worked on the windsor bridge. and for awhile it looked as though it wouldn't get done. but the ambassador never stopped fighting for it and refused to be satisfied until the deal was done. often using an old gordy house saying that you can't put your hands up in the air until the puck is in the net. mr. president, that is a hockey analogy between minnesota and canada. the ambassador made sure the puck was in the net. the ambassador was instrumental in the united states-canada preclearance agreement, a new agreement that will facilitate travel and create jobs in both countries while securing a secure border. this agreement reassures the u.s. commitment that will help move more than $2 billion in goods and services and an estimate 300,000 people across the longest border in the world. i know that the ambassador

considers it an accomplishment that he helped to eliminate unnecessary bureaucratic red tape making it easier for businesses and agencies to operate by regulatory lines in health, safety and the environment. the ambassador also strengthened canada's role as a world leader in renewable energy when he worked to harmonize vehicle emissions standards between our two countries which will ultimately improve air quality on both sides of the border. in addition, the ambassador fought for the environmental protection agency's clean power plan which recognizes canadian hydroelectricity as a renewable energy that u.s. states can import and use to comply with new federal emission rules. ambassador doer ensured that the surviving members of the world war ii joint american-canadian first special service force, nicknamed the devil's brigade, received a congressional medal of honor for its part in ending

world war ii. like all friends sometimes our nations have differences, but with his experience, tact and plain spoken pragmatism, ambassador gary doer has ensured that these differences are bridged so that our two governments can move forward together. in a 1943 address, president roosevelt said this to the canadian parliament: your course and mine have run so closely and affectionately during these many long years that this meeting adds another link to that chain. i have always felt at home in canada and you, i think, have always felt at home in the united states. ambassador doer, your service has added another strong and important link in the chain that connects our two countries. and as you have said many times in the past, in gordy howe hockey terms, it is only safe to put your hands in the air after the puck is in the net. ambassador, you put a lot of

pucks in the net, and now you deserve a moment to put your hands in the air to celebrate your work. in hockey parlance, you have scored for your great country of canada. i'm proud to have worked with the ambassador during his time in the united states, and i hope he will always feel at home in our country. thank you, mr. president, and i yield the floor.

senator booker. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. coons: mr. president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. coons: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to engage in a colloquy with a number of my members. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. coons: mr. president, today i come to the floor to speak about the ongoing challenges that we face in our relationship with iran, about some of the benefits that we've seen through the jcpoa, the joint comprehensive agreement on the nuclear program that iran has now significantly setback,

and some of the challenges that we face going forward. mr. president, we'll hear from a number of my colleagues in the 45 minutes to come and i'm grateful that they are coming to the floor to talk about the balance, what it is we can recognize about the progress we've made under the jcpoa and what there is that remains to be done and remains as a challenge. there are some who believe that having reached so-called implementation day means that we have settled our scores with iran, that there are no concerns we have and that we can now expect a complete and positive change in its behavior. but in my view, this couldn't be further from the truth. now, more than ever, we cannot afford to take our attention away from iran. my colleagues and i are here today to explain why we must do more to strictly enforce this deal and to aggressively push back on iran's bad behavior outside the nuclear deal's parameters. my personal concern is that if we don't, if we don't do this effectively, this important, this landmark nuclear agreement

may not survive, even into next year. let me just at the outset say that there's been some encouraging developments in recent days. it is hugely encouraging to see an american, a u.s. citizen like jason rezaian from "the washington post" return to the united states soil and reunited with his family. someone who had been unjustly detained and sentenced without foundation is now once again free. a journalist, the best and brightest of american journalism, is now free and back into the united states. i also wanted to recognize former marine amir hekmati who was arrested while visiting his grandmother in iran and was also unjustly arrested and detained and is now also free in the united states. but i wanted to move to another topic for a moment by way of introduction. in the past week alone, the eye ryanans having signaled that iran is open for business again as iran's leaders have hosted chinese president jinping and

rouhani traveled with the pope and meeting officials in the french and italian governments. a few weeks ago iran was still an international pariah. business deals with iran were illegal. today some foreign governments, some who are supposed to be our vital partners in enforcing the jcpoa at times seem all too eager to resume business ties with the regime. at the outset i might caution those allies of ours to be mindful that american sanctions remain in place against iranan bad behavior whether it's their support for terrorism, their human rights violations such as detaining, arresting americans without foundation, or their illicit ballistic missile program. so to further expound on the challenges that we face and the importance of having the resources here in the united states government and in the international monitoring agency called the iaea that we need to be successful in enforcing this

deal, i'd like to invite my colleague from the state of new hampshire to rise and share with us for a few minutes her thoughts, having served on the foreign relations committee, having closely studied this deal and having looked forward at what the opportunities and challenges are for us in the weeks and months ahead. mrs. shaheen: mr. president, i'm delighted to be able to be here to join my colleague from delaware to talk about what's happening with enforcement of the joint comprehensive plan of action. and one of -- if we want this to succeed, one of the things we need to do is to make sure we support the iaea, the international agency that is charged with monitoring and verifying iran's compliance with the agreement. and so i want to address that first, and then i want to talk about some national security nominees who are also critical as we think about how we enforce this deal. first of all, we all know that the iaea is absolutely critical

to the international nonproliferation system and to the enforcement of the jcpoa. their employees are working day in and day out to verify critical aspects of the agreement's complementation that prevents iran from developing a nuclear weapon. just for example, on december 28, iran shipped more than 12 tons of low enriched uranium to russia where the fuel is stored in a facility that is guarded by the iaea. the iaea has increased the number of its inspectors on the ground in iran. they've deployed modern technologies to monitor iran's nuclear facilities and they've set up a comprehensive oversight program of iran's nuclear facilities. now, the iaea is constantly enhancing and improving its efforts. for example, earlier this month they installed the online enrichment monitor, or olem, to verify that iran keeps its level of uranium enrichment at up to

