Marco Rubio

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Mr. James Weir with respect for his service and accomplishments as he turns 93 years old this month. Jim, as his friends refer to him, or Pap-pap, as he is known by his family, grew up in Mount Pleasant, PA, not far from Pittsburgh. Inducted into the U.S. Navy on August of 1943, Jim went to war on behalf of this Nation, fighting in Europe and Asia. On June 6, 1944, Coxswain Weir crossed the English Channel aboard a LCT(A) to deliver tanks and troops onto the beaches of Normandy. After the battle was won in Europe, Jim fought in the liberation of the Philippines and was stationed in Japan as part of the occupational forces after the war. In between those pivotal moments, Jim received a 20-day leave after D-Day. He rushed back to the States to marry his sweetheart, Laverne Myers. They had been sweethearts since he had sat behind her in sixth grade, but Laverne was only 17 and Jim's leave was short. He loved Laverne, and she loved him. They quickly left Pennsylvania for Alabama, where they tied the knot before he had to return to the war. They remained in love for 73 years of marriage. After the war, he worked as a master electrician and was a renowned Corvette racer, leading the national Corvette club as its president. Jim now lives in Miami, FL, where he has two granddaughters and six great-grandchildren who love him dearly. In honor of his 93rd birthday, for his service to our great Nation and his love for his family and community, I would like to recognize my friend Jim Weir and look forward to seeing him on his 94th birthday this time next year.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I honor Donald Eslinger, the former Seminole County sheriff, for his induction into the Law Enforcement Officers' Hall of Fame. Sheriff Eslinger's law enforcement career began in 1978 as a radio dispatcher for the department. He subsequently rose through the ranks, leading in various roles at the department until his appointment as sheriff in 1991 and election to the position the next year. He served the community as sheriff for 25 years, retiring in 2017. Throughout his tenure, Sheriff Eslinger focused on mental health advocacy, crime reduction, and is responsible for the Kids House, Shop with the Sheriff, and Christmas Village programs. Sheriff Eslinger was nominated by law enforcement leaders to be inducted into the Florida Law Enforcement Officer' Hall of Fame. His induction was approved by Governor Rick Scott and the State cabinet. At his induction ceremony, Sheriff Eslinger noted protecting the most vulnerable in the community was at the core of the Seminole County Sheriff's Office under his leadership. Sheriff Eslinger earned his bachelor's degree from National Louis University and graduated from the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy in Virginia. He and his wife, Elise, have four children. I express my sincere gratitude to Sheriff Eslinger for his dedication to serving the community with the Seminole County Sheriff's Office, and I wish him the very best in his retirement.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Jaha Dukureh for her Nobel Peace Prize nomination. A recent graduate of the University of Central Florida, Jaha was named one of TIME magazine's ``100 Most Influential People in the World'' in 2016 and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize this year for her work to end female genital mutilation, FMG. She was born in The Gambia, a small west African country, and was subjected to female genital mutilation when she was just one week old. A documentary produced by the Guardian called ``The Girl Who Said No to FGM'' was made about her story. It details how her identity was stripped again when she was forced into an arranged marriage at the age of 15 in New York City and was cut for a second time. Since beginning her activism, Jaha helped usher in the ban of female genital mutilation in The Gambia. It is estimated that, by the age of 14, nearly 56 percent of girls in The Gambia were subjected to FMG. She is also the first person to have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize from The Gambia. Jaha earned her bachelor's degree in business administration management at Georgia Southwestern State University in 2013. She graduated with her master's degree in nonprofit management from the University of Central Florida in 2018. I am honored to express my sincere gratitude to Jaha for her extraordinary leadership to end this horror and look forward to hearing of her continued work in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I commemorate the life of Andrew Ramotnik, a retired veteran from Jacksonville, FL, who recently passed away. Andy Ramotnik grew up in Pennsylvania coal country. Two weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, at the age of 18, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps. In 1943, after basic and radio operator training, he was assigned to a B-25 medium bomber squadron based in the north African desert. On his 43rd bombing mission, Andy's bomber was shot down over Italy, and he was captured. Andy was a prisoner of war in Stalag 17B for 19 months in Austria. In April 1945, he escaped, was recaptured, and escaped a second time. For 13 days, Andy and a fellow POW evaded capture. He was evading the enemy when the war ended in May 1945 and had to find his way to friendly troops. Andy met up with American troops and was granted leave and returned to service. After his return, Andy received a letter from the War Department and a check compensating him $1 for every day he was a POW. The check was for $554. It was the rest of the letter that led to my knowing Andy and his incredible story. While the check he received was for $554, Andy had actually been a POW for 567 days. However, for 13 of those days, Andy was evading capture while hiding from the Germans in the Austrian countryside. The Army does not pay soldiers when they are evading capture, so the Army docked Andy $13 for the days he had escaped. Now, Andy did not need the $13. It was not the money but rather the principle. He had done what was expected of him and what was prescribed in the Armed Services Code of Conduct. He had escaped, and the Army was docking him for it. So when I met Andy more than 60 years later, he still had that $13 on his mind. He told me his story of the bombing missions, of his plane being shot down, and the struggle to get the door open so he and another soldier could parachute out. He told me about the POW camp, hiding in a cave during his first escape, and hiding at an Austrian farm during his second. He also told me how foolish he thought it was that the Army docked his pay for doing what he was supposed to do. My office looked into it. Unfortunately, it is a longstanding policy not to pay soldiers evading capture and an issue not easily remedied. Unfortunately, we could not get Andy his $13. So, with his passing, I would like to recognize the life of Andy Ramotnik and thank him for his service. On principle, I think we still owe him $13. It is a small cost to pay for an 18-year-old boy standing up to help stop the spread of tyranny and preserving the free world.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Jacob's letter and my response letter be printed in the Record.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I want to start by thanking the Senator from Colorado, who has shown real leadership on the subcommittee that involves all of these matters regarding the Indo-Pacific region, and he is here on the floor to talk about a series of other measures that are in place. None of us here will be in Taipei tomorrow to attend the ceremony, but we all want to take this opportunity to applaud the opening of the American Institute in Taiwan and its new compound. This building will be so much more than just new office space. It will serve as a tangible symbol of the strong and enduring friendship between the United States and Taiwan, which is a democracy and is a strong ally of this country. Taiwan is not just an important economic and security partner. As I have said already, it is a very vibrant democracy. It has a prosperous free enterprise economy. Frankly, it is a shining example of what we hope the rest of the Indo-Pacific region will become and continue to be. The opening of this new office comes at a critical time when both the United States and Taiwan face major challenges that are posed by the Communist Party of China, which governs that country. Under the Communist Party, Beijing has increased its efforts to undermine and erode U.S. interests, even as it moves to isolate Taiwan on the international stage. For example, the Chinese Government has successfully blocked Taiwan's meaningful participation in many international organizations, such as the World Health Organization. Unfortunately, here in our own hemisphere, they have been successful in pressuring certain nations to cut their diplomatic ties with Taiwan and, instead, create new ones with Beijing. By the way, that is not Taiwan's position, but it is Beijing that makes you choose. You can either have relations with them or Taiwan-- but not with both. The latest, by the way, is the Dominican Republic, not far from our coast, where, in exchange for billions of dollars of assurances, they made that change. They will deny it, but you will see the billions coming in. These billions of dollars sound like a really good deal until you realize they bring their workers from China, and it is all a one-way street. It is all there to benefit China. Look around the world at all of the countries that have taken all of this money, 5 years, 3 years later; they are terrible deals with terrible terms that are good for China but bad for the country that took the money. But in this particular case, they were successful, and they are going to continue to chip away at those countries. About a year before, Panama had cut their ties with Taiwan. What China has made very clear is that their intention is to continue to both pressure and entice--I say ``entice,'' but probably the right word is ``bribe''--additional countries to do the exact same thing. And they do it, as I said, with the promise of investments and loans. I encourage these countries and everyone who is listening and cares about these issues to go and look at the history of these loans, these enticements, and these investments. You will see how bad they ultimately are for the country that helps them. They all come with troubling strings attached. The Chinese Government, by the way, has even been successful in bullying American companies when it comes to Taiwan--or other topics, for that matter, that they deem too sensitive for the Communist Party. Perhaps the most recent, outrageous example is an American, working in America--not in China, in America--for an American company, Marriott Hotels, was fired from his job because he accidentally liked a tweet that said something about Taiwan and Tibet being independent of China. Imagine that you work for a company, and you go online. You accidentally retweet something--or like it--and you get fired because China goes to Marriott and says: We will cut you off from doing business if you don't get rid of this guy. They fired an American, in the United States. If you think the things China is doing are things that are happening halfway around the world with Taiwan--they are happening to Americans right here. A few weeks ago, one of the clothing stores put out a T-shirt, and on this T-shirt it had a map of China, but it didn't include Taiwan. They had to apologize for that and call back all of the T-shirts or they were going to get kicked out. An American airline, United Airlines, was told that unless they changed their website so that it no longer referred to Taiwan as an independent country, they would be punished. They are intimidating American businesses in the United States because of Taiwan and other issues the Communist Party finds unacceptable. For far too long this aggression has gone unchecked. China must not be allowed to continue to interfere any further in Taiwan's relations or standing with the rest of the world. Earlier this year, I, along with numerous colleagues, passed a law that the President has signed. It is called the Taiwan Travel Act. It encourages high-level visits between American officials and their Taiwanese counterparts. I hope the administration will move quickly to begin implementing this and send high-level officials, including Cabinet-level officials, to Taipei to meet with their counterparts there. Our friendship with Taiwan is based on our shared ideals and the common vision of an Asia that is prosperous, peaceful, and free. The United States must, should, and, I hope, will continue to stand by Taiwan, irrespective of any pressure that others, including the Communist Party of China, may bring to bear on this relationship. I yield the floor.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I am pleased to recognize Stephanie Bellino, the Duval County Teacher of the Year from Garden City Elementary School in Jacksonville, FL. Stephanie was named Teacher of the Year for successfully pushing a growing number of disadvantaged students to achieve grade-level performance or better in reading and language arts. She helps students by taking scripted lesson plans and adapting them to fit each of their individual needs. Stephanie is credited with helping Garden City improve from a D to a B school. While teachers typically stay at one grade level, Stephanie loops with her students. Many of her current fifth grade students were also in her third grade class. About 16 of these students were a year or two behind their grade level but have now caught up, with Stephanie being credited for this accomplishment. Stephanie has worked at Garden City Elementary School for 3 years and was a Teach for America recruit. She taught reading and writing to the entire fourth grade and pushed students to a 48 percent passing rate, a 15 percentage point increase in 1 year. I extend my sincere gratitude and appreciation to Stephanie for her work and wish her continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Trisha Pumphrey, the Jackson County Teacher of the Year from Cottondale Elementary School in Cottondale, FL. Trisha was awarded Teacher of the Year for her passion to education and commitment to making sure her students feel important. She believes this helps enhance their educational performance. Trisha prides herself on her teaching practices and designs lesson plans that make sure her students are learning in a way that is suitable to their needs, and was able to bring her class to grade level for reading comprehension. She also looks for ways to help students that are not in her class by helping other teachers locate resources and install new technology to improve the overall culture and performance of her school. Trisha is a first grade teacher at Cottondale Elementary, where she began teaching in 2016. She has been a teacher for 20 years, previously teaching at Grand Ridge Elementary School and Kate Smith Elementary School. She earned a bachelor of science degree in Early Childhood Education from Troy State University. I express my sincere thanks and appreciation to Trisha for all of the great work she has done for her students and congratulate her for winning this award.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Susan McNulty, the Pasco County Teacher of the Year from J.W. Mitchell High School in New Port Richey, FL. As a journalism teacher, Susan's students state she deserved this award not just for what she does in the classroom, but because she helps her students before, during, and afterschool. Susan is a caring teacher and is always available to lend a hand when they need it the most. She is viewed as a person to confide in, with her students knowing instantly that they could depend on her. I extend my best wishes to Susan for her perseverance as a dedicated teacher for her students. I look forward to hearing of her continued success in the years ahead.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I honor Tracy Hall, the Taylor County Teacher of the Year from Taylor County Elementary School in Perry, FL. Tracy's inspiration for her students and enthusiasm for teaching led to this important recognition. Her students recognize that she goes above and beyond her required duties to be the best teacher for them. She focuses on putting her students first and believes their emotions are as important as their schoolwork. She teaches them to believe in themselves and their ability to achieve. She is especially proud that two former students were inducted into the National Honor Society after they previously had difficulty learning and adapting while in third grade. They are now extraordinary students. Tracy has been a teacher for 21 years. She graduated from Florida State University with honors in 1997 and currently teaches third grade reading at Taylor County Elementary School. She has also taught at the primary and elementary levels with the Florida Virtual Academy. I express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to Tracy for her hard work and extend my best wishes for her continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I honor Shannon Ellison, the Dixie County Teacher of the Year from Dixie County High School in Cross City, FL. Shannon's colleagues attest that of the many excellent teachers in her district, she stands above the rest due to her commitment to excellence and passion for helping every student develop a love for learning. She designed a rigorous curriculum to equip her students with the necessary skills for success in college and the workplace. She is passionate about helping her students reach their academic potential by maintaining relationships with her students, their parents, and her community by inspiring trust and confidence in both her instructional skills and leadership abilities. Shannon's teaching skills as an advanced placement teacher helped her school earn national recognition from the College Board. She has attended the advanced placement summer institutions for the past 5 years, qualifying her ability to teach AP world history, AP psychology, and AP art history. Shannon earned her bachelors of arts degree in history from the University of Florida in 1993 and her master of arts/education in arts and academic interdisciplinary education from Southeastern University in 2011. She has been a teacher at Dixie County High School since 1994, having served as social studies department chair, Beta Club State sponsor, and grade level department chair. I am pleased to learn of the hard work and dedication Shannon has for her students. I express my best wishes to her on her continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I honor Nicole Grebosz, the Volusia County Teacher of the Year from Citrus Grove Elementary School in DeLand, FL. In the same county where she completed her high school degree about 17 years ago, Nicole was named her county's Teacher of the Year. She is a technology special area teacher, focusing on new technology instruction. Thanks to Nicole's hard work, more than 940 students at her school have access to the tools that will help steer their education. Nicole says her students think they cannot code because it involves a language they do not speak, but she knows this is not the case. She strives to make them believe in themselves. Nicole transitioned to elementary school in 2015, after having started her career in education at her alma mater, Pine Ridge High School. During her 9 years at the high school, she taught English and language arts. She also headed a web design class at Florida Virtual School. I thank Nicole for the commitment she has made to teaching her students to understand our rapidly evolving technological world. I extend my best wishes to Nicole on her continued success in future endeavors.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Madgaly Santana, the Hardee County Teacher of the Year from North Wauchula Elementary School in Lakeland, FL. Madgaly's colleagues attest that she is dedicated to making sure her young students learn all that they can while she is their teacher. She states that she is not just there for her students, but also for their parents as well. She feels that having a relationship with both students and parents helps make the school year a success. Madgaly graduated from Ashford University in 2012 with a bachelor of science degree in elementary education K-6. In 2013, she began working at North Wauchula Elementary School as a first grade teacher and has been in the school system for 8 years. I thank Madgaly for her devotion to helping her students learn and excel in school. I extend my best wishes and look forward to hearing of her continued success in the years ahead.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I am pleased to recognize Samantha Neff, the Seminole County Teacher of the Year from Idyllwilde Elementary School in Sanford, FL. Samantha's administrators say she brings enthusiasm and creative energy to her school. She is determined to help her colleagues become better math teachers in order to help their students feel confident tackling the sometimes difficult subject. Samantha joined the school this year and has already helped Idyllwilde teachers, particularly its 24 new ones, improve their lessons. She spends hours in classrooms, modeling lessons and observing their styles. According to her principal, Samantha is exemplary and is dedicated to contributing her time, energy, and resources into the school's students. Seventeen years into her career, Samantha still loves teaching and is eager to encourage her love of math. Samantha grew up in Seminole County and graduated from Lake Mary High School. She has spent her entire teaching career in the district, working as an elementary school teacher, then as a math coach whose job is to help other teachers become better math instructors. She is also an adjunct professor at the University of Central Florida, her alma mater. I am grateful for the dedication Samantha has shown to her students throughout her teaching career. I express my best wishes to her and look forward to hearing of Samantha's continued success in the years ahead.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Kylie Ondriezek, the Sumter County Teacher of the Year from Wildwood Middle High School in Wildwood, FL. Kylie was recognized with the Teacher of the Year award because of her dedication to providing her students with countless opportunities for success in her classroom. She strives to provide her students with a quality education and creating a friendly atmosphere to learn. Kylie's colleagues and students note she makes herself available to their needs throughout the school day. She is devoted to being a positive role model and wants to make sure she is able to help all of her students as they continue their educational careers long after leaving her classroom. Kylie graduated from Wildwood Middle High School and returned to the school in 2015 to teach English II and English II honors. I am pleased to congratulate Kylie for receiving this important recognition. I express my best wishes to her and look forward to hearing of her continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I am pleased to honor Molly Winters Diallo, the Miami-Dade County Teacher of the Year from Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High Biscayne Bay Campus in North Miami, FL. Molly's inspiration to become a teacher began when she was young. Her parents were teachers, and they instilled in her the importance of education. When students walk into her classroom, Molly tells them they are going to college, and she will help them get there. Her school has students from 66 different countries and speak several languages. To many, her words of encouragement made the difference. In Molly's classroom, students are taught the importance of investing in education. Her students are asked for their thoughts on topics, what they want to learn, and what changes she can make to better suit their needs. Molly's bond with her students extends beyond high school. She has helped them throughout their college application process, providing advice and has served as a shoulder to lean on when they encounter setbacks. Molly grew up in Connecticut and began teaching at a private school in the British Virgin Islands. After receiving her master's degree from Tufts University, she moved to Miami in the early 2000s. She previously taught at Miami Edison Senior High for 5 years before transferring to Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High Biscayne Bay Campus, where she teaches advanced placement human geography and psychology and honors U.S. history. I extend my sincere recognition and appreciation to Molly for her hard work and wish her continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Michelle Dinwiddie, the Polk County Teacher of the Year from Lake Gibson High School in Lakeland, FL. Michelle follows what she calls the Pro Principle, that she and her students should be professional, productive, and proficient in all aspects of their lives. She challenges her students to demonstrate professionalism in speech and attire, productivity in achievement, and proficiency in learning so they can succeed. Michelle fosters growth in student learning and behavior. She uses whiteboard tables within her classroom to enhance student engagement and learning gains. While her academic responsibility is to increase the reading and writing scores on the Florida State Assessment, her professional responsibilities far exceed the walls of her classroom. She serves as department chair, leading educators in professional development. Michelle seeks to mentor new teachers and nurture future teacher leaders. She serves as an ambassador for teacher collaboration and observation, both factors she believes will create positive change within her school. Michelle holds a bachelor's degree in secondary English education from Southeastern University in Lakeland, FL, and is currently pursuing a master's degree in collaborative teaching. She received the Southeastern University Award and Most Outstanding Secondary English Major Award in 2009, publishing two original poems locally and nationally. I extend my sincere thanks to Michelle for her dedication to helping her students achieve success. I look forward to hearing of her continued success throughout her teaching career in the years ahead.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Kate Sturman, the Flagler County Teacher of the Year from Rymfire Elementary School in Palm Coast, FL. When Kate was named Teacher of the Year, she was honored because she felt there were many other amazing teachers at their annual celebration. Her fellow teachers believe she goes above and beyond for students by always volunteering to help with afterschool activities and has been flexible by teaching second, fifth, and sixth grade. As she describes, there is nothing more rewarding than watching a student blossom from a seed into a magnificent flower. Kate considers herself as not only a teacher for her students, but as a cheerleader, advocate, and friend. She believes to have the most rewarding job in the world and loves teaching for these reasons. Kate is in her 16th year as a teacher and has been with Flagler Schools since 2005. She moved to Rymfire Elementary School in 2006, teaching second grade for 10 years and sixth grade for 1 year. She currently teaches fifth grade English language arts and social studies. She is also a coach with the school's Future Problem Solvers and Community Problem Solvers. I express my sincere thanks and appreciation to Kate for all her hard work for her students, and I extend my best wishes for her continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I am pleased to recognize Kiera Vargas, the Madison County Teacher of the Year from Madison County High School in Madison, FL. Kiera was honored with this award because of her motivation for encouraging and educating her students. As a teacher, she enjoys all aspects and feels her success comes from her personal interactions with her students. Her students note she listens to their needs and helps in every way she can. These students feel empowered by Kiera as she encourages them to always believe in themselves. She tells them, if they do this while working hard and following their heart, they will achieve their dreams. Kiera feels her students have taught her more than she has taught them. Kiera was offered her first teaching job while planning to take the dental admission test. She originally planned to be a dentist but realized teaching was her true passion. Kiera says she has never looked back since her first teaching job and has no desire to do anything except teach and assist her students. She previously worked at the college level as a full-time lecturer for 7 years, taught in K-12 classrooms for 4 years, and served as an adjunct lecturer for several years. Kiera has a bachelor of science degree in journalism and mass communication with a concentration in public relations, a master of science degree in English education, a juris doctor from the Charlotte School of Law, and her masters in library science and information sciences from Drexel University. I express my appreciation to Kiera for all of the great work she has done for her students and extend my best wishes on her continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I honor Kaitlin Van Heusen, the Bradford County Teacher of the Year from Bradford Union Technical Center in Starke, FL. After receiving this award, Kaitlin told her peers that her inspiration for teaching comes from the students taking her class. She finds these students to be the ones who are beginning to give up on teachers, the education system, and their own ability to succeed. Kaitlin takes special pride in watching her students walk across the stage at graduation and speaking in front of their peers. Her joy as an educator comes from seeing their initial struggles and witnessing the moment when it all finally comes together for them. Kaitlin graduated from the University of Florida in 2015 and Florida Gateway College in 2013. She is an agriculture and diversified career technology teacher and, since 2016, a Future Farmers of America adviser at Bradford-Union Technical Center. I express my sincere gratitude to Kaitlin for her dedication to teaching and wish her continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I am honored to recognize Kyle Dencker, the Orange County Teacher of the Year from Timber Creek High School in Orlando, FL. Kyle thanked colleagues, mentors, and administrators for receiving this award and challenged educators to make computer science available at all of the county's public schools. He believes every student should have the opportunity to take computer science. Colleagues say Kyle recruits students who traditionally avoided computer science, sometimes just by walking around campus, introducing himself and explaining why they might want to learn to code. He has earned national awards for his efforts to recruit young women into computer science and help them succeed in those classes. Many students have found success in his classroom, in State competitions, and in securing internships. He had 186 students take advanced placement computer science principles last school year, and nearly 77 percent passed the AP exam, exceeding the national rate. Kyle has been a computer science teacher at Timber Creek High School for 9 years. In that time, enrollment in the school's computer science classes has grown from about 30 students to nearly 400, making it the largest such program in the Orange school district. He has spent nearly a decade getting students to see past the stereotypes regarding computer classes. I thank Kyle for his dedication to expanding computer science to students that were previously uninterested in this important subject. I express my sincere gratitude to Kyle and look forward to hearing of his continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Jason Poole, the Clay County Teacher of the Year from Fleming Island High School in Fleming Island, FL. Jason was named Teacher of the Year because he represents the core values of Clay County District schools: hard work, integrity, and respect. He acts as an example for everyone in the teaching profession. Jason said it was an honor to receive this award and is thankful for all of his colleagues and administrative staff who have supported him throughout his time at Fleming Island High School. He believes there are many great teachers throughout Clay County and will do his best to represent them. Jason graduated from Western New England University with a degree in English literature in 2005. He teaches AICE Global Perspectives and coaches cross-country, a program he started at the school after he began teaching in 2006. I extend my sincere thanks and gratitude to Jason for his dedication to his students and look forward to hearing of his continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

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

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Madam President, there has been a lot of coverage over the last couple of months and years really--but certainly in the last few days--about the topic of China, ZTE, and trade. I have had a lot of questions about it, both in the hallways from the press and constituents back home and even from family and friends who have inquired what all the ruckus is about. I thought this was a good opportunity to lay out for my constituents and broadly for the American people what is at stake. The first thing I would encourage everyone to do is to separate the two issues, the issue of trade with China and the issue of a specific company called ZTE, which is a phone company--a telecommunications company in the cell industry based in China. They were the fourth largest cell phone company in America, up until very recently when they struggled to stay in business. We will talk about that in a moment, but let's talk about those two things separately. They are not necessarily interrelated. On the broader topic of trade and China, the United States has an enormous imbalance in trade--as we do with other countries but none like we do in China. A trade imbalance, by the way, in and of itself, is not problematic. It really depends on what has caused it, but the trade imbalance with China is problematic because of how it has happened. China was basically poor, underdeveloped, under a Communist dictatorship, and decided it wanted to open up to the world and become more economically prosperous many years ago. The deal the world made with China is, we are going to help you develop economically. You are going to open up. We are going to help you invest. We are going to help you create opportunity. We are going to let your companies invest in our economies. There are rules in the world for trade. There are things that are allowed and things that are not allowed. For example, you are not allowed to steal another company's secrets. If another company has figured out how to make something, that is proprietary. They own it, they developed it, they spent money creating it, and you are not allowed to go there and steal that from them and start making it yourself. You can't have rules that say your companies cannot sell in my country, but our country can do whatever we want in your country. There are rules. China has never played by those rules, and everybody knew it. Nobody disputed it. Administrations from both parties, the consensus politically in America was go ahead. Let's let China cheat. Let them keep stealing things because once China becomes richer and more prosperous, they will stop doing that stuff. As soon as China's economy grows big enough, not only will they stop doing all that, but they will become a democracy. Everyone who said that was wrong. That is not what has happened. They are less Democratic, less open today than they used to be, and they are no longer just stealing little secrets to be in the same ballpark. They are stealing $600 billion a year of intellectual property. Six hundred billion dollars a year is equivalent to what we spend on the U.S. military. They are stealing the equivalent of that every single year. How do they do it? First of all, just straight-out espionage. Time and again, they hack computers, they hack emails. They have spies embedded inside companies. They straight-out steal it through espionage. The second thing they do to protect their industries and grow at our expense is, they don't allow many of our companies to do business in China--huge market. Their companies get to do business here, but they don't allow our companies to do business there--some companies. They do allow other companies to do business in China, but here is the deal. If you do business in China, it has to be a joint venture with a Chinese company--51 percent Chinese, 49 percent American company. On top of that, there is another catch. If you want to do business in China with a Chinese company, you have to transfer your technology to them. If you want to build turbines, we will let you build turbines in China, but you have to transfer to us the technology of how you do it. Do you know why they do that? Because once they figure out how to do it themselves, they don't need their American partner anymore. They kick you out, and now they are your competitor and may even put you out of business. That has happened many times. If they don't achieve it by forcing you to transfer, then they straight-out steal it from you. They also buy up small companies. We have a law here that is called CFIUS process. When a foreign company, especially from a country like China, is buying in a key industry, it undergoes this review to make sure it is not a deal where they could be taking secrets that are tied to national security. They figured it out. They are just buying small American companies, a bunch of them, in many cases, that are under the level that we look at, these subcontractors, and finding their way in that way. Suffice it to say that we have a very serious imbalance with China, but the imbalance is not the dollars. The imbalance is in the structure of trade between China and the United States. That is why we don't need a short-term trade deal. This is not about saying: All right. Go ahead and buy more of our agriculture. You guys go buy more of the stuff you were going to buy more of anyway because you need to. In exchange, you get to keep doing what you are doing now, and there will not be any tariffs. That is a short-term deal. It might be a good headline. You can claim that you won, but in the end, it doesn't do anything to change it. In fact, it leaves us worse off. You might as well have not even gotten into this in the first place. You have actually strengthened them even more. Let me tell you how they win this fight. They go to all those American multinational corporations, many of whom are just interested in how their stock is performing from quarter to quarter, and say to them: Lobby your Congressman, lobby your Senator, lobby the White House, and convince them to drop all of this. They do it because what these companies want is to have access to the 1.3 billion people. They don't care if they are only 49 percent of the company in China. They don't care if they are stealing their intellectual property. By the time that matters, the CEO and the people making that decision will be long ago retired, with a huge golden parachute bonus because they delivered a bunch of quarters of earnings. That is so shortsighted. They may not care about it, but those of us who work here have to because we do not want to live in a world where China dominates industry, not because they outinnovated us or worked harder, but because they stole it from us. By the way, the Chinese have figured all of this out. They have figured out exactly how to get things done in American politics. They don't lobby the government. They lobby the business sector. Then, all these large corporations go marching onto Capitol Hill and into the White House and scream and plead to drop all this. Of course they do because they are going to make a lot of money in China over the next 5 or 6 years. A lot of these companies are one day going to be out of business. It is short-term thinking. Their obligations are to their shareholders. Their shareholders are not all Americans. Our obligations are to the American people and America's future. This is disastrous. We need a structural rebalance, not just a dollar rebalance. China is not a developing country. It is the second largest economy in the world. It will soon be the largest economy in the world. Yet we continue to let them cheat and steal. That is the trade issue. ZTE is something completely different--related but completely different. Let me tell you about ZTE. ZTE broke the law. ZTE sold goods and services to Iran and to North Korea. They violated sanctions. They tried to cover it up, and they got caught. When they got caught, they got hit with a fine and were told they need to fire the people who tried to cover it up and the people who did this. They paid the fine, but they did not fire the people who did this. Do you know what they did instead? They gave them bonuses, and they tried to cover that up. The Commerce Department said: Fine. We caught you. We made a deal with you. You broke that deal. Now the penalty is, you cannot buy American semiconductors. That was the penalty. We are not going to sell you any more semiconductors for 7 years. ZTE says it is going to put them out of business because they do depend on us for semiconductors. Now we are reading there is a new deal in place, potentially. The new deal is not official, but I have read it, and it has been reported. The new deal is this. We are going to let you stay in business. Pay a fine, $1 billion or this morning I heard $1.3 billion, and $1.3 billion is nothing for a company backed by the Government of China. The Chinese Government will pay it for them. Are you kidding me? Only $1.3 billion to continue to stay in business and one day replace America in telecommunications? That is nothing. The other sanction--guess what it is. We are going to force you to buy more things from America. That is not a punishment. That is a reward. That is exactly what they want. That was the sanction. The sanction was they couldn't buy more from us because they can't stay in business unless they buy from us. The punishment is going to be, instead of punishing you by denying you semiconductors, we are going to really punish you by forcing you to buy more semiconductors from America. They were going to do that anyway. That is a reward, not a punishment. That is a terrible deal. Some people say that is a deal that is tied into the broader trade deal, another terrible deal. If I were China, I would give us anything we want on ZTE in exchange for being able to continue to undermine the American economy, but it goes deeper than that. Here is the other problem with ZTE. If it is just one company, it is one thing. China intends to dominate the world in the key technologies of the 21st century--aerospace, biotech, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, 5G, and telecommunications. They are going to dominate the world. Do you know why I know that? It isn't because I read some fancy article. It isn't because I am on the Intel Committee. It isn't because of a hearing. It isn't because of a meeting. Do you know how I know that? Because China says it. They have a plan called China 2025, Made in China 2025. Here is what the plan basically means. By the year 2025, China will be the dominant country in the world in these 10 to 12 industries, which happen to be the 10 to 12 industries that are going to determine the fate of the 21st century. Biotech basically means genetic medicine, the ability to cure diseases like Alzheimer's disease and others that are going to be a plague on the world in the years to come. Aerospace means technology for space. It also means aircraft and the like. They don't intend to be competitive in those fields. They intend to dominate those fields. You may say: Well, what is wrong with that? Countries can want to dominate fields. It is fine. If you are going to become the dominant power in the world in these key technologies, you have every right to do so but not by breaking the rules. That is how they are doing it. What is China doing in order to dominate the world in 2025? To their credit, they invest a lot of money in research and development. They also invest a lot of money in stealing whatever we have already done. Think about it. America invests taxpayer money. We innovate something. We innovate it. After we spend all of your money innovating these things, they take it from us and steal it. It costs them nothing to start out exactly where we are after years and years of work. Think about that for a moment. That is an enormous competitive advantage. They have free research funding by the American taxpayer. They steal it. What else do they do? They do other things. How do they steal it, you may ask. One of the ways they steal it is through telecommunications. They are trying to embed themselves in our telecommunications system. Here is how. They know, for example, the U.S. Government or a defense contractor are not going to buy a ZTE phone, but they have a solution for that. The solution is, they sell the ZTE phone, the exact same phone with the exact same components inside of it--the things they can turn on and off to listen to us or take emails or documents or whatever they need, and they sell the exact same phone to an American telecommunications provider. The American telecommunications provider puts their sticker on it so you think you are buying not a ZTE phone but a phone that belongs to an American company, and they sell it--it is called white labeling--or a router. Huawei has a router. The Department of Defense or the government is not going to put a Huawei router in a sensitive place. That is fine. They will sell it to an American company. That company will take off Huawei and put on their sticker, and you have a router controlled by a Chinese company that is beholden to Chinese intelligence. Even if they wanted to not cooperate, they don't have a choice. When they tell them, we want you to go into that router and get the secrets of this company or the secrets of the U.S. Government, not only do they have to do it, they will do it, especially if it is in telecommunications. That is happening right now. They embed themselves in our telecommunications system that way through white labeling. The other thing they do is they use their American subcontracting unit. Again, they know no one is going to hire them to build a military base and put the wire in it. You hire an American company. That is the prime contractor. They come in as a subcontractor to the prime contractor, and they are the ones doing the work. We think we hired an American company, but the work is being done by a subcontractor controlled by ZTE or Huawei or any of these other companies. That is another way they do it. I am telling you, we are going to wake up one day and realize that in our own country, embedded in our telecommunications system--in our cable, in our routers, in our internet--are a bunch of component pieces that not only leave vulnerable our Department of Defense but our business community. To what? To stealing corporate secrets and commercial secrets that allow them to take the research America has done and use it as their starting point free of cost. This is not fantastic. This is why people are so fired up about ZTE. This is not a game. Somebody just sent me an article a few minutes ago. I don't know which one of the publications it was. It was talking about me and taking on the President on ZTE. This is not a political game. It has nothing to do with that. This is not about politics. Do we not understand where we are headed? You have a country that is actively saying we are going to displace you. We are going to be the most powerful country in the world, and we are going to do that at your expense. We are here talking about all kinds of other crazy things or political reporters cover this through a political lens. This is not a game. Do you know why China wins these negotiations? Because they don't play these games. They know what this is about. They have a 10-year plan, a 20-year plan, a 50-year plan. We can't even think 48 hours ahead. Everything here is about a political issue. It is not a game. Whether you want to believe it or not, every single one of us was elected. We participated in politics. I think most of us, if not all of us, do not want to live in a world in 10, 15, 20 years on our watch, where some other country now dominates the world at our expense, where we now work for them, we now are beholden to them for everything from medicines to technologies, and we were here when it happened and didn't do anything about it because we were loyal to our party or because we were too busy focused on--well, just turn on the news when we have a massive threat before us. By the way, this is the stuff historians write about. A hundred years from now, we will all look like fools because, if you are just watching this on an hour-by-hour basis, it is not a big story. Yet, 100 years from now, when someone writes the history of the 21st century and we have let this happen, they are going to write about us. They are going to say that we were fiddling while Rome was burning, that we were allowing the Chinese to take over the world at our expense and displace us because we were too busy doing all kinds of other things. By the way, this is not just about business. When you turn on some of the networks that cover the stock market, they cover this like a casino. Oh, the trade thing is doing better today, so the stocks are up or the stocks are down. Forget about that for a moment. You can make all of the profits you want over the next 3 to 6 months. I promise you, if this continues, in 10 or 15 years, you will not be watching the U.S. stock market; you will be watching the Chinese market, and it will be determining whether our companies survive. It will be we on the outside, looking in. Then Americans are going to wonder: Why do we no longer invent great things? Why do we now have to do whatever China wants in the world in order to get the medicines we need to cure my mom or my dad's Alzheimer's? The answer will be, when they were displacing us, your policymakers were too busy arguing with each other and playing dumb, ridiculous games on a regular basis. Meanwhile, China was focused like a laser on a plan, and it executed it. This is not a game. I can think of no more significant issue from the perspective of history than what is happening now. Do not misunderstand me. I do not come here to say that I want to be unnecessarily aggressive with China or that I want there to be a confrontation. China is going to be a rich and a powerful country, and we have no problem with that--we can't have any problem with that--but there has to be a balance. It cannot be a China that is rich and powerful and an America that is weak and not prosperous. Those imbalances are what create wars. Those imbalances are what create misery. Those imbalances are what destabilize the planet. That can't be. We need to recalibrate this relationship. It needs to be rebalanced on the trade side. It needs to be protective on our national security side. It needs to be equalized. If it is, China can still be very successful. It is going to invent things. It is going to create jobs. It is going to become more prosperous. That is fine. We have been doing that for 100 years. Every person who is sitting in the Gallery, every person here in the well of the Senate and on the Senate floor--everyone you know--has a product on him--a phone, a belt--that has been made in another country. The issue is not that other countries make things and that we don't. The issue is not about our dominating everything. It is about balance, and this is not balanced. This is headed for a dramatic imbalance. The imbalance used to be that they made cheap things and sent them back to us so we had lower prices. That is what has happened for the last 30 years. They have made cheaper T-shirts; they have assembled the phones more cheaply; and they have shipped them back to the United States, which has led to lower prices. That is not the imbalance I am talking about. The imbalance we are headed for is that they will control state-of- the-art artificial intelligence, that they will control state-of-the- art quantum computing, which will mean that nothing will be encrypted anymore, which will mean that there will be no such thing as secure cars left. One day, the President of the United States will not be able to talk to his national security officials anywhere in the world without the Chinese hearing it. No matter what encryption you will put in, they will break it with a quantum computer. That is the imbalance I am talking about. The imbalance I am talking about is when, one day, we will have a dispute with China on something--on national security somewhere in the world--and it will threaten to cut off our supply of biomedicines. In essence, it will threaten the lives of Americans in their not getting medicine unless we cave to China's desires. That is the imbalance I am talking about. The imbalance I am talking about is one where it dominates aerospace, where it is the nation that controls satellites and satellite communication, where it is the nation that controls 5G. We are headed toward autonomous vehicles. Autonomous vehicles will depend on 5G technology. China will dominate the world in 5G, and we will depend on it. So we are going to build a fleet of autonomous trucks and autonomous cars, and none of them will work if the Chinese decided to shut it down because they will dominate that field. That is the imbalance I am talking about. If this all sounds fantastic or apocalyptic, look it up. Research it. I promise you that you will not find a single person who is versed on this topic who will disagree with what I am saying. This is the threat that we face, and we are not facing it squarely. I would advise those who cover this issue to stop covering it as a political issue. There are some things that are so important to this country that I don't care what the politics are, and most of my colleagues don't either. These are definitional things that will define the 21st century. I would advise us not to cover this as a purely economic issue because there is a way to grow the trade gap in the short term. We can sell China a lot more of the things it is willing to buy anyway. It doesn't intend to lead the world in those things in exchange for its dominating us in the long run. Get rid of the short-term thinking, and start thinking our competitor has a 50-, a 100-, a 20-, and a 5-year plan, and we don't even know what we are going to be talking about next week. It is time to wake up to this threat because we have two ways forward. There can be a balanced relationship between two great powers that leads to a world that is stable and secure and prosperous or we can have an imbalanced world in which the rising power of China is at the direct expense of a falling status quo power in the United States. That instability will lead to conflict and a way of life for Americans that we will find unacceptable. Then it will be too late. Then we will have to explain, maybe, to our children and, most certainly, to our grandchildren why the America we grew up in--that led the world in all of the great innovations and in all of the great ideas, that provided prosperity to millions of people here and around the world--and the America they get to grow up in is a second-tiered power while China dominates everything that matters. If you think that is not a big deal, one of the reasons democracy has spread across the planet is that the world's most powerful country has been a democracy. If the world's most powerful and dominant nation on Earth is a dictatorship--a country that has no respect for privacy, a country that has no respect for free speech, a country that has no respect for religious liberty of its open people, a country that has no regard for human rights anywhere in the world--what do you think the world is going to look like in 20 or 30 years? It is not going to be a better place. Democracy is morally superior to autocratic regimes. We should not be afraid to say that. If for no other reason--if you want to put aside economics for a moment and confront it from that angle--we cannot allow an autocratic dictatorship to dominate the global economy and global technology by stealing from us at the expense of the democratic order in the world. Democracies are morally superior to dictatorships. If we allow China to cheat and steal its way into dominance, there will be more dictatorships and fewer democracies on this planet, and we will all pay a price for that. I urge everyone to take this issue seriously. I urge the President to listen carefully to those in his own administration who understand this threat for what it is holistically, and I urge them to move in a direction that recalibrates the structure of our relationship with China economically and that does not allow not just ZTE but numerous other telecom companies to continue to grow and spy at our expense. That is what I encourage them to do, and that is the right thing to do for the future of this country, not some short-term deal that makes us feel good and potentially gets a positive headline in the short term but what historians will condemn as the beginning of the end of America's place in the world as its most influential Nation. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate vote on the nominations en bloc with no intervening action or debate; that if confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; that no further motions be in order; and that any statements relating to the nominations be printed in the Record.