vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, the yeas are 89, the nays are zero. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all 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 and consider calendar number 533. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. 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, the judiciary, patrick j. bumatay of california to be united states circuit judge for the ninth circuit. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. 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 patrick j. bumatay of california to be united states circuit judge for the ninth circuit, signed by 17 senators as follows -- mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. 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 and consider executive calendar number 534. 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, the judiciary, lawrence vandyke of nevada to be united states circuit judge for the ninth circuit. 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 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of lawrence vandyke of nevada to be united states circuit judge for the ninth circuit, signed by 17 senators as follows -- mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. 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 and consider calendar number 530. 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, john joseph sullivan of maryland to be

ambassador of the united states of america to the russian federation. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. 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 john joseph sullivan of maryland to be ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the united states of america to the russian federation, signed by 17 senators as follows -- mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. 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 and consider calendar number 543. 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 health and human services, stephen hahn of texas

to be commissioner of food and drugs. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. 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 stephen hahn of texas to be commissioner of food and drugs, department of health and human services, signed by 17 senators as follows -- mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. 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 and consider calendar 452. 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 the interior, aurelia skipwith of indiana to

be director of the united states fish and wildlife service. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. 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 aurelia skipwit of indiana to be descror of the united states fish and wildlife service, signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator for louisiana. last week, mr. president, of course, was thanksgiving, a day we all set aside in america to count our blessings, and as we do that we always say to ourselves, we ought to be

thankful every every day of the year for the many blessings that have been bestowed upon us. i know i say that to myself. so i thought today for a few minutes i would mention two things that i am especially thankful for even though this isn't thanksgiving, but it is another day that the lord has blessed us with. the first thing -- and there are many things that we are thankful for, but the first thing that i am thankful for that i want to mention today is for the many public servants that care for and protect american taxpayer money. and i want to highlight one in particular. the chairman of our f.c.c., mr. ajit pai. and let me explain why i am thankful for this public

servant, one among many who get up every day and work hard to protect taxpayer money. about two weeks ago the chairman of the f.c.c. over many obstacles announced that he was going to hold a public auction for the c-band. well, why is that important? we all have a cellphone now. and many of us have ipads and computers. the internet has changed the world, changed our lives, made them more complicated, of course, but on balance i think the internet has enriched our lives many we're about to move into a new phase of telecommunications called 5g, it stands for fifth generation.

it's really just extraordinarily fast internet that can carry huge amounts of data. the ingenuity of the american people takes my breath away. i'm pretty impressed with 4g, but 5g is going to make things possible like telemedicine where a specialist in a field of surgery through robotics and now an incredibly fast internet can operate on a patient thousands of miles away and save his or her life thanks to fining. we'll be table to hook all of our devices to 5g -- through 5g, save time. it gives us more precious time to spend with our family.

driverless cars. maybe i won't see them in my lifetime, but our assistants here, our pages in the senate will see them in their lifetime. and i could go on, but the point is to make 5g possible, and a lot of people -- to make 5g possible a lot of people have to work together. 5g is made possible through the airwaves. when internet devices talk to each other, data in the form of radio waves, the scientists call them electromagnetic radiation, but these airwaves go through the air from one device to another. we have all different airwaves. it's called spectrum. we have airwaves for radios and tv's. well, 5g, fifth generation

wireless, can be used in a number of different airwaves or different parts of the spectrum, but one part of the spectrum, one part of the airwaves are just perfect for 5g. it's called the c-band. and that part of the airwaves is able to carry these 5g radio waves in a manner that can cover a huge geographical area, but also carry lots of data. it's called the c-band, and it is perfect for 5g. it's -- it's perfect. it's not too hot, it's not too cold, it's just right. some swamp creatures, both in government and out, came that

close -- that close to getting control of the c-band, which is owned by the american people. led by three farm satellite companies, they had almost convinced the powers that be to give them the c-band -- just give it to them. and let them decide who's going to get to use that c-band for 5g. oh, and by the way, in picking the telecommunication companies that would get to use the c-band that was going to be given to them for free by the powers that be, these foreign companies are going to get to keep the money money -- about $60 billion.

that's just the upfront money -- $60 billion. that would build seven miles of internet in this country. and not only would the companies get the $60 billion, they would get to decide who could use the c-band, and they were that close. but the chairman of the f.c.c. stopped them, and he's going to recommend next week -- and i hope the full f.c.c. goes along with them. i'm going to be there to watch. he recommended, and is going to recommend, that we have a public auction. doing a public auction is nothing new for the f.c.c. the f.c.c. auctions off different airwaves all the time. in fact, the f.c.c. has held

around 93 public auctions where anybody who wants to, any company that wants to, competition, moral good can come in and bid on that part of the airwaves, and the good people at the f.c.c. have brought in to the american taxpayer about $123 billion in the last 25 years by auctioning off these airwaves and giving everybody a fair chance in a fully transparent way in front of god and country. that's the way it ought to be. but a lot of swamp creatures were pushing hard for this private sale. the american taxpayer only would have lost 6 -- not only lost $60 billion, we would have lost control of the c-band, which according to the telecommunications act -- or communications act, rather. it doesn't belong to me, it

doesn't belong to the businesses, it's belongs -- it belongs to the american people. and we can't let our guard down. i learned here in my short three years that those swamp creatures, if they can't get in the front door, they will try to get in the side door and if they can't get in the side door, they'll try the backdoor. we've got a lot of money at stake here so we've got to remain vigilant. but i just want to thank ajit pai for standing up. he made a lot of people mad. that's easy to talk about, but that's hard to do. it takes courage. he did it and i wanted to single him out. the second thing i want to say i'm thankful for, among so many things, mr. president, i am so thankful for our -- our neighbors to the north, canada. one -- i visited canada so many

times. i'm so proud to call them friends. 37 million people in canada, some of the finest people that god ever put breath in. we fought together in wars. we fought for freedom that we all take for granted. we trade with each other. there's just -- i mean, the country is just -- it's a wonderful country and just extraordinarily friendly, decent, god-fearing people. our leaders squabble sometimes. you know, that's just the way life is. sometimes good friends have disagreements, but -- but -- and we're having a few little disagreements right now. but on this -- on this beautiful thursday, i just wanted to come and say how espionage i -- how

thankful i am that canada is our friend and how honored i am to call them friends and how grateful i am for all 37 million of the fine men, women, and children in that great country. thank you, mr. chairman. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator for iowa. mr. grassley: i ask that the calling of the quorumming suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: thank you, mr. president. i -- for the leaders -- no, for myself, i ask unanimous consent that angel, a state department fellow in my office, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the day. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: i come to the floor this afternoon to discuss two issues, one dealing with the world bank and another one dealing with the department of defense's inability to get clean audits. today the world bank is releasing its country

partnership framework with china. this reportedly includes $1.5 billion of loans to china per year and $800 million to $1 billion in private-sector investment. now, keep in mind that the world bank was created to help economic development in the world's poorest countries. china is now the world's second-largest economy after the united states. also, the united states is the world bank's largest contributor. i think many americans would question why so many american tax dollars are going to support low-interest loans in china. in china, there is a large and

growing body of evidence of human rights abuses including mass internment camps. reports indicate that these camps are centers for social control and political indoctrination. chinese authorities reportedly mistreat or even torture detainees while requiring them to engage in forced labor and to renounce their religion and their culture. and yet the world bank has supported a program called technical and vocational education and training projects in xinxiang province. this is wording very close to what the chinese communist party efemmistically calls its

internment camps. plus one reporter has uncovered documents that these schools purchase barbed way, tear gas, and body armor using other funds and, of course, funds are fungible. institutions like the world bank have a great responsibility to further assess critical human right risk and religious freedom, such as those exhibited in any region where it lends money. the world bank's own social framework standards state that when assessing social risk and impacts, the bank must assess threats to human security and

impacts on the health, safety, and well-being of workers and project-affected communities. the bank and other such institutions cannot adequately assess a project's full impact without monitoring and examining reports of widespread human rights abuses in any local area. now, on november 16, we had "the new york times" publishing leaked chinese records indicating a coordinated effort going back years directed by general secretary xi to detain hundreds of thousands of uighurs, kazakhs and other muslims in internment camps and

to unleash the tools of dictatorship on the muslim population. now, given these repeated reports about repression in xinjiang that date back even years, it is hard to see how any project in that region could meet the bank's social framework standards. there needs to be a periodic internal review of risk assessment mechanisms to ensure that they are appropriately calibrated to capture changing risk profiles. so i question whether the bank's oversight processes are adequate, given its own

assessment. so on know issue with these internment camps that go by the professional name of technical and vocational education and training projects, and i'm referring particularly to those in xinjiang province. in a statement on august 29, the world bank stated that it had conducted supervision missions about twice a year since the project started and that these missions included a review of social safeguards and a monitoring and evaluation review. the world bank found -- and i'm going to quote from their document -- quote, no evidence from subsequent reviews that funds were diverted, misused, 0 or used for activities not in line with project objectives or world bank policies and

procedures, end of quote. however -- now, just last month, the bank raised the environmental and social risk ratings from moderate, the second-lowest level, to substantial and then to high, the highest level. it is very disappointing that the very -- that very little happened in upgrading the risk assessments on this project until after the congressional attention, even with an internal whistle-blower raising the matter. this, to me, seems like a failed process. when routine audits and a whistle-blower complaint do not catch anything despite increasingly concerning reports in the media about mistreatment

and abuse. i've written a letter to the bank president asking questions about these systemic concerns. moreover, i request why a question like -- i question why a country like china, which is supposed to graduate from world bank funding, is now and forever still taking loans. the world bank was created for a very worthwhile purpose -- to help poor countries that cannot on their own efforts assess capital markets -- access capital markets. both china and russia today have well surpassed the world bank's graduation threshold and have access to capital markets.

and yet american taxpayers are called on to do more. yet china continues then to borrow on average of $2 billion a year from the world bank, making it one of the bank's top borrowers. the second-largest economy in the world, one of the bank's top borrowers. countries like china and russia that have seen the most economic progress should not seek to maintain access to the bank's preferential lending rates and technical support. moreover, these are our two major geopolitical foes. i have previously highlighted china's intellectual property theft and foreign influence activities at american universities, as just an example of other things i looked at in the case of china. russia's illegal occupation of

territory in georgia and ukraine and its active measures against democracies, including the united states democracy, make it effectively an outlaw state. meanwhile, china does substantial foreign lending of its own. which it uses as a tool of geopolitical influence over other countries. now, just think -- through the world bank, they get u.s. taxpayers' dollars and then the country is still so rich that they can lend to many other nations around the world to increase the geopolitical influence of china. and that country's lending does not follow international development finance standards, nor does china disclose the

amounts or terms for loans that it offers. now, through the belt and road initiative of china, which initiative is this process that they invest in other countries to have chinese influence in these other countries, this belt and road initiative in china has raised concerns about debt sustainability in recent countries. but they can invest money in these countries, and then they have an agreement that if the loan isn't paid, china takes over enhancing their influence. a lot of it for military purposes. a march 2018 report from the center for global development assessed the current debt vulnerabilities of these countries i just referred to identified as potential belt and road initiative borrowers.

so out of 23 countries determined to be vulnerable to this debt distress, the center identified eight countries, quote, where the belt road initiative appears to create the potential for debt sustainability problems and where china is a dominant creditor in the key position to address these problems, end of quote. the world bank, again using american tax dollars, should not be lending to wealthy countries that violate human rights of their citizens and attempt to dominate weaker countries through their loans, whether it's done for military reasons or for economic reasons.

the state foreign operations appropriations bill contains funding and authorization for a large capital increase for the world bank. in other words, what i just said the center is going to be facing this issue. i've developed an amendment to this bill that would insert language requiring the united states representative to the world bank to work to defeat any project in a country that has reached the world's banks own graduation threshold. and, secondly, that is designed by the state department as a country of particular concern for religious freedom or is on the watch list for such designation. and both of those would include china and russia at this point,

countries with broadly documented violations with intentional international norms, human rights and religious freedoms then should not be given the privilege of assessing preferential loans that then limit access to other countries that have need. in other words, the second-largest economy in the world, china, by getting loans from the world bank, at the same time they violate the human rights of their people, are denying developing countries that need the loans a lot of resources that they're not getting because they're going to the wealthy nations. now, mr. president, to my

second and last issue of the day , i want to report on the pentagon's most recent audit. unfortunately i don't come with tidings of comfort and joy. instead i come with tidings of bad news the department of defense has flunked another test of fiscal fitness yet again. last year congress authorized more than $700 billion for the department of defense. that's a heck of a lot of money, and that's why it's a big deal the pentagon is unable to account for the hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars it spends from one year to the next year. every dollar that congress

approves for defense department is crucial for our national security. we must ensure americans -- america's sons and daughters in uniform are well paid and well equipped to defend our great country, and that's why i work tirelessly to hold the pentagon accountable. the good news is i'm iowa stubborn. and as a taxpayer watchdog, i won't let go of this bone until i see results. there's always bad news after you announce good news. so the bad news is the pentagon's books are a big fiscal mess. in fact, the defense department is the very last federal agency to comply with a federal law

decades old requiring an annual audit. it took 28 years after congress enacted a law requiring every federal agency to conduct an annual audit for the pentagon to get its ducks in a row. unfortunately the results are not what it's quacked up to be. as required by the 1990 chief financial officer's act, the bean counters at the department of defense disclose their financial assessments for fiscal year 2019 to the office of inspector general, and then the i.g. deployed 1,400 auditors to 600 sites around the world. these 1,400 auditors at 600 different sites surveyed $2.9

trillion in assets and tallied $2.8 trillion in liabilities. after spending $1 billion to conduct this audit, the department of defense inspector general was unable to issue a clean opinion. and that's the goal that we seek. just like other departments can get clean opinions, why can't the defense department so do? the case is that year after year the pentagon is unable to account for tax dollars coming in and tax dollars going out. so let me clarify for everyone listening just what happens when big spenders aren't held accountable. tax dollars are ripe for wrongdoers to harvest.

and in the sprawling bureaucracy that we call the defense department with bases and contractors stationed around the globe, pentagon spending is vulnerable to waste, fraud, and abuse. as a pentagon watchdog, i've approached this podium nearly 50 times over my years of service here in the united states senate to continually call attention to this wasteful spending by the department of defense. i haven't avoided at the same time calling attention to wasteful spending in any agency of the federal government, but the department of defense has gotten the majority of my attention. during this period of time i've written countless oversight letters and launched scores of investigations. i've encouraged my colleagues to ramp up their oversight work so we can work together to fix

what's broken. the top dogs at the pentagon have undertaken countless reform efforts, so i'm not saying they don't recognize it and try to do something about it, but after all these decades they have not succeeded. at the same time, besides undertaking countless reform efforts, they've issued endless promises. they've testified that real solutions are underway. and yet, yet the results of fiscal 2019 audit leaves this iowa senator underwhelmed. tax dollars are still leaking through the pentagon ledgers like a sieve. the plumbing is broken. when the fiscal faucets are cranked wide open at full

throttle with no internal controls welded in place to prevent leaking, tax dollars are flushed down the drain. over many years of oversight, dozens of top dogs at the defense department and the top brass of the u.s. military have come to my office to offer explanations for wasteful spending, particularly after the pentagon is on the receiving end of unflattering headlines. they polish their skills to dodge tough questions posed by my oversight letters. they are also well prepared to rationalize hundreds of billions of dollars for their budget. it's entirely reasonable and the responsibility of each of our lawmakers, including this one, to expect that they also have the ability to show us where the

money goes. i've approached dialogue with our nation's military leaders in good faith, but time and again i've been disappointed. the defense department's inability or unwillingness to make necessary and overdue changes is quite unacceptable. the buck stops here of course. we owe it as representatives of the american people, we owe it to those same constituents of ours, the defense department is the largest federal agency. over time bureaucrats get wrapped up in a culture of go along to get along. some insiders take the brave step to blow the whistle on waste, fraud, and abuse. however, many are afraid to

follow suit. that's why it's so important to inject a dose of reality into that swamp. what's really needed is a massive transfusion to change the mind set. we have a lot of history, so let me remind my colleagues. washington is an island surrounded by reality, and when it doms fiscal responsibility -- when it comes to fiscal responsibility the pentagon operates on its own special fantasy island. that's why congress can't rubber stamp the defense department's budget with no accountability for how the money is spent. every time a new defense authorization funding bill is due in congress, military leaders speak to the ever-changing threats facing our country.

those same military leaders plead for additional funding to defend our nation, fight our enemies, and protect our interests abroad. those military leaders discuss the growing threat of cyberattacks, aging and obsolete equipment, and say that cuts to their budget would hurt our men and women in uniform. national defense, as we all know, is the number-one priority of the federal government under the constitution, so congress then is understandably reluctant to deny money that military leaders say that is -- say they need. now that in turn is the reason why earning a clean audit is shoved to the back burner at the defense department. congress and the pentagon need

to reach an understanding, fiscal accountability and military readiness are not mutually exclusive. it's not an either/or scenario. earning a clean bill of fiscal health would strengthen military readiness and boost support for necessary increases to defense spending in congress and among the american people. money somehow seems to simply get lost at the defense department. it's unreasonable to concede that it's okay for military inventory to vanish into thin air. it boils down to sloppy bookkeeping and antiquated accounting systems that can't generate reliable transaction

data. the problem starts at the top and filters down throughout the five corridors of the pentagon. let's consider the recent debacle with the -- with one group. the office of inspector general released a report on spare parts that the pentagon purchased from transdyne. the report showed the rinse and repeat fiscal shenanigans at the pentagon. in the report the i.g. analyzed 113 contracts between january 2015 and january 2017. it reviewed 27 spare parts that the defense department purchased from transdyne.

in that window of that time, only two years, transdyne overcharged the defense department by over $16 million. i'll go out on a limb and suggest the americans would rather spend $16 million for the defense department on our men and women in uniform rather than overpaying for spare parts rip-off to a defense contractor. congress can't sign blank checks to the defense department. we must work to ensure every dollar's present and accounted for. the nation's strongest military in the world is managed by a defense department where taxpayer dollars seem to vanish without explanation, without receipts, and without accountability. over the years i collected a laundry list of pentagon waste,

fraud, and abuse from $436 hammers to $640 toilet seats, $116 soap dish covers and $999 pliers. most recently, i exposed a $1,200 reheatable coffee cup and a $14,000 toilet seat lid. the dirty laundry just keeps piling up, and at the same time of piling up, soaking the taxpayer. these wasteful expenditures represent just the tip of an iceberg. the simple truth is the defense department can't keep track of or doesn't seem to care where tax dollars are spent. internal controls are weak, and in some cases nonexistent, and

that's been reinforced by this second audit for which the department of defense inspector general can't give a clean audit, and for a second time, i would suggest that what the law of 28 years ago tries to accomplish is that every department get a clean audit, clean opinion on their audit and -- let me repeat for a second time -- the defense department is the only agency of the federal government that can't do that. the defense department, repeating again, is the only agency that hasn't been able to deliver a clean audit despite spending billions of dollars to modernize its accounting system. all that investment hasn't produced better systems. no one except me and a few

others ever talk about this, but it needs to be talked about and talked about a lot more, and it needs to be talked about in a deliberate way and very often. congress can't allow the defense department to sweep this issue under the rug year after year after year under the rug. the transdigm fiasco is one very small example, even though it cost taxpayers a lot of wasted dollars. price gouging has been going on for years at the expense of the taxpayer and military readiness. now, top-level managers know all about what i'm talking about, but they aren't doing a doggone thing to fix it. people must be held accountable for messing receipts, for lost

financial information, for wasteful spending approvals, for questionable contracting agreements, and every other abuse of power that leads to more taxpayer dollars being squandered. american households across the country scrutinize their spending and keep tabs on their bills. the defense department should approach spending no different live. that's why i pushed for an amendment to the latest defense authorization bill that would have required the pentagon to keep better track of its contracts and to make sure they do make reports to the congress. while this amendment was ultimately not included in the bill, i want my colleagues to know that i'm going to continue to push for more accountability. throughout my years of oversight, the pentagon officials claim they want to reverse the cycle of cost

overruns, they want to clean up their books, and they want to hold people responsible, and, yet, it seems never to happen. although i'm encouraged by the conversations i've had so far with the new defense secretary esper, the proof is in the pudding. from one administration to the next it's been the same story, business goes on as usual. from the top of the chain of command to the rank and file, there's a pervasive mind-set that assumes no one is watching over them and that no one cares. for four decades this senator has been watching and this senator cares. i'm disgusted each time i discover another example of wasteful spending. so i'm here this very day as i have been dozens of times before in my service in the senate to

ask my colleagues in both senate and the house of representatives to join me in a crusade to stop wasteful spending at the defense department. there's a saying that goes something like this -- no guts, no glory. well, wasteful spending is gutting our military readiness and goring the taxpayers. there's no glory in that, and people might wonder then, why does this senator bother? i've fought fiscal mismanagement at the defense department for these many decades. i've launched investigation after investigation and come to the floor of the senate to talk until i'm blue in the face. billions of dollars have been poured into the decade's long effort to right the fiscal ship at the defense department. the pentagon has shelled out billions for several hundred

partial audits, two complete audits, and endless technology updates to modernize its accounting system, and, yet, no one can tell us when, if ever, a clean audit might be possible. how can that be? nearly 30 years of effort, no solution. the department of defense can develop the most advanced weapon systems in the world, but it can't seem to deploy something as simple and common as an accounting system that's capable of capturing payment transactions and generating reliable fiscal and financial data. that's why it's a cakewalk for crooks to rip into the pentagon's money staff from both ends and use a fronted end loader to freeload their way

through this money pit. without a clean audit on the foreseeable horizon, there's no evidence to catch anyone's hands in the pentagon cookie jar. the only way we will root out fraud and wasteful spending is by knowing where the money is being spent. that brings me back to square one as i finish. we need a clean audit and a reliable accounting system. like i mentioned earlier, i'm iowa stubborn and, by god, i'm willing to work with my colleagues and go toe to toe with any administration republican or democrat. i'll work for as long as it takes for us to see eye to eye to hold the defense department accountable once and for all. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: thank you,

mr. president. i rise to commemorate the united nations framework convention on climate change, the 25th conference of the parties or cop 25, which is taking place in madrid until december 12 of this year. i do so despite the cloud cast by president trump's announcement of his intention to withdraw the united states from the paris agreement. the paris agreement is a landmark effort to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to ee limb -- limit the global increase to two degrees celsius by pursuing means to decrease to to -- it to 1.5 degrees. it is the largest multilateral diplomatic events in the world. this conference is it designed to take the next critical steps in the process. with the paris agreement in cop-24 in poland, the key

objective is to complete several matters with respect to the full operation of the paris climate change agreement. article 28 of the paris agreement specifies after joining, no country can withdraw for three years after which a one-year waiting period must occur before withdrawal takes effect. the trump withdraw documents on 2019 making november 4, 2020, the earliest possible date the united states can be out of the dwreement. withdrawal could not come at a costlier time. in an analysis i requested to review the federal approach to funding climate fiscal projects that address the most significant fiscal lists, the accounting office knows there were 14 disasters. g.a.o., an independent nonpartisan agency, which

examines how taxpayer dollars are spent, is known as the congressional watchdog reported that the total estimated cost reached at least $91 billion in damages to public and private property. the cost of recent weather disasters illustrated the need to plan for climate change risks and invest in climate resiliency. the report says it can reduce the need for far more costly steps in the decades to come. the paris agreement establishes a global goal on adamentation -- adaptation that will strengthen resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change in the context of temperature goal of the agreement. it aims at strengthening the adaptation efforts through support and international cooperation. it recognizes that adaptation is a global challenge faced by all, including the united states.

because u.s. withdrew will not formally take effect until november 4, 2020, the u.s. team posture at cop 25 remains unchanged. a group of career civil servants will be on the ground. moreover, two years ago, numerous u.s. states, cities, tribal nations, faith groups, universities, and others enhanced their presence at major international events, including cop meetings to maintain and encourage american progress toward its climate goals. i am proud that nearly 100 marylanders, pledgers, are still in. they comprise many small businesses. we have over ten cities, six counties, cultural institutions, faith and health care

organizationses, universities and colleges, and the state treasurer of maryland. they are all still in. members of the united states senate are still in. i am proud to be leading 38 of my colleagues in the senate resolution 404, this bipartisan resolution expresses the sense of the senate that the united states should be working in cooperation with the international community and continuing to exercise global leadership to address the causes and effects of climate change. prior to that, i led a congressional delegation of ten senators to cop 21 that produced the paris agreement in 2015, then the united states committed to lowering its contribution of greenhouse gas emissions, 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by to 25. business and labor are still in. in a recent letter 75 major c.e.o.'s of organized labor represented by the afl-cio stressed the importance of the

paris agreement and the need for the united states to remain in it. this represents ones of the most powerful recognitions ever from the private sector of the economic richtion and opportunities -- risks and opportunities that climate change presents to the world. joint labor union c.e.o. statement on the paris agreement comprises of c.o. -- c.e.o. and 12.5 million workers. in 2009 at the copenhagen cop 15, there were goals to mobilize $100 billion in climate finance in 2020. the result was the green climate fund that helps fund climate finance investments, low emissions, climate resilient development. the paris agreement affirmed and extended the $100 billion goal. although president trump has

sometime anied the -- stymied the funding of this fund, the fiscal year 2020 state department and foreign operations bill, the senate appropriations committee reported is the most favorable, forwardforward-leaning on multie assistance, funding renewable energy programs at $179 million and resilient programs at $177 million. in addition, the bill commits $150 million for the global environmental facilities and $10 million for the u.n. climate convention. we must not forget the cooperation president trump would have us forget, on a bipartisan basis, the united states congress has uniformly rejected the president's appeal -- repeated calls to zero out climate assistance funding. this represents the true cooperative spirit of our country, once a global leader on climate issues. mr. president, i urge president trump to reassert our nation's strong leadership in implementing the paris agreement

before the next conference of the parties. in the meantime i applaud the courage of the general public, universities, faith-based groups, nonprofits, labor organizations, private sector companies, and state and local governments who have helped step into the void president trump created by his withdrawal from this agreement. mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arkansas. a senator: i rise today to discuss the need to pass the united states-mexico-canada agreement. it's frustrating we have to continue to speak about this issue. mr. boozman: we've been so close for a long time now. but lack of action on the part of the house leadership continues to unnecessarily delay ratification. our neighbors to the north and south are natural allies and trading partners. yet our trade policy with them

is not be -- has not been updated in 25 years. the president and his team worked very hard to get canada and mexico to the negotiating table to modernize our trade agreement in a mutually beneficial manner. that hard work has paid off in the form of the usmca. it is ready for ratification and the senate is eager to get that done. unfortunately we are at the mercy of the house which must act first. house leadership's refusal to move this trade deal is preventing additional job creation in our country and is sending the wrong signal to our trading partners across the globe. we ought to be spurring economic activity by striking fair trade agreements globally, not sitting on our hands and refusing to approve an agreement between two of our top trading partners.

a fair and mutually beneficial trade agreement with our neighbors to the north and south is very important to my home state of arkansas. canada and mexico are number one and two on the list of the top ten destinations for arkansas' exports. arkansas is win of a handful of -- is one of a handful of states that in recent years has consistently exported more than what it imported from canada and mexico. the arkansas world trade center which has played a valuable role in connecting businesses in my state with international partners for over a decade recently released a report summarizing trade jobs data for the natural state. the center's report underscores the value trade brings to my state's economy and reinforces the fact that the path to a more prosperous, long-term outlook for arkansas is through opening

additional markets for our farmers, manufacturers, and small businesses. the report notes that as of september 2019, trade in arkansas supported nearly 350,000 jobs. this represents approximately 26% of the state's total employed labor force. it points to a direct correlation between job numbers and trade documenting that trade-related jobs in the state have grown six times faster than total employment over the past few years. more importantly for our purposes here today, the report underscores just how crucial canada and mexico are for arkansas' economy. natural states exports to canada amounted to $1.2 billion last year. our exports to mexico totaled

$870 million in that same time span. combined these two countries account for a third of arkansas' total exports. nearly 60,000 -- 69,000 jobs in my state are dependent on trade with canada and another 41,000 are tied to trade with mexico. melvin torres, the center's director of western hemisphere trade praised arkansas' effective partnership with both countries for creating this, and i quote, symbiotic and successful relationship. end quote. that relationship will only grow with ratification of the usmca. canada and mexico aren't just important markets for my state. each of our states stand to gain with the ratification of usmca. this landmark trade deal will create over 175,000 jobs,

helping to strengthen our economy, and america's middle class. this overdue modernization of nafta will benefit workers in a wide array of industries. manufacturing, tech, and more stand to gain from usmca. it will add much needed certainty for farmers and ranchers who currently need every market that they can get. rural america is struggling right now and approving this agreement will provide a shot in the arm for the rural economy. ratification of usmca along with the recent deals struck with south korea and japan will show the rest of the world that the u.s. is open for business. proving that the u.s. is negotiating in good faith to reach mutually beneficial outcomes for all parties that are involved could really move

the needle in other ongoing trade standoffs. house leadership needs to get on the stick. usmca is too important for our nation's economic future to be sitting in limbo while house democrats focus on important goals. and with that, mr. president, i yield the floor.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to morning business with senators permitted to speak up to ten minutes each. officer without objection. mr. mcconnell: i have five requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. a approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the committee on banking, housing, and urban affairs be discharged from further consideration of s. 743 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 743, a bill to

award a congressional gold medal to the soldiers of the 5,307th composite provisional unit in recognition of their bravery and outstanding service in the jungles of burma during world war ii. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? 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 3:00 p.m. monday, december 9. further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and

morning business be closed. further, following leader remarks, the senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the bumatay nomination. finally, that the cloture motions filed during today's session ripen at 5:30 p.m. on monday. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. mcconnell: so, if there is know no further business to come before the senate, i ask it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until 3:00 p.m. on monday.