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, OCTOBER 31, 2019 No. 173 Senate The Senate met at 10 a.m. and was heart of ghoulish price-gouging. Sen- blows right up until the final innings of called to order by the President pro ator WYDEN and I are working to shut game seven. tempore (Mr. GRASSLEY). down the pranks poisoning the drug For the first time ever, the away f supply chain. We need our fellow law- team won all seven games of the series. makers to step up and nail the coffin And now Stephen Strasburg, Max PRAYER shut on monstrous drug price in- Scherzer, Anthony Rendon, Juan Soto, The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- creases. and the rest of the 2019 Nationals are fered the following prayer: One example that can’t masquerade bringing a World Series trophy here to Let us pray. as a next-generation drug is the 500- the Nation’s Capital for the first time Most High God, Your steadfast love percent increase for insulin, which since 1924. Back then, of course, the endures throughout the generations. helps Americans with diabetes regulate home team was officially the Wash- Your faithfulness sustains the seasons blood sugar. This medicine was discov- ington Senators, although still often of our earthly pilgrimage. You are wor- ered 100 years ago, about the time the called the Nationals. That is a distin- thy of our praise. first horror movie debuted. There is no guished name for a team. Infuse our lawmakers with reveren- rhyme or reason for the terrifying This squad has to be hands-down the tial awe, as they remember You are the price hikes spooking Americans. most athletic, most resilient, most one constituent they absolutely must The real horror story this Halloween team-spirited bunch of ballplayers cer- please. Because of You, they live and is what is preventing Congress from tainly this city has ever had. These re- move and breathe and have their being. doing its job. Big Pharma is spending a markable players; their manager, Dave Although they may plan, You alone de- frightening amount of money to kill Martinez; the Nationals’ front office; cide what will or will not prevail. May drug-pricing reforms. and the team’s owners, the Lerner fam- our Senators make You their refuge, Let’s fix the real injustice haunting ily—and I particularly want to men- their shelter in the time of storms. the American people, which is sticker tion Ted Lerner, the patriarch, who is And Lord, we thank You for the in- shock at the pharmacy counter. Every 94 years old. Many people thought he spiration of a stupendous World Series. Senator can be a superhero for Hal- might not be around to see the Wash- We pray in Your glorious Name. loween. All you have to do is join us to ington Nationals’ first championship, Amen. dig a grave for batty prescription drug but he was. He is a great owner, a great f prices. Ending Big Pharma’s pricing friend of the city, and it was fun to see PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE tricks would be a real treat for Ameri- him after the game revel in this great The President pro tempore led the cans. accomplishment. They achieved, actu- Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: I yield the floor. ally, a small miracle. For a couple of I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the I suggest the absence of a quorum. weeks, they gave us something that all United States of America, and to the Repub- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The of Washington, DC, could unite lic for which it stands, one nation under God, clerk will call the roll. around—a miracle indeed. It is some- indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The senior assistant legislative clerk thing we can use around here these The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. proceeded to call the roll. days. Congratulations to the cham- HYDE-SMITH). The Senator from Iowa. Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, pions. Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, I I ask unanimous consent that the order f for the quorum call be rescinded. ask unanimous consent to speak as in APPROPRIATIONS morning business for 90 seconds. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, objection, it is so ordered. f on another matter, later today we are f going to vote on something that should CONGRATULATING THE not be controversial: funding for our PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS WASHINGTON NATIONALS national defense, for supporting serv- Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, icemembers and their families, for sus- today is Halloween. This may sound a to lead off, I would certainly be remiss taining American global leadership and little ‘‘candy corny,’’ but this Iowan not to congratulate the 2019 World Se- strategic edge. This vital priority is wants to talk about the scary prices of ries champions, the Washington Na- not something that can take a back prescription drugs. tionals. This year, our national pas- seat to partisan dysfunction. Since January, I have joined with bi- time came down to a dramatic finish. Our men and women in uniform don’t partisan forces to drive a stake in the The Nationals and the Astros traded get to go on sabbatical while they wait ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S6309 . VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A31OC6.000 S31OCPT1 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with SENATE S6310 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE October 31, 2019 for Congress to get its act together. Clinton signed it into law during the opposition to withdrawing U.S. forces They have to stay vigilant, remain in impeachment. from Syria, but I believe we need to be harm’s way, and stay at their posts. So if Democrats follow through on guided by our strategic interests, not Our military commanders don’t get their threat to filibuster the Defense emotions, as we seek to contain the to put critical overseas operations on funding later today, they will frankly damage of Turkey’s incursion, peel An- pause until Washington does its job. be making even the 1998 impeachment kara away from Moscow, and encour- Their objectives loom large whether or period look like a clinic—a clinic—in age better behavior at home and not we give them a predictable plan- bipartisan cooperation. abroad by Erdogan’s government. ning foundation. A Democratic filibuster of Defense I hope we will carefully consider all Russia, China, and Iran will certainly funding is not the vote the military of our options to achieve these impor- not take a water break if uncertainty families and military installations in tant objectives and carefully examine leaves our Nation flat-footed. They will their home States deserve. It is not the whether a broad mandatory sanctions keep growing their defense spending vote our commanders deserve, and it is bill is really the best solution. and seeking to expand their influence. not the vote our national security de- We should think carefully about I had hoped our Democratic friends serves. what specific effect we want sanctions to have, how Turkey will respond to would be able to put impeachment f aside long enough to at least fund the them, and how Russia or others may Department of Defense. We had heard IMPEACHMENT exploit growing tensions between public pronouncements from Speaker Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, Washington and Ankara. PELOSI and my colleague the Demo- now, on a related matter, speaking of Before targeting an economy that is cratic leader that they intended to past precedent, I understand this morn- highly integrated with Europe’s econ- work with us on substantial legisla- ing House Democrats will finally cast omy, we should seek a better under- tion. If anything qualifies as substan- their first impeachment vote on an im- standing of the specific economic im- tial legislation, it is this. It meets the peachment resolution, which I under- pact that broad sanctions will have on Pentagon’s request for targeted invest- stand they are afraid to actually call the global economy, on our European ments in the U.S. military of the fu- an impeachment resolution. partners, and on American workers and ture. There are new resources for ex- As I mentioned yesterday, Demo- job creators. We should reflect on panded missile defense capabilities, crats’ draft does not even come close to whether we would be better off working trauma training, fleet maintenance, restoring the kinds of customary due in concert with European allies to and key partnerships with allies process rights and protections that shape Turkey’s behavior versus abrupt- around the world. past impeachment inquiries included, ly forcing European companies to cut But, alas, the Democratic leader an- either for President Trump or for their ties with Turkey through the threat of nounced at a press conference Tuesday own Republican colleagues in the mi- sanctions. Before using these kinds of policy that he plans to filibuster the annual nority. tools—the kinds we use against Iran funding for our Armed Forces. This Here is what their resolution an- and North Korea—against a democracy would put our colleagues across the nounced today. This is basically what of 80 million people, we should consider aisle in quite an unusual position. The it says: ‘‘No due process now .