>> tonight on "the communicators," tina pidgeon, general counsel for alaskan cable provider gci talks about how the company makes broadband possible for small villages across tundra, glaciers and mountains. then incoming president of the alaska collaborative for telemedicine and telehealth on providing health care through telemedicine to remote communities and alaska. watch "the communicators" tonight at eight eastern on c-span2. >> and taking your life to the use senate starting with speeches by leadership and then senators will turn to the nomination of robert willkie to be the next secretary of veterans affairs. a confirmation vote on the nominee scheduled for 5:30 p.m. eastern time.

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.

lord of the universe, we find our joy from trusting you. today, we are trusting your promise to supply all our needs from your glorious riches in heaven. lord, as we differ in faces, so we are different in our needs. provide for our needs from the riches of your grace. lord, surround our lawmakers with the shield of your divine favor. remind them that they wrestle against forces that are often stronger and more determined than they may imagine. help them to claim

your promise that you will not withhold any good thing from those who do what is right. inspire our senators to call on you in all of life's seasons. we pray in your great 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.

the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved.

mr. cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: mr. president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. cornyn: mr. president, it's hard for me to believe, but it's

only been two weeks since i was at the white house along with many of our other colleagues to await the president's announcement of who would fill the supreme court vacancy left by the retirement of justice anthony kennedy. at that time the president had said he narrowed the candidates to a field of four, all of whom were well known and well qualified. i was personally pleased that he selected brett calf now, a person who i supported earlier in my career in the senate when he was nominated and confirmed to the d.c. circuit. that would have been back in 2006. his academic background, his long-standing experience in public service, and now his 12-year record of faithfully applying the laws as an appellate judge on the d.c. circuit court of appeals i believe makes him exactly the type of jurist we should want to serve on our nation's highest courts. but we know the attacks have

already begun, even before the nominee was announced. to me, that was the most telling thing of all. one left-wing group's fill-in-the-blank press release stated all the things that "xx" when the nominee "xx" was going to $when he was nominated to the supreme court. last week he was referred to as the fill-in-the-blank opposition. so if you can come out with such certainty and such vigor against an unnamed nominee, well, looks to me like you really don't have an open mind in the first place. but now judge kavanaugh's name has been filled in, and the attacks have been more direct and more personal. they've attempted to attack his qualifications, but that sputtered out pretty quickly, given that judge kavanaugh's qualifications are unassailable. no one can argue that he's not

impeccably well-suited for a seat on the nation's high of the court. the nation first got a glimpse of judge kavanaugh's character when he spoke at the white house. we heard about an only child who grew up with two hardworking parents, who still refers to his mom as the original judge kavanaugh because of her service on the state court bench in maryland. we also heard about a loving father of two daughters referred to as coach "k" because of his coaching of his daughter's basketball team. and we heard about a public servant who is devoted to supporting his community and living out his faith. but let's set all these character tax rates aside -- character traits aside for a moment because these are the things we will use to confirm this nomination. attended yale law and clerked for two appellate judges before

clerking for justice kennedy on the united states supreme court. from there he went on to private practice and from there he went to work at the white house where he started in the counsel's office before becoming the staff secretary to president george w. bush. let me pause there for a moment and remind people what the staff secretary does because i suspect there's going to be a lot of documents requested that he touched during the time he was staff secretary. as i understand the role of staff secretary at the white house, there has to be one final person who determines that a document is ready for the president's signature. has it been properly vetted for policy statements? has it -- is it a correct application of whatever the current law is that pertains to that topic? but more than anything else, just one final stop who tells the president, okay, we've

checked all this out, we've consulted all the relevant people and this document is now ready for your signature. and in almost no case did judge kavanaugh generate that document or author the document. it had been written by somebody else. he was merely confirming that it was in proper shape, having consulted with the people who did write it and consult with the authorities who were responsible for that policy. so i suspect we're going to hear a lot of requests for millions of documents that came across his desk while staff secretary, virtually none of which will have any bearing whatsoever on his fitness or qualifications to serve on the supreme court. more relevant, though, are the 12 years he served on the federal appellate bench here in washington, d.c. and of course it is on that court for the d.c. circuit where we've seen judge kavanaugh serve

in the role as a judge on the second highest court in the nation, as the d.c. circuit has sometimes been called. and we've seen judge kavanaugh earn a reputation as a fair, well-respected jurist with a record of faithfully applying the law as written. well, it's clear that judge kavanaugh is uniquely qualified to serve on the supreme court. in fact, if i were dreaming up the right qualifications and temperament and experience, i'm not sure i could have picked a better person. but failing to find fault with his character and his qualifications, here is where the opposition moved in to making outlandish claims about how he may apply personal political views to applying the law. they started by digging up an old law review article judge kavanaugh wrote for the minnesota law review that made the case that congress -- congress -- should consider enacting legislation to govern

lawsuits and investigations of a sitting president. now, some of our colleagues have already begun to twist the words in the article and mislead the american people into believing that he argued that the president could never be investigated or prosecuted. well, in fact "the washington post" factcheck called these claims an extreme distortion of judge kavanaugh's views. it is a bogus conspiracy theory. it's only being made by those who haven't reviewed the article or don't want to but clearly want to tray to -- try to damage the nomination. in this article he splice thely wrote that he believes that no one is above the law and that his point wasn't to take away checks on the president but only say that the congress might want to consider additional legislation. some of our friends across the aisle then argued that if confirmed judge kavanaugh would now be the deciding vote to

overturn the affordable care actth, including protections for preexisting conditions. this is so far-fetched that "the new york times" factcheck from two health law professors, they debunked the claim and called these arguments overstated and that in judge kavanaugh's writings on the top iraq he focus -- top iraq he focused on -- topic, he focused on the issues in the cases presented to him. most everyone believes that preexisting conditions should be covered but that's a policy decision for congress. what a specious idea to suggest that somehow this judge who served on the d.c. circuit court of appeals for 12 years is some crusader determined to undermine preexisting conditions for coverage for the american people. it's just a looney idea. well, it's precisely why we as

elected officials are the ones to make the law and to make policy and to represent the interests of those we serve. when our constituents don't think we're doing a very good job, they can tell us, hey, you need to be doing a better job. and if you don't, then i'm going to exercise my right at the next election to vote against you in that election. but judges are presented not with a policy or political or ideological agenda that they're supposed to pursue but, rather, specific cases and facts and then to apply the law without any predisposed policy preferences. that's what judges do. opposing them based on a guess of how he might rule on a given case that may or may not ever come before him is an act of pure dissper reagan administration. -- desperation. don't they remember the standards set by justice ginsburg who declined to prejudge any case, since she said that would be inappropriate? as she said in her own

confirmation, that sort of assurance is completely wrong. justiceburg gave what i think is the correct response, saying she would offer no hints, no forecasts, and no previews of her specific rulings. as a former state court judge and justice myself, i strongly believe that those who nerve our judicial branch husband put their personal and middle and ideological preferences aaside. if you can't do that, you ought to run for county commission her, not serve as a federal judge. with attempts to predict how justices will decide particular cases, i believe, are futile. particularly when you have a judge who calls them as balls and strikes as he or she sees them. cases depend on specific facts and circumstances as well as the lengthy and detailed legal arguments by the party whose

come before the court. i would hope our colleagues would spend less time dreaming up hypotheticals that have never come to pass and more time meeting with and getting to know judge kavanaugh, which so far they have declined to do. if they want to get to know the man and the judge, i would hope they would take him up on the offer to come sit down and talk to them and to answer their questions and explain what his -- how his judicial philosophy would be put into action. well, thank goodness for a couple of our colleagues, both the junior senator from north dakota and the senior senator from west virginia. they were quick to say they won't be influenced by their leadership's pressure or messaging from their far-left base. let's hope others follow suit. having failed to pick apart judge kavanaugh's character or his 12-year judicial record,

some of our colleagues are now requesting to see every piece of paper, every e-mail, every document from judge kavanaugh's career at the bush white house. i agree we should fully vet the nominee and it makes sense to review documents that are important to the confirmation process. but with nearly half of the democrats having already announced their opposition to this nomination, why are they requesting these documents? is it because it would cause them to reconsider their opposition to his nomination? well, i think they pretty much made a political decision to oppose the nomination and so any effort to the force the production of documents that will not have any relevance whatsoever to his qualifications makes no sense. instead, we know that many 10 of these demands are being made merely to drag their feet and as a pretext to delay judge kavanaugh's confirmation.

instead of chasing after irrelevant records from the bush white house, i would urge our colleagues to read judge kavanaugh's opinions and meet with the judge and get to know him. i've sadly heard, as i said, that virtually all of the democrats have so far not been able to or not found time to meet with the judge, which i think is a shame. despite the attacks, the attempts to distract, and the efforts to stall, though, the american people can be assured of one thing -- we will press forward in our vetting process and vote on the confirmation of judge kavanaugh this fall in advance of the october term of the supreme court. the majority leader, senator mcconnell, has made clear if there is foot-dragging and this is drug out beyond the first monday in november when the supreme court's -- has its first oral argument, that we will stay

here until the bitter end, all the way up to and including the midterm elections on november 6. that would be the consequence of dragging this out for no good reason. but we will vote on his nomination before the midterm election. mr. president, on another note, today we'll vote on the nomination of robert wilke to be secretary of veterans affairs. mr. wilke brings to this position a firsthand understanding of the mental and physical demands of military life. the son of an army commander wounded in cambodia during the vietnam war, he said his farmer's recovery was at the forefront of his mind when he was offered the position at the veterans administration. he himself is an air force reserve officer who spent three decades helping to shape military policy. in fact, he started out his career in this very chamber and worked most recently for our friend from north carolina, senator tillis. he holds a law degree and multiple masters' degrees, but

he's had real-world experience as the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness as assistant secretary of defense and as senior director of the national security counsel. those are positions of great responsibility and great importance. my home state of texas is home to one in 12 veterans. so having a well-functioning veterans administration is crucial to my state. mr. wilkie, i believe, has the experience, the compassion, and the drive to make sure our department of veterans affairs can efficiently and effectively serve those who have served in uniform, to whom we owe a moral duty. no nominee for this position has ever received a no vote on the senate floor, and my hope is that we continue that tradition during the vote here today. mr. president, i yield the floor. and i'd note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call: quorum call:

mr. nelson: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. nelson: mr. president, i ask consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. nelson: mr. president, you remember children separated from their families? this crisis is far from over. as a matter of fact, we found out that it's not 2,000 children. it's 3,000 children. and a district judge in san diego has ordered the administration to reunite all of the families who were separated at the border by thursday. yet, with the deadline looming this week, the administration continues to cite the many obstacles it says that are hindering the work they are trying to do to comply with the court's order.

now when i went to the detention center in homestead, florida, and they said that they were going to reunite the families right thereafter, that's more than a month and a half ago. as a matter of fact, there were 70 children there of the 1,300 children that had been separated from their parents. they would not let me speak to them. so i inquired about whether or not the children had been able to speak to their parents on the phone. i was told that of the 70, that 62 of the children had spoken to their parents. well, it's recently clear why some of those families have been unable to connect.

for so long -- and that's because of a report just published. the administration, the trump administration has been charging detained parents -- get this -- as much as $8 a minute to call their children, and the children were separated from the parents because the administration separated them. eight minutes -- $8 a minute if you want to talk to your child. that is a new low. charging these families an exorbitant fee such as this just to talk, just to talk to their children when the cost of providing that service is minimal, that's not even a

conscionable act. many of those families have come and they have asked for political asylum. they are asking for what the law provides. and yet, we have separated the children from their parents. and preventing those parents from simply using the telephone to contact their children. many of those children just terrified and being held thousands of miles away. it's ny unnecessary, that is just simply cruel. and it also seems to fly in the face of i.c.e.'s own policy to permit calls by detainees by immediate family members in case there are family emergencies and to do so at a reasonable cost --

$8 a minute for poor families that don't have a dollar, much less $8. well, a bunch of us in the senate have now sent a letter urging the administration to stop this ridiculous practice and allow thoars parents the -- those parents the ability to talk to their children. the list of obstacles that this administration claims that it is facing in order to reunite the families, it seems to be never ending, but i would suggest that the list of obstacles the administration has created for these families to overcome just to see their children again seems to go on and on. as a country, the united states

is better than this. we should be making it easier for these families to reconnect and ultimately bring them back together as the court has ordered. there are many in this chamber that would certainly join with me. we're not going to turn our back on these children. we will continue to fight to ensure that they and everyone else is being treated the way the american people want them to be treated. i urge this administration to do the same and i urge the administration to pay attention to the letter by a couple dozen senators that is coming to them today. mr. president, i yield the floor.

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

quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator is recognized. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without

objection. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. now on saturday the senate judiciary committee received the completed questionnaire from brett kavanaugh, president trump's nominee to the supreme court. as legal minds on both sides of the aisle pore over these documents a common thread has already emerged. brett kavanaugh seems to have an imperial conception of the presidency cab nancy, he ruled a president should not be subject to investigations while in office and on at least three separate instances brett kavanaugh has showed a willingness to openly question precedent relating to presidential power and presidential accountability. first, in his opinion in seven-sky vs. holder, kavanaugh wrote that the president does not have to enforce the law if

he deems a statute unconstitutional regardless of whether or not a court has already held it constitutional. what the heck do we have a supreme court for? if the president can deem a law unconstitutional even after the courts have ruled it is and then not obey it, wow, that goes very far. and i fear to think what this president in particular, who doesn't seem to have much respect for rule of law or people who disagree with him, will do if that becomes the law. second, when brett kavanaugh was asked which case he would choose if he could overturn precedent in any one case, he said the decision in morrison v. olson. many of us did not agree with the nonpartisan counsel law but -- independent counsel law but it's telling that the first and only case brett kavanaugh

cited when asked what case would you overrule, would you overturn stare decisis on was a case about executive accountability. and then third and most recently, on saturday we learned that brett kavanaugh even believes that the 8-0 decision in united states v. nixon may have been wrongly decided. this new revelation adds to the body of evidence that kavanaugh believes that sitting presidents should be free from civil and criminal investigations while in office, a view of course that could have significant ramifications for the future of the presidency and our democracy. let me ask this senate and the american people a very important question. if kavanaugh would have let nixon off the hook, what is he willing to do for president trump? alarm bells should be going off for anyone who believes in

checks and balances. it's a fundamental principle of our democracy that no one is above the law, including the president. our presidents are not kings. but brett kavanaugh's jurisprudence does not bode well for the future rulings on the accountability of the president, including those that may arise from special counsel mueller's investigation. kavanaugh's views of an imperial presidency would be alarming under any president, but is especially alarming under president trump who almost daily tests the bounds of our constitution, the separation of powers, and rule of law, who almost seems that anyone who criticizes him is beyond the pale, is fake, is dishonest. as the refer hraeugs about the nick be -- revelation about the nixon case shows, there is still much we don't know about judge

kavanaugh. the senate and the american people deserve to know where judge kavanaugh stands on a host of issues. after all, the supreme court is a lifetime appointment with enormous power, the power to overrule the elected bodies of government. given that the hearing process for the supreme court has tended to be more of a public relations exercise for nominees rather than a legitimate examination of judicial philosophy, judge kavanaugh's papers might be the best and only way to judge what kind of a justice he might be. now my republican friends understood this when it came to justice kagan, who had served in key positions in prior administrations, much like judge kavanaugh. they were then in the minority as we are now when judge kagan was nominated, but our republican colleagues demanded the entire paper history of

then-solicitor general kagan before moving forward with her nomination. and democrats agreed. in a joint letter to the director of the clinton library, the chairman and ranking member of the judiciary committee at the time senator leahy the chairman, senator jeff sessions, now attorney general but then ranking republican on the committee, wrote that they expected, quote, all records containing documents written by, edited by, prepared in whole or in part by, under the supervision of, or at the direction of elena kagan as well as documents referencing elena kagan by name, initials or documents, and documents received by or sent to elena kagan. a democratic chairman and republican senator sessions, the ranking member, asked for every

single document of elena kagan's record. why should such a standard apply to justice kagan but not to judge kavanaugh? so i have taken the liberty of editing the letter sent by senator sessions and leahy. it didn't take much work to make it directly applicable today. same letter, same request, simply crossing out every time it mentioned kagan and putting in the name kavanaugh. no change. same standard. i've already heard from my republican colleagues, including chairman grassley. there is no reason to review judge kavanaugh's full record before proceeding with his nomination. mr. president, i've had enough of the two-facedness, the total hypocrisy on judges, where somehow our republican colleagues say it's good one way

when they are -- when we have a democratic president, and the opposite should take effect when we have a republican president. that's what they're doing with the records here of judge kagan, then judge kagan and now judge kavanaugh. well, i say to my republican colleagues, what's good for justice kagan -- let's call it the kagan standard -- is good enough for judge kavanaugh, paraphrasing of course, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. the senate's duty to vase vice -- vice vice does not mean to move as quickly as possible. for the honor of this chamber, i hope my republican friends join democrats in asking for and waiting for all the documents related to judge kavanaugh. the american people have a right

to know what's there and the senate must have enough time to review the body of work before making an alterable decision on a lifetime appointment to the nation's highest court. now on russia. a week ago today president trump met with president putin in helsinki, and with the world watching, failed to show an ounce of strength in defense of american interests. what followed was an embarrassing week of insincere walkbacks and mixed messages, calling on a by czar invitation for president putin to visit the white house this fall. something that the president's own director of national intelligence, mr. coats, was not made aware of. it is not hyperbolic to say that last week may have been one of the worst weeks in american foreign policy in recent memory. in the face of these stunning

events, what have my republican colleagues done to rein in the president? i'm sad to report virtually nothing. in the full week since the helsinki summit, republicans have failed to take meaningful action to hold the president accountable for his foreign policy blunders in finland. republicans have offered words of rebuke, statements, disappointed tweets, but they have not backed up any of those words with the force of action. i've seen my colleagues shrug their shoulders as if there weren't anything to do that the senate could do to check this president. i've mentioned several ways the senate could grapple with and push back against what president trump has done, bring in his national security team and translator to testify before congress, particularly so we can tell what happened in that two

hours when putin and trump were alone, pass legislation to protect the special counsel and legislation to harden our election infrastructure because we risk russian interference again, implement sanctions against russia, demand that russia hand over the 12 russians indicted for election interference, and more. if my republican friends were serious about doing something to redirect our posture toward russia, we should have seen some movement by now on one or more of these things, but we are stuck in the mud even though there is bipartisan condemnation for the president's behavior last week, the senate has remained virtually silent on the matter because republicans appear unwilling, maybe afraid, to confront the president even though they know what he did was so wrong. at the end of last week, the republican majority blocked a bipartisan resolution, a modest

one, from senators flake and coons, once a republican, one a democrat, that sought to hold russia accountable. it didn't have many teeth, but still, the republicans objected. are my republican friends ever willing to push back against this president, not just in word but in deed, or are they too afraid of the political consequences? are they willing to put country over party at this crucial time? it seems not, at least so far. i know many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle were deeply disturbed by the president's inexplicable behavior in helsinki. i say to them, america needs you now. we need you to step up to the plate and doing something about it because, frankly, mr. president, if we don't do something real, president trump, i know him, will conclude he doesn't need to change his behavior, and as a result,

republicans will be complicit in enabling the president to continue down the disastrous course he has set. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session for the consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of veterans' affairs, robert l. welke of north carolina to be secretary.

the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran: mr. president, thank you. i started my morning in kansas city, speaking to 4,000

veterans, a convention held in kansas city. my speech was a message to those americans who i hold in highest regard, america's veterans, especially those veterans helping other veterans. i wanted them to know that they signed up to serve our country, they did not do so in support of any political party. those who served ow nation, and -- our nation, and particularly those who paid the ultimate sacrifice did not answer the call to support republicans or democrats, but they answered to a higher calling. speaking to thousands of veterans this morning and being in a room filled with the characteristics that make this country so great, duty, honor, loyalty, respect, should remind us here in washington, d.c., that we must work together to do everything possible to ensure that our nation's 20 million veterans receive the best our nation has to offer. putting veterans first and setting aside differences has led to a major policy change and

vital veteran legislation, such as the john mccain mission act to reform the v.a.'s health care system. of course, a large part of the task to ensure that veterans get the best our nation has to offer falls on the department of veterans' affairs. i want our veterans to receive the best care, the best attention possible from the veterans' affairs, and in just a few minutes the senate will vote on the confirmation of mr. robert welke to be the second of the department of veterans' affairs. i'm confident that mr. welke is focused on putting veterans first, changing the v.a. culture and ridding it of any complacency. of course mr. welke has a huge, monumental task ahead of him. the department of veterans' affairs is a massive bureaucracy that has had a number of challenges in the past, and he

will be charged with implementing the john mccain v.a. mission act. the act will be transformative of the department and make sure that the v.a. can serve veterans for generations to come. i look forward to worg with mr. -- working with mr. welke to accomplish that goal and i appreciate the trump administration. the v.a. works for veterans with casework. when veterans seek help when they need help with navigating the v.a.'s pension. right now we have about 80 open veteran cases and a stream of about 80 cases coming from veterans each month. i intend to be an active participant as they work to implement the v.a. act. i plan to make the v.a. better

for kansas veterans and for american veterans. and those in our communities can help as well. it's not just the department of veterans' affairs, it's what we all do as citizens, as educators, as business men and women. one of the first act is developing access standards and folks can provide their feedback until july 30. let us hear from the v.f.w. and v.s.o. my office can direct you to the federal register site to make those comments known. i'm pleased to take the final step in the senate to provide the leadership of mr. welke to be the head of the department of veterans' affairs. i notice the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arkansas. mr. boozman: thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from arkansas will suspend. we're in a quorum call. mr. boozman: i ask the quorum call be rescinded. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from arkansas.

mr. boozman: thank you, mr. president. today this chamber will take an important step to ensure we have leadership at the department of veterans affairs to oversee the implementation of historical reforms that we passed in may to improve the v.a.'s health care delivery system and provide veterans with more choices and fewer barriers to care. we will vote on the nomination of robert wilkie to serve as secretary of the v.a. having served our nation in uniform as well as experiencing military life as the son of a wounded combat soldier, robert wilkie's extensive career in a wide range of defense and veterans issues makes him uniquely qualified to serve as the next secretary of the v.a. he clearly understands the complexities associated with serving our nation and the importance of taking care of veterans. i'm grateful to robert wilkie's

willingness to serve as the next secretary of the v.a. and i urge my colleagues to follow the example of the senate vetrans affairs committee who overwhelmingly advanced his nomination to the senate in a bipartisan way. having served as acting secretary of the v.a., robert wilkie is well aware of the challenges facing the department, accepting responsibility to oversee the implementation of reforms passed by congress, including the v.a. mission act, updated its medical record system, expand support for our women veterans and reduce the disability claims backlog are just a few of those issues that he will need to tackle. to accomplish all of this, we will have to change the culture the v.a. -- culture at the v.a. serving at the secretary of the

v.a. is a huge undertaking but one he has committed to me that he wholeheartedly accepts. the senate v.a. committee and my office are ready and willing to help him and the v.a. succeed in its mission. congress has given the v.a. the tools to provide our veterans with quality care and improve the benefits that they've earned. now the department needs is leadership to implement and carry out these changes. under the leadership of future secretary wilkie, the v.a. can reestablish a nonpartisan approach to serving veterans. our veterans must be our top priority. i'm confident robert wilkie will provide the leadership that the v.a. needs to better serve our veterans. and with that, mr. president, i yield back. and note the absence of a

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

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. a senator: i would ask that the quorum call be advice rated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. tester: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise today to

announce that i think robert wilkie is the right man for the job. to be v.a. secretary. today we are going to fulfill our constitutional responsibility to provide advice and consent on the president's nominee. this is a responsibility that i take very, very seriously and especially as my role as ranking member of the senate veterans affairs committee. and our committee, chairman isakson and i oversee the screening and confirmation of 12 nominees to serve veterans and i'm proud to say we confirmed them without dragging our feet. recently we had mr. robert wilkie before the committee for his confirmation hearing, members of our committee asked him tough questions about his vision for the v.a. we asked him about his plan to bring much needed stability to the nation's largest health care system. following the important exchanges and during that hearing, members sent more tough questions to the nominee for his responsibility. and in the days since his nomination, mr. wilkie has sat

down with members to respond to their questions and concerns one on one. by voting to confirm mr. wilkie today, i believe we're providing stronger leadership for america's veterans. with this vote, we are fulfill are our obligation to them. we are doing our job. but our job just doesn't stop today. as members of this body, we must hold mr. wilkie accountable to the commitments that he has made through his confirmation process. there are some critically important issues to be addressed within the v.a. workforce shortages, whether in rural america or urban america, we need more docs and nurses, more psychiatrist, psychologists within the v.a. critically important. if he is going to oversee a successful v.a., we need to have the v.a. personnel, we need to have it manned appropriately to meet the challenges that are out there after being at war for 17

years and veterans from previous eras getting older and older. today unlike ever before, we've got political forces at play inside the v.a. this is very unfortunate. because quite frankly, i believe that good employees are being forced out, not because of the job they're doing but because of their views. when mr. wilkie becomes secretary, he's going to have to make sure this stops. it's critically important that we keep the employees that we have that are good employees and move the v.a. forward so it can do the job that it's meant to do. he also has some challenges to address in rural america. the community-based outpatient clinics we have there need to be staffed up. we need to make sure that the v.a. has what it needs to meet the needs of the veterans in

rural america and, by the way, with the passage of the mission act, make sure that veterans aren't run around once that act gets fully implemented when they need community care and the v.a. can't provide their care. he also needs to make sure that the disability appeals process continues to move forward and that that backlog is whittled down. to make sure that the accountability bill is implemented as congress intended and that the whistle-blower protection in that bill is lived up to what it means. and he needs to implement the forever g.i. bill in a way that makes sense for our veterans. and last but certainly not least, making sure that the v.a. mission act is implemented in a way where the veteran can make the decisions on how he gets his or her health care. veterans need a leader who will

build bridges, who will find solutions that are facing our veterans, issues that are facing our veterans, not tear down the department to meet a political agenda. and veterans need a leader who won't shy away from those challenges that are facing the v.a. we need someone who is going to tackle the challenges like workforce shortages, like access to mental health care, like barriers particularly in rural america for women's veterans, and i believe that mr. wilkie is the right fit nor that job. right now the v.a. does not have a confirmed secretary who is focused on the larger mission of serving veterans, implementing the reforms, and improving v.a. care and benefits. instead, we've had political -- temporary political appointees in charge. they're more interested in picking political fights with people who are not their enemy. i believe we've lost sight of

the v.a. mission. it will be up to mr. wilkie to right that ship. that is why i'm so hopeful that this evening we can get mr. wilkie confirmed so he gets on the job as soon as possible. veterans are depending on him, and they're depending on us to make sure he gets to work. and then once gets to work, i guarantee you that the chairman of the v.a. committee and myself as ranking member and all of the members of the senate veterans' affairs committee will be making sure that he's doing the job and fulfilling the promises that we've made our veterans. thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. isakson: i want to thank the senator from montana, senator tester, for his remarks, but i want to thank him more so for his hard work over the last two years with me.

as our ranking member, i as chairman, to bring us to the point we are today. jon and i are very excited because we know that robert wilkie is the real deal. we some of the things that we've gone through with the previous appointees and some of the problems at the v.a. now have the chance to be overridden and solved and we step forward on a new day for the v.a. we no longer want someone has going to make excuses for the v.a. we want someone who is going to make a difference. robert wilkie understands the needs of our veteran rural areas. he understands the needs in large urban cities. he understands the threat of suicide and our need to get mental health accessible and available to our veterans at all times. he also knows that we've given him a quiver of arrows that he can use to root out the bad players and lift the good players. the v.a. mission act is absolutely rule number one. the implementation of that change gives our veterans the

choice. our rural veterans the access, our urban veterans the accountability and the v.a. the ability to maximize service to our veterans that at a cost that will be less than if the v.a. did it all by itself. the v.a. is a tremendous organization. it is the state-of-the-art in many things. a lot of the signature wounds that we have, ptsd, all of them, our v.a. does a phenomenal job with all of them. the veterans shouldn't have to wait four or five months. they ought to be able to gleet it closest to home where they are, able to get it from someone who can deliver the service when they need it and the mission act lets that happen t there are going to be some early warnings on the v.a. mission act, well, it is cost ago lot of money. yeah, it is going to take us a little while to get over the bubble with the initial implementation. but when we do, we'll minimize the cost of greater cost to the

veterans and over time reduce the cost to our veterans. every time we don't require the to build another hospital and clinic, it's time we're lowering the cost of of our real estate and uplifting the opportunity to spend more money on services. every time we have a doc in a hospital treating someone who is a veteran because they want to participate in the veterans choice bill, they don't have to add all the other costs of infrastructure around to them and our veteran gets better choice, service, and medical care. this is an opportunity to do the change of a lifetime. we're going to make the v.a. something it's always wanted to be and give the veterans something they've always thought they had -- the best possible care at the most affordable price to the taxpayer and deliver a difference for our veterans and families. i'm proud of what the committee did two weeks ago. we passed the mission act. we brought about caregivers' legislation to take care of loved ones from the vietnam war era. we're going to have bills coming up in the year ahead.

we have a lot of things we're going to do but i want us to stop here and now dragging out old stories about the v.a. and talking about what the v.a. isn't and tuck about instead what it is. the press needs to stop giving a three, four, or five-year i.g. report and reporting it as today's news. jon and i have spent more time responding to reports about the i.g. or someone else -- i'm just picking on the i.g. -- about failures of the v.a. when we find out there's a study from 2006 when we finally got the report. they make a big deal about it as yesterday. most of the veteran's needs are being addressed faster than ever before. most of the stories that out in the future from ten years ago. we've got to report the good news as well as the tough news. i hate it when i have to call my own press conference to talk about what's really going on at the v.a., which is really good. it is absolutely essential that we be a partnership of the

media, the v.a. itself, the v.a.'s employees and its service providers, ourselves in the congress in our roles in leadership, all of us to put our arms together to move forward and have a stronger, more productive, more responsible v.a. i mentioned the mission bill. accountability -- we've finally given the v.a. the ability to hold their employees accountable. it's making a difference. we've given the whistle-blower act the chance to make reports of things they see, know, and do that are difficult and should be corrected. with some degree of reasonable protection, not to be run over instead. that's something that's important to do. we've talked about accountability. we've talked about all kinds of things. we talk about one last thing and that's rural america. i've gain add greater impression than i had before that the problems that rural america faces. georgia has a large rural population but quite frankly georgia is a big state, atlanta is a big city.

when you go outside atlanta, you've still got a lot of places much bigger than the biggest city in montana. and we owe those veterans who because of where they live are more distant from the services we provide the opportunity to get them faster and quicker. we're going to do that with the mission act. i aappreciate john's leadership in doing that. what i've tried to do with the lines on mental health where veterans can call in, worried about take their life and need help in counseling, they're no longer getting hung up on, they're no longer getting a call back tomorrow on a voice mail. they're getting action right here now today. we owe it to our veterans who are at risk today the same thing when they're in uniform overseas. we have the tonight to do a wonderful thing -- that's keep our promise. we have the chance to deliver quality health care to our veterans, deliver a better response to our veterans than they've ever had.

we have the chance to fix the problems that we've had and get them better and work to the future for solutions for other problems that will face us. we owe our veterans no less than the best secretary in robert wilkie. we have it in robert wilkie. robert, you have no excuses. i've heard all the excuses i've ever wanted to hear. we know what we've got to do and we have got to know how we're going to do it. i commend him to my fellow members of the united states (i want to thank the chairman from the house and the hard work they've done with jon and i to see to it that we have a great secretary. we're going to join arms in lockstep next year to make the v.a. better than ever beforement we're here to make sure the v.a. has no excuses, they get the backing they need from us. and the veterans who join join us today and in the future know it will be there when they retire. i urge you to vote for secretary

-- robert wilkie as our secretary of the v.a. as our tenth -- i think our tenth most recent veterans appointee if that's right. give him a unanimous vote today which is the kind of support he needs to move forward in the 21st century. god bless all of you. thank you for being here today. thank you for your vote. thank you to senator tester for his support as ranking member, thank you to the senator from kansas for his support throughout the year. i yield back the balance of my time. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: senator georgia. mr. isakson: i ask that the quorum call i just called be vitiated and the chair recognized the senator from north carolina. the presiding officer: the senate is not in quorum call. the senator from north carolina is recognized. mr. tillis: thank you, mr. president. and chair isakson, thank you for

the kind words about the nominee for the veterans administration, robert wilkie. i'm here to proudly discuss his record. up until about six months ago he was my military affairs advisered and advisor on v.a. he has done an extraordinary job. he is a child of a veterans -- actually a veteran, a gravely wounded veteran from the vietnam war. he grew up on fort bragg, he is from fayetteville, north carolina. he's done an extraordinary job serving our office and mentoring my staff, working for leaders in the senate, leaders in the house, secretary gates, secretary rumsfeld, tries condoleezza rice and now general mattis. he is going to do an extraordinary job because he understands what it's like to be the son of a veteran, to be a member of the armed services himself -- he served in the air force to this day, the army

previously. he has attended the army war college, has a law degree and a keen understanding of how this governing body works. he also has great relationships with people across the spectrum, the political spectrum. he has worked very closely in committee work with the committee staff. he just has an stereoed reputation. he has an extraordinary sense of history. he also understands the intrinsic link between active duty and reservists and ultimately veterans. and i believe he is going to go in, move forward with the transformation, do great things for our veteran whose need the help today but even do a more outstanding job of understanding how we can better prepare men and women who are serving today to go into veteran status, to help them find jobs, provide them with health care, make sure they get the most out of their veterans' benefits. i know he will do an extraordinary job. chair isakson, i appreciate your leadership on the committee. i think with a strong secretary like robert wilkie in veterans

affairs, that we're finally going to start making progress and repaying the debt that we can never fully repay to men and women who have served in uniform. i strongly support his vote and look forward to a very strong confirmation vote this afternoon. thank you, mr. president. mr. isakson: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. isakson: i yield back the balance of our time. mr. isakson: all time is yielded back.

the question is on the nomination. mr. isakson: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: have all senators voted? any senator wish to caning their vote? on this vote, the yeas are 86, the nays are 9. the confirmation -- the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table. the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. under the previous order, the senate will resume legislative session and proceed to the consideration of h.r. 6147, which the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 6147, an act

making appropriations for the department of the interior, environment, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2019, and for other purposes. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. shelby: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that for the purpose of rule 16 in relation to the substitute amendment number 3399, division a of h.r. 6147, serve as the basis for defense of germaneness for division a of the amendment. division b of h.r. 6147 serve as the basis for defense of germaneness for division b of the amendment and that h.r. 5961 as reported by the house appropriations committee serve as the basis for the defense of germaneness for division c of the amendment. and h.r. 6072 as reported by the

house appropriations committee serve as the basis for defense of germaneness for division d of the amendment. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. so ordered. mr. shelby: mr. president, i now call up the substitute amendment number 3399. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from alabama, mr. shelby, proposes an amendment numbered 3399. strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following -- section 1 -- short title -- mr. shelby: mr. president, i ask consent that the reading of the eight be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: i call up my amendment number 3400. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from alaska, ms. murkowski, proposes an amendment numbered 3400 to

amendment 3399. on page 95 -- ms. murkowski: i ask that reading of the amendment be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. murkowski: mr. president, at this time i ask unanimous consent that privileges of the floor be granted to my second session summer interns nathanial bering, tanner bay, janet taylor, piper cooper, bridget sterling begin grip, michael mccambridge, alockbox ander bender, jonathan slyfe for the remainder of their session in july. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. murkowski: thank you, mr. president. i am most pleased to be here today to manage consideration of this appropriations bill package. this includes the fiscal year 2019 bills for the subcommittee on interior, environment, and related agencies, financial services, and general

government, agriculture, rural development, food and drug administration, and related agencies as well as transportation, housing, and urban development and related agencies. to distill it down, this evening we're taking up interior, financial services, ag, and t-hud or transportation, housing and development. so the opportunity to move forward with a package of appropriations bills, all of which have moved through our committee with strong support, is a good place to be. i have long believed that a return to regular order, where we vote these appropriations bills out of committee with bipartisan support and then bring them, like we are doing this evening, to the floor, this is important for our process. i think all members of the senate should have an

opportunity to debate appropriations bills and offer amendments. we haven't had this opportunity for some years prior to this. the occupant of the chair, a member of the appropriations committee, knows that we have been without process when it comes to our appropriations bills. it is now that time for us to not only return to process, return to regular order, but allow our members of this body who do not sit on the appropriations committee, allow them to the opportunity to weigh in on these priorities. so i am particularly pleased as chairman of the interior appropriations subcommittee to be on the floor today. this is actually the first time that the interior bill has been before the full senate since fy 2010. fy 2010 was the last time we saw an interior bill on the floor.

so kind of a significant day for us. if it wasn't such a dignified setting, i'd say that deserves a round of applause. but we don't want to get ahead of ourselves here. this is an important example of the commitment that both sides have made to really create an environment where we can work through the tough issues on a bipartisan basis. and that was exactly what we saw within the full committee, working through the subcommittee, working through the full committee, and now being able to bring these measures to the floor. i will -- i will defer to the chairman of the relevant subcommittees to discuss the specifics of each of their bills as we move through consideration of these appropriations -- this appropriations package. but i wanted to take a little bit of time this evening to share some information about the interior appropriations bill for my colleagues. i also want to thank and acknowledge the good work of my ranking member on the committee,

senator udall. he has been a good partner to work with. both of us have recognized that this is not everything that we would have -- we would have wanted it to be, but it was a good collaborative, well-worked process. within interior, we've got a very broad scope of responsibilities. we include funding, or we have the oversight for all of the major federal land management agencies, so we have the national park service. we have the bureau of land management, the fish and wildlife service, the forest service, and we have the environmental protection agency, all very significant accounts. we also have a site in interior that many of my colleagues forget actually rests in interior, and this is the oversight for our budgets, for our native peoples, our american

indians, alaska natives. we provide funding in this measure for essential indian health, education, and resource management programs through the bureau of indian affairs and the indian health service. and funding for cultural institutions, again, an area that people don't necessarily think of interior and our role here but we have budgets for the oversights for the smithsonian institution, the national gallery of art, the national endowments for the arts and humanities. so it's a pretty broad spectrum here. the interior appropriations bill provides $35.85 billion for fiscal year 2019. this is $600 million more than last year. i want to thank chairman shelby and vice chairman leahy. the increased allocation that we saw for the interior bill was

really important as we assembled this bipartisan bill. this additional funding allowed us to provide program increases that were necessary. in fact, they were absolutely necessary. fire suppression accounts. we know that we are in the midst of fire season. it is bad, and most likely getting worse. we have been able to provide an additional $500 million for fire suppression. we also provide an additional $109 million for contract support costs in indian country. these are obligated expenses from the federal government to those who provide for, for those services in indian country. we also provide for $115 million for staffing costs that are associated with new health care facilities that are operated by i.h.s. or by tribes, again, under compact agreements. so some would look and say,

we'll, that's a significant bump, but i would direct colleagues' attention to how we allocated that, again in accounts where we are obligated either by come -- come pwabgt or in the assistance of fire suppression funding, recognizing that we are dealing with just the inherent unpredictability and the dangers of fire. the fiscal year 2019 interior bill adopts a similar approach to the enacted f.y. 2018 interior bill. we rejected what we felt were unwarranted decreases that had been proposed in the budget, and we really make investments. we make investments in the highest priorities, particularly infrastructure improvements and investments for our land management agencies. also within indian country, and

infrastructure investments in wastewater and drinking water improvements. we have just recently celebrated the 100th anniversary of our national park service. last year we provided a significant increase for our national parks construction program, actually the largest percentage increase ever. but we build on that in this measure, recognizing the significant work, the significant maintenance and backlog that our national park system, national park service faces. we have an obligation, and so addressing it has been a priority in this bill. in the two main agencies that deliver services for the indian community -- and this is the bureau of indian affairs and indian health service -- we restored proposed cuts in critical program funding. we increased funding for the i.h.s. facilities program for construction, maintenance, and

sanitation facilities improvement. we provide substantial funding for the b.i.a. to help with the construction of indian schools, irrigation systems, and public safety facilities. and for both accounts, we provide a fully estimated level of contracts, support, costs and we maintain an indefinite appropriation account structure so that if the, if the costs are higher than estimated, we're not in a situation where we're robbing peter to pay paul, taking from one account within i.h.s. to fund the other. so we're addressing that bad practice that we have seen previously. also within indian health service, we provide additional resources for grants to tribes for combatting the opioid crisis. we know full well that we're facing a crisis throughout the

country, but in so many of our, so many of our native communities, on our reservations the situation is particularly dire. we have had a lot of conversation on this floor about wild land fire management and how we, how we end the practice of what we call wildfire borrowing, which is effectively waiting to see how much fire suppression costs are going to impact us. and if it was a particularly bad year, you would take funding from other accounts within forest service, whether it was -- whether it was prescriptive management programs or whether it was recreational permits. we know that we needed to end this practice of fire borrowing and we have worked to do that previously here.

within our appropriations bill on the wildfire management programs, we provided a total of $4.35 billion for the department of interior and the forest service. we fully fund the ten-year average for fire fighting costs, and we provide $900 million in additional suppression funds above the ten-year average based on the recent catastrophic seasons and our latest forecasting models. so you hope to get that number right, but this new path that we are on for how we deal with wildfire suppression costs is an important one. big priority in this body for conservation and making sure that we're doing right by our lands. we have included $425 million for the land and water conservation fund. this is equal to the enacted level. within that account, we are

generous to the state side program. we have, in my view, tended towards greater acquisition on the federal side over the years. i think that that is a direction that was not what l.w. was intended to do, so we have been working though make sure that we don't have the inequity, the disparity between state side and federal side. we also provide additional funding for recreational access and the american battlefield program. i think we took a very commonsense approach to the e.p.a.'s budget. we focused resources on programs that do very specific and concrete things to help with that mission set, if you will, of the e.p.a. basically improve the quality of the environment for the public. clean air, clean water. the bill does provide additional funding to states who have delegated responsibility for

environmental programs through state-specific grants. it provides an increase above last year's level for the clean water and drinking water state revolving funds. these are the s.r.f. funds. they really help to facilitate the critical water infrastructure communities across the country. i think there is great recognition that this is an area where we can always be doing more. the wiffia program which leverages federal funds for water infrastructure projects receives $63 million. so when you take the wifia funds, you combine this with the s.r.s., the bill really does give the e.p.a., i think, a very strong suite of tools to improve the quality of life for people around the country. we provide for additional funding for kilt funding, $500 million is the fully estimated amount needed for this program in 2019. we maintain the subcommittee's

commitment to help local communities improve county roads, maintain public safety, and provide funding for schools using funding from the pilt program. as i mentioned, at the beginning of my comments when we think about all of the things that are under the purview of interior appropriations, we also did right by our smithsonians, by ensuring that our arts are appropriately funded as well. i will stand before you and tell you that there is, there's a lot of things that i wished we could have included in this measure, but we have stood down, if you will, as appropriators, working with my colleague and friend, the ranking member here. we do not include new policy provisions that were not in the f.y. 2018 enacted bill.

we just didn't do it, and members know that because they came to us asking if we could include things, but we said it's important to our process going forward. so working with chairman shelby and vice chairman leahy and, again, my ranking member senator udall, we assembled a package that advanced unanimously out of the committee. i think that is also historic, to have an interior appropriations bill move unanimously through the full committee is pretty significant. so i would suggest to you all that this package that we have assembled warrants the support of the full senate. i want to express my appreciation again for the good working relationship that i have with senator udall. he's got a great team. rachel ryan and melissa have been great.

we've got fabulous folks on my life, witt leaf and nona emmy and chris. they work hard. they work very hard, but i think they have done a good job in helping shape this bill so that it reflects priorities of members on both sides of the aisle. so, again, i'm very pleased to be on the floor to consider these important bills. i look forward to working through this process with all of my colleagues. i think the leader has made clear that he wants to complete action on this package expeditiously, so i would ask colleagues to review the bills that we have in front of us, not just the interior bill, but the full package as well. get on it. get us your amendments. the quicker we can process amendments, the quicker we can clear them on both sides and arrange for votes that they may

require. mr. president, if i may -- i know my colleague and my ranking member is here to say just a few words on -- well, not a few words. he can say as many words as he would certainly like, and i welcome that. if i may beg your indulgence, sir, and ask for just a few more moments, i wanted to comment on the nomination of robert wilkie, if i may. just about an hour ago or half an hour ago the senate confirmed robert wilkie of north carolina as our nation's tenth secretary of veterans affairs. he comes to this position after having served with great distinction as a senate staffer. he was on the national security council, the assistant secretary of defense as well as under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness and interim secretary of the v.a. his father who just passed away last year was a u.s. army veteran, mr. wilkie has served

as a u.s. naval reserve intelligence officer. great qualifications, strong qualifications for the position mr. wilkie will soon assume. i'm sure he has no illusions about it -- we certainly don't -- but this is a hard job that he has in front of him, a very hard job. the v.a. has yet to fully recover from the series of events that is collectively known as the phoenix scandal, the choice program has been a mess from its very interception, in my view, continues to frustrate so many veterans. yes, we all acknowledge there have been improvements in the veterans benefit administration, but claims processing still takes way, way, way too long and providing a claim remains a sore point. and then to make matters worse, our veterans and the field staff are stressed by persistent

reports of fatigue and in-fighting within the v.a. central office. some of these reports are as current as fresh as last week. and you think about the folks out there. when you're in the field, really nothing good comes out of dysfunction from the central office the media accounts out there is suggesting that the misfunction is reaching new heights. so this is a tough time for our new secretary to enter. he comes in to this position with a mess of old baggage to deal with, and that is before he even begins to implement new initiatives like the v.a. mission act and the modernization of v.a.'s i.t. infrastructure. i think it's fair to say -- i'm sure it's fair to say that we want this secretary to succeed.

alaskan veterans certainly want this secretary to succeed. i would imagine that we all want the new v.a. secretary to succeed. and i think success at the v.a. means one thing, and that is how we serve our veterans. we know the sack fieth that they -- sacrifices they have made to our nation. they deserve timely, high-quality care serving. -- service. they do not need to become victim to the infighting that continues to plague the v.a. i think as i look to how success will be achieved for mr. welke in new position, it's going to be all hands on deck, everyone committed to the mission, ready to get to work to get the v.a. back on track. that's really job number one, and that to mr. welke i would

suggest working with your career staff to achieve the mission. we've been doing that in alaska. now, it's not always been good. there was a time when alaska veterans, they wanted a card that would allow them to get their care anywhere. they wanted to get out of the system. now i hear all the time in alaska that our veterans, they want to get their care from the v.a. and we all know that not all v.a.'s around the country are equally situated. because the alaska v.a. works better than some, and there may be reasons for that. i think one of the reasons is we're seeing that the career staff in alaska, the care -- they care about our veterans. we've had our problems. we've had some significant problems at the top. there have been changes in the v.a. senior leadership in alaska, but we called the problems out. we brought attention to them. we demanded change and change

occurred. and today we've got a leadership team, by all accounts, is doing pretty trong work -- strong work for alaska's vets. one of the reasons we're doing well is that our senior leadership teamworks in close collaboration with the staff. they work with the local 3028. i know this because my staff and i meet with management and labor periodically throughout the year. management knows that i'm going to get the straight scoop from labor and labor knows that, in my view, that it's all about service to the veterans. no exceptions, no excuses. i just want it straight. and both sides know that i expect them to be collaborating, to be working together. both know that i measure the quality and quantity of the service in alaska. and that's why i have been especially disturbed by the v.a.'s recent order restricting

the amount of official time that the duly elected representatives of the v.a.'s workforce can spend on collaboration. they call this official time. i would suggest that this is -- this is that time working with management to make the v.a. more effective, and i would suggest that this is a shortsighted decision. i'm especially concerned that it is being implemented by acting personnel on the very eve of our new secretary's swearing in. we also learned this morning, government executive magazine reports there is chaos on how this is going to be implemented. when you think about the things that this new secretary needs, or our veterans need, they don't need more chaos. we don't need more chaos in an organization as complex as the v.a. and so working to ensure that there is a -- there is a level

of flexibility in operations. our managers have a certain amount of freedom to keep a system if it's working, if it's not working, we've got you. but if you think about how important this is, especially in the v.a. where labor is defined to include the physicians, the nurses, the highly trained tologists -- tech knowledgists. we know full well these are professionals with skill sets that could take their skills elsewhere in a moment's notice. we have seen that in my state where those skill sets are in high demand. we recognize that mr. welke will inherit enough problems on day one. he's got to come into the department. he needs to win the hearts and the minds of those who do the work and a workforce that is upset, in my judgment, is the last thing that he needs.

now, some may ler that i was -- remember i was skeptical about the v.a. accountability act which short circuited the process for underperforming v.a. personnel. we were told at the time that this would enable the v.a. to replace underperforming managers, but instead it seems that we're seeing some pretty strong evidence that it is being used to terminate individuals at the very lowest level. so i'm concerned that what we may also be seeing is this is an effort to terminate whistleblowers and others who would challenge the bureaucracy and service to our veterans. so i'm concerned about that. i raise -- i raised that before, i will raise it again. mr. president, i think we all would agree, it's time to bring the v.a. into the 21st century, collaborating with labor on the quality of product is a whole lot better than

maintaining this contentious top-down, by the book, litigious workplace. i certainly hope that our new, and i hope transformative, veterans' affairs secretary will take advantage of those in the private sector and put them to work on day one even if that might mean reversing some of the perhaps well meaning or maybe not so well meaning reforms that have been undertaken on the eve of his confirmation. mr. president, the v.a. is a people-oriented business. the v.a. is nothing without its people. and so i just give my free advice to our secretary. your career people work at the v.a. to serve our veterans first, and sadly, i think many are confused about whether they enjoy the support of their

senior leaders in washington. these are some sobering words to greet our new secretary as he takes on a very important responsibility, but i hope that we are all working together, all working forward to ensure that mr. welke goes down in the v.a.'s history as a good, strong leader. so i offer my best to him as he moves forward. with that, mr. president, i am pleased again to begin the kickoff for this appropriations package that i look forward to engaging and debate good issues and good, positive result at the end. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor.

mr. udall: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new mexico. mr. udall: thank you, mr. president. thank you for the recognition. i rise for support of the department of interior's appropriations bill. i want to start before senator murkowski leaves the floor to thank her so much. it has been a pleasure working with her on this and doing it in a bipartisan way. i will talk to her about the historic nature of this that we've accomplished something here that hasn't been done in ten years, so this is something that i think we're both very proud of and i think the appropriation members are proud of. i thank her for the important work that she has undertaken to ensure that this bill arrives on the senate floor with strong bipartisan support. we all know the interior bill is

not an easy bill and we faced contentious issues putting it together, there's no doubt. working together under her leadership, we produced a bill unanimously reported by the appropriations committee. i also want to recognize chairman shelby and ranking member leahy for bringing this bill to the floor. their shared commitment to re-establish regular order for the appropriations committee is why this bill is on the floor of the united states senate today. for the first time in nearly a decade i salute them as well. this bill funds the bureau of indian affairs an provides new health resources for schools and tribes across the country trying to improve health and education outcomes. this funding helps fulfill our trust and treaty

responsibilities to american indians and alaska natives. this bill includes strong levels of funding for conservation programs that preserves and protects our nation's most special places, including our public lands, and it fully funds wildlife suppression needs by providing $2 billion across the west. the interior bill supports our nation's arts and culture programs from national institutions here in washington like the smithsonian institution, the kennedy center, and the national gallery of art, to local arts and humanity programs in small towns throughout the united states. this funding creates jobs and supports economic vitality in our communities. over the last week we have seen the administration claim that the legislation sent over by the house has too much funding for these and other priorities.

i strongly disagree. it is congress's responsibility to safeguard the environment, protect our air and water, fulfill our trust and treaty responsibilities and conserve public lands the federal government holds on behalf of the american people. these responsibilities require a reliable stream of resources to carry that out. this sean bill accomplishes -- senate bill accomplishes those goals an remains faithful to the bipartisan budget agreement that this senate passed and the president signed earlier. we rejected the cuts by the trump administration to the bureau of indian affairs and the bureau of indian education, and to most federal land management agencies, cuts that would put our environment at risk and prevent us from preventing core services to tribal communities.

in addition to rejecting these cuts, senator murkowski and i worked together to satisfy requests from our colleagues to increase funding levels where we could given our allocation. we also followed the chairman and vice chairman's direction to keep out extraneous authorizing matters and any item considered a poison pill. we all know that one senator's poison pill is another senator's anecdote. we couldn't please everyone because the issues from the last decade have not gone away, but we did the best we could. now, this bill is not perfect. it includes several troubling provisions from prior years, including provisions relating to the listing status of the sage grass, the lead content of ammunition, and biomass energy policy and certain clean air act

endorsements. while ip can't say each individually, they are ones we carried to move this bill across the finish line. what the appropriations committee has brought to the full senate is an interior department appropriations bill that is almost exclusively appropriations. i'm proud that we proposed for physical -- i'm proud that we proposed for fiscal year 2019, and in addition to the programs i already highlighted, let me tell you about a few more accomplishments in this bill. this bill rejects the elimination of the land and water conservation fund and provides $425 million equal to the enacted level. these funds will improve recreational access to our federal lands, protect iconic landscapes, deliver grants to states and local governments to create and protect urban parks and open spaces, preserve the battlefields of the

revolutionary and civil wars, and give farmers and ranchers easements so they can steward their private lands in the face of development pressures. rather than following the administration's to limit the funding for the endowments of the arts, this bill provides an increase of $2 million for each endowment, bringing $155 million for each. i'm particularly proud that these funds will create jobs and support cultural institutions in every state. this bill includes a 4% increase for the indian health service and includes $10 million in new grant funds to help tribes address opioid addiction and substance abuse challenges in indian country, as chairman murkowski talked a little bit about in her speech here today. this bill fully funds the payment in lieu of taxes program

to assist local governments to improve their schools and roads and pay for public safety and law enforcement. this bill maintains funding for the e.p.a. at the fiscal year 2018 enacted level to protect our environment and public health. we have taken a strong position, rejecting the devastating cuts the president has proposed for the third year in a row. our bipartisan track record on e.p.a. funding makes it loud and clear that such extreme proposals will continue to be viewed in congress as dead on arrival. now, i feel strongly that keeping e.p.a. funding flat year after year is insufficient to meet the true needs of e.p.a.'s clean water programs, clean air programs, state and tribal assistance grants, environmental enforcement and a score of other critical public health and environmental programs. while i recognize that the bill before us is a compromise, i

will continue to pursue funding increases for these critical e.p.a. programs in future years. i recognize there's always room for improvement, and i welcome all of our colleagues to speak with me and with senator murkowski, with chairman murkowski. if you have an idea on how to improve funding in this bill. but as i conclude, i want to emphasize how tremendous it has been towork with chairman murkowski on this bipartisan bill. even when we disagree, we have open discussions and listen to each other. that's the way congress is supposed to work, and i'm proud to be senator murkowski's partner on this bill. i look forward to working with our colleagues on this bill over this week so that we can pass an interior appropriations bill that the american people can be proud of. as chairman murkowski talked about, we have had the

assistance of a very, very able staff on both sides. on the minority side, headed up by rachel taylor -- i mean, the whole staff i think both sides, very capable and very able. my side headed up by rachel taylor, ryan, melissa and terry and over on the majority side, leif, emmy, chris, lashonda. they work night and day. a when we run into programs, as we know they can -- they can be invaluable helping us find the solutions to the problems that we all face when we get into some of the contentious issues. so with that, i would -- unless chairman murkowski has other things to say, i'd just note the absence of a quorum, i think.

i withdraw my request and let her do the additional things that need to be done here. ms. murkowski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i want to thank my friend, my colleague, the ranking member on the interior appropriations committee again. you don't get to the place that we are at today with a level of consensus, without a lot of good, hard work. so i just aappreciate his commitment towork through it and -- to work through it and the relationship that we have built. so thank you. thank you very much. mr. president, i ask consent that the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of the calendar number 405, h.r. 589. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 405, h.r. 589, an act to establish department of energy policy for science and energy

research and development programs and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the murkowski amendment at the desk be agreed to, the bill as amended be considered and read a third time. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. murkowski: i know of no further debate on the bill. the presiding officer: is there further debate? if not, the question is on passage of the bill. all those in favor say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill is passed. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of the calendar number 404 which is s. 2503. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 404, s. 2503, a bill to

establish department of energy policy for science and energy development research programs and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there any objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the murkowski amendment at the-esque did be agreed to and the bill as amended be considered read a third time. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i know of no further debate on bill. the presiding officer: is there further debate? if not, all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill, as amended, is passed. ms. murkowski: i ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the committee on help be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 2353 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 2353, an act to reauthorization the carl d.

perkins career and technical education act of 2006. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. the committee is disarmed and the senate will proceed. ms. murkowski: i ask unanimous consent that the alexander substitute amendment at the desk be agreed to, the bill as amend be considered read a third time. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. murkowski: i know of no further debate on the bill. the presiding officer: is there further debate? if not, the question is on passage of the bill. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill as amended is passed. ms. murkowski: i ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i now ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. tuesday, july 24. following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be

reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. further, that following leader remarks, the senate resume consideration of h.r. 6417, the senate recess from 12:30 to 2:15 to allow for the weekly conference meetings. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. murkowski: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.