vote:

the presiding officer: does any senator wish to vote or change his or her vote? if not, the vote is 53 yeas, 45 nays. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table. the president shall be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate will resume legislative session. under the previous order, the chair lays before the senate the conference report to accompany h.r. 3080 which the clerk will report. the clerk: conference report, the committee of conference on the disdwreag votes of the two houses on the amendment of the senate 0 the bill h.r. 3080 to provide for amendments for rivers and harbors and water and related resources and for other purposes, having met have agreed the house recede from its amendment and agree to the aim with an amendment and the senate

agree to the same signed by a majority of conferees on the part of both houses. a senator: madam president? madam president? madam president? the presiding officer: under the previous order, there are two minutes equally divided prior to a vote on the adoption of the conference report. mrs. boxer: madam president, can we have order. can we have order. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. mrs. boxer: colleagues, i'm going to take 25 seconds. this is a great day for the united states senate. for every single member in this body and our states, for jobs, for business, for ecosystem restoration, for our oceans. it's a great bill. and i hope we will have a great vote on this bill, senator vitter and i agree and i would yield my remaining time to him. mr. vitter: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. vitter: i urge a yes vote also. this is a strong bipartisan bill.

only four no votes in the house. a strong, positive editorial in "the wall street journal." vote for infrastructure and jobs. the presiding officer: if theree is no further debate, the question is on the conference report to accompany h.r. 3080. is there a sufficient second? the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or wishing to change a vote? if not, the yeas are 91, the nays are 7. the conference report is agreed to. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of health and human services, richard g. frank of massachusetts to be assistant secretary. the presiding officer: under the previous order, there will be two minutes of debate, equally

divided in the usual form. the senator from delaware. mr. coons: i ask unanimous consent to yield back all remaining time on both sides. the presiding officer: without objection. the question occurs on the franken nomination. all in favor say aye. all those opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table. the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action, and the senate will resume legislative session. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: madam president, i wanted to speak briefly on three topics this afternoon. human trafficking, the terrorist attack at fort hood, texas in 2009 and finally on the way that the senate has become a killing ground for good ideas

because of the practices of the majority leader. starting with human trafficking, we know that while slavery was formally abolished in the united states years ago, it continues today in the form of human trafficking. tragically, too many children are victims of modern-day slavery. literally tens of thousands right here in america. that's why in recent years i've joined with colleagues on both sides of the aisle -- obviously this is not a political or partisan issue -- but we've worked together in a bipartisan way to introduce a series of bills aimed at accomplishing three things. number one, shedding light on this tragic reality. most people in their communities around the country aren't even aware of the scourge of human trafficking happening right under their nose. secondly, we've tried to do everything we can to save children, minors, from the sex

trade. and third, we've tried hard to bring these traffickers to justice. i was proud to be one of the cosponsors of the 2012 child protection act which gave law enforcement agencies better tools with which to protect children and apprehend criminals. more recently, i joined with the senior senator from oregon, senator wyden, the senior senator from minnesota, senator klobuchar, and the junior senator from illinois, mr. kirk, to introduce something we called the justice for victims of trafficking act. our bill would establish a domestic trafficking victims fund that doesn't come from tax dollars but rather from fees and fines paid by people who commit law enforcement offenses. it would allocate tens of millions of dollars, both to fight human trafficking and just as importantly, to help the victims get the sort of services

that they need in order to heal and to become productive citizens once again. it would also give law enforcement officials more tools to crack down on human trafficking, and the broader criminal networks that support them. it would streamline human trafficking task force investigations by giving investigators access to better technology and better cooperation between federal and state law enforcement partnerships. it would allow law enforcement officials to prosecute each and every member of a human trafficking organization as opposed to merely the on-the-ground managers, and it would increase the penalties for criminals who prey on children through sex slavery. it would improve the availability of restitution and witness assistance for trafficking victims by allowing for a larger portion of forfeited federal criminal assets to go directly to the victims. just to be clear, as i said a

moment ago, this bill would be funded by the fines imposed on the people who commit the crimes of child pornography, child prostitution, sexual exploitation, human trafficking, and commercial human smuggling offenses at the federal level and it would not increase the federal deficit. earlier this week the house of representatives acted by passing its own version of the justice for victims trafficking act, and i would urge the majority leader and the chairman of the senate judiciary committee to bring the senate version up for a vote in the committee and on the tour of sentence taos possible. during a time when politics seems to pervade everything in washington, d.c. and we're approaching a midterm election where it seems so hard to do things that should be easy, this is one thing that we ought to be able to do together. i would also urge the majority

leader the to allow a vote on separate legislation that's already been approved by the house armed services committee. as an amendment to the defense authorization bill which is now introduced as an amendment which has been introduced as an amendment to the senate bill by my colleague, senator cruz from texas who sits on the armed services committee. the legislation i'm referring to i first introduced several years ago following the terrorist attack on american soil at fort hood, texas when major nadal hassan killed 13 people and injured dozens more. these individuals who lost their lives deserve the same sort of recognition on the field of battle as people who lost their lives in other parts of the world, perhaps overseas. the same benefits should be available to the families of those who survived terrorist attacks anywhere in the world. there's no doubt about the fact

that what happened at fort hood on november 5, 2009 was a terrorist attack. the shooter happened to be a lone wolf terrorist, happened to be an american citizen, happened to be a member of the united states army but it was also a radicalized islamist who reportedly exchanged at least 20 emails with the senior al qaeda member before committing this massacre. the al qaeda leader with whom he corresponded was somebody who has become since more notorious and even better known, a man named anwar al-awlaki. this was the person who maintained a relationship with the terrorist who tried to blow up the northwest airlines flight 253 on christmas day in 2009, less than two months after the fort hood attack. of course, as we know and we've just had a vote on one of the lawyers who wrote the memo that -- by which

president obama authorized 0 a -- a drone attack on anwar al-awlaki on september, 2011 overseas. there is no question the shooter believed he was acting on behalf of al qaeda. no one can deny he shouted in air bick before opening fire and no one can deny he described it as an act of jihad. just yesterday i had the chance to question f.b.i. director james comey and i asked him whether he agreed with the assessment of this incident as -- quote -- "workplace violence" which some had amazingly called this or whether he thought this was an al qaeda-inspired attack of terrorism here on american soil. and he made what i thought would have been the painfully obvious answer, that yes, it was a terrorist attack in 2009.

was the shooter a card-carrying member of al qaeda? well, i'm not sure exactly what that is. but to me that's the wrong question entirely. we have to remember that al qaeda leaders like alglaw you what heiry has called on his followers commit small-scale attacks exactly like the one that occurred at fort hood in 2009. we do know from the rich evidence that was discovered during the prosecution of major hassan that the fort hood shooter was most certainly a disciple of anwar al-awlaki. the awarding of purple hearts should not be tingt on gee og -- contingent on dejeeography. if an al qaeda inspired terrorist kills a group of our men and women overseas, it shouldn't be treated any differently than if they kill one of -- inspired terrorist kills members of our military

here at home as well. the soldiers who were killed or wounded at fort hood were casualties of a global war on terror, period, and they deserve to be treated as such by the united states government. they deserve the exact same recognition that the military victims of al qaeda's terrorist attack in new york on september 11, 2001, the same recognition they received. nothing more and nothing less. awarding them the purple heart is a matter of justice, a matter of honor and a matter of honesty. i want to just close this part of my remarks by saying the house of representatives have shown great leadership on these issues that should unite us, both on the human trafficking fronted and on the purple heart recognition i just mentioned. it's time now for the senate to follow suit, and i hope the majority leader will help us get

this legislation up, move it across the floor and pass it and send it to the president so he can sign it into law. madam president, on the third point i wanted to raise, i just cannot let the remarks of the majority leader this morning pass without comment. the remarks that majority leader harry reid made on the floor this morning about how the senate is being operated. the majority leader came to the floor this morning and called the legislative process a game, and he accused republicans of stalling important pieces of legislation like the 55 provisions of the tax extenders bill that died last week in the senate. but we need to be clear about exactly who is responsible and what's happening. this is the third time in two weeks that the majority leader has killed legislation that

enjoys broad bipartisan support. first, it was the energy efficiency bill. this is known as the shaheen-portman bill. the majority leader killed that piece of legislation when he refused any opportunity either for democrats or republicans to offer any amendments and get votes on those amendments. if he had simply done that, that legislation would be on its way to president obama today if not already signed into law. and then last week, we saw this -- these 55 expired or expiring tax provisions, some of which enjoy broad bipartisan support like the research and development tax credit, the deduction for state sales tax which is important to my state because income taxes paid at the state level are deducted from the federal income tax bill of people who live in those states that pay state income tax. so as a matter of fairness and parity, i support a number of the provisions in the tax

