law enforcement agencies for training and equipment so let's show our faith in their effort to keep america safe and let's show our commitment to justice in this reform. unfortunately, mr. president, because i was joined in the struggle by then a brand-new senator from new jersey, named cory booker, and he has been an extraordinary voice in this effort. senator lee and i were doing pretty well until cory booker came along, and now he has added more firepower and more horsepower to this effort than any other senator could, certainly any new senator. i commend him for helping us in this effort and being committed to it in his heart, and i would like to at this point yield the floor to my junior colleague from the state of new jersey, nor booker. mr. booker: thank you very much. i want to thank -- the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. booker: thank you very much for the recognition, mr. president. i want to thank mike lee for coming to the floor and speaking with such heart and conviction.

i want to thank senator durbin for also his stand on the floor today. but please understand mike lee, chuck grassley, senator durbin, senator leahy, so many senators on both sides of the aisle have been speaking on this issue for years. in fact, since before i became a united states senator, this moment has come. but as senator durbin began talking about the issues of the day where there is so much frustration, so much concern, so much consternation, so much divisiveness on this issue of criminal justice in america. it's made me think personally a lot about this idea of hope because i tell you this week i've talked to a lot of people who seem to be indulging in a dangerous, toxic state of being, which is hopelessness about criminal justice issues in our country. i have appreciated senator durbin who has not just been a

senior senator, not just been steadfast in working with this issue, but he has been a friend, calling me up not just this past week but weeks before where lots of americans were indulging in high pressure systemness about the divisiveness in our country, about the injustices in our country, about the ravages of a broken criminal justice system. and as i have been thinking about high pressure hopelessnesp coming back to this that was taught to me on the streets of newark, new jersey, that hope does not exist in an abstract, that hope is the active conviction that no matter how bad things get, despair will not have the last word, that hope is a choice that must be made amidst hopelessness, amidst despair, amidst frustration, you've got to choose hope. and that choosing hope means that you commit yourself to a process that doesn't divide this country but that unifies this

country with the conviction that we can be a nation that makes real the words, that we pledge -- when we say we are a nation, one nation, one nation under god, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. this week, we need those words, we need that hope. and so when mike lee and dick durbin, two politicians on opposite sides of the spectrum, said hey, this is a time that we should be pushing hope, indifficultiesibility, we have a bill that addresses issues at the core of so much of the frustration going on. it doesn't solve all the issues. it doesn't wave a wand, but it will advance us towards liberty and justice for all. because unequivocally, we have gone off the rails. since 1980, the land of the free

broke with the rest of the world and became unequivocally the incarceration nation. our prison population exploded since 1980. the federal prison population up 800%. our overall prison population up 500%. we only have about 5% of the globe's population, but one out of every four incarcerated people on the planet earth are right here in america. and in response to a criminal justice system that lost its proportion at in its punishment, that seemed to become more about retribution than restorative justice, a criminal justice system is rife with the stories that mike lee talked about when he talked about weldon angelos and a judge who himself cried out about the injustice of

sentencing someone to 55 years for a nonviolent drug crime. or alton mills, who senator durbin spoke about, who was sentenced to life in prison for a nonviolent drug crime. we in america went off the rails. and so i am hopeful today because on the right and the left, not just members of this body but from the koch brothers to newt gingrich to grover norquist to the aclu, people on both sides of the spectrum said we can do better because this broken criminal justice system is hurting us. rather than being a tool for public safety and social order, as was intended by our criminal justice system, it instead became an industry and an end to itself. it became a massive exploding bureaucracy, draining our economic prosperity. in fact, one study showed we

would have 20% less poverty in america if our criminal justice system -- incarceration rates were similar to our industrial peers. this has been a divisive drain on our cohesive society, a misappropriation of taxpayer funds while our infrastructure has been crumbling, we've led the planet earth in building out in infrastructure. in fact, between the time i was in law school in the mid 1990's to the time i became mayor of newark, we were building a new prison in this country every 12 days. congress has increased federal spending on prisons by 45% since about the year 2000 alone. and congress has cut spending on the things that keep us safe like law enforcement at the state level by 76%, putting someone like weldon angelos in

prison for 55 years, hundreds of thousands of dollars in a long, disproportionate sentence for a nonviolent crime that could have gone to public safety, hiring police officers for our community. but what is painful to me at this time is that our criminal justice system, it would be painful enough, those data that i gave, but our criminal justice system clearly disproportionately affects poor people, leading, leading authors like brian stevens to say we have a criminal justice system that seems to treat you better if you're rich and guilty than poor and innocent. blacks and whites have no difference in america in using or selling drugs, but african-americans are about 3.6 times more likely to get arrested for selling drugs. instead of a criminal justice system that unites us under principles of justice and fairness, we see it persecuting disproportionately groups

because they're poor or because they're of color. if you look at latinos, they account for the largest group of offenders convicted of an offense that has a mandatory minimum at 38%, and native americans are grossly overrepresented in the criminal justice system. 80% of americans in our criminal justice system, 80% are represented by public defenders, deemed by the court to be indigent, to be too poor to afford an attorney. our justice system does not reflect our values. this drug war is not being carried out in a way that is fair or just, and it's not just hurting poor, the mentally ill, the drug addicted, the minorities. it hurts all americans because it drains our resources, it drains our treasure. and when i say treasure, i don't just mean money. we have a point in america today

where millions of children have had parents who are incarcerate ed. it hurts generationally the best of our nation, the promise of our nation. and the irony about our lack of action in putting this bill to a vote is that the states are already moving quicker than us. red states, georgia and mississippi and texas are doing things now for years that we have been proposing in this bill and have yet to enact, that have shrank their population. and guess what has happened in states like texas and georgia and mississippi who have lowered their criminal -- their prison populations. guess what happened? their crime went down as well, because when you have a system that is not about retribution but about restorative justice that has proportionality in sentences, you not only save money for your state but you also empower people to succeed

and lower crime. when states start to put drug addicts in treatment as opposed to jail, it empowers people to succeed, saves money and lowers the prison population. common sense. and so states, states have acted. we've seen the success. but the federal prison population, 800% increase, taking away money that should be spent on homeland security, money that should be spent on investing in public safety, money that should be spent for public universities, money that should be saved for the taxpayers is now going, still fueling one of the biggest growing bureaucracies we've seen in the last 40 years. and so this calls for unity in our country, but i tell you, we've got unity. when i can stand in partnership with mike lee and chuck

grassley, when you have people like patrick leahy and dick durbin, these folks are not normally mentioned together as partners on legislation. but i'm proud that some of the most esteemed members, the chairman of the judiciary committee, the ranking member of the judiciary committee both agree. we can put more justice in our justice system. we can do something to reverse this trend. we could begin to put rationality back so that the values of this country are made more real. i'm proud to have negotiated and worked with the chairman grassley who is sitting across the aisle from me right now, honored. it's one of the more -- in the three years i have been in the senate, it's one of the more proud things that i have accomplished, is to find common ground with my republican colleagues on the other side in a bill that i know from the

neighborhood and block that i live on to cross country would make a difference. and now we've encountered some sclerosis, some blockage, some dam between where we stand now and greater justice for our nation. this has been a tough week. it's been a week of frustration and grief and sadness. this is a time we should choose hope. it's a time that we should choose unity. it's a time that this very body should be saying to america, hey, we have got challenges but we can find common ground. we can come together left and right, black and white. we can do better than we're doing now. it's a hard walk we have ahead, but this body can start leading on issues of justice.

