John Cornyn

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I have 2 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority leaders. Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, December 8, 2020, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing. Subcommittee on Aviation. Operations, Safety, and Security The Subcommittee on Aviation, Operations, Safety, and Security of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, December 8, 2020, at 2:30 p.m., to conduct a hearing.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Doug Galuszka, military fellow in Senator Braun's office, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the Congress.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I came to the floor to talk about some other things, but I just want to say in response to our friend, the Democratic leader, it sounds to me that he has got a case of ``do as I say, not as I do'' when it comes to COVID-19 relief bills. If my memory serves me correctly, he has led the effort to block the Senate's consideration of five different COVID-19 relief bills. Speaker Pelosi has made the incredible statement that ``nothing is better than something'' when it comes to COVID-19 relief. That is easy to say when you are still getting a paycheck, when you have a job you can go do, and you can provide for your family, and you have access to healthcare. But for the millions of Americans who have suffered through this pandemic, those are words that sound a lot like Marie Antoinette: ``Let them eat cake.'' I mention this because I have been around this place long enough to know that, unless you tell people the whole story, too often they believe the talking points and the half story or the incomplete story, like we heard from the Democratic leader. It is shameful that, after passing four separate COVID-19 relief bills, including the CARES Act, through the end of March on a virtually unanimous basis, that Speaker Pelosi chose to pass a partisan bill out of the House, the Heroes bill, for another $3 trillion, including things like tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires in New York and San Francisco, unrelated to the COVID-19 relief bill that we needed. So I applaud the group of bipartisan Senators who have been working now, after the election, to try to come up with the relief rather than kicking this can down the road and leaving people in the lurch during the Christmas holiday season. And then when it comes to a vaccine, I have no doubt that the incoming administration is going to claim complete credit for producing a vaccine and getting this virus in the rearview mirror. I understand why they would be tempted to do so, but it is because of the bipartisan action that Congress has taken with this administration through Operation Warp Speed that we have seen our world-class scientists come up with safe and effective, I hope, soon-to-be- certified vaccines by the Food and Drug Administration, and people can begin to start getting vaccinated by the middle of this month. That is a modern-day miracle. We should all be proud of it, but it should not be part of a partisan campaign now after we have had an election on November 3. I wish our friends would get out of the campaign mode and get into the governing mode. We have got important work we need to do here.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, the legislative year is quickly drawing to a close, but the lights on the 116th Congress haven't gone out yet. Before the House and the Senate gavel out for the final time this Congress, we still have a lot of work to do. Headlines have focused on the large, ``must-pass'' legislation, which will require a good amount of debate and compromise in the coming days--things like government funding, the National Defense Authorization bill, and another COVID-19 relief package. But there are actually countless other bills that have already passed the Senate with broad bipartisan support and continue to linger in purgatory on the House's legislative calendar. After weeks, months, and, in some cases, more than a year of waiting, the Speaker and the House leadership refuse to let these commonsense bipartisan bills have a vote on the House floor. Just to give you an idea of the type of legislation they are holding up, let's start with the Jenna Quinn Law. This legislation carries the name of an inspiring young Texan who is a survivor of child sexual abuse and who has made it her mission in life to end the cycle of abuse that harms our children in communities across the country. Jenna was the driving force behind a 2009 Texas law requiring training for teachers, caregivers, and other adults who work with children on how to prevent, recognize, and report child sexual abuse. You can imagine the teachers, in particular, who spend--at least before COVID--day after day after day with children. They are actually in the best position, sometimes, to identify symptoms of sexual abuse, if properly trained. Since 2009, a number of other States have passed similar laws, but the training often lacks adequate funding, and that is where our Federal legislation comes in. I introduced this bipartisan bill with Senator Hassan from New Hampshire to finally back that training with Federal funding through grants from the Department of Health and Human Services. At a time when the experts believe that abuse is on the rise as families are isolated at home due to COVID-19 mitigation efforts, this legislation could not be more urgent. Despite the fact that this bill will deliver real change for the most vulnerable in our communities and that it passed the Senate with unanimous support, the House refuses to even vote on it. House Democrats have chosen to hold this lifesaving legislation hostage in order to advance a partisan bill that they know has no chance of becoming law. Unfortunately, those are the types of games that, sadly, we have had to become accustomed to when it comes to House Democrats. But, as I said, this is only one of a long list of bills that they are sitting on. Over the summer, the Senate passed legislation that had taken aim at another crisis harming our children, which is e-cigarettes. Prior to COVID-19, headlines were dominated by stories about mysterious vaping-related illnesses and healthy teenagers being admitted to emergency rooms with symptoms usually associated only with decades-long smokers. Well, to state the obvious, the most effective way to prevent children from becoming addicted to these devices is to stop them from getting their hands on them in the first place. If the 16-year-old went to a gas station or convenience store and attempted to buy an e- cigarette, they would be turned away because that sale could not take place without a proper ID, but those same age-verification requirements don't apply to online purchases. Devices can be ordered and delivered without any proof of age or an ID. Senator Feinstein, the senior Senator from California, and I introduced legislation to change that and ensure that online purchases are subject to the same age verification requirements as those made in person. Once again, this legislation passed the Senate unanimously, but the House has refused to take any action. And here is another one. Last month, we passed a bill to provide mental healthcare to those transitioning out of the criminal justice system. More than half of the individuals in the criminal justice system have experienced a mental health issue, and our justice system too often fails to provided adequate diagnosis and treatment. But even when these individuals do receive treatment while incarcerated, they are rarely given the tools they need to succeed upon release. Approximately 80 percent of the people are uninsured after being released, making it nearly impossible for them to continue mental health treatment without additional safety net provisions. Senator Blumenthal, our colleague from Connecticut, and I introduced legislation to support those who have become part of our criminal justice system who have decided to turn their lives around and to provide them stable treatment if they suffer from a mental illness as they transition out of incarceration. That is not only in their best interest, but it is in the best interest of the larger community, because these people, rather than being a danger to the community, can contribute to the community. This legislation passed the Senate with unanimous support, but, once again, no movement in the House, and the list goes on and on and on. We unanimously approved legislation to provide justice to families of human smuggling victims and assistance to local communities battling the problem, to help State and local governments strengthen their cyber security and safeguard their elections, and to increase cross-border economic and educational partnerships with Mexico. Those half dozen bills I just named are only a handful of the ones I introduced that have passed the Senate but are collecting dust on the House calendar. Add in the long list of bills led by our Republican and Democratic colleagues, and we have a major legislative logjam in the House. As I understand it, next week is set to be the House's last workweek of the 116th Congress. That means that, unless Speaker Pelosi and House Democratic leadership allow movement on these compromise, commonsense bipartisan bills, we are going to have to start from square one. We are going to have to start all over again in the next Congress. Now, I know it is not unusual for a Member of Congress to take legislative hostages to advance their own agenda, but this is not a time to play those kinds of politics, particularly on these kinds of subjects. These aren't controversial bills. We are talking about grants to prevent child sexual abuse, reform to stop kids from buying e- cigarettes online, a lifeline of hope for folks who suffer from mental illness and are transitioning from our criminal justice system, and so much more. As I said, these bills are just one step away from heading to the President's desk for his signature, so it is time for Speaker Pelosi and the leadership of the House to quit playing games and allow the House to vote on these life-changing bills.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, on another matter, we know we have a lot of lawyers in Congress, and we have some former businessmen. We even have people who are lawyers and businessmen who serve in our midst. They are doctors, educators. We have a few farmers. But we have only two accountants, to my knowledge, one of whom is our friend Mike Enzi. For those of us who have long fought to rein in spending and to get our national debt in check, Mike's contribution to those efforts has been invaluable. But that is only part of the reason we are sad to say farewell to such an incredible colleague. Long before Senator Enzi's career in politics or even accounting, he joined the family shoe business, cleverly named ``NZ Shoes''--that is capital ``N,'' capital ``Z,'' Shoes. It wasn't long before our friend Mike, at the young age of 30, was lured into a life of public service and elected mayor of Gillette, WY. His career would lead him to the Department of the Interior, the Wyoming State House and Senate, and eventually here to the U.S. Senate. But Senator Enzi still holds on to the lessons he learned in those early days selling shoes. A few years ago, he said: Legislating is like selling shoes. You have to know your market, what they want, and who's willing to buy what you're [selling]. Well, I don't know how effective Mike was as a shoe salesman, but I can tell you that he has been a master broker here in the Senate. I still remember when I came to the Senate, the liberal lion of the Senate, Ted Kennedy, was serving with Mike Enzi on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. They were enormously productive--one of the most conservative Members and one of the most liberal Members of the U.S. Senate. So I asked Mike, our friend Senator Enzi: How do you do it? He said: It is simple. It is the 80-20 rule. You take the 80 percent that you can agree on, the common ground, and you get it done, and you leave the 20 percent that you can't agree on to another day and another fight. That is the kind of common sense we need more of here in the U.S. Senate when it comes to solving our Nation's problems. When there are big debates on policy or high-stakes negotiations, Senator Enzi is not one to share his opinions with reporters in the hallways or, thankfully, to air his grievances on national television, but he does work behind the scenes, settling disagreements with private phone calls and meetings rather than fiery speeches and press releases. There is no question he has had to settle a lot of disagreements during his 24 years in the Senate, especially, as I said, during his time on the HELP Committee and as chairman of the Budget Committee. We have 100 individuals in the Senate from all across this big and diverse Nation of ours who have very different ideas about what should be done and opinions on how to get it done, but part of what makes him so successful is settling those differences--look past the areas where we disagree, and look at common ground. Besides the 80-20 rule that has forever stuck in my mind as a great formula for solving problems and getting things done, Mike has a great attitude about life--one that I find very positive and inspiring, even. He says: ``You have to have an attitude of gratitude.'' That is another thing I will remember about Mike Enzi--always grateful for his ability to serve his fellow Wyoming citizens, for his family, his wonderful family, and for this great country that we live in. I know he is eager to spend more time enjoying the great outdoors. Mike has said he wants to actually go fishing in all 50 States. I don't know how many States he has not yet fished in, but after he leaves the U.S. Senate, hopefully he will accomplish his goal of going fishing in all 50 States of the Union. We will miss him here in the Senate. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, we all know that Lamar Alexander is a person of tremendous character and judgment, and it is not just because he asked that young woman in the red shorts that he met at that softball game so many years ago to marry him, who happens to be from Victoria, TX, which demonstrates his enormous good judgment. Certainly, we wish him and Honey the best in this next chapter of their lives. When I think about Lamar Alexander, I think about all of the Lamar- isms, and we have heard some of them here today: ``Find the good and praise it''--quotes his friend Alex Haley, which I think kind of speaks to the optimistic, positive view of life that we could use more of. Then I remember other words. He said: If you want to get a standing ovation before any group of individuals, you need to say, ``It is time to put the teaching of American history and civics back into its rightful place in our schools so our children can grow up learning what it means to be an American.'' He has talked about Alex Haley, his friend, who told him how to give a speech by telling a story. Aristotle also had an idea about how to give a great speech. He basically broke it down to three components. One is the logical argument, another is the emotional argument, but then another is about establishing your authority. It is about the character of the speaker. When I think about Lamar, as he has demonstrated again here today, the thing I appreciate about him the most is not just what he has accomplished here but his incredible character and positive impact on our Senate and on our country. It has been because people know that his heart is in the right place. It is his doing it for all the right reasons that we admire him so much. I would just point out, as I told Lamar previously, that I admired Lamar Alexander long before I met him--when I voted for him in the 1996 Republican primary for President. Unfortunately, he dropped out of that race shortly thereafter, so I told him I wasted my vote, but I have been an admirer for a long time. (Laughter.) Lamar and I also share something else in common. It is about his predecessor as well as mine. He is a person by the name of Sam Houston. I occupy the Senate seat first held by Sam Houston when Texas became a State. Of course, he originally came from Tennessee. He had happened to be a Governor of Tennessee before he had left and gone to Texas. Later, he became the Governor of Texas and basically stepped down because he was a Union man, recruited by Andrew Jackson. He loved the Union. He did not agree with secession, but, of course, he went to Texas and became a victorious general of the decisive Battle of San Jacinto. He became the President of the Republic of Texas for the same reason. The reason the Texas flag and the American flag fly at the same height is that we were an independent nation before we became part of the United States. I have heard it said that you could never write a novel based on the life of Sam Houston because nobody would believe it. I have read plenty about him, and I still find that to be true. Yet, as I indicated, as proud as Texans are of Sam Houston's contribution to our history and our State, we know we can't claim him entirely because he grew up in Maryville, TN--the same town that Lamar Alexander did--and went on to become Governor, as I mentioned a moment ago. Sam Houston's portrait hangs above my desk in the Hart Office Building because it helps to remind me of my responsibilities and of the incredible history and contribution that he made and that, hopefully, each of us can make. While you find Sam Houston's picture above my desk, you will find his walking stick in Lamar Alexander's office, which is just down the hall. The many Tennesseans who have visited Lamar during his time in the Chamber have seen the words ``Sam Houston,'' ``Texas,'' and ``Lone Star'' engraved on its gold cap, and according to Lamar, several Texans have tried to run off with it. Fortunately, they haven't been successful The truth is, you can't get through a Texas history class--or at least you shouldn't--without hearing about the pivotal role of the Volunteer State within the history of my State. I always kid Lamar. I say: The Tennesseans who went to Texas who fought at the Alamo and in the Battle of San Jacinto were just one step ahead of a creditor or of an aggrieved spouse. This was a rough-and-tumble group that came from Tennessee to found Texas. There are other Tennesseans, people like Davy Crockett and others, who went to Texas and created our State. The State of Texas has many reasons to be grateful to the contributions of the sons and daughters of Tennessee, and one of those great sons is Lamar. He has dedicated his life to public service. As we know, it has led him through an incredible number of important offices. Yet I think, to me, the thing that has even more led to his legislative accomplishments and that has made Lamar so effective is that we know we can trust him. We know his character. We know that when he says something, it is true, and we have seen it time and again, when Lamar has used that character and that trust to pass historic legislation in this Chamber. As we have all come to know, when you are working side by side with Lamar on legislation, you are bound to get things done because he has cracked the code. He knows how to do it. I have been proud to work with Lamar on legislation to address the opioid epidemic, to support our servicemembers and veterans, to protect health coverage, and to ensure that folks across the country have the opportunity to take advantage of the American dream. His presence has been constant throughout our time. We came to the Senate at the same time, and, of course, his retirement makes that all bittersweet. So I thank our colleague from Tennessee for his friendship over many years and, as we have heard from Senator Thune and others, for the example he has shown to the rest of us as to how to be an effective Member of the U.S. Senate. I also thank him for his decades of service to the country. I don't expect Lamar to follow in the footsteps of Sam Houston and run for Governor of Texas, but I know he has many more contributions to make to our great country, and I wish him and Honey all the best during this next chapter of their lives. I am sure he is looking forward to spending a little more time in their beloved Smoky Mountains.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, just as I came to the floor, I saw an announcement by the Attorney General of the United States that he was appointing U.S. Attorney Durham as a special counsel under the same provisions under which Robert Mueller was appointed as a special counsel. While, ordinarily, I am no fan of special counsel appointments, I think this one is important for a very simple reason. With the election of a new administration and the peaceful transfer of power anticipated on January 20, it is important to the country that the Durham investigation--wherever it may lead--be concluded in a nonpolitical and nonpartisan fashion and that, with whatever is disclosed about the efforts made at the FBI under the direction of Mr. Comey--under his leadership--and the actions of his subordinates at the FBI, it is important to the country and to the ongoing reputation of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation that the facts be known and not be swept under the rug. So I congratulate the Attorney General for making that appointment, which ensures that the public, the American people, will finally learn what the facts are and not have them filtered through the media, which, unfortunately, has taken on some of the partisan polarization that is reflective of our larger society in a way that, I think, has prevented the facts from being fully known. Inspector General Horowitz, at the Department of Justice, has done a great service in his investigations, but the Durham investigation is, perhaps, the single most important investigation being conducted and one that, I hope, when it is concluded, will once again help to restore public confidence in those great American institutions known as the Department of Justice and the FBI.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, first, while he is still on the floor, let me say that I agree with the senior Senator from Vermont. If you don't want to vote, you probably ought to look for another line of work. Congress is a bad place to come if you don't want to actually vote and be on record

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, as America waits for the results of the 2020 election to be certified in a couple of weeks, former Vice President Joe Biden has begun to announce his picks for his Cabinet and other high-ranking positions. Some of these nominees have close ties to investment and other consulting firms whose clients are largely unknown or who may be even the subjects of nondisclosure agreements. The truth is that these individuals could be working on behalf of a ``feel good'' nonprofit, a malicious foreign actor, or a large company with business before the government. The truth of the matter is, we have simply no idea what kind of business or financial relationships these individuals have with foreign powers that could influence their actions as high-ranking government officials. This goes way beyond compliance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act. This is an ethical issue. It is a conflict-of- interest issue, and Americans deserve to know if these nominees have connections or relationships that could cloud their judgment on behalf of the American people if they are confirmed. When it comes to the business dealings of those who could serve in high-ranking government positions, full transparency is the only option. So I encourage each of these individuals, if nominated, to take an open-book approach throughout the hearings and confirmation processes. In fact, I will make a pledge here today that I will not support any nominee who doesn't provide full transparency into his work on behalf of a foreign government. I will not do it. The American people deserve to know if these or any future nominees are beholden to anything other than our national interest. Just to make the point that this is not some imaginary or hypothetical problem, let me refer to an article that was written today in the Associated Press News, entitled: `` `Mercenary' donor sold access for millions in foreign money.'' This is a story of a so-called elite political fundraiser, Imaad Zuberi, who, maybe not surprisingly, raised a lot of money for Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama and who also became the top donor to the Trump Presidential Inaugural Committee. In other words, he wasn't particularly partisan. He just wanted to be close to power and be able to influence it. Prosecutors who have now prosecuted him for a variety of violations of campaign finance laws and foreign lobbying laws have called him a mercenary political donor. His foreign entanglements were quite extensive. He lobbied as an unregistered foreign agent for at least half a dozen countries and officials, including a Ukrainian oligarch who was close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He lobbied for countries like Turkey and Sri Lanka, among others. As I said, it really doesn't make a difference so much which country. It was the fact that he was lobbying in an undisclosed fashion, raising money for political candidates, and violating campaign finance laws for which he has now pled guilty and will be awaiting sentencing after the first of the year. We spent a lot of the last 4 years--and, certainly, as a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, we spent about 3\1/2\ years--investigating Russian interference with the 2016 election. Yet, as this story makes clear, Zuberi's story shows there are far easier ways to bend American foreign policy than by using sophisticated hacking tools or well-funded troll farms. In other words, you can do it the way he has done it, which is by violating our foreign agent registration laws, representing foreign governments and foreign interests, and hiring lobbyists and cutting out donors in a way that funnels foreign money into the American political process--unbeknownst to people like us unless it is disclosed. Between 1966 and 2015, the Department of Justice brought just seven criminal cases for violating the law relating to registering as a foreign lobbyist, according to a 2016 inspector general's report. So this is a serious topic. The incoming chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, Senator Grassley, and the current ranking member, Senator Feinstein, and I have a bipartisan bill to reform the Foreign Agents Registration Act, but this is going to be front and center in the confirmation process for any nominee by the incoming administration, and I just think it is fair to place everybody on fair notice that full transparency is the only option.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, on another matter, the Senate has, of course, returned for a last end-of-the-year legislative dash, and we have a lot of work to do before we cross the finish line. As we know, government funding will expire in less than 2 weeks, and we have to reach an agreement, as the senior Senator from Vermont mentioned, before the December 11 deadline of the current continuing resolution. With millions of Americans already facing economic uncertainty, a government shutdown is, surely, not an option. We need to pass the National Defense Authorization Act to support America's brave servicemembers and ensure that our military leaders have the ability to plan and operate with certainty and provide peace through American strength. Also, as we move into the winter months, which the experts have told us will present new challenges in our war against the COVID-19 virus, it is time to cut the partisanship and deliver another round of relief to the American people. It is worth recounting--because people have short memories, apparently, in Washington, DC--that, over the last several months, our Democratic colleagues have consistently talked about the need to bolster our support in the fight against COVID-19. Yet, despite the repeated rhetoric and calls to action, they have unapologetically stood in the way of each and every attempt to make real progress. This summer, we proposed something called the HEALS Act--as the Presiding Officer knows, for he was instrumental in that work--as a starting point for negotiations on a new relief package. It was a starting place, a place to begin bipartisan negotiations in the hope of crafting a package that could get the requisite number of votes. Unfortunately, before the election, our Democratic colleagues had simply no interest in amending the bill or trying to find any kind of common ground. I think they thought it was to their political advantage for the American people to be experiencing the anxiety and the pain before the election. I can't imagine holding them hostage, but that is what appeared, to me, to be the case. Instead of trying to find common ground--in particular, the Speaker made the amazing statement that nothing was better than something when it came to COVID-19 relief, which is just the opposite of what I have always believed--she demeaned the bill of half a trillion dollars in spending as ``pathetic.'' The minority leader called it ``unworkable,'' but then they didn't lift a finger to try to get anything done. So the next month we took another shot. We attempted to narrow the scope of negotiations to the most urgent matters--things like continuing Federal unemployment benefits, which expired at the end of July. This is last July. This time our Democratic colleagues rejected what they called a ``piecemeal'' approach. Well, never mind the fact that the House returned to Washington to help pass a bill that supported the U.S. Postal Service. We all believe in supporting the Postal Service, but apparently they thought that piecemeal bill was acceptable as long as it was a Democratic-authored bill and didn't provide any additional relief to the American people. Well, being unsuccessful those first two times, we tried again a third time. So in September the majority leader tried to bring a bill to the floor to provide $500 billion for our shared bipartisan priorities. There weren't any real differences in what was in the bill. The only difference was that our Democratic colleagues wanted to spend multiples of that for unrelated activities. We wanted to concentrate the effort on helping small businesses keep their employees on payroll, giving schools the resources they needed to keep their students and teachers safe, strengthening testing nationwide, and investing in the continued success of Operation Warp Speed, which is going to deliver an FDA-approved vaccine before the end of the year--not just one, maybe as many as two or three, and more, perhaps, to come. Anyone who has spent time watching C-SPAN over the last several months has heard both Republicans and Democrats talk about the importance of every single one of these things, but when legislation that includes all of these priorities came up for an initial vote, our Democratic colleagues wouldn't even allow us to get on the bill. In other words, here in the Senate you have to vote to get on the bill before you can then offer amendments and try to make it better. So they killed it. Without batting an eye, our Democratic colleagues voted in lockstep to block the bill and unanimously oppose legislation that would have invested an additional half-trillion dollars in our fight against COVID-19. When the majority leader tried to bring the bill to the floor again in October, we saw exactly the same thing. It was the same bad movie all over again. Our Democratic colleagues refused to let us even debate, much less to amend, the bill. It is not just these targeted packages that have been blocked by our Democratic colleagues. They stood in the way of our commonsense proposals, like the one from the now-former Senator from Arizona, Senator McSally, which would have extended unemployment benefits for 1 week while we negotiated a larger compromise. Our friends on the other side of the aisle have repeatedly said that Congress needs to act, but the reality is their own actions have prevented us from doing so. Month after month, they have demonstrated it is either the House's multitrillion-dollar, leftwing-policy grab-bag wish list or nothing. They have consistently told the American people: It is our way or the highway. You don't get an extension of unemployment insurance unless we get tax breaks for blue-State millionaires and billionaires. You don't get vaccine funding unless we get diversity studies on the marijuana industry. You don't get funding for schools unless we get permanent changes to hijack and take over our election laws and run them out of Washington, DC. Well, even rank-and-file Democrats have now understood and criticized this sort of bogus approach to legislating. It has been the same song and dance month after month--fiery speeches, press conferences, tweets, and letters calling for action. But each time our Democratic colleagues have been given an opportunity to actually do something--to do more than spout off some meaningless, vapid rhetoric at the nearest microphone--they have simply stood in the way. The fact of the matter is our Democratic colleagues have blocked more COVID relief bills than they have passed. Yet they continue to feign outrage over Congress's failure to pass a bill--we heard it again here today--as though they aren't the ones responsible for the impasse. Our jobs here in the Senate aren't simply to vote against imperfect bills. If that were the case, no bill would ever pass, because none of them is perfect. But this body is built on making imperfect legislation better through a debate-and-amendment process--two processes we haven't seen much at work this year. So the bottom line is Congress needs to act. The American people want Democrats and Republicans to come to an agreement on the things our country actually needs to make it through this crisis. It won't be the last piece of legislation we pass, but we do need to do this next step, and we need to do it soon--as soon as possible. It is time for our Democratic colleagues to realize the election is over and the only real people being hurt by their intransigence are the people they represent in their various States. So it is time to start getting back to work for all the American people on a bipartisan piece of legislation and to quit the partisan games. I can't say it any more directly than that. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, here it is November 18. It seems like the election was a few years ago. Time is flying by, but there is still a lot of work to be done here in the 116th Congress. I hope that our friends across the aisle will reconsider their objections to working with us on another COVID-19 relief bill. I know back home in Texas, many small businesses that received PPE loans are uncertain, for example, what the tax consequences are going to be associated with that. Many of them, for whom that was a lifeline, are running out of that lifeline due to the passage of time. We also know we need to pass an appropriations bill before the December 11 deadline to both avoid a government shutdown and give our government agencies the ability to plan and operate with certainty. Of course, perhaps most significantly, we need to pass a final version of the National Defense Authorization Act. The foremost obligation of the Federal Government is the peace and security for the American people. We do that by passing the defense authorization act and funding our military each year on an annual basis. This bill determines how we maintain our military bases, modernize our aircraft, and invest in the next generation of aircraft and weaponry. Of course, we know that our adversaries--most notably, countries like China and Russia--are moving very quickly to modernize their military and their weaponry in a way that could jeopardize the balance or the deterrence of our current systems. It is very, very important. This is also how we supply our servicemembers and their families with the money they need to provide for their families. It is how we take stock of the evolving threat landscape--things like hypersonic glide vehicles--and ensure our country is taking active steps to counter threats on the horizon. The most important thing, I think, Ronald Reagan taught us or reminded us of is ``peace through strength,'' that weakness is actually a provocation to the bullies, tyrants, and dictators who will take advantage of any opportunity. It causes instability and perhaps even miscalculation and people taking risks that, ultimately, will lead to armed conflict. The best thing we can do to maintain the peace is make sure the United States of America remains the preeminent military force on the planet. Of course, it is no secret that, in recent years, China has emerged as one of the greatest threats to world order. It is increasingly belligerent and well resourced and continues to demonstrate a lack of respect for basic human rights and dignities. The challenge of China is they don't play by the rules. I know back when China became part of the World Trade Organization, there was a hope expressed that maybe by becoming part of the World Trade Organization, they could join the other rules-based economies and countries, but they have not. They continue to steal intellectual property, and they continue to want to dominate the United States, both economically and militarily, in the long run. The Chinese Communist Party has made no secret of its desire to flex its economic and political power throughout the world as evidenced by their Made in China 2025 Initiative. It seeks to advance Chinese dominance in high-tech manufacturing for everything from electric cars to advanced robotics to artificial intelligence to seemingly innocuous devices like jetways at airports. One major component of this plan is semiconductor manufacturing, and China is making serious headway. Since 2000, China has gone from manufacturing zero chips to 16 percent of the global supply, and it plans to invest another $1.4 trillion in the semiconductor technology. Why is this important? Well, because these microcircuits that have gotten smaller and smaller and smaller and make up the working components in everything from iPhones to our weapons systems--these have become harder and harder to manufacture. In fact, one of the things this COVID virus has taught is the vulnerability of our supply chains. Right now, one of the sole sources of the most sophisticated semiconductor that goes into everything from our iPhones to our national defense systems is manufactured overseas, primarily in Taiwan. While China has upped its production of semiconductors dramatically and its investment, the U.S. has dropped to producing roughly a quarter of the world's semiconductors to only 12 percent. That is a big problem. First is the obvious economic implications. Giving up a significant global share of manufacturing means missing out on thousands--indeed tens of thousands--of high-paying jobs that could be stationed right here at home. It also ignores the benefits of a strong U.S. manufacturing supply chain to support products made by the United States and our trading partners. Our growing dependence on others, including China, for semiconductors also poses a serious national security risk. As I said, these chips are everywhere. They are also critical components to our infrastructure, things like cell towers, hospital equipment, missile defense systems. Our most critical technologies rely on a product we are looking for a country overseas to supply, whether it is Taiwan or China or some other country. Earlier this year, we, of course, experienced how dangerous that is. It is as simple as things like personal protective equipment. China has long been a major supplier of masks, gloves, and gowns, and other PPE used by our healthcare workers. That didn't seem to be a problem because they could always make it cheaper, but when the virus hit, we found out it was a serious problem. By the time the virus began spreading to the U.S., China had been battling it for a number of weeks, maybe even months. So when it came time for American hospitals, clinics, and healthcare providers to beef up their supply of personal protective equipment, the supplies were already depleted or we were dependent on China to produce them. Healthcare workers did what they could by reusing masks throughout an entire shift in order to conserve supplies. Hospitals were pleading with the general public to donate any unused personal protective equipment so their workforce could remain safe. We didn't reach that point because of lack of preparation, but because of our reliance on other countries, namely China, to produce that medical gear. This has been a wake-up call, I think, for me and, I think, certainly many others about our supply chain vulnerabilities. It is a clear signal that we need to take action to secure other critical supply chains. When it comes to semiconductor manufacturing, that is easier said than done. Building a new semiconductor foundry is a very, very expensive undertaking. It simply will not happen without a robust private-public partnership. We know our adversaries are making a big down payment on their own semiconductor manufacturing. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates that 21 major semiconductor firms across a number of countries received more than $50 billion in government support between 2014 and 2018. This is not exactly a market that is going to depend purely on the private sector. It is going to require the Federal Government to step up if we are going to bring that manufacturing onshore and if we are going to reduce our vulnerabilities, both from an economic and national security perspective. Some of the countries investing, though, in manufacturing these technologies are South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Ireland, Germany, and--yes, you guessed it--China. We have lost ground to our global competitors, and unless we take action, it is estimated that, by 2030, 83 percent of global semiconductor manufacturing will be in Asia--83 percent. We simply can't allow that to happen. The U.S. needs to make a strategic investment in semiconductor manufacturing to regain lost ground, and this year's National Defense Authorization Act includes the critical first step. I introduced a bill, along with our colleague, our friend from Virginia, Senator Warner, called the CHIPS for America Act, and a version of this bill was adopted as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. It had bipartisan support--a vote of 96 to 4. It will help restore American leadership in semiconductor manufacturing by creating a Federal incentive program through the Department of Commerce in order to encourage chip manufacturing here in the United States. In short, this will help stimulate domestic advanced semiconductor manufacturing and boost both our national security and global competitiveness. It will enable us to bring the manufacturing of these critical devices back home and strengthen the supply chains for our military systems, our critical infrastructure, telecommunications, healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing, and virtually every other industry you could name. Senator Warner and I have worked closely with Senator Cotton, of Arkansas, and with Senator Schumer, of New York, in drafting this bipartisan amendment. I am glad our colleagues in the House have approved a similar amendment to their legislation, and I am eager to see the final version in the conference report. When the NDAA makes its way to the President's desk, it will mark the 60th consecutive year in which Congress has passed such bipartisan legislation to fund, supply, and equip our Nation's military. I appreciate the strong bipartisan support of Chairman Inhofe, of the Committee on Armed Services, and Ranking Member Reed, and I am eager for this legislation to come to the floor for a final vote, but the next step is to secure funding for the programs to incentivize domestic semiconductor manufacturing. We have been working with the administration, particularly with Secretary Mnuchin, Secretary Ross, and Secretary Pompeo, who have identified this as a major vulnerability and have worked with us to try to close that gap. I have enjoyed working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to ensure that we provide full funding for this legislation, but we are not there yet. This is the key to our long-term national security and economic competitiveness, and it is my top priority in the coming weeks as the Senate prepares to consider appropriations bills. A secure semiconductor supply chain will strengthen our national security, and our economy will reap countless benefits by bringing these manufacturing jobs back to the United States. As we work to counter increasingly sophisticated adversaries around the world, passing the National Defense Authorization Act and funding these new programs could not be more important. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I was listening to our friend, the Democratic whip, and his advice to President Trump to capitulate before the recounts and before the litigation that has been filed has been finally decided. I know they would like to have him do so, but he is completely within his rights to use the existing procedures in the States and in the local jurisdictions where these elections were conducted to review the results to see if there are discrepancies. I also know they would like to say it is just about President Trump, but more candidates other than President Trump were on the ballot. We ought to be in the position of trying to preserve every legal vote for every candidate and making sure there are no mistakes, and there is a process in place to make that happen. I don't know what the ultimate outcome will be--I sort of have a sneaking suspicion about what the trend line looks like--but 72 million-plus people voted for President Trump and Vice President Pence. Out of respect for them, at least, if not for the President and the Vice President themselves, we ought to let this process play itself out. There will be a peaceful transition of power. I have no doubt whatsoever.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, it is no secret that in parts of Texas and in cities across the country, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are on the rise. Dr. Angela Clendenin is an epidemiologist at Texas A&M University's School of Public Health, and she attributes this increase to what she calls pandemic fatigue. After months of vigorous handwashing and mask wearing, it seems that people are becoming less and less vigilant. She said, if we continue in the behaviors that we are behaving in right now without regulatory intervention, we are going to continue in the direction we are headed. I guess that is one way of saying if we don't shape up, the present spread of the virus will continue with, perhaps, in some instances, dangerous, even fatal, consequences. That is a path we should not head down and one that will put an even greater strain on our healthcare workers. I guess, as I think about it, there are two ways to approach this pandemic. One is to leave it to government to tell us what we can and cannot do, to engage in more and more lockdowns and deprivation of our individual liberty or we can take personal responsibility. Speaking for myself, and I hope others, I hope the personal responsibility route is the one we will take. From staffing shortages due to the coronavirus exposure to short supplies of personal protective equipment, to a lack of critical equipment like ventilators, our frontline healthcare workers have carried on this fight in the face of tremendous challenges. Now, with cases climbing in parts of my State and around the country, these heroes are in dire need of another line of defense. The public--meaning Congress--on their behalf has the power to provide that help. Through the same simple steps we heard about since the beginning of the pandemic, we can stop or at least dramatically slow the transmission of COVID-19. Again, it gets back to the basics we have all been taught and I think more or less most of us have been employing: washing your hands, wearing a mask, practice social distancing, and don't let the pandemic fatigue win. We need to all remain vigilant and committed to these basic practices until the experts tell us that COVID-19 is no longer a threat--likely, a point after which the vaccine has been widely deployed. None of us knows exactly when that might happen, but we have been getting some great news this last week or so about scientific developments that have been funded by the efforts that we in Congress have taken together on a bipartisan basis. On Friday, in my State, the Governor announced the Department of Health and Human Services will distribute a new COVID-19 therapy to hospitals across the State as early as this week. The antibody treatment is produced by Eli Lilly and will be critical in reducing hospitalizations. It is meant for those who are known to be at a higher risk of developing severe symptoms, like the elderly or those with underlying chronic illness. For those who are diagnosed with COVID-19, this drug may be effective in preventing the onset of severe symptoms. The antibody treatment received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration last week, and I am hopeful it will help stop or at least slow dramatically the alarming rise in hospitalizations that we have seen across parts of my State. So far, about 80,000 doses are ready for distribution nationwide, and we should have that up to a million doses a day by the end of the year. While the quantity is limited at this point, every single dose could mean a life saved. This alone is cause for hope. But the good news doesn't stop there. Last week, Pfizer announced its COVID-19 vaccine has been more than 90 percent effective in clinical trials. Just this morning, Moderna announced its vaccine candidate is nearly 95 percent effective--just incredible results. This is exactly why we invested billions of dollars in developing these lifesaving drugs earlier this year. The funding that we have appropriated has supported not only research and development but manufacturing of vaccines and therapeutics. We wanted to be sure that distribution could begin as soon as these drugs were approved as safe and effective, and that is exactly the direction we are headed in. We are on track to have tens of millions of doses of vaccine available by the end of the year, likely from at least two different drug makers. This historic investment has led to historic progress. I could not be more proud of the men and women who have made this possible. I am incredibly grateful to the healthcare workers who are continuing to fight this serious infection on the frontlines. I want to thank the researchers and scientists and thousands of volunteers who are supporting the development of vaccines and therapeutics. Beyond the physical toll this virus has taken, it is also having a profound impact on this country's mental health. This pandemic has brought on a range of new stressors, including isolation, financial struggles, health anxiety, and the stress of teaching children from home. In a Kaiser Family Foundation poll in March, roughly, one-third of adults reported that their mental health was negatively affected by pandemic-related stresses. By July, that number has risen to more than half of the adults in the United States. As we continue to discuss what future coronavirus legislation will look like, we should not--we must not--ignore the mental health impact. I have spoken at length about the need to support community mental health centers and community behavioral health organizations, which are vital mental health providers across much of my State and across the Nation. These providers are a critical source of care and support for those who battle mental health and substance abuse disorders, and the need for their services has only risen during the pandemic. The one group that is too often ignored in conversations about mental health care is made up of those transitioning from the criminal justice system as well. More than half of those in the criminal justice system have experienced a mental health issue, and our criminal justice system is ill-suited to provide the sort of treatment and support they need. Yet, even when these individuals do receive treatment while they are incarcerated, they are rarely given the tools they need to succeed upon their release. Approximately 80 percent of these people are uninsured after being released, making it nearly impossible for them to continue their mental health treatment. Earlier this year, I and Senator Blumenthal of Connecticut introduced the Crisis Stabilization and Community Reentry Act to support those who have become part of the criminal justice system and provide a stable source of treatment for them after they leave incarceration. Most prisoners who receive treatment for a mental health or substance abuse disorder are released without their having plans to keep up with their regimes. This leads to higher recidivism rates, which could be avoided. It also means that law enforcement is too often left to be the first responder to a mental health crisis, which can escalate those scenarios and put both the officers and the individuals at risk. Our bill creates grants to connect law enforcement officials to State, Federal, and local resources to help individuals who are either engaged in the criminal justice system or who are being released from prison get access to the support they need. These grants connect those services to make sure that people who are suffering acute episodes can access treatment without there being the risk of unnecessary incarceration. Many times, these people need help. They don't need to go back to jail. It has the ability to strengthen our community-based crisis response, reduce suicides during incarceration, and close the revolving door that leads people back to prison. I hope the Senate can pass this legislation soon and that our colleagues in the House will follow suit. With the ongoing mental health challenges that have been brought on by COVID-19, there could not be a more critical time to strengthen our Nation's mental health resources.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 3589 and that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. CORNYN. 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.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 509, H.R. 835.

Mr. CORNYN. 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.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 4104, which was received from the House.

Mr. CORNYN. 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.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be discharged and that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 1830.

Mr. CORNYN. I ask unanimous consent that the Schumer amendment be considered and agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 561, S. 2981.