Harry Reid

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Madam President, this month is Native American Heritage Month. During this month, we honor the contributions of American Indians and also, of course, Alaskan Natives and Hawaiians. We don't have to look very far to see how Native Americans continue fighting for their heritage. They really must fight for their heritage. If you pick up a newspaper or turn to the news on any channel you want, you will see what is happening at the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is opposing the construction of a portion of the Dakota Access Pipeline that passes near their reservation where it crosses the Missouri River. They are concerned that the construction of the pipeline could not only destroy ancestral burial grounds but could also contaminate the water supply for the tribe, as well as for millions of others who depend on water from the Missouri River. The Standing Rock Sioux are fighting for their land, the right to clean water, clean air, and their history. They are not alone. The Standing Rock Sioux have been joined by thousands of others, including members of hundreds of tribes throughout the United States. Last month, while I was in Nevada, members of the 27 Native American tribes we have in Nevada made it clear to me that they stand in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux. But I do too. Here is why. Here is why I join with the Standing Rock Sioux in calling for an alternative route for the pipeline's construction. It is past time that this situation be resolved peacefully. It has lingered for months, and the debate has descended into violence. Private security guards have unleashed attack dogs on Indians, resulting in men, women, and children being bitten and some very severely. Police have used rubber bullets, tear gas, and compression grenades. Some 300 people have been treated for injuries as a result of this violence against the protesters. The most severe injury took place a week ago, when one young woman had parts of her arm and hand blown off. The violence at Standing Rock must end. I am confident that President Obama's administration is taking the necessary steps to address the situation. They have done well so far. What is happening at Standing Rock is a movement that has captured the attention of the entire country. But we should understand the context of what is taking place. We should be mindful that the history of this region is fraught with disputes--very few of which, if any, have been resolved in the favor of the Indians. This region is fraught, I repeat, with disputes between Native Americans and the U.S. Government--disputes that originated more than a century ago but that, in the minds of the Indians, are still very much alive. Last week, Kevin Gover, the Director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, which is a wonderful place, put the clash at Standing Rock in historic perspective. Here is what he said: Take Standing Rock, for example . . . if you know what the history of the Sioux Nation is, you know that the treaties were made with the Sioux Nation concerning these lands that no longer belong to the Sioux Nation. And you know that the development of the Missouri River for the past century has always, always involved taking of Indian land. They were building dams up and down the Missouri, and every Indian reservation along the way was flooded. Some of the best land was flooded, which only deepened their poverty and made it that much harder to climb out [of poverty, which they haven't]. So we should know that kind of history. I agree. This is the history to which he is referring--or at least a part of it. In the 1890s, Congress pushed the Sioux to reservations, took them off their ancestral lands, and jammed them into reservations. Speaking from the knowledge I have, what they did to the Panamint and Shoshone in Nevada is unbelievable. They put them in the worst places you could find. That is what they did to the Sioux. In the 1890s, they pushed the Sioux into reservations. Then, two decades later, in violation of all of the treaties they had, they built dams on the Missouri River that shrunk the size of the reservations even more. Then, in the 1940s, the United States built yet another dam, putting the Sioux's most fertile land underwater. I don't intend to have all of the answers. But I do know from experience that progress is possible when cooperation and respect form the foundation of fairness, especially on issues related to tribal rights and environmental concerns. I take one example that I know a lot about, and that is what happened in Nevada with a really large powerplant--coal-fired--called the Reid Gardner coal-fired plant. It was one of the dirtiest powerplants in the entire country. This coal plant was located less than a football field from the tribal reservation. Every day it dumped thousands of tons of toxins in the air, such as arsenic, mercury, and lead. Tribal members got sick. Of course, they did. Some 300 people on the reservation were poisoned daily by the pollution. But working with the Moapa Paiutes, I called for closure of the plant. People thought: Why are you doing this? It was the right thing to do. It was the right thing to do for the environment, but, more importantly, it was the fair and just thing to do for the Moapa Band of Paiutes. Since that time, when we started this initial effort, three of Reid Gardner's four generating units have been shut down--closed. The whole coal facility will be out of business within the next 90 days. That is pretty good. It is gone. Why? Because we had government. Local and State governments, Indian government, and the power company all worked together to address this issue. It could not have been done without all three of them working together. I have said this publicly. I have had a lot of disputes with the monopoly power company in Nevada, but on this issue I have complimented them because they did the right thing. With the Paiute tribe, instead of having this toxic dump in the form of a coal-fired generating plant right next to them that they breathe every day, they now have a huge solar farm. It has created lots of construction jobs. That electricity is now being sent to the city of Los Angeles. It has been good for everybody-- good for the air of Nevada, good for the Indians