Bill Nelson

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Madam President, I want to report to the Senate on attending the detention center in my home State of Florida. I stood on the floor last week and reported that a lot had changed. I just returned again from South Florida, where I was finally allowed to go through the detention facility in Homestead where the number has been corrected from what we were told originally. We were told that of the 1,300 children who were there, 94 of them had been separated from their parents. The number I was given on Saturday is that 70 children there have been separated from their families. This is the same facility that I had visited last Tuesday and where I was denied entry. Despite being the Senator from Florida and despite having oversight responsibility of the Department of HHS, which runs this detention facility, I was not allowed inside on Tuesday to check on the 94 kids being held there. So I returned on Saturday, and while I was allowed to enter and go through the facility and talk to the employees, I was still not allowed to see the 70 children separated from their parents or to speak with the one person who has the responsibility and who is in charge of reuniting these children with their parents. I was told that this individual, and she was named, was not there on Saturday, as she works Monday through Friday. When I was given the name of this individual, I said: Well, I will be calling her on Monday. I must state that we have called and emailed several times and have not been provided the opportunity to speak to this one individual, identified as the person who tries to reunite the kids with their parents there in the Homestead facility. Since I was given the name Barbara Flotus, why in the world would HHS not allow me to speak to her when she is back at the facility today? It is certainly in the interest of the American people to know that the children are being reunited. If this is the person that is put in charge at that center, then, why wouldn't they let this Senator from Florida speak to her? Well, other than that, the main takeaway from that trip was that the Executive order that the President signed last week is a sham. It does nothing to reunite the children with their parents. We have been told that there are over 2,300 children around the country that have been separated from their parents. We have also been told that there are attempts being made to reunite them. Then, why in the world would the Trump administration not want us to be able to tell a good news story? Based on what I was told by officials at the facility I visited on Saturday, there is no plan in place to reunify these families. Is that the reason they are prohibiting me from speaking to Barbara Flotus today, because there still is no plan? All of this is unacceptable. The American people deserve answers to these questions. Well, tomorrow this Senator plans to get some of those answers because Secretary Azar of HHS is coming in front of the Senate Finance Committee. Before he testifies, I want to give him a heads-up on the questions I am going to ask--and I expect some answers. The questions are in regard to the separated children and the reunification with their parents. I want Secretary Azar to know that I would like for him to explain, while he is in front of the Senate Finance Committee under oath, where these children are right now who are all over the country. When are they going to be reunited with their families? Why is the HHS Department denying Members of Congress access to the facilities? Why is it that when we are given entrance into the facilities, as I was on Saturday, they are not allowing us to speak with the children who have been separated from their parents? Why is HHS refusing to provide us with information about these children, including what is being done right now to reunite them with their families? I thought I was going to have a good-news story to report to the Senate today, after talking to Barbara Flotus, whose name I was given, but I have been denied the opportunity to speak with her. The Secretary should have plenty of time between now and his testimony tomorrow before the Finance Committee to find the information he needs to fully answer these questions. I want to be very clear about tomorrow's hearing because this Senator will expect full answers to each of the questions--no backtrack, no getting off on a different subject. The American people want to know about these children and when are they going to be reunited, and that was not covered in the President's Executive order. There is no reason why this administration should be putting up barriers and preventing Members of Congress from doing their jobs and checking on the welfare of these children. I yield the floor.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I ask that the following statement from Mona Wadsworth, a Florida constituent, be printed in the Record. The material follows: Until my memory begins to fail me there will be one date that will remain one of the most significant to me. That is not to say that there are not other dates in my life that are important; birthdays, weddings, graduations, holidays, the usual dates we all mark on the calendar. Then there are those dates that hold great value to us because on those days something happened to alter our lives in some way. For me there is one that stands out among all others. December 15, 2017. That is the day God sent an angel into my life and that angel is here in this room. Before I identify that angel I want to tell you a story about a woman. There was nothing exceptional about this woman. She was much like most of us. She played as a child, drove her parents crazy as a teen, became a young adult, fell in love, married, raised a family, worked and was basically the average everyday woman in her community. She had always wanted to own a house of her own but no matter how she tried life's ups and downs always dipped into her savings and that dream never came to pass. She may not have owned any of dwellings she and her family lived in, but she took pride in her home. It was always well furnished, clean and had many of the comforts of the day. In the hustle and bustle of everyday life we tend to take for granted all the things that give us joy and comfort. She was no different. She never thought about how nice it felt to sleep in a comfortable bed or how nice that warm shower felt. I could go on and on and on, mentioning everything that made her life comfortable but I think you all have the general idea. Age creeps up on us subtly. It may begin with your eyes not seeing as clearly as they used to or you don't seem to hear as well. One day you might get up off the floor and find that it took a little longer this time. You start to feel aches and pains you didn't before. Fighting off a cold is harder this time. Trips to the doctor become more frequent. When once you were a mother or a father you're now gram or gramps. No matter how you've tried to deny it, one day you look in the mirror and wonder who this old person is looking back at you. And so it was for this woman. Now in her 60's, her children grown, she still counted herself pretty lucky. Except for the glasses she put on each morning, the need to take blood pressure medication and insulin, she was doing pretty good health wise. She still made holiday meals, still cleaned her home with the same determination, she basically was living her life as much as she always had. Then one day something happened in this woman's life that would forever-more change it. In September 2017 Hurricane Irma slammed into Florida. Irma was not a lady. She left a great deal of damage in her wake and devastated many lives. Irma rendered the house this woman lived in uninhabitable, starting a domino effect in this woman's life that would eventually render her homeless. She went to every agency she was aware of only to find out she either didn't qualify for assistance or there simply wasn't the housing or the funds available to help her out of a situation she had no control over. On October 23rd, this woman now in her 60's took what clothes she managed to save, the necessary toiletries she needed, a few towels, a frying pan, a sauce pan and a coffee pot. With the little money she had left until her next meager Social Security benefit payment came in, she bought some food, a cooler, ice, paper plates, cups and plastic spoons, forks, and knives. Her last purchase was a small tent. That night and for the next 12 weeks her bed was the floor of a tent, her covers were a thin blanket. She fell asleep that night to the sound of rain pelting the tent. She cried herself to sleep. As time moved on she bought an air mattress, sheets, a heavier blanket, a small grill, little things that would make her life a little easier to bear. She'd crawl in and out of the tent several times a day. She used public facilities to shower, brush her teeth, and comb her hair. She carried a bucket of warm water from the shower house to her campsite so that she could wash the few pans she'd used to cook in. In November, many people from the North come down to Florida and many come in RV's. This woman now found herself moving her campsite from one place to another every 3 or 4 days to accommodate these people who had reserved these campsites. When the temperature in Florida gets into the upper 70's, the inside of a tent feels like an oven. When the evening temperature falls into the lower 50's or 40's it feels like a freezer. Unable to take her insulin because she couldn't keep it properly cooled or take her blood pressure medication because the heat melted it, her health was deteriorating with each passing day. In the later part of December, weak, sick, questioning her faith in God and wondering if she wanted her life to go on, she walked through the doors of a hospital's emergency room. If you haven't guessed already I'll tell you now. This woman was me. But this story is a story of triumph over tragedy and this is where my angel comes in. As I said, my angel is here in this room and her name is Lynn. I'm going to embarrass her now because Lynn doesn't really think she did that much. But I say, if it wasn't for her I'm not sure I'd be standing here today. Upon hearing about my situation from a hospital social worker, Lynn set up an appointment for me the next day. It was December 15th. I'll never forget Lynn looking at me from across her desk and saying she wouldn't have a merry Christmas unless she knew I was settled into Trinity Towers before Christmas. There was still a problem however: Rent. I didn't have the money to pay until the 3rd of January. That didn't deter Lynn. She got on the phone and talked to those in charge. They came through for her. I have Beth and Marlene to thank for that. Lynn had a merry Christmas because on December 20th I was handed the keys to apartment 427. Yes, Lynn is my angel. She went that extra mile to help me and in doing so she renewed my faith in humanity and more than that, she renewed my faith in God. Jesus once said the poor will always be among us and we should help them. Lynn lives those words. This life experience has changed my life for the better. I don't sweat the small stuff anymore. I don't judge the homeless because I know how easy it is to be there. I don't take for granted God's blessings and I start every day thanking God for the roof over my head, a warm bed to sleep in and the food in my belly. In closing, I want to thank all the residents of Trinity Towers South for the graciousness in which you welcomed me into your community and thank each and every one of you who saw a person down on their luck and came to my door one by one and gave me things I so badly needed. I didn't tell this story because I wanted a pity party. I told it in hopes that people will understand how important affordable housing is. I ask our government officials, you whom we've entrusted the job of representing us, those who make the difficult decisions on our behalf to fight the good fight and make sure that programs set up to help the less fortunate, especially food and housing programs, do not fall by the wayside. Do not forget the poor, the disabled, the sick or the elderly. If I could have one wish granted in my life, it would be this. That every man, woman and child would forever have, without question, the basic needs of life, a roof over their head, a warm bed to sleep in and food to fill their stomachs. Thank you for listening to my story.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Madam President, I have just returned from South Florida where I went to a detention facility in Homestead, FL. There are 1,000 children in this detention facility, and 94 of 1,000 are children who have been separated from their families. Despite being the senior Senator of Florida, despite having oversight responsibility of the Department of HHS, despite the fact that in that oversight capacity, we have the funding responsibility for the Department of HHS and one of its components, the Office of Refugee Resettlement--these children separated from their families are handled by that office--despite all of that, the Deputy Secretary of the Department of HHS refused to allow me to enter this facility and said that it was the Department's policy that you have to fill out a form, which we had done, but you have to wait 2 weeks before being allowed to enter the facility. The question is, Why do they not want the Senator from Florida to get into this detention facility where there are children who have been separated from their parents? It must be that not only is this Department policy, but this is being directed by the President in the White House. They don't want me to see it because they don't want us to know what is going on in there. I have subsequently found out that in addition to those 94 children, there are 174 children being held in my State of Florida who have been separated from their families. This is the current debate: Children have been ripped apart from their moms and dads, and it has always been an American value to keep families together, even when you are adjudicating the lawful or unlawful status of the parents. You always keep those children together on an immigration question, yet President Trump has now altered that policy. Despite all the finger-pointing and the deflection, President Trump and his administration know this is their policy; he doubled down on it last night. But there is nothing in the law that requires them to tear parents away from their children. There is nothing in the law that requires the administration to rip an infant from a parent's arms, some young enough still to be nursing. The decision to enact this quite horrendous and shameful policy was a decision by this administration--and this administration alone. That is why this Senator went to Miami yesterday. I wanted to see it for myself. I wanted to see: Is the facility clean? Are the children sleeping in beds? Are they sleeping on the floor? Do they have adequate care? If they were, I could report that it was a good news story. I also wanted to be able to talk to the young children, the ones who had been separated. I had already gotten word from Senator Van Hollen, who had been in Texas on Saturday and met a mom who said that her child had been separated from her and that child was in a detention facility in Florida. I wanted to see that child. I am very proud of all of our colleagues who have come together to support legislation to keep these families together, and 49 of us on this side of the aisle have signed on as cosponsors. The policy of this legislation is simply this: Don't separate families in this question of immigration. It would prohibit the separation of those families. That has been the policy, and all the President would have to do is to say it, but in taking the position he has, maybe the only recourse is for us to pass this law. I am proud of our colleagues on that side of the aisle who have rightfully stood up and publicly condemned this practice because every American knows that taking children from their parents is just not right. If a family is legitimately fleeing violence, repression, and conditions that most of us cannot imagine, they have a right under American law to present themselves at the border and ask for asylum. Past administrations of both parties have recognized this, which is why they acted with compassion and refused to do what the Trump administration is doing now. It is certainly time that we return to our true American value of keeping families together. Because the passage of a statute is a long shot, it is really not up to us. It is up to the President. He could say it, and it would be done. No matter what we do here in this Chamber, the power to end this shameful chapter in our Nation's history lies with the President and his pen. He can sign an Executive order today, just as easily as he can sign a law that we pass here in Congress. Either way, it is up to him. He doesn't need Congress to act. He and he alone is allowing this shameful practice to continue, and he alone can stop it right now. I yield the floor.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I was necessarily absent for the June 19, 2018, vote on Senate amendment 2914 to Senate amendment 2910 to H.R. 5895, Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2019. I would have voted yea. Mr. President, I was necessarily absent for the June 19, 2018, vote on Senate amendment 2920 to Senate amendment 2910 to H.R. 5895, Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2019. I would have voted yea.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I would like to recognize today, June 19, as Juneteenth Independence Day. We are celebrating the 153rd anniversary of the date on which slavery legally came to an end in the United States. On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation to end slavery in the United States, but it still took 2 and a half years for this news to spread throughout all the Southern States. Today, we honor the faith and strength demonstrated by former slaves and the descendants of these individuals, who remain an example for all people of the United States, no matter their background, religion, or race. It is my hope that Juneteenth and the Emancipation Proclamation serve as a reminder of the progress the United States has made towards equality and the ways in which we can still improve.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I would say amen to the comments of the Senator from Illinois, our Democratic whip. He spoke on two subjects very eloquently--the subject of opioids and the subject of ripping apart families in immigration, both of which require immediate action. Healthcare Now, Mr. President, I want to speak on something that requires immediate action. There are 130 million Americans in this country who have a preexisting condition. The Affordable Care Act that we passed 7 or 8 years ago guarantees insurance coverage if you have a preexisting condition. Lo and behold, the Trump administration is trying to rip that out of the Affordable Care Act, the law--130 million Americans and almost 8 million just in my State of Florida. They want to repeal and kill the Affordable Care Act. This is one way to do it because the Trump administration and congressional Republicans and their allies have repeatedly tried and failed to kill the Affordable Care Act but now are trying to dismantle it piece by piece by pulling out economic undersupports of the law. As a result, they successfully did that and attached it to the tax bill that went through, and we are seeing the results of that. The premiums are going up. Now they want to basically kill the bill by saying that it is not a requirement of the law that insurance companies cover a preexisting condition. Let me give you some examples of preexisting conditions: Alzheimer's, cancer, acne. How about simply being a woman? Let me repeat that. Being a woman was a preexisting condition before these protections were put into law--that an insurance company would have to cover you and that your rate had to be fair. Having faced multiple times the Republicans trying to dismantle this law, the Trump administration is now trying administratively and through the courts to take health coverage away. In my State of Florida, it is almost 8 million people. Here is what they did. In February, in 20 States, the attorneys general, including in my State of Florida, filed a lawsuit to attack our Nation's health law and all of the key protections that go with it, and that is without any plan to replace it. Just last week, the U.S. Department of Justice sided with these States and went into court and told the court to do away with the law that bans insurers from charging people more or denying them coverage based on a preexisting condition. This seems absolutely inexcusable to me. If the attorneys general and the administration now supporting them prevail, health insurers across the country will once again be able to charge unlimited premiums for older adults by discriminating against all people with preexisting conditions--discrimination by the insurance companies refusing to offer them coverage or charging them exorbitant premiums simply because of what they call a preexisting condition in their medical history. As people age, they have more maladies, and almost everybody then has a preexisting condition. The law says that you are guaranteed you can get insurance coverage, even in an individual, single policy if you have a preexisting condition. I gave you some examples. Let me repeat them: cancer, Alzheimer's, maybe just an operation, maybe something like acne. This Senator has even seen, as the former insurance commissioner of Florida elected years ago, an insurance company saying that a rash is a preexisting condition, and therefore they would not insure a person. Then there is the fact that just being a woman is a preexisting condition for which they would not guarantee coverage--just because of being a woman. Our constituents deserve better. They deserve access to healthcare. They deserve to know they can go to the doctor without being placed at risk of medical debt or bankruptcy, without putting even more pressure on our communities, hospitals, and those of us with insurance. If you don't have that guarantee, what is going to happen? Rates are going to go up. More people will go to the hospital, and it is going to be uncompensated care, and that is going to cause our rates to go up. This lawsuit by these attorneys general is nothing more than another political attack on our Nation's healthcare law. In my State of Florida, Florida's Governor and the other 19 States that joined the lawsuit are the ones who are behind this, and they need to be held accountable. They are trying get rid of the protections for health insurance if you have a preexisting condition. It is not enough to say that the Trump administration is taking deliberate steps to make healthcare more expensive. Now they are trying to take away one of the most important and popular provisions--the ban that prevents insurance companies from discriminating against people with preexisting conditions. Why don't we stop these games? Instead, why don't we work together? Let's get together a bipartisan agreement and help our constituents be able to have the healthcare they need, the insurance protection they need at an affordable price. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, while the Senator from Kentucky is here, I want to get his attention and say that the very laudatory comments the majority whip has said about the Senator--I can add to the accolades for the Senator from Kentucky by pointing out that he and I have a common trait, a common denominator between us: We both married above ourselves. His wife, the Honorable Elaine Chao, now our Secretary of Transportation, former Secretary of Labor--they are truly one of the remarkable couples of political leadership in the Nation's Capital. I congratulate him on the comments by the majority whip today. Gun Violence Mr. President, I am wearing this ribbon because the Orlando community is mourning once again. Last night, there was another shooting, and a number of people have been killed again. Today marks 2 years since the tragic massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, 2 years since a gunman walked into the club with a Sig Sauer MCX assault rifle and killed 49 innocent people. They were there celebrating Latin American night at a gay nightclub. It was one of the deadliest mass shootings in modern U.S. history with 49 deaths, only to be eclipsed by the massacre of 58 people a year ago in Las Vegas. In the carnage, a number of people were severely wounded, and those who did not actually have physical wounds have the mental and emotional wounds that are not unlike the PTSD that our soldiers suffer from and have to be treated for for years and years. That is true in the Orlando community as a result of the massacre at the Pulse nightclub. Orlando is mourning again at this 2-year mark. There were some incredible things that came out of this. I have never seen the Orlando community so united, with the leadership of the entire community, regardless of their politics, wearing these kinds of ribbons to point out their unity and using the phrase ``Orlando Strong.'' Today is a day to pause and honor the victims and the survivors and to once again thank the first responders who put their lives on the line to save so many more. Law enforcement was magnificent. The SWAT team was magnificent. I talked to the SWAT team. There was one of the SWAT members who actually had stitches across his forehead. But for millimeters, he would have been dead. That was one of the rounds from the assault rifle. I talked to the trauma team at the Orlando regional hospital. A trauma unit just so happened to be about 10 or 15 blocks from the Pulse nightclub. But for that trauma unit, those trauma surgeons and their courage in trying to get victims stabilized, there would have been more deaths. This is a day to look back on what we have actually done to prevent another such tragedy from ever happening again. Unfortunately, not much had happened until a bold, very courageous group of students after the massacre in Parkland, FL, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School stood up and said: We are going to make a difference. The Orlando community is once again mourning today because last night a gunman shot a police officer and then killed four young, innocent children whom he was holding hostage in an apartment. It has happened again. These children, all under the age of 12--one was just a 1-year- old--were killed by a man who, like so many others, shouldn't have had a gun in the first place. When are we going to say enough is enough? At some point Congress has to accept the fact that the only way to change the current path is that we, as a society, are going to have to take a step in the right direction to do the right thing. Yet you can remember that a couple of years ago, in this body we tried to pass a bill which said that if you were on the terrorist watch list, it was going to be the law of the land that you could not buy a gun. Mind you, if they are on the terrorist watch list, we think they are potentially a terrorist and therefore cannot get on an airplane and fly on a commercial airline, but we could not pass that to say that they could not buy or acquire a gun. So what we see that destroys our communities--we are going to have to do more than increase security at schools with some wrongheaded attempts to arm teachers. First of all, the teachers don't want to be armed in schools. I will tell you who else doesn't want them to be armed--the SWAT team that has to storm the school building looking for the shooter, and then if they come upon a teacher with a gun, they could think that teacher is the shooter. We have to do more than increase funding for mental health or expand background checks, which we desperately have to do. We need universal, comprehensive background checks that would pick up red flags about mental health issues like those of the Parkland shooter. We have to do more than raise the minimum age to buy a gun or ban the sale of bump stocks, which makes a semiautomatic assault rifle into an automatic--a true military weapon. At some point, Congress has to start standing up for the people it represents. It has to turn a deaf ear to the special interests that have locked down their votes here because they want to sell more guns. At some point, Congress has to stand up to the NRA, which represents the gun manufacturers--not the target shooters, not the hunters. It represents the gun manufacturers to sell more guns. I say this as a fellow who grew up on a ranch. I have had guns all of my life and have hunted all my life. I still hunt with my son. An assault rifle like an AR-15 is not for hunting; it is for killing. We have to face the fact of banning the sale of military assault rifle types and the long clips of some 30 rounds of ammunition. The attack at the Pulse nightclub 2 years ago was an attack of both terror and hate, and it was an attack on our fundamental American values of dignity and equality. It was an attack designed to divide us as a nation, but what we saw instead was an entire community and entire country come together united. In remembrance of the victims today in Orlando, you will see this ribbon worn by many, many citizens in the community. On the 2-year date of that horrific event, I want us to come together again in the same way we did after Pulse in Orlando, the same way we did after Parkland but, this time, not to help each other mourn to get through the tragedy but to require real change to make sure that it is going to be more difficult for this to happen again. Aren't people beginning to realize there is way too much gun violence in this country--and a lot of it since Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut? In my State of Florida, just this year, we have seen 17 students gunned down at Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Just in this year, 1 month after that, we saw another student shot at Forest High School in Ocala. Just last month, a sheriff's deputy was shot and killed in Lake Placid. Then, this week, we have awakened to the news of an officer shot in Orlando and the deaths of four young children who were held hostage. We should not allow these shootings to become the new normal in this country. This Senator has been involved in a lot of bipartisan bills to prohibit known or suspected terrorists from purchasing firearms, to empower our family members and law enforcement to take guns away from relatives who pose a danger to themselves and others who bring up these so-called red flags. These are sensible, bipartisan options to help make our communities safer, yet there has been little movement in the Senate to proceed on these proposals. The student leaders of the March For Our Lives organization have said it. The parents of the children at Sandy Hook have said it. Those who have lost loved ones to suicide have said it. Two years after Pulse, our resolve to end gun violence must be stronger than ever. It is time for us to act. We realize that with practical politics, it is going to be very, very difficult to move legislation, but we have to keep trying. Let's work on some real bipartisan, commonsense solutions to make our communities safer. Let's work on how we can prevent these assault weapons from getting into the wrong hands. Let's work together on how we can stop massacres that continue to plague this country. We owe it to the victims of the massacres and to their families. We owe it to every American, who has the right to live without being in fear of this violence. Just ask the students in the schools of America today if they fear that violence. Really, isn't enough enough? I yield the floor.

Mr. NELSON

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

Mr. NELSON. Madam President, a recent study from Harvard suggested that the actual death toll in Puerto Rico as a result of Hurricane Maria could be as much as 70 times higher than what was previously reported. In fact, the study, which was released 2 weeks ago, suggests that the death toll could actually have been in a range from 800 all the way up to close to 8,000 deaths, and that is compared to the official FEMA count of 64. Recently, I was with the former Governor and now father of the present Governor, Pedro Rosello. He shared with me that a George Washington University study is underway to more accurately count the deaths resulting from the hurricane, but there is no reason why there should be such a discrepancy among U.S. citizens in these reports. The latest findings are just another stain on the Federal Government's overall response to the ongoing disaster in Puerto Rico, which has not been too stellar. The people of Puerto Rico are our fellow American citizens. They have a right to know exactly what happened on the island as a result of not just one massive storm but the second one which hit as well. They have a right to know exactly how many of their friends and neighbors lost their lives as a result of this disaster and exactly what the Federal Government is doing to prevent such a tragedy from happening again. That is why Senator Harris of California and I have introduced a bill to create a better way to track the number of deaths caused by a disaster. The legislation would require FEMA to work with the National Academy of Medicine to develop a new uniform system for local, State, and Federal officials across the country to more quickly and accurately determine the number of deaths by a disaster like Hurricane Maria. Not only will this bill help to provide some semblance of closure to the families affected by devastating events, but it will also ensure that the areas that are hardest hit by these disasters are getting all of the disaster assistance they are entitled to, including funeral assistance, which can help uninsured families afford the cost of burying their loved ones. This legislation that Senator Harris and I have filed is just one more step in our overall effort to help folks recover from the storms from last summer. I am urging my colleagues to work with us to get it done. The people of Puerto Rico aren't the only ones still working to recover from last year's storms. While we are now officially already in June in the midst of this year's hurricane season, there are still too many communities in Florida that have not received the hurricane recovery funds that Congress passed this past February--the hurricane disaster assistance appropriations. It is June and we passed it last February and it is still not out the door of the agencies. That is 122 days ago, about 4 months. Folks are hurting. They would like to have the disaster assistance money we appropriated. For these communities, this is unbelievable. They are not just waiting for money from Hurricane Irma from last year, they are waiting for funds from Hurricane Hermine and Hurricane Matthew from 2 years ago. This Senator has repeatedly called on the administration to do more to expedite these funds for those who need it most by getting the funds to them. However, our calls and our requests go unheeded. We have fishermen and farmers whose livelihoods are being threatened, and their assistance is being slow-walked. Some may have to close up their businesses if they don't see relief soon. Specifically, communities in the Florida Keys were especially devastated. The eye of the hurricane went over about 19 miles up the chain from Key West. Those on the northeast quadrant of the storm got it the worst--around Big Pine Key. They are still waiting for some of their assistance that was due for that hurricane last year. There are homes that are still not repaired, and there are canals that are still full of debris. According to a recent article in the Miami Herald, only $600,000 in FEMA reimbursements has been deposited so far to Monroe County, which is in the Florida Keys. That is unacceptable. How are these communities expected to prepare for the 2018 hurricane season if they don't have the funds they were due from a year ago? I am again urging the Trump administration to see this as the emergency it truly is and finally release the funds to those who so desperately need them. These communities can't wait any longer. Congress has acted, and now it is time for the administration to do its part. Madam President, I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I thank Senator Flake for his comments, his willingness to speak out, and for the courage with which he has spoken. His beliefs, I think, are admirable, and this Senator wants to state that for the record. What he has spoken about does not look down the blind alley of partisanship. He is talking about looking at America, and this Senator appreciates his remarks.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Madam President, it is interesting that the majority whip just spoke about China, and this Senator wants to talk about Facebook and some of the things that are threatening national security and our personal privacy. I rise to speak about the recent press reports on Facebook and how the social media giant partnered with at least 60 mobile device manufacturers and shared user information with the likes of Apple, Amazon, BlackBerry, Microsoft, and Samsung. Just today, on the subject of China, the New York Times is reporting that Facebook also partnered with four Chinese electronic manufacturers, including Huawei, which is known to have close ties with the Chinese Government and may pose a national security threat to the United States. According to the Times, these companies had access to vast amounts of Facebook's user data, including the information of friends who may not have provided proper consent to access and share their personal and their personally identifiable information. We don't know all of the facts yet, but it is clear that what Facebook claims and what the New York Times is reporting doesn't end up squaring up. As a result, the chairman of the Commerce Committee, Senator Thune, and I as ranking member wrote a letter to Mark Zuckerberg, asking that he answer a number of questions about the New York Times' reporting. Specifically, Senator Thune and I want to know exactly who these business partners are and what the nature of these agreements is. We want to know what safeguards are in place and whether Facebook conducted adequate oversight to protect user or customer information from unauthorized use and storage. We also asked whether Facebook users and the Federal Trade Commission were aware of these business agreements. Currently, Facebook is operating under a 2011 consent order as part of a settlement with the FTC, and it is not clear whether these data- sharing agreements are in violation of that order. The bottom line is that these revelations are yet another example of questionable business practices by Facebook that could undermine basic consumer privacy. Remember, less than 2 months ago, Mr. Zuckerberg appeared in front of our committee in a joint committee hearing with the Judiciary Committee to answer questions in the face of the Cambridge Analytica fiasco. At that hearing, Mr. Zuckerberg apologized for his company's negligence and pledged to do better. He also asserted that consumers own their personal information and control how it can be seen and used. I want to repeat what I just said. Zuckerberg also asserted that consumers--their users--own their personal information and control how it can be seen and used. That is what Zuckerberg said in our committee hearing. The reporting in the New York Times suggests that is not accurate. While Mr. Zuckerberg asserted that app developers were prohibited from collecting friends' information in 2014, he failed to mention that device manufacturers were still able to access the information. He never revealed these data-sharing agreements in our committee meeting, the hearing in April of this year. As a result, it is hard to know what is true anymore. Now we learn that Facebook gave Chinese companies believed to be national security risks access to user data. What in the world is next, and what in the world is going to protect Americans' personally identifiable, private information? Facebook is the most popular social media platform in the world with over 2 billion users, and in the United States, there are over 200 million users. Those users interact with each other and post sensitive, personal information. The company has a unique responsibility to its users to be vigilant caretakers of personally identifiable information. They also have a responsibility to be transparent. I look forward to Mr. Zuckerberg's response to the letter that Senator Thune and I sent to him just recently. It is high time that Congress act to provide all American consumers with the basic privacy protections they expect and deserve in order to be protected, and they are counting on us to do that. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I was necessarily absent for the June 4, 2018, vote on the motion to invoke cloture on Executive Calendar No. 542, the nomination of Robert Earl Wier, of Kentucky, to be United States district judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky. I would have voted yea.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Madam President, the right to vote is one of the most precious rights we have here in America. How we protect it is so cherished, and it is also cherished by peoples all over the world who don't get a chance to exercise that right. Our constitutional foundation is built on a process of free, fair, and unfettered elections. Well, what happened in this country 2 years ago put a crack in that foundation, and it started to sow the seeds of doubt that, if gone unchecked, could undermine our entire democracy. After painstaking analyses by the intelligence community, which are in complete agreement--unanimous in the IC--we know that Russia interfered in our 2016 election. We know that Russia continues to meddle in the elections of not only our country now but in other countries around the world. We saw that in the elections in Europe last year. Fortunately, what they tried in France backfired on them, and they didn't get their candidate to win. We also know that if we don't act now, they are likely going to continue this interference in the elections here in this country that are coming up in just a few months. The threat that we face today from Russia's meddling in our elections and attempting to undermine our democracy is really one of the greatest threats we face. Congress recognizes this threat, and we have taken action to protect that vote. But none of it matters if respective States will not work with us and take this threat seriously. So last March we passed a bill that authorized $380 million to help State elections officials strengthen their elections security and update their elections equipment. Now, of the total of $380 million for the country, $19 million of it was set aside for my State, the State of Florida. While at least a dozen other States have applied for and received funding to help them protect their systems from Russian intrusion, my State of Florida hasn't even applied for one single dollar of the $19 million set aside for Florida--not one. In fact, the government of Florida through Florida's secretary of State said recently that it is not planning to apply for any funding to improve security during the upcoming November election. Obviously, when you consider the risk and what Russia did, which the intelligence community all agree was done to us in the last election, why in the world would the State of Florida not apply for any of the $19 million set aside for our State? We know that Russia had intruded into the election mechanism and records of 21 States, and the State of Florida was one of those States. Although we don't know what kind of interference the Russians are going to try in the upcoming November elections, we do know that Russian President Vladimir Putin--having interfered in 2016 and causing so much chaos and, therefore, attacking the very foundation of our constitutional democracy--is likely to do it again. So why wouldn't the government of the State of Florida apply for $19 million of funds set aside for Florida to upgrade and protect our election system? We know we are not the only country that has been attacked and, according to the U.S. intelligence community, he obviously is going to continue this type of behavior. So we better get ready. That is why we have such a heavy responsibility to defend America from these types of attacks and to defend our process of free, fair, and unfettered elections. We need to rebuild trust in our elections, and at the same time we need to ensure that every citizen who wishes to exercise their right to vote is able to do so. It also can be counted, and it can be counted as they intended it to count. Remember this goes back to 1965. Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to protect the right of every citizen to vote. But in a 5- to-4 Supreme Court decision, it declared that part of that law was outdated, and it removed much needed voter protections that we have come to rely on for minorities, and we have come to rely on them for the last half century. Part of this Supreme Court decision struck down part of the law as it applied to protecting minorities in certain counties in the State of Florida. The Justices voted to strike down that important part of the Voting Rights Act on a 5-to-4 decision. They said that it was outdated because we no longer have the blatant voter suppression tactics we once did years and decades ago. I disagree. We have seen a lot of voter suppression. Since the 2010 election, we have seen a number of States, including my State of Florida, approve voting restrictions targeted directly at reducing turnout among young, low-income, and minority voters. Why? Because they traditionally support one particular party. In 2011, for example, the Florida legislature, State officials, and the Governor of Florida reduced the number of early voting days in Florida, including canceling the Sunday before the Tuesday election as an early-voting date. It is not a coincidence that there was use of early-voting days, particularly on weekends--particularly on that Sunday before the Tuesday election, where people become sensitive and recognize that there is about to be an election day. We have found that particularly minority voters in Florida--African Americans, as well as Hispanics--would take advantage of voting when they did not have to go to work. You have heard the term ``Souls to the Polls.'' So often, after church on Sunday, many church members would go to the polls. They made voting more difficult for people who had moved to a different county. It became more difficult, even though we have a very mobile population moving within a State. They also made it more difficult for young people, particularly college students, who changed their address because they had moved and wanted to vote in the town where the university was, but their identification often was their driver's license, which showed their parents' residence. Again, this made it more difficult instead of making it easier to vote. The State of Florida subjected voter registration groups like the League of Women Voters, which had been registering voters for three- quarters of a century--suddenly, they were subjected to penalties and fines if they didn't return the signatures in a short period of time, which was impossible if they got the signatures over a weekend. And they would nitpick with penalties and fines on some small mistake when they were trying to help someone register to vote. Happily, the League of Women Voters went to Federal court, and the Federal judge threw that law out as unconstitutional. But that decision was right before the election, and lo and behold, the League of Women Voters had lost a year and a half of voter registration. You won't believe this. In 2014, an elections official in Miami- Dade--which was, coincidentally, one of the more Democratic counties in the State--closed restrooms to voters who were waiting in line at the polling sites. As a matter of fact, there was so much chaos in one previous election--the election of 2012--that lines were upward of 7 hours long. I will never forget the woman who was a century old--100 years. Everybody kept bringing her a chair and bringing her water. Well, some of those waiting in lines didn't have the opportunity to go to the restroom, despite waiting to vote for hours and hours. In that same election cycle, 2014, the State's top elections official told a local election supervisor not to allow voters to submit absentee ballots at remote drop-off sites, ordering that elections official that there could be only one site. That supervisor of elections, by the way, told the State of Florida to go take a hike--that they had a way of securing the ballots by dropping them in several different sites that were formerly approved. Then the State of Florida denied a request from the city of Gainesville to use a University of Florida campus building for early voting, a move seen by some as a direct assault on student voting. Can you believe that? The State of Florida government, through the Secretary of the State, is going to order the University of Florida not to allow the student center on campus to be a place of convenience for students to cast an early vote. That order has stood. It has stood, and instead of making it easier for people to vote, it has made it harder. All too often, we have let these things go. This Senator is not letting it go because the League of Women Voters in Florida has now taken the government of the State of Florida to Federal court on behalf of students at the University of Florida, as well as Florida State, saying: You are arbitrarily saying that we cannot vote in a convenient place on campus, in a government-owned public building on campus. You cannot order that we cannot use that in anticipation of elections this coming November. Too often we find ourselves divided on these issues of party politics, but that shouldn't be the case. There should be no disagreement when it comes to protecting the right to vote and making it easier, not harder, for people to vote. Why? Because we ought to be Americans first, not partisans first. We should be Americans first, and the State of Florida should get its act in order to let the people vote. I yield the floor.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, will the Senator yield?

Mr. NELSON. This Senator from Florida wants to thank his neighbor and colleague for his comments and to say how true it is that there is an underserved part in healthcare that is not only the underserved in the inner city but, clearly, also in rural America. This Senator wants to thank the Senator from Alabama for coming forward with that piece of legislation. I look forward to discussing it with him. I also wish to thank the Senator for his comments about how shortsighted it is that the government, as he stated, in his State of Alabama, and, certainly, the government in my State of Florida, refuses to expand Medicaid and has so for almost 7 years, when, in fact, in the State of Florida, there is almost $5 billion a year that is sitting on the shelf that is Florida taxpayer money that is going elsewhere if not accessed, and it has not been accessed in my State of Florida. That is 800,000 people--almost 1 million people--poor people and disabled folks who would be getting healthcare, and they otherwise are not getting healthcare. Would the Senator believe that when they don't get healthcare through Medicaid, for which they are eligible under the law, when they get sick, what do they do? They end up going to the emergency room. By not having any preventive care, it is now an emergency. Of course, when treated at the emergency room, it is the most expensive place at the worst time. Lo and behold, it is uncompensated care, and the hospital can't eat all of that uncompensated care. So what happens? All the rest of us pay through increases in our premiums. I thank the Senator for his statement about what is happening in my neighboring State of Alabama.

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I rise today regarding the nomination of Dana Baiocco to serve as a Commissioner on the Consumer Product Safety Commission, or, as we refer to it, the CPSC. It is a small, safety- focused agency. It has about 500 employees, but it has a critically important mission to keep Americans safe from potential defects in thousands of consumer products, many of which are imported from China. We have seen the need to have a strong cop on the beat, and we have seen that many times over the years. For example, back in 2007, we saw what was referred to as a summer of recalls, when a number of children's toys were recalled for high levels of lead and other toxic substances. In response to that summer of recalls in 2007, Congress almost unanimously passed a law, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, to address the safety of toys and other children's products. But there is still a lot more to do. Last summer, another tragedy played out in Florida, involving portable generators. People go and buy these portable generators in anticipation that they are going to lose electricity in their home, as is so often the case with a hurricane. In the wake of Hurricane Irma last year, 12 Floridians died and a number of others were injured by the use of portable generators because carbon monoxide poisoning is emitted from these portable generators. In many cases, the victims were just trying to clean up debris or provide power to their families after the storm, unaware that these generators give off large amounts of carbon monoxide, which is colorless, odorless, and deadly. For years we have been calling on the CPSC to ensure that portable generators are equipped with mechanisms that limit carbon monoxide emissions and automatically shut off the generators when the carbon monoxide level reaches a high, dangerous lethal level in an enclosed area that could cause death. It is a small modification to generators that would not affect the performance but definitely would save lives. This happens after every hurricane. People get generators because it is a number of days or weeks without electricity, and they still want to have electricity, and, of course, there are untold deaths. In the case of Florida, in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, there were 12 deaths. If small modifications had been in place last summer, it is very likely that some of those Floridians who lost their lives would still be with us. That brings me to Ms. Baiocco's nomination. She certainly has a distinguished legal career. She has been a partner of a major law firm, and I congratulate her on that. When she was in front of our Commerce Committee, she was asked whether she would support a mandatory standard requiring that generators have mechanisms that limit carbon monoxide emissions or other devices that switch the generators off when the carbon monoxide level rises to dangerous levels. Her response was that we should defer to a voluntary industry standard. I ask the Presiding Officer: Do you think the industry is going to voluntarily put on these shutoff mechanisms? Isn't the CPSC there for the purpose of protecting the public? When the next hurricane hits--perhaps in the Presiding Officer's State--do we want another dozen deaths as has occurred in Florida? I don't think so. I think that is the role of the CPSC, and yet Ms. Baiocco said she wants it to be voluntary with the industry. Well, that is exactly what we have been doing for years, and we just keep seeing more deaths and more injuries because the industry doesn't change it. In some cases, whole families have been wiped out. That is not a pleasant thought. Hurricane season starts June 1, and every day that the CPSC fails to act on portable generators, more Americans will die, especially where hurricanes hit. The place called ``hurricane highway'' is not only the peninsula of Florida but also the Gulf States and the gulf coast, which includes the Presiding Officer's State. The fact that Ms. Baiocco cannot recognize the need for a mandatory standard in this area makes me wonder if she is going to do anything about other hazards that impact our families. Mr. President, I ask for 60 more seconds.

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, this is serious. There are things like potentially toxic flame-retardant chemicals in children's products. Remember all of those Chinese toys that were defective? Or what about recycled crumb rubber that is used in playgrounds that have high levels of toxic substances? Sadly, it seems that with the administration's recent appointments to the CPSC, the Commission could soon become known as the ``commission to protect shareholders and companies.'' This Senator believes that the people appointed to protect us have to display a desire to protect the consumers first. The stakes are just too high. Unfortunately, this Senator, a member of the Commerce Committee, has concluded that Ms. Baiocco does not meet this standard. Therefore, I must oppose her nomination. I yield the floor.

Mr. NELSON

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

Mr. NELSON. Madam President, I rise to speak today in the wake of another tragic school shooting. This time, it was in Texas. Ten innocent people--eight students and two teachers--were gunned down Friday when a gunman walked into a high school in East Texas and opened fire. Tragedies such as this are becoming too common in our society. At some point, we have to say enough is enough. How many times have we said that? Just 3 months ago, I stood right here on the Senate floor after 17 people were killed at MSD High School in Parkland, FL. I pleaded with our colleagues to set aside partisan politics and work together to enact commonsense reforms that will help make what happened at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School a pivotal moment in our Nation's history--not because it was one of the deadliest school shootings, but because back then, 3 months ago, it was the last one. I hoped it would be the last one. I am so proud of the students who spoke out and the parents who spoke out, such as Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter was gunned down as she was trying to flee at the other end of the hall. That bullet from that AR- 15 caught her right in the spinal cord just as she was about to exit the hall. I thank Fred and others who have been speaking out, especially the students--so eloquent, so bold. We all hoped that the shooting in Parkland was going to be the last one, but it was not. Here we go again. With the tragedy that took place in Parkland so fresh in our minds, here we go again. Our students deserve better. You have seen the articles since Friday's shooting about how students are frightened that their school will be next. Our schools and our communities deserve better. America deserves better than this. Our students certainly deserve better. Since the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting, this Congress has passed two bills into law--only two. While this Senator supported both of those, they alone are not nearly enough. We can and we must do more. You have heard me say over and over that we need to ban assault weapons and the long clips. We need to close the gun show loophole. We need a comprehensive, universal background check for the sale or the transfer of any firearm, regardless of where it is purchased. By the way, those comprehensive background checks would have picked up red flags on the shooter in Parkland, who had some real mental problems. They would have also picked up the shooter in the Orlando Pulse nightclub 2 years ago because he had been on the terrorist watch list and had been taken off. If those kinds of things are picked up in a comprehensive background search, then--when a person goes to buy a gun, those kinds of things will be picked up. We also need to do more to provide our students with access to the mental health professionals they need. Because of the NRA locking down their votes, if we are not going to get anything on assault weapons or the gun show loophole or a comprehensive background check, then surely we ought to be able to come together in a bipartisan way to do something about mental health. I have met with parents and teachers and students across the State of Florida, and the one topic that keeps coming up is the lack of mental health services available to our children. How true is that in society at large? We are talking about school violence perpetrated by other students. You will not like this statistic. Florida has 1 school psychologist for about every 2,000 students. That is according to a report from the Florida Association of School Psychologists. If you compare that to the nationally recommended ratio of 1 psychologist for every 500 to 700 students, that means Florida only has about one-fourth of the number of school psychologists it needs to properly care for its students--one- fourth, 25 percent. And that is just Florida. Nationally, 35 million children in this country have had at least 1 traumatic experience, and nearly two-thirds of children have been exposed to violence. That is why we have another piece of legislation that Senators cosponsored to provide better care to children and their families who have experienced trauma. We have finally done something with regard to PTSD and our veterans. Everybody understands that you don't actually have to get an injury to have PTSD. As a matter of fact, it can manifest itself years later. We are getting mental health counseling for our veterans, particularly those who have come home from a war zone. Are these children now experiencing a war zone? Is the trauma they are experiencing at ages 12 through 17, at that tender age, not comparable to some of the trauma our young soldiers are now experiencing? If we are going to be serious about curbing this type of violence that we are going to continue to see in children's schools--oh Lordy, we hoped that Parkland was the last one, but it was not, and there are going to be more. If we are going to be serious about this, we must hire more school counselors, social workers, psychologists, and other mental health professionals to get ahead of the problem and ensure that any student who needs help is able to get it. Later this week, midweek, I will be introducing legislation aimed at doing exactly that--increasing the number of mental health professionals in our children's schools across the country. Kids suffering from trauma or depression or any other sort of mental problems shouldn't be denied the help they need because the school or the school district can't afford it. The bill I will file on Wednesday--I hope with a whole bunch of Senators sponsoring--will provide grants to colleges and universities that set up programs to train future school counselors, social workers, psychologists, and other mental health professionals in the school districts that need them the most. It will create a Federal student loan forgiveness program for mental health professionals who take jobs in the districts that need them. That has often been a problem--not only the supply but getting the supply in the school districts that need them. This is not unlike the loan forgiveness we give to government workers or to, for example, doctors who will serve, practice, in an underserved area, such as a rural area. We do it for those professionals; let's do it for the mental health workers who are desperately needed in underserved areas, such as--which is obviously becoming apparent--our schools. When we give our students the tools they need to succeed, such as access to mental health treatment, everyone is going to benefit. Our students know this. They have been asking for our help to make these services more available. Parents, teachers, and school administrators across the country know this, too, and they are pleading for Congress to act. Let's give our schools and our communities the help they need, the help they have been asking for. Let's start taking steps today to change the course in which the country finds itself with another school shooting last Friday. I hope many Senators cosponsor this legislation. We can't allow what happened in Parkland, FL, and in Santa Fe, TX, to become the new normal in this country. We have to do more to protect our kids in school and ensure that any student who needs mental health services is able to get those services. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. NELSON

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

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I rise, along with my colleagues here, to speak in strong support of the resolution to restore strong net neutrality protections for Americans. This is, obviously, what the American people want. For the vote that was just taken on the motion to proceed, 52 for and 47 against, I think it shows how the American people's will is being expressed in a bipartisan way. The American people understand how important these protections are to their lives and to the future of the internet. They do not want to have their websites blocked or internet access slowed, and they certainly don't want internet providers making those decisions to block or slow. More than 20 million residents of Florida understand just how vital it is to have a free and open internet. I say that for my State, but that is, obviously, the same for every other State as well. Millions of schoolchildren in my State--from Pensacola to Orlando, to the Florida Keys--and across the entire country benefit from educations that are built on a free and open internet. That is why educators and librarians throughout the country have rallied in favor of net neutrality. They know that an internet that is no longer free and open is a lost educational opportunity for our children. Florida's colleges, universities, and technical schools rely on the free and open internet for their vital educational and research missions. Unfettered access to the internet is essential for research into issues that are critical to the State and Nation, such as medical research, climate change, sea level rise--whatever the research is. Florida's growing economy is equally reliant on a free and open internet. The growth of high-tech jobs all over the country and particularly in Florida, including the growth across the middle swath of Florida and the booming Space Coast has largely been built on advanced high-speed internet networks that have been available in those areas. Small businesses that are all around also use the internet as the great equalizer and bring the global marketplace to their very doorsteps, but that global market for those companies exists only as long as everyone on the internet is treated the same. If you start picking and choosing, then you lose the value of that equalizing, of a small company's having a great idea and having access to the information just like a big company has. Citizens throughout my home State rely on the internet for civic and social engagement. The internet is today's social forum--the tool we use to stay engaged in the lives of family, friends, and peers. The internet can also be an equalizing force. As such, it has been a place where communities of color have been able to tell their own stories in a way that they have never been able to before. It has given minority communities the power to organize, to share, and to support each other's causes. To limit access to the net would be to help silence these voices that are just beginning to be heard. I don't think we want to do that. Congress must ensure that the internet remains open to all--thus, the vote that we have coming up in just about an hour and a half. Unfortunately, the FCC has empowered internet providers to dictate consumers' experiences online. What the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission did, Ajit Pai, is to go overboard in what he has tried. This Senator has spoken over and over for moderation in the approaches to how the FCC would be involved with regard to regulating the internet. When websites can be blocked, when downloads can be slowed, and when consumers then have to pay more to access what they are actually looking for--that is not a free and open internet. It becomes a closed internet. I am very happy to be on the Senate floor with all of these other Senators who have spoken in favor of restoring the FCC's net neutrality protections. The resolution before us immediately restores the FCC's strong consumer protections for the internet. It will make sure that the internet content cannot be blocked or cannot be throttled. It will prevent internet providers from charging more for transmitting certain favored content. It will preserve the FCC's authority to examine other practices that could harm consumers, and it will make sure that consumers will be given understandable, basic information about their internet services. It is necessary that this Congress protect consumers' access to the internet. The choice before us today is clear. A vote in favor of this resolution is a vote to restore the free and open internet. It is a vote to keep control of the internet in the hands of those who use it. Congress must undo the FCC's decision to turn its back on American consumers by stripping away net neutrality. The American public ought to be what we consider first. So I am happy to support this resolution. I call on my colleagues to join us in protecting a free and open internet. In closing, this Senator, as one of the leaders of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, has so often spoken in favor of the two sides getting together and negotiating legislation because we keep going on this roller coaster whereby the FCC does one thing and, then, the roller coaster goes the other way and it does another thing, and each time it acts, it goes to court. Ultimately, there ought to be a legislative solution. Today is about taking a stand on the excessive action by the FCC so that we can make sure to protect the free and open internet and give the ingenuity and creativity and Yankee inventiveness of this country the opportunity to continue to blossom by using this new technological tool that has been, virtually, put into use in the past decade. We don't want that internet throttled and limited. It needs to be free and open. I yield the floor.

Mr. NELSON. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I was necessarily absent for the May 14, 2018, vote on Executive Calendar No. 780, confirmation of Michael Scudder, of Illinois, to be a judge for the Seventh Circuit. I would have voted yea. (At the request of Mr. Durbin, the following statement was ordered to be printed in the Record.)

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I appreciate the remarks made by the Senator from Texas. Indeed, I think we have a career intelligence officer who, over three decades, has performed commendable service for this country. I will be meeting with her next week. I have a number of questions, and after meeting with her, I will make my decision. I thank the Senator from Texas, as I have thanked many on the Intelligence Committee from whom I have sought opinions while reading all the relevant documents.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, it is our duty to ensure that folks--our folks, the people in our States--have access to care without having to go into debt to obtain that care. The State of Florida is attempting to take that away. In doing so, it is attempting to wipe out many families' pocketbooks and increase the strain on the healthcare providers--the doctors, the nurses, the hospitals--and all Florida taxpayers, who ultimately, on uncompensated care, are the ones who pick up the bill. The State of Florida claims that this proposal will ``enhance fiscal predictability.'' That begs the question: For whom? If the State really wanted to secure greater financial security, it would expand Medicaid and accept the $66 billion of our Florida financial taxpayer money sitting on the shelf, which Floridians have already paid for with their tax dollars, and provide healthcare for up to 800,000 Floridians who don't have it now. Perhaps what is even more troubling is that the letter accompanying the State of Florida's request stated that the agency--get this--``was not aware of any concern or opposition raised by any member of either party regarding this provision during extensive budget debate.'' So now not only is the State of Florida trying to harm thousands of Floridians, including many of our seniors and veterans--by the way, veterans are on the Medicaid Program as well. Don't forget that. All veterans are not taken care of under only the Veterans' Administration; there are a lot of veterans on Medicaid. So the State is trying to harm these people, and I wonder now, in that letter that I just quoted from, if the State is misleading the Federal agency CMS in trying to get their waiver approved to cut the 90 days down to 30 days. Indeed, members of the Florida State Senate, the legislature, raised innumerable concerns and objections to the provision. Most recently, the Florida Senate minority leader called out the Governor's administration for the misleading claims. Instead of making it harder to gain coverage, we ought to be focusing on getting our uninsured neighbors quality and affordable health coverage and reducing uninsured, uncompensated costs. We need to do what is good for the people of Florida. Mr. President, I yield the floor.