E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 116 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 165 WASHINGTON, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 No. 150 Senate The Senate met at 10 a.m. and was In the early hours of November 3, APPROPRIATIONS called to order by the President pro 1917, while posted in the trenches near Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, on tempore (Mr. GRASSLEY). the French village of Artois, the Impe- an entirely different matter, today the f rial German Army attacked, and Merle Senate will have an opportunity to Hay was killed. Hay’s father said: ‘‘I PRAYER take the first procedural step toward am proud of my boy if he has given up keeping the Federal Government fund- The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- his life for his country.’’ ed and open. fered the following prayer: Merle Hay Road in Des Moines, IA, is At the end of July, the White House Let us pray. a constant memory of this person’s and the Speaker of the House reached Eternal God, who judges justly our sacrifice. an agreement to guide the appropria- Nation and world, we honor Your I yield the floor. tions process. Both parties, both Cham- Name. You are so patient with us. bers, and both sides of Pennsylvania Cleanse our eyes, that we may see f Avenue agreed to the terms. We laid more clearly. Open our hearts, that we out top-line funding targets for defense may love You more dearly. Lord, we RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY and nondefense; we swore off poison confess that sometimes injustice seems LEADER pill policy riders; and, unlike the past to prevail. Avenge injustice, O God, The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma- several budget deals, which took a full and cause the godly to rejoice. Deliver jority leader is recognized. year to negotiate while appropriations us from those who seek to set an am- languished, we finished this year’s deal bush for freedom. f much earlier to ensure we had enough Lord, give our lawmakers the wisdom time to move the appropriations bills. to look to You for safety, for You are REMEMBERING DAVID JONES, SR. In other words, congressional leaders our strength and salvation. Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I and the President laid the ground for a We pray in Your loving Name. Amen. would like to take a moment this sensible, bipartisan funding process, f morning to mourn the passing of a de- but instead, over the past week and a PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE voted son of Louisville, KY, and some- half, we have seen our Democratic col- one I was lucky to call a very dear The President pro tempore led the leagues suggest that they may try to friend. Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: shoehorn their longstanding disagree- I can say without exaggeration that ments with President Trump into this I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the David Jones, Sr., was the single most United States of America, and to the Repub- appropriations process. Even though lic for which it stands, one nation under God, influential friend and mentor I have we all agreed not to insist on poison indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. had in my entire career. I have never pills or change existing Presidential The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. forgotten something he told me when I authorities, Democrats are threatening CRAMER). The Senator from Iowa. was starting out in Jefferson County. to filibuster Chairman SHELBY’s clean Mr. GRASSLEY. I ask unanimous He said: ‘‘The most important word in Defense bill over their disagreements consent to address the Senate for 30 the English language is ‘focus.’ ’’ with the President on immigration pol- seconds. David used his extraordinary focus icy. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without and many other talents to build an ex- I sure hope that doesn’t happen. I objection, it is so ordered. traordinary American business and to hope our Democratic friends will allow better his community. Whenever a the process to move forward when we f local need had somebody—almost ev- vote later today. The stakes are high. HONORING MERLE DAVID HAY erybody, actually—stumped, David al- We are talking about critical resources Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ways seemed to end up in the thick of for the missions of the Department of would like to share some real Iowa his- it, forging a path to success. Defense. Our military commanders tory this morning. In the days ahead, many will rightly have told us that this funding is vital Merle David Hay from Glidden, IA, pay tribute to David’s brilliance and to keeping peace with Putin’s Russia, was the first Iowa serviceman to die in his determination, but he was also one China, and all their efforts to harm World War I. Hay enlisted on May 9, of the kindest, most decent, most gen- America’s interests. Just days ago, 1917, with his father’s blessing, as he erous individuals I have ever met. I Saudi Arabian energy facilities lit- was too young to be drafted. He was as- will sorely miss his friendship, and erally went up in flames after what ap- signed to the 1st Infantry Division, Kentuckians will miss his extraor- pears to be a massive, coordinated at- Company F. dinary leadership. tack by Iran. ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S5547 . VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:50 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A18SE6.000 S18SEPT1 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with SENATE S5548 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE September 18, 2019 In a world this dangerous, uncertain well. You would think the country Mr. MCCONNELL. I suggest the ab- funding and continuing resolutions will would be united in celebration, but not sence of a quorum. not cut it for our national defense. Our everyone is happy. Oh, no. Last week, The PRESIDING OFFICER. The men and women in uniform do not de- just days before this massive disrup- clerk will call the roll. serve to have the funding for their tion in the Middle East, House Demo- The senior assistant legislative clerk tools, their training, and their own pay crats sent us several bills designed to proceeded to call the roll. raise, by the way—pay raise—used as limit domestic energy development and Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask leverage by Senate Democrats to try to literally tie America’s hands. One of unanimous consent that the order for extract concessions from the White those bills would have shut off explo- the quorum call be rescinded. House. ration in a small portion of ANWR in The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without So, look, I would urge each of our remote Alaska. They want to reverse objection, it is so ordered. colleagues to join me today in taking something that had been sought for 40 APPROPRIATIONS the first step toward fulfilling our obli- years until Republicans secured it in Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, defense gation to keep this country safe and se- 2017. funding is always an imperative. There cure. So, as far as I can tell from the bills are always going to be bad actors who f the House keeps sending us, the social- threaten our country, whether they are ists who are calling the shots over major powers like China or Russia or ENERGY INDEPENDENCE there have never seen a pipeline they terrorist organizations like ISIS or al- Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, on didn’t want to cancel. They have never Qaida. We have to be prepared to another matter, we are closely moni- seen a pipeline they didn’t want to can- counter those threats. toring events in the Middle East fol- cel, a responsible development they In the United States, we are used to lowing that provocative and dangerous didn’t want to kill, or a step toward having the most outstanding military Iranian attack on Saudi energy facili- American energy independence they in the world. In fact, we have come to ties, which included the largest oil didn’t want to reverse. rely on it. We assume our military will processing facility in the entire world. Along with the Democratic House, always be the best because it has been As I said on Monday, Iran’s reckless this also seems to describe their par- the best for as long as we can remem- behavior is not just a threat to the re- ty’s Presidential candidates. Almost ber, but we can’t forget that our mili- gion but to the entire global economy, all of them have endorsed the radical tary preeminence is the result of sus- and it must be met with swift con- idea of ending oil and gas exploration tained investment. While our soldiers, sequences from the international com- on Federal lands not only offshore but sailors, airmen, and marines constitute munity. onshore, too. Let me say that again. the most advanced and proficient fight- As the United States and our allies Almost all of them have endorsed the ing force in the world, they can’t do continue to learn more and weigh our radical idea of ending oil and gas explo- their jobs or maintain our military su- options, there has already been one ration on Federal lands, not only off- periority without adequate resources. positive lesson that should not go un- shore but onshore, too. That is today’s That includes funding, not just the noticed. While the attack has shaken Democratic Party.