with work. It has helped the environment. The power company has made other arrangements for their power. They did it fairly easily. The simple truth is, based on this whole experience I had, that you need to work together, whether it is the Moapa Paiutes or the Standing Rock Sioux. They are exposed to more pollution than most Americans. That is the way it is. We don't talk a lot about the people who are severely impacted by a century of practically limitless pollution--Indians. This is not an urban or rural phenomenon. It is everywhere, and it is dangerous. Researchers at the University of Minnesota found that the difference in exposure to nitrogen dioxide alone is equal to roughly 7,000 deaths a year from heart disease. From South Dakota to Nevada, Native Americans are on the frontlines of these environmental and public health catastrophes. To make matters worse, heavy-polluting industries are fighting to return to the days of limitless pollution under the next administration. Can the people of America expect our newly elected President to intervene on their behalf against the big polluters? Can the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe depend on the man who is financially invested in the Dakota Access Pipeline? Probably not. This is about more than President-Elect Trump or fossil fuel profits. What is happening at Standing Rock is about respect for people: Where they build their homes, where they raise their families. The violence and aggression against the Standing Rock Sioux in North Dakota is a tragic example of the failure to respect people, of longstanding grievances, for how they and their natural resources have been treated. No one can see this more than the Indians. The Standing Rock Sioux protest at the Dakota Access Pipeline has everything to do with the history of broken promises and the institutionalized disregard for the rights of their own land as well as the trust relationship between Indian tribes and the Federal Government of the United States. While most stakeholders want a speedy end to this situation, we must understand that overreaction to protesters, violence, and disregard for our history undermines the likelihood of a mutually acceptable solution and rubs salt in already festering wounds. Profits should not be a determining factor of how this matter is resolved. The Obama administration has recognized that this history means the Dakota Access Pipeline is much more complicated than a water- crossing permit. They are doing the right thing by working with tribes to develop a better consultation process. I appreciate very much what the Obama administration has done. They recognize that history means that the pipeline is more complicated than simply a water crossing. I appreciate that the President is showing the Standing Rock Sioux the respect to which they are entitled. President Obama has less than 2 months left in his term, and it is becoming clear that the dispute at Standing Rock likely will not be resolved before he leaves office. I encourage the new administration and the Army Corps of Engineers to continue finding an alternate route. There is one out there. This should not be that hard. There is no reason this situation cannot be remedied in a manner that is fair to all. Three hundred people have already been injured. Grenades. Dogs being sicced on these Indians. Water being sprayed on them in freezing temperatures--below-freezing temperatures. Our Native-American tribes are looking to the Federal Government for help. For once, let's get them some help rather than just continue taking from them. They want to believe that after centuries of wrongs, the United States will finally get it right. Indians want to believe that after so long of being treated with no respect, the United States will help and not hurt. Relocating the pipeline to a more suitable area away from the Standing Rock Indian Reservation would be an easy and historic step in the right direction. For the sake of our country, I hope that happens. Madam President, I see no one on the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. REID

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

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I see no one on the floor. So I ask the Chair to tell us the business of the day.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, two days ago I came to the Senate floor and called upon the President-elect to rise to the dignity of his office. I called upon Mr. Trump to take responsibility for his rhetoric and his actions and to work to heal the wounds that he created. I am disappointed to say that our President-elect has chosen to do none of those things to this point. Meanwhile, vile acts of hate and intimidation continue to occur all across America. On Tuesday, I said that the Southern Poverty Law Center had reported 315 hate crimes since the election. As of Wednesday, that number jumped to 437. That is a 40-percent increase in 2 days. That is startling. Here are just a few examples of the instances that have been reported. In Michigan, a Latino family awoke to find that someone had used boxes to form a wall blocking their driveway. The perpetrators left behind vulgar graffiti that denigrated Mexican Americans and praised Donald Trump for ``taking back America.'' In Tennessee, two men returned home to find a threatening homophobic note. Using gay slurs, the message told the men to go back where they came from. A folding knife with a picture of Donald Trump on the handle was stabbed through the paper. At a high school in Missouri, a 15-year-old African-American student was burned with a hot glue gun and told he didn't belong in America. Another African-American student at the same school was told by a White student: ``Are you ready to get back on the boat now that Trump is President?'' This morning the Washington Post editorial board related this story of a student at Baylor: The morning after Donald Trump's election as president, a student at Baylor University had a nasty, hate-filled encounter on her way to class. A native of Zambia, she was called the n-word by another student, who shoved her off the sidewalk and said he was ``just trying to make America great again,'' the signature slogan of Mr. Trump's campaign. What is perhaps most appalling about the incident is that it was not isolated. As I said, I picked just a few examples. There are hundreds of these same kinds of things happening, as we speak, across the country. These are sickening acts of hate, prejudice, and just simple meanness, and they need to be stopped. The Washington Post editorial board called on Donald Trump to do everything he can to bring these acts to an end. They said: Mr. Trump should pay heed. These hateful acts are the work of . . . his supporters, but they have been emboldened by the ugly rhetoric of his presidential campaign. It is his responsibility--not, as his campaign manager has foolishly suggested, President Obama's or Hillary Clinton's--to do as much as he can to discourage such actions. Granted, his appointment of media mogul Stephen K. Bannon to a top White House job makes that all the more difficult. So does his mild response when asked about the threats and slurs on Sunday's ``60 Minutes'' interview. He didn't say much when he was pressed to do so. Mr. Trump promised in his victory speech to be a president for all Americans. His wife has said she wants to make fighting hate and bullying her main priority as first lady. They need not wait until Inauguration Day to start living up to those promises. I have several pages of hate-filled, awful incidents that have been reported. There is only one person that can bring a stop to this quickly, and that is the President-elect. Our Nation is looking at Donald Trump. For the sake of the American people, I hope he will. I ask unanimous consent that these pages be printed in the Record.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, there were a number of bright spots on election day, but I have to say, without any question, that the one for us was in Nevada. We scored victories everyplace. The Koch brothers came to the State and publicly said: Reid has been hard on us, and we are going to teach him a lesson. I wasn't born yesterday. I knew. They really didn't frighten me. In spite of all their untold wealth, they could not affect what we had built up over the years in Nevada. We carried the State by about 30,000 votes for Hillary Clinton, which maybe in California it doesn't sound like a lot, but in South Carolina and Nevada it is a lot of votes--30,000 votes. In the Senate seat to replace me, we won by a large margin. We picked up two Democratic House seats. Out of the six Democratic House seats that were picked up in this past election, a third of them came from Nevada. We turned the assembly to a big, big majority. The State senate now has 21 members. It was 11-to-10 Republican. It is now 11-10 Democratic. To make it even better, the day after the election a Republican State senator switched to become an Independent, like Bernie Sanders and Angus King. So there is a two-vote majority there. It was really a good day for Nevada. We rejected the divisive vision of America that some had, but we also enacted some important reforms. In Nevada--the Wild West, NRA members galore--we voted to have background checks. When I went to the State legislature a long time ago, in 1969, as a young assemblyman, I introduced legislation to have a 3-day waiting period before you can buy a gun. That has been longstanding in most of rural Nevada. They eliminated that. But I started being concerned about this a long time ago, and now in Nevada we are going to have background checks for people purchasing guns. That is good. The National Rifle Association spent millions of dollars trying to stop that, but we cared more about keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people than catering to people with special interests. I mention the NRA. Listen, the National Rifle Association used to be a different organization. After the Columbine horror in Colorado, they came out saying that we should do something for background checks. They have changed. Members of the NRA in Nevada understand that. They are like NRA members all over the country. The majority of NRA members believe there should be background checks and you shouldn't as a criminal be able to buy a gun or you shouldn't be able to buy a gun if you are unstable mentally. We elected the first Latina Senator in the history of the country, Catherine Cortez Masto. We are a diverse State. I am happy that our elected leaders that we brought back here certainly represent that. I have talked about Catherine Cortez Masto. She is going to be a wonderful Senator. I am so proud of her. I have known her family for years. I have admiration for her accomplishments as a prosecutor and attorney general for the State. The Nevada seat was a Koch brothers prize, but they came in second. We also elected Ruben Kihuen. He is a fine man. He is a Mexican immigrant elected to the House of Representatives. He will do a good job, this young man. I have so much admiration for him. The picture on the front page of our papers in Las Vegas was really wonderful. His mom and dad, immigrants themselves, with their boy who is now going to be a Member of Congress. That is pretty dramatic. They came to the United States wanting to live the American dream, and that is what they have done. Serving with Ruben and serving with Catherine in the Congress is a woman by the name of Jacky Rosen. Jacky has been an inspiring community leader for years, working as president of her synagogue. Jacky has no experience in politics--zero. She ran for a seat that is just a tiny bit Democratic, but a very competitive seat. It is a seat that Congressman Heck lost for the Senate and held for three terms. She didn't have a really long resume, other than being a wonderful person who had a great family and was involved in community activities. She was president of her synagogue. She proved to be a tremendously talented candidate, and she will be good here in Washington as a Member of Congress. Dina Titus, a longtime Member of Congress, is returning to the House for a fourth term. She knows Nevada inside and out. She is a longtime member of the State legislature and a professor at UNLV. So I am grateful for these good people who are now going to be Members of the Congress of the United States. Catherine, Ruben, Jacky, and Dina will be great for Nevada and the country. Our Democratic legislature in Nevada will be led by an African American, Aaron Ford. We have an African American leading the State senate. He is the majority leader. He is a wonderful young man who is so talented, well educated. He has a Ph.D. and a law degree. He has it all. Jason Frierson is going to be leading the assembly as speaker. He is just a good person, a good guy with an accomplished record in the State assembly. There has been some talk about ``the Reid machine,'' but, of course, the machine is leaving Washington in a few weeks. But it is not about me. It is about our State and about the progress we have made over the years. The victories we saw last week speak volumes about the talent of the candidates and the people working to make sure these victories happen. Most of the work done in the State was by volunteers. There were thousands of people--thousands of people--out in the streets 2 weeks before the election. On one Saturday, 70,000 doors were knocked on in the small State of Nevada--70,000. Having done door-to-door stuff ourselves, we all know that there were not 70,000 people home, but thousands and thousands of people were reached through that process. As I have mentioned, our State has a crop of incredibly talented leaders to stand up to the Trump administration and hold Republicans accountable. Our new leaders are going to fight for the issues that are important to the people of the State of Nevada, all issues dealing with immigrants. My father-in-law was an immigrant to the United States from Russia. My grandfather was from England. We are going to do everything we can to make sure that people understand the importance of immigration. On Yucca Mountain, they asked me a couple of days ago about the Republicans wanting to revive Yucca Mountain. Well, I know the Presiding Officer and the Republicans are concerned about money. So if the Republicans want to revive Yucca Mountain, bring a great big checkbook because what it is going to cost to revive that is not millions of dollars but billions of dollars--billions. There is nothing there. All the equipment has been junked, ground up. It is where they sell junk and metal. It is gone. What I say is, if the Republicans want to waste money on that, let them do it. Let them do it because it doesn't meet the environmental standards of anyplace, let alone our country. So let them try to revive it. But I say to my Republican friends, make sure you have a lot of money. We are going to do everything together in the next few weeks, and certainly when I am gone, the new Congressional delegation will do everything they can to protect clean energy. We have really done a lot with wind, solar, and geothermal. We need to continue that. In Nevada, 87 percent of the land is owned by the Federal Government. I know that is hard to comprehend. The Presiding Officer is from South Carolina. If you come to one of the beautiful wilderness areas, that land is not mine. That land is not Nevada land. It is your land. It is public land. You have as much right as anyone to enjoy those beautiful mountains that we have. We have 314 mountain ranges. We have a mountain that is 14,000 feet high. We have 32 mountains over 11,000 feet high. These are your mountains, just as they are mine. I say to the Presiding Officer, don't be part of a deal to sell those public lands to the private sector. The States and local governments-- they cannot protect those lands. So for our children and our grandchildren, don't let them mess with public lands. I appreciate the Presiding Officer listening to me. I will close by saying that I am very proud of what happened in the State of Nevada a week ago yesterday. I yield the floor.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, election day was tough for a lot of Americans. To say things didn't go the way we wanted on this side of the aisle would be a gross understatement. America is still reeling from this, and there will be even more concern in a few days when the final vote tally comes because Hillary Clinton will have gotten more than 2 million votes more than Donald Trump. So I think it speaks volumes that a Democratic Senator entered legislation yesterday that will take a look at the electoral college system. This should not be a partisan issue. It should be an issue that committees of jurisdiction in this body take a look at. Let's listen to some experts talk about it and find out if the system is working very well. It was set up a long time ago, and maybe it should be changed. So, I think it is something we need to take a look at. It is interesting that just in the last few years--in this century-- we have had two winners of elections that got less votes than the losers. I am sorry. We have two elections this century where the losers got more votes than the winners. So we need to take a look at that, and so I hope something is done on a bipartisan basis because no one knows what is going to happen 4 years from now, 8 years from now, 12 years from now. It is something that should be looked at. It is very important for us as a country to take another look at the electoral college system.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I very much appreciate the prayer of Admiral Black. He always does his best to set the tone. I appreciate the tone that he has set this afternoon. I appreciate him and what he does very much. I welcome everyone back. We have been gone quite some time. We have a lot of work to do the next few weeks, and we will do our best to get it done as quickly as we can.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I would like to say just a few words about Gwen Ifill. It really was too bad that she died at age 61. She was a woman who broke barriers. Every step of her life was something new and inspirational for those around her. I watch the ``NewsHour'' as often as I can, and I will miss her. I thought she had such a fine way of presenting herself in the news that she reported. Every night she would do the nightly review. She was really a good person, and I will miss her. I think we all will.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have been in politics for five decades. I have not seen anything like what we are seeing today in America. The man who lost the popular vote by 2 million votes is now the President- elect. I will repeat that. A man who lost the election by 2 million votes or more is now the President-elect. His election has sparked a wave of hate crimes across America. This is a simple statement of fact, but it raises critical questions for us as a country and as a nation. How do we respond to the election of Donald Trump? The Democrats want to work with Mr. Trump when we can. I understand and respect the impulse because Democrats like to get things done. That is why most of us are in government in the first place. For example, Democrats have been trying for multiple decades to get Republicans to invest in our deteriorating infrastructure. What kind of makeup do we have in the infrastructure? Some say $1 trillion; some say $3 trillion. It is really badly in need of help and repair. It is an automatic job creator. Over these decades, each time we tried to do something on infrastructure, Republicans obstructed. So if we can finally get Republicans to make the job-creating infrastructure investments we have been seeking for years, that would be a welcome development for the Senate and the country. If Trump wants to pursue policies that will help working people, Democrats will take a pragmatic approach. Democrats have a responsibility to improve the lives of Americans, but we also have other responsibilities. We have a responsibility to be the voice of millions of Americans sitting at home, afraid that they are not welcome anymore in Donald Trump's America. We have a responsibility to prevent Trump's bullying, aggressive behavior from becoming normalized in the eyes of Americans, especially to the many young people who are watching and wondering, for example, if sexual assault is now a laughing matter. We have a responsibility to say that it is not normal for the KKK and groups like the Klan to celebrate the election of a President they view as their champion with a victory parade. They have one scheduled. In other words, we have a responsibility to lead. Outside this Senate Chamber, workers can be heard hammering away on the platform for the inauguration ceremony. It will take months to do it, but it will be done right. In 65 days Donald Trump will step onto that platform. For 4 years he will wield the loudest and most powerful microphone in the world. But even as those workers hammer away on Trump's platform, and even as we as leaders accept the results of this election, we must also give voice to those who are afraid because there are many who are afraid. Indeed, a majority of Americans opposed Donald Trump. Many of my Republican colleagues in this Chamber opposed Trump. They were not alone. Trump will be the first President to take office having lost the popular vote by 2 million. Every day for the past week, the majority of American voters have awakened to a difficult reality: Not only did the man who lost the popular vote win the election, but his election sparked a rise in hate crimes and threats of violence. Since Election Day, the Southern Poverty Law Center has reported hundreds of incidents of harassment and intimidation. The last count reported is 315 from their calculations. Overwhelmingly, the hateful acts are anti-Muslim, anti-Hispanic, anti-African American, anti-woman, anti-LGBT, anti-Semitic, and anti- Asian. I have heard these stories from friends and family. My and my wife's Nevada physician is a Pakistani-American of Muslim faith. We think so much of him. We have known each other for 35 years. The day after the election my friend was in a restaurant in Las Vegas having dinner. A man approached him in a threatening manner and said: Where are you from? He said: Where are you from? The man said: I'm local. The doctor said: So am I. That same night, in another restaurant in Las Vegas, another friend of mine who is also a Pakistani-American physician was having dinner. A man walked up to him in the same manner and said: Where are you from? He said he was from Pakistan. The other man said: Why don't you go back? One of my staffers has a daughter in middle school. I have known that little girl since she was a little baby. The day after the election, the principal addressed the entire student body on the school's PA system because of two incidents that had occurred that he wanted to talk about. In one instance, a boy yelled at a Latina student, saying he was glad she was being deported now that Trump was President. Another boy was sent home for yelling a derogatory, hateful term to an African-American student. The boy justified himself by saying he could use that language now that Trump was President. In Spokane, WA, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center was defaced with the same hateful word. Those are only a few examples that people close to me have related. But these disturbing accounts have been heard across America. I have a compilation of many of these incidents. One is from NBC news. Another is from another publication. There is a headline: ``Hundreds of Hate Crimes Reported Since the Election.'' Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that they be printed in the Record.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, what was just entered into the Record are references that are being made. They are awful. They are hateful. They are frightening. They are scary. I invite any of my colleagues to read these horrible acts, and I invite any Senator, Democrat or Republican, to come right down to this floor today and defend any one of them. It is an example of hate and prejudice. I don't believe anyone wants to defend hateful acts being committed in President-Elect Trump's name. It leads to one unavoidable conclusion. Many of our fellow Americans believe that Trump's election validates the kind of bullying and aggressive behavior Trump modeled on a daily basis. How do we teach our children that bragging about sexual assault is abhorrent if we rush into the arms of the man who dismissed it as ``locker room talk''? If we fail to hold Trump accountable, we all bear a measure of responsibility for normalizing his behavior. Here is a letter from a seventh grader from Rhode Island. She wrote the day after the election, and I will quote from the letter: I'm extremely scared, especially being a woman of color, that the president of the country that I was born and live in is making me feel unsafe when I usually don't feel unsafe. It is even scarier because this man who is now the president of the United States of America has said such rude, ignorant and disrespectful things about women and all different types of people and is now in charge of our country. I want to feel safe in my country but I no longer can feel safe with someone like Donald Trump leading the country. Our President is supposed to make people feel safe, but on Wednesday, a seventh grade girl awoke feeling frightened to be a woman of color in America because Donald Trump was President-elect. If we ignore her voice and other voices, this seventh grader will be left to conclude that we as a nation find her fear acceptable. How do we show her that she does not have to be afraid? The first step is facing reality. No matter how hard the rest of us work, the main responsibility lies within the man who inspired the fear. President-Elect Trump must act immediately to make Americans like that seventh grade girl feel they are welcome in his America. Healing the wounds he inflicted will take more than words. Talk is cheap and tweets are cheaper. Healing the wounds is going to take action, but so far, rather than healing these wounds, Trump's actions have deepened them. In one of his very first, if not his first official act, he appointed a man seen as a champion of White supremacy as the No. 1 strategist in the White House--the No. 1, everybody else under him. According to CNN, ``White nationalist leaders are praising Donald Trump's decision to name [Stephen Bannon] as his chief strategist.'' In the same article, White nationalist leaders say they see Bannon ``as an advocate for policies they favor.'' According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Bannon ``was the main driver behind Breitbart becoming a white ethno-nationalist propaganda mill.'' When asked to comment on Bannon's hiring, KKK leader David Duke told CNN, ``I think that's excellent.'' A court filing stated that Bannon said ``that he doesn't like Jews and that he doesn't like the way they raise their kids to be `whiny brats' and that he didn't want [his] girls to go to school with Jews.'' By placing a champion of White supremacists a step away from the Oval Office, what message does Trump send to the young girl who woke up Wednesday morning in Rhode Island afraid to be a woman of color in America? It is certainly not a message of healing. If Trump is serious about seeking unity, the first thing he should do is rescind his appointment of Steve Bannon. Rescind it. Don't do it. Think about this. Don't do it. As long as a champion of racial division is a step away from the Oval Office, it will be impossible to take Trump's efforts to heal the Nation seriously. So I say to Donald Trump: Take responsibility. Rise to the dignity of the Office of the President of the United States instead of hiding behind your Twitter account and show America that racism, bullying, and bigotry have no place in the White House or in America. I yield the floor.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, in this Republican Congress--especially as we head out for yet another unearned recess--I feel compelled to comment on how Republicans have treated the President of the United States during the last 8 years. History will look back and note that the Republicans in Congress treated President Obama with unprecedented disrespect. No one expected them to agree with everything that he did or tried to do, but Americans deserve better than the way Republicans behaved toward President Obama. A day or two after President Obama was elected the first time, Republicans met here in Washington--all the Republican big names--and they came to two conclusions. No. 1, Obama would not be reelected. They failed on that one quite miserably. But No. 2, they would oppose everything that President Obama tried to do, and they have stuck by that without any question. America would be better off with a responsible opposition party that found a way to make its differences with President Obama clear without treating him with such contempt. But, sadly, that is not what they saw from Republicans over the past 8 years. President Obama is the first President to be denied a hearing on his budget. He is the first President to be denied a hearing on a Supreme Court nominee. President Obama is the first President to be asked to show his birth certificate. President Obama is the first President who has faced over 500 filibusters here in the Senate. In this Republican Senate, President Obama will see fewer nominations confirmed than any President in many, many decades. Republicans have not done their basic work of government, and they have not stood by their commitments to restore regular order or to pass a budget. Republicans have spent their time doing everything in their power to discredit President Obama and empower Donald Trump. That is not a legacy that any Senator should be proud of. I listened to public radio this morning, and the Arizona Republic, from the big city of Phoenix, right next to Nevada, for the first time in its history of more than 120 years--for the first time in its history--endorsed a Democratic Presidential nominee. It had never been done before. It is a Republican newspaper. I listened to the editor of the newspaper on the radio this morning saying they couldn't. Why? Because of Donald Trump. The legacy of Donald Trump should not be anything the Republicans are proud of. The only thing Republicans have done this year was to prove that they are the party of Trump. They are the party of Trump. They say they are not the party of Trump, but they are. They would have us believe that Trump just fell out of the sky and somehow mysteriously became the nominee of the party, but that is not the way it is. Everything he has said, stood for, done in this bizarre campaign he has run has come, filtered up, from what has gone on here in the Republican Senate--disagreeing with everything--anything--President Obama wanted. They filibustered things they agreed with just to slow things down. Trump is no anomaly. He is the monster the Republicans built. He is their Frankenstein monster. They own him. All we have to do to see that the Republicans are the party of Trump is to look at the way they have treated President Obama. He is a good man, a good family man. He has a great education. He is a good communicator. He has written two best-selling books. Everyone knows he can communicate orally. He deserved better than the unprecedented disrespect the Republicans have shown toward him. America, which twice elected Barack Obama to be its President, deserves better--much, much better. It is a shame what has not been done, and it is a shame what has been done. Mr. President, I note that my friend the Republican leader is not here. I will suggest the absence of a quorum, and the Chair can announce the business of the day following his appearance here. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. REID

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

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to give the people of Flint, MI, the assurance that they are going to get some help after more than a year. I have had an opportunity to meet with Senator Stabenow. I talked with her a number of times this morning. I have had occasion to visit with the majority leader, and I have spoken with Leader Pelosi. I am convinced that there is going to be help for Flint in the lameduck. They have been waiting for help, they deserve help, and I am very happy that it is going to come. The people there deserve relief. What is going on there has been wrong, but now I feel very comfortable in being able to say that the people of Flint, MI, will get help. I have had conversations with people who have been given the assurance by the Republican leadership that something will happen in the lameduck. We have been waiting a long time to get this done, and it is going to happen. As I indicated a minute ago, I have had a number of conversations with Leader Pelosi this morning, and she--I never want to say what someone said, but I can say that I felt comfortable, after speaking with her, that the House feels comfortable with where they are on Flint, and we feel comfortable here in the Senate. I really appreciate the hard work of Senator Stabenow and Senator Peters because they have been tireless, relentless to make sure the people of Flint, MI, get some help. I think it should be a good day for the Senate. It should lead to our being able to move forward on the continuing resolution. There are a couple of outstanding issues, but I think they should be able to be resolved. I yield the floor.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I submit that--my friend still has the floor, so I don't want to interrupt.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I would ask my friend before he leaves that the Senator modify his request: that following a vote on confirmation of the nomination of Merrick Garland to be a Justice of the United States Supreme Court, the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of his matter.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, my friend from Ohio talks about common sense. Common sense dictates to me that the Republicans who run the Senate have had months to turn their attention to bills like this. They also have had months to do something else. For almost 200 days we have been waiting--waiting for the Republicans to have a hearing with Merrick Garland. The Supreme Court is at a standstill. Nothing is being done. A new term, and they basically are afraid to take cases of controversy. Why? Because it is four to four. So common sense dictates to me that we should address the vacancy on the Supreme Court caused by the death of Justice Scalia. On March 16, 2016, he was nominated. We are approaching October. To date, the Senate has not held a vote or even a hearing. It is nice that a few have decided to break from the Republican leader and even met with the man. That was nice of them to do that. Why haven't they held a hearing? Because they know they can't hold a hearing. Here is one of the most reasonable people who could ever be selected for the Supreme Court. The former chair of the Judiciary Committee, Orrin Hatch, said he should be put on the bench. He would be a consensus nomination. But not in this Republican world, no. So Democrats would be happy to consider bills like this about which the Senator inquires as soon as Republicans have a little common sense--they used that word--and schedule a hearing and a vote on the nomination of Judge Garland. I object.

Mr. REID. I object.

Mr. REID. Yes.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, on a codel that I led, we were going to stop in Israel, and I told all of the Senators with me that I wanted to take time while we were there to meet my favorite statesman who I had ever met, and that is Shimon Peres. As my friend the Republican leader outlined, he has a distinctive resume. I will always remember Eric Cantor, the Republican leader in the House at the time--I called him and said: Shimon Peres is going to be 90 years old, and it would be wonderful if we could get that Gold Medal done during the time he is 90. Eric delivered. It wasn't easy, but he delivered, and I will always remember that. It meant a great deal to this man who had received so many different awards, but to get the highest distinction we as Members of Congress can give someone is something he deserved. As I have indicated, he is the most inspirational public servant I have ever encountered. And when we met him in Israel, he didn't let me down. He was stunningly visionary, like I had always known him to be. What I have said is not hyperbole in any way. I repeat, he was the most visionary and inspirational leader I have ever known. Let me repeat some of the accomplishments my friend the Republican leader just outlined. He was the Prime Minister of Israel twice, Acting Prime Minister twice, President of Israel, Minister of Defense twice, Minister of Finance, Minister of Transportation, and he served in eight other Cabinet posts. That is a pretty good record. Shimon Peres was a brilliant man who spoke 6 languages and authored 11 books. He was the definition of a statesman. He was a guiding light for peace--always for peace. He made Israel and the Middle East and the world a better place. Above all, we should all learn something from this good man. Here is what he said, and this is how he lived his life: Optimists and pessimists die the same way. They just live differently. I prefer to live as an optimist. That really says it all. He lived his entire life as an optimist. From the challenges he and his family faced because of the Holocaust to his work for a lasting peace to secure Israel, he never wavered in his hope for the world. He was always looking forward. He had some political battles. The leaders of Israel had all been in the military fighting. He never served in the military, but his abilities were so pronounced that he was able to succeed, as I have outlined in his resume. The last time I talked to him, I called him and I said: One of my prize staff members, Jessica Lewis, is coming to Israel with her dad, and her father has never been to Israel. I have told them how I feel about you. Is there any way you could meet them? And he met them. Of course he did. He spent time with them. That is who he was, a person whom I so admired, and he had time for Jessica and her dad. I join the people of the world in mourning the passing of this good, kind, and inspirational man. I send my deepest condolences to his family and the people of Israel. I am so happy that the delegation of people who are going to attend his funeral will be led by the President of the United States, Barack Obama. I will miss Shimon Peres. The world will forever miss this good person.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, the Chamber is vacant, so I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I am happy to see the progress that has been made in the House of Representatives with respect to Flint, MI. This is a step in the right direction toward advancing funding for the people of Flint in the lameduck. However, I do have some concern. The statement of my Republican colleague, the leader of the Senate, was that he and Senator Inhofe would work toward funding. This should be easy. Why can't they just say they will do it? This is not deficit spending; this is money that the people of Michigan have allowed-- Stabenow and Peters--to be given up. It is Michigan money that is going to be used in a different way. The money is already there. We overwhelmingly supported it. So, as I have said before, we will continue to exercise caution moving forward, but I am glad to see that progress has been made. If it were up to me, I believe these three nationally declared emergencies-- Louisiana, $2.8 billion--what happened in Baton Rouge and other parts of Louisiana was devastating. There were rainstorms that even the coast of Louisiana had never seen before--never seen before. Thousands of structures were damaged, and hundreds of them were destroyed. I think they are entitled to work on fixing all of that. We should do as we do with emergencies. The Presiding Officer is from Texas, and we have stepped forward every time there has been an emergency in Texas and taken care of it, whether it was an explosion that blew up a facility there, whether it was floods. The many problems Texas has had over the last decade, we have taken care of them, as we should. I think West Virginia, which has an emergency declaration of $310 million--that should be taken care of. A much smaller one but a very important one to the people of Maryland--small in proportion to the two I just mentioned--that is nationally declared. We should take care of it. So I hope we will not continue to mourn the fact that these emergencies occur, these national disasters occur; we have to take care of them. I hope we can do that. It would be the right thing to do. I look forward to continuing to try to work something out on the CR. We are not there yet, but I hope we can get that done expeditiously. Mr. President, I ask that the Chair announce the business of the day.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, the Republican leader and I have had a number of conversations. I yield to the senior Senator from Michigan.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I understand the seriousness of my friend's proposal. I understand the urgency that patients and their families feel who are desperate for new treatments. I could go through a litany of people who have been in predicaments like this, like this young lady here where we see her picture. I remember Wendy Rockenfeller. I went to see her in Boulder City. She was all dressed up, knowing that I was coming, in bed. She, at a very young age, was stricken with Lou Gehrig's disease. She died 5 days after I saw her. She loved politics. She was involved in my campaigns. But this dread disease took her. Her husband was desperate. He took her to Mexico for some treatment that didn't work, of course. But as my friend from Wisconsin said, he was looking for hope. Her husband Uwe Rockenfeller. Bob Forbuss was a young school teacher in Las Vegas, but he had a great knack for business. Without going through a lot of detail, he worked part time with an ambulance company. He wound up owning that big, big ambulance company. He was very successful, made a lot of money, but he was stricken with Lou Gehrig's disease, and he died--not as fast as Wendy, but he died. I went to see him the day before I saw Wendy. So I understand the urgency of the patients, but also we have a situation here. There are ways to improve the access process so it works better and faster for patients. My friend talks about 40 or 42 cosponsors. Basically, virtually every one of the Republicans are cosponsors but not Democrats. Why? Because, there are major players in this bill that simply haven't had an opportunity to tell us what is wrong with the bill. They have told me personally. I believe we should do what we need to do in order to have a good, responsible piece of legislation. I also want everyone to understand it is really difficult to comprehend when we have had 7 weeks--we just finished a break here and we are going to take 10 more weeks. Why didn't we take the time to have a hearing on this? I think we should have had a hearing on Merrick Garland. Why haven't we had a hearing on Merrick Garland? The reason my Republican friends have not had a hearing on Merrick Garland is that they know that if they had a hearing on Merrick Garland, people would see who he is, and having seen or listened to this man, they would be hard-pressed to vote against him. That is why they are not doing a hearing. So, for all these reasons, that we haven't had a vote on Merrick Garland, we had absolutely no workout on this process. As desperate as the situation is, and I understand it, I object.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I wish to yield 1 minute to our ranking member on the Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator Boxer. I wish to yield to her for 1 minute.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I reserve my right to object.