December 7, 2016 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6795 Mr. ALEXANDER. I ask for the yeas report accompanying S. 2943, an origi- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- and nays. nal bill to authorize appropriations for ator from Delaware. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a fiscal year 2017 for military activities Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I suggest sufficient second? of the Department of Defense, for mili- the absence of a quorum. There appears to be a sufficient sec- tary construction, and for defense ac- The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. ond. tivities of the Department of Energy, TOOMEY). The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk called the roll. to prescribe military personnel The senior assistant legislative clerk Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator strengths for such fiscal year, and for proceeded to call the roll. is necessarily absent: the Senator from other purposes, shall be brought to a Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I ask Arkansas (Mr. COTTON). close? unanimous consent that the order for The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there The yeas and nays are mandatory the quorum call be rescinded. any other Senators in the Chamber de- under the rule. The VICE PRESIDENT. Without ob- siring to vote? The clerk will call the roll. jection, it is so ordered. The result was announced—yeas 94, The senior assistant legislative clerk Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I ask nays 5, as follows: called the roll. unanimous consent that the following [Rollcall Vote No. 157 Leg.] Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator Senators who wish to speak in honor of the Presiding Officer be recognized in YEAS—94 is necessarily absent: the Senator from Arkansas (Mr. COTTON). the following order for up to 4 minutes Alexander Fischer Murray each: me, the majority leader Senator Ayotte Flake Nelson The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Baldwin Franken Paul CRUZ). Are there any other Senators in MCCONNELL, the minority leader Sen- Barrasso Gardner Perdue the Chamber desiring to vote? ator REID, Senator SCHUMER, Senator Bennet Gillibrand Peters HATCH, Senator LEAHY, Senator Blumenthal Graham The yeas and nays resulted—yeas 92, Portman MCCAIN, Senator DURBIN, Senator ISAK- Blunt Grassley Reed nays 7, as follows: SON URRAY EIN Booker Hatch Reid [Rollcall Vote No. 158 Leg.] , Senator M , Senator F - Boozman Heinrich Risch STEIN, Senator COLLINS, Senator MI- Boxer Heitkamp YEAS—92 Roberts KULSKI, and Senator CARPER. Brown Heller Rounds Alexander Feinstein Murray Burr Hirono Ayotte Fischer The VICE PRESIDENT. The Demo- Rubio Nelson Cantwell Hoeven Baldwin Flake cratic leader. Sasse Perdue Capito Inhofe Barrasso Franken Peters Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unan- Schatz Cardin Isakson Bennet Gardner Portman Schumer imous consent that the Senator from Carper Johnson Blumenthal Graham Reed Casey Kaine Scott Delaware amend his request so that Blunt Grassley Reid Cassidy King Sessions Booker Hatch Risch Senator MCCONNELL and I will use our Coats Kirk Shaheen Boozman Heinrich Roberts leader time. That will not count Cochran Klobuchar Shelby Boxer Heitkamp Rounds against his hour. Collins Lankford Stabenow Brown Heller Rubio Coons Leahy Sullivan Burr Hirono The VICE PRESIDENT. Is there ob- Sasse Corker Manchin Tester Cantwell Hoeven jection? Schatz Cornyn Markey Thune Capito Inhofe Schumer Without objection, it is so ordered. Crapo McCain Tillis Cardin Isakson Scott The Senator from Delaware. Cruz McCaskill Toomey Carper Johnson Daines Sessions McConnell Udall Casey Kaine TRIBUTES TO VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN Donnelly Menendez Shaheen Vitter Cassidy King Mr. COONS. Mr. President—and it Durbin Mikulski Shelby Warner Coats Kirk Enzi Moran Cochran Stabenow does bring me some joy to call you Mr. Whitehouse Klobuchar Ernst Murkowski Collins Lankford Sullivan President. I am honored to be here Wicker Feinstein Murphy Coons Leahy Tester today with so many of our colleagues, Thune NAYS—5 Corker Manchin and I am grateful to Majority Leader Cornyn McCain Tillis Lee Sanders Wyden Crapo McCaskill Toomey MCCONNELL and Leader REID for their Merkley Warren Cruz McConnell Udall enthusiasm in pulling together this bi- Daines Menendez Vitter NOT VOTING—1 partisan tribute. I am honored to be Donnelly Mikulski Warner joined by my senior Senator from Dela- Cotton Durbin Moran Warren Enzi Murkowski Whitehouse ware, TOM CARPER, who will make clos- The motion was agreed to. Ernst Murphy Wicker ing remarks this afternoon. f NAYS—7 Before I begin, I would like to remind my colleagues that there will be a re- CLOTURE MOTION Gillibrand Merkley Wyden Lee Paul ception for the Vice President in the The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant Markey Sanders Mansfield Room, after we conclude to rule XXII, the Chair lays before the NOT VOTING—1 here, beginning sometime after 4. We Senate the pending cloture motion, have many Senators who wish to speak Cotton which the clerk will state. so we will move quickly through the The senior assistant legislative clerk The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this order. I encourage my colleagues to read as follows: vote, the yeas are 92, the nays are 7. submit their remarks for the RECORD, CLOTURE MOTION Three-fifths of the Senators duly cho- those who are not able to speak in the sen and sworn having voted in the af- We, the undersigned Senators, in accord- next hour. Their remarks will be com- ance with the provisions of rule XXII of the firmative, the motion is agreed to. bined with all the other remarks given Standing Rules of the Senate, do hereby f on the floor, and the resulting speeches move to bring to a close debate on the con- NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZA- printed, bound, and presented to the ference report to accompany S. 2943, Na- Presiding Officer. tional Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal TION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2017—CONFERENCE REPORT Mr. President, in a place known these Year 2017. days for some disagreements, my col- Mitch McConnell, Deb Fischer, Thom The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Tillis, Daniel Coats, James M. Inhofe, leagues—our colleagues, Republicans, clerk will report the conference report. Democrats, and Independents—are all John Hoeven, Cory Gardner, Orrin G. The senior assistant legislative clerk Hatch, Mark Kirk, Tom Cotton, John here today because we agree on one Cornyn, Lindsey Graham, Mike read as follows: powerful and simple thing: our deep Rounds, Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sul- Conference report to accompany S. 2943, a gratitude for the difference you have livan, John McCain. bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal made in your decades in public service. The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unan- year 2017 for military activities of the De- The greatest honor of my life is to partment of Defense, for military construc- imous consent, the mandatory quorum tion, and for defense activities of the Depart- serve in the seat that you held for 36 call has been waived. ment of Energy, to prescribe military per- years—and not just literally this seat The question is, Is it the sense of the sonnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for in the Senate but also a seat on the 7:15 Senate that debate on the conference other purposes. Amtrak train down from Wilmington

VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:08 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G07DE6.041 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE S6796 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE December 7, 2016 every morning. You logged over 2 mil- which we passed finally just an hour like Burma—and regarding the vote we lion miles on Amtrak and millions ago, would not have happened without just took a few moments ago—21st Cen- more traveling around the world fight- your leadership. tury Cures, and the Cancer Moonshot. ing for our country, and as long as I Now, let me close with a line you We have also negotiated in good faith have the privilege of representing our know all too well, a line you shared when the country needed bipartisan State in the Senate, I will be humbled countless times in this Chamber, some- leadership. We got results that would by the challenge of living up to your times from this very desk. As the Irish not have been possible without a nego- legacy of fighting for and making a poet Seamus Heaney once wrote, ‘‘His- tiating partner like JOE BIDEN. Obvi- real difference for the people of our tory says, don’t hope on this side of the ously, I don’t always agree with him, shared home. grave. But then, once in a lifetime, the but I do trust him implicitly. He Like so many Americans, I have long longed-for tidal wave of justice can rise doesn’t break his word. He doesn’t been inspired by your loyalty to your up, and hope and history rhyme.’’ waste time telling me why I am wrong. family, and I am so glad to see so many No one, sir, no one has done more to He gets down to brass tacks, and he familiar faces in the Gallery today. make hope and history rhyme than keeps in sight the stakes. There is a This job requires a strong partner and you. Thank you, Mr. President, for reason ‘‘Get JOE on the phone’’ is teammate, and to Dr. Biden, Jill, your your service, your counsel, your ad- shorthand for ‘‘time to get serious’’ in unwavering support for your family, vice, your friendship, and your leader- my office. for Delaware, and your country is ship. The Vice President is a likeable guy something for which we are all deeply It is now my pleasure to yield to the too. He has a well-developed sense of grateful. majority leader, Senator MCCONNELL of humor. He doesn’t take himself too se- As a son of Delaware, and of Cath- Kentucky, who has been so generous riously either. When The Onion ran a erine Eugenia and Joe Senior, you have with floor time and support this after- mock photo of him washing a Trans- never forgotten from where you came noon. Am in the White House driveway, The VICE PRESIDENT. The majority or for whom you are fighting. Even as shirtless, Americans embraced it, and leader. Vice President, our fellow Delawareans so did he. ‘‘I think it’s hilarious,’’ he Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, it is have the blessing of a surprise visit great to see the Presiding Officer back said, but ‘‘by the way, I have a Cor- week in and week out, to see you at the in the Senate. It is good news for ev- vette—’67 Corvette—not a Trans-Am.’’ Columbus Day breakfast or Return Day eryone he is in the chair. Good news for So you see what I mean. or St. Anthony’s Procession. JOE BIDEN may exist in the popular him because, as Senator COONS said, Whether meeting personally with the rest of us have to call him ‘‘Mr. imagination aboard an Amtrak, but world leaders you have known for dec- President.’’ Good news for the rest of this son of a used car salesman will al- ades, whether chairing the Judiciary or us because he has to let everyone else ways be a muscle guy at heart. Foreign Relations Committees or just And what a road he has traveled, talk. stopping by a Claymont diner, there is The amazing thing is, the man we from New Castle to the Naval Observ- universal agreement about what you honor today wasn’t always a talker. He atory, from Scranton to the Senate. have brought to this work—your pas- suffered from a debilitating stutter for His journey in this body began by the sion, your heart, your character, and most of his childhood. He was teased side of those who loved him; hand on your integrity. That is because you for it, but he was determined to over- the Bible, heart in a knot, swearing the genuinely listen to people, you ask come it, and so he did—with hard work, same oath he now administers to oth- them questions, and then you lift them with determination, with the support ers. It is a journey that ends now by up. We know that when you give us the side of those who care about him of his family. It is classic JOE BIDEN. your word as a BIDEN, you mean it, and He has never stopped talking since. still—those like his wife Jill, who un- you will keep it. He cites overcoming that stutter as derstands the full life he has lived. Your service as a Senator stands as a one of the most important lessons in Here is a man who has known great model for all of our colleagues and for his life. It led him down a path few joy, who has been read his last rites, me. Through challenging times, you al- might have foreseen: winning election and who has never lost himself along ways worked across the aisle, through to the county council, securing an im- the way. eight Presidents. You were willing to probable victory for the U.S. Senate, ‘‘Champ,’’ his father used to say, reach across to anyone willing to roll becoming our Nation’s 47th Vice Presi- ‘‘the measure of a man is not how often up their sleeves and get to work for the dent. he is knocked down, but how quickly American people. Now, the Presiding Officer would be he gets up.’’ That is JOE BIDEN right So many families across Delaware the first to tell you that he has been there—unbowed, unbroken, and unable and this country and I, myself, as we blessed in many ways. He has also been to stop talking. have struggled with loss—maybe the tested, knocked down, pushed to the It is my privilege to convey the Sen- loss of a job or loss of hope or the im- edge of what anyone could be expected ate’s warm wishes to the Vice Presi- pending loss of a loved one—have expe- to bear, but from the grip of unknow- dent on this Delaware Day as the next rienced the incredible personal comfort able despair came a new man—a better steps of his long journey come into and power of a call from you. When it man: stronger and more compas- view. There are many here who feel comes to providing advice and inspira- sionate, grateful for every moment, ap- this way in both parties. tion that touches our hearts and makes preciative of what really matters. I am reminded of something the Pre- a real difference, no one—no one—is Here in the Senate he heeded the ad- siding Officer said when he addressed better than you. We know you will vice of Mike Mansfield. Here is what the University of Louisville several share our challenges, you will give us Senator Mansfield had to say: years ago. It was one of the McConnell meaningful comfort and encourage us, Your job here is to find the good things in Center’s most popular lectures ever. and you will fight for us. your colleagues. And, Joe, never attack an- And as I sat beside him, he offered his As we look ahead to next year and other man’s motive, because you don’t know theory as to why that might be: I think beyond, I know you and Jill have so his motive. you’re all here today—remember, these much more great and good work to do, Look for the good. Don’t attack mo- are young people, students. He said: I starting with the fight to cure cancer tives. It is the basis of a simple philos- think you are all here today because through the Cancer Moonshot. This ophy and a very powerful one. ‘‘you want to see whether or not a Re- next chapter will be every bit as excit- Vice President BIDEN says he views publican and Democrat really like each ing and meaningful as the life of serv- his competitors as competitors, not en- other,’’ he said. ‘‘Well,’’ he continued, ice you have led for 44 years. What an emies, and he has been able to cul- flashing a smile, ‘‘I’m here to tell you honor to see you in that chair earlier tivate many unlikely friendships we do.’’ It was true then, and it is true this week as the majority leader led across the aisle—with Jesse Helms, today. the Senate in a unanimous vote to re- with Strom Thurmond, with me. I hope the Presiding Officer won’t name a title of the 21st Century Cures Over the years, we have worked to- mind if I conclude with some words di- cancer initiative after Beau. That bill, gether on issues of mutual interest, rected to the Chair.

VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:16 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G07DE6.047 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE December 7, 2016 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6797 Mr. President, you have been a real University of Delaware, he enrolled in for me. It was a big deal to get this friend, you have been a trusted part- law school in Syracuse to be closer to senior Senator to come to Nevada. He ner, and it has been an honor to serve her. came. Every place he traveled, he had with you. We are all going to miss you. The story of his and Neilia’s relation- one of his boys with him. Godspeed. ship is stunning. I repeat, it was some- With the support of his sister and The VICE PRESIDENT. The minor- thing that movies are made of. Without other members of his family, JOE em- ity leader. being too personal, I will say it the barked on a long, storied, 36-year ca- Mr. REID. Mr. President, to everyone way it is because it is a wonderful reer that was productive and unsur- listening, JOE BIDEN’s life has been the story, and I can identify with it so well passed in the history of the Senate. material of which movies are made. because of Landra and me. There came That was not the end of JOE’s dif- JOE was born in Scranton, PA, to Joe a time when her father came to her and ficulties. JOE is, as you can see now, a and Jean Biden, the first of four chil- said: You know, he is not that much. very well-conditioned man. He always dren. As a young man, as we have He comes from a family that is not like has been. As a Senator, he suffered a heard about today—once in a while, ours. And she said: Dad, stop. If you massive bleed on the brain, and he was though not very often, Senator BIDEN make me choose between you and JOE, hospitalized for a long time. He didn’t talks about his stammering. He didn’t I am going to choose JOE. come to the Senate for a long time. get any professional help, no therapy. So that was that relationship. I re- When I got hurt, one of the first people He did it on his own, long hours of peat, Landra and I understand that to call me was JOE. He said: Look, the reading, mostly poetry. He would stand story quite well. They were married a fact you are going to be missing a little in front of a mirror and recite poetry short time later. They had three chil- time in the Senate doesn’t mean you time after time after time, watching dren, Beau, Hunter, and Naomi. can’t be a good Senator. That was the himself to make sure he didn’t contort After starting his law practice and example that JOE BIDEN set. his face when he stammered or stut- serving as city councilman in New Cas- He recovered, and he became chair- tered. This wasn’t easy for a young tle, DE, JOE stunned and embarrassed a man of the Senate Judiciary Com- man. People made fun of him, but he few of his friends and relatives by say- mittee, the Foreign Relations chair, knew he could do it on his own. He felt ing he was going to run for the Senate. author of many pieces of legislation— that, and he did it. He worked hard. He You will run for the Senate against a Violence Against Women—too numer- developed a rhythm and a cadence of two-term incumbent, Caleb Boggs? ous to mention. speaking that helped him overcome his I think I can do it. In a love story unsurpassed, he also stammer to become one of the United I am sure he said to himself: A lot of met a woman who has been by his side States Senate’s all-time great orators, people said I couldn’t overcome certain for 40 years, Jill Biden. It is an incred- without any qualification. things, and I did, and I am going to do ible love story. JOE says it was love at JOE was an outstanding high school my best to overcome this race I am in. first sight. It was the same for his running back and wide receiver. His I am starting way behind. boys. JOE remembers the day that Beau coach said he had never seen anyone JOE and his family went at this as and Hunter came to him with the rec- with such hands. His coach saw in JOE hard as they could. They canvassed the ommendation: ‘‘Daddy, we were talk- what we all see, a hard worker who re- entire State. They pulled off an incred- ing and we think we should marry fuses to fail. His coach said: ible upset. JOE Biden was elected to the Jill,’’ not he should marry Jill. ‘‘We Joe was a skinny kid. But he was one of U.S. Senate. In every respect, JOE’s life should marry Jill,’’ a direct quote. the best pass receivers I had in 16 years as a has been unique. It has been special. JOE and Jill were married, and before coach. His election to the Senate was no dif- long, Beau and Hunter had a new sis- In college, JOE continued to display ferent. ter, Ashley, and a new mom. There is his athletic prowess, playing football The great Constitution that leads not a family that I know of who is any for the University of Delaware. this Nation stipulates that the person closer, more tight-knit than the This is quite a story. During spring must be 30 years old to be elected to Bidens. JOE BIDEN loves his family break, his junior year—JOE and I were the Senate. JOE was 29 on election day. above all else. He is a good Senator, a traveling from Indianapolis to Reno, He turned 30 2 weeks after the election. terrific Vice President, but he is a fam- NV, and he talked to me about this, Just a few weeks later, tragedy struck ily man. just the two of us. I will never forget and struck really hard. Neilia and their For the last 8 years as Vice Presi- that conversation. He and one of his three children were in a terrible car ac- dent, he has traveled the world, meet- college buddies had gotten a tax re- cident just days before Christmas. He ing with dignitaries in trouble spots on turn, and they were going to take a lit- had not been sworn in as a Senator yet. behalf of this country, oftentimes at tle vacation away from the cold of His wife was killed, their baby girl the direction of President Obama. He Delaware. They went to Florida. was killed, and Beau and Hunter were has done it with dignity—more than a Frankly, they didn’t like it. They had grievously injured—hospitalized, of million miles. a few dollars left over from their tax course. To say JOE was grief-stricken is As we have heard from the junior returns, and I believe they went to the an understatement. How can you de- Senator from Delaware, that pales in Bahamas. They got an inexpensive scribe how he felt? I am sure, as I have comparison to the miles he has trav- hotel. I was going to say ‘‘cheap,’’ but heard, he didn’t know what to do. He eled on Amtrak. He has traveled more I will say ‘‘inexpensive’’ hotel. had two boys to raise. He wasn’t a man than 2 million miles on Amtrak. He Right next to them was an exclusive of great means. He strongly considered: took the train home every night to hotel, and they noticed when the peo- I shouldn’t be sworn in to the Senate; Delaware. If we worked late, he would ple came out of the fancy hotel off that I can’t do this. go to a hotel here. If it had been nec- private beach, many times they would He had friends, people who didn’t essary, he would have gone more than lay their towels on the fence. JOE and know him who were Senators, who 2 million miles to take care of his boys his pal said: Well, those towels aren’t treated him as fathers. Without the and to be with Jill. even wet. They went down to that pri- help of Valerie, his sister, JOE BIDEN’s Vice President BIDEN’s time serving vate beach, and it was there that he life may have been completely dif- at President Obama’s side has been his- met a young woman by the name of ferent because with the support he got toric. He has been the President’s rock, Neilia, Neilia Hunter. I am sure that, from her, the encouragement he got his confidant, and his friend. I have just like Jill, she must have been a from Democratic and Republican Sen- been told that not by JOE BIDEN but by knockout to look at. She went to the ators, and the fact that she moved in, the President. JOE has had a stellar ca- University of Syracuse. She was on the took care of Beau and Hunter to re- reer as Vice President of our great dean’s list. She had been homecoming place their mom—she was there for 4 country. He has used his skills and his queen. years helping with those boys. experience to help shape American di- That was the beginning of the rela- JOE is a remarkable man. When I was plomacy. tionship that they had. JOE had been in the House of Representatives, he Vice President BIDEN is helping lead smitten. After graduating from the agreed to come to the house in Nevada the quest for a cure for cancer. His

VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:16 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00033 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G07DE6.048 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE S6798 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE December 7, 2016 Moonshot initiative is the most ambi- were considered in many ways lesser Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, it is an tious plan ever to accelerate cancer re- crimes—crimes in which the victim honor for me to rise and talk about our search. I say, through the Chair, to my was as much at fault as the perpe- friendship and what you have done for friend LAMAR ALEXANDER, that this trator. It was disgraceful. If you were this country. would not have happened but for the beaten, abused, sexually assaulted, you I rise today to pay tribute to a dedi- good man from Tennessee. faced a hostile, skeptical criminal jus- cated public servant, distinguished We know that JOE and Jill know tice system. That got at JOE BIDEN and leader, and dear friend, Vice President firsthand the pain and heartache his sense of justice, so he exploded the JOE BIDEN. caused by cancer and the toll it takes myths behind domestic violence. For more than three decades, I had on families. Tragically, just last year, I remember hearing the speeches the distinct privilege of serving along- Beau was diagnosed with terminal can- against sexual abuse and put together side JOE in the U.S. Senate. As anyone cer, which took his life. He was some- the strongest ever violence against who worked closely with JOE can tell body I knew well. He was an Iraq vet- women law on the books. Not only did you, he was no ordinary Senator. He eran. He didn’t have to go to Iraq, but the law make women safer; it made had boundless energy and undeniable he did. He was attorney general of the men better. It moved our society for- charm. He paired an unmatched work State of Delaware. ward. ethic with a disarming smile that Beau was a light to everyone who Our work on these issues is not near- dared you not to smile back. JOE’s in- knew him but especially to his family. ly over, but I am certain there are lit- nate ability to befriend anyone—and I Beau’s passing broke JOE’s, Hunter’s, erally millions of women who have mean anyone, including his fiercest po- and Jill’s hearts and, of course, their avoided pain and suffering—both phys- litical opponents—was critical to his sister’s. As with all the other heart- ical and mental—because of the cour- success as a legislator. His genuine sin- breaking challenges and setbacks, JOE age, the steadfastness, and the legisla- cerity endeared him to all, and his gre- BIDEN continues his life’s work. He is tive brilliance of the then-senior Sen- gariousness transcended partisan still the same kid that his coach ator from the great State of Delaware. boundaries. praised. His No. 1 asset is that he I could go on and on and almost write Even in the most polarizing debates, works hard; he does the best he can. a book on accomplishments like that JOE never let politics stand in the way JOE BIDEN continues to serve his where JOE almost singlehandedly of friendship. One minute JOE could be country, and he will continue after changed the world. He was also a great scolding you from the Senate floor, and January 20. He continues to do what is friend and leader to so many of us. the next minute he could be hugging right. And above all, he continues to I will conclude with one little story. you in the hallway, cracking jokes and love and take care of his family. I was elected to the Senate after 18 asking about your grandkids. I am, of I have been gratified to call Senator years in the House, and an issue I course, speaking from plenty of per- BIDEN a man of the Senate, Senator wanted to get going on was college af- sonal experience. It is no secret that BIDEN, Vice President BIDEN, JOE. He is fordability. I had run for the Senate on JOE and I often found ourselves on op- an awe-inspiring man, so Steven the promise of making college tuition posite sides of almost every major Spielberg, Hollywood, you should be tax deductible. So I get to the Senate, issue—that is not quite true. We agreed listening. JOE BIDEN’s life is that which introduce my bill, make my speech, on a lot of things. In countless legisla- movies are made of. and get ready to lead the way on what tive battles, JOE proved himself to be a I yield the floor. I thought was my issue. We have all ex- worthy political opponent and an able The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator perienced this. A call comes into my sparring partner. Whether on the Sen- from New York. office from JOE’s chief of staff. Of ate floor or in the Judiciary Com- Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, it is course I spoke to him. ‘‘Mr. Biden has mittee hearing room, JOE and I locked such a pleasure and honor to rise to been working on this issue for 10 years. horns on a number of occasions, some- recognize a great son of Scranton—sit- Go work on something else.’’ That was times on a daily basis. Indeed, we were ting next to me, another son of Scran- the nice version. Naturally, me and my at odds about as often as we were on C– ton—a grandson of Ireland—sitting in brandnew office were in a panic. I was SPAN. this Chamber are many grandchildren chastened. I didn’t know what to do. I At the end of the day, I couldn’t help of Ireland—and a Syracuse University am sitting on the floor and feeling real- but admire the man. You see, JOE graduate. How many others in the ly forlorn. Why did I even come here? I BIDEN was beloved by everyone in this room can say that? More importantly was a senior Member of the House. I Chamber, even those he drove crazy than any of those, he is one of the most feel an arm on my shoulder, and I look from time to time, and I count myself dedicated public servants, one of the up. There is the revered and exalted among that group. Through his ability most successful public servants I have Senator JOE BIDEN. He says to me: I to forge friendship even amid conflict, ever had the pleasure to serve with understand you have your college tui- he embodies the ethos of a noble gen- during my time in Washington. tion tax deduction bill. Go ahead, take eration of legislators—a generation Everyone knows JOE is proud of his the issue. I know what it is like for that embraced the virtues of comity ancestry. His ancestors came from Ire- new Senators to carve their own path. and compromise above all else. I be- land, as many millions have. He is How many times can any freshman lieve this body—indeed, this Nation— deeply proud of being an Irish-Amer- say any senior Senator has said that to could learn from JOE’s example of ican. Like so many others from the them? They can’t because he is unique. kindness, courtesy, and compassion. Emerald Isle, our Vice President inher- Not only is he a towering figure and su- For 17 years, then-Senator BIDEN ited the gift of gab, and thank God for perb man, but he has a good heart and served as chairman and ranking mem- that because he has used his booming looks out for the Members of this body. ber of the Judiciary Committee, over- voice to speak out on so many issues. He always has, does to this day, and al- seeing some of the most significant We have only a little time today. I ways will because I know in JOE’s court appointments of our time. know my colleagues are eager to speak, heart, with all of his accomplishments, Chairing the Senate Judiciary Com- so I will just focus on one of the issues he is still a Senator—our Senator. mittee is no easy task. I know because that Senator BIDEN led the charge on Mr. President, I say to Mr. Vice I have been there. The committee and changed America. I worked with President, thank you. Thank you for boasts some of the biggest egos on this him on the Assault Weapons Ban and your heart and passion, thank you for side of the Potomac—or this side of the the Brady law when he was a Senator bringing every ounce of yourself to Milky Way, for that matter. It takes a and I was Congressman and we were public service, and thank you for that certain kind of political genius to navi- each head of the crime committees. lesson of humility and leadership you gate the assertive personalties and But maybe the thing he was proudest taught me when I first came to this lofty ambitions of its members, but of was the Violence Against Women Chamber. JOE was more than up to the task. As Act. It sounds like a different world, I yield the floor. both chairman and ranking member, he but a few years ago, a few decades ago, The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator was tough and tenacious but also de- rape and domestic violence and abuse from Utah. cent and fair. Through his trademark

