Lisa Murkowski

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, we are here in the U.S. Senate on this Tuesday. We had a vote yesterday evening, the first that we have had in some 6 weeks here. As I walked over to the Chamber just now from the Hart Building, at 4 o'clock on a Tuesday afternoon, the only individuals whom I saw were the extraordinary men and women of the Capitol Police here in the building. Suffice it to say, these are strange, unusual, challenging, and difficult times as we face the COVID-19 pandemic and as we address the challenges that our constituents, our friends, and our families are dealing with at home, whether it be the impact of the virus itself on our health and our health facilities or whether it be the impact-- truly, the economic devastation--that we are seeing in all corners of the Nation. So the opportunity to be together as a body to address these challenges is important. It is challenging for us as we adapt to this time and this situation of wearing protective masks, of being separated from one another, of teleworking as we are. We are adapting. We are facing that challenge. We rightly must be doing this because, as the Nation deals with these matters related to the COVID-19, there are other matters that are taking place every day--issues that need to be addressed, problems that must be tackled, and matters of governance that we must be engaged in. National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Madam President, I woke up this morning and looked at my little news caps with which to focus on the day, this Tuesday, and they noted that today is Teacher Appreciation Day. We thank all of our teachers. Our teachers are certainly in an unusual situation now, as all of our students are. It is also Cinco de Mayo. It is also Giving Tuesday. For many, it feels like Groundhog Day every day because of, again, this strange time in which we are living. For so many, it just seems that every day is more and more of the same. Today, May 5, is also a day that we have recognized for several years now as being the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. It is a matter that I would like to speak briefly to this afternoon. I recognize the devastation that so many families have seen when it comes to those they love who have gone missing or who have been found murdered, and I recognize the dark reality that many, we know, are still missing. Unfortunately, for far too long, there has been silence on this issue. There has been a failure to act in the face of what we know and sometimes in the not knowing of what we are dealing with because we haven't asked the questions, which is equally problematic. It tears at my heart to hear the stories of those whom I have come in contact with in Alaska--a woman's story, a family's story--in that their words have been discounted. They have been dismissed because the woman who went missing or the woman who was murdered was a Native American woman. We have to change that. We cannot accept that. We cannot let the statistics that have really just been allowed to accumulate for too long to remain as statistics. Every single one of these women was her own person, each story her own life story, each a member of her community. In addition to their being someone's lost daughters, wives, mothers, sisters, we should mourn the promise that these missing and murdered women meant to our communities--their being the next generations of mentors, role models, and changemakers. When women are murdered or abducted, when women are trafficked--when individuals are left missing, discarded, or discounted--there is an injustice that is being done, and we cannot let that continue. By raising awareness of the epidemic, by giving these women their faces, their names, and by telling their stories, we are shining a light on a problem, and we are giving hope. I acknowledge the work of a former colleague of mine here in the Senate, Senator Heidi Heitkamp, who came to this floor often as a strong, strong advocate for those Native women who have been dismissed and discounted. She shared pictures, gave names, and went beyond the statistics. She reminded me--encouraged me--that this is an effort that, together, we must address. Unfortunately, we all have the stories--the stories that sicken you and just literally break your heart. The one that, perhaps, touches me most immediately and directly is the life of Ashley Johnson Barr. She was a beautiful 10-year-old girl who was taken from the children's playground in her hometown of Kotzebue, AK, which is a Native village on the northwest coast. She was brutally raped and murdered. Again, she was taken from the kids' playground to just outside her town. Her death and the tragedy around the circumstances of how she left the world are still open. It is still raw and has left a permanent scar on Alaskan communities. What happened to Ashley is a reminder that, in my State, unfortunately, there is a darkness that is still, to this day, very, very hard to talk about, but we must. We have to talk about it. We have to act on it. We cannot turn a blind eye simply because it is difficult to talk about. We have to because we are seeing the stories that represent these statistics in unprecedented proportions. Let me give you some numbers to just put that into perspective. Alaska Native women are 2\1/2\ times more likely to be victims of domestic violence. In Tribal villages and Native communities, domestic violence rates are up to 10 times higher than in the rest of the Nation. In 2015, it was estimated that 40 percent of sex-trafficking victims were Native Americans. Almost 40 percent of those who have been trafficked have been Native Americans. The rate of sexual violence victimization among Alaska's Native women is at least seven times greater than of non-Native females. Again, I will just say these are unprecedented proportions. So, when we designate a day as a day of awareness--an awareness of those who have gone missing and who have been murdered as being indigenous women and girls--it has to be about more than awareness. It has to be about action. This is where Senator Cortez Masto and I have picked up on this work. She and I have worked together on several pieces of legislation that have helped to pave the way for greater collaboration and data collection between Federal agencies--our law enforcement and elected Tribal officials--to not only understand the extent of the issues but to develop methods with which to end these horrible crimes. There are two bills. The first one is Savanna's Act. It combats the epidemic of murdered and missing Native women and girls by improving the Federal Government's response in addressing the crisis. We do this through the coordination among all levels of law enforcement by increasing data collection and information sharing and by empowering Tribal governments with the resources they need in the cases involving missing or murdered indigenous women and girls wherever they may occur. The second piece of legislation is called the Not Invisible Act. It is aimed at addressing the crisis of missing, murdered, and trafficked Native women by engaging law enforcement, Tribal leaders, Federal partners, and service providers and by improving the coordination across the Federal agencies. The more we have reviewed this, we have learned that so much of the data is lacking. We have gaps. We just haven't been able to get the data that we need in order to do a better job of coordinating with our agencies. The good news from all of this is that both of these bills have passed this body, and I thank my colleagues here in the Senate for their support of the measures. We advanced them unanimously on March 11, which was just a little while before we left to deal with the COVID pandemic. I truly want to thank the Senate for helping to prioritize these measures to protect indigenous women. In addition to these measures that we have passed in the Senate, we have done more on the appropriations side. We have worked through the committees, and for the first time in the appropriations bill that President Trump signed in December, there was funding specifically directed to address the crisis of missing, murdered, and trafficked indigenous women--$6.5 million included for the BIA to take a really comprehensive look at the issue across BIA and IHS, the Indian Health Service. It covers everything for the funding of cold casework, background checks, equipment needs, training, and a directive to the IHS with regard to forensic training. It also includes language that does more for the coordination and data collection amongst Tribal, local, State, and Federal law enforcement. So that is significant. The Executive order that was issued by the Trump administration late last year was very important in this effort. I personally acknowledge the good work that Tara Sweeney has done, the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. She has pulled together the agency coordination to respond to these cases. She has shown extraordinary heart--real heart--in responding to the calls from Tribes and advocates to address the crisis of missing and murdered Native women. So there has been so much at play that has come together. What we need now is for the House to act on these legislative measures that we have moved through the Senate so that the President can sign them into law. I think we recognize that as we are dealing with these matters that are directly related to the day-to-day response to COVID, as we have seen our economies slowed, as we have moved indoors to telework, the work that is required for us to help protect the most vulnerable among us continues. We know that work continues. As we have worked aggressively across the country and in Alaskan communities to flatten the curve out there as it relates to the coronavirus, we know, unfortunately, that we have seen an uptick in domestic violence. Unfortunately, and truly sadly for so many, the order to shelter in place--``safer at home'' is the terminology used in some communities, and safer at home doesn't necessarily mean safe at home for far too many. Shelter in place is not a safe shelter. We are seeing increased calls to police departments during this time, but, interestingly enough, we are not seeing an increase in those who are seeking help or shelter in our women's shelters. It was just a couple of weeks ago that I had a phone call with representatives from the various women's shelters around my State, with probably a dozen or so women on the line, and I asked specifically: How are we doing in the shelters? What are we seeing? Their numbers are down, and if you look at it from just a numbers perspective, you would say ``Good.'' But we know that domestic violence doesn't disappear or go away at times like the ones we are facing now; it just goes underground. I think what we are seeing is that concern and fear. As difficult as the situation may be at home, it might be more frightening to go to a shelter where one may be exposed to this invisible threat of the virus. I wish I could say that, as a consequence of what we are seeing, our shelters are better off, but I fear that those who would seek shelter are not better off. So to make sure we are prepared to address these needs is yet another challenge for us in this body: to come together to address these issues that we know are with us--not only the levels of domestic violence but the impact that we know is present when it comes to mental and behavioral health, when people are fragile and yet are afraid to seek help because of the exposure to something else. We have work to do in this area, and that is something I intend to focus on in the days and weeks ahead. I was encouraged to hear my friend, the Senator from Texas, Mr. Cornyn, speaking to just these issues yesterday on the floor. We have much to do. These are challenging times on many different levels. As we recognize this day of awareness for those who have gone missing--for those women and girls who have been murdered--know that this is more than just raising awareness. It is up to us. We owe it to them, their families, and their loved ones to act as well. With that, I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I have 3 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority leaders. Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate: Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs The Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, May 05, 2020, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing on nominations. Select Committee on Intelligence The Select Committee on Intelligence is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, May 05, 2020, at 9:30 a.m., to conduct a hearing on nominations. Select Committee on Intelligence The Select Committee on Intelligence is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, May 05, 2020, at 10:10 a.m., to conduct a closed hearing.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, we have heard a lot of passion here on the Senate floor this afternoon, a lot of anger, a lot of frustration. It stems from the anxiety, the anger, and the frustration that are being felt across the country right now as Americans from Alaska to Arkansas are faced with the reality of this new day--a Monday that they thought they could just never imagine. Last week, they had a healthy business and going concern, and now that business has been ordered shut down. It is a Monday where we thought the kids were going back to school after spring break, and now it has been announced that not only are they not going back after a longer spring break, but right now in my State, it has been extended until May 1, the kids go back to school. I understand today from my assistant that in Virginia, schools are not going to be going back in. They will not go back in before the end of this school year. That is pretty shocking. Here we are on a Monday that nobody could have imagined. About 4 hours ago, we were here on this floor to conduct a vote on a motion to proceed to cloture--a motion to get on to a bill that had been worked through by good men and women on both sides for days now. It hit bumps. We do that around here. That is the nature of legislating. But this is not a time for the bumps to derail us. This is not time that we have that is unlimited to extend debate, to extend a process when we have folks back home whom we answer to who are angry, frustrated, and anxious. At the end of that vote, you heard anger from colleagues saying this was a type of political gamesmanship, brinksmanship--call it whatever you will. This is not what the American people deserve, and this is not what we should be doing as a Senate. Our leader asked us: So where are we? Where are we right now? I think he was speaking more of where are we in the process. We can ask that question in this body and say: Are we mere hours away from being able to reach agreement here? Where we are in the views of so many who are watching this right now, where the Republicans are saying ``We must move on this now. We don't have time to wait. Daylight is a-wasting'' to a response that ``We are still working. We are still working. We are going to try to get this done''--no, we can't just try to get this done. I was asked about what I thought about the failure to come together on a vote last evening, and I said failure is not an option. Plain and simple, failure is not an option. So we are continuing to work, but as we work, let's think about where the people we work for are right now. We may say that we are stuck on some matters. We have people who are stuck in places that they never could have imagined on this Monday. We have about 19 Alaskans who are stuck in Peru, trying to get out of a country that has literally gone on lockdown. We were in a long conversation yesterday with the folks at the State Department, trying to figure out how to help them and how to help their families who are back home in Alaska, who are calling my office every day--sometimes multiple times a day--saying: What are you doing to help? What are you doing to help not only those 19 Alaskans get out of a place like Peru but the pregnant woman with several children, the minor exchange student, and the families who are over there. Many of my colleagues were part of that call who were not only interested in those who were stuck in Peru but those who were in Guatemala and Honduras and El Salvador and other parts. We got a good group out of Morocco. We are getting calls from Alaskans who were seeking to leave the State for other services. They get on the Alcan Highway, and they are dealing with the reality of a Canadian border closure to all nonessential traffic. So we get the calls: What happens if we are going down to Seattle for medical? Is the veteran who is in the car, who is going down for medical purposes--is this an essential trip for him? They are saying: What about the spouse in the car? Maybe. We don't know. The uncertainty then comes to those individuals about being stuck. We are not stuck here. Those are the people you think about. What are we doing to help them? This talk doesn't help them. It is not giving them any degree of certainty or any degree of relief or any belief that we can get anything done. They are looking to us to help them. Right now, my hometown, Anchorage, is under a hunker-down order. Our mayor decided he didn't want to call it a stay-at-home order or just a stand-down order. It is a hunker-down order, and that hunker-down order went in place last night. It will go through the end of the month here. Last week--last Monday--I got a call from the mayor, who said: I am going to be closing down all the bars, all the restaurants, and the entertainment facilities. We have to work on containment because, here in Alaska, we are kind of at the end of the supply chain, and it is a pretty scary place to be right now. So what defense do we have? We are going to be really aggressive on this shelter in place. My son is a small businessman who provides to the restaurants in town, so when the order comes out that the restaurants are shut down, what does a small businessman, like my 26-year-old son--where does he go? How does he move forward from that Monday to this Monday? It is pretty scary. We went from a situation on Monday of last week, when it was just one municipality that ordered the closure of restaurants and bars, to the following day--the entire State has a full-on closure. We are a State that is isolated from everybody else in the continental United States. We fly to get home. It is a fact of our lives. We had a letter signed by multiple emergency room doctors just last week, urging the Governor to ban nonessential air travel. Think about what that means. It is pretty debilitating for a State like mine. You might say: Well, that is not going to happen. Well, let me tell you what is happening. Right now, nonessential travel is--there is a strict advisory against nonessential travel to the State and within the State. We have villages in the interior part of the State, predominantly, that are banning outsiders from coming into the village by airplane. So that might mean visitors coming in; this time of year, it is pretty tough to have a big tourism industry in the interior part of the Alaska, but the reality is, that also means those planes that would be bringing your supplies--now, if there is a medical emergency, they would ask for relief. This is how extreme the actions are because, in Alaska, we fully felt the impact of the Spanish influenza that took out whole villages a century ago. Our Native communities, as remote and isolated as they are, are absolutely fearful that we will see a repeat of that Spanish influenza. So if we have to shut off all economic activity, we are doing that. This weekend, a huge effort was made to move our homeless populations out of the crowded shelters into the shut-down sports arena and hockey arena so that we can put them in an area and a place where there is, hopefully, sufficient 6-foot distancing. The hotels around the State--I have listened to our colleagues. We are all in the same situation with the impact that is happening to our businesses as we are shutting down, and these business owners are making the difficult decisions that they are. This morning, the faxes that I got--the Quality Inn in Kodiak, AK, is laying off 13 jobs. This is from the Baranof hotel in Juneau--most of us who have ever spent any time talking to our legislators know this is our most significant hotel in our capital city--laying off 45 hotel positions. This is a reality that for them, as they are watching what is happening here in the Senate--or perhaps the inaction that is happening here before the cameras--they are saying: Do I have alternatives to these layoffs? Will there be the level of support for me to keep my employees retained and to keep our community moving forward? I received a text from a friend who owns Chena Hot Springs Resort. He has owned that resort now for 22 years. It has never closed since he has had it in operation, but he is in a position now where he has told all 90 of his employees: You can stay here; we are not open; we will feed you. My hope is that Bernie is going to be able to keep those 90 employees and that he is going to be able to pay them through the proposal that we have built into this legislation that we have an opportunity to move, if we can only do so. His ask to me in that text was not ``Make sure that it is a $150 billion'' or ``It has to be at $1.5 trillion.'' Do you know what he ended his text to me with? He said: We need to make America kind again. He wants to take care of his family, his work family, and he wants to know we are going to be responsive to that and that we will show that kindness that we would all hope would come. I am so discouraged as I listen to the nature of the partisan words that are on this floor today because that is the last thing this body needs. That is the last thing this country needs. They need assurance from us. They need to have confidence that we get the urgency, that we hear their cries, and that we are not just sitting back here bickering because I haven't got my No. 1 project or if we are going to make this even-steven--if there needs to be one Republican priority, then there needs to be another Democratic priority over there. Do you know what? We all represent people of different political persuasions. My job as a Senator from the State of Alaska is to represent all those Alaskans, and I would like to think that all Alaskans think protective equipment for our medical providers is a priority for all of us. I would like to think that it is a priority for all of us, for all Alaskans, that we say it is best to keep those employees as part of your business, to keep that held in place until we can get on the other side of the immediacy of the health crisis so that we can work together to avoid a further economic crisis. But, instead, this Monday, the American public and Alaskans who are counting on me back home--instead of being able to see this hope from their elected leaders that we have it and that we understand the urgency, what they see are the partisan words. What they see is an empty Chamber. What they hear is as much a measure of dysfunction as everything they see in their world around them right now. One of the things our Governor has done--and, man, he has made some hard choices in the past week to 10 days. He has made some decisions that will have significant and serious economic impact on a State that is already on its knees. One of the things he did was put together what he is calling the Alaska economic stabilization task force. This conservative Republican Governor has appointed two cochairs. One cochair is a former Republican Governor, Sean Parnell, and the other one is one many of my colleagues here in the Senate know, former Senator Mark Begich. Politically, you couldn't have two more different guys who are at the head of this task force, but it sent a signal to Alaskans: Look, we are all in this together. There are no Republican solutions; there are no Democrat solutions. They are just solutions, and we better figure them out. The State of Alaska is working really hard to do that. I was just visiting with some of our Alaska labor leaders, and in addition to the issues we are talking about, they are telling me their members are out making personal protective equipment. They are getting the sewing machines out; they are getting the fabrics at JOANN Fabric, and they are just making things. They are doing what needs to be done. We are reminded that so much good can come together if we just kind of lay down our partisan arms and say: What do we need to do for this country? What do you want for Arkansas? What do we need for Alaska? What do we need for one another? Right now, we don't need the words that just further separate us as Americans. I haven't talked about the contents of the bill that we have in front of us because so many before me this afternoon have. I think we all share the desire--I hope we all share the desire to get this done readily and to get it done quickly because right now--right now-- Americans are losing hope. I yield the floor.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I have come to the floor this morning to speak in support of the nomination of Mr. James Danly to serve on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Mr. Danly has been nominated for the remainder of a term that runs through June 30, 2023, and for a seat that has been open now since former Chairman Kevin McIntyre tragically passed away from brain cancer about 14 months ago. For those who don't follow the day-to-day of energy policy, FERC is an independent agency within the Department of Energy. It regulates electricity, hydropower, natural gas, and oil pipeline industries. In my view, FERC is one of those very, very important entities. FERC plays a critical role in keeping the lights on and ensuring the delivery of reliable, safe, and affordable energy to America's homes and businesses. Mr. Danly has an impressive academic and professional background. He is a veteran, having served two tours of duty with the Army in Iraq, where he received a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart, and played a key role in executing counterinsurgency efforts during the surge. After his career with the Army, Mr. Danly chose to pursue a very different career as a FERC attorney, first practicing at a major law firm and most recently serving as FERC's general counsel for the past 2\1/2\ years now. Mr. Danly's time at the FERC has been very productive. He has my strong support to be a Commissioner. This is the type of individual who knows his stuff, who has a great grasp and a keen understanding of these energy-related matters. He is well qualified and has a deep understanding of the issues that will come before him. He understands FERC's mission as an independent and an impartial regulator. Despite Mr. Danly's very impressive qualifications and experience, I am disappointed that some of my colleagues have indicated they will oppose his nomination simply because he isn't nominated alongside a Democratic candidate. So they will acknowledge that he has strong qualifications, that he has the expertise and the experience, but they are opposing him because they are saying he needs to be nominated alongside a Democrat. To me, opposing nominees on that basis alone is very troubling. It is also incorrect to characterize pairing FERC nominees as the norm. I think Members should recognize that FERC is set up first and foremost to avoid the need for pairings. We passed a law in Congress in 1990 to stagger the five Commissioners' terms by 1 year each. So if nominees are sent to the Senate in a timely manner and stay in office, we would never need to pair them. Also contrary to what some have suggested, bipartisan pairings are not actually the norm. More often, we have confirmed individual Commissioners or had unbalanced pairings, like Colette Honorable in 2014 or the two Republican Commissioners we confirmed in 2017 after the Obama administration refused to nominate any Republicans in 2015 or 2016. I also encourage the Senate to recognize that this seat has already been paired. In 2017, we paired Mr. McIntyre with Rich Glick, who will continue to serve through mid-2022. The slot we are now considering is to fill the remainder of Mr. McIntyre's term through mid-2023. The fact is, we have one nomination for the Senate right now, not two. We have one nomination to consider, and this position has been open now for some 14 months. It is not fair to tell a qualified Republican nominee that he has to wait, especially with the seat now having been open for more than 1 year and the term expiring in mid- 2023. That doesn't change. I would also remind my colleagues that nominations are the responsibility of the President. It is not on me as the chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. It is not on Leader McConnell. It is the responsibility of the President. The much more recent Democratic vacancy at FERC, which was the choice of the Democratic leadership in this body, is for the Democratic leadership to work out with the White House. Send to the White House that nominee who can be advanced. For those who are concerned about the Democratic vacancy, I will share this with you. There will be an opportunity for a pairing later this year. Commissioner McNamee has already announced that he will not return to the FERC for a second term, so there will be a vacancy in just a matter of months. I have encouraged the administration to send us both nominees at the same time so that the Senate can restore FERC to a full complement of five Commissioners. We give them a lot of work. There is a lot of responsibility. They need a full complement. Right now, our opportunity is to confirm Mr. Danly. That is who we have in front of us. He is the only FERC nominee we have. He is well qualified for the job. He served our country in uniform. He now wishes to continue that service in a different capacity, and I hope--I hope-- no one will vote against him on party grounds. So I would certainly urge the full Senate to support Mr. Danly's nomination. With that, I yield the floor.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, the Alaska State Senate yesterday passed a bill that would establish March 12, today, as Ashley Johnson- Barr Day to be held each year. Ashley Johnson-Barr was a 10-year-old beautiful little girl in Kotzebue, AK. Ashley was probably one of those happy kids who loved purple; thus, I have a purple scarf and purple jacket today. She was one of those beautiful young children growing up in Kotzebue who would have gone on to have a good, productive life in an Inupiat community in the northwestern part of the State. But Ashley Johnson-Barr is remembered now because, at the age of 10 years old, she was brutally raped and murdered. She was literally taken from the kids' playground there in Kotzebue and taken to a location not too many miles outside the community. Her death, the tragedy around the circumstance of how she left this world, is one that is an open and raw and hurtful and horrific scar on Alaska and on the communities. It is a reminder that in my State--a place of extraordinary beauty, with beautiful people--there is a darkness that is very, very difficult to talk about. That darkness is reflected in the statistics that we see when it comes to sexual assault, domestic violence, and more brutal acts of murder inflicted, unfortunately, in a disproportionate way on our Native women and our Native children. Yesterday in the Senate, we passed two measures that I have been working on for a period of time. Savanna's Act is legislation that was initially brought about through the good work of my friend, the former Senator from North Dakota, Senator Heidi Heitkamp. Heidi and I worked on Savanna's Act for a period of time. It is designed to improve coordination among all levels of law enforcement; increase data collection and information sharing; and empower Tribal governments with access to necessary law enforcement databases in cases involving missing and murdered indigenous women and girls wherever they occur, whether they are in a small, remote village or in our population centers. Savanna's law was passed through the Senate in the last Congress and got stalled out in the House. So I took this back up, along with the help of my friend from the State of Nevada, Senator Cortez Masto. Working with her, we have now been successful in moving it through the Senate. It traveled with another measure--a bill that was sponsored by Senator Cortez Masto and cosponsored by me. The Not Invisible Act improves the engagement amongst law enforcement Tribal leaders, Federal partners, and service providers. We also designate an official to coordinate efforts across agencies in establishing a Tribal and Federal stakeholders' effort to make recommendations to the Department of the Interior Department of Justice on how we deal with this, how we combat this epidemic of disappearance, of homicide, violent crimes, and trafficking of Native Americans and Alaska Natives. This is something we have been trying to shine the spotlight on. We are making significant progress and headway in Alaska. Thanks to the efforts and the heart of Attorney General Barr, we have seen Federal funds come our way. We have seen commissions and a coordination among stakeholders that is truly unprecedented, but we have much, much, much work to do. On this day, when in Alaska, we are recognizing the very short life of a beautiful child, Ashley Johnson-Barr. I thank my colleagues for working with us on these matters--helping us move Savanna's Act and the Not Invisible Act--and working together to do more as we deal with those who are trafficked, those who are assaulted, and those who are violently murdered in their homes and in their hometowns. We have much work to do, but we have good coordination and good cooperation moving forward. With that, I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. MURKOWSKI

Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I have a request for one committee to meet during today's session of the Senate. It has the approval of the Majority and Minority leaders. Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committee is authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate: Committee on Armed Services The Committee on Armed Services is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, March 12, 2020, at 12 p.m., to conduct a closed hearing.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I now ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H. Con. Res. 87, which was received from the House.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I now ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 3 p.m., Monday, March 16; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be approved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; further, that following leader remarks, the Senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 6172; and that notwithstanding rule XXII, the cloture motion filed during today's session ripen at 5:30 p.m.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 4920 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. I further ask that the Tester substitute amendment be considered and agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 440, H.R. 6172.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. I send a cloture motion to the desk for the motion to proceed.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call be waived.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order to proceed to Calendar No. 440, H.R. 6172.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

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

Ms. MURKOWSKI

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

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I modify the substitute amendment No. 1407, with the changes at the desk. For the information of the Senate, this modification includes, among other things, acceptance of amendment No. 1419 offered by the Senator from Kentucky, Mr. McConnell, for the Senator from Iowa, Ms. Ernst.

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

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I appreciate the strong vote that we had yesterday, 90 to 4, to advance and continue debate on S. 2657. Just after that vote was concluded, I laid down a substitute amendment that contains the full text of the bipartisan American Energy Innovation Act. Having done that, we would normally begin the process of voting on amendments, whether by voice or by rollcall in this so- called regular order. We certainly have no shortage of options. We have some 200 amendments that have now been filed to the bill. What we are missing is a little bit of cooperation so that we can actually reach consent and move to votes. We could not reach agreement to have votes throughout the course of this week from Monday until, effectively, now. It has been frustrating. Both Senator Manchin and I have been working to try to facilitate that. We want to take amendments. The leader wants us to take amendments. We have a good bill. We think we have a pretty strong bill, but we know that it is always possible to make it better by gathering those ideas from colleagues who have not been part of the process on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. We want to address those priorities from as many Members as we can. While we were blocked on votes this week, our staffs have been working together--Senator Manchin's and mine--to develop a modified substitute that will add to the original text. We now have a total of 18 filed amendments that will be included as part of the underlying text. We have been working this week--maybe not actively out on the floor with a process where folks are voting--but we have been able to take some of these consensus areas, bring them together, and put them into a modified text. This is not my preferred approach. If we could do it the good old- fashioned way, if you will, through individual votes or a managers' amendment--a managers' package--that is great. But a modified substitute was the only option that was available to us, recognizing that we have limited time on the floor, and we were still not able to form that path forward. I want to speak quickly about what is very much a highlight. Our modified substitute includes an even number of priorities from both sides, some with amendments, some with modifications. We have been able to take provisions from the Senator from Arizona, the Senator from Rhode Island, Senator Ernst of Iowa, Feinstein of California, Tillis of North Carolina, from New Hampshire, South Dakota, Senator Hassan, Senator Shaheen, Senator Enzi of Wyoming, Duckworth of Illinois, Cramer of North Dakota, Casey of Pennsylvania, Romney of Utah, Brown of Ohio, Wicker of Mississippi, Stabenow of Michigan, Risch of Idaho, Senator Markey of Massachusetts--18 different provisions, which added to what we had done previously. We have priorities from nearly 70 Members of the Senate. That makes a good, strong bipartisan bill even better and stronger. We now need to move to our final steps. Just a bit ago, the majority leader filed cloture on our modified substitute amendment, which will allow us to hold that vote on Monday evening. As we look to complete our work on this bipartisan innovation package, know that we are going to be doing that throughout today, tomorrow, and through the weekend. I want to address very quickly now some of the support that the American Energy Innovation Act has received. We have focused on the priorities that it contains for Members here in the Senate, but we have also drawn strong support from many stakeholders outside. A group of 39 major trade associations, think tanks, advocacy groups, and environmental groups wrote us to express their strong support for our energy innovation package. The signatories include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the Nature Conservancy--just to name a few of the many. Here are some of the comments that we have heard. They wrote: Our diverse organizations recognize and agree that climate change is an important national priority that demands Congressional attention. While we may not agree on everything, we believe there is much common ground upon which all sides of the debate can come together to begin to address climate change, promote American technological leadership, and foster continued economic growth. In particular, there is a growing consensus that the development and commercialization of new technologies are important factors that will determine how quickly and at what cost greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced. The American Energy Innovation Act will help do just that . . . [It] will accelerate these breakthroughs and enable adoption of lower emitting and more efficient technologies . . . Congress now has its best opportunity in more than a decade to enact significant energy legislation. That is a pretty strong statement from those organizations. The National Mining Association wrote to us, whose members understand as well as anyone that clean technologies rely on raw materials. It wrote: ``This forward-looking legislation takes steps to address the nation's alarming mineral import reliance and brings the United States to the forefront of research and development efforts in carbon capture technologies.'' The Consumer Energy Alliance wrote that our American Energy Innovation Act ``provides opportunities to make real progress on the energy issues and environmental protections that all Americans support.'' The Bipartisan Policy Center wrote that our bill is ``a landmark piece of legislation representing a down payment on the innovation necessary to decarbonize our energy sector and modernize our nation's energy policies.'' The Business Council for Sustainable Energy wrote: ``The bipartisan introduction of the American Energy Innovation Act demonstrates Congress' commitment to innovation in the U.S. energy sector.'' All told, we have received support from more than 200 groups, companies, and organizations for this legislation. These are groups that are really involved in keeping the lights on in big cities, in small communities, and all across the Nation. These involve folks from Edison Electric Institute, the American Public Power Association, and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. These are groups whose members are working to keep energy affordable, like the American Petroleum Institute and the National Ocean Industries Association. We appreciate all of them--ClearPath Action, Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, the Corps Network, the American Wind Energy Association, the Nuclear Energy Institute, the Clean Air Task Force, Third Way, the Energy Storage Association, and so many more that have contacted us and have shared their support. We are hearing a lot from Alaskans as well. As the Alaska Power Association wrote in a letter we received this week: APA and our member electric utilities throughout the State reiterate our support for the many energy law modernization elements that comprise your American Energy Innovation Act . . . AEIA will help Alaska's far-flung electricity providers and their consumers. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Global Energy Institute wrote: ``We urge the Senate to seize this opportunity to fuel American innovation and promote climate action by passing this legislation without delay.'' Those are some pretty good words coming from them. We certainly would agree. We had an opportunity this morning, in the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to hear from the head of the IEA, the International Energy Agency, which is based out of Paris, France. Dr. Fatih Birol heads up the member countries that are part of the IEA, and they track trends in energy markets. We do an annual update with Dr. Birol, and, as usual, his words were important, telling, and resounding. As we reflect on what Dr. Birol highlighted as areas of opportunity for the United States to be a global energy leader, what we have put in the American Energy Innovation Act is exactly the recipe that we should be pursuing to continue being a leader in the energy sector, to being a strong leader from an economic perspective, and to being a strong leader in energy security, in national security, and in environmental security. We are doing the right thing, and we have it within this legislation. We will be moving forward more aggressively with it next week so that we can get to a good and positive conclusion for the Senate and for the country. I yield the floor.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I have polled the Members of the Energy Committee and now withdraw the committee-reported substitute amendment.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I call up substitute amendment No. 1407.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be waived.