Patrick Leahy

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, consistent with Standing Rule XXVI, I ask unanimous consent that the rules of procedure of the Committee on Appropriations for the 117th Congress be printed in the Record.

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I would like to pay tribute to a great Vermonter, Christina Nolan, a most dedicated public servant who has served as U.S. attorney for the District of Vermont since November 2017. She will be resigning her post at the end of this month, 11 years since she first joined the U.S. Attorney's Office, but her work and the strong partnerships she forged will carry on for many years to come. A profile of Christina recently appeared in Vermont Business Magazine under the headline ``A Born Advocate for Justice.'' And she has been just that. During her tenure, Christina worked to stem the deadly surge of heroin and fentanyl in our small State, and she has joined with Federal partners to slow the illegal trafficking of firearms. She has also used her voice to shine a spotlight on domestic violence and human trafficking, not only prosecuting critical cases but also highlighting the plight of victims who are caught in the path of such heinous crimes. Her personal approach to each and every case, signing off on every charging document in the office, as well as her commitment to victims and her dedication to upholding the rule of law are evident to anyone who has witnessed her work and her work ethic. While Vermont's U.S. Attorney's Office is among the smallest in the country, it is fair to say that under Christina's leadership, the team has punched well above their weight. In one instance, her office set out to investigate kickbacks and fraudulent billing practices involving the electronic health records industry, unraveling a scheme that resulted in an $8 billion national settlement with Perdue Pharma, which admitted to needlessly and shamelessly promoting the prescribed use of OxyContin, a highly addictive opioid. During her time as U.S. attorney, Christina has forged strong relationships with her partners in Federal, State and local law enforcement circles, many of whom have shared with me how much they appreciated her engagement. In the courtroom, colleagues on both sides of the bench have lauded her fairness. A Federal judge, interviewed for the aforementioned magazine profile, spoke of her ``quiet confidence'' and her ``natural courtroom presence: graceful and commanding.'' I am proud to have worked with Gov. Phil Scott to recommend Christina Nolan for the position of U.S. attorney back in 2017. She has served Vermonters very well during her tenure. Marcelle and I wish Christina and her longtime partner, Jill, and their family our very best in future endeavors.

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I appreciate what the leader just said about COVID. It certainly reflects the feelings of people in my State that we have to get going. But I am here on a different matter today. Since the 1780s, we have had an extraordinary list of Secretaries of the Senate. The outgoing Secretary Julie Adams is one of those extraordinary people who have been here, and I have had the distinct pleasure and honor of serving with so many. But let me be personal for a moment. On Monday, in my role as President pro tempore, I will administer the oath of office to an amazing person, Sonceria Ann Berry. She will become the Secretary of the Senate. This is a woman who earned her bachelor's degree in education from the University of North Alabama, and she has had so much experience in the Senate. She first worked for Senator Howell Heflin of Alabama. I had the pleasure of serving with Senator Heflin--as I found when I would travel to Alabama with him, he usually would be greeted with ``Hello, Judge.'' He was a man who had an extraordinary sense of how the Senate worked but made very clear to me how much he relied on Ann Berry. She worked with other good friends of mine: Senator Pat Moynihan, whose office was right down the hall from mine, and Senator Edwards and Senator Carper. She took time out from her duties in my office to help stand up Senator Jones' office. She came to the Leahy office in 2007, and she worked with my chief of staff, J.P. Dowd. They gave such leadership to my office, and I have found that almost daily, I would stick my head into Ann's office and say: Here is the situation; what do you think we should do here or there? I knew what a go-to in the Senate she had been for generations of staffers, a mentor to dozens of young staffers and interns. I have also said over and over again that we Senators are merely a constitutional impediment to our staffs. Well, this impediment was delighted he could go to Ann Berry and seek help and advice. I think of her and her family--Reginald, her wonderful husband, and her daughter, Elizabeth, whom I have had a chance to see grow up to become a young woman who is distinguishing herself working here in the Senate. I also think of her sayings, like ``This, too, shall pass'' or ``I may have been born at night, but I wasn't born last night.'' ``There is more than one way to skin a cat,'' or sometimes when we had been here late into the night, she says, ``Nothing good happens after midnight.'' But with her, everything good happened. I think of the Senate and all of us in it, in a way, as a family. Over my years here, I have become more and more aware of that. But Ann Berry truly was. I don't know how many times somebody working in my office would have an issue--not just the professionals things; she was always there to answer those and give direction. They would go in and say, ``You know, I have had this thing that has been troubling me'' and know that they could get wonderful advice but also advice in confidence. I will admit that my grandchildren, my wife and I think the world of her. We do have one grandchild, now 15, but for the last few years, he would be in my office, and he would say, ``I want to go leave a note for Miss Ann,'' and young Patrick would go and leave notes for her. It is a kind of family. I think the world of our majority leader. When he told me that he wanted to appoint Ann Berry as Secretary of the Senate, I told him I will forgive him this once only because of her extraordinary capabilities. I will speak more about her next week, but one thing that is going to give me pride because of who it involves is that on Monday, as President pro tempore, I will administer the oath of office to the extraordinary Ann Berry, and I will do it as one of the proudest moments since I have been here. I yield the floor.

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, for more than a year, our country has been in the grip of an unprecedented health and economic catastrophe. It was January, if we recall, of last year when the first confirmed case of COVID-19 was found in our country. Since then, more than 444,000 of our fellow citizens have died, more than 26 million have been infected, millions have lost their jobs, and every day there are another thousands more deaths. A year ago, former President Trump boasted--just think of this. This is just a year ago. He said that there were only 15 COVID-19 cases in this country, and he said that soon the number would be zero. For months, he told the American people there was nothing to worry about. Nothing to worry about? Tell the 26 million who have been infected, the nearly half a million who have died, because it is obvious to anyone paying attention to the country's public health experts that, unfortunately, he had no idea what he was talking about. But, of course, he wasn't interested in what anyone else had to say. All of us can see so many unforgiveable mistakes, so many missed opportunities in dealing with this virus that we and the world are now facing a calamity unlike anything in modern history. The last administration, rather than unite the country against the virus, chastised people for wearing masks. They vilified Governors who tried to stop the spread of the virus. Former President Trump said it would disappear ``like magic.'' Over the summer we lost even more time with the inexplicable decision to take a ``pause'' and delay further COVID relief. That was precious time that could have been spent trying to get the pandemic under control. Time was wasted while the virus spread and mutated, and now we are dealing with multiple variants, some of which are more easily transmissible and possibly more deadly. The previous administration's handling of this disease was a monumental, unforgiveable failure of leadership. Tens of thousands of Americans would be alive today if the Trump administration had done their job or, at the very least, stopped making it impossible for the people who wanted to do their job. Historians are going to judge him harshly. That was then. Our job now is to rally behind a President who understands the seriousness and urgency of what we are facing. The $1.9 trillion package proposed by President Biden is the kind of bold, comprehensive proposal we have needed since last spring. I felt privileged to sit with him this morning, along with other Senators, and discuss it, because we know the President's plan would provide the resources to mount a national vaccination program, safely open our schools, restore American global leadership, and provide direct support to the people in need. Now, everybody here wants to reopen our economy, but we can't do that if we don't defeat the virus. President Biden understands that. He also understands that as long as the virus is spreading anywhere, it threatens people everywhere. That is why we need a global response. As incoming chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I am committed to supporting the President's proposal expeditiously. The American people have endured enough despair, sickness, and death due to the incompetence of the previous administration. I also share President Biden's desire to make this a bipartisan process. He and I served together in this body, and I know he wants to do that. But the price of bipartisanship cannot be a package that falls far short of meeting the needs of the American people. There were painful consequences for delaying another broad relief package between April and December of last year, even though many of us wanted to bring it to the floor of the Senate, and now there are reasons why States today don't have the quantity of vaccines they need, why our schools are being closed, why millions are out of work, and why the virus is spreading out of control. Valuable time was squandered. Countless people suffered and died as a result. So I certainly cannot accept a piecemeal approach or months of further delay. The clock is ticking. In mid-March, key benefits that millions of Americans are relying on to survive will begin to lapse. We can't allow a self-inflicted wound to make their lives even worse. Now, I am glad to see several of my friends from the other side of the aisle bring forth their own plan, but I am afraid the plan they have shown so far shortchanges America in critical ways. It provides little of the resources needed to reopen schools. It doesn't include money for State and local governments that are on the frontlines fighting this virus. And those State and local governments have been forced to lay off more than 1 million people since March. It cuts direct payments t struggling families from $1,400 to $1,000. If you are one of those struggling families, it not only hurts, it can be devastating. And their proposal completely ignores what every single public health expert knows: If we don't help the lower income countries protect their people, we cannot defeat the virus. This is a global pandemic, and as long as it is spreading in Central America and Africa and Asia, the virus and more deadly variants will find their way here. We learned that when we got together and fought Ebola when it was only an airplane flight away. Well, these strains are popping up all over the world. We have to work with other countries. So I am hopeful there may be a bipartisan path forward, but I am not going to concede any tools at our disposal that can deliver the relief that the American people need--the relief long overdue. I support the budget resolution that has been introduced. It put us on a path to passing a COVID relief package through the budget reconciliation process, and there is no reason a reconciliation bill can't be bipartisan. We have passed at least 17 bipartisan reconciliation bills since 1980 on behalf of the American people, and I welcome any Republican who would like to discuss where we could reach a compromise. But let us not forget for a moment we are in the midst of a public health emergency, and right now the virus is winning. We are not winning; the virus is winning. So we can't waste months, like we did last year, negotiating a plan that fails to mount an effective response to the virus or to fully respond to the economic havoc it is causing. We need quick action. We need a bold and comprehensive plan to fight the virus. We need to get people back to work so our economy can recover. That is what President Biden proposed. You know, there is greater danger in doing too little than in doing too much. Secretary Yellen stated it so well when she recently stated, ``The smartest thing we can do is act big.'' It has been more than a year since this disease arrived in our country. It was never going to just ``disappear.'' Viruses never do that. So there is no excuse for dragging our feet. Let's all support the bold package proposed by President Biden for the American people. I know I will. I see the distinguished Senator from Ohio on the floor, so I yield to him.

Mr. LEAHY

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

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to speak in morning business.

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, as you know, as you walk around the Capitol these last couple of weeks, you have to notice the changes. Quiet views of the Capitol, the seat of our government, are obstructed by fences topped with barbed wire and servicemembers on patrol at every corner, every entrance, and every gateway. These servicemembers, men and women of our National Guard, are our neighbors. They are our coworkers. They are members of our family. They are called away from home, many of which volunteered to come here to the Nation's Capitol to protect the very heart of democracy. They deserve our thanks. They deserve our gratitude. They deserve our unwavering support. With over 25,000 members of the Guard from every State, territory, and District of Columbia present in Washington to protect our time- honored traditions, there is no greater representation of the best of America here as we carry out the people's business. I am grateful to them for their service. Now, 2 weeks ago, I had the pleasure of visiting and thanking some members of Vermont's own National Guard--Lieutenant Colonel Day, along with Captain Lahr, and First Sergeant Stewart from Bravo Troop of Vermont's renowned Mountain Calvary Battalion. They welcomed me and introduced me to a contingent of the Vermonters present. Now, through their deployment, they are asked to face challenges at a moment's notice. They use the training and the teamwork that has always helped them succeed in Vermont and overseas. They met those challenges, and they exceeded those challenges. Like all National Guard units when they deploy, these Vermonters came to the District with deep ties back to our communities and the families and employers that make their service possible. I am privileged to be the cochair of the Senate National Guard Caucus. I have heard, time and again, firsthand testimony from members of the Guard that that hometown connection is the glue that makes what they do possible. We are grateful to their families, their communities, and their employers too. But that can be said about every Senator here, including our distinguished Presiding Officer. The Vermont Guard members I talked to carried with them the support of Vermont communities, especially from Southern Vermont, where Bravo Troop's armory is located. To give you an idea of how they are part of the community, the deployment was led by the vice principal of Brattleboro Union High School. It included the cousin of one of my staffers. It was filled with soldiers with connections and stories that make up the culture and community I proudly call home--Vermont. A similar story could be told about the communities represented in the units from every State and territory. I am especially grateful because most of the soldiers from Vermont are going to deploy overseas later this year. Everyone that came down this January volunteered to be here. So much has been asked of the National Guard these last 3 months, from the COVID-19 response to several disturbances this summer, to safeguarding the Nation's Capitol--all of it on top of regular training and deployment schedules. To the men and women of the National Guard from every State and territory and the District of Columbia, we appreciate the immense contributions you have made to our country today and every day. You are real patriots. You are real heroes, and democracy thanks you.

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, on another matter to bring to our leaders, you know, I first came to this Capitol when I was a teenager with my parents. We came down from Vermont. I remember looking around and walking through it, thinking what a privilege it was just to walk here. And then, during my years at Georgetown Law School, I would come here often just to see it, just to watch it, and to walk up the Mall and look at the Capitol and say: That is democracy. I never thought I would work here, but I have now for a number of years. I found the assault on and the defilement of the U.S. Capitol mere weeks ago was an attack on the bedrock of our democratic institutions right here in the citadel of our democracy. The toll that this insurrection has taken and will take on our great Nation will be felt for so long. In addition to the physical damage done, there is a human toll that this attack has taken on the lives lost and the injuries suffered by so many brave officers of the Capitol Police. I was both in this Chamber and in the House Chamber during the time this attack unfolded. The next morning, I recorded some of the lingering physical damage to this building in several photographs that I made. But the attack also is about things you can't photograph, the unseen scars in the Capitol community--the staff members and the Capitol employees who work every day to help make our Capitol Building function as it needs to function. Most Members of Congress were also roiled by this attack. It has shaken all of us. Chad Pergram of FOX News has written an essay that captures this heavy toll on the people who work in the Capitol. I was so moved when I read his essay. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the essay by Chad Pergram written on January 31, 2021

Mr. LEAHY. With that, Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. LEAHY

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

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. I thank the distinguished leader.

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, all of us in this body mourn the recent passing of former Senator Paul Sarbanes. Those of us who served with him have known him as one of the finest and most accomplished Senators with whom we have served. And what a great pleasure it was to work with him, on so many issues. In addition to his impressive legislative accomplishments, Paul Sarbanes was one of the Senate's keenest interrogators and one of the Senate's finest orators. In the Senate community, most of all we knew him for his wit, for his warmth and kindness, and for his decency. I would like to call to the Senate's attention an insightful remembrance of Senator Sarbanes by Paul Glastris that was published this month by the Washington Monthly. I ask unanimous consent that the article be printed in the Record.

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, amid the chaos of the last 4 years, it is almost difficult to parse out the particular challenge that was 2020. Faced with deadly pandemic wrought by COVID-19 and the ensuing economic crisis, millions of Americans lost their jobs and found themselves in a newfound state of uncertainty and instability. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died from the pandemic, and millions have been infected. Meanwhile, families across the country have lost their homes and businesses due to worsening hurricanes, floods, and wildfires brought on by intensifying climate change. And there are socioeconomic challenges, too, that linger and grow due to inequality, political division, and racial injustice, all things that have defined the last year. George Will poignantly wrote on January 1 in the Washington Post about the challenges we faced throughout the past year and will continue to face moving forward. In his piece, Mr. Will highlights a greater overarching challenge as well: that we, as humans, do not have all encompassing control over our circumstances. There are greater forces in play; yet our choices and decisions can dictate to some degree the impact of those forces. As we begin our work in the 117th Congress, I hope we can come together to better equip our families, communities, and society to respond to our current challenges and prepare our country to effectively combat similar challenges in the future. I ask unanimous consent that Mr. Will's column, ``2020 was a booster shot against human hubris,'' be printed in the Record.

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, what our Nation witnessed and what Members of Congress and the dedicated staff that work in the Capitol witnessed on January 6 was a deadly attack on one of our most sacred and historic constitutional duties: the count and final certification of the results of our Presidential election. The violent insurrection that occurred in the Capitol, which took the lives of five people, including an officer of the U.S. Capitol Police, was an attack on our democracy. The votes cast in the 2020 Presidential election were counted and recounted. The results were challenged in the courts and ultimately were certified in every single State. Yet, citing the baseless chant that the election was ``stolen,'' an angry and violent mob stormed the Capitol in an effort to suspend the democratic process, overturn the will of the American people, and ensure that now-former President Trump remained in office. These insurrectionists vandalized the very heart of our government and threatened and harmed those sworn to protect it. In a column in the VTDigger, Haviland Smith, a Vermonter and the first chief of counterterrorism operations for the Central Intelligence Agency, makes the strong case that the insurrection on January 6 was an act of domestic terrorism. I am certain that the FBI and the Department of Justice will continue to investigate and, where appropriate, to file charges and hold these people to account. But in this Chamber, we must heed Mr. Smith's wisdom. As legislative body, as public servants, we must reckon with the lies and anti-democratic discourse that fueled this attack and work to ensure that such an act of domestic terror never occurs again. I ask unanimous consent that the piece written by Haviland Smith, titled ``Domestic Terrorism in the Capitol,'' be printed in the Record.

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President. January 6, 2021, will forever mark a historic day for our Nation. Not simply because our beloved Capitol building--the very heart of our democracy--laid under siege. Not simply because rioters stormed the Senate and House floors, assaulting Capitol Police officers and leaving a wake of destruction along the way. Not simply because the President of the United States encouraged his supporters to commit these felonies--to march to the Capitol and ``to fight,'' in his words. No, today will also be remembered because of what happened before all of that. Today, over 100 Members of the House and a dozen Senators supported a ploy to deprive the States and the American people of their constitutional role to choose our next President--a ploy that amounts to nothing less than an assault on our Constitutional republic. The President's obscene claim that the election was stolen from him, which he continued to spout even while his rioting supporters roamed the Halls of the Capitol today, has been disproven time and again. Every single Senator knows that Vice President Biden won the election and did so decisively. Claims that President Trump won reelection are not just fantasy; they are delusional. And citing voters' mistrust in the election results as grounds for this stunt is particularly disingenuous given that those concerns have been fueled by the President's own baseless conspiracy theories--not by the evidence, not by the facts, and not by State election administrators, both Republicans and Democrats, who actually oversaw these elections and know what they are talking about. President Trump and his allies have now lost more than 60 cases in courts across the country, by judges of every political stripe, including those appointed by the President. The lopsidedness of these decisions has been extraordinary. It has been nothing less than a wholesale rejection of the President's claims. But this is not surprising. The President's own Attorney General said there is no evidence of widespread fraud. His own Department of Homeland Security described it as the ``most secure election in American history.'' President Trump serves no one but himself. He is not a custodian or guardian of our democracy. He is a man whose every decision is driven by his shallow self-interest. I did not expect him to be gracious in defeat. I expected him to throw tantrums. I am not even surprised that his rhetoric has incited violence, as it has today. That is who President Trump is; we have all known that for some time. I am surprised and disappointed that so many Members of this body have let it get this far. After he incited rioters and criminal actions by a mob attacking America's symbol of democracy, our Capitol, what more will he do? He should just leave. He has damaged the country enough. Our job today is simply to count the votes and to certify that Joe Biden won the election. Pretending that Congress could effectively overturn the will of the American people has, predictably, poured gasoline on an already lit fire. We must now get to work to put this fire out. I am glad that Congress is taking the first step now--that is, to stop with this nonsense and certify this election. The next step will be harder. The only way we stand a chance of coming together as a country, let alone making progress for the American people, is by working together. I am thankful to the many Senate Republicans who have forcefully rejected this dangerous political stunt, even before the violence. Your words had meaning and sent a message to the country that our democracy will endure. I have served in the Senate for 46 years. I can tell you that history will remember this sad day. So let us ensure that it is not just remembered for the destruction, for the President's recklessness, and for those in Congress who so casually attempted to overturn the will of the American people. Let us work together now and certify this election, so this day will also be remembered for those who stood up and rejected this dangerous political stunt for the good of the Republic and for the good of the American people.

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I was going to speak in a few minutes, but things have been filed now appropriately. Let me speak in my role not only as the Senator from Vermont but as the vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. We have had months of delay and painstaking negotiations. Sometimes those negotiations have gone all weekend long, until midnight, 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning. But this afternoon, we will have before us a spending package. It includes all 12 appropriations bills for fiscal year 2021. It also includes a vitally important COVID relief package. Those are the numbers and figures, but let's talk about what it means. It provides funding for programs that are critically important to the American people, and I would like to see it swiftly passed and on the President's desk. After all, it is not like we are suddenly rushing things. We are 2 months and 20 days into the fiscal year. It would be absolutely outrageous if we delayed it further. As vice chairman of the Appropriations Committee, I worked hard to reach agreement on this Omnibus appropriations bill that will fund the Federal government through the remainder of the fiscal year, without relying on a long-term continuing resolution, as sometimes has been done in the past. That was not an easy task. The budget caps are very lean this year, and we had to stay within those. They provided a less than 1-percent increase in nondefense discretionary spending, and that is to meet the needs of a nation that is reeling from the worst public health pandemic in a century. Under normal circumstances, that would be difficult, but it is made even more difficult because of the global health and economic crisis we face. Notwithstanding the tight top line, we have produced a bill that provides important increases in programs that serve the American people and invest in our economy. I think the bill finally drives a stake through the heart of the administration's effort to substantially diminish the role of government in helping Americans in need and in promoting economic growth. We all know that President Trump's first budget proposed to substantially diminish the role of government. He wanted to cut nondefense spending by 9 percent in fiscal 2018 and 18 percent by 2021. He wanted to completely eliminate programs millions of Americans rely on every day. For 4 years, in Congress, leading Republicans and Democrats came together and we rejected these ill-conceived, arbitrary, and reckless cuts. This year, I will say to my colleagues--those who have worked hard with us on the Democratic side and on the Republican side and who came together on this, and, especially, those who worked with us in the Appropriations Committee--we are going to do the same in rejecting these arbitrary cuts. Now, this agreement is the product of weeks of hard work and compromise. This is not the bill I would have written on my own. It includes things I support and, I must admit, some things I oppose. But that is often the way legislation is. No one Senator gets everything that he or she wants. But together, we can get things that the country wants, and on balance, passage of this bill is unquestionably in the interest of the American people. Let me talk about some of those things. The omnibus spending bill includes increases for education and early childhood programs. It provides more funding for substance abuse and mental health services. I think every one of us knows, from what we hear from back home, that these services are of utmost importance in these extremely difficult times. It provides more for food assistance programs both here and abroad--the assistance that is desperately needed as many families struggle to survive during this pandemic. And it includes increases for housing and homelessness services to help those who are the most vulnerable. These are all programs that my fellow Democrats fought hard to include. I support this agreement. As I said, I appreciate those who have worked with us weekends, holidays, and after midnight on so many nights. But I am deeply disappointed that Congress is so unforgivably late in completing our work. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever why this bill could not have been finished months ago. I thank Chairman Shelby, Chairwoman Lowey, and Ranking Member Granger for their cooperation and partnership. We worked through our differences on the Omnibus spending bill. As the Big 4, we realized we had to balance the needs and requests of all of our Members. I urge all Members to support it. That is for the Omnibus. Now, before us today is a much delayed COVID relief package. It, too, is the product of bipartisan compromise, and while it falls short in some critical areas, I support the agreement. It is also long overdue. The American people have been waiting for help for far too long, and I am worried our Republican leadership took a wait-and-see approach. We were ready to go on this last summer, but for 270 days Majority Leader McConnell and the Senate Republicans have blocked every reasonable effort to provide desperately needed relief, even as Members of their party said quietly: We wish we could do something. Now, this package is far from perfect, but time is not on our side. We cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Let's look at what the good things are in here. It provides much needed investments in our economy with support for small businesses--small businesses like those in my State of Vermont or those in the State of the Presiding Officer or anybody else here. It provides relief for unemployed workers by extending unemployment benefits into March. It makes investments in vaccine production and distribution. It supports health providers, educators and farmers and transportation providers. It provides critical investments to expand broadband in rural and low-income areas, access which is vitally important during these difficult times, when many schools and many businesses are operating remotely. It includes another round of direct payments to millions of Americans who are still struggling to pay their mortgage or their rent and feed their families and heat their homes and meet their monthly obligations. Many can't do all those things. Now they will at least get help. I urged that this bill also includes $4 billion in emergency funding for the Gavi Alliance. Let me explain that. And I appreciate those Senators who supported me on that money, the emergency funding for Gavi. This is for the procurement and delivery of vaccines to countries around the world whose rudimentary public health systems are being overwhelmed by COVID-19, whose economies are in free fall due to the virus. We cannot defeat this global pandemic, and international travel and Congress will not recover without fighting the virus overseas. Just as we did during the Obama administration when we were faced with Ebola, the administration and the Congress came together and said: Sure, we will protect here in the United States, but we will also work at getting rid of it in other countries because if it flourishes in another country, it is an airplane trip away from our country. I support the package, but I want to be very clear. This COVID bill is only a first step. We have to do more. Vermonters and the American people need more. The direct payments included in this package are a fraction of what we should have provided, given the dire financial situation of millions of people across this Nation. People are hungry. Unemployment continues to plague our economies. We should have acted months ago, but let's at least act on this today. Families are struggling to pay their rent and put food on their table. I will continue to fight for more. I made hundreds of phone calls from my own State of Vermont. I talked to people whom I never met, but I know that they are people who are typical of Vermonters, but they are typical of people in any one of the States we represent. I hear the fear in their voice. I hear the concern they have. In the middle of winter, as snow is coming down, do we heat or do we eat? How many meals should we, as parents, go without so we can make sure our children are fed? How are children going to do school if they are hungry? Look at State and local governments. Around the country, they have laid off over 1.3 million teachers, first responders, and other employees since March. They need our help. Sometimes there are things that we don't talk about. Rates of spousal abuse and child abuse have increased during the crisis. We should be providing funds for the Violence Against Women Act and child abuse prevention grants, just as Republicans and Democrats joined me a few years ago when I greatly expanded--with the help of Senator Mike Crapo in a bipartisan fashion-- the Violence Against Women Act and the things we did. None of us, even at that time, could have conceived of the crisis we are facing now in the country. In my State, Vermonters are facing the coldest, darkest months of winter. They are struggling to heat their homes. And families need help paying their utility bills through the LIHEAP program, and we will help that program. When it is 20 degrees below zero and you have had 15 inches of snow overnight, you can't really look at this as an abstract thing and say: Golly, maybe we should have a program to heat our home. You are going to die if you don't. And we are finally making progress in delivering a vaccine to the American people, but the pandemic is far from over. We know that, notwithstanding a lot of the things said about this is on its way and everybody is going to get one, there are huge gaps in all parts of our country and getting the vaccine to them. I will be the first at the negotiating table to work with President Biden and the 117th Congress to address the many needs that remain unmet in this bill. The House will send this bill over to us. I would urge all Members to vote on it when it comes here. Again, I have to look back at the history of this body. I have to look at the people who have worked so hard on so many things over the years. I know that we have people in both parties who are trying to address the needs of our country. I don't say this with pleasure but with sadness, I am the dean of the United States Senate. Next year, I will start my 47th year in this body. I have seen us come together at a time when it is needed, but then I see one of the greatest needs I have seen in my years in the Senate that we ignored for month after month after month. All of this could have been done in July or August or September or October or November, not at the very last minute. And why didn't we? We had to take time. We had to take time breaking long tradition--all of the promises that have been given by the other side. We had to take time to move one special interest-supported judge after another to lifetime jobs, but they will be paid well. They don't have to worry about paying their bills. In all 50 of our States, we had people being tossed out of their homes, tossed out of their apartments, lost their jobs, unable to feed their children, or the fear and anxiety a parent has in telling a child: No, I don't know what tomorrow will be like. I don't know what next month will be like. We will pray, and we will hope, but I don't know. We could have stopped that anxiety in June, when the House bill came over here, or in July or in August or September and October and November. We are doing some of it now. But I ask every Senator to search their conscience. Wouldn't it have been better if all of us from both sides did something and said: Put everything else aside, put aside all the special interest nominations. Put that aside, and let's care for the one special interest we should have and that is the American people--care for those men and women who elected us from either party, who rely on us. I have never seen this country so split apart or having such fear except for a privileged few, and maybe that includes us. I am not here to represent me. I am here to represent over 600,000 Vermonters and fulfill my oath to the whole country, 320 million Americans. What we should be doing is saying that never again will we let these kind of partisan politics slow us and not allow us to go forward. We know, and it is easy to say now, we should have taken the bill that came from the House of Representatives last summer and brought it up on the floor. If anybody didn't like it, file an amendment to change it. Vote for it or vote against it. Vote for or against the amendments you might bring up. That is what we usually do. I know how to vote. I voted over 16,000 times. Why don't we just vote? If we had done that this summer, it may not be a perfect bill, but it would be better than where we are. Every Member--Republican and Democratic alike--would have had a chance to bring up their amendment. They could have made their case, either win or lose. We go to the committee conference; we have the bill done. I say all this not to just be a technocrat of what needs to be done but to say this is how you reflect the needs of the American people. We faced the threat of Ebola in the last administration. We stood together, both parties. We helped the countries that were suffering from Ebola and, in doing so, we protected the United States of America, and we helped those in this country who might face it. That was a shining moment. That was a moment of America at its best. This is not. I do hope we can do better next year. I know as senior Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, I will fight to do better. But I also use my voice and what example I might give as dean of the Senate to say to both parties: Here is what we do. I think of such examples as Bob Dole, one of the best leaders this Senate had, a Republican. He came together with Senator Pat Moynihan, one of the most brilliant Senators I served with, a Democrat. And that Republican and Democrat came together and set aside their philosophical differences, cared for the country, and saved Social Security. I could give so many more examples. That was a Senate that acted as a conscience of the Nation, and how did they do that? They appealed to our conscience. I just use that one example because people said that they couldn't possibly do the difficult things necessary to save Social Security. Democrats wouldn't give this; Republicans wouldn't give that. Instead, you had two Senators of conscience who said: We can do it. Let's do it. Let's use our leadership and our conscience to bring others together. And that distinguished the Republican Senator Robert Dole, and that distinguished the Democratic Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and they came together and we saved Social Security. Those of us in the Senate in both parties who voted for the final package knew we were going to have to vote for some things that would be unpopular with constituencies. But instead of worrying about special interests or single-issue constituencies, we worried about the men and women of our States and what they would face if we didn't come together. And that is what we voted for, and we saved it. I sometimes say that Senators are merely constitutional impediments to their staffs, but we could not do the work we do without the staff. I want to thank the staff who worked tirelessly to produce the bill. By ``tirelessly,'' I mean until after midnight many nights and weekends and holidays. When the rest the Senate had gone home, they were still working. I know them. Much of the time, I would be on the phone with them. I would be working with them and, finally, I would say: It is so late. Everybody should go to bed. When I woke up in the morning, there would be an email sent to me at 3 o'clock or 4 o'clock in the morning because they kept on working. So I thank Chuck Kieffer, Chanda Betourney, Jessica Berry, Dianne Nellor, Jean Taol Eisen, Erik Raven, Doug Clapp, Ellen Murray, Scott Nance, Rachael Taylor, Alex Keenan, Michelle Dominguez, Tim Rieser, Dabney Hegg, and all the staff of the Senate Appropriations Committee on both bills. I would thank Chairman Shelby's staff: Shannon Hines, Jonathan Graffeo, and David Adkins. Normally, at this time, Senators might just put these names in the Record, but I wanted to say them out loud, on the floor, because they should hear their names said out loud and know how much I appreciate what they have done, not just for the U.S. Senate but for the United States of America. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. LEAHY

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

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am going to be speaking just a few minutes on another matter, and I believe I will have time at 1 o'clock. With nobody else seeking the floor at the moment, I would just add to what the distinguished Senator from Texas just said. I discussed this with him off the floor after he spoke. There is a concern about what might be in the omnibus bill and in the COVID bill, and here on a Saturday and tomorrow, Sunday, or whatever, we are finished, and we are rushing it through. I would remind everybody that we were ready to bring up the appropriations bills that make up the omnibus in July. The House of Representatives had sent over--in June, it sent over their COVID bill. We could have brought it up then. We could have started having a series of votes. It might have taken us 2 or 3 weeks to have votes every day on different parts of their proposal--Democrats' proposals, Republicans' proposals, the Appropriations' proposals--and vote them up or down. I had urged that. Republicans have the majority in the U.S. Senate. If they didn't like proposals the Democrats had, they could vote them down. But instead they seemed almost terrified to vote. Ah, but there was a reason. We would have had to take 2 or 3 weeks to vote all of this up or down, but we had to take, instead, the time to put through lifetime judgeships of people who have been recommended by special interest groups. That is beneath the U.S. Senate. But, unfortunately, while these people got lifetime jobs with high pay, hundreds of thousands and millions of Americans have lost their jobs, have lost their places to live, are unable to educate their children, and hundreds of thousands have lost their lives. This is not the U.S. Senate's finest hour. We should have been doing our job and voting these things up or down. I know some may be afraid of what they had to vote, but so what? I have cast over 16,000 votes. Not all of them were easy, but I never thought there was any question about whether I would vote. (Mrs. HYDE-SMITH assumed the Chair.)

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President. Senator Pat Roberts has dedicated his life to serving the Nation and the people of his home State of Kansas, and I would like to take a moment to recognize his retirement. During his 40 years of service in the U.S. Congress, Senator Roberts has become a leader on agriculture, rural health and education, and defense policy. Senator Roberts is the first Member of Congress to chair the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Through his work on this committee and other, and across Congress, Senator Roberts has served with honor and distinction, keeping foremost in mind the interests and needs of Kansans. Pat has been a true partner on the Agriculture Committee. His methodical approach to bipartisanship mirrors my own efforts when I served a chairman of that committee and worked with Senator Dick Lugar to write and advance farm bills, nutrition laws, and conservation policies. Under Pat's chairmanship, the committee was able to reach a compromise on the 2018 farm bill, allowing for the inclusion of several key policies to enhance rural development, support our farmers, and fund vital nutrition programs. I know from negotiating the 1990 farm bill as committee chairman that reaching a bipartisan and bicameral consensus on such a substantial and sweeping piece of legislation is no simple task. Pat's leadership through the process showed his deep commitment to providing for the American people. Pat and I have worked together, and we have traveled together. We often chuckle that there are two bald men named Pat serving in the Senate. While I will miss sharing that chuckle with my friend, I will miss more his partnership and unwavering commitment to advancing responsible policies and practices to support agricultural sectors across the country. Pat and his wife Franki have become friends. Marcelle and I wish them the very best.

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, Cory Gardner may be one of the younger members of the Senate, but he has brought distinction and dedication to his work on behalf of Coloradans. His entire career has been anchored in legislative work, at the Federal and State levels, first as a Senate staffer and then in the Colorado House of Representatives, before his election to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. In both the State legislature and in the House of Representatives, he focused primarily on energy and agriculture legislation. He brought these priorities with him to Senate in 2015, through his work on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and Commerce, Justice, and Science Committees. As a Senator, Senator Gardner has often worked across the aisle to find common ground and deliver for the people of the United States. One recent example was the enactment of the bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act, which became law in August. This landmark bipartisan conservation legislation permanently funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund, supports and creates countless jobs in conservation and outdoor recreation, and protects our country's natural beauty. Through the negotiation and passage of this bill, Senator Gardner was at the table, trying to reach consensus and bring about meaningful benefits for the American people. That is no easy task and one which is not undertaken often in the Senate these days. Senator Gardner will leave the Senate at the end of this Congress, but I know his dedication to public service will remain. Marcelle and I wish Senator Gardner, his wife Alyson, and the rest of their family the very best in the next chapter of their lives.

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, as a nation, today we find ourselves contemplating the key tenets upon which our country was founded: the importance of truth and equality, the pursuit of justice, and the determination of what is right. Doug Jones has pursued justice and has fought for equality and for what is right for his entire career. Doug is one of the most dedicated, thoughtful and decent public servants I have ever had the privilege to know and work with in my time in the Senate. He leaves the Senate having only furthered that record of public service. Doug brought with him to the Senate a passion for civil rights and for resolving prior injustices. As U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, he fought against entrenched racial injustice. He prosecuted the men responsible for the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church: and indicted domestic terrorist Eric Rudolph. In the Senate, he continued the pursuit of justice as a vocal advocate for greater government transparency and authored legislation that has expanded access to criminal investigation records for civil rights cases, helping families and individuals to resolve injustices after decades of inaction. I am certain that, even as he leaves the Senate, Doug will continue to represent and to fight for what is right. His has been an important and uniquely qualified voice for justice voice in the Senate these last few years, and I will miss his sound judgment and thoughtful advocacy. I know his long record of public service will only continue. Marcelle and I wish Doug and his wife Louise and their entire family all the best. I have great respect for him. He is one of the most impressive Senators I have served with, and I am so proud of all he has accomplished

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, although Martha McSally only joined the Senate in 2019, she has spent decades serving the Nation and the people of the State of Arizona. She served for decades as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force, in service to our country and to keep Americans safe. Upon her retirement as colonel from the Air Force, she continued her career as a public servant by representing Arizona's Second Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives for 4 years before her appointment to the Senate. In the Senate, as she did in the House, Senator McSally has fought hard to support veterans and has worked to further the interests of Arizonans. Her sense of duty to her country and to her State allowed her to make important contributions to the Senate Armed Services and Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committees. Senator McSally has also been a ``neighbor,'' with our offices both on same floor of the Russell Senate Building. I thank Senator McSally for her service in the Senate, and I wish her the best in the next chapter of her life. (At the request of Mr. Thune, the following statement was ordered to be printed in the Record.)

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, the Senate has before it today the result of a compromise. The conference report that will result in the adoption of the National Defense Authorization Act--NDAA--for fiscal year 2021 is neither the bill the Senate approved, nor the one the House passed. I am pleased that this conference report cures many of the problems that led to my vote to oppose the Senate bill. Specifically, the conference report is void of the authority for funds to support testing of a new nuclear device, which was included in the Senate bill. This sends an important message to the world about Congress's support for U.S. leadership in armed control. Further, the conference report advances the progress we have made with regard to Vietnam. This NDAA sends a clear message that Congress believes in the importance of cooperation with Vietnam, both to advance our shared security interests and to address some of the worst consequences of that war. The conference report will extend the authorization for the Department of Defense to help decontaminate the Bien Hoa Airbase from the lingering poison of dioxin, and it includes new authorization to help the Government of Vietnam locate and identify some of its hundreds of thousands of MIAs, as they have helped us locate our own MIAs over so many years. The bill will also help the veterans of that war who were exposed to dioxin. The expansion of presumption of exposure included in this bill will mean that Americans suffering from a number of linked ailments can spend their time seeking treatment, rather than jumping through bureaucratic and legal hoops. For many veterans exposed to airborne toxic substances through burn pits, this bill also includes a number of provisions to make it easier to identify their exposure and for them to make connections needed while seeking medical care. It continues the march towards rectifying the Department of Defense's PFOS/PFOA usage. While there is much to be done in both these areas, this is a positive step forward. This bill is imperfect, but of particular concern to me is the addition in conference, without proper vetting or evaluation, of several provisions that undermine the Freedom of Information Act, our Nation's premier transparency law. Many of these provisions were in neither the Senate nor the House bill. For a number of years, I have worked in a bipartisan manner with other members of the Judiciary Committee to consult with the Senate Armed Services Committee to provide the feedback and expertise in FOIA matters, as it relates to proposals within the NDAA. That inclusive process, where committees of jurisdiction are consulted on their areas of expertise, has ensured that the NDAA does not become a vehicle for unwise or harmful policies. This time, however, a number of provisions needlessly piercing holes in FOIA were inserted during conference negotiations without any consultation with the Judiciary Committee. Unsurprisingly, a process that took place behind closed doors resulted in policies undermining the American people's ability to know what their government is doing. Unfortunately, this is slowly becoming a routine practice, and it must not happen again. I want to put everyone on notice: I will insist that the Judiciary Committee and those of us who worked for many years on these matters are consulted on provisions that fall within the purview of our committee before they are included in the NDAA. That consultation process has produced good outcomes for the American people for years. Let's not change it now. With these concerns in mind, on balance, this is a defense authorization bill that I will support. It advances our efforts to reconcile with our history and address the naming of our military bases after Confederate generals, something over which the President inexplicably threatened to veto the bill. It rejects the President's demands to repeal section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, something that advances his personal war, but which demands careful consideration and should not be used as hostage bait. This conference report authorizes over $740 billion in spending. The defense of our Nation and our international role in providing security and promoting stability demand significant investments. I hope, however, that in future years, Congress will thoughtfully consider the skewed balance of our defense investments against other critical domestic needs. These are difficult questions, but ones that demand debate and honest review. Vote on National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021-- Conference Report

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I have found so much of what I have heard that I can agree with. I certainly agree that we ought to be able to pass our annual appropriations bills. I certainly agree that we should prevent Federal Government shutdowns, which waste billions upon billions upon billions of dollars' worth of taxpayers' money, plus all of the burdens they put on American families, Federal employees, and so forth. But I am afraid that my good friends on the other side of the aisle are letting rhetoric get ahead of reality. The reality is that the majority in the Senate controls the calendar in the Senate. All of these appropriations bills could have been brought up in June or July or September. We could have voted on them, piece by piece, up and down, and had amendments. Everybody would have had plenty of time to have read every line of them, to have amendments to strike things or add things they wanted. I mention this because it can be done. The House of Representatives, under Democratic control--I don't mean that to be partisan but to show the difference--they actually passed all of their appropriations bills and its COVID bill, the so-called Heroes Act, in May. In the Appropriations Committee, we have been working very hard. Senator Shelby's staff has, and mine has too. We have given up a lot of time with my colleagues--and for all good reasons. Many of us stayed here working on those appropriations bills, but we couldn't bring the bills up. Now, the Republican leader, the majority leader, could have brought up any one of these bills at any time he had wanted. We could have done it, allowing a 1-hour time agreement for amendments. After all, the Republicans in the majority have nothing to fear about that. If they don't like an amendment, they can vote it down. This would give the Senator from Utah and everybody else a chance to read each one of these bills. If they don't like it, bring up an amendment to strike it. That could have been done; it was not. One of the reasons it was not done was because we had to take up Senate time, day after day after day, to put through nominees--mostly backed by special interest groups--on the Federal bench and elsewhere. We had to vote on those. Why? We can vote on those, but also take the time to vote on these things. Bring up the appropriations bills, and vote on them one by one. Amend them if you want; vote them down if you want. I say to my friends on the other side of the aisle, You have the majority. You can vote them all down or vote them all up. But what happens when you enact an automatic CR, which I would oppose, it means you don't work out the parts of full-year appropriations bills. There would be no incentive for Members to negotiate full-year appropriations bills. We were not elected to put the government on autopilot. We were elected to make careful choices. I would argue the reason we are here is that people were afraid to actually stand up and vote up or down on appropriations bills earlier this year when they had the chance. It is easy to say: Golly gee, let's have an automatic continuing resolution. Sounds good. What it says is that we can take all of our weekends off. We can have the government fly us home. We can pay for all of these things, but we don't do our work. What I am saying is we should have stayed here over a few weekends. I would say to my friends on the other side of the aisle, the Republican side, allow the bills to come up one by one and vote them up or down. If you don't like parts of it, vote to take it out. Vote it up or down. Again, you have the majority, if you don't like what is in there. Full- year appropriations bills give Congress the opportunity to address the needs of today rather than continue the priorities of the past. I have been here long enough to know that things that looked great 2 or 3 years ago are not the priorities today because things change. Certainly, under COVID, we have seen, in many ways, a 15-year change in society, education, business, industries, and more in 15 weeks. So each year in the annual appropriations bills, Congress adjusts spending levels to deal with emerging issues facing the American people. We can eliminate funding for projects that have been completed or no longer needed. We can direct funding to higher priority programs. It is detailed, exacting work. It is nice to talk in slogans and generalities, but I invite those Senators to sit down and go through, day by day, the kind of work the Senators and the superb staff, both Republican and Democratic, do in putting together this legislation. It is detailed, exacting work, but it is what the American people expect. That is what we all thought was a smart decision about how to invest their hard-earned tax dollars. If you operate under an automatic CR, none of these adjustments can be made. Automatic CRs lock in the status quo, and we can say: Bye-bye. We are heading home for the holidays. Oh, an emergency in COVID came up? Well, it is not in the automatic CR, so tough. We didn't have time to do anything about it. Oh, there is flooding in Florida or Nebraska or fires in the West or anything else. Well, the automatic CR didn't cover it because we didn't have money for it a year before. No, that is not the way to do it. The Congress and the White House have a responsibility to work together to enact funding bills to keep the government open. Automatic CRs might save face and time and allow us to do other things that we might like to do back home, but in doing so, they relieve us of our obligations to the Constitution and to the American taxpayer. We shouldn't be relieved of these obligations. I know the last time we had a government shutdown, it was over a bill where the President felt that it didn't give him enough for a wall along the border between the United States and Mexico, a wall that is being built at great expense and accomplishing very little. That is why it was stopped. So for a month and a half, we sat there, parts of the government closed down, our States, our people, our Federal Government losing billions upon billions upon billions of dollars. You know how that finally got reopened? We started off a series of meetings on a Monday. The House was in session; the Senate was in session. It was a good time to begin. We began in Senator Shelby's office, and we continued it in my office here in the Capitol. We had two the chair and ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee. We had two Senators: my good friend--and he is a good and close friend--Dick Shelby, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and myself as the vice chairman. And the four of us sat there for 3 or 4 hours. We talked about everything from photography to travel and then went in line by line of the bills, and we came to an agreement. And we were able to explain our agreement to the House and the Senate, and it was voted through, and the government reopened. Incidentally, the President praised it. He said that he had gone through it, and it was so good. And I thank him for doing that because it gave him a lot less money for the wall than the bill that he vetoed had given him. But the government reopened. I mention this because it seems that those billions of dollars were spent more as a political stunt than something that benefits hard- earned taxpayer dollars. So instead of rhetoric that ignores reality, let's get to the reality. Let's pledge--whoever is in the majority in the end--we will bring up each of the appropriations bills, vote them up or down or amend them. We could have done this in June or July. If we had done that, we wouldn't be where we are now. It was a missed opportunity. If we say let's have an automatic CR no matter what happens, whether we have earthquakes, floods, fires, COVID, attacks on the United States, anything else, we can just sit back and relax, not have to do all of the weekends and holidays and late-night work that many of us in both parties do on appropriations because we have got an automatic CR. When I came to the Senate, both the Republican and Democratic leaders told me--and I was the most junior Member of the Senate at the time-- that we should be the conscience of the Nation. It meant doing your work. I never expected to be the dean of the Senate, but I have seen both Republicans and Democrats do that work. At times, it has been into late Friday night or early Saturday morning, but we have done it and passed it. Where did those days go? Where did those days go? So when Senator Shelby became chair and I became vice chair, we passed a series of appropriations bills. And I think we got 80, 90, 95, and sometimes 100 Senators to vote for those bills. We usually can't get a vote with that many to say the Sun rises in the East. The majority gave us time to bring those votes up, debate them, and vote them up or down. I will have more comments to make. I don't question the good intentions of any Senator here, but what I am saying is, we could have done this in June; we could have done it in July; we could have done it in August; we could have done it in September; we could have done it in November. And to now complain--well, up to the last few days, we have got to change everything. Instead, let's pledge that we will follow regular order in the coming days. I yield the floor.

Mr. LEAHY. Should we be able to represent our constituents? Of course. He and I agree, and he and I have agreed on a lot of different things, especially constitutional issues, in this body. And I share his concern of suddenly being handed a piece of legislation like this, and we are going to vote on it in 10 minutes or an hour or so. Would he agree with me that if the leader said that Tuesday of next week--say this was done earlier in the year--Tuesday of next week, we will bring up this part of the appropriations bill from the committee, the committee having voted on it, Republicans and Democrats--I think it is close to a third of the U.S. Senate that is on that committee-- having voted on it, and it will be open to amendments. Then after we finish that one, we will bring up the next one. Would that cover many of the problems that the Senator from Utah has?