subcommittee hearing live at 11 a.m. eastern on c-span 3. c-span.org and on our free c-span radio app. >> c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979 c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies and today we continue to bring you unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, and public policy events in washington d.c. and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. provider. >> while the u.s. senate is about to gavel in on this thursday morning with debate on an education department nomination, confirmation vote on assistant secretary for civil rights is expected at 12:30 eastern today and more daib on the 716 million dollars

2019 defense programs and policy bill. now to live coverage of the u.s. senate here on c-span2. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer.

the chaplain: let us pray. god, our lord, you are the light of the world. in your light, we see our lives and know our poverty. illuminate our path with the brightness of your abundance; supply our needs from your celestial bounty. bless our senators. lord, you know their lives, hearts, and thoughts. give them the wisdom to refuse to deviate from integrity. equip them with strength and spirit to trust you, even when they don't understand your

providential guidance. guide their words so that those with whom they work will seek common ground, for the good of our nation and world. and, lord, surround the united states senate page spring class of 2018 with the shield of your divine favor. thank you for their faithful service. we pray in your strong name. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god,

indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: majority leader. mr. mcconnell: today the senate will consider the nomination of kenneth marcus to serve as department of education assistant secretary for civil rights.

his resume includes degrees from williams college and california berkeley school of law, and his career has spanned private practice and public service with considerable experience in government. i look forward to voting to confirm mr. marcus later today. then the senate will resume consideration of the john s. mccain 2019 defense authorization act. it's the result of serious bipartisan work over the past several months. our colleagues on the armed services committee have engaged in candid discussions with our nation's top military leaders. they've heard about the pressing needs of the men and women who serve in harm's way. greater readiness, enhanced weapons capability on the air on the seas, simple processes for acquisition, more support for military families. this week we've already discussed the array of global challenges that face our nation at this critical moment. this ndaa will help equip our

troops with the latest training an the best technology to confront those challenges and to keep us safe. it's also important to reflect on all this legislation will do for our war fighters and their families here at home. it will increase base pay for service members by 2.6%, the largest annual raise in nearly a decade. it authorizes new resources for family housing construction, improved care for service members' children with severe disabilities, and programs to better manage opioid prescriptions in the military health system. and it will authorize continued operations at military posts across our country that build up our nation's security and form the backbone of local communities. the service members who serve at kentucky's army installations and in the kentucky air and army national guard are critical to our overall national defense strategy. i'm proud to represent them here

in the senate. fort campbell is the home to the 101st airborne division and a number of special operations units. in recent years many of these service members have seen a near constant, constant cycle of deployment to iraq and afghanistan. this ndaa ensures they are not forgotten. fort knox hosts the army human resources command and recruiting command where the ndaa will help modernize office personnel management. and this year's legislation paves the way for new construction projects at both these facilities. in madison county, the bluegrass army depot is responsible for storing and demilitarizing conventional and legacy chemical weapons. it's a top of the line facility integral to our national security, passing this ndaa will help ensure it can continue safe and effective operations. it's my privilege to represent the men and women of the kentucky air and army national

guard, including the 123rd airlift wing. this legislation will reaffirm our commitment to these citizen soldiers and airmen who are always ready to respond to emergencies at home or threats from abroad. kentucky is indeed proud of our men and women in uniform. when i vote for this defense bill, i'll be casting my vote for them. on another subject, 16 months ago president trump and republican majorities arrived in washington with clear instructions from the american people, get the federal government out of the way. a decade of democratic control meant that taxes were too high, regulations were too burdensome, and america was too difficult a place to start a small business or hire more workers. republicans heard our marching

orders. we used the congressional review act to root out rules that hurt small businesses. we delivered a long overdue comprehensive overhaul of america's tax code. it's helping rejuvenate the economy and letting american families keep more of what they earn. today under this republican government, the u.s. economy is healthier than it's been in a long time. the lowest unemployment in 18 years, more open positions than workers seeking jobs. for the first time since the labor department started collecting these data. record levels of optimism among small businesses and manufacturers, more americans are saying now is a good time to find a quality job than at any point in the last 17 years. in the obama years prosperity was slower in coming. opportunities were comparatively few. and what limited growth did occur flowed disproportionately

into america's very biggest urban centers. now our economy is starting to work better for all kinds of communities. i recently heard a few inspiring stories from my friend, senator portman. in zanesville, ohio, the owners of g.k.m. auto parts spent much of the last decade watching health insurance premiums soar. by 2016 they could no longer support coverage for their employees. but as senator portman recently explained, one of the first things the company was able to do following the passage of the historic tax reform last year was to restore that coverage. he also shared that builders and manufacturers across his state from wolf metals in columbus to advanced industrial roofing are increasing pay and benefits, investing in equipment and creating jobs as a direct result of tax reform and this pro-growth economic climate.

we're hearing stories like these from every corner of our country. american workers and job creators are turning the page on the last decade and writing brand-new success stories. and republican policies are helping make that happen. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of education, kenneth marcus of virginia to be assistant secretary for civil rights. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the time until 12:30 p.m. will be equally divided between the two leaders or their designees.

the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mr. tillis: thank you, madam president. madam president, i want to speak briefly. it want to thank -- i want to thank the democratic leader forgiving me the opportunity to do what i've done every week for the past couple of months and i will do every week until we get a resolution. i'm talking about pastor brunson who has been in prison in turkey since 2016. the only thing he -- he is guilty of is being a missionary, who spent 20 years of his life to bringing the word of god to turkey. you can talk about all the trumped up charges after i spent in a courtroom in turkey, or

when i spoke to pastor brunson when i spoke to him in prison. this is relevant to the defense authorization to put turkey on notice that this is unacceptable. turkey has been a an ally of the united states since 1952. if you know much about the nato alliance, what you need to know is that alliance commits every member of nato to send their men and women in uniform into harm's way to defend the national security of a nation of the alliance. we have that with turkey. we have since 1952. so over the past month or so we've seen a would-be add vermont sairy in -- adversary release a prisoner, but in turkey, since october 2016, wee seen them hold a man for -- we've seen them hold a man for over a year and a half without

charges. i saw a man go before a court and i witnessed for the whole day being subjected to some of the most absurd charges possible. next week, when i have more time, i will get into those. i want to thank my colleagues both sides of the aisle who voted to put a provision in the national defense authorization act that makes us whether we need to rethink our relationship with turkey, particular lip around the joint strike fighter, which is the most sophisticated stryke fighter. turkey is a nato ally and have access to that weapon system. they manufacture a lot of the critical parts for it. what we offered in the ndaa is an examination whether or not that relationship makes sense, one, because of the way they are treating one of our american citizens and not letting him and his wife not come home. two, if if that is -- if that is the behavior of a nato ally, is

that where we should put in our supply chains, one of the most important weapons in our arsenal. i think we need to look at it. until the turkey government recognizes that they are illegally holding pastor brunnson, we have to hold them accountable. as a member of the armed service committee and as a member of the senate, turkey needs to treat our citizens with respect. madam president, we have the amendment in the ndaa, we have another amendment that we may offer and we need to make turkey know that we believe our alliance with them is important, but it is also important to treat american citizens who are not guilty of a crime with respect and bring pastor brunson home. thank you, madam president. the presiding officer: the

democratic leader. mr. schumer: thank you, madam president. i was asked if i agree with what the senator from north carolina said. i do. i believe they are doing -- to allow the leader of turkey to get away with all of this stuff without maximum pressure makes no sense. so i thank my colleague from north carolina. okay. now on other subjects. there are other subjects, i assure you, madam president. here they are. okay. later today the senate will move to consideration of the john s. mccain defense authorization act, the annual defense authorization is something our friend, senator mccain, cared

dearly about and talked to me and we wish he were here to shepherd on the minor. it is important for our national security and for senator mccain and make sure this critical bill moves forward on a steady track. every time we see the name john s. mccain, our hearts go pitter patter a little bit as we pray for his recovery. the ndaa is an opportunity to revise and improve our national security, to meet the evolving threats of a world that is changing so very, very fast. i want to highlight a few provisions in the bill that are important. just this morning secretary ross announced that the trump administration will relax penalties on chinese telecommunication giant z.t.e. instead of permanently crippling z.t.e., the administration will settle for a smaller fine than

the company paid in 2017 and a reorganization of the company's board. it is essentially a slap on the wrist. as a reminder, z.t.e. has been a threat to our national security, and that was stated by the republican-led f.c.c., republican-led f.b.i., republican-led pentagon. this is not a partisan issue. z.t.e. was guilty not only of evading u.s. sanctions but lying to u.s. officials about it after afterwards. z.t.e. has been deemed such a threat that the -- any sale has been forbidden in the united states. but inexplicable, president trump after talking tough did a total reversal. once again it seems president xi has outfoxed president trump. there is no good reason z.t.e.

should get a second chance, but with this deal the president has inexplicably thrown them a lifeline. president xi must be laughing all the way to the forbidden palace. he's once again taken advantage of president trump on an issue vital to our security. many believe z.t.e. could be a mechanism for spying on our military and on lots of different economic parts of the united states. china has shown no reluctance to do that in the past, and we're just rolling over for no reason and having gotten nothing in return. this is serious mistake. 180-degree turn away from the president's promise to be tough on china. donald trump should be aiming his trade fire at china, but instead he inexplicably aims it at allies like canada and europe. when it comes to china, despite

his tough talk, this deal with z.t.e. proves that president trump just shoots blanks. the art of the deal, he's gotten taken to the cleaners by president xi, and the rest of the world is probably laughing at him. but we cannot allow the damage that this action by secretary ross to stay. we must undo it. it's up to congress to reverse this deal if the president goes forward with it, which he has announced this morning he will. the banking committee already adopted an amendment that would prohibit the administration from weakening sanctions against the chinese telecoms including z.t.e. however, the president has rushed to undo the sanctions before that bill could pass, so it won't affect z.t.e. because the sanctions have just been lifted by the administration.

now that the president has rushed to give this company relief, we will offer a bipartisan amendment led by senators cotton and van hollen that retroactively imposed the sanctions originally leveled against z.t.e., reversing the consent agreement is signed this morning. this is a bipartisan bill. senator cotton and senator van hollen don't agree on much, but thank god when it comes to national security, they're agreeing. this chamber should overwhelmingly vote for the cotton-van hollen amendment, which i am proud to cosponsor, as i believe senator cornyn and others on the other side will do. we must do that. we hope leader mcconnell will allow a vote or at minimum put it in the managers' package. we cannot move forward with this danger to national security

without doing something about z.t.e. there's also a provision in the defense bill to expand the jurisdiction of the committee on foreign investment in the united states known as cfius, so that the board can review minority position investments and joint ventures in critical technology and infrastructure companies. too often foreign companies, usually chinese, backed by some hostile foreign governments, usually the chinese government -- and they're hostile to us economically. make no mistake about it. that word is not too strong. they try to gain controlling or minority positions in critical american technology companies to pilfer their intellectual property and reproduce it in their own countries. they don't allow us to sell the goods. they instead buy minority interests in american companies, learn how to do it, produce it in china, and then undercut us and sell it here.

no wonder we lose millions of jobs to china. this must be stopped. because these foreign companies go to great lengths to avoid a cfius review and sneak in under the radar, we are to widen the scope of cases that cfius can look at, better protecting our national security and our economic security. and the defense bill fortunately is the first opportunity to do that. now back to z.t.e., madam president, the z.t.e. example is perhaps the best example of how this administration's trade policies are in shambles. the president has talked tough on china. president trump and i agree very strongly -- we had agreed. i don't know where he is now. but in the past we've agreed. we just had a conversation a few weeks ago about the need to combat china's rapacious trade practices. initially i was hopeful the president would follow through. he seemed to do this out of

conviction. but it seems that even though president trump roars like a lion on china, he behaves like a lamb. instead of ramping up pressure on china, he tells them he's weak. he tells them he'll back off. he tells them he's not for real. and he has directed far too mucs directed far too much of the administration's energies on trade toward punishing allies like canada and europe instead of focusing on the real menace, the number-one menace, china. so if president trump is listening this morning, i tell him be strong on china. don't trade away our leverage for anything short of real concessions on intellectual property theft and market access, the two things that most threaten our long-term economic standing, that most threaten the american economy, the american

worker, and american jobs. now on another matter, today the u.s. district court of district of columbia will hear oral arguments in a case concerning the potential violation of the emoluments clause of the president of the united states. the emoluments clause of the constitution of the united states written over 200 years ago into the constitution by our founding fathers prohibits any member of our government from profiting from their office, accepting any present emolument, office or title, or any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state. the reason for the emoluments clause is plain. the framers were worried that members of our government could be co-opted or influenced by the bribery of foreign capitals and thus prohibited even the

potential for self-enrichment. they knew then what we know now. we don't want double-dealing by our elected officials. and when they have private interests, you never know are they acting in what they believe is the national interest or what will help make them a profit. with president trump, we sincerely hope that no such self-enrichment is going on, but it remains a great concern to millions of americans that president trump has maintained a stake in vast business empire withholdings all over the world. president trump continues to profit from these holdings while he refuses to divest, an appalling departure from well-established practices of past presidents, which shows a degree of selfishness that we haven't seen in presidents. the president still refuses to disclose his tax returns and the precise extent of his foreign

holdings, another radical and disturbing departure from past presidents. this president acts like he's in the swamp, not like he's cleaning it up. the president's actions certainly present the possibility of exposure to violation of the emoluments clause. so i believe it's a good thing that the courts are looking at this. that's what our constitution says they should do. it's a good thing the courts are taking it seriously. we cannot afford to have the office of the presidency of the united states corrupted for narrow selfish means. president trump could easily -- you want to be president, you give up all the stuff you own. every president has done it. there are blind trusts. there are all kinds of ways to do it. but this president seems to think he's measured by a different standard than everyone else. everyone else makes their tax returns public. he does not.

everyone else divests themselves of interest in foreign business. he does not. it's a double standard. when the president says he wants to clean up the swamp when he goes to his rallies and gets cheered, what are though people cheering -- what are those people cheering for? he's made the swamp worse than any president i know. in other news, we have learned that the president is very keen on his pardon power. the president went so far as to tweet earlier this week he believes he has the absolute right -- his words -- to pardon himself. let me remind president trump of a very simple fact. president trump, you do not have the right to pardon yourself. no one, no one in america is above the law, not even the president, especially the president. if the president did have the right to pardon himself, he could engage in blatant corruption and self-dealing

without consequence. the president could violate the emoluments clause, for example, and simply exonerate himself from taking bribes from foreign interests. surely that's not what our framers intended. it would turn the presidency into a farce and render american democracy greatly defunct. when the president says in tweets things like this, we have to be very clear about how wrong he is. we cannot allow the morality of this government, the shining example the founding fathers put together, to just proceed. president trump is doing that on almost a daily basis, and we need not just democrats, we need republicans and independents to stand up when he says things like that. i was glad to hear that a number of my republican colleagues say he doesn't have the power to pardon himself. i was proud of senator grassley,

who always speaks his mind -- staoeuplgs -- sometimes i like it, sometimes i don't, to speak his mind to talk about how wrong it was for the president to pardon himself. the idea that the president can pardon anyone, any time, himself included is the antithetical to the very idea of democracy. president trump, you are not king by another name. i hope the president will focus instead on the nation's business in the months ahead. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. a senator: yield for a u.c. the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. inhofe: i ask the quorum call in progress be vitiated. would you yield for a u.c.? mr. booker: i would yield under almost any circumstances. mr. inhofe: i ask that if at the conclusion of the remarks by the senator from new jersey i be recognized for as much time as i shall consume. mr. booker: thank you very much. mr. president, i rise today in opposition to the nomination of kenneth marcus to serve as the assistant secretary for civil rights at the department of education. one of the most critical functions of the department of

education is the role in enforcing federal civil rights and uphold the protection of student civil rights in schools. the office of civil rights within the department of education is a particularly important instrument in enforcing civil rights in schools, protecting those precious rights of our children, ensuring that schools provide students with access to equal educational students and a nondiscriminatory environment in which to learn. it's this idea we have in our country that's fundamental that we have a level playing field and abundant opportunity for all kids, no matter what their background. the continued need for this office is clear. in fact, during the obama administration, the office for civil rights and the department of education handled 76,000 complaints over eight years and issued dozens of policy guidance documents to help schools better protect and preserve civil rights of students. but in the last year alone, year

and a half, we have seen what is really clearly an abdication of this leadership in the trump administration and what that has meant for the protection of civil rights for our country's children, for our country's students. we have seen the office of civil rights and has rolled back protections for lgbtq students, an office that has rolled back protections for students with disabilities. and an office that is set on gutting the very mission of the office itself, to protect all of our students from discrimination and empower them with equal opportunities to succeed. the confirmation of kenneth marcus would be another blow to the civil rights of our students. mr. marcus is someone who in his record and in his testimony to my colleagues on the senate help committee has demonstrated that he possesses at best a disturbing apathy and at worst a

wanton disregard to the importance if not urgency of protecting the rights of our kids in school. when mr. marcus was asked by senator murphy to name an example of something, anything, donald trump has said when it comes to discrimination or civil rights that he disagrees with, mr. marcus could not name any area of disagreement. he couldn't find a single disagreement in the way that donald trump demeaned americans with disabilities or about how the president has spoken about mexicans or even the way the president has issued policies that attack the rights of muslims or the rights of lgbtq americans. there was no disagreement mentioned whatsoever. and when he was asked during his confirmation hearing if, as assistant secretary, he would intervene in an instance where black students in a school district were receiving lower quality teachers, fewer books, fewer a.p. classes, and fewer educational resources than white

students, one would expect his answer to have been yes, i would intervene. yes, i would stand up for equality. but instead mr. marcus refused to say that he would step in in such a hypothetical circumstance. and when mr. -- when senator murphy asked about disparities in school districts that were suspending or expelling five times as many black students for the same set of behaviors compared to white students, instead of just saying the obvious thing, that this is wrong, the same behavior necessitates the same disciplinary action, instead of saying sething as simpl as that, mr. marcus went on to say this -- i believe tha the disparities of that size are grounds for concern, but my experience says that we need to approach each complaint with an open mind and a sense of fairness to find out what the answers are. i will tell you that i have seen

what appears to be an inexcusable disparities that were the result of paperwork errors that just got the numbers wrong. i don't know on this issue of disciplinary inequality in america, i don't know how much of the data mr. marcus has seen, but it is abundantly clear for someone who wants to be in this position that they should understand the crisis we have with discipline in this country. the data from all factors, nonpartisan groups have shown that even in preschool, the age of 4 years old, black preschool kids are 3.6 times more likely to receive an out-of-school suspension than white preschool kids. again, also for the same infractions. this is not about getting the numbers wrong. this is about being aware of a problem we have in this country that fuels the school-to-prison pipeline, a problem that is so severe that i fought in a

bipartisan way to get an amendment about school expulsions in the every student succeeds act. this is a problem that is so severe that in 2014, the department of education issued guidance clarifying that schools must administer discipline without discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin. the guidance provided important information and support for schools to create a safer, more inclusive environment. but we know this problem is not going away because just last month, a new report from the government accountability office concluded that black students, boys, and students with disabilities were still significantly overrepresented in disciplinary action. what we need is a department of defense that is going to -- excuse me. what we need is a department of education that is going to stand up for kids on problems that we know exist. i was stunned that this is a

candidate that doesn't even acknowledge the urgency in protecting lgbtq kids. even secretary betsy devos called discrimination against lgbtq students in schools an issue for, and i quote, congress and the courts to settle. i don't understand when you have children that are literally under attack, we face a crisis in this country when it comes to lgbtq. this is not an argument over facts. the facts are clear. lgbtq youth face a stunning level of prejudice and discrimination inside and outside of schools starting at a young age. we know that lgbtq youth are twice as likely, two times more likely as the heterosexl peers to be physically assaulted in school. lgbtq youth are four times as likely to attempt suicide. and according to the youth risk behavior survey, 34% of gay and

lesbian youth students were bullied on school property, and 13% report not going to school because of fear for their safety. this kind of harassment has no place in our classrooms, our schools, or anywhere in the united states. it is far too common, whether from discriminating disciplinary practice to physical violence against our kids that we have work to do in this country to keep all children safe, to treat all children equally, to give every kid a fair shot in schools to make it and thrive. and yet, we are trying to elevate someone to one of the more significant positions in our land to protect children who has a disregard and an apathy towards the compelling and continuing problems in our schools. when i think about the role of f

the federal government in protecting children, i think about a picture that as soon as i walk out of my office, the picture's there. it's that picture from norman rockwell of ruby bridges trying to walk to school at the age of 6 to become the first black child to attend a white elementary school in the south. the photo of her of this famous painting is just -- it's jarring when you see it. it's a reminder to me every day when i leave my office about the roles and responsibilities we have in this body. the hate that is being spewed on her, ruby bridges, was plainly evident. and i'm telling you, if you visit schools right now and talk to some of our children who are being bullied, intimidated, they can speak to that kind of hate as well. you can still feel the pain and hatred echoing from our past, and you can see it, you can see it echoing in our present.

but she was determined, and most importantly she was not alone. at the age of 6, walking to school, ruby bridges walks not alone but as norman rockwell's picture captures, she walked with federal marshals. that stood with her. she was not alone. she had government folks who said your rights are my rights. your future is my future. that we pledge an oath to be a nation of liberty and justice, not for some but for all. that injustice anywhere as king said is a threat to justice everywhere. and so, look, the federal government alone is not enough to educate our kids. it's about local communities to keep them safe. it's about the soccer coaches. it's about the drama teacher. it's about the english teacher. it's about the love and the kindness and the nurturing

environments that is the common standard in all of our schools in america in every state. but we have seen from history that there is a role for us to play in keeping folks safe, that there are aberrations in our country where hatred still thrives, where discrimination still exists, where there is a role for us to play, and we can't surrender that role. we can't retreat from our vigilance in protecting every child in america, and that's why the office of civil rights and the department of education is so critical and must be led why someone who understands our history and understands the urgent work that still needs to be done. we need a person in this role that's committed to every single child, no matter who they are, and sees within that child their truth, their divinity, their

limitless potential, their promise on how we as a nation need them to succeed. we have a long way to go. there is work still to do. children in this country who are hurting now need champions in positions of high office. that's why i oppose the nomination of mr. marcus. he is not the person, by his own testimony, who could -- who sees our children, who could protect our children, understands the crisis and hears their cries. i will be voting against his nomination. thank you, and i yield the floor. mr. inhofe: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: mr. president, arguably the most significant bill to be introduced and passed every year is the national defense authorization act.

yesterday the leader moved to proceed to this bill, and there was some objection. now, that's -- senator reed and i spent some time, have been very concerned about getting this started. we passed this out of committee in record time, and we share the commitment on this bill as a matter of fitting for the senate to deliver and process. we want to have amendments and the amendments process. we -- we proposed this, but there was some objection. i think an observe legislative process is one of the hallmarks of the democracy that we ask for our service members to protect and defend. they are out there on the line. weep owe them -- we owe them everything that's in the annual bill. that bill has been passed every

year for the past 57 years, we've had a national defense authorization act, and what we wanted to do this time, which is different from last time, was to have an open amendment process to hear a lot of discussion on the floor. we intend to do that. we were disappointed that there was objection to that yesterday. that's why we have been working on satisfying those objections. i think we have done this and i believe that by noon, or after the 12:30 p.m. vote, we're going to be in a position to go ahead and ask that the majority leader restate his motion to proceed and it will be passed without objection. i'm looking forward to that. i think we need to get started. i don't need to get into the arguments, others are waiting on the floor right now. we need to start immediately and start getting this bill started. you know, it's not just making sure that we have the pay raises

for our kids out there risking their lives. it's not just that we have to keep up with the commitments that we have made, but, you know, we've gone through some dry years the last ten years, and there are a lot lot of countries -- when i go around countries, there is this assumption that america has the best of everything and that just isn't true anymore. and that's one reason there's a sense of urgency on this. artillery, for example, the two things that you use to measure the artillery capability of a country are range and rapid fire, and we are outranged and outrapid by both russia and -- and china. we have a lot of systems -- other systems that they are better than we are right now. right now one of the most modern systems is the hypersonic warfare. a lot of people are not aware of this, but that allows us to go in five times the speed of sound

with a weapon and we've been developing this for some time, however, now we find out both russia and china are ahead of us on this, and this bill is going to put us in high gear and make sure that actually happens. our nuclear triad system is one that we have not been doing anything for the last eight or ten years, and now russia and china have gone by us. so, you know, this is something that we are not going to tolerate, and so we had the john s. mccain defense authorization act for fiscal year 2018. we will get to it today. and i wanted to mention that we are actually hoping for a couple of amendments that would take place this afternoon. one would be a boozman amendment. and these have to be agreed to and have been agreed to by both

sides. the boozman amendment 2276 is a study to suggest permanent stationing of our troops in poland and the second one is the mccain fellowship amendment by senator reed, amendment 2284. i would like to say and i'm speaking for senator reed too, if we can get started on some amendments today instead of waiting around until monday it will put us a lot further ahead than we would otherwise be. and if we can get it done by next week, i think we can do it. i want to thank those who had some objection to moving to this bill that i appreciate very much their working with us, and i think that will be completed and i anticipate that the majority leader will have a motion he can make after the 12:30 p.m. vote

today. with that, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. a senator: i ask unanimous consent that mark delwynn be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the 115th congress. mr. inhofe: will the senator yield for a unanimous consent request? mr. flake: yes. mr. inhofe: i ask that matthew starr -- is this the same one you just did? is matthew starr -- mr. flake: no. mr. inhofe: matthew star -- starr, and daniel glibbingstein, -- glickstein be given floor consideration for the national defense authorization act.

the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from arizona. mr. flake: i rise to sound the alarm for the president's decision to impose steep tariffs on our trading partners. we are not, as some administration officials have suggested, in the early administration of a baseball game. we are in the early stages of a full-scale trade wore. despite the president saying this war will be easily won, any student of history knows that unlike a baseball game, where a winner is guaranteed, a trade war only guarantees there will be losers. free trade allows the most efficient way to have labor and travel. recognition of this philosophy has been as close to a consensus as this body has achieved in more than 70 years, and the application of these principles

has provided the foundation for growth and prosperity unimagined by previous generations. and if tariffs aimed at our adversaries produced disastrous results, what will happen when we target our allies. imagine that imports from canada represent a national security threat. well, that's what we're doing. canada is our largest trading partner, a partner with whom we have a trade surplus. just yesterday we learned after phone call which canadian prime minister trudeau challenged the president's use of national security as a way of levying tariffs. these new tariffs imposed on our allies will not and are not going unanswered. a number of them have introduced

retaliatory measures. in march, when the tariffs on steel and aluminum were first announced, i proposed legislation to block their implementation. yesterday i joined a bipartisan group of senators, led by senator corker, introducing the ability to use 232 of the trade expansion act of 1962 to justify protectionist measures. this bipartisan group includes senators from coast to coast and across the political spectrum. this grants congress the role of implementing tariffs and trade. congress must show leadership on this issue. we were elected to be leaders, not followers. it's not our charge to just go along because the president shares our party affiliation to throw out our long-held beliefs because it might complicate our political standing. let me speak about our unique

standing in the world and the opportunities and responsibility yition that come as a result of that -- responsibilities that come as a result of that standing. from its creation, the united states of america has played a vital role in world leadership. our founding fathers showed how a band of colonies could break from a monarchy and build a democracy on a sca followed of life contribution liberty. this is in our bill of rights, making this not to be an accident but of an idea, a powerful idea, the idea of freedom now, more than 100 years later at the turn of the 20th century, one that would become -- to be called the american century, president theodore roosevelt used his inaugural address to highlight america's role, a country that

had broken free from tyranny had a moral obligation to help others do likewise. much has been given us, roosevelt said, and much will be rightly expected from us. we have duties from others and duties to ourselves and we can shirk neither. we have become a great nation, forced by a fact into other relations with others on the earth and we must be seen as people with such responsibilities. this alerted americans that the nation had arrived in a new position of global leadership, and that remains as true today as it was then. the 20th century saw the united states transition from being merely one voice for freedom and liberty to become the preeminent leader of that sacred cause across the world. in the 40 years that followed roosevelt's speech, american men

and women would twice to be called on to fight for peace in the face of world war. hundreds of thousands of americans would selflessly lay down their lives for the freedom of others. indeed, nowhere in our national history has that will been more clearly displayed than 74 years ago yesterday when on the beaches of normandy thousands of americans paid the ultimate sacrifice to free our european allies from the most unspeakably -- unspeakable tyranny the world has ever known. but this nation's transformation as an indispensable nation, a necessary nation was not crafted by military might alone. it was our efforts to build up international institutions and norms aimed at fostering democratic ideals and free market principles that truly secured the global leadership that some would now squander. i believe president reagan best described the importance of this

broader american role when during an address to the british parliament in the depth of the cold war he said this, quote, our military strength is a prerequisite to peace, but let it be clear we maintain this strength in the hope that it will never be used. for the ultimate dermt -- deter nant will not be bombs or rockets, but the test of wills and ideals, a trial of spiritual resolve, the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish, the ideals to which we are dedicated. by 1945, the united states contributed half of the world's economic activity. and in 1991 we emerged from the cold war as the world's sole super power. the soviet union was in a glorious free fall. eastern europe was squinting

into the light of liberation for the first time in 40 years. free markets and free minds were sweeping the world. i vividly recall the fall of the berlin wall. at the time i was in africa assisting in the transition to democracy of a new independent country as it shrugged off the shackles of apartheid. a continent away emerged from a communist prison to become the president of a liberated czechoslovakia. he praised the powerful inspiration of american democracy and thanked us for liberating europe once against. -- once again. both 1945 and 1991 were moments of american global success where this nation could have turned inward, leaving the rest of the community of nations to fend for themselves, or we could have

maintained our dominance through military strength. we chose neither. instead, we chose to build the foundations of a global order based on the values we ven rate, the beliefs we cherish, the ideas we aspire to. a world where leaders must earn the respect of their peers, not through the coercive tactics of bluste andhreat, but through the virtue of their actions and wisd of their policies. winston churchill opined, democracy is the worst form of government except for all the other forms that have been tried from time to time. however messy it may sometime seems in practice, democracy's genius lies in the regular renewal of the people's mandate, what thomas jefferson called the consent of the governed. it is our responsibility to be the premier example of this

democratic order. this is the golden thread that leads back to our founding fathers. but today -- today that golden thread of continuity is in danger of being snapped. today we appear to be turning our back on this responsibility, a responsibility upheld by previous generations, the same generations that crafted the marshall plan to rebuild yiewrm in japan after world war ii helping to shape our two most aggressive enemies into two of our most stalwart allies. the generations that crafted pivotal organizations like nato, the united nations and world wod trade organization, forums for multilateral compromise to take the place of war as the primary arbiter of conflict between nations. the generations that negotiated nuclear disarmament treaties, pulling us back from the brink of atomic armageddon. but no more.

instead we find ourselves today led by those who express admiration for authoritarianism. in russia, in china, in the philippines, and other places who make common cause with bullies, who flirt with tyrants. we see a world descending into a tribalism, a political prime primeatism, bullying and threats, taunts, and brinkmanship rather than mutual benefit and comity. we find ourselves led by those who would fall for isolationist instinlts and antiquated preindustrial protectist economic philosophies, the very same shortsighted nostrums that ushered in the great depression. those that would reject a decades-long consensus on the

virtues of free trade, open markets, international interdependence, the policies that have led to the greatest sustained growth that our world has ever seen. what shall our friends make of such erratic behavior? how will they respond to such confusing actions? and most importantly, how long will they remain our friends if this irrational approach continues? alliances, institutions, pacts that took generations to patiently build, generations more to solidify, that were paid for in both blood and treasure are shattered in an il tempered second, a childish taunt here, a bellicose insult there. incoherent policy utterances often is not by tweet, contradicted in the space of a

single news cycle, muddied and mercurial, this is not grown up leadership. our allies are left baffled, confused, often appalled. make no mistake, our allies and those who look to american leadership will not waste for us -- wait for us to come to our consensus. if we abandon our role as leader in the world today, it may very well not be there tomorrow. we saw this vividly displayed in the decision to withdraw from the trans-pacific partnership. after we hastily pulled out of those negotiations, the 11 other countries involved did not go home. they did not give up on trade or come back to us on bended knee begging us to rejoin the process. they simply shrugged and continued on their own leaving us behind. countries in southeast asia who would prefer to be part of the american trade orbit will now

have no other choice than to be sucked into china's vortex. this is the same chinat tha our president correctly acknowledges as america's primary global competitor. once again, the absurdity of protectionist policies is laid bare. now, the question facing us today is this. do we really want to be the generation who finally gave in to the backward, regressive tug of american isolationism? do we want future generations to refer to american leech in the world only in the past tense with with a rueful nostalgia? are we truly ready to abandon the shining city on the hill described by john winthrop and echoed so eloquently by ronald reagan? do we believe that the united states of america is still the last best hope on earth as

abraham lincoln once proclaimed? now, we are not perfect. we have faltered in our leadership at times. at others we have struggled to determine how best to project our national values. but it is our leadership as the designated driver of the vehicle of world order, the so-called pacs americana that for more than 70 years has maintained unprecedented peace and prosperity throughout the world. yes, the world we live in is far from perfect, but i believe it is a far better place as a result of american leadership. it has been said that the universe is a vacuum and if we do not lead, someone else will. those who are most likely to do so do not share our democratic values. we should not wish for future generations of americans to come of age in a world led by someone else. freedom as john f. kennedy once

proclaimed is not merely a word or an abstract theory but the most effective instrument for advancing the welfare of man. we owe it to those generations who have come before us and those who will come after us, to recognize that our defense of that freedom in all its forms, from free speech to free thought to free markets to free trade, it's not an act of recreation. let us pointedly declare to those who would suggest otherwise that the crossroads we find ourselves at are not the early innings of any game but an historic moment in which we will either affirm our commitment to the values we have served for so well and so long or engaged in a trade war that will only lead to economic disaster. let us not falter in our mission to promote and protect the values of freedom. let us not turn away from this

most noble of responsibilities. let us proudly take the torch passed to us from our parents and ourarents' parents. let us cnue to serve as a beacon of hope, a shining light of freedom seen across a volatile world. this light stretches from the lanterns in boston's old north church lit during the midnight ride of paul revere to the light that shines above our capitol today. it is the light of freedom, the very spirit of america, and it must never be extinguished. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: senator from florida. mr. nelson: mr. president, i want to thank senator flake for his comments. i think his willingness to speak out, the courage with which he has spoken, his beliefs i think is admirable.

and this senator wants to state that for the record. and what he's spoken about, it does not look down the blind alleys of partisanship. he's talking about looking at america. and this senator appreciates his remarks. mr. president, i want to talk today about what's happening to the coastal communities in florida. now, the presiding officer represents the state that has the most coastline, alaska, but next to alaska, my state of florida has more coastline than any other state, and i would venture to say that since alaska has very few beaches, it ought

to be very clear that the state of florida has more beaches than any other state. and that of course is an attraction that becomes an economic engine because people from all over the world want to come to enjoy the sands of florida's beaches and enjoy the bounty of nature that the lord has provided but we better watch out because we're starting to mess it up. yesterday, noaa, that's the national oceanic and atmospheric administration, released data that the contiguous united states had the warmest may on record. the entire continental u.s., warmest may on record.

the heat is having real world impacts. also, noaa released its 2017 state of high tide flooding and 2018 outlook. during 2017, the average high tide flooding in the u.s. was the highest ever recorded. and in 2018, noaa predicts that high tide flooding will be 60% more frequent across u.s. coastlines than it was 18 years ago in 2000. primarily because of the local sea level rise. now, doesn't this suggest something?

in the lower latitudes, our seas are rising. it should not surprise us. it doesn't surprise this senator. and we got a glimpse of this when four years ago, i took our commerce committee to miami beach and in fact had a hearing. one of the witnesses was a nasa scientist, dr. pierce sellers, a very prestigious scientist and former astronaut who, unfortunately, we lost to cancer just recently. and this is what he said at the hearing. he said by the end of the century, the intensity of hurricanes will increase, but even if hurricane frequency and intensity were not to change,

rising sea levels and coastal development will likely increase the impact of hurricanes and other coastal storms on the coastal communities. and the resulting effects on their infrastructure. well, mr. president, i'd like you to take a peek at a picture. you know, a picture tells the real story. this is a sunny day in miami beach, a sunny day that the king tide is flooding miami beach. okay, that's obvious. look it here. but this happens frequently at high tide. so what has the city of miami beach had to do? spend tens of millions of dollars on big, big pumps, raise the level of the road to try to

alleviate this problem. this is happening with some frequency in south florida where dr. sellers had testified back in 2014 that projections, no, forecasts, no, measurements actually showed that the sea had risen over the last four decades 5 to 8 inches. all right. let's take another look at another flooding. now, this is miami beach. that's down at the southeast part of the peninsula of florida. but this is downtown sarasota. sarasota is on the gulf coast, and it's up closer to the middle of the peninsula. in other words, about 150 miles north of the latitude that miami

beach would be. this, the vice mayor brought me these pictures of sarasota. look at this car on the street. pictures don't seem to tell a false story. and then we held another field hearing in west palm beach a year ago, and the broward county resilience officer came to palm beach county for that hearing and showed a video of a man biking along the city of fort lauderdale sidewalk submerged in water. in other words, what's happened in miami beach is happening in the loss olos area of fort lauder dale. then we took the committee to

st. petersburg which is on the opposite coast, the gulf coast, where the city has designed its new pier out of floating docks to accommodate the rising seas as they rise up and down in tampa bay. or how about st. august syrians where the public works department is seeing nuisance flooding from high tides that overwhelms their storm water system. but all of these examples of how sea level rise affects coastal florida on sunny days, not rainstorm days, and the nasa scientists at our hearing were talking about how climate could exacerbate damage from hurricanes. why? because if the water is warmer, that's the fuel for a hurricane. that's what is sucked up into

that vortex as the hurricane feeds itself. the hotter the water gets over, the more ferocious and likely frequency of those storms. warmer ocean water fuels hurricanes, making them more intense. and the sea level rise compounds the storm surge and the rain-induced flooding. so met me show you another image. here's an image that shows what florida's coastal communities face when the sun is not shining. this is during a rainstorm. here's flooding in jacksonville. where is jacksonville? it's at the north end of the peninsula. it's right next almost to the georgia line. and you can see obviously a sign

that says "no skateboarding" is almost completely engulfed by the rising water. and then you think about what about a place further south on the latitudes, puerto rico? hurricane maria absolutely ravaged that island, and it's not an exaggeration to say that climate change and sea level rise are putting people's lives and their property at risk. it's reality. i am going to continue to extend an invitation to our colleagues -- i want you to come with me to florida and i want to show you these impacts. i've had the privilege of taking several of our colleagues to the florida everglades to see this

unusual ecosystem that we travel about in an airboat where alligators are plentiful. i want you to come and see what's happening as a result of the rising water. and the real question is, what are we going to do about it? there are two pieces to the solution. one is we're going to have to stop putting so many gases into the air called greenhouse gases. co2 carbon dioxide and methane are the two big culprits. and part of the solution is climate mitigation. it means we must invest in new technology in the economy of the future, things like wind, solar, electric vehicles, and more efficient buildings. and we're going to have to make our communities more resilient

to the greenhouse gases and the warming that they already have done in the system. and this is called climate change adaptation. you don't have to agree with climate science to know that it makes sense. it makes dollars and cents to do this. we're talking about strengthening our building codes to withstand wind events. we're talking about restoring the function of the floodplains so that when two to three feet of rainwater suddenly gets dumped in one place, it can absorb and gradually recede. we're talking about rebuilding natural flood protection, like sanddunes and beaches. and in the commerce committee, we've heard countless stories from local government officials that if they could have invested

before the natural catastrophe that hit them, if they could have invested before, they would have saved the federal government a lot of money by avoiding the enormous cost of the disaster response and relief itself, not to mention reducing the risk of human life. now, the proof is in front of our very eyes. the photos that we've shown -- let's show the rest of them here. the photos that we have shown, they don't lie. and yet here we are upon another hurricane season. of course, we hope the big storms don't come, but the likelihood is that they are. and, remember, they don't necessarily go just to florida. remember hurricane sandy?

look what it did to the northeast. we hope we don't see anymore of these harrowing images, but as we hope, we're going to have to act because p what we've shown here in these photos today is not about projections. it's about realtime observation. let's quit ignoring the obvious. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. alexander: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: mr. president, sometimes i'm traveling across tennessee, someone will come up to me and say, why don't you guys in the united states senate ever do anything? so i've taken to carrying around a little card i keep in my

pocket, and i hand it to them and i say, well, i can read this to you in about 30 seconds. this is what has happened in the last 18 months. best economy in 18 years, lower taxes, biggest reforms in 31 years, biggest increase in financial support for the military in 15 years, biggest pay raise in eight years for the military, more repeal of regulations than anybody can remember, supreme court justice 21 conservative appeals judges, alaska energy -- that took 38 years. the presiding officer knows all about that. new national labor relations board. that could be the most important change of all. repeal the obamacare individual mandate, the dodd-frank mortgage rules are gone, veterans choice. the president signed that yesterday. iran, russia, and north korea sanctions. all that would not have happened without a republican president, mr. president. and it would not have happened

without republican majorities in the united states congress. it took both. and so the person who asked me that question, when you guys ever going to do anything, will often say, well, i didn't know that. i didn't realize that. so i'm very proud of that record. that's 18 months. i think if you like a conservative government, a center-right government, you'd have to agree that those are the most accomplishments in at least 30 years in this country. and the president should be justly proud of that and so should the congress. despite the fact that i agree with the president on taxes and judges and regulations and the list i just read, there's one area where i have been supremely ineffective in persuading him, and that is in the area of tariffs. i care about that, especially because tennessee has become in many ways the number-one auto

state. i've spent a lot of time over the last 40 years, ever since i helped to recruit the nissan plant to tennessee in 1980 as governor at a time when we had no auto jobs and sawedly today one-third of our manufacturing jobs are auto jobs. they're not only in three big auto plants like nissan, general fords and volkswagen, they're in 989 auto suppliers in tennessee's counties. we have 929 auto suppliers in 86 of 95 of tennessee's counties. one-third of all of our manufacturing jobs and nothing has happened in the last 40 years to move us from the third poorest state in average family incomes up toward the middle and heading toward the top. it's been the greatest source of benefit for tennessee families

of anything that has happened and so you can see why i have become concerned when anything threatens that. a 25% tariff on aluminum and a 10% on steel and a 10% tariff on aluminum threatens that because almost every one of those 929 auto parts suppliers use aluminum and steel in making their parts for cars and trucks that will be sold in the united states and exported around the world. so if your price goes up, what usually happens is your profits go down, your sales go down, and your wages don't go up as fast or jobs might disappear. that's what happened when president george w. bush did the same thing at the beginning of his term. i had just come to the united states senate? 2003. -- in 2003.

president bush tried to protect the steel companies. but what he did was he hurt everybody else more than the steel companies. there were more jobs lost in the companies that used steel than in the companies that produced steel. and already i'm hearing stories all across our state about the effect of tariffs, even before they're imposed. for example, not just auto parts. electrolux, a big manufacturer plan ago new $250 million plant to make home appliances in springfield, tennessee, buys 100% of its steel in the united states but as soon as the steel tariffs were announced, it put that expansion on hold because when you raise the price of steel coming into the united states, then all the domestic suppliers raise their price and electrolux said that even though it bought all of its steel from u.s. suppliers, it couldn't be competitive in the marketplace with tariffs on imported steel. that's one example. or here's a different kind of

example. the bush brothers in east tennessee, in newport, a remarkable operation. they can one-third of all the beans in the united states. you probably bought bush brothers beans. well, the cans have -- have a certain kind of steel that's mostly imported because not enough of it is made in the united states. bush brothers estimates that the tariff on steel will reduce their revenues by 8.5%. they are a big company. that's one-third of all the beans in the united states. now, these aren't served in country clubs. these are people who are in ordinary homes around the country buying cans of baked beans. their prices go up and the revenues go down, profits go down, employees go down, jobs go down, wages don't go up in newport, tennessee. and then we have two big tire companies in tennessee.

bridgestone is one of them. tires all have a strengthening kind of steel to make them stronger. none of that is produced in the united states. all of it's imported. so when you put a 25% tax on that strengthening steel coming in for the tires, in in clarksville, tennessee, up goes the price for american consumers who buy tires and down go the profits for bridgestone and hancook and down go the revenue and increased jobs. so think about the impact about 25% increase on the materials that you use to make parts. we have a big, strong auto industry in the southeastern united states. we think a lot about the middle west and we're proud of that. but while the midwest lost 3.5

million jobs in the last 20 years in the auto industry, the southeast gain 3.5 million jobs. we don't want to see our auto industry hurt. that is why, mr. president, i have respectfully said to president trump, even though -- i say, i saw him in nashville last week, said, mr. president, as you know, i agree with you and am proud of what has happened with the best commit in the last 18 years, with the lower taxes, with the fewer regulations, all of those things. it's the most significant accomplishments in at least 30 years by a conservative government. i would like to persuade you to change your mind on tariffs because our state is likely to be hurt more than any other state because in many ways we're the number-one auto state. what i would suggest, respectfully, to the president is