John Cornyn

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, today I would like to pay tribute to a dedicated public servant and Texan, Sarah R. Saldana. Ms. Saldana is stepping down as Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, and retiring after many years of Federal service. Born as the youngest of seven children to working-class parents in Corpus Christi, TX, Director Saldana learned the importance of hard work and education at a young age. After she graduated from W.B. Ray High School in 1970, Director Saldana attended Del Mar Junior College and graduated summa cum laude from Texas A&M, formerly Texas A&I, University in 1973. Shortly thereafter, she began her career as an 8th grade language arts teacher at D.A. Hulcy Middle School in Dallas. Later, she worked as a technician for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, EEOC, and as an investigator and management intern for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD. Additionally, she worked as a Federal Representative for the Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration until 1981. Ms. Saldana then decided to pursue a legal education at Southern Methodist University, SMU, in Dallas, TX, where she earned her J.D. in 1984. Following graduation, she clerked for the Honorable U.S. District Judge Barefoot Sanders. As a trial attorney, Director Saldana was an associate for the law firms of Haynes and Boone, and then Baker Botts, where she became partner in their trial department. In 2004, she returned to public service and became an assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, where she prosecuted a variety of criminal cases. She also served as the deputy criminal chief in charge of the district's major fraud and public corruption section. In 2011, Ms. Saldana was nominated and confirmed to become the first Latina United States attorney in the history of Texas and only the second woman to hold that position in the 135-year history of Texas' Northern District--a region that includes the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and spans 100 counties and stretches across 95,000 square miles. In 2014, Ms. Saldana was confirmed to lead the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. As ICE's Director, she helped to oversee the largest investigative agency within the Department of Homeland Security and to protect the safety and security of the United States. Throughout her career, she has served with integrity and character. Ms. Saldana has served the people of Texas and the United States with honor--fighting illegal immigration, public corruption, organized crime, sexual predators, and other dangerous criminals. Her legacy will continue to benefit the American people and I join with her family, friends, and coworkers in saying that her experience and dedication to public service will be missed. I offer my appreciation to Sarah R. Saldana for her service to our Nation and send my best wishes for the years ahead.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, there has been a flurry of activity this week with the beginning of the new year and the beginning of a new Congress--the 115th Congress--and we have a lot of work to do. This election that we just went through on November 8 was surprising in many ways, gratifying in many ways. Personally, I think the best thing about it is that it gives us an opportunity to start anew, to deal with the problems that the American people were, frankly, not all that happy with either of the political parties about in terms of the solutions that we were to offer. I would hope that it would also give us an opportunity to hit the reset button when it comes to working together to try to find political consensus to solve some of these big problems. I mentioned yesterday our friend, the chairman of the Budget Committee, and his 80-20 rule, which I told him I have used time and again to make the point that just because you disagree on some things doesn't mean you can't get anything done. To the contrary, people of widely divergent ideological, philosophical, and political beliefs can work together by simply trying to find common ground. That is possible. That, in fact, is the way our Constitution created our government to force us to do that, because what we decide here impacts a lot of people--well over 300 million people in the United States alone. But if there was one consistent complaint that I heard from my constituents back in Texas and that we heard in the national media and beyond, it is about the failure of the promise of ObamaCare. We made a solemn commitment to the American people that if they provided us with the majority we needed to do it and if they provided us a President who would sign it, we would repeal ObamaCare and we would replace it with affordable health care that would be of their choosing, as opposed to a top-down mandate, a one- size-fits-all, which is the failure of ObamaCare. In a previous life, I was attorney general of my State, the State of Texas. We had a huge division of trial lawyers called the consumer protection division. What we did is we sued people who committed consumer fraud--people who promised one thing but delivered another. I can't think of a bigger case of consumer fraud than ObamaCare, which was sold under false pretenses: If you like what you have, you can keep it. If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you are a family of four, your premiums will go down by an average of $2,500. None of that has proven to be true. The reason why ObamaCare is so unpopular is that people have seen their premiums skyrocket. People have seen their deductibles grow to the point where they are effectively self-insured, which is not having insurance at all. Many people have simply seen insurance companies pull out of the insurance market, leaving them with little or no choices in terms of where to buy their health care. So many remember the PR campaign of the President and Democrats, with which they sold ObamaCare to the American people, and, as I said, promised better coverage, more choices, and lower prices. That means now that ObamaCare has failed to deliver that. It is incumbent on us to try to repeal it, which we will do, and to replace it with more affordable coverage that people will choose and that fits their needs better. The bad news of ObamaCare picked up throughout last summer into the fall. As I mentioned, insurance companies were losing money and were unable to operate and deliver health care under the tight grip of ObamaCare. But the real losers weren't the insurance companies. It is the tens of thousands of Texans who were forced to find new insurance at higher prices--not insurance they would have chosen on their own, but which they were forced to accept because there was no alternative. So instead of helping rural Texans--the Senator from Vermont talked about rural residents in his State--I would submit that for people living in rural areas across the country, the implementation of ObamaCare hurt most of our rural country by dwindling the number of choices to one health care option for the year. That sounds like the opposite of more choices and better coverage to me. But we can't forget that behind these numbers and headlines are real personal consequences for families across the country. So today I want to provide just a snapshot of some of the thousands of letters that I received in my office about ObamaCare and the burdens that it is placing on the backs of the