vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: does any senator wish to vote or change his vote? if not, then on the schatz amendment number 2965, the ayes are 55, the nays are 37. the amendment is agreed to. the senator from washington.

without objection. the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. moran: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to address the senate as if in morning hour. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. moran: mr. president, thank you. lots of things go on here in our nation's capital in washington, d.c. that don't make sense to me. one of those things occurred about ten days ago in which the obama administration announced that it would pay $1.7 billion to iran in settlement of a financial dispute dating back to the days of the shaw of iran. that $1.7 billion was a payment to iran for $400 million that was held in escrow after the

shah's demise, fall from power. and the remaining $1.3 billion was to pay interest on that $400 million. and i think there's a number of reasons that this makes no sense. i would highlight perhaps the one that seems to me to be the least controversial or the most commonsense. the problem is -- a problem is that we have american citizens who have claims against iran, actual judgments entered by a court of law determining that the country of iran owes american citizens the number that i am told is nearly $10 billion in those judgments. what makes no sense to me is that we would agree, the obama administration would agree to pay the iran government $1.7 billion without concurrently resolving the issues of what

iran should pay united states citizens or withholding the payment of that $1.7 billion until iran pays american citizens the judgment amounts owed them for their country's terrorist acts. why would we unilaterally pay iran money that we may or may not owe them without resolving the issue of money that we know iran owes to u.s. citizens? this makes no sense. you could have a broader conversation and discussion about this issue. i don't know that it's necessary to go further to reach the conclusion that the obama administration should not be doing this. you could also have a conversation about was this payment, $1.7 billion, really was it ransom money? was it paid because on the same day americans were released from

iran captivity? you could have a discussion about whether or not we should be giving iran any money at all as the largest supporter of terrorism and terrorism activity, the largest funder of terrorist activity around the globe. we know that in the iran agreement related to nuclear weapons, that the united states is releasing dollars to iran. and we know, in fact, it's been admitted by administration officials that we expect that money in part to be used to sponsor additional terrorist acts. well, in addition to the flawed, mistaken agreement with iran related to nuclear capabilities, we now are providing iran another $1.7 billion to use as they see fit, presumably with the ability, the admitted ability to use that money to further terrorist acts around the globe, including against united states citizens.

those discussions could be had. was this ransom? should we be given iran any money? but on the surface, you don't need to go further than, in my view, what ought to be easily agreed upon, which is no money to iran until the claims of american citizens are paid by iran. and i'm on the senate floor today to highlight to my colleagues that i've introduced exactly to that effect. no money to iran until the claims are paid u.s. citizens by iran, and i would encourage my colleagues to consider this legislation and join me in its sponsorship. it is senate bill 2452. mr. president, i thank you for the opportunity of bringing this issue to the attention, one more instance of which something makes no sense to me that could be resolved with a firm statement by the united states congress. mr. president, you can't pay iran until iran meets its

obligations to pay what it owes united states senate -- united states citizens. mr. president, i thank you, and i notice the lack of a quorum, after i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i'd ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, if this sounds like a case of deja vu, it's because we've been here before, and i'm talking specifically about the flow of unaccompanied minor children coming across our southwestern border, primarily through citizen-- primarilythrough my sa

border with mexico. as you know, mr. president, these children are coming not from mexico but from central america, and this is something that about a year or so ago that the president and his administration called a humanitarian crisis because you had this flow of children, unaccompanied children and some with their mothers, but mostly without, who came flooding across our border, and we just simply were struggling to keep up with them to deal with their safety, their health needs, and their security needs. well, at that time we had a discussion about what should we do to protect these children to make sure that they weren't victimized by human traffickers and other predators who might prey on their vulnerability when they get to the united states? and, indeed, this morning, under the leadership of chairman

portman from ohio, the senate permanent subcommittee on investigation held a hearing to explore a disturbing and tragic problem related to this flow of unaccompanied children coming across our nation's southern border. after these children are apprehended by the border patrol, they're placed in the hands of the department of health and human services to ensure that they receive the proper care. because many of these children are recovering from abuse, exploitation, exhaustion, exposure from this incredible trip that they make from their country in central america through mexico into the united states, many on the back of a train system known colloquially as "the beast." and many of us have seen pictures of this train with people on top of it, not necessarily inside of it, and falling off, being injured,

