Bob Corker

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 am so glad to join the senior Senator from our State, who set such an example in the Senate in recognizing and honoring Pat Summitt. Basketball has lost a legend, and Tennessee has lost one of its own beloved daughters. There is perhaps no one who left with a more indelible mark on his or her profession than Pat. In her 38 years as head coach of the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers, she amassed a historic record of achievement and blazed a trail for women across our country. A farm girl from Henrietta, TN, Pat attended the University of Tennessee at Martin, earning a bachelor's degree and leading the women's basketball team to two national championship tournaments. Shortly after graduating, she accepted a position at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville as head coach of the women's basketball team at 22 years old. The rest, they say, is history. In those early years, Pat washed the jerseys, drove the team van, and was paid $250 a month. Thirty-eight years later, she walked off the hardwood as the winningest NCAA Division I basketball coach in history, with 1,098 victories, 8 national championships, 32 combined Southeastern Conference titles, and zero losing seasons. If you asked Pat, there was only one number that she would point to: 161--161 Lady Vols who had the honor of wearing the orange and white over the span of her career. As she once wrote, ``I won 1,098 games, and eight national championships, and coached in four different decades. But what I see are not the numbers. I see their faces.'' Her influence on their lives was felt as much off the court as it was on it. Every player who completed her eligibility at the University of Tennessee under Pat Summitt graduated. That is remarkable--every single player in 38 years. Think about that. The impact she had on her players at the University of Tennessee, the Knoxville community, and the game of basketball will be felt for years to come. In closing, as we look back on Pat's life, I will echo the words of my friend and former Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer, who said: ``Coach Summitt did not want a pity party. She said, `If you're going to have one, I'm not coming.' '' Today, I join all Tennesseans in celebrating her life--celebrating the victories, the titles, the relationships, and celebrating a life well-lived and a fight hard fought. I extend my thoughts and prayers to her son Tyler, the Lady Vol family, and all those who were touched by her truly remarkable life. I yield the floor.

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. 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 am pleased to be a cosponsor of S. 1089, a bill to encourage and support partnerships between the public and private sectors to improve our Nation's social programs, and for other purposes, known as the Social Impact Partnership Act, SIPA. This legislation would facilitate the creation of public-private partnerships that have the goal of improving the outcomes from our Nation's social services spending in order to benefit both the people intended to be helped by those programs and the U.S. taxpayer. It would do so by creating the Federal Interagency Council on Social Impact Partnerships, which would recommend to the Treasury Secretary that the Federal Government enter into agreements with State and local governments and private investors to pay for successful social improvement programs funded by private investors out of savings those programs create for the Federal Government. The bill appropriates $300 million for this purpose and aims to ensure that the savings to the Federal Government from the projects selected will exceed that $300 million. If a social services program is not successful, the Federal Government will not pay for it. In this way, SIPA helps to reorient Federal social spending towards measurable improvements in the lives of those served. While I am supportive of the bill, I do want to note for the record that this bill could benefit from further assurances at a committee markup that the funded projects will result in governmental savings. The appropriations for the legislation should be offset with spending reductions in other areas, as has been done in the companion legislation in the House of Representatives. There should be a specified role in the legislation for CBO and OMB to certify for taxpayers that the Federal performance payments authorized in the bill for successful projects do not exceed actual programmatic savings and that this bill provides better social outcomes for equal or less total money spent. Finally, the bill should ensure that there is no way for any program stakeholder, government official, or member of the Federal Interagency Council on Social Impact Partnerships to unduly influence the measured outcome of these funded projects, which is required to receive federal payments. As part of these protections, there should be strict conflict of interest rules in place to prohibit those involved in selecting and measuring the projects from having a financial interest in their outcome. The purpose of the Social Impact Partnership Act is to establish funding for innovative social service projects that work and ending funding for those that do not. If there is any evidence that such innovation is not occurring and SIPA is becoming yet another wasteful and politically influenced government program, I will work to end it. I thank Senators Hatch and Bennet for their great work on this bill, and I look forward to its markup in the Finance Committee and passage in the full Senate.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I rise to speak of Pastor Steve Berger. It moves me to hear his voice echoing throughout this Chamber. He is one of the preeminent spiritual leaders in our Nation. He prays daily with his wife Sarah, who happens to be in the Chamber. He prays daily for our Nation. There is a purity of his mission in leading a church that is making a difference in our State, and I think making a difference in our country, leading efforts not only here but around the world to bring people together, and I am so thrilled this Chamber and the people of our country are able to witness someone who I believe to be one of the greatest spiritual leaders in our Nation. I only hope more people would be able to hear from him. Truly, it is a very moving moment for me to have a friend like Steve Berger, who means so much to our State and country, before us. I thank him for his willingness to do this.

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, 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. 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, 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 am glad to join the senior Senator, as I have many times, but I thank him for his comments about this distinguished person whom I hope is going to be confirmed this afternoon as a district court judge. When the White House began looking for someone to fill this position, I spoke with people, as I am sure Senator Alexander did, across Middle Tennessee to really find someone who not only would serve in his position well but had, in his current role, been involved in the community and had done many other things outside of law to benefit the community itself. Certainly, this is someone who has done that. It became very clear that he has distinguished himself not only as a talented attorney but also as a well respected leader in the Nashville community. As Lamar has mentioned, he is a lifelong Middle Tennessee resident. He received his law degree from Vanderbilt University. He was the first African-American attorney at the Waller law firm, and he has been a partner since 1994. He served as Tennessee's assistant attorney general from 1984 to 1987, and as a law clerk, as was mentioned, for the Honorable John Nixon. This is exactly the branch he hopes to serve in. I am confident he will serve the people of Middle Tennessee in this new role in an honorable fashion. I am proud to be here to support him with our senior Senator and with so many other people, by the way, in Middle Tennessee who want to see him confirmed in this position. I hope others will join us today in confirming him, and I look forward to him serving. By the way, it is a place where there is a dire need to have someone of his capacity. We have many cases that are backed up. This is one of those places where we not only need someone to fill the role, but we need someone as distinguished as Mr. Crenshaw. I thank the Presiding Officer for the time. This Senator looks forward to his confirmation. I hope everyone will join in confirming this nominee. I yield the floor.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I 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. Madam 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 rise to honor the lives of Tennessean Justin Shults and his wife Stephanie, who were killed in the attacks in Brussels, Belgium, on the morning of March 22. I thank our senior Senator Lamar Alexander for joining me this afternoon. We are heartbroken by this tragedy, which once again hit too close to home. Not long ago, Senator Alexander and I came to this body to mourn the loss of five American heroes we lost in a terror attack in my hometown of Chattanooga. We are here again today, heartbroken that two more outstanding individuals were taken by evil, and we are reminded that terrorism knows no borders or boundaries. Justin Shults was a native of Gatlinburg, TN. He attended Gatlinburg- Pittman High School, where he was valedictorian of his class. A bright young man, Justin received an undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University before attending Vanderbilt's Owen Graduate School of Management where he met Stephanie, a native of Lexington, KY. Justin and Stephanie's journey is inspiring. Two young people from small towns, they set out on a journey to explore the world and to broaden their horizons. They moved to Brussels in 2014. Justin worked for Clarcor, a Franklin, TN, manufacturing company, and Stephanie worked for Mars. They had a bright future ahead of them--a future that was stolen by terror. To their family members and to all who loved them, we offer our prayers and deepest sympathies as we mourn their passing. We also extend condolences to all of the families who lost loved ones and to the people of Belgium. I also thank the many individuals and organizations that were instrumental in helping Justin's and Stephanie's families in the aftermath of the attack. They include the State Department, the FBI, the consulate in Brussels, Delta Airlines, Justin's and Stephanie's companies, Clarcor and Mars, and members of my staff, especially Bess McWherter. From Chattanooga to Paris, San Bernardino, Brussels, and beyond, we have seen unimaginable events unfold before our eyes. It is clear the fight against evil will be a long-term struggle. To protect our citizens, we must deepen our partnership with Europe and other allies to defeat ISIS and other terrorists so no more families will have to deal with the heartbreak Justin's and Stephanie's families face today. We mourn their passing, we honor their lives, and we renew our commitment to fight against this evil. With that, I yield the floor to our distinguished senior Senator Lamar Alexander.

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 ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Madam President, I rise to speak about the discharge vote that will take place momentarily. I just want to say that I know that many people in our country and certainly in this body have significant frustrations with the country of Pakistan. This Senator is one of those. I have been to Afghanistan multiple times. I have visited Pakistan multiple times. Our relationship is one that is very complex. Certainly, Pakistan has been duplicitous in many ways with us relative to their relationship with the Taliban and with Al Qaeda and, certainly and most importantly, as it relates to this particular topic, the Haqqani network. Our country has worked with them to clear out the FATA areas, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. I think most of us have seen the work that has taken place there, and they have worked with us closely in that regard. There still are issues undoubtedly that exist relative to their relationship with the Haqqani network, in particular, but also the Taliban. At the same time, there are negotiations that are underway that are very important to create a lasting peace in Afghanistan. Even though they play both sides of the fence--and I understand that--and even though we have concerns about their relationship with the Haqqani network, they do play a role relative to how those negotiations are taking place. I have issues with them. I think everyone in the country of Pakistan by this point knows that I have issues with them, at least those who are paying attention to this issue. What this discharge petition is about today is that it is voting to discharge something to the Senate floor so that there can be a vote on ending the allowance of a sale of some fighter jets. These will be U.S.-made fighter jets. In spite of some of the rhetoric around this, this has nothing to do with the potential subsidy that could take place by U.S. taxpayers. This is about one thing. It is about whether we as a country would prefer for Pakistan to buy American-made fighter jets or whether we would prefer for them to buy Russian jets or French jets. This is what this is about. There are some issues that people have raised about potential subsidies for this. I know Senator Cardin, who is on the floor right now, and myself both have a hold on that--a hold to ensure that there is some behavior changes that take place in Pakistan before any U.S. dollars go toward this sale. But this vote is not about that. This vote is a vote about whether we believe that countries around the world are better off buying U.S. made materials or whether we think they should buy them from Russia or France. That is what this is about in its entirety. We are seeking some behavior changes with Pakistan relative to how they are dealing with the Taliban, with how they are dealing with the Haqqani network. It is something that General Campbell, who has been in charge of Afghanistan from a military standpoint, has pushed for. We are working closely with our military and others to try to effect the behavior changes that are necessary for us to have an appropriate response in Afghanistan--but this is a foreign policy issue. Again, everyone in this body, thankfully, is very concerned about our foreign policy. Foreign policy, I might say, sometimes has to have a degree of nuance to it. We are working with people and with relationships that matter. It matters deeply to the people who we have on the ground, the men and women in uniform in Afghanistan and other places. Our efforts around foreign policy are to do everything we can to ensure we are not utilizing men and women in uniform to solve a problem, because that happens when diplomacy fails. So this is a very nuanced topic, and I can just say that the Senate deciding en bloc to block a sale to Pakistan of U.S.-made fighter jets is going to be a huge public embarrassment to the country of Pakistan, and there are better ways, in my opinion, for solving this problem. All of us want to see the behavior change, and I am privileged to be in a position to have some effect on the financing, as does Senator Cardin, and we can deal with this issue in a more nuanced way. I know some people will say that this is a great thing for back home. Our people back home will love this. Surely, surely, in this body when it comes to dealing with a country with nuclear arms and dealing with Afghanistan, where we have been for 14 years, how we deal with foreign policy will rise above just the immediate response and maybe misunderstandings even that people back home can have about this type of issue. This relationship with Pakistan needs to move beyond the transactional way that it is carried out. I understand that. I understand that people are frustrated. But at the end of the day, our goal here as representatives of the United States is to see through good things happening for our country. That is what foreign policy is about. It is about pursuing our national interests. It is my strong belief that the Senate's voting today, in essence, to begin the process of denying Pakistan the ability to purchase U.S. fighter jets is not a way to engender things that are good for our own U.S. national interests. A better way is for us to continue to put pressure on them as we are doing at present, placing holds on financing until they do some things to change their behavior and work with us more fully relative to the Haqqani network, in particular, but also Al Qaeda and the Taliban. So I would urge my fellow citizens and fellow Senators to please think about the long-term interests of our country, to think about when a country is radicalized and has so many problems as the country of Pakistan has, the public embarrassment that will take place by our body doing this. Let's work together in other ways that actually can generate behavior change by dealing with this in a more subtle way than this blunt object that we are dealing with today. I want to close with this--and I know Senator Cardin wants to speak, and I know he has a meeting to go to. What we are voting on, if we discharge this, is that we are voting on whether we would rather for Pakistan to purchase U.S.-made fighter jets, which carry with that at least 30 years of maintenance, meaning that every single year the United States would be involved with these fighter jets. We could withdraw that at any time if we thought their behavior continued to be such that we didn't want to support it. It can stop. It maintains our leverage with Pakistan over the longer haul. That is what our selling them these pieces of equipment does. It maintains our leverage over them. Today, publicly embarrassing them and sending them to Russia or to France to buy fighter jets ends that leverage and humiliates them at a time when, in spite of the fact that we don't like some of the things they do, it in essence damages our ability to continue the negotiations that are taking place relative to trying to bring a more lasting peace in Afghanistan. I thank you for the time, Madam President. I yield the floor for my good friend and ranking member on the Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Cardin.

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. 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, 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 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.