Martin Heinrich

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded and to speak as in morning business.

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, Americans are demanding an end to the persistent racial injustice and violence that inflicts our country. Protestors have gathered outside of the White House and the Capitol. New Mexicans from our biggest city to our smallest communities are marching for meaningful change. I have joined these protests in Emancipation Hall, in the streets of Washington, DC, and now I am joining them from the U.S. Senate floor. The systemic racism being called out is real, and it is all around us all of the time. Within law enforcement, we have seen it in the horrific videos documenting the racist violence that took the lives of Black men and women at the hands of police officers and extrajudicial killers. As a father raising two sons, my heart aches for the parents whose sons' and daughters' names we now chant loudly in the streets. It is unacceptable for any American to live in fear of violent encounters when they enter public spaces or retail stores or just go out for a walk. The very fact that painful experiences with law enforcement are ubiquitous among so many in our Nation should be evidence enough that our current model of policing is not working. That is why I am proud to support my colleagues Senator Booker and Senator Harris to cosponsor the Justice in Policing Act. This sweeping legislation reforms the police system as Americans across the country demand an end to police violence that is disproportionately targeting communities of color. It would address qualified immunity standards in Federal law which currently stand in the way of police officers being held accountable in court when they violate constitutional rights. It would improve transparency in police departments by creating a national police misconduct registry, requiring accurate data reporting on misconduct and use-of-force incidents and ensuring problematic officers cannot avoid accountability by simply changing departments. It would also institute a real national ban on choke holds and other deadly, restrictive airway holds. We have seen this use of lethal force kill George Floyd and Eric Garner before him and earlier this year, in Las Cruces, NM, when a police officer killed Antonio Valenzuela with a vascular neck restraint. While I hope that justice will be served for Mr. Floyd's and Mr. Valenzuela's families, I know that these men should never have died in the first place. This lethal and unnecessary type of force should not be allowed anywhere in America. The Justice in Policing Act would put an end to the injudicious use of no-knock warrants that led to the murder of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, KY. In order to prevent future extrajudicial killings like the murder of Ahmaud Arbery earlier this year by vigilantes in Georgia, the Justice in Policing Act would also finally designate lynching as a Federal crime. The legislation would also make broad improvements in training for police officers. That includes implicit bias training to confront the prejudice that contributes to racial profiling and confrontational treatment of people of color. We must also make deescalation and crisis intervention techniques standard operating procedures in encounters and make the use of lethal force the absolute last resort. In my State, we have seen far too many incidents in which police have killed people of color with lethal tactics or responded to New Mexicans experiencing mental illness or addiction with unnecessary force that resulted in death. Nearly a decade ago, the Department of Justice began an investigation into the Albuquerque Police Department after numerous such fatal police encounters In 2014, the Department of Justice released its report that cited chronic abuses of civil rights, widespread community distrust, and a pattern of excessive force across the department. For these past 6 years, the Albuquerque Police Department has been under a federally enforced consent decree that has brought much needed changes in hiring, training, and use-of-force policies. This ongoing process of changing just this one police department's culture is far from complete. Court hearings continue, and a federally appointed monitor continues to oversee the yearslong process of completing all of the reforms in the federally mandated, court-approved settlement agreement. We have still seen multiple fatal police shootings each year since reforms began. That includes one case from just this March in which the response to a welfare check on Valente Acosta-Bustillos, a man with documented behavioral health challenges, ended with officers fatally shooting him after he wielded a shovel that he had been using to do yard work. This is not an isolated incident. The evidence is everywhere that systemic reform is needed for law enforcement, not just in Albuquerque but all across my State and all across this country. Since the beginning of 2015, since the Nation reeled over the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, there have been more than 5,000-- 5,000--fatal police shootings. It pains me to say that in that time period, New Mexico has had the highest rate of these shootings in the entire country on a per capita basis. While our overall nationwide statistics on deaths in police custody are incomplete--which is a problem in and of itself--the data we do have makes it clear that police in the United States are killing people at a rate much higher than our peer nations. A review of media-reported, arrest-related deaths in the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that more than 1,300 people died in police custody in the 10 months from June 2015 to March 2016. During that same period, only 13 people in the United Kingdom died in or after being in police custody. While we are a much larger country, even on a per capita basis, that means that Americans are being killed at a rate of approximately six times higher than in the UK. Many, if not most, of these deaths fall or are deemed ``justified'' by law enforcement, but I want to say in the strongest possible terms: We can't keep accepting a system that justifies this level of deadly violence. The House of Representatives demonstrated last week that we can take action to address this system. Answering the calls of Americans all across our country, the House voted to pass the Justice in Policing Act. The Senate needs to do the same because no one should be above the law--no one, including those in law enforcement. While I believe these last weeks and months of Americans calling for justice have changed many hearts and minds, I am not naive enough to believe the current administration is either willing or capable of bringing the level of change that Americans are demanding. Unfortunately, in the last 3\1/2\ years, President Trump and his Justice Department have either turned a blind eye, excused, or even openly encouraged a more violent police culture. Starting under Attorney General Jeff Sessions and certainly continuing under Attorney General Bill Barr today, this administration has spent much more time and Department of Justice resources aiding the President's own political battles and implementing even harsher penalties on Americans than on holding police departments accountable for guaranteeing equal justice under the law. None of this excuses us in the U.S. Senate from our own responsibility to lead. We have a moral obligation, as Senators, to grapple with how we can bring about necessary Federal changes with better Federal policies. That should start with passing the accountability measures, the meaningful improvements to police training, and the bans on excessive lethal force tactics that are in the Justice in Policing Act. We also need to encourage the changes that will necessarily need to come at the local government level. Advocates are calling on local governments to reassess their budgets and how much they have prioritized policing and prisons over education and housing. They are also calling on their local leaders to reimagine a world where armed police officers are not the responders dispatched to all crisis situations. Last week, the mayor of Albuquerque, Tim Keller, announced a proposal to create an entirely new public safety department that would dispatch social workers, housing and homelessness specialists, and violence prevention and diversion program experts instead of police officers to homelessness, so-called down-and-out calls, and behavioral health crises. This is the scale of systemic change that we need to be thinking about and devoting real resources toward implementing in all of our communities. We all need to carefully assess the effectiveness of continuing a status quo in law enforcement that is clearly not keeping all of us safe. It will not be easy to dismantle the ``us versus them'' warrior mentality that is so pervasive in far too many of our law enforcement agencies. If you treat the communities that you police like they are war zones, you create a relationship that dehumanizes the very people you are charged to protect, and you fuel more of the very violence and crime that you are supposed to prevent. Our streets in American communities should never be treated like battlefields. Our local law enforcement officers should not be armed with military-grade equipment or AR-15s or MRAP armored vehicles. They should not be meeting peaceful protesters or demonstrators with teargas, flash grenades, or rubber bullets. Police officers should not be treating any of us--whatever our race and regardless of the reason we are encountering them--as if we are enemy combatants. This militarized version of policing is simply not the way to keep the peace or create a sense of public safety in our communities. It has created a distrust in police and perpetuated trauma and inequities in communities across our country. I believe that we must transform this dangerous warrior mentality into a guardian and neighborhood support mentality that looks to serve all members of our communities. We should remember that police officers are supposed to be officers of the peace. Now, I want to be careful to emphasize that the responsibility for changing this mentality must not fall entirely on the shoulders of our law enforcement officers because we also recognize that our law enforcement officers, too, are being impacted and harmed by this broken system. We, as a society, have asked them to treat the symptoms and respond to the deficiencies that all of us have allowed to persist in education, in healthcare, in addiction treatment, and in housing. On a daily basis, police officers address the most acute impacts of our not solving those other issues. I would argue that this is because the same wrongheaded ``us versus them'' warrior mentality that I have been describing has long resided within this very institution and has been baked into our country as a whole. It is the same warrior mentality that has fueled the Federal Government's ineffective and racist War on Drugs and War on Crime over the course of the last 50 years. Intentionally or not, these policies helped build what advocates label the ``school-to-prison pipeline'' and the ``New Jim Crow.'' ``New Jim Crow'' may sound harsh, but in my estimation, it is an astonishingly accurate way to describe the unequal society we have created across our entire country. More than half a century since the marchers in the civil rights movement called on us to create an America where we were all judged by the content of our character rather than the color of our skin, we find ourselves facing the same challenges as 50 years ago, with implicit bias and structural inequities ravaging our communities of color. That is what you get after combining militarized policing with overly harsh sentencing laws, mass incarceration, private prisons, continued institutional racial discrimination, and a decades-long disinvestment in public education, affordable housing, food assistance, addiction treatment, and healthcare resources. That is the system we are talking about when we talk about systemic racism. It will take more than nice words and kind wishes in a fleeting period of weeks to dismantle that system that has been built up in the 400 years since the first slaves were brought to our shores and in the last 50 years of rapidly growing mass incarceration. The sooner we finally recognize this, the sooner we can try to envision and implement effective, comprehensive reforms on the scale necessary to create institutions that look out for all of us. Over the last months, as we have all confronted the health and economic crises brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, I have often heard that we need to get back to normal. But that version of normal was not working for all of us. Rather than hoping to get back to that unequal and unjust normal of before, I would offer this challenge to all of us. We have an opportunity--an opportunity to rebuild our country in the months and years ahead. Let's rebuild our country to create an America that includes all of us. Let's rebuild our country in a way that respects the human dignity of Black lives and provides safety and opportunity to all of us. Let's rebuild America to become the place we all want it to be: a nation where we see each other as fellow human beings, equally deserving of life and liberty. There is still so much more hard work ahead of us. Passing the Justice in Policing Act is a first meaningful step on a long path forward I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Colorado. I really thank my colleague from West Virginia and the incredible teamwork that has played out here on the U.S. Senate floor. This is a time in our country when we don't always have that kind of teamwork. Let's be honest. This has been a year when much of the country has been divided, but we have been able to come together around the one thing that truly unites us. Certainly, in having lived through the last 3 months, when many people have been shuttered in their homes for weeks and weeks at a time, I think it has really driven home for many of us that the outdoors is not just a luxury but is something we need. I see we are now joined by my colleague from Montana as well, who did great work on this, which also drives home the fact that nothing around here gets done by one single individual or one party. It gets done when we come together. I want to take just a minute and thank Senator Jeff Bingaman, who held my seat before I did, who made this the centerpiece of his work while he was in the Senate and plowed the ground on which we walk today. I thank all of my staff, especially Maya Hermann and Lio Barrera, for all of their good work. I also thank Senator Gardner for recognizing all of those on our staff--all of the good people who made this happen. In New Mexico, we have protected such incredible landscapes with the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The Valles Caldera--New Mexico's Yellowstone--is known for its herds of elk, its hot springs, its enormous volcanic caldera, and places like Ute Mountain that wouldn't be in the public trust were it not for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. I was so proud to work with Senator Lamar Alexander on a bill called Every Kid Outdoors. This is the bill that will allow us to make sure that every kid will be within walking distance of a neighborhood park. I hope that all of our colleagues will find it in their hearts to support this legislation today and will send a strong message to the House of Representatives to take up this legislation quickly. I yield the floor.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. You mention Yellowstone. We have a place in northern New Mexico that many people refer to as New Mexico's Yellowstone, because, like Yellowstone, it is a high elevation caldera. It is a place where there was a supervolcano, and that supervolcano collapsed in on itself. When it did, it created what they call a reverse treeline, a series of very high elevation meadows connected to each other with a ring of mountains around them. Near the caldera there is a huge elk herd, hot springs, and wild trout. That place is called the Valles Caldera National Preserve today. It was actually first proposed as a national park, I think, in about 1916, if you can believe that. Almost to the month, 100 years later, we were able to make this a national preserve, which is like a National Park Service property that also allows for hunting and fishing. We did that because the family who had been a great steward of that land for decades had decided that they needed to sell it, but they wanted to see it preserved. What came to the rescue in that case was the Land and Water Conservation Fund, in one of the largest acquisitions of private land from a willing private seller--an enthusiastic private seller to the public trust. Today this is an 89,000-acre national preserve that anyone in the United States can visit. Once again, anyone with a hunting license can apply for an elk tag there, can go fishing there. It is just a remarkable, remarkable place. It would never have happened and this would be covered in vacation homes if it were not for that tool.

Mr. HEINRICH. As my colleague from Montana said--let me back up just a moment. The folks in Raton are also very excited about what is going on at Fisher's Peak and looking at different possibilities for their community just over the divide from Trinidad. One of the places, as my colleague from Montana described them, is taking public lands that literally are held in trust for all of us, but some of them you just can't get to anymore, because of lands changing hands over the years, private land acquisitions and county road closures at times. Sometimes you can find yourself in these positions where something as large as 10,000 acres or 15,000 acres of public land can find itself cut off from any legal access to the public. In New Mexico, we actually had the country's only designated wilderness area where, simply, there was no legal public access. There was not a trail, not a road. There was no way to get there. In recent years, we were able to work with the Secretaries of the Interior, and using the Land and Water Conservation Fund, we were able to open up and expand that. Today people are able to hike, camp, and hunt. It has a little water in it, but I don't know anybody who has actually fished there. But it is a labyrinth of canyons and rim rock country similar to what most people would associate with Utah. I can tell you that the community in Las Vegas nearby and in other smaller communities are really just very excited about the opportunities for tourism and for access for sportsmen to a place that had been completely inaccessible. I see we have been joined by our colleague from West Virginia, whom I know has some really strong feelings about the potential of outdoor recreation in his State. I didn't realize how many--13,000 peaks in West Virginia--but I looked in his office today, and there is a whole mountain chain in West Virginia. To our colleague, Senator Manchin of West Virginia, do you want to join us and talk a little bit about the importance of outdoor recreation and what this legislation might mean in your State?

Mr. HEINRICH. I think what we have all learned is what a great team this has been and, obviously, it is a land fund--the Land and Water Conservation Fund. It means boat ramps and access and many other things. We will continue to work together to make sure that all of our States benefit from this program, not just a few, and I know my colleague from Montana wants to add a few more points to this conversation.

Mr. HEINRICH. This has been a spontaneous colloquy, but I think the time has come for us to give back our time. But I want to thank my colleagues for their incredible support, and I think folks are going to take over the floor as we move in to the next phase here.

Mr. HEINRICH. Senator Portman from Ohio.

Mr. HEINRICH. When we pass this legislation, I think we are going to show them that we are going to be good stewards of the Great Smokey Mountain National Park, as well as parks across our country. I know that the Nation's newest national park is in New Mexico, and it is White Sands. Yet we have a set of restrooms that sit on top of a sinkhole and for far too long have needed repair. That is the kind of thing I think we will be able to repair all across our country. I don't see our colleague Senator King of Maine yet, but he oftentimes speaks to the fact that what Senator Alexander and Senator Portman describe in our deferred maintenance is truly debt. Deferred maintenance is debt, and we are going to take responsibility for that and really treat our parks the way they deserve and work to extend the Land and Water Conservation Fund at the same time. Mr. Chair, with that I think I will give back the rest of our time, and I want to thank all of my colleagues for joining me in the colloquy.

Mr. HEINRICH. Senator, if you would yield for a moment. To the Senator from Montana, I notice a very similar dynamic emerging from Montana as it was from New Mexico of being very thoughtful about a response to the virus but also making sure that people could get out and just get that time for their physical well-being and their mental well-being even in the height of the pandemic. In doing that responsibly--and I think it certainly impressed upon everyone I talked to just how important these places have always been. Maybe sometimes we took them for granted, but I think the last 3 months have helped us not take the great American outdoors for granted.

Mr. HEINRICH. Madam President, I rise today with my colleagues from Colorado and Montana to talk about the incredible coalition that has come together to support the Great American Outdoors Act and why we have been able to build a group of folks ranging far beyond this body who have come together from very disparate parts of the political spectrum and very disparate parts of our incredible geographic country to support this piece of legislation. I think part of what has made this legislation so timely is what we have all been through in the last 3 months. Many of us were cooped up in our homes for weeks at a time, and it really drove home for all of us how incredibly important the time that we get to spend outside is. I know some of my colleagues, particularly from the West, have been very articulate about that. I had a chance to travel around my State at a time when many people were still cooped up in their homes. Our State Governor was very thoughtful about the rules to make sure that even as people sought to socially distance themselves for weeks at a time, they were able to get access to their local parks, able to get access to open space, able to get access to our national forests and BLM lands--anyplace, basically, where people could come together without coming together. There is no place like the great outdoors to do that. I would just ask my colleagues--I start with my colleague from Colorado--if he would care to share some stories about the importance that we all learned about what we already have--and in many cases have because of the Land and Water Conservation Fund--in our own backyards and how important that was in the course of the greatest illness, the greatest pandemic of our generation's time. I yield my time to the Senator from Colorado.

Mr. HEINRICH. I really think that our public lands are one of America's greatest democratic accomplishments. You think about the fact of how we became a nation. When you look at the history in Europe, people were locked out of the great lands of Europe. You look at all of the futile history that Europe had in wildlife and public lands. Lands and wildlife belonged to the King; they belonged to the Crown. If you were caught hunting on those lands, you could be put to death. You didn't have access to those lands later in European history unless you could pay for them. Our forefathers were very thoughtful about not wanting that to be the same approach in the United States of America and making sure that our wildlife was held in trust for all of us and that these lands would be held in trust for all of us. One of the greatest things about the Land and Water Conservation Fund, from my perspective, is that it really increased access to the national forests, parks, and other places that had already been created. I would be curious if my colleagues have stories about particular places that didn't have public access; that maybe for somebody just working in a small town, if there was an incredible mountain range or place you could hunt or fish or camp that was off limits, and because of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, an easement or a trail or some other means of access was provided that opened it up to the working- class families of their constituencies. We certainly have those stories in New Mexico. I would ask my colleagues if they have particular places in Colorado or Montana where that has been the case because of this incredibly important fund.

Mr. HEINRICH. You are saying you don't have to hire a guide; you don't have to spend $10,000 on a private land tag? You can just buy an elk tag over the counter and go out and pursue elk on your public lands?

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Madam President, during these past months, in the midst of a pandemic that has kept most of us inside our homes, Americans have grown to appreciate, in new ways, how critical each moment of fresh air can be to maintaining both our physical health and our mental well-being. More people are getting outside than ever before, whether for a quick walk in their local neighborhood park or by seeking solitude on the many public lands held in trust for each and every American citizen. Coming from a State that is blessed with expansive skies and remote open spaces, I am convinced that investing in the future of our parks and our public lands will be a key path for our Nation to recover from the challenges we currently face. That is why I am so proud that we are coming together this week to bring the Great American Outdoors Act to the Senate floor for a vote. Our bipartisan legislation will permanently and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund and finally dedicate real resources to begin tackling the multibillion dollar infrastructure backlog in our national parks, our national forests, and our wildlife refuges. If you have spent time enjoying your local parks, trail systems, ballfields or open space in the last 50 years, you have almost certainly experienced the impact of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. In New Mexico, LWCF has been instrumental in protecting some of our most treasured public lands--places like the Valles Caldera National Preserve with its trout streams, its high altitude meadows, and its massive elk herd. I know it is hard to tell, but this is actually me not catching a trout in the Valles Caldera National Preserve, but it is OK because any day in the preserve is a good day. It also helped us establish the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge in Albuquerque's South Valley, a place where young people will be introduced to nature, many for the first time in a really meaningful way, in a place that is at the heart of the local community now. It purchased and protected the entirety--the entirety--of Ute Mountain, which is now a centerpiece of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. It almost boggles the mind to think about the scale of that, but this entire mountain used to be private, and there was no public access. Today, it is one of the most treasured places in Taos County, a rural county that relies on recreation and fishing and boating and camping to drive its economy. The Land and Water Conservation Fund is also our most effective tool for opening up public access to our public lands. Just recently, the Land and Water Conservation Fund helped the Bureau of Land Management acquire land parcels that finally opened up public access to the rugged Sabinoso Wilderness in Northeastern New Mexico. This is Sabinoso, with its narrow mesas and spectacular canyon walls, which had previously been completely off limits to the public despite being part of the national wilderness system. It had become entirely surrounded by public land, so there wasn't a legal trail or a legal road to be able to enjoy this place. Today, that landscape is something that the local community and visitors from afar share on a daily basis. LWCF also funds recreation areas in neighborhood parks, sports fields, and communities all across our State and all across the Nation. Last year, I was proud to be part of a successful bipartisan effort here in the Senate to permanently reauthorize LWCF. However, without guaranteed permanent funding, Congress still needs to approve LWCF expenditures each year, year after year after year. This has resulted in us falling far, far short of the $900 million per year commitment that was originally intended when LWCF was established over five decades ago. Permanently and fully funding LWCF will be a monumental victory for conservation and the places where we all get outside. It might well be the greatest investment that we can make that will pay off for many generations to come because every $1 spent on LWCF creates an additional $4 in economic value just in natural resources, goods, and services. That doesn't account for the long-term growth in the outdoor recreation sector and the tourism industry. Teddy Roosevelt once said: ``Conservation means development as much as it does protection.'' I believe that this type of investment in conservation is exactly what President Roosevelt meant. Now, to the second leg of our landmark Great American Outdoors Act: We all know how important it is to rebuild the infrastructure in all of our national parks. You can't enjoy visiting these iconic American places if the bathrooms don't work, if the trails and the campgrounds aren't open, and if the roads are in disrepair. These are places that we are so proud of, that we cherish. From our oldest national parks, like Yellowstone and Yosemite, to our Nation's newest national park-- one I am particularly close to--White Sands National Park in New Mexico, they all deserve better I am proud that the Great American Outdoors Act also includes dedicated funding to address similar infrastructure needs in our national forests, our wildlife refuges, and our Bureau of Land Management lands. We have also included dedicated funding to address the unacceptable maintenance backlog at schools managed by the Bureau of Indian Education. There are many BIE schools that serve students across Indian country that are in truly dangerous states of disrepair. Through this legislation, we are finally going to make major progress on providing these students the kinds of safe schools and educational facilities that they truly deserve. In the wake of our current economic crisis, rebuilding all this critical infrastructure will provide tens of thousands of new jobs across the Nation. It is estimated that just investing in fixing the National Park Service's infrastructure alone would generate nearly 110,000 new jobs. These investments will also create a lasting heritage that will grow the outdoor recreation economy and provide us all with more opportunities to get outside. We know this can work. The last time we as a nation faced an economic downturn on the scale of what we are experiencing today, Americans turned to our public lands. At the height of the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt understood well that out-of-work Americans were not without worth but, rather, that they could leave an indelible mark on our country. Now, over the years, I have been lucky to have met many of the men who served in the New Deal's Civilian Conservation Corps, or ``CCC boys,'' as they often referred to themselves as. While most of these men have now passed away, sadly, the trails, the visitor centers, and the other important infrastructure on our public lands that they had so much pride in building almost a century ago continue to serve this Nation. Throughout our long recovery, we will be a stronger nation if we can provide a new generation of Americans with meaningful opportunities to serve their country and leave their mark. There is so much work we need to do to rebuild our country. In the midst of a real national reckoning on race over these recent weeks and as we continue to face the most severe economic and public health crises in generations, we should all be thinking about how we can rebuild our country in a way that includes all of us. I firmly believe that this urgent goal is intertwined in our efforts this week in the Senate to grow opportunities in our great American outdoors. That is because our public lands and outdoor spaces are fundamental to who we are as Americans. They are the places where we can each find a real sense of belonging in this great country of ours. I think we must frankly acknowledge the uncomfortable truth that the outdoors has not always seemed like such a welcoming and accessible place for all Americans. Many of our national parks have a fraught history with the Tribal nations whose ancestral lands they are on. In New Mexico, many of our national forests were established on the very same lands that were deeded as land grants to families by the Spanish Crown. Our public lands agencies have not always recognized that history, and there remains much more hard work ahead to provide meaningful seats at the table in the management of these landscapes to the communities whose heritage and living cultural ties date back hundreds and, in some cases, even thousands of years on these lands. We must also recognize that outdoor excursions, which many of us, frankly, just take for granted, are not always within reach for all of us. I grew up exploring the outdoors on my family's ranch and on surrounding lands, and I strongly believe that just one opportunity to get outside can change a child's whole world. It can inspire a lifetime commitment to conservation and encourage the health benefits that come with an active lifestyle. Far too many kids don't have access to parks or open spaces. According to the Trust for Public Land, more than 100 million Americans--and that includes 28 million children--do not have access to a park within a 10-minute walk of their home. That number should be zero. Especially during the pandemic, that number should have been zero. On top of physical accessibility, many children grow up in households where their parents cannot afford a vacation or they may feel rightly unsafe in these spaces, fearing an experience much like that of Christian Cooper in Central Park recently. We are not solving all of these challenges with what we are voting on here this week, but the increased investment in the Great American Outdoors Act will create more outdoor opportunities that I hope will truly benefit all of our Nation's children. Our public lands are places we should all be able to access regardless of how thick or thin our wallets are, where we grow up, or the color of our skin. To learn about the natural wonders all around us, to really learn about our history by exploring the stories that reside in these places, I don't know of any easy answers to the numerous historic challenges we are facing as a nation today, but I do know that the right answers will come only if they are based on an honest appraisal of our deep-seated history--the good and the bad, the inspiring and the painful. I believe one of the best ways for kids--really all of us--to learn about that complex history of our country is by visiting our public lands. Let me share just one example. When you visit El Morro National Monument in Western New Mexico, you walk up to a massive sandstone rock wall that dominates the high desert landscape around it. As you approach the cliff face, you begin to clearly see etchings and markings carved into the stone. These inscriptions give physical form to the history of many, many generations of people who have come to our State or called it home. There are petroglyphs from indigenous cultures, and right next to them--in some cases, even carved over them--are signatures of Spanish priests and conquistadors dating back to the late 1500s and early 1600s. There are records left by American homesteading families traveling westward on wagon trains. You can find the names of U.S. Army soldiers, including the strange but true Army Camel Corps that trained nearby in the late 1850s. And, yes, you heard that right, Camel Corps. The military was testing out camels in the New Mexico desert long before they started testing out fighter jets, rockets, and satellites in New Mexico. When you see all of these names and images left behind on El Morro's Inscription Rock, you begin to appreciate how varied and also how messy the history of just this one place in our Nation is. You begin the process of learning that we have always been a country filled with diverse, resilient people but also a country riddled with conflicts and shortcomings. That is why it is so important to protect our parks and to protect our public lands. These are the places where new generations of Americans will learn about both our natural and our human history. It is where they will go to find inspiration to chart new paths forward for our great Nation. For all of these reasons, I am so proud that we have come together on this legislation. We can all understand why investing in restoring and expanding opportunities in our parks and public lands has to be part of our national recovery. These are the places where all of us belong. These are the places where all of us belong. These lands are our lands, and they heal us in a way that few things can. I think of all the generations of Americans who have cared for these places so my family and I can enjoy them and learn from them today. With this historic legislation, the Great American Outdoors Act, we are going to help do our part to, literally, pay it forward. We often invoke Teddy Roosevelt around here when working on conservation legislation. That legislation rarely measures up to the level of accomplishment that you see written in the story of his Presidency. While I am not superstitious, I have to admit that I always visit his bust here in the Capitol just outside this Chamber before an important conservation vote. This bill--this bill--is the first time in my career that we have done something truly on the scale of Teddy Roosevelt's work, and I stand here proud to be a part of it. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Madam President, it is an honor to recognize the enormously impactful life of Governor Peter M. Pino. The Pueblo of Zia, and New Mexico as a whole, have lost one of our greatest leaders. Peter M. Pino devoted his entire life to serving the people of the Pueblo of Zia. For more than four decades, he served the Pueblo of Zia as Governor, War Chief, Tribal council member, Tribal administrator, and treasurer. He was also a traditional spiritual leader and held a lifetime appointment as one of the Pueblo's Keeper of Songs. As a traditional artist, Governor Pino employed techniques passed down to him by his Puebloan ancestors to craft works in rock, tan deer hides, and make moccasins, bows, arrows, digging sticks, rabbit sticks, and bone tools. He also played an instrumental role in the Pueblo's ongoing effort to repatriate and protect a treasured part of Zia's heritage and cultural property, its sacred sun symbol. Almost a century after the State of New Mexico appropriated this sacred symbol on its flag, Pino helped lead the Pueblo's actions to seek compensation, public education and engagement, and permission for commercial uses. Thanks to this work, Eastern New Mexico University changed the name of its women's athletic teams, and multiple companies have voluntarily sought permission and advice from the Pueblo on how they will depict the symbol and contributed proceeds from sales to a scholarship fund for Zia youth. Governor Pino also used his deep historical and archaeological knowledge to serve on boards and committees that advised the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, Mesa Verde National Park, and the Native American Rights Fund. Governor Pino also served as vice chair of the New Mexico Office of Indian Affairs and was the first Native American to serve on the New Mexico Game and Fish Commission. On a personal note, Governor Pino was one of my first mentors in public service in New Mexico and dear friend. He shared traditional knowledge and perspectives with me that helped form the foundation of my respect for Tribal governments, religions, and culture. I am heartbroken that I did not spend more time learning directly from Governor Pino because his generosity knew no bounds. I was, however, fortunate enough to attend a number of feast days at the Pueblo of Zia and left the Pino home with a tighter belt and great appreciation for the delicious and healthy traditional food that Peter and his wife Stella embraced. When I began advocating for land conservation in New Mexico, Governor Pino showed me how important sacred sites and cultural landscapes are to the Tribal nations in our State. He was also an example of statesmanship to whom I will always look. In fact, I was able to travel to Washington, DC, with Governor Pino when I was just a city councilor. Observing how he interacted with my State's congressional delegation was a very formative experience. Watching him work to protect the Ojito Wilderness and reclaim lands from the Bureau of Land Management that contained cultural sites also taught me how critical it is for Tribes to have a meaningful seat at the table in conservation and land management decisions. My thoughts are with Governor Pino's family and the Pueblo of Zia during this time of mourning. His legacy will never be forgotten.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded and to speak as in morning business.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, and all of my colleagues in the Senate, throughout this impeachment trial, I thought a lot about what this country stands for. For me, as the son of an immigrant whose family came to the United States from Germany in the 1930s, America stands as a beacon of liberty, equal justice, and democracy. We are a nation forged by a revolution against a monarchy and its absolute power. We are a nation founded by the ratification of the most radically democratic document in history, the Constitution of the United States of America. Under the Constitution, we are governed not by monarchs--who act with impunity and without accountability--but by elected officers who answer to, and work for, ``We the People.'' Generations of Americans have struggled and sacrificed their lives to defend that audacious vision. The Senate has a duty and a moral responsibility to uphold that vision. Over the last 2 weeks, I fear that the Senate has failed in that duty. I am deeply disappointed that nearly all of my Republican colleagues refused to allow for the kind of witness testimony and documentary evidence that any legitimate trial would include. You cannot conduct a fair trial without witnesses. In my view, you also can't have a legitimate acquittal without a fair trial; that the Senate refused to shed more light on the facts is truly astonishing. Despite this, the facts as we know them are clear and plain. President Trump pressured the Government of Ukraine, an American ally, not for our national security interests but for his own selfish and corrupt political interests. When he was caught, he sought to cover it up by suppressing documents and preventing witnesses from testifying before Congress and the American people. The President's defense team had every opportunity to present us with evidence that would explain his actions or give us reason to doubt this clear pattern of fact. Instead, they shifted their defense away from the damning facts and embraced an extreme legal philosophy that would allow any President to abuse their power and ignore the law. This dangerous argument is not new. It was used by President Richard Nixon when he said: ``Well, when the president does it, that means it is not illegal.'' President Nixon also strayed far from his duties to our Nation for his own personal and political gain. It was only after courageous Members of the U.S. Senate, in his own political party, put their country first and stood up to him that President Nixon finally resigned. We are now in yet another time when our Chief Executive has failed us, and our Nation requires more leadership and conscience from the U.S. Senate. Unfortunately, my Republican colleagues are unwilling to deliver that kind of moral leadership. President Donald Trump has proven to be unfit for the office he occupies. He abused his powers and continues to engage in a coverup. He presents a clear and present danger to our national security and, more fundamentally, to our democracy itself. That is why my conscience and my duty to defend our Constitution compel me to vote to convict Donald Trump. I hope the rest of you will join in this vote, but I am not naive. I understand how President Trump operates. I know how ugly it can become if you dare to challenge him. But your fear of this bully cannot outweigh your duty to the American people. Your fear cannot blind you to how you will be viewed by history. What you should really fear is what will happen when there are no limits on any President, even when he is risking our national security and our foreign alliances to illegitimately maintain his grip on power. What we should all fear is what President Trump will do next if the Senate does not hold him accountable for the clear abuses of power he has already committed. This is the same President who praises dictators and despots and jeopardizes our international alliances. This is the same President who stole billions of dollars from military construction funds to pay for his monument to division and racism. This is the same President who is more focused on lobbing insults and spreading Russian conspiracy theories on Twitter than he is on his own intelligence briefings. Let me just say that I pay close attention to the intelligence that I am allowed to see, and from my seat on both the Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, I am acutely aware of the threats that our Nation faces. They include an emboldened North Korea, the Iranian regime, and terrorist organizations across several continents. Russia and China are acting aggressively to assert their authoritarian influence and provoke American interests and our allies, including the Ukraine. Finally, with the 2020 Presidential election mere months away, Russia is once again targeting our election systems and manipulating our democratic discourse. Right now, patriotic Americans working in the State Department, for our intelligence agencies, and serving in the military are defending us from those very threats. These Americans pledge to obey the orders of their Commander in Chief. They trust that their Commander in Chief's loyalty and sole focus is squarely on the best interests of the United States of America. I don't say this lightly: President Trump has betrayed that trust. He promised us that he would put America first. Instead, he put himself first. Throughout our history, the defense of our Nation has depended on the leadership of men whose names we now remember when we visit their memorials, names like Lincoln and Washington and Roosevelt. These men all swore the same oath that President Trump did when they assumed our Nation's most powerful office. Our Presidents swear to ``faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States'' and to ``preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.'' President Trump has violated that oath. So I will ask us once again, what does America stand for? In considering that question, I think of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.--the only man who did not serve as President whom we recognize with a memorial on our National Mall. More than 50 years after his assassination, Dr. King's life's work to make our Nation more fully live up to our founding principles still resonates. These are the same principles that compelled my father's family to come to this country: liberty, equal justice, democracy. While fighting for those principles, Dr. King wrote in his letter from a Birmingham jail: ``The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy.'' My colleagues, this is one of those times. Two years after writing the Birmingham Jail letter, Dr. King led thousands on a 5-day, 54-mile march from Selma to Montgomery for our fundamental American right: the right to vote in free and fair elections. Remember, that right is what President Trump has threatened by inviting foreign interference in our elections. Upon reaching the steps of the Alabama State Capitol, Dr. King proclaimed: ``We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.'' I sincerely hope that those of us in this body can keep seeking that society, that America. Before I finish, I also want to address Americans who have watched this trial unfold and are rightly disappointed by the coverup that it has become. I would urge you to remember what Dr. King said about accepting finite disappointment but never losing infinite hope. Despite what the Senate is about to do and the danger I fear it will bring about, I will never lose hope in what America stands for because we the people--not any King or dictator--still hold immense power in this Nation, and it is up to all of us now to wield that power. I yield back.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. Chief Justice, I send a question to the desk for the President's counsel.

Mr. HEINRICH

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

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, earlier today, we were asked to vote on the confirmation of Chad Wolf to serve as the Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans at the Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Wolf has been serving in that role on an acting basis since February. Because of the way the Trump administration functions, or fails to function, what we were really being asked to do today was to confirm Mr. Wolf to a position so the President can then promote him to Acting DHS Secretary. This comes on top of most appointed positions at the agency going unfilled or only filled with similarly temporary acting roles. Before we all throw our hands up in the air and simply add this vote to the growing list of broken norms and incompetent actions on the part of the Trump White House, I would like us to consider what is at stake in this particular case. I beg us to take seriously the human toll that has been incurred because of this administration's willful chaos at the Department of Homeland Security. The Department of Homeland Security is the Nation's third largest Federal agency, behind only the Pentagon and the VA. The agency oversees disaster relief, transportation safety, counterterrorism, and immigration and border security. According to a report in the Washington Post, Mr. Wolf is the favored pick of senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller to take over as Acting Homeland Security Secretary. That should tell us about everything we need to know. Stephen Miller has been the lead architect of the White House's immoral and anti-immigration policies over the last 3 years. The Senate should have taken this vote as a reason to examine how this administration has spent the last 3 years flouting our Nation's laws and our Nation's values through its intentional chaos at the Department of Homeland Security. We should do our jobs and give an honest accounting of this administration's inhumane and, frankly, ineffective policies--policies, it should be said, that Mr. Wolf has been right in the middle of each step of the way. Instead, the Senate voted to confirm Mr. Wolf in this sham process to a position we weren't even sure he will serve in. This is shameful. Now that the Senate has confirmed Mr. Wolf to the Under Secretary position and as we anticipate Mr. Trump moving him into the Acting Secretary role, I ask my colleagues to please consider his record. We know Mr. Wolf played a central role in authoring and implementing the family separation policy. We don't fully understand how much he did to implement President Trump's other harmful immigration policies because the Department of Homeland Security has stonewalled and refused to provide key documents to the Senate on his tenure before we took the vote this morning. However, given his major role with Secretary Nielsen, it seems safe to assume that Mr. Wolf was involved in many of the administration's policy failures. Under these policies, thousands of children, as young as infants and toddlers, arriving at our Nation's southern border have been separated from their families. We have seen migrant families and children held in appalling, overcrowded, some say prisonlike--I would say prison facilities--immigration detention facilities like those in Clint, TX, that we saw in the media. The Trump administration has also throttled major ports of entry where refugees present themselves for asylum as is actually dictated by current U.S. law. This has resulted in huge groups going instead to remote and dangerous stretches of the southern border. We have tragically seen that result in the deaths of several children in New Mexico near some of our remote ports of entry that lack even the most basic medical infrastructure. We have seen President Trump play politics with the lives of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers, mothers, fathers, and children who are desperately seeking refuge and the prospect of a better life in this country. We have seen the President even go so far as shutting down the government and stealing billions of dollars of congressionally appropriated funds from the military to pay for his wasteful and candidly ineffective border wall. Finally, President Trump's decision to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, or DACA, has thrown Dreamers across this country deep into fear and uncertainty. The stakes of that decision have been shown in oral arguments before the Supreme Court this very week. Dreamers are among our best and brightest--our best and brightest students, teachers, and even veterans. They only know this Nation as their home in many cases, and today I am meeting with a Dreamer named Samuel, who lives in Las Cruces, NM. Samuel came to the United States from Mexico with his family when he was 11 years old. He has called Las Cruces his hometown for the last 13 years. As a DACA recipient, Samuel was able to study accounting at New Mexico State University and help provide for his family. Dreamers like Samuel want to give back to their communities and the only Nation they know as home. They are American in every way except on paper, and because of President Trump, Dreamers like Samuel face a deeply fearful future. Whenever we debate immigration, frankly, it becomes a little personal for me, and that is because, like most--all of us in this Nation of immigrants--my family's story in America began with a search for a better life. My father came to the United States with his family from Germany as a young boy. They were fleeing the government of a racist, populist dictator who was first elected democratically and then used race and scapegoating to cement his grip on power. I always wonder how different my own life would be if America had turned my father away or separated him from his family. This is not some abstract question for the mothers, fathers, and children who are desperately seeking refuge and the prospect of a better life in America today. I know that so many Americans watching this administration's immigration policies know in their hearts what America truly stands for as a nation built by many generations of immigrants like my father. That includes local officials, first responders, and volunteers in communities like Deming, Las Cruces, and Albuquerque, NM, who over the last year provided shelter, food, and help to asylum seekers who had nowhere else to turn. It includes the thousands of Americans who marched in the streets and demanded an end to family separation, and it includes millions of Americans who want our leaders in Washington to finally affirm the incredible value that immigrants provide for our country. I want all of you to know that I stand with you. You are on the right and just side of history. I will keep calling on us to hold this administration accountable to our American values, and I will keep calling on Congress to uphold our end of the bargain and finally act to reform our broken immigration system. That should start by passing the Dream Act. We also need to address the root causes of migration from Central America, including extreme poverty, criminal gangs, and violence. We must make smart investments in real border security and economic development in our border communities. We need to provide the necessary medical and humanitarian resources to our border region, particularly for the rugged, back-country terrain we have in my State. I will never stop fighting for policies that respect the dignity of immigrants, recognize the real needs of our vibrant border communities, and live up to our true American values. Unfortunately, I don't think we will ever have a productive path forward on any of these urgent matters with this President and his administration. That is true no matter who President Trump ultimately shuffles into the role of Acting Homeland Security Secretary, but it is especially true if the President chooses Chad Wolf. When Senator Rosen questioned Mr. Wolf in the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee about the role he played in family separation and other cruel immigration policies, Mr. Wolf said: ``My job wasn't to determine if it was the right or wrong policy.'' In other words, folks, he was just following orders. I think it is clear that the Trump administration has shown an appalling disregard for basic human dignity. Now the Senate has confirmed someone who will simply rubberstamp the continued failures of this administration. I should also note that the current pending vote on the floor is for a judicial nominee, Steven Menashi, who has also played a role in the administration's shameful immigration policies. As a counsel in the Trump administration, Mr. Menashi has acknowledged that he advised Stephen Miller on immigration policy, and he has a long record of opposing the basic human and civil rights of people of color, women, LGBTQ Americans, and immigrants. As the general counsel at the Department of Education under Betsy DeVos, he played a leading role in trying to deny debt relief to students defrauded by for-profit colleges. I can't believe that we as the Senate can allow these types of appointments to keep going forward. We should not let this go on. This is not who we are as a country, and this is not the America that I know and love. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, it is with deep sadness that I remember and recognize the life of former U.S. Senator Kay Hagan of North Carolina. I am grateful that I had the privilege to serve with Senator Hagan here in the United States Senate. Her approach to her job was something we would all do well to learn from. Kay was a model of civility, optimism, and selfless service to the State she loved. Early in her life, Kay served as a Capitol Hill intern for her uncle, Senator Lawton Chiles of Florida. Her duties included operating the Senators-only elevator. In time, she would go on to prove that she belonged on that elevator, too. After 10 years in the North Carolina Senate, she won election to the United States Senate and served her home State with dignity. Even in the face of one of the most expensive and challenging election campaigns in this body's history, Senator Hagan remained focused first and foremost on how to find common ground in this Chamber and the ways she could deliver for her constituents in North Carolina. I am particularly grateful for the model that Senator Hagan set as the cochair of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus. In that role, she worked hard to forge bipartisan consensus around a comprehensive package of bills to increase public access for hunting and fishing and to extend important fish and wildlife conservation programs. Julie and I are keeping her husband, Chip; their three children, Jeanette, Tilden, and Carrie; and all of their grandchildren in our hearts. We will all miss Kay.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, it is an honor to recognize the years of dedication and service of my friend and departing chief of staff, Joseph R. Britton. Joe has served as my chief of staff for more than 4 years and has managed my Senate office in a professional and purposeful manner. He has overseen my team with incredible leadership and has consistently motivated us all to work hard and make a difference for New Mexicans each and every day. Joe's career on Capitol Hill began in 2003, when he served as a legislative assistant for U.S. Senator Ben Nelson from his home State of Nebraska. He then served as legislative director and deputy chief of staff in the office of U.S. Senator Mark Udall. He also served as a senior adviser to former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack before coming to my office in 2015. He brought with him passion and expertise in healthcare, public lands, budget, and appropriations policy. As chief of staff, Joe has led both our Washington, DC, and New Mexico offices in Albuquerque, Roswell, Las Cruces, Farmington, and Santa Fe. Joe visited every corner of our State. It is a testament to his dedication to maintaining strong working relationships that New Mexicans know that they can count on our office to be reliable, accessible, and in their corner. Joe took the time to learn about New Mexico and understand our rich history, our thriving culture, and the complex, pressing issues we face in the Land of Enchantment. Throughout his service, Joe has shared my mission and drive to solve problems and find ways to make a difference for New Mexicans. I recognize that Joe couldn't be where he is or who he is today without the love and support of his family. For her support of him and constant dedication, I thank his wife, Katie. I would also like to recognize Joe and Katie's children, Louise and Jamey, for lighting up their parent's lives. We all look forward to seeing them grow up in the years ahead. On behalf of the American people, the people of the State of New Mexico, and on behalf of my team that Joe has so ably led for the past 4 years, I thank him for his service. While I am sad to see him go, I know that he will continue to make a difference in the lives of everyone he meets. Joe has been doing that from his first day on Capitol Hill. I ask my colleagues in the United States Senate to join me in recognizing the dedicated service of my chief of staff, Joseph R. Britton.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Madam President, we are all coming to the Senate floor this evening to demand that we finally take real steps to address our Nation's gun violence epidemic. This epidemic is wide-reaching and knows no bounds. We need to listen to the students and to the young people who have grown weary from so many shootings at our schools. In my home State of New Mexico in recent years, we have seen gun violence tragically take the lives of high school students in Aztec and Clovis and, just last month, college students in Hobbs. Every student and teacher should feel safe at school. No parent should have to live in fear of their child not coming home at the end of the day. Across our Nation, we have witnessed, with grave horror, mass shooters armed with assault rifles gun down Americans in churches, in synagogues, in concert venues, and in shopping centers. Amid our grief and anguish, Americans have come together to call on their leaders to not let this senseless, heart-wrenching violence continue unabated. They are calling on us to do something. We can no longer accept these horrific shootings as the status quo. In my hometown of Albuquerque, just last Thursday night, five people, including three teenagers, were shot to death in multiple shootings across our city, and six others were wounded. While police are still investigating these senseless acts of violence, no one can tell me that this level of gun violence is somehow acceptable. There are things we can do. There is no doubt that this debate brings up very emotional and difficult questions, and there are large challenges we need to grapple with that are fueling gun violence in America. Many of the most horrific acts of violence and terror that we have witnessed have been inspired by hateful ideologies, by racist bigotry, and by divisive rhetoric. But we need to acknowledge that they were carried out with deadly weapons, weapons that we are clearly not doing enough to keep out of the hands of those who would seek to cause us harm. We may not all agree on what steps should be taken at the Federal level to address this crisis, but can we at least agree that something needs to be done to combat the epidemic of gun violence in this country? We need to listen to our Nation's students and mothers who are calling for us to come together on the things we can agree on. At the very least, that includes universal background checks. There is bipartisan legislation on background checks that passed out of the House and is sitting on the majority leader's desk right now. Let's vote on that bill. Someone who can't pass a background check should not be allowed to purchase a firearm. We shouldn't be putting guns in the hands of those convicted of domestic violence or sexual assault who continue to be a threat to their victims. Someone who has been found by family and friends to be a danger to themselves and their community should not be in possession of a deadly firearm. If our government has put someone on a no-fly list because of the risk that they pose, we should not allow that potential terrorist to buy a gun. I can't, frankly, understand how any of that is controversial. The Senate majority is refusing to act. They are hoping that if they hide long enough--if they hide long enough--this will just blow over. Can we at least agree that more public health and scientific research is needed on this gun violence epidemic? All of us in some way are grasping for answers on our Nation's unparalleled violence, but even funding research into gun violence is being vetoed by the NRA. It is hard to believe that Senate Republicans could find a way to be against so many commonsense solutions. Nearly every solution is being rejected. The overwhelming majority of Americans, including gun owners like me, agree that Congress needs to finally take these real steps to address gun violence. Look, this is not an issue I take lightly. Like many Americans, I am a gun owner, but with that privilege should come a great deal of responsibility. I am teaching my two sons how to responsibly use firearms. In fact, when our family sits down to a meal that includes red meat, it is almost always from the wild game we have harvested. I think you will find, when you talk to most gun owners and most sportsmen, they, more than anyone, know how much we need to respect the deadly force inherent in these tools. Most agree we should make sure that firearms are used responsibly and safely. Those of us in Congress should never hide behind phony arguments that use fear to intimidate us away from action. Americans are desperate for us to act. I join my Democratic colleagues once again in calling upon Majority Leader McConnell and President Trump: Enough is enough. It is long past time to do something and to stop hiding. It is long past time for us to finally turn our Nation's grief and frustration into meaningful action to protect our kids and our communities. I yield the floor.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Congressional Record this scholarly article ``Civil Affairs, Winston Churchill, and the Power of Paying Attention,'' originally published in Small Wars Journal, which analyzes the value of Civil Affairs to supported commands and agencies through the lens of Winston Churchill's conception of generalship and statesmanship. Its author, CPT Andrew J. Bibb, U.S. Army, is from Santa Fe, NM. Although often overlooked, our civil affairs forces contribute to the ability of policymakers and military commanders to understand the full landscape and make fully informed decisions. Civil Affairs units also help us navigate conflicts where we more frequently confront civilians than combatants. As the article puts it, Civil Affairs ``helps the commander understand the factors that contribute to civil unrest and make societies vulnerable to nefarious actors [and] enables them to make decisions that not only defeat threats but prevent them from arising in the first place.'' I want to thank our men and women in Civil Affairs and let them know we value and appreciate their often unheralded work.