3.67% as they committed to under the jcpoa. keeping it at that 3.67% level. now, this prevents iran from enriching uranium to a point where it can conceiveably be used in a nuclear weapon. and this is new technology. it was developed by the iaea with significant support from american scientists at our department of energy national lab. as a result of the jcpoa, this new system can be used in iran. now, the iaea resources devoted to verification and monitoring are also increasing considerably with personnel devoted to monitoring iran's nuclear program, increasing by 120% and the number of days monitors spend in the field by 100%. and if we want the iaea to be successful and making sure that this agreement is successful, we

need to provide robust financial support so that they can deploy the best scientists in the world for inspections and that they can deploy the best equipment to monitor iran's compliance. iaea secretary general amano has called on member states to provide long-term funding for the iaea's additional activities in iran that are estimated at approximately $10 million a year. and if we think about this cost, that's a really good investment for america as we prevent iran from getting a nuclear weapon. so i know that my colleague -- i have other colleagues here on the floor who want to speak, so i can wait and talk about nominees after they had a chance to speak, if that makes sense? mr. coons: that would be fine. there's a strong point being made by my colleague from new hampshire that i'll just briefly expound upon and then invite my colleague from new jersey to join this conversation. earlier this month i traveled

with a number of my senate colleagues to the headquarters of the international atomic energy agency and heard from them directly the same sorts of concerns my colleague from new hampshire has just laid out. they are struggling with how to ensure that they've got the resources, the staffing, the equipment to take on this remarkably broadened scope of inspections, one of the underappreciated positive benefits of the jcpoa is that the iaea now has unprecedented 24/7 access not just to iran's nuclear enrichment sites but to its centrifuge production workshops, its uranium mines, uranium mills, the entire so-called fuel cycle for the production of nuclear material within iran.so i believe, as doy colleague from new hampshire, that the iaea needs more reliable funding, more reliable and re-bust funding. if strictly enforced, it can serve as a viable deterrent to

iranian cheating. in a worst-case scenario, provides the international community with early warning and enough time to respond, if iran decides to break out and dash to a nuclear weapons capability. but access to all of these sites is only valuable in the iaea has the resources it needs and has asked for to conduct thorough inspections. so i think my colleagues and i will be working together with the administration and others of our colleagues in the months ahead to authorize not just an adequate level of funding one year or two years in advance but to put in place a long-term, reliable source of funding. i think as my colleague from new hampshire said, there can be no better investment than in ensuring deterrence through vigorous and comprehensive inspections. to prevent iran from ever renewing its dream of access to a nuclear weapon. we'll press the administration to work with all ever us on this a and to make this a higher priority going forward. but the idea that we've got world-class nuclear scientists

in the u.s. and that together they can deploy highly skilled teams to do this monitoring in iran is a great opportunity but it is only meaningful if we contribute the resources to en sure that those inspectors do their jobs. so let me now turn if i might to our colleague from the state of new jersey, who wanted to speak with us about some of the pros and cons of this critical turning point implementation day. mr. booker: i want to thank the senator from delaware for his remarks and really thank my colleague, senator shaheen, as well, for really emphasizing what needs to be emphasized; that we have in the iaea an ability to do the most intrusive inspections ever before seen on the planet earth. but that that agency, which is important, the point that senator shaheen was making, that agency needs to be funded, funded well. we need to make sure that the international community is standing there and america needs

to lead in that way. i anticipate hearing senator shaheen also make the point, though, that it is the height of malfeasance for us here in this country not to have people in the right places to do the other things necessary to hold iran accountable. you can't sound like a hawk around the debate over the jcpoa and then sound like a chicken when it comes to putting the funding forward necessary to prevent them from getting -- prevent them from engaging in destabilizing activities in the region. and i am grateful that senator shaheen will make that point further. but i just want to review again what has been accomplished come implementation day because it still is an streeferred victory for -- extraordinary victory for diplomacy in take the specter of a nuclear-armed iran and evaporating, pushing it back at least for 15 years, and so that in that region now we have the

specter of a nuclear-armed iran pulled back and we have the ability for moving forward with greater and greater diplomats sivment in order to get there, some pretty extraordinary things have happened. we have now effectively blocked iran's uranium pathway to a bomb. 12 tons of enriched stockpile, nearly all of its stockpile has been shipped out of the country and two-thirds of the iranians' centrifuges have been taken off-life, a significant removal of the iranian pathway. in addition to that we've done the blocking of the plutonium pathway. the heavy water reactor in iraq has been filled with concrete, no longer operational, permanently disabled. this has made sure that that pathway to producing weapons-grade plutonium has been eliminated in the foreseeable years in the future. again, it has established that unprecedented monitoring.

the iaea has gained ssess to montana -- access to monitor ology of the iraniamontana allo. we now have intrusive monitoring and intelligence-gathering capabilities that we never had before. and so most recently secretary kerry was able to call on his iranian counterpart zarif and secure also the release of sailors. the reason why i say that, this really quick turnaround of the sailors being released, is it shows that these historic steps with the jcpoa has been put us in an environment where making diplomacy work in other areas is critical. let's be clear -- and these are the important points that i want to make: is that we must be vigilant as a congress. we must be vigilant in this body to make sure that other areas of iran's activities are being watched in every single way and that there actual think are

repercussions for any violations of its nuclear agreements. this first step is historic and has really done a lot of good in removing the nuclear threat, at least for ten to 15 years. but it must come with real repercussions for any violations. the only way to ensure the path of diplomacy is validated is to hold iran accountable. it must meet all of the commitments during the whole process of the judiciary committee porks the many years ahead. -- the jcpoa, the many years ahead. the oversight and engagement of congress on the monitoring of the provisions of this agreement are absolutely vital and that's in many ways a chorus of conviction amongst my colleagues speaking tonight. to make sure we have eyes and ears on this commitment. all of my colleagues are saying on the floor said that we expect iran to test the boundaries of the jcpoa. but if there are signs that iran

is not abiding to the terms of the agreement, we are firm in our commitment that congress must not hesitate to levy new economic sanctions, isolate iran diplomacy and financially and use measures to keep them from obtaining a nuclear weapon. iran's obstacles under the jcpoa are ongoing and must be continually verified. it is one thing for iran to cooperate sufficiently to achieve the transfer of frozen assets and the dismantling of the international sanctions regime. it is quite another, though, for it to cooperate on an ongoing basis after these aims have been achieved. that is the responsibility of the administration and this congress. and the jcpoa must serve as one part of a larger strategy with iran. this is about the nuclear agreement and pushing the specter of a nuclear-armed iran back. but this is just one part, must be just one part of a larger strategy with iran.

