are with me now that will stay to the bitter end. but it's hard to find a description for someone as capable, as nice, as competent, as smart as krysta. david mccallum who helps me line up staff, told me he had a candidate and he thought she was really good. gave me her background, and that she had worked in senator clinton's office. and in her presidential campaign. told me, i guess the clincher was she was a collegiate lacrosse player. lacrosse is a game i have gotten to know quite well because i have grand sons that that's their sport. it's really a difficult, hard game. a college lacrosse player.

i understand the difference between a high school lacrosse player and a college lacrosse player. so without knowing a lot more, i said she would be perfect. she can play lacrosse, she can handle that front office. as i've indicated, serving as a scheduler for my office is not easy. as i indicated, she was a college player. played for the university of maryland. they have excellent athletics there, generally. a demanding schedule she has had for these ten years requires long, long hours. of course it goes without saying, quickly she became the scheduler, not the assistant, not the deputy. to put it simply, to have this job, you have to be really tough and fair. my colleagues who come to that office regularly, durbin,

schumer, murray and others, they know krysta. they always know that when they call her, she tells them the truth. he's here, he's not here, he can see you, he can't see you. she's tough. she's strong and unafraid. she's not intimidated by some of my big-shot senators. she handles them just fine. she has been my gatekeeper and my loyal advisor. and she has performed phenomenally. she was the best at her job that i have ever seen in my many, many years of public service. as an attorney, prior to my public service, just everything i've done as far as setting schedule, there's no -- there's no one that's a close second. so she has been in the thick of

things. she has been through my ups and my downs. she has been by my side. there are many, many examples. some of us will never forget the snowstorm of 2009. it became so tense here that one of my republican colleagues said he hoped senator byrd would die during the night so we couldn't get -- so we wouldn't have 60 senators. with his being ill and having trouble navigating on his legs and living in virginia and coming through the blizzard, we were worried, but he showed up. and i told krysta try to do all you can from home, this snow mageddon, as we called it, was in session. we had to finish, bring to vote on the health care bill. every day meant very, very much. she would not stay home. she trudged through blocks and

blocks of snow and snowdrifts to be here. she never missed a day. she spent many, many long, long nights in my office. i said we'll get someone to drive you or walk with you. no, i'm okay. i'll be fine. during the fiscal crisis of 2012, we were in session on new year's eve. she was at her desk, working while the rest of the world rang in the new year. and frankly, she was probably glad she was here. she has a little dog and those firecrackers and all that noise drives her little dog crazy, so she could be away from the firecrackers and keep her dog safe, so she had reasons for being here during that period of time. when the republicans shut down the government for 17 days in 2013, she was here every day overseeing my schedule, making things run smoothly, even though

no senate employee was guaranteed to then be paid for the work they were doing. as you will recall, many senate employees didn't come to work. on a more personal note. as happens with -- in everyone's life, there are times of difficulty, and the reid family has had a few problems. as some will remember, i wassen gauged in my office on -- i was engaged in my office on trying to work out health care, the affordable care act, and in walked janice and krysta, you have to call your wife, she was in an accident. it was a very bad accident. she broke her neck in two places and her back and her face was messed up. that was a hard time for us.

krysta was there, she was there. helped with the scheduling. and we got over that and landra had an extremely aggressive form of breast cancer that went on for months. she balanced my schedule here with my schedule with her. she made sure i had time with landra to help. i will always remember her. didn't have to ask her to do it. she did it. with my unfortunate accident, krysta knew how i had been hurt and i did the best i could covering how i had been hurt. my three leaders, durbin, schumer and murray, helped me cover my disability for a while.

she took care of things. my scheduling was done. i missed very, very few things because of her. my children know her. my grandchildren know her. it's no surprise then to say that krysta is and always will be part of my family. krysta's time is ending this week. it's kind of like my service here in the senate. i wish it would never end. i wish krysta could be with me always. but, you know, things change and things happen. but really with krysta, it's not time for distress or sadness. it's time for happiness, because i have nothing but fond memories of this very beautiful woman. beautiful on the outside and the inside. why is it time for celebration? because krysta at the ripe old age of 32 is having her first

baby, and she is so excited. she is -- i remember with our babies, landra wore the smocks as was kind of the style at that time. we don't do that anymore, and that's terrific. she is so pretty with her pregnancy. as she is without her pregnancy. she has never missed work because of a pregnancy. she has never complained about morning sickness or afternoon sickness or can i go home, never. so i'm happy for her. i'm happy for trevor, her good husband. and senator durbin was here but he has helped me on a number of occasions with things that i could -- that he could help with regarding krysta. he has been so thoughtful about making things work out. so i'm happy for krysta, i'm

happy for trevor. she is going to have a little girl. and my hope is that that little girl will turn out to be just like her mom, a person that everybody loves, a person who is dependable and trustworthy, a person whose friendship is so important to those that she knows. my friendship with krysta is not going to end when i leave the senate. it's forever. so thank you, krysta, for a job well done. i wish you and your family the best life has to offer. well, now back to some other things. sorry to have taken so long, but that's sometimes the way things are. mr. president, i am very concerned about the integrity and the security of democracy in america. the united states is a nation that has always been, must always be -- i would ask consent, mr. president, please that the statement of tim

mitchell, krysta juris be separated in the record as with the statement i have started. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: the united states is a nation that has always been and must always be governed by its people. later on today, i'm going to see ambassador baucus. he is someone that always talked about we have got to make sure the people are determining what we do. so america must never be subject to undue influence from foreign powers, potential conflicts of interest involving our nation's elected officials deserve our highest scrutiny. that's why i found yesterday's kurt eichenroll's article in "newsweek" very frightening. i ask consent that that wrielg be submitted to the record.

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: the piece is very, very thorough. i will only quote a few things because of the time of the senate. the article says, if elected, donald trump would be, and i quote, the most conflicted president in american history. and almost every foreign policy decision he would make would raise serious conflicts of interest and ethical quagmires. the author details how donald trump, his family and his businesses have multiple questionable partnerships with foreign governments, political parties, and even criminals. the "newsweek" article ends with this sound declaration, and i quote -- "never before has an american candidate for president had so many financial ties with american allies and american enemies, and never before has a business posed such a threat to the united states." close quote.

we face through donald trump a candidate, a notorious con. artist. donald trump is only trying to help one person -- donald trump. i don't care if he wants to be president or city commissioner. donald trump is out to benefit donald trump. if given the opportunity, donald trump will turn america into a big scam just like trump university. mr. president, i can't make up this stuff. here's what one of his managers said at trump university. head of sales. quote -- here's what he said it was -- "a fraudulent scheme that preyed upon the elderly and uneducated to separate them from their money." that's somebody, one of the managers of trump university. that's a direct quote. but trump university is only one. trump has been ripping off

people for a long, long time, long before trump university. the list of people cheated by donald trump is a mile long at least. glass company, new jersey. children's singing group. real estate brokers, plural. plumbers, painters, dishwashers and many, many more. they all got fleeced by this so-called billionaire trump. when trump gets sued for not paying, here's what he does. he hires lawyers, lots of lawyers most of the time to defend him from having cheated lots of people. and then guess what? many times he doesn't bore paying those lawyers. they have to sue him. he rips off people only to profit for himself. now, a lot of his business i don't understand very well, but i understand atlantic city. i was the chairman of the nevada gaming commission for four very

tumultuous years. i was there when we allowed nevada operations to go to atlantic city. so i understand what took place in atlantic city. he'll do anything to make a buck for himself. if donald trump -- he applied for a license a number of years ago in nevada and was a passive owner. he got one. it was just perfunctory. if he applied for a license after what he has done in atlantic city and has done since, he couldn't get a gaming license in nevada. let's be clear about donald trump. he's a spoiled brat raised in plenty who inherited a fortune, used his money to make more money, and he did a lot of it by swindling working men and women. why would he change as president? the answer is simple. trump won't change. he is asking us to let him get rich scamming america. mr. president, i know these are harsh words, but look at this man. he goes to flint, michigan,

where people are desperate for help, desperate for help. he goes to an african-american church. and what does he do? he just starts ranting, ranting about how horrible hillary clinton is. it was so bad that the woman that runs the church had to come up and say stop, you're not here to do this. and he stopped. and this morning, he said there was a -- there obviously was something wrong with her mentally. trump is the human leach who will bleed the country and cut at his golf resort laughing at the money he's made, even though working people, many have been hurt in the ruins. trurn doesn't understand the middle class. how could he? because he's only out for donald trump. this report from "newsweek" proves trump's plans take his rigged game straight to the white house. the integrity of our democracy is at stake. we can't chance the sovereignty

of this country on a conman like trump. where are senator mcconnell and speaker ryan when there is a american like this running for president? the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of s. 2848, which the clerk will report. the presiding officer: calendar number 523, s. 2848, a bill to for the scfertion and development of water and related resources and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the time until 11:30 a.m. will be equally divided between the two leaders or their designees. mr. enzi: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. tee xi speaking as though in -- mr. enzi: speaking as though in morning business, which is what we're in, and resisting the

urge -- the presiding officer: without objection. mr. enzi: -- resisting the urge to counter the diatribe i just heard, i am going to talk on a topic that's really important to america. i don't always agree what i read in "the new york times" but a this caught my eye. quote -- "so much for choice. in many parts of the country, obama customers will come down to one insurer when they go to sign up for coverage next year on the public exchanges." that's from the august 19, 2016, "new york times," "the upshot." just a few years ago in 2013, president obama was telling us -- and i quote -- "just visit healthcare.gov and there you can compare insurance plans side by side, the same way you'd shop for a plane ticket on kayak or a tv on amazon. he goes on to say, "you'll find more choices, more competition,

and in many cases lower prices." last year wyoming became one of the growing number of states that one had one insurer on the obamacare exchange. in the environment created by obamacare, we have to hope that we can hold on to the one that we have left. before obamacare, wyoming had many challenges in our health care system, particularly high costs and the serious access challenges that come from being a frontier state. by frontier state, i mean that we're the least populated state in the nation. we have less than 570,000 people in our state. we have less than 20 towns or cities that the population exceeds the elevation. we have a lot of distance between towns. we say wyoming has miles and miles of miles and miles. makes health care a difficult

challenge. but we had choice. under obamacare, we saw one of the two carriers shut down by costs. like other insurers across the country, this company focused on and dominated the wyoming obamacare exchange in the first year, and then the economics of obamacare took hold. patients were more costly than expected, premium rates don't quite cover medical expenses, and then insolvency. the challenges to the health care system that president obama and a completely democratic controlled congress hammered through were sold as a positive change. it's absolutely stunning to me that not one out of the 60 democrats would represent the people that were being talked -- well, some of them did i guess, because there were four extreme deals that were made for four states regarding medicare advantage and gave those states a little longer time than the

rest of us would have to take care of our seniors. two of the four are gone now. the other two may be going, too. like i said, we did have choice. but we've had one shut down. i don't know if the other can continue, if they stay with the exchange. the changes to the health care system and that completely democrat controlled congress hammered through were sold as positive change. many of us said otherwise at the time. we pointed out flaws in the it. we were ignored and called fearmongerrers. here we are today. today wyoming continues to be one of the most expensive states for health care premiums. you know the one thing obamacare has done for wyoming? we have more competition from other states for the most expensive health insurance premiums.

misery loves company, i guess. this year there's some states with premiums increased by over 50% for 2017. we've seen our individual market damaged, and we're seeing changes in our employer-sponsored insurance as well. everyone from the biggest corporation to small one-person operations are paying more and are getting less. as a former small business orientation i tend to look at these -- as a former small business owner, i tend to look at these issues from that perspective. there are 63,289 small businesses in wyoming. those businesses employ 132,085 people. in wyoming that's almost a third of all the aduments in the state -- adults in the state. small business is the backbone of our economy. now, that may not sound like many, but remember again our low population. and it's just as important for each one of those people as it

