Bob Corker

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, it is an honor to be here with Pastor Louie Giglio, from Atlanta, who pastors the Passion Church there. I think everyone in this body knows Congress led on an issue to end modern slavery around the world. That was something that passed this body a couple of years ago. The appropriators have funded it. We are well on our way leading the world today in trying to end modern slavery, where today we have 27 million people around the world in slavery--more than at any time in the world's history. I can honestly say the genesis of that, the seed for that, the beginning of that, started at Passion Church, where he led an effort to make sure people are aware of this scourge on mankind. I am grateful to him. Millions of people around the world will be grateful to him and his congregation. I am honored to know him and be his friend, and I thank him for his leadership in that regard but also beginning our day in this way. Thank you so much. With that, I yield the floor.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I know Senator Inhofe is trying to get to fly home. Do we know the order here?

Mr. CORKER. No.

Mr. CORKER. We will both speak very briefly. Why don't you go ahead, and then I will go.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I rise to speak on the issue before us. On every occasion, I too have done what is necessary to keep us from alienating our ally Saudi Arabia. I think I was the last man standing, during the Obama administration, in my trying to make sure that the JASTA bill, at the time, ended up being corrected in such a manner that it wouldn't have had unintended consequences. I did so unsuccessfully. Yet, on multiple occasions, I have stood with others to make sure that we have not blocked arms sales and that we have not done those things that might have undermined our relationship. For those who are tuning in, let me walk through what the process is. We have a vote, today, on discharging this piece of legislation out of the Foreign Relations Committee. That is all that is happening today. There is an Executive Calendar in which we have cloture votes pending on nominees. That will burn off. Then, sometime next week, after this is discharged today--if it is so successfully--there will be another vote to actually proceed to this bill. If we proceed to the bill, what will happen will be a series of amendments that will be voted upon. Then there will be another vote at the end of that as to whether people will actually support the product that will have been created. I just want to make it clear that what I am not doing today is voting for the substance before us; yet I reserve the right to do so. I am voting on our ability to have a debate as it relates to our relationship with Saudi Arabia. We had a briefing today, which was very unsatisfactory, by two people whom I highly respect. Secretary Mattis and Secretary Pompeo are two people with whom I work closely and admire greatly. I found their briefing today to be lacking. I found, in substance, that we are not doing those things that we should be doing to appropriately balance our relationship with Saudi Arabia between our American interests and our American values. There has been a lot of rhetoric that has come from the White House and from the State Department on this issue. The rhetoric that I have heard and the broadcast that we have made around the world as to who we are has been way out of balance as it relates to American interests and American values. As I said this morning in the SCIF, where we were having this briefing, I hope that in the ensuing few days--maybe this afternoon--the administration itself will take steps to rectify this balance in an appropriate way. As to whether the Crown Prince was involved in this killing, it is my belief that he was. It is my belief that he ordered it, but I don't have a smoking gun. What I do know is that he is responsible for this agency that carried out the killing. He has done nothing to take ownership of what has happened, and that is an affront not just to the American people but to the world. The administration, in its broadcast, in its referring to this issue, has been way out of balance as it relates to what is important to us-- their buying arms from us but neglecting this other piece and not demarching the leadership of Saudi Arabia in an important way. So what I am doing today is voting to discharge this bill out of our committee. There will be another opportunity next week to decide whether we will proceed to it. As I said to the administration again this morning, it is my hope that it will figure out a way to bring American interests and American values into balance so that it can cause the Saudi Arabian Government to take appropriate ownership over what has happened in the killing of this journalist. That, to me, would be the best solution. If not, we will have another decision to make, and that will occur next week when we will decide whether we want to proceed to that and then, after that, proceed to deal with the issue of Saudi Arabia. There will be another point in time at which we can decide whether we like the substance that may be created in an amendment process in our going through this. I support discharging this piece of legislation so that this body can have a fulsome debate about our relationship with Saudi Arabia as to what has happened with the journalist, the important issue of the war in Yemen, and as to all of the things that we need to be doing as a country to counter what Iran is doing in the region. I yield the floor.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, out of respect for Senator Inhofe and a personal issue he has to deal with, we would hope to be able to vote early.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, for the Committee on Foreign Relations I report favorably the following nomination lists which were printed in the Records on the dates indicated, and ask unanimous consent, to save the expense of reprinting on the Executive Calendar that these nominations lie at the Secretary's desk for the information of Senators.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Madam President, I rise today to speak in support of Stephen Vaden to be the next General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. I know this is a position that you care about deeply as the Presiding Officer. Having been brought up and worked on a family farm that has operated for generations in West Tennessee, Stephen has critical insights into the issues facing the agriculture community. His experience in law and understanding the needs of farmers will be an important asset at the USDA and in Congress's work to help rural America prosper and grow. Under Stephen's tenure as Acting General Counsel since March of last year, the Office of General Counsel has promoted Department accountability and improved its responsiveness to civil rights issues, and it is my belief that Stephen will continue to do so once confirmed. I am pleased to see that the Senate is acting on Stephen's nomination, and I urge my colleagues to support his confirmation. With that, I yield the floor.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Madam President, I want to thank the ranking member for his comments, his friendship, and welcome him back. I look forward to his leadership on foreign policy issues for many years. I share his views. I have concerns about the trajectory that Saudi Arabia is on right now. I have concerns about the war in Yemen. We have had hearings. We have people on our committee who are trying to take steps to deal with the war in Yemen. Obviously, we are very upset with what has happened with the journalist. I think a price needs to be paid. The administration today sent out notice that they were sanctioning 17 individuals who were involved. Hopefully, additional steps will be made. I asked for a high-level briefing with Mattis, Pompeo, and Gina Haspel to come in as soon as we get back, to share with us what is happening with Saudi Arabia on both fronts, both Yemen and what is happening as it relates to the journalist who was assassinated, in my opinion, at the direction of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. I have a lot of concerns. I think when you have concerns, though, you address those concerns to the people you have concerns with. Bahrain is not one of those. Bahrain certainly has had some issues with human rights, and we have dealt with those. It is a city state in the Persian Gulf where we have 7,800 men and women in uniform who are protecting our interests there, who are a buffer against Iran. For us to block sales, offensive sales, to the country of Bahrain that is housing one of our most important naval bases over something that has nothing to do with them but has something to do with another country is not a pragmatic nor a sensible step. I hope we will oppose this. I think we will. I understand the frustrations of the Senator from Kentucky. I do. He shared those many times in the Foreign Relations Committee. I do understand those, but it seems to me that taking something out on a country that is unrelated to what is happening is a very inappropriate and not a mature step for the U.S. Senate to take, and hopefully we will defeat this. I yield the floor.

Mr. CORKER. Madam President, I move to table the motion to discharge S.J. Res. 65 and ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, for the Committee on Foreign Relations I report favorably the following nomination list which was printed in the Record on the date indicated, and ask unanimous consent, to save the expense of reprinting on the Executive Calendar that this nomination lie at the Secretary's desk for the information of Senators.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, for the Committee on Foreign Relations I report favorably the following nomination lists which were printed in the RECORDS on the dates indicated, and ask unanimous consent, to save the expense of reprinting on the Executive Calendar that these nominations lie at the Secretary's desk for the information of Senators.

Mr. CORKER

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

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I rise to speak on the same topic on which my friend from Pennsylvania just spoke. I want to thank him for laying out the rationale for this vote. I also thank Senator Flake for his efforts. I know Senator Alexander, the senior Senator from Tennessee and my friend, will speak on this topic in just a few moments. I do hope we will have an overwhelming vote for this motion to instruct. It is just a step in the direction that we would like to go relative to Congress's role. Section 232 of the Trade Act was never intended to be used the way this administration is using it. The Senator from Pennsylvania laid out the fact that this certainly is not being imposed for national security reasons. As a matter of fact, the White House has said loosely on many occasions that they are only using section 232 in order to try to create some kind of leverage on NAFTA. I don't understand how putting tariffs in place on our allies in Europe has anything to do with NAFTA. I don't understand how putting tariffs on our neighbors has anything to do with combating what China is doing in stealing our intellectual property, and I know the Presiding Officer knows full well what is happening there. We do need to counter that kind of activity, and I don't know if we are doing it in the best way now. This is an abuse of Presidential authority. It is an abuse of Presidential authority. What I hope is going to happen today is that, in a bipartisan way, in an overwhelming vote, we are going to pass this motion to instruct, moving Congress into its rightful role as it relates to this issue. The reason the President, by the way--for those of you who may not be following this closely--is invoking section 232 is that under 232, no one has really an ability to oppose it. I mean, with the China tariffs--and this has nothing to do with the China tariffs that are being imposed today and that were recently imposed. They go under different sections of the Trade Act where you have to actually make a case for what you are doing. In January, the President used section 201 of the Trade Act, but he has to make a case to be successful there. He recently used section 301 on China tariffs. Again, this particular motion has nothing to do with China tariffs, but he has to make a case for that. He has to deal with the World Trade Organization and ITC. Section 232--basically, he can just wake up and decide he is going to use section 232, the way it is now written. It has never been used in this manner by any President ever, but if we have a situation where we set up a rules-based society in dealing with trade, and any executive officer of a country can wake up and one day decide they have a national security issue and have to make no case, then, in effect, treaties relative to trade have no effect. You move into a place of not using rules to implement trade. Now, as the Senator from Pennsylvania mentioned, our country has benefited greatly from trade. The State of Tennessee is one of the destinations for foreign direct investment in our country. It is a place where we export all around the world. And what the President is doing is shaking the very regime by not being able to even articulate where he is going. The Senator from Georgia is my friend, and he has worked all around the world, and I am surprised that he would oppose Congress having a role only when section 232 is utilized. But the fact is that Congress should have a role. We gave this authority away in the 1960s and again in 1974. It was a mistake for us to have done that. We never expected the President of the United States to use 232 in the way it is being utilized today. This is a vote for Congress to assume its rightful role. It is a baby step. I hope to have legislation coming behind us where 15 Senators-- Republicans, Democrats, and an Independent--have come together on a piece of legislation to absolutely ensure that Congress has a role. This is just a motion to instruct to say that we agree that Congress should have a role when 232 is invoked. We will decide what that role is down the road. I urge all Senators to support this motion. I yield the floor.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I have a motion to instruct conferees at the desk, and I ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. CORKER. Madam President, I rise to speak in favor of this motion, where Congress would have an appropriate role in section 232 of the Trade Act as invoked on national security grounds. This is something that anybody who supports the Senate playing its proper role should support. I thank Senator Toomey, Senator Flake, and 15 other Senators who supported this overall effort. This is a baby step in a good direction for the U.S. Senate and for our country.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, for the Committee on Foreign Relations I report favorably the following nomination list which was printed in the Record on the date indicated, and ask unanimous consent, to save the expense of reprinting on the Executive Calendar that this nomination lie at the Secretary's desk for the information of Senators.