diplomatic success of the jcpoa is commendable, as i've said. but tensions between our closest partners in the region and iran remain high. having just been there myself, we see the concerns of the israelis, of saudi arabia, of turkey, and iran is continuing its destabilizing activities, festing ballistic missiles and -- testing ballistic missiles. these events demand that we are even more attentive and engaged so that our allies and others know that the u.s. will not hess hesitate in the face of iran's testing. thin addition to this, iran has been a bad actor in nonnuclear areas and the u.s. needs to hold it responsible and in addition, therefore, to the accountability measures we're taking for the nuclear regime, there must be an understanding that we cannot allow the iranians to grow the

shadow of this agreement to cover all of their other nonnuclear destabilizing ache tfts. -- activities. congress and the administration must be prepared and willing to levy the appropriate economic sanctions needed to respond robustly to these destabilizing activities. i believe it is unacceptable for us to move forward in any way and allow iran to flaunt international law, to violate any of the agreements that they have made and we need to make sure we meet them. iran could try to use additional funds they have received through this deal to do things that undermine regional security. this cannot be allowed. we must continue to work closely with our allies and respond to every single bit of iranian aggression that undermines international order and violates international agreements. with that, i want to turn back quickly to senator coons to again continue this dialogue. mr. coons: i'd like to mining

my -- i'd like to thank my colleague from new jersey. we need to remain vigilant, ready to impose additional sanctions on those actions by iran that are outside the jcpoa. we've seen two launches of ballistic missiles by iran, late last year designations recently mr. bennet: madrecentlyhaving by those involved. violations of human rights that led to the long and unjust detention of amir mirza hekmati and their increased support for terrorism in the region. i would like to invite my colleague from new hampshire to help us understand what barriers there might to be the administration vigorously enforcing the sanctions that remain on the books here in the united states. if we as a body don't act, do our part in making sure the administration has the resources that they need. mrs. shaheen: thank you, senator coons. as we know, one of the challenges is having people in

place in the various agencies that can enforce this agreement and can hold iran accountable, and that's where i think we've got a real chavmen challenge bee have a number of nominees that need to be approved, but there are three that stand out as particularly important. first is tom shannon who is nominated to be the state department's under secretary for pretty well affairs. -- political affairs. second is lauri hogate, u.n. ambassador to offices in convenient, and included in those offices is the iaea. and the third and maybe even the most important as we think about future sanctions on iran is adam zuba, nominated as the treasury department's under secretary for terrorism and financial crimes. now, shah none was nominated on september 18. his nomination is currently on the floor.

hogate was nominated on august 5. her nomination is pending in the senate foreign relations committee. but zubin was nominated on april 16, and his nomination has been held up in the banking committee despite the support that he has from the chairman of the foreign relations committee. now, i know that a number of my other colleagues are going to speak to these nominees, but i would just like to point out that last week we had a hearing in the foreign relations committee on the implementation of the jcpoa, and one of the witnesses who had not been a supporter of the agreement, michael singh, was a witness at that committee hearing, and i asked him about adam zubin, and he described him as a good guy who had done great work for the country and whose nomination should go forward because it allows us to continue to look at the sanctions regime and what we need to do.

you know, the reality is -- and i'm sorry to say this because i think it contributes to what the american public is concerned about when they look at us in washington and what we're doing. but i think these nominations are being held up for purely political reasons p. it has nothing to do with the background of these candidates, with their expertise, with what they would do on the job. this is about individuals within this body who are trying to hold these people up for their own political gain. and i think this is a delay that's harming the national security interests of the united states. it's something that every wurch us ought to be concerned -- that every one of us ought to be concerned about. we ought to be yelling about this because this is long past time that we confirm these individuals, let them do their jobs and continue to do everything we can to protect this nation's national security. so thank you, senator coons, for

organizing all of us to come to the floor today to talk about what we need to do as we're implementing the joint plan of action. mr. coons: thank you, senator shaheen. thank you for your service to the state of new hampshire. i just want toemphasize again that these three nominees have been waiting for months and months and in particular azzam zubi -- adam zubin is a nonpartisan career professional, being the lead enforcer, the lead investigator in sanctions, who's now been nominated to take on the top role in the department of treasury in making sure that our sanctions have bite and stick. why we wouldn't proceed on a bipartisan basis to give this administration the senior officials and the resources it needs to enforce sanctions, to keep us safe, to make sure that this nuclear deal is enforced -- whether you voted for it, against it, supported it, or opposed it, i can't comprehend why any senator would consent to

the ongoing months' long delay so that the administration can do the job that i think all of us want them to do, which is to enforce sanctions against iran for its bad behavior. mrs. shaheen: would my colleague yield? it is my understanding adam szubin has been held up in the banking committee and we never heard a reason why he's being held up in that committee. is that your understanding as well? mr. coons: that's my understanding as well, is that there is no publicly articulated basis, certainly no basis that has anything to do with his qualifications, skills, experience or relevance to the job. as is the case with all three of these nominees, look, there are many other nominees we could be talking about whether for judgeships, ambassadorships or senior positions. these three we've chosen to focus on today because they are so directly relevant to america's national security and to the successful enforcement of this complex nuclear deal with iran. as i said and as senator shaheen said and senator booker said

earlier, the iaea has incredibly broad scope to investigate what's going on in iran. but if we don't have the senior people in our government, in the administration that can take action when things are discovered in iran that we want to be active in taking on, or when there is bad behavior outside this nuclear agreement, we have no one to blame but ourselves as a body here for failing to provide our administration with the senior leadership and the skills and the resources needed to really defend america. i'd like to encourage and invite my colleague from the state of connecticut to add, as he wishes today, both the positives about i i implementation about these national security nominees. must have -- must have mr. murps important to restate the progress we've made.

i know it's been said before but not enough attention has been paid to the fact that since implementation day iran shipped 12 tons of enriched uranium out of iran and kept enrichment at that 3.67 level which is significantly below what's necessary to create a bomb, they filled the core of the iraq plutonium reactor with concrete preventing them from producing weapons-grade plutonium and they started to allow the iaea access to the entire nuclear fuel cycle of uranium enrichment including their centrifuge production shops and uranium mines and mills. of course as has been stated before, the iaea has been given an unprecedented level of access to the entirety of the supply chain leading up to any future potential development of a nuclear weapon. that's an unprecedented level of

access that will require an unprecedented level of support. we're talking about an additional 10.6 million dollars per year that the iaea is going to need to carry out these oversight responsibilities. the united states puts up a percentage of the iaea's funding but it is still the minority of funding. one development that we need to guard against our attempts here in congress to undermine this agreement in very quiet, subtle ways, there is a bill that's been introduced in the house of representatives, senator coons, that would disallow the united states from funding the iaea unless it grants the united states access to the contents of proprietary bilateral arrangements. that would have the results of stripping the funding necessary

to carry out this agreement if the iaea doesn't get u.s. funding it can't grant the purview of the entire field cycle throughout the country. as important as it is to get the personnel in place that can enforce this agreement, that can root out the ways in which iran may take money they get by virtue of this deal, support terrorism in the region -- it's also important to make sure the iaea is properly funded as well. senator coons, the only thing i would add to this discussion is this. i think for those of us that supported this agreement -- and i'll speak for myself here. i supported it because this was the most effective way to stop iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. period. stop. with this agreement, we were much more likely to prevent iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon than we were without this agreement. but we certainly accepted the premise that it is in our long-term security and strategic