there have been other difficult times in our country. when this body answered the call. there have been times when people were fearful and people doubted and there have been times where people felt their heart heavy, and i'm proud that in our history, it's during those times that leaders emerged and chose hope. mr. president, my prayer is that in these waning days of this congress, with all the important things we have on our agenda, that we remember that there are people right now that are stuck in despair. there are people that don't believe in our indifficult -- indivisiblety. it is my hope when this comes to issue of criminal justice that

are so obviously broken that we choose reform, that we choose healing, that we demonstrate unity, that on this issue we bring forward a bipartisan bill that begins to cast away some of the darkness that hangs over our country with the light and the wisdom that's in this bill, that reflects both sides of the political aisle and i believe reflects the best of who we are as a body. thank you very much. i yield. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: first of all, i thank senator portman for letting me go ahead of him. he has been waiting a long time. i will take just a few minutes because i want to talk on exactly the same subject that has been before the senate for the last half-hour or so. i come here to continue to believe that the senate should take up the sentencing reform

and corrections act. there is still time this year for both the senate and the other body to pass legislation reforming sentencing. in light of recent and justified public concerns over treatment of suspects by some police and treatment of police by people who would do them harm, the need for the bill is even greater today. the sentencing reform and corrections act contains three parts each of which was formed as the basis of a bipartisan compromise among judiciary committee members as well as members not on the judiciary committee. the first is the reduction in the mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders. the bill takes great pains to limit sentencing reductions to people with minimal criminal histories and no history of serious violence. second, the bill enhances prison programming that has been proven to reduce the likelihood of

reoffending and reduces the sentences of inmates who successfully completed these programs reducing the likelihood of future crimes reduces the crime rate. and third, the bill makes various reforms to the federal criminal justice system. for instance, this allows people convicted of certain crimes as juveniles to expunge their criminal record if they turn their lives around, and it remedies a constitutional defect in federal criminal law by permitting individuals sentenced to life seen tensions -- sentences as juveniles to seek pore recall after many years but doesn't guarantee parole will be granted. it adds two minimum sentences to the federal criminal code for serious crimes, and i emphasize that just because everybody thinks that this is just

weakening every criminal law you could ever think of. the confidence of people in the criminal justice system is not as strong as we would like. there are various reasons for this lack of trust and some of them are valid. the judiciary committee reported a compromise bill that is designed to address some of these concerns. the sponsors' willingness to compromise was further demonstrated by a managers amendment that narrowed the bill's sentencing reduction. those changes responded to concerns of some of my republican colleagues and brought on board a number of new republican cosponsors. i have been willing for a long time to enter into an agreement where members can offer amendments of various kinds and we can vote. for instance, the house has

determined that a provision of substantive criminal law addressing intent should be a part of any bill. i've been open to any compromise on that issue that could gain 60 votes, and i would agree to have a vote on the subject if a compromise cannot be reached. the differences can be aired and differences that are usually aired are usually resolved. i am certain that this bill would receive many more than the 60 votes and that most of the republican conference would vote for it if given a chance. no one thinks the sentencing bill is perfect as it represents a compromise among people with strong differences of opinion, but the people of this country want action to address deficiencies in the criminal justice system. this bill would make important but limited changes in the way

that the federal government sentences those who commit crimes. we should take the bill up. we should debate the bill. and we should show the american people that we are willing to take on one of the most important domestic challenges facing the country and most importantly because it's bipartisan which a lot of people don't see this congress do very often and because it's bicameral. there's great move within the house of representatives that this type of legislation should pass. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. portman: mr. president, i rise to talk about the comprehensive addiction recovery act. we had a good vote earlier today on proceeding to that legislation, and it's my expectation and hope that we will actually vote on this legislation either later today or tomorrow morning. but let me say first that this legislation called cara, the comprehensive addiction recovery act also includes some criminal

justice reform. it's one step closer to this broader bill that senator grassley and senator booker just talked about. i'm a cosponsor of their bill because i do think we need sentencing reform, but actually in cara we have some reforms called diversion programs. people in the criminal justice system who are addicted to drugs instead of getting them into prison to getting them into treatment programs. those treatment programs have proven to be successful. we have drug court funding in particular here, specific new programs for our veterans. so the notion is this part of criminal justice reform to actually enable people who are suffering from drug addiction in the criminal justice system to move them into treatment which makes so much more sense for them, for their families, for the taxpayers, for the communities. that's part of this underlying legislation that we're going to vote on later today, the comprehensive addiction recovery act. but i also support the broader legislation. i'm hoping actually the broader legislation would have more to do with the prisoner reentry programs as well, the so-called

second chance. i'm the author of the second chance act from my house days and that legislation i hope can be reauthorized as part of this larger criminal justice reform issue. but today again let me focus in on comprehensive addiction recovery act because this is legislation that is badly needed. it's an emergency in our communities right now. this is the heroin and prescription drug addiction issue that unfortunately many more people are learning about because it's affecting many more of us. i had a tele-town hall last night which i do monthly. we had about 25,000 ohio wans on the -- ohioans on the call. we have a few polls. we ask about the top issues. last night we asked how many people on the call were directly affected by the issue of heroin and prescription drug addiction. directly affected. and we asked people to indicate that by either hitting one for a yes or 2 for a no. 68% of the people on this call said yes. they were directly affected.

we had a lot of calls coming in from people who were affected talking about in one case a woman who steps on -- was addicted and was trying to get treatment. he wanted help to find a proper place and recovery services. others called about the legislation asking why we hadn't gotten it done yet. my answer to them was it's coming. help is on the way. and i am frustrated as they are. we haven't moved more quickly on this but finally today we had this vote to move the legislation forward. the final passage vote i hope will occur either later today or tomorrow morning and we'll be able to get this legislation to the president's desk for his signature. it passed senate initially with a 94-1 vote back on march 10. it then went over to the house of representatives where the house worked through their own process. they had 18 separate bills rather than one comprehensive bill, and then in the period between that and now, we have had this conference between the house and senate to work out those differences, and that conference report was voted on

in the house last friday. it was an overwhelming vote, an overwhelming vote. why? because this makes so much sense. and again here in the senate floor today, we had a very strong vote of 90-2 on the motion to move this forward, the cloture vote and i'm hopeful we'll be able to have a strong vote at the end of the day tomorrow or tomorrow morning to be able to send this to the president and get it to our communities to begin to help. the legislation is by some considered to be inadequate because it doesn't have enough funding in it. well, it's not a funding bill. it's not an appropriations bill. it's a bill that establishes new programs to be able to fund new and better ways to deal with addiction and it does authorize significant new spending. in fact, since the senate passed the bill by the 94-1 vote, only two things have happened with regard to funding. one, we more than doubled the authorization so there's more funding authorized. $181 million per year. but second, we also had the appropriations committee go through its process and both the

senate and the house appropriations committee acted to dramatically increase funding in this area. and that's a good thing. i think it's an emergency. i think it's urgent. i think we ought to be spending more money here because it will save money over the long haul and because there are so many people who are not achieving their god given purpose because this addiction has taken them off track. and we have to help them and help them now. because we have to help keep people from getting into that funnel of agix by -- addiction by spending more time on education. there's been a 93% increase over last year's funding for next year. that's, by the way, a 539% increase over the funding of just two years ago. in the house appropriations bill, there's actually even a bigger increase in the funding. i will fight for that funding and i will fight to ensure that that funding actually applies to the programs that are in this legislation, in the comprehensive addiction recovery act because it's the kind of legislation that's actually going to make a difference in

helping to ensure that we can begin to turn the tide on this issue. the legislation before us is one that 94 senators have already voted for and again it passed the house with big numbers. so i'm hopeful that there won't be any roadblocks in the way of getting it done. i was asked today by some people, what does the bill really do? and i started to go through all the specific grant programs for our veterans, for mothers who are pregnant, for our kids who are born dependent on drugs, for those folks who find themselves unable to get treatment, there are specific provisions for our law enforcement personnel that's why the order of police has been a strong supporter. it provides more training on how to use this miracle drug with regard to saving people who have overdosed called narcan or naloxone. so there's lots of specific programs here. but i think the answer to the question as to what it does really is pretty simple.

it begins for the first time ever in this united states congress to treat addiction like the disease that it is, and this means by necessity if it's a disease, that we need to get people into treatment. it begins to change the way we approach addiction by saying let's remove the stigma so people will come forward so families are willing to talk about it. last night on that call when 68% of the respondents to the poll said they are directly affected by this issue, i bet many of those people have not thought about talking about that publicly. this legislation i think helps to establish the fact that this is a disease. this legislation also will help deal with an underlying problem which is how we deal with prescription drugs in our communities. in our society too often there's been an overprescribing of painkillers that are prescription drugs that are addictive. i heard another story today and i hear them every day when i'm back home, one sort or another. this was somebody whose family member had gone for a procedure,

a knee operation, and when he was done with the procedure, the doctor gave him 80 pills, percocets. he didn't take any of them because he didn't need them but his point was why 80 pills? four out of five of the heroin addicts in ohio and around this country started with prescription drugs and often it was very inadvertent. it was something that someone had a wisdom tooth taken out and was given a number of these prescription pain pills, didn't understand the risk, started taking them. there was a physiological change in that person's brain. that person became addicted. that person then went to heroin. that person then died of an overdose. that's happened to two families in my home state and those parents have now come forward not just to tell that story and to share their grief but to channel that grief into something positive which is to let other parents know that's in this legislation. we have a national awareness program to let people know about the fact that the prescription drug link to heroin and to opioids and to addiction is real and we must be very careful. it also for the first time ever