extenders bill. but when the majority leader brought it to the floor and he refused to allow any amendments whatsoever to this legislation, the minority, of which i am a member, had no choice but to stop that legislation in its tracks because that is the only leverage we had. to wake up the majority leader and say it's important for the minority and the people that we represent to have a voice in what happens here on the senate floor. our founding fathers decided that each state would get two senators, but when one of those senators or maybe both of those senators are in the minority party and if they are shut out of the legislative process entirely because all amendments and even constructive suggestions are denied, then my constituents, the 26 million people i represent in the state of texas, have been shut out of the process and denied the constitutional representation that they are guaranteed under

our founding documents. but there's a theme on these three bills that resulted in these bills killed by the majority leader, and that is the fact that the majority leader has since the 113th congress, his utter refusal to allow debate and votes on amendments by members of both parties, both parties. so while i'm not happy about the fact that my constituents have been shut out of this process, i would think that my democratic friends and constituents can't be happy about the fact that they have been shut out of the process as well. now, here's an amazing statistic. our democratic senators have introduced 676 amendments to bills on the floor since last

july. 676 amendments, not by the minority party but by the majority party that controls this body. do you know how many votes they got on democratic amendments? they got seven votes on democratic amendments since the beginning of the 113th congress. well, i'm not happy about the fact that republicans during that same period of time have filed hundreds of amendments, too. that used to be the way the senate worked. both parties participate. they represent their states, and we have full and open debate in the amendment process and then we vote. the majority rules and then bills get passed and sent to the president for signature, but no more under this majority leader, but during the same time frame while democrats only got seven roll call votes, the minority

got nine roll call votes since last july. so i find it a little ironic that both on the energy efficiency bill and the tax extenders bill, it was senate republicans who stood up not only for the right of minority party senators to get votes on amendments that they had filed but also for the right of our democratic colleagues in the majority party who basically have been frozen out of the process as well. it might be true that constituents back home in those states where democratic senators are elected would be asking the question, look, my question who i voted for, who i support is a member of the majority party, but you're telling me that they can't participate in the legislative process by offering good ideas to make legislation better and to get votes?

how ineffectual can you be? i just happen to know that from talking to many of my democratic colleagues that they're not happy about the process either, and it's not just about process. it's not just about the prerogatives of individual senators. this is about the constitutional guarantee of representation by two senators for each state and the rights of the minority to participate in the process and the people that i represent back home in texas being shut out of the process altogether. so the united states senate has become a virtual killing floor for good bipartisan ideas because of the way the majority leader has run the senate. and then there is what happened yesterday on the patent reform bill. i have been a member of the judiciary committee since the time i got to the senate, and we have been working very hard to try to deal with the problem of

patent trolls. patent trolls are a big problem in industries that you wouldn't even suspect, including real estate, restaurant, not to mention high tech, pharmaceutical manufacturers and the like. but what happens is people buy patents, not for the purpose of making something, not for the purpose of being productive, but for the purpose of having a basis upon which to file a lawsuit, and then they shake down small start-ups, the innovators, the people we're depending upon to create new products that will make our lives better, make us healthier, make us all live longer and help grow our economy, create jobs, these people are being snuffed out altogether or very much prejudiced in terms of their ability to grow because of all of this patent troll activity. so i have been working closely with the chairman of the

judiciary committee, senator leahy, who has been working hard on this issue. senator schumer, the senator from new york, a democrat. senator hatch who is a senior member of the judiciary committee, senator grassley from iowa who is the ranking republican on the judiciary committee. we were in a pretty good place yesterday where we thought as a result of hard negotiations and good bipartisan work that we were going to be in a position for the chairman of the judiciary committee to mark up and to vote on a patent reform bill in the senate judiciary committee this morning. only to be told last night that the majority leader basically killed that bill before it could even be acted on in the judiciary committee. so this is the third time in three weeks that the majority leader has basically been responsible for killing good bipartisan legislation. the energy efficiency bill, the tax extenders bill and now the

