S3038 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE June 17, 2020 The clerk will call the roll. The bill clerk read as follows: EXECUTIVE SESSION The legislative clerk called the roll. CLOTURE MOTION Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. MAR- We, the undersigned Senators, in accord- EXECUTIVE CALENDAR KEY) and the Senator from Washington ance with the provisions of rule XXII of the The PRESIDING OFFICER. Cloture (Mrs. MURRAY) are necessarily absent. Standing Rules of the Senate, do hereby having been invoked, the Senate will The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. move to bring to a close debate on the nomi- proceed to executive session to con- nation of Justin Reed Walker, of Kentucky, LANKFORD). Are there any other Sen- to be United States Circuit Judge for the sider the following nomination, which ators in the Chamber desiring to vote? District of Columbia Circuit. the clerk will report. The result was announced—yeas 73, Mitch McConnell, Tom Cotton, John The bill clerk read the nomination of nays 25, as follows: Boozman, Joni Ernst, Todd Young, Justin Reed Walker, of Kentucky, to be [Rollcall Vote No. 121 Leg.] Steve Daines, Cory Gardner, Jerry United States Circuit Judge for the YEAS—73 Moran, James E. Risch, Shelley Moore District of Columbia Circuit. Capito, David Perdue, Ben Sasse, Kevin Alexander Gillibrand Roberts The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. ROM- Cramer, Tim Scott, Lamar Alexander, Baldwin Graham Rosen NEY). The Senator from Vermont. Bennet Grassley Rubio Mike Rounds, Pat Roberts. Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, this Blumenthal Harris Sanders The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unan- morning, the Senate narrowly invoked Blunt Hassan Schatz Booker Heinrich imous consent, the mandatory quorum cloture on the nomination of Justin Schumer Walker to the DC Circuit. Within the Boozman Hirono Scott (SC) call has been waived. Brown Hoeven Shaheen week, the Senate is expected to con- Burr Jones The question is, Is it the sense of the Sinema firm, by the thinnest margins, both Cantwell Kaine Senate that debate on the nomination Smith Judge Walker and a separate nominee, Capito King of Justin Reed Walker, of Kentucky, to Cardin Klobuchar Stabenow Cory Wilson, to the Fifth Circuit. That Carper Leahy Sullivan be United States Circuit Judge for the fills the final two available seats on Tester Casey Loeffler District of Columbia Circuit, shall be the circuit courts. In one case, there Collins Manchin Thune brought to a close? Coons McConnell Tillis isn’t a vacancy yet, but he is preemp- Cortez Masto McSally Udall The yeas and nays are mandatory tively filling it. This will complete Cotton Menendez Van Hollen under the rule. Leader MCCONNELL’s rush to pack our Cramer Merkley Warner Daines Murkowski Warren The clerk will call the roll. appellate courts with President Duckworth Murphy Whitehouse The bill clerk called the roll. Trump’s nominees. Durbin Perdue Wicker I want to speak about this because I Ernst Peters Wyden Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the have had more experience on nomina- Feinstein Portman Young Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. MAR- Gardner Reed tions, only because of tenure, than KEY), and the Senator from Washington anybody else in this body. I note that NAYS—25 (Mrs. MURRAY) are necessarily absent. both Judge Walker and Judge Wilson Barrasso Hawley Risch The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there are partisan ideologues who have given Blackburn Hyde-Smith Romney no indication that they will leave their Braun Inhofe Rounds any other Senators in the Chamber de- Cassidy Johnson Sasse siring to vote? politics outside the courtroom. This Cornyn Kennedy Scott (FL) has become par for the course under Crapo Lankford The yeas and nays resulted—yeas 52, Shelby nays 46, as follows: this President—choosing nominees not Cruz Lee Toomey Enzi Moran for their judicial qualifications and in Fischer Paul [Rollcall Vote No. 122 Leg.] spite of their political leanings but be- NOT VOTING—2 YEAS—52 cause of those partisan leanings. Ex- treme partisanship has become a quali- Markey Murray Alexander Gardner Portman Barrasso Graham Risch fier, not a disqualifier. It is a pre- The bill (H.R. 1957), as amended, was Blackburn Grassley Roberts requisite. passed. Blunt Hawley Romney My Republican friends may consider Boozman Hoeven AMENDMENT NO. 1618 Rounds these confirmations a great achieve- Braun Hyde-Smith Rubio The PRESIDING OFFICER. Mr. Burr Inhofe Sasse ment; however, I fear that the damage President, I ask unanimous consent Capito Johnson Scott (FL) left in the wake of their effort—to the Cassidy Kennedy that the title amendment No. 1618 be Scott (SC) courts, to the Senate, to the country— Cornyn Lankford Shelby considered and agreed to and that the Cotton Lee is going to remain with us for years to Sullivan motion to reconsider be considered Cramer Loeffler come after most of us have probably Crapo McConnell Thune made and laid upon the table with no Tillis left this body. Cruz McSally Let us consider the backdrop in intervening action or debate. Daines Moran Toomey The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there Enzi Murkowski Wicker which we consider these nominees. We objection? Ernst Paul Young are in the throes of a global pandemic Without objection, it is so ordered. Fischer Perdue that has taken almost 120,000 American The amendment (No. 1618) was agreed NAYS—46 lives. It has plunged our economy into to, as follows: a deep recession. It has deprived nearly Baldwin Harris Sanders (Purpose: To amend the title) Bennet Hassan Schatz 45 million Americans of their jobs, Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘An Act to Blumenthal Heinrich Schumer something I have never seen in my amend title 54, United States Code, to estab- Booker Hirono Shaheen years here in the Senate. Yet are we lish, fund, and provide for the use of amounts Brown Jones Sinema here today considering legislation that in a National Parks and Public Land Legacy Cantwell Kaine Smith Cardin King further assists Americans struggling Restoration Fund to address the mainte- Stabenow Carper Klobuchar Tester during this pandemic? Indeed, we have nance backlog of the National Park Service, Casey Leahy Udall done nothing to respond to COVID–19 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Collins Manchin Van Hollen for months even though the House the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Coons Menendez Warner Cortez Masto Merkley passed $3 trillion in further assistance Service, and the Bureau of Indian Education, Warren and to provide permanent, dedicated funding Duckworth Murphy last month. Durbin Peters Whitehouse The Senate today is not working to- for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, Wyden Feinstein Reed gether to find bipartisan meaningful and for other purposes.’’. Gillibrand Rosen f ways to address the plagues of racial NOT VOTING—2 and social inequality, despite the fact CLOTURE MOTION Markey Murray that we see millions of Americans of The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant all backgrounds, ages, creed, and color to rule XXII, the Chair lays before the The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this who flood our streets and squares with Senate the pending cloture motion, vote, the yeas are 52, the nays are 46. protests in the wake of the murder of which the clerk will state. The motion is agreed to. George Floyd.

VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 4637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17JN6.017 S17JNPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE June 17, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S3039 What are we doing to respond as a Judge Wilson has a long record of un- tial justice, as I said, changing every body? We are busy processing and con- dermining minority voting rights and day under President Trump. firming an endless stream of partisan dismissing the scourge of voter sup- I have to hope that the Senate can ideologues, such as Justin Walker and pression, which we saw again last week rediscover its better angels. I can hope Cory Wilson, to our Federal courts. I during primary elections. He dismisses that we can again reassert ourselves as think it has to be noted, again, that that as ‘‘phony,’’ even though every- the crucible in which the great issues Judge Walker, who is a protege of Sen- body watching the news, from the right of the day are debated heatedly but re- ator MCCONNELL, has been nominated to left, can see it happening. solved amicably, across party lines. I to a seat that isn’t even vacant until What message do these nominees of hope that one day the Senate will September. President Trump send to the country again serve as the conscience of the It would be one thing if we were com- in this moment? Well, it says that the Nation, as it has during so many mo- ing together in the Senate across party Republicans in the Senate are fast- ments of upheaval and uncertainty in lines to confirm mainstream nominees, tracking nominees who are eager to our history. something we have done so many times overturn the Affordable Care Act in the Today, more than any other time in years past, but nothing about Judge midst of a public health pandemic. since I have been here, when we should Walker and Judge Wilson is main- They are fast-tracking nominees who be the conscience of the Nation, we are stream. Judge Walker is not shy about are dismissive of racial injustices in keeping that conscience locked up be- his overt partisanship. He is openly the midst of a national reckoning on hind closed doors. hostile to the Affordable Care Act, racial injustices. I hope, one day soon, the Senate will even though the Affordable Care Act The Senate has a constitutional duty again demand—as it has under Repub- has provided a critical lifeline to mil- to provide advice and consent to a lican and Democratic leadership in the lions of Americans during this pan- President’s nominee. When I came to past—that our President’s judicial demic. He has dangerously suggested the Senate, that meant something. It nominees are deserving of lifetime ap- that the FBI Director—whom we pro- meant something under both Repub- pointments to our Federal courts, pos- vided with a 10-year term to avoid lican leadership and Democratic lead- sessing the qualifications and tempera- politicization—‘‘must think of himself ership. It meant something with both ment that, until now, were rarely in as an agent of the President.’’ One can Republican and Democratic Presidents. question and now, time and again, are see why President Trump is interested But under this President, that con- in question. in a nominee like him. People should stitutional duty has meant no more I ask my colleagues to go back to worry about somebody who would want than serving as a mindless conveyer being the U.S. Senate. We owe it to the FBI Director—who is supposed to ourselves. We owe it to the Constitu- treat everybody the same and just up- belt to rubberstamp nominees, however tion. Most of all, we owe it to the hold the law—to be, instead, an instru- unqualified, however extreme, and American people. Let the Senate once ment of whoever is present. Even if we however inappropriate at the moment. again be the conscience of the Nation, ignore his hyperpartisan writings and You couldn’t have two more inappro- as it should be. countless cable news appearances be- priate nominees at a time when we fore he became a district court judge— need healthcare because of the JUSTICE IN POLICING ACT and that was just a few months ago, coronavirus or so inappropriate at a Mr. President, I also looked at the last fall—he has already shown he does time when we are trying to do away policing bill that Senator SCOTT an- not leave politics at the door when he with racial tensions and address the ra- nounced today and Leader MCCONNELL puts on his robes. Even his judicial in- cial tensions of our country. It says will proceed to next week. I am still re- vestiture ceremony could have been a that we don’t believe in our standing as viewing the text. From the descrip- lead-in for a Trump campaign rally, a coequal branch of government and tions I have heard, the bill may be where he lamented that his legal prin- that the Senate is willing to have that well-intentioned but falls far short on ciples have not yet prevailed and position as a coequal branch of govern- the reforms we need. It fails to meet feared losing ‘‘our courts and this ment diminished. this moment. That doesn’t mean we country’’ to his critics. These may be Worse is the damage we inflict upon can’t come together and make it meet the words of Judge Walker, but they our courts. The Senate has now re- this moment. are not the words of any other judge I shaped our Federal courts, especially We need more than a Rose Garden have ever known, Republican, Demo- our appellate courts, to resemble an ex- signing of an Executive order that has crat, Independent. This judge wears his treme partisan arm of the Republican no authority and does nothing except partisanship as a badge of honor, know- Party. For generations, Americans look good. Millions of Americans in ing that it will only appeal to a Presi- have valued our judiciary for its inde- both parties are demanding real dent who knows nothing of the role of pendence, a place where all Ameri- change. This moment doesn’t call for a the Federal judiciary and, sadly, know- cans—of any political party or back- handful of studies and some grant pro- ing it will not deter this Senate from ground, race, or belief—believed they grams; it calls for fundamental reforms confirming him. could obtain fair and impartial justice. to ensure our accountability and re- Judge Cory Wilson is no better. That is changing every day under store our trust. It requires a thoughtful Again, I spoke about the Affordable President Trump. debate, a real debate in which we have Care Act, which has provided help to When I tried cases before Federal a real amendment process. Let Sen- millions of Americans during the courts at the district level or the ap- ators stand up and vote yes or no on coronavirus epidemic. What does he pellate level—and the same with State amendments. Let the American people call it? He calls the Affordable Care courts at the trial level and the appel- know where they stand. Let them take Act ‘‘perverse’’ and ‘‘illegitimate.’’ late level—I never worried that I would a position. Golly, how would he vote on that? I come before that court and my polit- If our Republican leadership won’t wonder if those Americans—Repub- ical beliefs would in any way affect the commit to such a real debate and such licans and Democrats alike—who are outcome. What I thought would affect real votes or amendments—a real receiving lifesaving care through the the outcome would be the facts and the amendment process—they fail the ACA would call the law perverse. law. I have appeared before courts of American people at a critical time; He has attacked President Obama in appeals and Federal courts of appeals. they fail them in favor of partisan poli- ugly, personal terms, berating him as a Most of the time I had no idea what the tics. ‘‘fit-throwing teenager’’ and ‘‘shrill, political position or political party of Each one of us has to cast votes on dishonest, and intellectually bank- the judge was. Yet today, anybody who this floor. Some are very routine and rupt.’’ That is a good attitude to hold comes in trying a case or appealing a easy to do, but so many are monu- when you are coming to the Senate as case has to say: No matter what my mental. We have to speak to our con- a Federal judge where you are supposed facts are or no matter what the law is, science. We have to speak to our back- to be impartial. Such baseless accusa- I have to face a partisan ideology with ground. We have to speak to who we tions were laughable when he made a judge who is supposed to be non- are. I will look at my background as a them. They are beyond parody today. partisan. We have seen fair and impar- former prosecutor. I will look at my

VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:28 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 4637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17JN6.022 S17JNPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE S3040 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE June 17, 2020 background as one who has served as Legacy Act. A little over a year later, in the Shenandoah sits at over $90 mil- chairman of the Senate Judiciary Com- we combined our efforts with Senator lion. Our legislation will put people to mittee. I will look at my background ALEXANDER and Senator KING to intro- work on these overdue repairs, includ- as one who has listened to Republicans duce our Restore Our Parks Act. Ear- ing to Skyline Drive and stretches of and Democrats alike in my State, but lier this year, this legislation was com- the Appalachian Trail, which are really then I will call upon my conscience to bined with Senator GARDNER and Sen- at the heart of Virginia’s outdoor tour- vote for what is best. ator MANCHIN’s Land and Water Con- ism industry. Don’t fail the American people by servation Fund legislation to form the Let me take you a little farther down having something that feels good, that Great American Outdoors Act. Skyline Drive, down farther in South- says nice things but doesn’t make any This legislation represents one of the west Virginia. As you head southwest, change. If there were ever a time largest investments in the infrastruc- the Blue Ridge Parkway right here, America needs changes—we have two ture of our national parks in its over which has accumulated over $500 mil- crises. One, of course, is COVID–19, and 100-year history. Over the next 5 years, lion in deferred maintenance—that is, we are not addressing that. The other the Great American Outdoors Act will as a matter of fact, over $1 million of is, once again, every American, of all fund more than half of all the deferred deferred maintenance for every mile of races, has to look at racism in policing. repairs and completely fund the Park the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Great We are better than that. Most of our Service’s highest priority needs. As my American Outdoors Act will, again, put police departments want to be better friend from Maine, Senator KING, has Virginians to work on these repairs so than that. noted, deferred maintenance is really visitors can continue to appreciate the Let us stand up. Let the U.S. Senate simply a debt for future generations. beauty of Southwest Virginia and sup- be the conscience of the Nation. Again, With the passage of this bill today, we port the local economy. I note we have been in the past. are one step closer to paying down that Let me end my visual tour of Vir- Wouldn’t it be nice to be so in the debt. ginia going to the eastern part of the present? Few States in the country are as im- Commonwealth. This is one final exam- I yield the floor. pacted by the Park Service’s deferred ple. Colonial National Historical Park, I suggest the absence of a quorum. maintenance backlog as the Common- which is home to historic Jamestown The PRESIDING OFFICER. The wealth of Virginia. In the Common- and the Yorktown battlefield—some of clerk will call the roll. wealth, we have a maintenance backlog our country’s most significant sites The legislative clerk proceeded to of over $1.1 billion. That is the third from the birth of our Nation. At this call the roll. largest behind California and DC. I park and along the Colonial Parkway, (Mrs. LOEFFLER assumed the want to give a few examples of how there are deferred maintenance needs Chair.) this legislation will help preserve our totaling over $430 million. With this Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask historical heritage and create jobs in legislation, the wait on many of these unanimous consent that the order for my State. repairs is over. We are going to create the quorum call be rescinded. Here in the National Capital Region, jobs, make sure this important part of The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. the George Washington Memorial our history is around for years to PERDUE). Without objection, it is so or- Parkway, which is managed by the Na- come, and make sure we leave our kids dered. tional Park Service, has over $700 mil- and grandkids that sense of who we are THE GREAT AMERICAN OUTDOORS ACT lion in deferred maintenance. As a as a nation. Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I rise matter of fact, anyone in this Chamber Now, before I close, I want to touch on the other half of this legislation, today to celebrate the passage of the who travels on that road actually which provides full mandatory funding Great American Outdoors Act. The pas- knows that we had a sinkhole appear in for the Land and Water Conservation sage of this historic legislation marks the parkway within the last year—an a once-in-a-generation step by this Fund, the LWCF. enormous safety threat, as well as an For decades, the LWCF has been the body to restore and conserve our na- enormous inconvenience to anybody most important tool of the Federal tional parks, as well as our country’s who travels on this important road. Government that States have had to national heritage. It builds on an Our legislation would help rebuild this protect critical natural areas, water re- American tradition of conserving our critical transportation route between sources, and, again, cultural heritage. natural wonders and shared public Virginia, Washington, DC, and Mary- Virginia has received over $368 million spaces. It reaffirms our commitment to land—reducing traffic and, again, cre- in LWCF funding, which has helped preserve them for future generations. ating jobs. preserve and expand critical recreation It is also important to note that this Further south on I–95, the Richmond areas within the Commonwealth. is a jobs bill. According to a recent National Battlefield Park has over $5 For example, the American Battle- study, the Great American Outdoors million in deferred maintenance. The field Protection Program, which is Act will help create or support 100,000 nearby Maggie L. Walker National His- funded through the LWCF, has been jobs all over the country, including toric Site—this is the site actually of vital for communities across Virginia, 10,000 in my home State of Virginia, at the first African-American-owned bank providing them with technical assist- a time when millions of Americans are created by Maggie Walker, as well as ance and funding to help them preserve out of work. the first bank owned by an African- their history and, again, attract tour- Currently, the National Park Service American woman. I visited it last year, ists. LWCF has also allowed us to ex- has a deferred maintenance backlog of and it has maintenance needs ap- pand and preserve land within the $12 billion. A chronic lack of funding proaching $1 million. At the nearby Pe- George Washington and Jefferson Na- from Congress has forced the Park tersburg National Battlefield Park, the tional Forests and along the Appa- Service to defer maintenance on count- maintenance needs have grown to $9 lachian Trail. These efforts support the less trails, buildings, and historic million over the years. This legislation health of unique wildlife habitats and structures, as well as thousands of will help support critical infrastruc- provide new access for hunting, fishing, miles of roads and bridges. Today, over ture needs of these parks, preserving and other outdoor recreation. half of all Park Service assets are in these important pieces of our heritage Through this combination of the desperate need of repair. while again supporting our local econo- parks bill and the permanent funding To address these needs, a little over 3 mies. for the LWCF, the Great American years ago, I approached my colleague Let me take you a little farther west, Outdoors Act ensures that we will con- and friend, Senator ROB PORTMAN, with out to one of the real gems of our Na- tinue to make these important invest- an idea. What if we took unobligated tional Park Service—probably one of ments in conservation in our parks for Federal energy revenues and used them the parks best known in Virginia years to come. to address the maintenance backlogs at around the country—and that is the In closing, I thank my colleagues, our national parks. So we came to- Shenandoah National Park. It is one of again, for supporting this historic leg- gether, in a bipartisan partnership, and the crown jewels of our Park Service. islation with an overwhelmingly bipar- introduced the National Park Services Again, the maintenance backlog there tisan vote and a piece of legislation

VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:28 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 4637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17JN6.023 S17JNPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE June 17, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S3041 that is supported by the administra- form. I was sitting in my office when I started this conversation on body tion. My hope is that the House will the Senator from Illinois talked about cameras in 2015, in the Walter Scott move quickly on this. What better the ‘‘token’’ legislation on this day, Notification Act in 2015. But, no, we present to our Nation than to have this the day that we remember Mother want to have a political conversation. I legislation signed into law, hopefully, Emanuel Church and the nine lost lives reject that. I reject that. by July 4. and my friend, the pastor of the I will tell you that I believe my As we all know, at a time of signifi- church, Clementa Pinckney—the first friends on the other side of the aisle cant division in our country, the fact person ever to call me a Senator, the are serious about police reform. There that this body was able to come to- pastor of that church, a Democrat pas- are just some who are more interested gether and pass this bill with over 70 tor of that church said to me ‘‘My Sen- in scoring political points than they votes gives me a little bit of hope. ator,’’ in December of 2012—and reflect actually are in getting a result. Again, I am proud of my colleagues for back on the fact that I have on my It is not the majority of them. The stepping up to restore our national phone today the text for Clementa in majority of them have the same heart parks and public lands, and as I men- which I said: Are you OK? He didn’t an- that we have for the American people. tioned at the outset, this legislation swer because he was already dead. That is where we should be focusing will create over 100,000 jobs, jobs that To think that on this day, as we try our attention, not the color of my skin, are extraordinarily needed at this crit- to make sure that fewer people lose not tokens. It is cool when you are out ical moment when our economy has confidence in this Nation, to have the in the public. I get it all the time on been shattered. So for current Ameri- Senator from Illinois refer to this proc- Twitter. I am used to it. But on this cans and future Americans, job well ess, this bill, this opportunity to re- day, my heart aches for my State. My done. store hope and confidence and trust to heart aches for my uncle’s church, I yield the floor. the American people, to African Amer- which he attended for 50 years before I suggest the absence of a quorum. icans, to communities of color—to call he passed. So I am a little riled up. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The this a token process hurts my soul for I sit here quietly trying to pass good clerk will call the roll. my country, for our people. legislation that was based on the House The bill clerk proceeded to call the To think that the concept of anti- bill because I knew that if I wanted a roll. lynching that is a part of this legisla- chance to get something done, we had Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. Mr. tion would be considered a token piece to do it in a bipartisan fashion. I am President, I ask unanimous consent of legislation because, perhaps, I am not running for anything. I am not up that the order for the quorum call be African American and the only one on for reelection. I am not trying to sup- rescinded. this side of the aisle—I don’t know port someone for their victory. I am The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without what he meant, but I can tell you that, simply saying to the families I met objection, it is so ordered. on this day, to hear those comments, with yesterday at the White House JUSTICE ACT again, hurts the soul. without a camera and in my office yes- Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. Mr. To think about how, in the same terday without a camera: I hear you. President, I woke up this morning, year, 2015, Walter Scott, in my home- We see you. You are not simply sitting Wednesday morning, June 17, 2020, and town of North Charleston, running there silent. We are working on seri- for so many Americans, this is just an- away from the police, was shot five ous, tangible, measurable results. other Wednesday morning. You wake times in the back—I sponsored legisla- Why is that not enough? Why can’t up; you get ready for work—but not in tion then, and I don’t remember a sin- we just disagree on the three or four South Carolina. gle person saying a single thing on that items that we disagree upon? Why In South Carolina, this Wednesday, side of the aisle about helping to push can’t I say what I have been saying, June 17, is the fifth anniversary of forward more legislation on body cam- which is that the House bill is, in fact, when a racist walked into Mother eras. But, today, this is a token piece the blueprint for some progress? It goes Emanuel Church, sat through a Bible of legislation. I think it is important too far for me in some areas, but, yes, study for an hour and listened to be- that we stand up and be counted and I like the concept of more information. lievers talk about their love of God. At make sure that we have more resources This is a good thing. The House does it; the end of that Bible study, he pulled available for every officer to have a we do it. That is a good thing. I like out a weapon and killed nine people. So body camera because, as we saw in the concept of more training. The for me and so many South Carolinians, Georgia with Mr. Arbery, had it not House does it; we do it. I like the fact this is a hard day. been caught on video; in Walter Scott’s that we are looking for a way to ban I will tell you this: Standing on this case, had it not been caught on video; choke holds. We do it by taking money floor, remembering the words of one of in George Floyd’s case, had it not been from different departments; they do it the victims’ son, Daniel Simmons, Jr., caught on video, we might be in a dif- in a different fashion. We are about 90 5 years ago on a Wednesday, 1 week ferent place. percent there. later—I asked Daniel Simmons, Jr., On the other side, they are wanting But where do we go? Where do we go? whose father, Daniel Simmons, Sr., had to race-bait on tokenism, while this People wonder why our country is so been killed in an attempt to start an- legislation would provide resources for divided. It is because it is so easy to other race war at the home of the Civil body cameras, for anti-lynching, and walk onto this floor and say ‘‘token’’ War: What should I say to the people for deescalation training. But, no, we and send the same race-baiting mes- who would be watching around the can’t concern ourselves with the fami- sage that we have heard for a very long country? lies I sat with at the White House yes- time. He said what I could not believe. It terday and in my office yesterday. In- If you are a Democrat, hey, it is OK. was this: Please remind them of Ro- stead, we want to play politics because That is not ever OK. It is not OK to say mans 8:28—that all things work to- this is 2020, and we are far more con- to our kids: You can’t think what you gether for good for those who love God cerned about winning elections than we want to think and be who you want to and are called according to His pur- are about having a serious conversa- be. If you are not in line with one idea pose. tion on reform in this country. No, we and the way they think, it is bad news. I was standing at those doors on my would rather have a conversation Then you are a sellout. cell phone. I could not believe the about tearing this country apart, mak- What message do you send the kids? words he was speaking. In an act of ing it a binary choice between law en- I am going to be OK, but what message true, unconditional love, he inspired forcement and communities of color in- are we sending the kids throughout our me. He encouraged me. He taught me stead of working for the American peo- country—that you can’t be taught just lessons of strength and courage and ple, bringing the reforms to the table to think; we have to teach you how to mercy our Nation needs to remember. so that we have a chance to balance think. That is the kind of conclusion I came to the floor today to speak this Nation and direct her toward due that is wrong. It is toxic. It is pushing about my new bill, the JUSTICE Act, north. No, that is too much to ask on our country toward an implosion that our Republican response to police re- June 17, 5 years later. is avoidable.

VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:28 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 4637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17JN6.024 S17JNPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE S3042 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE June 17, 2020 That is why I started my legislative token experience. They don’t think sit- seen it put out there: You know those day today with remembering Mother ting down with the President of the Republicans are all racist. I don’t Emanuel. It is why I read my Bible United States, with tears filling their think they are going to be able to pass next—because I knew I needed a little eyes, running down their cheeks, talk- something dealing with race. extra strength. That is why I turned ing about their lost loved ones is a As this dividing message continues to immediately to my first interview try- token experience. The law enforcement go out, we continue to do our work be- ing to talk about police reform be- officers in that meeting with those cause we also believe in equal justice cause, as a guy who has been stopped 18 families do not believe that having a under the law. As a friend of mine said times in the years of the 2000s, I take it serious conversation about police re- to me a couple of weeks ago, we also seriously. Being stopped seven times in form is a token experience. They don’t believe we should be able to work to- a single year, being stopped this year, believe that coresponders for the one ward a more perfect Union. being stopped last November, being man who was in the room, whose son For me, it is not only a practical stopped coming into the Senate with was having a mental episode, who was issue, not only a family issue; it is not my pin on—sure, I get it. But I don’t shot on the scene—he doesn’t think only a friendship issue; it is not only a point fingers at the other side, saying this was a token experience. basic freedom and liberty issue; it is that they are just not serious about the Shame on us. Shame on us if we are not just a constitutional issue. For me, issue. It is just not what we should do. unwilling to have a serious conversa- it is also a Biblical issue. You can go I assume that everybody should be tion about a serious issue that, in my back as many pages as you want to in serious about the issue, but I have to opinion, is a greater threat to this Na- Scripture and work your way from be- tell you, it is with a heavy heart—it is tion than perhaps anything we have ginning to end, and you are going to with a heavy heart that I believe that, seen. We have never solved it because find some very consistent themes. had we had more money for body cam- we are all having political points. That Throughout the book of Deuteronomy, eras, we would be in a different posi- is wrong. It is just not right. there is a statement about how God’s tion today than we were in 2015. But I Let me say to all of my colleagues, affection is ‘‘for equal weights and didn’t have anybody who wanted to Senator LANKFORD, Senators CAPITO, measures.’’ His first challenge to gov- have this conversation or, at least, SASSE, LINDSEY, BARRASSO, and ALEX- ernment when literally the Jews were they didn’t have this conversation. ANDER: Thank you. Thank you for giv- establishing their first government, I believe there are good people of ing a voice to a serious issue. God spoke to them, saying, make sure good intent on the other side of the The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- there are equal weights and measures. aisle. I think there are people of good ator from Oklahoma. It is a simple way of saying, whether intent on our side of the aisle. I think Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. President, first, you are rich or poor, whether you are a the fact is that most Americans are I would like to associate my remarks foreigner, whether you are a member, tired of Republicans and Democrats 100 percent with everything Senator whether you are in or out, everyone is talking about Republicans and Demo- SCOTT just said. Somehow I am sup- to be treated the same, equal weights, crats. I think most Americans are tired posed to speak after he just said it. equal measures. Find that passage over of our talking about election outcomes The frustration that I have had over and over and over again through the and polls. ‘‘What about me?’’ is what the past couple of days as we have Old Testament. Read it all the way to they are saying. worked very hard in pulling the legisla- the Book of the Revelation at the end. I am suggesting that this bill, the tion together is we have talked to peo- At the Book of Revelation at the end, JUSTICE Act, is a serious nationwide ple all over. I have talked to people of there is a gathering around the throne effort tackling the issues of police re- all backgrounds all over Oklahoma. I that is pictured. At the very end, there form, accountability, and trans- have talked to members of the commu- is the gathering of the Kingdom of God. parency. It is grounded in bipartisan nity. I have talked to law enforcement. As they gather around the throne, it is principles because I believe that the I have talked to leadership in law en- described as every tribe, every nation, other side has some stuff we have to forcement. We have worked to build a every language, every people, all gath- hear and that our side has some stuff coalition of ideas, things that would ered. they need to hear. If we do that, we pass, answering the question that TIM For me, this is a Biblical issue as will have the votes to have a real de- SCOTT started with: Could we pull to- well as being a personal issue, but for bate next week on this bill, but if we gether a piece of legislation that would us as a nation, it is a legal issue. It is don’t do that, we will just talk about actually help—not to just pass some- about where we find inconsistencies in scoring political points, and you will thing so we can walk away, pat each the application of the law, we are to go on MSNBC or CNN, and we will go other on the back and say ‘‘We passed correct it, and we do what we can to on FOX, and everybody will have their something,’’ knowing quietly that it make it right. chatter, and more people in the com- really isn’t going to make any dif- This bill is designed with a simple munities of color will have less con- ference? Is there something we could statement in mind. How can we provide fidence in the institutions of power and do that would actually make a dif- accountability, transparency, and authority in this Nation because we ference? training in law enforcement so that the missed the moment. We missed it 5 Over the weeks we have worked to good cops shine and those who are bad years ago. We don’t have to miss it identify what could pass, what could apples in the mix, the light shines on now. make a difference, what answers the them. As you know, I am not really into questions everyone is asking. We didn’t That is all we are asking. We want to theatrics. I don’t run toward micro- look at whether it was a Republican or see things change. People in my towns phones. I have had a lot of them these Democratic idea. We just asked the across my State want to see things last 7 days. I don’t talk a lot in con- question, what would make the dif- change and want to know that this is ference because, why say what other ference, because I don’t believe equal not just a vote that is a partisan vote; people are saying? They have probably justice under the law is owned by a it is a vote to actually get something said it better. I don’t demonize the party. It has been fascinating to me, solved. other side because I know that in order the questions I have had over the past It wasn’t that long ago that this body to get anything done in this con- couple of days as members of the media was gathering and voted unanimously ference, on this committee, in this would quietly pull me aside and say: on an almost $3 trillion bill dealing Senate, you have to have 60 votes. Hey, are Republicans going to be able with a major problem in America, Plus, if you have a grievance with your to pass a bill on race? Quietly, they are COVID–19. Why don’t we get together brother, talk to them. Talk to them. I asking the question: We know all those again, hash out the issues, and unani- have tried to do that. Republicans are racist, so are you mously come to some decisions again As I am sure I am running out of going to be able to pull something off? on a major problem in America, injus- time, let me just say that the families That is really what they are saying in tice? I sat down with yesterday—they don’t the background. Over and over again, I We can’t pass something that bans think working on body cameras is a heard it through the media and have racism. I wish we could. We would have

VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:28 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 4637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17JN6.026 S17JNPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE June 17, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S3043 all taken that vote. We can’t ban rac- Why don’t we end choke holds? Most I yield the floor. ism. That is passed on through families departments already have. Why don’t The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- and individuals. Children are not born we just end it nationwide? Why don’t ator from South Carolina. racist. They are raised racist. Families we say to departments: If you want to Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, for one, have to make a decision about what get a Federal grant for any law en- I would like to say something about they are going to do in their family. forcement purpose, you can’t get that Senator SCOTT. I know how hard it is The national conversation about race or you get a reduced amount or you get to work on this, and it has not been an doesn’t happen in this room. The na- a big deduction unless your department easy enterprise for Tim. He is a con- tional conversation on race happens in has already banned choke holds. Basi- servative Republican, who happens to kitchens and dining rooms. cally, we lay the marker out there and be African-American, and he has de- We can do something about justice. say: We expect you to take action on cided to take the lead on something There are simple things we tried to this. that is very important to the country. gather, a set of ideas that aren’t par- Why don’t we deal with the issues He has had experiences that I don’t tisan. They are ideas and solutions that are before us that people are ask- have. He has been stopped multiple that have come from all over the place, ing questions about, and where we lack times on Capitol Hill. I have never been some Democratic and some Repub- information, let’s go get it. stopped. One year, he was stopped lican, and we pulled these things to- It was several years ago that Senator seven times for lane changes. The point gether, and we are asking a simple PETERS, on the Democratic side, and is that Tim believes—and every Afri- question: Will our Democratic Mem- Senator CORNYN, on the Republican can-American male I have talked to in bers take a vote with us next week to side, put out a proposal to have a Com- the last couple of weeks is told early move to this bill to amend it, debate it, mission study these issues and more, to on, if you are stopped by the cops, talk about it, have a real dialogue, and gather information and make rec- watch what you do; keep your hands on pass something that we think will ommendations and to start passing leg- the wheel and don’t go toward the dash work? Will this bill look exactly like islation in a unified way. It passed in because that could end badly. I don’t this? It probably will look a lot like the Senate unanimously and died in know how that happened, but it is real. this because there are aspects of this the House. Let’s bring that legislation For us not to realize that would be a that look like this in the House right back up. huge mistake. now. Will there be additional ideas? We tried to do some work in the Sen- Let me be on record as saying I un- Probably. Why don’t we debate it and ate to head this off. Let’s do it again derstand that if you are an African- talk about it? Why don’t we both open and see what we can actually do. Where American male, your experience with it up and discuss it and why don’t we we find departments that are recruit- the police is different than mine. It is actually try to solve it? ing officers and the department doesn’t unacceptable, and it needs to stop. There are things such as, if there is So how do you stop it? You bring bodily injury or death in police cus- match the ethnicity of their commu- about change. So what kind of change tody, that all of that information has nity, why don’t we provide grants for are we looking for? Our Democratic to come in to the FBI so we can dis- that community and that police de- friends have a list of changes. I think it seminate it and get transparency in partment to be able to have a Black re- is Justice in Policing. The House is the country. In fact, 40 percent of the cruiter recruit more Black officers and marking it up. Here is what I would say departments report that, but a lot of to help them financially in the earliest to my Democratic colleagues: Stop lec- them do not. days through the police academy to There are a lot of places that do no- make sure that department profile turing me. You had 8 years under knock warrants. We don’t have infor- matches that community? President Obama to do the things in mation about that. We know it is hap- One of the great gains of the last 30 the Justice in Policing Act, and 90 per- pening all over the country, and there years has been community policing, al- cent of it you never brought up. I am is some conversation about maybe we lowing officers to be able to get out of not saying we are blameless, but there should end part of it or keep part of it. their car and meet their community has not been this sense of urgency to What would that look like? We don’t and to engage so communities are po- deal with these problems institution- have the information gathered. Why licing together. Why don’t we do that? ally like there is today. Why? Because don’t we get information on no-knock I did a ride-along with an officer sev- of Mr. Floyd and a few other things all warrants so that we can make an in- eral years ago, and I will never forget happening together. formed decision and then act on it? it. As we were riding through his com- Tim said in 2016 we had our chance. Why don’t we deal with some basic munity and his neighborhood where he These episodes come and they go. The problems that are out there that we always patrolled, we drove by an elder- question for the country is, Will any- have seen several times in some of the ly lady as sweet as she could be sitting thing ever change? The only way it is worst moments? Something happens, on her front porch. As we drove by I going to change is to find common and law enforcement is not wearing a asked: Does she sit out there every ground. So the proposal Senator SCOTT body camera, and it is one opinion day? has collected, along with other col- against another opinion. Why don’t we The police officer laughed and said: leagues, has bipartisan support, but if get more body cameras in the streets, Yep, she sits out there every day. it is not enough, I am willing to listen and why don’t we make sure those body I asked: Have you ever stopped to regarding doing more. cameras are actually turned on all the meet her? Senator SASSE was with me yester- time? There is new technology in body He hesitated for a long time, and he day. We had a 5-hour hearing, and I cameras so that they automatically said: No, I never have. learned a lot. I learned that a police de- turn on when there is a call. Law en- Community policing does make a dif- partment looking like the community forcement doesn’t have to worry about, ference. When you get a chance to meet is important, Senator LANKFORD, but, ‘‘I forgot to turn it on.’’ It turns itself the people in the community, get to more importantly, is that you live on. Why don’t we incentivize it to en- know them, and share the responsi- where you police. courage new body cameras with auto- bility together for actually working to I asked a gentleman from New Jer- matic features to turn it on so we al- solve problems that we face. sey: What is more important, race or ways have footage? We are laying down a set of ideas community attachment? He said: Com- Why don’t we hold people to account that we feel will make a difference, not munity attachment. You are less likely if there is a false police report that is just make a message. Other people to hurt somebody in a community you filed? In several cases of late, when the have other ideas. Bring them. Let’s feel a part of. incident was over, a written police re- open it up. Now, having said that, we need more port was filed. Later, cell phone video Let’s not have heated debate. Let’s African-American police personnel. We came out that was completely different have debate that solves the problems need more women. Apparently, women from the original police report. Well, so that at the end of this, we know do their jobs a lot better than men. I that is a false report. Why don’t we what we are solving. We solve it, and haven’t heard one person come forward hold that bad apple to account? then we keep going. and say: I had a bad experience with a

VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:28 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 4637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17JN6.029 S17JNPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE S3044 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE June 17, 2020 policewoman. More women would be munity, let’s talk. Maybe we can get To my friends on the other side, if it helpful. But the main thing is, we need there if it is that important. Let’s at is about qualified immunity, let’s talk. people from the community being in least try. That is what the legislative If it is about 242, let’s talk. If it is charge of policing that community process is all about. about keeping this issue alive, don’t with a system that is more account- Section 242 allows the Federal Gov- waste my time. We have all had plenty able. ernment to bring charges against an of time around here to do better. Now So CORY BOOKER and I have worked individual for denying another Amer- we have a chance to actually do some together on a lot of things—great guy. ican their constitutional rights. This is good. The only way we are going to do TIM and CORY are good friends, and I about policing but not exclusive to po- some good is talk. The only way you admire the heck out of TIM SCOTT. I am licing. get a law passed is to engage in debate. not going to take any more time. He is The Presiding Officer is from Geor- If you don’t want to debate the topic, if one of the most decent people I have gia. I am from South Carolina. There you don’t want to have amendments ever met, and we are lucky to have him was a time in the South where juries about the topic, that tells me all I need in South Carolina and the country is would nullify all the evidence in front to know about where you are coming lucky. of them because the victim was a Black from. The bottom line, as CORY said, there man and the perpetrator was White. A I yield to the Senator from Nebraska. are two issues that have to be ad- mountain of evidence could be pre- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- dressed or everything else doesn’t mat- sented, and there would be an acquittal ator from Nebraska. ter—242 and qualified immunity. I in like 15 minutes. So we came up with Mr. SASSE. Mr. President, I want to wrote them down. For those who are a concept to allow the Federal Govern- start by saying thank you to my friend not conversant in 242 or qualified im- ment to intervene in cases like that from South Carolina—LINDSEY GRA- munity, there is nothing wrong with and hold somebody liable for violating HAM, chairman of the Judiciary Com- you. This is a very archaic area of the the constitutional rights of another mittee spoke, but I mean my desk law. Qualified immunity is a judicial American under law Federal law. mate, Senator SCOTT from South Caro- doctrine that has developed over time The standard to prosecute is ‘‘will- lina—not only for his leadership and that relates to the 1983 civil rights ful.’’ You have to prove that the police hard work and the hard work of Jen- statute that allows people to sue gov- officer willfully understood the con- nifer and the rest of that their team. ernmental entities for abuse of force, stitutional right and violated it. My Over the course of the last 2 weeks, for excessive force. friends on the other side want to lower they have been working around the There is nothing in the statute about the standard to ‘‘reckless.’’ What I clock to lead our six-person working an objective standard where the rea- would say is, this is not 1965. The police group on this project. sonably prudent police officer in the officer involved in Mr. Floyd’s death is I want to thank Tim, not just for his same circumstances acted accordingly. going to be prosecuted. So while it is leadership, but for his speech 30 min- There is nothing about good faith. important to talk about section 242, utes ago and for his spirit. That speech Justice Thomas is a pretty conserv- most States where these events have is a speech that needs to be watched by ative guy. He wanted to revisit quali- occurred have acted responsibly. We every American. fied immunity. I don’t know how he don’t need the Federal Government sit- I sincerely hope that the 100 people in would substantively come out on the ting in judgment of every cop in the this room will come together and try issue, but in his dissent denying certio- country. What we do need is a system to get an outcome and not just main- rari of the concept, he explains how of accountability. I will talk to you tain a political issue as has happened this judicial concept has exploded be- about 242, but I think that is not the so often around here. I think if we had yond every attachment of common law issue. the process that was the custom in the analysis. This is Clarence Thomas. If What is the issue? It is that police Senate until a few decades ago of com- you presented to me qualified immu- departments that are immune from li- mittees happening in the morning and nity in its current form as a legislative ability when they engage in abusive the Senate convening for most of the proposal, I would vote hell, no. Police conduct over and over are unlikely to afternoon—if this room were actually officers need not worry about losing change until that changes. You can full when TIM SCOTT delivered his their house or being sued if they act in throw all the money you want to at speech, it would be real tough for peo- good faith in performing duties that training and improving best practices, ple to be talking about not voting on are hard on any good day, but when po- and they will gladly accept your the motion to proceed next week and lice departments time and again fail to money. If they don’t do it right, they getting on this piece of legislation do the things necessary to instill good don’t get the money. Add one thing to where we could then debate it and policing, I think they should be subject the mix. By the way, if you shoot a dog argue about it and fight about tech- and accountable like any other busi- and you wind up killing a kid—your po- nical pieces here and there and figure ness. There is common ground here. lice officer shouldn’t have shot the dog out how we make it better. We would Not one Democrat has suggested to anyway in a fashion to kill the kid who be on a piece of legislation, and we me to make the individual officer civ- was right by the dog—you are going to would be trying to get an outcome. I illy liable under 242, but I had Demo- wind up having your ass in court. That sincerely hope that is true. I sincerely crats suggest to me that the standard will change things. hope people listen to TIM SCOTT’s has become almost absolute immunity. I have been a lawyer, and I know how speech from today. The Presiding Officer has run all people feel about this. If you are ex- George Floyd’s murder, obviously, kinds of businesses. Being in the polic- posed, in terms of your conduct being shocked the nation. It shocked us in ing business is not your normal busi- subject to a review by a court and a two ways. It shocked us, on the one ness. There needs to be a filter when it jury, you are all of a sudden going to hand, because we saw a man being mur- comes to lawsuits. It can’t be about think differently. dered for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, and outcome. But it is now time, in my Don’t misconstrue what I am saying. we saw three other police officers stand view, to look at the development of the I am not for abolishing qualified immu- by while he was murdered. But it also qualified immunity doctrine as it re- nity; I am for revisiting the concept be- shocked us because it reminded us, yet lates to the 1983 underlying statute and cause I think it has grown too much again, that America’s struggle for see if we could make it better, not gut from judicially created fiat. It is time equal justice under the law is far, far it. for the legislative body—for us to from over. To my Democratic friends, if you speak as to what we would like to have The American creed is a beautiful want to eliminate qualified immunity, happen to the statute that we create thing. The American creed celebrates it will be a very short conversation. If that now has a component to it that the dignity, the inherent self-worth, you want to reform it so that munici- was never envisioned when it was origi- the fact that we believe, as so many of palities and agencies and organizations nally passed. That is what Clarence our Founders believed, that people running police departments will have Thomas is telling us as a nation we were created Imago Dei—created in the some protection but not absolute im- need to do. image of God as image bearers. That

VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:28 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 4637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17JN6.031 S17JNPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE June 17, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S3045 dignity is male and female, Black and passed along so there is a lot more really blessed to be asked to join Sen- White. Every man, woman, and child in transparency on all lethal uses of force. ator SCOTT as he led us to where we are this country is created with inherent The commonsense reforms include today, which is introducing the JUS- dignity. They are beautiful, and that increasing police resources. There is a TICE Act. creed is beautiful. That proposition lot of training that needs to be done I am thinking about where the great that all men are created equal should better across this country. There are a talents lie in the Senate. One of the inspire every generation of Americans. lot of practices in local law enforce- things we all know all of us do well is We aren’t doing a very good job right ment—when you look at the 15,000, talk. We know how to talk. Sometimes now of passing on the glories of that 16,000, whatever the current number is we talk too much. Senator SCOTT creed to the next generation. It is a of local entities that have the capa- doesn’t talk that much. He even said beautiful and profound creed, but bility and capacity to have law en- that about himself. I can tell you the throughout our history, our failures to forcement authorities, those policing skill that he has that a lot of us need live up to that creed have been ugly powers, there is a lot of diversity in more of. Always, when I am asked by over and over again. their practices. Some of those prac- school children ‘‘What is the best skill George Floyd’s murder was horrific tices are improving but are still bad. to have?’’ I say it is the ability to lis- for that man and for his family and for Senator SCOTT and our legislation want ten. He has listened for years and everyone in his communities—Min- to try to use the Federal grant-making years. He has not just lived this; he has neapolis, Houston, and other places powers to squeeze out some of those listened. He said, just yesterday, he where that man had made a mark. But bad practices. was with the family of one of the vic- it was also horrific because it was yet We want to see trust rebuilt between tims, and it was a very moving day for another reminder of all the ways that this Nation’s communities and the po- him. we fail to live up to our creed. The lice. We reject the false binary that I am here today to rise with my col- creed is beautiful, and our execution you have to make a choice between leagues in support of the JUSTICE Act. has so often been ugly. being on the side of communities of I join the overwhelming majority of When communities of color have lost color or being on the side of law en- Americans and West Virginians who, in faith in law enforcement, we aren’t liv- forcement. No, we don’t want that to sadness and frustration and sorrow, ing up to that creed. When an Amer- be the choice. We want the choice to be witnessed the horrifying video of the ican tells you that he fears being law enforcement to get better and com- murder of George Floyd by the Min- pulled over for driving while Black, we munities of color to have more trust. neapolis Police Department. It was ab- need a lot more conversations in a lot We want to see more collaboration. We solutely unacceptable. The vast majority of our law enforce- more communities so people know this want to see more progress. Frankly, ment officers here and around the experience. that is what the vast majority of indi- country are just like us. They want to Again, Senator SCOTT is one of my vidual police and that is what the vast have a great and peaceful nation. They closest friends in this body. The experi- majority of police departments want. want to have great and peaceful com- ences he has had with law enforcement The overwhelming majority of Amer- munities. They want their families to in South Carolina are different from icans—Republican and Democrat, feel safe in their homes and out in the the ones I have had with law enforce- women and men, Black and White—the streets of their communities just as we ment in Nebraska. The experiences he overwhelming majority of Americans do. A lot of them take their oath seri- has on Capitol Hill with law enforce- want us to build more trust. We can do ously and do their best to protect our ment have been different from the ex- that in this body next week. communities. We want to strive toward equal pro- periences I have had on Capitol Hill. No It is not enough to say that the death one should be wearing skin pigment or tection under the law. That starts with of George Floyd was a terrible, isolated racial heritage as something that trying to narrow the differences and tragedy because we know many of changes our experience of law enforce- figuring out what we can do to move these have preceded this date. I have ment, yet it is regularly the case. That forward together. That is what this bill said it is almost like popping a balloon is ugly. The creed is beautiful. does. This bill is an architectural and revealing all of this unrest under- Our attempts to become and to be a frame to do a bunch of good things that neath, all the questions and sorrow more perfect Union and to live up to are pretty darn noncontroversial and that have been festering. the glories of that creed are an impor- to do a bunch of things that we can Here we are today. I think the great tant part of our shared project to- build on in a debate and amendment majority of us want to put all this en- gether. At the risk of sounding too process. ergy and frustration into action. We theological, east of Eden, sin is always We should be passing something 100 want to have something substantive so ugly, and that includes America’s to 0. There will be debate. There will we can tell the American people: We original sin. That tells us that we have amendment votes underneath that will listened. We heard. We feel this. And work to do together. be contentious, but we should ulti- we want to find solutions. We have work to do as 330 million mately be getting onto a piece of legis- We have to recognize that every time Americans, but we have work to do as lation to start the process 100 to 0, and force is used inappropriately by law en- 100 Senators. What that should mean is at the back end we should be passing forcement, our justice system has erod- that next week we are going to be in something 100 to 0 even though, in the ed. We have to understand our history, this body trying to live up to that middle, there should be a bunch of wherein Black Americans have been creed and to do more. amendments where people argue about too frequently denied their basic There is a lot of technical stuff inside the best way that we do the particu- rights. It is our job to make sure that this bill. As Senator SCOTT said, 70 per- lars. Americans, regardless of race, can feel cent of what is in this bill is pretty There is no reason we shouldn’t be that law enforcement is there to pro- darn noncontroversial, largely because moving forward. We can get this done. tect them and their families and that it is lifted and summarizing many We can take another step to make they trust that. The trust factor is pieces that are also in the House of America’s beautiful creed a reality for where the erosion has been most re- Representatives’ Democrat bill. every single one of God’s children. markably in view of all of us—the lack The JUSTICE Act puts forward a That is what we should do, and we of trust. number of commonsense reforms that should do it without delay. It is our job to hear these voices and seek to force more accountability. This I yield to the Senator from West Vir- to act. In my opinion, it doesn’t mean has been stated on the floor many ginia. defunding the police; it means improv- times today, but I want to say it again: The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. COT- ing the police and improving equal pro- When police use lethal force, there is a TON). The Senator from West Virginia. tections so that everybody has basic voluntary opportunity today for them Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I am protections and we are all equal in the to report that to the FBI. We want to pleased to be here with my fellow Sen- eyes of justice and the law. make that mandatory. We want all ator from Nebraska and the other We have seen the looting. We have that data to be captured and to be Members of the small team that was seen officers who have lost their lives.

VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:28 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 4637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17JN6.032 S17JNPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE S3046 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE June 17, 2020 We have seen an underbelly to our munities, failing our law enforcement are tough decisions, and we are going country that has been difficult to communities. I would say that we need to make them. We are going to have watch. Yet what we have seen, too, is to begin this job of a difficult conversa- this where you can see it, right here on an outcry of the American citizens tion and make sure that we get this the floor of the U.S. Senate. peacefully protesting what they see as bill onto the Senate floor and debate it So thank you very much. I am proud inequities in their lives. When I look in in front of the general public. to be with my colleagues. the crowd—I was right there in Wash- When we start debating things on the I yield the floor. ington last week when a crowd of about Senate floor in front of the general The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- 150 protesters walked by me very public, do you know what happens? The ator from Ohio. peacefully with signs and chanting in same thing that happened during the NOMINATION OF JUSTIN REED WALKER solidarity. Most of the people in that impeachment trial. I know all of us Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, we are in group were probably under 30 years old. were getting all kinds of input from the middle of a pandemic. The Presi- There were a lot of Black faces, a lot of people all around. People are watching dent of the United States doesn’t act White faces, men and women, young it. They are seeing what is actually like it, but Americans are still dying people who felt that lack of trust. We going on. That is what we need. If we by the hundreds—several hundred al- look at how people have exercised their want to have discussions on qualified most every day. First Amendment rights. It is a beau- immunity, if we want to ban choke We are in the middle of an economic tiful thing to see. Unfortunately, it has holds, which I want to do and our bill crisis. Again, the President of the been eroded by some of the destructive does, essentially, but if you want some- United States doesn’t act like it. He things that have come along with it, thing more definitively, yes, I am all crows about the unemployment num- but at the base of it, we are hearing the for that. Let’s have the discussion and bers when they are the worst since same things in our States every day. talk about it in front of the American World War II. While we want to know that our Dec- people. And we are in the middle of a crisis laration of Independence has lived up I believe that law enforcement has a of conscience. Millions of Americans to—and that the 14th amendment, lot of great people who work in and have taken to the streets to protest the which guarantees that no government, around law enforcement. They need the murders of Black and Brown Ameri- including State and local governments, equipment. They need the cameras. cans by the people supposed to protect can deny basic constitutional rights, They need to have the realtime evi- them. we haven’t quite lived up to all of that. dence—the realtime evidence of wrong- With all of these challenges, the A century passed before we passed doing and evidence of doing it right. It President of the United States is fail- major civil rights legislation in 1964. is a protective device. Everybody ing. The Senate should be stepping in One of the sources of great pride for me should have the availability of that in right now to fill that leadership void, is that my father was one of the lead- law enforcement. to get more help to families and to ing Republicans in the House of Rep- We also require that law enforcement communities that are going bankrupt, resentatives representing West Vir- agencies retain disciplinary records on to protect workers—to use every tool ginia in 1964 who helped make sure officers and make sure that they check we have to force the administration to that passed. In my office, I actually an officer’s record from other agencies get some kind of test trace isolate re- have a pen that was used in signing before making a hiring decision. I kind gime in place to truly stop the spread that and a picture of my dad at the of thought that was going on anyway. of the coronavirus. We should be listen- White House when it was signed. I sort of did. We need to make sure and ing to the protestors demanding justice Our job is not done. When I hear the make clear that is what we absolutely in communities all across the country, voices of mothers who say that they want to do. large and small. are fearful their son might not survive The bill incentivizes State and local They remind us this pandemic isn’t a a simple traffic stop or they must have police agencies to ban choke holds. As separate issue from racial justice—it is certain behaviors—as Senator SASSE I mentioned earlier, I am for even more all connected. It is not a coincidence said, it is so different from what he definitive language on that. that President Trump stopped even learned growing up as a young man It also provides training in all kinds pretending to try to fight the about how to interact with police offi- of areas—deescalation or if an officer is coronavirus once he realized it was dis- cers in that situation. We can’t have in a situation where another officer is proportionately Black and Brown those anguished cries and that double using overwhelming force improperly, Americans dying, not very often one of system anymore. That is what this bill that officer is trained on how to inter- his rich friends. is about. dict that situation. We saw that hap- In the Senate, we have plans to get I am proud to be with Senator SCOTT pen in Minneapolis. Sadly, the officers help and protections to workers; we introducing the JUSTICE Act. It has did not, but maybe they didn’t know have plans to fund a scale-up of testing been interesting to watch him and all how to do it, when to do it, what form that gets us closer to the level we need; of us listen to the different segments of it should take. Let’s explore that. we have plans to work to hold police our society who have talked to us— To keep our communities safe, we accountable; we have begun to tackle friends, neighbors, police, members of need our police officers. We need trust the systemic racism in our justice sys- communities of color, our religious in our law enforcement. There should tem. communities, our news commentators. be no conflict between a pro-civil Look at it this way: The last time I I did six interviews today on the TV rights bill and a pro-law enforcement was on an airplane was in mid-March. I about this. Every single one of them bill. They should be able to be joined live close enough—6-hour drive be- asked me one fundamental question, together. This supports our police offi- tween Cleveland and Washington. In and I wish some of my friends on the cers while bringing about positive mid-March, there were about 90 other side of the aisle would be here. change that will guarantee equal pro- coronavirus cases diagnosed in the They asked: You don’t have a very tection to all of our citizens. The police United States—halfway around the good history in this body of having Re- reform bill will make a real difference world from where the Presiding Officer publicans and Democrats joining to- in advancing our constitutional ideals likes to emphasize it came from, gether to get something done. How do and in making our communities safer. Wuhan. About 900 miles from Wuhan is you think you can do this now? I said: I am proud to stand with Senator the capital of South Korea—Seoul. In Well, today we did. We did the Great SCOTT, but I want to stand with the en- South Korea, around that same time, American Outdoors Act. Several tire body to talk about the ways to there were 90 cases. So South Korea months ago we did the CARES Act. We make this bill even better, to take the had 90 diagnosed cases; the United can do it. Where there is a will, we can 70 percent of this bill that we have States had about 90 diagnosed cases. do it. shared ideals on and shared ideas and Since that date in March, fewer than If we don’t do it, we are failing so put those into action and to not dither 300 Koreans have died of the many people. We are failing ourselves. here, to not score political points, and coronavirus; over 110,000 Americans We are failing our country, our com- to say to the American people: These have died of the coronavirus.

VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:28 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 4637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17JN6.034 S17JNPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE June 17, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S3047 In Korea, their unemployment rate Before his nomination to the district put another member on another Fed- now is under 4 percent; our unemploy- court, Walker praised then-Judge eral court who is trying to take away ment rate is somewhere between three Kavanaugh for providing a roadmap Americans’ healthcare. and four times that. the Supreme Court could use to strike Chad Readler, from my State, who is That is clearly the incompetence— down the ACA. So it isn’t just that now serving on the Sixth Circuit, led this is not a partisan statement. I have Judge Walker is a young, unqualified, the Trump administration’s efforts to watched my Republican Governor of extremist, far-right protege of the ma- dismantle the entire Affordable Care Ohio, who has done a good job, teamed jority leader. It is not just that. I Act, and David Porter, who holds a up with Dr. Amy Acton, the health di- mean, talk about the swamp. That is Pennsylvania seat on the Third Cir- rector, in combating this virus early, what that is. cuit, wrote that the ACA ‘‘violates the while the President of the United What it is all about is putting an- Framers’ constitutional design.’’ States was still blaming the virus on— other vote in a key place to overturn What kind of law training do you saying it was a hoax or not real or the Affordable Care Act. He is calling have, and what kind of upbringing do whatever he said, and then his inept upholding the ACA indefensible and you have—what kind of way do you leadership didn’t scale up testing, catastrophic. think?—that you would think that pro- didn’t have any national program to I don’t know how, in the middle of a viding healthcare to citizens is a viola- provide protective equipment to our pandemic, you look at the American tion of the Framers’ constitutional de- people. landscape, you see how many people sign? Who thinks that way? On and on So we have seen the bungled leader- have been sick—millions of Americans it goes. ship out of the White House—110,000 have been sick—110,000 Americans have The American people want to keep Americans passed away, an unemploy- died, hundreds more every day, and you their healthcare. They have made that ment rate higher than at any time in think one of the most important things clear. They especially want to keep my lifetime—but we are not doing any- you can do is strip millions of Ameri- that healthcare in the middle of, for thing about that here in this body. cans of their healthcare. gosh sakes, a pandemic. Leader MCCON- Why? Because Leader MCCONNELL He has continued his attacks on NELL needs to stop trying to take it doesn’t want to do anything about it, American healthcare protections since away through the courts and start let- for whatever reason. Instead of rising he joined the Federal bench. In March ting us actually get to work to make to meet the crisis of the pandemic or 2020, at his formal swearing-in cere- people healthier. unemployment or the protests on our mony as district judge, Judge Walker Let’s get to work to save lives from streets, Senator MCCONNELL wants to said the worst words he heard while the coronavirus. Let’s get to work to create a new crisis by confirming more clerking for Justice Kennedy on the save lives from police violence. Let’s extreme judges that are trying to take Supreme Court were the Chief Justice’s get to work to save lives from all of the away America’s healthcare. rationale for upholding the ACA. The inequities in our healthcare system. The challenges we are facing as a worst words he heard from the man for Let’s get to work to put money in peo- country are bad enough. Imagine if whom he was working were his words ple’s pockets, help them pay the bills Leader MCCONNELL and President to uphold the ACA, the Affordable Care and stay in their homes, and help State Trump get their way—their handpicked Act. and local governments from laying off judges throw tens of millions of Ameri- Now, what I forgot to mention was thousands and thousands of workers. cans off of their health insurance in that when Judge Walker said that at Leader MCCONNELL, let us do our job, the middle of a pandemic. That sounds his swearing-in ceremony, there were a the job for which we were elected. farfetched? Well, no, it isn’t. couple of important visitors there. I yield the floor. In the middle of a pandemic, this Although the Senate should have The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- President continues his lawsuit to try been in session and finished our work ator from Missouri. to overturn the Affordable Care Act, on the first round of the coronavirus, UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUESTS—S. RES. 596 even though the voters have ratified it Senator MCCONNELL—his office is down AND S. 3798 through a number of elections in 2012 the hall. As we know, Senator MCCON- Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, I am and 2014 and 2016 and 2018. It still NELL decided to adjourn the Senate and here today to talk about the death of stands, but the President of the United go back to Kentucky for this swearing- democracy, and I am here today to talk States is trying to take away people’s about how we can stand with those who healthcare. They are trying to sneak in. Judge Kavanaugh, another protege, are fighting to preserve it. ACA repeal through the courts since if you will, of Senator MCCONNELL’s In the United States, the death of de- they couldn’t do it in Congress. was there too. While the rest of the country is dis- So don’t forget, Senator MCCONNELL mocracy might seem like a distant and tracted just trying to keep their fami- is on the ballot this year. Senator unfamiliar thing. We study examples in lies safe, judges are deciding the fate of MCCONNELL faces an opponent who is the history books. We read of nations America’s health coverage right now. running neck and neck with him. It is and peoples who are forced, through no The nomination we are considering a very Republican State, but Senator choice of their own, to surrender their this week—right now on the floor—of MCCONNELL is not a particularly well- basic liberties. We remind ourselves of Judge Walker is part of that effort. liked figure in his State, as we have the need always to stay vigilant, to Judge Walker has served in the West- seen through many years. stay aware, but we are seeing today the ern District of Kentucky for just 6 So Senator MCCONNELL didn’t do his death of democracy unfold in realtime, months. job here. It is not just he didn’t do his right before our eyes, in the city of What makes him qualified for the DC job. He stopped us from doing our jobs Hong Kong. Circuit? It is not the 6 months he so he could fly back, be with Supreme A diverse and global city, rich in cul- served in Kentucky. In fact, the bar as- Court Justice Kavanaugh, to remind ture and arts and commerce and peo- sociation in Kentucky said he wasn’t the voters in Kentucky that he is the ple, Hong Kong is an outpost of liberty. qualified for that job. He has only had strong man who got Judge Kavanaugh For decades, under a special set of laws it for 6 months. What makes him quali- on the Supreme Court and then to cele- and protections, it has stood as a haven fied? brate the swearing-in of just another of liberty—a beacon, a light—but I fear Just go down the hall. I am sure you young judge to a Federal district court. that light is fast dimming, nearly over- could have seen many, many times That is where Senator MCCONNELL’s come by darkness and by tyranny. Judge Walker when he was Law Clerk priorities are. This body, along with all free peo- Walker or Young Man Walker or We know Judge Walker is the latest ples, has a special responsibility to Grandson of Contributor Walker going in a long line of judges pushed by take a stand for the freedom-loving in and out of Senator MCCONNELL’s of- President Trump, rammed through by people of Hong Kong. We must take a fice. He is a protege of MCCONNELL’s. Leader MCCONNELL, as his minions, stand to ensure that the light of Hong He thinks the way MCCONNELL thinks; shills, obedient junior Senators or Kong does not go out forever. We must he acts the way MCCONNELL acts; and sheep—you choose the noun for your take a stand to ensure that this out- that is what it is all about. colleagues—all vote yes so you could post of liberty lives on. We must take

VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 4637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17JN6.036 S17JNPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE S3048 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE June 17, 2020 a stand so that the flame of freedom is I want to take just a couple of min- plaything to do with as it chooses. not extinguished forever by the Chi- utes to remind those of us who have That is not the case. Beijing has under- nese Communist Party. been watching this issue and have con- taken internationally binding commit- On May 28, Beijing announced that it cerns about this resolution that the ag- ments, agreements, by which it has would adopt legislation that will essen- gression we are seeing now is not some- agreed to protect and honor the basic tially jettison the basic law under thing that is new. This is newly real- liberties of the people of Hong Kong, which Hong Kong has been governed ized. and it is those commitments that it is for decades. It is legislation that will As those of us who have followed this seeking to violate today with impu- trample upon Beijing’s own treaty and followed the dealings of the Chi- nity. It is those commitments Beijing commitments in the 1984 Sino-British nese Communist Party know, the new- is seeking to wriggle out of just as it Treaty, legislation—they call it legis- est so-called national security law is has, time and again, violated its agree- lation, but, of course, what it really is nothing more than the party’s response ments with this country, just as it has, is just fiat, fiat by the Chinese Com- to the threat that uprisings and pro- time and again, cheated on its obliga- munist Party in Beijing—that will tests in Hong Kong pose to its hold on tions to Americans. strip Hong Kong of its basic liberties, power. It just can’t stand it. It watches That is another reason I am calling strip Hongkongers of the right to free- the freedom fighters in Hong Kong, and on the Senate today to pass a resolu- dom of speech, strip Hongkongers of it thinks: What if it gets away from us? tion that makes it our position that the right to peacefully assemble, strip Hong Kong is our financial center, China has gone too far. We must go on Hongkongers of their rights to redress and it is watching what is happening in record and tell the world that this new in fair and open courts with some proc- the rest of the free world. Australia, national security law—this fiat that ess of law. Canada, and the UK all have signed the has been issued by Beijing—is a viola- Beijing wants to deny the people of official joint statement with us, the tion of what Beijing has committed to. Hong Kong all of these things because United States of America, expressing It is a violation of the fundamental lib- liberty is a threat to the authoritarian deep concern with this so-called na- erties of the people of Hong Kong, and Communist regime in Beijing. Oh, it tional security legislation, which real- nothing less than freedom is at stake. fears that more than anything else. It ly is the Communist Party’s way of My resolution also calls on this ad- fears the people. It fears the will of the stepping into Hong Kong and usurping ministration to use every diplomatic people, and it fears the liberty of the the power—of going back on a deal it means available to stay Beijing’s hand. people. It is trying to destroy the last made long ago. The President has already begun the outpost of liberty in its nation—the Beijing claims that it needs this law process of downgrading Hong Kong’s great city of Hong Kong. to control against ‘‘subversion of state special trade status. We must build on Now, we were promised that it would power,’’ but, again, anyone who has that effort now by rallying nations— not come to this. We were told, when been paying attention knows that it the free nations of the world—to pres- China joined the World Trade Organiza- will use this standard as an excuse to sure China to back down from their at- tion, when China was given permanent redefine ‘‘subversion’’ and engage in tempt to strip away the basic liberties normal trade relations, when China the violent repression of speech, asso- of the people of Hong Kong because, in was ushered into this so-called commu- ciation, and movement—with no cause the end, Hong Kong’s struggle is the nity of nations, that it would liberalize and without mercy. This is how it has struggle of all free people. China and that it would make the Chi- kept control. It is a pattern, and there Do you know what I said when I had nese Communist Party more moderate. is no reason to believe it is going to do the chance to visit the city, see the Well, I think we know how that has anything differently this time around. protests, and be out on the streets my- turned out. Over the past year, we have seen how self last fall? That sometimes the fate After decades now of stealing our willing Chinese officials are to trample of one city defines the struggle of a jobs, decades of ripping us off in trade, every international norm, every law, generation. In the 1960s, that city was decades of impoverishing our own every principle of diplomacy to force Berlin. Today, that city is Hong Kong, workers here in this country while their hand on their own people and on and it is time for this body to take a stealing our intellectual property, dec- other countries. Now, against all odds, stand. ades of building its military on the forces in Beijing have found a way to I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. backs of our middle class and our make life in Hong Kong more dan- BLACKBURN). The clerk will call the working people, now Beijing wants to gerous than it has been by roll. dominate its region, snuff out Hong delegitimizing peaceful and nonviolent The bill clerk proceeded to call the Kong, and then turn to the rest of the protests and journalism that doesn’t roll. world. mirror party propaganda. They have Mr. HAWLEY. Madam President, I We have to send a clear message that seized even more hope away from the ask unanimous consent that the order we will not stand idly by. We will not freedom fighters who have captured the for the quorum call be rescinded. allow Beijing to erase the history of its world’s attention in their stunning dis- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without misdeeds. We will not allow it to erase plays of defiance. objection, it is so ordered. the history of Tiananmen. We will not It is really quite a battle that is tak- Mr. HAWLEY. Madam President, as allow it to erase the history of the con- ing place, and I thank my colleagues if in legislative session, I now ask centration camps it is running at this for the good work they have done in unanimous consent that the Com- very moment, and we will not stand by standing against the Chinese Com- mittee on Foreign Relations be dis- while it destroys the liberties and the munist Party’s aggression. charged from further consideration and rights of the people of Hong Kong. I yield the floor. the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 596. It is time now for this body to stand The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- I further ask unanimous consent that and send a clear message that will call ator from Missouri. the resolution be agreed to, the pre- the other free nations to stand in sup- Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, I thank amble be agreed to, and that the mo- port of the values we hold dear, in sup- the Senator from Tennessee for her tre- tions to reconsider be considered made port of all that this country stands for, mendous work on this issue. I thank and laid upon the table. in support of the liberty of the people her for her leadership and for her The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there of Hong Kong. strong stance in favor of the people of objection? I yield to my colleague Senator Hong Kong and their basic liberties, The Senator from Maryland. BLACKBURN of Tennessee. guaranteed to them by the inter- Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Presi- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- national treaty commitments that Bei- dent, I am reserving the right to ob- ator from Tennessee. jing has ascribed to, that Beijing has ject. Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I signed up for, and that it now seeks to As I listened carefully to the state- thank the Senator from Missouri for violate with impunity. ments made by the Senator from Mis- the work he is doing as he brings for- Let’s be clear about what Beijing souri about the aggressive and unac- ward this resolution for Hong Kong. wants. It says that Hong Kong is its ceptable conduct of the Government of

VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 4637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17JN6.038 S17JNPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE June 17, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S3049 China, or Hong Kong, he is absolutely has some teeth in it. It is not just a views on the bill, and I think with such right, I believe, that it is important statement from the Senate. It is an ac- an important issue that so many of us that the U.S. Senate—in fact, that the tion that will be taken by the Senate care deeply about, it deserves a little U.S. Government take action strongly and the House and, hopefully, by this more discussion and debate than just expressing our disapproval but also administration, which apparently to come to the floor with a UC. take action to actually show the Gov- doesn’t want to take action. We have I am committed, as a member of the ernment of China that there will be a heard them already express concerns Banking Committee and as a cospon- price to pay if they continue down that about this legislation. sor, to working with both committees path of aggression and try to snuff out I would hope that if our colleagues on and with the chairs of both committees the freedoms of the people of Hong the Republican side feel as strongly as of jurisdiction over the resolution and Kong. the Senator from Missouri does, they the bill to make sure we get it right as That is why, immediately after the would want to back up those words opposed to this UC. Government of China announced its in- with legislative action, and they would I want to work hard. I know you all tentions to move in that direction, we want to back up those words with do. I think we should work at looking introduced a bipartisan bill. Senator something that is more meaningful and at the comments from the administra- TOOMEY introduced the bill. I am proud something that tells the Government tion, working together as Republicans to join him as a cosponsor. We have of China that we stand together in and Democrats who care about this other Democratic and Republican co- making sure there is a price to pay. country, care about the people of Hong sponsors to the bill. I am pleased to see I know the Senator from Missouri Kong, and who are concerned about the the Senator from North Dakota on the has worked on other bills making it behavior of China. So I object to adop- floor. He is a cosponsor of that bill. It clear that we do not find acceptable all tion of this bill before we have a is called the Hong Kong Autonomy sorts of conduct by China. I have as chance to do exactly that. Act. well—bipartisan bills. I hope we can The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- In addition to expressing the senti- join together right here, right now, to tion is heard. ments that the Senator from Missouri support the expression—the state- The Senator from Minnesota. lays out in his Senate resolution, it ment—that the Senator from Missouri JUSTICE IN POLICING ACT proposes that we take action as the has brought to us but also go beyond Ms. SMITH. Madam President, it has Government of the United States. that and send a signal right now that been a little bit over 3 weeks since my While we have heard statements from we, the U.S. Senate, want to be joined constituent, George Floyd, was mur- Secretary Pompeo, the reality is that by the House and by the administra- dered by the Minneapolis police, and this administration has not exercised tion in putting action behind those for a little over 3 weeks, millions of any of its existing sanctions authority words. That is exactly what the bipar- people have marched on the streets, that it could take to express our strong tisan Hong Kong Autonomy Act does. raising their voices in grief and an- So I would respectfully request that disapproval of the actions the Govern- guish to protest the police brutality the Senator from Missouri modify his ment of China is proposing to take and systemic racism that killed George request to ask, in addition to what he with respect to Hong Kong. That is Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud proposed, that the Banking Committee why we introduced the bipartisan bill, Arbery, Philando Castile, Jamar Clark, be discharged from further consider- again, outlining all the transgressions and so many others. But the killing the Senator from Missouri talked ation of S. 3798, a bill to impose sanc- tions with respect to foreign persons hasn’t stopped. about but actually doing something Just last Friday, police in Atlanta involved in the erosion of certain obli- about them by requiring that the ad- killed Rayshard Brooks, shooting him gations of China with respect to Hong ministration impose sanctions on indi- twice in the back. Just moments ago, Kong; that the Senate proceed to its viduals in the Government of China it was announced that this officer will immediate consideration; that the bill who are undermining the rights of the be considered read a third time and be charged. people in Hong Kong and requiring The killing will not stop until we passed; and that the motion to recon- them to impose sanctions on Chinese take action. The Senate needs to act sider be considered made and laid upon Government entities that are depriving now to take up and pass the Justice in the table with no intervening action or the people of Hong Kong of the free- Policing Act. debate. I joined my colleagues, Senators doms the Senator talked about. It goes The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the BOOKER and HARRIS, in introducing this beyond that. It says that any bank Senator from Missouri so modify his bill last week. I am grateful for their that is aiding and abetting the Govern- request? ment of China in snuffing out the Mr. HAWLEY. I do. strong leadership toward creating a rights of the people of Hong Kong can Is there objection to the request as more fair and equitable justice system. be subject to sanctions. modified? The scale of the injustice can feel Now, I know the Senator from Mis- Mr. CRAMER. Madam President. overwhelming, and the path can seem souri knows the Government of China The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- very long, but passing the Justice in well enough to understand that the ator from North Dakota. Policing Act would provide concrete Senate passing a resolution and leaving Mr. CRAMER. Madam President, re- steps on that path. It is a necessary it at that is not going to change their serving the right to object, it is clear step toward stopping the killing and conduct. I think the Senator is enough to the five or six of us Senators who advancing our work to make trans- of a student of the Chinese Communist are in the room right now that there is formative changes that we need to ful- Government to recognize that. So that passion, that it is an important issue, fill the promise of freedom and equal- is exactly why we introduced this bi- and that there may even be unanimous ity in America. partisan legislation because if we want consent in the hearts and minds, cer- The Justice in Policing Act would to have any chance of influencing the tainly, of the Senators with regard to make some of the changes that we ur- conduct of the Government of China, both the spirit of the resolution and gently need to stop the scourge of po- we have to make it clear there will be perhaps the letter of the bill, of which lice violence against communities of a price to pay. There is no price to be I am a cosponsor, that has been intro- color. This legislation would prohibit paid in the Senate passing a resolution. duced by UC by the Senator from some of the most dangerous police It is a nice statement. I support the Maryland. practices. It would strictly limit the statement, but I am also a little tired I think it is clear that we all have use of force, and it would begin holding of this body passing a lot of resolu- the same objective here, but I also law enforcement accountable in a sys- tions, sometimes thinking we have ac- know there is just a handful of us in tem that was designed to shield them tually done something when we haven’t the room talking about a very impor- from accountability. changed a thing. tant issue that may seem simple but First, the bill prohibits the most dan- That is why I am here on the Senate we know is very complicated. gerous police practices. It would ban floor to ask my colleagues to support We know that the administration has the use of choke holds like the ones the what is a bipartisan bill that actually provided both technical and policy police used to kill George Floyd and

VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 4637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17JN6.040 S17JNPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE S3050 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE June 17, 2020 Eric Garner. It would also ban no- When law enforcement officers be- Thank you. knock warrants like the one the police lieve that they will never face con- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- used when they killed Breonna Taylor sequences for crossing the line, they ator from Tennessee. in her own bed. will continue to ignore that line. The TELEHEALTH Choke holds pose an unacceptable Justice in Policing Act will begin to Mr. ALEXANDER. Madam President, risk, and that risk is not borne equally. make this change. it is hard to think of much good that Black men are nearly three times more The House is poised to pass the Jus- has come out of the 3-month experience likely to be killed by police use of force tice in Policing Act next week, and I with COVID–19, but here is one thing: than White men. urge this Senate to take it up. Let’s de- the number of patients who have seen The use of no-knock warrants also bate it, and let’s pass it. their doctors remotely through the disproportionately harms communities We are at a crossroad, and we cannot internet, FaceTime, and all of the of color. The practice was popularized fail to act. Four hundred years of other remote technologies we have, in- in the 1990s as a tool in the war on structural racism cannot be erased by cluding the telephone. We call that drugs so that officers pursuing drug a single piece of legislation or with a telehealth. charges could enter a person’s home single generation of legislators, but Our Health Committee this morning unannounced, with guns drawn, inher- passing this bill is a crucial step to- had a fascinating hearing on tele- ently and unnecessarily endangering ward ending the killing and the vio- health. There was a lot of bipartisan their lives. lence against communities of color. It interest from the Senators—Democrat Communities and activists have been is a necessary step on the path toward and Republican Senators. The Senator warning us about the inherent danger racial justice. from Minnesota was the ranking mem- and injustice of choke holds and no- The path toward justice leads us to- ber of the committee today at the re- knock warrants for decades. It is long ward transformative changes to rede- quest of Senator MURRAY. My sense at past time to end the debate and to ban fining the role of policing in America. the end of the hearing was that there these practices nationally, but experi- Reimagining policing means recog- were a number of things we agreed on. ence has shown us that it is not enough nizing that not every social ill and I ask unanimous consent that my to ban egregious practices. When Los every emergency is answered by calling opening statement at the hearing Angeles banned choke holds in 1982, of- in the armed officers. We have other today be included in the RECORD fol- ficers took up batons to beat and sub- better and more effective tools when lowing my remarks. due civilians. dealing with the hurt of mental illness, My colleague, the Senator from Ten- In 1991, the officers who beat Rodney of substance abuse, of homelessness, of nessee who is presiding today, and I King actually argued that their actions economic insecurity. Reimagining po- both know Tim Adams, who is the CEO were necessary because they weren’t licing means asking whether outfitting of the Saint Thomas hospital system in permitted to use a choke hold, and officers with military-grade weapons Middle Tennessee. those officers were never held fully ac- He told me on the phone last week and equipment makes it safer—or does countable. that Saint Thomas employs about 800 it escalate conflict and violence and American policing resists reform and physicians in its several hospitals. Dur- accountability, so it is not enough for encourage officers to see the commu- ing the month of February, there were us to ban the most dangerous prac- nities they serve as hostile enemies? 60,000 visits between physicians and pa- Reimagining policing means address- tices; we need to set a national stand- tients in the Saint Thomas system. ing the overpolicing of communities of ard for police use of force. That is what Only 50 of those 60,000 were by tele- color. It means that we ask questions the Justice in Policing Act does. health, were remote. But during the 2 Today, the current standard in law about whether anyone is really safer months of March and April, Ascension asks only if an officer’s use of force was when we surveil neighborhoods, search- Saint Thomas conducted more than reasonable, and this makes it nearly ing for possible violations. This only 30,000 telehealth visits. That is 50 to impossible to hold officers accountable feeds the system of mass incarceration. 30,000—more than 45 percent of all of because the system—a system designed Reimagining policing means that we the visits between patients and doctors to protect officers, not Black and reassess our criminal code, our justice during that time. Brown bodies—has built up decades of system, and our sentencing laws that Tim Adams expects that to level off, precedent excusing officers from the irrevocably disrupt lives and commu- but there will still be probably 15 to 20 harm that they cause. So if we are seri- nities for minor offenses with minimal percent of all of Saint Thomas 60,000 ous when we say that Black lives mat- impacts on public safety. visits a month by telehealth. ter, if we are serious about our com- Above all, reimagining policing I talked to the CEO of the largest mitment to equal justice, we need to means recognizing that our current hospital in San Francisco a few weeks hold police officers to a higher stand- system is not inevitable; it is the re- ago, and he said that during February, ard of care in their use of force. That is sult of thousands and thousands of pol- about 5 percent of their visits between why the Justice in Policing Act would icy choices made over, literally, hun- doctors and patients were telehealth. set a national use of force standard dreds of years, designed to control and He said that was a very high percent- that asks whether the force was nec- punish Black and Brown and indige- age for a hospital. But in March, it was essary and hold officers accountable for nous communities—choices that com- more than half, more than 50 percent. exhausting other options before resort- pound injustice and unequal oppor- Think about that for just a moment. ing to violence. tunity. There were 884 million visits in 2016 be- The Justice in Policing Act would As we imagine a new way forward, we tween doctors and patients, according eliminate qualified immunity for law need to face some uncomfortable to the Centers for Disease Control. If 15 enforcement officers and reset the im- truths about the history of policing in to 20 to 25 percent of those were sud- possibly high standard for convicting our country. We can, and we must, denly by telehealth instead of in-office law enforcement officers of a crime. make different choices this time. We visits, that would mean hundreds of Today, our system effectively puts cops know better, and we have to do better. millions of visits a year would be by above the law by insulating them from I want to close by thanking the com- telehealth. It is hard for me to imagine civil and criminal liability when they munity leaders and young activists that there has been a bigger change in violate the rights of those who they are who are showing us the path forward. the delivery of healthcare services in sworn to serve. No one should be This path requires us to be courageous. recent history or maybe in our coun- shielded from accountability for their It requires us to be humble. It requires try’s history than the sudden shift to actions in a free society. us to be uncomfortable. It requires us telehealth in visits between patients When we change these rules, we will to listen. But it is a path rooted in love and doctors. finally be able to provide long denied and in trust and in hope. Telehealth has been around for a long justice for victims of police brutality, I am committed to walking this path time. Our witnesses testified to that. their families, and their communities. with my constituents, and I am hopeful We had some excellent witnesses. Dr. But we will also be able to prevent that my colleagues and my fellow Rheuban from the University of Vir- such brutality in the first place. American citizens will join me. ginia; Dr. Kvedar from Harvard, who is

VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 4637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17JN6.042 S17JNPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE June 17, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S3051 the new president of the American we need to take a number of steps to be nent changes need to be made in federal and Telemedicine Association; Dr. Arora, as well prepared for that virus as we state policies. who is the founder of Project ECHO, can. In 2016, there were almost 884 million visits nationwide between patients and physicians, which is well known across the coun- Whether its accelerating treatments according to the Centers for Disease Control try; and Dr. Andrea Willis, who is the and testing and finding a vaccine or and Prevention. If, as Tim Adams expects, chief medical officer of Blue Cross Blue collecting data in a different way or 15–20 percent of those were to become remote Shield of Tennessee, which apparently better coordination of Federal officials, due to telehealth expansion during COVID– is the first major insurance company all of those things are part of what we 19—that would produce a massive change in to say that it will insure telehealth need to examine, and we need to do our health care system. visits in the same way that it insures that this year—this year—because our Our job should be to ensure that change is other visits. attention spans are short in this coun- done with the goals of better outcomes and better experiences at a lower cost. What I recommended following the try. We move on quickly to the next Part of this explosion in remote meetings hearing was that two of the policy crisis. While COVID–19 is fresh on our between patients and physicians has been changes—which I judge to be the two minds, we should do whatever we need made possible by temporary changes in fed- most important changes in policy that to do to get ready for the next crisis. eral and state policies. The private sector, the Federal Government made—be We should do those things this year. too, has made important changes. One pur- made permanent. Among those things we need to do pose of this hearing is to find out which of The first is that physicians can be re- this year is to make permanent the these temporary changes in federal policy imbursed for a telehealth appointment changes in Federal policy on telehealth should be maintained, modified, or re- versed—and also to find out if there are any wherever the patient is, including the that allowed this explosion of doctor additional federal policies that would help patient’s home. That would change the and patient meetings by remote visits. patients and health care providers take ad- originating site rule, as it is called. People have been trying to think of vantage of delivering medical services using The second is that Medicare, during ways to do this for a long time. Unfor- telehealth. COVID–19, has begun to reimburse pro- tunately, it took a pandemic to cause Of the 31 federal policy changes, the three viders for nearly twice as many types it to happen. Now, while we can see the most important are: of telehealth services. That rule, those result, make sure we don’t have unin- 1. Physicians can be reimbursed for a tele- changes, I believe, also should be made health appointment wherever the patient is, tended consequences that are unfortu- including in the patient’s home. That change permanent. nate. While we are doing that, we need was to the so-called ‘‘originating site’’ rule, What has happened is that we have to make those changes. which previously required that the patient had an incredible pilot program on So I recommend to my colleagues, live in a rural area and use telehealth at a telehealth. We have crammed 10 years the testimony from our excellent wit- doctor’s office or clinic. of experience into 3 months, and we nesses this morning. There were 884 2. Medicare began to reimburse providers have a rare opportunity to look at the million doctor-patient visits in 2016 in for nearly twice as many types of telehealth services, including: emergency department 3 months of experience and make a de- the United States, and very few of cision about what works, what doesn’t visits, initial nursing facility visits and dis- them were by telehealth. In the future, charges, and therapy services. work, and right the rules of the road the estimates are there could be as 3. Doctors are allowed to conduct appoint- for the future. many as 20, 25, 30 percent of all of ments using common video apps on your It is not just the Federal Government them, hundreds of millions of doctor- phone, like Apple FaceTime, or phone changing, I think, a total of 31 dif- patient visits, by telehealth. That most texting apps, or even on a landline call, ferent policies, all of which we should likely is the largest change in the de- which required relaxing federal privacy and examine, but States have made some livery of medical services that our security rules from the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or changes too. Those changes involve al- country has ever seen. lowing individuals to cross State lines HIPAA. There being no objection, the mate- Many states made changes as well, most more easily to get appointments with rial was ordered to be printed in the importantly making it easier for doctors to doctors with whom they need to talk. RECORD, as follows: continue to see their patients who may have Then the private sector is beginning OPENING STATEMENT traveled out of state during the pandemic. to change too. I don’t know of other in- For example, a college student from Mem- TELEHEALTH: LESSONS FROM THE COVID–19 surance companies that have done phis, who attends college in North Carolina PANDEMIC—JUNE 17, 2020 what Tennessee Blue Cross Blue Shield and has a doctor she sees in Chapel Hill, was I spoke recently with Tim Adams, the CEO able to go home to Tennessee during the pan- did, but I know there will be some who of Ascension Saint Thomas Health, which decide on their own to begin to move to demic and continue seeing her Chapel Hill has 9 hospitals in Middle Tennessee and em- doctor by FaceTime. Or, a patient in Iowa cover those services. ploys over 800 physicians, who told me that has been able to start seeing a new psychia- Senator BRAUN and Senator CASSIDY in February before COVID–19, there were trist in Nashville. on our committee brought up the point about 60,000 visits between patients and phy- The private sector adapted to these that we want to watch carefully to see sicians each month. changes, too. One of our witnesses today is that we are not just adding to the cost Almost all of those visits were done in per- from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee, of healthcare by telehealth; in fact, we son. Only about 50 were done remotely which has already begun to make permanent through telehealth using the internet. adjustments to its telehealth coverage poli- ought to have an opportunity to reduce But during the last two months, Ascension it. Our goal is always, when delivering cies based on some of the temporary federal Saint Thomas conducted more than 30,000 changes in Medicare. healthcare services, to have as an ob- telehealth visits—or around 45 percent of all Looking forward, of the three major fed- jective a better outcome, a lower cost, its visits—because of changes in government eral changes, my instinct is that the origi- and a better patient experience. It may policy and the inability of many patients to nating site rule change and the expansion of very well be possible that telehealth see doctors in person during the COVID–19 covered telehealth services should be made not only improves the patient experi- pandemic. permanent. ence—we have had very few complaints Tim Adams expects that to level off at 15– One purpose of this hearing is to hear from 20 percent of all its visits going forward. about the experience of that—and im- the experts and discuss whether there may The largest hospital in San Francisco told be unintended consequences, positive or neg- proves the outcomes, but it may also me that 5 percent of its visits in February ative, if Congress were to do that. lower costs, which is a major objective were conducted through telehealth—and the It’s also important to examine the other 28 of our committee. hospital considered that to be a very high temporary changes in federal policy. Last week, 10 days ago, I issued a number. Then in March, telehealth visits The question of whether to extend the white paper about the changes I made up more than half of all its visits. HIPAA privacy waivers should be considered thought we needed to make—Congress Because of COVID–19, our health care sec- carefully. There are privacy and security needs to make—so that we could be tor and government have been forced to concerns about the use of personal medical well prepared for the next pandemic cram 10 years’ worth of telehealth experience information by technology platform compa- into just the past three months. nies, as well as concerns about criminals after COVID–19, the one we know will As dark as this pandemic event has been, it hacking into these platforms. When HIPAA surely come. We don’t know when, we creates an opportunity to learn from and act notification requirements are waived, a per- don’t know what the name of the virus upon these three months of intensive tele- son might not even know that their personal will be, but we know it will come, and health experiences, specifically what perma- information has been accessed by hackers.

VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 4637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17JN6.044 S17JNPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE S3052 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE June 17, 2020 Additionally, several of these technology Communist Party, is a dictator and fusion because, although the American platforms have said they want to adjust human rights violator who is denying people are united in their desire for their platforms to conform with the HIPAA basic rights to the people of Hong justice and equality, that sense of rules. Another lesson from these three months is Kong, cracking down on dissidents, unity, they feel, is under attack. that telehealth or teleworking or tele-learn- militarizing the South China Sea, and Over the past few weeks, we watched ing is not always the answer, especially for imprisoning more than 1 million thousands of protesters peacefully people in rural areas or low-income urban Uighurs in internment camps simply march in the memory of George Floyd areas who do not have access to broadband. because of their religion. and countless other Black Americans And still another lesson is that personal The coronavirus pandemic should be who have been killed—who have lost relationships involved in health care, edu- the last straw. We can no longer rely their lives at the hands of law enforce- cation, and the workplace cannot always be on other countries like Communist ment. Sometimes these protests are replaced by remote technology. Children China for our critical supply chain. vigils, and they are very quiet. There have learned about all they want to learn over the internet, patients like to see their Washington politicians have been too are other times they fill the streets doctors, and workplaces benefit from em- concerned with short-term political and they are a bit disruptive and they ployees actually talking and working with success and have long ignored the long- demand accountability from their gov- one another in person. There are some limits term threats to our way of life. ernment in a way that has really cap- on remote learning, health care, and work- It is time for action. Now, more than tured the attention of the entire world. ing. ever, Americans must remember that On the other side, however, we have There are obvious benefits to allowing every time we buy a product made in watched professional agitators who health care providers to serve patients China, we are putting another dollar have come into some of these protests, across state lines during a public health cri- sis. As a former governor, I am reluctant to into the pockets of the people who and then they have turned them into override state decisions, but it may be pos- steal our technology, deny people their riots. The self-prescribed culture war- sible to encourage further participation in basic human rights, and are propping riors silence anyone and anything that interstate compacts or reciprocity agree- up dangerous dictators like Maduro in deviates from their own chosen nar- ments. Venezuela. rative, and that is very unfortunate. Last week I released a white paper on steps I am proud to lead my colleagues in The paths we take to achieve our de- that Congress should take before the end of a bipartisan resolution calling on sired outcomes are informed by the the year in order to get ready for the next Americans to buy products made in the goals we have, not the other way pandemic. One of those recommendations around. This is why we must question was to make sure that patients do not lose United States whenever possible. Buy- the benefits that they have gained from ing American is not partisan, and I am the goals of those whose activism has using telehealth during the COVID–19 pan- glad my colleagues on both sides of the taken a repressive turn because peace- demic. aisle are coming together to encourage ful protest is an essential element of Even with an event as significant as Americans to take a stand. addressing government. That is how COVID–19, memories fade and attention I know it is not always easy, but it is you achieve change. That is how you moves quickly to the next crisis, so it is im- an important step we can all take at get people with you and working with portant for Congress to act on legislation home to support American jobs, Amer- you. It is a part of who we are. this year. This absolute protection against sup- Because of this 10 years of telehealth expe- ican producers, and American manufac- rience crammed into 3 months—patients, turers and help build up the U.S. sup- pression in any form makes the recent doctors, nurses, therapists, and caregivers ply chain. dismantling of meaningful public dis- can write some new rules of the road, and I am also working with Senator course all the more disturbing because should do so while the experiences still are BALDWIN to pass our COOL Online Act, as you look back through our Nation’s fresh on everyone’s minds. which will make sure all goods sold on- history, you realize freedom and free- Mr. ALEXANDER. I yield the floor. line list their country of origin to cre- dom’s cause has been well served by ro- I suggest the absence of a quorum. ate more transparency for American bust, respectful, bipartisan debate— The PRESIDING OFFICER. The consumers. hearing all voices. clerk will call the roll. In my State, we take immense pride Do you remember how sometimes we The senior assistant legislative clerk in products made in Florida. It is a would joke about the cancel culture be- proceeded to call the roll. driving force that led to our incredible cause it was the product of social Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam Presi- economic turnaround. A return to this media influencers and overenthusiastic dent, I ask unanimous consent that the pride in homegrown businesses ensures fan clubs? What we see now is that has order for the quorum call be rescinded. America remains strong and the undis- taken hold of the entertainment indus- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without puted leader in the global economy. We try, corporations, and editorial boards. objection, it is so ordered. must all do our part to support our Na- Outrage manufactured along partisan The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- tion and make it clear to Communist lines dominates every news cycle, all ator from Florida. China that the United States will not in an intentional and targeted effort to THE COOL ONLINE ACT stand for their behavior. divide the American people and, there- Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam Presi- I am committed to supporting Amer- by, what would that do? It destroys our dent, I rise today to encourage all ican businesses over Chinese products. cultural identity. If this isn’t what Americans to join the fight to support I hope my colleagues will join me. chilling speech looks like, then I don’t our Nation and our jobs and stand up The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. know what does. against the growing threat of Com- CRAMER). The Senator from Tennessee. I would like to be able to say this munist China. I have been saying it for PROTESTS body stands united against this wave of months, but the best way each and Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, for malice or that I am confident we have every one of us can make a difference more than 200 years, the American peo- demonstrated a commitment to real is to buy American products whenever ple have exercised their right to peti- reform, but I fear that we have not yet possible. It is time we addressed the tion the government for a redress of arrived at that place. In spite of every- new Cold War occurring between the grievances. We understand how very vi- thing, in spite of it being clear that United States and the Chinese Com- tally important it is for each of us to those who seek to divide and destroy munist Party and be crystal clear have that right to petition our govern- this country are working just as hard about the negative impacts of con- ment, to have our say. as those who seek to unite it, other pri- tinuing to buy Chinese-made products. But just as we learned from our orities remain in play. This has become Communist China is stealing Amer- moms and dads when we were kids, especially evident today. ican jobs and technology and spying on there is a right way and there is a JUSTICE ACT our citizens. Data collected by Chinese wrong way to get things done when we Last week, my friend and colleague companies is shared with the Com- feel that, in our opinion, the govern- Senator TIM SCOTT from South Caro- munist Government of China, which is ment has fallen short. I would under- lina announced that he was leading a focused solely on global domination. stand if this differentiation between working group with the goal of draft- Xi, the General Secretary of the China right and wrong sometimes causes con- ing a comprehensive police reform bill.

VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 4637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A17JN6.019 S17JNPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE June 17, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S3053 You all know what happened next. He The U.S. Senate must respond to the civilly liable for abuses. We need to spoke about it just a few hours ago, but pain and the suffering of our constitu- strip Federal funds from departments I think it is important to get on the ents. Let us begin work today, not next that violate civil rights. We need to record just one more time today that week, not next month but right now in provide funding to States and munici- he deserves our thanks, and he deserves addressing the unprecedented crises palities to create a civilian core of un- credit. our people are facing. If there is any- armed first responders to supplement Before Senator SCOTT had a chance thing that the torture and murder of law enforcement. to write a single word of his bill, some George Floyd by Minneapolis police For too long, we have asked police of our colleagues on the other side of has taught us, it is that we have to fun- departments to do things which they the aisle were ready to shut it down. It damentally rethink the nature of polic- are not trained or prepared to do, and was stunning. Let me read you a few of ing in America and reform our broken we have criminalized societal problems these statements. and racist criminal justice system. like addiction and homelessness and Someone said they suspect it ‘‘is Let us be clear—and I think every- mental illness, severe problems that going to be window dressing.’’ Another body understands this—the murder of exist in every State in the country. said: ‘‘It’s so far from being relevant to George Floyd is not just an isolated in- But these are not problems that will be really the crisis at hand.’’ Another: cident. It is the latest in an endless se- solved by incarceration. We are not ‘‘This is not a time for lowest common ries of police killings of African Ameri- going to solve the crisis of addiction or denominator, watered down reforms.’’ cans, including Rayshard Brooks, Eric homelessness or mental illness by in- And then there was another unfortu- Garner, Sandra Bland, Laquan McDon- carceration. We have done that for too nate comment for which an apology ald, Tamir Rice, Alton Sterling, long, and it is a failed approach. was offered late today, and that apol- Freddie Gray, Rekia Boyd, Walter We need to make records of police ogy was accepted. All of this is dis- Scott, and many, many others. misconduct publicly available so that appointing. It is hurtful, yes, but dis- The American people are rightly de- an officer with a record of misconduct appointing because this is a time when manding justice and an end to police cannot simply move two towns over we have to carry on. We have to move brutality and murder. And we have to and start again. We need to require all forward. hear that cry coming from all across jurisdictions that receive Federal grant Senator SCOTT announced the intro- this country, from large cities and funding to establish independent police duction of the JUSTICE Act. I am hon- small towns, and the Senate must act conduct review boards that are broadly ored to be a cosponsor of that legisla- and act now. representative of the community and tion, and I think it is imperative that Here is some good news in the midst that have the authority to refer deaths we move forward with our discussions of a lot of bad news, and that is thanks that occur at the hands of police or in and our deliberations just as we would to a massive grassroots movement, the police custody to Federal authorities with any other bill. This Chamber is Senate will finally begin to debate leg- for investigation. We need to amend going to find a way to move forward islation dealing with the police. That is Federal civil rights laws to allow more with suggestions, but, above all, I urge a good thing. The bad news is that the effective prosecution of police mis- my colleagues to consider some of the Republican legislation, at least what I conduct by changing the standard from words that have been said. I urge them have seen this morning, goes nowhere willfulness to recklessness. We need to to take those words to heart, and I near far enough as to where we need to ban the use of facial recognition tech- urge them to remember what we are go. nology by the police. fighting for and to stop focusing so Now is not the time to think small or Finally, and certainly not least im- hard on whom you have convinced respond with superficial, bureaucratic portantly, we need to legalize mari- yourself that you should be fighting proposals. Now is not the time for more juana. In the midst of the many crises against. studies. Now is the time to hold racist we face as a country, it is absurd that, I yield the floor. and corrupt police officers and police under the Federal Controlled Sub- I suggest the absence of a quorum. departments accountable for their ac- stances Act, marijuana is at schedule 1, The PRESIDING OFFICER. The tions. Now is the time to implement along with killer drugs like heroin. clerk will call the roll. far-reaching reforms that would pro- State after State have moved to legal- The legislative clerk proceeded to tect people and communities that have ize marijuana, and it is time for the call the roll. suffered police brutality, torture, and Federal Government to do the same. Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, I ask murder for far too long. Now is the When we talk about police department unanimous consent that the order for time to act boldly to protect the First reform, we must end police officers the quorum call be rescinded. Amendment right to protest. continuing to arrest, search, or jail the The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without Let me very briefly describe some of people of our country, predominantly objection, it is so ordered. the areas in which I think the Congress people of color, for using marijuana. POLICING REFORM should move with regard to police bru- We need to ban the use of rubber bul- Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, as ev- tality and the whole issue of policing. lets, pepper spray, and tear gas on pro- erybody knows, this country faces an First, and maybe most importantly, testers. The right to protest, the right extraordinary set of crises—crises that every police officer in our country to demonstrate is a fundamental, con- are unprecedented in the modern his- must be held accountable, and those stitutional right and a right that must tory of our country. found guilty must be punished with the be respected. Over the last several weeks, hundreds full force of law. That includes officers RACISM of thousands of Americans have taken who stand by while brutal acts take But let us be clear. Police violence is to the streets and courageously de- place. Every single killing of a person not the only manifestation of the sys- manded an end to police murder and by police or while in police custody temic racism that is taking place in brutality and to urge us all to rethink must be investigated by the Depart- America today. Just take a look at the nature of policing in America. In ment of Justice. what is going on with the COVID–19 the midst of all that, we continue, of We must create a process by which pandemic. In recent months, we have course, to suffer from the COVID–19 police departments look like the com- seen Black and Brown communities pandemic, which has taken the lives of munities they serve and be part of disproportionately ravaged by this over 115,000 Americans and infected those communities, not be seen as in- virus. We have seen workers, who earn over 2 million of our people. vading, heavily armed, occupying starvation wages, forced to go to work Then, on top of that, we are experi- forces. That is not what police depart- day in and day out in unhealthy work- encing the worst economic meltdown ments should look like. We must, place environments because, without since the Great Depression of the 1930s, therefore, prohibit the transfer of De- that paycheck, they and their families with over 32 million Americans having partment of Defense military equip- would go hungry. These working class lost their jobs in the last 3 months. In ment to police departments. families have, with enormous courage, the midst of all of that, enough truly is Further, we need to abolish qualified kept our economy and society together enough. immunity so police officers are held in hospitals, in meat-packing plants, in

VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 4637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17JN6.047 S17JNPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE S3054 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE June 17, 2020 public transportation, in super- pandemic that we are experiencing, not and underinsured until this crisis is markets, gas stations, and elsewhere. only do we need to act boldly to fix a over. If this crisis has taught us any- These workers—again, disproportion- broken and racist criminal justice sys- thing, it has taught us that we are only ately Black and Brown—have risked in- tem, but we need to respond with a as safe as the least insured among us. fection and death so that the rest of us fierce sense of urgency to the worst Responding with a fierce sense of ur- can continue to get the food that we economic crisis in the modern history gency means providing every working- need, get our medicines, or put gaso- of our country. class person in America with a $2,000 line in our car. In the wealthiest coun- Over the last 3 months, over 30 mil- emergency payment each and every try in the history of the world, workers lion Americans have lost their jobs, month until this crisis is over, so that should not have to choose between and because half of our people live pay- they can pay the rent, feed their fami- going hungry on one hand or getting ill check to paycheck, having virtually lies, and make ends meet. A one-time or dying on the other. nothing in savings, many of those peo- $1,200 check does not cut it. An emer- When we talk about starvation wages ple are now facing economic despera- gency $2,000 monthly payment will in this country, I was happy to hear tion. Today, all across our country, serve also as a major stimulus in reviv- today that Target has raised its min- tens of millions of Americans are in ing the economy. imum wage for its many, many thou- danger of going hungry. In Vermont Responding with a fierce sense of ur- sands of workers to $15 an hour. That is and in States all over America, we are gency means making sure that no one something that I and many others here seeing long lines of people in their cars in America goes hungry, which means have long advocated for. This follows a lining up in order to get food that the that we have got to substantially ex- decision 2 years ago by Amazon to Federal Government is now supplying. pand the Meals on Wheels program, the raise the minimum wage for their But it is not just food. Millions of school meals program, and SNAP bene- workers to $15 an hour and the effort in Americans are frightened to death that fits. seven States across this country to they will soon be evicted from their Responding with a fierce sense of ur- raise their minimum wage to $15 an apartments or lose their homes to fore- gency means making sure that the hour. closure. Imagine that. In the middle of Postal Service receives the emergency Now is the time for Walmart—the an economic meltdown, in the middle funding that it desperately needs. If we largest employer in America, owned by of a pandemic, millions of people are in could bail out large corporations, if we the wealthiest family in America—to danger of being thrown out onto the could provide over $1 trillion in tax breaks to the wealthy and the power- also raise their minimum wage to $15 streets. an hour. I should add that the Walton Further, as part of the economic cri- ful, please do not tell me that we can- family, the family that owns Walmart, sis, we are in danger of losing over half not save and strengthen the Postal can more than afford to do this be- the small businesses in this country Service, an agency of huge importance cause, since Donald Trump has been within the next 6 months—impossible to our entire economy. Acting with a fierce sense of urgency President, their wealth has increased to contemplate. Half of all small busi- means extending the $600 a week in ex- by about $75 billion. Let me repeat. nesses in America are threatened with panded unemployment benefits that Their wealth has increased by about destruction. expires in July. Failure to extend these $75 billion in the last 3-plus years, and I would say to Senator MCCONNELL benefits would slash the incomes of they are now worth some $200 billion as and the Republican leadership here in millions of Americans by 50, 60 or even a family. You know what? I think the the Senate that the American people 70 percent. You can’t do that in the cannot afford to wait. They need our Walton family can afford to pay their midst of an economic crisis. workers $15 an hour. help now, not a month from now, not 2 Here we are today. We are in the By the way, when we talk about ra- months from now. We need to respond midst of the worst public health crisis cial justice, please understand that vigorously to the enormous economic in over 100 years, and the Republican about half of Black workers in this pain and suffering and anxiety that the Senate is doing nothing about it. We country earn less than $15 an hour. American people, today, are experi- are in the midst of the worst economic Further, the House has done the encing. crisis since the Great Depression of the right thing by passing legislation to What does that mean specifically? It 1930s. People all over this country in raise the Federal minimum wage to $15 means, among other things, that the every State in America are financially an hour. The time is long overdue for Federal Government must guarantee hurting, and the Republican Senate the Senate to do the same. 100 percent of the paychecks and bene- today is doing nothing about that. We CORONAVIRUS fits of American workers up to $90,000 a continue to see African Americans bru- Despite what we hear from the year through a Paycheck Security Act, tally murdered and tortured by racist Trump administration, the COVID–19 which is legislation that I introduced police officers, and the Republican Sen- pandemic is far from over. In fact, as with Senators WARNER, JONES, and ate leadership proposes a woefully in- you may know, nine States today— BLUMENTHAL. Countries in Europe that adequate solution. nine States—hit record highs for new have taken this approach have not ex- Now, I understand that not everyone cases in a single day. What we have perienced the skyrocketing levels of in America is hurting, not everyone in seen unfold over the last several unemployment we have seen here in America needs help from the Senate. months and continue to see unfold is the United States. While over 32 million Americans have an administration that continues to ig- As a result of the economic down- lost jobs during this horrific pandemic, nore the recommendations from sci- turn, we know that over 16 million 630 billionaires in America have seen entists and physicians. Americans have already lost their their wealth go up by $565 billion— No one doubts anymore, for example, health insurance. Further, there are es- amazing, but true. Over the first 3 that masks can play an important role timates that that number could go as months of this horrific pandemic, in cutting back on the transmission of high as 43 million people losing their America’s top 630 billionaires have seen the virus. We need to utilize the De- health insurance, and that is on top of their wealth go up by $565 billion—hard fense Production Act and manufacture the 87 million Americans who were al- to believe. the hundreds of millions of high-qual- ready uninsured or underinsured before In other words, at a time of massive ity masks our people and our medical the pandemic. income and wealth inequality, which is personnel desperately need. As part of Responding with a fierce sense of ur- already today worse than at any time the Defense Authorization Act, I will gency to the economic crisis means since the 1920s, a horrific situation is be offering an amendment to do just that, in the midst of the horrific pan- becoming much worse. During the last that. Other countries around the world demic, every man, woman, and child in 3 months, while the very, very rich are sending masks on a regular basis to this country must receive the have become much richer, American all of their people. We can and should healthcare they need, regardless of households have seen their wealth go do exactly the same thing. their income. That means that Medi- down by $6.5 trillion. Billionaires see Not only do we need to act boldly and care must be empowered to pay all of their wealth increase by over $600 bil- aggressively to address this horrific the healthcare bills of the uninsured lion; American households see their

VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00030 Fmt 4637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G17JN6.049 S17JNPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE June 17, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S3055 wealth go down by $6.5 trillion. In the and reciprocity, among other concerns, out having a minder, somebody to be midst of everything else that we are with the Confucius Institutes that there to monitor what they are doing. experiencing, we are currently wit- China operates here in this country. Sometimes they are not permitted to nessing what is likely the greatest These Confucius Institutes are at our go at all, which goes to the lack of rec- transfer of wealth from the middle colleges and universities. Some people iprocity. class and the poor to the very rich in are aware of that, but some may not be Yet my goal, really, is to, again, talk the modern history of our country. aware that they are also at our elemen- about what we can do here. I would In the midst of these unprecedented tary schools, middle schools, and high urge those tonight who are watching crises, it is time for the Senate to act schools. Our reports show how these and who are connected with a college in an unprecedented way. In every Confucius Institutes have been a tool or a university that still has a Confu- State in this country, our constituents to stifle academic freedom where they cius Institute—or a high school or a are hurting, and they are calling out are located, toeing the Chinese Com- middle school or an elementary for help. Let us hear their cries. Let us munist Party line on sensitive issues school—to check it out. Check out our hear their pain. Let us act and act now. like Tibet or Taiwan or the Uighurs or report in which we have many in- I yield the floor. Tiananmen Square. stances when the American students The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- By the way, when I talk about China who are learning there are not getting ator from Ohio. tonight, I hope people realize I am not the full story. That may not be true in CHINA talking about the Chinese people. I am the case of all Confucius Institutes, but Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I am talking about the Chinese Government; I would recommend that you do the re- here on the floor this evening to talk therefore, I am talking about the Chi- search yourself. about China and to talk about how we nese Communist Party. With regard to Then, in March of 2019, after the Con- can have a better relationship with the Confucius Institutes, for example, fucius Institute report, our report into China, one that is fair and equitable. which are spread around this country, the Equifax data breach here in Amer- ica showed how China had targeted pri- I am going to talk specifically about ultimately, they report to a branch of some of the investigations and reports vate U.S. companies and stolen the in- the Chinese Government that is in- that we have worked on here in the formation of millions of Americans. In volved with spreading positive propa- U.S. Congress over the past couple of the Equifax data breach of 2017, which ganda about China. Ultimately, it is years. I am going to be talking about we studied and which is one of the larg- controlled by whom? The Chinese Com- four specific reports that came out of est in history, the personal informa- munist Party. tion of 147 million Americans was sto- what is called the Permanent Sub- So I hope the comments I make to- len by IP addresses that originated in committee on Investigations. I chair night will not be viewed as comments China. So we should just be aware of that subcommittee. It is under the that are regarding the Chinese people Committee on Homeland Security and that, and we should take precautions as much as a small group in China, the Governmental Affairs, and it is a com- and protections and encryptions and Chinese Communist Party, that, with mittee that takes these investigations security measures here to avoid it. regard to the Confucius Institutes and seriously. We do a fair, objective, thor- Again, this is about our doing more other approaches it has taken to the ough job. All of our investigations are here in this country to be prepared for United States, have led to these issues. the reality of the 21st century. bipartisan. I am going to talk a little By the way, it is thanks to our report about why these investigations that we Then, in November of last year, we and to the broader scrutiny that fol- released another eye-opening report, have done have led me to the conclu- lowed that we learned about the lack of sion that we need to do much more this one detailing the rampant theft of academic freedom and about the fact here in this country to be able to re- U.S. taxpayer-funded research and in- that history is being taught a certain spond to China and to be able to have tellectual property by China by way of way at the Confucius Institutes. By the the kind of fair and equitable relation- its so-called talent recruitment pro- way, it also pointed out that the Chi- ship that we should all desire. grams—meaning, China systematically A lot of China’s critics talk about the nese language is taught. It is a good finds promising researchers who are fact that China needs to do things dif- thing to have this intercultural dia- doing work on research that China is ferently, and I don’t disagree with logue and the opportunity to learn interested in, and China recruits them. most of that, but the reality is there is more about China, but there needs to These programs have not been subtle. much we can do right here in this be, again, an understanding and a his- The Thousand Talents Plan is the most country to create a situation in which tory of China that is fair and honest, understood of these programs, al- we do not have the issues that I will which does include discussions of what though there are a couple hundred oth- talk about tonight—some of the unfair happened in Tiananmen Square or ers. Yet we showed, in studying the activities that have occurred here in what is happening today with regard to Thousand Talents Plan, how this prob- this country. Frankly, I think we have the Uighurs—a minority group in lem has been ongoing for two decades been naive and not properly prepared. I China that is being oppressed. in this country. Through this program, will also talk about some legislation In the year that followed our scru- much of what China has taken from that we are proposing tomorrow morn- tiny—so, really, in the last year and a our labs and then taken to China has ing, which will focus on how to make few months—23 of the, roughly, 100 gone directly toward fueling the rise of America more effective at pushing Confucius Institutes on college cam- the Chinese economy and the Chinese back against a specific threat to our puses in America have closed, and oth- military. research and our intellectual property. ers have made some positive changes as Again, this is about China, but it is Our goal is not to have China as an to how they operate. So I believe our really about us. How have we let this enemy. Our goal is to actually have report made a significant difference in happen? China as a strategic partner, wherein terms of how we relate to the Confu- Specifically, we found that the Chi- there is a fair and equitable and sus- cius Institutes. nese Government has targeted this tainable relationship, but it is going to I said earlier that one of my concerns promising, U.S.-based research and its require some changes. Again, I am about the Confucius Institutes was the researchers. Often, this research is going to focus tonight on some changes lack of reciprocity. When our State De- funded by U.S. taxpayers. As tax- we need to make right here, changes partment has attempted to set up payers, we spend $115 million a year on that are within our control. something comparable on Chinese uni- research to places like the National In- Our investigations have been thor- versity campuses, it has been unable to stitutes of Health or to the National ough—in fact, driven—and our reports do so. In fact, whereas the Confucius Science Foundation or to the Depart- have been objective, bipartisan, and Institute employees and members of ment of Energy for basic science re- eye-opening, and I encourage you to go the Chinese Government are able to search. It has been a good investment on the PSI website—psi.gov—and check come on our college campuses, we are because, through some of these invest- it out. told that U.S. Government officials ments, we have discovered cures to par- Our first report was in February of and, for that matter, private citizens ticular kinds of cancer and tech- 2019. It detailed a lack of transparency cannot go on Chinese campuses with- nologies that have helped our military,

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Again: ‘‘We wish we had China is taking it. communications carriers are ‘‘subject taken more rapid and comprehensive China has not just taken some of this to exploitation, influence, and control action in the past.’’ They don’t say research funded by U.S. taxpayers but by the Chinese government’’ and can be that often, but it is true, and I com- has paid these grant recipients to take used in the Chinese government’s cyber mend them for saying it at the hearing their research over to the Chinese uni- and economic espionage efforts aimed and for starting to make up for it now versities in China—again, universities at the United States. because they have made a number of that are affiliated with the Chinese This isn’t a surprise. We have seen arrests just in the past few months Communist Party. This is not about this time and time again that the Chi- with regard to the Talents program. the people of China. This is about the nese Government targets the United It is my hope that PSI’s work has Chinese Communist Party, and it has States through cyber and economic es- opened the eyes of our government to been very clever. It wants to make sure pionage activities and enlists its state- these systemic problems, and I think that China is a stronger competitor owned entities in these efforts. The that is the case, as what we have seen against us, so it literally takes the re- Chinese telecommunications firms in the Trump administration is they search from the United States to a lab have been part of our U.S. tele- have taken a firmer stance towards the in China where it tries to replicate the communications industry as a result, Chinese Government in every one of research and provide the money to and, of course, that is critical to our the four areas I talked about. these researchers. everyday life. Its services from cellular As PSI was nearing the end of its Just last week, we released a fourth networks to broadband internet con- telecom investigation, for example, the PSI report that showed that this prob- nections help break down barriers be- responsible Federal agencies an- lem of China’s not playing by the rules tween people, nations, and continents. nounced that they would review wheth- extends to the telecommunications That is good. It has helped our econ- er these Chinese state-owned carriers space as well. Let me explain that situ- omy and the economies of many other that we were studying should continue ation. Then I will go back to the Thou- countries grow immensely. We all ben- to operate in the U.S., given the na- sand Talents Program. efit when telecommunications are tional security threats. The Trump ad- You may remember that, in May of global. ministration also recently issued an last year, the FCC prohibited a com- It makes sense then that the Federal Executive order to establish Team pany called China Mobile and its U.S. Government has tasked the FCC with Telecom as a formal committee, which subsidiary from providing telecom ensuring that foreign telecommuni- is a good idea, as well as addressing services from the United States on the cations can establish a foothold in the many of the issues the subcommittee grounds that doing so would jeopardize United States, but only if it is done in report identified in Team Telecom’s our national security—the first time a fair and safe manner. Again, what we processes. such a ruling had been issued. The fact have learned is that the FCC and other Again, these are good steps, and I am that this was only the first time that a Federal agencies have been slow to re- pleased to say that they were prompted foreign telecommunications company spond to the national security threats by the thorough and, again, objective, had been denied approval to operate in these telecom companies can pose in nonpartisan inquiry that we made the U.S. on national security grounds terms of cyber security and economic through PSI. These four investigations prompted us to investigate other Chi- espionage. combined show us that China, frank- nese state-owned carriers that were al- As we detail in our report, the FCC, ly—and, again, the Chinese Govern- ready authorized to operate in the which lacks the national security and ment and the Chinese Communist United States. We asked an important law enforcement expertise required to Party, not the people of China—is not question: Why was China Mobile USA assess these risks, has turned to other going to play by the rules unless we re- any different than these other three executive branch agencies to assess quire it. Until we start to clean up our Chinese companies? them, specifically the Department of own house and take a firmer stance on We discovered in our report, which Justice, the Department of Homeland foreign influence here in this country, again we issued just a month ago, that Security, and the Department of De- we are not going to see much improve- it wasn’t different. We conducted a fense, a group commonly known as the ment. Rather than pointing the finger yearlong investigation into the govern- Team Telecom. at China, we ought to be looking at our ment processes for reviewing, approv- Team Telecom was an informal ar- own government and our own institu- ing, and monitoring Chinese state- rangement and has lacked formal au- tions and doing a better job here. owned telecommunications firms oper- thority to operate, making it overall Along those lines, I found it inter- ating here in the United States, and we an ineffective solution to assessing esting that, just last week, 54 NIH- found, once again, over the years, the these risks. The informality has re- funded researchers nationwide have re- Federal Government had been lax when sulted in protracted review periods and signed or have been fired because they it comes to securing our telecommuni- a process FCC Commissioners have de- had been found to be hiding their ties cations networks against risks posed scribed as broken and an inextricable to foreign research institutions as part by Chinese state-owned carriers. Again, black hole that provided ‘‘no clarity of an NIH investigation into this prob- it is what we can do here in this coun- for the future.’’ lem. Again, after our PSI investigation try that we haven’t done. For example, Team Telecom’s review talking about how the Thousand Tal- In fact, three Chinese state-owned of China Mobile USA’s application ents program and other programs carriers have been operating in the lasted for 7 years. This points to a work, there are now 54 people just last U.S. for nearly 20 years, but it has only troubling trend we have found in all of week who have been fired or have re- been in recent years that the FCC, the these reports—how, frankly, our gov- signed. Department of Justice, and the Depart- ernment and our institutions over a Of the cases NIH has studied, 70 per- ment of Homeland Security have fo- space of time, the last couple of dec- cent of the researchers failed to dis- cused on the potential risks these firms ades, have permitted China to take ad- close foreign grant funding, while more bring when they operate in the United vantage of lax U.S. oversight, be it on than half failed to disclose participa- States. What we didn’t know 20 years our college campuses, our research tion in a foreign talent program like ago, we do know today, and we should labs, or in cyberspace. Thousand Talents. By the way, the FBI use that information to protect our- At our PSI hearing on the Thousand just recently warned universities selves. Talents report, the FBI witness before across the country that China may be We now know that the Chinese Gov- us acknowledged as much saying: attempting to steal our research on the ernment views telecommunications as With our present day knowledge of the coronavirus—therapies, antiviral a strategic industry and has expended threat from Chinese talent plans, we wish we therapies, vaccines, other research. significant resources to create and pro- had taken more rapid and comprehensive ac- This problem is ongoing. mote new business opportunities for its tion in the past. And the time to make up for I think, in a fair and straightforward state-owned carriers. We also learned that is now. manner, we have got to insist that

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It requires We are now at work on this legisla- ties that are working to hold China ac- the Office of Management and Budget, tion to codify into law some of the countable are limited in the actions OMB, to streamline and coordinate steps taken by the Trump administra- they can take. That is part of cleaning grant making between the Federal tion in response to our new tele- up our own house. We need to make agencies so there is more continuity communications PSI report as well. some changes around here, including in and accountability in coordination This legislation we will introduce to- our laws, which has to come through when it comes to tracking the billions morrow will be led by myself and Sen- this body. of dollars of taxpayer-funded grant ator TOM CARPER, my colleague from In the case of the Thousand Talents money that is being distributed. This the other side of the aisle from Dela- plan, we have seen first-ever arrests re- kind of transparency is long overdue. ware, who was also my partner on this lated to Thousand Talents recently. We have worked closely with the Na- report with regard to the Thousand They followed our investigation, our tional Science Foundation, with the Talents program and the hearing. report, and our hearings. We even saw National Institutes of Health, with the We also have five other Democrats it in my home State of Ohio. All of the Department of Energy, and others on who will be joining us tomorrow, all of arrests in connection with the Thou- this legislation, and they agree this is whom have an interest and under- sand Talents plan, by the way, had very important. Our legislation also al- standing of this complicated issue. We been related to peripheral financial lows the State Department to deny will also have about an equal number crimes, like wire fraud and tax eva- visas to foreign researchers who they of Republicans joining us, probably six sion—not the core issue of a conflict of know are seeking to steal research and to eight Republicans. So, again, this is commitment, the taking of American intellectual property by exploiting ex- going to be a bipartisan effort—I would taxpayer-paid research. emptions in our current export control say even a nonpartisan effort—to en- Why? Because amazingly, it is not laws. sure that, in a smart, sensible, prac- currently a crime to fail to disclose This may surprise you, but the State tical way, we can respond to the threat foreign funding of the same research on Department can’t do that now. Career that we are facing, in this case, from Federal grant applications. In other Foreign Service Officers and employees China taking our intellectual property, words, if you are doing research and at the State Department have asked us our innovations, our ideas, and taking paid by the taxpayer of the United to please provide them this authority. them to China and using them in States in your research and also being They testified before our hearing, ask- China, sometimes against the United paid by China to do the same research ing us to help them to be able to do States. and to have the research go to China, what they know needs to be done. In addition to the four examples we you don’t have to disclose that under Our bill also requires research insti- discussed tonight, the subcommittee law. tutions and universities to provide the will continue its work to shine a light These arrests that have been made State Department basic information on other examples where China and haven’t been about that core issue. about sensitive technologies that a for- other countries aren’t living by the They have been about other things like eign researcher would have access to. rules, so we can ensure that, with re- tax evasion or wire fraud, kind of like Providing this information as part of gard to China and in regard to other they went after the gangsters in the the visa process should help streamline foreign governments, we can create a old days on tax evasion because they the process for the State Department more durable and a more equitable and couldn’t get them on a RICO statute. and for the research institutions. a more sustainable relationship be- We need to change the laws so that This allows for college campuses to tween our countries. we can give our law enforcement com- rely on the State Department to do Again, we don’t want to be enemies munity the tools they need to be able some of the vetting for these appli- with China, but what we do want is to to do the job that all of us expect is cants and to help keep bad actors off have a relationship with mutual re- being done. It is incumbent upon Con- the campus. This is why many research spect. When we have the right to ask gress to work in a bipartisan manner institutions and universities will be en- them that they treat us with the same to pass those laws and to put a stop to dorsing our legislation tomorrow be- respect that we treat them, at the end this behavior. cause we have worked with them on of the day, that is what is going to be This shouldn’t be a partisan issue, this issue and others, including new best for the Chinese people, best for the and it isn’t. It is about defending the transparency standards for univer- American people, and best for all of us interests of the United States, and that sities. moving forward. is something we should all agree on. They are now going to be required to I yield the floor. The good news is we are starting to do report any foreign gift of $50,000 or The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- just that. Tomorrow, we plan to intro- more, which is a lower level from the ator from Ohio. duce bipartisan legislation called the current threshold of $250,000, but it is f Safeguarding American Innovation Act also going to empower the Department based on recommendations from our of Education to work with these uni- LEGISLATIVE SESSION Thousand Talents report from late last versities and research institutions to year to protect U.S. taxpayer-funded ensure that this can be complied with research. in a way that doesn’t create undue red- MORNING BUSINESS First and foremost, our bill is going tape and expenditures. It also allows Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask to help the Department of Justice go DOE to fine universities that repeat- unanimous consent that the Senate after Thousand Talents participants by edly fail to disclose these gifts. proceed to legislative session for a pe- holding them accountable for failing to I believe this legislation can be a riod of morning business with Senators disclose their foreign ties on Federal model going forward as to how we use permitted to speak therein for up to 10 grant applications. Again, it is a tool the lessons we have learned from these, minutes each. that they desperately need. Our bill again, objective and straightforward The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without goes directly to the root of the prob- PSI reports to get to the root causes of objection, it is so ordered. lem. It makes it punishable by law to these cases. We have gotten widespread f knowingly fail to disclose foreign fund- support across my home State of Ohio, ing on Federal grant applications. from research leaders, hospitals, col- THE DECLINE OF U.S. LEADERSHIP This isn’t about more arrests. We leges and universities, and other stake- Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I would should all agree that transparency and holders who want to see us continue to like to call the Senate’s attention to a honesty on grant applications are crit- have an open and transparent research letter published by my friend Sir Peter

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