E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 115 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 163 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, MAY 9, 2017 No. 80 House of Representatives The House was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Thursday, May 11, 2017, at 2 p.m. Senate TUESDAY, MAY 9, 2017 The Senate met at 10 a.m. and was I trust, Lord, even now, that every of Heroin Orphans.’’ It told the story of called to order by the President pro person who is responsible for the lead- five Kentucky children living with tempore (Mr. HATCH). ership of this Nation would be under their grandparents due to their moth- the guise and under the leadership of er’s addiction. Sadly, this family is not f God. We thank You so much for all the unique. Nearly 3 million grandparents PRAYER blessings of life and for Your goodness or other relatives across the country The PRESIDENT pro tempore. To- to us. are caring for grandchildren. According day’s opening prayer will be offered by I pray, Lord, even now that You will to experts, this uptick in children left Rev. Harold D. Mathena from Okla- continue to bless America. In Jesus’s without their parents is due, at least in homa City, OK. Name we pray. Amen. part, to this epidemic. It is one of the The guest Chaplain offered the fol- f many reasons the heroin and prescrip- lowing prayer: tion opioid crisis requires continued PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Our Father in Heaven, we bow before action. You in Jesus’s Name to ask Your bless- The President pro tempore led the Americans across the country—law ing upon this place, to ask Your bless- Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: enforcement, nurses, family members, ing upon His people. What a joy it is to I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the and many others—have dedicated have access to the throne of God and be United States of America, and to the Repub- themselves to reversing this crisis. able to intervene on behalf of these. lic for which it stands, one nation under God, Congress has taken significant steps to We trust, Lord, in Jesus’s Name that indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. combat this growing problem on a bi- You would give Godly wisdom and dis- f partisan basis. Through legislation like cernment to the men and women who the Comprehensive Addiction and Re- RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY serve in this place. We ask You to give covery Act, CARA, and the 21st cen- LEADER them an unusual power and ability to tury cures bill, we authorized impor- perform and to do the things that are The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. tant ways to help fight the opioid epi- pleasing to You. SASSE). The majority leader is recog- demic through things like expanded We pray, Lord, that You sanctify nized. education and prevention initiatives, every person in this room to salvation, f improved treatment programs, and we that You would enlighten us, enable us bolstered law enforcement efforts. Im- to comprehend and know better the NOMINATION OF SCOTT GOTTLIEB plementation of these initiatives is al- mind and heart of God. Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, the ready helping to tackle this crisis. Lord, we pray that You would con- heroin and prescription opioid epi- I was proud to support these pieces of vince us of our sin, of righteousness, demic is taking a heartbreaking toll on legislation because I knew they could and of judgment to come. We pray, families and communities across our make a real impact in the fight against Lord, that You would draw an imagi- country. Experts estimate that as opioid abuse, and they are. We were nary circle—if we could do that—about many as 2 million Americans are strug- able to take another positive step just this room and that You would get in gling with prescription drug addiction, last week. Congress passed an impor- this circle with us, empowering us and with heroin and opioid overdoses tant piece of funding legislation, now enabling us, equipping us, if You will, claiming an average of 91 lives every law, that is helping advance and sup- to do the work that You called us to day. port many of the programs Congress do. This certainly isn’t a difficult job; We continue to read the devastating authorized in CARA and the 21st cen- it is an impossible job, apart from Di- headlines, too, like one article pub- tury cures bill last year—programs vine wisdom, Godly wisdom. lished by CNN entitled ‘‘A Generation that can advance medical innovation ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S2821 . VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 May 09, 2017 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A09MY6.000 S09MYPT1 lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with SENATE S2822 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE May 9, 2017 and promote research and treatment EXECUTIVE SESSION their voting systems? No. Has the Re- development. publican-led Congress passed sanctions That funding legislation dedicated on Russia in response to this attack on significant new resources to the fight EXECUTIVE CALENDAR our democracy? Has it passed meaning- against the opioid epidemic. It helped The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under ful cyber security legislation? No. fund groundbreaking research into the the previous order, the Senate will pro- Quite simply, the failure of this field of regenerative medicine. With its ceed to executive session to resume President and Congress to address the passage, Congress took one more crit- consideration of the Gottlieb nomina- security threat is a stunning abdica- ical step forward in the advancement of tion, which the clerk will report. tion of responsibility to protect the medical research and addiction treat- The assistant bill clerk read the United States and our democratic val- ment. nomination of Scott Gottlieb, of Con- ues. The Senate will soon have another necticut, to be Commissioner of Food As if the conclusions of 17 U.S. intel- opportunity to move ahead in the fight and Drugs, Department of Health and ligence agencies weren’t enough to against this devastating disease by vot- Human Services. raise concerns, let’s review what ing to confirm Dr. Scott Gottlieb to The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under emerged just over the recent April re- oversee the Food and Drug Administra- the previous order, the time until 12:30 cess. For example, Reuters reported tion. p.m. will be equally divided in the that a Russian Government think The FDA plays a central role in the usual form. approval of new drug treatments and tank, controlled by Russian dictator The assistant Democratic leader. Vladimir Putin, developed a plan to therapies. An important part of the Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask 21st Century Cures Act provided an ac- swing our 2016 Presidential election to unanimous consent to speak as in Donald Trump and undermine voters’ celerated pathway for the FDA to ap- morning business. prove regenerative medicines. I look faith in our electoral system. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without The institute, run by a retired senior forward to having a Commissioner like objection, it is so ordered. Dr. Gottlieb, who is committed to the Russian foreign intelligence official, RUSSIA INVESTIGATION development of groundbreaking medi- appointed by Putin, released two key Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, this cines and treatments to combat serious reports, one in June and one in October weekend we saw a peaceful democratic illnesses. of last year. Additionally, the FDA will continue election in France, one of our key In the first, it argued that ‘‘the to be a crucial partner as States like Western allies in the bedrock of Euro- Kremlin launch a propaganda cam- Kentucky continue their fight against pean stability after two terrible wars paign on social media and Russian the opioid epidemic. The FDA plays an in the last century. What happened state-backed global news outlets to en- important regulatory and oversight just before the Sunday election in courage US voters to elect a president role in combating this crisis. France? There was a massive cyber at- who would take a softer line toward I have encouraged the agency to tack on the leading candidate, the one Russia than the administration of incentivize the approval of safer, more who prevailed, Emmanuel Macron. then-President Obama.’’ abuse-deterrent formulations of drugs, Whom do experts suspect was behind The second warning said: and I am glad when they have con- this cyber attack trying to manipulate [P]residential candidate Hillary Clinton curred. These types of constructive pol- another Western election, trying to was likely to win the election. For that rea- icy decisions show an FDA that is foster mistrust in that nation’s demo- son, it argued, it was better for Russia to end ready to join the fight against heart- cratic institutions? Not surprisingly, its pro-Trump propaganda and instead inten- breaking disease and opioid abuse, and Russia. sify its messaging about voter fraud to un- I am proud to support that kind of rig- Yet none of this should surprise any- dermine the US electoral system’s legit- orous oversight from the agency. one. Not only had Russia been sub- imacy and damage Clinton’s reputation in an Dr. Gottlieb has the necessary expe- sidizing Mr. Macron’s opponent, Marine effort to undermine her presidency. rience to serve in this key role. Not Le Pen, who is seen as more sympa- It was also recently disclosed that only has he worked in hospitals, inter- thetic to Moscow, not to mention try- the FBI obtained a Foreign Intel- acting directly with those affected by ing to interfere in Dutch and German ligence Surveillance Court warrant to disease and treatment, but he has also elections as well, but we were warned monitor the communications of former developed and analyzed medical poli- about this by our own intelligence Trump campaign foreign policy adviser cies in both the public and private sec- agencies 6 months ago.