people being assaulted. it's really a terrible, terrible experience. and so many of these children come to the united states recovering from abuse and exploitation after traveling more than 1,000 miles, and this is a really important point. these are not -- these are not good people that are bringing them here. these are part of a transnational criminal organization. the cartels in mexico, the gangs who help distribute drugs, trafficking human beings, help facilitate illegal immigration, this has become a huge international business, and if you ask almost anybody that's got any experience in this area, it's not like the old days when coyotes, as we call them in texas and elsewhere, who smuggle people across in onessies and

twos ies, these are meme who -- these are people who struggle people. they care about the money and that's why they're in the business of smuggling these children from central america across mexico and into the united states. but here's the immediate problem that senator portman's subcommittee on investigations revealed. because the united states government, the department of health and human services does not adequately vet the sponsors with whom these children are placed once they come into the united states, we know, for example, they admit these sponsors don't have to be american citizens. they don't even have to be family members. shockingly, health and human services is releasing many of these children to sponsors who

have been convicted of serious crimes, including human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and violent offenses. and instead of using commonsense procedures like we already see in place, for example, in international adoptions, including extensive background checks, thorough interviews, and multiple home visits to make sure that a child is being placed in a safe and secure situation, the placement progress -- process for these migrant children is riddled with loopholes. for those who want to exploit it -- and unfortunately there are evil people who want to exploit it and take advantage of these innocent children. now, this -- some who have not been following this issue might wonder, well, why are we taking these children who illegal enter the country and actually placing them with nonfamily member sponsors who haven't been vett

vetted? and the problem is that under current law the border patrol cannot turn back people who enter the country illegally from noncon"tig" with us - --noncon"tignoncontiguous count. they have to get a placement for them as they issue a summons to them and say, well, you have a court date in front of an immigration judge in three months or six months or a year that's going to determine whether you have a legal basis upon which to stay here in the united states or not. and lo and behold, this should come as a surprise to no one, a vast majority of these people who illegally enter the country in this way never show up for their immigration hearing in front of the judge to determine whether they have a legal basis to stay.

and, indeed, because the obama administration and the i.c.e. -- i ammigration and customs enforcement -- that's responsible for enforcing our immigration larks because -- immigration laws, because they simply have quit enforcing our laws once they enter the country this is a way to thread the needle and to beat the system and to succeed in staying in the united states. but here again today, i want to focus on once these children are here, i would think every person with a heart would want to say, well, we have a responsibility to take care of them, at least until we can return them back home. so i'm grateful to the junior senator from ohio, senator portman, for dedicating his time and energy to investigating such an important issue. i commend him for his leadership in doing so in a bipartisan way. i think most of us can agree

with the main point that he raised this morning, that the administration has a duty to ensure the safety of these children once they're in the country. whether they have a legal duty or not, they have moral obligation -- i would hope all people of good will would agree -- to make sure these children are safe and not place them, because of negligence or inadvertence, in the hands of people who would exploit them and abuse them. the subcommittee also released a report in conjunction with this morning's hearing. after a months' long very, the report reveals that the h.h.s. policies are insufficient and fail to adequately screen sponsors. they know they have a problem. they just don't have the will to do anything about it. this is unacceptable. this is unacceptable that health

and human services knows its own placement process does not even close -- does not even come close to foster care or international adoption standar standards. and for the safety and protection of these children, the status quo cannot continue. i hope somebody will ask the president of the united states about this because when we tried to pass a piece of legislation called the humane act to deal explicitly with this issue, to raise the screening standards for sponsors here in the united states for these unaccompanied children, the administration and the president of the united states opposed it. and this is what you get. this is what they get. certainly not what they deserve. but this is something anybody could have predicted and, indeed, did predict at the time if we did nothing to address it. so what these children need now, as senator portman's report suggests, is certainly a more transparent process with robust

oversight. now, that sounds kind of bureaucratic, but what we need is somebody who can make sure that no child is placed with somebody who's going to abuse them, exploit them, or make their life a living hell. -- hell while they're here. we also need to make sure that they are given an opportunity to appear in front of an immigration judge because maybe they have some legal basis upon which to claim a right to stay in the united states under current law. but maybe not. and maybe what the proper recourse is is for these children to be returned to their home country, because i'll tell you, we've had this experience before where there is no enforcement of our immigration laws when people know they can penetrate our border and come here and successfully stay, even though they don't comply with the law. our laws lose all deterrent value. in other words, people -- where there is deterrence, they just -- they don't come in the first

