quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

ms. heitkamp: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. ms. heitkamp: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. heitkamp: mr. president i rise today again to speak about and honor our nation's and north dakota's vietnam veterans and specifically these brave service members who gave the ultimate sacrifice through doing this honoring through my continuing series of floor speeches.

we are in the midst of a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the vietnam war. this special period of honoring our vietnam veterans runs through 2025. i've partnered with students from bismarck high school in researching these soldiers and once again i want to thank their instructors r laurie fortie, sarah reenis and allison wendell for coordinating this project and sharing students research with my office. last month i visited these students and was so impressed with their commitment to this project, so i want to say thank you again to the bismarck high 11th graders and their teachers for helping us gather important information about the lives of these service members. this week i'm especially happy to be able to include information they helped to find out about the lives of tom a der son and john tingly. i'm grateful to my friend jim nelson a vietnam veteran who is dedicated to making sure each of

these soldiers immediate relatives receives a gold star pin and certificate. i was happy to be a part of the ceremony in honoring these soldiers and their families. through this effort i hope to make sure our nation never forgets the needs of our vietnam veterans and the sacrifices of those who fell in service to our country. 198 sons of north dakota did not make it home from the vietnam war. 198 sons of north dakota gave their lives for their country and their state. today i'm honored to tell you about a few of them. first, clifton cliff cushman. cliff was from grand forks born on june 2 1938. he served in the air force 469th tactical fighter squadron. cliff was 28 years old when he went missing september 25, 1966. cliff left behind his widow carolyn and their son colin born just days before cliff

learned that he would be deployed to vietnam. colin was nine months old when cliff left for vietnam. everyone in grand forks nose the name of cushman because cliff was a standout athlete in the 1966 olympics in the hurdles. grand forks named the football stadium after cliff. grand forks kids are still inspired annually by the reading of the 1964 letter cliff wrote to students about effort after he fell while attempting to qualify for the 1964 olympics. this is a quote from cliff's letter: "i would much rather fail knowing i had put forth an honest effort than never to have tried at all." later in the same letter cliff wrote, "unless your reach exceeds your grasp how will you ever know what you can attain?" i want to talk about thomas

alderson. tom was from grand forks born september 9 1941. he served as a captain in the army 56 medical company. he died october 3 1968, at the age of 27. he survived by his wife, mother, brother and two sisters. tom was an army dental officer in the vietnam dental corps. his father-in-law was his commanding officer. in high school he was an honor student and lettered in basketball track and tennis. he attended the university of north dakota and the university of minnesota where he earned his dental degree in 1966. in vietnam tom was in charge of several dental offices which required travel throughout the country. tom's driver in vietnam wrote the family a letter explaining that even as a dentist tom was ducking mortars all day long during his service. next ray cramer.

ray was in new salem and he was born december 31, 1946. he served in the army first infantry division. ray died on february 2 1968. he was 21 years old. ray was the sixth of nine children. his brother cecil also served in the army. ray's nephew, cody, is very proud of uncle ray's service. ray grew up on the farm where his family raised grain and dairy cows. he was an honor student at new salem high school and later worked as a dedicated carpenter. ray's sister beverly remembers that ray's dog loved him so much that he slept under ray's car while ray was in vietnam. after ray was killed in action, his parents left the farm and moved to town. his sister took ray's dog to her farm ten miles away, but the dog ran all the way back home to wait for ray under his car. ronald christie goodiron.

christie was from shields and was born december 23, 1947. he served in the marine corps third tbat tall i don't know -- third battalion. christie was 20 years old when he died february 28, 196. his father paul goodiron served in world war 1 rand was a code talker. christie's close cousin paul goodiron also served in vietnam. unfortunately, paul unexpectedly died last month. paul's son corporal nathan goodiron was also killed in action in 2006 serving his country in the u.s. army national guard in afghanistan. christie's family remembers him as smiling all the time. today they honor him at palos by raising the american flag that they received when he died and singing the vietnam warrior's song to honor christie. christie's family appreciates

reading what his fellow marines wrote about their memories serving with him and the account of what happened the day he died. major ronald bond, ronald was from fargo and was born on july 30 1930. he served in the air force 604th air commando squadron. he was 37 years old when he went missing may 11, 1968. ron was the oldest of six kids and the first in his family to attend college. ron's family remembers him as an adventuresome spirit. he loved hunting fishing kassig water kassig and competitive sailing with his wife. ron's military career began as a naval rotc cadet in his first year at north dakota state university. he served in the naval reserves and enlisted in the air force.

despite an accident that injured his spine he flew many more missions until he was killed in action in vietnam. his body has never been recovered. gary locke 13 in was from -- gary lockein was from bowman. he served in the army reserves engineering c.m.d. he was 26 years old when he died on april 10, 1968. gary left behind his widow paige, and infant twins a boy and a girl. the twins were ten days old when gary left for basic training. gary was a medical doctor who studied in north dakota and texas. he completed his medical internship in hawaii and planned to return there with his family to live after his service. six months after arriving in vietnam, gary was killed while transporting patients when his vehicle hit a land mine. his twins both entered the medical field.

his son is a histology technician and his daughter today a medical doctor. william bill ekis. bill was from beach. he was born on september 20, 1940. he served in the navy as a petty officer first class journalist. bill died march 10, 1967. he was 26 years old. bill was the oldest of seven children. his father was an army sergeant in world war ii. bill was a well-known football player for beache high school. he was on his second tour of duty in the navy as a journalist when his aircraft carrier was crashed in south vietnam. he previously wrote for stars and stripes and while he was stationed in sicily and iceland. bill's sister, closer in age margo, remembers him as an intelligent, determined person

whose plan was to come home and have a career in the foreign service. john ellison jerome was from walcot and was born on april 3 1946. he served in the army, 196th infantry brigade. jerome died on january 10, 1968. he was 20 years old. he was the fifth of seven children. jerome's oldest daughter maggie remembers him as having a unique love of life, a great oldest sister -- excuse me -- margie remembers him as having a unique love of life, great story teller and everyone's friends. margie tells about how jerome would often give his family side aches, would give his family sideaches because jerome made them laugh so much on long car trips. jerome didn't say goodbye to anyone when he left for vietnam.

his family was told that he was the last survivor of his unit, that he manned the radio until his death. chester skip coons. chester was from bismarck. he was born march 29, 1936. he served in the navy observation squadron 67. he was 31 years old on february 17 1968, when he went missing. skip and his two brothers, larry and ronald, all served in the navy. their mother elsie still lives in bismarck and is 95 years old. skip left behind two young daughters who are thankful to meet fellow sky sailors of their old dad's unit -- of their dad's old unit. skip had planned to make a career out of the military. in high school, he joined the north dakota national guard. then he joined the air force for three years and later joined the navy as a pilot. he was on his third tour of duty in vietnam when his plane was

shot down on a reconnaissance mission over laos. in 1993 his remains were finally recovered. richard berringrude. he was born on november 24, 1946. he served in the army 12th infantry regiment. richard died on june 9 1969. he was 22 years old. richard loved softball and playing basketball until high school. richard's father still lives in fargo and his family remembers the letters he sent home describing having been in a swamp which was the first kind of bath he received in a week. richard was an expert rifle man and was killed when he went ahead of his armored unit to help clear the way. brent spinn was from harwood and went to high school in west fargo. he was born october 25, 1951.

he was 18 years old when he died september 7 1970. brent's father also served in the army in world war ii. brent's older brother bruce a marine served two tours of duty in vietnam. brent's sister jean and elva remember brent as befriending everyone being the life of the party and having a great sense of humor and wit. brent's sister cherish one family picture in particular. their older brother bruce was wearing his marine uniform. before taking the picture brent disappeared. he returned wearing his dad's old world war ii army uniform and the family took the picture with both boys in uniform. having an older brother serve in vietnam, brent could have waived out of the his own service but he was eager to serve his country and enlist while in high school. lately -- shortly before he died brent wrote this poem that he mailed to his parents. i think of my buddy i was talking to yesterday. now he's lying on the ground not

far away. they say he's dead but i hope it's not true. and if it is to ease my tears i'll think of you. i looked down at his body and began to cry. i turned to the clouds and asked god why. i wait awhile but no answer comes. only the unceasing falling rain. i want to thank brent's sister jean craft for participating in this project. jean joined me recently in a visit to the bismarck high school, sharing her own family's stories and encouraging these students to reach out to families and to learn about the lives of these young men that we lost in vietnam. she is among by very favorite people and a hero herself. peter was from new england peter vinstock. he was born may 5 1947. he served in the army as an armored recon specialist. he died january 3 1969. he was 21 years old.

peter was the oldest of 11 children. his family had eight girls and three boys. peter planned on taking over the family storm when he returned from vietnam. his sister rose remembers peter as always being in good spirits. while he was in vietnam, he was fondly called big pete because he was 6'3" and very strong. he was promoted to corporal after his death. ronald cant. ronald was from page. he was born april 21, 1943. he served in the army 25th infantry division. he was 23 years old when he died on january 20, 1967. ronald was one of eight children. his family remembers him as a fearless man. he was small in stature but big in spirit. his sister candace remembers that ronald loved the outdoors and that he had the ability to talk his nieces and nephews into

anything, including cleaning his car. a few years ago ronald's brother steven spoke to the young man who carried ronald's body back to the base after he was killed. after hearing the description of that day steven knows that in those final moments all that ronald was thinking about was saving his brothers in arm. ward evans. ward was from harwood. he was born february 22 1940. he served in the army fifth infantry division. he died on february 8, 1969. he was 28 years old. ward was the youngest of five children. his family remembers him as someone who was always ready to help others. his sister mary ann remembers that when he came home from vietnam on break that he seemed sad, that the war had gotten to him, but he went back to complete his duty. on february 8, 1969, almost all

the men near ward were killed. when the chopper came back to pick up the survivors ward demanded on staying behind in order to rescue three men who were still alive but also wounded. while tending to the injured soldiers, ward stepped on a land mine. ward's nephew mark is so proud of him and will always remember ward as a man who did what was right no matter what the personal cost. john tingley was from katherine. he was born on august 19 1946. he served in the army 128th aviation company. he was 21 years old at the time of his death january 10, 1968. john was one of six children born in eight years. john's sister mary remembers someone -- john as someone who did it all. he played the trombone in band. he sang in the choir. he was a member of the 4-h and

played sports. he had a photographic memory and his sister knew he would have had an enormously bright future. in vietnam john was a helicopter gunner crew chief. the day he was killed, john's helicopter was responding to a helicopter that had just gone down. while they were going to assist the soldiers in the crash, he was shot and killed. all of these young men serving their country serving each other remind us of the sacrifice that we have experienced in war. they remind us that there are so many among us who will run to the sound of the guns and protect our freedom and we cannot let their sacrifice ever be forgotten. thank you mr. president. i yield the floor. i note the absence of a quorum.

the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: mr. president we are continuing to make progress on the bipartisan antitrafficking bill. senator cornyn is working with chairman grassley and senators on both sides of the aisle to resolve the remaining issues. it's my hope that we'll be able to go through an orderly

amendment process and pass a trafficking bill early next week. the senate would then consider the lynch nomination through the regular order as i have already committed to doing followed by a consideration of the iran bill as reported unanimously by the foreign relations committee earlier this week. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority leader with the concurrence of the democratic leader, the senate proceed to vote on the motion to proceed to calendar 30 h.r. 1191, and that if the motion to proceed is agreed to, senator corker or his designee be recognized to offer a substitute amendment that is the text of s. 615 as reported by

the foreign relations committee. the presiding officer: without objection -- is there objection? mr. reid: mr. president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. reid: i reserve my right to object and would say that the work done by senators murray all the judiciary committee led by senator leahy and of course senator klobuchar working with senator cornyn, significant progress has been made. there is no question in that regard but we're not there yet. i remember we got into a problem with this initially because of the language in the bill, so every word is going to have to be read with this new language that we have drawn up, and then we'll see if we can make it to the finish line. i think we can but we're certainly not there yet but progress has been made. mr. president, i know that in my reservation to object, i would say that i note that the agreement that the majority leader propounded is seeking to

move to a house revenue bill which, of course, would provide a vehicle for the foreign relations reported iran legislation. i support the committee-reported iran legislation. i commend senators cardin and corker for their historic work on this package but i do open that the senate can pass it with no changes. but i note that the majority leader is once again choosing not to move to the nomination on lynch as attorney general. it's been more than five months since -- it will be six months or a week and ten days since president obama nominated her. her nomination has been on the senate calendar for 49 days, longer than the last seven attorney generals combined. so i ask whether the majority leader would modify his consent request to add this, that there be two hours of debate divided in the usual form, that

following the yielding back of that time the senate proceed to vote on the nomination. further, that the nomination is confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table with no intervening action or debate, that no further motion be in order to the nomination and that the president be immediately notified. however, mr. president part of the consent agreement is that on monday april 20 -- april 20 at 3:30 the senate proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 21. the presiding officer: does the majority leader so modify his request? mr. mcconnell: mr. president, i have indicated gosh, at least for six weeks now we're going to deal with the lynch nomination right after we finish trafficking. i'm optimistic that we'll be able to do trafficking in one day that there are not a huge demand for amendments, and as i have assured my friend the

democratic leader and our colleagues, we are -- then we'll move forward on the nominee for attorney general. so therefore i would object to the modification. mr. reid: mr. president. the presiding officer: objection to the modification is heard. mr. reid: thank you mr. president. continuing my reservation as the majority leader is well aware, procedurally the senate provides many opportunities for delay. we're not going to treat the current majority as poorly as the republican minority treated us when we were in the majority, and i'm not going to object to the majority leader's consent today. however, i want everyone to know i'm going to serve notice right now that miss lynch's nomination will not remain in purgatory forever. so i withdraw my objection. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president i ask unanimous consent the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that on monday, april 20 at 5:00 p.m. the senate proceed to executive session to consider executive calendar number 24, that there be 30 minutes for debate equally divided in the usual form. that upon the use or yielding back of time, the senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on the nomination and that following disposition of the nomination, the motion to reconsider be made and laid upon the table no further motion be in order to the nomination, that any statements related to the nomination be printed in the record that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: now mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate now proceed to the en bloc consideration of

the following senate resolutions which were submitted earlier today -- s. res. 137 and s. res. 138. the presiding officer: without objection, the clerk shall report the resolutions en bloc. the clerk: senate resolution 137, congratulating the administration staff students and alumni of roosevelt university on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the university. s. res. 138 congratulating the providence college men's ice hockey team for winning the 2015 ncaa division one national championship. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. mcconnell: now mr. president, i understand there are five bills at the desk and i ask for their first reading en bloc. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the titles of the bill

for the first time en bloc. the clerk: h.r. 636 an act to amend the internal revenue code of 1986, and so forth and for other purposes. h.r. 644 an act to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 to permanently extend and expand the charitable deduction for contributions of food inventory. h.r. 1296, an act to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 to improve the process for making determinations with respect to whether organizations are exempt from taxation, and so forth and for other purposes. h.r. 1314, an act to amend the internal revenue code of 1986, and so forth and for other purposes. s. 984 a bill to amend title 18 of the social security act to provide medicare beneficiary access to i-traffic accessories and foe sort and for other purposes. mr. mcconnell: mr. president

my notes indicate that h.r. 1295 was the -- did i hear the clerk say 1296? okay, thank you. the presiding officer: it is 1295. mr. mcconnell: i ask for a second reading and i object to my own request en bloc. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the measures measures -- the measures will receive their second reading on the next legislative day. mr. mcconnell: now mr. president, i ask unanimous consent when the senate completes its business can it adjourn until 2:00 p.m. on monday april 20, following the prayer and pledge, the journal be approved, and the time for the two leaders reserved for their use later in the day. following leader remarks the senate resume consideration of s. 178.

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: so if there is no further business to come before the senate i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of senator sullivan and senator lee for up to 10 minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska.

mr. sullivan: i ask unanimous consent forethe quorum call to be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sullivan: mr. president i'd like to say a few words on the nuclear agreement that's being negotiated with iran. i want to start by commending the members of the foreign relations committee particular ly senator corker, the chairman of that committee where they moved the corker-menendez bill through the committee a few days ago with a unanimous vote. very important work, it's a good start to a critically important topic for the american people. and i know it was a struggle. we read about it in the press what happened, but it's important to recognize it's a struggle that should not have been. the obama administration put tremendous pressure on members of this body, democratic members of this body, not to

allow the united states senate to have any say on this issue. one of the most important foreign policy issues facing the country right now. they wanted the american people not to have a voice. in fact, last month when the bill was released, the president vowed to veto it. he backed off only when it was clear that members of the committee, republicans and democrats, stood firm against the president and with the american people, and then the president knew he would fail and his veto threat would likely be overridden. so it was under these pressures that the president dispatched secretary of state john kerry former member of this body, to give me and my colleagues here in the senate a closed-door preview of these negotiations and this framework agreement. i sat through the meeting had some discussions with the

secretary. it was useful, but think about it. it was a closed-door briefing. why not involve the american people? mr. president, this is not an issue that is about the senate or the congress per se as you often read in the paper. this is an issue about the american people who have a voice through us, their representatives in congress, and should have a say on one of the most critical foreign policy issues facing the united states right now. and remember, we know this, we were sent here the people are wise the citizens of this country are wise. they understand national security. many of them are in the military many of them have sons and daughters in the military. many of them are veterans. they know what sacrifice is. they know what national security is. they sent us here so their voices could be heard

particularly on issues of national security. on issues of the security of the country they love. and make no mids take, americans are overwhelmingly interested in making sure that they through their representatives in congress have a say in this important deal. a recent "usa today" poll showed that a whopping 72% of americans think that congress should have a role in approving a nuclear negotiations with iran. now, mr. president what's very interesting about this is that once upon a time, even president obama and secretary of state john kerry and former senator clinton all once believed that this body should have a role in such important

agreements. they said that congress should approve any sweeping deals. in 2007 and 2008, they cosponsored a bill that required congressional approval of any long-term security commitment president bush made to iraq. as vice president biden then-senator biden put it -- quote -- "the president cannot make such sweeping commitments on his own authority. congress must grant approval." those were wise words then. and i believe they're wise words today. why is that? one reason is, when the executive branch and the congress work together, we are stronger on issues of foreign policy and national security. think about all the different times in which this body through treaties and other agreements worked with presidents of both

parties bipartisan, to make sure that we were speaking strongly together on critical issues of national security. mr. president, i served under condoleezza rice as instant secretary of state on these kinds of issues sanctions on iran and i saw that when the executive branch was working with the congress, we were stronger. we were stronger. so as i mentioned when then-senator biden mentioned these words about congressional approval these were wise words and yet now the vice president secretary kerry, president obama -- all members previous members of this body -- are ignoring their own previous advice and previous wisdom and they're ignoring the american people in the process. the american people through their representatives in congress. so where does that leave us

today? my own view is that the president should have reached out to the congress from the very beginning and said he wanted to work with us for its approval on this important agreement so we could be stronger as a country. the executive branch and the congress working together, unified to enhance america's national security. he should have looked to the constitution and said that this potential agreement whether one -- whether the biggest state state-sponsor sponsor of terrorism in the world should get a nuclear weapon and when, was an important enough national security issue that the president should have looked to the congress and the constitution and said, i'm going to submit this as a treaty. he should have been willing to make the case to the american people and convince two-thirds of the united states senate to vote for this agreement as

required by the constitution. but he chose another path, the go-it-alone path where even just a few weeks ago the administration signaled this it was not going to show the agreement. the key anesms of key annexes of this agreement to the congress. and that any attempts to force him to do so would be vetoed. this was a mistake. this is a mistake. and we're starting to change this. mr. president, you know, the united states state department, in these kind of matters urges any administration, republican or democrat, to use the utmost caution when deciding how to deal with international treaties on key foreign policy issues and the congress. let me quote from the state department guidelines. "in determining whether an

international agreement should be brought into force as a treaty or as an international agreement other than a treaty, the utmost care is to be exercised to avoid any invasion or compromise of the constitutional powers of the president, the senate, and the congress as a whole." that's the state department, "the utmost care." but the obama administration didn't take the utmost care on this matter. in fact, their goal has been to shut out the american people on this deal. so what are we doing? the congress is having to force the president to let the american people be heard. that's what we're doing. and i believe in many ways that's sad. the president is clearly not abiding by the advice he gave when he was a senator on these kinds of issues. neither is the vice president.

so the congress acted. the corker-menendez blil that -- bill at bill that passed the committee that will be debated soon 0en this floor at least gives us an up-or-down vote and will enable us to actually see some of the classified an nexts that are part of -- annexes that are part of thisempt gray. and, again, it is not us. it is the american people. it is the people we represent. so i urge my colleagues to practice what the state department has said is the utmost care on these kinds of issues. the utmost care. we need to look hard at whatever agreement is finalized and is brought to this body, and we need to work hard to clutter through opaque language unclear language conflicting views of this agreement the way in which

this administration is describing this deal right now. let me give you one example. let's take the phrase "snap back." the american people right now are being told that if iran violates the terms of this agreement, the sanctions which have been key to this entire agreement, which were imposed on iran by this body four different times, that these sanctions can quickly and automatically be snapped back. mr. president, this is a fantasy fantasy. president obama knows that sanctions, particularly international sanctions can't just be snapped back. but it's a great phrase. sounds good. but it is a fantasy. as i mentioned as a former assistant secretary of state i worked with the congress and other members of the executive

branch to go around to different countries in the world and encourage them strongly to divest out of iran, out of the iran oil and gas sector. we worked -- in many ways we said if you don't take action divesting out of iran, i.t. very likely -- it's very likely that the congress will sanction you. we worked with the congress. this was executive branch, congressional branch corporation making us stronger as a nation because it worked. many of these companies started to divest. it weakened iran. but, mr. president this took years. this took years. there was no "snap" involved. this was a slog. but it was successful. and it was successful because this body was very, very

intimately involved. the president knows this. secretary kerry knows this. but the fact that they're willing to say don't worry sanctions will be "snapped back" in an instant should otherwise all make us nervous. they need to explain to the american people how this snap back will work. think about it. if sanctions are lifted, millions probably billions, of dollars are going to flow from european companies -- countries asian companies countries russian, chinese ... they're going to flow into iran. they're doing invest in businesses. they're going to invest in the oil and gas sector. they're going to invest in banks. and then we're going to snap that back if there's a violation automatically? -- in a couple days? it's not going to happen. it is a catchy phrase with no

substance. the administration needs to explain t the american people need know what's at stake. the secretary the president need to be clear with the american people on exactly what's in this agreement. they need to level with the american people as we move forward, as we think about how we're going to analyze look at, vote on this agreement. they must tell the american people the truth. we must start to think about some of these issues. let's start with a couple things that are very important for the american people to know. and the american people do know this. let's start by recognizing that iran is the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism. let's recognize that iran has consistently lied and cheated with regard to its nuclear weapons program including even recently during these negotiations.

let's recognize that iran will not -- will not -- stand down from its stated goal that many of its leaders still state today that they want to wipe israel off the map. let's recognize that iran is responsible -- and this is very important to recognize and understand -- for the maiming and killing of likely thousands of soldiers, sailors airmen, and marines. -- in iraq by supplying shia militias there with the most sophisticated, the most lethal i.e.d. on the battlefield called an e.f.p., an explosively form projectile. and if you're in iraq as a u.s.

military member and you were in a vehicle that hit one of these i.e.d.'s, you are either going to be killed or seriously maim. -- maimed. and this is something that i witnessed during my time as a staff officer as when i was in iraq as a marchltin as amarine. let's recognize that from what we know right now in terms of this deal iran doesn't appear to have given up much as all. they will keep thousands of nuclear centrifuges. they will keep their missile development programs. they will keep their nuclear infrastructure. they will continue to support and sponsor terrorism around the world, the largest state sponsor of terrorism and the american people need to know, if we do lift sanctions -- and it is not clear when we're going to lift them. the iranians are saying we're

going to lift them right away. if we do lift sanctions iran will very likely use the millions and millions of dollars that will flood into their economy to pump up their terror machine around the world and likely target our citizens. the american people need to understand all of this as we go forward. now, mr. president maybe on some of these things here, maybe the administration disagrees. maybe they don't think that this is the aspects of the deal. and if none of this is true, then let secretary kerry and his team come forward to the congress and make the case in public to the american people that this isn't the case that this is a deal that will keep us safe that this is a deal with a regime that is trust trustworthy. let them make that case. the congress needs needs to be very involved and we're involved

because it's respect for the people we represent. thank you mr. president. i yield the floor.

mr. lee: mr. president?

mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of senate resolution 139 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 13-6bg9s commemorating the 20th anniversary of the attack on the alfred p. murrah federal building. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection the senate will proceed. mr. lee: mr. president i ask unanimous consent that the rolingsresolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. lee: mr. president i rise today to honor governor norm bangator who served as utah's 13th governor from 1985 to 1993. he was a truly extraordinary man

and an exceptional leader. he passed away this past tuesday, april 14, at the age of 82. he loved utah and he loved this great nation. as a veteran as a business owner and elected official, a father a man of faith he led a life of service to his community, to his church and to his country. norm bangerter once described himself as just an old farmer and carpenter and he was those things. while the qualities of a farmer and a carpenter may seem far removed from business and political leadership his farmer's grit and determination saw him through many tough political battles and his eye as a master craftsman ensured at every step along the way that he could not only start a project

but he knew how to put a fine finish on that project and see it through all the way to completion. his willingness to get his hands a little dirty enabled him to tackle difficult issues, the kind of issues that require hard work and heavy lifting far from the spotlight and limelight of public praise. and he was indeed a builder. he was a builder of business, a builder of the great state of utah and as i personally experienced, a builder of people. i, like so many others throughout my great state and elsewhere, have been blessed by governor bangerter's vision for building other leaders. he stood with me as a young candidate and as a new senator providing priceless insight wisdom and perspective.

he taught me that it was never about me but always about the state, about the nation and about future generations. he proved his commitment to this principle when he described his decision not to seek a third term as governor. and when he made this announcement he said as follows. he said -- quote -- "we have not concentrated on image or on protecting our popularity in the polls. we have taken the problems as they came, head on and we have proposed the best solutions we knew regardless of political consequences. i want to go down in history as the governor who didn't spend eight years worrying about how we would go down in history." close quote. all of us in congress could benefit from this kind of approach. all of us in congress could learn a great deal from this man's extraordinary example. governor bangerter was one of the most unassuming, kind,

honest genuinely decent people that i've ever met. he's the kind of man and was the kind of great governor who like a great farmer and a great carpenter, left the world much better than he found it. like a farmer planting oak trees for the next generation, or the carpenter finishing a fine finely crafted masterpiece that biomass an heirloom for generations to enjoy. governor bangerter spent pis life planting seeds for the state of utah and legacy, one that would be followed for years to come. governor norm bangerter's leadership will be missed and his friendship will be cherished forever. thank you mr. president.

i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order the senate stands adjourned until 2:00 p.m. bill 178 which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 26, s. 178 a bill to provide justice for the victims of trafficking. the presiding officer: under the previous order the time until 11:00 a.m. will be equally divided in the usual form.

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to waive the mandatory quorum call with respect to the cloture vote at 11:00 a.m. this morning. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president i'm an optimistic person. as a matter of fact i think everybody from texas is an optimist. can you imagine the challenges that people have that founded our state indians wide open hostile territory, tough weather, but they persevered because they were optimists and they thought the fight was worth the struggle. they thought the goal and the accomplishment the hoped-for accomplishment was worth the struggle. so i'm still -- i still remain optimistic despite the last few weeks that would challenge that

optimism that we will actually break through hear and get to consider and vote on the justice for victims of trafficking act and get help to the people that the majority leader, senator mcconnell, described. the children who cannot help themselves. i mean, for heaven's sake, if we can't help the most vulnerable people in our country, children who cannot help themselves who are the victims of modern-day slavery what in the world can we do? so we mark 100 days here in the united states senate with the new republican budget, and -- republican majority, ands look back, i don't think anybody can deny under the majority leader's stewardship we have had significant accomplishments in a short period of time. sure it's been bumpy along the way, the keystone x.l. pipeline was a significant bump in the

road but we had a strong bipartisan vote and unfortunately, the president decided to veto that legislation. after years of this chamber being used solely for the puosef are used solely for the purpose of messaging and conducting political showboat, we actually starting to get something done. it's pretty exciting. as someone who's been here since 2002 it's hard to believe when i say that i've actually been there during different phases and cycles of the united states senate operating at i have to tell you the last four years or so has been a dark period, a state on the reputation of the united states senate in terms of actually getting things done in the interest of the american people. i understand he said/she said the blame game. the blame game is a world-class sport in washington, d.c. but most of our constituents could care less about the blame game.

game. they want is a government function in their interest. consistent with our principles we will have some disagreements. there's no doubt about it. but they hate the dysfunction. they hate the political posture. and you know what? i do too. and i daresay that vast majority of united states senators, they hate the dysfunction is an as experience. there is a new spirit of optimism and yes hope not the age of aquarius is suddenly broken outcome peace, love and understanding of we are all going to hold hands and sing kumbaya. kumbaya. that's not going to happen. but can we work together as americans come as people who lovelove our country, who have taken an oath to uphold and defend the constitution and laws of the united states, owe a fiduciary duty to the people we represent their i represent 26.9 million people. that just staggers my

imagination when i think about it. when i think about the responsibility associated with it. but i am encouraged when we have the chance to help people, especially those who can't help themselves. well, one reason for my optimism about the new congress does not we've helped a lot of votes. we have 15 votes last year from 15 roll call votes laughter in the congress. we've got about 100 in the 100 days we have been been here. estimate effect i heard some of our colleagues say i'm a little tired of voting as much as we have come particularly the budget which lasted till for you. i understand that. but, you know, we have passed a balanced budget in the united states said that without raising taxes. the congress had not passed the budget since 2009.

want more fundamental basic function of government that you pass a budget? the distinguished writing that the presiding officer was governor of this great state. i am absolutely confident he do that as one of the fundamental responsibilities of the state government and of his office in particular is to get the fiscal house in order. the weight you do that is by passing a budget in determining what your priorities or are from thing to obstinately have to do. think you perhaps want to do but maybe have to delay and that you simply can't afford. every state come every local government and just the federal government should pass a budget, and we will in short order. the senate has. now we need to reconcile our differences with the house which we will shortly. but, you know it's not just government. every family, every business has

to work on a budget. so that's progress, and i'm happy for that. and then on tuesday night we actually fixed a problem that had been nagging the united states congress since 1997. now come back in 1997 week,am a poker's comp we would not have come presiding officer and i were not here but congress have a bright idea come we are going to save money in health care by lacking the payments we make to providers and hospitals. -- whacking. after a while we found out that if you don't pay doctors and hospitals for treating medicare patients, they won't see them. and so our seniors for whom we've made a sacred promise we will continue to make sure that medicare provides quality service and is accessible from all of a sudden wasn't quite so accessible because people couldn't find a doctor that

would take a new medicare patient. that's still a problem. well, so we came back over the intervening years and 17 times out of the 18 times that those cuts would've been imposed from congress reversed them. and we had an expression around here that unfortunately we had use of law. we called it a doc fix. that's an inelegant weight of perhaps describing what we're doing but basically what we're trying to do is preserve medicare and access to doctors and hospitals for our seniors who are beneficiaries of the medicare system. pat toomey represents some progress mr. president. that we fix up once and for all. -- pat toomey -- imagine my surprise that after the contentious issue of congressional approval over the anticipated iranian u.s. come

along with our allies nuclear negotiations over this deal i could be forthcoming this summer come imagine my surprise after the president said he would veto it comes that the senate foreign relations committee unanimously passed a bill out of committee come all democrats voted for it. all republicans voted for it and oh, by the way when the president began to get the numbers in the sport of united states and on a bipartisan basis he said you know what? i think i will cite that piece of legislation when it comes to my desk. i think that represents progress progress. and one other item that has made me somewhat optimistic on this 100th day of a new congress is that we are very close to working out a trade deal that the president supports, and i was to republicans by and large

in support come honestly there's probably more controversial at the democratic side than there is on the republican side but in a world where 80% of the purchasing power in the world and 95% of the population in the world exists beyond our shores why in the world wouldn't we want to open up new markets to the stuff that we grow, our farmers, ranchers come to livestock they raise come at the things that we make? i think it just makes good sense. so you can see why i, perhaps what i am optimistic about this new congress and what we've been able to do together on a bipartisan basis to make progress in the interest of the american people. the one thing that has me completely bamboozled and befuddled is the objections over this anti-trafficking

legislation that had 30 cosponsors roughly and it will number of democrats and republicans, sailed out of the judiciary committee. ..c whip, knows the judiciary committee is no place for the faint of heart. we have a lot of disagreements. maybe that's because we have a lot of lawyers on the judiciary committee. but we have -- we fight a lot about things we believe in strongly. but this antitrafficking legislation sailed out of the judiciary committee on a unanimous basis. so i hope we can work out these differences. and i've made multiple suggestions and compromised in an effort to try to get everybody to "yes." i agree with the majority leader 's description of the -- the majority leader's description of the