quorum call:

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mrs. fischer: mr. president, i would ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mrs. fischer: mr. president, i

ask unanimous consent that the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. fischer: mr. president, i rise today to honor the life of officer carey orosco of the omaha police department. this month will mark the one-year anniversary of the officer's death. i would like to take a few minutes to remember her life and celebrate the legacy of this brave young woman who died in the line of duty. officer carrie orosco was born on september 19, 1985, in walnut, iowa. walnut is a small town, about an hour east of omaha and the place where carrie's devotion to community and public service began at an early age. her mother, ellen holtz, remembers carrie as a leader from the start, recalling that she was my oldest but she had

the best sense of humor and kind of took care of her brothers and sisters. she was also active in sports, music and volunteer groups. her high school alumni volleyball team called themselves the wolfpack. leadership and service were in her blood. carrie's aunt, laurie mcneil, said carrie always wanted to be a cop. she was just a doer, laurie remembered in an interview with omaha's wowt last year. whether it was church, 4-h or everything she was involved in, she gave 100%. faith was also deeply ingrained in kerrie who aunt laurie called a very strong catholic girl and always smiling. putting it simply, kerrie was a saint, her aunt said. kerrie's natural instinct for leadership and service led her to join the police force in

2007. this decision had a special place in kerrie's heart because of a promise she made to her father. earlier that year, her father fell gravely ill, and by the fall it became clear that he would not recover. kerrie made a promise to him in those final moments of his life that she would make him proud. two months later, in december of 2007, she joined the academy. during the next seven years, as an officer with the omaha police department, kerrie became active in the community that she protected. she volunteered with the special olympics and helped raise funds as president of the police officers ball. she led a girl scout troop and took part in area events like shop with a cop. for years, officer or rozco was

also known as coach k. through the baseball team she led through the omaha boys and girls club. this devotion to so many people in the omaha community earned kerrie the outstanding volunteer service award last year. but her love of these children was outmatched by the love of her own family, particularly her husband hector and his two children. in february of 2015, they welcomed the birth of their first child together, a daughter named olivia. their daughter was born premature and kerrie postponed her maternity leave while olivia remained in the prenatal care unit. three months later, on october 20, 2015, officer orozco was preparing to serve an arrest warrant as a member of the department's metro area fugitive task force. when her team arrived, the

suspect opened fire and kerrie was hit. she was rushed to creighton university medical center where she died shortly thereafter. officer kerrie orozco was 29 years old and one day away from going on maternity leave to care for her new daughter just released from the hospital after three months of prenatal care. she was the first female officer of the omaha police department to die in the line of duty. thousands of people from nebraska, iowa and beyond braved the rain to line the streets for her funeral procession and honor the officer who gave her life for her fellow citizens. this month marks the first anniversary of her death, but her memory and service to omaha live on in all our hearts. her mother ellen says she often comes home to find gifts in honor of kerrie, sometimes

without any idea of who they are from. the omaha police department considers itself a united family, and in the years since kerrie's death, the common refrain of kerrie on has been referenced time and again to honor her spirit, legacy and memory. several of her family members as well as her colleagues and members of the omaha first responders foundation are here this week to honor officer orozco in our nation's capital, and i join them and all nebraskans to celebrate the life and legacy of a truly great person, a proud police officer and a beloved wife and mother. officer kerrie orozco represents the best of nebraska and our nation, and she will forever inspire us to carry on.

thank you. i yield the floor. mrs. fischer: mr. president, i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk shall call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. rubio: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator florida. mr. rubio: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. riewk rube mr. president, i'm here to talk about -- mr. rubio: mr. president, i'm here it talk about two separate topics today. the first is the zika virus. in the last 24 hours we finally seem to have found some action in dealing with the zika virus, as we now have three separate proposals, proposals that we'll continue to work on and debate next week. it was about five weeks ago that i met with federal, state, and local health officials in miami and came out in support of the president's emergency funding request to deal with zika. since then i've come here to the senate on numerous occasions.

i a stated my belief that there shouldn't be anything divisive about this. it is a public health emergency that will sooner or later impact the vast majority of the united states because this is a virus transmitted by mosquitoes that are only going to become more prevalent as the weather heats up. because our people rue toonly travel to and from -- routinely travel to and from the island of puerto rico, the most impacted community in the entire united states. when i spoke here yesterday shall the count of people ink effected in florida stood at 109. since then, just 24 hours later, it has become 112. 112 zika cases is the most of any state in the union. of the three new cases in florida two, were in volume vola county and one was in orange county. one issue we've been encounter something the desire to offset the spending. i've made it clear that if we can offset the spending, if we can find the money somewhere else in the bucket to pay for what it is going to cost to deal

with stey ka, we should -- with zika, we should do it. but in times of public emergencies, just like natural disasters, we shouldn't delay acting while we figure out what we're going to cut from other parts of the budget. another issue we've encountered is whether we do this through the normal process that's going on or fund it as an emergency spending bill. again, inl a i'm open to either one of these approaches. back in the real world, people infected impi this and their -- tbhi and their families, dhee have the time for us to figure all of this out. we need to get going here and get something done. i've 1245eud we should deal with this issue fully and that the $1.9 billion requested so far may not even end up being enough when it is all said and done. but i believe that there is no one here who wants to get caught in the situation where it's august and people are back in their states, maybe even campaigning for reelection, and they have to scrambling back here in the middle of the summer to come up with solutions when

it gets hot earned there are nor mosquitoes and the conditions are right for more people to be impacted. that's why i commend nor nelson, my colleague from florida. i especially commend senators murray from washington and blunt from missouri and histories or making -- and others who are taking this seriously because this is a devastating disease. it has taken the lives -- it's taken lives throughout our hemisphere. the way it impact impacts unborn children alone should call us to action. let's deal with this now and protect our pome. there's no reason every proposal to address zika cannot be bipartisan and earn broad spowmplet i am hopeful we can reach a final outcome that addresses the problem. i'm hopeful we'll see some final action very soon, including the american citizens in puerto rico who have been most impacted so far. that's one reason why next week i plan to introduce along with my colleague from florida, senator nelson, an amendment to provide the full $1.9 billion request to fight the zika virus.

the strain on puerto rico's health system from zika must be addressed and this is the only proposal so far that tries to deal with the unique challenges that puerto rico faces with the zika virus. it is important to remind people who are asking themselves why should we care about puerto rico, well, i would remind theme this 4 million u.s. citizens live there, that the first american to lose their life to zika lived in puerto rico, that puerto ricans routinely travel to the continental united states, to florida, and new york especiallily and that these $4 million puerto rican citizens have no voice in the senate. so i will make sure they are not forgotten a. as we work on solutions to this virus that has did he proportionately impacted these americans. so when we return next week to continue debating aappropriations bill, i hope we can come together on this issue. i hope we can find a way forward that deals with these issues fully and that helps us stop this disease in its tracks and it saves lives. so i urge my colleagues here in

the senate and the house as well to look at the proposal that senator nelson and i will introduce to offer their input and ultimately to sign on and get this passed because, as we know, it's not going to be enough to see progress here hue the senate. we need the house to act well. and i hope we can start doing that next week. we need to act. zika is taking lives, it's hurting unborn children, and this problem is only going to get worse as we move forward. tomorrow i am going to be visiting the eureka gardon apt apartments, a section 8 apartment complex that is supposed to provide living conditions for low-income people. the tenants have been subjected to dangerous living conditions. they have raised their concerns repeatedly with the managers of the facility and with local officials only to be met for the most part with bureaucratic indifference. i and my staff have been working

on this since it first came to light last fall. but there's been a frustrating, disturbing lack of progress from the department of housing and urban development and, more importantly, from the owner of the complex. so frankly i've had enough. i'm heading down there tomorrow to see what we have to do and who we need to put pressure on to get things moving. i'll be touring the facility and meeting with tracy grant, the president of the tenants association. i'll be joined by councilman dennis and pastor mark griffin who will be be meeting with residents. i intend to commend the residents tomorrow for how united and resilient they have been throughout this or 13 deal -- throughout this ordeal even as the effect has failed them. the department of urban development halls for years certified this facility, a facility that has put hundreds of families arisk, when h.u.d. inspected the property last surming, they passed the complex with a score of 85 out of 100. less than a month lairkts

residents were complaining about how bad their living conditions were. when my staff visited the complex, it was nearly unlivable. they saw crumbling stairs, implac mold, exposed electrical twhierg had been covered up by a trash bag. they smelled the natural gas that would soon hospitalize residents days later. this was and is unacceptable. my office along with mayor curry, the city council and the tenants association pushed for months to have improvements and repairs done. in february h.u.d. finally had a date by which all high repairs must be completed. when the time came, it passed the inspection and they eventually renewed their contract with the property's owner. you about the residents continue to say what they've said all along. hods' inspections aren't working. just recently h.u.d. revealed that eureka gar dan passed with a score of 23e6, the passing score is a 60. a senior h.u.d. official admitted that h.u.d. officials do not believe the property

would currently pass another inspection. ^+soe h.u.d. admitted that it has certified a failingality. something is clearly wrong with the ink specks process and floridians are being hurt because of it. i'll be down there tomorrow to find out how we can put an end to this problem once and for aumf the residents of eureka gardens cannot be forced to suffer under mismanagement and apathy any longer. children cannot continue to be put at risk. h.u.d. cannot be allowed to continue to rubber stamp approval of failing housing complexes, only to further slumlike conditions for the most vulnerable tenants. i'll continue to look for solutions that help make sure what's happened is fixed and isn't repeated anywhere else. if we determine that congressional action is necessary, then i am prepared to take it. the residents of eureka gardens deserve safe living conditions and we're going to make sure that that's exactly what they get. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

a senator: plop? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. markey: mr. president, i ask that the call of the quorum be vitiated. the presiding officer: without

objection. mr. markey: thank you, mr. president. i further ask unanimous consent that the following congressional fellows in my office be given floor privileges for the remainder of this session: alyssa hesky, jeanette roberts, karen hoskowski, aaron bagdanoff, and hugh o. donnell. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. markey: thank you very much, mr. president. i want to open my remarks with congratulations to the police assistance addiction recovery initiative based in gloucester, massachusetts. since it began less than 11 months ago, this program is now working with more than 100 police departments in 24 states around the country to help people with opioid addiction to get the treatment they need. the program's approach is simple but it is also revolutionary.

having law enforcement work with those suffering from the disease of addiction by removing the stigma surrounding it and placing them into treatment instead of behind bars. i thank the founders of this program, gloucester police chief leonard campenella and urge everyone to learn more about this national model for combatting the opioid crisis. and it's that crisis that i am here to talk about this afternoon. today i want to call attention to a serious issue facing massachusetts and soon to face every single community in the united states of america. illicit fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 50 times stronger than heroin. can i say that again? fentanyl is 50 times stronger

than heroin and 100 times more powerful than morphine. and it is responsible for the largest increase in drug overdose deaths in recent years. more than 700 deaths in the united states were attributable to fentanyl and its components between 2013 and 2014. in massachusetts alone, 336 people died from fentanyl-related overdoses between 2014 and be -- and 2015. more than the 1,319 opioid-related deaths in the commonwealth of massachusetts in 2015, for which a blood test was available, more than half -- 75r fentanyl. that's an astounding number for one state.

that's an astounding increase in the impact which fentanyl is having in deaths in the state of massachusetts. but it's not just isolated to massachusetts because fentanyl is the godzilla of opioids and it will overrun communities and lay them to waste unless we take action now to stop it. for those who may not know about this new scourge, mexico and china are the primary foreign sources for illicit fentanyl, for the chemicals and building blocks from which it is made and for other illicit substances, very similar to fentanyl called fentanyl analogs and which are trafficked into the united states from outside of our borders. fentanyl powder is often mixed with other illicit drugs like heroin or is disguised in pill

form to resemble an opioid painkiller like oxycontin. many drug users overdose on fentanyl because they have no idea that it is mixed into whatever substance they are injecting or whatever pills they are swallowing, and they do not realize just how deadly it is until it is too late. capturing a total, an accurate number of drug overdoses caused by fentanyl has been very challenging. coroners and medical examiners do not usually test for the drug unless they are asked to, and they are often unaware an overdose has a fentanyl link when an individual tests positive for a different substance like heroin. even more troubling, the men and

the women who are first to respond to the scene of an overdose may not know how to identify fentanyl or how to handle the drug. this makes local and state first responders very vulnerable to the drug's harmful effects because if the powder, if the fentanyl powder is absorbed into the skin or accidentally inhaled, it can be deadly. in fact, a dose of just three salt-size grains of fentanyl can be lethal. so think about that. you're a first responder, you're going into a home or a business thinking that you are responding to an opioid overdose situation when in fact you might be exposed yourself to the fentanyl in the air or to something which

gets on your skin. that's how deadly this new substance is that is creating this epidemic across our country. recently d.e.a. agents in seattle raided a suspected fentanyl lab wearing hazmat suits and protective gear to make sure they did not inadvertently breathe in or touch the fentanyl, and the d.e.a. has told me that they sometimes cannot use dogs to sniff packages coming in from overseas suspected of containing fentanyl because these drug detection dogs may die if they even inhale it. the drug enforcement administration is so concerned about this synthetic opioid that in march of 2015 it issued a nationwide alert highlighting fentanyl as a threat to health and public safety.

fentanyl is a very real problem in my home state of massachusetts. lawrence, massachusetts, which is about half an hour north of boston, is a hot spot for fentanyl trafficking. from lawrence, the drug ends up being processed and sold all over new england. there are efforts already in place to address the spread of fentanyl. mexico and china are its primary foreign sources and have been the focus of diplomatic efforts to curb fentanyl trafficking. we need to make sure that those countries are living up to their promises to combat the flow of this deadly drug and other synthetic opioids into the united states. we know nalaxone, sometimes called narcan, is an effective antidote against opioid overdose. but a single dose of nalaxone is typically not enough to combat

an overdose that includes fentanyl. that is why earlier today i called on the department of health and human service and the department of state to outline our domestic and international strategy against the trafficking of illicit fentanyl into america. as we await their responses, i know there are several critical steps that we must take in order to save lives. we must educate the public about the existence of illicit fentanyl and the harm it can do. we must educate first responders, our firefighters, our e.m.t's, our sheriffs, our health care workers so that they can protect against injury to themselves as they are trying to identify a fentanyl overdose, so that they can protect themselves from the harmful effects of that drug. identifying a fentanyl overdose could mean the difference

between administering multiple lifesaving doses of nalaxone or death. we should invest in programs that ensure nalaxone, narcan is readily available and accessible to those most likely to witness an overdose. and we need to make sure that there are no shortages or unnecessary price increases for this lifesaving treatment. we should issue guidance to states regarding the protocol for fentanyl testing in order to obtain a more accurate picture of fentanyl's deadly impact. illicit fentanyl is different from other opioids. it is difficult to detect and has deadly consequences for those who unknowingly come within its path. we cannot let another day pass without taking the necessary steps to educate our communities about fentanyl, to develop a national strategy and to

collaborate with our international partner, the mexicans and the chinese especially so that we keep this illicit drug out of the cities and towns of our country. american lives depend on a solution to the latest opioid crisis. it is going to be something that people look back at and say how can something have been worse than the heroin epidemic? how can something have caused more deaths than the heroin epidemic? that's where fentanyl is already in the state of massachusetts. and it is something that is going to come to each and every state in our country. we have to take action now. we have to ensure that we protect our borders from it entering, but then we have to make sure that we give the proper training, protections and put them in place for every

state, every city and town to be able to protect against this infecting their community. so i thank you, mr. president, for giving me the opportunity to address the chamber today. i yield back the balance of my time and i also doubt the presence of a quorum. the presiding officer: and the clerk should call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

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test quorum call:

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