in federal law promotes recovery. treatment is one thing but as one of my friends back home who is someone who is in recovery told me, getting clean is easier but staying clean is hard. in other words, so often what we found is we did our research around the country is people go through a treatment program but the recovery services aren't there to take them through that longer term support to enable them to stay clean. tragically we save a live only to see someone overdose again. recovery is about finishing the job and help people to get their lives back. and it's an incredibly important part of this legislation. early this week i spoke to a group called faces and voices of recovery. they've been terrific in promoting this legislation but just as important in letting people know who are in recovery that you have friends, that this can be addressed, that you can come out the other side as a person who is achieving your purpose in life, your god given

abilities. you can get through this. they had a rally here in washington, d.c. i was honored to speak at it. this was about a year ago. they brought people in from all over the country, great entertainers and people who were willing to stand up for the first time and to say i'm in recovery. if you're in recovery, too, we want to embrace you and help you. one of the advocates that i met with the other night is a woman named say roadwa -- sarah knee . we had a round table discussion as this legislation was being drafted. sarah told me her story. she's a recovering addict. she went to the ohio state university. she found there was no support services there. she started a student recovery support community. that community at ohio state university not only has a lot of people now joining it and participating recovering addicts and family members and friends but she's also spreading this now at colleges and universities around the country. there are grants in this legislation to promote these support communities because they

work and i hold up sarah as an example of someone who was brave and courageous enough to talk about her addiction and therefore to get other people attracted to her and to her support group and go on to help so many other people and change so many other lives and really in her case to be able to say that she is a major part of this legislation because we included this partly because of her testimony and her stories. until we end this stigma, we're not going to make progress that we must. the d.e.a. d.e.a. tells us that this is not getting better. this is getting worse. from 2010 to the most recent data we have, which is 2014, there has been a tripling of heroin overdoses. in my own state we've seen 00 dramatic increase. since march 10 when 94 senators voted for cara, we have lost more than 14,000 americans. more than 14,000 americans have

succumbed. they have overdosed and died from prescription drugs and hern. as horrible as those numbers are, think of all the casualties. think of the 16,000 people in ohio who have been saved from overdoses, from narcan, but most have not gone into recovery. they tip to be broken apart from their families, the drugs are everything, not their kidded, not their pawrntses. they continue to be unable, or unwilling, to work. they it unto be committing crimes, and in most communities in my home state, the number-one crime law enforcement officials will tell you is this issue. that's the casualties of this. no one suffers alone. in ohio we're told that 200,000 people are now struggling with adduction. that's the size of a major city in ohio. many ayou addicted with parents.

we're told that 30% of all kids in ohio 2340r in custody of the state are there because their parents are opioid users. among infants, that number is 70%. 70% of the infants who are in custody of the state in ohio are there because their parents are opioid users. i call that an epidemic. it's driving up crime, as i said. in marion, ohio, the police chief said, "all of the property crimes we have -- the shoplift, theft shall robberies -- all go back to one thing, and that's heroin. that's a quote from him. he says, "this epidemic makes him and other law enforcement officials feel like they're in an ocean without a life jacket." that's what we're trying to do with cara is to provide that life jacket. it's not the silver bullet. it won't solve all the problems. washington is not going to solve this problem. it is going to be solved in our communities and in our hearts. but this will help make the

federal government a much better partner with state and local government, with the wonderful nonprofits that are doing the good work and with the families in the communities. last week in just one 36-hour period in akron, ohio, 20 people overdosed on opioids. three of them fatally. that's not even two days in one city. when the first responders arrived at one of the overdoses, by the way, there were two small children present. in central ohio, in columbus, nine people overdosed, two fatally on yo sunday. in one city in one day. two occurred at mcdonald z's' with families around. twras in broad daylight. we lost prince to a fentanyl overdose. you might not know that this week chak a a khan entered intoa treatment facility.

i want to commend her. this will help others to do the same thing. god bless you for doing it. i think this is sadly an instructive case, because much like prince, she has fame, she has fortune, 10 number-one hit songs, all of the talent you could ever ask for. most people would say, those are the kind of people who get addicted. addiction knows no zip code. addiction spares no one. it affects people of every single background. mr. president, if you talk to people in ohio, they get it. ohioans understand the scope of this epidemic now and they're taking action. they expect us to help and to take action, too. that's what this legislation is about. they couldn't believe how slow we've moved on this. they couldn't believe these ideas that we might try to delay this noter, for reasons -- further, for reasons that had nothing to do with the substance. a school district outside of my hometown announced this week they're now adding to their

curriculum key information about opioids. i talked to a couple of superintendents today who are doing the same thing. i believe it is critical to preventing overdoses from beginning in the first place by using education. cara supports this. in trumbull, ohio, more than 200 americans papted in a walk over the weekend. people are starting to take action. i know that it can be very discouraging, the scope of this problem is overwhelming. but, boy, there's hope. treatment can work. recovery does work. and if we can get this legislation to the president, i'm confident he'll sign it into law and in many more of our communities we'll have better treatment, better recovery and more hope for the people we represent. i want to thank senator sheldon whitehouse for his work with me on this issue. he has been the coauthor of this. we started more than three years ago holding conferences here in washington, d.c. we had five conferences. we brought in experts from all

over the country. people who i talked about earlier included from ohio, but every state. we talked about how to actually make a difference in communities around the country. we didn't care where the idea came from -- republican, democrat, independent, didn't matter. it mattered whenl the idea made -- it mattered whether the idea made sense. sheldon whitehouse and his colleagues have done a good job in ensuring we didn't get offtrack. i want to especially thank senator kelley ayotte and senator amy choab klobuchar for their help and passion. it's time for us to afnlg act. i also want it thank some of the staff who have been so heaveful in this -- helpful in this legislation, who put their heart and soul into this, including pam tison, brian reiter, eric schmidt. i am a proud of that every work. i want to thank all the advocates we've worked all

across ohio and the country. they helped us get the great vote in the house last week and they are working tonight on the vote tonight or tomorrow. jessica rickland, has helped to keep us all moving in the same direction. the outside advocates have been terrific. but last i want to thank those who have shared their stories and most importantly i want to thank them for their willingness to allow us to hear from them. these are people who are in recovery. these are people who are in the trenches, dealing every day with this issue, who are providing the love and the attention and the support to help people get through treatment and into recovery. these are our first responders who are out there on the front lines dealing with this issue every single day. these are our doctors and nurse who find our waiting rooms are filled. these are the people who bork in the neonatal units with these babies who are born dependent, a 750% increase in my home state just in the last 12 years, and

they take these babies through a recovery treatment program to get them so that they can be healthy and back on track. i want to thank all of them. i want to finish with a story, mr. president. about a year ago i visited a treatment center in ohio -- i have been to more than dozen in my home state -- to talk about this issue and get ideas. the ziff central in toledo. i asked if we could have a round table discussion and surenough we did. at this round table discussion, some people came forward who are in recovery. there were about a dozen people there. and again i congratulate them for coming forward and for being willing it talk to me and to be public. there were people there from the community who heard their stories for the first time and they did share their stories. but mrs. , mr. president, they -- but also, mr. president, they came road to talk. they had -- ready to talk. they had reviewed the draft legislation. they had it in front of them, had ideas, had input.

they had looked at every single section of the bill. they knew what programs were funded. they talked about what they thought worked and what didn't work in their lives. and it was an example of the process we went through with this legislation. it wasn't just a bunch of pipeline in washington saying we know what's best. it was people back home saying, we need this help. we want to be sure do you it right. -- you do it right. and by the way, keep it nonpartisan, make sure we get this done, don't let anything get in the way. that's what we've done. that's what we'll do tonight or tomorrow morning when we pass this bill. it is those recovering addicts at the ziff center and others who have patiently waited for this lels. it is now our duty to deliver that legislation and help turn the tide in this epidemic. thank you, mr. president. i yield back. mr. scott: mr. president, i

rise today to give my second speech this week discussioning the issues we are facing following last week's tragedies in dallas, minnesota, and baton rouge. this speech is perhaps the most difficult because it's the most personal. on monday i talked about how the vast majority of our law enforcement officers have only two things in mind: protect and serve. but as i noted then, we do have serious issues that must be resolved. in many cities and towns across the nation, there is a deep divide between the black community and law enforcement. a trust gap, a tension that has been growing for decades. and as a family, one american family, we cannot ignore these issues because while so many officers do good -- and we should be thankful, as is said on monday, we should be very

thankful and supportive of all those officers that do good. some simply do not. i've experienced it myself. and so today i want to speak about some of those issues, not with anger, though i have been angry. i tell my story not out of frustration, though at times i have been frustrated. i stand here before you today because i'm seeking for all of us, the entire american family, to work together so we all experience the lyrics of a song that we can hear but not see: peace, love, and understanding. because i shuttered when i heard eric garner say "i can't move." i wept when i watched walter

scott turn and run away understand get shot -- and get shot and killed. and i broke when i heard the 4-year-old daughter of philando castile's girlfriend tell her mother, "it's okay. i'm right here with you." these are people lost forever -- fathers, brothers, sons. some will say -- and maybe even scream -- that they were criminals. but they were criminals, they spent time in jail. and while having a record should not sentence you to death, i say, okay then ... i will share with you some of my own experiences or the experiences of good friends and other

professionals. i can certainly remember the very first time that i was pulled over by a police officer as just a youngster. i was driving a car that had an improper headlight. it didn't work right. and the cop came up to my car, hand on his gun, and said, boy, don't you know your headlight is not working properly? i felt embarrassed, ashamed, and scared. very scared. but instead of sharing experience after experience, i want to go to a time in my life when i was an elected official and share just a couple of stories as an elected official. but please remember that, in the course of one year, i've been stopped seven times by law enforcement officers. not four, not five, not six, but

seven times in one year as an elected official. was i speeding sometimes? sure. but the vast majority of the time i was pulled over for nothing more than driving a new car in the wrong neighborhood or some other reason just as trivial. one of the times i remember i was leaving the mall. i tong a left out of the mall -- i took a left out of the mall and as soon as tyke a left, the -- took a left, the police officer pulled right in behind me. that was my first. got to the next traffic light, police pulled in behind meevment took a third left onto the street that at the time led to my apartment complex. finally, i took a fourth left coming into my apartment complex and then the blue lights went on.

the officer approached the car and said that i had i did not -- i did not use my turn signal on the fourth turn. keep in mind, as you might imagine, i was paying very close attention to the law enforcement officer who followed me on four turns. do you really think that somehow i forget to use my turn signal on that fourth turn? well, according to to him, i did. another time i was following a friend of mine. we had just left working out and we were heading out to grab a bite to eat about 4:00 in the afternoon. he pulls out and i pull out behind him. we're driving down the road and blue lights come on. an officer pulls me into the median and starts telling me that he thinks perhaps the car is stolen. well, i started to ask myself because i was smart enough not to ask him, asking myself, is

the license plate coming in as stolen? does the license plate match the car? i was looking for some rational reason that may have prompted him to stopping me on the side of the road. i also think about the experiences of my brother who became a command sergeant major in the united states army, the highest rank for an enlisted soldier. he was driving from texas to charleston, pulled over by a law enforcement officer who wanted to know if he had stolen the car he was driving because it was a volvo. i do not know many african-american men who do not have a very similar story to tell, no matter the profession, no matter their income, no matter their disposition in

life. i also recall the story of one of my former staffers, a great guy, about 30 years old, who drove a chrysler 300. a nice car, without any question, but not a tper -- ferrarri, not a super nice car. he was pulled over so many times here in d.c. for absolutely no reason other than for driving a nice car. he sold that car and bought a more obscure form of transportation. he was tired of being targeted. imagine the frustration, the irritation, the sense of a loss of dignity that accompanies each

of those stops even here on capitol hill, where i've had the great privilege of serving the great people of south carolina as a united states congress member and as a united states senator for the last six years. for those who don't know, there are few ways to identify a member of congress or senate. well, typically when you've been here for a couple of years, the law enforcement officers get to know your face and they just identify you by face. but if that doesn't happen and you have a badge, you know, a license that you can show them, it shows that you're a senator or this really cool pin. i oftentimes say that the house pin is larger because our egos are bigger, so we need a smaller pin. so it's easy to identify a u.s. senator by our pin. i recall walking in to an office

building just last year after being here for five years on the capitol, and the officer looked at me, a little attitude and said the pin i know. you, i don't. show me your i.d. i'll tell you, i was thinking to myself, either he thinks i'm committing a crime -- impersonating a member of congress -- or, or what? well, i'll tell you that later that evening i received a phone call from his supervisor apologizing for the behavior. mr. president, that is at least the third phone call that i've received from a supervisor or the chief of police since i've been in the senate. so while i thank god i have not endured bodily harm, i have,

however, felt the pressure applied by the scales of justice when they are slanted. i have felt the anger, the frustration, the sadness and the humiliation that comes with feeling like you're being targeted for nothing more than being just yourself. as a former staffer i mentioned earlier told me there is absolutely nothing more frustrating, more damaging to your soul than when you know you're following the rules and being treated like you are not. but make no mistake, no matter this turmoil, these issues should not lead anyone to any conclusion other than to abide

by the laws. i think reverend dr. martin luther king jr. said it so well. returning violence with violence only leads to more violence and to even darker nights, nights, to paraphrase, without stars. there's never ever an acceptable reason to harm a member of our law enforcement community. ever. i don't want anyone to misinterpret the words that i am saying. because even in the times of great darkness, there is light. as i shared monday, there are hundreds, thousands of stories of officers who go beyond the call of duty. ms. taylor, as i spoke about on monday night, at the dallas incident was covered, covered completely by at least three officers who were willing to

lose their life to save hers. we have a real opportunity to be grateful and thankful for men and women in uniform. i shared another story on monday night as well. and while the one i want to tell you today does not involve a tragic loss of life, it does show support that meant a lot to me at the time it occurred. prior to serving in the united states senate, i was an elected official on the county level, on the state level, and a member of the united states congress. i believe it is my responsibility to hang out, to be with my constituents as often as possible and to hear their concerns. so at some point during my time as a public servant, i traveled to an event that i was invited to along with two staffers and two law enforcement officers, all four were white, and me. when we arrived at the event, the organizers seemed to have a

particular issue with me coming into the event. he allowed my two staffers to go into the event, seemed to be allowing the two officers to go into the event who both said they weren't going in if i wasn't going in. and so in order to avoid a real tense situation, i opted to leave because there's just no way of winning that kind of debate. ever. but i was so proud and thankful for those two law enforcement officers who were enraged by this treatment. it was such a moment that i will never forget in a situation that i would love to forget. now, this situation that happens all across the country. this is a situation that happens all across the country whether we want to recognize it or not.

it may not happen 1,000 times a day, but it happens too many times a day. and to see it as i have had the chance to see it helps me understand why this issue has wounds that have not healed in a generation. it helps me to appreciate and understand and hopefully communicate why it's time for this american family to have a serious conversation about where we are, where we're going and how to get there. we must find a way to fill these cracks in the very foundation of our country. tomorrow i will return with my final speech in this three-part series on solutions and how to get to where we need to go by

talking about the policies that get us there and people solutions. because i, like you, mr. president, i don't believe that all answers are in government. i don't think all the solutions that we need starts in government. we need people doing things that only individuals can do. today, however, i simply ask you this: recognize that just because you do not feel the pain, the anguish of another does not mean it does not exist. to ignore their struggles, our struggles, does not make them disappear. it simply leaves you blind and the american family very vulnerable. some search so hard to explain away injustice that they are

slowly wiping away who we are as a nation. but we must come together to fulfill what we all know is possible here in america: peace, love, and understanding. fairness. thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. boxer: before senator scott leaves the floor, may i say to my colleague how much i appreciate his frank discussion today. we are so blessed to have you and cory booker here. we don't have enough diversity here. let me just be clear. and as much as all of us want to walk in each other's shoes, because each of us has different experiences in our lives, it really matters who's in the room, who's at the microphone, who's sharing the truth.

and you have shared a truth with us today. and i want to say senator booker shared similar stories with us in our caucus. and it is life-changing for us. and i so appreciate everything you've said, and it makes us better to have you and cory booker here. and having said that, i came to the floor to discuss a very similar topic, the status of race relations in america today, because i don't think you and cory booker should be the ones to have to carry this. because, mr. president, when i was a little girl, i was ten, i came face-to-face with ugly, vile, and stupid and dangerous discrimination. i cheered on jackie robinson with all my girl power to counteract what my dad said was hatred aimed at jackie because

of the color of his skin. and how blessed was i when i worked hard with a republican colleague to make sure jackie robinson got the congressional medal of honor. and then when i was with my mother in florida, the same age -- ten years old, 1950 -- i saw african-americans forced to sit in the back of the bus. i got up to offer my seat to an elderly woman. she must have been 55 at the time. i was 10. she looked old to me. i stood up. she refused me. me said no. no. and i was hurt. and i said to my mother what is happening here? why won't the woman take my seat? and my mother said segregation. growing up in brooklyn, this made no sense to me. my mother could have let it go.

instead she told me to follow her to the back of the bus. not that anyone noticed, but we knew exactly what we were doing. and i felt part of her team. part of the team against this craziness where people had to go to the back of the bus simply because of the color of their skin. the civil rights movement has made enormous progress in our laws, but the trouble remains in our hearts. there is too much hatred in our communities. but let's be clear, whether you are a police officer, regardless of the color of your skin, kissing his or her family goodbye in the morning, or the parents of a young african-american teenager, no one, mr. president, ever should have to fear that they will not see their loved ones at night.

and yet that is the truth in america, a truth that has been witnessed by a couple of our senators. no one should have to fear that they wouldn't see their loved ones at night because of this type of hatred. now is not the time to paint whole groups of people with a broad brush, because when you do that, that's the exact definition of prejudice. you can't broad brush a whole community because of the color of their skin or their religion. or who they love. and you can't broad brush all the police in the police departments. what we need is a de-escalation of suspicion and an escalation of trust. a de-escalation of suspicion and an escalation of trust.

it is long past time that we stood together, united. it is long past time that we look inside our own hearts, look inside our own souls and vanish the hatred. we must instead embrace each other as god's creation because we each of us are god's creation. dr. martin luther king wrote -- quote -- "men often hate each other because they fear each other. they fear each other because they don't know each other. they don't know each other because they cannot communicate. they cannot communicate because they are separated." that's what martin luther king said. a man who taught us love, a man who taught us compassion, a man who taught us nonviolence. a man who taught us to listen to each other. a man who taught us to walk in

each other's shoes. so we need that conversation. and we started by breaking down the barriers that separate us, bridging the gap between communities and law enforcement and establishing trust. healing will begin in the streets, and it should. policing should be for the community, by the community and with the community. when i was a county supervisor in the 1970's, there were police versus community issues, so i recommended and my colleagues concurred in a new system of community policing. what does it mean? it means you get the police out of a central precinct, and you move them into the community. relationships develop. it seems so right.

it works so well that i was shot when i got out of local government, when i realized not enough communities were following that same policing method. where it exists, there is cooperation and true protection of the community. and it is an obvious step that should be implemented widely. well, what can we do? we can't force people to love. we could suggest it. we can't force people to be tolerant. we can suggest it. but i think there is certain things we can do. i have introduced legislation with senator cory booker. it's called the pride act. and it would start us off by getting statistics that we need. how many shootings are there in

our communities? by the police, to the community. how many shootings by the community toward the police are there? believe it or not, we don't really collect those numbers. we would provide funding to states for the use of force training, for law enforcement agencies and personnel, including de-escalation and bias training and funding for tip lines and hotlines and public awareness announcements to gain information regarding use of force against the police so it is a very balanced piece of legislation that looks at the problems on both sides. secondly, we need to better support law enforcement agencies who work to advance the practice of community policing. now, we can do that by increasing funding federally for the justice department community policing development program.

that provides law enforcement agencies with funding to implement innovative community policing practices. but guess what, mr. president. the funding for this critical program, which may well be one of our most important priorities at $8 million a year. that's it. for the whole country. it's not enough. we need to do better. third, we should provide dedicated funding for justice department programs to initiate former gatherings or summits to bring community members and police into one conversation. anyone who looked at dallas understands how hard they are trying, how much they have done, and when i saw president obama with mrs. obama and president george w. bush with laura bush, i was so happy. they are starting that conversation. the building of that trust, the

tearing down of that suspicion. one of the founders of black lives matter, alicia garza, said -- quote -- "we have so many different experiences that are rich and complex. we need to bring all these experiences to the table in order to achieve the solutions we desire, and anyone listening to senator scott or anyone who has heard the stories or read some of the words of senator booker, we have a lot to learn. a united states senator being stopped, he said, seven times. this is what i heard senator scott say, in one year because of the color of his skin. what? it's just too much for these people to bear, and we need to help them change policies that

lead to this suspicion. yes, we have so many different experiences that are rich and complex, and we need to bring those experiences to the table. my friend, the senator from alaska, is here. she and i are -- you know, we're only 20 women out of a hundred. and i think that our colleagues understand we have brought something to the body. we have brought our experiences to the body. and it transcends partisanship. when we are in the room, it's a little bit of a different conversation because not that we're any better but we have had different experiences. and when our african-american colleagues tell us look at our lives, look at what we have been through, we have the same job as you. why are we pulled over seven times in a year? why have we been scared?

there's something wrong. and we can't turn our back on it and we can't leave it up to just those two colleagues to lead us. we need to help them. and work together and have this conversation that alicia garza says we should have. four, we must formally recognize and encourage police departments who epitomize what it means to be a keeper of the peace, a keeper of the peace. that's what they want to be. those officers who attend community meetings after work, who spend their saturdays playing basketball with the neighborhood kids, who attend church services so they can connect with the congregants, who take lower income children shopping for toys and gifts at christmas, who stop to check in on residents just because they care. that is happening all over the

country. that's why we can't paint people with a broad brush. it's wrong. in my state, in the community of allejo in the bay area, the san francisco bay area, you should see what some of these officers do. they had a growing divide between the community and the police, and the police department knew something had to change, so they invited the public to participate in those changes. they held open door community meetings. they created a citizens advisory board to ensure residents' voices were heard. they invited residents to experience their training simulator and give them a new perspective on what police experience. see it through our eyes, they said, and we'll see it through your eyes, and let's de-escalate the tension and escalate the trust they put a high importance

on hiring officers who had a connection to vallejo and wanted to serve the public. they even started a late-night youth program at the local high school. they started change from within that community. so i think we should have a community policing innovation fund at the justice department which would reward law enforcement agencies and localities who are doing the right thing. and last, i want to bring up that issue where everyone goes into their corners, and i beg colleagues not to go into your corner. we have to address gun violence. now, we know we can't prevent every tragedy, but we can do some smart things while protecting the second amendment. we don't need military weapons on the streets. they are weapons of war. the family of the gentleman who

developed these weapons said to his family i didn't develop them for people on the street. i developed them for the military and law enforcement. we can't have the people who are protecting us outgunned. we don't need those weapons on the streets. there's only one purpose -- kill as many people as you can as fast as you can. without reloading. don't tell me hunters need this. that is a bunch of baloney. the people who want to keep these weapons on the street are the ones who sell them. let's be clear. and the vast majority of people support this. we can expand background checks. how about 90% of the people support that. even the majority of n.r.a. members, so we can keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill.

we should prohibit the sale of possession of high-capacity magazines and end the ban preventing the centers for disease control from researching gun violence. have you talked to doctors who work in big city hospitals? i have. they say we're prepared to go to any war zone. that's the kind of wounds they see. they tremble at what they see. they mourn about what they see. somebody goes out to a nightclub they hide in the bathroom. they call their mother. and they never see their family again. my state of california's created a new research center on gun violence to understand the impact of firearm fatalities and injuries and hopefully reduce them in the future.

it should happen at the federal level. 30,000 of our people killed a year by gun violence. we lost 55,000 to 60,000 in the vietnam war over a ten-year period, and it tore the country apart. this is over ten years 300,000 of our people. so i'm going to close with this. there will always be bad people. i've lived long enough to know that. there will always be bad people. there will always be lost people. there will always be mean people. but we cannot and must not allow them to poison this nation wherever they are. good people, and that's most of america, must join hands across every line that divides us -- race, religion, color, creed, and, yes, politics.

we must call out the racists, the prejudice and the haters, whoever they are, wherever they are, even if they're in elected office. we have to support those who believe in community, who believe in community policing, and not support those who refuse to admit that there is a problem with profiling. just read what senator scott said about his life, about his fears, about what happened to him. ask cory booker, a rhodes scholar, what it's like. we have to support those activists who bring us together and support steps to improve our institution and reject those who inflame fears on any side in which they are found. we must speak out and support those who believe this is the united states of america, not

the divided states of america, and we will not allow this nation to be divided by race, color, creed, religion, who you love. i know america and i believe we will overcome. i want to quote john lewis as i close. he was beaten, bloodied and jailed, fighting for civil rights. and he tells this story and i quote: i saw those signs that said white men, colored men, white women, colored women, white waiting, colored waiting. i would come home and ask my mother, my father, my grandparents and great grandparents why? they would say that's the way it is. don't get in the way. don't get in trouble. and he goes on. in 1957 he writes, i met rosa

parks at the age of 17. in 1958 at the age of 18, john lewis writes, i met martin luther king, jr. and these two individuals inspired me, he writes, to get in the way, to get in trouble. so he writes, i encourage you to find a way to get in the way. you must find a way to get in trouble, good trouble, necessary trouble. that's john lewis. we are pleased to have this hero john lewis among us in the congress. we must listen to him because he's right. it is our job to get in the way of prejudice and hate. we may do it in his or her own way. my way may not be your way. but our way is to fight against prejudice and hate wherever we see it. our job is to move forward with respect and understanding, with

tolerance and love. our founders knew we were not a perfect union. they told us we had to make a more perfect union. that's our job. i know we can do it. and, mr. president, we must do it. and i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator there alaska. ms. murkowski: at this time i would ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of h.r. 5588 which was received from the house. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 5588, an act to increase effective as of december 1, 2016, the rates of compensation for veterans with service connected disabled and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed and that the motions to reconsider be considered made

and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i would now ask unanimous consent that alexander bratton who is an intern on the energy committee be granted floor privileges for the remainder of today's session. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. murkowski: mr. president, a great deal of discussion this week on very difficult and hard issues. the comments of the senator from california which were preceded by the comments from our colleague from south carolina remind us, remind us that as lawmakers, as policymakers, our jobs are indeed difficult as we do try to make good on that pledge for a more perfect union because we are clearly not there today. i'm here on the floor to speak

to another type of killer that we face in this country, and that is the killer that comes with drugs, substance abuse, illegal drugs, opioids, heroin, this insidious scourge that has afflicted us as a nation. we are fortunate in that we have an opportunity hopefully soon to be voting for the comprehensive addiction and recovery act, the cara act. i want to thank all of my colleagues who have been involved in this effort very aggressively pushing this. senator portman from ohio, senator ayotte from new hampshire among many, many who have stepped forward to really shine a light on an area where

we know that we need to work to develop a comprehensive solution, a community-focused solution to so much of what we're dealing with. the cara act touches on all areas of this issue from education to awareness, from access to treatment to preventing and treating overdose, from families to veterans to infants with knee crow fatal abstinence syndrome and even teens who may suffer a sports injury. opioid and heroin addiction is a serious threat to our nation's prosperity and the legislative initiative that we have in front of us is one way to fight back. the rates of opioid abuse have skyrocketed. drug overdose-related deaths have more than quadrupled since 1999. and when an addict can either no longer afford to get access to opioids, we find unfortunately

that they oftentimes turn to heroin, a cheaper alternative with similar effects. the rates of heroin overdose have tripled between 2010 and 2014. in my state of alaska, we like to think that sometimes we're far enough away geographically that we're isolated or insulated from some of what happens in the lower 48, but in fact we have seen instances of heroin use, opioid abuse that have resulted in statistics that are shattering. efforts to prevent those deaths by overdose have resulted in, in many states like the state of alaska which have passed legislation to remove the liability for a family member to administer this life-saving drug, the naloxone. cara does this as well through grants that improve access to medically assisted treatment

opening up access to overdose treatment and provides for first responder training. there have been over the course of these many months so many personal horror stories about the impact of opioid and heroin addiction in our respective states and we have witnessed the sense of urgency and desperation as we hear those stories from families that are truly desperately seeking help. too often those families face a multitude of different challenges from treatment centers that are at capacity, very expensive private options if you can find them that put families in a financial bind, or in so many cases there's just not option. in alaska our options are so extraordinarily limited and so what happens is you have to send your loved one outside of state to find treatment if you can find it.

and there are so many of our families that simply lack the tools or the resources to help those that they love who are suffering from substance abuse. and they don't have the resources and they really don't know where to turn. they don't know even who to talk to. addiction to opioids and heroin does not just harm the individual. it breaks the community. it leaves these communities with a sense of hopelessness amongst the loss. but despite the anguish that i think we know that addiction brings, i have been actually very inspired by several of the communities in my state that have really come together to fight back, to deal with the addiction that they see, the levels of addiction that they see in their communities and say, no, we are going to be engaged. we are going to come together to make a difference. back in 2014 the community of

juneau lost seven young people all in their early 20's to drug overdoses. and after they lost their loved ones, what happened was these families just kind of closed up. it was very difficult, extraordinarily hard to be able to talk about what had happened because quite honesty the stigma that is attached to drug abuse. but by 2015, a year later, that community came together and said enough. our silence is not going to help anyone. so they came together to help support families. they formed a group that provides support, educational tools, and community outreach. this group which is called stop heroin, start talking works proactively with alaska's young people, goes into the classrooms to talk with the kids early on about drug abuse, focuses on making kids active participants in the discussion instead of just kind of preaching the talk to them.

up in the mat noose came valley, another group called theme to clean runs a facebook page and reaches out to at-risk teens within the community and they offer a peer-run support system that really empowers these young people by reminding them, look, you are not alone in this. we are here as a resource. we're here to talk to. we are here with you. theme to clean works with another organization called my house to empower young people and really support them as they're developing job skills, building self-worth and understanding their role in the community. these peer-focused programs make the difference. they really help make the difference in the day-to-day lives of these young people, their families, and their communities. and more importantly, these efforts highlight the importance of making sure that all members of the community are involved in addressing addiction. cara acknowledges that any

successful efforts at combating opioid and heroin addiction must focus on building community-centered and culturally inclusive methods that engage everyone that may be impacted by drug abuse. the grants within cara will give states and local communities the funding as well as the tools they need to build these sorts of relationships and work towards not just treating but really preventing that abuse upfront. we have seen rapid rates of prescribing opioids for pain largely due to a lack of consensus on uniformity or prescribing opioids. and while many state legislative bodies and the department of health and human services have already begun to do their part in addressing prescribing guidelines and established prescription drug monitoring programs, cara takes this one step further. the task force on pain management will provide more information about pain

management practices by supporting evidence-based practices as they examine the trends of opioid prescription nationwide. cara also offers support for our nation's veterans by improving opioid prescribing safety measures within the v.a. system through education and training on pain management for our providers. i think we have all heard far too many stories of concerns from our veterans or from their families. we are in an effort to get our vet through that system and with not enough providers or with a backlog, the easiest thing to do is just to provide a prescription for pain medication rather than really trying to work to rebuild that body. in addition there are provisions to improve patient advocacy, support the integration of care, enabling multiple treatment options depending on that particular veteran's needs and

really moving away from this rush to prescribe opioid medications. cara provides the treatment and the support needed for postpartum mothers and infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome and establishes a pilot program meant to enhance funding flexibility so that states can support the services that will benefit women and their children properly. and cara will also improve the reporting and understanding of addiction related to youth sports injuries. i think we recognize that kids are playing. they're out at soccer, basketball, doing things. they get hurt. well, those providers that are treating them need to be included in the discussion of how to treat youth sports-related injuries. kids shouldn't just be given highly addictive medications opening them up to possibly future addiction. but again let's look at comprehensive pain management

care that's focused on different treatment options. the families, friends and communities that are working together to address opioid addiction need to know that they are not alone and that the situations that they face are not hopeless. we can provide that hope. we can provide the tools needed to build up these communities so they can really come together, come together to fight back against the addiction that we see. and i think that by moving forward passing cara, we take the steps to do this. this legislation takes into consideration the diversity and the magnitude of the opioid epidemic. it works to address this issue head-on through improved research, pain management practices, community-focused programs and really opening up the dialogue about drug addiction because we know the more we allow ourselves to talk openly and honestly about this issue, the more that stigma fades. cara is

an encouraging first step. we all know that there is much more work to be done, and i certainly remain dedicated to the fight against substance abuse now and well into the future. with that, mr. president, i thank you, and i yield the floor. mr. coons: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. coons: i ask unanimous consent that sydney jones, todd el gevment. r and two others be granted floor privileges for the manyder of today's legislate syver session. officethe presiding officer: wit objection. mr. coons: tomorrow will mark one year since the united states, the unewtowned kingdom, france, germany, russia, china, and iraq reached an agreement to prevent iran from be a t ortaing or developing a nuclear weapon. this afternoon i intend to review where we are today one year after the deal, also known as the joint comprehensive plan of action, or jcpoa.

i am grateful for my colleagues who will also come to the floor today or are submitting statements for the record. one year ago in september when i ultimately decided after a long and thorough and detailed consideration to support the agreement, those of us determined to prevent a nuclear-armed iran have a real and enduring responsibility to undertake consistent and clear-eyed assessments of how this agreement fares not just over the course of the first year but over many years to come. so far this deal has done when it intended to do. because of aggressive enforcement of the terms of the agreement, the jcpoa has cut off iran's most likely short-term uranium and plutonium pathways to building a nuclear wp weapon. the time it would take iran to build out, assemble enough fissile material for one nuclear weapon has extended significantly from just one to two months to well over a year.