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When President Obama tapped JOE at you as my senior Senator, and I am because you could run to the station in to be his Vice President, the Senate delighted to be your junior. 3 minutes and get on the train, where lost a seasoned statesman, but our Na- I think back to some of the things we you would go home to Beau and Hunter tion gained a wise and capable leader did together, Mr. President. I remem- and, later, Jill and Ashley—because with unparalleled experience in public ber when I was running for the Senate even though you were a leader in the affairs. in Vermont in 1974, and people told me United States Senate, and later Vice JOE was the administration’s bridge I was far too young to get elected to President, you were, first and fore- to Congress, often serving as an inter- the Senate at 34 years old. My prede- most, a father and a husband. mediary between the President and leg- cessor was somebody who had been You and I and Marcelle talked about islators. On more than one occasion, elected here when I was born and that this summer, when you came to his close relationship with lawmakers served there until I arrived. You put Vermont for the Cancer Moonshot. I and his deft negotiating skills helped your arm around me and you said, it told you what an important part of our our Nation to overcome some of its would be nice to have an older person lives you have been. You have gone greatest obstacles. He was the Presi- that I could look up to. I believe you through tragedy and glory, but you dent’s trusted emissary and an invalu- were 32, and I was 34. But that helped. have remained yourself throughout all able asset in helping Congress resolve Of course, little did I know until I of it. the fiscal cliff dilemma in late 2012— came here how closely we would work something I wasn’t sure we could re- And the memories of those evenings together. We served on the Judiciary when you let this Irish-Italian boy solve. He was also a brilliant ambas- Committee throughout that time. We sador for our country, leveraging his come in and sit as a member of the worked on such duties as Supreme Irish—we would speak of our values, we foreign policy expertise in meetings Court nominations, civil rights, and with leaders across the world. would speak of America, we would the criminal justice system. Then, speak of friendship. That is why I ad- I am deeply grateful for my friend when you were chairman of the For- JOE BIDEN. I have long admired his de- mire you, Mr. President, and I am glad eign Relations Committee, and bring- to be here on the floor with you. votion to his family, as well as his ing the rest of the world American val- grace amid suffering, and he did suffer, Mr. President, I yield the floor. ues—which happened to be JOE BIDEN The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator and I know it. I was here. Having expe- values—how I enjoyed traveling with from Arizona. rienced tremendous loss in his family you. life, he draws from a rich reservoir of I think of the time, Mr. President, Mr. MCCAIN. Mr. President, I join empathy to connect with everyday when you and I, and our wives, Jill and my colleagues today in addressing a Americans. Ask anyone Vice President Marcelle traveled together. We had few thoughts directly to the occupant BIDEN has served: When you speak, JOE been good friends throughout all of of the chair, to commend his long and listens. He loves, and he cares. He is that time. I will take the liberty of honorable service to the United States perhaps the most personable public fig- telling one story. When the four of us and to thank him for his friendship. ure in American politics today. were in Paris, we had gone out to din- Mr. President—I know how much you In the nearly 8 years he has served as ner. It was a cold, winter night. We enjoy my calling you Mr. President— Vice President, JOE BIDEN has become were coming back. I think Marcelle you and I have served together in this a fixture of American public life. mentioned that the Eiffel Tower lights body for three decades. We have been Today, I wish to join my colleagues in up on the hour. You and Jill stood on friends for almost 40 years, since I was thanking Vice President JOE BIDEN for the Navy Senate liaison and used to his dedication to the American people. a bench and were hugging each other, the Eiffel Tower behind you. I snapped carry your bags on overseas trips. Although his tenure as Vice President I joked recently that I resented it is drawing to a close, I am confident a picture. Now, we had a close friend- ship. We never lied to each other, but ever since. But that was part of my job that his service to our Nation will only description—escorting and handling lo- continue. This is said by a Republican that was one time I lied to you because you asked me, ‘‘Where is the picture?’’ gistics for Senate codels, including who loves JOE BIDEN and believes he is making certain everyone’s luggage ar- one of the truly great people who I said, I think I lost it. I apologize. We were conspiring to print out that pic- rived at our destinations. Back then, served here in this body. some Senators, unlike the 100 egali- I just want JOE BIDEN to know that ture, and I know your wonderful wife gave it to you for a wedding anniver- tarians who occupy the Senate today, we all respect him, and I think most all could be a little haughty and high- of us love him. Those of us who have sary present with words to the effect that you ‘‘light up her life.’’ handed. A few held an exalted opinion worked with him really appreciated of themselves that exceeded the esteem how he would from time to time put Well, you lit up many, many lives. I think of our Irish bond of friendship, with which their colleagues and con- his arm around us, put politics aside, stituents held them in. If they paid any and speak the truth. stories I can’t tell. Some of those closed-door sessions with other Irish- attention to staff, it was only because JOE BIDEN is a wonderful man. I wish we had annoyed them somehow. him the absolute best as we go into the Americans, such as Pat Moynihan, But not my friend JOE BIDEN—he was future, and I will be there to help if he Chris Dodd, and Ted Kennedy, when we fair and courteous to everyone, even needs it. would have some holy water together. people who did not always deserve it. God bless JOE BIDEN. Somehow it came from Ireland. It was I yield the floor. usually at least 12 years old. And we He is always an example of how a pow- The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator would tell Irish stories. And after 42 erful person with character and class from Vermont. years here, I know the rules well treats anyone in a subordinate posi- Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I enjoy enough, I can’t repeat any of those sto- tion. He treats them with humility, as calling you by that title. I hope you do, ries here. But they were good ones be- God’s children, with dignity equal to too—because you know that you could cause it was a friendship and we his own. easily hold that title as President of worked together. We learned how to In the book ‘‘The Nightingale’s this body or President of the United bring in others from both parties. Song,’’ the late journalist Bob Timberg States—you have shown your qualifica- And, Mr. President, I remember you wrote about one military liaison offi- tions for either one. and others showing all of us how to cer, escorting a codel to Athens, who But let me speak about your role as find common ground, and we did things joined some of the Members in a tavern President of the Senate. It makes you together. And I respect you so much for a little after-hours merriment and

VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00035 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G07DE6.052 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE S6800 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE December 7, 2016 was later observed dancing on a table- to remain the same good guy that you President have made a difference in top with Senator BIDEN’s lovely wife, were when you first got here. Thank America to millions of lives. Whether Jill. you, most of all, for your friendship. we are talking about coming out of a I don’t recall witnessing such an My life and the lives of many have been recession where we were losing 800,000 event myself, and I can’t testify to it enriched by it. jobs a month, making sure that Wall having actually happened. Neither can Thank you, Mr. President. Street didn’t make the same mistakes I imagine the temerity of that rascal, The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator again at the expense of businesses and whoever he was. He was lucky the Sen- from Illinois. families across America, or making ator whose spouse he made endure Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, there is sure that some father did not face the awkward moves he euphemistically a story about an Irishman walking heartbreak of a sick child with no called ‘‘dancing’’ was JOE BIDEN. Few down the street. He passes two guys health insurance. You made a dif- other Senators would have seen the who are fighting. He asks them: Is this ference in their lives. humor in it. a private fight or can anybody get into Just this week, there is the Cancer Many years have passed since we it? Moonshot. Who knows, Mr. Vice Presi- shared those adventures, and many Well, you know a little bit about dent, what will happen as a result of events have transpired, personal and that; don’t you, Mr. Vice President? that investment in your son’s name. public, that enriched our lives with the For 40 years or more, you have always But I sense that something good is rewards and disappointments, blessings been ready to fight for those who need- going to happen for a lot of people and challenges. We were still young ed a champion and never walked away around this country. I am glad that the when we came to the Senate. We are from a good fight for a good cause. BIDEN name is closely associated with old men now. Although you can’t tell Your public career has been marked by it. from looking at us, the Vice President so many amazing victories but also by Mr. President, there is an old story— is actually a little younger than me, unbearable losses and sorrows. You a joke—about the Pope. The story goes though we both passed the Biblical have had joys and passions, determina- that the day came when he said to his threescore and ten. tions and immense accomplishments. driver: You know, I haven’t had a This place, the Senate, has been cen- The list of your legislative achieve- chance to drive the car in a long time. tral to both of our lives. Here we work ments has been recounted on the floor Why don’t you sit in the back and I’ll together on our country’s challenges. today. One of them I am sure you are drive. Here we fought and argued over the most proud of is the Violence Against The story goes that the Pope started country’s direction. Here we com- Women Act. You made a big difference driving the car and started speeding promised and joined forces to serve the in the lives of so many people whom and got pulled over. This policeman public interest. Here we watched his- you will never meet, in protecting looked inside the car, then looked out tory made and made our small con- them and giving them hope in a hope- again, and looked back and said: Ex- tributions to it. Neither of us is the shy less circumstance. cuse me. He got on his cell phone and and retiring type. We both have been Between 1993, when your bill was he called the police station. He said: I known to hold a strong opinion or two. passed, and 2010, the rate of violence have an extraordinary circumstance When circumstances warrant, we would against intimate partners—almost all here. I have just pulled over a car with rather make our points emphatically women—declined by 67 percent in the someone very important in it. then elliptically. I know that JOE ap- United States. We often wonder here, They said: Well, who is it? preciates the adage that I have tried to when bills we take to law are passed He said: I don’t know who he is, but follow in my public life: a fight not and signed by the President, whether he has the Pope for a driver. joined is a fight not enjoyed. they can make a difference. We know The reason I remember that story is When we have had differences of that your unsparing effort when it that one time I was on Air Force Two opinions over the years, we have man- came to violence against women made with Vice President JOE BIDEN. We flew aged to make our positions crystal a significant difference. you home to Delaware. I was going to clear to each other, perhaps in the per- I had that in mind 9 years ago when catch an Amtrak train at Wilmington, sistent triumph of hope over experi- I was riding around Florida in a rec- and I asked you to drop me off. ence. We both still cling to the expec- reational vehicle. It was with my fel- You said: No, I’m going to take you tation that we can persuade the other low Senator from Illinois by the name up to the train. that he is mistaken. I think deep down of Barack Obama. He was running for So we get up to the train, and the we probably know better. President, and we were in the back of train is pulling in the station. You In addition to being regularly mis- this RV as he was cruising through look at what I have for a ticket and taken, here is what I have also known Florida. We were talking about poten- you said: That ticket is not good. You about my friend and occasionally spar- tial running mates, someone who could need a real ticket. I will get it for you. ring partner. He is a good and decent be his Vice President. You grabbed it and took off running, man, God-fearing and kind, a devoted We went through a short list. We with the Secret Service trailing behind father and husband, a genuine patriot came to your name, and I said to the you as the train pulled into the sta- who puts our country before himself. I soon-to-be President, then Senator and tion. I am thinking: Am I going to know, too, that it has been a great my colleague: You couldn’t pick a bet- make this train? Is he going to make it privilege to call him my friend. ter choice than JOE BIDEN. I know him back? You came running up the steps Mr. President, if I haven’t made clear as a person. I know him as a fellow with the Secret Service trailing behind to you over these many years how Senator. I know his heart. You would you while the train was stopped. All of much I appreciated your friendship and be blessed to have him on your team. these passengers were looking as the have admired you, I beg your forgive- He made that choice, even though at Vice President of the United States ran ness. We both have been privileged to the beginning, I am sure both of you up to me, handed me a ticket, and said: know Members of this body who were wondered: Is this going to work? It did. Go ahead and get on the train. legends in their own time and are re- It did for your purpose and for his and Now, the people on the train had no membered as important historical fig- for America’s. I am reminded of that idea who I was, but they knew if the ures. But I haven’t known one who was famous poet Seamus Heaney. He wrote: Vice President was carrying my ticket, a better man than you. You are an ex- History says, Don’t hope I must be somebody important. emplary public servant, a credit to On this side of the grave, Let me say one personal word. You your family, to the Senate, and to the But then, once in a lifetime and your wife Jill really embody what country. The longed-for tidal wave I consider to be the best of public life— On behalf of the country and the Sen- Justice can rise up, not only your commitment to people ate, thank you for your lifetime service And hope and history rhyme. who are less fortunate around the to America. Thank you for your exam- Obama-Biden—hope and history cer- world but your genuine sense of caring ple of how to represent your constitu- tainly did rhyme. The things that you and your good heart, both of you. I re- ents with honor and humility and how have been able to achieve with this call when my colleague Marty Russo of

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I know you ther’s footsteps to be an extraordinary tician but someone who really, really have been fighting with us to get the public servant and, more importantly, cares. I have been honored to count authorization you need to deepen the a wonderful father, lost a long and you as a friend. I am honored that the Port of Savannah. How about flying hard-fought battle with cancer. I know President whom I love chose you as his with me down there and let’s take a as a mother and grandmother myself Vice President. I am honored that we look at it and let’s do a press con- that I will never understand what JOE have served in the Senate together and ference together. And I did and he did went through. that I can tell my kids and grandkids. and we did, and today the Port of Sa- Mr. President, again, JOE picked I wish you the best whatever life brings vannah is being deepened to 47 feet. himself up and continued to serve our you next. Panamax ships will be sailing through country as a strong, dedicated Vice The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator it in 4 more years. I am convinced it President in the midst of a raucous from Georgia. would not have happened at the level of election season when Americans need- Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I rise the administration had it not been for ed him the most. JOE BIDEN’s commit- to pay tribute to a person who has had JOE BIDEN, the Vice President of the ment to his family, his struggles, and a tremendous impact on my life and United States but more importantly his service encompass what it means to my career in the Senate and also a tre- my friend. be not just Vice President and a bril- mendous impact on my country, the JOE, I don’t have the words to ade- liant husband and father but an Amer- United States of America. I still re- quately tell you how much I appreciate ican. member to this day the date and time you as a person and as a leader, but JOE grew up in a middle-class family MITCH MCCONNELL called me in 2007 there is a little poem I know that says who worked hard for everything they and said: Hey, we have an opening for a more about what you really are than had. He was just 29 years old when he Republican on Foreign Relations and anything I could say. ran for a seat in the United States Sen- nobody will take it. Will you take it? I’d rather see a sermon ate. I did not know if that was a benefit— Mr. President, you might have been a perk or whoever—but I said: Anytime Than hear one any day; I’d rather one should walk with me young, but you already saw what di- you are offered a gift, don’t look a gift Than merely tell the way. vided people in Delaware. horse in the face. So I did it. The eye’s a better pupil He also knew that people across the Two days later, JOE BIDEN saw me at And more willing than the ear, State also held the same hopes for the committee and said: I am glad you Fine counsel is confusing themselves and their families, and he joined our committee. I am glad to But example’s always clear; believed he could work through those have you. I have an opening on the Af- And the best of all preachers disparities. In an upset victory, he won rica Subcommittee. I can’t get a Re- Are the men who live their creeds, a seat in the Senate in November of publican to take it. Will you do it? For to see good put in action 1972. I said: Mr. BIDEN, I have never been Is what everybody needs. Since his swearing in, JOE has to Africa. I soon can learn to do it He said: Well, you will soon. How If you’ll let me see it done; worked every day on behalf of families I can watch your hands in action, about taking it? in Delaware and for the entire country, But your tongue too fast may run. especially the last 8 years. I did. I have been to Africa 12 times And the lecture you deliver since. It has become a passion in my When JOE lost his son to cancer, he May be very wise and true, launched a Moonshot for this genera- career, and I give Vice President BIDEN But I’d rather get my lessons a lot of credit for the influence he had By observing what you do; tion to end cancer as we know it today. on that. I also remember the day when For I might misunderstand you He is now working on behalf of every the mock swearing-in took place down And the high advice you give, family whoever lost a loved one to can- on the second floor, and I had my nine But there’s no misunderstanding cer to push forward on medical innova- How you act and how you live. grandchildren here to watch me being tions and discoveries. I am so proud sworn into the Senate. JOE, you have lived the life of a pa- JOE’s Moonshot is included in the final At the mock signing ceremony, JOE triot and you act like a gentleman. Cures bill we just voted on this after- stood there, and we all raised our hand, You are my friend, and may God bless noon and even more so that the Senate and we repeated the ceremony that we you and your family and thank you for renamed the provisions to support can- had done on the floor. Then JOE greet- your service to the country and your cer research in that bill to honor Beau ed each one of my grandchildren one by friendship to me. in calling it the Beau Biden Cancer one as they walked by. When little I yield back. Moonshot. We will now use those in- Jack, who was then 7 years old, The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator vestments to fight to cure cancer so we stopped, JOE BIDEN said: Jack, what do from Washington. can look forward to a world where no you like about the Capitol? Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President—and it family has to go through what the Jack said: Well, Mr. Vice President, is a pleasure to say that. Some may Bidens did and the devastation that there is no Lego store. know him as ‘‘the guy in the aviators’’ millions of other Americans have expe- JOE BIDEN said: The next time you deboarding Air Force Two or the man rienced after being touched by cancer. come here, there will be one. in the 1967 Corvette in the viral Inter- Mr. President, back when I was serv- I want to tell the Vice President that net video, gleeful, as he had the rare ing with the Presiding Officer, JOE, my he is coming on January 2 to see me opportunity to drive himself around in friend, in the Senate in 1994, I had the sworn in again. I have already bought his favorite car. pleasure of working with him to pass the Lego box. It is on the desk in my Mr. President, it is so clear that the the Violence Against Women Act, hideaway, and I am going to tell him American public has embraced this VAWA, as we know it. It was a land- that Vice President JOE made sure he grinning, approachable, unstoppable mark piece of legislation that changed had Legos when he came back to the life force known as Vice President JOE the way our country responded to do- Capitol. You know the real character BIDEN, but little do many Americans mestic violence and sexual assault. JOE of a man and the real credit to a man know of the heart of our Vice Presi- has come out as a strong advocate for is what influence he has on children. I dent. They have caught glimpses of it ending violence against women can tell you from that story, it is just in 1972, when his wife and daughter through his campaign, ‘‘1is2Many,’’ one of many that JOE BIDEN has had. were killed in a terrible car accident spreading awareness and working to On me, personally, I will never forget and his two sons severely injured. It is help reduce dating violence and sexual the day JOE BIDEN called me as Vice hard to imagine that kind of devasta- assaults among students, teens, and

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Women are safer again has turned personal tragedy into colleagues, both present and past, here today in America than they were 20 a public cause that undoubtedly will feel the same way about you and so do years ago due in part to JOE’s fearless save lives. the American people. leadership on these issues that affect To know JOE BIDEN is to admire him, You have a unique ability to make a too many in our Nation. his warmth, his devotion to friends and visceral connection to people. You ac- Despite everything he has been family, his commitment to all things tually connect to them, not only on through or maybe because of every- Delaware, and his fierce loyalty to his the abstraction of big ideas, of which thing he has been through, he gets party that somehow never alienated you were more than capable, but I back up and he fights on and he fights those of us on the other side of the think your connection was hand to on behalf of every family in our coun- aisle. Perhaps that is due to the many hand, heart to heart. I think when you try, and that is heart. That is heart, thoughtful gestures the Vice President talk with people, that is why you have the way he always wants to make peo- demonstrates every day. this visceral connection. ple happy, no matter what the cir- How well I remember bringing my Sure, you can debate the great ideas, cumstance. younger brother to the White House whether it is national security or eco- Last time he was in Seattle, he holiday party one year and running nomic growth, but it is that heart con- brought a little stuffed animal—a little into the Vice President just as he was nection you are able to make that I dog—to give to my granddaughter. leaving after a long day of work. He in- think has been one of your great, great Now, she is very shy, but the second he stantly stopped and asked if we would signatures. smiled and handed her that little dog, like for him to give us a personal tour We in Maryland know you as a neigh- she became his best friend ever, and of the West Wing of the White House. bor, the Delmarva gang from Delaware, she keeps it by her side, JOE. That is For the next 45 minutes, instead of Maryland, and Virginia. We also know why he is going to be missed, by his being driven home, the Vice President you as ‘‘Amtrak Joe.’’ I think that is colleagues and by the entire country, of the United States took my brother so fitting because not only have you because of his humanity. That is the and me on the best tour of the White been a champion of Amtrak and ridden JOE BIDEN I know and I want everyone House that anyone could ever have. I the train so faithfully—which has now else to know that too. still remember the shocked look on the become the stories of fact and fiction— It has been an honor to call JOE a fel- face of the marine at the situation but also Amtrak JOE is right because, low Senator, Mr. Vice President, but room when we arrived there. really, in the way you have lived your mostly a great friend. Another wonderful memory that I life, conducted yourself in public serv- I want to thank JOE for what he has have was of the time JOE BIDEN and I ice, you have kept America on track taught me and all of our colleagues were named Irish Americans of the and going in the right direction be- through his service and thank him for Year by the American Ireland Fund. I cause you knew what your destinations his extraordinary and inspiring leader- thought it was so telling that both of were. I salute you for that. You have ship throughout his life in the best of us brought our family members to the done a great job in everything you times and in the worst. JOE—and his celebratory dinner, and both of us have undertaken. aviators—will be sorely missed. talked about our Irish mothers. Now, I I know you because while others just Mr. President, I yield the floor. do remember that JOE’s speech was go for the pomp and they love the pol- The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator considerably better than mine, but icy—if I hear one more ‘‘I’m going to from Maine. mine was much, much shorter. dive deep in policy,’’ I am going to Ms. COLLINS. Thank you, Mr. Presi- In a time of almost suffocating par- shake my head. dent. tisanship, JOE BIDEN is a breath of bi- I am like you. I believe that we do In 1974, a freshman Senator from partisan fresh air. People may disagree need policies that help people, keep our Delaware named JOE BIDEN was identi- with JOE on 1 or 2 or even 10 issues, but Nation strong and safe, help our people fied as one of Time magazine’s ‘‘200 nobody finds him disagreeable. It is be able to help themselves, and make Faces for the Future.’’ That prescient often said that if you don’t love JOE sure there is an opportunity structure prediction anticipated the more than BIDEN, it is time for some serious here. But we are here to be champions four decades of contributions and ac- introspection. You may have a serious of the people. That is what you have complishments that followed. JOE problem. been, a champion of the people, and BIDEN served six terms in the U.S. Sen- No one can say with certainty what you have been a steady friend. ate and became Vice President of the lies ahead for Vice President JOE When I arrived in the Senate, I was United States, but he is exactly the BIDEN, but this much is certain: He will the only Democratic woman. I have same person today as he was when face the future with unbridled enthu- often said that, though I was all by more than 40 years ago he took that siasm, extraordinary energy, and an myself, I was never alone. I was sur- first train trip from Wilmington to unwavering commitment to his family, rounded by the good men in the Sen- Washington to be sworn in as a United his friends, and his country. ate, and particularly the Democrats States Senator. He is everybody’s I thank the Vice President for his reached out their hands and helped me. friend—but nobody’s fool. And while outstanding service to our country, but Of course, my very good friend Paul JOE BIDEN changed Washington, Wash- most of all I thank him for his extraor- Sarbanes, who is here today, was my ington never changed him. dinary friendship to me. I wish the senior Senator when I came and was It is an article of faith among those Vice President and his wonderful fam- my colleague and my champion, but of us who know and love JOE BIDEN ily all the best. you were right up at the top of the list that nothing is more important to him Thank you, Mr. President. too. I call the men who were so incred- than family. It is, therefore, a cruel The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator ibly helpful to me, Galahads. You help irony that this good and decent man from Maryland. me in every way you can. has faced so many family tragedies Ms. MIKULSKI. Thank you very In my time in the Senate, when I during his long and fruitful career in much, Mr. President and Vice Presi- reached out to you, you were always public service. dent. there. When I reached out to fight for Although he has been sorely tested Well, Mr. President, we all take women to be included in the NIH proto- by several wrenching losses, Vice pleasure in calling you that. Mr. Vice cols, you were there to help me. When President BIDEN’s irrepressible spirit President, Senator, foreign policy I reached out to fight against the has never been broken. He is as opti- guru, the Senator who was tough on skimpy and spartan money for breast mistic about his country today as he crime but a soft touch when it came to cancer research, you were there to help was in 1972, when as a county council- compelling human need, a longtime me. When we organized the women of man he defeated a long-serving Senate colleague, but most of all, I know you the Senate, the Democratic women, to incumbent and began the journey that as my friend JOE. My friend JOE. It is fight then-Bush on the privatizing of

VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:57 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G07DE6.056 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE December 7, 2016 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6803 Social Security, when we said we was feisty. She was a delight. If there of thing that doesn’t happen enough these shouldn’t rely on the bull of political is anything spunkier, feistier, or more days in Washington, in politics, or in the in- promises while we fear the bear mar- delightful than an Irish mother, it is a stitution which Joe reveres, the U.S. Senate. ket, you joined right there with us, Polish mother. I wish you could have I first heard the name ‘‘Joe Biden’’ about 38 years ago. 1972—The first year Joe and I side by side, shoulder to shoulder. met mine. Those two would have been ran for national office. We shared a set of Whether it was equal pay for equal kindred spirits. friends and political teammates in progres- work or so many issues, you were al- Do you remember when the Pope sive politics, friends Joe and I have shared to ways there when we called upon you. came to Baltimore? The Pope was com- this day—and they shuttled between Wil- You were always such tremendous ing to Baltimore, and I told my mother mington, Delaware and Lowell, Massachu- help. I wanted to greet the Pope in Polish. setts, trying to help both us to victory. In I was also there to try to help you. I My mother’s response was: Oh, my God. that improbable year, I lost and Joe won— remember a day in the mid-1990s when I grew up in a family that before and weeks later tragedy intervened and I got a call from you. Maybe you re- World War II was bilingual. I was bilin- changed the trajectory of Joe’s life not as a Senator, but as a father and a person. I won’t member that, but I remember it. You gual as a child, but during World War forget reading his words back then: ‘‘Dela- said you really wanted to stop violence II we stopped speaking all foreign lan- ware can find another Senator, but my boys against women. You knew of my social guage, so my pronunciation is really can’t find another father.’’ We are all grate- work background, my advocacy for awkward. My mother made me practice ful that Joe was persuaded not to give up on what was then called battered women. Polish words, how to say hello to the public service, but to be sworn in, and to You said: Can you help me kind of go Pope and how to say goodbye to the rely—as the Bidens do in their remarkable over this legislation to make sure that Pope. way—on the closeness of family—of Val and the money goes to people who will help You and I were at the Baltimore- Jimmy in particular—to help him be both a remarkable father and a remarkable public those women and not to people who Washington airport. There goes the servant. just want to get grants? Pope in his popemobile. He is heading Twelve years as Joe was elected, I finally So we worked together. We talked up, he is getting on ‘‘Shepherd Two,’’ arrived in Washington—a junior Senator, about the need for shelters. We talked and you are saying goodbye: Goodbye second to last in seniority—and one of the about the reform of police, courts, and Your Holiness. first people to pull me aside and offer him- so on. Then you came up with that fab- I say: No, say it in Polish. You have self up not as a generational rival, but as a ulous, fabulous idea to have a hotline. a large Polish community. slightly older big brother ready to show me So it didn’t matter whether you lived I taught you how to say one simple the ropes was the then, senior Senator from in Delaware or in Des Moines or in San phrase, ‘‘sto lat.’’ In the tongue of my Delaware—two years older than me, Senator Joe Biden. Diego, there was always help on the ethnic heritage, when you say ‘‘sto lat’’ I loved serving with Joe—and I don’t just other side of that line. to someone, you say may they live 100 mean we served contemporaneously; we were I was so happy to work with you and years. friends and partners in so many efforts—en- to support you as you led that battle So, JOE, sto lat. vironment, civil rights, the empowerment of through—as only a good man could—to The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator women, foreign policy—and always—always stand for women who were being bat- from Delaware. with Joe Biden, whether you agreed or dis- tered in their own homes and facing Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I wish to agreed with him, no matter where you were danger. recognize the presence in the Chamber from in the country or where you stood ideo- Lately I checked on the statistics on logically, you knew exactly what you could of five former Senators—Senators expect: a person of conviction, a person of that hotline. JOE BIDEN, since that hot- Bayh, Harkin, Kaufman, Salazar, and character, a person who studied the issues line legislation passed, over 1.5 million Sarbanes—and to thank many Senators and never cut corners—and a Senator in the have called that hotline. Many of them who have asked that their comments best tradition whose word was his bond. were in lethal danger—lethal danger. be placed in the RECORD. For Joe, that’s a quality that’s deeply per- Because of you, JOE BIDEN, there are Mr. President, I ask unanimous con- sonal. The Vice President lives by a very old- thousands, if not tens of thousands, of sent to have printed in the RECORD, fashioned code of loyalty: You always tell women and children alive today be- given the lateness of the hour, the the truth, you never forget where you came cause you had the foresight and the lengthy and moving remarks that from, and your word is your bond. And I fortitude to create this legislation. can’t tell you how many times in the Senate former Senator and now Secretary of when I was listening to Joe negotiate or we That in and of itself would have been State Kerry has provided. were working on something he would say, ‘‘I enough for a career. But, oh, you did so There being no objection, the mate- give you my word as a Biden.’’And you knew many other things. rial was ordered to be printed in the you had a very special commitment that Now we know you are advocating the RECORD, as follows: would not be broken. That never changed when he became Vice President. national Cancer Moonshot, but you SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY have been a champion on finding the That code also guided his approach as a STATEMENT ON JOE BIDEN cure for cancer for a long time, wheth- legislator—not just in how he worked with DECEMBER 7, 2016 er it was for women with breast cancer his colleagues, but to how he approached the or others. I am so pleased that in that Mr. President: Almost four years ago this issues. I’d been a prosecutor back in the days winter, after almost 29 years serving in the when some people still argued that violence cloture vote we are going to include Senate from Massachusetts, and after five against women wasn’t crime—but it was Joe $352 million for that. So on issue after times the people of Massachusetts voted to Biden who was far, far ahead of the curve in issue, we were there. send me to Washington—my Senate col- the Senate—throughout the 1980’s and I know you have been a great leader, leagues were kind enough to vote to send me 1990’s—beating the drum on the Judiciary but I also know that behind great men away, but not far away, just up the street to Committee to pass a Violence Against there are also very terrific women. I the State Department. Women Act because there was no crime com- think we owe a salute to Jill. She is a So, as a prodigal United States Senator, I parable, as he saw it, in robbing a human wonderful woman, a leader in her own am especially grateful to Senator Coons for being of two things to which everyone is en- the privilege to share some thoughts about titled, two words Joe talks about often: dig- right, with a belief in higher education, my colleague of a quarter century in the nity and respect. a belief in working at the community Senate, and my colleague of the last four That is why he was so outspoken about the college level so people who had big years in the Obama Administration—the horrors happening in Bosnia and Kosovo— dreams in their hearts but not a lot of Vice President of the United States, Joe thousands of miles from our shores—and why money in their pockets could be able to Biden. That Senator Coons—who sits in the as one of those most powerful voices on the go on to college. What a champion she Senate seat which Joe held for almost thirty Senate Foreign Relations Committee he has been there and also what a cham- seven years—organized this remarkable trib- stood up to Slobodan Milosevic, looked him pion for our veterans and for our ute says something about Delaware—a small in the eye, and called him a war criminal. state where politics is personal, where cour- That’s Joe Biden—on issues of moral clarity, wounded warriors. Wow, she is just ter- tesy is still the currency—but it says much you know exactly where he stands. It is no rific. I know she has been at your side. more about the kind of friend and mentor surprise to me then that long before he There are so many stories I could Joe has been to Chris, and to so many of us served in Iraq, his beloved son Beau volun- tell, but I want to wrap up with one. I who have known the Vice President. It is, teered to go to Kosovo and do legal work met your mother. She was spunky. She simply, the right thing to do—but the kind helping victims find justice, helping victims

VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:16 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00039 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G07DE6.069 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE S6804 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE December 7, 2016 reclaim dignity through the judicial system. After I came to the Senate in 1992— ica, they had the right to be free from For the Bidens, this was an article of faith. known as ‘‘the Year of the Woman’’— violence and free from fear. Over the years, I had the privilege of trav- then-Senator JOE BIDEN invited me to JOE’s legacy as chair of the Judiciary eling with Joe overseas—often with Chuck Hagel and Lindsey Graham. I saw firsthand lunch at his office in the Russell Sen- is matched by his time leading the For- that when Senator Biden traveled overseas, ate Office Building. We sat at small eign Relations Committee. From atop it wasn’t government tourism, whether the table in his elegant office and discussed the committee, he was a forceful advo- Administration was Democratic or Repub- the importance of having a woman on cate for peace and stability around the lican, Joe always traveled with a construc- the Judiciary Committee, of which he world. He called for strategic arms lim- tive purpose in mind: To learn first-hand was chairman at the time. itations with the Soviet Union, helped about foreign leaders and other perspec- This was in the wake of the Anita secure peace in the Balkans, helped tives—to forge relationships—and to advance America’s cause. In long flights and long Hill hearings, and there were no women bring former Soviet bloc states into meetings headed into places like Afghani- on the committee. It was a real honor NATO, called for U.S. action to end the stan and Pakistan, again and again I saw when JOE BIDEN asked me to join. He genocide in Darfur, and spoke out someone who leads by listening, who leads then asked Senator Carol Moseley against failed policies in Iraq. by learning, and who speaks with convic- Braun to join, giving the committee He was also a critic of the CIA’s de- tion—wherever the place, whatever the lan- two women for the first time. tention and interrogation program and guage. Serving on the committee with him, backed our efforts to release the tor- Joe’s leadership as Vice President has been a terrific asset on domestic issues, and his I noticed immediately that he had a ture report. During heated debate, JOE fluency in the ways of the Senate a special commanding presence. As I watched made the argument simple and easy to tool called upon at many key moments by him chair the committee, I was im- understand: America will be stronger Leaders McConnell and Reid. But as Sec- pressed by the passion he displayed by saying the following: ‘‘This was a retary of State I’ve been particularly grate- while working to slow the drug trade, mistake, we should not have done what ful for the role he has played on foreign pol- protect women from domestic violence, we’ve done and we will not do it icy. Joe believes to his core that American and help advocate for a ban on assault again.’’ diplomacy isn’t about admiring problems— weapons. These were issues that I, He was right, and our Nation is it’s about solving them. When thousands of unaccompanied children showed up on our along with millions of other Ameri- stronger for having the courage to southwestern border, Joe Biden worked with cans, felt strongly about, and we had a admit that. Congress to provide funding to help Central champion in JOE BIDEN. JOE BIDEN’s willingness to speak the America’s leaders make the difficult reforms During discussions about a proposed truth is one of the many reasons Presi- and investments required to address the re- crime bill in 1993, I told JOE I was dent Obama tapped him to be his run- gion’s multifaceted challenges—because he working on an assault weapons ban. ning mate. The President knew JOE knew the security and prosperity of Central This was in the wake of a mass shoot- would discuss every issue with the America are inextricably linked with our own. As the conflict in Ukraine has pressed ing in San Francisco that shocked me. same frank honesty—whether he was on, Joe has worked hard—not only to keep I told JOE we had at least 48 votes and offering counsel in the Oval Office or the Minsk deal in place, but to encourage I wanted to introduce it as an amend- chatting with someone on the train and help the government of Ukraine take on ment to the crime bill. He laughed—a ride back home. corruption and make necessary economic re- big raucous laugh—and said, ‘‘Well, President Obama relied on his Vice forms that will help Ukraine flourish and you’re just a freshman. Wait till the President to oversee the recovery after thrive in the years to come. And again and gunners get to you.’’ the worst economic recession since the again, in our breakfasts at the Naval Observ- He may have had his doubts, but he Great Depression. He was tasked with atory and in phone calls from far flung places, he always encouraged me to keep was a staunch supporter of the amend- implementing the American Recovery pressing—to speak up and speak out, and to ment, and with the help of President and Reinvestment Act, the Ready to fight—even inside the Administration—for Clinton and CHUCK SCHUMER in the Work Initiative and to chair the Mid- the policies I believed in, even when he House, we were able to secure bipar- dle Class Task Force. didn’t agree. That’s Joe Biden. tisan support and pass the amendment. JOE BIDEN was the perfect choice for We still joke about a trip that we took It was a proud day for me when it was the job. He is the product of his Catho- with Chuck Hagel to Afghanistan back in lic faith and the values instilled in him 2008. We went up to a forward operating base signed into law. up in Kunar province. And our helicopter, on JOE was right about the gunners, growing up in Scranton. Those same the way back, got caught in a snow squall in though. The gun lobby did come after values that he carried throughout his the mountains. And our pilot found himself us, and they continue to oppose com- career in Delaware and into the Vice effectively snow blind, and suddenly we were monsense gun laws today. Presidency. banking and heading down and braced for an During that debate and in every fight He is a tough individual who has emergency landing on this snow-covered since then, JOE BIDEN has been faced adversity that would knock a road high in the mountains near Bagram staunch, impassioned, and a committed lesser man down; yet through it all, Airbase. And Joe Biden turned to Hagel and me and he offered an alternative. He said, partner. JOE never wavered from his commit- ‘‘Maybe we could keep the helicopter aloft if That crime bill was a monumental ment to serving others. the three of us just started to give a speech.’’ piece of legislation. In addition to our To those of us who have had the But laughter aside, on that frozen mountain- assault weapons ban, it put 100,000 pleasure of working with him and to top, as we waited to be rescued, you learn more cops on the street, protected chil- millions of Americans, JOE BIDEN is a the measure of a person. And throughout dren from dangerous predators and in- good and honest man who simply wants that time, what Joe kept coming back to cluded a very important piece of legis- to make the world a better place. was the gift of family, and the privilege of lation: the Violence Against Women After 44 years in this Chamber, the public service. America has known Vice President Biden Act. last 8 as the President of the Senate, in moments of great triumph and also on oc- It has been two decades since JOE in- JOE can leave knowing he has accom- casions of immeasurable pain. We revere the troduced the Violence Against Women plished just that. The world is a better dignity with which he carries himself Act. In that time, domestic violence place thanks to you, and it is grateful through all of it. We admire him. We love rates have decreased by 64 percent, for your service, JOE BIDEN. him. And above all, we thank him—a great conviction rates for abusers increased, Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, for more Vice President, a ‘‘Senate man’’ still to the and 3.4 million women and men have than 30 years, Vice President JOE core, and someone I know I can call on and count on as a friend long after we both leave been helped by the National Domestic BIDEN has held a big place in my heart. office on January 20th. Thank you, Sen- Violence Hotline. Through thick and thin, he trusted me ator—Mr. Vice President—‘‘Joe’’—and I Beyond the numbers, JOE changed to be his partner in so many fights, and know you will carry on in contribution to the debate around domestic violence I will be forever grateful to him. the cause of country. with enactment of this bill. States and JOE first impressed me after he took Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, localities changed outdated laws. Vic- a stand against the Reagan administra- today I wish to honor JOE BIDEN, the tims were given courage to speak out tion’s support of South Africa when it 47th Vice President of the United and seek help, and millions of women was still in the depths of apartheid. So States. felt empowered knowing that in Amer- when he asked me to help organize

VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:16 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00040 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A07DE6.026 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE December 7, 2016 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6805 women for his 1988 Presidential cam- Who could ever forget his long his- then as the Vice President of the paign, I was all in. tory of fighting for community polic- United States, to save the auto indus- While that race wasn’t meant to be, I ing and to strengthen the bonds be- try back in 2008. fell in love with JOE’s vision of ‘‘re- tween police officers and their commu- You know that the only way we suc- claiming the idea of America as a com- nities? ceed is if we do everything we can to munity’’ and his beautiful, persistent No one has fought harder for the support and grow America’s middle optimism and hope—qualities we all things he believes in than JOE BIDEN— class, which you have done your entire still love him for today. no one—and there is nothing that he career. I cherished our time serving in Con- will not do for the country he so deeply There are countless instances over gress together, and I was so honored loves. your 40 years of service when you were that he asked me to carry the Violence Love of country is second only to the on the right side of history: when you against Women Act in the House. JOE love JOE has for his beautiful family. led the passage of the Violence Against was determined to put the spotlight on When he talks about his incredible Women Act; in your work as the chair this quiet epidemic—and he has been wife, children, and grandchildren, you of the Judiciary and Foreign Relations doing just that ever since. know they are his guiding star. Committee; through your wise counsel I took 5 years, but President Bill It is because of this love that we have as Vice President and your ability to work with us to get so much done over Clinton finally signed VAWA into law all come to know and adore JOE, and in 1994. It was one of JOE’s many monu- for that same reason, it is why our the last 8 years; with Dr. Biden, who is here today, for your work supporting mental achievements. hearts broke for him over the profound, By then, I had won election to the Michigan’s military families and com- unspeakable loss of his son, Beau. All U.S. Senate where JOE played a major munity colleges; and now in your effort of America mourned with JOE. role in one of my own biggest personal to cure cancer through the Cancer He had every right to stay down, but accomplishments: the Dolphin-Safe Moonshot. JOE is as resilient as they come. He tuna label law. Well, if I am being hon- Early on in your career, you said likes to tell the advice that his father est, it was his then 8-year-old daugh- that the work that we do here allows gave him as a child: ‘‘Champ, when you ter, Ashley, who got him involved. us to ‘‘literally have the chance to Schoolchildren across the country get knocked down get up. Get up.’’ shape the future—to put our own stamp were boycotting their tuna fish sand- Well, JOE always gets up. He gets up on the face and character of America, wiches after learning that dolphins again and again and again. to bend history just a little bit.’’ I could be killed as tuna was caught, and And we are all so fortunate that he would believe, as every one of my col- Ashley was begging her father to take does because, from the U.S. Senate to leagues does, that you have done more action. the Office of the Vice President, JOE than bend the future of America ‘‘just I was so proud that JOE chose to has never stopped fighting for the a little bit.’’ partner with me on a bill that required things he believes in—for civil rights, You have changed this Nation and companies that sell dolphin-safe tuna women’s rights, worker’s rights, eco- you have changed this Senate for the to prove that dolphins were not hurt in nomic fairness, a world-class education better. the fishing process. Like any good fa- for our kids, health care for all, and a There is a great quote from a poet I ther, JOE wanted to show Ashley that safe and peaceful world. know that you admire very much, Wil- he would come through for her—and he JOE has taught me so much, and I am liam Butler Yeats. did. so proud to call him my forever friend. It is a piece of advice that he gave Our bill became law in 1992, and it is Many of you know that I love to re- out frequently to young writers. It estimated that it saves tens of thou- write song lyrics. goes: ‘‘Think like a wise man but com- sands of dolphins every year. This is what I wrote for JOE: municate in the language of the peo- JOE also served as an extraordinary Joe is a many splendored thing. ple.’’ chairman on the Foreign Relations He is tough and smart and strong and wise. Yeats—like you Mr. President—un- Committee, where I am a member. He Winter, fall and spring. derstood that the best way to reach was gracious and respectful, listening He’s for kids and health and child care. people is by appealing to their heart, to every viewpoint, but he also wasn’t Our Joe will always be there. meeting them where they are. A smile, a glow, And I think, moving forward, we afraid to speak up and take charge. I It’s not for show, it’s true. have to remember that we all have to thought he was very courageous to Joe worked with us for years and years, reach people’s hearts and strive to point out a better way to solve the And there is no sleep for our busy Veep. serve as well as you have. civil war in Iraq, and I was so proud to He has hope not fears. Thank you for your service to this stand with him. Whether guy or gal, Senate and to the American people. For all of these reasons, and so many Joe is our pal. Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, it And this we know is true, more, it is no surprise that President is fitting that JOE BIDEN ascended from Barack Obama chose JOE BIDEN to Joe Biden, colleagues, All love you. Senator to Vice President—or as the serve as his Vice President. office is known around here, President Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I And it is no surprise that JOE will go of the Senate. down as one of the most effective Vice join my colleagues today in honoring JOE was elected to the Senate as a Presidents in history because of his you and thanking you for the incred- very young man. We have heard JOE warm, open relationship with President ible devotion you have shown to the talk about how hard it was after losing Obama. They have spent a great deal of United States Senate and to express his wife, Neilia, and baby daughter, time together, exchanging thoughts my deep respect for you—respect that I Naomi, in an automobile accident, just and ideas, and JOE was one of the key know the people of Michigan share. weeks before he was to be sworn in, to advisors who influenced President You have been a longtime friend to come to Washington and assume his Obama as he successfully confronted me and to the people of my home duties. He credits his older colleagues horrific challenges, such as: two wars; State. One thing we have always had in like Mike Mansfield, Ted Kennedy, the worst recession since the Great De- common: our parents were both in the Danny Inouye, Hubert Humphrey, Fritz pression; and rising violence in our automobile industry. As of course you Hollings, and Rhode Island’s Claiborne communities. know, your dad was a car salesman, Pell, who opened his Washington home Who could ever forget JOE BIDEN’s and my father owned an Oldsmobile to the young Senator, with convincing immense respect and gratitude for our dealership. him to stick it out, just for a few men and women in uniform and their So we have both known, from the months. families and his determined fight to very beginning, how critically impor- Well, he did more than stick it out. bring them home safely? tant American manufacturing is for so He dove in. The Senate saved his life, Who could ever forget how he shep- many people in Michigan and across he has said, in that time of grief. And herded the Recovery Act through Con- the country. in return, he gave his life to the Sen- gress—a near impossible feat in this We worked together, both when you ate, serving the people of Delaware for polarized political climate? were the Senator from Delaware and more than three decades.

VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00041 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A07DE6.027 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE S6806 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE December 7, 2016 JOE BIDEN presided over Supreme I thank him for his faithful service Obama’s foreign relations trouble- Court nomination hearings as chair- and for his enduring example. And I shooter. man of the Judiciary Committee. He wish him and Jill great happiness in From my service on the Foreign Re- shepherded the assault weapons ban the adventures to come. lations Committee, I have a keen ap- and the Violence Against Women Act. Mr. UDALL. Mr. President, I wish to preciation for the complexity of for- He served also as the chairman of the pay tribute to Vice President JOE eign policy matters in today’s world. Foreign Relations Committee, facing BIDEN, a man who has dedicated his life JOE’s foreign policy is at once prag- down dictators and championing nu- to serving our country, working across matic and sophisticated. He has stal- clear nonproliferation. the aisle whenever he can, and always wartly promoted peace and non- He is, of course, recognized in Senate doing his best to get things done for proliferation. But he understands the lore as a particularly strong speaker the American people. need for military force when national and debater. From his familiar perch in I am proud to have known and ad- interests are at stake, diplomacy is not the back row of the Chamber, JOE mired JOE a long time. I first met JOE an option, and such action will bear in- would hold forth on the merits of legis- toward the end of his first campaign tended results. lative proposals and the positions of for the Senate, in the fall of 1972. My JOE recently summed up what can be his colleagues. If the Chamber was father, Stewart Udall, had been called called the Biden Doctrine in Foreign empty of Senators, he would even turn to Delaware to help the young Demo- Affairs. He identifies the broad themes and deliver his speeches to the captive cratic candidate with environmental of Obama foreign policy strategy and audience in the staff gallery behind issues. I tagged along with my dad and advises the next administration. The him. spent a day on the campaign trail with essay should be required reading for But JOE can always be counted on for a man who would come to spend 36 dis- anyone serious about foreign policy, telling it like it is. Not long ago, he tinguished years in the Senate and be- and I hope the new administration was in my home State of Rhode Island come our 47th Vice President. takes his advice to heart. to tout needed infrastructure projects. The following summer, I worked as a While JOE’s legislative accomplish- Now, Rhode Island has one of the high- staffer in his Senate office—writing ments are too many to list, I would est rates of structurally deficient constituent letters, researching policy like to underscore one achievement bridges in the Nation, and my senior issues, preparing press materials. That that has made a difference in my home Senator, JACK REED, and I have worked was my first job in the Senate. State of New Mexico—The Violence hard to bring Federal resources to bear In so many ways, JOE Biden is the Against Women Act. in addressing that need. But JOE put it same person now as then—caring, pas- As chair of the Senate Judiciary no uncertain terms. Standing under sionate, energetic, tenacious, and Committee, JOE drafted VAWA and led the East Shore Expressway Bridge on ready and able to get things done. the charge for enactment. Passed in Warren Avenue in East Providence, the JOE gave me my first Senate job, and 1994, VAWA reordered how the Federal Vice President cried, ‘‘For 10 years this January—44 years later—he swore criminal justice system handled rape, you’ve had Lincoln logs holding the me in for the 114th Congress. damn thing up! No, I mean go look at sexual assault, and domestic violence I note that Senators from across our it. The press went and looked at it. If cases. VAWA gave victims needed pro- country—from both parties—have lined everybody in Rhode Island watched the tections and strengthened prosecutors’ up to speak to JOE’s character and ac- news tonight and saw that, they’d try tools. complishments. We respect him as a to go around the damn bridge!’’ I was attorney general of New Mexico Whatever his style or accomplish- colleague, and we love him for his pas- in 1994. In the wake of VAWA’s passage, sion and commitment to public service. ments, JOE will always pin his success I formed the Violence Against Women in the Senate on the personal relation- JOE has never forgotten his blue col- Task Force. We got strengthened ships he forged so deeply and so sin- lar roots. He has never forgotten our antistalking laws passed in the New cerely, with ideological allies and country’s working class. JOE has Mexico Legislature in 1997. strange bedfellows alike. ‘‘Every good fought all his life to make sure the While VAWA was easily reauthorized thing I have seen happen here, every working class gets a fair shake. He and strengthened during the 2000s, re- bold step taken in the 36-plus years I sounded the clarion call in the last authorization became difficult in 2012. have been here, came not from the ap- months and weeks of the Presidential As Vice President, JOE was instru- plication of pressure by interest campaign—that we not forget working mental in breaking impasses. groups, but through the maturation of families and, more broadly, America’s VAWA represented a sea change for personal relationships,’’ he said in his middle class. how our society addresses violent 2009 farewell speech. ‘‘Pressure groups In his words, ‘‘The middle class is not crime against women. can and are strong and important advo- a number; it’s a value set. It’s being The law was reauthorized and cates. But they’re not often vehicles able to own your house and not have to strengthened in 2013, and now extends for compromise. A personal relation- rent it; it’s being able to send your kid protections to gay and transgender per- ship is what allows you to go after to the local park and know they’ll sons, immigrant women, and on-res- someone hammer and tong on one issue come home safely. It’s about being able ervation Native Americans. and still find common ground on the to send your kid to the local high Like JOE, I am a husband and father next.’’ school and if they do well they can get of a daughter. I am proud to have voted That is why JOE BIDEN was uniquely to college, and if they get to college, in favor of reauthorization. well suited for the one job in this coun- you can figure out how to [pay to] get We all know that JOE has faced deep, try with one constitutional foot in the them there, and when your mom or dad personal tragedies. But he has con- executive branch and the other in the passes away, you can take care of the fronted tragedy with courage and love legislative. He was at the center of a other who is in need and hope your for his family and with an unimagi- number of high-stakes compromises be- kids never have to take care of you. nable determination to keep working tween the White House, Congress, and That’s JOE BIDEN’s definition of the for the American people—turning his the two parties. And every once in a middle class, and the middle class has own losses into ways to help others. while, he still got to vote. been clobbered.’’ JOE and his equally capable, deter- ‘‘Except for the title ‘father,’ ’’ he JOE championing the working and mined, and indefatigable wife Jill have said, ‘‘there is no title, including ‘vice middle class helps my State of New brought new energy and urgency to the president,’ that I am more proud to Mexico, helps all of our States. fight to cure cancer. The Cancer Moon- wear than that of United States sen- His policy expertise is broad and deep shot has already had many successes. ator.’’ JOE BIDEN is a great father to but maybe in no area as much as for- JOE turned the premature death of his Hunter and Ashley, and to Beau, whose eign policy. He has spent decades work- son into actions to help others with passing last year was felt by the entire ing on international matters—as a cancer. Senate family. He served honorably as member of the Senate Foreign Rela- This week, the Senate that JOE gave Vice President. But he will always be tions Committee, as the committee’s so much to gave something back, send- the pride of the Senate. chair or ranking member, as President ing the 21st Century Cures Act to

VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00042 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G07DE6.068 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE December 7, 2016 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6807 President Obama for signature. The Vice President BIDEN is as honest and acter. Through all this, he has contin- $1.8 billion cancer initiatives in that authentic a person as you will find, ued to serve the American people with bill are the direct result of Vice Presi- providing a welcome dose of humanity the utmost integrity and authenticity, dent BIDEN’s Cancer Moonshot initia- and authenticity to the business of which have undoubtedly contributed to tive. governing. And he has served with his successful career in public service. It is fitting that we named the cancer great honor and humility. The Vice President has also consist- initiatives in the Cures Act after Beau I recall a dinner the Vice President ently advocated for the leadership role Biden. attended at my home where, before he the United States plays in the world. JOE BIDEN leaves the Vice Presi- greeted a single guest, he made sure to Over the years, Vice President BIDEN dency, but he will never leave the fight spend time with my children—greeting has lent his diplomatic hand to U.S. for all Americans—Black, Brown, them and engaging them in a real con- engagement in development and secu- White, poor, working class, middle versation. They have never forgotten rity in places like Eastern Europe and class, gay, straight, Muslim, Chris- that. the Northern Triangle countries of tian—everyone—fighting for what is And, as the meal was ending, the Central America. He has worked tire- right, fighting to make sure we all Vice President said he wanted to hear lessly to strengthen our partnerships have a fair shot. from each of our guests. Now, this may across the globe, in places like Asia, JOE’s heart is as big as they come. I come as no surprise to those of you Europe, and the Middle East, in an ef- honor his decades of work, commit- who know JOE BIDEN, but he actually fort to further U.S. interests and the ment, and accomplishments, and I look spoke at some considerable length values upon which our Nation has forward to JOE continuing being JOE— about how important he thought it was thrived. the same guy I met in 1972—working to hear from everybody who was there. When he was in Denver this past Sep- hard every day to make a difference in Two and a half hours into a dinner tember to speak at the Korbel School, the lives of all Americans. scheduled to last just 90 minutes, I the Vice President warned against Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, today I think one guest got to ask the Vice ‘‘turning inward.’’ JOE has no capacity wish to honor the contributions and President a question. to turn inward in any walk of life. His the long and colorful career of Vice I know Vice President BIDEN and his career is characterized by reaching President JOE BIDEN—the pride of exceptional partner, Jill, will continue outward to the American people and to Scranton, PA—and of Wilmington, to be engaged in the life of our Nation, the world, working to listen, collabo- DE—and the pride of the entire United so I will simply thank him today for rate, heal, and serve. We can all learn States. four decades of public service—and a lot from that open and inclusive ap- JOE BIDEN lived, learned, and grew up pledge my continued respect for his proach. among hard-working Americans in the many contributions to this great Na- We are grateful for the Vice Presi- 1950s and 1960s, when everything in tion which he loves so completely. dent’s leadership and example. I thank America seemed possible—and it was. Thank you, Mr. Vice President. him and his incredible family for their Remarkably, this gifted orator grew up Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I want service to our Nation. with a crippling stutter—a challenge to join in honoring Vice President Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I which he overcame through determina- BIDEN’s lifetime of service and sacrifice would like to pay tribute to an incred- tion and perseverance. He displayed to our country. ible leader, public servant, mentor, and that same uncommon strength after he Throughout his career, Vice Presi- friend. lost his wife and daughter in a horrific dent BIDEN has carried out his work It seems impossible to place a period car accident just weeks after being with a sense of humility, integrity, and on the public service career of JOSEPH first elected to the United States Sen- authenticity that often seems missing ROBINETTE BIDEN, Jr. ate. in today’s politics. So perhaps this is just an ellipsis. Vice President BIDEN considered giv- He served as either chairman or For 36 years, JOE BIDEN was a tow- ing up his seat to tend to his injured ranking member of the Senate Judici- ering presence in this body. As a mem- children. It is one of this country’s ary Committee for 17 years. In this ca- ber, ranking member, and chairman of great fortunes that JOE BIDEN decided pacity, he crafted the Violence Against the Foreign Relations Committee, he against that. Scarred by the tragedy Women Act, which provided critical dove headfirst into the most chal- and by a close brush with death himself new protections to victims of domestic lenging issues in a volatile world, shap- and more recently by the loss of his violence and sexual assault. The land- ing a generation of U.S. foreign policy. son Beau, the Vice President has shown mark bill also supported local law en- He tackled arms control issues, stood us the power of and the comfort de- forcement to help increase prosecu- up directly to Slobodan Milosevic, rived from a deep personal faith. tions and convictions of abusers. He fought against apartheid in South Afri- When he was first elected to the has continued this legacy by serving as ca, and strongly advocated for NATO United States Senate in 1972, he was the White House Adviser on Violence bombing of Serbia in the 1990s. He once only 29 years old. And in a Senate ca- Against Women. called his contribution to ending the reer spanning 36 years, Senator BIDEN Most recently, he led the White Yugoslav wars one of the ‘‘proudest left behind a legacy as chairman of the House’s efforts on the Cancer Moonshot moments’’ of his political career. For Senate Foreign Relations Committee. initiative, which seeks to hasten our years, he worked to shape our policy in Perhaps his greatest achievement was advances in cancer research, preven- Iraq and the Middle East. He did so not his tireless advocacy for civil rights, tion, and treatment. Earlier today, the just from his Washington office, but especially the protection of women and Senate passed a bill to help make the through regular visits to warzones, children from domestic violence. The Cancer Moonshot initiative a reality, where he met face to face with military passage of the Violence Against Women which is a further testament to the leaders and enlisted men and women, Act in 1994 is an enduring Biden legacy Vice President’s leadership and char- alike. This is JOE BIDEN’s legacy. which we will continue to build upon acter. As a member and chairman of the Ju- for years to come. The Vice President’s involvement in diciary Committee, Senator BIDEN And now, even as he is about to retire the Cancer Moonshot initiative was spearheaded the Federal assault weap- from political life, Vice President born out of the death of his son, Beau, ons ban, presided over Supreme Court BIDEN has taken on a new cause: to find who lost his battle with brain cancer confirmations, and—in perhaps his a cure for the disease which has last year. The Vice President also grap- most significant legislative triumph— claimed too many millions of Ameri- pled with tragedy at a young age when authored the Violence Against Women cans, including his beloved son, Beau. his first wife and his 13-month-old Act. The Cancer Moonshot has refocused daughter were killed in a car accident. For generations, violence against and reinvigorated our Nation’s efforts The poise, dignity, and humility that women was a private matter—a trag- to eradicate this devastating disease, the Vice President has been able to edy suffered over and over by women and I was proud to support renaming maintain in the face of these tragedies with no recourse against abusive part- the legislation to honor Beau Biden. speaks to his strength and his char- ners. VAWA brought this scourge out

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He This year, after the loss of his be- called the National Domestic Violence came to Washington on the shoulders loved son Beau, JOE harnessed his grief Hotline and gotten the support they of his family, which fanned out across to spearhead a new Cancer Moonshot need. From 1994, when VAWA became Delaware and knocked on doors until initiative to accelerate finding cures law, until 2010, the rate of domestic vi- there were no more doors to knock. for cancer. olence in the United States has fallen When tragedy struck—between his im- This past Monday night, with JOE by 64 percent. These are real accom- probable election victory and his presiding, we named this initiative in plishments and real people—not just swearing in—and he suffered the un- memory of Beau. statistics. This is JOE BIDEN’s legacy. imaginable loss of his wife and infant After Monday’s vote, JOE said that it And, as everyone knows, he did it all daughter, his family pulled him closer. made him realize all of the support he commuting daily from and to his be- He stayed by the hospital beds of his has had since Beau’s passing. loved Delaware. two sons, Beau and Hunter, and nursed In the face of his own loss, JOE has Then he got a job that included ac- them back to health, questioning all supported countless other families in commodation in Washington, DC. along whether he would ever serve in similar situations. JOE BIDEN has transformed the job of the Senate. I will remember JOE for this incred- Vice President. A key liaison to Con- But this body—this Senate—pulled ible empathy. gress because of his years of relation- him closer, too. Senators Inouye, This year we lost our colleague and ships on the Hill, JOE BIDEN stood Mansfield, Humphrey, Hollings, and friend Congressman Mark Takai of Ha- shoulder to shoulder with President Kennedy all pleaded with him to give waii. Obama and brought our economy back the Senate a chance: ‘‘Just six months, I affectionately called Mark my from the brink. Vice President BIDEN JOE. Just stay six months.’’ younger brother, and his passing was a was tasked with implementing and He stayed 36 years. And he learned shock to many of us. overseeing the American Recovery and lessons about character and motives— JOE joined us to honor Mark at a me- Reinvestment Act, which laid the foun- lessons we are all still learning today. morial service here in the Capitol. dation for a sustainable economic fu- He learned from Mike Mansfield never Reflecting on his own life, JOE spoke ture we are experiencing today. to question another man’s motive— directly to Mark’s wife, Sami, and his He also tackled longer term eco- question his judgment but never his children, Matthew and Kaila: nomic challenges, traveling the coun- motive. It was a lesson that bridged di- I promise you that the day will come when try in support of American manufac- vides that too often keep us apart. The Mark’s memory brings a smile to your lips turing jobs and working tirelessly to lesson made for lasting friendships before it brings a tear to your eye. rein in the exorbitant cost of college with Jesse Helms and Strom Thur- My prayer for you and your family is that and spiraling student loan debt. JOE mond—whose eulogy he delivered. they come sooner rather than later. But I promise you. I promise you it will come. BIDEN believes in his bones that all JOE BIDEN arrived in the Senate after Americans deserve a fair shot. a 1972 campaign heavy on civil rights. Like so many times in his life, JOE’s That is why he was an early advocate Years later, the centerpiece in his Sen- words spoke to our hearts. for marriage equality. He accelerated ate office was a large table that had be- From his own experience, he com- change, forcing a conversation that, at longed to Senator John Stennis, forted the Takais and so many of us its heart, was about love and the sim- around which Senator Richard Russell who knew Mark. ple premise of all men and women and Southern segregationists had That is who JOE is—a man of empa- being equal. planned the demise of the civil rights thy and soul, who always had a kind His belief in a fair shot for all is why movement. In 2009, JOE BIDEN became word, and who will leave a legacy of Vice President BIDEN devoted incred- Vice President to our first African- commitment to doing the right thing, ible energy after the Sandy Hook American President. and a legacy of hope. shooting to sparing other families the The arc of the moral universe is long, JOE, you will be missed. heartbreak felt by too many in New- but it does indeed bend toward justice. Mahalo for your service. town. Some of the most challenging We have not seen the end of JOE Mr. KING. Mr. President, today I days of the Obama administration were BIDEN. Just this week, he presided over would like to join with my colleagues days of mass shootings. this body as we took an important step to honor Vice President JOSEPH R. Aurora, San Bernardino, Orlando, toward realizing the dream of the Can- BIDEN. Fort Hood, Charleston, Tucson, and of cer Moonshot—an ambitious project to Though I did not have the privilege course Newtown—to anyone who has end cancer as we know it. to serve with Vice President BIDEN been active in the push for common- It is another effort that has profound while he was a Member of the Senate, sense gun safety measures—as I have— personal meaning to the Vice Presi- I have long admired JOE and his sincere the Vice President’s steady hand, com- dent, who lost his son Beau to this hor- commitment to the people of this mitment, and leadership in this space rible disease. It is also a place where country and especially to those in his have been obvious. Along with the JOE BIDEN’s work will have lasting, in- beloved home State of Delaware. President, he has comforted families, delible effect on Americans—indeed all The details of JOE’s early years are devoted countless hours to healing, and of humanity—if he is successful. well known to this body and to the Na- contributed energy and ideas to a And that is JOE BIDEN’s legacy. tion, but because they are so central to years-long push that will eventually af- He brought people together. He tack- his character, they bear repeating. fect real change and keep the most le- led the impossible. He overcame obsta- After an upset win of a U.S. Senate thal weapons out of the hands of the cles. He bridged divides. Tireless and seat at just 29 years old, JOE experi- most dangerous people. fierce, JOE BIDEN put family and coun- enced a tragedy that most of us cannot And that will be JOE BIDEN’s legacy. try first. We cannot ask for more than even begin to fathom—the death of his Vice President JOE BIDEN was taught that. wife, Neilia, and his young daughter, early on by his parents that hard work Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I rise to Naomi, in a car accident just weeks be- mattered, that how you treat others join my colleagues to pay tribute to fore he was set to take office. A now- matters, and above all else that family Vice President JOE BIDEN. iconic photograph shows a young JOE matters most. Throughout his career, JOE has made countless contributions being sworn into office at his sons’ hos- he had a rule in his office: if one of his to our country throughout his more pital bedside. children, his wife Jill, or a sibling than 40 years in public service and six A tragedy of that magnitude, so called, staff was to pull him out of a terms in the U.S. Senate. early in JOE’s career, would have been

VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:57 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00044 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G07DE6.059 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE December 7, 2016 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6809 reason for most to put on hold—or even ciated more with political rancor than briefly: Senator ALEXANDER, Senator end—a promising future in public serv- authenticity, JOE has long been a CARDIN, Senator CASEY, and Senator ice. Indeed, no one would have faulted breath of fresh air, an homage to a KAINE. My senior Senator, TOM CARPER JOE had he decided that the demands of more amicable past. His ability to get of Delaware, will conclude this session the work he was set to undertake were things done while making steadfast today. not worth pursuing after the unimagi- friends on both sides of the aisle is a I yield the floor to the Senator from nable loss he had just experienced. But, model for all of us and an inspiration Tennessee. from the depths of his sorrow, JOE sum- to me. The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator moned the courage to press forward, I wish JOE and his wife, Jill, nothing from Tennessee. committing himself to his two sons and but the best as they move onto their Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, to his work fighting for Delaware in next adventure. I know in times of knowing there is a reception coming, I the U.S. Senate. Committed to caring trial, I will look to JOE’s leadership will try to set a good example. After for his young family in the wake of and example for the wisdom to make hearing a speech, my late friend Alex such loss, JOE would take the train the right decision. Haley, the author of ‘‘Roots,’’ said: from Wilmington to Washington each Mr. Vice President, on behalf of the May I make a suggestion? day the Senate was in session. people of Maine, I thank you for your I said: Well, yes. During his 36 years as a member of service to our country. He said: If, when you make a speech, this body, JOE distinguished himself as Ms. WARREN. Mr. President, today I you would say ‘‘Instead of making a a thoughtful, principled leader on a join my colleagues in celebrating the speech, let me tell you a story,’’ some- number of critical issues. JOE’s leader- many contributions of Vice President one might actually listen to what you ship on the Senate Judiciary Com- JOE BIDEN, a man who has spent his ca- have to say. mittee put him at the center of some of reer fighting for working families. I have always remembered that, so the most consequential debates in re- For more than four decades, Vice let me tell one short story about a Vice cent years, from passage of the 1994 President BIDEN has tirelessly served President who knows how to get things Crime Law to the enactment of the Vi- the people of Delaware and the United done. olence Against Women Act. In his role States. As many of my colleagues have Nearly 2 years ago, you and Presi- on the Senate Foreign Relations Com- already noted, he has been on the dent Obama invited Senator CORKER mittee, JOE garnered the respect of frontlines of some of our Nation’s and me to go with you to Knoxville lawmakers on both sides of the aisle as toughest battles—from steering the when the President announced his com- he helped to shape U.S. foreign policy. Foreign Relations and Judiciary Com- munity college program. Before that, His leadership in both of these areas, as mittees, to introducing the Violence we had lunch privately, and we talked well as the respect of his colleagues in Against Women Act and championing about many things, but the President Congress, made JOE a natural pick to efforts to reduce gun violence in our talked about his interest in precision join then-Senator Obama as his run- communities. He takes on every fight medicine. ning mate in 2008. with restless energy and relentless op- I said: Mr. President, we are working As Vice President, JOE has been a timism. on something we call 21st Century trusted adviser to President Obama I first met then-Senator BIDEN back Cures. Why don’t we fold that into your and has been tasked with overseeing in the 1990s when I was a law professor precision medicine interest, and we significant initiatives within the ad- with no experience in the ways of will do it together. ministration. From his work on the Washington. We tangled over an issue, At the State of the Union address a economic stimulus package in 2009 to each of us laying into the fight with year later, the President talked about his continued leadership in the fight determination. Senator BIDEN won, and the Cancer Moonshot and announced against sexual assault and domestic vi- I lost. Years later, when I next saw Vice President JOE BIDEN would be in olence, JOE has brought to the White him, he held out his arms and shouted charge of that. So I talked to you and House his characteristic dedication and from halfway across the room, ‘‘Pro- said: Well, we will just fold that in as charisma. It has been a pleasure to ob- fessor! Come here and give me a hug!’’ well. serve the real friendship that the Vice He had not forgotten our earlier bat- It wasn’t moving along as fast as I President has forged with President tle, but he made it clear that he con- would like because, as you know and as Obama, one grounded in mutual re- tinued to think and rethink issues most people here know, it is full of dif- spect and admiration for one another. about working families and that, even ficult issues—FDA, safety, moving We saw again last year JOE’s when we disagreed, we could respect— things though, drug companies’ incen- strength in the face of adversity when and even like—each other. And when I tives, and then the funding issue on cancer claimed the life of his son, was later sworn into the United States both sides of the aisle. Beau. Like his father, Beau Biden was Senate, I thought about the example he So I called you and I said: JOE, we are a gifted communicator, and the Nation set to fight hard, but to treat each not moving as we should. mourned alongside JOE at the news of other with respect. You said: Well, let me see what I can his passing. In the aftermath of Beau’s The Vice President has faced down do. death, JOE accepted the President’s hardship with exceptional grace and And you held a meeting of the Demo- charge to lead the Cancer Moonshot courage, and he continues to wake up crats and Republicans in the House— initiative to accelerate cancer re- every day with a steadfast commit- Senator MURRAY and me—and you search—yet another shining example of ment to ensuring that the voices of or- moved us along pretty well and off we JOE channeling his experience with loss dinary Americans are heard here in would go. You didn’t take credit for into advancement for the public good. Washington. And for me personally, he that; nobody knew much about it. You It is a fitting testament to JOE’s lead- has provided encouragement, wisdom, were the key to that. ership that the cancer provisions in the and good counsel, time and again—and Then it got stuck again. So I called bill currently under consideration in for that, I am truly grateful. you again. I said: JOE, I have the preci- the Senate, the 21st Century Cures Act, So, Vice President BIDEN: those of us sion medicine, I have the Cancer Moon- were renamed in honor of Beau. I know here in the Senate are fortunate to shot, we have the BRAIN Initiative, we of few people who have endured the have had the opportunity to work have the opioids money, but I can’t get magnitude of loss that JOE has over the alongside you. And I know I speak for a response. I feel like the butler stand- course of his life, and the fact that he millions of Americans when I say that ing with a silver platter outside the carries on every day with a full heart we all are enormously grateful for your Oval Office, and no one will take the and renewed dedication to fighting for many years of service to this country. order. the American people is an inspiration. Thank you, and I wish you the very You said: If you want to feel like a Beyond his accomplishments—which best as you begin the next chapter of butler, try being Vice President. are many—JOE is perhaps best known your life and career. Well, the fact was, you went to work for his good humor and genuine ability Mr. COONS. We have five Senators again. The President called; he went to to connect with people. In a city asso- remaining who have asked to speak work. Speaker RYAN went to work,

VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:40 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00045 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G07DE6.061 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE S6810 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE December 7, 2016 Senator MCCONNELL went to work, and very difficult issues, your openness, resentatives. JOE’s sister Valerie ran today that legislation on which you your willingness to listen, and your the campaign; most of the other worked so hard passed the Senate with ability to find a way to go forward ‘‘staff’’ were other family members. He 94 votes. That is an example of a man were incredibly helpful. I think it al- demonstrated his extraordinary ability who understands the issues, who knows lowed the Senate to do the right thing to connect with voters and won the how to get things done, and who has on that issue—as well as the oversight. election by 3,162 votes and became the the respect of everyone in this body. I thank you very much. sixth-youngest Senator in U.S. history. This is Pearl Harbor Day. Pearl Har- That wasn’t your only opportunity to Just a few weeks after the election, bor Day reminds us of the greatest gen- help us resolve issues. You have heard JOE’s wife and their infant daughter eration of men and women who cared Members talk about the Violence Naomi were killed in a traffic accident; about the country, didn’t care about Against Women Act and how important their two young sons, Hunter and Beau, the credit, resolved their differences, that was. The Cancer Moonshot is were seriously injured. JOE was sworn and realized that diversity is impor- going to be incredibly valuable. Each in to the U.S. Senate next to his sons’ tant but turning that diversity into one of our families has been affected by hospital beds and steadfastly began one America is even more important. cancer. Through your efforts, we know commuting to Washington from Wil- You are not of that generation, but you we are going to find the answer to this mington every day by train, a practice show the same spirit as that genera- dread disease. You have done this in so he maintained throughout his career in tion did. Your work on 21st Century many different areas, law enforce- the Senate. Cures and the fact that the Cancer ment—the list goes on and on. In 1977, Vice President BIDEN married Moonshot section is not only some- Last year I was in Central America. I Jill Jacobs. Jill has a Ph.D. in edu- thing that is your initiative—is named think there you could easily run for of- cation and is a lifelong educator. To- for your son—is important not just to fice and have no problems at all. They gether, JOE and Jill had daughter, Ash- you but to all of us. know what you have done to give them ley, who is a social worker. You are a friend of every single one a hope, to give them a future. You take JOE’s affinity for the people of Dela- of us. We honor you today. We are de- an interest in an area and find a way to ware was reciprocal: he was re-elected lighted you came down to let us tell a be helpful that I think has made our to the Senate six times, including in few stories about your effectiveness as country stronger. You have given hope 2008 when he was also elected Vice Vice President of the United States. to people all over the world. President. The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator You have a love for people. You hear In February of 1988, JOE was admit- from Maryland. that. You hear that often. It was Will Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I also Rogers who famously said he never met ted to Walter Reed Army Medical Cen- wish to join in thanking you for your a man he didn’t like. That is true of ter. He had an intracranial aneurysm that had begun leaking. The situation incredible service. Senator MIKULSKI JOE BIDEN. It is incredible. talked about a lot of things you have I remember when I was being sworn was dire, a priest had actually adminis- done. The two of us represent the State in, in the ceremony in the Old Senate tered last rites at the hospital. The of Maryland. Other than the two of us, Chamber, you not only talked to Mem- surgery was successful but he suffered there is no other Senator who has bers of the Senate, you talked to every a pulmonary embolism and had to un- spent more time in Maryland than the member of our families. I don’t know if dergo another operation, which was Vice President. you had the best staff work or not, but successful, in May 1988. Two brain op- Admittedly, most of that time was you knew every Member’s family. To erations might slow down most people, spent on an Amtrak train, but we con- this day my grandchildren talk about but not JOE. Two years after he nearly sider you to be a resident of Maryland. the conversation they had with you died, he won re-election to a fourth We have tried to find a way to tax you, during that swearing-in ceremony. You Senate term. but we will let you get by. We very really care about people, and that real- JOE’s Senate career wasn’t just long; much appreciate your interest in our ly shows. This is a family here, and you it was distinguished. He became the entire region and in our entire country. have truly shown that to us. Myrna Ranking Member of the Judiciary When I was elected to the Senate in and I look at you and Jill as people Committee in 1981. Three years later, 2007, I talked to Senator Sarbanes—the who are part of our family. he helped to steer the Comprehensive person whom I was replacing in the I think you are, perhaps, the most Crime Control Act to passage. It was Senate—about committee assignments, ebullient politician in America. Hor- the first of many major legislative ac- and we talked about the Senate For- rific family tragedies and life-threat- complishments which included the Vio- eign Relations Committee. He said: Get ening cranial aneurysms severely test- lent Crime Control & Law Enforcement on the committee. JOE BIDEN is an in- ed, but ultimately didn’t diminish, Act of 1994. That bill contained the as- credible leader. Any time you can your faith in God or your love for the sault weapon ban and the Violence spend with him is going to be time well ‘‘retail’’ aspect of politics—meeting Against Women Act, and it established spent. and greeting people, making those the Community Oriented Policing I talked to Senator MIKULSKI, and human connections. Services (COPS) program. she told me the same thing. I was hon- Mr. President, for those who may not JOE’s accomplishments on the domes- ored to be able to serve on the Senate know your story, I would like to tell tic policy side are impressive, but he Foreign Relations Committee and saw them part of it. JOE BIDEN was born in also became a foreign policy expert. firsthand your extraordinary leader- Scranton and raised there before his When Congress refused to ratify the ship on behalf of our country. But parents moved the family to Delaware. Strategic Arms Limitation Talks bringing us together in that com- He was the first member of his family (SALT) II Treaty Soviet leader Leonid mittee, you didn’t know who the to attend college. He earned his B.A. Brezhnev and President Jimmy Carter Democrats and who the Republicans from the University of Delaware and signed in 1979, JOE met with Soviet were. We worked together in a unit in then went to law school at Syracuse Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko. He the best interests of our country. That University, during which time he mar- was able to secure changes to the Trea- really was a model for all of us in the ried his college sweetheart, Neilia Hun- ty to overcome the Senate Foreign Re- service of the Senate and service on be- ter. They had three children—two sons lations Committee’s objections. He has half of our people. and a daughter. played a pivotal role in shaping U.S. A little over 8 years later, I became a In 1972, just four years after JOE foreign policy ever since. I was honored ranking member of the Senate Foreign graduated from law school and when he to serve on the Foreign Relations Com- Relations Committee, and we had some was just 29 years old—he ran a bare mittee for the last 2 years JOE served extremely challenging issues that bones, longshot campaign for the U.S. as Chairman. I have been honored to could have divided us. You helped me Senate against the incumbent, Caleb work with him in his current capacity through that period. I really wish to ‘‘Cale’’ Boggs, who had previously been as Vice President to expand the North thank you for that. Your extraordinary Delaware’s Governor and had served Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, leadership in helping us resolve some three terms in the U.S. House of Rep- to include the former Warsaw Pact

VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:40 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00046 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G07DE6.070 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE December 7, 2016 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6811 countries of Eastern and Central Eu- means to be able to stand on the floor justice. His whole public life could be rope and support a sovereign, demo- and talk about his record, his life, his summarized in that word and the com- cratic Ukraine. He is a champion of achievements, but mostly to talk mitment he has had to justice. We Israel and has been one of the principal about who he is. could quote from the Bible: ‘‘Blessed architects of administration’s rebal- When I consider what he has contrib- are they who hunger and thirst for jus- ance to the Asia-Pacific. He has devel- uted to our country, to his State, and tice, for they shall be satisfied.’’ I am oped deep relationships with the world to the world, it is difficult to encap- not sure JOE BIDEN has ever been satis- leaders by excelling at face-to-face di- sulate it. I tried to jot down a few fied yet with justice. He is always pur- plomacy. notes to remind myself of how best to suing it, always trying to bring justice Mr. President, we were all devastated encapsulate that life. to a problem or to a situation or to the when your beloved son Beau lost his I guess I would start with the word life of a fellow citizen. battle with brain cancer last year. ‘‘integrity.’’ It may be a word that we We think of what Saint Augustine Beau was just 46. It was a poignant mo- take for granted, but it is a word that said about justice a long time ago, but ment on Monday when you were in the has to be part of the life of a public of- it still bears repeating: ‘‘Without jus- Chair, presiding over the Senate as we ficial. I would say in the case of JOE tice, what are kingdoms but great voted to invoke cloture on the motion BIDEN, he has the kind of integrity that bands of robbers?’’ That is what Saint to concur in the House message to ac- is uncommon—uncommon not because Augustine said hundreds of years ago. company H.R. 34, the 21st Century it is a rare trait but uncommon be- JOE BIDEN has lived his life as a public Cures Act. The bill contains provisions cause it is so much a part of his whole official and as a man, as a citizen, with to implement the administration’s life. He was a public official with integ- that same burning desire to bring jus- ‘‘Cancer Moonshot’’—yet another one rity, and we hope he is again when he tice into the dark corners of our world. of your sparking accomplishments. I might consider public office again. But And he knows that without that jus- want to commend Senator MCCONNELL he is also a person of great integrity tice, someone is, in fact, robbed of so and the majority for renaming that when it comes to the fights he has had much—robbed of their dignity, robbed title of the bill the ‘‘Beau Biden Cancer to wage on behalf of people without of their safety, robbed of a full life. Moonshot and National Institutes of power, the work he has had to do as a But I think I would say that maybe Health (NIH) Innovation Projects’’. I public official infused with that kind of the best line, with all due respect to know it means a lot to you and your integrity and, at the same time, the the Scriptures and to Saint Augustine, family. same kind of integrity we expect from was one my father said. He wrote it I have made my lifetime serving in a family member and a friend. So I down years ago, but he probably gave public life. You have made that profes- would start with that word. maybe the best description of what a sion an honorable profession through Certainly the word ‘‘compassion’’ public official should be about. I am the manner in which you have con- comes to mind. Every one of us can tell not sure I have ever attributed this to ducted yourself, your integrity, who a story. I was hearing stories just yes- anyone else but him. He said the most you are, and the way that you bring terday from a colleague about a phone important qualities a public official people together. I am proud to have call the Vice President made over the can bring to their work are two things: served with you in this body. last couple of years to someone who No. 1, a passion for justice—which, of Mr. President, you have been an ex- was grieving, who was in the depths of course, JOE BIDEN has in abundance— traordinary public servant for nearly the darkness of grief, and the phone and a sense of outrage in the face of in- half a century. You have also been a call he made to that person. justice; that if you have both of those, dedicated family man and a good I have heard stories over the years on most days, you are going to get it friend. I said at the beginning of my re- about not just phone calls but visits right. And his life as a U.S. Senator for marks that you never met a man you with people, stopping into a funeral 36 years, as Vice President for 8 years, didn’t like. I don’t think anyone who home for a long lost friend who had and as a citizen for all of those years has ever met you didn’t like you, too. lost a loved one, letters he has written. and more, has been about that passion Congratulations. I know a personal friend who lost his for justice and a sense of outrage in the The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator wife and his sons had lost their mom face of injustice. from Pennsylvania. and what the Vice President wrote to We all know his record; we don’t have Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, it is an them just this summer. Over and over to recite all of it. From the Violence honor to be here today. I was thinking again, he has demonstrated that kind Against Women Act, which we know is about what I would say today and mak- of compassion. an acronym—VAWA—but it doesn’t do ing it as brief and as personal as I I can remember my own case in a justice to the name of what that could. I have to say that on a day like very personal way. It was only an elec- meant. So many today have talked today it is difficult. We all have the tion loss. I ran for Governor of Penn- about how he saved the lives of women privilege of being able to go to this sylvania in a primary. As many of my and families because of that legisla- floor on a regular basis to talk about colleagues know, primaries are par- tion. So from VAWA to ARRA, as we issues, to talk about our country, and ticularly difficult. I lost badly. No one call it—the American Recovery and Re- to talk about the world, but we also called on Wednesday after Tuesday. investment Act, the act that helped dig have one of the great privileges to talk One reporter showed up at my door, this economy out of the ditch it was in about those with whom we have served and I opened the door and I really and rescued this country and improved and for whom we have great respect. couldn’t say much to this reporter, but the lives of so many people—he not This is one of those moments. It is of I was grateful she was there. But I got only worked to get it passed, but then great significance for me that I am one phone call on Wednesday—maybe a he made sure it was implemented. It able to stand on the floor of the Senate couple of family members; I come from might be the most popular piece of leg- as a native of and as a resident of the a family of eight. I think my wife was islation 25 years from now when people city of Scranton in Lackawanna Coun- talking to me, but other than that, the really appreciate what happened with ty to talk about a son of Scranton. only person who called me was JOE the Recovery Act. I know this is a pretty big day for BIDEN. He made some kind of grand From diplomacy, to law enforcement, Delaware—Delaware’s No. 1 citizen and prediction—I thought he was just being to not just supporting our troops, not on this historic day for Delaware. But nice—that I would somehow come just working on legislation and sup- I have to say I am so grateful to be back. But he was right. And he made porting them not only when his son able to say on behalf of the people of me feel much better that day. He may was a member of our Armed Forces but Scranton and Lackawanna County in not remember it, but I will remember long before that, to what he did very Northeastern Pennsylvania how proud that for the rest of my life. specifically to protect our troops—we we are today to be able to pay tribute I think certainly when we think know the scourge of IEDs, which was to Vice President JOE BIDEN. about the Vice President, we could cen- the No. 1 killer of our troops in Iraq There is so much to say about that ter on another one word: ‘‘justice’’—an and in Afghanistan. A lot of those history, so much to say about what it abiding and enduring commitment to troops’ lives were saved because of JOE

VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:16 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00047 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A07DE6.029 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE S6812 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE December 7, 2016 BIDEN up-armoring vehicles and doing preciated. That, of course, is why he is State that day when Senator JOE BIDEN all the work he did to protect our such a big fan of the Nelson household, was running for Vice President with troops. not only of Grace and Nan Ellen but our President, Barack Obama. So whether it was national security also of Bill Junior. He always treats I received a call in the middle of the or security on our streets, whether it our children with respect and goes out morning: There was going to be a sur- was protecting women who would be of his way. prise visit to a polling place in Rich- the subject of abuse or helping children In Florida, fortunately we had the mond. After having voted in Wil- or improving our economy—on and good fortune of seeing him a lot in his mington, Senator BIDEN was going to on—we could talk about that record. two campaigns as Vice President and make a stop in Richmond and wanted But just as you can’t just list achieve- then the campaign for the ticket in to meet some voters before he headed ments in a record and encapsulate this last campaign. I can remember to Chicago to await the election re- what it means, so the same is true of a those days. It was so cold in a horse sults. We gave him the address of an el- 36-year career in the U.S. Senate and pasture west of Ocala. And I can re- ementary school polling place that was then 8 years as Vice President. member recently just absolutely cook- very near the Richmond Airport, and I Lincoln probably said it best. Lincoln ing in North Palm Beach on the stage raced there with my security detail to said, ‘‘It is not the years in your life in the hot sun, and JOE was always get there a few minutes before he ar- that matters, in the end, it is the life there making the case for whoever it rived for a surprise visit with voters in those years.’’ And that is, I think, was he was standing up for. who were going to love having the true of JOE BIDEN as well. Of course, he always made you feel chance to meet the soon-to-be Vice Two more points. One of the best that you were welcome. I remember President. I got there a few minutes be- qualities of the Vice President as a one time we got off an airplane, and he fore Senator BIDEN arrived, and I saw a man especially but also as a public offi- was going to his limousine and I am friend who had come to vote. I asked cial is his sense of gratitude. If you going back to the guest van in the how he was doing. He said: I am doing knew him for half an hour or for your back. He motions, I am to come with great. I am really excited about voting whole life, you know that almost al- him. I said, ‘‘Mr. Vice President, I today. And it is also a special day be- ways he is speaking about people in his never presumed that I should come cause I have a nephew with sickle cell life who made him who he is today, here.’’ He says, ‘‘I always want you anemia and he is casting his first vote, whether it is his mother and father or here with me when we are traveling to- but he is so sick, he can’t even get out whether it is his whole family, includ- gether.’’ That is what makes him so of the vehicle. ing brothers and sisters and his sons special. I watched the election officials at the and daughters and, of course, Jill. It is Finally, I want to comment about polling place take a voting machine a reminder of how grateful we should Moonshot. Why is the effort at cancer from inside the school into the car so be. In so many ways, when you hear research called the Moonshot? It is be- that his 18-year-old nephew could cast JOE BIDEN speak, his speeches tend to cause we achieved what was almost the the first vote of his life. I saw this be, on many occasions, a hymn to grat- impossible when the President said we young man, the nephew of my friend, itude, and that comes through all the are going to the moon and return safe- and he was very ill. time. ly within the decade, and America mar- I said to my friend and his nephew: We know how much he suffered with shaled the will and in fact did that in- Can you wait here for 5 minutes? Be- all of the losses he has sustained. I was credible accomplishment. That is why cause I think we can do something talking to him recently at an event in we are going to have the Moonshot for really exciting. Scranton about his son Beau and his cancer. What? life and what a patriot Beau Biden was. We have already made so much Well, just wait. I think today we can say the following progress; but now, with the former And they said they would. about the Vice President: This is a man Vice President of the United States Within 5 minutes, Senator BIDEN who was a great, great Vice President. heading up all the efforts where we can came up to meet voters and shook the This is a man who was a committed keep the attention on NIH, so it hands of those in line. I said: Senator, and very effective U.S. Senator, but doesn’t go from a level rocking along there is a young man here, and just as maybe most important, he has been a about $24 billion, $25 billion a year, and this day is very important to you, be- faithful son, a loving and proud hus- the stimulus shoots it in the first 2 cause I think you are about to be elect- band and father, and a patriot. years of the Vice President’s office up ed Vice President of the United States, Thank you, sir, and God bless you. to $30 billion a year, then it drops down for this young African-American male, The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator to $24 billion, $25 billion, and Dr. who is very ill but extremely excited from Florida. Francis Collins has to cancel 700 of the even in his illness to get out of his Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, these medical research grants that he has al- house to come here and cast his vote to speeches were just supposed to go on ready issued. Because we have the elect the first African-American Presi- for 1 hour, and we are already at the 2- Moonshot headed by JOE BIDEN, we are dent—he is sitting there in that vehi- hour mark, but perhaps, since we are going to find the cure for all those cle. Will you go and visit with him? honoring you, this is most appropriate. kinds of cancer. That is the great leg- I didn’t even have to finish the sen- I would say to our colleagues and our acy that the Vice President of the tence and put the question mark at the guests, you say the name among us of United States will have. end before Senator BIDEN shot across JOE BIDEN, and a smile automatically Mr. President, I yield the floor. the parking lot and went up to the ve- comes to our lips, and that is because The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator hicle. The press corps was following the Vice President is a lover of people. from Virginia. him. The young man was sitting in the That is true. We know it is true. And Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, I rise in back seat. JOE just jumped in the front that is why today we have this genuine honor of your service. seat, closed the door, rolled up the win- affection being expressed. I just want to tell my favorite JOE dow so nobody could hear the conversa- Since the hour is late, my remarks BIDEN story. This is a story the Vice tion, and the press corps gathered are going to be very short, but I just President has heard me tell, but I want around all four sides of the vehicle want to highlight that it is very true it on the Record because everyone with their cameras taking pictures of and it is very characteristic. I can even should know this story. It is the story Senator BIDEN in an extremely ani- tell all of the stories of the Biden fam- of an interaction between our Vice mated and somewhat lengthy conversa- ily because I have heard them so much. President on one of the most important tion with the 18-year-old who had just It is also very true that if you are days of his life and a young man from cast his vote. To me, that will always talking to JOE and suddenly your wife Richmond, VA, my hometown, on one be the quintessential JOE BIDEN story. comes up or your daughter comes up, of the most important days of his life. JOE BIDEN is the Irish poet of Amer- all of a sudden, JOE is not focusing on It was election day 2008, and I was ican politicians. He and I share a pas- you, he is giving his total attention to Governor of Virginia. I was responsible sion for the Irish poet William Butler the ladies present, and that is most ap- for the running of the elections in my Yeats. Yeats, like our Vice President,

VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:17 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00048 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G07DE6.075 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE December 7, 2016 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6813 was not just a poet. He was a man of his dad is of him, his pride in his dad is better public servant in American his- the public. He was a public official. an example that all of us as parents tory. All my best. People asked him to weigh in on polit- hope our children have for us. The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator ical matters all the time. I am proud to be in this Chamber and from Indiana. Once, in the middle of the First to have been sworn in to this Chamber Mr. DONNELLY. Mr. President, on World War, somebody asked Yeats to by you, Mr. Vice President. I hope our behalf of all the people in our great write a war poem. He wrote a war paths will continue to cross, as I know State—and our dear colleague Senator poem, and the poem was titled ‘‘On they will, with so many of us in this Bayh is here because of his love as Being Asked for a War Poem.’’ The Chamber and in this country. Thank well—we want to tell you how grateful poem says this: you for your service. we are for your services, for the ex- I [often] think it better that in times like I yield the floor. The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator traordinary job you have done as Vice these President for President Obama. A poet’s mouth be silent, for in truth . . . from Missouri. He has had enough of meddling who can Mrs. MCCASKILL. Mr. President, me Everybody is telling stories. As you please too. know, I had the privilege of having you A young girl in the indolence of her youth, The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator put your arm around me, and when ev- Or an old man upon a winter’s night. from Massachusetts. erybody said there was no chance I The meaning of the poem is this: I Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, in 1972 could ever win, you said: You and I are may be a public figure. I may have a I was a young man in my last year at a lot alike and you can do this and you public job to do. I may be asked to do Boston College Law School, and I de- can win. a public job and to claim upon matters cided to run for State representative. I I came back, and they said: What ad- of public importance. But sometimes had a cousin who worked at NASA, an vice did Vice President BIDEN give you? even more than the matter of public older cousin, the smart one, the physi- I said: He told me that I could win. importance is the ability to please a cist. He said: Well, there is a young They said: Well, he is right a lot; I young girl or an old man—or an ill man in Delaware who is running for don’t know about that one. young man casting a first vote, an im- the Senate. You turned out to be right. So what is his name? portant vote. Then we were blessed that your sons, The fact that you took your time on JOE BIDEN. From that moment on, I was fol- Hunter and Beau, often came to Indi- that day of importance to you to shed lowing the career of this Irishman, this ana during the summers. You would some light and offer some joy to some- latter-day descendent of Hubert Hum- then come out as well. I will never for- one who was struggling—that is the phrey, a happy warrior, the man who get going to the coffee shop one Sun- JOE BIDEN who has us here for 2 hours stands up for the common man and day morning. The lady at the coffee offering these tributes. shop said to me: This has been an unbe- I yield the floor. woman in our country. The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator In 1972 you had this great campaign lievable day because the Vice President from Connecticut. team led by John Marttila—the great came in with all his grandchildren; Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I John—who captured your spirit, your and, by the way, JOE, he bought ice never had the privilege of serving with soul, what you represented now in this cream for everybody in the store, and you in this Chamber, but, like many of half century of American politics. you have never done that. my colleagues, I have come to know In 1976, when I ran for Congress, just I said how sorry I was that I never you as a friend and public servant and 4 years later—the same as you, age 29— did that. a model and a mentor. I have barely saying ‘‘I think I can run,’’ I walked She also said: This is one of the enough time to say a few words of trib- into the office of this man, John greatest days of my life, to meet some- ute here, but I will add more to my re- Marttila, in Boston, and it looked like body who has always looked out for marks on the RECORD. a museum to JOE BIDEN with all the working families, who has always What I want to say very simply is JOE BIDEN literature and messages on looked out for us. that you have inspired so many of us, his wall. So from that moment on, That is how we see you back home. beyond this Chamber, beyond the peo- from John Marttila, through Larry You have always looked out for us. You ple whom you have known directly, Rasky, through Ron Klain—through all have always cared about us. As a sec- and beyond the people with whom you of these people who worked for me and ond-generation Irish immigrant, you have worked. Countless young people worked for you, I have been privileged have always been an example to all of are involved in this noble profession to be able to chronicle your journey of us that we can accomplish anything we because of your example. work and inspiration for our country. dream of. I think it is just perfect that you are At a time when public officials and God bless you and Jill and your politics are often held in little repute the commander in chief of this rocket ship to the Moon to find the cure for whole family. We are so lucky to have and often challenged in their integrity, been touched by you. you have given us a good name, you cancer because that is a mission that The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator have given politics a good name, and has the right man who is going to be from Minnesota. you have enabled so many of us to leading it. I think that each and every serve with pride in a profession that is one of us out here knows that one of Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Vice President so vital to the continuance of our de- the reasons this bill is receiving such BIDEN, earlier Hubert Humphrey’s mocracy. Beyond pieces of legislation, an overwhelming vote today is because name was mentioned. You know the whether it is the Violence Against of you, Mr. President. It is because of great love the people of Minnesota Women Act or the assault weapon ban the respect we have for you. It is the have for you. Vice President Humphrey or criminal justice—the list goes on—is knowledge that when you were negoti- was your mentor when you first got to that model of public service. ating this bill, at the end of the day, the Senate, where you didn’t even I want to close by saying that as long you were going to put the American know if you were going to last a few as I have known JOE BIDEN, I really people first, you were going to make months here, and he was there for you. came to know him through the eyes of sure that bill reflected the highest as- You have extended that kindness to so his son. I had the honor of working and piration of every American. many since then. serving with Beau Biden when he was So I want to speak briefly because Vice President Mondale, another attorney general of the State of Dela- there is a reception after this, and Minnesotan, has great affection and ware and I was attorney general of my many people are still waiting to say love for you, and I will report back to State of Connecticut. My ambition in hello to you. I think every Member him tonight that I was here with you life is to have my four children talk wanted to come out here, and you in- today. about me with the sense of admiration spired them to speak a lot longer than When I first got elected to the Senate and love and pride that Beau Biden they may have intended on speaking, and made one of my first speeches talked about his dad. but it is because of the incredible re- about police funding to a completely I am very proud and grateful that we spect and admiration they have for empty Chamber—and I thought even had the opportunity to vote today on a you. My best to you. My wife Susan’s my mom wasn’t watching on C–SPAN— law that bears his name. As proud as best to you. There has never been a I walked out of this place and I got a

VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:33 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00049 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G07DE6.076 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE S6814 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE December 7, 2016 phone call on my cell phone and it was valued education and made sure you In the case of Jill Biden, she helped JOE BIDEN, then a Senator, saying got a good one, along with his brother to mend one. As much as anybody, Val ‘‘that was a really great speech.’’ and sister. Val is up there somewhere. and your family are hugely supportive When you came to my State and one I want to say hi to Val. They valued and helped you get through a terribly of my best friends suddenly lost her education and people of faith. I am tough time, but I think Jill perhaps husband and you heard about it, you Protestant, and JOE and his family are made you whole. She got her did not know who she was, you just Catholic, but he doesn’t wear it on his undergrad, I believe, from the Univer- heard the story, and in 2 weeks, on her sleeve. I will tell you this, nobody be- sity of Delaware. She has two master’s first day back at work, she was driving lieves in the Golden Rule of treating degrees—a Ph.D. focused on how to in- home and she got a call from you. You other people the way you want to be crease retention in community colleges talked to her for 20 minutes. When you treated any more than JOE BIDEN. around the country. She got those ad- were done and had given her all this Nobody adheres to Matthew 25, the vanced degrees while working and rais- wonderful advice, you said: We are not ‘‘Least of These,’’ any more than JOE ing a family, three kids that any of us done; I want you to write down my BIDEN. Nobody does a better reading of would be proud to claim as our own. phone number. James 2: ‘‘Show me your faith by your Last week, I happened to be in a She said: I am driving, Mr. Vice words, and I will show you my faith by classroom in a school where the Vice President; I can’t do that. my deeds.’’ He doesn’t just talk a good President probably has been before, You said: Pull over. game. He doesn’t talk a whole lot Mount Pleasant Elementary School, She wrote your phone number on her about his faith, but he sure lives it. right down the road from the high hand. You did that for her, Mr. Vice From his family—from his mom and school. I was in a classroom of a President, and you have done that for dad—he learned the importance of fam- woman by the name of Wendy Turner, so many Americans. On behalf of our ily and the importance of loyalty to his who is the Delaware Teacher of the entire State of Minnesota that has family and, frankly, to his friends—his Year. I had a chance to be with her and loved you forever, thank you. multitude of friends. He learned there her grade school kids. We all gathered I yield the floor. is a difference between right and wrong The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator and figure out what it is and do right. around together, and I sat on a stool. from Delaware. Do it all the time. They gathered around me. There were Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, a few He learned a little bit about common about 20, 25 kids. I said: Why is she minutes ago, I sent up a note to you sense. My dad used to say to my sister such a great teacher? Talking about that I handwrote that said: ‘‘Flattery and me when we did some boneheaded Wendy Turner, Teacher of the Year. won’t hurt you if you don’t inhale, so stuff, just use some common sense. I They said: She loves kids. She loves don’t breathe too deeply up there.’’ think your dad said that to you once or us. They said: She knows her stuff. She I also recall walking into a hearing twice as well. One of the things your really knows what she is talking to us with EPA Administrator Gina McCar- mom used to say to you was, if you are about. She knows how to make clear thy not too long ago in the House of knocked down, get up—the idea you why it is important, like when we leave Representatives, a joint House-Senate just never give up. You know you are school, and why it is important we hearing. A lot of people had been there right, never give up. That is JOE BIDEN. learn these things. She believes every- asking questions, and she was in the People say to us in this Chamber I body can learn—everybody can learn. seat for 4 hours. It finally became my am sure every day that they wouldn’t I thought about her, and I think turn to ask a question, and I said to want our job. I wouldn’t want your job. about Jill Biden today. She is that her: Is there any question, Adminis- I know you heard that a lot of times. I kind of educator as well, continues to trator McCarthy, that you have not think we are fortunate to have these be that kind of educator as well. been asked today? She said: I wish jobs and responsibilities to serve. An A lot has been said today of the Can- somebody had asked me if I needed a even tougher job is to be married to cer Moonshot that JOE has been lead- bathroom break. one of us. Several people talked about ing with great skill and success here, There are 30 more Senators in the Jill and your bride—for how many especially today. Before there was Can- cloakroom who want to come out and years? Almost 40 years. Is that pos- cer Moonshot, there was JOE BIDEN’s speak. If you need one, let us know and sible? I first saw Jill Biden when I was breast health initiative, which helped one of the pages or somebody will take a graduate student when I was just out thousands of young women to learn your spot up there. of the Navy. I was a graduate student about the importance of early detec- It has been a joy to sit here and lis- at the University of Delaware. I hap- tion for breast cancer. ten to all these stories. JOHN CARNEY, pened to see her on campus. I thought Beau went into the military, Dela- our Congressman, Governor-elect, has then, and I would say now, one of the ware National Guard, deployed to Iraq. been here and come and gone. He has two loveliest people I think I have ever Some people would send cookies and gone back to the House to go into ses- seen. The other being Martha Carper. packages to their kids and maybe write sion. He used to work for you, and you Not only is she lovely—as JOE knows— emails or Skype with them. Jill de- are one of his great mentors. He wants on the outside, really lovely on the in- cided she was going to take that expe- you to know he was here, in case you side. She is a person with deep caring, rience and create something with Dela- didn’t. a person with incredible warmth and ware Boots on the Ground to look out I want to say to CHRIS COONS, who compassion. She is a terrific educator. for families. Later on, as Second Lady, put this all together, making possible a She taught in our State in public working with Michelle Obama, she cre- wonderful tribute, this is the Senate at schools. She taught in a hospital for ated something they called Joining its best. It is wonderful to see some of folks with special needs. She taught at Forces, which focuses on education for our still young colleagues who have Delaware Technical Community Col- military families—education, employ- come back to visit us and to be with us lege when it was selected as the best ment opportunities, access to wellness on this special, special day. technical community college in the services. Over the years, people have asked me Nation during the time that she was on She even managed to write a book. why I have had some success in my life, the faculty there. She wrote a book from a child’s point and I say that my sister and I picked She continued as Second Lady to of view of having a loved one in their the right parents. My sister and I continue to critique, but she started off family deployed overseas in the mili- picked the right parents. JOE BIDEN in a place called Willow Grove, PA. tary. As I said earlier, she helped raise and his brother and sister picked the There is a naval air station there three terrific kids. right parents. I have had the privilege where I used to fly P–3 aircraft—mis- Sometimes I like to quote Maya of knowing them both. When your dad sion commander—out of there. I retired Angelou, who sang at the second inau- was sick and in the hospital, I visited as a Navy captain in 1991. She was just guration of Barack Obama and JOE and spent time with him, just the two down the road, growing up with her BIDEN, and she passed away not long of us. four sisters, Jill Jacobs and the Jacobs ago. Maya Angelou said something JOE, I want to say for those who girls. I am sure they broke a lot of that I think is appropriate for all of us maybe didn’t know your parents, they hearts. today when she said: People may not

VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:33 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00050 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G07DE6.078 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE December 7, 2016 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6815 remember what you said, people may State of New Hampshire. KELLY’s de- signed because of our investigation. I not remember what you do, but they parture from the Senate is a great loss take no pride in anyone leaving the will remember how you made them for all of us. I remember the day KELLY Senate because of the actions of the feel. One of the threads through every- AYOTTE became a rising star, not only committee, but I take great pride in thing that has been said here today on the horizon of Republican politics the fact that no one in 9 years has really reminds me of what Maya but more importantly on the horizon of questioned the integrity of the Senate Angelou said because people may not the Senate. Ethics Committee, the job it has done, remember what we said. They may not During her campaign 6 years ago, we or the final decision it has made, and I remember what we do, but there are would get phone calls asking: Have you give most of the credit for that to BAR- not just thousands, not just tens of heard about KELLY? Everybody knew BARA BOXER. She is a liberal Democrat, thousands, not just hundreds of thou- who KELLY was. She was the attorney and I am a conservative Republican, sands, but there are millions of people general of the State of New Hampshire, but when it comes to calling balls and in this country who will remember how running for the U.S. Senate, and she strikes in terms of ethics, we call them you and Jill made them feel—cared for, was catching fire. She did catch fire down the middle. That is a credit to important, loved. and won in convincing fashion. She is a the institution, a credit to her, and a I know our Vice President likes great lady with a great family and has credit to the Ethics Committee. music, and as a Boomer he later on done a phenomenal job. At this moment, I want to pause and liked a British group. I forget what Our U.S. Armed Forces are better say to my retiring friend BARBARA their Fab Four was called. I think it today because of her efforts and hard BOXER: Thank you for your service to might have been the Beatles, and work. We passed the agreement to go the country, thank you for what you maybe the best rock ’n’ roll album to the final passage on the authoriza- have meant to the State of California, ever, ‘‘Abbey Road,’’ ends with these tion of the military appropriations and thank you for what you have lyrics—the last part of Abbey Road, today, and in large measure, KELLY meant to the institution of the Senate and the commitment to ethical behav- side two, was largely written by Paul AYOTTE was behind that. When we were McCartney. The last words on ‘‘Abbey debating our policy on interrogation ior by our Members. Thank you for making it a standard that you and I Road’’ were these words: ‘‘The love you and torture, KELLY AYOTTE was on top take is equal to the love you make.’’ of that. Every significant decision we stood for. It was a pleasure for me to You are going to take a lot of love have made in the last 6 months, wheth- serve with you and be called one of the with you, and Jill as well, far from er it was our military, policies, or proc- members of the odd couple. ISAKSON and BOXER, the two Senate chairs that here and for the rest of your lives. God ess, she has been at the forefront of love our country, are committed to bless you. those decisions and has done a phe- ethics and will always try to do what is Mr. President—I have always wanted nomenal job. to call you Mr. President. With that, I wish her the very best in her career exactly right. God bless you, BARBARA. Best of luck Mr. President, I suggest the absence of and future, and I thank her for the a quorum. to you. service she has given to our country. I yield the floor. The VICE PRESIDENT. The clerk As a son of the South, in Georgia we HURRICANE MATTHEW RECOVERY will call the roll. love New Hampshirites anytime we can The legislative clerk proceeded to Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, about a get one, and KELLY is the best. They call the roll. month and a half ago, I came into this have the best lobsters, the best clams, Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I ask Chamber to talk about the damage and the best attorney general and Sen- unanimous consent that the order for that occurred in the aftermath of Hur- ator in KELLY AYOTTE. the quorum call be rescinded. ricane Matthew. It was actually 2 God bless you, KELLY, and best of The VICE PRESIDENT. Without ob- months ago to the day that Hurricane luck to you. jection, it is so ordered. Matthew hit eastern North Carolina, Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I would BARBARA BOXER and I don’t think that many people, like to invite all of my colleagues to At this point, I wish to pause and pay unless you have been down there—even join us in a reception in honor of the attention to BARBARA BOXER from Cali- in the State, it is hard to really con- Vice President. I remind any col- fornia. A lot of my colleagues will say: ceive of the extent of damage that Mat- leagues who wish to speak who did not Wait a minute. Why are you talking thew caused, even for people in my part have the opportunity to submit their about BARBARA BOXER? You are a Re- of the State, the middle part of the comments for the RECORD, and I very publican. She is an icon in the Demo- State, Charlotte, so I know it is dif- much look forward to our jointly pre- cratic Party. She is a liberal, and you ficult for those who may be in other senting a bound copy to the Vice Presi- are a conservative. States and did not see the local news dent. She is a great Senator, and I will tell coverage. Matthew took 28 lives. It dis- Thank you for your service, and we you why. BARBARA and I served on the placed tens of thousands of people in look forward to hearing from you at Ethics Committee for the last 9 years. the near term, and now thousands of the reception. When I was asked to go on the com- people are still without homes. It dam- With that, I suggest the absence of a mittee, she was the chairman. Later aged businesses and infrastructure. quorum. on, I succeeded her as the chairman. I Miles of Interstate 95 were underwater. The VICE PRESIDENT. The clerk am the chairman today, and she is still Bridges have been washed out. We have will call the roll. a member until she retires. a lot of damage we have to recover The legislative clerk proceeded to The Ethics Committee is the one as- from. call the roll. signment nobody wants to get. But We have one community that was Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I ask when you get it, you want to have washed away by Hurricane Floyd and unanimous consent that the order for somebody who will do what is right. was washed away again just about 17 the quorum call be rescinded. Regardless of their party, you need years later with Hurricane Matthew, The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. LEE). somebody who will do what is right for neighborhoods completely underwater. Without objection, it is so ordered. the Member, the institution, and will I was in Fayetteville. There was a TRIBUTE TO DEPARTING SENATORS carry out their responsibilities under Habitat for Humanity neighborhood Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, this is the Constitution, which all of us are that had 90 homes. Six of the houses one of those weeks where, every 6 years obligated to do in the Senate. are uninhabitable now. They were in or 4 years or 2 years, we pause and pay In the last 9 years, I worked with areas that were not flood plains. tribute to those who have been elected BARBARA BOXER on any number of com- This was a 1,000-year rain event, a to the Senate and have served with us plaints, allegations, and cases against 500-year flood event. In other words, and will be retiring or were possibly de- Members of the Senate for unethical this is not likely to happen again in feated in the last election. conduct or conduct unbecoming of a our lifetime, maybe not even in the KELLY AYOTTE Senator. We have admonished some, pages’ lifetimes. The first Senator I wish to talk cleared some, and recommended the ex- It was an incredible event that is about is KELLY AYOTTE, from the great pulsion of some, and some have re- going to take a lot of time and effort to

VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:33 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00051 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G07DE6.080 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE S6816 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE December 7, 2016 recover from and a lot of resources to cleared out so that we can get the students in his high school, in his col- rebuild. We are still trying to tally the ninth largest agriculture State in the lege, and now in his graduate program. human and economic toll. It is going to Nation ready to produce crops next When I met him last Friday—he is a take probably decades to fully recover year. very quiet fellow—I said: What do you from this disaster, as we are seeing I know we will do it. I know we will want to do, Luke? with Floyd, but we will recover because do it because we have the support of He said: I want to teach. That is what that is what North Carolinians do. this body, and we are going to be able I would like to do, research and teach- That is what Americans do. to start sending that money and that ing. To begin the long rebuilding process, desperately needed support to North Well, here is the problem: He is un- though, we need Federal assistance. Carolina. But in the coming weeks and documented. He is not legally in the That is why Gov. Pat McCrory for- months, we will also spend time fig- United States of America. His family mally requested a disaster assistance uring out what more we can do. In the brought him here. They did not file the package and why we very quickly got a meantime, I want to let everybody in papers, or if they could have, they did team together—my staff, who led the North Carolina know that if they need not file the papers. Whatever the case, effort, working with Congressman help, they should contact my office. this young man grew up here in the PRICE, members of the delegation, Sen- They can reach me online at United States, took advantage of the ator BURR—to try to figure out what tillis.senate.gov. We will do everything best schools in New Jersey, and now is we need to do to provide assistance to we can to help them recover and to get going to one of the best universities in North Carolina so that they can begin back to their daily lives. the United States and is destined to do their recovery. Over the past weeks, we Again, I thank the Members of this great things in his life. Maybe he will have worked very closely with the Ap- body who have supported our efforts to teach. Maybe he will start a company. propriations Committee. provide this much-needed aid. Maybe he will just come up with some I want to particularly thank the I yield the floor. breakthrough achievement in chem- leadership of the Appropriations Com- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- istry that will change the lives of mittee. They have done an extraor- ator from Illinois. many people. dinary job of working with us, advising DACA What are we going to do with Luke us on what we need to do to make our Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I want Hwang? Well, there are 744,000 people requests clear, to make it more likely to introduce the Senate to a young just like him. These are young people that we would be able to get some re- man I met last Friday. His name is who are undocumented, whom Presi- sources for North Carolina. Luke Hwang. Luke was born in Korea. dent Obama gave a chance to stay here I specifically want to thank two of His parents brought him to the United in the United States after they went my staff who have worked very hard. States when he was in the fifth grade. through a criminal background check, They were literally working on the dis- They took him to New Jersey. Luckily after they paid their filing fee. aster plan after the rains fell and be- he had taken some classes in Korea and He said: You can stay and study in fore the rivers started cresting. I want was able to speak English. He grew up the United States of America. We to thank Towers Mingledorff and Kayla in Palisades Park. won’t deport you. You can travel to an- Dolan from my office. They did ex- He said: other country and come back without traordinary work. I am proud of the It didn’t take me long to adjust and as- being arrested. You can work in this work they have done on our behalf and similate because my elementary school of- country if you wish. You have a work on behalf of North Carolinians. At the fered bilingual classes. . . . This is the kind permit. end of the day, we now have a con- of America I have known and experienced— There are 744,000 of them under what tinuing resolution as a result of their not just mundanely accepting diversity but is called the DACA Program. Well, the hard work and cooperation with the going above and beyond to serve the unique new President says he is going to needs of a diverse community. Appropriations Committee. We have a eliminate that program and eliminate provision in the continuing resolution This is an amazing young man. He the only thing that is keeping Luke to allocate some $300 million to North started off with a passion for science. Hwang in the United States; that is, Carolina for immediate needs to assist He was accepted into the math and the DACA Program protection against in recovery efforts. This is a beginning. science magnet school called Bergen deportation. We can’t let that happen. We will continue to work with the Fed- County Academies, ranked by News- Why would we do that to this young eral agencies which that money will be week as one of the top five public high man who was brought here as a fifth directed to and then ultimately down schools in the United States. At Bergen grader? Why would we walk away from to the State so that we can find out County Academies, Luke won several his talents? Why would we say: Despite what additional needs are there. awards at regional science fairs. He all that you have achieved with the I think it is extraordinary that 8 volunteered as an emergency medical highest grade point average in chem- weeks to the day, we were able to work technician in the local ambulance istry, America does not need you, together, get the support of the Mem- corps as a high school kid. Luke. Of course we need him and many bers of this body, and get the support Because of his academic achieve- more just like him. of the Appropriations Committee to at ments, Luke was accepted as a univer- I am trying to find a way to give peo- least begin the process. We have to sity scholar in the Macaulay Honors ple like him a chance to stay in the help these North Carolinians get back College at the City College of New United States without being deported, to their normal lives. We have to put York. In 2013 Luke graduated summa to continue their education in medical people back in their homes. We have to cum laude with a bachelor’s of science school, in law school, in graduate pro- allow businesses to recover and bring in chemistry. He received an award for grams, and in so many other different people back in and let them go back to the highest grade point average of any fields. Well, there was a breath of hope their daily lives and working. We are chemistry major in the school. today. The President-elect was inter- going to do it. This brilliant young man is currently viewed for Time magazine. Here is We also need to help the farmers. a Ph.D. candidate in chemistry at the what he said about DREAMers and peo- There are thousands of acres of land University of Chicago. He works as a ple like Luke: that were affected by the floods. In researcher at the university. In his spare time, he volunteers for the Chi- We’re going to work something out that’s some cases, the flooding was so exten- going to make people happy and proud. They sive that these farms—many of them cago Korean American Resource and got brought here at a very young age, were already ready for next year’s Cultural Center, an organization that they’ve worked here, they’ve gone to school crops. Some of them still have crops in tries to help poor people in that com- here. Some were good students. Some have the field, covered by sand and sedi- munity. wonderful jobs. And they’re in never-never ment. They will need to be cleared. Here is the kicker: Luke is undocu- land because they don’t know what’s going In other cases, there are washed-out mented. He was brought to the United to happen. bridges, and there are ditches and States in the fifth grade and turned out That statement by the President- drainage areas that will all have to be to be one of the smartest chemistry elect gives me some hope that I can

VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00052 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G07DE6.082 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE December 7, 2016 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6817 give Luke some hope and others just Federal regulations imposed by Wash- A 2014 report from the Government like him. ington bureaucrats who think they Accountability Office found that on We can straighten out this immigra- know what is best for American fami- multiple occasions and with major tion system in this country, but let’s lies, States, local governments, and costly regulations, the EPA did not not do it at the expense of these young businesses. provide the public with an explanation people. Let’s do our job, but in the According to the American Action of the economic information behind its meantime, let’s us protect them. Let’s Forum, since 2009 this administration decisionmaking, despite its obligations let them continue their education. has finalized 2,973 regulations at a cost to do so. Let’s let them achieve what they want of $862.7 billion dollars as of today, De- The U.S. Supreme Court recently to achieve for themselves and for cember 7. issued the Michigan v. EPA decision, America. We will be a better nation for Of these, 179 regulations have come finding that the EPA unreasonably it. from the Environmental Protection failed to consider costs when deciding Senator LINDSEY GRAHAM and I are Agency, costing American taxpayers to regulate mercury emissions from working on a bill. Whether you are for $342.5 billion. powerplants. This impacts the ability immigration reform or against immi- Since writing this speech—or begin- of our businesses to conduct business gration reform, join us in the basic ning to write it, about 1 week ago—10 on a daily basis, to compete in a com- proposition that we need to protect more regulations have been finalized, petitive global marketplace, and to young people like this while we debate with 5 of those coming from the EPA. employ Americans in steady, well-pay- this important issue. I think that is EPA regulations alone make up nearly ing jobs. Notably, small businesses the right to do. It is certainly the right half of the cost of all the regulations fi- make up 99.7 percent of U.S. employer thing to do for this young man. Some nalized in the last 7 years. firms. day, he is going to do something very As chairman of the EPW Sub- Federal agencies are required by law committee on Superfund, Waste Man- important in this world. I would like to to examine the impact of their regula- agement, and Regulatory Oversight, it have it happen in the United States. tions and what it will have on small has become clear to me that EPA is I yield the floor. businesses. Throughout our oversight one of the most egregious government I suggest the absence of a quorum. process, we found that the U.S. Small agencies in imposing burdensome Fed- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Business Administration Office of Ad- eral regulations on citizens, States, clerk will call the roll. vocacy submitted comments to the and businesses. We have found a failure The legislative clerk proceeded to EPA expressing concerns over a num- to review the most current and impor- call the roll. ber of recent rulemakings, such as the tant science the Agency supposedly Mr. ROUNDS. Mr. President, I ask waters of the United States rule and unanimous consent that the order for bases its regulations on. We have found that the sue-and-set- the EPA’s greenhouse gas regulations. the quorum call be rescinded. However, the EPA moved forward The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. tle process utilized by special interest groups leads to a rushed and reckless with these regulations with little to no TILLIS). Without objection, it is so or- regard for their impact on U.S. small dered. rulemaking process that does not fol- low the proper regulatory process or businesses. They are the backbone of REGULATORY REFORM allow for adequate public participation the U.S. economy. Mr. ROUNDS. Mr. President, I rise from those these rules will impact the As a result, rather than creating jobs today to speak on the need for regu- most. and focusing on growing their business, latory reform and also on the work Further, the EPA regularly fails to U.S. small businesses are forced to use that we have been doing and are doing take into account how their regula- limited resources to comply with a in the Environment and Public Works tions will impact States and shows lit- myriad of costly and burdensome regu- Subcommittee on Superfund, Waste tle regard for how the States will use lations. Management, and Regulatory Over- their limited resources to comply with This year alone, the Sixth Circuit sight, of which I have had the great these regulations, thereby issuing rules Court of Appeals imposed a nationwide privilege to chair in the 114th Congress. that impose Federal unfunded man- injunction on the waters of the United I would be remiss if I did not also rec- dates on States and local and tribal States rule, and the Supreme Court im- ognize our ranking member from Mas- governments. posed a nationwide stay on the Clean sachusetts, Senator MARKEY, for his From 2009 to 2015, the EPA issued a Power Plan. While I applaud these deci- contributions to our oversight efforts. total of 19 rules that contained costly, sions, we should not be forced to rely As chairman, one of our main goals unfunded mandates on State govern- on the courts to prevent such regula- has been to conduct a thorough and ments. tions from taking effect. systemic review of the regulatory proc- The Office of Management and Budg- I am also deeply troubled by the re- ess, focusing on the impacts of these et’s 2015 report to Congress estimated ports that the EPA and the Army regulations on citizens, businesses, that Federal regulations and unfunded Corps are illegally continuing to imple- and—most importantly—solutions to mandates cost States, cities, and the ment the Waters of the United States these problems. We have sought to general public between $57 billion and rule despite the court’s nationwide make certain that Federal regulations $85 billion every single year. State and stay. are promulgated in a transparent, open local governments are then required to During our subcommittee field hear- process with adequate public participa- enforce these misguided regulations ings in Rapid City, SD, earlier this tion. Our subcommittee has held hear- that have been promulgated by Wash- year, we heard from several witnesses ings conducting oversight on various ington bureaucrats who lack any un- about the difficulty and confusion aspects of the rulemaking process. This derstanding of the real-world con- landowners are facing with regard to includes the adequacy of the science sequences of their regulations or the the waters of the United States. I am the agencies rely on when promul- unique characteristics of the various concerned that, if this continues, it gating regulations, the increasing States. may get to the point where the prop- number of unfunded mandates agencies Alarmingly, we have also found that erty that is the subject of these bur- impose on State and local govern- the EPA regularly fails to conduct a densome regulations loses its value. ments, the impact of lawsuits on the thorough and accurate economic anal- Make no mistake. I understand that rulemaking process, and the impact ysis, which should provide an accurate rules and regulations have a place in these regulations have on small busi- representation of the cost their regula- society. We all want clean air, clean nesses, State and local governments, tions will impose on taxpayers and water, and safe chemicals, but there is and landowners. businesses. a better way to achieve this without Since I began working in the Senate This leads to grossly inaccurate eco- imposing burdensome regulations. nearly 2 years ago, it has become in- nomic analysis of regulations that af- These flaws in the EPA’s rulemaking creasingly clear that economic growth, fect huge swathes of the U.S. economy process have prevented agencies from American innovation, and job creation and thousands of U.S. businesses and making well-informed decisions. Even are being smothered by heavy-handed American jobs. more troubling, the public, State and

VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:33 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00053 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G07DE6.083 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE S6818 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE December 7, 2016 local governments, and American busi- get home and they get complaints we all want to make sure we have a nesses are prevented from under- about overregulation, what this is cost- clean America but also an America standing the need, basis for, and the ing them, they then say: Well, that is that can get back to business again real impact of regulations. not the case now because I had nothing employing people, putting them back This regulatory quagmire did not to do with it. That was the regulation. to work. Then we can begin building happen overnight. It comes from dec- That is what we are in the midst of the economy so we can afford to actu- ades of increased Federal bureaucracy, right now. ally provide for the next generation so out-of-control spending, and Federal I have a friend who is the head of the they don’t have the problems we see agencies not being held accountable for Oklahoma Farm Bureau who came to right now with family income down their actions. Similarly, we will not me and he said: Have you seen this doc- over 6 percent in just the last 9 years. come to a solution overnight. It will ument that we have? This is true in So this is a part of it. It is a signifi- take a serious bipartisan effort to South Dakota as well as Oklahoma, cant part not just in the cost but in the move the ball forward to address this that the major problem with the farm- impact on our economy as well. problem. Throughout this Congress, ers in America today is not anything I thank the Chair, and I yield the the goal of our subcommittee has been that is found in the agriculture bill, it floor. to unify and lead an effort to advance is overregulation, primarily by the The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- meaningful regulatory reform in Con- EPA. The Senator from South Dakota ator from Oregon. gress. struck a nerve when he spoke about Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask We must make certain the regulatory the waters bill, the Waters of the unanimous consent to speak as in process reflects transparency and United States. My State is an arid morning business, and I ask unanimous sound science and is based on a real- State, but they know full well if the consent that our distinguished col- istic economic foundation and mean- Federal Government can take away league from Colorado, Senator BENNET, ingful public participation that con- from States that jurisdiction of regu- follow my remarks. siders the multitude of facets of the lating water, what will happen in my The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there U.S. economy. State of Oklahoma? objection? With an ally in the White House next So I would ask my friend—I think a Without objection, it is so ordered. year who has committed to reducing lot of what happened on November 8 FAMILY FIRST LEGISLATION burdensome regulations, I plan to con- has to do with overregulation, and I Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, right tinue this effort throughout the next think we have devoted a lot of time to now, this evening, hundreds of thou- Congress and beyond. The success of that. I would suspect the same thing is sands of vulnerable youngsters across the U.S. economy and the creation of true in South Dakota. America are living in foster care, sepa- American jobs depends on Congress Mr. ROUNDS. I thank the Senator rated from family and growing up in a making a concerted effort to take back for the question. The answer is, yes, we constant struggle instead of in a loving their authority and rein in the rule- have spent a lot of time not only be- home. For years, this body has worked making process. cause it is critically a very important on a bipartisan basis to come up with I thank you, and I yield the floor. item to address—because in the United an alternative—we call it the Family Mr. INHOFE. Will the Senator yield? States today we spend over $1.9 trillion First legislation—in order to give new The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- a year responding to the Federal regu- hope to our youngsters. ator from Oklahoma. latory morass that we have. That is I am particularly grateful to Senator Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, if the one-half of a trillion dollars more than BENNET because he and I have teamed Senator from South Dakota would re- what we pay in personal income taxes up on this with our colleagues on the scind his request to yield the floor, I on April 15. other side of the aisle, including Chair- would like to share one thought. For people who are producers and man HATCH, KEVIN BRADY—the chair- First of all, I am honored to chair the have to respond not only in terms of man of the Ways and Means Com- committee of which you are a sub- the cost of the regulations but in terms mittee—and Congressman BUCHANAN. committee chairman, and what a God- of requesting from a Federal agency We have had a bipartisan team working send the Senator from South Dakota the ability simply to mow the ditches, for this. Now, in the waning moments has been, I have to say to my friend. I seems to me to be overreach that most of this Congress, after the legislation was concerned, with this last election people with common sense and the rest passed the House unanimously, after coming along, with what might be hap- of America simply don’t think is nec- there were a number of hearings in the pening. I think people are aware of essary. Finance Committee, and after objec- what has happened to our military. Mr. INHOFE. And, too, I would say tions were raised when we used the They are aware of what is happening the wisdom of the statements brought process in the Senate called the hotline with the debt going all the way up out that if we stop and think about it, to see if Senators had problems with from $10.6 trillion to $20 trillion, the over half of the States had a lawsuit this legislation and three indicated largest increase of all the Presidents, against the Clean Power Plan. That is they had concerns, and we resolved all from George Washington, Bush 1, and 29 States. Of course, I am sure that had of them—yet it looks like this Senate Bush 2. a lot to do with the U.S. Supreme is going to go home and end up con- My concern was that people wouldn’t Court putting a stay on this, and now tinuing a policy that causes so much realize what an impairment the over- of course we will have a different ad- pain to vulnerable children and their regulation has been to our businesses ministration, but I guess maybe we families. in how we are no longer competitive. I missed the boat on that one. What our bipartisan bill would do is think the Senator really struck the Overregulation has been the problem. to say that for the first time, foster note here that it had a lot to do with People have not been as aware of that care dollars could be used to keep fami- the awareness of the public. as they are of other problems. I think lies together instead of ripping them The Senator knows how many hear- that had a lot to do with what hap- apart. For example, if in a family a ings we had on the Clean Power Plan in pened on November 8 and what is going parent has bumped up against sub- our committee, and the Senator’s sub- to happen in the future, particularly in stance abuse challenges or mental committee. We actually had 10 hear- your subcommittee and my committee. health services and a grandparent or an ings and we had three oversight re- Mr. ROUNDS. Mr. President, I appre- uncle would like to help out, that is ex- ports. ciate those comments, and I appreciate actly what could be done under our I have to say the liberals really like the facts that the Senator is bringing proposal. overregulation. Does the Senator know out here. This is something that can- Now, over Thanksgiving—and I trun- why? This is the question I want to ask not be done overnight; it has to be done cated the description of what happened the Senator because, generally, if you in a businesslike manner. into just a couple of sentences—over are of a liberal philosophy, you want to The real challenge is to listen to the Thanksgiving, the Family First Act have as much control centered here in individuals who are impacted and to was included in the 21st Century Cures Washington, DC. However, when you make reasonable regulations because package. The legislation passed earlier

VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00054 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G07DE6.084 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE December 7, 2016 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6819 today. And all of us—Senator BENNET, face the prospect of growing up in the weighed in on this and said we should Chairman BRADY—all of us said to- kinds of struggling circumstances I have this legislation passed. We have gether that it sure looks like we are on have described. There would be stand- had testimony in the Finance Com- our way. ards guided by the States and laid out mittee from people who were foster After having months to come forward to protect the kids. They would raise children who came to the Congress to to work out concerns—and I will say to the bar for group homes and make sure testify about what had gone wrong in the distinguished Presiding Officer who the kids aren’t sent away and forgot- their lives as a result of the system we has been kind enough to talk to me ten. In effect, the bill turns the system have in place today, who still made the about this, we basically said that if a on its head. I think I shared that time to come here to advocate on be- State is having problems meeting these thought with the distinguished Pre- half of children all over the country kinds of opportunities—perhaps there siding Officer. Instead of paying a dol- who are situated in the same way they aren’t enough families—well, we just lar for families to be split up, the bill once were. give them more time. In effect, we says let’s find a way to use that dollar Now, because of a disagreement in would say: OK. You have made a good- to help the families stay together. the Senate, this bipartisan bill that faith effort, we will give you a bit more Let’s see if the dollar can keep a passed the House unanimously, that time. But still, at the last moment, youngster safe at home or with kin, has almost 30 cosponsors in the U.S. there was opposition that swooped in— where he or she is most likely to be Senate, a bill that was supported uni- opposition that really hadn’t registered healthy and happy and succeed in versally by the testimony we had in any specific concerns during those school. the Finance Committee, somehow can’t years and months in which we worked The bill has 28 bipartisan cosponsors get done before we leave for the holi- on this legislation. At the eleventh in the Senate. days. That would be a terrible shame, a hour, the Family First Act was I also want to thank Chairman terrible stain on this Senate. stripped out of the Cures package. That GRASSLEY because he has been in our Tonight there are 50,000 children in is why I voted no. corner, along with Senator BENNET and Colorado who are in foster care. There By dropping Families First, the Sen- Chairman HATCH, month after month are over 650,000 children in the United ate basically is sending a message after month. I hope we can work this States of America. What we have heard today to the most vulnerable, ne- out overnight so Families First can from them, what we have heard from glected children in America that it is pass; if not tonight, in the morning. It their advocates, what we have heard just fine with us if they just wait a lit- is the right policy for vulnerable kids. from people who serve them—Repub- tle bit longer. They probably are say- It is the right policy for families, the licans and Democrats alike—is that the ing: Well, where else do we look for right policy for taxpayers. What we are institutional settings that too many of help? By the way, there aren’t a lot of doing today isn’t helping vulnerable them are consigned to because of the places because Chairman BRADY, Chair- kids and families the way it ought to. way the law is written today is not the man BUCHANAN, Congressman LEVIN, Five hundred organizations, led by best thing for foster children; that fam- the other part of the Capitol, did a ter- the pediatricians, nurse practitioners, ilies who can support them and who rific job coming together. So when the Catholic bishops, and the Chil- can nurture them, when they get the those families who have been neglected dren’s Defense Fund, all agree with our benefit of some help, are a far better go looking for somebody else to help, basic premise: try to find ways to keep place for foster children to be than when the House has done its job and families together and only look for these institutions. When it comes to the administration is with you, there is something else where you have those drug addiction, when it comes to grad- only the U.S. Senate. I am curious extraordinary circumstances where uation rates from high school, when it whether anybody is going to come here you need another kind of care. The sta- comes to attending college—all of tonight and say they are not on the tus quo is not working, and it seems to these things are affected by the way side of the neglected youngsters and me we have a choice. We have a choice the current law exists. families whom Senator BENNET and I tonight and in the morning, with the The Presiding Officer may know that want to stand up for. 114th Congress wrapping up, closing the half of the cases of foster children in So I am going to just make a couple books, packing up, heading home for the United States are related, one way of additional comments and then turn the holiday season—let’s make sure be- or another, to the scourge of opium ad- this over to Senator BENNET. fore that wrap-up is finished that we diction that is happening in the United The Family First Act reaches out to haven’t forgotten vulnerable children States. This bill allows us to recognize the families who are struggling with and families. that. It allows the people who serve the addiction to opioids or other sub- With that, I yield the floor. children and the families best to be stances, it helps with programs that I note by virtue of unanimous con- able to intervene in a way that can fight child abuse and neglect, and it sent that Senator BENNET has recogni- keep the families together longer. also makes it a special priority to set tion. He has been an invaluable col- What we know from the testimony in basic standards for foster care facili- league, a terrific member of the Fi- the hearings is that is the best thing ties and group homes. I want to empha- nance Committee, and I appreciate his for foster kids, it is the best thing for size that point just for a moment. leadership. our States, and it is the best thing for Some troubled or abused youngsters The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- the country. have been through such severe trauma ator from Colorado. So I join my colleague from Oregon that they need the kind of help you can Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I will be in saying we should not go home with only get in a temporary, high-quality brief. this unresolved. We should not go treatment facility. They are kids who I want to thank Mr. WYDEN, the Sen- home, with the kind of momentum are struggling with mental illnesses ator from Oregon and the ranking that exists for this bill inside the Con- and behavioral problems, young people member of the Finance Committee, for gress and, much more important than suffering from addiction, victims of sex his leadership on this bill. I thank, as that, outside the Congress, without trafficking. The support they need is he did, Senator HATCH for his leader- having addressed this vulnerable popu- unique and they need access to reliable ship on this bill and Senator GRASSLEY lation of people who live in the United care in a safe place. for his leadership on this bill. States. But these kinds of placements As the Senator from Oregon indi- It is my fervent hope that we in the shouldn’t be a destination; they should cated, this bill passed unanimously in Senate will find a way to come to our really be an intervention. And when- the House of Representatives. This bill senses and do our job, just as the peo- ever we can, we need to make it pos- passed with 500 groups supporting the ple who came here to testify did their sible for the kids to have the oppor- bill from every geographic area in the job, expecting that the U.S. Congress tunity to reunite with kin or join a fos- United States. There are groups from would respond to their description of ter or adoptive family. Oregon. There are groups from Colo- their life experience, and what went For the first time, our bill laid down rado. There are groups from the Pre- wrong in a foster care setting has been a roadmap so youngsters don’t have to siding Officer’s State that have established by the U.S. Congress. It is

VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00055 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G07DE6.086 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE S6820 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE December 7, 2016 up to us to fix it, and that is what we North American headquarters in Plano reate, Liu Xiaobo, into prison, con- can do tonight or tomorrow morning, I this year and creating some 4,000 new structed 3,000 acres of weaponized arti- hope, at the very latest. jobs, all in Texas. Also this year, the ficial islands in the middle of one of With that, Mr. President, I thank my Lockheed Martin plant in Fort Worth the world’s busiest shipping lanes, and colleague from Oregon for his leader- has started to produce the F–35s that utterly failed to contain North Korea, ship on this bill. I thank, once again, Japan is purchasing to bolster its de- while dismantling the last vestiges of the thoughtful chairman of the Fi- fenses against increasing regional ag- freedom in Hong Kong. Even so, I don’t nance Committee, ORRIN HATCH from gression from China and North Korea. think our President-elect needs to Utah, for his leadership on this bill, So against all odds, the attack on clear his phone calls with Beijing. The and I hope over the next 12 or 24 hours Pearl Harbor has been transformed, phone call between President Tsai and we find a way to get this through the and as we face great challenges around the new American President was, in Senate. the world, and particularly in Asia, we fact, an acknowledgement of a simple Mr. President, I yield the floor. can be grateful today to have our Japa- truth: that Taiwan has become an im- I suggest the absence of a quorum. nese friends standing by our side, portant friend to the United States, The PRESIDING OFFICER. The which is yet another lesson from the even after Jimmy Carter downgraded clerk will call the roll. post-World War II era to be on the them in 1979 in acknowledgement of The senior assistant legislative clerk lookout not just for challenges and the ‘‘One China’’ policy the elites are proceeded to call the roll. dangers but for unexpected opportuni- so eager to perpetuate. Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, I ask unan- ties. We might be forgiven as we con- That is another thing. Just because a imous consent that the order for the tend with hostile nations with nuclear policy is old doesn’t make it sac- quorum call be rescinded. capability or intent—nations such as rosanct. I don’t think anyone here can The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without North Korea or Iran—to see a glass half honestly say our relations with the objection, it is so ordered. empty and become consumed with fears PRC is so fantastic that we shouldn’t PEARL HARBOR DAY AND FOREIGN POLICY of another Pearl Harbor-like attack po- do anything to rock the boat. I don’t Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, on this tentially so much more catastrophic think the Carter-era foreign policy was Pearl Harbor Day, we should learn the and deadly than the one in 1941. such a success that we should unques- lessons of the past and seize new oppor- That would be a mistake. As with tionably continue it. tunities for America and Asia and be- some of the fortitude our parents and I hope the President-elect continues yond. The great lesson of Pearl Har- grandparents showed, we can now to make clear that while he under- bor—and more broadly World War II— count new allies as our partners, not stands the importance of China and was America’s commitment to utterly just Japan but also—and equally stun- looks forward to a positive relationship defeat our enemies by whatever means ningly—Germany. The list does not end with Beijing, he is not going to ignore necessary and then, when victory was there. We have Israel, which had yet to our friends in the region. secure, to bring them back into the be born in 1941, not to mention the The call between President Tsai and community of civilized nations. eastern and central European countries the President-elect reminded me of an- It was an extraordinary achievement. that languished so long under Soviet other phone call which took place in To think that if, on December 7, 1941, I domination but now are helping build September of 2013. At the end of that were to tell you that Japan would be, enduring democracies, many of which year’s United Nations General Assem- on December 7, 2016, a staunchly demo- have joined NATO. bly in New York, while driving to the cratic ally, a vital security and eco- That is simply amazing. If I had told airport, the new President of the Is- nomic partner to the United States, you even 30 years ago that there would lamic Republic of Iran, Hasan Ruhani, you would have said that I was barking be a Czech Republic or a Republic of took out his cell phone and called mad. Poland that would be key NATO allies, President Obama. The Obama adminis- Here we are, three-quarters of a cen- I would have again been met with well- tration was in a tizzy of excitement tury later, and the day of infamy has founded skepticism. But they are, and over Mr. Ruhani’s election, as they be- become a day of remembrance, reflec- as we look forward to a new American lieved him to be a ‘‘moderate’’ who tion, and above all gratitude—grati- administration, it is my hope that we would be a good-faith partner in their tude for that greatest of generations can get off on a much better foot than planned and hoped-for negotiations who answered the call to service after the last one did in the region when over Iran’s nuclear program. Even at Pearl Harbor, who stood staunchly they canceled the missile defense in- this early day, the signs were not with our allies, looked the evil of the stallations intended for those coun- promising. Despite Mr. Obama’s offers, axis squarely in the eyes, and saved the tries, squandering an opportunity to President Ruhani had refused to have a free world. They are leaving us now, link them more closely to us. face-to-face meeting at the United Na- making it all the more important that I have to say I am encouraged in this tions, opting for a call instead. There we assure each and every one of them department by the activities of the were no preconditions placed on this of our boundless thanks while we still President-elect, particularly in terms first direct exchange between an Ira- can. Indeed, I would encourage each of the congratulatory phone call he re- nian and American leader since 1979, and every one of us to thank every vet- ceived last week from the President of such as, say, demanding that the Ira- eran we know, every veteran we en- the Republic of China, Tsai Ing-wen. nians release their American hostages counter, every man and woman serving The liberal foreign policy elites were, and acknowledging Israel’s right to this country who risks their lives to of course, shocked and appalled. How, exist—steps that would have indicated keep us safe. they wonder, could the President-elect a fundamental shift in Iran’s virulent We can also find much to be thankful have committed such an appalling hostility to the United States and our for today as what had seemed unthink- gaff? Wasn’t he aware we had degraded allies and suggested we were truly on a able has come to pass. A nation that our relationship with Taiwan for more new path. brutally attacked us 75 years ago today than 35 years and no longer recognized We all know what has happened over can now be a great and good friend. It this friendly, prosperous, and demo- the last 3 years as the Obama adminis- is a tribute to both the Japanese and cratic country as a nation state? tration made concession after conces- the American people that we have been Compounding their consternation was sion to get a deal—any deal—with able to not ignore or whitewash the the concern that the People’s Republic Tehran. Even as Iranian belligerence past but to learn from it and come to of China might not like it. Quelle and hostility had grown, as they have the understanding that we are so much horreur. The Chinese might not like it. tested ballistic missiles, violated the stronger as allies than as adversaries. Now, to be fair, given the flaming Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, As a Texan, I am personally appre- train wreck that is the Obama foreign detained our citizens, and repeatedly ciative of the fruits of this alliance. We policy writ large, our relationship with threatened to wipe Israel off the map, host a range of Japanese companies the PRC is, by comparison, a bright Mr. Obama has over and over again who have invested in our State, with spot. All they have done is throw Mr. proffered his hand in friendship, even Toyota, for example, building its new Obama’s successor as Nobel Peace lau- sending them $1.7 billion in cash as a

VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00056 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G07DE6.087 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE December 7, 2016 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6821 sweetener, all of which may well re- ster, again, keeping the family to- to group facilities and group homes in sult, as I said earlier, in a terrible gether. his State. threat to the United States that could Sometimes foster care is lifesaving. I I said: Look, if there is a problem in dwarf Pearl Harbor. think all of us have said that from the North Carolina in terms of trying to In closing, I want to leave you with a beginning. But it should not be the meet these measures, we said we will message of hope. Our friendship with only option. That is what kids who give States more time. We will give Japan, as well as Germany, Israel, the have been in the foster care system them more flexibility. I would just like Czech Republic, and Poland, makes me came to the Senate this week to tell to point out that there seems to be hopeful. There is a discrete reason us. It is our job as policymakers to pro- enormous support across North Caro- these nations are now aligned allies: tect the most vulnerable. Those kids lina with respect to this bill because in the persistence and resolve of Amer- don’t have a powerful lobby. They North Carolina they seem to be saying ican leadership—leadership to discern don’t have deep pockets. that they understand that what this moral from immoral, freedom from It just seems to me, as we wrap up legislation is all about—what Family tyranny, right from wrong, life from this session and everyone here goes First is all about—is just getting high- death, and then to fight for the right. back to their families and their holi- quality care for these youngsters. Such leadership has been sorely lack- days, that it is not in good conscience All of the providers would be eligible. ing in the past 8 years. Yet the past to turn our backs on the foster kids It does not speak to the type of pro- vider. It is all the providers. So I am month affords ample reason for hope. and allow this important bipartisan Quite frankly, I think talking to legislation to wither and to die in the just going to wrap up by a few quotes that came into the Finance Committee President Tsai and not to President last days of the 114th Congress. over the course of this legislation. Ruhani was a material improvement So in a moment I will make this From the North Carolina Association for the national security interests of unanimous consent request. I ask that of County Directors of Social Services, the United States, and it demonstrates our colleagues end this standing in the which, as I understand, is the associa- renewed resolve to once more assume way of providing a new measure of tion of entities that administer child hope for vulnerable kids and their fam- the mantle of leadership. That is welfare programs in the State of North enough to make all of us hopeful. ilies and that we help lift the weight of Carolina supports the legislation, we With that, I suggest the absence of a this broken status quo—this broken have a letter that reads: ‘‘We go on quorum. status quo that falls heaviest on the record as supporting the act and re- The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. SUL- hundreds of thousands of foster kids spectfully request your support in pass- LIVAN). The clerk will call the roll. living in a quiet struggle every single ing this important legislation.’’ The senior assistant legislative clerk day. The North Carolina Association of proceeded to call the roll. So at this time, I ask unanimous con- Social Workers supports the bill. They Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask sent that the Senate proceed to the im- wrote: ‘‘The legislation would unanimous consent that the order for mediate consideration of Calendar No. strengthen families so that more chil- the quorum call be rescinded. 527, H.R. 5456; that the Wyden sub- dren could remain safely with their The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without stitute amendment at the desk be parents and family caregivers and objection, it is so ordered. agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be avoid the need for foster care.’’ For the UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST—H.R. 5456 read a third time and passed; and that overwhelming majority of children, Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, in a mo- the motion to reconsider be considered this North Carolina group says: This ment, I am going to ask unanimous made and laid upon the table with no legislation could be a lifesaver. consent to pass the bipartisan Family interviewing action or debate. The North Carolina Pediatric Society First Act, to help the hundreds of thou- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there writes: sands of vulnerable children and their objection? The bill is a pivotal opportunity for a parents stay together and make the The Senator from North Carolina. major Federal policy shift away from placing biggest improvement in child welfare Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, reserving children in out-of-home care and toward policy in decades and decades in Amer- the right to object, I was wondering if keeping families together. Congregate care ica. I could direct a question through the remains one of the options on the con- tinuum, and the bill doesn’t impose time Right now, Federal policy says tax- Chair to the Senator from West Vir- limits or restrictions on the use of these set- payer money can be used to split fami- ginia. I was curious as to whether or tings for children who need them. But the lies apart and uproot the family home. not the good Senator, my friend and focus is on keeping families together. The With Families First, our bipartisan colleague, intends to object to this only changes this bill makes for congregate bill, terrific work has been done by so measure. care providers is raising the standards for many Members on both sides of the Mr. MANCHIN. To this measure? No, quality so that all children-needs settings benefit from the therapeutic value of the aisle. Senator BENNET was here and sir. best providers, of which we have several in gave an eloquent address about how Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, I actually North Carolina. important this is. With Chairman think Senator WYDEN has done some So the Children’s Home Society of HATCH, Chairman GRASSLEY, and Chair- good work on this measure. I hope that North Carolina, Children’s Hope Alli- man BRADY, this has been a bipartisan we can get to a point where we can ance, the Exchange Family Center, effort for months for a number of Mem- bridge the gap and address some con- Family Preservation Community Serv- bers for close to 3 years. cerns that some of the Members have ices, and FIRST North Carolina—a With our reform, the Family First in States that are concerned with unin- number of groups, all based there and bill, families will finally see that they tended consequences. But at this time, serving in North Carolina citizens— will get some assistance to stay to- and for reasons unrelated to this meas- have come out for this. gether and stay together when it is ure but to our inability to get other So I recognize that there has been an safe to do so. If a parent can get a leg unanimous consents through, I am objection. It is my intention to keep up with some help if they face a drug going to have to object. working through the night, through addiction or a mental health problem, The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- the early part of tomorrow. I appre- everybody wins because the family tion is heard. ciate that this Senator from North stays together. The Senator from Oregon. Carolina has kept an open mind on A grandparent can step in. One of the Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I will be this. He has indicated in our conversa- things I am proudest of is that I wrote very brief. As I have indicated to our tions that he understands that there is the kinship care law as part of welfare colleague from North Carolina—and he a lot of good in this bill, and for the reform when I was a new Member of is new to the Senate—he really brings reasons he has stated, he cannot sup- this body. So we know that there are a refreshing openness to these debates. port it tonight and I gather reasons un- hundreds of thousands of grandparents I know this was a new topic for him. He related to the bill. out there who could step in in those has not had a chance to hear a lot I look forward to working with him. situations, or an uncle, and they could about it over the last few years. He was He has come to the Senate fairly re- get a little bit of help raising a young- concerned about what this would mean cently, but I have found him open and

VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00057 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G07DE6.089 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE S6822 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE December 7, 2016 accessible. That is all you can ask of a motion to reconsider be considered We are going to have fun with our colleague. made and laid upon the table. families. These widows, these retired With that I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there miners, well, it is not so much fun with The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- objection? their families because they don’t know ator from North Carolina. The Senator from Ohio. when their health insurance is going to Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, I appre- Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, reserving run out. ciate the comments of the Senator the right to object, we have heard a lot Mr. President, we need to do this. We from Oregon. I may be new to the Sen- of talk during the election, since the need to do it right. We need to do it ate, but I am not new to North Caro- election about communities like my today or tomorrow. We have no busi- lina. I was speaker of the house for 4 hometown of Mansfield, OH, not far ness going home before that. For these years, and I worked with a lot of the from where the Presiding Officer grew reasons, I object. agencies that the Senator from Oregon up—communities that have been ig- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- referenced. But the fact of the matter nored by their representatives in Wash- tion is heard. is that the first time I heard that these ington. The Senator from North Carolina. agencies supported the bill was about A lot of politicians responded during Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, I appre- 90 seconds ago. the election, since the election. They ciate the comments of the Senator This has not been fully vetted in the pledged to do better. This is our chance from Ohio. I believe, if I have the facts Senate. It sounds like it has a lot of to actually show that we mean it—with correct, that it was the majority leader merit, but even having said that, this the work that Senator MANCHIN has who pushed for the patch into the CR. is not why I am objecting to the bill. I done, and Senator CASEY, Senator I am not quite sure I agree with some am objecting at this time, in large WARNER, Senator PORTMAN in my of the specifics that were put forth by part, because of a number of other ob- State, a Republican, and Senator DON- the distinguished Senator from Ohio, jections we are receiving that are not NELLY of Indiana—simply to take care but I would like to move on. allowing things that would otherwise of these mine workers. UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST—S. 2763 move through unanimous consent. Senator MANCHIN has been on this Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, I ask UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST—S. 2912 floor, as I have—but he has been on unanimous consent that the Senate Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, on that this floor even more times—talking proceed to the immediate consider- note, I ask unanimous consent that the about taking care of those mine work- ation of Calendar No. 654, S. 2763, the Health, Education, Labor, and Pen- ers, living up to the promise that Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery sions Committee be discharged from Harry Truman made, extending their Act of 2016, with a committee-reported further consideration of S. 2912, the health insurance. substitute amendment. I further ask Trickett Wendler Right to Try Act of Instead, the only offer we have had that the committee-reported substitute 2016, and the Senate proceed to its im- from the majority leader, the one per- amendment be agreed to, the bill, as mediate consideration. I ask unani- son—Senator TILLIS is not standing in amended, be considered read a third mous consent that the bill be read a the way. Senator SULLIVAN is not time and passed, and the motion to re- third time and passed and the motion standing in the way. It is one Senator— consider be considered made and laid to reconsider be considered made and the majority leader. For whatever rea- upon the table. laid upon the table. son he does not like the United Mine The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there Workers union. I don’t really care objection? objection? about what he thinks about the union. The Senator from Indiana. The Senator from West Virginia. I support the union. Mr. DONNELLY. Reserving the right Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, reserv- But I care about these workers. What to object, Mr. President, I rise today to ing the right to object, I will continue they proposed is a 4-month extension, discuss a crisis facing 16,000 retired to object to any unanimous consent on which means these workers, these wid- coal miners and widows across the legislation until the CR includes a per- ows, these retired workers got a notice country. We made promises. Roughly manent long-term solution for our back in the last couple of weeks saying 1,000 of these people are in my State. miners’ health care, as included in the they were going to lose their health These retirees will lose their health in- Miners Protection Act, S. 3470. care. We do 4 months, and they will get surance at the end of this year unless So this is something that we have another notice—Senator MANCHIN, Congress acts. been talking about and working on for right?—in January. My colleagues, Senators MANCHIN, 2 years. That is all we have asked: Ful- We are going to make these retired BROWN, CASEY, and WARNER have spo- fill our promises as those representa- mine workers, these widows who saw ken on this topic, and together, along tive of people who have given every- their husbands die from an accident in with a larger bipartisan group, we thing. So I will have to object for these a mine or died from black lung disease pushed for months for the passage of reasons. or died from heart diseases every 3 the Miners Protection Act to guar- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- months get another notice and then antee pension and health benefits to tion is heard. say: Well, we will extend it for 4 hundreds of thousands of retirees. The Senator from North Carolina. months. No, we have to make sure that We have a responsibility to enact Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, I appre- we provide them—this is not giving this legislation to ensure that the Fed- ciate that, but the reason I directed them—the health insurance they have eral Government makes good on its the question about the objection to the earned. promise—its promise to the miners. It motion of the Senator from Oregon is It is the right thing to do. It is the wasn’t a suggestion. It was a promise that there seems to be maybe selective moral thing to do. For one Senator, to these people who risked their lives application of a strategy that the Sen- who happens to be from Kentucky, of to help our country meet our energy ator from West Virginia is trying to do all places, who happens to also be the needs. In fact, many of us stood here to get a measure passed. majority leader, to stand in the way— together in June calling for action be- UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST—S. 3084 Senator WYDEN is on my committee fore it was too late. Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, if I may and Senator HATCH, Senator PORTMAN, Well, now it is almost too late. While move on. I ask unanimous consent that Senator TOOMEY. Congress is in a rush to get out of the Senate proceed to the immediate We passed 18-to-8 a bipartisan bill to town, those 16,000 retirees are des- consideration of Calendar No. 695, S. move forward on this and do this right. perate for help. Their health needs are 3084, the American Innovation and Senator MCCONNELL asked to go not dependent on our schedule. Their Competitiveness Act. I further ask that through regular order. We have to do desire to be able to stay alive shouldn’t the committee-reported substitute this right. Yet we are going to go home be subject to our desire to leave town. amendment be withdrawn, the Gardner for Christmas. We are going to go home They are praying this legislation is en- substitute amendment be agreed to, for the holidays. Whether you celebrate acted so the health insurance is still the bill, as amended, be considered Christmas or not, we are going home there next month when they still need read a third time and passed, and the for the holidays. it.

VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:33 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00058 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G07DE6.098 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE December 7, 2016 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6823 It is inexcusable. It is beyond dis- UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST—S. 3364 weeks ago we were told, and I have had appointing to learn that the bill we are Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, I ask good, honest, upfront negotiations with set to consider to keep the Federal unanimous consent that the Com- the majority leader. He said: I just Government running includes only a mittee on Veterans’ Affairs be dis- don’t think the pension is going to fly scaled-down provision for our miners. charged from further consideration of this year. I said: I understand it. I am Rather than guarantee the promised S. 3364, a bill to authorize the Sec- still going to work my tail off for this benefits, leadership chose only to in- retary of Veterans Affairs to carry out thing. clude the bear minimum of a 4-month a pilot program to accept the donation I had to tell all the widows and all extension of health coverage through of facilities and related improvements the people whom we represent—16,300 April without addressing the pension for use by the Department of Veterans who were notified in October. They concerns. Affairs, and the Senate proceed to its have to give a 90-day notification that I have seen leadership. That is not it. immediate consideration; further, that you are going to lose your health care I will repeat once again: 16,000 mining the bill be considered read a third time benefits. They gave that notification in retirees, 1,000 from Indiana, will lose and passed and the motion to recon- October for December 31. That hap- their health coverage in 3 weeks unless sider be considered made and laid upon pened. I had to tell them now that we Congress acts. For the health and the the table. are not going to get the pension this financial security of thousands of fami- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there year. We are doing everything we can, lies, immediate attention is required. objection? but I am almost positive we are going Kicking the can down the road for 4 The Senator from West Virginia. to get the health care because I was months has never been a solution. En- Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, reserv- told we were going to get the health rollment periods for other health plans ing the right to object, I would like to care. Not until 2 days ago did I have end this week and next. These retirees explain why we are here and what is any inkling that now, all of a sudden— are watching us closely and are already really happening, so people have a good I am not blaming my colleagues here— in the process of making painful and grasp of things. the House said: Oh, I am sorry. We are costly decisions. First of all, the Miners Protection only going to do an extension for the This is about life and death for thou- Act—this protection act basically goes CR—the same extension for the health sands of retirees across the country back to a commitment, a promise, and care. right now. They are praying that we a transaction that we have done in I know that my colleagues would will stand up and keep our word. We Congress in 1946, under President Harry agree with this. Let’s say it was your made a promise. The United States Truman. It is the Krug act. Basically, aunt or your grandmother or a retired made a promise to our citizens, to our it was said that from that day forward, person basically being paid those bene- coal miners. The provision in the we are basically taking certain fits. They were told in October. Now we spending bill does not come close to amounts of money from all the coal are supposed to accept this CR coming meeting that promise that was made. that is mined. This is not public funds. over with this language that says: Ok, I urge the Senate to act immediately We are not asking for public funds. If now let’s tell Mrs. Smith again. We are to consider a stronger measure that ad- we had done what we were supposed to basically going to say: OK, we gave you dresses this crisis facing thousands of do, we would have taken that money a 4-month extension, but we are going retirees in my State and in so many and put that money in the funds for the to notify you again in January that other States across the country. These miners’ protection of their health and you are going to lose it again in April. are not just numbers. These are our their pension. They had nothing before They don’t even have time to work citizens. These are the people we rep- that. They are the ones who basically with the deductibles to get any insur- resent. These are the people who dug gave us the energy that we had to win ance—nothing. the coal to keep the lights on in this two world wars and become the super Let me tell you how they were going building. Their ancestors dug the coal power of the West. All they asked for to pay for it. This is what came from that helped win the war in World War was that. It wasn’t guaranteed by tax- the House—not my colleagues here but II. We made a promise, and here we payers going to pay it. It was going to from the House. The House says: OK, stand making a decision whether it come from the coal that was mined. we are going to take $47 million from will be kept or whether it will not. Now this same Congress comes back the VEVA transfers. VEVA was money This is about who we are as a country 20, 30 years later, and we changed the that was set aside for other bank- and who we are as Senators. Do we bankruptcy laws to allow companies ruptcies. These were bankruptcies that honor the word of the people before us? Do we honor the coal miners with now to declare bankruptcy and to shed were basically going to give people who black lung, with broken kneecaps, with their legacy costs. They don’t have to were retired under those bankruptcies broken shoulders, with widows who are pay it no more. So we are caught. at least health care coverage until wondering if they are going to be able Every promise we made now is this: June. Those same people are going to to make it alone? Oh, I am sorry; we can’t pay you. lose theirs because it is going to take I will continue to object to any unan- So we did step in. We stepped in a their money and they are going to lose imous consent request or legislation couple of times—in 1993, in 2006. Con- theirs also. It is almost incomprehen- until the CR includes a permanent gress has basically a history with this sible that they would give us some- long-term solution for our miners’ piece of legislation. So we are working thing like this and think it is some- health care as included in the Miners now to shore it up. thing we could do. Protection Act, S. 3470. Therefore, Mr. AML means abandoned mine lands. We got a bipartisan agreement here President, for these reasons, I object. That is money that goes from every on this side, and we can’t get just a The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- kind of coal into a reclamation fund consideration from our colleagues over tion is heard. that takes care of any reclamation in the House. So I just can’t explain it. The Senator from North Carolina. that is needed from the mining process. I can’t go home and explain this. We Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, let me di- As you are putting the mines back or are walking out of here, trying to get rect a question through the Chair to putting the environment back and tak- out this weekend because everybody the Senator from Indiana. ing the environment and putting the wants to go home. That is wonderful. I don’t believe the Senator was in at land back, that money would be used The only thing we have this time cer- the time that the Senator from Oregon for that. If there was not much rec- tain is December 31. They know they offered his motion. Would the Senator lamation or if that money accumu- are going to lose everything—their have objected to that motion—Senator lated, then we have a surplus. We have health care benefits. It is in doubt that WYDEN’s motion? only asked for the surplus. they will have their pensions taken Mr. DONNELLY. I was not here to So we were all on the same page, and care of, and we won’t stay here because listen to what he said. I was elsewhere. we have been negotiating back and it is too much of an inconvenience. So I cannot answer the question be- forth. This is 2 years ago and up until That is why we are prepared. We are cause I didn’t hear what the Senator present. We have been negotiating back going to stay. If they want to stay had to say. and forth, up to 2 weeks ago. Two through Christmas, fine—through the

VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00059 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G07DE6.100 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE S6824 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE December 7, 2016 New Year, fine. I think that they ing this when, No. 1, he wouldn’t do it, tomorrow, we are going to be here the think: I know everybody wants to go he wouldn’t do it, he wouldn’t do it, he next day. If we don’t do it at the end of home; so I am sure everybody will fold wouldn’t do it. Senator MANCHIN has this week, we are going to be here next their hands and leave. asked him for weeks and months and week because we are not leaving. We I want to thank all of you and all of months to take care of the pension and are going to stay here as long as we my colleagues for jumping up here be- the health insurance, and the majority need to, even if it means a session on cause you all have been helping us. leader refused month after month after Christmas Day, in order to get these They just have to get the message that month. retirees and their widows the pensions we are sincere about helping these peo- The majority leader said: I need you and the health care that they earned, ple. to do several things. We need you to not a little 4-month bump. Everybody is standing for the work- follow regular order. We did. We went Mr. President, I object. ing person. Every campaign ad I saw through the Finance Committee, 18 to The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- this year said: We are all for the work- 8. Senator HATCH, the chairman, helped tion is heard. ing man and the working woman. Well, us. Senator WYDEN, the ranking mem- The Senator from North Carolina. you got a chance to prove it right now. ber, was one of the strongest sup- Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, earlier You got a chance to show that I am for porters, joined by Senators CASEY and the distinguished Senator from Oregon you, that I respect what you did, what WARNER, Finance Committee members said he recognizes that I am new to the your husband did, what your family who represent a lot of mine workers. Senate and there may be something has done for the country, and I am try- The Senate majority leader then different between what we would call a ing to help you. said: You have to find a way to pay for blanket position in the North Carolina What we are asking for is to give us it. We did it. We found a way to pay for House and a blanket position here. a permanent long-term solution for the it. It comes from the abandoned mine Mr. President, I want to ask a ques- miners, included in the Miners Protec- fund. There are no tax dollars involved tion of the distinguished Senator from tion Act that we have been working on in this. The majority leader still Ohio. I might add that I appreciate the for so long, S. 3470. Reluctantly, there- wouldn’t do anything. kind comments that I think you were fore, for these reasons, I have to object. So finally, Senator MANCHIN comes recently reported as saying. We are The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- to the floor, I come to the floor, Sen- working together on veterans issues, tion is heard. ator CASEY comes to the floor, and and I look forward to continuing to Mr. TILLIS. Objection? Senator WARNER comes to the floor work for you. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- over and over, and we say we are not Mr. President, I would ask the Sen- tion is heard. going to agree to anything until you ator from Ohio, if he was in the Cham- The Senator from North Carolina. take care of these pensioners, until you ber at the time of the motion offered Mr. TILLIS. Thank you, Mr. Presi- take care of these miners’ widows. by Senator WYDEN, would he have been dent. Then, out of the goodness of the major- prepared to object to that motion being The Senator from West Virginia, I ity leader’s heart, he gives these min- consistent with the position that they believe, is trying to make a compelling ers—these retired miners and widows— are having blanket objections to all argument. I understand that he feels 4 months. What does 4 months mean? motions? very strongly about this. We feel very It means that these widows and min- Mr. BROWN. Mr. President—Senator strongly about a number of these mo- ers—these retired miners and widows TILLIS, I heard the tail end of it. I was tions I am going to continue to make got a notice in the last couple of weeks in the cloakroom trying to find out ex- and hopefully not get objection. saying their insurance will expire De- actly what the parliamentary proce- Mr. President, I do want to remind cember 31. If we agree to the majority dure was going be on this. I would be the Senator from West Virginia that it leader’s bountiful offer, then they will willing to say yes to a lot of these once was the majority leader who worked to get another notice in January or Feb- we take care of the mine workers. This at least get the patch in the CR, and ruary saying: Oh, it is going to run out is a wide-open forum. Let’s take care of like so many things around here, we again in 4 months. the mine workers, and then we can wish we were working on longer hori- What is really interesting around consider each of these other bills. But zons, but that seems to be the chal- here is, I hear Republican Senators day none of these bills has the immediacy lenge we have to deal with and that we after day after day—whether it is the of thousands of mine workers, retirees, will have to deal with in the waning Affordable Care Act, whether it is and their widows in West Virginia, days of this session. Dodd-Frank—say: All we want is pre- Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, and Indi- UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST—S. 1831 dictability. We want to be able to plan. ana. None of them have the immediacy Mr. President, I ask unanimous con- Businesses can’t produce jobs, can’t of these mine workers’ health care sent that the Committee on the Judici- create jobs, unless we have a path for- being cut off December 31. ary be discharged from further consid- ward, unless we can predict what will These are important public initia- eration of S. 1831, the Preventing Ani- happen, unless we can have some cer- tives. I can’t think of anything that we mal Cruelty and Torture Act, and the tainty. are considering—I mean, I really want Senate proceed to its immediate con- That is all right for corporate Amer- to get ‘‘Buy American’’ in the WRDA sideration; further, that the Toomey ica. They want certainty. Corporate bill. We had it in the Senate bill. It was substitute amendment be agreed to, America wants to be able to plan. But bipartisan. the bill, as amended, be considered it is not all right for mine workers’ Speaker RYAN—even though we read a third time and passed, and the widows? It is OK to jack them around— tweeted the President-elect of the motion to reconsider be considered pardon my language—it is OK for them United States asking him to weigh in made and laid upon the table. to stumble around every 4 months and on ‘‘Buy American,’’ saving thousands The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. we renew their pensions, we renew of dollars in Coshocton, OH, in Wheel- GARDNER). Is there objection? their health care? Really. ing, and in other places all over this The Senator from Ohio. This is so easy. Give us a year, and country, we couldn’t get any response Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, reserving then we will be back next year and we to that. I want to see us do that. I the right to object, I am a bit incred- will work on this. But, as Senator would like to stay and do that, but the ulous. I like the Senator from North MANCHIN said, for us to go home for immediate question is, How do we pro- Carolina. We sit across from each other Christmas—whether or not you cele- tect these miners and retirees and how in the Veterans’ Affairs Committee. We brate Christmas—and be with our fami- do we protect these widows and wid- have done at least 2 or 3 bills that lies, which I really want to do—I have owers, for that matter, make sure their reached the President’s desk and were five grandchildren. I can’t wait to get health care is protected? That is the signed into law together. to spend time with them in the next 3 fundamental question. I am willing to But I think my Republican friends weeks. But we have to do our job. If we do a whole lot of other things. Do this are kind of missing the point here—to don’t do it tonight, then we are going first, and then the floor is open to do give the majority leader credit for fix- to be here tomorrow. If we don’t do it other things.

VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00060 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G07DE6.101 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE December 7, 2016 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6825 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- by June. Now they are going to lose it saying to these widows and mine work- ator from North Carolina. by April, by this provision that has ers and retired mine workers that I UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST—H.R. 3286 been passed by the House. And on top guess you don’t matter very much be- Mr. TILLIS. In a moment, I will be of that, they will have $2 million in cause we are going to have our Christ- making another unanimous consent re- surplus. mas vacation and you are going to quest. I will give a classic example of I had a lady call me today. She said: have to worry about your health care. the kinds of things I wish we could get You know, Senator MANCHIN, where I Their health care runs out December done before we leave here. come from, they call that theft. They 31. Senator MCCONNELL, finally, after The unanimous consent request I am call that theft. And why would you all great pressure from constituents and about to make would encourage effec- let them do that? If they don’t do any- mine workers and us, finally said he tive, voluntary private sector invest- thing, some of our miners are, till would give us 4 months. You can’t run ments to recruit, employ, and retain June—16,000 of us lose. We don’t want your life not knowing your health in- men and women who have served in the to punish them, but now you are pun- surance is going to run out in 4 months U.S. military, with annual Presidential ishing them. You are punishing them or 8 months or 3 months. awards to private sector employers rec- an extra 3 months. Why would you all So we shouldn’t keep repeating our- ognizing such efforts for their pur- do that? selves, but Senator TILLIS keeps bring- poses. I am not sure they really realize it on ing up one issue after another. We are This is an example of something that the other side. going to keep saying no until we get in right now, today, without objection, we Like I said, I am not at our col- this bill much more time for this can get through. leagues here, my friends and Repub- health care for these retired mine Mr. President, I ask unanimous con- lican colleagues I have here, but why workers and their families and their sent that the Senate proceed to the im- would the House send that to you, and widows. mediate consideration of H.R. 3286, a why would you all accept it? Mr. President, I object. bill to encourage effective, voluntary That is all we are asking for. We can The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- private sector investments to recruit, all gather forces here and send a large tion is heard. Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, I just employ, and retain men and women message to them that we are not going want to be clear that my friend from who have served in the U.S. military, to do this until they come to their West Virginia, whom I actually con- with annual Presidential awards to pri- senses and take care of the miners’ sider to be one of my favorites, to be vate sector employers recognizing such health care benefits. honest with you, since I have been You know what. We can come back. efforts, which was received from the here—I have loved serving with him on We can let all of this—all of our UCs House. I further ask consent that the committees, and I serve with him on that have been worked on and that I bill be considered read a third time and the Senate Armed Services Committee think are so needed can go right passed and the motion to reconsider be and Veterans’ Affairs. I asked the Sen- through, we can all go home, and hope- considered made and laid upon the ator from West Virginia if he would table. fully our miners know they have have objected to the motion set forth The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there health care, we know we have done a by the Senator from Oregon, Mr. objection? lot of good for a lot of people, and WYDEN, and the answer was no. So we The Senator from West Virginia. hopefully everyone will have a better have an inconsistency here. Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, reserv- Christmas. So all I am asking for— ing the right to object, first, I say to UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST—SENATE until the CR includes that permanent, RESOLUTION my good friend from North Carolina, long term, I am going to have to ob- Mr. President, I ask unanimous con- Mr. TILLIS, I have been in the Senate ject. sent that the Senate proceed to the for 6 years, so I have never used this The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- consideration of a Senate resolution at procedure—never believed it, never tion is heard. the desk honoring the individuals who thought I would have to, never thought The Senator from North Carolina. lost their lives in the tragic fire in anything would be so direly needed UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST—SENATE Oakland, California, on December 2, that I would even have to stand here RESOLUTION 2016, submitted earlier today. I ask and object to all the good things we Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution both have worked on. I have so many unanimous consent that the Senate be agreed to, the preamble be agreed good things on my side that I am not proceed to the immediate consider- to, and the motions to reconsider be moving right now, and you have so ation of a Senate resolution at the considered made and laid upon the many great things on your side that I desk designating December 17, 2016, as table with no intervening action or de- would love to help you with. ‘‘Wreaths Across America Day,’’ sub- bate. But, sir, if you were in my position— mitted earlier today. I ask unanimous The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there let me go a little bit further because I consent that the resolution be agreed objection? don’t think maybe I made it. If you to, the preamble be agreed to, and the The Senator from West Virginia. want to add insult to injury to what motions to reconsider be considered Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, reserv- has happened to our retired miners and made and laid upon the table with no ing the right to object, I would like to all the people dependent on their intervening action or debate. explain to my good friend, the Senator health care benefits, the $47 million The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there from North Carolina, that I have been that I told you they transferred—that objection? deferring to you the pleasure of object- is what they are going the pay for from The Senator from Ohio. ing, and that is the reason I didn’t ob- the House, the VEBA—basically takes Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I reserve ject to the Senator from Oregon. As it from other bankrupt funds that were the right to object. We can keep doing you said, we can stay here. I think we set aside. They are going to do that, this. I think it is very clear what Sen- all have a lot of appreciation for the and when all is said and done—and it ator MANCHIN and I are asking for. We situation. has even been scored that Medicaid and are not asking for anything unusual; With that being said, we have come Medicare would save so much because we are asking for the Senate to honor to an impasse that if we cannot get the now they are paying for it out of the the pledge made by President Truman House, with the help of our Senate col- miners health care fund, and they are more or less seven decades ago to take leagues on both sides, to agree to a per- not going to have to. But on top of care of the health care that mine work- manent, long-term fix and a solution that, from the $47 million they took, ers earned. for the miners’ health care—and I they are going to make $2 million prof- Don’t ever forget, we all work around would say to the Senator, we took off it returned back to the Treasury. They here. We wear coats and ties, and our the pension; you heard me say that. We are going to take $2 million from work might be stressful, sort of, but we took the pensions off of that. We money set aside to pay—that the bank- are not likely risking our lives, we are thought that might provide us a way to ruptcy courts put aside to pay miners not likely picking up occupational dis- move forward. We thought we had a because they will lose their health care eases from the work we do. But we are way to move forward.

VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00061 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G07DE6.104 S07DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE S6826 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE December 7, 2016 With that being said, we stand here tions that don’t mean anything except ment at the desk be agreed to; the bill, today objecting to things that we they are nice. I am for these resolu- as amended, be read a third time and would all like to move forward on. It tions. I love to support anything we do passed, and the motion to reconsider be pains all of us to be in this position. to say something nice and pat some- made and laid upon the table with no Hopefully, you all can help us, talking body on the back. But we have these intervening action or debate. to the House and basically asking them two resolutions saying aren’t they The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there to come to their senses and, hopefully, nice, aren’t we nice, compared to tak- objection? take care of this. ing care of widows who are going to see Mr. BROWN. I object. So for that reason, until we have a their health care expire on December The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- long-term solution for our miners’ 31. I don’t understand the equivalency. tion is heard. health care as included in the Miners I suppose we could go all night if The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- Protection Act, S. 3470, I object. Senator MCCONNELL were perhaps in ator from West Virginia. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- his office or perhaps out to dinner or Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, reserv- tion is heard. perhaps he went home. But it is order- ing the right to object— Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, I would ing or asking or however we do things The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- like to direct another question through around here—Senators come to the tion has been heard. the Chair to the Senator from West floor and delay and delay and delay and The Senator from North Carolina is Virginia. I just want to be clear that, try to change the subject so that peo- recognized. hypothetically, if the Senator from Or- ple forget about these mine workers. Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, I am egon were to come back to the Cham- Well, we are not going to let the Pre- happy to yield the floor to the Senator ber and offer that motion, would the siding Officer or Senator TILLIS or Sen- from West Virginia. Senator from West Virginia actually ator MCCONNELL or Senator CORNYN or The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- object to that motion? anybody else—we are not going to let ator from North Carolina yields the The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there you forget the mine workers. We are floor to the Senator from West Vir- objection to the Senator posing a ques- going to keep talking about this. ginia. tion? I don’t mind working late tonight. I Mr. MANCHIN. I just want to clarify. Mr. BROWN. I object. don’t mind working late tomorrow. I I think there is some confusion. It The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- would rather not work until December seems like everybody is in a hustle tion is heard. 24, but Senator MANCHIN said he will, right now. I think they think we are Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, we may and I will. My wife is not thrilled about being selective. I want to make it very have that opportunity. it, and my children and my grandkids clear. I have been very clear to every- UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST—SENATE aren’t thrilled about it. But these are body. I have had to object on every- RESOLUTION thousands of people who are going to thing. I have had to object on my own Mr. President, I ask unanimous con- lose their health insurance on Decem- pieces of legislation to stop everything. sent that the Senate proceed to the ber 31, and all that Senator MCCONNELL With that being said, I think I was consideration of a Senate resolution at can do, after huge pressure from mine asked about Senator WYDEN’s request, the desk recognizing the 75th anniver- workers around the country and his and I said, no, I wouldn’t at that time, sary of the attack on Pearl Harbor and constituents in Kentucky and from and then I think at that time Senator the lasting significance of National us—all Senator MCCONNELL can do is TILLIS objected. For that you were Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day sub- say, well, we can give you maybe 4 asked did I object, and I said no. mitted earlier today. I ask unanimous months, and that is supposed to satisfy With that being said, I would have consent that the resolution be agreed us. It doesn’t matter if it satisfies us; objected to everything, and I think ev- to, the preamble be agreed to, and the it matters that we take care of these erybody knew where I stood in this motions to reconsider be considered retired mine workers and their widows. body that I will and have to reluc- made and laid upon the table with no For all of those reasons, I object. tantly—I don’t want to be in this posi- intervening action or debate. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- tion. I am so committed to fulfilling The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there tion is heard. the promise and commitment we have objection? Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, the dis- made. That is all. Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, reserving tinguished Senator from Ohio did men- I am sorry if there has been confu- the right to object, I was incredulous tion a couple of resolutions, but I sion. I have to, for the position we have at the beginning of the night, not quite would add there was also the American taken. I think the good fight that we believing that Senator MCCONNELL—I Innovation and Competitiveness Act have here—and, basically, what the don’t know what he is doing now—was that we worked very hard on to provide House has done to us is not humane to sending his people to the floor and find- much needed resources for a number of the people we represent. That is all I ing ways to push back against the mine States, including Ohio. There are a said. I am sorry for that. workers in West Virginia and Ohio and number of other items, including I So if there is a motion on the table, Pennsylvania and Indiana and Vir- think hiring vets, providing programs I object to that too. ginia, not willing to help those pen- or providing preferences and trying to f sioners and widows. Now we have this do everything we can to get our vet- incredible coincidence that the last erans hired; preventing animal cruelty MORNING BUSINESS two resolutions—we are talking about and torture I think is a worthwhile Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, I ask mine workers—retired mine workers’ cause, and a number of other things. unanimous consent that the Senate be health care; we are talking about wid- But, again, the point here is that we in a period of morning business, with ows of mine workers who have either are trying to move things that we gen- Senators permitted to speak therein died on the job or died perhaps from an erally have consent on, and for one rea- for up to 10 minutes each. illness that mine workers so often son or another—and I don’t question The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- have—brown lung or some kind of the motives of the Senator from West ator from Ohio. heart disease. Instead, my friend from Virginia—they are being held up. We Mr. BROWN. Reserving the right to North Carolina has offered two resolu- kind of have a double standard in that object, but I withdraw my reservation. tions, one to honor people who died in some of these things do not rise to the The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without a fire—a tragedy—and one to mark the same level as the unanimous consent objection, it is so ordered. 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, both request made by Senator WYDEN ear- f reasonable things. But they are not lier. resolutions to provide college to the UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST—H.R. 5456 TRIBUTE TO BARBARA BOXER children of the people who died in the So I ask unanimous consent that the Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, in 1922, fire, and they are not to increase bene- Senate proceed to the immediate con- Rebecca Latimer Felton was the first fits for the grandchildren of people who sideration of Calendar No. 527, H.R. woman to sit in the U.S. Senate. She died in Pearl Harbor; they are resolu- 5456; that the Wyden substitute amend- served in this body for only 1 day, but

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