E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 114 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 162 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 No. 146 Senate The Senate met at 10 a.m. and was My home State of Kentucky is one of day’s vote on the clean CR-Zika pack- called to order by the President pro more than two dozen States that have age. Remember, this is a 10-week fund- tempore (Mr. HATCH). signed on to that suit, and I have been ing bill. Its contents command broad f proud to lead efforts in support of the support. It contains zero controversial Commonwealth on this issue. In fact, I riders from either party. PRAYER joined Chairman INHOFE, more than 30 Can it really be that Democratic The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- other Senators, and more than 170 Rep- leaders have embraced dysfunction so fered the following prayer: resentatives in filing an amicus brief thoroughly that they attack a non- Let us pray. to push back on the President’s power controversial 10-week funding bill Immortal, invisible, God only wise, grab. over—what exactly? Now, remember, do not stand far from us, for we need I was pleased that the Supreme Court the reason we are in this position is You every hour. stepped in earlier this year to issue an that our friends on the other side May our lawmakers remember that unprecedented stay of this plan until didn’t want to have a regular appro- their success comes from You. Give the Federal courts review it. priations process. Does anybody know them the wisdom to seek justice, to In light of the court’s hold on the what the issue is? Do they even know? love mercy, and to walk humbly with plan, I wrote a letter encouraging the The rationale seems to change by the You. Lord, free them from any entan- Governors of all 50 States to take ad- hour. What we do know is it has almost glements that dishonor You. Protect vantage of this much-needed reprieve nothing to do with what is actually in them from dangers, seen and unseen, as and to adopt a wait-and-see approach the bill. They have agreed to its spend- they strive to return good for evil. before complying with the plan’s stand- ing levels, so it isn’t that. They have When they feel overwhelmed, remind ards. agreed to its compromise Zika pack- As I noted then, the President’s plan them that, in everything, You are age, so it can’t be that. They have is yet another example of Executive working for the good of those who love agreed with us to help veterans and overreach patterned after this adminis- You. those hurt by floods and the heroin and tration’s political and ideological agen- Help us all to strive to glorify You in prescription opioid crisis, too, so it da, rather than scientific evidence. every action, both large and small. This massive regulatory overreach can’t be that either. We also know that the Senate has al- We pray in Your strong Name. Amen. would cause energy bills to skyrocket. f It would strike at the most vulnerable. ready voted to pass assistance for fami- lies affected by lead poisoning in PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE It would ship middle class jobs over- seas. It would bring further harm to Flint—in its proper vehicle—the Water The President pro tempore led the families like those in Kentucky who Resources Development Act, with Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: have been devastated by this adminis- Chairman INHOFE pledging to continue I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the tration’s anticoal policies. And it to pursue resources for Flint once the United States of America, and to the Repub- would do little to nothing to actually bill goes to conference. So Flint can’t lic for which it stands, one nation under God, achieve its intended purpose—reducing really be an issue either. And the indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. global emissions. White House said yesterday that the f This plan, which I have long believed WRDA bill is an appropriate vehicle for may not be upheld in court, could place the Flint funding. RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY It is almost as if a few Democratic LEADER significant legal and economic burdens on our States. That is why I have en- leaders decided long ago that bringing The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. COT- couraged them to take advantage of our country to the brink would make TON). The majority leader is recog- the court’s stay as we await a final rul- for good election-year politics, and nized. ing. then they have just made up a ration- f I look forward to today’s hearing, ale as they go along. But that couldn’t which is an important step in deter- really be true, could it? Could it be HEARING ON THE PRESIDENT’S mining whether the President’s mis- true? POWER PLAN guided plan will survive legal scrutiny. That would mean Democrats have Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, f been playing politics with the lives of today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the expectant mothers and babies suffering D.C. Circuit will hear arguments in the CONTINUING RESOLUTION from Zika after a few months ago de- case challenging the merits of the Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I manding immediate action. That would President’s so-called Clean Power Plan. wish to bring a little perspective to to- mean Democrats have been playing ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S6091 . VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Sep 28, 2016 Jkt 059060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A27SE6.000 S27SEPT1 smartinez on DSK3GLQ082PROD with SENATE S6092 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE September 27, 2016 politics with the lives of those strug- Republicans. I appreciate the good But would it be asking too much for gling with the heroin and prescription work done by appropriators, on our the Speaker of the House and the Re- opioid crisis after promising they side lead by Senator MIKULSKI. They publican leader of the Senate to stand would help. That would mean Demo- have done good work, and tremendous and say: We are going to get that thing crats have been playing politics with progress has been made. done. We are going to pass it; we are the lives of flood victims after saying The Republican proposal will likely going to make sure that the bill that they cared. fail to get cloture this afternoon, and passed overwhelmingly here in the Sen- I know our Democratic friends for good reason. The Republican legis- ate is going to become law. But they wouldn’t want the American people to lation misses the mark. It seeks to ignored that. They ignored the people think that. keep in place the status quo with re- of Flint. I hope every one of our Democratic gard to undisclosed, unaccountable We are happy to help with the dis- friends will show us today that they dark money that is flooding our polit- aster that took place in Louisiana. are actually serious about supporting ical system. Since the Republican leader is here, we veterans and tackling Zika and flood On the way to work this morning, I have been happy to help with all of the relief and the heroin and prescription learned that the National Rifle Asso- problems, the emergencies they have opioid crisis, and we all know the way ciation is placing another $1 million of had in Texas. We stepped up to the to do that is by supporting the legisla- TV ads in Nevada. We all know that plate, and we took care of that. We tion before us that actually does those the National Rifle Association was were happy to do that in Louisiana. things. really good at direct mailing. They This will not be the reason I will not This 10-week funding bill need not be, raised that money from their members. support this legislation, but I think as some Democratic leaders seem to That is not how it works now. Most of Louisiana deserved more than what is wish, some titanic struggle for the the NRA money comes from the Koch in this bill. The emergency declaration ages. It is just a 10-week funding bill. It brothers. We are fortunate there are for them is $2.8 billion, and in this bill is hard to believe Democrats would not two Trumps. That is the dark there is $500 million, and they will get really be willing to hold up this com- money we are talking about. Those ads most of that. A little bit will go to monsense package and its critical re- will say NRA, but it is not NRA money. West Virginia, and some—a little bit, even less—will go to Maryland. It will sources to address Zika, the heroin and The ads will say the Chamber of Com- be distributed on a proportionate basis. prescription opioid epidemic, and merce, but it is not Chamber of Com- But couldn’t they help Flint? floods. merce money. It is all Koch money. It is how it works with the dark money, Here was the response of the junior The clean CR-Zika package before us Senator from Louisiana: That is some- is fair.