interest as a country to facilitate the transition of power within iran from the hard-liners who have chosen a path of iranian foreign policy to be simply a provocateur and irritant in the region to the more moderate elements that would like to see iran once again reengaged on big questions of both regional and global security. i don't think you can count on that happening and i don't think anybody should have voted for this agreement or supported this agreement because they remember counting on that being the end result. but, you have started to see a different level of engagement, whether it's with the release of the prisoners as you spoke about, whether it was about the resolution of the detainment of u.s. personnel. and we will shortly see whether or not this battle that plays

out almost every day inside iran is accruing to the benefit of moderates. we'll have elections next month in iran. i think we should support this agreement because it strips from iran the ability to rush to a nuclear weapon. and you see the evidence already in the steps they have taken since the implementation agreement. but i think we should read with some level of positive interpretation some of the resolution of crisis that we've seen just in the time past over the course of 2016. that doesn't mean that there aren't still enormous still at stake but it is in our security interest and it was part of the discussion of this agreement to ultimately bring iran to a place in which the will of the vast majority of that country be expressed in the leaders that speak to the world community.

so i thank senator coons for continuing to bring us down to the floor. i think as important as it is to talk about the positive steps that have been taken since implementation day, it is also important to note that we have a lot of work undone, whether it be funding the iaea, confirming these important positions. and we have a lot of work to do in terms of remaining vigilant about the quiet, subtle ways that may be undertaken in this body and across the hall in the house of representatives to try to undermine this deal that is working. thank you very much for convening us, senator coons. mr. coons: mr. president, i'd like to thank my colleague from connecticut for his active and leadership role on the foreign relations committee and his deep interest on this topic. by way of transition to my colleague from pennsylvania, i briefly wanted to point out this picture of the heavy water reactor in iran. it is to me a symbol of both what implementation day the jcpoa promises positively and the unresolved risks that it

presents. implementation day has only been reached because the iaea, the international atomic energy agency, certified to the world that iran had taken the very core of this reactor capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium and filled it with concrete rendering it useless for the production of significant quantities of plutonium. that is a significant step forward. but when a reporter asked me the other day does iran still pose a nuclear threat to the united states and our vital ally israel, i said of course. when asked why, i said because they still possess the knowledge, the resources, the engineering, the uranium in the ground, in the mines, in the mills of their country, and the engineers and the facilities to at some point enrich once again to weapons grade. so if we don't stay on this, if we don't fund the iaea effectively to conduct this oversight and these inspections, if we don't stay attentive to this issue, we will wake up

again at some point 5, 10, 15 years from now and discover what we have in iran is a nation that has translated its natural resources, its rich uranium deposits and its know how into once again to be in a place to threaten the world. i'd like to invite my colleague from pennsylvania to talk about how our regional vital allies perceive the path fooshed -- forward and what concerns he's got and how he sees implementation. mr. casey: mr. president, i wanted to, first of all, thank senator coons and my other colleagues who are working on this, very important to walk through where we are in the process. if i had to step back at this moment and say, well, now that the joint comprehensive plan of action is moving forward, that we're beyond implementation day, what do we have to look for over time, and if i had to boil that down to three words, really three goals, that we must work towards every day, and on some

days it has to be the united states on its own and on other days working with allies, those that participated in this agreement and signed it and partners in the region. but the three words, i guess, would be, as implementation is going forward, we've got to focus on three goals: enforce, counter, and deter. enforce, making sure the agreement is enforced at every step. and i'll get to the issue of the consequences for violations of the agreement. counter, number two, meaning countering the iranan aggress in the region. that is why it is so important that the president and the administration, that he leads was very clear about the designation and the sanctioning of the iranian regime as it relates to ballistic missile launches and their activity. and then third, deter. we have to have a deterrence policy that stays in place and,

if anything, is strengthened over time. if we do a good job on those three things over the next several decades literally, enforcing the agreement, countering the aggression and deterring them, we will have the result that we want years from now. first of all, on the question of consequences, like a lot of members of the senate, when i made a decision about the agreement, i wrote down page after page, walking through my reasons. at the time i wrote the following -- quote -- "we have to prepare for the possibility that the iranian regime may violate the agreement and may even engage in activity constituting significant noncompliance with the joint comprehensive plan of action." unquoit. that's what i wrote several months ago, and that still holds true today. we must not trust in iran's compliance. in fact, some may say that using president reagan's old formula,

which was trust but verify, in this case -- and i'll be blunt about this, these are my words. in this case, until proven otherwise, we must mistrust and verify. mistrust the regime and verify. that's just the nature of where things are right now. so we've got to verify vigorously any asserted reason or action that the iranians would take. and also in the process of doing that, we've got to work with our partners to ensure that any violations will be met with swift, multilateral consequences. that means we need other nations to help us. we can't do this on our own. we cannot know whether and how the iranian regime might violate the agreement. for example, we might see them drag their feet on allowing the iaea access to certain nuclear sites, especially ones where

covert activity might be suspected. i firmly believe that hard-liners in iran will be watching how we respond to any violation. the best way to condition behavior, the best way to impact what they might do, the best way to cause in them a second thought down the road is to enforce aggressively violation to the agreement. so it's important that we work in lock step with our european partners to prepare for these violations. i hope it doesn't come to pass, but i think we have to assume and i will assume that they will violate the agreement. many of us met with our european friends before making decisions about the joint comprehensive plan of action. we need to continue these conversations to ensure that as businesses and business ties increase between the iranian

regime and europe and other parts of the world, we've got to remain unified in our stance on the potential iranian violation to the deal. so that's about violations. second and final point briefly, but so important to our deliberations and our actions, our friend and ally israel. our relationship, a relationship between the united states and israel, is unbreakable. unbreakable. and we've got to make sure that as we move forward with the implementation of the agreement, that we insist that our policy reflects that unbreakable relationship and also continuing what has been very strong support for israel for many years, if not generations now. but we have to recognize at the same time that israel faces significant threats from iran and its proxies, especially hezbollah and hamas. we have to assume that iran will continue its aggression in the region. that's why i talked about

countering that aggression before. and we have to assume that iran will try to expand its support for terrorism. we've already taken some initial steps to expand cooperation with israel on defense and homeland security including beginning consultations towards a new ten-year memorandum of understanding, m.o.u., as we know it by the acronym. that memorandum of understanding on defense cooperation is vital and initiating new efforts to address, among other threats, the terror tunnels that hamas has constructed and threatens israel all the time. so i urge the administration to focus on capabilities that israel requires and to face both conventional and asymmetric threats to engage -- to ensure that the new memorandum of understanding constitutes a transformational investment.

not just one budget year to the next budget year, appropriation to appropriation year, but a transformational investment in our bilateral relationship with israel going forward. we should meet with -- i should say we should all meet with israeli leaders to hear their firsthand assessments of the threats and to reassert our mutual interest in countering iranians aggression. so, mr. president, i want to yield the microphone to our colleague, senator coons, again, but i do want to thank him for his leadership and for the -- what i believe is a bipartisan determination that we have to do everything possible to enforce this agreement aggressively with consequences when there's a violation, counter iranian aggression in the region and beyond and deter, deter, deter over what will be more than one generation. i yield the floor. mr. coons: thank you.

mr. president, i'd like to thank my colleague from pennsylvania for his clear-eyed assessment of the challenges that lie ahead as we try to move past implementation day and into a positive world where we mitt together be able to provide the administration with the resources they need to enforce the agreement, to counter iran's bad behavior and to deter iran from any further illicit or bad behavior. i'd like to invite my colleague on the foreign relations committee, senator kaine, of virginia, to offer any thoughts he might care to at this point before we bring this colloquy to a close. i know that senator kaine has closely followed the importance of the inspections regime under the jcpoa. as senator shaheen and i both referenced earlier, full and robust funding of the iaea. the only way to ensure that they really have the ability to enforce this agreement, to make sure that this heavy water reactor does not somehow get redesigned, re-engineered and restarted in the future. i'd like to invite my friend and colleague from virginia to offer

his thoughts on how we make sure that we are effectively enforcing these two. mr. kaine: i want to thank my senate colleagues for taking the floor on this important matter. while i serve on the senate foreign relations committee, i actually want to talk about this issue from my standpoint on the senate armed services committee. i happen to believe that one of the most valuable military assets we have as a nation is information, intelligence. and in that capacity, what we have under the jcpoa is a dramatic ability to learn, sadly, from tragic mistakes. after more than a decade of war in iraq and thousands of lives lost, we know that operating in an environment where we base national security decisions on what we don't know rather than what we do know can be tragically costly. this week, there was actually -- over the weekend, there was a press about a recently declassified report about joint

chiefs of staff on weapons of mass destruction. it was submitted by rumsfeld and others on trying on whether to invade iraq. the report that was given to the secretary of defense, and it was not widely shared among the administration or congress at the time, confirmed that our officials at the very top levels of the intel and military community knew very little about the actual status of iraq's w.m.d. program. the report concluded that what we -- what we suspect is -- quote -- based largely, perhaps 90% on analysis of impro sighs intelligence, while the national security apparatus was acknowledging that it was operating in the dark, it was nevertheless planning for war. on march 7, 2003, two weeks before the beginning of the iraq invasion, the iaea presented to the u.n. an updated report on iraq's nuclear activities, and here's what the report said.

that they had conducted 218 nuclear inspections of 141 sites, and they concluded at the time there was no indication of resumed nuclear activities since 1998, no indication that iraq had attempted to import uranium since 1990, no indication that iraq had imported aluminum tubes, no indication that they had sought to import magnets for use in centrifuge enrichments. the iaea said they had no information suggesting that iraq had a w.m.d. program specifically with nuclear weapons. well, we ignored what the iaea told the u.n. and the world and us, and we instead went to war based upon a national intelligence estimate that said we didn't know what they were doing, and that decision locked us into a decade of combat operations to tragic costs. we know the rest of the story. 4,484 americans lost their lives connected with the war in iraq from 2003-2011, and another

32,246 americans were wounded. we also know this -- it turned out that the iaea was right, that once the war was waged, once we got in and gathered territory and then had our own ability to gather intelligence and information, that we found iraq didn't have a program of weapons of mass destruction, so we went to war based upon a faulty assessment, we didn't have the information we need. let's contrast what happened in 2002 and 2003 with the opportunity we now have before us as a result of the jcpoa. the agreement of iran to follow for the next 25 years an enhanced inspection regime and be inspected by the iaea to a standard that no other country in the world must follow is very, very unique, and it will provide us and all of our international partners with significant intelligence about

iran's program. and after year 25, iran has also agreed to submit and follow the additional protocol of the iaea which also guarantees significant intelligence and inspections. what does that give us? it arms us with information. it arms us with facts. it arms us with intelligence. those are some of the best military assets we can have. with intelligence, we obviously hope iran never makes a move to develop nuclear weapons, but with intelligence, if they do, we can blow the whistle and inform the world that they are violating paragraph one, page one of the agreement where they pledge never to seek, acquire or develop nuclear weapons. with intelligence, we can make a wise decision rather than a blind decision whether to send american men and women into war to try to stop a nuclear weapons program, and with intelligence, we could even target military action to be more effective.

that's what the jcpoa gives us that we didn't have before. that's what it gives us that we didn't have in iraq, and we regret that we didn't have it. i'm interested, senator coons, on our recent visit to israel, we were there within the last month, the tone seems to be changing a little bit in our dialogue with our israeli allies about this deal, because the dramatic nature of the intelligence is now being seen by our strong allies in israel as something that is potentially transformative. two days ago, the chief of staff of the israeli defense forces gave a speech in tel aviv. gadi isancoate spoke on monday at a national security conference in three, and he basically said this -- look, the nuclear deal with iran constitutes a strategic turning point. didn't whitewash it. he says -- quote -- many risks but also opportunities. what are the opportunities. he said the deal reduces the

immediate iranian threat to israel because it rolls back iran's nuclear capabilities and deepens the monitoring capabilities of the international community. after all the drama about it's a historic mistake, how refreshing it was to go to israel a few weeks ago and hear security and intel officials talk about what this enhanced intelligence meant with respect to israel's security. now, we know there's no guarantee that a diplomatic deal will work out, and my colleagues have laid out the need for strict implementation, but we also know and we've got the scar tissue so this is painful knowledge that we are much safer if we have better information, we are much safer if we have better intel, we will make much better decisions. i certainly pray that we will never again send american men and women into war based on a false intelligence assessment,

and the only way we can guard against that be eventuality is to have stronger intelligence. the iaea inspections will give us better intelligence and should help us make better military decisions in the future. and with that, to my friend from delaware, i would yield the floor back, and thank you, mr. president. mr. coons: mr. president, i'd like to thank the senator from virginia. we had a terrific experience traveling together to israel, to turkey, to saudi arabia, to vienna. in vienna, we met with the leadership of the iaea and asked tough questions and learned more about their needs and their plans for thoroughly inspecting every aspect of iran's nuclear program in turkey and in saudi arabia. we heard from close regional allies, their concerns that we need to strengthen our partnership with regional allies who are uncertain about the future with isis, but who were frankly grateful for the increased intelligence partnerships between the united states, turkey and saudi arabia.

