John Cornyn

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: The Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz). Mr. DURBIN: I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. Boxer), the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. Heinrich), and the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders) are necessarily absent.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time.

Mr. CORNYN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I am delighted to be here on the floor with the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the ranking member, our colleague from Vermont, whom I have worked with on so many issues, to ask unanimous consent to take up a bill that I talked about a little earlier this morning called the POLICE Act. This bill uses existing funding to support local law enforcement but specifically to make sure funding is available for active-shooter training. For example, in San Marcos, TX, at Texas State University, they have trained 80,000 local law enforcement officials in active-shooter training. The time I remember most poignantly when this was put to good use and saved lives was at Fort Hood, TX, when MAJ Nidal Hasan stood up and killed I think about 13 people and then wounded about 30 more. There were two law enforcement officials who crashed the site, put themselves in harm's way, but thanks to the great training they had, they were able to disable Major Hasan before he was able to do any more damage. So this is very important training. We want to make sure there are funds available--using existing funding streams but available for active-shooter training wherever it might be provided around the country. Mr. President, as I mentioned earlier today, this week is National Police Week--a time to honor those men and women who have fallen in the line of duty. One way we can better support our Nation's law enforcement officers is by helping them get the training they need to keep themselves and the communities they protect safe. The POLICE Act is a bill that would do exactly that. This bipartisan legislation would allow existing grant money available for police training to be used for active shooter training--a commonsense way to put these funds to good use in a way that does not and will not spend additional Federal money. Right now, current law will not allow local police departments and first responders to use a substantial amount of grant funding through the Justice Department for this kind of critical training. Our bill would change that. With all the threats they face every day on the job, we have an obligation to equip as many officers as possible with the skills and training they need to respond to an active shooter situation. I would like to thank Senator Leahy for working with me on this legislation. I also would like to thank Chairman Grassley for his effort in getting this bill passed out of committee last week. I express my gratitude to Senator Grassley and Senator Leahy. At this time, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 464, S. 2840.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on May 18, 2016, at 3 p.m., in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Ransomware: Understanding the Threat and Exploring Solutions.''

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on May 18, 2016, at 2 p.m., in room SR-428A of the Russell Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``The Small Business Struggle Under Obamacare.''

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on May 18, 2016, at 9:30 a.m., in room SD-406 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on May 18, 2016, at 10 a.m., in room SD-430 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building to conduct a hearing entitled ``ESSA Implementation: Perspectives from Education Stakeholders.''

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on May 18, 2016, at 10 a.m., in room SR-253 of the Russell Senate Office Building to conduct a hearing entitled ``The Telephone Consumer Protection Act at 25: Effects on Consumers and Business.''

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on May 18, 2016, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing entitled ``Assessing the Security of Critical Infrastructure: Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Solutions.''

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on May 18, 2016, at 10 a.m., in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Nominations.''

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on May 18, 2016, at 2:15 p.m., in room SD-628 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, again, our colleagues won't take yes for an answer. The amendment of the Senator from Washington, along with Senator Blunt, the chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee responsible for this, actually obtained cloture and will pass tomorrow--tomorrow--as part of this underlying appropriations bill, assuming that there are no other objections or that people want to finish that legislation. So I don't really understand why they continue to refuse to take yes for an answer. I would say to my friend from Washington: Would the Senator modify her request to include my language at the desk, which has the exact same funding levels as the Blunt-Murray amendment but includes a pay- for using the prevention fund in the Affordable Care Act?

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I wish to respond briefly to my friend from Washington. The prevention fund that was created by the Affordable Care Act that is part of the President's signature health care bill has more than adequate money in it to pay for the research, the mosquito eradication, and the other services that are necessary. It is not depriving anyone of money that they otherwise would have coming. What it does do is it alleviates the financial burden on future generations to actually pay the money back that we insist on spending without providing for adequate offsets. So increasing deficits is why the national debt has almost doubled under this President because of the reckless spending. We are trying to do this in a responsible, bipartisan, and, indeed, I would say, nonpartisan sort of way, but apparently that is not acceptable to our friends on the other side.

Mr. CORNYN. I object.

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I appreciate the Senator from Florida yielding for a question. I wish to ask the question, Is the Senator aware that $580 million of unspent Ebola funds has been reprogrammed by the Obama administration as a down payment on dealing with this impending crisis?

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, our Democratic colleagues won't take yes for an answer. Yesterday the Murray-Blunt language, which now the Democratic leader calls a bandaid, actually obtained cloture, and I expect it will pass tomorrow as part of the underlying appropriations bill. Mr. President, $1.1 billion on top of the $585 million that has already been reprogrammed from the Ebola fund to be used to combat the Zika virus is not a bandaid; it is a serious effort in a nonpartisan way to address a public health challenge. As we can see from the map, Texas is right in the crosshairs. We are ground zero in the United States, along with Florida, Louisiana, and other Southern States where this mosquito is present. Thank goodness no mosquito-borne transmission has occurred yet. But I agree with my colleague from Florida. This is a serious matter, and we need to treat it seriously, but that is not what is happening now. This is a bill that the Senate defeated cloture on yesterday, and this is an attempt to end run that defeat of a vote before the entire Senate. I am compelled to object.

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I apologize to the Democratic leader. Apparently I wasn't able to communicate my point, which is that there is already $580 million available today to combat the Zika virus. Finally, the administration took the advice of those on this side of the aisle and said: Let's take the unused Ebola funds to fight it today while we have an orderly process by which we appropriate the money in a responsible way. I think the Senator from Washington, Mrs. Murray, and Senator Blunt, the chairman and ranking member of the appropriations subcommittee, have done a good job of winnowing down the $1.9 billion request to the $1.1 billion which I agree is the right figure. While we have some other differences, I think the Senate is acting in a responsible and bipartisan way, which is the only way things can actually get done around here. I thank the Presiding Officer.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I want to congratulate our friend, the Senator from Maine, for doing a tremendous job of managing this bill. It is never easy, given the fact that an individual Senator can slow down the process or insist on their rights, which I am not disparaging at all. There comes a time in every piece of legislation where it is important for us to make sure that we invoke our rights as Senators on behalf of the people we represent. I know it takes some patience and diligence, and I admire the diligence, patience, and professionalism of our colleague from Maine on what is always a challenging piece of work, which is trying to get an appropriations bill passed. National Police Week and Police Act I wish to speak on a different topic. This is National Police Week. Earlier this week I had the chance to visit with a police officer by the name of Gregory Stevens of the Garland Police Department. For people who are not aware, Garland is a city northeast of Dallas, TX. Around this time last year, it was a site of an attempted terrorist attack. There was a display of some artwork of the prophet Muhammad that provoked a terrorist attack. Fortunately, Officer Stevens was the man in the right place at the right time when it happened. Many of us remember that fateful day last May when two armed gunmen from Phoenix, AZ--clad in body armor with automatic weapons--pulled up to the conference center and opened fire. According to media reports, the attackers were inspired by ISIS, the Islamic State. This is a real problem because these folks, like the shooters in San Bernardino, hadn't actually traveled to Syria, although the San Bernardino couple had been in Saudi Arabia and had traveled overseas--if I am not mistaken. But these people were radicalized in place by the ideology of the Islamic State. This is a big problem for the United States because, as the FBI director has commented, in every FBI field office in America, there are FBI investigations open on potential radicalization of people in place here in the United States. It doesn't take people traveling from the Middle East over here. It doesn't take people traveling from here, over there, and coming back. This is the third leg of the stool or the third prong of the threat, of people being radicalized in place. Getting back to my story, Officer Stevens responded decisively. He was able to stop the two terrorists from hurting or killing hundreds of people inside the conference center and, thankfully, he left unscathed. I asked him: What sort of weapon did you have to protect yourself against these two terrorists in body armor with automatic weapons? He said: I had a .45-caliber Glock with a 14-shot clip. He said he had to do a tactical reload, but he never fired an additional shot after he reloaded his weapon. For those of us familiar with such things, that is the mark of a real professional--somebody who is very well trained and responds as well as you could hope for. I know the people of the city of Garland and the folks in Texas are grateful to Officer Stevens for his quick response and his bravery. As I said, he saved potentially hundreds of lives and prevented injuries. I think it is appropriate during National Police Week for us to honor people like Officer Stevens by telling their stories. On Monday, President Obama presented Officer Stevens the Medal of Valor, the highest honor given to a police officer. It is a fitting tribute to the heroic actions he exhibited that day. During National Police Week, we should note that there are more than 900,000 law enforcement officers serving our country. After 9/11, we have come to talk about them as being first responders, but I am talking specifically about the law enforcement officers, not the broader category here during National Police Week. They are folks who get up every morning, kiss their families good-bye, go to work, put on a uniform, and put themselves in harm's way to protect our communities and our families. Tragically, we know that not all of them make it home at the end of the day. Last year, the United States lost 124 law enforcement officials; 12 of those officers were from the State of Texas. All of them had their individual stories, but some left behind spouses and children. I have no doubt that all of them left behind loved ones and people who care deeply about them and a community that, in their absence, misses them terribly. I am particularly proud of the men and women in my State who serve in law enforcement--not just in Texas but across the country, including here at the Nation's Capitol. Our Capitol Police do a terrific job of keeping all of us safe and not just Members of Congress but, obviously, the hundreds of thousands of tourists who visit the Capitol on an annual basis. All of the professional law enforcement officials have dedicated their lives to public safety, and we should honor them for it. There is no doubt that our Nation is a better place because of their hard work and dedication, and we all owe them a debt of gratitude. In the Senate, we need to do everything we can do to help professional law enforcement officials learn how to do their jobs as effectively and as safely possible. One simple way we could do that is by making sure they have access to the very best and latest training techniques--active shooter training, for example. I recall the situation at Fort Hood when MAJ Nidal Hasan killed 13 people and wounded many more. Two police officers in active shooter mode crashed the site, exposing themselves to danger and ultimately paralyzing Nidal Hasan. More importantly, they took him out of action and saved a lot of lives. This training they had and they exhibited with such great effect on that day is what we need to give more of our law enforcement officials access to. That is why I am glad to join my colleague, the senior Senator from Vermont, in sponsoring a piece of legislation called the Police Act--a bill that passed out of the Judiciary Committee last week. This is pretty straightforward and it is bipartisan, so it doesn't make a lot of news, but I do think it serves a useful purpose. It will allow the use of existing grant money for police training to be used for this active shooter training. I know some of that training occurs at Texas State University in San Marcos. I have been to that site and walked through some of the buildings they use for the training. It is a heart-thumping exercise to realize what law enforcement deals with when confronting an active shooter. It is really important training. We have seen terrorist attacks and sudden acts of violence in communities across the country and, thankfully, we have people like Officer Stevens who helped avoid tragedy in Garland. But we should do everything we can to help equip our law enforcement officials with the training and tools they need in order to do their jobs as effectively as possible. The Police Act would help in this effort, and it would help protect those who put their lives on the line on our behalf every day and support their efforts to guard the communities they serve. I look forward to passing this legislation soon. I can think of no better way to honor those who serve our country so well during National Police Week than to pass the Police Act, which will in some small way provide them access to the training they need in order to do their jobs better and help keep our communities safer. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.