patent reform bill. it is the majority leader's imperial leadership where he is not just the floor leader for his party, he's not just the traffic cop for the senate, but he's the one who wants to pick and choose who gets to participate in the legislative process, and in the process he shut out not just republicans but democrats, too, and he's turned this institution that used to be known as the world's greatest deliberative body into a pale, pale imitation of what it used to be. i continue to hope, maybe because i'm an optimist by nature, that the majority leader will see the error of his ways and realize that he's not only hurting my constituents but he's hurting the constituents of every member of the united states senate by denying us an opportunity for an open legislative process where everyone's voice can be heard,

where the american people can watch and listen, where they can reach their own conclusions about the merits of each argument and where they can hold us accountable for how we vote. it's what elections are going to be about. so i hope someday the majority leader will change his attitude about an open legislative process and will help restore the senate's status as the world's greatest deliberative body. i predict that if he does not do that, that the voters may well do that in november by changing the majority's -- the hands of the majority from the democratic party to now the current minority party, and then things will change and this body will return to its status as the world's greatest deliberative body. madam president, i yield the floor.

a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. walsh: i served 33 years in the national guard. when i joined the guard, i swore an oath to defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies foreign and domestic, and i take a similar oath as a united states senator. former chief of staff of the united states army gordon sullivan famously wrote hope is not a method. i didn't come to congress to hope. i approach my work here with the lessons i learned in the military -- find solutions and work together to overcome challenges. unfortunately, that approach is not how things work in washington. too many people here don't care about solutions, and many ignore the problems.

there is no greater proof than climate change. here we are in 2014, almost 50 years after president johnson warned that by burning fossil fuels humanity is unwittingly conducting a vast geophysical experiment, and yet irresponsible leaders in washington pretend that climate change isn't real. they pretend that humans aren't causing it. they hope they can go along with the status quo. but montanans know better. here are the facts. carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are now higher than at any time in human history. the 12 hottest years on record have been in the last 15 years. the average temperature in montana is 2 and a half degrees higher than in 1900, and spring runoff now occurs one to four weeks earlier. in montana, climate change has contributed to the worst

mountain pine beetle epidemic in recorded history. the combination of mild weather and stressed trees has allowed beatles beetles to spread further and longer. their legacy is dead trees and then wildfire like we have never seen before. fire season is now 11 weeks longer than when i was a kid. the amount of forest that burns in the west has doubled. fires are burning longer and burning more trees each and every year. the best guess from america's scientists is that three to four times more forests will burn each year by the middle of this century, devastating rural communities that rely on timber and tourism. in 2000, i led the response of the montana national guard to the historic wildfires in montana. we activated over 1,800 of montana's soldiers and airmen. that year, about one million

acres of montana were burned, businesses and landowners lost over $3 million a day. suppressing wildfires now consumes up to 40% of the forest service budget. this is unsustainable. it reduces the agency's ability to fund other programs like hazardous fuel reduction and trail maintenance. in montana we have a saying that if you don't like the weather, stick around for an hour and it will change. but under climate change, it is changing across a wider range. rain is falling more intensely, increasing erosion and runoff. the trend of more frequent and more intense rainfall is likely to continue. heat waves and drought have also become more intense. what this all means for montana's ago is hard to predict -- agriculture is hard to re-- is hard to predict. our biggest industry faces a

uncertainty. as snow in the winter shifts to rain and extreme weather gets worse, it is becoming harder to run irrigation systems that were designed for the climate of 100 years ago. we saw one of the worst droughts in history hit montana farmers and ranchers in 2012. the year before, montana experienced a 500-year flood in the missouri river basin. across the great plains, the floods cost $2 billion in damage. across the nation, we are paying out of our nose for extreme weather and natural disasters, $110 billion in damages in 2012 alone p. climate change will also damage our tourism, which is montana's second-biggest industry. glacier national park itself is losing its namesake. it's ecosystem will change. it's cold water, which supports unique species and a strong

trout fishery, will no longer be fed by melting ice. the communities in the basin which rivered 70% of their water from gliesh sherr will also be impacted. so pack across the rockies has already decreased 20% by average since 1980. in parts of montana it may decrease by 50% in my lifetime. less snow means fewer jobs. skiing and snowboarding contribute $265 million to the montana economy. during most snowfall winters, montana's ski resorts lost $16 million in revenue compared to heavy-snow years. warmer temperatures also harm hunting, fishing and are becoming -- our booming outdoor industry, which supports more than 64,000 jobs and attracts 11 million visitors to montana each

year. warmer streams and fewer trout translate to a a direct reduction in montana jobs. stream closures in recent years because of warm water are the first proof of this threat. nearly 50% of habitat for bold trout and cut-throat cut could be lost in this century. big game species face similar threats with the warmer climate. rural communities across montana are especially vulnerable to climate change. many of them rely on single sectors tied to the land, from tim abouter to grain and are let apt to change t adopt it a chang economy. my home tossen butte was once known as the richest on earth. the copper mine helped us win world war ii but today it is part of the largest senior fund site in america including the berkeley pit. mining continues to be an important industry in montana

and butte still churns out copper that is used around the world. fortunately, butte has also diversified. it now has good-paying jobs in manufacturing and aerospace. one lesson i took from growing up there is that we can't afford another berkeley pit anywhere. and climate change is the equivalent of a berkeley pit. ignore first and ask questions later. and montanans understand the dilemma that we are faced with. our history is a history of resource development, from beaver trapping to gold rush, copper mining to railroads, and the open range. the homestead movement to the timber and phos l fuel booms, but along with the booms came a lot of busts. in montana, we've had to spend tons of money on fixing our past mistakes. over $1.5 billion has been spent at our superfund sites alone.

each year we spend another $^+13 million to clean up abandoned mine lands. if only our resources had been developed the right way the first time, all that money could have been spent on things like drinking water or better roads or lower student loans or researching cures for disease. i know there are no easy solutions to the challenges that we face today. today 82% of energy used in the united states comes from fossil fuels. i'm proud to represent a state with more than $1 .6 billion of investment in wind energy since 2005. we newable energy does have a bright future. a 2009 study ranked montana's wind resources as the second-best in the nation. montana also has the potential for solar energy and is one of only 13 states with the potential to produce commercial geothermal energy. renewables including wind are

not always the right answer. our current power grid has real physical limitations. i will continue supporting renewable energy and upgrades to the grid because we need to reduce our carbon emissions. but we cannot ignore today' tods realities. look at me standing here. i flew here on plane that burned jet fuel. i'm wearing cotton, and i eat wheat and corn, all of which depend on fertilizers. we're irrigating using power from coal and natural gas, and we're transported by diesel. i'm speaking into a microphone and a cram that need electricity. in the united states, in the year 2014, we either dig up or pipe up 5/6 of our entire energy. i couldn't do my job and visit montanans without fossil fuels, and i understand that. and many of them wouldn't have jobs either. montana is one of about a dozen states that is a net exporter of energy.

the oil and gas industry directly employ over 4,000 workers. our unemployment rate in montana is currently at 4.8%, in part because of the good jobs in the bakken. we have over 2,000 workers involved directly in the coal industry, from mining it to burning it to maintaining the boilers that burn it. coal alone is responsible for over $100 million of revenue each year to the state and local economies. i don't agree with some people who want to just pull the plug on coal. the u.s. porns only 11 -- burns only 11% of the coal consumed globally each year. the less we invest in cleaning up coal, the less likely we are to make a dent in climate change. we cannot just take our ball and go home. that simply outsources our pollution problem to countries like china. i know firsthand the value of domestic energy. in 2004 and 2005, i led the largest deployment of montana men and women to war in more

than 60 years. more than 00 of montana's finest went with me. some of them didn't return home with me. some of them returned severely injured. the debate leading up to the war focused on weapons of mass destruction. and the connection of saddam hussein to the war on terrorism. but since world war ii, our strategic interests in the middle east has been oil. our dependence on foreign oil should never again be a reason for war. i don't want countries forced to make military decisions or to be tempted to put soldiers on the ground because they are afraid the economies will freeze up without energy from other countries. that means i want more oil responsibly produced huer in the united states from places like the bakken. it means i support a place like the keystone pipeline which will make us more energy-security which ensures precautions are guaranteed t for pipeline

sciewmplet private industry has already provided part of the solution. access to tight oil and gas has made us energy-secure. the trend is in the right direction. less hasn't half of the oil consumed by americans now comes from other countries. and yet even if we continue to increase domestic production, displacing foreign oil, we are still exposed aes a country to two risks: first, oil remains a necessary ingredient in our economy. and, second, the oil market continues to be a global country, exposing you exposing e swings that can harm our own economy. in addition to more domestic oil production, we need to diversify our transportation fuels. the growth of advanced biofuels in america is the way to do that. i support diversifying our fuel sources by developing homegrown alternatives like biodiesel and jet fuel and ethanol from wheat