the international community in turn has upheld its commitments under the deal, providing iran with relief from nuclear-related sanctions but, more importantly, the agreement has given the a.a. or the -- the iaea, the world's nuclear watchdog, unprecedented searching access to oversee all of iran's nuclear activities with intrusive inspections and round-the-clock remote monitoring. ip goini am going toview allthey colleagues have worked to ensure fctive endporsment of this agreement. first as as the iaea inspections, at my urging, the senate state and foreign operations appropriations subcommittee provided nearly $95 million in funding for the iaea, a $5 million over the level requested by president obama. on top of giving them greater resources, this resource sends a strong signal to iran and our international partners that we intend to enforce the jcpoa that

we intend to encourage voluntary contributions to strengthen the agency and sustain its ability to take advantage of the unique opportunities under this agreement for a searching and continuous insight into iran's nuclear activity. advocating for additional u.s. support for the iaea is just one of the steps my colleagues and i have taken over the past year to ensure the nuclear agreement is implemented effectively and enforced strictly. in aers is a of 15 -- in a series of 15 floor speeches since november, in which i have been joined by a dozen members of my caucus, i have sought to keep this on our radar to ensure that we are monitoring it and enforcing its terms. holding iran accountable doesn't just mean enforcing the jcpoa, it also means pushing back on the regime's bad behavior across the middle east. that's why i've called for the obama administration to strengthen its efforts to

interdict iranian arms shipments to the rebels in yemen. and to then publicize that those interdictions have owe cud and the weapons that they've seized, demonstrating to the american people and our partners in the middle east the full scope of iran's destibblessing activities and our intentions to keep cracking down on those activities, which is crucial to building a broad coalition that will sustainably counter iranian aggression. that's why i've also worked with my colleagues to provide $117 million this year for the u.s. treasury's office of terrorism and financial intelligence, whichen forces american sanctions against bad actors, including enforcing some of the very sanctions that crippled iran's economy and forced it to the goshtsing table in the first place. that funding represents a significant increase, $17 million since 2013. and i'm fighting for an additional $6 million this next fiscal year. i've also held discussions with foreign leaders from israel to saudi arabia, india, qatar, turkey and russia about how we

can work together to sustainably counter iranian aggression. and i've called on the administration to levy new sanctions against an entity affiliated with iran' iran's hae guard corps, and i will make the same demand of the next administration. i have worked to impose penalties on iran for its dangerous behavior, which means taking action against their destabilizing support for the murderous assad regime in syria and their promotion of terrorism throughout the middle east. iran's on-going illegal ballistic missile tests and the regime's human rights abuses, from its execution of juveniles to its detention of journalists and iranian-american citizens. i have also joined senator graham in lead ago letter to president obama calling on the administration to include a strengthened memorandum of understanding on defense privates with our vital ally israel. i am determined to continue these efforts in the months and years to come. we cannot avert our eyes from iran's destructive behavior, even as we review what progress

has been made in the year since the jcpoa. mr. president, if we are to ensure that that agreement remains intact, if we are to succeed in our task of preventing iran from developing or obtaining a nuclear weapon, congress must play an active role. if the agreement succeeds, we should recognize those successes. if iran falls short of the terms of the agreement, we need to make certain the international community reacts swiftly to bring iran back into compliance. regardless of whj my colleagues -- whether my colleagues opposed or supported this agreement a year ago, we all have an interest today in working together to ensure we prevent iran from ever being able to develop a nuclear weapon. we have a responsibility then to review iran's actions and hold them accountable through aggressive enforcement of the deal, pushing ba pushing back od behavior and retaining a deterrent. in addition to holding iran to the terms of the nuclear deal,

we have to push back against their dangerous nonnuclear bad braver. as i mentioned, the ballistic missile tested, human rights violations and support for terrorism. i know my colleagues and i remain committed to overseeing strict enforce many of the nuclear agreement with iran and protecting the security of our allies and partners in the middle east, especially our vital ally israel. and i also know we remain committed to showing that international engagement and multilateral diplomacy can be effective, even with rogue regimes like iran. this is kbr my colleagues and i are on the floor this afternoon and this henge. this will continue tomorrow as our committee holds a hearing that will review where we are since one year from the jcpoa. i want to thank genera chairmann for regularly holding hearings. p even if another cry sis

emerges, we must remain vi vigit and push for the most aggressive enforcement of this deal and not be distracted by other developments in the world. that is my commitment for as long as i have the honor of representing the people of delaware in the snavment i am grateful to some of my colleagues who will join me on the floor later here today -- senator carper, senator peters, senator blumeen thacialtion but i'd also like to ask at this time for unanimous consent to enter into the record a statement from the senior senator from pennsylvania, senator casey. i'd like to thank my colleague, senator casey, for his steadfast efforts to support israel and ensure swift multilateral consequences for jcpoa consequences. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. coons: thank you. let me in closing say this. we, this body, this congress, the people of this country must make a clear dwing dwings distin the iranian people and.

the iranian people deserve our support in their fight for freedom, democracy, and human rights. with that, mr. president, i'm hopeful we will hear soon from my good friend and fellow delawarean, the senior senator from our state of neighbors, who is has been a leader in my state for decades and i know later this evening we will also hear these important topics from senators peters and blumenthal. i am grateful to all my colleagues who have joined me in this important topic in the past. i just hope that we can in a success stainingable and bipartisan way insist on effective and rigorous enforcement of this deal throughout its entire term. thank you, mr. president. with that, i yield the floor. mrs. capito: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mrs. capito: thank you, mr. president. i would ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule 22, the only remaining postcloture time to be the following: capito-baldwin 15 minutes, carper 10 minutes, markey 10 minutes. following the unite use or yielg

back of that time, all postcloture tienl yielded back and the senate vote on the conference report to accompany s. 524. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mrs. capito: thank you, mr. president. i would like to begin by congratulating carla hayden, who was just confirmed as the 14th librarian of congress. i know she will do a good job and i am very proud of her and look forward to working with her. earlier today i was proud to support cloture for the indicator a bill that promises to provide help to so many of those that are impacted by addiction. you will be hearing from my friend and colleague, senator baldwin, because we both believe strongly that our veterans are one of those many groups that this bill seeks to assist. a little over a year ago, under senator baldwin's leadership -- and i thank her -- the two of us introduced the jason simkovsky

act, which provides treatment to our veterans. this is named after a veteran who died at the temay veterans center as a result of a mixed drug toxicity and is included in the cara bill. title 9 is titled after him. tragically, stories like jason's exist all around the country including my own state. andrew white, another marine, returned home to west virginia only to be placed on a cocktail of drugs, including anti-psychotics over twice the recommended dosage. andrew died in his sleep at the age of 23. far too many of our veterans have returned home from overseas to fight another battle here at home. this legislation will update and strengthen the guidelines for opioid restrictions and require -- require the v.a. to expand the scone of research, education, delivery, and integration of alternative pain

management. chronic pain should not be something our veterans are forged to live with and the v.a. must be on the cutting edge in developing effective pain management. our hope is that this will provide the v.a. with the tools it needs to help prevent these types of tragedies from reoccurring. again, i thank senator balanced wing for her very -- baldwin for her very, very great work in this area. across the nation and particularly in rural states like west virginia, we had the unfortunate -- and west virginia has the unfortunate distinction of having the largest amount of drug hc-related overdose deaths, more than twice the national average. cara is a comprehensive step forward in this national response to the drug epidemic. we've heard throughout the day how it expands prevention, education, promotes resources for treatment and recovery. it includes reforms to help our law enforcement, create other alternatives to incarceration such as successful drug court programs. we've also heard of the many organizations who are supportive

of this, over 200 organizations. it may be approaching 300 now. these organizations deal with addiction and as as a the resuf addiction on a daily basis. i believe so many organizations support this bill and know that part of the reason that i am so proud to support the bill is that it addresses how addiction affects not only the addict or their family but the well-being of an entire community. following a drug prevention seminar that i held last year, one of my constituents said, there is a need for the community to be resolved? resolving the drug addiction issue. it is my hope at that we can find community-based solutions that will improve the lives of all the citizens in our community, county, an state. cara contains many ideas and opens the door for communities to take actions to help neighborhoods and schools. it authorizes much-needed programs for prevention and education. another one of my constituents wrote, "our young people are dying off by the dozens and a generation of children think of this as normal.

