of Carolina (Mr. SCOTT), the Senator from consent to the Parker nomination? Alaska (Mr. SULLIVAN), and the Sen- ice throughout most of the State. More The nomination was confirmed. than 100 counties declared states of ator from Louisiana (Mr. VITTER). The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under Further, if present and voting, the emergency while FEMA declared the the previous order, the motions to re- whole State a disaster zone. Senator from Idaho (Mr. RISCH) would consider are considered made and laid In response to this crisis, General have voted ‘‘nay.’’ upon the table and the President will Tonini led the largest State-active- Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the be immediately notified of the Senate’s duty call up in Kentucky’s history. Senator from California (Mrs. BOXER), actions. More than 4,600 servicemembers as- the Senator from Oregon (Mr. f sisted Kentuckians in need, as nearly MERKLEY), the Senator from Michigan 800,000 people were without power and (Mr. PETERS), the Senator from LEGISLATIVE SESSION heat. Surely many lives were saved Vermont (Mr. SANDERS), the Senator The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under thanks to his leadership during these from Michigan (Ms. STABENOW), and the previous order, the Senate will re- efforts. the Senator from Oregon (Mr. WYDEN) sume legislative session. General Tonini worked to establish are necessarily absent. Mr. CRAPO. I suggest the absence of Kentucky’s new, state-of-the-art Com- The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. a quorum. monwealth Emergency Operations Cen- LANKFORD). Are there any other Sen- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ter, which serves as a vital command ators in the Chamber desiring to vote? clerk will call the roll. center and liaison to local governments The result was announced—yeas 45, The bill clerk proceeded to call the in times of crisis. The new Common- nays 34, as follows: roll. wealth Emergency Operations Center

VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:44 Dec 15, 2015 Jkt 059060 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 0637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A14DE6.030 S14DEPT1 emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with SENATE S8630 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE December 14, 2015 isn’t the only new improvement under been a consistent presence with him at individuals and families navigating the General Tonini’s watch. the full range of National Guard citizenship process. During the last 8 years, the Kentucky events, both in Kentucky and through- I applaud the Culinary Workers National Guard has undertaken nearly out the country. She has been a tre- Union Local 226 for their dedicated $200 million in facility improvements, mendous asset to him thanks to her work and commitment to improving consisting of both new buildings and grace, her support for those in uniform the lives of Nevadans. Their work is additions and alterations to existing and their families, and her rock-solid truly appreciated and admired, and I buildings, to add about 650,000 square support for her husband. wish the organization continued suc- feet of facilities to the Guard’s re- I ask my colleagues to join me in cess for years to come. sources. These new facilities include congratulating General Edward W. the Paducah and Richmond Armed Tonini upon his retirement and thank- f Forces Reserve Center, the Owensboro ing him for his service—not just over TRIBUTE TO LOURDES TIBAN Readiness Center, and the Army Avia- the last 8 years, but over the last four tion Support Facility in Frankfort, decades. Kentucky is thankful for the Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I want among others. General Tonini was also many sacrifices he has made over the other Senators to be aware of informa- a champion of the important work tak- years to protect our communities and tion I received about Ecuadorian Na- ing place at the Bluegrass Station in- our Nation. I certainly want to wish tional Assembly member Lourdes dustrial park in central Kentucky. General Tonini all the best in whatever Tiban, a prominent and respected lead- General Tonini was a strong advocate awaits him in his next endeavors, and I er of Ecuador’s indigenous people. of Kentucky’s Agribusiness Develop- am sure he will tackle all future chal- As an indigenous leader, Ms. Tiban ment Teams, a program in support of lenges with the same vigor and for- has become one of the most outspoken Operation Enduring Freedom in Af- titude he applied to his military serv- advocates for freedom of expression, in- ghanistan. These teams of Kentucky ice. Thank you, General Tonini, on be- digenous rights, and social rights in soldiers and airmen taught agricul- half of a grateful Commonwealth. Ecuador. Not surprisingly, this has tural expertise to the people of Afghan- made her the target of verbal attacks istan, sharing their knowledge of irri- f by President Rafael Correa. gation techniques, food preservation, RECOGNIZING THE 80TH ANNIVER- Earlier this year, Ms. Tiban was veterinary medicine, and more with SARY OF THE CULINARY WORK- beaten by unidentified assailants as hundreds of Afghans across the coun- ERS UNION LOCAL 226 she was walking to work. The assault try. Mr. REID. Mr. President, today I was filmed and then shared online by General Tonini also was a strong sup- wish to recognize the 80th anniversary government supporters who posted porter of the Guard’s state partnership of the Culinary Workers Union Local humiliating comments. program, where the Kentucky National 226. This isn’t the first time that Ms. Guard partners with a foreign nation Since it was founded in 1935, the Cul- Tiban has been physically assaulted. to strengthen the operations of both inary Workers Union Local 226 has suc- She is the victim of two other similar partners. The Kentucky National cessfully advocated on behalf of thou- incidents which I am told have not Guard has partnered with Ecuador for sands of hospitality workers through- been properly investigated. 19 years. Under the general’s leader- out Nevada. These workers include the It is regrettable that, instead of vig- ship, Kentucky added a second partner- housekeepers, kitchen staff, cooks, and orously investigating this latest attack ship program with Djibouti, making food and beverage servers who play an against Ms. Tiban, a National Assem- my State the first to partner with an indispensable role in our local and na- bly member from President Correa’s east African nation. Djibouti is a key tional economy. Along with local part- political party has brought a criminal strategic partner for us in humani- ners, the culinary union has effectively case for libel against her. This is be- tarian and counterterrorist operations. represented workers by advocating for lieved to be in retaliation for Ms. General Tonini’s leadership has also competitive wages, affordable health Tiban’s claim that government sup- been recognized outside the Common- insurance coverage, and enhanced porters were responsible for targeting wealth. In 2013, he was elected the working conditions. The culinary her, presumably in an attempt to si- president of the Adjutants General As- union is vital in the effort to provide lence her and remove her from the Na- sociation of the United States. During real opportunities for working-class in- tional Assembly. his tenure as president, America’s Na- dividuals and families. Ecuador is a country where judicial tional Guard boasted more than 450,000 Over the past eight decades, work- independence is seriously com- personnel across the Nation. promised. I have spoken about this sev- Under General Tonini, Kentucky place environments across the United eral times, and it has been well docu- hosted the two largest events in the States have been transformed to meet mented by the Department of State, Nation for survivor outreach to sup- our country’s changing needs. port the family members of fallen serv- Throughout these changes, the cul- the United Nations, and human rights icemembers, one in Louisville and the inary union has always been on the organizations. It is also illustrated by other in northern Kentucky. We were frontlines to ensure that workers con- the fact that the Council of the Judici- able to honor more than 850 survivors tinue to receive fair treatment and the ary, with the power to appoint and re- from multiple States. benefits they have earned. In par- move judges, is comprised of five Finally, the Kentucky National ticular, the culinary union successfully former officials of the Correa adminis- Guard Memorial saw completion after mobilized casino workers on many oc- tration. It is likely that the criminal 10 years thanks to General Tonini’s casions to ensure that they received investigation against Ms. Tiban could persistence and his prodigious fund- adequate health care coverage, im- result in an unjust conviction. raising efforts. Located at Boone Na- proved contract terms, and pension We should condemn these attacks on tional Guard Center in Frankfort, the benefits. freedom of expression, political rights, memorial honors 234 Kentucky guards- The organization has also had a posi- and the rights of indigenous people, men who have given their lives in the tive impact on its members through and we should defend judicial independ- line of duty since 1912. the establishment of local services, ence which is fundamental to democ- General Tonini has all these accom- such as the culinary health fund and racy in Ecuador and throughout the plishments and many more to be proud the culinary pharmacy. The culinary hemisphere. of as he steps down from the adjutant health fund is a health plan that pro- Lourdes Tiban has devoted her legis- general post he so ably filled for 8 vides benefits to more than 130,000 par- lative efforts to protecting human years. He has truly earned a place not ticipants, ensuring that union mem- rights for her people, and I am con- just in Kentucky history, but in Ken- bers and their families have access to fident that she will continue to do so tuckians’ hearts for his honorable serv- essential health care services that keep as she is not easily intimidated. She ice. them healthy. Additionally, in 2001, the has my support and the support of oth- I would be remiss if I did not also culinary union launched a citizen ers who believe in the principles of de- laud the general’s wife, Carol, who has project, which provides assistance for mocracy.

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