Bob Corker

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I thank the two leaders for what they have done today. Even though I know some people who are tuning in may not understand what just happened, the understanding that has been reached--and I thank Senator Flake and Senator Jones and others--is that we are not voting on anything else in this Chamber relative to this issue until a global agreement has been reached between the President and these two leaders and the leader of the House. There will not be test votes, and there is not going to be a tabling vote. The Vice President has been over here with his members, negotiating already. What this does, I think, is to push this ahead to a negotiation that will yield a result, and we will do the best we can to keep from shutting down the government, or if it does shut down, it will shut down very briefly. I thank the two leaders for agreeing to go forward in this manner. It allows us to move forward in a positive way, yet keeps the negotiations alive. Only a bill can pass this Chamber now that has all of their agreement.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, over the past 12 years, I have had the privilege to serve the citizens of Tennessee and our country with the finest group of people that I have ever been around. I truly love them. Today, in my final statement for the Congressional Record, I want to recognize the people who have become like family, past and present--178 hardworking, tenacious, conscientious public servants--and thank them for all they have done to make a difference in the lives of countless Tennesseans and to make our world a better place: Jared Adams, Mike Ahern, Ann Marie Anderson, Jessica Bader, Bridget Baird, David Baird, Michael Bassett, Ryan Berger, Hunter Bethea, Casey Black, Bertie Bowman, Courtney Bradway, Michael Bright, Clay Brockman, Paul Burdette, Tom Callahan, Conor Carney, Mark Cochran, Kim Cordell, Jamie Corley. Kelly Cotton, Leslie Crisp, Carlie Crenshaw Cruse, Joe Curtsinger, Joe Dagher, Kat Dahl, Anna Catherine Davenport, Ashton Davis Davies, Reese Davis, Garnett Decosimo, Armand DeKeyser, Chris Devaney, Caroline Diaz-Barriga, Bradley Dickerson, Tara DiJulio, Sarah Downs, David Dudik, John Dutton, Alex Eblen, Holt Edwards, Tracey Edwards. Brooke Eisele, Callie Estes, Heather Scarborough Ewalt, Josh Falzone, Jason Farris, Paul Fassbender, Aaron Fitzgerald, Chris Ford, Katie Davis Freeman, Michael Gallagher, Lee Gatts, Courtney Geduldig, Santo Giordano, Whitney Calhoun Goetz, John Goetz, Paul Goode, Tori Gorman, Jill Grayson, Joey Greer, John Haley. Stephanie Parsons Hamby, Sam Hamilton, Jenny Hamrick, Chuck Harper, Sarah Mikels Harrington, Joy Hawkins Harris, Jeni Healy, Alex Heaton, Alicia Hennie, Laura Lefler Herzog, Trey Hicks, Caroline Hodge, Farrah Hodge, Chris Howell, Clay Huddleston, Jamil Jaffer, Julia Johnson, Kyle Johnson, Micah Johnson, Jane Jolley, Logan Jolley. Elizabeth Kelly, David Kinzler, Nick Kistenmacher, Anna Knight, Carrie Lane, Audri Larsen, Molly Lazio, David Leaverton, Carolyn Leddy, Rachel Lee, Ramona Lessen, Sarah Leversee, John Lipsey, Todd Love, Patrick Lynch, Kirsten Madison, Dana Magneson, Emily Manning, Caleb McCarry, Connor McCarthy. Jonathan McKernan, Claire McVay, Bess McWherter, Abby Meadors, Owen Mercer, Katy Miller, Michael Miller, Christen Mogavero, Becky Moon, Grant Mullins, Lester Munson, Meg Murphy, Angie Nelson, Stacie Oliver, Bentley Olson, Andy Olson, Sarah Osborn, Anne Oswalt, Arne Owens, Connor Pagnani. Paul Palagyi, Ashley Palmer, Jonathan Parker, Shelby Payne, Michael Phelan, Frank Polley, Shirley Pond, Kelly Puckett, Ben Purser, John Rader, Betsy Ranalli, Tori Read, Rebecca Rial, Scott Richardson, Cate Catani Robertson, Kristin Rosa, Darlene Rosenkoetter, Jill Salyers, Brandeanna Sanders, Marty Schuh. Patricia Schultz, Hayly Humphreys Schmidt, Les Sealy, Douglas Sellers, Erica Frye Sharber, Evan Sharber, Lowell Sherman, Lexi Simpson, Matthew Smith, Rhonda Smithson, Justin Spickard, Megan Spoone, Dan Springer, Zach Stone, Sarah Ramig Stone, Rob Strayer, James Tatgenhorst, Beth Tipps, Eric Trager. Chris Tuttle, Daniel Vajdich, Caroline Vik, Morgan Vina, Jennifer Weems, Micki Werner, Jeri Wheeler, Mark White, Brent Wiles, Hallie Williams, Laurie Williams, Staci Willoughby, Bridget Winstead, Todd Womack, Canon Woodward, Alicyn York, John Zadrozny.

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 at this point 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. I thank the Senator.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I want to thank our ranking member and my friend, Senator Menendez, for his tremendous cooperation for many years but especially over this last week, and Senator Kaine for coming in and supporting it. I want to reiterate what the ranking member just said. The Senate has now unanimously said that Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman is responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. That is a strong statement. I think it speaks to the values we hold dear, as the rest of this resolution does. I am glad the Senate is speaking with one voice, unanimously, toward this end. I thank the leader for accommodating--making this happen. I yield the floor.

Mr. CORKER. I know of no further debate on the resolution.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the joint resolution be considered read a third time.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S.J. Res. 69.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Cornyn amendment No. 4096, as modified, be called up and reported by the clerk.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, we have eight votes, two of which I think we may be able to take. I hope that those who wish to have votes may talk just a little bit so that we can speed up the process. The first vote will be 15 minutes; the remainder of the votes will be 10 minutes. We will begin that process with Young No. 4080. I think there is agreement for him to speak for 1 minute. Amendment No. 4080

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, we were going to have 10-minute votes. We have had two votes in 54 minutes. Can we not just vote? OK. All right. I think we have two rollcall votes left. A number of Senators are doing voice votes, and then we will have the journalist resolution at the end, by voice also. Go ahead, Senator Cornyn.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I yield back.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I think it is important when using expedited procedures, especially on matters of national security such as this, the Senate limit consideration to the matter at hand. Therefore, I raise a point of order that amendments offered under 50 U.S.C. 1546(a) must be germane to the underlying joint resolution to which they are offered.

Mr. CORKER. I yield the floor.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I want to thank the Senator for most of the comments he made. I think they were made very eloquently. I share many of the same concerns the Senator has. I voted to cause this to come out of committee because I felt this discussion on the Senate floor needed to take place. The Senator from Vermont knows I have concerns about using this vehicle to do it, but by causing this debate to take place, many of the concerns the Senator has expressed will be expressed by others, and I agree with many of those. Saudi Arabia has not conducted this war in a manner, in my opinion, that takes into account the great harm that is taking place with civilians. I agree with that 100 percent. I am more than nonplussed over the fact that I believe--and I have sat in a very detailed--very detailed--intelligence review of what happened with the journalist at the consulate in Turkey, and I absolutely believe that if the Crown Prince came before a jury in the United States of America, he would be convicted guilty in under 30 minutes. I absolutely believe he directed it; I believe he monitored it; and I believe he is responsible for it. I have had concerns about using this vehicle, and I have concerns about what this may mean as we set a precedent about refueling and intelligence activities being considered hostilities. I am concerned about that. I think the Senator knows we have operations throughout Northern Africa, where we are working with other governments on intelligence to counter terrorism. We are doing refueling activists in Northern Africa now, and it concerns me--he knows I have concerns--that if we use this vehicle, then we may have 30 or 40 instances where this vehicle might be used to do something that really should not be dealt with by the War Powers Act. I will say, the strong passage of the germaneness issue we just dispensed with helps. It helps a great deal. So now, in the future, if this particular vehicle is utilized, we now know we have set the precedent that only germane issues can be brought up. I did have concerns--and we have now solved those--that other issues might be brought up and all of a sudden, the leaders would lose control of the floor. I would like to see Members have more votes. I agree with that. But I think we have now narrowed this in a very appropriate way. The Senator and I have discussed a resolution that is separate and apart from this. I have agreed with Senators on the other side of the aisle that I will not introduce that resolution until this issue has been dispensed with. I do hope we will have a unanimous vote on it to strongly condemn the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia for the actions he has taken relative to killing the journalist--who was a resident of the United States and has children living here--in the consulate in Turkey. That is a separate issue that I hope we will take up almost immediately after we dispense with this. I want to thank the Senator for his concern. I share many of those concerns. We have some legal concerns right now about using this vehicle, and the Senator knows that. I am concerned about where this goes down the road. We will have some amendments we will deal with over the next day or so that may clear that up to a degree. I just want to say to him that even though we have legal concerns about this particular process, I thank him for his concern for the citizens there, for his admonishment, for his demarching of a Crown Prince in Saudi Arabia who I believe is out of control, doing things on top of killing journalists--blockading Qatar without even thinking, arresting a Prime Minister in Lebanon--things that no one would think would be appropriate for international norms. I know we will have other speakers coming to the floor. We may disagree on process, but many of the issues the Senator has brought up today I agree with wholeheartedly. I yield the floor.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from New Jersey for his concern about this issue. I voted to dispense with this out of the committee. I have concerns about the particular legal issues that are being created here, but I wanted this debate to take place on the floor. I thank him for his concerns about the way the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia is conducting himself, about the war itself, and how ham-handed the Saudis and others have been, having shown so little concern for the citizens who live in Yemen. So I appreciate his efforts. I know we are very unlikely to come to an agreement on the bill he has offered, and I can understand why he would rather start the next year with a bill that he feels is stronger. I have some operational concerns, but I like the thrust of it very much. I understand that, knowing we are not going to come to a conclusion this year, he would rather start this next Congress with the strongest message and bill that he can put forth. But I do want to thank him for offering it. I hope that--again, with some operational concerns worked out from my perspective--it comes along. I hope the thrust of it comes along. So I thank him for that, and I thank him for his concern for the people of Yemen. I thank him, in particular, for his tremendous disdain for what the Crown Prince has done relative to the journalist. The Senator is right that expressing outrage in itself is not enough; I agree with that 100 percent. I do hope that once this is done, so we don't confuse that with what is happening here on this particular message, if you will, that is taking place--he is right that it is not going to change policy. The only thing that will change policy is a refined Menendez-Young bill that will be dealt with next year. But I do hope we will have the ability, after this is over, after this is dispensed with tomorrow--I hope we can speak to that outrage. I think it helps us. As it relates to the second Magnitsky letter that we sent, I think it helps reinforce the fact that we hold him accountable, and I think there could be some good there. I also think, as it relates to Saudi Arabia, a strong admonishment of the Crown Prince--I think they care about that a whole lot more than we might think. So I wish the Senator well as we move ahead with the other piece. I would like to see some changes. I will not be here to make those happen, but I thank him for the thrust. I appreciate the message that is being put forth now. I do hope that, collectively, before we leave here this year, we can admonish strongly what we believe the Crown Prince has been involved in, and that is the murder of a journalist.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, before yielding to Senator Young so he can make his amendment pending, I just want to follow up and say--look, I do want to go on record and say that I support the provisions of the Senator's bill that block for a period of time offensive weaponry sales to Saudi Arabia. I support that. I also support provisions of the bill that sanction people who are blocking humanitarian aid for the people there. The Senator and his staff know we have some operational issues, and I know those are going to get worked out. I know that the way to start legislation and get it to where we really want it to be is to start out strongly. I know the Senator knows he is not going to pass it this year, and if I were the Senator from New Jersey, I would go about it exactly the way he is going about it. So I do appreciate the thrust, and I do hope we pass those into law with some of the other provisions so that there is a price to pay for what has taken place. I yield the floor.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, through the Presiding Officer I wish to ask the Senator from Indiana, what you are saying is that you are doing everything you possibly can do to ensure that if your amendment passes, never in the future will your amendment be relied upon to say if we are refueling, that means we are involved in hostilities; is that correct?

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I ask again the Senator: For those of us, many in this body, including the Senator from Indiana, who worry that the mere refueling that may take place in Mali, where maybe we are supporting French troops, or the refueling in other places--the mere refueling in another country, the mere refueling itself--you are saying that by voting for your amendment, you have no intention of ever creating a precedent that another Senator could use the War Powers Act simply because of refueling taking place; is that your intention?

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I appreciate the Senator from Indiana answering those questions. Today, we are, as you know, establishing precedent on a number of things. No. 1, we overwhelmingly decided that if the War Powers Resolution is used in this matter, only germane amendments can be put forth. I think that was a big step forward as it relates to this type of debate and in using the War Powers Resolution as it is being used. I did want to get the Senate record to be very clear that the Senator from Indiana, should his amendment pass, was in no way trying to create a scenario where if we are refueling someplace, that automatically means we are involved in hostilities. What he is trying to do is address this specific issue. Since we have been able to have this in the Record and since, hopefully, future Senates will rely upon the Record to look at what is taking place today, I want to thank the Senator for his amendment and tell him that I plan to support it.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Sean Tyler, a Defense fellow in Senator Young's office, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the week.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I wish to speak on S. 1862, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2017.

Mr. CORKER. I appreciate the Senator's question and his partnership with me on this legislation to advance the fight against modern-day slavery. Our bill and the underlying Trafficking Victims Protection Act are designed to eliminate forced labor around the world and do not affect the Exchange Visitor Programs, under the J-1 visa, which is authorized by Congress and administered by the State Department. The J-1 exchange programs are important tools that Congress authorized to enhance mutual exchange and cultural understanding between people in the United States and other countries, and they are subject to regulatory safeguards and oversight by the Department of State. Recruitment and placement fees referenced in S. 1862 and the Trafficking Victims Protection Act are fundamentally different from the program fees in our international exchange programs, which are fees required to be charged to program participants who receive J-1 visas in order to fund the program. Our legislation does not affect the exchange programs, which are an important diplomatic tool which I strongly support.

Mr. CORKER. I thank the Senator from New Jersey and our distinguished ranking member for his question and for working with me to pass this important legislation.