the senator from georgia. mr. perdue: we're not in a quorum call, are we? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. perdue: madam president, i rise today with mixed emotions. i rise to recognize an incredible georgian, a true statesman, a titan of the united states senate, and maybe most important, friend to me and many people here in this town and back home in georgia, senator johnny isakson. like everyone i was surprised and saddened to hear of johnny's

upcoming retirement. since my very first day in the senate walking through this door back here to be sworn in with johnny escorting me, i've come to revere this guy. he's been a mentor that i've looked up to. he's been a great leader for our state for many years. he's been a reliable and effective colleague. most of all, he's been a friend whom i deeply cherish. it will be hard to see him go, but the reality is he won't go. he'll still be involved here. i'm sure i'll get the phone calls about when we might have disagreed on a vote or why didn't i think about this. but he has been a tremendous partner for me these last four years. however, johnny has left a profound legacy that's worth celebrating, one that we should all strive to follow here in this body. he epitomizes the best for this body, the united states senate. his legacy can be summed up in

one word -- service. no matter what he does, johnny puts other people before himself and this has continued since the first day i knew him when he was running a real estate company in atlanta, georgia. johnny puts other people first before himself. he doesn't do it for recognition or fame. many times he doesn't when people don't notice or know he did it. he does it because it's the right thing to do. he served his country as a member of the georgia international guard. he served his communities a a sunday schoolteacher for 30 years. i've done that, madam president, and i know that's a labor of love. that takes a lot of work. he served the people of georgia in the statehouse and the state senate and later in both houses of the u.s. congress. in fact, he's the only georgian to ever to have done that. no matter what role johnny has been in, he has always focused on helping others. his dedication to service is even more impressive because it has produced incredible results

for our country. this town has a lot of activity but it's short on results. johnny knew the difference. for example, one of johnny's top priorities in congress has been to take care of our country's veterans. georgia is home to over 700,000 veterans today. as a veteran himself, johnny treats each one of them as his own sister or brother. when johnny saw the shameful conditions and mismanagement happening at the v.a., he immediately sprang into action. fixing the v.a. seemed impossible but no challenge was too large for johnny isakson. thanks to him, as chairman of the senate veterans administration committee, we made incredible progress on this and many other fronts relating to the v.a. his efforts such as the v.a. mission act have helped bring accountability, efficiency, and trust back to the department. as a junior senator from georgia, i've had the great pleasure of working with johnny on another -- other issues

affecting our states and have seen how effective he really is. i've likened him, madam president, to the howard baker of our era. he speaks softly, but when he speaks people listen. working with johnny, we broke the political logjam to provide much-needed disaster relief for farmers in south georgia just this year. securing funding -- we secured funding for the deepening for ports after trying to get it deepened fiep year. -- five years. we secured funding for the first two nuclear reactors built in this country in the last 30 years. and he helped pass the first step act which makes our justice system fairer while still deterring criminal behavior. these achievements would not have been possible without johnny's steady hand and his leadership. when he speaks, people listen. he gets the job done. he understands what priority

means. yet, johnny isn't the kind of leader who gives orders and makes demands. he's someone who leads from a place of respect, compromise, and understanding, with both sides of the aisle. with johnny, it doesn't matter who you are, what party you're in or where you're from. he's always there to talk and always ready to listen. johnny isakson is exactly the kind of servant leader that the founding mothers and founding fathers envisioned for our country. it is what makes him a true statesman and it is a model that i'm sure our founding mothers and founding fathers would indeed be very proud of today. of course the road has not always been easy for johnny. not every battle has been won, not all news has been good. what i've always admired about johnny, though, is his stalwart resilience. whenever circumstances have tried to knock him down, he always gets back up with a smile and he keeps serving others.

you feel guilty when you're around johnny isakson when you're having a bad day and johnny says how are you doing, you better say great because he's going to give you that same answer. as he and diane head into this next chapter of their life, i have no doubt that johnny will continue to serve others and help make our world a better place because that's exactly who he is. scripture tells us in matthew 23 that the greatest among you will be a servant. when you consider all that johnny has done, it's clear to me that johnny isakson truly is the greatest among us. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. thank you.

the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. feinstein: thank you very much, madam president. madam president, to my right is an august 11, 2019, cover from "the washington post." it shows the faces of the 423 people killed in mass shootings between sandy hook massacre in 2012 and the recent shooting in dayton, ohio. this is more than a third of the 1,096 people killed in mass shootings since 1966. so shootings have grown dramatically in this country. this should not be the face of

america. i think we've got to do much more to stop the playing of gun violence that continues to take the lives of the most innocent among us, including the 20 small beautiful children who lost their lives that december in newtown. i hope their photo -- i have their photo at home. i look at it almost every day, and it is indeed a heartbreaker. today i'd like to speak about a few bills that i believe the senate should be voting on right now. specifically, we should be voting on requiring universal background checks, banning assault weapons, banning high-capacity magazines, and supporting enactment of extreme risk laws. the house passed a strong bill on universal background checks that has been sitting on leader mcconnell's desk now for more than 200 days. according to a "washington post"

/abc news poll, 89% of americans support universal background checks, and that includes 83% of republicans. and yet, that bill sits on leader mcconnell's desk. we've seen even more lives lost in the last several weeks while this bill languishes on the senate calendar. the shootings in gilroy, dayton, el paso, midland, odessa took the lives of 41 people, including a six-year-old boy named steven romero. a background check could have prevented the shooter in odessa and midland from getting his gun. unfortunately, he was able to purchase a firearm through a private sale that does not require a background check. and still we wait for a vote on this bill to close the gaping loopholes of our background

check system. please, leader mcconnell, let us vote on this bill. sadly, what has become all too common, each of the shootings i mentioned involve an assault weapon. the gilroy shooter used a wasr-10 which is an ak-47 style semiautomatic. the rifle was equipped with a 75 round drug magazine -- drum magazine. in this case the shooter intentionally crossed into nevada to purchase the guns as the sale of assault weapons is banned in california. the dayton shooter used an am-15 gun rifle. the el paso shooter also used a wasr-10 rifle. the shooter in midland and odessa used an ar-15 style

rifle. these are weapons of war, plain and simple. their main function is to kill as many people as possible. in fact, in two of these shootings, gilroy and dayton, law enforcement arrived in less than a minute, but in that time dozens of people had been injured or killed. i strongly believe that reinstating the federal ban on assault weapons could have saved some of the lives that have been recently lost. as the "new york times" reported in an op-ed titled "that assault weapons ban, it did really work," data shows that compared with the decade before its adoption, the federal assault weapons ban in effect from september 1994 through 2004 was associated with a 25% drop in

gun massacres. and this is a massacre from six -- a massacre is from six to eight people. and a 40% drop in fatalities from 1981 -- from 81 to 49. madam president, we need to reinstate the assault weapons ban. it worked before and it will work again. we also need to ban high-capacity magazines. my legislation to ban assault weapons includes this provision, and there are stand-alone bills as well. just a few weeks ago at northern police station in san francisco cisco, i had the opportunity to examine a 100-round magazine personally, two rounds that fit on a rifle or a revolver. i couldn't believe it, 100 rounds that could be used just

round after round after round so easily. it's lightweight, it's simple to use, it's diabolical. and the only purpose of it is to kill as many people as possible as fast as possible. keeping high-capacity magazines out of the hands of mass shooters is particularly important because many times shootings are only stopped when the shooter has to pause and reload. in 2011, the shooter in tucson who shot then-congresswoman gabrielle giffords was only stopped when bystanders wrestled the shooter to the ground after he stopped firing to reload. civilians have no use for these devices, so all they're doing is costing innocent life. finally, the senate should be

considering legislation on extreme risk laws. 17 states and the district of columbia already have them. these laws allow family members and law enforcement to go to court before a judge and get a temporary lawful order to keep a gun out of the hands of someone who is dangerous. these orders involve judicial findings, presentation of evidence, and court proceedings that protect people's due process rights. there is legislation too. it's called the extreme risk protection order act of 2019. it would create new grants to incentivize states to enact their own extreme risk laws. the house judiciary committee recently passed companion legislation , and polls have

shown the majority of americans support these measures. according to the same "washington post"-abc news poll i mentioned earlier, 86% of americans support these measures. 86%, including 85% of republicans. i hope i hope members will -- i hope members will listen to this because these are needless deaths. they need not happen and needless murders as well. simply put, this body and the senate judiciary committee should really be taking action today to protect gun violence. last week the house judiciary committee passed three bills that would ban high-capacity magazines, would prohibit people convicted of hate crimes from possessing firearms, and would incentivize states to create extreme risk laws.

i'm so disappointed our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have blocked these commonsense measures for years, and i would appeal to them, please, it's time for us to act. we cannot let another mass shooting go by and not take even these simple steps. thank you, madam chairman. i yield the floor. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will calm the roll. -- the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. coons: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. coons: madam president, i ask that proceedings under the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. coons: madam president, i come to the floor today to recognize the critical moment that is before us as a country. we have an opportunity to make real progress on bipartisan gun reforms that will help keep our communities safer while respecting our treasured second

amendment rights. america's epidemic of gun violence continues to devastate communities and families across our nation. last month in just august alone, mass shootings in el paso, in dayton, and odessa claimed the lives of more than 50 innocent americans. and meanwhile individual americans fall victim to gun violence every single day, whether through suicide or through homicide, they take far too many lives far too early. just this past weekend four delawareans in my hometown were shot and in 2017 up and down my home state, 111 delawareans were killed by firearms. guns are now the third leading cause of death for delaware's children under age 17. folks, these are not just numbers. each gun death is a son or daughter, a neighbor, a congregation member, a friend.

in a recent meeting in my office in wilmington with moms demand action, i listened to young parents who are confronting for the first time the reality of active shooter drills in schools as they've sent their child to school for the first time and had them come home asking questions about why we as parents cannot do more to keep them safe in school. viewing this ongoing crisis through the eyes of our children, those who are told to be quiet, to hide in a closet, to wait out a moment of shear terror is a reminder that our children are scared, our families are scared, our neighbors are scared, and we can and must do more to address this epidemic. and some of the most crucial steps we can take must be taken here at the federal level. but to make progress, the party that controls this body and this floor has to join hands with

those of us and my party willing to work across the aisle in a responsible way and lead. and frankly, more than anything else as has been said by the republican majority leader, president trump needs to take a clear and firm position and stick to it. the american people deserve no less. if this body is going to take up and pass gun control legislation, it will require our president to lead. i think bringing bipartisan bills to the floor here for a vote is a great place to start. and i wanted to talk for a few minutes about one of those bills that i introduced with republican senator pat toomey of the neighbors state of pennsylvania. it's culled the knicks denial -- nics denial notification. someone prohibited by law of owning a weapon, someone who is a convicted felon or add jude indicated mentally ill goes into a firearm dealer, fills out the

background check form but lies on it and says they are able to buy a gun and they get denied, they get turned down once that nics background check is run, what do you think happens with that information? where does the information that a convicted felon is trying to buy a weapon go once they've been denied? in my home state nowhere. in 34 states nowhere. in states across the country, not just delaware, new york, kentucky, texas, local law enforcement may never learn about a convicted felon who is actively trying to buy a gun. and often committing another offense by lying about it in that attempt. our bill would fix that. it requires federal authorities to alert state law enforcement of any background check denial so state authorities can decide whether to investigate or prosecute or go and pay a visit to someone given this important and imminent sign of an intention to engage in criminal activity.

it also requires our federal department of justice to publish and annual report with statistics about its prosecution of background check denial cases so that we here in congress and folks around the country can better enforce our existing gun laws. what i hear time and time again in town halls back home in delaware is folks want us to enforce our existing gun laws more thoroughly and more wisely and that's exactly what this proposal would do. in delaware i've met with and heard from law enforcement leaders up and down our state, the chiefs of police from our state police, our county police, our municipal police have uniformly said they would welcome this information, that if someone in their town, in their county, or in our state is a convicted felon trying to get their hands on a gun, they'd like to know that. and here in the senate chairman lindsey graham of the senate judiciary committee at a hearing back in may said about this proposal, it is a, quote,

painfully obvious partisan bill that -- bipartisan bill that we should take up and pass. he has committed to me he would like to see it pass committee. there are a lot of other senators who agree, not just democrats like senators duckworth, jones, and -- but senators rubio, collins have joined in cosponsoring this and i know there are other senators eager or willing to join in the days ahead. the nics denial notification act is exactly the sort of commonsense narrowly crafted bipartisan bill that would pass the senate tomorrow if leader mcconnell would bring it to the floor for a vote. simply put, bills like this and bills such as we discussed at that hearing on the judiciary committee extreme risk protection orders that provide an appropriate way with due process protections for a demmons extratively mentally ill individual threatening harm to others to for a brief period have their guns removed from them or universal background

checks such as recently advanced -- not recently -- six months ago advanced the house on a bipartisan basis. these sorts of proposals can help keep guns away from people who should not have them. it is clear to me from poll after poll, survey after survey, tragic story after traj irstory, the -- tragic story after tragic story the american people want us to act and act on background checks. we should vote on the senate companion to h.r. 8. it is long past our time for our leader, the majority leader to join with the majority of the country and to put that bill on this senate floor. just last week the house judiciary committee passed the keep americans safe act that would prohibit high-capacity magazines which have been used in so many of these recent tragic mass shootings. if the leader brought it to the floor and it passed that along with all the other bills i just referenced would help save lives. madam president, it is my hope that our president will see this

moment as an opportunity for real leadership, to listen to the majority of americans, the majority of democrats, the majority of republicans, the majority of gun owners who would like to see us act in a responsible and bipartisan way to reduce the easy access criminals have to guns and take an important step forward in making our country, our schools, our communities, and our families safe. what i hear back home in delaware is that the overwhelming majority of americans are sick and tired of our thoughts and prayers after every shooting, and they would be so much more inspired if we actually took the risk of enacting legislation together. madam president, i think it's long past time for us to do just that. and i hope we will in the days ahead. thank you. and with that i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call: a senator: madam president, i move to vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll.

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: is there anyone in the chamber who wishes to vote or change his or her vote? seeing none, the ayes 62. nays 32. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the president shall be immediately notified of the senate's action. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. a senator: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent thament remaining votes in this series the presiding officer: objection without objection. 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 robert a. destro of virginia to be assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of robert a. destro of virginia to be assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk should call the roll. this is a ten-minute vote. vote:

vote: