redesignate the jimmy carter national historic site as the jimmy carter national historical park. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. cornyn: i ask unanimous consent that 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. cornyn: finally, madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the committee on commerce be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 5126, and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 5126, an act to require individuals fishing for gulf reef fish to use certain descending devices and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed. mr. cornyn: i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: i know of no further debate on the bill, madam

president. the presiding officer: is there further debate? hearing none, the question is on passage. all those in favor say aye. all opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill is passed. mr. cornyn: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: i note the absence of a quorum, madam president. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. schumer: madam president.

the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: now, madam president, so much of the senate's work happens behind the scenes and out of the spotlight. over the past few weeks, there are scores of senate staffers, probably more than scores, hundreds i would say, who have spent many late nights and some sleepless ones putting this emergency relief and omnibus bill together. so i wanted to come back to the floor today and acknowledge all of the hard-working senate democratic staff. to create a law there are staffs from committees and senators' offices who are truly experts. they make sure what we senators want to achieve is written properly. they have years, some decades of experience in their subject area. they are libraries of information of how programs work. they are also creative thinkers and masters of accomplishing what senators might think is easy, turning a few lines of

our direction into legislative text, under tremendous time pressure, and lately during the pandemic. these are the names of some of the senate's unsung heroes to whom we all owe an amazing gratitude of debt. from the committee on appropriations -- charles chuck keiffer janda baturney. eric raven, doug clapp, ellen murray, scott nanz, jessica berry, michelle dominiquez, tom riser and dabney habb. committee on banking and housinn cheney, elisha toukoo, jan singleman, phil rudd, laura

swan son. from the committee on commerce,science and transportation -- david strickland, melissa portman, david martin, doug anderson, lawrence wildgoose, cara fisher, michael davidson, sean bonne, jared bomberg, john beaser, nikki tushell and chris day. from the committee on homeland security and government affairs -- lena chana anika christianson, alexa norik and david wineberg. from the committee on health, education, labor and pensions -- everyone shatz, john rider, nick bath, car spar marcione, nikki mckinley, kend ra isakson, garrick

devaney. from the select committee on intelligence, beth friedman, mike casey. from the committee on foreign relations, andrew keller, richie gill, shella arkin. from the committee on agriculture, and forestry, susan keith, kyle varner, claifer boisner, adam tarr. from the committee on energy and natural resources -- renee black, sam fowler, revon cleva, elliott bass ard, armando arvula. from the committee on

environment and public works -- john kaine, annie demato, laura gillum, michael freehoff and lucy xau. adam caruso, ann dwyer, jonathan goldman, terry harvey, sally yang, christian lunda, greta paisch, ashley schipitle, beth frable, jamie white, arielle warnoff. special committee on aging -- stacy sanders, josh cramer.

from the committee on indian affairs, kim moxley, anthony sadio. i'm sure this is very hard on our typists, but thank you very much. from the committee on small business and entrepreneurship, sean moore, ron storehog, jacob press. from the committee on rules and administration, dusty brandenberg and lindsey kirk. to all of those great people and many more -- i apologize if there are some we left out -- thank you, thank you, thank you. to everyone on the committees. and i also want for a moment to thank my staff. everyone believes they have the best staff on the hill. i am certainly no exception. i would never, ever, ever be able to do what i do without them. i know over the past several days many of them have tested the limits of exhaustion, hardly

sleeping at all. but i want them to know that all their energy, ingenuity, and brilliance will have made the lives of their fellow citizens better in new york and across the country. i have told them that they can look back at any age and know that they have kept businesses going, kept people employed, kept people fed, kept people from getting sick, and even kept people from dying, kept people alive. that's the great work my staff and the other staffs have done. so to my staff, who i am so deeply, deeply grateful to, thank you, thank you, thank you. to my chief mike lynch, my deputy chief erin sagervon, my state director martin brennan, deputy state director steve mann, steve barton, mike ienelli

and all the regional directors from across the state, the executive team in my office is a tremendous asset to me and the democratic caucus. michelle m.i.t.ler, emily sweeter, risa shaw. the press team supports both me and the entire democratic caucus day in, day out. justicein goodman, monica lee, ken meyer, allison bisoti, page tucky, alice mann and everyone at the senate democratic media center. jasmine harris, areanna pia, andrew ogden, hana talley, and the whole team is supported by the great budding talent of our press assistants, alexandra

robeson, julietta lopez do fantastic. josh malofsky is my speechwriter and brings poetry and organization to my thoughts and a special, special thanks to the schumer legislative team. these staffers are so incredibly hard working, so brilliant in their fields and always, always striving to find the best solution for our country and for new york. anna taylor and marisa hawley and leean simpatica, matt fuentes, christie who just won for council in washington, d.c., and is leaving us, ramone and

catalina, rodney kazibwe, zach rosenbloom, jasmine ailman, tim rider, sean byrne, annie daley, reggie baben, charlie elseworth, jim sacreto, josh guttmacher, and of course i have to thank the brilliant floor staff led by garry miric. special thank you to from me and the entire staff. liza patterson and rachel jackson. thank you and also farewell to rema, senator durbin's tremendous floor staffer who for years has looked after the caucus and the floor. she is heading to the white

house to help the president-elect and we couldn't be happier and prouder to have a senate denizen at the other end of pennsylvania avenue. there are so many more incredible staffers who deserve recognition and thanks for making this institution come to life. my entire staff helped with the efforts this year and, as i conclude today, they're still helping. i would like to include all their names in the record. and i ask unanimous consent that the following names be added to the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: that's a lot of names. i yield the floor.

mr. sullivan: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. sullivan: madam president, i'd like to recognize a critical member of my staff, mike anderson -- big mike, he's known as -- who left my office in august to pursue a legal career in his hometown of anchorage, alaska, something he has aspired to do since a young age. and mike was my communications director but was much more an appropriate for mike because he

directed so many things in my office, so much of our communication both internalland externally. you would often find mike going from staff member to staff member asking them questions, relaying information from one team to the next. in our office, if you had a question about what anybody was up to, what anybody was doing in alaska, here in our d.c. office, in our alaskan offices, you'd ask mike. that's a special quality. incredibly hard worker, incredibly gifted young man, and we're going to miss that talent and mike very much. mike is no stranger to alaska political offices. fresh out of college at the university of alaska-fairbanks, he took a job with congressman young and then worked for senator murkowski. in 2014 he was looking for a little more adventure on the

calm side, i was looking for someone to help with my communications on my campaign. it was my first run for office. i was running against an incumbent with big name recognition in our state. mike came on board, took a chance on me. it's something i'll never forget. loyal, great worker. he had been taking law classes at night at catholic university of america for the past few years working in my office, balancing it all. was on the clock, around the clock, did it with grace, humor, hard work, and excellence. as i mentioned, madam president, he was our office communicator, but he was also the office friend, the person you'd go to for advice on things big and small, the person you'd call on for an assist if you needed to move, that helped -- it helped that he lived up to his name,

big guy, hard worker. we got big things done for our state. speaking of one team, one fight. my office has a pretty good hoops team. mike, as you can imagine, u.a.f. varsity basketball player back in alaska, was the critical member of that team. we've won a lot of games, particularly against the -- cruz's texans. in fact, senator cruz once gave mike the nick name "denali" for his size and how he dominates the middle of the key on the hoops court. mike is going to make a great lawyer in alaska. as a state, we have so much potential, the biggest fisheries in the country, the largest energy fields, huge military complexes, fascinating, important alaska native legal issues. more than anything, alaska needs good leaders with integrity, brilliant lawyers, hardworking