some of the saddest letters i.v. received have been -- i have received have been about those who have already lost their battle in the scourge against addiction. a grandmother from martinsburg wrote the following. "our granddaughter, that tall, ex-ub rangts redhead, who laughed her way into our hearts, is now a statistic." as a grandmother myself, i loved the way she phrased that. "several days ago our son called to he will it us she had died the night before from a heroin overdose. it was very quick. our granddaughter started her drug journey with prescription drug opiates. when those pills were no longer available, heroin stepped in and the downward spiral began." this is not just a problem from kids who can't -- this is not from problem kid whose get hooked. "our granddaughter came from a stable, affectionate home. even though her parents tried their best to save her with countless, sleepless nights, multiple trips to rehab, that

drug won the battle. now we're not even allowed to grieve. we must also contend with the many forms of our anger in patients with ash granddaughter for not being stronger, rage at those who sold her the drugs, frustration with the authorities for not doing more to stop the trafficking, or establishing more treatment centers, and self-recrimination for us; maybe we didn't do enough. we are also trying to cope with the guilt of dpeeling the re-- feeling the relief that her hell is finally over. there is nothing more we can do for her. no more treatments that we can try." she's gone. just gone. with the passage of cara, stop all overdoses and ensure no other grandmother feels this anguish? no. but it does begin to address the frustrations and pain this grandmother and so many others feel. cara attempts to break the cycle of repeated overdoses by encouraging the use of follow-up services and also for those who

have received the drug nalaxone to reverse an overdose. too many stories of addiction start like this one. prescription pain killers, by allowing the partial fill of certain opioid prescription, reviewing best practices for acute management, expanding prescription -- expanding prescription take-back days and location, cara will reduce the future cases of drug abuse and addiction. we cannot afford to lose 129 granddaughters, sisters, neighbors and friends every single day to drug overdoses. as i said before and will say again, we will lose a generation if we don't address this crisis now. this cannot be the new normal for our young people or for our communities. i commend all who have worked on this bill to get it to this point. it's time to pass cara and send it to the president's desk. our communities in west virginia and across the country cannot afford to wait any longer.

thank you, mr. president. ms. baldwin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wisconsin. ms. baldwin: congress is taking a critical first step to combat our country's opioid crisis and a major step in providing safer and more effective and higher-quality care for america's veterans. i want to speak about my bipartisan jason simcakoski act included in the comprehensive addiction and recovery act known as cara. this bipartisan legislation reforms opioid prescribing and pain care at the v.a. and these bipartisan reforms to veterans health care that i authored along with my

colleague, senator shelley moore capito, should unite us all. they represent our responsibility to honor and care for those who have served and sacrificed for our nation and their families, and all our families. this bipartisan legislation is named in honor of wisconsin marine veteran jason simkoski. on august 30, 2014, jason tragically died. he died in wisconsin's toma veterans affairs medical center of mixed drug toxicity. at the time of his death, jason was on 14 different prescription drugs, including opioids.

but jason's heartbreaking story is just one example of overprescribing and pain care problems within the v.a. in wisconsin and across the country. i believe that the v.a.'s overreliance on opioids has resulted in veterans getting hooked rather than getting them the help that they need and that it is our job to act now to address this epidemic. at this time last year i joined senator capito on the senate floor to introduce our bipartisan measure in honor of jason and the entire simcakoski family. i was proud to work closely with

the simcak oski as well as medical professionals and service organizations to craft these reforms to prevent jason's tragedy from happening to any other veteran or their family. this legislation shortly to be approved by the united states senate will provide safer and more effective pain management services to our nation's veterans by strengthening and updating v.a. opioid prescribing guidelines. it will enhance education and training and expand access to opioid alternatives. it will create an independence -- independent office of patient advocacy at the v.a. to give veterans and their families a stronger voice in their care. the bill strengthens v.a. hiring

practices to help prevent bad doctors from treating veterans. and it will hold v.a. accountable for providing quality care to our veterans by strengthening opioid oversight and reporting. the story of jason's bill is a story of congress doing the job that we were elected to do, we were elected to do by the families of our states and the communities that we represent. the simcakoski family called on us to stand up for our brave men and women, and we took action. more than -- for more than a year i have worked across the aisle with senator capito and leaders of the senate veterans' affairs committee to advance my

reforms in the united states senate. the house of representatives did their part by moving forward with a house companion measure based on our bill. when it came time for my colleagues to agree on a final package that we have before us today, i worked with the simcakoski family to ensure that it reflected the strongest possible response to the opioid overprescribing and pain management problems at the v.a. and i want to thank my colleagues, particularly the 20 senators who cosponsored the bill, for their work and help in passing jason simcakoski memorial opioid safety act today. thank you to my partner in this bipartisan endeavor, senator shelley moore capito of west virginia. i want to express my sincere

appreciation for senate veterans' affairs committee chairman isakson as well as ranking member blumenthal and their staffs for their commitment to combatting opioid abuse at the v.a. i want to thank leader reid and senators murray, schumer, leahy, wyden, alexander, and all the members of the conference committee for their steadfast support of these reforms. an importantly, i want to thank and recognize all of their staffs and my staff for their tireless work through late nights and weekends to get this bill to the finish line. this legislation is informed by the collaborative efforts of a broad range of outside health and veterans organizations, and

i'm grateful for their expert contributions. and i cannot forget the incredible work of the senate legislative counsel, specifically tom haywood for his expert drafting and redrafting and redrafting and technical expertise on this bill. today we send major veteran reforms by the jason simcakoski opioid memorial act to the president's desk for his signature and i am proud we have put aside differences to join together to fix what has been broken and help restore the sacred trust with our veterans and their families. the simcakoski family has inspired us by showing tremendous courage and strength in sharing their tragic story of loss and working to make a difference in the lives of other

veterans and their families. and i believe that today's passage of the jason simcakoski memorial opioid safety act marks one of congress's great accomplishments to provide our veterans and their families with the care that they have earned and that they deserve. my closing message comes from jason's widow heather. heather, who said -- quote -- "when i look back at the past, i want to know that we made a difference. i want to believe that we have leaders in our country who care. i want to inspire others to never give up because change is possible. i want to say to marv and linda, jason's parents, to heather and aniah, jason's wife and daughter, and to jason, thank you for inspiring me.

thank you for demanding that we stand together to enact the strongest opioid safety reforms for veterans and their families. you've inspired true change. this change will save lives, and you have given us all hope for a brighter, brighter future." mr. president, i yield back. the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. carper: thank you, mr. president. before i talk a bit about the one-year anniversary of the signing of the joint comprehensive plan of action, five permanent members of the u.n. security council plus germany with iran, i want to take a moment to say to the senator from wisconsin i'm privileged to serve with her on the senate committee on governmental affairs. i had a chance to see her

sincerity, her commitment and her dedication on this front. and i just want to commend her. i serve with the senator from west virginia not on homeland security, but on public works. i want to commend her for her bipartisan spirit we see here and the donations you've both shown to try to make sure the right thing is done. i want to thank senator coons, my colleague from delaware, for organizing a bit of a floor colloquy with membership to take place this afternoon to discuss is the one-year anniversary of something we call the joint comprehensive plan of action or the iran nuclear deal that was signed literally a year ago tomorrow by five permanent members of the u.n. security council plus germany along with iran. at the time a year ago there were a lot of skeptics as to whether or not iran would keep its part of the bargain and not go forward with developing

nuclear weapons. we heard arguments that they would evade inspection in iran, that they would never live up to the obligations under the agreement that we signed a year ago tomorrow. we heard that they couldn't be trusted. we heard that they would not keep their word. we heard any number of accusations and speculation. we heard that the people of iran wish death upon america and wish to continue the antagonistic relationship with the u.s., dominate u.s.-iran relations after the revolution. i just want to say a year later i believe there is good reason to believe that the critics have been proved wrong. when iran took those irreversible steps to dismantle

its nuclear weapons program, steps that were certified by the nuclear watchdogs at the international atomic energy agency, for example, when national inspectors certified iran reduced its stockpile of enriched uranium by 98% -- 98% -- and the remaining enriched uranium was only enriched to levels consistent, consistent with the peaceful energy uses. inspectors from the international atomic energy agency also certified that the nearly 15,000 centrifuges for enriching uranium have been dismantled, leaving iran with only its least sophisticated centrifuges that could be used solely for peaceful purposes. and the inspectors from the international atomic energy agency certified that the special heavy water reactor that could produce the kind of plutonium needed for a nuclear bomb will produce no more.

inspectors saw firsthand that the core of that reactor had been filled with concrete, rendering it incapable of ever producing plutonium again. and inspectors from the international atomic energy agency continue to assess that iran is keeping up with its commitments in the nuclear agreement. i've never been to iran. i hope to go someday. but a place i have been to is southeast asia. i served three years in a war in that part of the world, with a one with whom we were at war. some places at war for many years, the vietnam war. the names of 55,000 men and women on a granite wall about two miles from where we're