and barley in order to reduce demand for foreign oil. i also support the military's investment in renewable energy. the impacts of climate change also have a strong national security connection. a a direct link has been found between climate change and national security threats like terrorism. climate change is a threat multiplier. higher sea levels and extreme sea level increase poverty, humanitarian crisis and political instability. i know what political instability abroad can mean. can ca it can mean our service members, sons and daughters, will be put in harm's way inured in order to protect our way of life. as a veteran and someone who swore an edge to this country, niece impacts concern me, that they make us less safe. today despite all the evidence that climate change is harming us and will hurt our children and grandchildren even more, we

seem stuck. congress is handcuffed by folks who have their heads in the sand. instead of taking responsibility to some o solve this problem, te choosing to ignore it. the clean air act has helped americans tackle pollution for over 40 years, because it was written to last. the supreme court has spoken and the law is clear, but using a section of a law drafted when the beatles were still recording is not the way to tackle climate change. given how much our understanding has evolved since then on pollution control, 97% of climate scientists agree that climate change is a human-caused problem, and in the military, 97% is about as certain as a mission can get. but that's not good enough here in washington. climate change is another example of why washington is broken. we have an agency writing regulations with enormous impacts on all montanans using congressional directions written

when i was a child. we have an agency trying to put out a fire with a trough. i am committed to putting the fire out because we cannot afford inaction. i would prefer to use the right tool for that job. yet, washington is so broken that the alternative is to do nothing. plan b is repeal. plan b ignores reality. and i cannot accept that. i will be watching the e.p.a.'s clean air act regulations closely to keep agencies accountable -- to keep the agency accountable to montanans and make any final rules workable for montana. but members of congress should be taking responsibility and upholding the oaths we all swore to. we should agree that climate change is a clear enemy and take steps to stop it. i strongly support a bigger investment in securing a responsible future for coal dch

ta--tax credits, loans, loan guarantees and grants for carbon capture as well as sequestration. i have cosponsored bills and signed letters. i pressed senators to maintain existing incentives for coal. coal does have a future. but it needs to lower its emissions. montana is already leading the way with cutting-edge research in carbon sequestration. beyond fossil fuels, our forests are a carbon sink ar sorbing about 12% of greenhouse gases each year. more active management, especially under the new farm bill authority to address beetle-killed forests, is critical. given the biogenic emissions we'll write on the largest possible geographic scale is critical for forests to continue absorbing co2 emissions sms i support other energy options to

reduce carbon emissions including reducing energy demand overold and retrofitting nonpowered downs. whatever the rule the e.p.a. proposes under the clean air act for existing power plants, montana and other states must take the lead in implementation. the united states has always led the way with incentives -- innovative technology, from the first oil wells and nuclear reactors, to the first solar cells. in fact, access to tight natural gas formations in the last decade has already helped lower our energy-related carbon dioxide by 10%. i am confident that america can innovate our way to solutions while creating job-paying jobs and new technology. but as a first step, we cannot put our heads in the sand and continue with business as usual. the reason is simple. if we continue with business as

usual, the people left with the mess will be the next generation. the people left taking responsibility for our emissions will be my granddaughter kennedy and all of our grand chin. if we don't act now, kennedy will grow up in a montana that burns every summer. she won't be able to fly fish because the rivers are too hot for trout. kennedy will have to explain to her kids what glaciers were. when i took office, i swore an oath to make the right choice, and i am committed to solving climate change for kennedy and for future generations. thank you. i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. chambliss: madam president, is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: it is. mr. chambliss: are we in morning business? the presiding officer: we're in a quorum call. mr. chambliss: i would ask that the quorum call be rescinded, please, and i be allowed to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. chambliss: madam president, today the senate passed the water resources and development act. it is -- it has been too long since we addressed those issues. i want to applaud senator boxer and ranking member vitter for their diligent work and unswerving commitment to making this bill a reality. the fact that an infrastructure bill of this magnitude can be passed without earmarks and with

a balance of reforms and authorizations for critical projects is a testament to good leadership and a desire by members of congress on both sides of the capitol to better our nation. one of the projects this bill advances is crucial to not only my state of georgia but to the entire country. madam president, passage of this bill with the enhanced authorization it contains for the savannah harbor expansion project will be the culmination of years of work by the state of georgia and projects stakeholders in my entire time serving in the georgia congressional delegation. madam president, the idea to expand the port at savannah was in its infancy when i first came to congress in 1994. the port of savannah had just been deepened and we realized then that it wasn't enough. more and bigger ships were coming in, and in 1996 a reconnaissance study was

authorized to determine whether the port should be deepened even further. while the need to deepen the channel to accommodate larger ships has been a constant issue, the port itself has been able to operate and grow through their own innovation, georgia ingenuity at its best. in fact, between 2000 and 2005, the port of savannah was recognized as the fastest-growing seaport in the country. the port continues to grow and is consistently breaking its own records. but in 2006, the panama canal expansion was approved by a national referendum in panama, officially kicking off the race in savannah to get this project under construction. the people of georgia told us this project needs to happen. all levels of the government, local, state and federal, from all political persuasions have agreed and have given their utmost to this project.

it has been my number-one economic project for georgia the entire time i have been in office. the wrrda bill in 1999 gave the authorization to expand the port. and while there were cheers all around from those of us in the congressional delegation, little did we know of the tremendous battles yet to come. all the way until the president, every step has been a struggle. we have jumped 15 years of hurdles just to bring this project to fruition. madam president, i even recall one instance where we thought we had things taken care of from the stained point of all the mitigation that needed to be done, and then all of a sudden we found out that because this particular port is located on the savannah river, in the city of augusta 136 miles upstream is

also located on the savannah river, that there was an endangered species in the water that needed to be protected. we then had to go back, have another study done. and after months and months, we finally came up with a fish ladder project that was to be installed in augusta, 136 miles north of the savannah port. we got that done. we still may face more obstacles as we guide this project to completion, but the fact remains, madam president, that for every $1 invested in the project, the nation will see a nearly $6 return. for georgia, the value of ship is almost immeasurable. the port already supports some 300,000 jobs across our state. and when post pana-x vehicles start rolling into savannah, the economic interests will increase

dramatically. georgia has always been a great place to do business and a big reason is that we've had strong leadership at state level. leaders who understand that making investments in economic development projects can give great returns. in this case, the port of savannah is an epi center of worldwide commercial traffic. the imports and exports associated with this port expansion means that jobs will be created not only in my home state, but all throughout the country. madam president, congress has once again agreed with us that it is a vital project for our country. now that we have completed our work, it is imperative that the administration carry through with its commitments. the project partnership agreement, which is a document that details the construction plans for a corps of engineers project, needs to be finalized and signed immediately. i have complete faith in the ability of the corps and the

georgia port authority to get that project finished as soon as possible based on their commitments to senator isakson and myself. we didn't close the book on this project today, but we did jump forward by several chapters. ensuring the appropriate language was included in this bill to move ship forward and voting today for this bill have been the highlight of my final year in congress and represent the culmination of years of work by myself, senator isakson, as well as many, many others. i want to state once more my thanks to chairwoman boxer and ranking member vitter for working with us on this matter. their tireless efforts have done more for this country and for georgia than they may realize. the work of those senators and their staffs as well as the work of chairman shuster and ranking member rahall on the house side

and their staffs will be felt by those on rivers, lakes, barge operators, commercial and recreational boaters, cities, counties and states, by 9/11 this country that uses and -- by everyone in this country that uses and consumes water. this bill represents the fulfillment of a commitment i made to my constituents. i look forward to the day when i am in savannah seeing a big shovel go under water to start deepening that port once again. madam president, i would ask that a quorum call be called. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: madam president, i ask the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. casey: and i'd ask consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. casey: thank you, madam president. i rise this afternoon to speak about the impact of this week's announcement that members of china's people's liberation army hacked into the computer systems owned by pennsylvania companies to steal trade secrets on our trade policy. as we all know, a grand jury in pittsburgh indicted five individuals for hacking into several companies' computers in a -- and a labor organization in western pennsylvania, the united states -- the steel workers. the companies included westinghouse electric, alcoa, u.s. steel, and as i mentioned, the steel workers. the union.

according to reports, the individuals in the indictment are accused of stealing trade secrets to benefit chinese industry which is heavily sponsored by the chinese government. this is just the latest example of the unlevel playing field that our domestic firms are subjected to. just to give you an example, in pennsylvania, like many areas around the united states, pennsylvanians are experiencing an energy revenue displawns, principally natural gas. for the steel industry it means the opportunity to sell a lot of pipe to natural gas drilling sites. our foreign competitors also see this opportunity and have responded by aggressively pursuing our market. this competition is expected and would be okay if -- if -- it was fair.

and, of course, in this instance, it is not. enact our domestic steel industry is facing a new crisis. after successfully beating back unfair competition from the chinese, our domestic producers are facing a surge of imports from around the globe. according to a recent report by the economic policy institute, domestic steel imports increased by almost 13% from 2011 to 2015. -- 2013. without action we stand a lose a half a million jobs around the united states in some 35,000 in pennsylvania alone. just from this action, just from them flooding our markets in a way that's illegal and unfair. half a million jobs could be lost in our country. we can't afford to send these good-paying jobs overseas. we should act to level the playing field for our domestic

steel industry by enforcing aggressively enforcing our trade laws and providing essential relief to this critical industry. for too long unfair trade practices and economic policies have cost jobs in the commonwealth of pennsylvania and across the country. i'll return now to the recent indictment i mentioned at the outset of my remarks. this move is further evidence of china's anticompetitive trade practices. that what i just said is an understatement. these trade practices have taken a dramatic toll on pennsylvania businesses and pose a threat to our national security. the obama administration has taken steps to crack down on china, but we must also pursue congressional action. we know that currency manipulation continues to take a huge toll on u.s. businesses. last congress, the senate passed a tough bill to help level the playing field for our

companies by holding countries that undervalue their currency accountable. the house failed to take up this important bill. we must take action on this. i'm an original cosponsor of the currency exchange rate oversight reform act of 2013. i'd like to call on all senators to turn our attention to this bill to send a strong message to the chinese government that you cannot continue to cheat our companies. when china cheats, we lose jobs. it is that simple. and the evidence is overwhelming. our bipartisan bill will help american manufacturers and workers by clarifying that our trade enforcement laws can and should be used to address currency undervaluation. more broadly, the bill would improve oversight by establishing objective criteria to identify misaligned currency

his. -- currencies and would impose tough consequences for offenders. i believe strongly that before proceeding ahead with our busy trait-trade agenda as some might want to do and passing additional trade agreements or fast track legislation, we should take a close look at our trade enforcement policies first, including aggressively addressing currency manipulation. pennsylvania companies are some of the best in the world, and i'm committed to cracking down on unfair trade practices that hurt their ability to compete. madam president, i would yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. hatch: madam president? the presiding officer: the senior senator from utah. mr. hatch: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. hatch: and, madam president,

i ask unanimous consent that i be permitted to finish this speech. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. hatch: thank you so much. madam president, i rise today to speak about our nation's first freedom, religious liberty. last week, a court in sudan sentenced a woman to death for converting from islam to christianity and gave her just days to recant. sadly, this sort of tragic oppression is common across the globe. the pew research center says that 3/4 of the world's people live where restrictions on religion are high or very high and that religious hostilities have been increasing for years. in the last ten years, the number of countries on the commission on international religious freedom's watch list has grown by 150%. simply put, religious freedom is increasingly in peril around the globe. madam president, when compared to the rest of the world, some might think that religious liberty in america is alive and

well, but in truth, basic religious freedom is under attack here at home. professor thomas bird writes that -- quote -- "establishing freedom of religion is both constitutional principle and social reality is among america's greatest contributions to the world." unquote. but we have to ask ourselves whether meaningful religious liberty is still such a reality in american society and whether our nation is still making that essential contribution to a world that needs it now more than ever. hundreds of books, studies, papers, articles and court decisions have explored various aspects, nuances and implications of religious freedom. in the coming days and weeks, i will explore some of these issues in greater detail. today i wish to speak about the definition and importance of religious freedom in america as seen both in history and on -- and in four important documents. madam president,

for 170 years, one religious society after another came to america so that they could live their faith -- puritans, congregationalists, roman catholics, quakers, baptists and methodists have all found refuge in the british colonies by the time the united states was born. roger williams founded rhode island as a haven for religious dissenters. william penn established in the colony that bears his name. religious freedom in america has been freedom not only in belief but also of behavior. in addition to our nation's early heritage, four key documents established the same understanding of religious freedom as encompassing both relief -- belief, excuse me, and behavior in both private and public spheres. the first d