place, because they realize the likelihood is they will be unsuccessful. and that's an important goal of law enforcement. it is not necessarily -- not necessarily to deal with every case once it is on your doorstep. but actually you want to deter people from i can breaking the law -- from bikin breaking the n the first place. i wanted to come to the floor to express my aprearks to senator portman and the subcommittee for highlighting this issue but even more importantly to make sure that somehow, some way, somebody in the press, in the media is going to keep writing about this and ebb exposing the facts. and i hope that we can re-awaken the conscience of the congress and the u.s. government and say, this is simply unacceptable. and we can work together to address address it. we must do more to protect these

children who are vulnerable to exploitation. back in november i joined the chairman of the judiciary committee in a letter to the secretaries of homeland security and health and human services. this was in response to a whistle-blower who indicated those departments were releasing unaccompanied children to criminal sporks many wit sporksh ties to human trafficking. earlier this week, "the washington post" published an in-depth account of several young guatemalan children who were smuggled to a farm in ohio to be used as slave labor. after authorities released them from human traffickers -- they went from being trafficked, these children from guatemala, to being basically indentured

servants or slave labor in ohio. so instead of keeping enem themn protective custody or placing them in a suitable, safe environment, these children were forced to live in roach-infested trailers and their lives were threatened, if they attempted to escape. this is a gut-wrenching story, but it's only one story. but i dare say that the united states government and health and human services and the obama administration can't tell us how many other children have been exposed to such terrible abuse and mistreatment. we're now learning that these stories are not uncommon, and of course given the process by which health and human services and the administration places these children, not with american citizens, not with even

family members, without vetting them, what else would you expect? the associated press recently reported similar stories from across the country, including accounts of teens forced to work around the clock just to stay in a safe place to live. one young girl who was reportedly locked inside her house basically kept nab prison and reports of some unaccompanied children who have been sexually assaulted by their sponsors. with more than 95,000 unaccompanied children crossing our southern border illegally over the last two years, these reports likely only scratch the surface of the horrors that these children are enduring. and it's not over. there are more coming every day, and indeed we've seen the peaks

and valleys of the flow of unaccompanied children across the border basically our seas, and as we get out of the winter months and the warmer months, we will continue to see those children flow across at higher levels than they are now. but 95,000 so far just in the last two years. so this surge of children coming across our border has exposed our nation's vulnerability to human smugglers and these transnational criminal organizations, and it's shown that inadequate border security can contribute to a humanitarian crisis that endangers the lives of the children who are turned over by their parents to dangerous predators and smuggled into the united states. let's be clear on this point. once these children arrive in the united states, our government has a duty to protect them and ensure they are no longer preyed upon by criminals

and traffickers. but then we have a responsibility to make sure that if they can't legally stay in the united states because they have no valid claim to asylum or refugee status, that our laws need to be enforced until those laws are changed by congress. the united states could see a new surge of these children pouring across our southern border in the coming months. in fact, i will predict here today that we will. we know from historical trends these types of surges are not likely high school the spring or summer months, and we shouldn't just stand around here or sit on our hands and ignore this growing crisis. there is a legislative response that i would recommend to my colleagues. i was proud to sponsor a piece of legislation last congress called the helping unaccompanied alien minors and alleviating national emergency act, or the humane act in short.

this legislation would have required all potential sponsors of unaccompanied children to undergo a rigorous biometric criminal history check. let's check the records to make sure that we're not -- the government's not placing these kids with known criminals, records that we could easily discover if we just bother to check those records. and to make sure that we don't inadvertently place these children in the hands of sex offenders or people that would merely traffic them to someone else. given the clear threat that these children face and the anecdotes that i've described here and that are described in horrific fashion in senator portman's report, it's irresponsible for us not to do something about this while we can. there is more we can do and should do to ensure that these children are treated safely and scurrile while they're with us. i believe the provisions of my

legislation would be a good start. if anybody's got a better idea, i'm certainly willing to hear and work with them. so before we see another humanitarian crisis of huge pro portugals of young children coming across that border, i hope the united states senate will take a look at the concerns exposed in the permanent subcommittee on investigation report led by senator portman. i look forward to reintroducing the humane act soon as a way to at least in part begin the process of addressing this new humanitarian crisis in the making. mr. president, i see no one wishing to speak, so i would -- i would yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. a senator: mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. hoeven: thank you, mr. president. this morning i discussed two amendments that i've introduced in regard to the current energy legislation, the energy policy modernization act of 2016. and i'd like to talk about a third amendment that i've introduced as well. the amendment actually follows legislation that i introduced earlier entitled the power states amendment. essentially what the power states legislation does is it ensures that states retain the right to manage oil and gas production in their respective

state. it gives them the ability to develop hydraulic fracturing rules and respond first to any violation that might occur rather than having a federal one-size-fits-all approach. and this is very important because how we produce oil and gas in states like north dakota is very different than how we might produce oil and gas in a state like, for example, louisiana or some other state. so states have to have the flexibility to respond to their industry, to provide regulatory certainty, and to empower that investment that will help us produce more energy and do good environmental stewardship. this amendment allows states to regulate oil and gas development on bureau of land management lands if the state has law and regulation in place to protect both public health and the environment. as i said, it takes a states first approach because individual states are the first and best responders to oil and

gas issues. they know their land, their geology and their water resources, and they have the primary stake in protecting their environment and their citizens. states like north dakota have been successful in developing oil and gas production with good environmental stewardship. right now our state produces about 1.2 million barrels of oil a day, second only to the state of texas. and with that growth in development, our industry has had to work very closely with the state of north dakota on just a whole gamut of issues that are vitally important, as i said a minute ago, in terms of producing more energy, but doing it with good environmental stewardship. so that's what this legislation is all about. and at the same time this amendment provides a safety net that allows the environmental protection agency, the e.p.a., to stay in if there is a danger to health or the environment. again, it's about making sure

that states have the primary role but still recognizes e.p.a.'s role as well in terms of protecting the environment and good stewardship. states would still be subject to the safe drinking water act and the clean water act. these federal laws have minimum standards for all states, and those minimum standards ensure consistent protection between and among the states for both public and the environment. surface water is protected under the e.p.a.'s clean water act's surface water quality standards. drinking water is protected by the safe drinking water act which allows the e.p.a. to act if a contaminant is present or likely will enter an underground drinking water source. hydraulic fracturing wastewater is regulated by the e.p.a.'s underground injection program

which is designated to the states to implement and enforce. and that's what we're talking about, again is the state having the primary role in regulation of hydraulic fracturing. e.p.a. requires a state to have a minimum requirement in terms of protecting underground projection from endangering drinking water sources. this includes monitoring and reporting requirements. none of those requirements would change under this amendment. instead this amendment gives the states and tribes more certainty about under what circumstances e.p.a. may withdraw or amend a state's regulation. so again, it's about making sure we have the regulatory certainty out there that actually empowers the very investment that helps us produce more energy and do it with good environmental stewardship. it ensures that if the e.p.a. does decide to intervene, it

must show that the action is necessary and that the decision takes into account factors like job loss and energy supplies. it will help states retain the right to regulate hydraulic fracturing within their borders. that makes sense, as i say, because states are the first and best responders to oil and gas issues and have been successful in developing oil and gas production regulations. it would also allow a state to regulate hydraulic fracturing on federal lands, like b.l.m., as i mentioned earlier. in addition, the amendment would prohibit new burdensome federal rules if a state or tribe already has those rules in place. so, again, the effort here is to make sure that we are empowering states to work with their industry and then in turn empowering those industries through regulatory certainty to help develop our energy future

in this country and do it with good, consistent, commonsense regulation that empower the kind of investment that we want to see through job creation and economic growth. finally, the amendment allows for judicial review. it allows a state or a tribe to seek redress for an agency's actions in a federal court located within the state or the district of columbia. judicial review being very important in case there is a dispute in terms of what e.p.a. may require, what the state may require, or what the industry feels is fair treatment. in conclusion, the legislation recognizes that states have a long record of effectively regulating oil and gas development, including hydraulic fracturing, with good environmental stewardship. the measure works to ensure that the rules for hydraulic fracturing are certain, fair, effective, and environmentally sound.

these are qualities we expect in good regulation. as i said at the outset this morning, in introducing a number of these amendments to build the kind of energy plan for the future that we need, we have to reduce the regulatory burden and at the same time empower that investment that will help us build the energy infrastructure we need to move energy safely and cost effectively from where it's produced to where it's consumed in this country. with that, mr. president, i look forward to working with both the chairman of our energy committee who's bringing this legislation forward and the ranking member in offering these amendments and voting on these and other amendments and trying to get to the best product we can in terms of strengthening the energy plan for this country. and with that, mr. president, i yield the floor.and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk should call the roll.

quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. coats: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from indiana. mr. coats: mr. president, i ask that the call of the quorum be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. coats: mr. president, i come here during a sad time here for hoosiers. a beloved principal of an elementary school i in the

indianapolis area, lawrence township, was seeing her students off after a day of school. a bus came around the corner, the school bus, to pick up the kids, accidentally lost control, and the then-principal su susan jordan of that school, beverland rland elementary school in an indianapolis suburb shall saw the bus coming, saw that it was going to hit the students, put herself in front of them, saved perhaps many lives of young students. two were injured seriously but will recover. but susan jordan, the principal of the school, lost her life doing this. the situation is still under investigation. but all elements and indications

point to this as simply a tragic accident. but the story that has happened on tuesday is not just one of tragedy, it is also one of heroism. as i said, before the bus struck her, principal jordan pushed several of her students out of harm's way. the principal comes out of school every day, out of her office, to help the students safely board the buses. lost her life in doing so. those who knew her well -- and i didn't, but of course we all do now -- said that was not a surprising act. i quote one who said that "it didn't surprise any of us that susan would sacrifice herself." that was the descrirkt administrator for lawrence township. sean smith, superintendent of the lawrence township schools called principal jordon a legend and sated "we lost a great educator." she served as principal of the school for 22 years.

she was known for her cheery disposition and welcomed each classroom every morning. the gospel of john tells us "greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." and the love that susan jordan had for her students should be an inspiration for us all. we offer our condolences to susan jordan, to all the students and parents of the school. i noi know i join all hoosiers in mourning her loss and celebrating her life, a talented educator who paid the ultimate price for the students she loved so dearly. mr. president, i would also like to address something that i have been doing on a wokely basis called -- on a weekly basis called "waste of the week." this is number 31 of my visits

down here to the floor talking about egregious waste, fraud, and abuse of spending by the federal government. we hear so often that we just can't cut another penny, we just can't cut another dime out of these programs because they've been subject to freezes or they've been subject to sequester. and, besides, we don't have the money to do t well, it. well, i have been highlighting small steps because we haven't been able to achieve the big steps, but small steps of ways that we can save taxpayer money and address federal spending. and so i have come down every week, put up the board "waste of the week," and this week deals with a situation that, once again, didn't need to be in a position to spend taxpayers' dollars because it ccum duplicad

what was -- this one -- already being done. the amtrak police department and drug enforcement administration participate in a joint task force that works to interdict passengers trafficking contraband on amtrak trains. amtrak information is available to the drug enforcement agency at no cost from the amtrak police department, two agencies here working together. but despite this agreement, the d.e.a. has wasted hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars paying just two amtrak employees to do exactly what the task force was formed to do. so we have a task force who are paid employees, there for a specific purpose, providing information to d.e.a. d.e.a. says this is important information, but that -- they

also use informants. these are people that work for amtrak on the train, and some of their information that they provide is also valuable. but according to an investigation by the justice department's inspector general, the d.e.a. paid two amtrak employees a total of -- are you ready for this? are you sitting down? -- two paid amtrak employees are getting a salary, they work for amtrak, a total of $864,161 for information which they have been providing to the d.e.a. -- to amtrak and then giving to the d.e.a. the information probably was important. but over a period of 20 years, these payments went out to just two employees, $864,000-plus. the i.g.'s investigation concluded that when d.e.a.

