Steve Daines

Mr. DAINES

Mr. DAINES. I would suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. DAINES

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, I have@requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority leaders. Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate: Committee on the Judiciary The Committee on the Judiciary is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, June 11, 2020, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing nominations. Special Committee on Aging The Special Committee on Aging is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, June 11, 2020, at 9:30 a.m., to conduct a hearing on nominations.

Mr. DAINES

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, it is an honor to stand here today in support of one of the most historic pieces of conservation legislation in decades--some are saying 50 years. The Great American Outdoors Act will have a lasting impact on generations to come. That is why, as Montana's voice in the Senate, I am standing here today to make the Great American Outdoors Act a reality. Over the last few days, we have seen very strong bipartisan support both here in the Senate and around the Nation. Senators from both sides of the aisle, representing States all across our great Nation, have been coming down to the floor to share stories and photos and to show support for the bill. It is a very personal piece of legislation because we all love the outdoors. At this point, plenty of us have spoken in support of this bill, but today I want to share some quotes from Montanans who are also in support of the Great American Outdoors Act. David Brooks from Montana Trout Unlimited says: As the Senate takes up the legislation this week, we are also excited to see progress on addressing decades of maintenance backlogs on our public lands that benefit our wild and native fish and their habitat. Speaking of trout, this picture was taken at the Yellowstone River. The main channel is over here. There is a little side channel as well. That is Emigrant Peak. That is in a valley called Paradise Valley. It is appropriately named. It is south of Livingston--between Livingston and Gardiner. If you were to come visit Yellowstone National Park, one of the entrances is in Gardiner, and that would be on the way to Yellowstone Park. As I mentioned before, that is, in fact, where in 1979 we had our high school homecoming dinner, and I proudly took a date in a Griswold station wagon with some couples, and we drove down to Chico's. It is right by where this picture was taken. There are a lot of memories when I see a picture like that. There was a lot of fish caught as I fished that river many, many times. I do it several times a summer. Ben Horan with Mountain Bike Missoula says: There is a good reason the Land and Water Conservation Fund has enjoyed bipartisan support since the 1960s. It is just good policy. For more than 55 years, LWCF has supported and funded open spaces and public lands that we in Montana rely on for our work, for our play, and for our way of life. Kyle Weaver from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation had this to say: This important conservation program allowed the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation to complete more than 80 land protection and access projects that conserved more than 152,000 acres of habitat for elk and other wildlife. RMEF strongly urges Members of the Senate and House to rally alongside Senator Daines, pass this measure, and forward it to President Trump's desk so it can be signed into law. Land Tawny with the Backcountry Hunters and Anglers said this: Sportsmen and women have been the leading voices in this effort to fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund as well as providing maintenance funding for the agencies that manage places critical for public access and fish and wildlife. Our public lands and our waters have traditionally been places of refuge, of solace, and of adventure. Never has this been truer than right now when we need to recenter and get our minds right. Now is the most strategic time for investing in these places of refuge by funding shovel-ready projects that sustain important habitat, increase public access opportunities, and get people back to work. Mayor Bill Cole of Billings said: Over the years, Billings has received almost $2 million to fund construction repairs on our parks. The Great American Outdoors Act will be a great help as we plan future projects that address the backlog of maintenance needs. Parks and trails are critical to our Western quality of life, they attract visitors, and they support our economy. The city manager of Great Falls, Greg Doyle, said this: For many years, the city has utilized the LWCF appropriations to complete a wide variety of projects. These projects help support and develop park land and recreational facilities for Great Falls residents and visitors. Alex Kitchens with the Mystery Ranch. The Mystery Ranch--that sounds kind of mysterious, doesn't it? They actually make some of the best backpacks in America. In fact, when my wife and I and children get out in the wilderness area every summer, we all are carrying Mystery Ranch backpacks. They are some of the very best. In fact, in the early days of this company, back in the seventies when I was going to high school in Bozeman, I had a Kletterworks pack. Kletterworks was the precursor to Mystery Ranch. In fact, the book bag that I then took to Montana State University and carried my books in throughout my college experience in Bozeman--I took that same pack to the top of Granite Peak, our highest point in Montana, and the summit of the Grand Teton, just south of Montana there--beautiful country outside of Jackson, WY. It was a small pack. We went very ultralight with bivy bags, kind of a sense of a quick up and down because of weather. We wanted to get up there quickly on both peaks, and we made it. That was the precursor to the Mystery Ranch, which are the packs we have today. They are larger packs. You can carry more weight into the backcountry. Alex said this: The Great American Outdoors Act is landmark conservation to protect our public lands. The full funding of the LWCF is a benefit to our parks and our forests at the local and State level. We have Glenn Marx with the Montana Association of Land Trusts. I will quote Glenn: Passage of the Great American Outdoors Act means LWCF funding and tremendous rural community, national park, and outdoor recreation economic benefits for Montana and the nation. More legislative steps to go. Let's finish the journey. I couldn't agree more, Glenn. Finally, I want to highlight a letter. It is a letter signed by every former Secretary of the Interior, from Secretary Babbitt, who served in 1993, to Montana's very own Secretary Ryan Zinke. In fact, Ryan and I were Boy Staters together back in 1979. Ryan was a junior, soon to be a senior, at Whitefish High School, and I was a junior, soon to be senior, at Boozman High in 1979. Little did we know when we were Boy Staters then that Ryan, after a distinguished military career in the U.S. Navy as a Navy SEAL, would go on to be our Secretary of the Interior. The letter says this: ``The Great American Outdoors Act will help ensure a better, brighter future for nature and for all of us.'' By the way, if you look at those Secretaries, those are Secretaries who served under Democratic Presidents and Republican Presidents. Needless to say, Montana has its fair share of support for the Great American Outdoors Act, and the list of support goes on. Montanans know what it takes to conserve their public lands. Ensuring full mandatory funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund will make sure our public lands are managed correctly and that Montanans and Americans around the country will have better access to share public lands. Dealing with the $12 billion maintenance backlog in our national parks will be so beneficial for the employees who are working so hard in national parks. We are seeing record visitation levels in many of our parks, but our employee housing in many cases is terrible-- crumbling infrastructure, wastewater treatment systems that are in desperate need of repair and upgrades. That maintenance backlog needs to be addressed, and that will improve the visitor experience. When I think about our national parks, I think of these parks as the office of first impression. For visitors who come to our great country from around the world, when they visit our national parks, they leave with a profound impression. It is what sets America apart from any other country--our national parks, our outdoor heritage, and preserving and protecting that for generations to come. The Great American Outdoors Act will directly impact everybody who visits, who recreates, and who enjoys our public lands. This will be truly one of those defining moments for conservation that so many will remember for generations to come. It is one of these laws that we will pass, and when the President signs it, it will truly be a legacy for future generations. It makes me smile just knowing that so many others will be able to have our public lands to enjoy, just as my wife and I and my children all have done and continue to do, once we pass the Great American Outdoors Act. Thank you. I yield back.

Mr. DAINES

Mr. DAINES. Madam President, this month will forever mark a historic moment for conservation across this Nation when the U.S. Senate votes on one of the most important conservation bills in decades. The Great American Outdoors Act isn't just about tomorrow, next week, or even next year. This is a bipartisan bill about the future of our children and grandchildren, about legacy, about their ability to enjoy and access our great outdoors and our public lands. Standing here today, I can tell you there aren't too many issues, unfortunately, that bring both Republicans and Democrats together, but protecting our public lands for future generations is something that brings us all here together. Just yesterday, we saw a major bipartisan step forward to getting this bill across the finish line--an 80-to-17 vote to move forward with this important bill. Today, I am joining my Senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle to share how important it is that we pass the Great American Outdoors Act as soon as possible. Many may ask: Well, how is it, then, that we have finally built enough bipartisan momentum to get this across the finish line? Well, over a year and a half ago, my colleagues and I passed a historic bipartisan public lands package that permanently authorized the Land and Water Conservation Fund--a critical conservation program in Montana and across the country. In fact, as I am standing here, I am looking across the Chamber at the ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia. This is what it is all about in Washington. This is what should be happening more and more. When Senators who sit on opposite sides of the Senate Chamber because of the way we sit, with Democrats on one side, Republicans on the other--here we are together. We are not fighting each other right now. We are talking about how we are going to come together and pass this. This is a great moment for our Nation--a time when we need to come together--and, once again, it is public lands that are pulling us together instead of dividing us. Back in February, just a few months ago, I sat down in the Roosevelt Room with Senator Gardner, Leader McConnell, and President Trump to see what it would take to get full, mandatory funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund and how we can fix this maintenance backlog, which is plaguing our national parks and our public lands, across the finish line. In fact, I shared several of Montana's Land and Water Conservation Fund funded projects and shared how vital this funding is for Montana and those who visit. Seventy percent of our fishing accesses in Montana are funded by LWCF. The President listened. I remember he sat back in his chair. He commented how beautiful the landscapes were that he saw in these pictures. He said that we need to get this across the finish line, and he said that he would sign it into law as soon as we did so. Protecting and preserving our public lands play a direct role in our Montana way of life. In fact, this picture is of the Yellowstone River. It is not far from Chico. I remember as a kid, back in the sixties, having church potlucks at Chico. I remember in 1979 I took the family Griswold station wagon, including the brown veneer on the side of it--wood veneer--with several of my high school classmates. That is where we had our homecoming dance dinner, at Chico, just a few miles from where this picture was taken. I have spent countless days hiking the Beartooth Wilderness area, fishing the Gallatin and the Yellowstone, shown here, enjoying all of Montana's great outdoors in every corner of our State with my sweet wife Cindy, our four children, and our dogs Ruby and Reagan. In fact, take a look at some of these photos. These are photos I have taken on my phone in some of Montana's public lands. That is Ruby, and there is Reagan. This was up in the Beartooth Wilderness area a few years ago. In fact, I have another picture here, one of Ruby. We like to take our dogs along because this is wild country. This is country where there are a lot of grizzly bears, and having your dog along oftentimes can be a good deterrent, along with some bear spray. There is Ruby up at what is called the Mount Villard Spires. In fact, Granite Peak, the highest point in Montana, was one of the last summited high points in the lower 48 when it was climbed. Granite Peak is just around the corner. I summited that back during my college years. I can tell you, when I talk about public lands and protecting them and making sure we preserve that for generations to come, this is not some kind of theoretical discussion. This something that I live and breathe personally. During the August recess, when we get to leave this town, when it is hot and humid in DC, I get to be up in the wilderness areas of Montana--we do that every August--where the area is crisp, the air is clean. That is why, as Montana's voice in the U.S. Senate, I am standing here today, fighting to bring this vote to the floor and to make the Great American Outdoors Act a reality. Many folks may not understand the importance of the Land and Water Conservation Fund and what it means for Montana and States across our country. Let's go over a few important facts. The Land and Water Conservation Fund is critical for public access to public lands. As an avid outdoorsman, a hunter, and a fly fisherman, I understand the importance of our public lands. This program helps connect trails. It funds over 70 percent of Montana's fishing access, and it does much more than that. The Land and Water Conservation Fund provides certainty to land managers, sportsmen, and conservation groups. The Land and Water Conservation money invests in Montana's outdoor economy, and it helps create jobs in our rural and gateway communities. Let me tell you something. They are struggling right now because our national parks were closed for too long, and they need this boost by getting this passed. Speaking of the outdoor recreation economy, Montana contributes over $7 billion and supports 71,000 jobs in Montana alone. In fact, 81 percent of Montanans participate in outdoor recreation every year--81 percent. In fact, every $1 million invested in the Land and Water Conservation Fund creates between 16 and 30 jobs. The Land and Water Conservation Fund costs the taxpayers nothing. Let me say that again. It costs the taxpayers nothing, and it promotes energy development. Now, here is the balance we need in our Nation: to continue to develop energy independence and global energy dominance by developing American natural resources, and at the same time the revenues coming off of there are used for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Here is the balance between the two: promoting natural resource development and promoting conservation. This program is primarily funded by oil and gas revenue, and it makes conservation inextricably linked to a strong energy sector, which means the Land and Water Conservation money is already paid for. Through the Forest Legacy side of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, we will see the promotion of working forests to get our mills back up and running and help support and create good-paying timber jobs. It will do a much better job of managing our national forests because we will thin them and reduce the risk of wildfires. Perhaps you may have heard otherwise, but this program actually helps promote better land management. The Land and Water Conservation Fund acts as an important tool for land managers and agencies to address checkerboard land ownership. I decided today to bring pictures of the beautiful landscapes in Montana. I could have gotten a little more technical and showed the checkerboard nature of land ownership in a place like Montana and why we need LWCF to provide better access to our public lands. Because we have 1.5 million acres of Federal land in Montana that is landlocked, Montana directly benefits from the Land and Water Conservation Fund projects that work to consolidate land ownership. You will have a private end holding, you will have a State piece, and another Federal piece in this checkerboard nature, and by consolidating it and working with willing sellers, we can make the overall landscape management easier for agencies and private landowners and provide better access. The Land and Water Conservation Fund supports locally driven solutions from the ground up. These are collaborative projects that have local support. The LWCF is authorized at $900 million annually. However, we aren't seeing nearly that much appropriated from that fund every year. In fact, only twice, since it was enacted going back to 1964, have we seen funding levels at $900 million, and that was the original congressional intent. Let's be clear. What we are doing here by passing this bill is bringing it back to what Congress intended when it was first originated back in the midsixties. Mandatory funding for the Great American Outdoors Act would create certainty for land managers that the full $900 million goes toward this program every year moving forward. It is so important because some of these complex checkerboard land ownership structures take many years to sort out. Now we have certainty. If there is someplace with a lot of uncertainty, it is the U.S. Congress. This removes one of those uncertainties from Congress going forward. We must not forget about the other critical aspect of the Great American Outdoors Act: addressing the maintenance backlog facing our national parks, our forests, and our public lands. We are seeing record levels of visitation in our public lands. As I think about our national parks, I call them our office of first impression. I believe they are what set us apart from the rest of the world. People come from all over the world to see our national parks. They are unique, and it is part of the amazing American experience. With this increased visitation every year, our park infrastructure has inevitably experienced a lot of wear and tear. We are fraying a lot on the edges. While this is a good indicator that folks around the world love to enjoy our parks in Montana, we must address the maintenance backlog to ensure that folks continue to come and enjoy what we refer to in Montana as the ``Last Best Place.'' If you look at some of these pictures, I think you might agree with me. Today, there is nearly $20 billion in maintenance backlog on our public lands, forests, wildlife refuges, and parks, and $12 billion of that is for our national parks, including $700 million in Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks and over $34 million in Montana's smaller national parks. Addressing this $12 billion backlog through the Great American Outdoors Act will play a vital role in getting our national parks back on track. This will create jobs, support our gateway and rural communities, and enhance visitor experience and safety. The restoration of our national parks could generate over 100,000 additional jobs at a time when our economy needs that kind of boost. While this was an issue we have been working on for years with Members on both sides of this infamous aisle, this is needed maybe now more than ever. Montanans are raised to love and respect the outdoors. Only once in a great while does such a historic piece of conservation legislation come along--perhaps once every 50 years. It is essential to protect and maintain access to these lands for future generations. It is my highest honor to serve the people of Montana in the U.S. Senate. I encourage my colleagues to join us in supporting this great piece of legislation, one that has helped bring a divided government together. I believe it is a conservative principle to conserve, and I will always continue fighting for that principle. I know I and my colleagues here today are ready to get this done. Montanans know what it takes to practice conservative principles and work to conserve their public lands. Now it is time for Congress to come together in a bipartisan way and support the Great American Outdoors Act I yield the floor.

Mr. DAINES

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be allowed to finish my remarks prior to the vote.

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, today we have the opportunity to make history in the U.S. Senate. Together, we can move forward with passing one of the most important conservation bills in decades. In fact, standing here today, I can tell you something. There are not many issues that bring Republicans and Democrats together, but something actually does that, and that is protecting our public lands. If you remember, about a year and a half ago, we passed a major bipartisan lands package where we permanently authorized a conservation program--something we are here to talk about today--and that is the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Today we have the opportunity to move forward on this bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act, a conservation bill that will provide full and permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund and finally tackle this massive maintenance backlog that is plaguing our public lands, including our national parks. How we got here today isn't by chance. In fact, on February 27, I sat down with my colleague Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado, Leader McConnell, and President Trump in the White House--we were in the Roosevelt room, in fact--to pitch a simple idea: Let's set aside political gridlock, and let's pass the most important conservation law in decades. In fact, I showed the President of the United States, President Trump, pictures of land and water conservation projects in Montana--the Tenderfoot Creek and the Falls Creek projects--and we talked about the importance of this program in places like Montana. As a fifth-generation Montanan, I know just how important our public lands are to protecting and preserving our Montana way of life, from fishing on the Yellowstone River to summiting Granite Peak, which I did back in college--in fact, the week after that, I summited the Grand Teton down in Wyoming--or backpacking in The Barracks, which we do virtually every summer. I have enjoyed our great outdoors, and this is an appreciation and something that Cindy and I have passed on to our four children. In fact, I proposed to my sweet wife Cindy on top of Hyalite Peak, a peak over 10,000 feet just south of Bozeman, in July of 1986. Montana is a place where you can still go down to Walmart and buy an elk tag or deer tag over the counter and, literally, within minutes have access to our public lands to hunt and fish. As Montana's voice in the U.S. Senate, I have made it one of my highest priorities to protect and expand access to our public lands, and the Land and Water Conservation Fund is a critical tool for accomplishing that. Think about this for a moment: Over 70 percent of the fishing accesses across Montana are funded through this conservation program. Sportsmen, conservationists, and outdoor enthusiasts will agree that this program is critical for conservation and important for protecting our great outdoor heritage and our Montana way of life. This conservation program is important for creating and protecting jobs for our outdoor economy. This program is also an important tool for land managers and agencies to address the checkerboard land ownership. We see that in Montana. Addressing that checkerboard ownership makes a lot of sense. You see, over 1\1/2\ million acres of Federal land in our State sit entirely landlocked. In many cases, specific land and water conservation projects in Montana will help consolidate land ownership that can make overall landscape management less complicated and easier for agencies. In fact, the Land and Water Conservation Fund was passed with the intent to be funded at $900 million per year, and, every single year, $900 million plus goes into that trust account, but nowhere close to that level of funding is actually appropriated In reality, if Congress wanted to, they don't have to fund the program at all. In fact, only twice--going back to 1965--has it been funded at the $900 million mark. What we see each year is the Land and Water Conservation Fund gets raided by Congress, and millions of dollars are spent on other programs. Mandatory funding would create certainty for land managers that the full $900 million goes toward that program every year moving forward. Now, we must also support and preserve our country's beloved national parks. Our national parks are what set us apart from the rest of the world. I like to think of them as our office of first impressions, and we need to do a better job taking care of them, be better stewards. With record visitations and increased visitation each year, park infrastructure has inevitably experienced wear and tear, and this has led to a significant maintenance backlog. Today, there is nearly $12 billion in maintenance backlog facing our national parks across the Nation, including $700 million in Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks and an additional $34 million throughout the State in places like Little Bighorn Battlefield and the Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Park. The bill also addresses the backlog in our Forest Service, BLM, and Fish and Wildlife Service lands. In Montana, our forests are critical for outdoor recreation as well as our wood products industry. It makes sense that we protect and maintain access to these lands for future generations because the wonders of our public lands are unique to any other country in the world. Montanans were brought up with a love of the outdoors and a sense of responsibility to conserve as well as maintain them. To us, protecting our public lands is about preserving the way of life unique to our western frontier heritage. It is an honor to serve the people of Montana in the U.S. Senate and to bring this vote--a vote decades in the making--before the U.S. Senate today. I urge my Senate colleagues to stand with me to pass this bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act. I am ready to get this done for Montana. Future generations are counting on our vote today, and I believe, truly, it is a conservative principle to conserve. The Founders' vision for America was a frontier nation, a wild nation. What made America distinct from industrial Europe and all the other countries in the world was our outdoors, for, of course, what is America without Lewis and Clark? I will leave you with this last thought from Teddy Roosevelt. This was in the context of thinking about our national parks and our public lands: ``We have fallen heirs to the most glorious heritage a people ever received, and each one must do his part if we wish to show that the nation is worthy of its good fortune.'' I yield the floor. Cloture Motion

Mr. DAINES

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, this week I have the honor of recognizing Layla Eichler of Jefferson County for her passion for helping others build better lives. Layla Eichler is a treatment coordinator for the First Judicial District Treatment Court. Layla travels all across Montana to work with judges and their staff to create positive life changes for those who are suffering from substance dependency and substance abuse. Layla has been a passionate leader of her team since 2015, providing activities, resources, and kindness for participants in her program. Most importantly, she dedicates her time building a community for those impacted by the vicious cycle of addiction. Layla sacrifices her personal time and money to create activities for participants to enjoy and try something new. For example, every week she hikes a new location with the participants. Since December of 2019, the number of graduates through her program has reached close to 40. The number of drug-free babies born has increased from 11 to 13. Four GEDs have been obtained. Seven have enrolled in college or graduated. The lives Layla has touched have been made better by her unrelenting dedication to see her participants succeed. It is my honor to recognize Layla for her selfless efforts to support her fellow Montanans to build better lives for themselves, their families, and their communities.

Mr. DAINES

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, today the Senate passes my annual resolution to designate May 5 as National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls, for the fifth year in a row. We hope to continue drawing attention to this crisis as we work together to find a solution. I would also like to commend the work that the Trump administration has done to address this crisis. In particular, they have established the Lady Justice Program at the Department of the Interior and issued a proclamation on November 26, 2019, to sustain public attention on this ongoing and important situation.

Mr. DAINES

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, this week I have the honor of recognizing Jill LeBlanc of Broadwater County for her tremendous efforts to support the community during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Jill is a certified physician assistant working on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic at the Broadwater Health Center. During the early stages of the pandemic, when the State of Montana was responding to its first cases and health clinics were still navigating procedures on how to handle the COVID-19 outbreak, Jill dropped everything to go serve. She moved out of her home to keep her children safe and spent countless hours at the hospital educating herself and the staff at Broadwater Health Center with the necessary information and up to date procedures on how to handle the outbreak. Jill spent one-on-one time with each nurse on her shift to provide consistent updates and guidance on CDC guidelines, proper protective equipment protocols, how to handle isolated patients, and methods to conduct testing for COVID-19, both inside the Broadwater Health Center and through the drive-thru triage system. When Jill is not working at Broadwater Health Center, she spends additional time sharpening her skills at Deer Lodge Medical Center and Benefis, where volumes of patients are higher. It is my honor to recognize Jill as a health care hero working to protect the health and safety of all Montanans during these uncertain times. I know that the staff and the patients at Broadwater Health Center are grateful for Jill's selflessness and leadership during this pandemic. I am grateful to Jill for the extraordinary work she is doing to support her community.

Mr. DAINES

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, this week I have the honor of recognizing Darcy Schindler of Granite County for his tremendous efforts to support his community during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Darcy has been a committed and passionate science teacher over the past 27 years. He joined the teaching ranks at Drummond High School 20 years ago, where he continues to mentor and encourage countless students. When the coronavirus pandemic began spreading across the country, Darcy was hearing stories from his friends working in the medical and dental fields, that they were having a tough time finding protective masks. Darcy decided to take action and began volunteering his time and resources to create protective masks for our healthcare heroes and first responders on the frontlines of this ongoing coronavirus pandemic in Montana. With the school's permission, Darcy used the school's 3D printer to produce the protective masks. With support from those in the community, along with his own time and resources, Darcy has shipped well over 100 masks across Montana. He has not taken any payments for his shipments. He only asks that they instead make a donation to the Drummond Schools Science Fund to help his students. It is my honor to recognize Darcy Schindler for his efforts to support our healthcare heroes and our first responders. His selflessness and commitment to serve others is an extraordinary example of how Montanans are stepping up in the face of this pandemic to help one another. I thank Darcy Schindler for his efforts to help the Drummond community and communities all across Montana.

Mr. DAINES

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, Americans want their privacy protected. For far too long, the Patriot Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, commonly referred to as FISA, have been used to trample the civil liberties of American citizens. For Montanans, the right to privacy is so fundamental that it is enshrined in our own constitution. In fact, very few States have such protections, but the drafters of the Montana Constitution recognized that privacy was essential to exercising all of the other freedoms that we hold so dear. The bill the U.S. House has sent us does have some good reforms, and it has some good provisions in it, including a provision from my bipartisan bill with my colleague from Oregon, Senator Wyden, called the Safeguarding Americans' Private Records Act, which would revoke the now terminated call detail record program, which secretly collected data on our cell phones and our land lines, as well as on our private conversations. Yet the House bill fails to enact real reforms to FISA that will actually protect the privacy of the American people. We saw what a handful of scornful government bureaucrats did to President Trump when they abused FISA to serve their political motives. Our own government spied on an American citizen--a political adviser to then-Candidate Trump--with no oversight. What happened to President Trump can happen to anybody for any purpose, and that is a very serious problem. Republican or Democrat, we can't allow the abuse of our government intelligence services to be used for political attacks. It puts our democracy in danger, and it undermines the trust and the confidence that our citizens place in these same institutions that are meant to protect them. The House bill fails to prohibit the warrantless searches of browsing data in internet search history, and it fails to include any meaningful oversight and accountability. We need to get government out of our private lives and, instead, prioritize freedom and privacy. We can and must protect our national security and protect our civil liberties by making targeted reforms that will keep everyday Americans' privacy secure and continue to allow the government to go after the bad guys. The House bill does not go far enough, and we cannot compromise on an issue that is so vital to the very foundations of our government. Montanans sent me to Congress to get government off their backs, and I am working not only to get government off their backs but to get government out of their phones, out of their computers, and out of their private lives. At the end of the day, this is about protecting privacy, and today, this day, we have the opportunity to get these reforms right. I have been working on behalf of Montanans, with my Senate colleagues across the aisle, to ensure we take a very bipartisan approach to this issue In speaking on the Wyden-Daines amendment we will be voting on shortly, my bipartisan amendment is simple. It protects all Americans' civil liberties by prohibiting the collection of browser data and internet search history under section 215 of the Patriot Act. Browser data is some of the most personal and revealing information that can be collected on private citizens. Your internet search history can reveal extremely intimate information, including personal health data, religious beliefs, political beliefs, where you might go on your next vacation, even what you bought for your mom this past Mother's Day. I don't think the government should have access to such private information without a warrant. Section 215 of the Patriot Act is supposed to investigate potential terrorists, not spy on our own Americans' browser data. Let me be clear. My amendment doesn't stop the intelligence community from doing its job. I am grateful for our intelligence community, and it doesn't prevent it from doing its job or from accessing the data it needs to keep Americans safe. It simply requires our intelligence agencies to abide by the Constitution and work within our Nation's laws, which means requesting a probable cause warrant to get this type of information. That means they might have to go to a judge and prove they have a valid reason to believe that someone is involved in espionage or in a possible terrorism operation. Without my bipartisan amendment, the government will be able to access browser data through the secret 215 spy program with little to no oversight. At the end of the day, this is about securing our most basic Fourth Amendment rights, to protect our citizens' most personal data. In fact, recently, the Supreme Court found in the Carpenter decision that the government needed a warrant to access cell site location data because of how personal and invasive that information is. The current House bill before us does have a prohibition for the collection of cell site location data under section 215, and that is a good thing. My amendment simply extends this prohibition to include browser data and internet search history, which is even more sensitive and personal than location data. I agree with many of my colleagues that we need to have the tools in place to help find and stop our Nation's enemies, those who seek to harm America. We all agree on that, but we also need to make sure we are protecting Americans from our own government's spying and intervening in our personal lives. My amendment balances these important civil liberties and our national security by allowing the government to track down terrorists while also stopping them from violating the rights of law-abiding citizens. This is not a zero-sum game. We can have both. This amendment has strong bipartisan support. Senator Wyden and I have been working on this issue for months, and we are joined by a long list of bipartisan cosponsors, including Republican Senators Lee, Braun, and Cramer, as well as by Democratic Senators Leahy, Udall, Markey, and many more. The amendment is also supported by a diverse group of stakeholders across the political spectrum, from FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity on one end to the ACLU and Demand Progress on the other. Americans across the country overwhelmingly back this amendment. This is a core constitutional issue that brought a Democrat from Oregon together with a Republican from Montana. Montanans and Oregonians may have different priorities, but we all believe strongly in the right to privacy, in protecting our civil liberties, and in preserving our American way of life. I urge my Senate colleagues to stand with Senator Wyden and me to protect the privacy of all Americans, and I urge them to vote in favor of this amendment. Before I yield to Senator Wyden, I will also take a minute to speak in support of the Lee-Leahy amendment. This bipartisan amendment strengthens and clarifies the role and the authority of the amici in the FISA court. Unfortunately, we continue to see serious abuses and misuse of the FISA process. Most notably, the Department of Justice's inspector general found major abuses in applications to surveil President Trump's campaign adviser Carter Page. This abuse is just the tip of the iceberg. We need serious reforms that protect American citizens from government surveillance, and the Lee-Leahy amendment does just that. It gives Americans a fighting chance and brings some clarity and, importantly, some transparency to the FISA court. I encourage my colleagues to also join me in supporting this Lee-Leahy amendment. I see that my distinguished colleague and friend, the Senator from Oregon, Ron Wyden, is on the floor. I yield to Senator Wyden for his remarks.

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, this amendment is about protecting American privacy, about making sure that Government is not intruding on our most private data. It is about respecting the Constitution and the Fourth Amendment. The Wyden-Daines amendment simply prohibits the collection of browser and search history data under section 215. Browser data is extremely personal, sensitive, and should require a probable cause warrant to access. This data shouldn't be allowed to be collected behind closed doors with no traditional oversight. We can protect national security and protect the civil liberties and the constitutional rights of Americans at the same time. It is plain and simple. If you want to see an American's search history, than you better go to a judge and get a warrant. I yield the floor. Vote on Amendment No. 1583

Mr. DAINES

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, this week I have the honor of recognizing the Victory Sewers of Sanders County for volunteering their time to support their community during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. In the face of these challenging times, a group of nearly 45 Montanans in Sanders County have stepped up to sew gowns for the staff of Fork Valley Hospital. Volunteers have also used leftover materials to produce protective masks for our law enforcement and first responders. The group has made over 90 gowns and over 500 masks, which have been distributed to clinics in Thompson Falls, Hot Springs, and to various emergency service personnel across Sanders County. The Victory Sewers are comprised of Montanans from Plains, Paradise, Thompson Falls, Trout Creek, and Noxon. It is my honor to recognize the Victory Sewers of Sanders County for their efforts to support our healthcare heroes and those on the frontlines of this pandemic. The compassion and commitment of these extraordinary Montanans are an inspiration to us all.

Mr. DAINES

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. DAINES

Mr. DAINES. We are at war.

Mr. DAINES. Senator Graham, thank you for joining me here tonight. I wish the C-SPAN camera, for a moment, could pan this Chamber. It is empty. There are three Senators in this Chamber right now. Senator Rounds is the Presiding Officer from South Dakota. He has to be here because he is the Presiding Officer. Senator Graham is here, from South Carolina, and I am here. Senator Graham, this Chamber is empty tonight. We should be here, at this moment, voting. Our phones are ringing off the hook. Twenty-three hours ago--in fact, I was presiding--we were told that we were at the 1-yard line. The minority leader came down here and said: We are at the 1-yard line, and we are going to have discussions all night----

Mr. DAINES. I will.

Mr. DAINES. I have.

Mr. DAINES. We are at the 1-yard line, we were told last night. Negotiations would go all night. Everybody here said it has to be a good, bipartisan bill. But what we have right now is an economic emergency on our hands. This is like somebody has been seriously injured and called the ambulance, and we are debating right now about what color ambulance to send, while the patient is dying on the side of the sideline. Listen to some of these stories I had just today from the people of Montana. There is a 60-year-old woman who provides cleaning services in Ravalli County, south of Missoula. It is in the Bitterroot. It is a beautiful part of our State. She said that normal business is almost down to nothing because folks are scared to let her clean their homes and businesses because of the coronavirus. To make ends meet, she said she is even willing to do outside yard work during these times. She is worried about becoming homeless. This is a real story that came from a Montanan today. I posted a video, Senator Graham, about her plight and a couple of others I am going to share with you tonight. Here is a warming part of this story. We had Montanans hear about her situation, and they said: We are going to band together here and help her. We are going to hire her and try to make sure she doesn't become homeless, which is her current concern. Listen, we were told that we were at the 1-yard line last night to get this done. All I have to say is, the Senate may think it is at the 1-yard line right now, but Montanans are getting sacked. In fact, our unemployment claims in Montana since March 17--we just looked it up 15 minutes ago--14,350 Montanans have filed for unemployment in the last week. There was a gentleman from Kalispell--another story here--who said his business has been hit hard because of the coronavirus. He wrote: Help, both for the businesses to remain afloat and our team members who are being laid off or having reductions in work hours. He is worried about his employees. Emergency personnel in Missoula, MT, let us know that ambulance drivers--EMTs--must travel longer distances because the volunteer fire departments don't have enough equipment or staff. They can't get enough personal protective equipment. That is in this bill, Senator Graham--immediate billions of dollars right now--to get more PPE to the frontlines. And he said this: Many are working while spouses have lost their jobs. And they are wondering if they will be able to pay their bills if there is no relief soon. And their family members have lost their jobs with the community. They need relief now. I just got this letter. This came in this evening. In fact, it is stamped 7:50 p.m. Dear Senator Daines: I am the General Manager of Fairmont Hot Springs Resort. He gave us permission to use his name. I am not going to read you the description of the plight that he is in, but here is the bottom line. I just processed 146 layoff notices, or 85 percent of our staff. This is this evening. It is breaking the hearts of these employers to lay their people off.

Mr. DAINES. It is breaking the hearts of these employees who are losing their jobs while the Senate is sitting here fiddling at the moment. We have got to come together and pass this bill tonight.

Mr. DAINES. Senator Graham, that is in this bill. For these small businesses, help is on its way. But we can't send the help, Senator Graham, until we pass the bill. Yet the good news for the general manager of Fairmont Hot Springs is that, as the Senator just said, it will not be a loan but a grant that will be forgiven. In other words, he won't have to pay it back as long as he keeps the payroll paid, the rent paid, the mortgage paid. That makes a lot of sense.

Mr. DAINES. He wouldn't have to lay them off today. In fact, he continues to write that they just canceled conferences in the last week that total $848,000. This is a big deal in Montana. In fact, another small business owner in Montana let us know, by the way, about two other of our well-known kind of resorts--Grouse Mountain resort, which is up in Whitefish, as well as Chico Hot Springs. In fact, Senator Graham, in 1979, Chico Hot Springs is where we had our homecoming dance dinner for Bozeman High School.

Mr. DAINES. Listen. They are in trouble. They are temporarily closed. In fact, they just closed Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park today. This business owner said they are currently looking at additional layoffs. They are looking at cashflows of nearly zero. OK. So, right now, we are hearing about the plight of Montanans who are losing their jobs and losing their businesses. There are 14,000- plus Montanans who have filed unemployment claims, and what is the Senate doing tonight, Senator Graham? Look around this Chamber. There is nobody here. It is you and I.

Mr. DAINES. Senator Graham, I support the idea, if we don't get something done here, that Members of Congress shouldn't be paid. Again, there are constitutional issues, but we can get around that by just saying we will donate our paychecks to some important COVID-19 relief effort that is going on. We will find something. Here is what we get. At least here in the Senate tonight, we have a choice as to whether we want to donate our paychecks or not. There are 14,700 Montanans who don't have that choice because they have lost their paychecks in the last 7 days. I am usually a guy who stays pretty calm, cool, and collected.

Mr. DAINES. Lindsey, you could probably testify to that.