people like mike who love their state and give it all back to their state. that's what he's going to do. we haven't seen the last of mike. he's always been part of our team, and i'm sure that's what he will do working continually in the great state of alaska to make sure our state thrives. so, mike, great job. good luck you to. you're going to be missed. best wishes and a bright future ahead. madam president, i ask that my following remarks appear in a separate place in the "congressional record." the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sullivan: madam president, despite what you might be reading in the press, there is a lot of recent important

bipartisan achievements happening right here in the senate. we're going to vote soon on another major covid relief bill, which is really, really important. that will be our fourth major covid relief bill this year. much-needed, of course, for the health of americans, for our economy, and i think when the history of this very challenging year is written, that's what's going to be remembered -- four major bipartisan, important pieces of legislation. not the rancor in the senate, which has been part of our history, part of the republic since the founding of the republic. a number of other major bipartisan accomplishments have also occurred just in the past few months -- the national defense authorization act, which passed with over 80 senators;

the great american outdoors act, probably the biggest conservation act in over 50 years; the save our seas 2.0, a bill i was proud to author, the most comprehensive ocean cleanup legislation ever to come out of the congress. this is just to name a few. well, madam president, let me name another important bipartisan accomplishment that is starting to occur in the congress. and that's dealing with china, the important issue of china and china policy. now, i know people might be saying, wait ... are you crazy? china? there's bipartisan agreement on what's happening with regard to to relationship, the united states and china? the answer is yes. we have made significant progress on this issue, too.

and it's important. so i want to explain that a little bit, madam president, because i think it's a topic that we need to be focusing on more and more in the united states senate. so, like the presiding officer, i'm honored to be completing my first term as a u.s. senator and honored, like the presiding officer, to have been reelected, to continue my service. six years ago, when i started my time here in the u.s. senate, i started a series of speeches that focus on the u.s.-china relationship and the importance of it. have we all been focused post-9/11 on al qaeda, isis, the big issue of violent extremist organizations, which has been the appropriate focus. but as i started my career here six years ago, i started to give

a series of speeches where i said the biggest challenge that we face long term from a geostrategic standpoint for the united states for decades to come is going to be our relationship with the rising power of china. and what i was saying four years ago, five years ago in this body is that nobody is talking about it. it's really important, and we're not focused on it. madam president, you can't say that anymore. now everybody is talking about china. there has been an american awakening about china, and that's good. that's important. that's progress. and it's been bipartisan. now, i want to thank president trump and his team, because i think they deserve a lot of the credit. they laid out their national security strategy, their national defense strategy.

these are very well-written strategies that in essence said that the united states of america, post-9/11 it was appropriate to focus on al qaeda, isis, violent extremist organizations, getting weapons of mass destruction. that was clearly the main focus of our national security. but what their strategies have been saying is that, yes, we need to focus on that but now we need to prioritize the great power competition upon us, with china as the pacing threat. madam president, as you know, most senators, democrats and republicans, particularly the ones who focus on national security and foreign policy issues, particularly those on the armed services committee, they agree with us. they agree with this reorientation. and, again, this is important. this is progress, bipartisan

progress on what is really going to be one of the most -- what is the most important bilateral relationship in the world. now, what we need to start doing, and i say we, this body, the congress, the executive branch is we need to start putting details and principles into a long-term strategy, a bipartisan strategy that will be enduring to address this challenge, to address the challenge that is the challenge for the next decade, the rise of china and how we, as the united states of america, need to deal with it. as i mentioned, madam president, i believe this is going to be the defining national security issue for our nation for the next 50 to 100 years. so what i want to do today, madam president, is lay out a

couple of key principles on what i see are some of the ways in which we can bring a bipartisan approach to addressing this challenge. last year i was honored to be invited by the heritage center -- or the heritage foundation as part of their lead lecture series on the pacific and i called it winning the new cold war with china. how america should respond. some of the principles that i laid on that address from some of my experiences in the u.s. relationship with china over the last quarter century are what i'd like to talk about. madam president, those experiences for me have kind of run the gamut as a u.s. marine, national security council

staffer and under the exceptional leader rice, with energy and natural resources, which are so important to my state but also to asian markets and as a u.s. senator. so first thing's first, madam president. i believe, as i mentioned, there has been an awakening about the challenge posed by china. as i mentioned six years ago not a lot of senators were talking about it, but now everybody is and it's important. i also think there's a recognition, whatever you want to call the tensions that have arisen that the u.s. and china have entered into a much more strategic competition, era, phase with tensions that i refer to as a new cold war with each

other. this state of relations has only been exacerbated by the pandemic which, of course, started in china and was covered up by the chinese communist party. so when i talk about this issue of a new cold war with china, i want to be clear on one thing. this is not a challenge or tensions of our choosing. it is the result of a conscientious decision by the communist party leadership of china to overturnkey elements -- over turn key elements of the order enabling china to emerge prosperous and strong from its so-called century of humiliation. this cold war is not an inevitable consequence of china's rise or our status as a

power. it is china becoming a, quote, responsible stakeholder that the united states has led since world war ii. a system from which that china, more than any other country in the world has benefited from. but recognizing that we have this new tension, that we have a new cold war with china does not mean the nature of the global challenge is identical to that posed by the soviet union or that our response should be the same. however, it does mean that the u.s. and our allies need to recognize this challenge, address it, counter it in ways that avoid major conflict but in ways that also avoid compromising our core values and interests and principles in liberty. so let me talk a little bit

about what i call america's awakening. since president nixon initiated the opening of relations with china, many hoped that the country's political and economic system would open as the country developed and joined this broader west western -- western led system. others believed that its external relationship with the united states would not be affected. when the united states supported chinese entry into the world trade organization, president bill clinton remarked that american workers and consumers would be the greatest beneficiaries, american workers. ultimately this has proven not to be true. equally misguided was the hope that as china grew economically, it would liberalize politically. the expectation was that china would lower its trade barriers and follow w.t.o. and promoting

exports and not subjecting imports, our imports to legal nontariff barriers. none of that turned out to be true. china did not meet most of its commitments under the w.t.o. and still hasn't. it has deployed its new access to western markets, american markets to pursue large-scale theft of technology, exploiting the noaches of the american -- openness of the american economy without allowing america reciprocal access to its property as it is supposed to do. in 2003, over 17 years ago, i was in an oval office meeting as a national security counsel

staffer with president bush, secretary rice and the vice premier of china. now, the president, president bush, strongly believed in the protection of intellectual property rights and he raised this issue with the premier of china in the oval office very aggressively, leaning over in his chair. the premier of china said, i'm in charge of this, we are going to fix this, we are working on it, you have my commitment. mr. president, in the oval office 17 years ago, where are we on intellectual property theft from china? it's worse today than when the premier of china made that commitment in the oval office. the estimate is that chinese

theft of american intellectual property cost the u.s. economy an estimated $600 billion annually not to mention the thousands of jobs lost. president obama also tried to stem these blatantly unfair, nonreciprocal practices, but beijing did not honor the common understanding reached by president obama in 2015, curbing cyber hacking. such theft continues unabated today. in these episodes, madam president, raise an even bigger problem between the united states and china. it's the problem of what i call promise fatigue with china. think about it. broken promises extend well

beyond the economic sphere, like intellectual property the here's another example, standing next to president obama in the rose garden in 2016, the president of china promised the president of the united states not to militarize the south china sea. the commitment was broken within months when china took a very aggressive policy of militarizing many of the islands and builtup islands in the south china see to the consternation to every single country in the region. after enduring this promise fatigue with the chinese for decades, we, the congress, the executive branch of the united states government, are finally getting wise. everybody thinks trade should be a win-win, but chinese leaders

appear to view it much more as a zero sum gain. ironically this promise fatigue and china's predatory nonreciprocal trade practices have brought about and did bring about the much tougher and much-needed approach from the trump administration that we had prior to the pandemic. so, madam president, we have this situation where we're not trusting our relationship with china with the promise -- or the promises that have been made have not been kept across a whole host of spheres, where the tensions in the south china sea are growing, but this current state of affairs was not preordained. in 2005, then-deputy secretary

of state and future world banking president robert zellick encouraged china in a well-regarded speech to become, quote, a responsible stakeholder in the international system which had done so much to enable china's rise in prosperity. zellick's speech challenged china to change its behavior to support and promote and certainly not undermine the u.s.-led economic order that had brought peace and prosperity to china and so many other countries in the indo-pacific. and for a time it appeared that chinese's leadership -- china's leadership was contemplating america's offer to be a responsible take holder in this system that we had set up after world war ii. in my trips as an assistance to the secretary of state, i heard

china's leadership in many meetings, including in meetings with the president and other senior leaders where they talked about being a responsible stakeholder, where this invitation on working through the system we've developed was clearly something they were contemplating. well, madam president, over time it has become increasingly clear that the chinese communist party has rejected this concept, this idea to be a partner with us in bolstering the international order that has benefited china so significantly. in fact, the opposite has happened. china is now working to systematically build an ill liberal sphere -- ill liberal sphere of influence that looks

to exclude america and our road to alliance in the region that kept peace for decades. it is rooted in the attempt by the communist party of china to popularize its authoritarian model abroad to ensure china's rise as a great power under the communist party's leadership. president xi made this clear at the 19th party congress where he champ yorned -- championed china's model as a new option for other countries and nations that want to speed up their development. we must always remember that the chinese communist party's primary goal in domestic and foreign policy is to ensure the survival and preeminence of the party, the key driver of u.s.-china competition and intention today is china's

ambition to project its authoritarian model abroad. china's development under this model serves as an inspiration for many liberal actors and aspiring autocrats around the world. it uses its influence as a means of exerting political pressure. additionally, communist companies and state-owned and state-subsidized industries are not bound by anticorruption law that western companies must adhere to. china's indifference to establish standards of transparency, which we have certainly seen now with the pandemic, and project implementation through its belt and road initiative results in elite deals that concede corruption abroad, weaken prospects for long-term prosperity, and undermine the sovereignty of weaker nations. china's seeking to undermine democracy and human rights in the rule of law and international institutions from

pushing its norms for controlling cyberspace to silencing critics of its human rights record, including critics in the united states, to pushing for enforcement of the belt and road initiative at the united nations. china is using its growing voice on the global stage to legitimize an approach at home and abroad that undermines american interests. a recent hoover institution study argues that china is looking to gain influence in the united states to shape attitudes and ultimately american policy towards china, and although we have not experienced the same level of political interference as, say, some of our allies like australia where politicians and donors linked to the chinese communist party have tried to sway the country's policies on sensitive issues, china is clearly engaged in what the

national endowment for democracy calls a significant sharp-powered campaign to influence american policy here at home. in this recent spy scandal with a congressman from california is just a recent example of this. fortunately, the trump administration and members of congress on both sides of the aisle have awakened to the long-term challenge, to america's national security and economic security interests that china poses. as i noted, madam president, the trump administration's more realistic approach on china laid out in its national security strategy and national defense strategy offer a clear-eyed view of chinese ambitions and our need to counter them. at a time when there is not enough bipartisan agreement -- although i think there is more

than certainly we get credit fon focus and support within the united states government, and i believe in the united states senate, on the strategic challenges posed by china. so we've had an important american awakening and a good beginning with the recent u.s. national security and national defense strategies, and i believe it is strongly in the u.s. -- strongly in america's interests for the incoming biden and harris administration to continue these strategies which have strong bipartisan support here. in fact, in my recent meeting with secretary of defense nominee general lloyd austin, i encouraged such an approach on national security issues, particularly as it relates to china. but, madam president, these strategic documents that we're

talking about need more meat on the bones. what are more details and principles that we can add to the national security strategy of our nation that can ensure bipartisan support for a longer term u.s.-china strategy? let me recommend five core elements that i think should be key moving forward with regard to our relationship with china. first, we need to demand reciprocity in all major spheres of the u.s.-china relationship. second, we need to reinvigorate american competitiveness so we can outcompete and outinnovate china. third, we need to continue to rebuild our military strength and capability. fourth, we need to deepen and expand our global network of alliances. and finally, madam president, we need to remember that employing

our democratic values is a huge critical comparative advantage in countering china's global authoritarian influence around the world. so let me briefly touch on each of these. first we need to demand reciprocity. the united states must insist that the relationship with china is defined by reciprocity and fairness. for too long, the united states has ignored the promise fatigue that i talked about with china and accepted unfulfilled chinese promises across so many spheres of the bilateral relationship. madam president, you've seen it. when you raise the issue of reciprocity with senior chinese officials, whether in beijing or with the ambassador and they finally acknowledge that, yes, the relationship isn't reciprocal, they say it isn't because, quote, china is still a

developing country. china is still a developing country. well, i would respectfully tell senior chinese officials don't use that argument anymore. it's an insult to the intelligence of american officials. we need a reciprocal relationship because every american understands and agrees with this. it's about fairness, basic fairness. i posed the important question of reciprocity to former secretary of state henry kissinger at a senate armed services committee hearing a couple of years ago, and he acknowledged that to have an important, sustainable, great power relationship between two of the most important countries in the world, reciprocity is critical. the citizens of our country need to feel that the relationship is fair and that a general policy of reciprocity is important and critical in that regard.

we all know it hasn't been that way. the trump administration has made significant progress on pressing for more reciprocal relationships in our trading relationships, and that's very important. but we all know, madam president , that that reciprocal relationship doesn't exist. chinese companies and government-backed investment funds can come to the united states, buy companies that we would have no opportunity to do the same. but it needs to go much further than just the economics. let me give you an example. we need reciprocity in the free exchange of ideas. american journalists are not allowed to travel freely in china, and if they are not, then why should chinese journalists be allowed to travel freely in the united states? similarly, in this body -- and this body is focused on this --

there are over 100 confucius institutes established by the chinese communist party at american universities. when i was in beijing a couple of years ago, i met with senior chinese officials, i mentioned this, and i said i was recently with the ambassador, and they said that just to go on campus of the beijing university, you need to be accompanied by a chinese official. so if there was real reciprocity in a relationship, i said if you can have confucius institutes at american universities, how about we get james madison institutes of freedom and liberty at chinese universities? of course, the chinese wouldn't accept that. they said well, senator, confucius institutes only teach culture and language.

the james madison institute of freedom and liberty and democracy in china would be teaching propaganda. that's what they said. this is just one of many examples where we must have a reciprocal relationship between the united states and china going forward. second, we must reinvigorate american competitiveness. the united states is no stranger to global, military, and economic cooperation, as we know throughout the cold war with the soviet union. our comparative advantages globally remain significant, but we can and should do more to bolster other areas at home. bolstering stem education, doubling down on basic research, supporting federal agencies like the national science foundation. we need to be able to outcompete , outinnovate china, and importantly to better

understand china, its culture, its language, its history, its strategy. with the new generation of americans who are focused on these issues, just as russian and soviet studies were emphasized during the cold war with the soviet union. many of our most significant challenges, our national debt, infrastructure projects that take years to permit, an education system that leaves too many americans behind, a dysfunctional immigration system. these are all self-inflicted wounds, and i believe the real challenges posed by china is they become more broadly apparent throughout our country will start to spur the bipartisan motivation needed to address these significant but solvable american challenges to make us stronger. third, madam president, we must continue to rebuild our military.

from 2010 to 2016, the department of defense's budget has slashed by 25%. readiness plummeted. and at the same time, the chinese undertook a massive building of their military. and the modernization of its forces while also making concrete moves to militarize the south china sea. history shows, particularly with regard to america's authoritarian rival, that american military weakness encourages authoritarian provocations globally. we must make sure that we, as we continue to gauge china, a strong u.s. military provides a hedge against beijing, contemplating risky and destabilizing military actions as their military strength and capabilities continue to grow. china has a long history of

using its military to achieve strategic ends when countries are not idea, and we must be ready. madam president, as you know, i think -- i have mentioned, gosh, almost 25 years ago, i was a young marine infantry officer dploid as part of an amphibious task force to the taiwan strait which included two carrier battle groups as part of the united states' response to chinese provocations on the eve of the presidential elections in taiwan. it was a long time ago, but it was certainly an example of an american commitment and resolve of one of our allies during a period of heightened tensions in the taiwan strait that we need to be able to remember and be able to react to with a strong military. fourth, we need to expand and deepen our alliances.

the recalibration of our relationship with china should be done in partnership with our allies. the cultivation and nurturing of these relationships must be a foundational pillar of any american strategy as it deals with china. our greatest strategic advantage in dealing with china is this -- we are now a rich nation with long-standing historical ties reinforced by decades of diplomatic, military, and economic cooperation, based on shared values with our friends and allies in the region. by contrast, china is an ally-poor nation, with north korea as its closest friend and ally. the unity of the west and our asian allies is essential to maintaining high global standards and transparency, accountability, anticorruption, peaceful resolution of conflict,

and the importance of international law, particularly in the global areas of sea, space, and cyberspace. and finally, madam president, we must employ america's democratic values as a critical comparative advantage. we should never forget that our democratic values were critical in our successful victory over the soviet union during the last cold war. president reagan's famous westminster speech before the british parliament in 1982 in which he launched the national endowment for democracy, he greenwood that -- argued that america would win the cold war, not through hard power alone but through the power of our ideals. as he reminded our audience and our close allies in britain, quote, any system is inherently

unstable that has no peaceful means of legitimizing its leaders. china's unelected leaders, like all authortarians, ultimately fear their own people. our leaders do not. it is fear that has driven china to well an orwellian social credit score to rank its people while detaining as many as one million chinese workers in concentration camps. why else does the chinese communist party invest so heavily in facial and gait recognition technology to monitor their own citizens? why comprehensively censor the internet to preclude even the most glancing criticisms of the communist party and its leaders? why do china's internal security services employ more people than the people's liberation army, the world's largest military?

the answer lies in fear and the goal, above all else, to make sure the communist party remains in power. president reagan saw the power and promise of our democratic ideals as a poet ent critical instrument to challenge america's global rival, then the soviet union, because the aspiration of freedom is universal and remains the core commonality that underpins the united states' strongest partnerships with other nations. the belief that liberty, democracy, and free markets reflect and strengthen the size of our alliance system is something that is fundamental to the united states and our allies during the cold war with the soviet union and now during our challenges with china. helping countries protect their sovereignty so they can be responsive to their citizens and

affect the partners of our nation is imperative at a time when chinese influence risks pulling nations into a new sphere hostile to american interests and our democratic ideals. let me conclude, mr. president, by predicting that the new challenges i describe with china are going to be with us for decades. we must face this fact with confidence and strategic resolve and bipartisan work in the u.s. senate. america has extraordinary advantages relative to china. our global network of alliances, our military power and economic leadership, our innovative society, our abundant energy supplies.

we are now the number one producer of oil, natural gas, and renewables in the world. our world-class universities. the world's most productive workforce. and a democratic value system that makes countries far more comfortable as american partners than subservient members of the new middle kingdom led by china. as a result of the long twilight struggle with the soviet union, we also know what works -- maintaining peace through strength, promoting free markets and free people at home, and having the confidence in george canon's insights that the chinese communist party, like the soviet communist party, likely bears within it the seeds of its own decay. while democracies are resilient, adaptive, and self-renewing, there are many vulnerabilities embedded in china's perceived

strengths. one-man rule creates acute political risks. historical grievance can breed violent nationalism. state-directed economic growth can produce massive overcapacity and mountains of debt. the gradual snuffing out of freedom in places like hong kong creates spontaneous protests of tens of thousands and huge global backlashes across the world. china's budding military power and historical view of itself as a nation and culture superior to others is beginning to alarm neighboring states, inspiring them to step up with security cooperation with our nation. nearly half of all wealthy chinese want to immigrate and these are the winners from china's four decades of heady economic growth. as we have in the past,

americans can prevail in this geopolitical and ideological contest, but doing so will require a new level of strategic initiative, organization, and confidence in who we are and what we stand for. this also means that we must redouble our efforts in making this strategic case to others around the world, particularly our allies and we must continue, mr. president, to work on bipartisan solutions that have enduring support in this body for decades to come as it relates to our challenges with china. i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senior senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: mr. president, this is a -- this is a time of year when we all look forward to wrapping things up, as they say. many around the country when they think about wrapping things up, think about presents they are going to put around the tree for their family, we think about it closing up business for the balance of the year. and that's really we are and hopefully in a couple of hours here, the house will take up the omnibus bill and the covid relief package along with a number of other matters that the congress has been working to address in the past year. i would like to speak this evening for a few moments on the significance of where we are. but i want to start with just a story that i just now received

from one of my staff people back in alaska and she -- she got a -- a video from the medical staff at the subregional clinic there at st. mary's. st. mary's a small community up on the yukon river, and probably i would say 500 people, maybe more, in st. mary's. but it's just a reminder to me that regardless of where you are, hope is coming with the vaccine. the comment that she shared is this video is a -- it's a pictorial of the health aides, the p.a., the physician's assistant, and personnel getting

their covid shots. it was 13-degrees out and the mobile office where the vaccine was administered was inside a chartered cessna caravan sitting on the airport tarmac there in st. mary's. after the shot they hung out in the truck for a half-hour to see if they had allergic reactions. when they showed signs of none, the caravan took off to the next airport. it shows you no matter where you are, how remote you may be, the logistics that may be required to provide for this hope that comes by way of the vaccine, people around the country are hopeful. our job now as we wrap-up is to make sure that we deliver this relief quickly. i mentioned the covid relief. i have been fortunate to be

teaming with a bipartisan, bicameral group of law lawmakers for the -- group of lawmakers for the past five or six weeks with a proposal that could kick start the covid talks. we had an opportunity, many of us to come to the floor to speak about not only how that came to be but the ultimate result which was a multihundred page document, legislation that totaled $908 billion, but it addressed everything from covid -- excuse me, vaccine development and distribution to what we are going to do to assist our small businesses with additional rounds of p.p.p. to extensions to unemployment insurance to what we can do with food assistance, nutrition assistance, what more might need

to be done with rental assistance. it was truly responsive to the need. and where we are today is having moved that conversation and that debate forward, i think i'm in a -- i think in a constructive and positive way, we are here with a proposal. it looks different from what we are produced but that is the nature of what happens in a body where you have to come together to -- to sort out the issues. and what we will have is legislation that, again, like the cares act is -- is likely going to be proven imperfect but we have to respond to the situation on the ground, whether it's in alaska or whether it's in arkansas. and we cannot do it too soon. so this is going to be key and it's going to be critical. i'm very pleased that legislation that i had introduced that would extend the coronavirus relief funding, the

opportunity for -- for states and localities to spend -- and tribal governments to be able to spend those funds down, running up against the deadline here at the end of this year was a real concern for so many, and so that has been included as part of this bigger package in addition to so much that is good. the carrier for all of this is the omnibus appropriations bill. i have been really pleased to be a member of the appropriations committee for some years now. i've been chairing the interior appropriations subcommittee. this is it significant, certainly for our state with oversight of our public lands and also of -- of native affairs, including the e.p.a. it's a pretty broad portfolio. we've been working on this dutifully as a subcommittee all year -- all year. i certainly wish that i had had the opportunity to be able to

bring my bill, our bill to the floor for full debate by all members and then we could move to the ag bill, to the h.u.d. bill, do them all separately. for a host of different reasons, most of them all come back to politics, unfortunately we have not -- not been able to do that. that's something that i regret. that's something that i would hope that we, as members of the senate, can say we can do better. we pledge to do it better every year. we -- we put our colleagues in a heck of a spot. not all of us are on the appropriations committee. not all of us have the privilege to be a chairman or a ranking member and know the guts and the insides of each aspect of these bills, but we come here with a process like this at a late hour and we say, this is it one where you need to know that we've been working hard, we've taken into

account all the priorities and considerations on both sides, we worked it back and forth, we worked it with the house an here we -- and here we are. but this is not a good process. we can and we must do better with that. having said that, i am very proud of the interior bill we have built. i'm proud of my staff. we were a little bit leaner this year in terms of our staffing, but with good leadership led by amy lafoski and lana and lucas on the team, we were able to do the work that we needed to do and in a way that i am proud of and proud of their efforts. there's so much that is wrapped up in this -- this bigger, broader bill, and i think it's going to almost be gasp-worthy when you see the 5,000 some odd pages, i am told, that we will have. it's not only the

appropriations, it's the covid bills, it is -- it is the water resources development bill, the wrda bill, very, very significant. there are good bills from the indian affairs committee that i have participated in, water bills that we have been working on. but, mr. president, the one that i want to speak to a little more in detail this evening, and i was hoping that my ranking member, senator manchin, might be here on the floor, but not yet. but i wanted to speak about title z in the omnibus bill. z, i just imagine that they -- they put us at the end because they figured that we were the best or maybe because they knew that the process that the energy act had gone through had probably been more rigorus and lengthy than anything else. but z is where we are at.

i begin my comments with this energy act that is contained in this bill by acknowledging that i'm -- i'm probably speaking on the floor for the last time as the chairman of the energy and natural resources committee because i -- i've hit my limit, if you will. i have had the honor and the privilege both the ranking member on the energy and natural resources committee and the ranking member on the committee now for a total of 12 years, which is pretty good. it's pretty good to be in a position to be able to advance legislative policy. and i have been very, very fortunate to work with great members. senator bingaman was the chairman when i was his ranking. i worked with senator wyden as the ranking when he feels

chairman. and -- when he was chairman. and i have had the great privilege to work with senator cantwell, and i was the chairman. and now senator manchin. i think about these past two years and what we have been able to accomplish and just kind of recap of where we've been and how productive we have been as a panel, we started this congress out with passage of the john dingell conservation management and recreation act. this was a bipartisan package of more than 120 different measures focused on public lands, natural resources and water. we worked on a lands package throughout the last several months of 2018. i want to give former ranking member cantwell a real big shoutout here because her leadership was very, very key in that process. we weren't able to get it across

the finish line at the end of the last congress, but we wereintroduced it in january of 2019. we passed it in the senate in february and the president signed it into law. that was a good start, 120 bipartisan bills. but these were bills -- you think about it. they related to national parks, to forests, to sportsmens access. we delivered on the federal government's promise to alaska natives who served during the vietnam war. we permanently reauthorized the land and water conservation fund and provided new authorities to help protect from natural hazards such as volcanic eruption. i'll note that the kilua just erupted on the big island of hawaii i believe it was yesterday or the day before. so important to be addressing our natural hazards. so we did that at the beginning of the congress, and then

senator manchin and i set our sights on something that had not been done in a long time, and that was modernization of our nation's energy policies to make real reforms and bring them in line with our current challenges and our opportunities. so we started with some very broad, very broad-based hearings and then took a very specific and deep dive into some of the issues and the technologies. and then we started moving bills. we were negotiating. we were reporting dozens of bills as part of our regular order committee process. and knowing how things work around here, we knew we weren't going to to be able to move them each individually as stand alone bill so-called it the american energy conservation act. we brought that bill to the floor in february. we were going just great. we were working through, and it was kind of nice again to be the first bill really on the floor when we began our legislative business.

and we stalled out. we were interrupted. we were taken off the track by an unrelated dispute over a measure that is jurisdictional to another committee. and this was just at the start of the global coronavirus pandemic. but i said we're not done, we're not stopping just because we hit a roadblock here. we're going to keep working. we kept working. we kept looking for an opening to pass the first major energy bill since 2007. 2007 is a long time if we haven't updated and reformed our energy policies. so it was worth working on. i kept saying don't count us out. don't write us off. over the past few months we found that opening. we worked with really good partners over on the house side over at energy and commerce and the house science, space and technology committee. and we wrote what we have called simply the energy act of 2020.

pretty simple, pretty beautiful, in my view. our energy act is included now as division z in the year end omnibus. it provides for reforms and new authorities related to a range of emerging technologies, including advanced nuclear, carbon captured utilization and storage, carbon renewal. it reauthorizes programs that many of us are supportive of and want to advance. arpa-e. it features the bulk of language to help us rebuild our domestic supply chains which we know is so critical. it reflects our strong commitment to cleaner energy to help us address climate change without raising the cost of energy our imposing divisive mandates. so i would suggest to you, mr. president, that this energy bill is just the perfect book

end for this congress. because what started as a major lands package is now going to end with a major energy package. and again, i mention it's been since 2007. it's the first energy bill, energy side of energy and natural resources committee, first energy bill in almost 13 years. it was president george w. bush who signed last one on december 19 of 2007. so i want to thank ranking member manchin for his leadership on the energy package as well as all of the committee members who contributed to it. we had great help within our committee. we had great help within this body. last count, we were looking at input and contributions from some 70 different members. i also want to acknowledge the extraordinary work of the staffs. i had the opportunity to give a

tribute to my staff director brian hughes, who is leaving after many years on the committee. he did a fabulous job advancing this, along withn certificate nelson -- with spencer nelson, pat mackormick, that team was extraordinary. but they were joined by an extraordinary team senator manchin had led by his staff director renee. i apologize, renee. i'm drawing a blank on the last name. the individuals there who really helped us advance this, sam fowler and so many. we can't thank them enough. i also want to really give sincere thanks to our house partners because they were this circumstance-corner working -- this six-corner working group. frank pallone, chairman at

energy and commerce. ranking member greg waldman and science ranking member frank lewis. we could not have reached an agreement without their leadership and their willingness to work together. but i also want to acknowledge and thank leader mcconnell and senator schumer for agreeing to work with us and to help us secure this opening and this commitment. i can't remember how many times leader mcconnell has said, you know, lisa, you're probably going to figure out a way to pull a rabbit out of a hat here and i don't think this is a rabbit out of a hat but i think persistence paid off. i want to thank the teams who made this happen. in addition to a good energy bill, the year-end omni also includes the bipartisan water package featuring nine provisions that are important to western states like colorado, montana, and arizona.

lane dixon on my energy committee staff was fabulous there. we added lands fields into the final package. lucy and annie helped us with that. we really have worked to advance so much out of the committee. all of these accomplishments, our lands package, our energy package, our water package, the lands bills that we tried to add to everything that moves and occasionally pass by u.c. and measures that i haven't spoken to, including the great american outdoors act, these are all the hallmarks of a highly productive congress for the senate energy and natural resources committee. and i'm very pleased to have been able to shepherd these measures into law. but what i'm proud of more than any piece of legislation, more than anything out there in the time that i have been able to lead this committee, what i'm most proud of is the bipartisan way in which this committee has operated.

our commitment to bipartisan which has produced continually good results for our country. and what i found as ranking member and now chairman is that there is simply no substitute for working together and across party lines to find agreement wherever it's possible. so i thank senator manchin for following that same approach, to our committee colleagues for their own bipartisanship and collegiality, to our house colleagues who have helped us with that. i see that my friend from the great state of washington and the pacific northwest is here. and, senator cantwell, i want you to know that as i have spoken of the accomplishments of the energy and natural resources committee, i am very thankful and appreciative of your leadership and what you have provided over the years, working together with your team we have accomplished good things for the right reason. and with that, mr. president, i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the senator from washington is recognized. ms. cantwell: mr. president, my colleague from alaska and the ranking member, senator manchin, i thank them for their great work in getting the energy provisions that i have been, i don't know how many members but i'm sure just about every member in our body has had something to do with it and a lot of actual individual legislation. so this is a long effort by our colleague, the chair of the committee. and so thank you for your diligence on this. she's had many of us up to alaska to look at hydropower and alternative resources and how their grid needs better connect ivity and products that can withstand and provide energy in subzero weather and all sorts of challenges that they face. but clearly these tools that will be in this legislation will move us forward. thank you to you and senator manchin for working so diligently to get this finally

over the goal line. it's a big moment. thank you. i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: i move to

proceed to the motion to reconsider the vote by which cloture was not invoked on the nomination of eric j. soskin, and i ask for 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:

vote:

the presiding officer: has any not voted? any senator wish to change their vote? on this vote the yeas are 48, the nays are 46. the motion is agreed to. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: i move to reconsider the vote by which cloture was not invoked on the nomination of eric j. soskin and i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be so. there is. the clerk will call the roll.

vote:: vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, the yeas are 48, the nays are 46. the motion to reconsider is agreed to. 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 calendar number 904, eric j. soskin of virginia to be inspector general, department of transportation, 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 eric j. soskin of virginia to be inspector general, department of transportation, shall be brought to a close, upon reconsideration. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, the yeas are 48, the nays are 44. upon reconsideration, the motion is agreed to.

the senator from north carolina. mr. burr: mr. president, i rise and in a moment i'll ask unanimous consent to right a wrong that's linkered for over a century and to call up and pass h.r. 1964, the lumbee recognition act. prior to that, i want to say that i'm honored with my colleague senator tillis to represent the lumbee people. the lumbee are the largest native american tribe east of the mississippi river, with a membership of over 60,000. they have called the present-day counties of robison, scotland, hoke, cumberland their home in north carolina. they've been a cohesive part of the community in north carolina for centuries, and they've developed unique tribal instructions that have served their membership well in the face of extraordinary adversity. they've been teachers, farmers, doctors, small businesses, shire

riffs, clerks of court, state legislators and judges. many have protected our in addition by serving in the armed forces. their contribution to their community, to the state of north carolina, and to the country is innumerable. their commitment to education is unparalleled. in the 1800's, the state authorized the tribe to run the state school district for lumbee children. the state also authorized the opening of a specially advanced indian school known as the normal school to train teachers to teach in lumbee indian schools. although the state provided no money for construction for the facilities, the lumbees pulled together and constructed an indian normal school of their own. since then, the indian school has been in operation continuously. today, it's the university of north carolina at pembroke. the state of north carolina recognized the tribe in 1885. three years later the tribe began its quest for full

recognition. over the next 50 years they repeatedly petitioned the federal government for assistance but to no avail. then during the height of the shameful termination era, congress passed the lumbee act of 1956. this partial recognition designated the lumbees residing in robison and adjoining counties as the lumbee indians of north carolina while simultaneously blocking them from federal services, benefits available to other federally recognized tribes. it's nothing short of discrimination. to put this in context, four other tribes were terminated by congress in 1965 like the lumbees. all have had their federal recognition status restored. only the lumbees have yet to receive the full federal recognition they deserve. as a matter of fact,

mr. president, in 2018, this senate recognized indian tribes. in 2019, seven tribes in virginia were recognized by this congress and this senate. mr. president, it's unfortunate while the lumbee tribe is incredibly resilient, decades of discrimination have caused severe economic consequences for the people. robison is one of the poorest counties in the united states. the 1956 law has put them on an unequal footing compared to other federally recognized tribes, and it's prevented them from obtaining access to critical services through the bureau of indian affairs and the indian health service. this is simply unjust and it's immoral. to correct this injustice since 1987 members of north carolina's

congressional delegation from both sides of the aisle have repeatedly come together to introduce the lumbee recognition act, which would grant full federal recognition to the tribe. over the past 11 years i've been proud to be the lead sponsor of this legislation in the senate, and it's always been a bipartisan effort. this year, this bill, led by a democrat member of the house of representatives, u.k. butterfield, supported by congressman hudson and congressman bishop, both republicans, last month passed the lumbee recognition bill by voice vote unanimously. let me say that again. by voice vote unanimously. you would think that this great deliberative body could process and understand the -- really the discrimination that's going on

here to these folks. people claim that the lumbees are not a tribe, yet read the statistics. it's the largest tribe east of the mississippi river. i think they finally educated the house. but despite the overwhelming support for doing the right thing, congress has yet to actually do it. mr. president, the time for executives -- excuses is over. the time for action is now. it's time to finally do what should have been done 130 years ago. it's time for the federal government to recognize the lumbees for the tribe they are. i've had a great partner in senator tillis, and i would yield to him for any comments he would like to make. mr. tillis: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mr. tillis: thank you, mr. president. i want to thank senator burr for his leadership and leaning into this for many years before i even joined the senate. i want to thank senator dole for filing this bill that actually even had senator mcconnell's

cocosponsorship many -- cosponsorship many, many years ago. when you are talking about the ninth largest tribe in the nation and the largest tribe east of the mississippi river, a tribe that has been seeking recognition since 1888, they were recognized as indian by the state of north carolina in 1885. in 1956, they were partially recognized. we heard a unanimous vote coming out of the house. they were prepared to provide recognition. in november, we heard president trump and vice president biden both say they support recognition. so we are so close. there is a compelling case and it is a century in the making, and the fact that we couldn't get this through today when it passed unanimously out of the house just a month ago i think is a shame. so i appreciate senator burr for his patience and his tenacity.

we're not going to let this go. hopefully it gets done tonight. but we have got to recognize that the lumbee people deserve recognition, they deserve respect, and they have been fighting for it for a century, and i'm going to fight for it as long as i'm in the u.s. senate. i yield. mr. burr: i thank my colleague. i will reiterate, mr. president, if for some reason there is an objection -- and i think there will be tonight -- either before we swear in a new congress or after we swear in a new congress. i promise my colleagues this place will come to a grinding halt and we will take up through regular order the lumbee recognition act. we'll debate it for as long as people want to, and we'll make the case as to why this discrimination is despicable. so at this time, as if in legislative session, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the committee on indian affairs be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 1964 and the senate proceed

to its immediate consideration. i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. tester: mr. president, i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. burr: i thank my colleagues for their time tonight, and i urge all of our colleagues to prepare. this will be back up. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, department of transportation, eric j. soskin of virginia to be inspector general. the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. booker: thank you, mr. president. i appreciate the recognition. i would ask unanimous consent that the foreign relations

committee be discharged and the senate proceed to an en bloc consideration of the following nominations -- p.n. 1938, p.n. 2024, p.n. 2101, p.n. 2030, is that the senate vote on the nominations en bloc with no intervening action or debate, that if confirmed, the motions to reconsider -- to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc, the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: the senator from idaho. mr. risch: reserving the right to object, first of all, let me say to my good friend from new jersey, i fully agree with the five nominees that he has put in front of the senate. indeed, we had good confirmation hearings on all five of those. none of these -- none of those five nor the one i am going to talk about in a second are political appointments. these are career people who have

had long and distinguished service with the secretary of state, and they are all very legitimate appointees to the places that they are appointed to, which i'm going to reiterate here in just a minute. but in any event, one was left off the list. i know senator booker has some issues with that, but i think in the spirit of cooperation, in the spirit of bipartisanship, he offers five, and i will offer a compromise of one more. i know that -- i think that's absolutely fair, five for one. but, mr. president, i object, and indeed, i would ask unanimous consent that we do as suggested by senator booker, and that is discharge from the committee and approve the

following six nominations. p.n. 1938, mr. kevin blackstone, to be ambassador of the democratic republic of timor. 2104 to be ambassador to the islamic republic of mauritania. 2101, mr. brian peters to be ambassador to malaysia. p.n. 2025, to be minister to the federal democratic republic of ethiopia. the honorable david rimer to be ambassador to the republic of sierra leone. finally william e. todd to be ambassador to the islamic republic of pakistan. as i said, none of these are political. they all have long and distinguished careers with the state department. all have great backgrounds to be ambassadors. i appreciate senator booker helping me move all six of these forward. so with that, i ask unanimous consent that all six of those be

discharged and be confirmed at this time. the presiding officer: will the senator so modify? mr. booker: i just want to say i appreciate my friend and my colleague and truly when he invoked the spirit of cooperation and the spirit of bipartisanship, i felt lucky that he didn't invoke the spirit of christmas as well. that might have been too much for me. but i do want to let him know that indeed the five people are nonpolitical individuals with the state department. i wish we could just move them and get confirmed. i do have an objection to the six that he would seek -- to the sixth that he would seek to add, so i will not modify my request. the presiding officer: is there objection to the original request? mr. risch: i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. booker: i would like to say a few words. the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. booker: thank you very much, mr. president. it's good to see you in that seat, sir. mr. president, the post of ambassador to pakistan is one that is highly relevant to

american national security, as i think all 100 of us understand. the person selected to implement the u.s. foreign policy and engage diplomatically with the pakistani government must be someone who understands the american-pakistani relationship and the complex and evolving challenges to regional stability in south asia. the person must also be someone who can be trusted by the american people and by their colleagues at the state department to carry out the u.s. foreign policy decisions. unfortunately, there is a disturbing and documented pattern of behavior for mr. todd that i believe makes him unqualified to serve as our ambassador to pakistan. from 2017 to 2019, mr. todd served in a variety of management positions at the state department, including acting director general and assistant secretary for human resources and acting under secretary for management. during that time, the house committee on foreign affairs and the state department -- and the

senate foreign relations committee opened investigations into allegations that senior state department officials, including mr. todd, for engaging in prohibitive personnel practices against other members of the state department's career workforce. as a result of these investigations, multiple state department officials told the committees that the administration wanted to punish career officials at the state department, often for doing their jobs, for following procedures and protocols, and also punish them for just raising concerns about policies that they believe sincerely would be dangerous or deleterious to american interests. mr. todd was one of the people -- political appointees turned to to help carry out a lot of those actions. when asked about those allegations even in the house committee on foreign affairs, it was reported and clearly that he was unreasonably agitated, even raising his voice when asked about just these routine issues.

the incoming administration has an enormous task. we know the challenges in that region, and the entire state department there have been challenges as well. we should give that new administration the chance and not promote someone for what is a really critical ambassadorialship in a very complex and challenging region. we need to make sure that we have someone prominent in the role who could command the confidence of state department officials and that in many ways gives the incoming administration a chance to deal with that vacancy which has been, i will note, vacant for two years without a nomination. he clearly does not have the temperament or the track record of standing up for his own employees or for the institution of the state department. we should be doing everything in our power to restore credibility to american leadership, not just overall on the world stage, which i know we all agree on,

but also in that region, and work to repair a lot of the harm that this individual may have been involved in creating that hurt morale so much. i have a lot of confidence in the chairman's leadership. we have a committee that often works in a bipartisan manner, and i'm grateful for that. it's one of the pleasures i have of serving in the senate. this role is critical to the country. the u.s. ambassador to pakistan. ambassador hale left the post in september of 2018, and it was a year before the administration nominated someone to the post. so i, again, just find it on top of my previous remarks odd that the chairman and others are now saying that we need this ambassador now. i believe that that's not the case, and i believe that there hasn't been an urgency from the administration to fill this ambassadorialship until today. and so it's for these reasons that i oppose mr. todd's

nomination, and i hope that my colleagues will move the other five. they are deserving of foreign services -- deserving, excuse me, of foreign service officers and should be confirmed. they should not be held up because of objections to the nominee we have been discussing. and so we agree on these five nominees. i truly urge my colleagues that we should not obstruct them because of our differences over one. there is a true urgency, i believe, in this season to get what we can agree on done, and a disagreement rooted as substantially as i believe this one is should not hold up of the other ones. and that's why i think the nominees to ethiopia, mauritania, malaysia, sierra leone, i do really believe that they should be confirmed today. with that, i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the senator from idaho. mr. risch: mr. president, i want to thank senator booker for his kind words about the committee. i want to commit that we will continue to work in a bipartisan fashion. on the other hand, we have a disagreement here regarding this particular person. he's a well-qualified career state department nominee. he has been nominated, of course, to be ambassador for pakistan. ambassador todd is a career member of senior executive service. he's well qualified to serve as the ambassador. he is currently serving as the deputy under secretary of state for management. he has a wealth of experience, having previously served as ambassador twice to cambodia and brunei. his qualifications notwithstanding now is not the time to leave the ambassadorship and the mission in islam bad vacant. the others we have are also good. i don't think it's unfair to ask

that we have a trade of five for one. so in any event, we will respectfully disagree at this point. i have no doubt as we move forward, we will have other things that we do agree on, but at this time i am going to continue to object. thank you very much. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: mr. president, i come to the floor today to discuss critical parts of today's government funding bill that's before us this week. these are the result of a bipartisan work that we've done. you're, mr. president, a

member of the environment and public works committee, a valued member that contributed significantly to the legislation before us. as chairman of the committee, i'm grateful for your participation. i'm going to talk about things we've been able to do on the environment and public works committee together and in a bipartisan way. you've done such a remarkable job with the save our seas legislation and we've continued to support that. now i'm going to talk about a couple of additional things that is part of the end-of-the year legislation we'll be voting on later this evening. the first is historic bipartisan climate innovation legislation. the second is comprehensive legislation to upgrade america's water infrastructure. i want to talk about two different things. one is the climate innovation legislation and then what is commonly known as the wrda bill, the water resource development act. both of these measures passed the committee with unanimous

bipartisan support. the republicans and democrats on this committee have worked together to reduce emissions and to do it through innovation, not taxation, not regulation, but do it through innovation, free market innovation, not punishing government regulations. i believe that is the best way to go as we degree the challenges in our environment and our climate. we have reached an historic agreement in the committee, and we will on the floor tonight in the senate, an historic agreement to include environmental innovation provisions in this government funding bill. the environmental innovation agreements include three significant bills that will significantly reduce greenhouse gases. i've had the privilege of working closely with my friend, the committee ranking member, tom carper of delaware, on each of these three. the first is called the use it act. this legislation ensures that washington is a willing partner

in the research and the development of carbon captured technologies and projects. carbon capture holds the key to significant carbon emission reductions. these captured emissions can be used to create building materials, medical supplies, even clothing. they can also be used to extract more natural resources to provide more energy for all of us. so the use it act is going to expedite permitting so important carbon capture projects can get moving. it supports the research and use of carbon capture, includes direct air capture, capture actually of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. that will take carbon emissions straight out of the air. it's very innovative. this kind of research is already happening in my home state of wyoming, in gillette, wyoming, at the integrated test center which is associated with the university of wyoming school of energy resources. i've worked closely with

senators whitehouse, capito in having it passed first, mr. president, on the committee, then through the full senate and tonight on a bill that will be ultimately sent to the president of the united states for his signature. the second measure, part of this innovative work, is a bill sponsored by ranking member carper to reauthorize the diesel emissions reduction act. this program has already significantly reduced the amount of black carbon in our air by replacing older engines and buses from school buses and trucks. this is working well. these replacement engines make diesel equipment cleaner and more efficient. the legislation that we'll reauthorize this evening for this important program will then continue all the way through the end of 2024. the last element of our bipartisan agreement will phase down the use of chemicals known

as h.f.c.'s. these chemicals are in every home in america from cars to refrigerators to air conditioners. this agreement is going to authorize a 15-year phase-down in the production of these chemicals. innovative breakthroughs in chemistry led to the development of cleaner chemicals. this legislation will help protect our air while keeping costs down for american people. importantly, the agreement, the bipartisan agreement we've come up with safeguards the essential use of h.f.c. chemicals when substitute chemicals are less effective. some examples include bear spray, we use it in wyoming, it protects hikers. it use in fire suppression systems on planes to protect travelers and we need it. in my hometown of caspar, the safari land group employs 75

people. they use h.f.c. chemicals to make defense sprays. it's a critical, important part of their business. if they were forced to use replacement chemicals, those praise would -- sprays would bes effective. if you're around a bear you want to make sure you have the mostly effective spray available. with the changes we've negotiated into this important bill, companies like the safari land group, will be able to continue making high-quality products that people want and people need and can save their lives. we also made sure that the manufacturers using these chemicals have a clear set of rules to go by. one clear set of rules to go by. so our agreement preempts state and local laws to ensure the specific essentials that are being used are protected. now the manufacturers won't have to deal with different sets of rules in different states, which has been a real problem, mr. president. this clears that up.

and the end result is clean air and clear rules. we need both of those. so i really want to thank ranking member carper, senator john kennedy of louisiana for working with me to reach an agreement that will reduce the use of h.f.c. chemicals while protecting consumers and manufacturers alike. so all of these three measures, mr. president, support market innovation. all three will reduce greenhouse gases and they will do it in ways that will not harm the economy. the government funding bill that we're going to be addressing a little later this evening also includes bipartisan water infrastructure legislation. i know, mr. president, in your home state of alaska, in my home state of wyoming, water is critical, as it is across the entire country. but you and i have focused specifically on this. certainly in wyoming, dams and levees and ports and reservoirs and water systems are important to every community all across the country.

the infrastructure is critical. people say the word is infrastructure, but when we think about it what it really means are dams, ports, reservoirs, levees, water systems. that really, i think, shows more of what we're talking about than just this overall word infrastructure. but it protects all of us from dangerous floods and storms while also providing water for our families and our farms. the government spending bill tonight includes the water resource development act of 2020. it's the result of months of negotiations between committee leaders from the senate and the house of representatives. the bipartisan legislation is fiscally responsible. it helps grow the economy. it cuts red tape. and it makes our communities safer. it will spur economic growth by creating jobs and by authorizing vital projects. in wyoming access to consistent water supply is essential for

ranchers and farmers. the water that we need in our home states to grow crops and raise cattle has to be delivered on time. in several communities, the water reservoirs that serve farmers and ranchers happen to be old. these aging reservoirs and irrigation systems need maintenance or full rebuilding. this bill makes these projects a significant priority. the legislation will establish a new army corps of engineers program for construction of new small water storage projects or the expansion of existing ones. it will also authorize the army corps of engineers to carry out sediment projects. it increases water quantity. the bill authorizes projects to maintain shipping lanes to deepen ports, to upgrade aging dams and to increase water storage across the west.

maintain shipping lanes ensure american-made goods are shipped from the heartland to the coast and around the world. deepen ports result in increased commerce. in our major ports when they are dredged and deep, then more ships can use them to export more goods. so these projects that we're going to adopt tonight all will create jobs and expand commerce in america's cities and the heartland. to ensure these important projects get moving, the bill cuts red tape to speed up the army corps of engineers process. the water resource development act is going to expedite the permitting, construction, repair and maintenance of many army corps projects. communities can't afford to wait years and years, mr. president, for flood management or water storage projects in order to be completed. they need them now. finally, this legislation will make communities safer. the critical infrastructure projects included here will help

prevent damaging floods by may tank dams and levees. floods can take a terrible toll on property damage and human life. the legislation allows the army corps of engineers to focus efforts on fixing aging flood management infrastructure. it prioritizing the dams and levees most at risk. i'd like to thank house transportation infrastructure committee chairman peter defazio and ranking member sam graves for working with us to get this legislation to the finish line. i want to thank infrastructure subcommittee chair capito, ranking member cardin for their work as well. so, mr. president, as i wrap this up and thank you for your involvement, i want to thank every member of the environment and public works committee and specifically tom carper. his staff worked so closely with mine working with me to make in

bill. and i'm so grateful for his partnership as we worked together over the last four years as i served as chair and he served as ranking member. we have not always agreed on every issue. we respected the positions of each of us. we worked, found common ground, found solutions, and i believe made a real difference for the economy, as most importantly here, the environment. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent to speak in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. casey: mr. president, i rise today to express concern over a monumental breach to the nation's national security infrastructure. last week "the washington post," among other publications, reported hacks of several

government agencies by way of the solar winds platform over several months. "the new york times" on the 17th of this month, in a headline that included these words, quote, officials warn of grave risk. unquote. but in that report "the new york times" indicated that at least 40 companies, government agencies and think tanks have been infiltrated. the infiltrated agencies include the department of defense, state, homeland security, treasury, commerce, energy, and energy's national nuclear security administration as well as the national national institutes of health. that's about seven different entities if you include the department of energy as one

entity and hacking in different parts of the department. and there could be more. all the reporting indicates that the hackers are affiliated with russian intelligence. russia has proven itself both capable and willing to invade and exploit our digital infrastructure for its own ends. while secretary of state mike pompeo confirmed that russia was behind this damaging breach of our systems, president trump is casting doubt, and that might be an understatement. even in the waning days of his administration, our national security continues to suffer at the hands of the president's deference to vladimir putin. and i have to say for the record, i hope this never changes, but only about ten republican senators have expressed concerns. i hope that nbe