officials sought approval to register these amtrak employees as informants in the d.e.a.'s confidential source program, the required documents did not indicate that these informants would be made. -- would be paid. now, let me so forth and for other purposes a minute here and -- now let me stop for a minute here and say that confidential sources are an important tool. officials at the d.e.a. actively use confidential information to obtain information regarding drug trafficking or investigations. and some d.e.a. officials have said that the information that the confidential sources provide are kind of the bread and butter of our agency. so my question i point is not tn the use of confidential sources but to point that federal agencies like the d.e.a. doesn't need to pay for information that they already have access to. and this is the waste of taxpayer dollars and poor stewardship with limited resources that fall into the

category of "waste of the week." twenty years of the d.e.a. paying for information that they were already supposed to receive at no cost, without a second thought, indicates a serious systemic spending problem that spans multiple parties and presidents. we must pull the plug on this type of waste. so today i add an additional $864,161 to the taxpayer price tag towar for this already free information from amtrak employees. and we continue to add more. our gauge continues to rise. we now are at a level of well over $130 billion of waste, fraud, and abuse. so let no one come down to this floor an say, we can't take a penny away from this program or come down to the floor and say, we don't have the known pay for things that we -- we don't have the money to pay for things that

we ought to do or return to the taxpayer. what i'm trying to do here is show that government can be run much more efficiently, much more effectiveleffectually. i applaud -- effectively. i applaud the inspector general and others who are looking into this waste. i want to bring to my colleagues' attention the fact that we have a lot of work to do, chipping away at this spending and waste but also looking at long-term, major financial fixes to our ever-careening plunge into debt and deficit. with that, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk should call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. nelson: mr. president, i ask

unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: so ordered. mr. nelson: mr. president, i ask consent that i be able to display for the senate a model of the space shuttle. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. nelson: mr. president, i ask consent that i be granted as much time as i might consume. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. nelson: thank you, mr. president. 30 years ago today, it was very cold in florida at the kennedy space center. the pads had been readied, both pads for the first time, a space shuttle on 39-a and 39-b. since the space shuttle columbia, which was the 24th flight, was so late getting off

the ground, indeed the better part of a month from the first start and four scrubs starting december 19, but finally launching after the fifth try into a flawless six-day mission on january 12 to return to earth on january 16. to return to earth on january 18. in the meantime, on the other space shuttle launch pad, challenger, the 25th flight is being readied. the night before the day of the launch, which is 30 years ago today, it was exceptionally cold

in florida. it got down to 25 degrees. indeed, there were actually icicles hanging on the launch tower, and as the crew arrived to get in in the early morning hours and there were holds all the way up until a little past 11:00. at this point, the temperature had improved to 36 degrees. still the icicles were there, but it was above freezing. and there was considerable consternation throughout the entire apparatus of nasa and its contractors, particularly the top managers as well as the

managers of the company that made the solid rocket boosters as to whether or not there should be a launch. and the go was given. 73 seconds high into the sky above florida, challenger disintegrateed and to a -- the challenger disintegrated, and to a nation that had come to think that climbing in the space shuttle was like getting in your car and taking a sunday afternoon drive, indeed this was quite a shock because the entire technological prowess of the country 30 years ago was summed up in this magnificent flying machine that would go to orbit

and would come back, that would take 45,000 pounds of payload to orbit and would come back and land like an airplane, albeit without an engine. but that morning, it was to be different. the only other astronauts that we had lost were in getting ready for the apollo program to go to the moon on the pad in just a countdown test of the apollo capsule, which the environment was an oxygen-rich environment, one of the three astronauts doing the practice countdown happened to kick a part of the spacecraft that had a wire that set an ignition, and

in that oxygen-rich environment, fire engulfed and claimed the lives of gus grissom and ed white and roger chafee. and all those years when we did not even know what was going to happen when we went into space. when we launched john glenn on that atlas rocket that we knew had a 20% chance of failure, we didn't know enough about the human body in zero gravity and at those speeds to know what was going to happen to the human body. and in all those years of experimentation and going to the moon many times, even on the

ill-fated apollo 13 that we thought we had three dead men in the apollo capsule when that explosion occurred en route to the moon, and yet miraculously this space industry and nasa apparatus came together and figured out realtime how to get them back and get them back safely, in a crew headed by jim lovell. but it was not to be, mr. president. on the morning of january 28, 1986, i have a scale model of 1- 100 of the space shuttle, and i want to explain what happened that morning. as challenger launched, it went through its sequence where they had to throttle back on the main

engines as they went through the part of the atmosphere getting maximum dynamic pressure, and then those famous words that came back from the crew that they were acknowledging you're go at throttle up. the three main engines ignited a burning in the tail of the shuttle fueled by the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen contained in the external fuel tank. they throttled up to 100%, and it went straight up and accelerating. here is what happened at 73 seconds. the solid rocket boosters so you

can see from the rearview are attached by struts to the external tank which does not hold their fuel. their fuel is a solid fuel. it has the consistency of that eraser on this pencil. and those ignite at t-minus zero , each with about three million pounds of thrust. you definitely know you're going somewhere. and so it was. but cold weather had dealt us a devil's brew that day. because these joints where they put together the solid rocket booster are sealed with a rubberized gasket.

and those rubber o-rings, because of the cold weather, had gotten stiff and brittle to the point at which it just so happened that a point over close to the external tank, the hot gases of thrust, instead of coming out the nozzle in the tail of the solid rocket booster are coming out because the joint is not sealed because of that rubberized o-ring that has now become stiff and brittle from the cold weather and the hot gases burned into the external tank, and that caused the explosion that all of us

remember. that was played over and over again on our television screens, and that was what was such a shock to the american people. and those seven souls led by dick scobee as the mission commander, a test pilot, by mike smith, the pilot in nasa terminology, the copilot, a test pilot, christa mcauliffe, the schoolteacher from new hampshire, greg jarvis, a payload specialist, judy resnik, a mission specialist, ron mcnair , mission specialist, and ellison onizuka, a mission

specialist. those seven souls perished as all of the explosion fell miles and miles down to the surface waters of the ocean and eventually the debris on the floor of the ocean. there is a dramatic presentation at the kennedy space center in the atlantis exhibit showing a part of the challenger, and anybody who goes to the kennedy space center i would urge them to go and see that. it's a very moving exhibit, and it's an exhibit about the crew. but, mr. president, that exhibit is not only about the

challenger, which was 30 years ago, but that exhibit is about the next space shuttle that we lost. that was some 16, 17 years later, and it was on february 1 of 2003. and it was the space shuttle columbia, the one that had launched just previous to challenger, the one of which this senator was privileged to be a part of the crew. and this time it was destroyed but for a different reason. because it had launched a couple of weeks earlier and everything was fine, so we thought. but it was not to be, because

what happened on launch was that this external fuel tank carrying the very, very cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, in order to keep that cold surrounded with an insulation -- and there is a part of that insulation that broke off that is about the size of a styrofoam insulated tub, about this big. that's all. that's all the size. and it broke off right here as columbia was on assent -- acsent and it accelerate and the speeds became very, very high. that piece of foam fell with

high velocity right at the leading edge of the left wing. that is a carbon carbon fiber, very light in weight but very resistant to heat. on reentering, the front edges of the wing and the tip of the nose all carbon-carbon fiber get up to 3,000 degrees farenheit. and of course everything was fine with a hole in the left leading edge of the wing as columbia ascent 8 1/2 minutes into orbit. but now february 1 it's time to come home, and this crew of

seven was about to meet their fate as they had done the de-orbit burn, had fallen through space for half-hour, started encountering the upper reaches of the atmosphere, and as the leading edge of the wing, now the orbiter separated and flying to begin with more like an airplane on descent as the leading edge of the wing heated up, there's a hole in it on the left side and the hot gases go in and burn up the wing, and on reentry, high over texas, columbia burned up and the debris fell over miles and miles of texas. rick husband, the commander;

willie mccool, the pilot; mike anderson, payload commander; david brown, mission specialist; calpana mission specialist; laurel clark, mission specialist and elan ramone, payload specialist. the test pilot, the hero of the israeli air force that led the strike on saddam hussein's nuclear plan outside of baghdad. elan ramone had been chosen to fly on the space shuttle. i remember one time that i was seeing the former president of israel, shimon peres, and he

knew of my background, and he said i want you to see this telecommunications that i got from elan ramone the day before the reentry. mr. president, i want to thank you on behalf of the israeli people for giving me the opportunity mentded fationd that fer of -- the fact that you and president clinton enabled me to be able to start in this astronaut program and to be able to fly. and the mission was just incredible. and president peres shared how that was so meaningful to him only a few hours before columbia did the de-orbit burn and into the pages of history.