is for one out of 23 million. we're talking about individuals here. small business owners in wyoming and across the country are trying to figure out how to stay afloat. as more and more regulations pile up and work to put them out of business. and so many, even though they aren't technically required to have obamacare, try to offer help to their employees for health care. they do it because their employees need it, they feel like it's their responsibility, it may give them a competitive advantage, and they need to have high-income to attract employees. but in today's health insurance market, they face the obamacare combination of limited choice and seemingly unlimited premium increases. according to the kaiser family foundation, since 2004, the average annual family premium for covered employees in small

firms increased from $9,812 a year to $16,625 a year. it's almost double. it's clear to anyone paying attention that our health care system is hurting. but my democratic colleagues and president obama have essentially dismissed us as hypo-chrono drey action. they tell us it's working well, it's a success. your premiums are high and you can't afford your deductible? nonsense! your coverage is wonderfully comprehensive, so you can't complain that your mortgage is less than our health insurance premium. the american people are facing more costly health care than ever before. there's been a complete refusal by the administration and democrats in both chambers to entertain any -- any -- real changes to obamacare. the rollout was a mess. remember how you couldn't get on the computer? if you did get on the computer, you didn't get good data.

their rules and regulations are crushing. they keep adding on to them. some of them that were required to be done still aren't done. and their costs are sky high. at the end of the day, anybody can get covered, but hardly anybody can be afford it. that's not much of a choice. i urge the senate to look at this issue and acknowledge what the law is really doing. and we need to be going beyond sumly providing short-term -- simply providing short-term relief, like the president's waivers and exceptions and delays. those are all instances where he noticed a flaw in the bill that would have a tremendous impact on people and he didn't want them to realize, so he delayed it maybe just until gets out of office. we need long-term comprehensive changes that will lead us to sustained recovery. i've been working to find a path toward what will give more flexibility to states, fewer

restrictions on how employers help their employees with medical expenses, and to find practical ways to offer more choices and lower costs for getting the health care that wyomingites and all americans should be able to access. we need meaningful, comprehensive change in the health care that'll take us away from obamacare and in a new direction that will meet the promises that were made years ago. i yield the floor. i reserve the balance of the time. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. enzi: mr. president, i'd ask that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. enzi: and i would ask unanimous consent that time in a quorum call be equally divided between the two sides. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. enzi: i had neat the absence of a -- i had a note the absence of a -- i'd note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call: mr. blunt: mr. president, i

ask that we suspend the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. blunt: i am here today to urge our colleagues to support the water resources and development act. mo has more than 1,000 miles of navigable waterways that support cargo every year. it is hard to not stop and talk about what the e.p.a. thinks "navigable waters" should be. what they have always thought to be in federal law, my state has 1,000 miles of those waterways. as i just said, $4 billion a year. there's no reason with world food demand anticipated to double between now and 35 or 40 years from now, with people wanting to bring some manufacturing jobs and hopefully lots of manufacturing jobs back to this country, that that $4 billion number won't be much

bigger than that over the next few years. and this bill really matters. maintaining and improving our waterways and the infrastructure that surrounds our waterways is critically important. the mississippi river valley is the biggest piece of contiguous agricultural ground in the world. one of the biggest benefits of the interior support system is the support system uniquely supports the most productive agricultural land in the world but also a natural network this allowed our country to -- that allowed our country to compete in the way it did he recall lid and in the -- early and in the way it can now. but it's important that we maintain that system. we also need to think, if you have the blessings of the waterways, you also have the challenges of the waterways. protecting families in missouri,

families in other places from natural disasters. in our state, we had a surprise flood in december. it is not the only time we ever had a new year's eve flood, but it's not one you anticipate. very big, very destructive, very localized. but managing that is a critically important part of what happens in the water resources and development act. a step here to prioritize these resources so that once again we're thinking about why we have flood protection, navigation, water projects. specifically, in our state this bill authorizes a number of projects in the kansas city area. the kansas city levees themselves started in the 1940's while maybe -- maybe while harry truman was using the desk that i stand behind right now or an office i get to use in the

russell billing. maybe while he was president and vice president. but these are projects that took about 40 years to build and now need to be actively maintained. the kansas city levees. the turkey creek basin, swolt park industrial area, the blue river basin, these are flood control projects that protect lots of jobs and protect lots of families and, in some cases, ensure that the waterway can be used for navigation and still have the proper emphasis we want to have on conservation and wildlife. the bill funds drinking water and clean water programs that are really much-needed. the infrastructure are that we have in this country -- the infrastructure that we have in this country below ground is even more challenged in so many cases than the infrastructure we have above ground, not just using the waterways for the drinking water that's provided to many communities from the

rivers. the missouri river is a drinking water source for people who live in the missouri state capital. it is the drinking water source for people up and down the river in many communities. this focuses not only on that traditional system but also provides some additional assistance for challenged communities, for communities that need to replace lead pipes, for communities that can work through this bill for betterways to solve -- for better ways to solve the important infrastructure problems they have. it authorize $25 million for the dredgings of small ports on the mississippi river system. in the last congress, the senator from iowa, senator harkin and i -- senator harkin has retired, but others, senator klobuchar stepped umto cochair -- up to cho care with me the

mississippi -- to cochair with me the mississippi river caucus. as we try to take traffic off the highway system and off the rail system and put it on the water, if it's going to be on the water, sooner rather than later, all these ports matter. and so what this bill does is take a further step in encouraging looking at the small ports, the interior ports, the almost totally export ports. there's nothing wrong with buying things from other people, mr. president, but it's actually economically a lot -- a lot dlshes a tremendous, positive -- there is a tremendous, positive advantage of selling thongs to people. and that's what the interior port system is all about. not only is it an export port system but it basically serves twice the land mass of a coastal port. if you're on the miss mission river, if a coastal port

effectively serves 250 or 300 miles inland, a mississippi river port would serve that same amount in all directions. 300 miles each way. looking at those ports not for specifically the individual it unage that might go out of a -- tonnage that might go out of a port but how they fit into an individual system. they don't export 1 million torntion so we don't want to -- they don't export 1 million tons, so we don't want to dredge that port. it is only a 900 port. this bill creates the opportunity to do that. there is another measure that affectaffects very close to whei live in springfield, missouri. not on the lake, several miles from the lake. but owners there are worried that the corps is not listening

as it comes up with a shoreline management planning. if you don't live on the shore or are affected by the economy of the lake, it may not matter much, but it matters a lot if you are a he in one of those two categories. these plans don't come along very often. and so this measure addresses the concerns that property owners have that just simply they are a the no being listened to. the public and those directly affected by change in the plan, things like awarding bulk dock permits, shoreline zoning need have a say in what that plan will look like for a long time because once these plans are in place, the corps always has many, many reasons not to look at the shoreline management plan. the extra time here creates a comment period that et wills the affected people being heard. i will say on this topic, when

you talk to the corps about variations in the plan, there are always 1 240*u reasons they can't make -- there are always 1,000 reasons they can't make one. that is plan that took a lost tomb to put in -- this is a plan that took a lot of time to put in place. we'll agree with that. let's take the necessary time to put it in place. i'm also glad to see that this measure ensthiewrs a community -- ensures that a community affordability study that we put in the appropriations bill, the interior appropriationinterior , last year is put -- would be put to use by the e.p.a. now, what is a community affordability study? if you have water issues in your community, if the drinking water system sha's a problem, in the -- has a problem, if the storm water system has a problem, if you have issues that involve water in your community, there are often reasonable caps that say, okay, if the federal government comes in and tells you that you have to do something, they have to give you enough time that the community

could afford it. may be maybe that cap is -- maybe that cap is no more than 4% or some percentage a year would be the cap on raising your water bill year after year. if you raise it 4% a year, it doesn't take long before it's 40% higher than it was and then 50% higher than it was. that's a cap that somebody looked at, studied it, thought -- hurricane katrina though communities never like -- even though communities never like to do this, they thought about it. what this bill did is further encuttinencourage the e.p.a. too something that the municipal league is really for, that my hometown, springfield, missouri, has been a significant encourager,proponent, drafter. so you have to look at the total impact on ratepayers before you tell a community that they have to do something. you can put people in

unbelievable economic stress by just deciding whatever the federal government wants to do is what the federal government gets to do, no matter what impact it has on that community. that integrated permitting will give communities what they need to really make the changes that they need to make in a way that the community can live with and deal with and, more importantly, families in the community can live with. this has some bipartisan compromise language that i've long supported also to encourage the safe disposal of coal ash. i've heard from rural electric utilities that the rules handed down by e.p.a. are too harsh. the language will help address the concerns in a bipartisan way. i really urge my colleagues to support this measure. i'm grateful for the leadership we've seen both from senator inhofe, the chairman, and the ranking member, senator boxer, who served previously as the

chairman of this committee. they've come together with a bipartisan package that makes sense, that impacts the lives of families, that has impact on our economy, and allows these projects to have a future they otherwise wouldn't have and new rules to be put in place that wouldn't be put in place. and with that, mr. president, i would yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. inhofe: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the quorum call in progress be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: mr. president, at i think 11:30 we're going to be voting on the wrda bill. we talked for the last two weeks extensively about this. i want to applaud my senate colleagues for advancing the wrda bill to the floor to get to

this point. we all have a lot to be proud of in the bipartisan passage of another critical infrastructure bill. we're kind of on a roll really when you stop and think about our fast act and our chemical bill, we have a lot of things we've been doing on there. we're authorizing 30 reports that recommend the construction of new projects with significant economic benefits. navigation projects in the bill will modernize our nation's ports and make our waterways safe and reliable. this panamax chart shows we have a problem in this country with some of our ports because as the panama canal has expanded and we have this panamax which means the top shows the new capacity and the old capacity, we have to do something to help our

various ports. take the port of charleston has a 45-foot deck. that's fine for the old ships. for the new ones, it's not. the alternative to that is to take the ships in to the caribbean, change them, off load some things. that's a great deal of expense. it's not necessary. we deal with flood control projects in this bill. if you look at this chart, look at the picture here, we must provide the necessary level of protection to our communities for, before another unfortunate disaster occurs like the one you're looking at in louisiana here. and wrda, of course, helps do that. the environmental projects in the bill will also help our nation's critical ecosystems including water off the coast of florida that is experiencing the algae blooms that are disrupting the economy and, of course, the occupier of the chair is

very much -- is personally responsible for that. it's important to note that this bill does a lot more than authorize new projects. wrda 2016 includes substantive reforms to the army corps policy so the local sponsors will be empowered to participate in the funding. this is a big deal because you would think that we shouldn't have to pass a law to accommodate those individuals who want to pay for things that otherwise government is going to have to pay for. but we change the law. so it establishes -- it also establishes a fema assistance program to help states rehabilitate the unsafe dams. there are 14,726 that have been identified. they're called high-hazard potential dams located all around the country. you can see -- yeah, there they are. around the country. when you use the term "high hazard potential" that term

means that if a dam breaks or if a levee breaks, it will take american lives. it will cost lives. we've had 14,000 of these scattered around the country. the wrda bill also provides reforms and assistance that will help communities address clean water and safe drinking water, infrastructure mandates. it will help address aging infrastructure like this broken water main in philadelphia. as you can see, it's not just in the larger, older parts of america, but also this is one where we have problems in the newer sections, in the less populated areas such as my state of oklahoma. wrda also supports innovative approaches to address drought and water supply issues which is particularly a problem out west in my state. finally, in addition to supporting infrastructure, there are -- and, therefore, the economy, wrda carries four significant policy priorities.

one, it addresses the affordability of clean water act mandates. unfunded mandates. we've been living with these when i had the honor to be mayor of the city of tulsa. our biggest problem was unfunded mandates. now out in our area, we have a real serious problem in our smaller communities, so it does address that. it addresses e.p.a.'s coal ash rule. the coal ash rule is something that has been bandied around for a long time. there are a lot of diverse thoughts on it. we came to a compromise on this and it's something that will allow us to use the value of the coal ash in building roads and also take care of the disposal problem. wrda 2016 includes exemptions from the spcc rule for farmers, and senator fischer has championed this issue. in the wrda bill we exempt all animal feed tanks and up to two

tanks on separate parcels to allow farmers to refill their equipment out in the field without being subjected to the onerous regulations. she's done a really great job. finally, the wrda bill includes gold king mine legislation that will garn tee e.p.a. will -- guarantee reimburse states for the costs they incur cleaning up the mess e.p.a. made. we're one step closer to getting back on track with passing the wrda bill. every two years. we went seven years, from 2007 -- 2010 to 2017 without doing a wrda bill. we're back on a two-year schedule now. we want to stay that way. senator boxer and i have talked about this, and we've worked together to make sure that this does get done. we've also talked to the chairman, chairman shuster in the house, to make sure this gets done. and chairman upton, when i came, i was elected way back

many years ago, he's very much -- feels very strongly about the relief that flint has in the drinking water emergency. so we look forward to making these good things. i have to say, and i'll talk a little bit more about this later after we vote on the bill -- that i want to thank not just senator boxer for -- i've chaired the committee. she's been the ranking member. then when democrats were in charge, she was the chairman and i was the ranking member. all the way through this we were able to do what we're supposed to do here, and that is infrastructure. so i do want to applaud senator boxer. i want to share my time before our vote with her. maybe we can visit a little bit more about the benefits of this and look forward to thanking the rest of the people afterwards. with that, i'll yield the floor. mrs. boxer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. boxer: once again i think senator inhofe and i have proven we can get things done around here. you know, i've been asked, and i know he has been asked by many in the press, how do you guys

do it? you're one of the most liberal and one of the most conservative, one of the most progressive -- i think people know that clearly. i know they know it in my state, and in your state. but people wonder how can we possibly bridge the divide. and it is a fact that on certain issues we can't. and i think there's a lesson there. on certain issues we can't bridge the divide. and we recognize that. but we never ever have taken those differences and made them personal. we always respected one another. we tried to understand one another, and we don't waste a lot of time arguing with each other about things where, you know, one is venus and one is mars. let's be clear. but we do come together as we work for this great country in our total belief that a sound

infrastructure is essential for our nation. you can't compete in a global economy if your infrastructure is failing. and if we look at the grade that is given to our infrastructure, our highways, our bridges, our roadways, our sewer systems, unfortunately the independent engineers of our country, some of whom are republican, some of whom are democrats, some of whom are independents, some of whom could care less about politics, they tell us, a lot of our from us is graded at c-minus, d-plus, d. it's sad when you look at the grades and you think oh my god, thank goodness we got a c somewhere. that is not the way i raised my kids. we need to do better. so we found this amazing area where we could work together. and even within that, we had different priorities, and

that's okay. and i know what his are, and he knew what mine are. and i just want to say in this bill where we really do so much to respond to the infrastructure needs, we fund so many chief reports, 30 of them, in 19 states addressing critical needs, flood risk management, coastal storm damage reduction, ecosystem restoration, navigation, all the things we have to do to literally keep our country moving. but we also did something else. we knew that passing a water bill in this time without addressing lead in drinking water which came to us in a most tragic story from flint, michigan -- and i'm not going to get in why, how, and where. that's for others to talk about today. we knew we needed to address it in a way that not only helps the

flint people, but helps people all over this country who are facing aging water supplies and have lead in their drinking water. we agree that the science is clear on the impact of lead in drinking water. we disagree on a lot of other science, but on that one we agree. i am so grateful to my friend, jim inhofe, for he brings to the table his experiences as not only a senator, beloved in his state, but also as a dad and as a granddad. and if we have any obligation to our children -- and we do -- we need to fix this problem. mr. inhofe: will the senator yield? mrs. boxer: i will. mr. inhofe: just for one comment because we want to make sure we get this clear. we still have to go to the house. we're hoping -- senator boxer and i are hoping we're going to be able to resolve this as early as next week. i know there are some members in

the house that have said they are going to make it difficult for chairman shuster to pass the wrda bill because it doesn't have the senate provision that addresses the water crisis across the nation that involves failing and outdated critical infrastructure. and the situation in flint. i promise to address this in conference. i've been standing with my colleagues in michigan from the beginning on the fiscally responsible solution to help flint community, and i will continue to do that in conference. so let me be clear, it would be a shortsighted mistake for those that are trying to help the people of flint to prevent a quick movement of wrda in the house so that we can conference immediately. so i'm confident that's going to happen. i just want to be sure we got that in the record before we -- the vote took place today. excuse me for the interruption. mrs. boxer: that's perfectly fine. i am very pleased that my colleague has stated unequivocally that the flint

provision which, again, helps the whole country, is going to be strongly supported by him and by me and by others in the conference. i would like to simply say to my friends in the house through the chair, if i can, there is a simple way to go. take up and pass the senate bill. we have had 93 votes for cloture, and i see the majority leader here. i want to thank him so much for his work. he promised me this would happen, and he kept the promise. and senator reid, who had a lot of other fish to fry around here. but he said you know what? let's get this done. i mean that's really good for the country and for the way this place functions. when i'm not here, i just hope to leave behind a few of these bipartisan crumbs that i have been able to work on in my time here. and so in conclusion, i don't want to get into what the house

does. i hope they take up and pass our bill. if they don't, we'll have to work with them. but let me just say it's heartening to hear my colleague say he will stand for this lead provision. i also want to thank senators stabenow and peters for bringing this, you know, unbelievable crisis to our attention and to staying on this day after day. i can't say how many phone calls i've had. and she would call me and i would call senator inhofe, and then he'd call her and they'd call peters. we've just been standing together on this. i hope we have a resounding vote. i thought 93 was great. but as my father used to say to me when i brought a 90% grade home. he would say what happened to the other 10%? so i'm looking for 93 at a minimum today. that's a heck of a message for us to send. i don't know if we can get that for any other issue. i'm thrilled to be part of this

team. again, i thank my opinion friend and colleague for his devotion to getting work done around here. i'm going to miss him, but i'll be cheering from outside the chamber. thank you very much. i yield the floor. ms. ms. stabenow: mr. president, i wonder if i might -- officer the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i hate to see the boxer-inhofe team come to an end. we've had some great bipartisan accomplishments. this bill we're about to pass and of course the highway bill last year, which was something i think all of us -- all three of us were very proud of. so i want to say to my colleague from california, as we've discussed on numerous occasions, there are not a whole lot of things we agree on, but when we do, we have a whole lot of fun together. we're going to miss that next congress. notwithstanding the provisions of rule 22, the cloture vote with respect to the motion to proceed to h.r. 5325 ripen at

5:30 p.m. monday, september 19. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mcconnell: so we're continued to negotiate text for the short-term c.r., the zika bill, and moving the vote until monday night will allow us to move forward next week. i also, mr. president, want to ask unanimous consent that at 1:30 p.m. on thursday, september 15 -- that's today -- the senate proceed to executive session for the consideration of calendar number 698, with no other businesses in order, that there be 15 minutes for debate only on the nomination equally divided in the usual form, that upon the use or yielding back of time, the senate vote on the nomination without intervening actioaction or debate, if confie shall the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, the president be immediately notified of the senate's action, and the senate then resume legislative session, without any intervening action or debate.

mr. inhofe: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

who hav mr. inhofe: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call in progress be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that tbhot standing the adoption of the amendment 4971 -- the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: let me start over gefn, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the adoption of amendment number 4979 as

amended, the following amendments be reported by number, calmed, agreed to en bloc. isakson 05075, 5063, 5076, paul 5068, cardin 5069, hoeven 5074, as modified, tester 5077, and sasse5066, as modified. the presiding officer: without objection. is there objection? there is no objection. the clerk will report the amendments. by number en bloc. the clerk: mr. inhofe, proposes amendments en bloc numbered 5075, 5036, as modified, 5076, 5068, 5069, 5074, as modified, 5077, 5066, as modified to amendment number

4979. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the amendment are agreed to. under the previous order, all postcloture time has expired. the clerk will read the tile for third time. the clerk: calendar number 523, s. 2848, a bill to froir the conservation and development of water and related resources and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: question occurs on senate bill 2848 as amended. the clerk will call the roll. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote: