Bob Corker

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. I thank the minority leader for his comments, and I yield a moment to Senator Crapo, who played an outstanding role as the leader of our committee.

Mr. CORKER. I yield the floor to Senator Menendez.

Mr. CORKER. I thank the Senator from New Jersey for his outstanding leadership on Iran and his leadership on Russia and North Korea. He has led us for years and years in sanctioning Iran and has brought them to the table. I thank him for that. For those who are here and want to vote, I am going to yield 1 minute to Senator Gardner. I am going to speak for about a minute and a half, and to my knowledge, we will be ready to vote. I thank all of my colleagues for their patience. Senator Gardner.

Mr. CORKER. I thank the Senator for his leadership on North Korea, and I thank him for speaking. Mr. President, I will be very brief, as I normally am. This bill has taken passion, tenacity, and all of us working together to bring out the best in this body and to get to this point where we are today. I want to thank everybody who has been involved. Senator Cardin has been an outstanding ranking member. As always, we worked together, just as we did today on another markup, to get to where we are. We have Senators Crapo and Brown. I think there were about four committees working to get this piece of legislation out. It was an incredible effort working around the clock for days and nights. I want to thank them for their leadership. I want to thank Senator Menendez, again, for his involvement, in particular on Iran, but on all of these issues. Certainly, thanks go to Senators McCain and Graham for their tremendous leadership in beginning the process, especially on Russia. Thank you so much. Thank you, Senator Schumer and Senator McConnell, for giving us the freedom to operate under regular order, the freedom to operate in the committee process, which I know all of us long to get to on all issues that we deal with here, and thank you to all of those Members who have been so involved. Our staffs have been incredible. Thank you so much for the professionalism, the knowledge, the energy, and the willingness to work late hours to make this happen. The attributes of this legislation have been discussed. I think we all are ready for this moment. We are all ready to speak to what Russia has done to our country and to others, to speak to what Iran is doing outside of the nuclear agreement, and to speak to what North Korea continues to do. One attribute that hasn't been spoken to is this: It has been my goal as chairman, working with the ranking member, that Congress continue to be more and more relevant and to garner back the powers that we have given to the executive branch for decades. One of the most important attributes of this legislation is the congressional review, where, when major decisions are made, Congress is involved; Congress has a say. I hope we will build upon that, not only in foreign policy but in other matters. I want to thank all involved. I urge a strong vote on this piece of legislation that sends a strong message to Iran, to Russia, and to North Korea. With that, I yield the floor.

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

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I thank my friend, the senior Senator from Tennessee, Mr. Alexander, for his eloquent comments about this great nomination. I also thank him again, as I have many times, for the outstanding relationship he developed with Japan that has borne so much fruit for the citizens in our State and so many States across the Southeast. I thank him very much for that. I rise today also to offer my strong support for the nomination of Bill Hagerty to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to Japan. Bill is one of the most outstanding appointments that President Trump has made, and his confirmation is long overdue. The relationship between the United States and Japan speaks for itself, and hosting Prime Minister Abe as one of the first visitors speaks to how the Trump administration and our country feel about Japan. As a fellow Tennessean, I have had the privilege of knowing Bill Hagerty and his family on a personal level. I have seen him in business and the outstanding things he has done there. I have seen him represent our State as commissioner of economic development, and he caused it to be one of the most heralded States in the country relative to job creation. Much of that had to do with his ability to deal with other governments around the world and cause them to be attracted to our State. I also know that he and his wife Chrissy actually met in Japan, so this is an exciting time and sort of a homecoming for their family. There is no one more well-suited to fill this important role, and I know our Nation will benefit from Bill's leadership and experience as he carries on the tremendous legacy of U.S. Ambassadors to Japan, including the late Howard Baker, another fellow Tennessean. I am really, really proud of this nomination and know that Bill will represent the very best of our country during his service in Japan. I strongly urge my colleagues to support this confirmation. This is long overdue, and I know he will be going to Japan at a time when we truly need an ambassador with his capacity. I yield the floor. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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, 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 ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, as in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 210, submitted earlier today.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I know of no further debate on the measure.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Secretary of the Senate be directed to request the return of the papers for S. 722 from the House of Representatives.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I have six requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They do not have the approval of the Democratic leader for the eighth consecutive legislative day; therefore, they will not be permitted to meet after 1 p.m. I ask unanimous consent that the list of committees requesting authority to meet be printed in the Record.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

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 ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand adjourned under the previous order.

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. Then there will be a series of votes, with no comments made in advance of those votes; is that correct?

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I am not involving myself in this debate. I just want to say to Senator McCain: You demonstrated yesterday the best of the U.S. Senate when an issue like this arose, and instead of blocking a vote, you said you were glad to have a vote. You are obviously in strong disagreement with the substance of this amendment. I just want to tell you how much I personally appreciate your allowing a vote on this, the role you played in all things Russia and Iran, your forceful nature on these issues, your great leadership, and the role you have played in getting us today to a vote that isn't requiring cloture, where you have allowed this amendment to take place. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate that and appreciate the role you play in this body.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, it is my understanding that Senator Cardin and I will speak for a few moments, and then we will have three votes, one of which will be on the RD-180 issue, one of which will be on the NATO issue, and then final passage; is that correct? Am I correct in that?

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I will be very brief, and we will split our time. I want to say that, to me, today the U.S. Senate is functioning in the way our Founders intended for it to function. It has been my goal, since the beginning of my leadership on the Foreign Relations Committee, for our committee and for this Senate to reaffirm its role in foreign policy issues. Today, the U.S. Senate, in a time of uncertainty around our Nation and uncertainty about some of our foreign policy issues, is asserting its responsibilities as it relates to foreign policy for the United States of America. I thank Senators on both sides of the aisle for the role they have played in getting us here. This is a very strong piece of legislation that in many ways has almost occurred under the radar screen because of the way it has been done. The fact that we have had no cloture vote, the fact that we are having amendments, as has been discussed before, and the fact that this legislation sends a very strong signal to Russia that the nefarious activities they have been involved in--it does the same with Iran, with the activities outside of the JCPOA that they have been involved in, affirming our commitment to NATO, which we will do to article 5, NATO, in just a few moments. I thank this body. I thank Leaders McConnell and Schumer for allowing the environment to exist for us to work in the manner we have. I thank our ranking member, Senator Cardin, and those members--Senator Crapo and Brown and others--who have played such a significant role. Senator McCain is on the floor, Senator Graham, Senator Rubio, Senator Menendez, Senator Shaheen--so many members who have gotten us to this place. This is a great moment for the U.S. Senate. This is the way the Senate is supposed to function, and this is the way the Senate is supposed to exercise its prerogatives as it relates to foreign policy, a great moment for our body. Senator Cardin.