mr. president, so it is solemn that we come here today to pay tribute 30 years ago to the challenger crew and also to the columbia crew. it's solemn, but what they sacrificed and what the apollo 1 astronaut sacrificed and what so many other astronauts in training have sacrificed through training mishaps, what they sacrificed is not forgotten and it's not in vain because, mr. president, we're going to mars. now it's not going to look like this because we learned our lesson. this was a fantastic flying machine, but it was an

inherently risky design because the crew here in the orbiter is on the side of the stack of explosives. and as a result, i've just explained to you two of the terrible tragedies that occurred. no, the new rockets that will fly in less than two years -- in september of 2017 -- to and from the international space station on american rockets, the new rockets look like they've gone back to the old apollo design, but in fact the new rockets have much updated crew compartment spacecraft that will sit on the top of the rocket so that if you have an explosion, even on the path, all the way to orbit, you

can save the lives of the crew by detaching with explosive rockets the spacecraft away from the explosion and save the crew by it either landing under its own power or having parachutes that will let it down gently. so, mr. president, in light of this 30th anniversary, given the fact that we as a nation who are by our nature explorers and adventurers, we never want to give that up. that's a part of our d.n.a. it's a part of our character. it's a part of our vision. we used to go westward as we developed this country into that new frontier. now we continue to go upward.

and, mr. president, we're going to mars, and that's going to be a great day in the decade of the 2030's, which you will see us build on that in two years, launching americans on new spacecraft on the top of rockets. and in three years a full-up test of the largest rocket ever put together by mankind on the face of this planet. the space launch system and its spacecraft orion. that will do its first full-up test flight in 2018. so in the memory of challenger crew, in the memory of the columbia crew, in the memory of the apollo 1 crew, we stand on

their shoulders as we continue to explore the heavens. we thank them for their courage, their sacrifice, their pioneering spirit. and that's what i wanted to share on this 30th anniversary of the tragedy of the space shuttle challenger. mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wisconsin. ms. baldwin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that following my remarks that senator brown of ohio be permitted to speak. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. baldwin: mr. president, i come to the floor today because i believe that higher education should be a path to prosperity, not a path to suffocating debt.

however, today in america we have a student debt crisis that demands action from washington because it's holding back an entire generation and creating an economic drag on growth of our country. unfortunately, the republican majority here in the united states senate continues to ignore this crisis. at a time when we really should be working across the party aisle to put in place reforms that make college more affordable for students and for their families who are struggling and are in desperate need of action. that's why last week senate democrats officially launched our in the red campaign in order to confront the student debt crisis and address college

affordability. our reform package has three initiatives that deserve to be debated and deserve a vote. first we are calling for action to address the significant loss in value of pell grants by adjusting them for inflation. second, we are pushing to allow borrowers to refinance their existing student loans at lower rates. and, third, we are making two years of community college or technical school free for students who are willing to work for it. mr. president, in his state of the union address -- not the one he gave a couple weeks ago, but the one that he gave last january, in 2015, president obama called on us here in congress to make a bold

investment in our nation's students, in our nation's workforce, and in the future of our economy by making twos years of community college free. in july i answered that call and introduced legislation, the america's college promise act, aimed at providing students a stronger and more affordable opportunity to gain the skills they need to compete, succeed, and prosper by making an investment in our workforce readiness, our economy, and our future. now i'm proud that this provision is a pillar of the senate democrats' effort to reduce student debt in 2016 and to put our country on a path towards debt-free college. learning from successes in states like tennessee and

oregon, the america's college promise act will create a new partnership between the federal government and states to help them waive resident tuition in two years of community or technical college programs for eligible students. this new partnership will provide a federal match of $3 for every $1 invested by the state to waive community college tuition and fees for eligible students. with this legislation, a full-time community college student could save an average of around $3,800 in tuition per year. as cochair of the senate's career and technical education caucus, i'm especially proud that this reform takes a critical step to strengthen workforce readiness at a time when america needs to

out-educate and compete with the rest of the world in a 21st century skills-based economy. mr. president, the idea that the next generation will be able to go further and do better than the last is at the heart of the american dream. and the solutions that we are offering today deserve a vote in this congress. i.tit's my hope our colleagues n the other side of the aisle will join us in confronting the student debt crisis and supporting these commonsense reforms that not only makes higher education affordable but can help give more americans a fair shot at pursuing their dreams. i thank the president, and i yield back my time. th