quorum call:

mr. wyden: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: thank you, mr. president. i come to the floor today, mr. president -- the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. wyden: i ask unanimous consent to vacate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, i come to the floor today to talk about larry wineberg, who was beloved by many oregonians, one

of our original owners of our wonderful basketball team, the portland trailblazers, the owner who won the eternal gratitude from the people of my state as he guided our trailblazers to their first title. and he passed away last week at the age of 92, and he was a soft-spoken man who was never one to drone on. so in that spirit, i'm going to keep these remarks brief. the first matter we want everybody to know about larry is he was a wonderful family man. i met him for the first time in the early 1980's. i was a young member of the

other body, in the house of representatives. larry could have made our first conversation about politics. we were very interested, for example, in ways to promote strong u.s.-israel relationship. there were plenty of things we could talk about with respect to politics, but he made the conversation about basketball, which is one of the great loves of his life, and people know, i think, around here that my great hope was to play in the nba. larry knew that. and because larry was a family man, that first conversation that we had was about family. and, mr. president, he had an enormous family.

if you look at the family photo on the holiday cards that larry and his wife barbie sent each year, you would think about half of the 320 million people in our country were actually winebergs. the cards were wonderful, and they just seemed to go on and on and on. during that first conversation, larry asked me about family. i told him about my great-uncle max, who is one of the last jews to be murdered in auschwitz. i told him about my parents who pitched into the war effort during world war ii. and that was one of the first bonds i had with larry wineberg, and i think that was true of many of his friends. we had family who either were

veterans themselves, loved ones who had wanted to make sure that the united states prevailed in world war ii. and that was larry. he served in europe during the war and sustained serious injuries in france. throughout his life, he carried that dedication to service that was so characteristic of so many of his generation. larry wineberg applied the lessons of the world to his leadership, of the american jewish community. he worked to promote understanding between religious groups while demonstrating a firm commitment to the jewish tradition of takoon alum, improving the world.

that, mr. president, is something the jews feel very strongly about, whether it is health care or foreign relations, whatever the field, we want to be part of making the world a better place. perfecting the world. that is what it means. larry and barbie wineberg supported the development of concrete scholarship on issues that face not only israel, but the entire middle east, understanding that the difficulties affecting one neighbor's burdens are really part of a shared burden, demanding a shared solution. portlanders like myself know larry for another reason. if you're a portlander of my age and an ardent blazer fan, you cheered on bill walton's trailblazers because they won a

championship for rip city in 1977. if you're a young basketball fan in portland today, you'd probably root for dane or c.j., c.y. mccollum. all of us in portland and in oregon owe larry wineberg a debt of gratitude because he grawt the nba to our -- he brought the nba to our state. and had he not done that, all of us who root for the trailblazers today wouldn't be able to turn out and see dame and c.j. and all of our wonderful players who are really community leaders. and i remember back then seeing larry and his wife barbie cheering at our home games, and they were always wearing our

colors. we particularly saw that bright blazer red. and whether it was back in the 1970, the memorial coliseum, or even into their later years at motor center, you got a glimpse when you looked at barbie and larry wineberg, you got a sense of what it meant not just to be a fan, but the winebergs really looked at our town and those trailblazers as part of their extended family. now with respect to sports, and the intersection of sports and how sports fits into the world, i wanted to relate something that happened in the late 1980's when larry approached me with a particular request, something he wanted me to do.

i was traveling to the soviet union with a group of jewish community leaders from portland, and at that time the trailblazers were very interested in bringing a wonderfully talented center, arvidas sibonas, to portland. and there was a discussion. it was kind of a period when the united states and the soviet union were still talking about the relationship being so ambiguous. they were all trying to sort it out, and larry asked me to present a letter to the soviet sports federation about arvi durch s. he had been drafted a few years

before. and the idea was the trailblazers hoped to bring arvidus to the united states to play in the nba. as i mentioned, relations between the united states and the soviet soviet union were still unambiguous but improving, and a lot of people believed that a soviet-born player coming to play in my hometown of portland would help that along. so on this trip to the soviet union, larry asked me to meet with the soviet sports federation, and i was to, in effect, hand over a letter to the soviet sports federation

making it clear that -- and this was a courtesy letter, mr. president -- making it clear that if arvidus was permitted to come to portland and play for the trailblazers, the letter said that he would be well treated, have comfortable accommodations, good training facilities, there would be people to advise on nutrition, get him acclimated to our country. well, when i walked into this meeting in moscow, i really felt like i was starring in "rocky iv," and there i was a congressman, a prit young one -- a pretty young one from the united states, a former basketball player myself, and

here i was trying to make the case on behalf of my hometown and the portland trailblazers to these men all of whom were at least 20 years or 30 years older than me and i was trying to make the case that if the soviet sports federation was willing to allow mr. sibonus to come, he would be well treated. and what i got from these stern-looking sports federation officials were essentially monosyllabic answers much like you heard in the rocky movement. maybe somebody would say a russian word, and i didn't know everything about the language of my hoes, but i got the sense that wasn't a good thing when they said that. and i could get the sense about

their skepticism as if they believed this young american congressman in front of them was pulling some sly trick of geo political strategy as we tried to bring arvidus to the united states. i said we weren't talking about arms control, we were talking about playing basketball and we were talking about building bridges and that, if anything, mr. president, is what larry weinberg's life was all about. he was about building bridges in sports. he did it in terms of housing when he was trying to create housing opportunities for people of modest means, when he we creating opportunities for people to learn from each other, and there he was with this young congressman just wanting to offer his guarantee that

mr. sibonus, the best nba player of his time, would be cared for. it took four years where eventually he made it to portland where fans got to watch him play and play well. and, mr. president, i cannot find the picture, but back then there was a picture that ensured that oregonians kroos the -- across the state were laughing at their breakfast table because it came out that mr. sibonus and i were strolling along in portland and i am 6 got 4 -- i was six foot four and mr. sibonus was about seven foot

four. but it was a wonderful experience for me and it was a chance for me to see what larry weinberg was all about. and he always told me it's a chance for you to learn a little bit more about the world, a chance for you to go to the soviet union -- it was the soviet union at that time -- and see the connection between reform and what our president was trying to do and in terms of sports in terms of bringing people together. and i was so honored that larry weinberg would give me a window into that kind of opportunity and allow me in a really small way as a young congressman to be part of what his life was always about, which is building bridges. so i'm going to close this way,

mr. president. i think some of my colleagues are going to speak about larry as well. when the jewish people really want to compliment somebody and say somebody's really special and has exceptional character, what we say is that person's a mench. i'm here to tell the senate today is my friend larry weinberg, who we lost just a few days ago, was really a super mench, a person of enormous integrity, descent at his -- decent at his core. and i just want to say larry and his wife barbie were the essence

of rip city pride. he was a soft-spoken guy but he was portland's loudest fan. and tonight i want to say to his family and friends, all seeming 100 million of them, i just want to say that we are always going to remember larry weinberg with great fondness, appreciation for his enormous contributions to our city and all that he had did during his lifetime to be in that bridge building business, for working to affect the world for tikkun olam.

we willle always have -- larry weinberg will always be in our heart. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

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mr. cardin: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. officer without objection. mr. cardin: mr. president, in a few moments, i'm going to yield the floor to senator kaine, to make a unanimous consent request that has been cleared by both sides. and i'm very pleased about that. this is in regards to s. 24, legislation that i have filed with several of my colleagues.

i particularly want to thank senator kaine but i also want to thank senator van hollen and senator mark warner for their work as well as senator collins and others in this body that have cosponsored that legislation. it is legislation very similar to what we passed in the last hours of the 115th congress by unanimous consent. it does what i think all of us have said we want to make sure is done, and that is that when we reopen government, those who have been working without pay and those that are on furlough without pay will get their back pay. now, that's, i think it at least some assurance to our workforce, our government workforce, that with when we finally reopen government, they know they'll be getting their paychecks. i think that's a very important point to give them at least that comfort.

i don't want to minimize the risk factors that we have to the 800,000 federal workers who are not getting their paychecks. just today i got a letter from a constituent -- and i'm just going to read it very briefly. as an air traffic controller and a maryland constituent, i want you to know how the partial government shutdown is affecting me and my family. today i received my earnings and leave statement from the department of transportation indicating i received zero for my last two weeks of working at the f.a.a. washington en route control center in leesburg, virginia. i have proudly gone to work for this job that i love and have always maintained the highest level of same. my husband brad starkey is also a controller with me at the washington center and his earnings and leave statement was for $1.34. we cannot sustain our financial obligations on a total of $1.34

for our last two weeks of work. we recently were able to build a new house to try to start a family and we still have increased financial obligations because of that and all that entails. in addition, my family, my brother-in-law and fare have minimal in fact and we are supporting them. my father is 69 years old and currently has an enlarged hernia that requires an operation. he has no health insurance and no income. he lives in a nursing home and is on even more medication now. the letter goes on and on and on about how this family is being adversely affected. it ends by saying, end this shutdown now. i couldn't agree more, and i would urge our colleagues hopefully in the next couple days, let us -- i hope even before that -- to end the

shutdown, but at least as a result of the unanimous consent request that will be made very shortly, which has cleared both sides, we can at least tell them that the pay is coming. i see the distinguished majority leader is here. we had some words earlier. i want to thank the majority leader for accommodating this unanimous consent. it is consistent with what the majority leader has said in the past, that we would make sure that our workers would get paid when the government is open. and i would yield the floor. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i had an opportunity to talk to president trump a few moments ago and wanted to indicate to our colleagues that he will sign the bill that we've been discussing here to guarantee that government workers who've been displaced as a result of the shutdown will ultimately be compensated. and so i want to ease their anxiety about that particular possibility. and with that in mind, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate

consideration of calendar number 3, s. 24. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 3, s. 24, a bill to provide for the compensation of federal and other government employees affected by lapses in appropriations. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. the senate will proceed. mr. mcconnell: i know of no further debate on the 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 is passed. mr. mcconnell: i further ask the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kaine: mr. president, just briefly, i want to extend my gratitude to the majority leader for work, with us on this -- for working with us on this matter. i alerted both caucuses

yesterday that i object to adjourning for the weekend on the basis that more than 800,000 employees will stop getting paid tomorrow. also on saturday, the shutdown will achieve the dubious distinction of being the longest in the history of the united states. so yesterday i alerted both caucuses that my plan was to object to an adjournment. i filed that objection. the majority leader then engaged in discussion together with the minority leader and others about is there something we can do to send a message to these people, many of whom are under very dire circumstances -- and they've written me, too, about postponing medical procedures and not buying medications for their kids -- is there something that we can do that can send them some message of comfort that they will receive their paychecks, if not tomorrow, but they will be made whole? and over the course of the after noon as we've talked about it, we thought the best message that

we could send -- and i'm glad that able to send it by voice vote from this body -- is that they will be paid. when we reopen shall they will be paid. that is not the same comfort as getting the paycheck. it is not the same thing as knowing when the shutdown will be over and when they can go back to try to keep serving american citizens. but having the certainty that it will be paid is something that we can do for these people. i think we can send a little bit of a significant that will but we're going to be there for them and they can count ton a paycheck. with that, i thank my completion for without objectioning together on this. i yield the floor. :

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator for alaska. mr. sullivan: mr. president, i'm glad i had the opportunity to vote with my colleagues, the majority leader, my colleagues from virginia and maryland on the bill we just passed here on the senate floor to ensure the back pay for federal workers who are without pay, or will be without pay. i hope we can get to a resolution soon on this partial government shutdown that gets

all elements of the government open and fully funds the border in the significant amounts requested by the white house that i think most americans, most alaskans need. and want. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the next section of my remarks appear in a different section, separate section in the "congressional record." the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sullivan: mr. president, i hope that you and all the pages here -- we have some new pages and the staff here, everybody had a great holiday season. everybody listening back home, watching back home in alaska or around the country also had a wonderful holiday. i certainly did. it's always great to be home in my state, spending time with family and my wife, my daughters, with friends, which to me is the greatest state in the greatest country in the world.

mr. president, winter is a special time in alaska. the sun may be low, or in some places it may not rise above the horizon at all. but there's a certain glow that comes with the snow. with that glow and the northern lights dancing in the sky, particularly in the interior, a place i'm going to talk about here in a minute, it's magical. so we want to ensure anyone watching, come on up to alaska, you're going to have the trip of a lifetime. mr. president, as i've said so many times on the floor of the u.s. senate, it's the people that make my state so special. tough, hardy, resilient people who have lived some of the most amazing, meaningful, purposeful lives, who have the wisdom and the character, the toughness and, yes, even the scars to prove it. stories of character, stories of lives well traveled, lives

well lived abound in my state. last saturday in the great city of fairbanks, alaska, i had the great opportunity and honor to attend the 100th birthday party -- i'm looking at the pages who all just said wow, the 100th birthday party of a legends in alaska, a man certainly of great stories, but also of heart, of patriotism, of everything that makes alaska and america great. as you know, mr. president, i come down to the floor nearly every week while we're in session to honor someone that i refer to as the alaskan of the week, someone who makes our state and our country very special. and i want america right now, if you're watching on c-span, in the gallery, the press, i want you to meet irving

raehorn, alaskan of the week, husband, father, a developer, a builder, hunting guy, just to name a few of his defining characters. irving has lived a dozen lives all in only one century. 100 years old. he helped save america and he helped build alaska. saved this great nation of ours and build one of our greatest states, and he's our alaskan of the week. and i believe he may even be watching in fairbanks. i hope you are, irving, in the pioneer home there, maybe with some of the laundry house gang members, maybe even my father-in-law, bud, craig. i hope you'll awr watching righg

right now. irvine has had such a full life that it's hard to know where to start. 100 years. let me give you some of the highlights. he was born on january 7, 1919, the day after teddy roosevelt died, in iron mountain, michigan. he grew up during the height of the depression, but irving recently told a reporter with the "fairbanks daily news" the depression for him and his family wasn't that bad. his family hunted, they grew his own food, they worked hard. he said, quote, we had a garden and we had 100 rabbits. and in many ways that's how they got through the depression. he began to get interested in airplanes and in flying, and when he was just 15 years old, he took his first solo flight. 15, solo flight, and he was

forever hooked. he was also hooked on the love of his life, whom he met when he was 21 years old. vienna, vie everyone called her, and they got married in 1940. in 1943, urban joined the u.s. military during world war ii. the army air corps, and flew bombers in north africa and italy. from italy, we would fly bombing missions into southern germany, austria, romania, wherever they needed us. dozens of bombing combat missions. and what did he fly? appropriately, urban rahoi flew the b-17, also known as the flying fortress. those airplanes stayed in the air even after some of the toughest battle, some of the most vicious flak, tough as can

be, just like urban. again, b-17 pilot, world war ii, part of the greatest generation that saved america, saved this institution, among others, the united states senate. and eventually, mr. president, as it does, a certain kind of adventurous person, urban heard the call of alaska, and he flew to the state in a pa-12 cub. he and vie homesteaded near the richardson highway and began to make a life for themselves in alaska, and what a rich life it was. they began a family eventually having three children, rick, eugene and holly. urban also stayed active in the military. as a member of the air force reserves, 449th fighter squadron in alaska. he commanded the c-47 squadron and copilotted several historic

military aircraft, including the north american f-82 twin mustang, the lockheed f-94 star fire and the northrop f-89 scorpion. this is a great pilot for america. he began offering private flying services, and he also built two areas in terms of developments. together they made up these trailer parks, 172 lots. urban designed the development of these areas, installed all of the electrical lines, the water lines, the septic system, all himself. think about that. what american can do that today? he also built a lodge in the rangel national park and preserve. and if that wasn't enough, mr. president, he became a big

game god in alaska, running a successful -- big game guide in alaska. he built a lake lodge in a national park and preserving. -- preserve. when alaska became a state, guides were required to become registered and they had registration numbers. urban rahoi was issued big game alaska state guide license number 1. number 1, the first. all told during his career as a pilot, he racked up an incredible 20,000 hours of flying. 20,000 hours of flying. that's probably older than some of you pages. he's seen so much. nearly every part of alaska. if someone's there, i've been

there he said recently on all the flights he's taken to all over the great state of alaska. in 2012, the f.a.a. presented urban with the wright brothers master pilot award. here's what the f.a.a. wrote: quote, urban has used his skill as an aviator to train airmen, fight a war for america, and maintain the safety standard in commercial aviation. he has rescued people in trouble and supplied people in bush alaska with the necessities of life. he has contributed to the state of alaska and provided many people a chance to see the beautiful wildlife and scenery of the great state of alaska we all love, unquote. mr. president, the party for

urban's 100th birthday last saturday in fairbanks was so reflective of the impact that he has had on his state, his community in fairbanks and, of course, his country. now, fairbanks is a tough, tough place. i love fairbanks. fairbanks has been experiencing a bit of a cold snap. last saturday at urban's 100th birthday party it was 30 below zero in fairbanks. dangerous temperature for some but not for the people of interior alaska who deal with that on a regular basis. and despite 30 below temperatures, hundreds of people from the interior of alaska and beyond from all walks of life were there at the pioneer park centennial center to honor this legend, this great alaskan and this great

american. family, friends, we even had a special guest. the football fans watching know him very well. former miami dolphins football player and hall of fameer larry zonka was there to celebrate urban's birthday. he had been sheep hunting at urban's lodge and the two remained close friends. one of urban's goals is to be the first 100-year-old to participate in a snow machine race in fairbanks, a race that urban rides in every year. and larry gave him an autographed miami dolphins football helmet to wear as the helmet when urban participates in this race this year. there was a life-sized cake with 100 candles, a slide show of

pictures of urban and vie at different phases of their lives, so many adventures. world war ii, alaska as a state. so much love, so much life, so many people celebrating this great american. mr. president, i had the opportunity to talk a little bit about urban at the birthday party last saturday in fairbanks, and i mentioned here is a man who had so many qualities, patriotism, service, sacrifice, perseverance, and, yes, even tougher than larry zonka. for the football fans watching know that there are not many people in america who are tougher than csonka. urban is and csonka acknowledged this. the one person missing from this great celebration was his beloved wife who passed in urban's arms on january 3,

2010, three days before their 70th wedding anniversary. she was 92 years old. vie's memory lives on in her three children, seven grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild and her memory lives on in urban's heart. at the ceremony my good friend who put it together, craig compo was the emcee of this wonderful birthday party, and he interviewed urban and towards the end of it he asked him what the secret for such a long life was -- 100-year-old. urban said it could be summed up in two words, my wife. now, isn't that beautiful,

america? isn't that beautiful? what a great man. what a great life. so, urban, here's to flying here, living well, here's to the state and the country we all, you, love so much. here's to being part of the greatest generation that saved america and built alaska and here's to the example you set for all of us whether u.s. senators, whether pages, 100 years old, service to your country, dedication to your wife. thanks for all you've done. thanks for all you've done to protect and defend this great nation to build our great state. and thank you, urban, for being our alaskan of the week. from the floor of the u.s.

senate, happy 100th birthday. mr. president, i yield the floor.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to 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 senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 15, submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 15, commending the clemson university tigers football team for winning the 2019 college

football playoff national championship. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the he resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. res. 16, submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 16, relative to the death of john chester culver, former united states senator, for the state of iowa. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the appointments at the desk appear separately in the record as if made by the chair.

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i understand there's a bill at the desk. i ask for its first reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the first time. the clerk: s. 109, a bill to prohibit taxpayer-funded abortions. mr. mcconnell: i now ask for a second reading and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule 14, i object to my own request. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the bill will receive reading on the next legislative day. mr. mcconnell: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m., friday, january 11, further, following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. finally, following leader remarks the senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to s. 1. the presiding officer: without

objection. mr. mcconnell: if there's no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under -- under the previous order s. 16 for former senator john cull ver. the presiding officer: under the previous order, and pursuant to resolution 16, the senate stands adjourned until friday, jan 9, and does so as a further respect