but most importantly, with our vital ally israel, as the good senator from israel has recounted, we heard from the prime minister, from the minister of defense from a position leadership and from defense and intelligence community leaders, that the partnership of the united states is stronger than it's ever been, and that they view this path forward with iran as having challenges and opportunities. opportunities in terms of intelligence to be gained, opportunities in terms of pushing back on what was a rapidly advancing iranian nuclear infrastructure and program and now a challenge, a challenge to work together and to provide exactly the sort of oversight and engagement that only a duly empowered and active congress can take. let me close out this colloquy of six senators by making a few simple observations, if i might. congress has an essential role to play in ensuring that this nuclear deal with iran moves forward and moves forward in our best national interest. congress should not only provide oversight but also take action.

the simplest is a point to which senator shaheen spoke at length. the importance of confirming key national security nominees essential to the enforcement of sanctions. second, we can take proactive action here in this chamber by passing the iran policy oversight act. its formation its drafting was led by senator cardin of maryland, but a dozen other colleagues, some who opposed and some who supported the deal joined in being initial cosponsors. it's a bill that would clarify some ambiguous provisions of the jcpoa, establish in statute america's commitment to enforcing the deal, engage us in more comprehensive efforts to counter iranian activity in the middle east and provide increased support to our allies in the region, especially our vital ally israel. this is a step this body can and should take, and to do so would be much in the spirit, the bipartisan spirit that we saw in the foreign relations committee between chairman corker and ranking member cardin that produced the iran nuclear

agreement review act. i think passing the iran policy oversight act would be a strong and important contribution by this chamber. speaking only for myself, i'll also say that i think we should reauthorize the iran sanctions act which is set to expire this year. having that bill reauthorized, that law reauthorized would provide a viable framework through which the united states could snap back sanctions if iran violates the jcpoa. each of the ideas that we've outlined confirming vital national security nominees, passing enforcement legislation and fully funding reliably and for the long term the iaea, the inspections watchdog that is supposed to keep a close and persistent eye on iran's nuclear facilities, these represent critical, concrete steps that congress can take. the united states cannot enforce this complex deal alone. we have to keep building international support for the imposition of new sanctions to punish iran for its ongoing human rights abuses, it's illegal ballistic missile

activity, its support for terrorism in the middle east, but if we are going to be serious about our constitutional role to provide for the common defense and the general welfare, i would argue that we here in the senate have a sacred obligation to provide not just oversight of this deal but to also take action to enforce its terms, to push back on iran's bad behavior and to demonstrate to the world that the united states is serious about securing a peaceful nuclear-free future, difficult though that may be for the middle east. with that, i'd like to thank my colleagues who joined me here on the floor and yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mrs. capito: thank you, mr. president. i'd like to talk about the bill that we have on the floor and how i think important it is not just to my state but to our united states in terms of our energy security and our energy policy modernization. i'm rising to support the energy policy modernization act of 2016. i think this legislation really

recognizes the critical need to improve our nation's energy infrastructure and how we can use our natural resources. i commend chairman murkowski and ranking member cantwell for their hard work to get this bill to the floor. i am honored and privileged to be a member of the committee. the open process that they lead in the energy and natural resources committee was, as you know, you're on the committee as well, mr. president, resulted in a strong bipartisan vote of 18-4 in support of this bill. i think it goes without saying, but this country needs an updated, comprehensive policy that brings an all-of-the-above approach to the way we utilize energy. this is the first major energy legislation to be considered by the senate since 2007. this bill will help make our homes, our cars, our public buildings -- think about how old and unefficient a lot of our public buildings are our

schools. this will help to make those more energy-efficient. it will help improve our parks and lands through the reauthorization of the land and water conservation fund. this bill will enhance our ability to fully utilize our vast natural resources so that we remain and become even more energy-secure for the years to come. there are few people who know energy potential better than the people of west virginia. west virginia's marcellus region has the largest shale gas reserves in the united states. it is a really fag any of sent thing to watch as -- it is a really magnificent thing to watch as it is developing. it is a reason to have a revitalized part of our state come alive as new englan they -y participate in the energy committee. coupled with the nearby utica region, they increase for major increases in natural gas production since 2012. west virginia's natural gas

production has nearly quadrupled between the years 2008 and 2014. as i said earlier, it's happened fast, it's happened quick, and it's really exploded throughout the region in terms of job creation. unfortunately, despite this unprecedented increase in natural gas recovery, our producers have been underserved by lack of pipeline capacity. nobody knew this existed until just in the last 10-12 years. so our current permitting process for pipelines can take years. it is slow. it is uncertain, which means delayed construction, if we can get to construction, and in turn delayed manufacturing projects and access to affordable energy. many manufacturers across this country rely on cheap, affordable natural gas, not just as an energy producer, but in our chemical industries as a feedstock to create. so last spring the charleston

daily mail editorial "the big gas boom that has increased revenue in west virginia has slowed considerably. less to the slowing markets than a lack of pipeline infrastructure to carry the burgeoning supplies." earlier this month, the clarksburg exponent tellly gramm -- another pine newspaper in west virginia -- "the promise of 18,000 jobs tied to construction of six interstate gas pipelines is the last hope for prosperity for a generation of mountain state residents." end quote. the paper continued, "the regulatory delays are slowing these important projects." west virginia has been hard-hit by job loss in the energy sector. just this week more than 850 west virginia coal miners received noticed that their jobs may be at risk. they join more than 500 other west virginians who were informed after the start of this year that they would be losing their jobs. not to mention that the whole

total job loss in the coal economy in my state has been 10,000 direct jobs as minors but also some -- as mine,but also some indirect jobs that contribute to the mining industry, most recently c.s. exp announcing cutbacks. moving forward will create economic opportunity in my state where it is desperately needed. i am pleased that this bill includes language that i introduced along with senators heitkamp and cassidy that would address the prolonged permitting process for pipelines. this provision will streamline the application process so pipelines can be constructed in a more timely and efficient manner and meet our energy transportation needs, along with meeting the environmental requirements that we feel are proper in order to site

pipelines. it helps to address any interagency squabbles for disputes that can lead to project delays. we must make use of our natural gas veers to grow our -- gas resources to grow our domestic gas. we must also export liquefied natural gas to our applies. a strong export policy will bring jobs to producing states like my state of west virginia and many others across the country. it will also help with energy security for our allies in europe and japan at a time of growing instability in the globe. this bill includes senator barrasso's bill to expedite l.n.g. permitting so that natural gas produced in america can be sold to o our allies arod the world. innovation will be a key component in powering west virginia's energy economy. in addition to our rich natural gas reserves, west virginia has been one of the most -- one of

the major producers of coal for energy generation in this country for decades. -- a century. my state and our nation have faced an uphill battle in the administration's war on coal, despite the fact that coal still remains america's baseload energy source. we need a commonsense approach to coal-fired energy generation, one that doesn't simply try to eliminate it but instead incorporates a modern, innovative energy policy. that's why i cosponsored language included in the bill with senators manchin and portman that would revitalize the fossil energy program at the department of energy. this program is critical to the research and development of new technologies that makes fossil energy more efficient and reliable while at the same time reducing emissions. one of the most promising advances in fossil energy technology is carbon capture, utilization and storage. not only would this technology

ensure that our coal reserves are part of an overall strategy, but it could also be used for an enhanced oil recovery that will further strengthen our energy security. a modern energy policy must recognize that coal and natural gas will remain a key part of our nation's energy portfolio for decades to come. i think everybody agrees the baseload needs to be there. by acting now to support infrastructure and innovation, we can support jobs and grow our economy for future generations. i started out my speech talking about the way this bill moved through the energy committee and how bipartisan it was and how we worked out the wrinkles. and i again want to thank the chairwoman murkowski and ranking member cantwell for the way they wove through a very complicated procedure. this bipartisan legislation is critical to all americans and their families. it means more efficient, affordable, and reliable energy for millions of people. it makes us energy-secure and

more competitive with other countries in innovative technologies. these are the reasons i support this important piece of legislation and urge my colleagues to do the same. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president, i wish to ask unanimous consent to speak about an amendment that i have filed and will soon see reach the desk 789. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. crapo:, thank you, mr. president. we don't yet have the exact number of the amendment because we are refiling a minor correction to t but i wanted to talk about a very critical amendment that i and a number of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle are bringing to the

legislation today dealing with nuclear energy. nuclear energy is one of the key elements of our national energy policy and must be one which is strengthened and improved as we move forward into the new global energy climate that we are dealing with in this country. i'd like to start out, however, by going back in time. 64 years ago in a desert plain near arco, idaho, the idaho national reactor testing station used the experimental breeder reactor known as ebr-1 to light four light bulbs. this was the first time in the history of the world that a nuclear reactor was used to generate electrical power. this singular event proved that atomic energy could be used to create commercial electricity. after this momentous event, ebr-1 went on to serve its real

purpose proving it was poblg to build a reactor that could create more fuel than it consumed. breeder reactors were possible. another reactor at the national reactor testing station named borax-3 went on to empower the title town of arco, idea hoavment it is no--idaho. it is not a hug huge metropolis. another energy first for nuclear energy in our history. so began the legacy of what would become the idaho national laboratory, now the home of over 50 one-of-a-kind nuclear reactors. everything the lab did was new. everything was innovative. the lab in idahoence with on to achieve -- the lab in idaho went on to achieve tremendous breakthroughs. the imagination and hard work of

the scientists in the lab now along with the same ingenuity of scientists at argonne and oak ridge ensured that the united states was the leader in the development and commercialization of nuclear energy. today many in the industry are focusing on what it takes to keep the current fleet of reactors alive and operational. industry leaders are worried about waste issues. the economics of operation, and and a halnavigating the requiref the nerc. many are not focused on the future of nuclear energy and what lies beyond the current generation of reactors. congress must find a way to help deal with the very real challenges that the current generation of nuclear reactors face. congress must also address the waste issue, and we must evaluate the safety and cost-benefits of regulations the government has places on this

industry. many of the burdens on the nuclear industry are government-created and so they must be government-solved. i look forward to working with my colleagues on the environment and public works committee to do our part in providing sound solutions. congress needs to find a way to multi-task. again, we can't ignore the challenges of the current fleet of reactors. but we must not allow these challenges to keep us from looking forward. the nuclear industry in america is better. it's better -- it is, for better or worse, completely controlled by the government. congress must lead in preparing government agencies to move forward into the future and to prepare for the next generation of our nuclear reactors. if our government is not able to create an environment in which the industry can grow and advance, companies will take their technologies overseas.

we have seen this begin to happen already. reactors now going to places like china, russia, south korea, and india. these countries want to develop exportable nuclear technology. if we continue down our current path, these countries are take the lead in establishing nonproliferation norms and safety norms in the advanced nuclear industry. i would prefer that america continue to lead in this area. today senators whitehouse, are risch, booker, hatch, kirk, durbin and i introduced the nuclear innovation capabilities arctic or neice as an aimed to the energy policy modernization act of 2016. this measure is the senate companion to the house measure of the same name introduced by representatives randy weaver,

andy bernice johnson sand lamar smifnlgt i would like to thank my colleagues for their hard work on this measure. as you can tell from the list i gave, it is highly bipartisan. there is broad support nor legislation on both sides of the aisle and on beth sides of the row -- on both sides of the rotunda. we all agree that innovation within the nuclear industry must continue. american preeminence in all things nuclear must endure. the senate version of neica would do four very important things to encourage innovation in advanced nuclear. number one, the bill directs the department of energy to carry out a modeling and simulation program that aids in the development of new reactor tep technologies. number two, -- excuse me, back to number one. this is an important first step in allowing the private sector to have access to the capabilities of our national

labs, to test reactor designs and concepts. number two, the measure also requires the d.o.e. to report its plan to establish a user facility for a versatile reactor-based fast-neutron source. this is 00 critical step that will allow companies to test the principles of nuclear science and prove the science behind their work. number three, neica directs the department of energy to carry out a program to enable the testing and demonstration of reactor concepts proposed and funded by the private sector. this site is to be called the national nuclear innovation center and it will function as a database to store and share knowledge on nuclear science between federal agencies and the private sector. the senate version of neica

encourages the department of energy and the nuclear regulatory commission to work together in this effort. we would like to see the d.o.e. lead the effort to establish and operate the national nuclear innovation center while consulting with the n.r.c. regarding safety issues. we would like, also like to see the n.r.c. have the access to the work be done by the, being done by the center in order to provide its staff with the knowledge it will need eventually to license any new reactors coming out of the center. if these reactors are ever to get to the market, the n.r.c. must be able to understand the ins and outs of the science and work behind their development. the n.r.c. needs the data in order to make data-driven licensing requirements. fourth, the senate version of neica requires the n.r.c. to report on its ability to license

advanced reactors within four years of receiving an application. the n.r.c. must explain any institutional or organizal barriers it faces in moving forward with the prompt licensing of advanced reactors. this bill, as i said earlier, is an important step forward in maintaining the united states leadership in nuclear energy. it's my hope that this bill will be able to enable the private sector and our national labs to work together to create new mind blowing achievements in nuclear science. this bill encourages the smartest, most innovative and creative minds in nuclear science to partner together to move the industry forward. neica is a very exciting piece of legislation. i look forward to working with my congressional colleagues to help the american nuclear energy thrive today and prepare for the future. i thank you very much for your

time, mr. president. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary. john michael vazquez of new jersey to be united states district judge for the district of new jersey. the presiding officer: under the previous order there will be 15 minutes for debate equally divided in the usual form. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. a senator: the energy policy modernization act is a crucial step forward in public lands management for the first time in nearly a decade. mr. daines: and we're doing it in a strong bipartisan fashion.

moreover, we're taking the necessary steps to ensure our nation's energy future, in turn increasing economic opportunity and protecting our nation's security needs. here are a few important components of this bill i'd like to highlight. number one, it permanently reauthorizes the land and water conservation fund. this is an important tool for increasing public access to public lands and one of the country's best conservation programs. two, this bill also streamlines the permitting for the export of liquefied natural gas, allowing more american energy to power the world. montana is the fifth-largest producer of hydropower in the nation, and we have 23 hydroelectric dams. this bill strengthens our nation's hydropower development by streamlining permitting of new projects and finally defining hydropower as a renewable resource.

only washington, d.c. would not define hydropower as a renewable resource. this cleans that up by statute and allowing ferc to provide more time to construct new hydroelectric facilities on existing dams. it extends construction licenses for gibson dam and clark canyon dam, two projects critical to tax revenue and jobs for communities in montana. this energy bill establishes a pilot project to streamline drilling permits if less than 25% of the minerals within the spacing unit are federal minerals. the provision sponsored by my good friend, the senior senator from north dakota, senator hoeven, is of particular importance to montana given the patchwork of land and mineral ownership in the balkan. it also improves the federal permitting of critical and strategic mineral production which supports thousands of good-paying montana jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenues for our state to

support our infrastructure, our schools, our teachers. metal and nonmetal mining also has directly created more than 8,500 good-paying montana jobs. in fact, mining helps support more than 19,000 jobs in total across montana. metal mining in montana has contributed $403 million in taxes and nonmetal mining contributes $128 million every year. and this includes $288 million of state and local taxes. finally, the energy policy modernization act of 2016 modernizes and strengthens the reliability and security of bulk power in america's electrical grid. because in montana, we know the important balance of responsibly developing a natural resources and serving as good stewards of our environment. our energy sector supports thousands of good-paying jobs

for union workers, for tribal members and access to our state's one of a kind public lands is critical to our state's tourism economy and our very way of life in montana. this bill facilitates all these goals. given the overwhelming support this bill received in committee, i'm hopeful that this bill will also receive strong bipartisan support as we work through the amendment process and take a final vote on this bill next week. i also look forward to having the opportunity to make this bill even better for our nation. this legislation makes important gains for montana energy, but there's still work to do. we can't fully discuss our energy's future of this country without also addressing the president's moratorium on new federal coal leases and royalty increase attempts for federal coal, oil and natural gas. i hope that we can work together in a bipartisan fashion to address these important issues which have a significant impact

on jobs, on tax revenue, and energy prices in montana. i'd like to thank chairman murkowski, ranking member cantwell, and their staffs for their work in getting us to this point. i look forward to seeing and voting on additional amendments from my colleagues in the coming days, and i look forward to getting this bill across the finish line and providing the american people with a comprehensive energy policy that works to support both our economic security as well as our national security. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: mr. president, i come before the senate to express my enthusiastic recommendation for john michael vazquez's nomination and confirmation to the united states district court for the

district of new jersey, which the senate will be shortly voting upon. mr. vazquez's credentials are impressive. he is a new jerseyan who is eminently qualified and highly experienced, and i'm confident that he will be an outstanding jurist with judicial temperament will serve as a precedent and personal integrity will be beyond reproach. there is an inscription over the tenth street entrance to the justice department that i often am reminded of and often quote. it can't be quoted too often when we're looking to perform one of our most vital duties selecting those best qualified judicial nominees. it reads "justice in the life and conduct of the state is possible only as it first resides in the hearts and souls of it's citizens." and i believe that justice in fact does reside in the heart and soul of john venezuala quez

and that he will bring the judicial heart and soul to the task as well as the benefit of a long and distinguished career in private and public service. he began his career at the law office of michael crixley and associates after working in the appellate division. he graduated summa cum laude from see tan hall school of law from rutgers college. he would bring a long and distinguished career to the district of new jersey bench when confirmed. he is currently a partner at crixley practicing commercial, securities, civil litigation as well as white collar criminal defense. and before his time in private practice, he served the people of new jersey in the new jersey office of the attorney general as the first assistant attorney general, as the second-highest

ranking law enforcement official in the state, mr. vazquez conducted the day-to-day operations of a 9,500-person department in various it divisions within the department, including criminal justice, consumer affairs, civil rights, elections, gaming enforcement divisions, to mention a few. and he preesm previously served as special assistant to the attorney general. and before that, he was an assistant united states attorney, where he focused on health care fraud, securities fraud and terrorism investigations. these experiences have given him a clear appreciation of the separation of powers, the importance of checks and balances. and i believe he will bring that view to the bench. the american bar association rated him unanimously well qualified for the nomination, and i agree.

and he was voted out of the judiciary committee unanimously. when i think about the breadth and scope of what comes before a federal district court judge, i can only think about the breadth and scope of his experiences. he understands both sides of the legal equation, the prosecution and the defense of a case. he is a member of the hispanic bar association. the essex county bar association, new jersey state bar association, the association of the federal bar of new jersey, and the association of criminal defense lawyers of new jersey. so, mr. president, i can say without equivocation that justice does indeed reside in the heart and soul of mr. vazquez. he is an eminently qualified nominee with impressive credentials and experience who will fill a judicial emergency vacancy in the district of new jersey. and in addition to intellect, judgment, temperament,

observance of the rule of law and the separation of powers, he diversifies our judiciary as a hispanic american, something that i think is also very important to be able to have any american walk into any court in the land and believe that the possibility of someone like them may very well be sitting in judgment of them. so when you have all the elements of what we want in a member of the federal judiciary and we are able to achieve that element of diversity as well, i think it is the highest moment. i urge the senate to unanimously support him, and i yield back the balance of my time. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call: mr. crapo: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from idaho. a senator: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. crapo: i yield back all time. the presiding officer: without objection. the question is on the nomination. i ask for the yeas and nays. is there a sufficient second?

there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. v: vote:

vote:

vote: