vote:

the presiding officer: are there any members in the chamber wishing to vote or wishing to change their vote? seeing none, the ayes are 87. the nays are 4. the amendment is agreed to. the question now occurs on the amendment 2982. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or wishing to change their vote? seeing none, the ayes are 62,

the nays are 29, and the amendment is agreed to. under the previous order, the time until 1:45 will be equally divided between the managers or their it designees. ms. ayotte: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. ms. ayotte: madam president, i rise today on the 30th anniversary of the loss of the space shuttle challenger, and a tremendous loss to the state of new hampshire. teacher in space christa mcauliffe of concord, new hampshire. so today i rise to honor and preserve the legacy of the crew of the challenger. on this day 30 years ago, america was saddened by the tragic loss of seven brave crew

members of the space shuttle challenger. are commander francis scoby, pilot michael smith, mission specialist anazuka, mission speght ronald mcnair, mission specialist jew -- judith reznick and christa mcauliffe. each of the members of the challenger crew, they conducted themselves with such bravery, heroism and their desire to reach beyond into the stars inspired me as a high school student, i remember where i was the day that we were all watching as the challenger was lifting off into the stars. i was a student at nashua high school, and christa mcauliffe inspired all of us.

she captured the nation's imagination as she looked to be the first teacher in space. that tragic day touched the lives of every man, woman and child in new hampshire, and it was one of those days in history that time stopped and everyone remembers what they were doing on that moment. and i certainly do. you see, christa was a role model, someone who lived among us and was able to achieve extraordinary things. she inspired young people across new hampshire and the nation to touch the future. she was a gifted educator and had such infectious enthusiasm for teaching. she taught social studies at the concord high school and she was selected among 11,000 applicants to be the first teacher in space. when asked about the mission on national television, she said, "if you're offered a seat on a

rocket ship, don't ask what seat. just get on." it really shows her dedication to teaching, her bravery, her commitment to inspiring the next generation of leaders and scientists and dreamers and explorers, all of whom have made our nation great. and today the mcauliffe shepherd discovery center in concord, new hampshire, is named in her honor. this state-of-the-art facility provides not only a lasting tribute to the courage and bravery of christa mcauliffe and all on the challenger crew, but it also helps educate visitors about the contributions of this extraordinary new hampshire citizen, not just christa mcauliffe but other new hampshire citizens who have braved and explored space. and also at the mcauliffe planetarium they are doing

amazing work showing the next generation of scientists and leaders how exciting it is to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics. so it's a tremendous legacy to christa mcauliffe and all who have traveled in space on our behalf and explored the edges of the universe so that we can learn more about ourselves and new developments. as president ronald reagan eloquently said that frightful day 30 years ago, the crew of the space shuttle "challenger" honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. we will never forget them nor the last time we saw them this morning as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped the as yo as you thf earth to touch the face of god. today we honor the legacy of a great granite stater, a great american, christa mcauliffe and all the members of the space

shuttle "challenger" and that brave crew that day because their legacy continues to live on in our children and in our continuous focus on improving in science, technology, ans mathematics and our continuous reach for the stars. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mrs. fischer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator nebraska. mrs. fischer: thank you, mr. president. i rise -- the presiding officer: we are currently in a quorum call. mrs. fischer: skilled that the quorum call be vitiated, please. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. fischer: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise today to pay tribute to the brave men and women of nebraska who have served and are serving in the united states military. our state has a rich and powerful history of answering the call to serve. for nearly 150 years we've witnessed this bravery in each of america's wars. over the past decade, the men and women of nebraska have risen to defend our precious freedom against islamic terrorists, primarily in iraq and

afghanistan. this year marks the 15th anniversary of the horrific terrorist attacks in new york and washington, d.c. these events changed the lives of nebraskans and our nation forever. nebraskans stepped up, ready to fight. those serving in uniform, it be active duty, the national guard or the reserves, knew that they would likely wind up on the battlefield at some point in the future. many young nebraskans enlisted after high school. rotc units in nebraska have no problem filling their ranks, and applications for military academy nominations poured in at record numbers. we should all be so thankful to this generation for answering the call and standing up to defend freedom across the globe.

today i begin a new initiative to honor this generation of nebraska's heroes here on the senate floor, and i'll focus on those who lost their lives in combat. all of our fallen nebraskans have a special story. according to the nebraska department of veterans affairs, there are 77 nebraskans who loflt their lives -- lost their lives to combat-related incidents in iraq and afghanistan. throughout this year and beyond, i intend to devote time here on the senate floor to remember each of these heroes, telling tr stories reminds us of the principles that they fought and died for. time after time, nebraska's gold-star families tell me the same thing. they hope and pray that the supreme sacrifices of their loved ones will always be

remembered. it is my hope that these presentations will allow us to pause and reflect on these brave nebraskans. the freedoms that they secured are personified by the quurnlg that they embody -- by the courage that they embodied. today i would like to begin with specialist josh ford of pender, nebraska. joshua a. ford was killed in iraq on july 31, 2006. his parents, relatives, and high school clas classmates look back lovingly on the boy who quickly grew to be a courageous soldier. as a young teenager, josh was described as a couch potato who liked video games, painting, and watching horror movies. but deep inside there grew a strong desire to serve his country in military uniform. he joined the nebraska army national guard between his junior and senior year at pender

high school in 2003. that same year he began basic training at fort jackson. he was justice 17 years old -- he was just 1 years old and it e was just 17 years old and it was a tough transition. his dad remembers him talking about being placed in fat man's camp. he was overweight by 35 pounds at the time. lonnie and his wife along with classmates and friends noticed how dramatically josh had changed when he returned from basic training. a year later after graduating from pender high school, josh attendinged the army's heavy-vehicle driver school. he was assigned to the 189th transportation company detac detachment, number 1, in wayne, nebraska. a senior sergeant remembers that josh grew up from a kid to a soldier almost overnight. the 189th had just been

recognized as a unit in april of 2003. two years later the 189th received orders to deploy to iraq. following training at fort reilly, the unit arrive arn iraq in october of 2005. for the next year they traveled over 2.5 million miles throughout the country. specialist ford became known as an energetic and reliable battle buddy. he was eager to tackle extra missions. he came home on leave in april of 2006. he had a number of things on his mind. at the top of his list was his girlfriend michelle, whom he proposed to that spring and she happily accepted. he also kept things in order, leaving behind an audio will for his friends. according to josh's father, honelonnie, he just wanted evere

to celebrate his life as he was gone. josh returned to iraq with just six months knowing the deployment -- to go in the deployment. in the recallly evening of july 341, 2006, the heat was unbearable but typical for a summer day in iraq. specialist ford and his battle buddy specialist ben marksmyer were parlt of a convoy that was drill driving through an area they had patrolled many times impletsz out of nowhere an i.e.d. obliterated their vehicle. unit members reached their truck immediately. specialist marksmyer was seriously injured but specialist ford died at the scene. lonnie, josh's dad, will never forget the day he heard the knock at the door. three members of the nebraska army national guard had arrived at his home in pender and he knew before he opened the door why they had come.

the next day lonnie and his wife linda traveled over 250 miles to tell josh's grandmother and his three sisters of his death. one can only imagine the pain, sorrow, and agony that they felt every step of the way. specialist josh ford was buried in pender, nebraska, on august 10, 2006. pictures show the road from the church to the cemetery lined with people as the patriot guard veteran motorcycle group escorted josh to his final resting place. for his service to his country, specialist josh ford earned the bronze star, the purple heart, and the combat action badge. he was promoted posthumously to the rank of sergeant. his father lonnie later retired from teaching, and he joined the

patriot guard. and today lonnie ensures those who served and died are never forgotten. he attends funerals and events with his fellow patriot guard riders all across nebraska. josh's photo ton his service information are proudly displayed on his rider's vest. he recalls josh saying to him when he was home on leave in april before his death, "old man, i know understan now under- "old man, i now understand why you were so tough on me when i was growing up. he only wanted me to become the best person i could possibly b be." during his limited time on earth, josh did just that.

our nation and all nebraskans are forever indebted to his service and sacrifice. sergeant josh ford is a hero, and i am honored to tell his story, lest we forgot his life and the freedom that he fought to defend. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: thank you. mrs. fischer: i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. the senate is currently in a quorum call. ms. warren: mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. warren: mr. president, 30 years ago today, millions of americans gathered around their television sets, in homes and classrooms all across this country to watch the space shuttle challenger launch toward the stars.

73 seconds later, everything changed. we stared at our television sets, stunned and brokenhearted. today on the 30th anniversary of that terrible tragedy, we remember the heroes we lost. francis scobie, michael smith, ronald mcnair, allison anaduka, judith resnick, and we remember one more hero, the special person so many little boys and girls had tuned in that day to see, the very first u.s. civilian in space, christa corrigan mcauliffe. christa attended marion high school in framingham state university. she married her high school sweetheart steve. she had two children, scott and caroline. she eventually became a high school social studies teacher in concord, new hampshire. in 1984, ronald reagan announced

that nasa would send its first private citizen into space, and that person would be a teacher. a few months later, christa beat out over 11,000 other applicants to become the first teacher in space. christa was thrilled, a dream come true. she reportedly told johnny carson if you're offered a seat on a rocket ship, don't ask what seat, just take it. mr. president, 30 years ago today, senator ted kennedy entered an excerpt of christa mcauliffe's nasa application into the public record, and i'd like to re-enter it for the record and read it again today. when asked why she wanted to be the first private citizen in space, christa mcauliffe wrote i remember the excitement in my home when the first satellites were launched. my parents were amazed and i was caught up in their wonder.

in school, my classes would gather around the tv and try to follow the rocket as it seemed to jump all over the screen. i remember when alan shepherd made his historic flight, not even an orbit, and i was thrilled. john kennedy inspired me with his words about placing a man on the moon, and i still remember a cloudy, rainy night, driving through pennsylvania and hearing the news that the astronauts had landed safely. as a woman, i had been envious of those men who could participate in the space program and who were encouraged to excel in areas of math and science. i felt that a woman had indeed been left outside of one of the most exciting careers available. when sally ride and other women began to train as astronauts, i could look among my students and see ahead of them an ever-increasing list of opportunities. i cannot join the space program

and restart my life as an astronaut, but this opportunity to connect my abilities as an educator with my interests in history and space is a unique opportunity to fulfill my early fantasies. i watched the space age being born. i would like to participate. mr. president, christa mcauliffe never made it into orbit on january 28, 1986. she never got a chance to write in her journal about what it was like inside the space shuttle, how it feels to float around, all the other sorts of things that people who aren't astronauts had wondered about this. she never got to go back to her classroom and tell her children about her magnificent journey. but christa mcauliffe still teaches. since 1994, the christa mcauliffe center at framingham state university has provided truly remarkable, innovative,

integrated stem education resources to 12,000 massachusetts students each year. and christa mcauliffe's story, a little girl from framingham who wanted to become a schoolteacher and got a chance to take the ultimate field trip, a trip into outer space, keeps inspiring little boys and little girls in massachusetts and around the country, telling them all to reach for the stars. today we remember christa mcauliffe and six others we lost in the space shuttle challenger. we remember that day that our country stared at our television sets, stunned and brokenhearted. we honor their memory by continuing as christa mcauliffe said to touch the future, to teach our children and our grandchildren where we have been, where we're going and why. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. peters: mr. president, i rise today to speak in support of the stabenow-peters amendment package that will provide much-needed assistance to flint, michigan. for decades, flint was known as the birthplace of general motors and for playing a key role in the creation of the united auto workers. now national attention is trained on flint, not for its role in the creation of america's middle class but for the utter abandonment by the state government of a city where 40% of the population lives below the poverty line. nearly two years ago, an unelected emergency manager appointed by michigan's governor changed the city of flint's water source to the flint river in an attempt to save money while the city prepared to transition to a new regional water authority. the ultimate cost of this

misguided, dangerous decision will not be known for decades. after switching away from clean water sourced from the detroit water authority, flint residents began to receive improperly treated flint river water long known to be contaminated and potentially very corrosive. water poured from flint faucets and tasted and smelled terrible, and it was discolored, brown or yellow in many cases. in fact, general motors stopped using this water source for their flint engine operations because of the high chloride levels or corroding parts used during the manufacturing process. the result of the state government decision was and continues to be catastrophic. flint families were exposed to lead and other toxins that will have a lasting effect for generations. the water crisis in flint is an immense failure on the part of michigan's state government to ensure the health and safety of

the people of flint and to provide the basic human right of clean water for drinking, bathing and cooking. it is a failure that will cause flint's children to suffer from the adverse health effects of lead exposure for years to come, a failure that has created the enormous challenge of fixing a water system that has had corrosive water flowing through its pipes for months. even after flint has transitioned back to distributing water from detroit that should be safe and potentially irreversible -- unfortunately, potentially irreversible damage was done to the water lines, and they still require the use of filters. this ongoing crisis has left the city of 100,000 people drinking bottled water donated from across the nation. and in light of the state government's failure, i am disappointed state government still has not sufficiently stepped up to provide the necessary resources to deal with the short and long-term effects

of water contamination in flint. while the cause of this crisis and the ultimate responsibility to fix it lies with state government, we need to bring resources from all levels of government to bear to address this unprecedented emergency. along with my michigan colleagues, senator stabenow and representative kill de, i have been -- kildee, i have been working tirelessly to levy all available resources for flint. the effects of lead on children are insidious, causing long-term development problems, nervous system damage and decreased bone and muscle growth. there is no cure, but we can mitigate these problems with a commitment to delivering nutrition, education, health care and other wraparound services that a generation of flint children now need more than ever. my colleagues and i have requested that the u.s. department of agriculture allow existing programs to provide ready to feed infant formula

which does not need to be mixed with water to all infants in flint. we have urged the department of health and human services to make head start available for every eligible child in the city of flint. we are working to make sure every flint resident has access to affordable health care and are encouraging residents to purchase coverage through the open enrollment at healthcare.gov before january 31 deadline or sign up for medicaid if they are eligible. i will continue to work with congress, the administration and leaders on the ground in flint to secure any federal support possible for flint families and small businesses that have been harmed. as part of our efforts to support the people of flint, senator stabenow and i are offering an amendment that will help bring the process to make flint whole with substantial investments in fixing this problem in both the short and long term. our amendment will assist the city of flint in four ways. first, the amendment would

include my bill, the improving notification for clean and safe drinking water act or the in case act which would require the e.p.a. to directly notify the public of dangerously high lead levels in drinking water in the local water system and state fail to do so within 15 days. the e.p.a. has repeatedly made recommendations to the state government urging them to take steps to improve the water and to protect people. unfortunately, the state of michigan failed to take action and failed to properly notify flint residents of the health risks in the water system for months. the primary responsibility for notifying residents lies with the state government, but when you have a situation like flint where the state was sitting on critical information, there has to be another level of accountability. second, our amendment will authorize e.p.a. to issue direct grants to the state of michigan and the city of flint to hire new personnel, provide technical

assistance and most importantly, most importantly replace and repair water service lines, the only long-term solution. these aging service lines were certainly a concern before this crisis, but now there is an urgent need to repair and to replace them. for nearly two years, corrosive water flowed through the pipes, leaching lead and other toxins. this provision will fund the repairs for the service lines that were severely and potentially permanently damaged as a result. third, our amendment includes a technical fix that will allow current drinking water state revolving funds to be used for loan forgiveness. this will provide upwards of $20 million in relief to flint and allowing them to direct new funds for investment in water infrastructure and not interest payments. earlier this year, the e.p.a. acknowledged that the state did not have the authority to forgive these loans. that's why this amendment includes a temporary technical

fix to allow states to use the e.p.a.'s drinking water state revolving fund resource for loan forgiveness and debt relief on debt incurred before the current fiscal year. and finally, our amendment will direct the u.s. health and human services to establish a center of exlens on lead exposure in flint which will bring together local universities, hospitals, medical professionals and the state and county public health departments in an effort to address the short and long-term health effects of lead exposure in the city. mr. president, it is important to remember that the children of flint have been impacted the most by this crisis, and to no fault of their own. whether in flint or elsewhere in america, we have a responsibility to care for our children. we must repair the trust flint residents have lost and the ability -- in the ability of government officials to protect them and to provide the most

basic services. i strongly urge my colleagues to join us in our effort to help flint recover from this unnecessary man made disaster. standing up for children is not a republican or a democratic issue, and i hope we all come together here. this is common ground on which we can stand together and stand up for the people and the children of flint. mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. flake: mr. president, i rise today to speak in support of the bipartisan amendment that i have introduced along with the senior senator from california that would enable arizona and california and other drought-stricken states to store more water in hydroelectric dams. as everyone knows, water is a

controversial issue in the west. arizona and california have long been at odds on a number of water-related issues, particularly the very long-running supreme court case on the colorado river. however, recognizing the importance of wisely managing water in the west is something that we can all agree on and look for ways to cooperate on. today i am glad to introduce along with senator feinstein in california one of these helpful management provisions to better use existing dams in our drought-stricken states. these dams are critical to the management of the west, and we've got to store water obviously in dry times. the western u.s. relies on dams to produce clean, renewable hydropower as well. also to deliver drinking water to growing cities, to irrigate fields. because they are large and expensive, these dams are

increasingly difficult to have built; it's imperative that we make the most of those we have already. in a bill introduced last year, senator feinstein included a pilot program to allow the updating of how flood control operations are conducted at many dams. this very helpful provision allows the use of modern forecasting tools and better records of hydrology to reevaluate the flood control operations in order to create additional water storage space. increased storage space would allow more water to be kept behind the dams, allowing more hydropower to be produced exactly when it's needed. this amendment simply expands on senator feinstein's proposal broadening the scope to all drought-stricken states, not just california. and increasing the number of projects in the pilot program

and allowing more types of facilities to opt into this pilot program. this is a commonsense amendment. it will help us make the most of the capacity that we have to store water and to produce hydropower. and i would urge its adoption. with that, i yield back. i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

the presiding officer: the snr from alaska. ms. murkowski: request that proceedings under the quorum call being suspended. officer without objection. ththe question occurs on amendmt 2965. is there sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote: