John Cornyn

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Graham) and the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Graham) and the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Graham), the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio), and the Senator from Alaska (Mr. Sullivan).

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Graham) and the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Graham) and the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio).

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Blunt), the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz), the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Graham), the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Kirk), the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski), the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Paul), the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Risch), the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio), the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey), and the Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Vitter).

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio).

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Crapo), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran), and the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran), the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio), and the Senator from Nebraska (Mr. Sasse). Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Nebraska (Mr. Sasse) would have voted ``yea.''

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.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, when I return home to my State during our district work periods--the time when the Senate is not in session--as I get a chance to travel my State, as the Presiding Officer does in his, I always feel as though I learn something, and I appreciate a little bit more how different policies can have a different impact and produce different results. As the distinguished Senator from Wisconsin was speaking about the importance of education, I couldn't help but think that we all agree with that, but we have maybe some differences on which policies actually produce a better result. I couldn't help but think a little bit about that last week as I was visiting some of the ranchers and folks in west Texas in the ag sector who were very interested in what we were doing here in Washington on trade promotion authority, as we have worked with the President on a bipartisan basis to pass this structure by which the next big trade agreement--the Trans-Pacific Partnership--will be considered and voted on. I do have a bias. I think experiments in policy are best conducted at the State level, not at the national level. We have seen, for example, as the Presiding Officer knows, a huge experiment in health care reform where, under the Affordable Care Act, one-sixth of our economy was effectively commandeered by the Federal Government in a one-size-fits- all approach. Of course, the results were much worse than even its most ardent opponents predicted. Many of the basic promises that were made in order to sell the Affordable Care Act simply aren't true. They haven't come to pass. So I think it is helpful to do just the opposite. Rather than experiment at the national level with what kinds of policies actually work, let's try these at the State level. Indeed, on the matter of trade, I would say I come from a State that is the No. 1 exporting State in the country, and that is one reason why our economy grew last year--2014--at 5.2 percent. The economy across the United States grew at 2.2 percent. There are a lot of reasons for that difference, but don't we think it would make some people curious about whether there were actually policies or practices at the State level that produced a better result--a growing economy with rising wages and more jobs? This isn't just me being proud of where I come from. I guess people are accustomed to Texans being proud of their State and bragging about it. That is just kind of who we are, and we accept that. But this is more than that. This is talking about the policies that actually work, that have been embraced and implemented here at the national level, once tested at the State level--we could actually see a better outcome for all of America. For example, Texas farmers and ranchers know from our experience in Texas that trade is a good thing. As we begin to explain and explore the importance of trade promotion authority, the idea that we comprise roughly 5 percent of the world's population--in other words, 95 percent of the world's population is beyond our shores but we represent 20 percent of the world's purchasing power--why wouldn't we want to open up our goods and services and the things we grow and make to these markets abroad so that more people can buy the things we grow and raise and what we make? I wish to speak about another innovation or at least another practice at the State level that has had an impact on the quality of education at the State level. As we continue the discussion of the Every Child Achieves Act-- legislation that will hopefully help improve the results for 50 million children--I am glad we will be bringing another tried-and-true example of what has happened at the State level to the national level. I was happy to cosponsor with the senior Senator from Virginia an amendment which takes into account the commonsense purpose of encouraging the States to conduct efficiency reviews of school districts and campuses to make sure Federal dollars delivered to each classroom are spent as cost-effectively as possible. This amendment builds on an incredibly successful program in Texas--one that brings greater accountability to our schools and helps them discern how they can make each dollar go just a little bit further. This program is called the Financial Allocation Study for Texas, or FAST. It was developed by the Texas comptroller, Susan Combs--the immediate past comptroller of the State of Texas--to evaluate the operational efficiency of the school districts and campuses across our State. To do that, the comptroller uses data about school finances, school demographics, and academic performance from each school and campus around the State to help measure academic achievement relative to spending. There is a broadly held fallacy that the quality of educational outputs is equal to how much money we put into it. In other words, if we want a better product--education--all we have to do is spend more money. I would say that is demonstrably false. There are many of our parochial schools that do an outstanding job of educating their students at a fraction of what our public schools do. So I think it is a fallacy to say that if we want more or better education, all we have to do is spend more money. There is a smarter, more efficient way to deal with that, and that is what the financial allocation study is designed to achieve--to measure academic achievement relative to spending. As the senior Senator from Virginia explained earlier, this successful Texas model of a fiscally responsible education system caught his eye when he was Governor of Virginia, and fortunately he then implemented a similar program. In Virginia, the savings came from commonsense recommendations--again, as we did in Texas--things such as introducing software programs to improve bus routes, enhancing methods of facilities management, and encouraging best practices in hiring and personnel management. While more States have adopted similar programs, these money-saving opportunities should be available to all school districts nationwide. So now, with the adoption of this amendment just yesterday and with the eventual passage of the Every Child Achieves Act, we can make sure school districts all across the country are using their dollars for what they are really intended--classroom education--not stuck in the back office bureaucracy. As many of us have already mentioned, the underlying legislation, the Every Child Achieves Act, is really about putting the responsibility for our children's education back in the hands of parents, local school districts, and teachers--the people who are actually closer to the issue, closer to the problems, and the ones who perhaps know more than any bureaucrat in Washington could ever hope to know about what actually works at the local level. It is also about flexibility, meaning it is up to individual States, not just the Federal Government, to determine how to achieve the best outcome for all of our students. Importantly, I should add, that flexibility translates into greater options for schools across the country by giving States additional freedom to create and replicate high-quality charter schools, for example, and giving more parents more choices, as I said, for their children's education. I am very proud of the good progress we have made across a number of issues this year so far--passing the anti-human trafficking laws and finally cracking the code on how we pay physicians under Medicare adequately rather than temporarily patching that problem, as we have for so many years. We passed a budget for the first time since 2009 that balances in 10 years. And, yes, we worked with the President of the United States on a bipartisan basis to pass trade promotion authority. Next week, we will conclude this Every Child Achieves Act by reforming our early and elementary childhood education system to get more of the power, to get more of the authority out of Washington and back to parents, teachers, and the States, where it really belongs. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio).

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio).

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Colorado for his graciousness. I come to the floor to speak about this important topic of early elementary education. I recall that when President George W. Bush was Governor of Texas--of course, education was one of his biggest priorities both at the State and the national level when he became President. He had an interesting observation. He said the more you talk about education, the more people realize you actually care about it. So I actually think it is important to talk about it, that we think our way through this legislation and figure out what we can do to equip our children who are increasingly in a competitive environment, not only locally in our States and Nation but globally. One of the real joys of the job of a U.S. Senator is getting to visit with students in our State, and I did so last week when I was back home. I met with a group of middle-school students in Amarillo, way up in the Texas Panhandle, at the tail end of a camp teaching students valuable skills in science, technology, engineering, and math, the so- called STEM fields. I was very impressed with what I saw. First of all, the instructors found out how to make this fun, which is an important element in this education because some of this stuff can be pretty dry and boring, if my memory serves me correctly. They were literally building robots, and then they presented their final projects to parents and teachers in a friendly competition. Needless to say, I wish I had that kind of instruction. Maybe I wouldn't have veered into the legal profession. I would have done something more productive in a field of science. I am saying that with a tongue planted firmly in cheek, of course. But I wish I had instructors who would have inspired me to learn more about those important topics by using these sorts of tools. I also previously visited, for example, United High School in Laredo, where I was able to meet with high school students who were taking part in a first-of-its-kind program that teaches curriculum specific to the oil and gas industry in the region. Why is that? Well, because the shale plays in Texas are the source--the reservoirs really--this huge volume of oil and natural gas is being produced from. Lo and behold, it is not just producing income for the people who are drilling those wells and completing them, it is creating a lot of jobs. What these students and the school districts, such as United High School in Laredo, have discovered is that this is really an opportunity for these students in high school to begin to learn some of the basics of petroleum engineering and other things that will prepare them for good, well-paying jobs later in life. This program included internships, training, and dual-credit courses at a local community college. These students were going to high school, but they were actually getting college credit at the same time at the local community college. Of course, they were getting real-world skills that they need to succeed in a burgeoning industry once they graduate. Importantly, graduates from the program will have, as I said, access to high-paying, good jobs right out of high school, which, unfortunately, the history has been in Laredo, TX, in South Texas, that that hasn't always been the case. So this is a very hopeful development, thanks to the innovation in the oil and gas industry and thanks to the foresight and the genius, really, of the local school district there in Laredo, TX. This is a great example of how local communities and the economy can work to shape education and provide a win-win opportunity for students, local industries, and the greater community. United High School was able to create this program because it had the freedom and flexibility to develop its own curriculum with tailored input from local leaders, teachers, parents, and industry leaders--the people who create jobs and who are looking for people with discrete skills that they would then bring to the table to provide the workforce they need. This groundbreaking program in Laredo was not thought up here in Washington, DC. It is a product of local ingenuity and a community response to the educational needs specific to its students. I think this type of mindset is very important in education because, as we have learned over the years, the bureaucracy in Washington can't tailor programs that will suit the needs of children in a wide variety of school districts across our States and across the country--not in Laredo, not in Amarillo, and not anywhere else in the country. That is why I am happy this week that the Senate is considering legislation that will help return a large measure of the responsibility for our children's education to those closest to them--their parents, their teachers, the local school boards--and not so much the Federal Government. The Federal Government does have an interest and we as Americans all have an interest in being able to compete in a global environment and in high standards, those that will cause our students to strive to attain skills that they can use to compete anywhere in the world. But in terms of its actual implementation, I am pleased that this legislation will push more of those decisions out of Washington and back home to local school districts and parents. This legislation is, of course, called the Every Child Achieves Act. It provides a roadmap to ensure that our children receive and retain a quality education. By giving the responsibility for actually implementing programs that will help students achieve these high standards--it will give each State and the districts the flexibility they need to design and implement their education programs and systems. This is really sort of another application of what Louis Brandeis called the ``laboratories of democracy'' when he was referring to the State government. I think he was referring to that important principle of our Constitution known as federalism, as ensconced in the 10th amendment in particular. There is an irreplaceable role that the Federal Government plays in some aspects of our life. National security is perhaps the preeminent one. But there is a lot of benefit to getting some experiments at the State level, and then we can learn without imposing a one-size-fits-all approach from Washington, DC. What works best? Then we can then learn and be informed by those practices in a way that improves the result. I am thinking of criminal justice reform as another example in my State, where we were an early participant in prison reform, which now has formed some of the basis for bipartisan legislation that we are considering here in the Senate. Because of the successful laboratory experiments back in Texas and Rhode Island and other States, we are now taking those best practices and those results and figuring out how we apply those to the benefit of other parts of the country. Under this legislation, States such as Texas can decide how to use federally mandated test results to assess performance of students, schools, and teachers. This gives the States much needed relief from pressure to teach to the test--something I hear over and over again back home, that teachers are finding that rather than a program where they teach STEM subjects using robots and inspire young, creative minds to engage and learn the science they need in order to play these sorts of games in a competition with robots, teachers are finding themselves in a position of teaching to the test in sort of a mind-numbing process that nobody would find particularly inspiring. So this takes some pressure from that teach-to-the-test mentality and also gives States additional freedom to provide students with a well-rounded education. Put simply, with this legislation, States can decide for themselves what standards they need to adopt, and, importantly, this legislation limits the power of the Secretary of Education to ensure that the Federal Government cannot dictate, direct, or control State curriculum or standards. How insulting is it to have the States come on bended knee to the Secretary of Education and ask: Will you please let us have a waiver so we can try this creative or innovative way of delivering an education to our students back home? How insulting is that and how contrary to the original scheme of our government as created by our Founders. So this bill, which was unanimously passed out of committee--and I congratulate the chairman, Senator Alexander, and the ranking member, Senator Murray, and all members of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee for voting out this bill unanimously. This is a great bipartisan process which has produced a very good product. It is also just one of more than 150 bills reported out of Senate committees so far this year--another sign that the Senate is back to work for the American people. I look forward to continuing the great progress we have made in this Senate by getting real education reform passed soon. I yield the floor.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz), the Senator from Arizona (Mr. Flake), the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Portman), and the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio).

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, last week I had a chance to travel the State of Texas. Of course, the Presiding Officer can imagine, I had a chance to move around the State to listen to what people were saying and, frankly, to tell them what it is we have done on their behalf in the Senate so far this year. By and large, I heard that folks are happy to see the Senate back to work, under new management, and getting things done that they elected us to do. I spent a good amount of time out in West Texas and in the panhandle and had a chance to speak to a number of farmers and ranchers in that part of the State. They are, frankly, very pleased to hear that they will soon have access to new markets in Asia now that the trade promotion authority bill has been passed and is the law of the land, and we are currently in the final stages of negotiating the Trans- Pacific Partnership. The trade promotion authority, of course, passed last month and was signed by the President, and it represents a true bipartisan accomplishment between Congress and the President. While it is true that I disagree with the President more often than I agree with him, in this case we can both agree that opening new markets for our farmers, ranchers, and our small business people is good for our States and good for the country. Getting Texas beef, cattle, cotton, and other goods to new markets translates into better jobs, better wages, and a better economic climate for hard-working Texans. But of course passing the trade promotion authority legislation is just one example of what this Chamber has accomplished so far this year. Under new leadership, the Senate has made tremendous progress from what this Senate used to be. We have seen the return to regular order, functioning as a deliberate body that considers a wide range of legislation to benefit the everyday lives of the American people. I think pointing out that we voted on more than 130 amendments, compared to just the 15 that were voted on last year, is a great indicator that this Chamber is actually back working the way it should. The good news is, whether you are in the majority or the minority, everyone is getting a chance to participate in this process, and regular voting on amendments brought by any of our Members is now typical and not the exception to the rule. I mention we passed the trade legislation, but overall the Senate has passed more than 40 bipartisan bills. We have seen 22 of those already signed into law by President Obama. So the American people let their voices be heard last November 4. They sent us here to do their work. This week, we will take up another important piece of legislation. We will take up an education bill that will ultimately give school districts in Texas and across the country more flexibility and more power to make the best choices for their students. I know the HELP Committee--the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee--the committee of jurisdiction in education matters, has worked hard under the leadership of Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray. They brought this bill to the floor with a unanimous vote in the committee. So I and others look forward to an open amendment process and a vigorous debate over our Nation's education priorities and the important role the States play and local control plays in making sure all students have access to educational opportunities. Later this week, we will likely have a chance to reconcile the language between the House and the Senate version of the Defense authorization bill, a bill that will help equip our Armed Forces with the resources and give them the authorities they need to keep our country safe. Of course, the Senate will also continue discussions on how to responsibly address the challenges facing the highway trust fund and find a way forward for our transportation networks. I remain optimistic that this Chamber can ultimately take up appropriations bills that are needed to fund our troops on the battlefield and care for our veterans upon their return. Last month, our Democratic friends laid out a strategy, something they called the filibuster summer, saying unless they get 100 percent of what they want, that they are not going to allow the Senate to proceed to consider these appropriations bills. Well, I would like to just remind them there is a lot of work we have to do that needs to be done, and if we could just get back in the spirit of this bipartisan cooperation, everybody can let their voice be heard and their vote will count, but pure partisanship will not get the job done. The many Texans I spoke to back home want this spirit of diligent, focused work to continue. They certainly want to see us provide the resources to our troops that they need to carry out their mission. So while we have a strong track record so far in the 114th Congress, we still have a lot of work to do. I hope my friends across the aisle will continue to work with us on behalf of the people who sent us here. Separately, I know my colleagues and I are anxiously awaiting the news of the final outcome of Secretary Kerry's ongoing negotiations regarding Iran and its nuclear aspirations. As we all know, earlier this year, Congress passed the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, which guarantees that Congress, on behalf of the American people, will have time to study, scrutinize, debate, and then ultimately vote on whether we approve or disapprove of the negotiated deal between Secretary Kerry and the administration and Tehran. If the President reaches a deal with Iran by Thursday, then Congress will have up to 30 days to review it and then to vote on whether to approve it. As I have said all along, I have grave concerns about how the President has been negotiating with one of our foremost adversaries, a country that constantly threatens the American people and our allies and has done nothing to garner our trust or respect. The broad outlines of the deal--of the potential deal--we have seen reported in the press don't look particularly promising. It seems to get actually worse by the day. So I strongly encourage the President and Secretary Kerry to remember that if you want a deal badly enough, that is exactly what you are going to get is a bad deal. So ``any deal at any cost'' is not the mantra of the American people who are understandably very wary of any agreement with Iran. But, fortunately, the Senate has proved we will not stand by and watch the President as he makes far-reaching agreements without the consent of the American people through their elected representatives. So I look forward to working with my colleagues to give very careful scrutiny, certainly the sort of scrutiny this proposed deal deserves, to make sure our country's best interests are protected. If this deal does not protect our national security and the security of the region and our allies, Congress may have no other choice than to vote it down by passing a resolution of disapproval. I yield the floor.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on National Security and International Trade and Finance be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 25, 2015, at 1:30 p.m., to conduct a hearing entitled ``Economic Crisis: The Global Impact of a Greek Default.''

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 25, 2015, at 2:30 p.m.

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 June 25, 2015, at 9:30 a.m., in SR-428A of the Russell Senate Office Building to conduct a hearing entitled ``Opening Doors to Economic Opportunity for Our Veterans and Their Families Through Entrepreneurship.''

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 June 25, 2015, at 9:45 a.m., in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

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 June 25, 2015, at 9:30 a.m., to conduct a hearing entitled ``Under Attack: Federal Cybersecurity and the OPM Data Breach.''