to the court system when the incident happened, file a report, then the investigation would have been done. it's not going to be done now. >> guest: in the first place . she was 15 years of age most people do not report. she now is an adult, has watched the process, she can come forward to testify initially, she just came forward to offer information . she wanted to frankly conceal her identity for her safety and it turns out she was right. because once it becameknown, she's had to move . >> we are going to leave but you can find this on c-span.org, senators returning from their lunch meetings.

vote:

the presiding officer: any senator wishing to vote or to change his or her vote? if not, the yeas are 80. the nays are 19.

the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators in accordance in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of peter a. feldman to be commissioner of the consumer product safety commission for a term of seven years from october 27, 2019, reappointment, signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of peter a. feldman of the district of columbia to be commissioner of the consumer products safety commission for a term of seven years, from october 27, 2019, shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, the yeas are 50, the nays are 49. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, consumer product safety commission, period a. feldman of the district of columbia to be a commissioner.

mr. hatch: mr. president?

the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: is there a quorum call? the presiding officer: no the senate is not in a quorum call. mr. hatch: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: this week the house of representatives will pass and send to the president the most important copyright reform in decades. the name of the bill which passed this body by unanimous vote last week is the orrin g. hatch-bob goodlatte music modernization act. as the senate was considering the bill, my good friend from tennessee, senator alexander, asked to rename the bill in my honor. i was touched by this kind gesture from my good friend, by the willingness of my colleagues to agree to this suggestion. also, it wasn't necessary, though. but we're also adding to the bill the name of retiring house judiciary committee chairman bob

goodlatte, in recognition of all he has done to get get this bill across the finish line and to improve our nation's copyright laws. the music modernization act was years in the making. it was the result of countless hours of hard work and many late nights by staff, stakeholders, and members of this body. my friend from tennessee, senator alexander, did an outstanding job last week here on the floor explaining the need for the bill and how it will improve the music marketplace. so i'll just provide a brief summary at this time. our current music licensing laws are badly out of date. too often songwriters don't get paid when their songs get paid, and even when they do get played, they don't get paid at a fair market rate. this has made it difficult for

song writers to make a living do what he what they love and has harmed our entire music industry. some have even left the capacity of writing songs, have given up, and i really lament that. songwriters are the lifeblood of american music. in order to have a great single sore a great album, you first have to have a great song. you need the music. you need the lyrics and you need them to fit together in a way that makes you feel something, that tugs at your heart and your heartstrings, that makes you feel excited or peaceful or nostalgic. song write something an art. i know this because i've done it myself. i've written dozens of song over the years. i've even earned a gold and platinum record. i know firsthand how small the royalties are, even when your song is a success. it's time to change that. and the music modernization act will do so.

the heart of the bill is the creation of a mechanical licensing collective to administer reproduction and distribution rights for digital music. one of the driving forces in recent years of the decline in songwriter royalties has been the transition to digital music. now, this may seem a bit surprising, as one might think that the availability of millions of songs at the click of a mouse will lead to more royalties, give than more music than ever before is now available. instantaneously. but the problem is that these big digital music companies like pandora and spotify, with their tablogs of millions of songs, simply don't have the capability to find every single songwriter for every single one of their songs that they play. tracking down the recording artist -- that is, the singer --

usually can be done but finding song write certificates a different story -- finding songwriters is a different story. so the bill creates a mechanical bill writing collective that is matched with songwriters, matching them to sound recordings and then ensuring that had a songwriter actually gets paid as he or she should. importantly, this collective will be run by songwriters themselves and by their representatives in the publishing community. this is an enormous victory for songwriters. for the first time in history, songwriters and their representatives will be in charge of making sure they get paid when their songs get played. this is not the only thing the bill does, not by a long shot. it also changes the rate standard for reproduction and distribution rights to ensure

that songwriters get paid a fair market rate. and it provides important protections to digital music companies. it creates a blanket digital license for companies like pandora and spotify so that they can have certainty that they won't be sued when they offer songs for download or interactive streaming. it also provides a liability shield against past infringement provided certain conditions are met. again, so that digital music companies can have certainty going forward. the music modernization act also makes important changes to performance rights. it creates a federal performance right for pre 1972 sound recordings and moves licensing laws away from the patchwork of inconsistent state laws and toward a more uniform, coherent

federal standard. it ends the rate carve-out, the legacy cable and satellite providers enjoyed for two decades and has allowed them to puebloe market rates -- pay below market rates and stave off meaningful competition. this will result in fairer rates for recording artists and create a more level playing field for new market entrants. the bill also provides that rate proceedings for performance rights will rotate among judges and the judges may consider sound recording royalty rates when setting corresponding rates for musical works, and it makes clear -- it makes a clear statement that the department of justice should work with congress to ensure there is a proper framework in place to administer performance rights for musical works in the event the department decides it's time to sunset the b.m.i. consent

decrease. lastly the bill puts in place a formal process for producers, sound engineers, and other behind-the-scenes players to receive a share of performance royalties. this will help ensure that all of the participants in the music making process are fairly compensated for their contributions. as you can see, mr. president, the orrin g. hatch -- bob goodlatte music modernization act is a comprehensive piece of legislation that will have wide-ranging impacts across the music landscape. it touches all sectors of the music industry and makes important reforms to ensure that songwriters, musicians, and other key contributors to american music are treated fairly. there's a reason this bill passed the senate unanimously and why it will pass the house with overwhelming support.

and that's because all sides of the music industry came together to find a way to make our music laws better and to make them function properly. no side got everything it wanted, but everyone got something. and at the end of the day we have a piece of legislation we can all be proud of. now the fact that this bill passed unanimously does not mean that it was an easy lift, not by any means. this was an extraordinarily complex, multifaceted piece of legislation with dozens of moving parts and cross-cutting issues that impacted stakeholders in varying ways. each component of the bill was crucial to passage which made negotiating and revising the legislative text an exceedingly

delicate process. there were numerous unexpected developments along the way, each of which had to be handled in a manner that did not upset the bill's careful balance. so i need to spend some time today thanking everyone who made it possible for this to get to this -- for us to get to this point. how often does the senate pass a 186-page bill unanimously? almost never. that alone tells you how well the bill's sponsors and their staff managed this process. i first need to thank senator alexander, my dear friend from tennessee. he has been by my side throughout the entire process. senator alexander is a tireless advocate for songwriters in his state and for music in general in his state. this bill would not be on its way to the president's desk in

short order without all of his hard work, and i acknowledge it and compliment him in every way for it. and senator alexander's staff has been outstanding as well, in particular i need to recognize david cleary, his chief of staff; lindsey garcia, his general counsel; and paul mckernen, his former legislative assistant. they were wonderful to work with and deserve tremendous credit for this victory. i next need to thank senator whitehouse who has been with me throughout this entire journey as well. his chief counsel, laura quint has been a terrific help and an important liaison with my democratic colleagues. i also need to thank chairman grassley who shepherded this bill through the committee and made important contributions to the bill's oversight and transparency provisions. his deputy staff director and

chief civil counsel, rita lary, put a lot of work into this bill and into the accompanying committee report. her determination and dedication made this bill better and helped bring us to this point today. ranking member feinstein also deserves significant credit, as does her counsel. they helped make this bill a bipartisan success. senator coons also played a pivotal role in this legislation. he was the champion of title 2, the classics act, which creates a federal performance right for 1972 sound recordings. special recognition goes to jamie simpson in his office who led us through some challenging negotiations and made sure we came out all right. senator kennedy was the republican lead on the classics act, and i'm glad to have this opportunity to work with him,

and with nick hawatama and brid ni sadler from his staff. i also need to recognize two house colleagues. first is represent doug collins, who has fought tirelessly for this bill. he and his staff have been unstoppable, every obstacle, every hurdle they have worked to overcome. even after the bill passed the house, they did not let up. they were 100% committed to this legislation, and i cannot thank them enough for everything they have done. brendan b. lare and sally rose larson have been absolutely outstanding. the other house colleague i need to recognize is my good friend bob goodlatte, the chairman of the house judiciary committee. like myself, bob is retiring

this year. he's been a wonderful chairman. i've had the privilege of working with him on a number of initiatives that have become law, a whole raft of them. i'm so glad to have had the opportunity to work with him on this legislation before we leave office and am so pleased to share my name with his on the bill. i'd also like to give a special shoutout to his chief council for intellectual property joe keely who played a crucial role in shepherding this bill through the house. i need to turn to industry stakeholders who came together to make the compromises that made this bill possible and who did a superb job of educating congress on the need for this bill and how it's going to make a difference for songwriters and musicians. first our nashville songwriters association international and songwriters of north america who helped me and my colleagues understand how our current laws

are hurting songwriters and what we need to do to help them. next is the national music publishers association, who refused to give up on this bill even when the path forward looked murky at best. b.m.i. also a crucial player who helped energize tens of thousands of songwriters to support this effort. i next need to thank the recording industry association of america as well as sounding exchange and the recording academy for their work on behalf of recording artists. and their willingness to make the necessary compromises to get this bill through. the digital media association and its member companies, including amazon, apple, microsoft, pandora, rhapsody, spotify and youtube also deserve special recognition. they were essential in helping

me and my colleagues understand the uncertainties of the current digital music marketplace and why the reforms in the music modernization act are necessary to the continued growth and success of the digital music ecosystem. the internet association similarly played an important educative if you function and i thank the association and its members for their support. the final industry stakeholder i'd like to thank is the national association of broadcasters. in particular, i'd like to thank the association for its willingness to compromise and for the support it lent to later stages of the legislative process. the 50-state support that they gave to the bill made an important difference to a number of my colleagues, and i thank n.a.b. for its advocacy. the final thanks i need to offer, mr. president, are to my staff.

this bill would not have happened without them and their tireless dedication. i'd first like to highlight my communications team matt whitlock and elli riden. they did a terrific job putting together materials and the public office help understand this bill and its importance. they also showed some pretty serious video production shots. i'd like to thank my legislative director matt jensen. he worked diligently behind the scenes to identify the proper vehicle and offset for the bill. he reviewed just about every fund and fee in the entire federal government and would not give up. next up is my chief of staff, matt sandren. matt has been with me now for 15 years. he's one of the finest aides i've ever had. he spent years as my go-to intellectual counterbefore becoming my chief of staff and has been an essential part of

this process. he had the foresight and strategic know-how to get this bill across the finish line. no last-minute obstacle was going to stop him. finally, mr. president, i'd like to thank my chief counsel, chris vapes. he oversaw this bill from start to finish, from the very first stakeholder meetings where we talked about broad outlines to last week when he sat next to me on the floor when the senate passed the bill by voice vote. for over a year he's dealt expertly with dozens of stakeholders and 100 senate offices. he's had the judgment to know when to strike deals and when to push forward. and the careful law that he is he made sure that every step along the way that the bill text is precise, accurate, and tightly drafted. this bill has been as complicated an en -- endeavor

as any bill i've done in my years in the senate and chris deserves immense credit for the way he's seen this bill through enactment. mr. president, let me just say that this bill means so much to me. it was a number of years ago that a wonderful woman songwriter named janice came to me and said you write poetry, i'd like you to write some songs with me. i thought that was a really nice offer, so i sat down and wrote ten songs that weekend, all of which were put into recorded form. and we've written a lot of songs ever since. but then all of a sudden i had people from all over the country come to me and say i want to write some music with me. i've had artists and songwriters and just good people come and really help me to learn this business and learn what to do. it's been one of the great joys of my life because i love music.

when i was a kid, my mother had an old violin, and i learned to play that violin all the way through grade school, high school, and even in college. but i also had piano lessons, six months of them. and i've been able to play most of the popular music on the piano ever since. i'm not an accomplished pianist like senator alexander, but i certainly enjoy clinking on the keys. then i had others on my staff who really helped me to understand that music is a tremendously wonderful thing. -- for people. it's uplifting. it's inspiring. it can be humorous. there are so many things it can be. i've enjoyed writing the lyrics for an awful lot of, well over 100 songs. i have one gold and one platinum record and a number of others

that are on their way. and i just feel really good that i've had the help of all these people, to be able to do something that really brings me a great deal of joy. i want to thank senator alexander, he's been an inspiration to committee. he's a wonderful leader for his state and for nashville. they couldn't have a better leader than senator alexander. plus being a wonderful person, too. he's been a great aid to he marks a great help to me throughout this process. i care for him a great deal. there are others, of course, i'd like to mention, but i'll do that separately at a later date. mr. president, i'm grateful for music in my life. i'm grateful that i've had this privilege of writing songs, some of which had been heralded and acclaimed. i'm grateful for those who have

had the patience to work with me i'm grateful that the tabernacle choir has sang a number of my songs. they don't sing junk. let me tell you. you have to really make the grade to be sung by the more montana tabernacle choir. they've done it on a few of my songs. i'm grateful for that. there are so many others i would like to compliment at this time. i have taken enough time, but i'm very grateful for this privilege of learning how to write music and having written a number of songs that are really popular today. i'm grateful for my friends in the senate who have tolerated me. i'm grateful for the poetry in my life that i've done since i was a kid. and i'm just grateful to god for the many blessings that i've had, grateful to be a u.s.

senator. i'm very, very grateful for the privilege of associating with all of these wonderful people and for those in the past who have served with us as well. with that, mr. president, i'd like to say more, but i'll yield the floor. mr. alexander: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: building on senator hatch's comments, we're grateful he's a songwriter. he comes from a culture and faith that emphasizes music. i remember as a little boy in east tennessee mountains listening on the zenith radio to the mormon tabernacle choir. orrin hatch has -- is not just a united states senator. he's genuine songwriter, a gold record, a platinum record. i know many nashville songwriters who have cowritten with him, and they admire him

greatly. i can think of no more important tribute to him than the hatch-goodlatte music modernization act, which should pass the house this week and be on its way to the president and then will be, as senator hatch said, the single most important piece of legislation in decades -- or in a generation -- that changes copyright law in a way that is fair to songwriters. and he's correct. this is not -- this has not been easy. it's taken several years. there are a great many different people to it. the heavy lifts and the unexpected developments were occurring all the way down about 30 minutes before it passed on last tuesday, tuesday night. so it's been a great privilege to work with senator hatch and his staff about whom i'll have more to say in a minute on this legislation. now, the senator from utah has done a really good job of

explaining what the bill does. but the truth is, copyright law is complicated. and about the first 25 times somebody explains to you the law governing songwriting, you won't have a clue what they're talking about. so let me tell a couple of stories about songwriting that might help make it clear. right after world war ii, two nashville songwriters, pee wii king and red stewart, were driving from memphis to nashville before the interstates were created and one said to the other, well, the missouri has a waltz and kentucky has a waltz, why doesn't tennessee have a waltz? so on that drive, probably about a five-hour drive then, they took a hatch box, an old -- a matchbox, an old penny matchbox, on the back of it, they wrote the words to the tennessee

wattle. now, the tennessee waltz was already a wattle. it was called the no no-name waltz. people sang it in different places, just a random song. they added these few words to it. then that night when he got back, pee-wee king wrote it on a lead sheet -- that's what you call a blank sheet of music. he took it into fred rose the next day, his publisher, the hub are issuer for all kinds of people, and he made one change in the words. he changed the word where it said o the tennessee waltz, he changed it to "i remember the night in the tennessee waltz." that song went nowhere for a while. it was performed around by pee-wee king until mercury records decided that they had a song, a different song called boogie wooingie santa class. they wanted the hottest young singer in the united states to

sing t they flew patty page to sing it. they had nothing to put on the back of the record. so somebody suggested they just throw on the back of the record this tennessee waltz. well, the tennessee wattle sold 5 million copies. it became the most recorded song ever by a female artist. it is in many ways the mag magna carta of country music. how did that happen? what is the mystery that causes a waltz that just kicked around for a long time to have a few words placed on it by two songwriters driving from memphis to nashville to suddenly five million copies? none of us really knows. it is just a magnificent form of art. all over my state of tennessee there are thousands and thousands and thousands of teachers, taxi drivers, waitresses, people thinking of songs, getting together, writing songs, writing -- hoping to have the next number one hit.

i saw bob depiro at the bluebird cafe a week ago saturday. senator hatch, he was a guitar teacher out of nashville in the early 1980's. and he would take a bus about 3:00 from downtown nashville out to riverdale mall and he'd teach guitar lessons to all of these kids until after school until 9:00 and during the day he'd write songs. he didn't do any good at all until one day he wrote a song called "my baby is american-made, born and bred in the u.s.a." everybody knows that song now. he is a great songwriter so i guess he makes a living off songwriters. but lots of people don't. this bill is about songs that are played over the internet. the way bob or red stewart or pee-wee king's descendants would get paid for their creative work is whenever the song is played

over the internet, this hatch-goodlatte legislation says, we've got a way to make sure you get paid if you're the songwriter or if you own the rights and, two, we've changed law to make it more likely that you'll get a fair market value for what you get paid. those two things. i've asked several of the songwriters, the people in the moscowic industry -- music industry, do you really think this will make a difference? they, to a person, say yes. will it make it as good as it was? no, no, it probably won't. but it will be fairer and it will create an environment where not just bob depiros can get paid for "my baby is american made" but where a lot more songwriters can make a decent living because they get paid and get paid a fair market value for their work. i'll tell you another story i've repeated on the floor about that. unfortunately, i don't have a gold record. i don't have a platinum record.

i can play the piano. i was grateful for music, as senator hatch is. when i was four, my mother took me to a college and i began piano lessons, which i continued until i was 16. senator mcconnell, the majority leader, who had a wonderful, sainted mother, who helped him recover from polio, once told me that the one thing he regrets about his mother is she allowed him to stop taking piano lessons. i said back to senator mcconnell, i don't remember ever having a choice. i made a deal with my mother that i would practice 30 minutes in the morning and get to do what i wanted to in the afternoon, and i have had a wonderful time with muse analyst -- with music. when i was governor, i would say to the senator from utah, i would trying to think of what could unite our state? the presiding officer probably had thoughts like that when he was governor of his state. all i could think of that would unite our big, long state from memphis to bristol was music,

from biehlville to music city in nashville to the home of country music in bristol, tennessee, wither they brought a recording machine in 1927 and called for the hillbillies to come out of the mountains and for the ones that came, was jimmy rogers and the carter family. that was the beginning of what we call country music, what you hear on the radio in nashville. i thought, what united nashville, i thought, music. they did this in the 1980's to appropriate some money for endowments for all of our community orchestras. there are more -- there are two dozen of them. if we give the nashville symphony some state dollars, if they matched it, they would have a little endowment that would support that muse analyst i went around the state and played the piano with all of those community orchestras and had a good time and people came tout see the governor make a mistake or miss a chord or that kind of

thing. so music is terribly important to our state as it is to utah and as it is to our country. ken burns has a few film coming out. he is america's greatest storyteller, i think today. we have other good ones, but today he is. he's done more than 30 films, one about the mayo clinic is out maybe today. the civil war, national parks, all of those films -- vietnam more recently. but his new film is the film he thinks that may be the most popular film of all he's produced of the 30, and it is about country music. it's about the stories and the lives of the people that country music is about. i think of jesse alexander who i first heard play a song at the bluebird cafe. she had heard on the radio about the father from texas whose son was killed in afghanistan and they asked him how he grieved. he said, i drive his truck.

she wrote a song "i drive your truck" about that father whose son was killed defending our country. it won the song of the year, as it should have. so these emotional stories about life and death and whiskey and love and romance and cheating and everything that goes into human nature, these are the stories that make it into these songs and sometimes -- sometimes they're like the tennessee waltz. you put some words with a waltz that's been around for a while, and out comes five million records sold. sometimes it's more like this story -- i was coming out of the drugstore in maryville, tennessee. i walked by an old couple in a pickup truck. i asked how they were doing. the old lady just said, well, we're just falling apart together. i told that story to lee bryce

and some sorries. they said, we can do something with that. they wrote a song, "falling apart together." lee bryce is a pretty well-known singer. they wrote it. according to nashville tradition, they gave me a fourth of the royalties bus that's what they do. if you make any contribution to the song, you get a little piece of the action. i thought, well, this is good. i can actually do that is had a a united states senator. the ethics committee will clear that up. so last year in 2016, the royalty that i received for "falling apart together" which was recorded by lee bryce, was $101.35. you can't make a living on that. so what senator hatch has done and this united states senate has done and the house is about to do and we'll tend on to the president is -- we'll send on to the president is to change the flaw a way, first, that would create an entity -- let's say

the tennessee waltz, those two songwriters after world war ii, their great-grandchildren own all the rights. they are spread all over the place. let's say spotify wants to play it. now all they have to do is go down to the newens at this moment get a license. they have a right to do it. nobody can sue them. it is the entity's job to find all the 100 descendants and pay them the royalty. and then we changed the law to try are to make sure the royalty is a fair market value. in that case, some company may own that. that might be easier. but that's why everybody came together. it made sense in internet world. today in the world we live in, in the world we live in, more than half the revenues in the music business are for songs played over the internet. songs played over the internet. the internet has changed music, just like it has changed everything else. and this changes the law to put us into the internet age. it changes some laws that have

been around for centuries, since the days of the player piano. now, i would like to ask consent, since there are others who will be wanting to speak, to put most of my comments into the record. i've had other chances to talk about the bill. i've said most of what i wanted to say except a couple of thank you's. first orrin hatch is exactly the right leader for this bill in the senate, for a variety of reasons. the chairman of one important committee, nearly ranking on another, he was able through his prestige and his position in the senate and his, and the respect we have for him to ask senators to step back and allow us to do this very complex piece of legislation in a situation where any one senator could have blocked it, and many did for

awhile, until they are persuaded not to. i want to thank chairman grassley and senator feinstein for moving it through the judiciary committee expeditiously. this could not have happened if senator mcconnell and senator schumer had not created an environment where we could have done that. senator hatch has mentioned senator whitehouse and senator coons who were among the lead democratic cosponsors. mr. president, we had 82 cosponsors of this bill. we only have 100 senators. 82 cosponsors of the bill. i want to particularly thank senator durbin, who may be a democrat from illinois, but he loves to go to nashville and go to the grand old opry and he jumped on early and was the number two democrat. doug collins, king jeffreys, darrell eye is -- darrell issa d bob goodlatte. i think it's important to join

senator hatch in mentioning again those music groups who we sat down with two years ago, more than two years ago and said, look, we've been here for a long time, and we can continue to argue about what you disagree on or we can try to pass what you can agree on. and for the last two and a half years they have worked to compromise, to agree on what they could agree on, and they've done that in an important way. and the nashville songwriters association, international bob herberson especially, but a whole bunch of them. the national music publishers association, the ascap, bmi, recording academy, sound exchange, digital media association, songwriters of north america, internet association, recording industry association of america, and the national association of broadcasters, who came with a strongly supported recommendation at the end was a

big help. and then senator hatch was correct, the most valuable players in all of this most likely have been the staff members on both sides of the aisle and in both houses who helped put together the competing interests, and there are many, many, many, into a way that produced this bill. and i would especially like to thank lindsey garcia who is sitting with me and paul mckernen and david cleary and allison martin on my staff. chris bates and matt jensen have been terrific. the senate judiciary committee staff, rita lowry. when we first talked to her about this we said are you sure you think we can pass a bill like this because most people didn't think it was possible to get all the competing interests to agree. congressman doug collins and his staff have really been at the forefront of this.

sally rose larson. republican floor staff megan mercer and a special shout out to rema doten who worked for senator durbin and who was a consistent help and a special help on last tuesday afternoon when we only had a little bit of time and we needed to get some last-minute changes cleared in the democratic cloakroom as well as the republican cloakroom. so this would be a good exercise for a chapter in a book on legislation sometime. but the title of it is going to be "the hatch-goodlatte music modernization bill" and the result is going to be that thousands and thousands of songwriters in this country for the first time in a long time are, a, going to get paid for their work; and, b, going to get paid more of a fair market value as they should. and i'm deeply grateful for the opportunity to have worked on

it. and i thank all of my colleagues for working so well with senator hatch and me to get it done. i thank the president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. ms. duckworth: i'm here to honor the life of johnny brims, a father, husband, soldier, friend, and to so many a hero. he passed away last month at the age of 71 after spending more than half of his life in the united states army. rising from the son of a general to become himself a four-star general, john abrams embodied the spirit of selflessness, of sacrifice that our military is known for. he spent his life fighting to defend the freedoms that we all too often take for granted. he was wounded in battle, returned to duty, then wounded again, but he refused to let any injury deter him. he was a soldier's soldier from

the very start, and those who knew him were made better by being in his orbit. he served in the armed forces for 36 years, first enlisting in 1966 before becoming commissioned as an officer just one year later. he made it to four stars the hard way, by starting as a private, the lowest rank. soon after he was commissioned, he deployed to vietnam where he served two consecutive tours and volunteered for a third before being sent home. then he was off to a korean province north of seoul. after that germany for five tours serving in hungary, bosnia and kuwait as well. all this in service to his country. all in an effort to add to the greater good. and he made history, becoming just the second american ever to command the same unit as his father when he was promoted to lieutenant general and tasked

with commanding five corps in germany. yes, that five corps, the same unit that stormed the shores of normandy and fought on omaha beach, that liberated paris and took on the german troupes during the battle of the bulge. his heroism in vietnam did not go unnoticed. he was decorated with a silver star and purple heart but he would tell you that his greatest decoration was that of being a father, a husband, and a leader of soldiers. he went on to lead the u.s. army training and doctrine command overseeing the army's training in its entirety. he continued to rise in the ranks alongside his own brothers one of whom just testified in the senate today and is set to be confirmed as the next commander of u.s. forces korea. looking back, it's little wonder where general abrams' sprengt -- strength of character came from. his father served as army chief

of staff in vietnam from 1968 to 1972. his mother founded the chapter of the army of ladies, organizing volunteers to attend funerals to make sure no troop was ever buried alone. he combined his father's courage with his mother's compassion and in the process he made this nation a better, safer place for the rest of us, for his children, and their children, and my children. he could have done any of this without the loving support and service of his family, his wife cecilia and his two daughters. as a quintessential military family, they served alongside of him. to each of them, i express my gratitude and that of this grateful nation. my thoughts are with all of general abrams' loved ones today along with my deep gratitude. thank you for sharing your father, your husband, your brother with the restth country that he be -- that he served

for so long. god bless him and his legacy. god bless the troops that he cared so deeply about and led so ably. god bless the united states of america. i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. sorry. i yield the floor. mr. markey: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. markey: mr. president, i rise today to express my frustration, my outrage that this body is poised to miss an historic once-in-a-generation opportunity to stop a major airlines from gouging americans with exorbitant fees every time they fly. in the dark of night early saturday morning house and senate committee leadership released a federal aviation

administration reauthorization bill that does not include a commonsense bipartisan provision to protect passengers from having to pay $200 to change a ticket that cost $250, a provision that would have protected a family from paying $200 to cancel a flight because another family member has fallen seriously ill and a vacation had to be canceled. but instead, after months of lobbying against my bipartisan fair fees provision, the airlines won and airline passengers lost. i would compare it to the christians and the lions, but in this story the christians even had to pay extra to enter

the amphitheater. what once were considered the basic services of flying have now become optional. and with a massive price tag. checking a bag, carrying on a bag, flying stand-by for an earlier flight, printing a boarding pass, early boarding, seat selection, changing or canceling your flight. even a blanket and pillows. air travelers are being nickeled and dimed. but the real cost is in the billions of dollars, and that's because the major airlines have turned fees into a multibillion-dollar industry. last year the airlines raked in

$7.43 billion in fees, more than $4.5 billion came now from having to pay to check your bag. $2.9 billion were extra fees if you wanted to change your ticket, if you wanted to cancel your ticket. billions of dollars. that is actually the equivalent of 11 million flights from washington, d.c. to boston. that's the cost that is now imposed upon consumers. passengers think that they are buying low-cost fares, but they are really just victims of airline greed in support of a

new multibillion-dollar profit center. even in the past few weeks as we worked in congress to include important consumer protection measures in this final f.a.a. legislation, the airlines continued to raise their fees. last month jetblue airways changed their fee for cancellation from $150 to $200 for certain flights. they raised fees for a passenger's first checked bag from $25 to $30 and increased the fees for a second checked bag from $35 to $40. that's $140 to check two bags round trip. shortly after united airlines, delta airlines, american airlines followed suit, raising their bag fees to match jetblue.

in college, i might have spent more time being interested in politics than economics, but i thought competition was supposed to drive prices down and not up. so why are the airlines charging these fees? well, the first answer is because they can. but the real answer is because there is no competition among domestic airlines. in the past ten years we've gone from just ten major airlines down to just four. only four airlines control 85% of traffic in the skies. the only thing competitive about the current airline industry is the fight for overhead compartment space. americans have more choice in where to eat at the airport than which airline they can take. we know that when choice goes

down, fees go up. and these sky-high fees bear almost no resemblance to the cost of the services being provided. the government accountability office, g.a.o., recently released a report confirming what countless passengers across the country already know to be true, airlines are gouging captive passengers to line their pockets, not to cover the actual cost of the services provided. does it really cost 2 hundred dollars for american airlines to change a ticket? does it really cost delta airlines $40 to load that second bag, $10 more than processing the first bag? airlines are increasing their fees in order to match their competitors, and they are actively seeking to deceive

passengers by offering artificially low fares and then charging exorbitant fees on the back end. enough is enough. it's time we put a stop to these abusive practices. and that's why republican senator roger wicker of mississippi and i joined together to get our provision ensuring change and cancellation fees are reasonable into the senate f.a.a. reauthorization bill. when a liberal from new england and a republican from the deep south can agree on policy, we're on the right side of history, but the airline industry had other plans. they stated that its number one priority in the f.a.a. reauthorization was defeating our fair fees provision. and what is it about this provision that would stop at

nothing to block it from becoming law? why would the airline industries band together on this one issue? they really don't compete truly against each other in the marketplace, but here they could all come together on one policy, and that's because they don't want the department of transportation to assess whether change in cancellation, baggage and other fees are reasonable and proportional to the costs of services provided. they don't want to ensure change in cancellation fees -- change and cancellation fees are reasonable. and that is all our provision does. ensure that these fees are reasonable and proportional to the costs of the services being provided by the airlines to the

customer. that's it. it's as common sense and as straightforward as you would want an airline passenger to receive from their airline -- fair and reasonable. no price is determined by this amendment, only that it has to be fair and reasonable and related to the costs that is in fact borne by the airline in order to provide that service. how onerous could that be on an airline? why can't we get that passed through this body so that consumers just don't get tipped upside down at the counter as they try to change a ticket or to cancel a ticket? why can't we get that passed? if a child gets sick and a passenger has to change or cancel a flight weeks in advance, does it really cost delta airlines $200 to cancel that ticket?

if a meeting gets postponed so a ticket has to be canceled two weeks before departure, is it fair for united airlines to charge 2 hundred dollars for a ticket that costs about the same amount? and are those fees proportional when the airlines can still resell the vacated seat? and even if the passenger cancels weeks ahead of time. so just think about them. the passenger gives the airline two weeks' notice. then they have to pay a fine, $200. then the airline resells the ticket to another passenger. so what's the cost to the airline in that kind of a situation? or are they just exploiting the vulnerability of the passenger who has to change? they have resold the ticket for the same price or higher to another passenger. the answer is no, passengers

have no choice. they have no alternative. the market has failed, leaving these fliers vulnerable to fee gouging and corporate greed from the airlines. you are at the counter and they can say well, go to another airline. they say there are no other airlines at this airport that fly to my destination. it's the only airline i can rely upon. well, then pay the cancellation fee. pay the change fee. because you are not in a marketplace where you could then say well, there is another airline that can i go to right here at this airport taking me to that destination nonstop. in fact, the only thing the airline industry was more committed to doing than raising airline fees was defeating the consumer protection provision in the f.a.a. bill. but we still have an opportunity to right this wrong. tomorrow the house of representatives will consider the f.a.a. reauthorization bill

and on the behalf of the flying public, the millions of americans who are subjected to ridiculous airline fees, i call on the house to add the fair fees provision to the f.a.a. reauthorization bill, and i call on my senate colleagues to support it. it is time to stop nickel and diming american families and ensure that they are flying the fair and friendly skies. otherwise, these billions of dollars year after year will come out of the pockets of consumers who have no choice. senator wicker and i worked together to build it into the senate bill. we should not have receded to the position of the house. that was a mistake. but this history is going to continue because the anger of the flying public is only going to build as each and every month and year goes by, and the day is going to come, i vow to you,

where we are going to have this in a bill that passes this in this chamber and in the house of representatives. this is an issue whose time has come, and if it's been blocked, it's only temporarily. we are going to return to this issue, and everyone in the congress will be made accountable to the flying public so that they are not given this offer they can't refuse every time they are at the counter -- pay or don't fly. it is absolutely wrong. so i thank you, mr. chairman -- mr. president. at this point, i yield back and i doubt the presence of a quorum. -- a quorum in the senate chamber. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

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quorum call:

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. mr. president. the presiding officer: majority leader. mr. mcconnell: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that all postcloture time on executive calendar 941 be considered expired at 1:45 p.m. on wednesday, september 26, that if confirmed the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to legislative session for a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the committee on commerce be discharged from further consideration of s. 3389 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 3389 a bill to redesignate a facility of the national aeronautics and space

administration. the presiding officer: without objection the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the committee on banking be discharged from further consideration of s. 3139 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 3139, a bill to require state safety oversight agencies to conduct safety inspections of public transportation systems, and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i know of no further debate on the bill as amended. the presiding officer: if there is no further debate, the the

question is on passage of the bill. all those in favor say aye. all opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill is passed. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the committee on veterans' affairs be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 4958 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 4958, an act to increase effective as of december 1, 2018, the rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities, and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the senate now proceed to the en bloc

consideration of the following senate resolutions which were submitted earlier today -- 648, 649, 650, 651 and 652. the presiding officer: without objection the senate will proceed to the measures en bloc. mr. mcconnell: i know of no further debate on the resolutions. the presiding officer: if there is no further debate the question is on the adoption of the measures en bloc. all those in favor say aye. opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the resolutions are adopted en bloc. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the preambles be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be made and laid upon the table all en bloc. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. con. res. 48. the presiding officer: the clerk

will report. the clerk: s. con. res. 48 directing the clerk of the house of representatives to make corrections to the enrollment of h.r. 1551. the presiding officer: without objection the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the concurrent resolution be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: so, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn until 9:30 wednesday, september 26. further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour 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, following leader remarks the senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the feldman nomination under the previous order. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: if there is no further business to come before the senate i ask it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the

senate is adjourned until