people I represent in Texas. One Texan wrote telling the story that I have heard time and again. She said her insurance plan was discontinued--so much for ``if you like what you have, you can keep it.'' But she did what she had to do, and she switched to a more expensive plan--one with a higher monthly payment and one with an $11,000 deductible. What good is health insurance if you have to spend $11,000 out of your own pocket before the insurance begins to kick in? It is nearly worthless. Well, nothing about that says affordable health care. Unfortunately, this individual is like many folks across the country, full of questions and with nowhere to turn to find any relief for their families or their small business. Another one of my constituents had a similar complaint. He wrote to me that he was searching for yet another health insurance plan for the third time in as many years after his was canceled. He went on to highlight this in this letter, which I received from a constituent on November 23, 2015. He said: I seem to remember the President saying something about liking your insurance and being able to keep it. For myself and my family, it has been just the opposite. We loved our insurance prior to the passage of the Act and since have been forced to purchase much more expensive insurance with much higher deductibles. Well, this Texan is right, but unfortunately, his experience was not isolated. It was shared by millions of people across the country for whom ObamaCare was a false promise. It is not as if he had the freedom to choose. The choice was made for him, and this was the fundamental flaw of ObamaCare. In a country as big and diverse as ours, this notion of ``one-size-fits-all'' and that somehow the people who live and work inside the beltway are smarter than the rest of us and we can figure out what is good for them and a choice they would not themselves make is just simply implausible. It is not true. This constituent ended his letter by asking the Congress: Do anything. Do anything within your power to reverse this terrible health care trend. I need relief. After this historic election, after the promises we made that have given us the opportunity to govern in the majority, with a President in the White House who will work with us, I believe we have a clear mandate to repeal this terrible law and make it a relic of the past. We will do that by adopting the budget resolution submitted by Chairman Enzi of the Budget Committee. It is not just Republicans who have pointed out the defects of ObamaCare. Many of our Democratic colleagues have pointed out the law's failed promises as well--from an op-ed entitled ``How to fix the Affordable Health Care Act,'' which was written by a Democrat, to statements on the Senate floor, to legislation introduced to ``fix the glitch.'' Even in campaign ads, many of our Democratic colleagues have themselves been outspoken advocates for changing ObamaCare. The senior Senator from Missouri, pointing out the ``huge problem ObamaCare has been in her State'' came up with an entire list of necessary changes. I, for one, would be happy to start with her list and say let's try to use this as a core of issues that we can then try to build consensus around to begin to make that replacement and make it on a bipartisan basis. We have seen that attempted fixes, unsupported by the Obama administration and vastly insufficient, continually have been met with frustration by Democrats and Republicans. I pointed out yesterday that when the Democrats voted through ObamaCare, they had 60 votes. They had 60 Senators. Today they have 48. At one point, certainly back in 2009 and 2010 when ObamaCare passed, they had a majority in the House of Representatives. Well, they lost that. Now they have lost the White House itself. I just don't know how much longer, how much more needs to be said or done for them to get the message that this is not working because I believe they are paying a political price for it as people are searching for accountability for what they have to deal with day in and day out. The senior Senator from Indiana said that he supported the Affordable Care Act to help working and middle-class families have access to health care, but he said that doesn't mean the law is perfect, and it doesn't mean we don't still have work to do. I was delighted to hear the Senator from Vermont, Mr. Sanders, say he agrees ObamaCare is not perfect. My request of him and others is to work with us to try to replace it with something better. I recognize that neither side is going to be able to get everything they want. That is just not the way this place works. Indeed, the single failure of the Obama administration is to try to do things on a go-it-alone basis because we are going to see those Executive orders that he issued unilaterally rescinded on the first day President-Elect Trump takes office. All the massive regulations that have been issued, we are going to use the Congressional Review Act to rein those in or to defund those through the appropriations process. In order for legislation and policy to be sustainable, it is going to have to be bipartisan. I realize our Democratic colleagues are disappointed with the outcome of the election on November 8. That is an understatement. At first they started out in denial: It just can't be true. The next stage was met with anger. Well, they are angry about it, and they are going to obstruct everything the new majority, working with the White House, tries to do, but I would hope they would move past that denial and past that anger and do what the Senate was always designed to do; that is, to work on a bipartisan basis, as our friend and colleague from Wyoming demonstrated to us working on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee with the liberal lion of the Senate, Teddy Kennedy. Let's try the 80-20 rule and see how it works. It will work. The senior Senator from West Virginia, Mr. Manchin--this is another Democrat--has said he would vote to repeal ObamaCare. He said that we should be working together to identify which parts of the law are broken and need to be fixed. We may learn that some parts of the law can't be repaired and we should eliminate those parts entirely. This is our Democratic friend and colleague from West Virginia, Senator Manchin. I think that is a great place to start because no matter which side of the aisle you sit on, you can see the Affordable Care Act is not working, certainly not as sold to the American people. The choice of the Democrats now is whether to obstruct or whether they will actually work with us, as we should have done in the first place, to come up with something more sustainable that would address costs and preserve individual choice. It is interesting. It is not just our Democratic colleagues, many of whom voted for ObamaCare. I remember during the Presidential campaign that former President Bill Clinton made some pretty interesting comments. This would have been on October 5, 2016. I am reading from a CNN story here. It said: Speaking at a Democratic rally in Flint, Michigan, the former president ripped the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for flooding the health care insurance market and causing premiums to rise for middle-class Americans who do not qualify for subsidies. Here is what he said: So you've got this crazy system where all of a sudden 25 million more people have health care and then the people who are out there busting it, sometimes 60 hours a week, wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half. It's the craziest thing in the world. Former President Bill Clinton said that in Flint, MI, on October 5, 2016. He is right, but that is what you get when you try to do things in a partisan, unilateral fashion. We should learn from our collective mistakes and try to do better, and shame on us if we can't do better than ObamaCare with all of its failed promises. By repealing ObamaCare, Congress is doing more than just delivering on a promise we made to the people who put us here. We are providing a way forward for millions of people across the country who have been hurt by ObamaCare and are looking for relief. I look forward to making ObamaCare and the many burdens it has placed on American families a thing of the past in this new year. That is what we will do when next week we pass this budget resolution, and then reconciliation instructions will be sent to the relevant Senate and House committees. They will then report back with the replacement, and, yes, it may take some time to transition into that replacement because it has taken us 6 years to get into the mess, into the ditch we find ourselves in now. When your truck or car is in the ditch, the first thing you need to do is get out of the ditch. Sometimes that takes a lot of hard work. We are going to have to work as hard as we can. I would hope our colleagues will work with us, not just to resist for resistance's sake, not just to take a partisan position because they feel they are required to do so because of their allegiance to the policies of the Democratic Party. Let's do what this institution has always been best known for; that is, to try to find some way to work together on a step- by-step basis to produce reform which will make health care more affordable and still preserve those choices for individuals and their families, not a one-size-fits-all government mandate which simply has failed in this tragic experiment known as ObamaCare. We can and we will do better. I yield the floor.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, recently I met with the parents of Austin Tice, a constituent of mine in Texas who unfortunately was abducted in Syria a few years ago. Of course, his parents have been keeping the flame alive, hoping that Austin has survived the situation of his capture. At their suggestion, last week when I was in Austin, they traveled over from Houston to visit with me about a briefing they had received recently from James C. O'Brien, the Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs. Earlier today, I had a chance to be briefed by Mr. O'Brien. He delivered some positive yet cautious news about Austin Tice, an American journalist who we know was taken hostage in Syria 4 years ago. Mr. O'Brien and his team informed me that they have high confidence that Austin is alive in Syria, along with other Americans who are being held captive. While this is certainly positive news, I can't help but think of his parents and what they have had to go through these last 4 years. They are not just counting the months, they are not just counting the days, but they are literally counting the minutes and the seconds since he has been gone and then counting these milestones that we typically observe in our family--birthdays and holidays--that they will never recover. So today's news should remind us that we cannot give up until we bring Austin Tice home. I renew once again my call for his immediate release by his captors, and I strongly urge the current and future administration to continue to utilize all possible means to secure his safe return. Nothing can bring those years and months back, but we can start the healing process by doing everything possible to find Austin and bring him home and to bring him home now. Work Before the Senate Mr. President, we have gotten quite a bit done this week, but we are not finished yet. We passed a major medical innovation bill, which contains not only the Cancer Moonshot project advocated by Vice President Biden and the President but also other dramatic investments in the research and development of lifesaving drugs. It also contains a very important component of mental health reform. I was glad to contribute some to that effort, particularly the part that has to do with the intersection of our mental health treatment regime and our criminal justice system. As I have learned and as many of us have learned together, our jails have become the treatment center of last resort for people who are mentally ill, whose condition is not diagnosed. And if not diagnosed, these people tend to get sicker and sicker, until they become a danger not only to themselves but potentially to the communities in which they live. So we have made good progress, and perhaps thanks to the great leadership of Senator Alexander, Senator Murray, Senator Murphy, Senator Cassidy, Tim Murphy over in the House, and the leadership there, we can be proud of that accomplishment. Yesterday we finished up our work on the Defense authorization bill to help our troops both here at home and abroad, to make sure that they not only got a modest pay raise but that they continue to be supplied with the equipment and training they need in order to keep America safe here at home and abroad. I am hopeful we will continue our work and finish our work, actually, on the continuing resolution, a bill we need to get done today in order to keep the lights on. I know my colleague from Illinois, the Democratic whip, has been working on this. I am hopeful we can get everybody back to a position of voting yes on this continuing resolution and we can complete our work. There are folks across the aisle who want to keep the continuing resolution from moving forward and literally to shut down the government. I would have hoped we would have learned our lesson the hard way that that is not a way to solve our problems. Unfortunately, the senior Senator from West Virginia, Mr. Manchin, has taken a position that even though we have funded the health care benefit program for the miners whom he cares passionately about--we all certainly understand that--we have done it through the end of the continuing resolution into April. He is not satisfied with the length of that continuing resolution. He said he would like to have it up to a year. But, frankly, I think he is unwilling to take us up on my commitment, for example, to continue to work with him now that we have gotten that short-term extension, to work on a longer term extension once we get our work done. The truth is, this bill, the continuing resolution, passed the House yesterday with overwhelming support from both sides of the aisle. It received support of 87 percent of the House Republicans and 77 percent of House Democrats. The House of Representatives has now left town for the holidays, and it is up to the Senate to finish the job. So at this point, working all night and into the weekend will not change the inevitable outcome. Shutting down the government does not help anyone, especially those holding up the process. So we are not done yet, but we are close. With a little cooperation, we will be able to wrap up this Congress soon and turn our focus to the Nation's priorities. Let me just mention a couple of other aspects of the continuing resolution because I have heard, just among conversations with my own colleagues, some misunderstanding about what we are doing in terms of, let's say, defense spending, which is one component of it. This continuing resolution funds the defense sector by a $7.4 billion increase over the continuing resolution we are currently operating under. It is true that it is less than the Defense authorization bill has provided for, but, as we all know, an authorization is not an appropriation. And when you compare an appropriation or spending for defense under the continuing resolution we are currently operating under compared to the one we will pass soon, it represents a $7.4 billion plus-up for defense. Now, I am one who believes that is the single most important thing the Federal Government does--providing for the common defense--and I would argue that is probably not an adequate number, but it is a plus- up, and it is the number that was passed by the House, and frankly, the House having left town and gone back home for the holidays, we are left with a choice of either accepting that level or not doing our job on a timely basis. This funding supports troop levels of up to 8,400 in Afghanistan, $4.3 billion to support counterterrorism and forward operating missions. This was supported by Chairman Thornberry of the House Armed Services Committee. It provides a procedure for waiver for the next Secretary of Defense. This continuing resolution also provides $872 million in funding for the 21st Century Cures legislation we passed just a few days ago, $500 million to deal with the scourge of opioid abuse but also to deal with prevention and treatment activities, as well as $372 million for the National Institutes of Health. It provides emergency flood and natural disaster relief for potentially up to 45 States, including my own--$4.1 billion in emergency natural disaster relief. As I mentioned earlier, it does provide a short-term coal miners fix while we work on a longer term solution. So my hope is, again, we can get it done. Nominations Let me turn to what will be the business of the Senate when we return in January. One of the first orders of business when we reconvene next month will be to consider and vote on the new President's nominees to fill his leadership team, the Cabinet nominees we have been hearing a lot about in the last couple of weeks. Last week, I came to the floor to congratulate my friend and our colleague Senator Jeff Sessions on his nomination to be the next Attorney General. He is a man of strong conviction and real character, and I have no doubt whatsoever that he is the right man for the job. I know that many in our conference share my eagerness to start the confirmation process so we can give President Trump the team he needs to hit the ground running. But I am disappointed, I have to say, in the way some of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle are already posturing against the President-elect's nominees. Fortunately for us, they telegraph their obstruction in the news media, so we know about some of their nascent plans to obstruct President-elect Trump's Cabinet. Earlier this week, Politico said that this was the Democratic strategy: ``Delay tactics could sap momentum from the President's 100 days'' was the headline. The articles goes on to cite conversations with several Senate Democrats who have already laid out a plan to slow- walk--because they know they can't block--President-elect Trump's nominees in the new year. It is one thing to obstruct and to slow the Senate down, but it is even a bigger problem when they intentionally try to keep the President-elect from doing his job too. I would ask, for what? Just to delay progress? To drudge up partisan rhetoric and to do all they can to damage the administration of the next President of the United States before it has gotten started? This is absolute nonsense. I think this is the kind of activity the American people repudiated in the last election on November 8. They are sick and tired of the partisan rhetoric on both sides. They literally want us to get some things done on their behalf for the American people. Holding up the confirmation process for purely political gain is irresponsible and dangerous, but it is also ironic that some of our Democratic colleagues have changed their tune so much. Here is just one quote from our friend, the Senator from Michigan, part of the Democratic leadership. Senator Stabenow said on April 20, 2015: ``When a President wins an election, they have the right to have their team.'' You know, one thing I have learned is, if you have been around here long enough, there is a great danger of being on both sides of an issue, so you have to try to be consistent, even with the temptations to change your position based on who is up and who is down. But I agree with the Senator from Michigan. No matter what side you are on, Donald Trump won the election to the White House. As President, he has the authority to surround himself with whom he sees fit to advise him for our country. For our Democratic colleagues to suggest that keeping the President understaffed is somehow in the best interests of the American people is absolutely ludicrous. Let me remind my friends on the other side of the aisle what happened when Barack Obama became President in January of 2009. Senate Republicans respected his nominees and gave them quick consideration. Seven Cabinet members were confirmed on his first day of office. Other high-level positions followed just days later. In other words, we came together, understood that the people had elected a new President, and went to the table ready to cooperate in good faith even though we knew there would be disagreements about policy. That is because we didn't want the President to begin his time in office without the support and the staffing he needed to do his job. But, at least so far, our Democratic colleagues--some of them--don't seem to share this same perspective now that they have lost this last election. I would just ask them to reconsider and to be consistent in the way they asked us to respond when President Obama won and treat the people's choice as the next President of the United States with the respect their vote deserves in terms of making sure he has the Cabinet necessary to get his administration up and running. The American people really are disgusted by the sideshows of dysfunction and obstruction. They want results, and they deserve results. They made clear, since giving this side of the aisle control of the White House, the House of Representatives, and the Senate, that they really wanted the clear to way to making progress on behalf of the American people. But we all know we cannot do this as one party or the other; we have to find ways to work together for the common good. I hope those on the other side of the aisle who indicated they are determined to obstruct and block the President-elect's new Cabinet members, his nominees, change their tune and reconsider. Keeping the new President from the men and women he has chosen to serve alongside him only makes us less safe, our economy more fragile, and the government less efficient. In short, it doesn't serve their interests well. We are ready to work with our colleagues across the aisle to roll up our sleeves and get to work next year. I only hope our Democratic colleagues decide to do the same. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Arkansas (Mr. Cotton).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Arkansas (Mr. Cotton).

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Arkansas (Mr. Cotton).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Arkansas (Mr. Cotton).

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 would like to accommodate my friend from Washington, but the House message containing the continuing resolution is due here at 3 o'clock. There are a number of procedural matters that need to be attended to, so we will have Senators coming to the floor for that purpose. I am told that after that process occurs, which shouldn't take very long, the floor will be wide open for Senators to speak as long as they like. I object to the modification.

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each, for debate only, until 3 p.m. this afternoon.

Mr. CORNYN

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

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I know it is always difficult to come to the floor and talk about the departure of our good friends and valued colleagues. The word I have heard mentioned the most this week is ``bittersweet''--people looking forward to the next chapter of their lives but regretting the fact that good friends and valued colleagues are moving on to the next chapter of their lives. But every other December, we find ourselves bidding farewell to some of our most admired and respected Members. Today I wish to speak briefly about four of them, starting with our good friend from New Hampshire, Senator Ayotte. Kelly Ayotte Mr. President, Senator Ayotte and I have more in common than may meet the eye, so let me explain. Our hometowns are 2,000 miles away, so it doesn't seem obvious. She served as attorney general of the State of New Hampshire and holds the distinction of being New Hampshire's first and only female attorney general. She was first appointed to that position by a Republican Governor, and she did such an outstanding job serving the people that she was reappointed to that position by a Democratic Governor. Everybody who knows Kelly Ayotte knows that she epitomizes the spirit of bipartisanship and comradery that makes a good public servant a great one. That has been evident in her work she has done here in the U.S. Senate. From the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act to multiple national security issues, Senator Ayotte has been eager to work with Members on both sides of the aisle when it comes down to doing what is best for the people of her State and for the United States. Senator Ayotte and I both come from military families. My dad flew in the Army Air Corps in World War II, with the 303rd Bomb Group of the Air Force. Her grandfather also served in World War II. And, as many of us know, Joe, her husband, served in the Air Force and the Air National Guard, and he flew combat missions in Bosnia and Iraq. Senator Ayotte's firsthand knowledge of the military has been a great help to us, particularly in her role on the Armed Services Committee. Kelly will tell us that she does her best to listen first, to take in the concerns and priorities of her fellow Granite Staters, discuss the merits of each side's policy position, and only then carefully and methodically reach a well-considered decision. That patience and willingness to listen and consider all views has served her well during her tenure in the U.S. Senate. It is a lesson we all should take to heart and learn from by her good example. I want to add my thanks to our friend, Senator Kelly Ayotte, for her years of service on behalf of the people of New Hampshire. I also thank her husband Joe Daley and their two children, Katherine and Jacob, for their steadfast support of Joe's wife and their children's mom over these past years. I don't know in what capacity Kelly will continue to serve her community and her State and her Nation, but I know we will be hearing and seeing her more in some capacity of service, and I look forward to seeing where and in what capacity she finally decides to serve next. Dan Coats Mr. President, next I wish to recognize our friend, Senator Dan Coats. Senator Coats is a well-known commodity not just in Hoosier country but across the United States. He has earned the reputation of a distinguished statesman who genuinely doesn't need an introduction because his sterling reputation precedes him. We know his impressive resume. After serving the country as a soldier in the Army, he decided he wanted to continue in public service, so he worked as a congressional staffer for then-Congressman Dan Quayle. When his boss decided to run for the Senate and won, Senator Coats took his boss's congressional seat to serve in the House of Representatives. And when Senator Quayle became Vice President Quayle, Representative Coats became Senator Coats, following on in his example. He broke that pattern of following in the footsteps of the former Vice President when he was appointed Ambassador to Germany. In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, he was an instrumental diplomat, working with our allies in Europe as we responded and as the world responded to the worst terror attack on our country in our history. I know I speak for every Member here when I say that we are grateful Senator Coats came out of retirement and came back to the Senate in 2010. We have come to know that he is a warrior when it comes to wasteful Washington spending, and every week he comes to the floor to talk about his waste of the week. It is a service to all of us, really, to remind us that we have a lot of work to do in that area but also to point out how we can save taxpayers' dollars and use them more efficiently. Many folks wouldn't know that he regularly attends the weekly Prayer Breakfast we have here in the Senate as well, which is a great time for Senators to come together and to support one another. It reflects Dan's commitment to faithfully encourage his colleagues day in and day out. My colleagues know that Senator Coats is also a big fan of getting things done during votes, and he knows how to work a room. He has been on the deputy whip team and helped consult with and helped inform our colleagues in a way that has helped us to actually get legislation passed by unifying us. Suffice it to say Senator Coats is a true diplomat wherever he goes, and this Chamber has been a better, more civil place with him in it. I know Dan would be the first to tell us that his decades of public service were made possible because of the equal partner he has in his wife Marsha. They met in college. They have been married more than 50 years, and they are a great example to all of us. So thanks to Marsha and their children and grandchildren for sharing Dan all these years. I have a suspicion that Senator Coats doesn't have it in him to step totally away from public service, and there has been some news and discussion as to whether he might be in the running for another important position, perhaps in the next administration. I know we all look forward to seeing where he goes next to serve our country, which we know is so important to him. David Vitter Mr. President, I would also like to say a few words about the senior Senator from Louisiana, David Vitter. Back in the 113th Congress, in 2013, I began my tenure as the Republican whip, and at the same time I invited Senator Vitter to serve the conference as a deputy whip. One thing we always know about David Vitter, whether you are a colleague, a staffer, or a constituent, is that no matter what, he is going to have thought carefully about the issue in ways that perhaps surprise many of us, and when he has something to say about an issue, it is always something worth listening to. I can't say that about all of us, but certainly Senator Vitter adds to the value of our deliberations every time he speaks. But, of course, nothing is closer to his heart than the people of Louisiana, and what he has done diligently and faithfully here is serve the people of his State. I have had the pleasure of working with him on issues we share in common, like coastal protection issues that affect both of our States with our gulf coast. Senator Vitter was sworn into office the same year Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. As a matter of fact, for a time, he and his family literally lived outside the Houston area because of the devastation wrought by that terrible hurricane--a storm that FEMA called the ``single most catastrophic natural disaster in U.S. history.'' Katrina did billions of dollars' worth of damage, killed almost 2,000 people, left thousands without a roof over their heads, and cut the population of New Orleans in half. About 100,000 of those, I am told, made permanent residence in Texas, having had their homes destroyed. I know Senator Vitter took this devastation as a personal challenge. He hit the ground running. When the people of Louisiana needed him most, he worked at every level of government to bring them together and get the help they needed. Of course, just a few years after Katrina, Hurricane Ike pummeled its way through the Gulf Coast of Mexico before making landfall on the Texas coast. So I have had a number of opportunities to work with Senator Vitter not only on recovery efforts for our States but to make sure our communities along the coast stand ready to help each other and particularly as we prepare for future storms. I wish him and his wife Wendy and their entire family well as they look to more adventures and more opportunities to serve. I have no doubt he will continue to take his passion for helping the people of Louisiana with him wherever the future may lead. Mark Kirk Finally, Mr. President, I wish to recognize the senior Senator from Illinois, Mark Kirk. If my colleagues have noticed Senator Kirk's interests on the floor, they will notice a trend. In addition to supporting measures that help the people of Illinois, he is laser- focused on keeping America safe. He provides us a declassified situation map that shows us where the U.S. military is engaged in fighting the War on Terror in the Middle East and in Africa. He is a former member of the U.S. Navy, and so he has worked long and hard to strengthen our military at every turn. He has been a thoughtful and vocal critic of some of our Nation's biggest adversaries, like North Korea and Iran. Mark has never been one to shy away from more sanctions or steeper penalties for those countries if it means the United States will be safer as a result. To put it simply, Mark Kirk is a great patriot. We all know his personal story of overcoming a stroke and his great perseverance and fortitude. It really has been an inspiration to watch Mark as he has recovered from that devastating stroke and continued to be an enormously productive Senator on behalf of the State of Illinois. It has been a joy to see him turn that difficult circumstance into a rallying cry to help others get the best care and rehabilitation available today. So I am personally grateful to Senator Kirk for many things, but in particular I want to mention his strong support of anti-human trafficking legislation. I joined him in Chicago a few years ago to speak with law enforcement about the connections between organized crime and sex trafficking. Mark has never wavered from his support for important legislation that we passed here this last year called the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act. He understood right from the beginning that human trafficking was essentially modern-day slavery, targeting, as it did, vulnerable children--typically a child of 12 to 14 years old who has run away from home, only to find themselves unable to leave because they have become a victim of slavery. So I am thankful to Senator Kirk for standing up for the victims of human trafficking and taking care of and prioritizing our veterans and service men and women. Let me close by saying thank you again to our friends Senator Kirk, Senator Vitter, Senator Coats, and Senator Ayotte for the indelible mark and contributions they made to the Senate and my sincere appreciation for how they have faithfully served our country. I am grateful for their friendship and wish them and their families well as they tackle new ventures ahead. I will just close by saying we have another colleague who has been nominated to serve as Attorney General, who still has to go through the process of confirmation and advice and consent by the Senate. That, of course, would be the senior Senator from Alabama, Mr. Sessions--not to jinx him; I will wait until that process is concluded, but I will be back here speaking about him at the appropriate time. With that, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, earlier today we moved the Defense authorization bill across the finish line. This legislation authorizes funding for things such as training our troops to counter the ever- evolving threats emanating from around the world. The Defense authorization bill will also give our men and women in uniform the most up-to-date weaponry and the other equipment they need, including advanced aircraft, ships, and ground vehicles. Fortunately, the bill also authorizes needed improvements in military facilities such as those in Fort Hood, TX, Joint Base San Antonio, Red River Army Depot, and Ellington Field. Finally, it provides a much needed pay raise for our troops. I am pleased we were able to finish our work on that to better serve our men and women in uniform. I hope the President reconsiders his stated intention to veto this legislation. It makes absolutely no sense to me, and I think it would be an insult to the troops--whom we all claim to support--to deny them the resources and the pay raise that this bill provides for. We still have more work ahead of us, including the continuing resolution. I know there are Members of this body who say: Well, we want to change that appropriations bill to add some other provisions. But I just came back from meeting with some of the Members of the Texas House delegation. They tell me the House is leaving. So even if changes are made, the House is not going to be here and in session to make changes to the continuing resolution. Our friends across the aisle need to face up to the reality that if they somehow prevent us from passing this continuing resolution, it will be on their hands. I hope they will reconsider because they are not going to be able to achieve the goal they are seeking. We are close to wrapping up the Water Resources Development Act as well. This bill has also experienced a little bit of a hiccup. It has been held up over questions about how to best address the drought in California, but the bottom line is that California needs this legislation to help deliver water to its people and to keep producing billions of dollars' worth of crops each year. I know the folks in California consider themselves to be the breadbasket for America and literally the world because of all the food we export, but that is one reason why this legislation is so important and why the senior Senator from California, Mrs. Feinstein, and Majority Leader McCarthy negotiated this package. I know Senator Boxer is not pleased with it, but the fact is, under the current procedures, we are going to finish this legislation one way or another--perhaps as late as Monday, but we need to get it done. This legislative package will make sure that California and the rest of the country get the resources we need while complying with all environmental laws. Of course, with some cooperation we can get all of these moving parts done for the American people soon.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Arkansas (Mr. Cotton). Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Arkansas (Mr. Cotton) would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following letters from law enforcement groups be printed in the Record in support of the recent changes to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41 that was the subject of debate on the floor of the Senate on November 30, 2016: a December 6, 2016, letter signed by the Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Major Cities Chiefs Association, the National District Attorneys Association, the National Sheriffs' Association, and the Sergeant's Benevolent Association NYPD; a December 5, 2016, letter signed by the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association; a December 5, 2016, letter signed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents Association; a December 5, 2016, letter signed by the National Fraternal Order of Police; and, a December 5, 2016, letter signed by the National Association to Protect Children. December 6, 2016. Re: Rule 41 Changes. Hon. Chuck Grassley, Chairman Hon. Patrick Leahy, Ranking Member, Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate Washington, DC. Dear Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Leahy: We write in support of changes to Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure that improve the ability of law enforcement to obtain evidence despite efforts by criminals to hide behind technology. The changes encourage judicial oversight of complex online investigations and give investigators a clear roadmap to seek authorization for their techniques. Rule 41 improvements help solve a simple conundrum for law enforcement: if you don't know where a computer is located that is being used to commit a crime, how do you know which court to ask for a search warrant to find the computer? Investigators sought these common-sense changes because they needed court oversight and authorization to identify criminals hiding behind technological barriers, not because they wanted to avoid oversight. Rule 41 only governs cases where investigators are seeking a search warrant issued by a neutral magistrate based upon probable cause, particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized. If these changes are not made, then criminals could hide behind anonymizing services with impunity, knowing that law enforcement could never lawfully figure out which court had jurisdiction over them. The stated goal of several legislative reforms addressing law enforcement access to digital evidence is to modernize the law to accommodate changing technology, preserving law enforcement access while protecting privacy. Ensuring that law enforcement can access evidence it needs with appropriate judicial oversight is precisely what these Rule 41 changes will do. Sincerely, Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies, International Association of Chiefs of Police, Major Cities Chiefs Association, Major County Sheriffs' Association, National Association of Police Organizations, National District Attorneys Association National Sheriffs' Association, National Sheriffs' Association, Sergeant's Benevolent Association NYPD.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Arkansas (Mr. Cotton).

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Arkansas (Mr. Cotton).

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I again wish to express my gratitude to the senior Senator from Vermont, Senator Leahy, for his critical role in making sure this legislation becomes law, and I look forward to continuing to work with him on similar topics in the future. Legislation Before the Senate Mr. President, we are about a week into the lameduck session, and we have already tackled some pretty significant legislation. Last week, I was proud to see two bills that I introduced pass the Chamber. The first was the Cross-Border Trade Enhancement Act, a bill that will help staffing, safety, and efficiency at our ports of entry, and it passed the Senate unanimously. In Texas, as the Presiding Officer knows in Arizona, this is not a new concern. Some of our border communities have seen the infrastructure and the staffing prove to be inadequate at our legitimate ports of entry, with a negative impact not only on the environment, as cars stack up to cross the border, but it also provides an unnecessary drag on legitimate trade and commerce. Through the use of innovative public-private partnerships, we have seen that we can increase staffing, improve the infrastructure, and basically end up filling the gap left by the Federal Government not doing its job by dealing--as it, of necessity, must--with our international borders and making sure they work as they should. This is a good step in the right direction, and I am hopeful we can get the legislation to the President's desk in the coming days so that more ports of entry throughout the country can take advantage of its benefits. Senator Leahy and I just spoke about the Justice for All Reauthorization Act, and then last night this Chamber voted to move the 21st Century Cures bill forward with--incredibly--85 Senators voting in favor of it. It passed the House overwhelmingly last week, and I look forward to getting it through the Chamber and to the President's desk as soon as possible. This legislation will play an important role in supporting our scientists and researchers working to find cures for diseases like cancer, and that includes resources that will support the Cancer Moonshot Program, which will help those studying and researching to actually find a way to end cancer. That means cancer centers like the MD Anderson hospital will have more support to carry out their mission to make cancer history. The Cures legislation will support research for Alzheimer's and help fight the opioid addiction that is running rampant through many parts of our country. In other words, this legislation is critically important to the health of our country now and for generations to come. Significantly, the 21st Century Cures bill includes reforms to our mental health delivery system, in part, based on legislation I introduced in the Senate called the Mental Health and Safe Communities Act. As a result of the deinstitutionalization and treatment of people with mental illness in the 1990s, the safety net that was supposed to be there to catch people so they didn't fall through the cracks never came into being. So many people suffering from mental illness simply live on our streets as homeless individuals or they are frequently fliers, so to speak, in our criminal justice system and in many instances never had their mental illness diagnosed, much less treated, so they can actually have a chance at a better life. The mental health provisions included in the Cures bill is one way to correct that course. It would also help families with a mentally ill loved one find a path to treatment and a way forward, including assisted outpatient treatment programs. One of the biggest challenges families have when they have a mentally ill family member--particularly when they are an adult--is getting them to comply with their doctor's orders and take their medication. Due to the miracle of modern pharmacology, many people with mental illnesses, if they are compliant with their medication, can lead very productive lives. Often there are additional tools that need to be available to family members when they find their loved one is getting sicker and sicker and not being compliant with their medication, potentially becoming a danger to themselves or to the community at large. This legislation will equip State and local governments with better tools to assess individual health care needs so those suffering from mental illness in the criminal justice system can begin to recover and get the help they need, instead of getting sicker. This bill also encourages the creation of crisis intervention teams so our law enforcement officers and first responders can know how to deescalate a dangerous confrontation. If a police officer comes to the scene of a call only to confront a mentally ill person, if they are untrained and don't know how to deescalate the situation, they may find themselves in danger, both the first responder as well as the individual person with mental illness. This is about finding ways to help the mentally ill individual get help while keeping the community safe at the same time. Mr. President, the last bit of business we have is to fund the government. I said many times the best way to do that is to take the appropriations bills up one at a time so we can properly vet them, discuss them, and pass them. Our friends across the aisle had a different view this year and blocked the passage of individual appropriations bills. While it is not my preference, it is where we are. Right now, we are looking forward to passing a continuing resolution soon as we fulfill our important responsibilities to the American people. I am glad to see we are making some progress on other pieces of legislation, including the Water Resources Development Act, a bill that will help us strengthen our waterways to account for growing trade and provide help for drought and flood protection. Finally, we are working to finish the national defense authorization bill that will make sure Congress provides the resources for our military men and women so they can accomplish their missions and keep America safe. We have quite a bit of work left to do and not much time left to do it in before the holidays, but with a little cooperation, I am sure we will get it all done. With that, I yield the floor.

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, it is my honor to come to the floor with the senior Senator from Vermont, my friend Mr. Leahy, to talk about bipartisan legislation that will soon help victims of crime restore their lives. The Justice for All Reauthorization Act passed the House last week, and the Senate followed suit with unanimous support. Now it is on its way to the President's desk so it can become the law of the land. When I served as the attorney general of Texas a few years ago, I felt that one of my most important jobs was to protect crime victims. I know that all Members of the Senate feel the same way. The Justice for All Reauthorization Act is first and foremost a bill that will help victims. It includes a number of provisions to help them get the justice they deserve. It will improve victims' rights by increasing access to restitution, reauthorize programs that support them in court, and increase resources for forensic labs to reduce the rape kit backlog. I have spoken about the rape kit backlog before, and it is a big problem. At one point, it was estimated that there were as many as 400,000 untested rape kits in America, and this was due primarily to a lack of resources and lack of focus in making this a priority. This is evidence which has proven to be enormously powerful to help convict the guilty and exonerate the innocent. This legislation will also give law enforcement more resources to keep violent offenders off the street and fairly prosecute crimes. I know sometimes people must think Senator Leahy and I are the odd couple of the Senate. We worked together not only on this legislation but also on reforms of the Freedom of Information Act. We share a passion for that topic as well. I am enormously grateful to him for his partnership on this important legislation. I also wish to thank Senator Grassley for his leadership in helping to shepherd this bipartisan bill through the Judiciary Committee. I am looking forward to the Justice for All Reauthorization Act becoming law soon so we can help more victims restore their lives. I yield to the senior Senator from Vermont.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, yesterday I spoke about the 21st Century Cures bill the House passed by a very large margin last night, and I am looking forward to taking up that legislation here in the Senate. I am particularly grateful that it includes some mental health reform legislation that I introduced here in the Senate. This represents the very first mental health reform in more than a decade, and it is high time we got it done. There are a lot of people who contributed to this effort, and I think it is something we can all be proud of. With the mental health portion of the bill, we have two chief goals in mind--first, to help those who are mentally ill get the treatment they need, and secondly, to help law enforcement and first responders know how to respond to a potential mental health crisis in order to keep the person they are responding to safe, as well as the first responders themselves. It opens up existing funds so that they can be used for more outpatient treatment options. That way, local and State governments can help identify mentally ill offenders, assess their mental health needs, and get them in the right treatment to improve their condition, rather than sending them to jail, where they will be warehoused and their condition will likely just get worse and worse. This legislation will also provide flexibility to State and local authorities so they can use what works in their communities to help mentally ill individuals in the criminal justice system get healthy. This could include things such as assisted outpatient treatments, where families can help their loved ones, with a backstop of court supervision so they will remain compliant with their doctors' orders and take their medication, which will allow them to lead productive lives. This legislation will make available Federal grants so that our law enforcement officials have the resources to get the kind of training they need. When law enforcement officials are called to the scene of an incident with somebody suffering from a mental health crisis, it is very important that they know how to deescalate that crisis, both for the well-being of the individual suffering that crisis as well as the law enforcement officials responding. It will allow the creation of more crisis-intervention teams comprised of law enforcement and first responders and even school officials, where appropriate, so they can rapidly respond to and counter a threat of violence in the community. Yesterday I received messages from some of the people who have worked with us on this legislation and know all too well how mental illness can affect our families. One individual wrote: After losing both [a] son and a husband to suicide, and having an adult son with bipolar disorder, I know only too well the frustrations of the mental health system. Thank you, Senator, for your determination and hard work to bring change to this broken system. This is why these mental health reforms are so important. People need help and the mental health system needs reform, and that is why we need to pass the 21st Century Cures bill--for all the good it will do in addition to these important reforms in dealing with mental health challenges around the country. So I look forward to finishing the job next week and sending it to the President's desk.