they don't think the vaping are using e cigarettes but think they are [inaudible] >> at 9:50 the ceo of jewel labs a manufacturer of e cigarettes spirit we don't want any underage consumers using this product and we need to work together to make sure that no underage consumers use this product. it's terrible for our business and terrible for public health and terrible for our reputation. now this is good stuff. >> watch tonight on c-span, online on c-span .org or listen wherever you are with the pre- c-span radio app. >> a live look at the u.s. capitol where the u.s. senate is about to gavel in for business. senate members to date will debate three beetle override resolutions regarding the blocking of certain arms sales to saudi arabia and the united

arab emirates. lawmakers will vote at 5:30 p.m. eastern to override those vetoes. two thirds of the senators must approve. now to live coverage of the u.s. senate here on c-span2. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray.

eternal god, the same yesterday, today, and forever, keep our lawmakers strong, patient, and true. give them the wisdom to be just and reasonable as they do your will on earth. lord, teach them how to conduct themselves in contentious situations, as they seek to glorify your name. bless them in all they do. may they remember your promise to always to be with them, inspiring them to live in harmony, peace, and love. lord, give them the creativity needed to build a better nation

and world. we pray in your great name. amen. the president pro tempore: please follow me in the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

mr. grassley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i ask to speak in morning business for 30 seconds. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: there's a bad practice in pharmaceutical pricing called spread pricing. spread pricing has historically siphoned money from the state medicaid programs and given it to pharmacy benefit managers or something that goes around here we call p.v.m.'s. drug payments and medicaid should focus on the beneficiary, not the p.v.m. the bipartisan prescription drug legislation i introduced this month with senator wyden bans spread pricing. this will refocus the system on paying for costs associated with prescribing a drug instead of gaming the system to reap a profit at the expense of the

taxpayers. medicaid funding should go to patients, not to the pockets of health care middle men. i yield the floor. thank you. mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i'd like to welcome all members back to the senate for a busy week, but first there is something i need to address. over the last several days i was called unpatriotic, un-american , and essentially treasonous by a couple of left-wing pundits on the basis of bold-faced lies. i was accused of aiding and abetting the very man i've singled out as an adversary and opposed for nearly 20 years, vladimir putin. this was less than 24 hours after the outrage industrial complex was disappointed yet again by special counsel

mueller. partisan democrats and their media allies were crushed a few months ago when mueller's report cleared the president of conspiring with russia during the 2016 campaign. and now their frantic hyping of the special counsel's congressional testimony has fallen flat once again. but the conspiracy theories and reckless accusations had to continue. too many people had invested too much time in the hysterical echo chamber to simply wind it down and join the rest of us in the real world. the outrage storm system complex needed a new target -- the outrage industrial complex needed a new target, and that's where i come in. mitch mcconnell, the hawkish foreign policy conservative who spent decades pushing back on russia every way i can think of was accused to what amounts to

treason by multiple media outlets within a couple of hours. these absurd smears weren't thrown out there by anonymous twitter accounts or fringe bloggers. oh no, this modern-day mccarthyism was pushed by big-time outlets. the smear that i am, quote, a russian asset ran in the opinion pages of "the washington post." the accusation that i am, quote, un-american was broadcast on msnbc. this is the state, mr. president, of left-wing politics in 2019. it's like an inflationary crisis but with outrage instead of dollars. these people have worn out the volume knob so badly that they have nothing left but the most unhinged smears. welcome to modern-day

mccarthyism. mccarthy liked tactics out in the open for everyone to see. in dana milbank's column in "the washington post" and on msnbc, so what started this? here is my crime, bless me for i have sinned. here it is. last week i stopped democrats from passing an election law bill through the senate by unanimous consent, a bill that was so partisan that it only received one republican vote over in the house. my democratic friends asked for unanimous consent to pass a bill that everyone knows isn't unanimous and never will be unanimous. so i objected. these theatrical requests happen all the time here in the senate. i promised that nobody involved, including my friend,

the democratic leader, who made the request, actually thought he'd get a republican senate to instantly unanimously pass a bill that got one republican vote over in the house. this kind of objection is a routine occurrence here in the senate. it doesn't make republicans traitors or un-american. it makes us policymakers with a different opinion. but the outrage industrial complex doesn't let a little thing like reality get in their way. they saw the perfect opportunity to distort and tell lies and fuel the flames of partisan hatred, and so they did. it started with the angry lies on msnbc. the host lied and said that i've dismissed russian interference in our 2016 election as, quote, a hoax. of course i've never said any

such thing, ever. i've spoken extensively and often by russia's unacceptable interference in 2016. i've constantly discussed all we've been doing to correct the obama administration's failures to respond more assertively to the russian threat, including on election security. so, mr. president, let me make this crystal clear for the hyperventilating hacks who haven't actually followed this issue. every single member of the senate agrees that russian meddling was real and is real. we all agree that the federal government, state governments and the private sector all have obligations to take this threat seriously and bolster our defenses. claims to the contrary, claims that anybody here denies what russia did on president obama's wash -- watch are just lies. not partisan distortion, not clever spin.

just total fabrications. now at least this show is honest about what it offers and it isn't journalism. immediately after the host finished his angry string of false claims and called me un-american, another panelist shined in to applaud the remarks, and here's what he said, quote, we're at war. it's time for the democrats to wake up, and we're not necessarily going to play fair. not necessarily going to play fair. well, i should say not, mr. president. let's remember how deep msnbc waded into the conspiratorial fever swamp over the past two years. they gave air time to individuals like one guest who has publicly tweeted, among other things, that a former white house advisor was close to being executed for espionage and that chief justice roberts had sent the marshal of the supreme court to the white house to threaten the president.

utter nonsense. they hosted these kinds of conspiratorial voices. just a few days ago one former host at the network pointed out, quote, msnbc built segment after segment, show after show on building anticipation for a big reveal. but then the mueller report took some of their most unhinged stories right off the table. and then just last week a special counsel's in-person testimony disappointed the political left yet again. so the conspiracy theories needed a new target. a few hours later came "the washington post" column. it was authored by dana milbank, a pundit who spent much of the obama administration carrying water for its failed

foreign policies and excusing president obama's weakness on russia. here's the headline -- mitch mcconnell is a russian asset. a shameful smear, and based on more lies. mr. milbank repeatedly claims that i blocked all efforts to raise our defenses against russian meddling. the truth is that i've championed the coordinated work between congress, the administration, and the states which are primarily responsible for our elections. and the senate has passed several major provisions on this subject this year. and i've spoken frequently on the floor about the need to keep up the progress and to stay vigilant. what's more, one of the specific pieces of legislation he claims i have blocked is something i literally have never

opposed. his online column links directly to a bill, and it's something i've never opposed. you'd think a columnist leveling these kinds of smears would at least consult a fact-checker before accusing an elected official of aiding and abetting vladimir putin. but alas, it's not even a competent hit piece. just sloppy work. now ironically mr. milbank has frequently written pieces lecturing republicans who he feels have impugned others' patriotism. back in 2013, the same guy wrote a piece insisting that, quote, in america, a political

opponent ?opt -- opponent is not the enemy. in 2015, he criticized nutters for questioning the president's patriotism and said such beyond the pale rhetoric had to be thrown out to criticize debate. they become choirboys calling for civility and decency and high-mindedness but when it's time to smear somebody on the other side, they're delighted to lead the charge. as recently as 2017, this very columnist wrote, quote, let's pause to remember we're all the american people and we all love our country, end quote. as all of our colleagues know, i've spoken at length about

russia's attack on american democracy. i worked to ensure congress sent hundreds of millions of dollars to the states to improve their defenses and applauded the whole of government effort that the administration continues to carry out with states and localities. it may not sell any newspapers, boost ratings, or help with democratic fundraising, but the facts are the facts. and the facts are that this administration's made huge strides, huge on election security since 2016. they have made a noticeable impact in securing the 2018 election and are vigilant and proactive as we head into 2020. a few weeks ago, every senator had the opportunity to attend a classified briefing that i helped organize detailing major work that has been under way since 2016. i have been in a lot of

classified briefings over the years. it's not exactly common for members to break out in spontaneous applause, let alone bipartisan applause, but that's exactly what happened.in that classified briefing. behind closed doors, democrats joined republicans in applauding the progress made since 2016. this administration, thanks in large part to our friend and former colleague, dan coats, who i was very sorry to hear is stepping down, has increased and improved our intelligence collection on these threats. it has built better and more functional relationships with state election authorities. it has enlisted more help from the private sector to identify and counter foreign influence campaigns. it has worked more closely with foreign allies and partners who face similar threats from russia. it has imposed real costs on russia for its misdeeds and cut

down on the ability of russian intelligence to operate inside our country. in particular, the department of homeland security has deployed special capabilities in all 50 states for detecting maligned cyber activity. it's deployed cybersecurity advisors all across our country. it operates a national cybersecurity and communications integration center and supports an election infrastructure information sharing and analysis center. among its many offerings to the states, d.h.s. offers cybersecurity assessments, detection, and prevention tools, training, and career development for election officials, all free of charge. and using the hundreds of millions of dollars congress sent to the states, which i proudly voted for and supported, the authorities who actually conduct our elections on the front lines have gotten themselves better prepared. this is a long list of

significant achievements, achievements that my democratic colleagues applauded and cheered behind closed doors when the administration briefed us a few weeks ago. but in public? in public? in front of the cameras? some of my colleagues quickly pivoted right back into hysterical accusations that only fan the flames of this modern-day mccarthyism. these pundits are lying, lying when they dismiss the work that has been done. they're lying when they insist i have personally blocked actions which, in fact, i have championed and the senate has passed. they are lying when they suggest that either party is against defending our democracy. this work is essential, and it will continue. over two years ago, i asked

chairman burr and the intelligence committee to take a hard look at all aspects of the russian threat in 2016 and the steps the obama administration took or failed to take to defend against it. it was a headline, december, 2016, from msnbc, mcconnell backs senate investigation of russian hacking. we wanted a serious, detailed investigation, not a political side show. i'm impressed and grateful for the nonpartisan work of the committee staff under the leadership of chairman burr and vice chairman warner. the committee's reports on the various aspects of the threat are now being released. they will add vital context and analysis and inform what to do about this ongoing threat. i'm sure all of us will be open to discussing further steps congress, the executive branch, the states, and the private sector might take to defend our

elections against foreign interference. any further legislation must be informed by this detailed report and by all the steps to government -- the government has already taken. already taken. at the same time, mr. president, you can be sure that i have spoken out against democrats' efforts to seize on the crisis and use it to advance their other long-held partisan goals for the political process. some of these changes they have sought since long before the 2016 meddling, long before it. so no, i'm not going to let democrats and their water carriers in the media use russia's attack on our democracy as a trojan horse for partisan wish list items that would not actually make our elections any safer. i'm not going to do that. my opposition to nationalizing election authorities that

properly belong with the states is not news to anybody who has followed my career or knows anything about congress. even "the new york times" editorial board noted over the weekend that while they certainly don't agree with all my views, they are principles going back decades. and the "times" had to admit the democrats are, quote, playing politics, end quote, by introducing legislation with -- listen to this -- no chance of passing the senate that serves only to harden partisan divisions. that's "the new york times" this weekend. so, mr. president, my differences with democrats on complicated matters of election law are the kind of disagreements we used to be able to have without mainstream media outlets screaming that one side is traitorous. this congress, this entire country only works when we refuse to let baseless smears

displace real debate. benjamin franklin said we have this republic if we can keep it, and among other things, keeping our republic means we can't let modern-day mccarthyism win. so here is my commitment. no matter how much they lie, no matter how much they bully, i will not be intimidated. for decades, i have used my senate seat to stand up to russia and protect the united states of america. i'm proud of my effort. i'm proud that it's right there in black and white, and liars cannot gaslight it away. in the 1980's, as a freshman senator, i proudly stood with president reagan on missile defense and other aspects of his soviet policy. while the liberal media was shreiking, that reagan-bush

foreign policy wouldn't work, i was honored to give my vote and watch communism crumble. in the 1990's, i used my place on the state foreign ops subcommittee to sound the alarm when president clinton was too soft on russia. here's "the wall street journal" december, 1994. kentucky senator handed keys to foreign aid to be the most potent foe of clinton's russia policy. here's what that article said. the real challenge to the administration's policy is mcconnell's plan to attach stiff political conditions to that aid, threatening a cutoff unless russia stops meddling in its neighbors' affairs. so let me say that again. as early as the 1990's, i was on record as laser-focused on russia's meddling beyond its borders and making sure the

russians were held accountable. mr. president, i ask consent this article be placed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: on the other end of the clinton administration, i used hearings to grill democratic officials who were soft on president yeltsin and optimistic about president-elect putin. i didn't share democrats' faith that putin would be our friend. i ask consent that two excerpts of my committee statement from april 4, 2,000, calling for a tougher stance on russia's foreign meddling and expressing skepticism about putin -- vladimir putin appear at this point. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: regardless of who was in the white house, regardless of the way the political winds were blowing, i have consistently treated russia like the threat that it is. even under a republican administration, i spoke out when i was afraid the u.s. wasn't doing enough to stop the erosion of democracy and rule of law in russia. a conference report that i

co-authored in december, 2003, stated the managers remain gravely concerned with the deterioration and systematic dismantling of democracy and the rule of law in russia. we push president bush's administration, a republican administration to do more. and of course i helped lead the charge against the obama administration's completely feckless russia policies. president obama mocked his 2012 opponent for taking russia too seriously. his administration sought a naive reset with the calendar number, and for -- with the kremlin, and for eight years, i helped lead the charge with that weakness. in 2010, i stood with john mccain and jon kyl to oppose the new start treaty, a watered down place holder for the tough stance we knew was necessary. as vladimir putin was building up his missile arsenal, we even had to push president obama to

commit to deploying capable missile defenses to europe. in 2012, i supported sweeping legislation to authorize heavy sanctions following the killing of sergei magnitsky in a russian prison. the obama administration flinched and tried to tiptoe around our legislation to avoid messing up their charm offensive, but we backed them into a corner and the president signed the bill into law. in 2014, i and other republicans constantly pressed president obama to get tougher on russia with respect to putin's aggression in ukraine. so, mr. president, i would ask consent that the news article dated march 4, 2014, entitled mcconnell, obama's passive foreign policy is a mistake, appear in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: and since 2017, i have continued reminding everyone that putin is not our friend, that russia is going to continue trying to meddle, that we need a comprehensive strategy to contest russian aggression, that alliances like nato are

critical for standing up to our adversaries. so once more, for good measure, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the news article dated august 15, 2018, entitled u.s. senate top republican likens russia to old soviet union, be included in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: so, mr. president, i don't normally take the time to respond to critics in the media when they have no clue what they're talking about, but this modern-day mccarthyism is toxic and damaging because of the way it warps our entire public discourse. facts matter. details matter. history matters. and if our nation is losing its ability to debate public policy without screaming about treason, that really matters. in the middle of the 20th century, the original

mccarthyism hurt america's strength and diminished our standing in a cold war by dividing us against ourselves and letting lives, innuendo, and baseless accusations crowd out reasonable politics. the frenetic politicized witch hunt distracted from legitimate efforts to contest the soviet union, including more sober efforts to root out real soviet agents in our midst. in short, mccarthyism did the russians' work for them. mccarthyism did the work for the russians. now, here we are in 2019. again, putin and the russians seek to provoke fear and division in our country. to undermine faith in our institutions, to exacerbate our political differences until we

tear ourselves apart. and once again, it seems there are some who blindly take the bait. american pundits calling on american -- calling an american official treasonous because of a policy disagreement. if anything is an asset to the russians, it is disgusting behavior like that..

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to calendar number 165, h.r. 3877. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to

calendar number 165, h.r. 3877, and act -- an act to amend the emergency budget control act. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk for the motion to proceed. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22, do hereby bring to a close debate on the motion to proceed to h.r. 3877, a bill to amend the balanced budget and emergency deficit control act of 1985, and so forth and for other purposes, signed by 17 senators. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 402. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the

nomination. the clerk: nomination, department of state, kelly kraft, of kentucky, to be representative of the united states of america to the united nations. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22, do hereby bring to a close debate on the nomination of, kelly kraft, of kentucky, to be the representative of the united states of america to the united nations, signed by 17 senators. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: moab. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative association. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 394. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. those opposed, no.

the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, department of defense, david l. norquist, to be deputy secretary. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22, do hereby bring to a close debate on, the nomination of david l. norquist, of virginia, to be deputy secretary of defense. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the senate resume consideration of the veto messages as under the previous order. the presiding officer: without objection, morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to the consideration of the veto messages to accompany s.j. res.

36, 37, and 38, which the clerk will report. the clerk: veto message to accompany s.j. res. 36, joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval of the proposed transfer to the kingdom of the saudi arabia and so forth. veto message to accompany s.j. res. 37, joint resolution providing for proposed export to the united arab emirates. veto message to accompany s.j. res. 37, joint resolution providing for disapproval for the proposed kingdom of saudi arabia and so forth. mr. brown: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. i just listened with interest to the remarks of the majority leader and his recounting of history, his very defensive remarks based on an attack from -- i guess an attack from

some journalist, but i -- the majority leader, and i say liberally using words like mccarthy and mccarthyism and liar and how he proudly stood up to the soviet union in the days -- i guess in the wake of bress -- of the past. mr. president, you don't need x-ray vision to know about the discussion the majority leader launched. this week the director of national security resigned in frustration -- frustration that his boss, the president of the united states, has chosen to believe russia instead of his own intelligence officials. that one of the -- in one of the most embarrassing moments of my lifetime when the president of the united states stood next to the dictator of russia that he believed in putin and not in his

own intelligence officials and the consensus of his intelligence officials when it comes to influencing our elections -- our 2016 elections. so i hear the -- the majority leader has an acute sense of history and his place in it. i'm hopeful that the majority leader, using his knowledge of history, understands the influence that russia continues to have in our country and on our elections in this body, actually address that instead of denying -- denying the obvious. mr. president, i ask that the ensuing remarks be placed in a different place in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: america is in the middle of a public health crisis. in my state 14 people day on average every single day due to drug overdose. the numbers are not much better in the other states.

we know that addiction starts in the family medicine cabinet, the drug companies are eager to push the drugs on the american people. but the evidence we is have seen in the past couple of weeks is staggering. new data released this month revealed that drug companies flood the country with oxycodone pills -- 76 billion pills in a nation of slightly more than 23 million people. enough to supply every person in the united states with 36 pills every one of those years from 2006 to 2012. this evidence makes clear these companies, these corporations knew exactly what they were doing. one wholesale drug distributor in ohio wrote an e-mail that the opioid pills were flying out of there. it's like people are addicted to these things or something. oh, wait, people are.

can you believe that. he acknowledged they are addictive and joked about it. if it's not bad enough, the drug company responded, just like doritos, we'll make more. they push their drugs on the american people to line their own pockets. the costs of other lives be damnedded. if that wasn't bad enough, these corporations can write off the cost of advertising these drugs on their taxes. in other words, all of us as taxpayers subsidize this drug company advertising. all the years that big pharma was pushing more and more opioids in the country, selling them ad after ad, they were getting a tax break to do it. does this body do anything about it? of course not. i introduced an amendment in the finance committee markup last week based on my legislation with senator shaheen to end

taxpayer subsidies for big pharma's drug ads. we shouldn't be giving tax breaks to big pharma to sell its drugs, period. there are a lot of other ideas that many of us have to crack down on these companies and limit their purr to push drugs on people. senator hassan filed legislation to increase twrans partners on -- trarns partners in these -- transparency in these drug companies. they have grassroots organizations, groups made up of ordinary zens -- citizens. people have a right to know if the groups pushing drugs -- groups pushing drugs on them are actually bought and paid for by those pharmaceutical companies. the opioid addiction crisis is one of the greatest public health emergencies of our lifetimes. it's crystal clear big pharma purposely -- big pharma deliberately helped to cause it

and the federal government gave them tax breaks and continued to give them tax breaks to do it. we need to hold these corporations accountable. we need to make sure they never again have the unchecked power to push addictive drugs or any other drugs on the american people just to line their executive's pockets. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, yesterday president trump announced that after nearly two and a half years of dedicated service, our former senate colleague, dan coats, will be stepping down from his post as director of national intelligence. director coats has led the intelligence community during a

turbulent time for our country, and with our country continuing to face persistent threats from rogue and hostile states, as well as the ongoing war against terror, he's done a magnificent job, and one that deserves all the accolades we could possibly bestow upon him. we know he entered the job on the tail of a blatant attempt by the russian government to interfere with our nation's elections, and he made it a top priority to ensure that the american people could cast a vote with confidence in 2018 and beyond. and i just happened to come in the chamber, mr. president, when the senator from ohio was continuing to question the majority leader's commitment to election integrity, and i must say that it's ironic to me that the russian interference with the 2016 election was by and large met with inaction, really

nothing that the obama administration did even though they knew it was ongoing as early as the summer of 2016. and the truth is, as a result of this administration and this congress's efforts, the 2018 election were essentially interference free, and that's because of tremendous actions being taken by the department of homeland security to work with our partners in the state election systems, to provide censors that can identify attempts to hack into the systems as well as state officials moving to paper ballots and the like. we have been more aggressive of attacking the cyber threats at their source, while that is classified, suffice i had to say if we it repeat what happened in

2018 and 2020, americans can be confident that their vote will be cast and counted as it should be. that's not to suggest for a moment that we shouldn't remain vigilant because we know that the russian federation is going to try to sew discord and cause us to question our own institutions. they are very good at it. they've been doing it a long time, but,000 they have additional tools like social media and propaganda as well as the complicity of the mainstream media and writing unverified and unsourced stories that contribute more and more to this atmosphere in which we currently live. but let me talk again about director coats because his remarkable career as a public servant included time as a congressman, ambassador to germany, united states senator twice, and director of national

intelligence. i personally -- i know i speak for others in this chamber in saying we're grateful for dan coats' dedicated service to our country and i'm honored to be one of those who can call him a friend. i wish dan and his wife marsha the best in whatever the next chapter in their life brings hopefully starting with a well-served vacation. i was pleased to see that there is a worthy successor with john ratcliffe. he has served the people of texas' fourth district in congress. prior to that he served with distinction as a united states attorney, with cases that spanned many different issues. mr. ratcliffe is a member of the judiciary committee, a pretty good for fellow for the next director of national intelligence. he understands the threats

facing our country and the challenges that lie ahead. i'm confident he will continue director coats' strong leadership as a nonpartisan strong leader for the intelligence community. sadly we can already begin to see our democratic colleagues beginning to play their partisan games by threatening to defeat this nomination at the expense of the safety of the american people. this position is simply too important to the security of our nation to be bogged down in partisan politics, mr. president. since the job was created, every single director has been confirmed by an overwhelming bipartisan vote. in fact, none of these men received the support of fewer than 85 senators. this one should be no different. and i look forward to the president formally nominated john ratcliffe to be the next director of national intelligence. mr. president, on another

matter, during the first two years of the trump administration, the list of vacancies across the federal government was a long one, particularly on the federal bench. the administration worked swiftly to find well-qualified nominees who were eager to serve our country and our federal judiciary. once those nominees were submitted to the senate, committee chairmen quickly held confirmation hearings and advanced the vast majority of those nominees to the floor. but from there the process came to a screeching halt. our colleagues on the other side pulled every trick in the book to bog down and slow down the nominations process. for no other purpose than delay, they forced cloture votes on nominees who had broad bipartisan support, many of whom were eventually confirmed without a single senator voting against them. our democratic colleagues didn't do this because these men and women were unqualified or

otherwise controversial. but they did so because they were willing to do whatever it took to stymie president trump and his administration and bring the work of this body to a crawl. the list of vacancies kept growing longer and longer until earlier this year we were forced to pass a modest rule change that has fortunately broken the logjam and allowed us to fill these critical positions. as the majority leader likes to say, we're now making serious headway in the personnel business. the number of vacancies has gotten smaller and the list of public servants who are now on the job keeps getting longer. last week we added more names to that impressive list. we confirmed two district judges, the inspector general for the department of homeland security and both the administrator and deputy administrator of the federal aviation administration. in addition we approved two leaders whose experience will provide needed stability and leadership at the pentagon.

after nearly four months -- excuse me, seven months with an acting secretary of defense mike esper has now finally been confirmed for the position as secretary of defense on a permanent basis. throughout his career secretary esper has demonstrated integrity, sound judgment, and unabashed patriotism. i saw those qualities when i met with him most recently a few weeks ago and we had the chance to speak about some of the most pressing global threats we were facing as a nation today. secretary esper received broad bipartisan support with 90 senators voting for him. and i'm glad he's now on the job leading america's national security. we also confirmed another important senior department of defense official last week, general mark milley was resoundingly confirmed to be chairman of the joint chiefs of staff with only one senator voting against him. i can't think of anyone more

prepared for the job than general milley, a former army ranger and green berets. he has a remarkable military resume including as commander officer of three corps at fort hood, texas, where i first got to know him years ago. i know he and secretary esper will continue to have a strong working relationship and i look forward to continuing to work with both of them in their new roles. this week we intend to keep our progress on nominations going strong and we have seven sx district -- texas district judge nominees on the docket, seven. among those well qualified nominees is a former army paratrooper and marine j.a.g. officer, former and current intermediate court judges, federal and state prosecutors, and a texas supreme court justice, a job i once held. they've all proudly served the lone star state in a variety of

capacities, and i'm again impressed by the outstanding nominees that the president has recruited to fill these important judicial vacancies. when these nominees are confirmed, we will finally break down two barriers in the texas district courts. ada brown will be the first african american woman to sit in the northern district of texas and jason pullman will be the first african american in the western district of texas. each of these nominees has shown their legal acumen, clear judgment, and unwavering commitment to the rule of law and i look forward to voting for their nominations later this week. in addition to confirming these texans and a dozen other district judges, the senate will confirm a critical cabinet level position in the administration. when niki haley announced that after two years of dedicated service as ambassador to the united nations at the end of last year, we knew it would leave a major hole in that organization. but the president didn't have to

look far to find a well qualified nominee. two years ago the senate unanimously confirmed kelly knight craft to serve as the u.s. ambassador to canada. looking back on that two years now, it's safe to say it's been a dynamic time during our relationship with our neighbor to the north, a fact that made ambassador craft's job all that much more important. through each challenge and difference between our leaders, ambassador craft has demonstrated her tact and diplomatic skills. in addition to the usual duties of the office, ambassador craft facilitated the renegotiation of nafta, the north american free trade agreement, and helped broker the u.s.-mexico-canada agreement, the usmca. she helped build consensus on this agreement which will benefit north american workers and farmers and businesses and won friends from both countries in the process.

once president trump nominated ambassador craft to represent the united states and the u.n., we heard glowing endorsements from many of those people. canadian officials praised her instrumental role in nafta negotiations and her work on border security issues and u.s. diplomats who served under both republican and democrat administrations 130 about their confidence in ambassador craft and her ability to represent our country on the world stage. for the last two years ambassador craft has made our country proud as the u.s. ambassador to canada and i'm confident her outstanding record will continue at the united nations. i appreciate her willingness to serve in this important role and look forward to voting for her nomination later this week. mr. president, as we prepare to head home for the august recess to spend time with our constituents, i'm glad to know these important positions throughout the federal government will not be left vacant for much longer.

mr. president, i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i'm here today to talk about america's highway infrastructure. it's important to every state and i have just come back from wyoming. it clearly is home and important in my home state and every community. it's important in every tribe in the country. and i see that week after week

in wyoming. our roads, our bridge, our highways, our tunnels, they support america's economic growth and our competitiveness. mr. president, you know that as well from your home state of missouri. these are an essential part really of everyday life for all of america. so we use the infrastructure, we use the roads, the bridges, the tunnels. we use them when we drive to work, when we head to school, or we head off to summer vacation. our economy is built on a well-functioning road system that allows products from rural areas to get transported to population centers. they're used to ship american-made products and goods from one coast to the other. certainly in wyoming we see a lot of goods coming in, coming in and then being transported from the coast in california to chicago, truck after truck going through wyoming. interstates like i-80 in my home state of wyoming are critical

arteries for commerce in this country. our roads create jobs. they move products. and they keep our country running and going strong. in 2015 the united states transportation system moved a daily average of about 49 million tons of freight. that's a daily average of 49 million tons of freight worth more than $53 billion. $53 billion every single day. our roads and our bridges have to keep pace. these systems are vital to our country and they need to be taken care of. we must maintain, upgrade, and when necessary build new ones. since his election, president trump has called on congress to act on infrastructure. last year congress answered the president's call by passing america's water infrastructure act and he signed it into law,

passed this body 99-1. the legislation helped streamline major projects and helped keep communities safe. it made a significant investment in our nation's dams and our locks and ports and drinking water systems. now is the time to do the same for our roads and for our bridges. that's why today i am introducing america's transportation infrastructure act and i'm doing it along with my fellow leaders of the environment and public works committee, ranking member carper and senators capito and cardin. this legislation will make a historic investment in our roads. it will cut washington red tape, it will improve safety, and will help grow our economy. america's transportation infrastructure act authorizes $287 billion over five years from the highway trust fund. of that money, $259 billion will go directly to the states

through the highway formula funding process. this is the largest investment in america's roads in any highway bill ever passed by congress. the legislation will help the entire country. it will ensure both rural and urban areas have access to funding. formula funding gives each state the flexibility that they need to address their specific surface transportation needs. the formula-based approach has a proven track record of efficiently delivering infrastructure money directly to the states. america's transportation infrastructure act maintains this important approach so states get the funds that they need faster. america's transportation infrastructure act also continues successful federal loan programs, like the transportation infrastructure finance and innovation act that many people in the business know as ti tifia.

tifia and programs like it give taxpayers significant bang for their buck. a single tax pair dollar in the tifia program can be leveraged 40 times, 40 times, mr. president, that much in terms of infrastructure spending. so between new authorization, leveraging within federal loan programs, with state match requirements, and likely additions from the commerce and banking committees, our bill totally impact on infrastructure will be nearly half a trillion dollars, a historic high. with these investments, it is critical for us to speed up government approvals for important projects. last congress the environment and public works committee heard testimony about a highway safety project i'm very familiar with in wyoming and, mr. president, not too far from where you live, an interstate north of sheridan between sheridan and montana and it took a decade to get the

permits but actually only took months to build. that has to stop. this was a safety project, mr. president, linking owr states together and it was held up for ten years because of washington permits. it's unacceptable. america's transportation infrastructure act cuts washington red tape so projects can get done faster, better, cheaper, and smarter. president trump has set a goal for his administration of completing environmental reviews for projects within two years. that's a goal that i applaud, and the policy is called one federal decision. our legislation makes key elements of that policy into law. instead of several federal agencies having tombly cat requirements on the same requirement -- duplicate requirements on the same requirements, the process will be salve -- simplified p federal

approvals can get moving and project construction can get started. it will also reduce the amount of paperwork needed from the states to complete a project. our legislation will get long-delayed safety projects moving faster. washington shouldn't prioritize paperwork over people's safety, but that has happened in the past, and it's unacceptable. america's transportation infrastructure act makes road safety a top priority. it supports innovative research and technology deployment, including new construction technologies that will make roads safer and expedite project delivery. for example, the bill supports technologies that allow construction projects to be managed digitally. that'll enable project managers to better track projects from design through operation. mr. president, you know this and you see it and i saw it this

past weekend. when a car collides with an animal on a highway, the results can be dramatic and sometimes even deadly. for both the animal and for the driver. our bill completes a pilot program to minimize the danger of vehicle-wildlife collisions. across the condition, aging bridges are in need of maintenance. our bill establishes a competitive grant program to help address the baglog of bridges in poor condition. a new program to incentivize states to lower the total number of facilities with a special focus on pedestrian deaths, which, mr. president, are on the rise. and of course, mr. president, the climate is ink cassidy-graham and humans have a collectively responsibility -- and, mr. president, the climate is changing and humans have a collective responsibility do something about it.

our bill includes a climate change title that ensures the durability of our transportation infrastructure and it provides flexible resources to help states reduce carbon emissions. it'll help states build more resilient highways, but we want to make sure that our roads and our bridges are built to withstand extreme weather events like hurricanes, floods, natural disasters like wildfires, earthquakes and rocklieds. the legislation will also help reduce transportation-related carbon emissions. the very successful bill that had been signed into law previously and is expiring, the diesel emissions reduction act, this is a program that's helped communities in wyoming and montana replace aging school buses and public equipment. this diesel emission reduction act helps reduce black carbon emissions. well, that's one of the biggest contributors to climate change. our bill reauthorizes this

program and it supports innovation. carbon capture, utely decision and sequestration technologies hold the key to major emission reductions. i've introduced the use it act ha long with my colleagues in the senate to support this research and it is included in this bill. this is a bipartisan bill. this is bipartisan legislation. it doesn't just include republican priorities. it includes democrat priorities as well. for example, this legislation will establish grant programs to help fund the construction of electric vehicle charging stations and infrastructure for other alternative-fuel vehicles such as natural gas. this provision has been a priority for several senators, including ranking member carper. my priority is to make these vehicles -- make sure that these vehicles are actually contributing to the maintenance of our roads. with a rapidly growing electric vehicle market, it is necessary

to make sure drivers of these alternative fuel vehicles are contributing to road maintenance. nearly every automaker is ramping up electric vehicle production. right now none of these vehicles pay to maintain america's roads. you say how can that be? the highway trust fund is funded through fuel taxes. these vehicles simply do not contribute because they do not buy gasoline. an electric vehicle does as much damage to our highways as a traditional gas-powered vehicle. everyone who drives on our nation's roads should contribute to the cost of road maintenance. our bill is bipartisan and it's substantial, and it needs to be paid for. mr. president, the environment and public works committee doesn't have jurisdiction, as you know, over revenues for the highway bill. ranking member carper and i are going to work closely with chuck

grassley and ron wyden to responsiblely pay for this legislation. we've received extensive feedback p in the process of writing this legislation, from experts from our home states and from other senators. the bill has already received broad support from groups like the american association of state highways and transportation officials, the u.s. chamber of commerce, the national association of manufacturers, the american highway users alliance, the american road and transportation builders association, the american council of engineering companies, the national stone, sand, and gravel association; the north american concrete alliance; and many more. we plan to mark up america's transportation infrastructure act this week. the business meeting will be a great opportunity to strengthen the legislation and move this important process forward. i'm thankful to ranking member carper and all the members of our committee for working with

me, mr. president, on this important piece of legislation. america's transportation infrastructure act will grow the nation's economy, will improve the safety of our roads, and will enhance the quality of life for american people. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: minority leader. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. a few minutes ago the majority leader came to the floor --. the presiding officer: we're in a quorum call. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: a few minutes ago the majority leader came to the floor to express his frustration at being accused of blocking election security legislation. i would make three factual points. first, russia did interfere in our 2016 elections. every intelligence agency, everyone who's looked at this is 100% clear russia interfered. two, russia will attempt to interfere in the 2020 elections

and is already doing it. that is not only what special counsel mueller said, but f.b.i. director wray and many other appointees in the intelligence and counter intelligence agencies appointed by president trump. three, the republican majority has done nothing, absolutely nothing to deal with this problem. so here's an easy way for leader mcconnell to silence the critics who accuse him of blocking election security. stop blocking it. leader mcconnell doesn't have to put the bills that we have proposed, democrats, or the bill the house has passed. they are bipartisan bills and we can debate the issue. america's democracy is at risk when a foreign power interferes. and so if leader mcconnell doesn't like being criticized on election security, i challenge

him. let's debate it on the floor with amendments. i challenge him, support additional appropriations for states to harden their election systems. in both cases leader mcconnell has not done that. in fact, he has said he opposes more money to the states even though they say i believe it is 21 attorneys general have said they need more money. leader mcconnell, despite our requests, has not only blocked unanimous consent requests, but not put any other legislation on the floor to deal with this. again i repeat, this should not be a political issue. this should not be a political issue. whether you're a democrat, republican, independent, whether you're a liberal, conservative, in between, you should despise the fact, any american should despise the fact that russia has interfered in our elections and is attempting to do so again. putin wants to disrupt our democracy. he resents that we're a free and

open and wonderful democratic society. and for us, to sit here with our arms folded and do nothing, unheard of in previous years. i still don't have a really clear idea why leader mcconnell is so adamantly opposed to doing anything on election security. maybe it's because president trump in his child-like way resents the fact that people point out that russia interfered. he thinks it delegitimizes his presidential election. but that's not a good enough reason if that's the case. we have an obligation. you know who we have an obligation to, mr. president? we have an obligation to the hundreds of thousands of americans, the millions of americans who laid down their lives to defend our right to vote and our free and open democracy throughout the centuries. if we're going to let a foreign

power interfere and not do anything about it for some kind of political reason, shame on us. shame on this body. and it's leader mcconnell who is the majority leader who can determine what's put on the floor, and he has put nothing on the floor on elections. when last year we attempted in the appropriations bill to add more money to help the states harden their systems against cyberattack, to make sure they have paper ballots in case someone tampers with the ballots, leader mcconnell opposed it. he said it's not needed. recently i heard him say it's not needed. that's not true. that is absolutely not true. 21 attorneys general say they need it. nine states don't have protections, back-up systems with complete paper balloting. so if leader mcconnell takes

umbrage at his election security critics, i challenge him, prove them wrong. support our amendment to the appropriations bill. bring election security legislation to the floor, because as the senate intelligence committee, chaired by a republican, the f.b.i. director, appointed by president trump, and former special counsel mueller who did an extensive investigation, have all made clear, when it comes to russian interference in our elections, the case is certainly not closed. on d.n.i., yesterday, mr. president, the director of national intelligence, dan coats, a former member of this chamber, who is renowned for his integrity and his bipartisanship, announced his resignation. with his departure, the circle of advisors who are unafraid to speak truth to president trump

continues to shrink. it seems that if you're going to speak truth and tell the president something he doesn't want to hear, you're fired or at least frozen out so that you quit. coats is the, is one of many in a long line to whom this has been done. now making matters worse, the president proposed replacing this longtime, fair, decent and honorable public servant with a partisan chill, representative john ratcliffe of texas. the d.n.i., director of national intelligence, handles some of the most sensitive responsibilities in the federal government. it requires a high level of expertise. it requires trust from the intelligence community. and it requires a track record of independence, an ability in the closed confines of the white house to speak truth to power and tell the president what's happening, not just what the

president wants to hear. on all these measures, it seems mr. ratcliffe falls short of that high bar. john negroponte became the d.n.i. head after working in the foreign service. dennis blair has the decades of military service. dan coats served as diplomat, senator and sergeant in the army before resuming the post. representative ratcliffe, on the other hand, is a three-term tea party congressman who when he goes on tv appeals to the president's sense of stridency and partisanship. representative ratcliffe lacks the experience required to lead an intelligence agency, much less the entire intelligence community. his time in congress, particularly over the past several weeks, since it was rumored he might be picked for the post has been alarmingly

partisan. he's been a fierce critic of the russia investigation. he's earned praise from deep state conspiracy theorists. during the mueller hearings, representative ratcliffe badgered, harassed, the former special counsel with a baseless line of questioning and repeatedly interrupted him when he was trying to respond. he showed little regard for the seriousness of putin's interference in our election and the need for election security in the future. watching representative rat ratcliffe's performance in the mueller hearing, i was reminded of how i felt watching general flynn. in the summer of 2016, i saw this three-star general leading chants of people, lock her up, at the republican convention and at rallies. i said who is this guy? he doesn't -- how did someone become a three-star and do something like this?

at the time i thought there's something seriously wrong with general flynn here. well, i have the same feeling watching mr. ratcliffe at the mueller hearing, the same twisting and subversion and flat-out ignorance, the same partisan democrat goajry to -- demagoguery to appeal to the worst instincts of americans seem to be his m.o. there is something wrong here. the d.n.i. is supposed to be the least partisan member of the president's cabinet. it would be a grave mistake for the senate to elevate this partisan warrior to that position. i have to wonder are high republican colleagues comfortable with their party's direction on national security? are they comfortable going along with leader mcconnell as he blocks legislation to protect our elections and deter foreign adversaries from interfering? are they comfortable with a polarizing, partisan candidate taking charge of our national

intelligence community? are they comfortable knowing that this nominee may well not tell the president the truth when there's evidence from our brave intelligence operatives around the world that something we're doing is wrong? i would hope my republican colleagues would be deeply uncomfortable with these developments. ten years ago i have no doubt mr. ratcliffe wouldn't have even been nominated, let alone approved by this body. so i hope that's the case today. i hope we haven't gone so far away and in such obeisance to a president who only likes to hear facts, or not even facts, only likes to hear what he wants to hear that we would nominate someone like this. it would be a shame and it would weaken america, because if we don't know the truth, we can't act on the truth. so will our republican

colleagues start speaking up and doing something about this? when mr. ratcliffe comes before the senate, he'll have to answer for his long history of partisan statements and bleeld bleeld -- blind fealty in president trump. mr. ratcliffe will have to answer tough questions about russia's meddling in our election, about his inability or unwillingness to show independence from the president. if he sounds anything like he did while questioning mueller senate republicans will be making a grave, grave mistake by advancing his nomination, a mistake for the country that we love. finally, on china, starting today the united states will resume trade negotiations with china which have recently stalled over china's equivocation on a number of issues. anyone who's viewed china's behavior over the last past year of negotiations, or for that

matter, the past decade of its behavior knows china is always reluctant to make concessions that would put its businesses on a level playing field. china will resist, delay, offer bare-bones concessions, and then retract them in hopes that it can avoid meaningfully reforming its economy and playing fair on trade. so as negotiations begin again, i urge president trump and his team not to back down, but to put unrelenting pressure on china to make significant, concrete, and enduring commitments to trade fairly. i don't agree with president trump on much, but he's been tougher on china than any of the previous administrations, and that's needed. but to be tough on china and then surrender our leverage at the last minute for nothing in return would be be terrible. and one of our greatest leverage points against china is huawei, a state supported telecom giant

that our telecom agencies labeled nothing less than a national security threat. the trump administration correctly sought restrictions on huawei, even though they sometimes waived on their severity. now as negotiations are set to resume, the president must not give up leverage on huawei in exchange for anything less than concrete commitments on market access, intellectual property theft and forced technology transfers. these are issues paramount to the competitiveness of american business. and will cause us to lose millions of jobs and criminals of dollars in the future, as we have lost in the past, as the president correctly points out to china's rapaciousness. i am concerned now about the possibility that the administration will sell out, particularly in light -- in wake of reports that president trump has agreed to soft pedal

criticism of china over its hong kong policy, hoping for smoother trade talks. the administration is wrong on two fronts. first, it's always crucial for the united states to stand up for democracy, human rights, civil liberties everywhere. the idea that the president of the united states would sell the democratic aspirations of the brave people of hong kong down the river in progress of trade is shocking. but second the idea of going easy on china's human rights record will ease trade talks is backward. china responds to strength, not flattery or capitulation. the best way to get china to do something fair is to stand tough on huawei. don't sell out. don't give huawei half or three quarters of what it wants. hold tough. and the chinese in a few months will come to us with real

concessions. it's a game of who is stronger and who can last longer. i hope it's us. if it's not, all of the president's previous actions on china will be wasted and go down the drain. finally, two more things, sorry. the v.c.f. bill signing. well, there are some good things that happened in the last week in washington. people think nothing good comes out of washington. once in a while, we do something good. once in a while, our republican colleagues will go along with something that needs to be done instead of blocking everything and putting it in a graveyard, which they usually do. well, that happened this week -- last week when this body finally passed the bipartisan 9/11 victims compensation bill. and today the president signed it into law, closing the book on nearly two decades of advocacy to provide the care and

compensation that 9/11 first responders deserved. nothing, nothing should or can get in the way of our responders getting their due. finally, at last, these brave first responders had to spend too much time here in washington, often in their wheelchairs, often dying of cancer begging senators to give them the help they need, the same help we give to veterans who like our first responders after 9/11 in a time of war rushed to danger and suffer injury, and we help them. we help our veterans and our soldiers, our armed forces, the same way we should be helping 9/11. well, at long last we're doing that. it has been a long struggle, but because of the courage of many who joined the cause, the memory of people like james zegroda,

louis pheifer will live on. i know some of the alvarez family. i have met them. they can know. despite the pain in their hearts at their grave losses, the deaths of their loved ones will not be in vain. finally, my heart is filled with sadness and anger today after reports of deadly shootings at festivals on opposite coastlines. one in my hometown of brooklyn. another across the country in gilroy, california. there is no words for the senselessness of these tragedies which continue unabated. while the majority leader once again refuses to even debate commonsense gun laws. put the bill the house passed on the floor. we have had bipartisan efforts in this body to close the gun show loophole. close the loopholes and have universal background checks. almost no americans object to

preventing felons or spousal abusers or those adjudicated mentally incompetent from getting guns, but leader mcconnell and the republican majority do, and we have made no progress in these -- and these awful events continue. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. without objection.

mr. carper: mr. president, i rise today to discuss america's transportation infrastructure act. legislation that i just introduced today with chairman of the environment and public works committee, along -- shelly moore capito and ben cardin. our legislation reauthorizes the nation's service transportation laws, making historic -- and makes an historic $287 billion investment in our nation's roads, highways and bridges. our nation's first highway bill was enacted just a few years after the world's first concrete highway was paved outside of detroit, michigan. henry ford had just introduced the model t and the first stop-go traffic light would still be installed at the

intersection of east 105th street and eukwood avenue in cleveland, ohio. the idea of speedy and safe transcontinental travel was beyond our imagination an even further from being realized. we've come a long way since then. today more than four million miles of roadway and 600,000 bridges help link our country together. some 220,000 of those miles combine to make up our national highway system. our transportation infrastructure is essential to america's economy, to our society, and to our way of life. it connection us to commerce, it connection us to service, and more importantly, it connection us to one another. the sad truth, however, is that as we all know too well, many of

these roads, highways, and bridges are in poor condition today. they have been in use far beyond for many of them intended duration of their original design. a great many roadways and bridges simply need repaving while some need repairs and others need to be completely redesigned. according to the u.s. department of transportation, mr. president, approximately 20% of our federal aid roadways are in poor condition, as are 47,000 bridges. that's in large part because for far too long our nation's highway trust fund has been operating on the brink of insolvency. the highway account is running at -- an $11 billion deficit and that deficit a growing. meanwhile, despite spending more from the fund than we collect, we still aren't spending enough to make a dent in the 800

billion-dollar back -- $800 billion backlog to improve conditions on many of the roads, highways and bridges that millions of americans use and depend on every day. all of this has contributed to an unacceptable level of uncertainty for states, for cities, for businesses, and for families. it has prevented us, as a nation, to address serious challenges from our nation's infrastructure that goes beyond filling potholes. for too long, mr. president, we failed to make meaningful progress toward easing traffic congestion, reducing harmful emissions and enhancing resilience of we can do better than this, and the legislation that's before us today, if enacted, will help put our country back on the right track. i'm excited about it, and i'm

grateful to everyone who has contributed in ways, both large and small, to the drafting of the legislation that senator barrasso and i have introduced today. while this bill will leverage badly needed investments in rebuilding roads, highways, and bridges, it will do a lot more than that. it will help expedite the transportation of goods and people throughout the country, it will support hundreds of thousands of jobs too, and it will help alleviate some of the congestion which are in urban and suburban parts of all 50 states on an almost daily basis. america's transportation infrastructure act will help make real the vision of a safer, more connected and efficient climate-friendly transportation system, one that will endure the test of time and keep up with the evolving demands of the world's biggest economy.

our bill is a good start. now we need to build on it and make it better. with respect to safety, too many pedestrians and bicyclists put their lives at risk every day when they use our roadways. in 2017, there were more than 37,000 -- 37,000 fatalities in 2017 on our nation's roadways, including 7,000 nonmotorized users. think about it, 37,000 fatalities. that's more than all the people who live in dover, delaware, orularra me -- laramie, wyoming. in the last decade pedestrian deaths have increased sharply and are now at a 25-year high. in tribal communities that fatality rate is even higher. that is just unacceptable. our legislation addresses this

carnage by investing $2.5 billion federal funds per year in safety improvements and by compelling states and cities with very high rates and pedestrian and bicycle fatalities to do their fair share as well. our legislation expands legislation for bike paths, sidewalks, and for other transportation alternatives to $1.2 billion per year. empire states and cities to implement those projects so they are better designed to fit the needs of those states and cities. too many americans simply don't have safe places to walk or bike. in some cases we build roads in ways to make it impossible for people to walk or bicycle to where they need to go.

be it a grocery store, a day care center, a health facility, you name it, america's transportation infrastructure should connect us, not divide us. let me say that again. america's trappings infrastructure should -- transportation infrastructure should connect us, not divide us. it should foster greater economic opportunity, not disparity. our legislation seeks to improve connectivity and accessibility by establishing a pilot program for states and cities to measure access to destinations like hospitals, like schools, like grocery stores. our bill also funds a program to help remove barriers such as chronically underused highways when appropriate. it creates -- that creates obstacles to mobility. even a more pressing need is the roads, highways, and bridges

that are actually overcapacity today where cars and trucks and their passengers sit for hours in traffic. last year, mr. president, every american driver lost on average 97 hours due to traffic congestion. 97 hours for the average driver per year, four days. it's not just a nuisance for drivers. last year it cost our country $87 billion in lost productivity, $87 billion. let's not forget all that time we wasted sitting in our cars and trucks also degrades the quality of the air we breathe, increases the cost of our health care, and raises the cost of the goods that we buy. our legislation addresses this predicament by authorizing additional funding for the congestion, mitigation, and air quality program which has been used to build car pool lanes and

support a number of other alternatives to reduce congestion. in addition our legislation recognizes that in many places it's just not possible to build additional lanes. so we need to address congestion by managing travel through innovative technology, through transit, and tolling. that's why we also created a new program, mr. president, for our largest cities to provide new tools, new tools to help address congestion challenges. now, my friends that brings us to an ever more apparent reality. climate change and its ever worsening impact on, among other things, our infrastructure. the cars, trucks, and vans that we drive have become our nation's largest source of carbon dioxide emissions. accelerating and exacerbating the effects of climate change and bringing with it increasingly extreme weather that we are witnessing throughout the world on an almost daily basis.

temperatures last week in europe, they exceeded 110 degrees fahrenheit. 110 degrees fahrenheit. and we've got examples here, too. we just come off the hottest four years in the history of this country since we've been measuring it and this year looks like it's going to be the hottest yet. we've got to do more than fight it and with this legislation we will. so, mr. president, i'm proud to announce that america's transportation infrastructure act includes the first ever climate title and transportation -- in a transportation bill in the history of congress. our legislation calls for investing $10 billion over the next five years directly in public policies that will combat climate change by reducing emissions and improving the resiliency of our transportation networks and our infrastructure. one such program is a $1 billion investment in charging and fueling stations for electric

and alternative fuel vehicles. in heavily traveled corridors across america. while henry ford's model t and its internal combiewtion engine are an important part of our country's transportation, diseerp row emission electric vehicles represent our future. unfortunately in most parts of america today, drivers lack reasonable access to charging or fueling stations for electric or hydrogen-fueled vehicles. our legislation helps address that concern by creating competitive grants for states and localities to build hydrogen, natural gas, and electric vehicle charging and fueling infrastructure along many of america's most heavily traveled highway corridors. meanwhile, increasingly frequent and extreme weather events continue to erode our transportation networks. sea level rise threatens the strawct turl integrity and

longevity of service -- structural integrity and longevity of service transportation infrastructure. we see that happening in my home state of delaware along major portions of the east coast and in the flooding that has occurred in the heartland of our country. it's been reported in the news that in some places in america, the temperature has been so hot that asphalt highways, asphalt roads are bubbling, bubbling up from the heat. try driving through that. try driving through that. our legislation seeks to help address these threats by investing nearly $5 billion over five years and a new formula program available to all states and competitive -- and a competitive resilient grant program. both the formula program and the new protect grants program which support projects across america that reinforce, that upgrade or realign existing transportation infrastructure together -- to

better withstand extreme weather events and the effect of climate change like the record-setting temperatures i spoke about. let me briefly mention one other thing, mr. president. through the use of natural infrastructure, like the marshes and wetlands that protect roads from storm surges during tropical cyclones or nor'easters, our bill also helps harness the power of mother nature to improve the resilience of transportation projects. well, colleagues, that gives you at least a glimpse of some of the exciting aspects of our legislation that our committee chairman john barrasso and i are introducing today. again with the help of a lot of people. on our committee throughout the senate, democrats and republicans from all parts of this country. and we introduced our

legislation with their help and the help comes from every corner of the country and it comes from state and local governments as well. in the coming months i look forward to sharing more stories about how america's trappings infrastructure act -- transportation infrastructure act can attack complicated issues, improve our daily lives, and help us build the roads, highways, and bridges of the future. and as bright as our chairman and i on our committee and our very able staff members like to think we are, i'm confident that our bill can be improved as it moves through the legislative process in the months ahead. as i oftentimes say, if it isn't perfect, let's make it better or as good as what we've done is and we're proud of our handiwork, we know that it can be better and we look forward to making it better. and that begins tomorrow. tomorrow morning with a markup in the senate committee on environment and public works. at 9:00 a.m.

before i close, mr. president, i would be remiss if i failed to remind everyone that the 800-pound gorilla in the room with respect to transportation infrastructure is almost always how are we going to pay for the improvements and the programs that we all know we need. the fact is as i've said, the highway trust fund is going broke and if we're honest with one another, our way of paying for it is broken, too. so what should we do about it? it's important to note that our legislation will continue to fund the state level vehicle miles traveled pilot program established in the 2015 bill. i'm especially pleased, however, that our legislation also includes a national vehicle miles traveled pilot program, the first of its kind. i believe the user fee based approaches are generally the best way to fund our nation's surface transportation system and that vehicle miles travel systems which seek to ensure

that all road users pay their fair share are the future. in the meantime there needs to be a bridge to that future. that bridge will not rely on a silver bullet but on what i refer to as a lot of silver bb's, some which are bigger than others. with that let me conclude by reiterating that chairman barrasso and i look forward to working closely with our colleagues on the senate finance committee, a committee on which i'm privileged to serve to ensure that this bill is responsibly paid for. i've already begun to meet with several of our colleagues on the relevant committees of jurisdiction. i'm anxious to work with them and all of our colleagues as we face not just the daunting challenges that lie ahead but the opportunities as well. mr. president, winston churchill once said count on america to do the right thing in the end after trying everything else. if we pull together and work together as well in the house

and senate as i believe we tend to do in the senate environment and public works committee, then we can reach that end a good deal sooner than mr. churchill and a lot of skeptics might otherwise expect. why don't we show those skeptics what we can do, a great many americans are counting on us to do just that. we can't let them down. i want to again thank my staff and the staff of our chairman, chairman barrasso, that of senators capito and ben cardin and others on our committee for their excellent work and for negotiating in good faith throughout this year. their spirit and dogged commitment are a big part of what brought us to where we are today. we all know that the introduction of a solid bipartisan bill even when it's followed the next day by a successful markup we hope in committee, we must acknowledge that it's just the beginning. but it's a good start, a very good start. one that we and our colleagues can i hope will build on,

enabling us and america to seize the day. i don't know a lot of latin but i think the latin for seize the day, mr. president, is carpe diem or as we say in delaware carpaydiem. i yield the floor. mr. daines: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator -- dane we're at a great time in our nation's history. america was founded on the principles of liberty, the free enterprise system and the promotion of national sovereignty and a strong national defense. under these principles, we have built the greatest country in the history of the world. we've shown the world time and time again the genius of american ingenuity and the grits of american determination. what makes america so great is not that we are bonded by one

ethnicity or one race but we are bonded together by the idea of liberty and montanans agree. montanans want less government. montanans don't want the hand of big government in washington, d.c. in their pockets making decisions on their behalf or limiting their freedoms. in montana we understand the principles of freedom, however radical, socialist, far-left movement is growing across this country and has taken root as the new voice of democratic -- of the democratic party. my grandpa was a democrat from billings, montana. i spent many days out with grandpa fishing, huntin huntingn certain places in montana. i loved my grandpa dearly but if he was around today, he would be

appalled as a democrat at some of the things the far left is saying and advocating for. the words and the actions of certain radical members of the democratic house highlight this new standard for the democratic party. it was renown economist milton friedman who once said, and i quote, one of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results. you see, radical democrats are advocating for disastrous policies that would wreck our economy under the guise of cleaning up the environment. fantasy policies like the new green deal would be a disaster for montana and the american people. under the socialist wish list, montanans and millions of american people would have to give up their cars, give up air

travel. montana truckers, our ag haulers, our pilots and the industries that rely on them would be wiped out. what the socialists are calling for is a disbanding of our coal plants leaving countless montana communities in the dark and in the cold and putting many more out of good-paying jobs and putting out of business a diverse energy sector. and above all else to fund the policy it's estimated would take $93 trillion, that's with a t, trillion dollars. who do you think is going to pay for that? it would be montanans, americans, our moms and dads, our children. just last week in berkley, california, their city council banned natural gas in new homes. whatever happened to supporting an all of the bof energy agenda.

they're banning natural gas in berkley, california. another disastrous policy that the radical left is pushing for is the so-called medicare for all or rather socialized medicine. they're calling for a complete takeover of our health care system by the federal government, eliminating private insurance and eliminating choice. this so-called plan will cost the taxpayers another $32 trillion over ten years, $32 trillion with a "t." combine this cost with the cost of the green new deal proposal, and the country that you and i know will cease to exist. our economy will be destroyed. we're also seeing far-left radical democrats normalize crime in the blatant disregard of the law with their push for open borders. we are a sovereign nation with

established borders. we are a nation based on the rule of law. but lost in this heated immigration debate taking place at our southern border are the stories of the law-abiding, legal american immigrants who have fled socialist regimes for a chance at freedom. some of these immigrants include the vietnamese boat people, the cuban refugees who fled castro's murderous regime, chinese christians persecuted for practicing their faith. you see, you talk to any of these immigrants, these legal immigrants, and they'll tell you what socialism looks like. they'll also tell you how grateful they are to have freedom here in america. they are proud to be americans. so we as americans have a choice. one path leads to complete government control undermining

our constitution and our american way of life. the other path is the path of freedom. you see, capitalism and the free enterprise system has done more than any other system in the world to lift people out of poverty. as a former technology executive, i can speak to the wonders of the free enterprise system because i saw it happen firsthand in my hometown of bozeman, montana. a small start-up cloud computing business transformed bozeman into becoming one of the tech hubs now of the west. it is because the american free enterprise system thrives on innovation and it rewards entrepreneurs and employees who pursue their dreams and take

that leap of faith. that is what freedom looks like. and in the face of this extremism we see bubbling up right over in that other chamber, the u.s. house of representatives, we must stand strong for the values that made america what it is today. therefore, mr. president, today i introduced a resolution, my resolution condemning the growing socialist movement in our country. i ask my senate colleagues to join me in renouncing this ideology taking root in our country and to stand for freedom today we make a choice -- freedom or socialism. i choose freedom. i yield back my time, mr. president. the presiding officer: your resolution will be received and appropriately referred. the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: mr. president, i

rise today to urge my colleagues tajine me in voting to override the president's vietnam of three resolutions of disapproval on arms sales to saudi arabia and the united arab emirates. as we all know, several weeks ago the secretary of state attempted to bypass this body and the entire congress on 22 separate arms sales to saudi arabia and the united arab emirates, all on the pretext of an urgent physical threat in iran that was best ill-defined and, at worst, completely false. let me be clear, iran has and will continue to pose a threat to the u.s. interests and allies in the region, and i have and will continue to approve arms sales to partners and allies that address legitimate security threats and advance american interests. but from the start this administration has failed to demonstrate what kind of national security threat or, quote-unquote, emergency from

warranted -- from iran warranted fast-tracking this sale of arms. the may 24 justification for the sales lacked any persuasive information explaining how these sales would address an iranian threat so serious that it justified bypassing congress on a, quote, emergency basis. that's why i introduced resolutions to disapprove these sales and that's why six weeks ago this body came together in a bipartisan way to reassert the role of congress in reviewing arms sales and pass 22 separate resolutions of disapproval. today i ask that we come together again. in fact, not even president trump's own veto messages mention the word emergency. it's clear this administration has other motives from the start. we continue to hear officials invent new reasons for pushing through these sales. we've heard these sales are

necessary for, quote, sustaining the global supply chain, for preventing, quote, loss of sale to peer competitors, for maintaining u.s., quote, credibility as an arms supplier and so on. so, look, many of us expected the president to use his view tow powers. that's -- his veto powers. that's his right. but the right of the senate to reject these sales six weeks ago still stand today. so let me review three main reasons that i hope we can unite today to override the president's veto. first is how these weapons are being used. by now we are well h. quainted with what has been at best the incompetent and at worst criminal actions of saudi arabia's air strikes in yemen. all evidence suggests that the saudis have intentionally targeted hospitals, bridges, power stations, apartment buildings, weddings, schools,

and, yes, even a school bus filled with children leaving thousands of yemenis children or maimed. we cannot brand the sale of precision-guided munitions as humanitarian weapons if the saudis are intentionally targeting civilians in the first place. that's why last year i placed an informal hold on the sale of 60,000 precision-guided munitions or p.g.m.'s, to saudi arabia requesting the administration explain how they would enhance efforts to reduce civilian casualties. they failed to do so in a

fulsome and convincing way. believe me, i'd like to be convinced. after the slaughter of "washington post" journalist jamal khashoggi in october of last year, the trump administration apparently flat-out gave up trying to convince anyone that the saudis have any regard whatsoever for human rights at home, in yemen, or at their diplomatic consulates abroad. last week, recognizing the abject failures of the yemeni campaign, the united arab emirates announced it was ceasing its support and largely withdrawing from yemen. i commend that as the right decision. i do not doubt that saudi arabia and the united arab emirates are concerned about iranian threats, but the indisputable reality is that these precision-guided weapon kits were always headed for this disastrous air war in yemen. so again let's not delude ourselves. these sales will in no way

support saudi arabia or the united arab emirates or the united states from an imminent iranian threat, full stop. second, if we fail to override the president's veto, we will allow this administration to transfer american jobs and sensitive military technology to the saudis. that's right. with this sale, the trump administration has authorized raytheon to allow the saudis to begin manufacturing part of the electronic guidance system for these precision-guided munitions. the administration is not only selling the saudis these weapons but also portions of the blueprints for building these weapons. this work has always and always should be done by american workers right here in the united states. america's defense industry produces the most sophisticated systems in the world, and yet the trump administration is opening the door for the saudis

to manufacture their own similar weapons in the future or transfer our american-made technical know-how to other countries. disturbingly, we also know that if the trump administration gets its way, this transfer will not be a one-time thing. state department officials have actually admitted to the foreign relations committee staff that this will be the first of many sales authorizing the saudis to manufacture even larger, more sensitive portions of these highly advanced weapons. my colleagues, that is simply madness. not only is this sale a saudi jobs program, it's also a giveaway of sensitive u.s. military technology. the president's own veto message claims that not giving away american jobs and sensitive military technology to saudi arabia would, quote, abandon them. i'm guessing by them he means

the royal family the president is intent on praising and quoting. i ask my colleagues to oppose stopping this sale who are thinking of allowing the president's veto to stand, do you want to be on record supporting a saudi jobs program? do you want to be on the record as aiding and abetting the transfer of sensitive u.s. military technology to saudi arabia, a source of extremism and bloodshed? the world? -- in the world? s.j. res. 37 disapproves a sale of precision-guided munitions to the u.a.e. at a time when they are pulling their military forces out of yemen. yet the president's veto message says that stopping this sale would somehow prolong the suffering in yemen, which goes against any logic which i'm familiar with when they're withdrawing. s.j. res. 38 disapproves the sale of fuses for saudi bombs. yet the president argues that

stopping this sale will again prolong the suffering of the innocent in yemen, presumably by denying the saudis the ability to target them indiscriminately. doesn't make sense. finally, think that all of my colleagues can agree that the united states and saudi arabia need a course correction. the brutal murder of jamal khashoggi, an american resident and journalist in a saudi consulate, mate been the final violent straw that broke the camel's back but we must reexamine this relationship. beyond the khashoggi killing and the atrocities in yemen, the saudi blockade of qatar and the overgoing rift within the g.c.c. are not in the interests of the united states. the saudis' kidnapping of the lebanese prime minister is not in the interests of the united states. and finally, saudi arabia's detention and torture of human rights activists calling for the same exact rights the crown prince himself pretends to

support, it's suppression of speech and dissent -- this behavior does not reflect american values or our long-term interests. america is better than this. this senate and this congress must continue to stand up for reason, for decency, and for the actual foreign policy and national security interests of the united states, not the personal interests of the trump family and their misguided interest to put profit over principle and people. this administration's willingness to turn a blind eye to the wholesale slaughter of civilians and the murder of journalists and move forward with a the sale of these weapons will have a lasting implication nor america's moral leadership on the world stage. that's why six week ago in a bipartisan fashion the senate came together to approve an unprecedented 22 separate bipartisan resolutions of disapproval. that's why five weeks ago the committee on foreign relations

approved a bipartisan bill, the saudi arabia false emergencies or safe act, to prevent similar abuses of the emergency authority in the future. that's why three weeks ago the house passed several amendments to their national defense authorization act to stop these same arms sales. two weeks ago the house passed three of the senate joint resolutions of disapproval and sent them to the president, the first time since 1988 that any such resolution has passed the congress and the first time that multiple resolutions of disapproval had done so. and finally, just last week the foreign relations committee approved on a bipartisan vote the saudi arabia accountability in yemen act, legislation i introduced with senators young, murphy, graham, reed, collins and shaheen that would impose real sanctions, including on arms sales on saudi arabia or its aprocessties. -- ar intereststies. legislation that i hope leader emergency will swiftly bring to the floor. i hope this administration

understands the gravity of these actions and they had to come. today we have an opportunity to again demonstrate to the president, the secretary of state, and to the butchers in saudi arabia that the united states senate will stand up for our values, will stand up for our long-term national security interests, and will put country over short-term business interests. i urge my colleagues to take this stand today, override these vetoes. stop the saudi arms sales. there are few days in this body when we can say our votes will save lives. today is such a day. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the question is s.j. res. 36, pass the objections of the president of the united states to the contrary, notwithstanding. the yeas and nays are required. the clerk will call the roll.

vote: vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: does any senator wish to change their vote? has any senator not voted. on this vote the yeas are 35, the nays are 40, two-thirds of the senators not having voted in the affirmative, the bill on reconsideration fails to pass over the veto of the president of the united states. mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule 22, following the cloture vote on the liburdi nomination that the senate vote on the

welte nomination and the senate vote on the confirmation of these nominations at 11:30 a.m., if confirm, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the remaining votes in the series be ten minutes in length. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the question is shall s.j. resolution pass to the contrary? the yeas and nays are ordered tvment vote:

vote: vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: does any senator wish to change their vote? has any senator not voted? on this vote, the yeas are 45,

the nays are 39. two-thirds of the senators voting, a quorum being present, not having volted in the affirmative, the bill on reconsideration fails to pass over the veto of the president of the united states. the question is, shall s.j. res. 38 pass the objections of the president of the united states to the contrary, notwithstanding? the yeas and nays are required. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: have all senators voted? does anyone wish to change their vote? on this vote, the yeas are 46. the nays are 41. two-thirds of the senators voting not having voted in the affirmative, the bill on

reconsideration fails to pass over the veto of the president of the united states. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion. we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of michael t. liburdi of arizona to be united states district judge for the district of arizona, 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 michael t. liburdi of arizona to be the united states district judge for the district of arizona shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

invoke in accordance with the provisions of the standing rules of the senate do here by bring to move to a close the nomination of pete welte to be united states district judge.

the presiding officer: by unanimous consent the mandatory quorum call has been waived. is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of peter d. welte, of north dakota, to be united states district judge for the district of north dakota, shall be brought to a close? the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: .

the presiding officer: any senators wishing to change their vote or that have not voted? if not, the yeas are 66. the nays 21. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the

judiciary, peter d. welte of north dakota to be united states district judge for the district of north dakota.

mr. braun: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from indiana. mr. braun: i rise today to congratulate chairman barrasso and ranking member carper on their introduction of the e.p.w. committee's five-year infrastructure bill. the america's highway infrastructure act. back in indiana as a member of the state legislature 2017 we did what some states are doing. many haven't yet. we actually did a long-term road funding and bridge infrastructure bill. as a main street entrepreneur there and just my third year in the state legislature, we accomplished things that nobody said could get done because we

made the case that for the crossroads of america we needed to make sure our roads and bridges were going to be there in safe shape for future generations. no matter where i'd go, i'd hear almost everyone unanimous about wanting better roads and bridges. ironically even in a state like the hoosier state, 70% of constituents wanted better roads but didn't want their taxes to go up. we had to make the case and it wasn't hard for me to do as a fiscal conservative that if you're in a state like indiana and your comparative advantage is the crossroads of america, why wouldn't you want a tangible asset to be in good shape that everyone can enjoy. we also did it from a position of strength. we run a balanced budget

generally with a surplus every year, pass the balance budget amendment. so it was not difficult to talk about investing in the future when you were doing it from a position of strength. in fact, this last year we had almost a $400 million surplus and a cash balance of over $2 billion. wouldn't it be nice if this place worked like that. the bill introduced provides $287 billion to fix the nation's aging roads and bridges, more than any bill in history. it includes new safety programs to incentivize states to lower fatalities of pedestrians. one federal decision to cut red tape, to reduce the time that road projects are spent in the

permitting line. it instructs federal highways to address resiliency making sure that when a road is damaged by a natural disaster, we rebuild it with modern technology that will prevent similar damage in the future. and most importantly, it contains incentives to urge states to put more skin in the game. just like we did in indiana. taking ownership of their own infrastructure and making sure that states wer where balance sheeters clean, economies are healthy, that you don't look to the federal government to lead on it. lead yourselves. this bill contains a proposal i introduced last week called the crossroads of america act to provide $150 million that will be competitively awarded to states who will bid for the

highest state match for federal dollars. this concept worked for us in indiana. we called it the community crossings program. and within one or two years, even after there was much complaining by cities and counties, it's oversubscribed. instead of sitting on the sideline, indiana communities started to bid up their matches asking for less state money through the program. wouldn't it be nice if we had something like that here to stretch the federal dollar. it means that the state could approve a greater number of projects which we've done now into the third year. more projects are being built. more concrete is being poured. more steel is being framed. and more hoosiers are on the job. this is why this program is so important. combined the america's highway infrastructure act will allow more projects to break ground,

like our i-69 bridge over the ohio river linking northern kentucky to southern indiana. the e.p.w. bill will speed up the permitting process and provide funding opportunities to a project that has been in the works for more than 15 years. over the next several weeks, we will continue our robust committee work start with a markup of the chairman's bill tomorrow in e.p.w. in committee i will stress the importance of fully paying for this five-year bill. again unlike we do most things here. and putting the highway trust fund on a pathway to long-term solvency. we're also going to be considering a budget bill and for all the reasons that we know the federal government should be there for its own citizens, its

stakeholders including infrastructure, we need to make sure regardless of what happens to this budget bill that in the long run we start balancing our own budget, that we quit borrowing from future generations and kicking this stuff down the road. hopefully this infrastructure bill will be the beginning of it. over 37 years of building a business in my hometown, one principle i've always lived by, when times are good, you create a rainy day fund. you pay back what you might have borrowed. you sacrifice in the short run for long-term prosperity. until we get back into that mentality here, whether it's infrastructure, shoring up entitlements, whatever people depend on in the federal government to do, we're not going to be there for our own citizens. today that changes with the

introduction of america's highway infrastructure act. we are beginning to put our nation's highway system on a path of long-term solvency. the alternative i'm afraid is another unfunded, short-term reauthorization of the highway trust fund. such a path would be irresponsible, especially after the highway bill comes out of committee this week. we must continue investing in our nation's infrastructure. we must incentivize states to get more involved, and we must fully offset our spending and put the highway trust fund on a responsible path to long-term solvency. that's one of the critical obligations facing this congress. i yield the floor.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senate majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous

consent the senate proceed to morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes eachment. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 290, submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 290, celebrating 50 years of environmental progress in the cuyahoga river shale and lake erie. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i know of no further debate on the measure. the presiding officer: if there is to further debate, question is on the adoption of the resolution. all knows in favor say yea. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the resolution is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that 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 committee on e.p.w. be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 2695 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 2695, an act to rename the success dam in california as the richard l. schaefer dam. 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: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. tuesday, july 0. following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be desired l. expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, morning business be closed, and the senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the liburdi nomination under the previous order. finally, i ask that the senate recess following the cloture vote on the hendrix nomination

until 2:15 to allow for the weekly conference meetings. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: so if there is to further business to come before the senate, i ask it stand under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate