Marco Rubio

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I would like to highlight the outstanding accomplishments of Lt. Zachary Hodges of Gainesville, FL. Four years ago, I nominated this impressive young man to attend the U.S. Air Force Academy. I recently received a letter from Zachary letting me know that he has graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy--a major milestone that his family and friends should be very proud of. Zachary also said he plans to attend medical school at the University of Florida and looks forward to serving our Nation as an Air Force physician. I am very proud to have nominated Zachary, who has already accomplished so much at the age of 22. His enduring commitment to his studies and his country is a testament to his will to succeed and serve. I have no doubt he will inspire others around him to do the same. I wish Zachary the best of luck and look forward to hearing of his continued success; I am sure he has a very bright future ahead. May God bless him and all of the men and women who serve our Nation in the Armed Forces.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I have, since the year 2014, come to the Senate floor on numerous occasions, perhaps more than I hoped to, to discuss the developing situation in the nation of Venezuela. The reason why I have taken such an interest in this issue is because of the impact it has, first and foremost, on my home State of Florida. We are blessed in Florida, particularly in my hometown of Miami and in South Florida, to have a vibrant and diverse community with people from across the world and, particularly, from the Western Hemisphere. That, of course, includes a very substantial number of people from Venezuela, some who live in Florida for part of the year and some who have made it their permanent home. They have contributed greatly to our economy, to our culture, and to our lives. It is through their eyes that I have witnessed the tragedy that has unfolded in that nation over the last 5 years. I use the word ``tragedy,'' but I don't use it lightly. Venezuela is one of the richest countries in the world, blessed with natural resources that God has blessed that nation with and the largest crude oil reserves on the planet--certainly, more than the United States and Canada combined, as an example. They have highly educated and capable people and a long tradition of democracy. Venezuela has one of the oldest traditions of democracy in the Western Hemisphere. As much as anything else, not only is it a tragedy for the people of Venezuela--what has happened--but it is a tragedy for the hemisphere and, ultimately, for the world. We look at some of the great causes that the world is confronting and think what a democratic and prosperous Venezuela could be contributing, what its extraordinary people could be contributing. But the last 5 to 10 years--particularly the last 5--have largely been taken up by internal strife. At the end of the day, my interest on the issue of Venezuela has never been the removal of anyone from power. It has been about the restoration of the democratic order so that the people of Venezuela can choose their path forward. We look at the history of our hemisphere, here in the Western Hemisphere, and we see that up until about 25 years ago, most of the nations in the Western Hemisphere were governed by dictators and strongmen on both the left and the right, and few, if any, people in our hemisphere had a role to play in choosing their leaders. Today, but for the exception of a handful of places-- predominantly, Cuba and the Caribbean and some others--almost all of the people of the region get to choose their leaders, and that has been the story of Venezuela up until very recently. Sometimes they choose leaders who agree with America, and sometimes they do not. But they choose their leaders. In the end, we know that democracies very rarely start wars because their peoples do not tolerate it. Democracies always seek stability and prosperity because their peoples demand it, and they get rid of leaders who don't deliver. So our goal from the beginning--my goal, in particular--has consistently been the restoration of the democratic order and, through that, the respect for basic rights and dignity of all people, particularly in Venezuela. It is sad to see what has happened because I think it is fair to say that the situation today in Venezuela is worse than it has been at any point since 2014. We saw about a week ago the horrifying images of armed thugs storming the National Assembly--the democratically elected National Assembly-- and attacking members of that assembly. It would be the equivalent of protestors storming the Capitol doors and attacking Senators and Congressmen. We saw images of uniformed personnel, some of whom, basically, are the equivalent of our Capitol Police, roughing up the very members of that assembly whom they are supposed to be protecting. We have seen the images of protests in the streets, of national guard troops firing on people with tear gas and rubber bullets and, in some instances, with guns. We have seen these irregular groups called ``colectivos'' going after people in the streets. By the way, in fairness, we have seen violence on both sides of it, although the vast majority of people in the opposition--the enormous majority--seek a peaceful resolution to this. Anytime you put hundreds of thousands of people in the street, chaos happens. You think not just of the protestors, but you think of their family members on the other side of it. We forget that these national guard troops, holding up their shields and wearing the uniforms, have sisters and brothers and husbands and wives and loved ones on the other side of that barricade, deeply dividing this proud nation with an incredible history of contributions that it has made. The situation has now reached what I believe is the tipping point. Later this month, the Government of Venezuela--I should say the executive branch, under its current President--has scheduled an unconstitutional assembly. They call it a constituent assembly. It violates the very Constitution of the country, not to mention that the supreme court has already kind of canceled the democratic order and this adds to that. I just say this with deep sadness. If that goes forward, I think it fundamentally changes the situation permanently. I had an occasion early this morning to speak to the President on this topic for a few minutes, as I know he is headed overseas. He expressed his continued dissatisfaction with the course of events. I think it should be abundantly clear to everyone that this government in the United States is prepared to take additional significant measures if, in fact, that constituent assembly moves forward at the end of this month--basically, all but admitting to the world what we already know; that is, that the democratic order in Venezuela has ended. I do believe that there is still a path forward--a path forward that doesn't involve vengeance, that involves reconciliation; a path forward designed to restore the democratic order. I believe deeply that all of my colleagues here in the Senate and in the Congress and the President of the United States are prepared to play whatever role they can to help facilitate that. I think that, obviously, ultimately, it would involve restoring democracy. It would involve respecting its own Constitution. It would involve holding free and fair elections, internationally supervised, not by the United States but by the United Nations or by neighboring countries. I just left a meeting a few minutes ago with the Foreign Minister of Mexico, a nation that has shown that it is willing to step forward and be constructive and productive in this endeavor. That is the goal. The goal is to restore peace and order and to restore democracy and to grant amnesty and freedom to those who have been imprisoned because of their political views. Within that space, there are those within the government who themselves perhaps seek the same thing but feel trapped by the circumstances before the nation today. So I do believe there is a path forward, but I also think it would be unfair if I didn't make clear that the time for that path is running out and the door will permanently close if, at the end of this month, the Maduro government moves forward with this assembly, which is illegal and unconstitutional. At that point, it would be clear for all that they have no interest and no intent of restoring democracy. I fear the consequences of that, not simply because of what the U.S. Government and the Trump administration might do but what it would mean to those in the streets who are already desperate as it is. I do think that path is there. I do believe that opportunity is still available, but it will not be around forever. My hope is that cooler heads will prevail. My hope is that patriots in Venezuela--no matter what side of this debate they have been on up to this point--realize it is time to step up and further this process of reconciliation, not with a goal of vengeance or punishment but with a goal of freeing those who have been imprisoned unjustly, with the goal of having free and democratic elections, with the goal of living up to constitutional principles, with the goal of restoring democracy to a great people and a great nation. I know that I, for one, despite all of my criticisms and all of the speeches I have given and all of the measures we have taken, am prepared to do all I can to be helpful in that endeavor, to help the people of Venezuela take control of their destiny once again and restore the democratic order, the constitutional order in a way that unites the country, not one that further fragments and divides it. I know the President has expressed a willingness to be involved in that process in whatever capacity is appropriate, knowing that other nations in the region are prepared to lead as well. I thought it was important on this 11th day of July, as we get closer to that measure--which I think will do irreparable harm to this possibility--that I come here to the Senate floor and express this. In the end, I think all of us in this hemisphere and, ultimately, the world would benefit greatly from a Venezuela that fulfills its potential--the potential of its people, the potential of its economy, the potential of its proud history of democracy. Whatever we can do to be helpful in that endeavor, I know that this Nation is prepared to do in whatever capacity is appropriate in the eyes of the people of Venezuela. Ultimately, the future of Venezuela belongs to the people of Venezuela, and that is what we stand for. We hope that we can be helpful in a process that brings them together--and not further divides them--and restores what they once had and deserve to have again: a proud democracy, a vibrant economy, and a people with extraordinary and unlimited potential to achieve great things on behalf of their nation, their countrymen, and the world. I yield the floor.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I would like to pay tribute to the memory of a man who was a great friend of mine: Dr. Michael Gordon. A professor at the University of Miami, Michael's love for medicine and people impacted the lives of so many, both inside the classroom and out. Michael first came to Florida in 1960 and eventually returned in 1966 to teach at the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami, a move that would keep him in the Sunshine State for the rest of his life. His tenacity intelligence led to critical medical breakthroughs, But it didn't come easily. Michael's first invention, ``Harvey''--the cardiopulmonary patient simulator used across the globe--was initially viewed with contempt and suspicion amongst his contemporaries. But that did not discourage Michael. And thank God for that, because the once-ridiculed invention has since been used by many in the field of cardiology around the world. His relentlessness and ambition served as a testament to his character. He was a man with unfailing dedication to the well-being of others. He also created UMedic, a system fostering research and learning in cardiology. Michael also devised training for first responders, which undoubtedly saved many lives over the years. He founded the Medical Training and Simulation Laboratory, which was eventually named the Michael S. Gordon Center for Research in Medical Education. The center focused on the mission of improving medical techniques and training paramedics and firefighters. So many of us in the Miami-Dade community cherish his memory. While some in our community may never know his name, their loved ones may very well be saved by one of his innovations or the training he provided to first responders. Over the course of his life, Michael would bear many titles, including professor, mentor, innovator, doctor, inventor, friend, father, grandfather, and husband. To put it simply and quite literally; his friendship and passion touched many. I am proud to have known such a tremendous human being and benefactor to the Miami community. My wife Jeanette and I will forever miss him and we join our friends at the University of Miami and his family in honoring his legacy. May God bless him, his family, and those who continue his mission of saving lives and advancing medicine.

Mr. RUBIO

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

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, a year ago today, Americans--myself included--awoke to the shocking news that 49 of our fellow Americans had been killed overnight in one of the deadliest mass shootings, mass attacks in our Nation's history. I recall that day. It was a Sunday morning. I was home, and we were getting ready to go to church, as we do. The news was on. We don't usually turn on the TV. That day, the text messages were coming in, and it spoke about this horrifying incident that occurred overnight. The news reports were still sketchy. For whatever reason--be it because of our work here or a bad gut feeling--I remember telling my family that I was going to get in my truck and drive the 3 hours to Orlando to be there because I felt there was something beyond the scale and scope of it, a little bit different about this horrifying attack. As I drove north on the Florida turnpike, the updates on the radio kept coming in. The scale of it was unbelievable. The numbers kept climbing, and there was still not a lot of detail about what was behind it. After I arrived on the scene and was able to interact with some of our Federal authorities and State authorities who were there, the picture still wasn't abundantly clear, but the one thing that began to emerge was, this was the act of a single individual inspired by an ideology of hate and supported in the pursuit of that ideology by people who before that and since then have been responsible for attacks all over the world. I think the part that was perhaps most troubling for a lot of people is--especially for me, I found myself at that time, 45 years of age, at the halfway point between the age of the people who would have been there and the age of someone whose child might have been there, and the randomness of it--the notion that a lot of young people went out that night to have a good time with their friends. It was Latin night. This was a well-known nightclub in the LGBT community in Central Florida. I don't think that when you get up at night and get dressed and go out that you think one of the risks involved is you are going to end up interacting with a jihadist terrorist. That is what happened that night. The other part that was so startling is, so often for so many of us, these bad things happen somewhere else. They happen in France. They happen in London. They happened on 9/11 in New York City. This happened in Florida, just down the street from a place that I had been a year earlier--a small business, furniture store whose owners I had gotten to know as I was writing a book about small businesses and the like. The familiarity of it, how close it was to home, and the idea that the war on terror had not just come to America that day but it had come to Central Florida. Ultimately, we learned it had come to impact people whom we knew through others and whose stories sounded quite familiar. We now know it was the worst attack on U.S. soil since September 11 of 2001. In this time when we are having so many debates about whom we are going to allow into our country and what criteria we are going to use and from what places they can come, it is important to stop and remember that the individual--whose name I will not even say because I think one of the hopes he had is that he would go down in history as a famous person, but this individual lived in our country for a long time. He lived among us since the day he was born. He was not someone who had come on an airplane or had recently arrived from another culture, another society. He was an American, born and raised in the United States. If my memory doesn't fail me, I believe he was born in Queens, NY. What strikes me is, he benefited from everything this country offers: freedom, liberty. He knew people. He lived among fellow Americans his whole life. He went to work every morning alongside them. He had all of the blessings and the opportunities and everything this country provides. Yet even that was not enough to somehow inspire him not just to take on this evil ideology but to act on it. Obviously, the attack was personal for the 49 families with stories of their own and of course the countless others who were injured. I know it was personal to the LGBT community and Central Florida. As I said, Pulse was a well-known cornerstone of the community, particularly for younger people. As I said earlier, this was deeply personal for Floridians and for the people of Central Florida. I will get to that in a moment because I am extraordinarily proud of that community. I think it was personal for all Americans. When I arrived, I saw these people, largely still--I don't know what time it was, but the attacks weren't even 12 hours old. I saw family members of people they loved or loved ones who were outside in desperate mode. You know that look on your face where, ``I want to know what happened. I don't know if the person I love is inside there. I haven't heard from them.'' One of the most chilling things I heard from law enforcement was that the cell phones were still buzzing as people were calling their loved ones. It brought home that this wasn't just 49 as a number. It is so easy to see that scroll across the television set. It is even easy to say it now, 49. They were 49 human beings, 49 human beings with families who loved them, parents who loved them, siblings who loved them. I saw that firsthand when I got there. I saw the look of people behind the yellow rope who had no idea if someone whom they deeply loved and cared for lay dead on the other side of that tape. I remember not long after, crowds began to form and people started showing up with signs that said things like: ``We're with you.'' ``We love you.'' This was early. I am talking about 12 to 13 hours after the attack happened. I commend the law enforcement--Federal, State, local--who came together and responded. I saw people coming off duty, people who were not on duty that day, putting on the uniform and showing up to see how they could help. We saw the long lines of everyday citizens bringing food and water to support their efforts. Later that day, we saw long lines of Floridians lined up to donate blood. There is no doubt that this was a community that was heartbroken, but it was also a community that was unbroken; that I believe woke up stronger and more united than it was when I went to sleep the night before. I think, ultimately, the man who committed this attack and the people who inspired him to do so would have been horrified by what they saw. I think they would have been horrified to see First Baptist Church in Orlando--a pillar of the Christian evangelical community--opening its doors to the LGBT community and welcoming them and their families and holding services there. I think they would have been horrified by that. I think they would have been horrified by people putting aside, if but for a moment, their voter registration cards, their preferences in the upcoming elections, their backgrounds, the way their last names are pronounced or whom they love. They put all this aside and said: These are 49 Americans--and their families--who just died at the hands of an evil terrorist. We are committed to doing everything we can to provide support for them. I think these terrorists would have been horrified to see what has happened since that time. In so many ways, Central Florida grew up--and I mean that in a positive way--so much in the last year, in terms of coming together, in the sense of community, and obviously it is sometimes in tragedy that we see that happen. I think it served as an extraordinary inspiration to communities all around the country who hope to achieve the same level of unity without the tragedy. While the attack may have succeeded in sowing death and heartbreak, it failed in sowing doubt about our way of life. In the year that has followed, we have seen hundreds of thousands of Americans come together in Orlando to celebrate the lives of the victims and to begin that healing process. In the weeks and months after the attack, memorials were established throughout downtown Orlando, marking the loss of 49 of our brothers and sisters. We saw ceremonies held in every part of the State, from Pensacola to Miami, FL. One thing that really stands out in particular is, one of the memorials was a set of 49 white crosses that rested aside the Orlando Regional Medical Center, the trauma center where a number of the victims were taken that morning. Those crosses are now at the Orange County Regional History Center. Each one of these crosses is about 3 to 4 feet high and has the name of one of the 49 victims. People from all across the Nation visited this memorial, including, at the time, President Obama and Vice President Biden. They came to pay their respects and to leave a token of their mourning in the honor of those taken that night--cards and pictures, teddy bears and flowers were set around each cross, and people wrote notes and well-wishes on the crosses to honor the memory of each of the 49. When the crosses were taken by a police motorcade to the history center, one mother--I have chosen not to list her name because it is not for me to do, but she was there to assist that Tuesday with moving that cross that represented her daughter. She and her husband, I think, by now know this, but we share a mutual friend in the Orlando area, and I have learned firsthand from him just how hard the loss of their daughter was for them. In the end, before I am a Senator or anything else I do, I am a husband and a father, and I have a child whose name is the same as their daughter. I, for the life of me, cannot begin to fathom what they have gone through in the past year, along with 48 other families. As they moved her cross with her name on it, they saw a note on it that had been written by someone in the community. They don't know who it was. The note was very simple, but it was very powerful. The note said: ``I never knew you but I love you.'' It strikes me that line, ``I never knew you but I love you,'' for those of us in the Christian faith, reminds us of what Christ said is one of our greatest Commandments, to love your neighbor as yourself. For the past year, we have felt the deep pain. We have also seen in Orlando that it is united. ``One Orlando.'' At a time when we can always find something to divide us, a community came together to honor the memory of those who were lost. Each of them was a son or a daughter, a brother, a sister, a mother, a father, a husband, a wife, or a partner. In the end, they were a part of our families and our communities. Each of them, like all of us, had immense promise and hope. Each in their own way were a part of what makes this country a great nation, and they were lost that terrible night 1 year ago, but they were loved. A year later, we remember them and those they left behind. I hope we will honor them by finding a way as a nation to remember that despite our differences on a vast number of issues, we are still one nation under God, the greatest Nation on Earth, the most extraordinary people who have ever lived, a nation that is not simply a people bound together by a common blood or common heritage, a common ethnicity. America is more than a country. It is an idea, the idea that every single human being has a God-given right to live life as they so choose and to fulfill their potential. I hope we will continue to work here and everywhere we can to live up to that powerful idea that changed the world. Mr. President, I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I want to thank the Senator for his kind comments. This issue is one that I think matters to all 100 Members of this Chamber and every American. I, too, find it timely that here we are, 73 years to the day of the incredible sacrifices that were made on that beach in Normandy and that we have the opportunity to honor the men and women who have served for us, then and since then, particularly those who are now in need of services, with the passage of what is truly landmark legislation, and I will talk about that in a moment. It is the hope of all of us who are supporting this that it will help bring accountability for generations of those who have served and will serve to protect our great Nation. We live in a time of an outrage culture, where in order to make the news every evening, you have to be involved in some controversy or say something over the top. That is just the way things are these days. So when something positive happens, it doesn't get a lot of coverage. It is my sense that while we are not doing this for purposes of getting coverage, many Americans tonight, as they watch the news or go on the internet, will have no idea that the Senate took this up. I think that is unfortunate because in addition to the importance of this piece of legislation, it is a testament that despite all of the important issues, noise, and arguments we hear every day on television, that our Republic still works and that men and women of good faith can come together across political ideology and partisan lines on an issue that wasn't easy to work with for a couple of years. I hope there is an opportunity to point to this and say that on something that was important--this is not a symbolic resolution; this is a change in the laws of our country that will bring accountability to one of the most important functions that our government provides to the men and women who serve in uniform, and that is the Veterans' Administration. That is why I preference my comments on all this and the fact that this is not getting a lot of attention because this is not controversial. If there were a big fight on the floor about this and people were bickering or arguing, it would get more coverage, but the fact that we were able to come together across party lines on this issue and get it done should not be a reason not to recognize its importance. That is not why we are doing it. We are doing it to make a change. I think it is important to preface my remarks by saying that it has been an honor and a pleasure to work with Chairman Isakson and with the ranking member, Senator Tester, and all the members of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee on what is now truly bipartisan legislation that is before the Senate. I remain grateful to the committee for their efforts to help bring needed accountability reforms to the Department. This is an issue, as I said, that we have been working on for several years, and I am pleased that we are now on a path to enact real change. This spring marks 3 years since light was shed on the veterans who died while they were stuck on secret waiting lists at the Department of Veterans Affairs. After it was revealed that the Phoenix, AZ, VA facility had widespread mismanagement and misconduct by employees, Congress came together and acted promptly. In the wake of that deplorable situation, this Chamber responded in a bipartisan way by passing the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014. While many of those reforms have begun to make a difference, we knew even then that it would not be enough. As reflected in the legislation that is now before us, in this law we are seeking to address those shortcomings and doing so in deference to what the courts have decided is consistent with the Constitution of the United States. As virtually every Member of this Chamber--if not everyone--has done, over the years I have met with veterans throughout my home State of Florida, and I have found that many share a common frustration and disappointment and often express resignation that meaningful accountability has yet to come or occur at the VA. It is my hope that will begin to change with this vote today. These men and women, our veterans, have sacrificed much for our country, and it is our duty to take care of them when they come home after taking care of us. Sadly, for many, this solemn obligation and promise has not been kept. Plain and simple, ineffective governance is unfair to our veterans and to the American taxpayer. The VA must be properly managed so that it can provide timely, quality care to veterans and be held accountable to all Americans. Let me follow up what I just said by making it abundantly clear that the overwhelming majority of the people who work at the VA are good, hard-working employees who serve our veterans well. Many of them are veterans themselves. This is not a punitive measure, nor is it meant to degrade the work they are doing under very difficult circumstances. But it has become clear that under the current law, the VA often is unwilling or unable to hold individuals appropriately accountable for their actions and/or misdeeds--usually not because they don't want to but because under the law they just can't. Even in instances in which disciplinary action against an employee was attempted, the complexity and the lengthiness of the process prevented meaningful consequences. The unfortunate reality is that those few but significant number of negligent employees often went unpunished. To shield such employees from the consequences brings down the entire Department, demoralizes the workforce, and undermines the core mission of the VA. That comes not from political talking points but from many of the men and women who themselves work at the VA. We cannot and must not allow bureaucratic redtape to get in the way. Our VA is staffed by those who belong there and are willing to perform the important tasks of serving our heroes. It is our hope and my belief that this law will change the VA, and it will change it for the better. Simply put, the law gives the VA Secretary the authority to reprimand, to suspend, to demote, or to remove any employee if their behavior or their performance warrants such an action. Importantly, these reforms establish a period of adequate notice, response, and final decision on a disciplinary action initiated by the Secretary and is under an enforceable and capped timeframe. So while the employee is getting due notice and the opportunity to defend themselves, it doesn't drag on forever. It also provides a new avenue for whistleblowers so they can come forward without fear of retaliation through the establishment of an Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection. This is critical because, as we have seen, in order to uncover many of these abuses at the Department, we oftentimes need to rely on information directly from those who have seen it happen and are involved. In summary, this bill will protect our veterans while also serving as a means to protect the countless well-performing, dedicated VA employees and whistleblowers in the Department who are frustrated that just a handful of bad apples are standing in the way of providing the service they signed up to provide. This bill will also ensure that VA employees' due process rights are respected and not infringed upon. This is not an anti-VA employee law; it is designed to reward those who work hard and perform and to identify and remove those who do not. I am proud to say this bill would not have been possible without the support of our current VA Secretary. We worked closely with him and his office to ensure that the provisions would provide the tools they need now and for future Secretaries so they can carry out their important mission. In addition to the Secretary, the bill has been endorsed by the Office of Special Counsel, Project On Government Oversight, and several veteran service organizations, including the Paralyzed Veterans of America, the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Concerned Veterans for America, the Reserve Officers Association, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, American Veterans, and the Military Officers Association of America. These organizations serve our veterans admirably, have valuable knowledge of veterans' needs, and they agree that this legislation provides overdue reforms to the VA's current broken civil service system. We are all grateful for their help, for their support, and for helping and informing us in tweaking this law so that it actually solves problems. There are two more points that I want to make. I am proud that we were able to come together as a unified body-- Republicans and Democrats--to show the Nation that the Republic can still work and that we can work together to solve problems. Hopefully, that spirit will carry over into other issues that confront our Nation. With today's vote, I think we move one step closer to achieving the worthy goal of bringing accountability and, as a result, an improvement in the VA. I thank my colleagues for joining this fight to better serve our Nation's veterans. I close by thanking the people who worked day in and day out on this, including the staffs for Chairman Isakson and Ranking Member Tester. Adam Reece and Jorge Rueda worked tirelessly on the bill. I thank Hazen Marshall and Tom Hawkins with Senator McConnell's office. I thank our cloakroom staff--Laura Dove, Chris Tuck, and Tony Hanagan--for their work in getting this bill here today. On my own personal staff, I thank J.R. Sanchez, who has worked on this personally for 2\1/2\ to 3 years. I don't know what he is going to do with his time now because he has spent so much time and passion on this, and he knows many of these veterans personally. This is a good day, and I look forward to eventually getting this bill over to the President's office so that accountability and improvement in performance can finally come to the VA and so that the men and women who have taken care of us will finally be taken care of the way they deserve. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to speak about an emerging crisis in our hemisphere in the nation of Venezuela. It has been covered extensively in the press. I wanted to come today with an update and a suggestion, a request of the administration about a step we can take. First of all, I am very pleased that today our Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, scheduled a discussion at the U.N. Security Council with regard to Venezuela. It was not an open press discussion. Again, it showed extraordinary leadership, and I thank her for her work and for doing so. This deserves attention. By the way, Venezuela is a country that is blessed with natural resources. It was once Latin America's richest country, but today the people of Venezuela are literally starving, its financial system has collapsed, and there are, as you have seen from the press reports, massive protests in the streets. Its once proud democracy is now in the hands of a dictator, Nicolas Maduro, and his cronies and thugs, who have plunged that nation into a constitutional crisis. They are using violence and bloodshed to suppress and silence citizens speaking out against the regime's corruption and its abuse of political prisoners. What the people of Venezuela are calling for is pretty straightforward: free and fair elections as called for under the Constitution of that country, a return to representative democracy--the democracy they once had. They are paying for these requests with their blood and even their lives. According to the most recent reports, dozens of people have been killed, including teenagers. The Washington Post reported yesterday the recent deaths of 18-year-old Luis Alviarez, who was killed by a bullet to the chest, and 17-year-old Yeison Mora Cordero, who died from a bullet to the head. There were two reports today in the press of great interest, one from the New York Times and one from the Washington Post. Both documented the plight of members of the national guard who have been tasked with the job of suppressing the protests in the street. The gist of the articles was this: These people who are putting on these uniforms--they didn't sign up for this. They signed up for security. They signed up to protect the people of Venezuela, not to oppress them. They, too, are suffering from poor food. There was one article that said that basically breakfast in the morning for the national guard in Venezuela consists of a boiled carrot or a potato, and then they are sent to the streets for hours. Then they come back and maybe have an arepa, which is a corn cake, and, if they are lucky, some butter. They, too, are suffering from this. Here is the most enlightening part of this: A lot of their family members--their mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, loved ones, husbands, wives, girlfriends, and boyfriends--are on the other side of the protest lines. Their fellow Venezuelans are on the other side, and they are being tasked to do this. I just say to them: Remember what your oath was. To the members of the national guard in Venezuela, remember that your job is to protect the people of Venezuela, not to oppress them. Beyond what we see there--the innocent people dying because of the dictatorship trampling the will of the people and destroying their democratic institutions--one of the specific things that Maduro has done to become a dictator is he has undercut and frankly tried to wipe out the authority of their National Assembly, which is their unicameral legislative body. The way he has done that is by highjacking the supreme court of the country, and they call it the Supreme Tribunal of Justice. It is packed with puppets who do his bidding. As an example, these puppets recently ruled that they would rescind the democratic powers vested to the elected members of the National Assembly by the constitution of that country. In essence, they ruled that the National Assembly no longer had legislative authority. The protests were so massive, even within the government, that they had to backtrack from that ruling. Here is what is interesting. This is a recent opinion piece written by Francis Toro and Pedro Rosas in the Washington Post which said it best: ``Beware Maikel Moreno, the hatchet man who runs Venezuela's supreme court.'' Here is what they wrote: Moreno, a former intelligence agent, was tried and convicted of murder in 1987, though the corroborating documents from the court system are no longer available. . . . He spent just two years in jail before being released. He was then immediately implicated in a second killing, in 1989, for which he was charged but never tried. He was a loyalist of Hugo Chavez, and he became a judge in the early 2000s. His ``career as a judge hit a snag in 2007,'' Toro and Rosas note, ``when he was removed from the bench for `grave and inexcusable' errors after releasing two murder suspects against orders from the Supreme Tribunal. The government handed him a new job as a diplomat abroad. After a few years out of sight, he was appointed a supreme court justice in 2014.'' Then in 2017, Moreno--not once but twice a killer--was appointed the chief justice of Venezuela's supreme court. The Venezuelan supreme court is run by a murderer. Think about that. A convicted criminal is presiding over Venezuela's supreme court. So it is no wonder that the court's members have acted as a rubberstamp for Maduro's illegitimate power grab, and they have created a political and a humanitarian crisis. Venezuelans, as I said, are struggling to get basic goods, like food and medicine, and access to basic services. The Wall Street Journal reported that Venezuelans have lost, on average, 19 pounds in the last year--not due to some incredible new diet, but due to the country's food crisis. This is staggering. It is appalling. It is unconscionable. It cannot be tolerated. The Venezuelan people deserve a return to democracy. They deserve a government that respects the rule of law and the constitution. I believe it is the responsibility and the duty of the nations of the Western Hemisphere, including our Nation, to help the Venezuelan people. Article 20 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter states: In the event of an unconstitutional alteration of the constitutional regime that seriously impairs the democratic order in a member state, any member state or the Secretary General may request the immediate convocation of the Permanent Council to undertake a collective assessment of the situation and to take such decisions as it deems appropriate. This is what must be done because if we fail to help the Venezuelan people in their time of need and if the worst comes to pass, what will follow will not be confined to the Venezuelan borders. The United States as a result, I hope, should impose sanctions against corrupt individuals--not the government, not the people; individuals--responsible for human rights violations, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, undermining the country's democratic process. President Obama began that process. President Trump actually sanctioned some additional people earlier this year, including the kingpin drug dealer who is now the Vice President of Venezuela, Tareck El Aissami. Here are some people who should be sanctioned by the current President. He should target for sanctions Chavista officials within the judiciary--all of these magistrates who have enabled Maduro's takeover. That includes the murderer who is the chief justice of their supreme court, Maikel Jose Moreno Perez, and others like him who are part of that so-called constitutional group within the supreme court of Venezuela, many of whom have access to money and use visas to travel freely within the United States. Among these names are Calixto Ortega, Arcadio Delgado, Federico Fuenmayor, Carmen Zuleta, Lourdes Suarez Anderson, and Juan Jose Mendoza. These are the people who have helped in this coup d'etat that has canceled the democratic order in Venezuela, and they should be punished for what they have done. I will close by pointing to two things that are of deep concern. The first is this report today in El Nuevo Herald in Miami, which basically cites that Maduro has now ordered the militarization of a border region with Colombia. We are concerned about that because we have always feared he would create some sort of a military pretext to distract people from the crisis within the country. Then there is this unusual behavior on the part of Maduro. For example, yesterday he said that the Chavistas--the followers of Hugo Chavez--are the new Jews of the 21st century. Basically he is comparing the Chavistas with the Jews who were exterminated during the Holocaust in World War II. These comments were broadcast on state television last night. It is incredible. By the way, this is the same man who about a week ago was caught on camera, with a straight face, asking a cow to vote for a constitutional referendum he is seeking to pass. I don't even think the cow would support him at this point in Venezuela. Mr. President, I hope President Trump in the next few days or weeks will act against these individuals who have carried out this coup d'etat against democracy in Venezuela and have plunged this proud nation and proud people into a constitutional, humanitarian, and economic crisis. I yield the floor.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I have come to the floor today as part of my office's Expression NOT Oppression initiative, which highlights human rights abuses around the world and the plight of individuals imprisoned or oppressed for simply exercising their God-given rights. Earlier this month, we observed World Press Freedom Day, which serves as a reminder that freedom of expression is a fundamental, universal human right and that a free press is vital to a free society. We should never take for granted the freedom of the press we enjoy here in the United States. These rights are an integral part of the bedrock of any healthy democracy, and in too many parts of the world, they are nonexistent or under assault. According to Reporters Without Borders' 2017 World Press Freedom Index, press freedom is threatened now more than ever. Governments around the world continue to crack down on their citizens' access to information. Out of 180 countries, Burundi dropped from 156 to 160. Most problematic for press freedom, Egypt dropped from 159 to 161, and Bahrain dropped from 162 to 164. Additionally, Reporters Without Borders has reported that at least nine journalists have been killed already in 2017. Several were killed in Mexico, here in our own hemisphere. It is hard to believe that people are being thrown in jail or worse simply because government officials don't like what they write or publish, but that is what is happening, especially in countries like China, Russia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, just to name a few. The case I come to the floor today to highlight is that of Huang Qi, who has long been targeted by the Chinese Government because of his advocacy for the rights of ordinary citizens and his coverage of the Chinese Government's violation of those rights. In November of last year, the police reportedly burst into his residence and ransacked his home and took him to detention. In December of last year, Chinese prosecutors authorized Huang's arrest for allegedly ``illegally providing state secrets overseas,'' a charge that can result in a sentence of life imprisonment. The Committee to Protect Journalists described his detention as part of ``an intensified crackdown on online journalists and bloggers who report on protests and human rights abuses.'' Huang founded the 64 Tianwang human rights website in 1998. The Chinese Government has blocked access to 64 Tianwang since 2003, according to Radio Free Asia, because the site covers issues deemed politically sensitive by authorities, such as protests and government corruption. Authorities previously sentenced Huang to 3 years in prison in November 2009 for ``illegal possession of state secrets''--this in connection with his work assisting parents who lost children during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. In addition, Chinese authorities sentenced Huang to 5 years in prison in 2000 for ``subversion'' for his advocacy on behalf of the families of the 1989 Tiananmen protest victims--a solemn anniversary we will mark next month. In short, Huang, a veteran activist, is no stranger to the Chinese Government's silencing of dissent. His life's work is a testament to fearless reporting regardless of what consequences may follow. While his own government views him as a threat, outside of China, his work is widely praised and recognized. Reporters Without Borders awarded the 2016 Press Freedom Award to his website. His case has been championed by Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, and others, including the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, which I am proud to chair. His case is featured in the Commission's Political Prisoner Database, which presently contains more than 1,400 active prisoner records--a staggering but far from exhaustive number. Huang is committed to reporting the facts--facts that describe the daily struggles of Chinese citizens. For this, he has suffered greatly, including reported torture and mistreatment in detention, unjust imprisonment, and deprivation of his most basic rights. The Chinese Government should immediately and unconditionally release him. The United States should make this case and the cases of many others like him languishing unjustly behind bars in China or tortured into ``confessing'' to ``crimes'' they did not commit, priorities--we should make these priorities in our bilateral engagement with Beijing. It is the second point--the torture and mistreatment of rights defenders--that brings to mind another troubling case, that of prominent rights lawyer Xie Yang. His wife, who recently arrived in the United States with her two young children, will testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee later this week. Xie has bravely taken on sensitive cases, including land grab victims and advocates for democratic reform. Chinese security agents detained him as part of the 709 Crackdown--a sweeping, nationwide campaign against Chinese rights lawyers and advocates that started on July 9, 2015. The plight of 45-year-old Mr. Xie burst onto the international scene in January 2017 when his attorneys released transcripts of their meetings with him. The transcripts recount the threats of his inquisitors. They said: ``We'll torture you to death just like an ant.'' Another warned: ``I'm going to torment you until you go insane.'' He told his lawyers: ``I wanted to end their interrogation of me as quickly as I could, even if it meant death. . . . Later, I wrote down whatever they wanted.'' As if foreshadowing the fate that awaited him, he had earlier written a letter in detention in which he cautioned, ``If one day in the future I admit guilt . . . that will not be a true expression of my thoughts.'' Fast-forward to last week. He was charged with ``inciting subversion of state power and disrupting court order'' and pled guilty in a recorded video released by the court and widely reported in major media outlets. He said: ``I want to take this opportunity to express to other rights lawyers my view now that we should give up using contact with foreign media and independent media to hype sensitive news events, attack judicial institutions and smear the image of the nation's party organs while handling cases. . . . `' He continued in that same coerced statement: ``Everyone should take me as a warning to certainly stay within the framework of the law and avoid being exploited by Western anti-China forces.'' Yet, despite these warnings and the Chinese Government's unyielding assault on human rights, there are still men and women committed to reporting on the government's abuses and steadfast in defending the powerless and the marginalized. Their courage is an inspiration, and it must summon our solidarity. I look forward to the day when the Chinese Government upholds rather than tramples the rights of its own citizens, abides by the rule of law at home, and respects the international rules-based system globally. However, that day has not yet arrived. Until it does, we must signal to the Chinese people that whatever our broader diplomatic and strategic aims may be as it relates to North Korea or any other issue, America is under no illusions about the iron-fisted leadership of President Xi and his utter disregard for the rights and dignity of his own people. As President Trump continues fulfilling his duty and appointing individuals to key positions, I will keep raising these issues with each and every relevant nominee whom I meet with both privately, as I did with Governor Branstad, and publicly, as I did during his confirmation hearing. It is critical that the United States keep human rights for all people as a core pillar of our foreign policy. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. RUBIO

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

Mr. RUBIO

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

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I rise to speak briefly this afternoon on the ongoing crisis in Venezuela. There is a growing interest in the matter here among my colleagues in the Senate and the White House and other places--certainly, in the press--and thankfully so. This has been going on now for a significant period of time. Just to put it in context, a lot of times, when we talk about these sorts of showdowns around the world--these sorts of internal strife-- there is this notion that there is this government in place and there is this group that does not like the government and that they are arguing with each other about the future of the country. What is interesting in Venezuela is that both the opposition and the ruling party are in government. The government, obviously, at the Presidential level is controlled by someone who has turned himself into a dictator. He is a successor of Hugo Chavez's--he is the President, Nicolas Maduro--and those who surround him. Then there is the National Assembly that is elected by the people of Venezuela, the majority party in their legislative branch. What has happened over the last year and a half is that the President of Venezuela, Maduro--the now dictator--has nullified the legislative branch. He basically refuses to recognize the laws they have passed and has stopped allowing transfers. So, basically, today, those in the National Assembly in Venezuela are not getting paid. They have no funds for offices, and they have no funds for material. They will pass a law, and those laws are ignored. That is the ongoing crisis. The second part of it is that, under their Constitution, Venezuela's Constitution, if you had collected a certain number of signatures by December of this year, by the end of the year, they had to hold a referendum on the President, a recall referendum. They refused to certify the signatures even though the people who collected them turned in four times as many signatures as were necessary. The third is that they are supposed to have a Governor and legislative elections this year in Venezuela. Maduro has canceled those, and there is no telling, but it does not seem as though they are going to have a Presidential election either. Here is the bottom line: The strife in Venezuela that is going on today can be solved by having an election of the people of Venezuela, by basically following their existing Constitution, but that is not what they have allowed to have happen. On the contrary, not only are they not allowing these elections to happen, but anyone who protests against them has been jailed; press has been kicked out of the country; CNN has been kicked out of Venezuela, as an example. Now we are seeing reports of there being escalating violence in the streets, and it is extraordinary. What is interesting, though, is that fissures are beginning to develop. The message we send here today--first of all, to those who are in the streets who are fighting for democracy and for following the law and having elections in Venezuela--is that we stand with you. We will never let your cause fall, and we will never accept these ridiculous moves that Maduro is now taking to rewrite the Constitution, yet again, through a flawed and fraudulent process. The second message we have is to the people in the Venezuelan Government who do not want to be a part of what is happening. We now see examples of the Attorney General, Luisa Ortega, who is part of the Maduro government and has been largely friendly but who, lately, has begun to break away from the government, going so far as to criticize the government's escalating repression. You see it increasingly among the rank and file in the National Guard of Venezuela, who are all armored up like G.I. Joe, facing down these unarmed protesters, but on the other side of the protests are their mothers, their fathers, their brothers, their sisters, their wives, their husbands, and their friends and neighbors. What is really troubling now is that these armed groups--irregular groups, these militias--that Maduro has armed and trained with the help of Cuban intelligence have spun completely out of control. These groups are going around randomly beating people up, setting up roadblocks, and committing all sorts of acts of violence. They are not uniformed. These are collectives, as they call them--basically, these armed militias--outside of the government who are funded, created by Maduro and who have now begun to spin out of control, even to the point at which they, themselves, I believe, are potentially threatened by these groups who, in addition to funding themselves through the government, have found other ways to fund themselves through illicit means, including through street crime. This situation is reaching a breaking point, and I think it is an important moment to remind the men and women in uniform in the National Guard of Venezuela that their job is to protect the people of Venezuela, not to oppress them; that their job is to protect and uphold the Constitution of that country, not to cancel it out; to remind them that the men and women on the other side of these protests are their families and their fellow Venezuelans. Now the time has come to tell the men and women in the Venezuelan Government--many who, perhaps, sympathize with Hugo Chavez and Maduro up to a point--that they do not want to go down with this ship, that they do not want to wind up on the list of people who have participated in this crackdown and in this oppression. I hope that my colleagues here will continue to work hard. I am encouraged by the amount of bipartisan support that we have begun to create on the issue of Venezuela. I know my colleague, Senator Cardin, and I have worked out bipartisan legislation that urges the Maduro regime to release all of its political prisoners and express support for a solution to the crisis. I urge all of my colleagues to join me in cosigning this bipartisan legislation. We also support the administration's efforts at the OAS to continue to work with regional governments in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Brazil, and others who have taken heed of this issue and have played an extraordinary leadership role in raising this in international forums. Beyond that, I encourage the administration to continue to look for names to sanction. They have the authority under the law--passed not once but twice by this Congress--that allows them to identify specific individuals within the Venezuelan Government who are stealing the money of the Venezuelan people and committing grotesque human rights violations and have real estate and other personal property and cash deposits and bank accounts around the world from what they have illicitly stolen from the people of Venezuela. Here is my closing point: Maduro's government is now relying on credit from all parts of the world in order to continue to sustain itself. To any private investment banks and any of these large global banks that are thinking about lending money to Venezuela, you are abetting this regime and its repression, and you will be singled out and named if you participate in continuing to lend them money to fund this. To the Russian Government, I say that you are not going to get your money back. These guys cannot pay you back. It is the same for the Chinese Government. If you continue to lend money to the Maduro regime, they will not be able to pay you back, and you are going to be embarrassed. The Chinese Government is going to be embarrassed if it continues to loan money to Venezuela. They cannot and will never pay you back. The Russians cannot afford to continue to lend money to a government that will not pay them back either. I urge them to look at that very carefully before they continue to embarrass themselves by lending out their people's money that they will never get back. This is an important issue. It is in our own hemisphere, and the answer lies one election away. If only the Maduro regime would follow its laws and its Constitution, Venezuela would be on a better path that its people would choose. The alternative to this situation will continue to spiral out of control. We in this Chamber and in this country will continue to be on the side of the men and women who seek nothing but democracy and seek nothing but peace and reconciliation and a way forward for this nation, which has a deep history of democratic order. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, while not perfect, this bill includes important provisions that will benefit Florida, strengthen our national security, increase resources for our national defense and the fight against ISIS, and give our military men and women the largest pay raise in 6 years. Given the threats our Nation faces from the likes of North Korea and radical Islamic terrorists, a government shutdown would send exactly the wrong message to the world at a time when it is counting on America to lead. I am pleased to see this bill funds the Department of Defense to levels authorized by Congress and includes increases for ship building, operations and maintenance, and military readiness. It also incorporates the fiscal year 2017 Intelligence Authorization Act, IAA, that provides essential guidance and authorities for our intelligence community. This year's IAA requires the President to establish an interagency committee to counter Russia's active measures against the U.S., maintains resources for our intelligence community's counterterrorism capabilities, and requires the Director of National Intelligence to complete declassification reviews of terrorist activities of each individual who has been transferred or released from the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. This bill will ensure Florida can continue combatting the Zika virus and the opioid epidemic that is devastating so many families in our communities. I am committed to continuing to fight against Zika and have begun working with the Senate Appropriations Committee to establish an emergency health fund to provide funds for infectious outbreaks, like Zika. This appropriations bill will also support Everglades restoration and improvements to the Herbert Hoover Dike and our State's ports. Florida's citrus growers will get the help they need to counter the terrible greening that is hurting their crops. The bill also includes my legislation to protect public housing residents and reform HUD's broken inspection process. I saw firsthand the appalling conditions at Eureka Gardens in Jacksonville, Windsor Cove Apartments in Orlando, and Stonybrook Apartments in Riviera Beach, so I am glad this bill will help ensure the people at these properties finally see real changes for the better. These provisions make the bill worthy of my support, but as I have said before, we cannot continue to run our country in this way, with one temporary bill after another. Republicans and Democrats in Congress must work together with the Trump administration to restore fiscal sanity, set a long-term budget, and address our Nation's unsustainable and growing debt.

Mr. RUBIO

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

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be allowed to complete my remarks prior to the vote.

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I am honored to speak here today in support of Alex Acosta, and I wholeheartedly encourage my colleagues to support his nomination to be our next Secretary of Labor. I know this nominee well. As a fellow Floridian and as a native of Miami, I have been familiar with his work for many years. As I said when the President nominated him, I think he is an outstanding choice to lead the Department of Labor. Alex has an impressive academic record. He has two degrees from Harvard--the first from Harvard College and then from Harvard Law School. He also has a sterling record of public service in the State of Florida and in the United States of America. He was a member of the National Labor Relations Board. He was appointed by President George W. Bush and served from 2002 to 2003. From there, he was selected by President Bush to serve as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he also served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General in that office. He also served our Nation as the U.S. Attorney in one of the most challenging districts in our country--Florida's Southern District. Most recently, Alex has served the State of Florida as the dean of Florida International University College of Law, where he has been instrumental in raising the still young school's profile and in its graduating young men and women who are now well prepared to excel in their legal careers. With every challenge he has confronted throughout his distinguished career, he has demonstrated his ability to effectively tackle with ease the problems at hand. He is a brilliant legal mind, someone with a deep knowledge of labor issues, and he is a proven leader and a proven manager. It is for these reasons and many more that I am confident that Alex Acosta will serve this Nation admirably. He was--listen to this--previously confirmed unanimously by the Senate for three different positions in the U.S. Government. This man is not even 50 years old, and he has already been confirmed unanimously by the Senate for three separate positions. I believe that in a few moments, he will be one step closer to being confirmed to his fourth. He is well qualified for this role, and I look forward to working with him to ensure that Americans are equipped with the skills they need to be successful in the 21st-century economy. I yield the floor.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, as a part of my office's ``Expression NOT Oppression'' initiative, I come to the floor today to highlight once again both a good news story with regard to human rights and a continuing challenge. First let me begin by highlighting the good news. Aya Hijazi, whom I have spoken about before on the floor, is an American-Egyptian citizen whom Egyptian officials had imprisoned on trumped-up charges almost 3 years ago. She was released, and she was able to return home to the United States last week. I am pleased that she was set free, as are many of my colleagues in the Senate who had been calling for the Egyptian authorities to release her. I know this was a topic of conversation during Egyptian President Elsisi's visit to the United States 3 weeks ago. I want to also take this moment to thank the Trump administration for working to ensure her freedom. They were instrumental--in fact, they were key in this being possible. They made it a priority in their private engagements with regard to President Elsisi. Sadly, there are still many more political prisoners who remain jailed in Egypt. We here in Congress as well as the administration should continue to raise these issues with the Egyptian Government until all of them are released, regardless of their citizenship status. As the leader of the free world, the United States must work to safeguard the freedoms and liberties of all people. We must speak frankly with our allies, with our partners around the world, and we must work with governments to improve their human rights records. It is ultimately in America's national security interests to have stable democracies that observe the impartial rule of law and that respect the rights of their people.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, tomorrow morning or tomorrow afternoon at some point, we will, I believe, vote to confirm Judge Gorsuch to be a Justice to the U.S. Supreme Court. There is so much that has been said about him and his qualifications. I have been listening to the speeches all week. Even headed to the committee hearing, I think so much had been said about him. This is a mainstream candidate. This is a mainstream judge. He is someone who voted with the majority 99 percent of the time during his time on the bench. He is someone who 97 percent of the time, in 2,700 cases, was a part of rulings that were unanimous. He most certainly, I believe, is someone who believes the Constitution should be interpreted according to its original intent of the writers, but he is certainly not someone outside the mainstream of American legal thinking, and he is certainly eminently qualified. It is interesting in that you see a broad array of individuals come forward and talk about his qualifications. I also thought it was interesting that there really was no coherent reason for opposing him. There are a lot of different opinions on the floor that claim he would not commit to certain decisions that people would like to see him make on the Court. That would be true of virtually everyone who has been nominated to the Court over the last quarter century. There is no doubt that he is someone who has certain beliefs and views about the Constitution that are reflective of the President's party, but that is what elections are about. Obviously, the great people whom President Obama appointed reflected his thinking. That is our system. A lot of the attention, though, in this debate has been about the process that brought us here. There has been tremendous consternation about the change that no longer would there be a requirement of 60 votes in order to end debate. I think a lot of people have a fundamental misunderstanding of what has happened and how we have gotten here, and I thought it was important for the people of Florida and others who may be interested to know how I approached it, because it was something that I am not excited about or gleeful about or happy about. I would say that is probably the sentiment of most of the people here in the Senate. Yet it happened anyway. I saw a cartoon by one of these editorial cartoonists; I am not quite sure who it was. It had this picture of both sides basically saying: This is terrible, but we are going to do it anyway. I think it is important to understand, first and foremost, about the Senate. It is unique. There is no other legislative body like it in the world. Unlike most legislative institutions, it does not function by majority rule. It actually requires a supermajority to move forward. That was by design; it was not an accident. The people--the Founders, the Framers--created a system of government in which they wanted one branch of the legislature to be very vibrant, active, representative of the people. They represent districts, and they have 2-year terms. Then they created another Chamber which was different in nature. At the time, the U.S. Senate was designed, first of all, to represent the States. Where the House was the people's House, the Senate was the place the States were represented. The other thing they wanted to design was a place that was at some level possibly immune from the passions of the moment. They wanted a place where things would slow down for a moment, where we would take a deep breath and make sure we were doing the right thing. It was a wise course. Our Republic is not perfect, but it has survived for over two centuries. In the process, it has given us the most dynamic, most vibrant, and, I believe, the most exceptional Nation in all of human history. While not perfect, the Senate has been a big part of that endeavor. By the way, at the time, Senators were elected by the legislature; they were not even elected by people. Of course, that changed. I am not saying we should go back, but that is the way it was. That Senate was also unique because it had this tradition of unlimited debate. When a Senator got up to speak, they got to debate as long as they wanted, and no one could stop them. Then, at some point, that began to get a little bit abused, so they created a rule that required a supermajority, and that supermajority was further watered down. Then we arrive here, over the last 4 years, to see what has happened. Basically, what happens now is that there are two ways to stop debate, which is as a result of a procedure that was undertaken on the floor first by Senator Reid when he was the majority leader and now by the majority leader today on what is called the Executive Calendar, where there are nominations for the Cabinet, Ambassadors, the sub- Cabinet, courts, and now the Supreme Court. No. 1 is by unanimous consent, when everybody agrees to it, or, No. 2, through 51 votes, a majority vote. I think that is problematic in the long term, not because of Judge Neil Gorsuch, for I believe that in any other era and at any other time, he would not have just gotten 60 votes or even unanimous consent to stop debate; I think he would have gotten 60-plus votes, maybe 70 votes, to be on the Court. I think it is problematic because we do not know who is going to be the President in 15 years or what will be the state of our country. Yet, by a simple majority, without talking to a single person or getting a single vote from the other party or the other point of view, they are going to be able to nominate and confirm and place someone on the bench of the Supreme Court--to a lifetime appointment to a coequal branch of government--without even consulting with the other side. I think, long term, that is problematic--in the case of Neil Gorsuch, not so much, but for the future of our country, I think it could be problematic. The argument has been made that this has never been used before, so all of the stuff brings us back to where we once were. I think technically that is accurate, but this is not exactly where we once were. Where we once were was that there were people who worked here who understood they had the power to do this. They got it. They understood that if they had wanted to, they could have forced the 60 votes. They understood they had the power to do it, but they chose not to exercise it. They chose to be judicious because they understood that with the power, there comes not just the power to act but sometimes the power not to act, to be responsible, to reserve certain powers for extraordinary moments when it truly is required. And over the years, it has been abused. This is not going to be a speech where I stand up here and say that this is all on the Democrats, although I most certainly have had quarrels over some of the decisions that have been made by the other side of the aisle. I think it is a moment to be honest and say that we all have brought us here to this point, both sides, and it has required us to do this. The reason I was ultimately able to vote for the change today is that I am convinced that no matter who would have won the Presidential election and no matter which party would have controlled this Chamber, that vote was going to happen. Both sides were going to do this because we have reached a point in our politics in America where what used to be done is no longer possible, and that has ultimately found its way onto the floor of the U.S. Senate. Rules are rules, and ultimately the Republic will survive the change we have seen here today. I think the more troubling aspects are the things that have brought us to this point. A couple of days ago, while at a lunch with my colleagues, I said that one of the things, I think, we are going to have to accept is that, quite frankly, the men and women who served in this Chamber before us--20, 30 years ago--were just better than we are. They were human beings who, quite frankly, had deeply held beliefs. I do not know of any Member of this Chamber who was more conservative than Barry Goldwater or Jesse Helms. I do not know any Member of this Chamber who was more progressive or liberal than Hubert Humphrey or Ted Kennedy or others. Yet somehow, despite their deeply held principles, these individuals were able to work together to prevent what happened here today. The fact is, for both sides, that is not possible anymore. Today, our politics require us to use every measure possible, even if it is for symbolic purposes. That is just the way it is. That is more of a reflection of our political process than it is of the Senate. I have seen these articles that have been written of ``the end of the Senate'' or ``the death of the Senate.'' It is a little bit of an exaggeration, but I think it is actually just reflective of the fact that this is the way politics has become, that as a nation today, we are less than ever capable of conducting a serious debate about major issues in the way we once were able to do. I think everyone is to blame. I think the way politics is covered is to blame. Today, most articles on the issues before us are not about the issues before us; they are about the politics of the issues before us. Today, most of the work that is done in this Chamber and in the other Chamber has more to do with the messaging behind it than it does with the end result of where it will lead us. That is just the honest fact. Before people start writing or blogging: Well, look at all of these other times when the Senator from Florida--when I did some of these things--I admit it. I do not think there is a single person here with clean hands on any of this. I admit that I have been involved in efforts that, looking back on some of these things, perhaps, if we knew then what we know now, we would have done differently. I think it is important in life to recognize and learn from those experiences and to adapt them to the moment before us. I think, moving forward, the biggest challenge we will face in the country is that our issues are not going to solve themselves. They will require people from very different States, very different backgrounds, and very different points of view to be able to come together and solve some pretty big deals. It is ultimately not about silencing people or having them compromise their principles but about acknowledging that in our system of government, we have no choice but to do so. We have no choice. I think it also requires us to take a step back and understand that the people who have a different point of view than ours actually believe what they are saying. They hold it deep, and they represent people who believe what they are saying. I say this as someone who will admit that, in my time of public service, perhaps I have not always applied that as much as I wish I had. I try to. You certainly live and learn when you get to travel the country and meet as many people as I did over the last couple of years. I certainly think that impacts us profoundly. I have a deeply held belief in limited government and free enterprise and a strong national defense and the core principles that define someone as a conservative. But I have also grown to appreciate and understand the people who share a different point of view--perhaps not as much as I hope to one day be able to understand and respect it, but certainly more than I once did, simply because the more people you meet, the more you learn about them, and the more you learn and understand where they are coming from. Are we capable as a society to once again return to a moment where people who have different ideas can somehow try to figure out how to make things better, even if the solutions are not perfect? I hope so, because the fate of the most important country in human history is at stake. Are we capable of once again having debates, not that aren't vibrant and not that from time to time people may say things or even do things that they may regret, but certainly ones that at the end of the day are constructed for the purpose of solving a problem, not winning an election. I hope so, because if we don't, we will have to explain to our children why we inherited the greatest country in human history and they inherited one that is in decline. I don't mean to exaggerate, because ultimately this is a rule change. We don't vote on the Supreme Court every day, every week, every month. Sometimes we don't vote on it for long periods of time. But I think it exposes a more fundamental challenge that we face today in American politics, and that we better confront sooner rather than later, and that we should all confront with the understanding and the knowledge that none of us come to it with clean hands. We were reminded again this week by the images that emerged from Syria of what a dangerous world we live in, and we are reminded that the threats remain. I ask people tonight--no matter who you write for, who you blog for, what political party you are a member of, or whom you vote for in November--to ask yourself a question and to be honest about the answer. If, God forbid--and I mean this, God forbid--there were another 9/11- style attack on the United States, how would we honestly react? Because September 11 was a scary day, and on that day I remember there weren't Democrats or Republicans. Everyone was equally frightened and everyone was equally angered. There was a sense of unity and purpose that we had not seen in a long time and have not seen since. I honestly believe, sadly, that if today there were another 9/11- style attack on America, one of the first things we would see people doing is blaming each other, saying whose fault it was. You will have some people saying: Well, this terrorist attack happened because President Obama didn't do enough to defeat the terrorists. And others would say: It happened because the Republicans and the new President, President Trump, has not done enough, or has done things to provoke them. I honestly believe that. I think that is what the debate would look like. I hope I am wrong. Just think about how far we have come in almost 20 years, 15 years. That is the kind of debate I believe we would have. Think about how destructive that is. I also think we would see a plethora of crazy, fake stories about what was behind it. And here is the craziest part: Some very smart and educated people would believe those stories because we have reached the point now where conspiracies are more interesting than facts. I know that people may see this and say: Oh, I think you are exaggerating. Maybe, I hope so. But I honestly think that we are headed in a direction that is actually making us--not us the Senate, but us, Americans--incapable of confronting problems. I will just say this. What I really hope will happen soon is that we are going to get tired of fighting with other Americans all the time, that we will finally get fatigued with all of this constant fighting against other Americans. Americans are not your enemies. Quite frankly, I hope we have no enemies anywhere in the world, other than vicious leaders, and we hope to be a part of seeing taken them out of power at some point for the horrible things they do. I hope we will reach a point where people are saying, I am just tired of constantly fighting with other Americans. We will have differences and we will debate them. Thank God that we have been given a republic where we have elections every 2 years and where we can have these debates. But, in the interim, whether we like it or not, none of us is going anywhere. The vast and overwhelming of majority of Americans will live in this country for the rest of their lives. This is their home and this is their country. We are going to have to figure out how to share and work together in this unique piece of land that we have been blessed with the opportunity to call home. If we don't figure out a way to do that soon enough, then many of these issues that confront America will go unsolved, and not only will our people pay a price and our children pay a price, but the world will pay a price. So I know that is a lot to say about a topic as simple as a rule change and ultimately a vote for the Supreme Court, but I really think it exposed something deeper about American politics that we had better confront sooner rather than later, or we will all live to regret what it leads to, and that is the decline of the single greatest Nation in all of human history. With that, I yield the floor.

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I have a question for the Senator from South Carolina. It is very important. Is the Senator aware that Frank Martin, an incredible coach for the men's basketball team is from Miami, FL?

Mr. RUBIO. I just wanted you to know.

Mr. RUBIO. I would say to the Senator from South Carolina, South Carolina has gotten better results for Frank Martin than it did for me. But we are very proud of Coach Martin. I would just add that, given the litany of athletic success this year by the State of South Carolina, I find that to be highly suspicious. I know I just spoke about conspiracy theories, but statistically, it is very unlikely that a State would have that many championships. I am not calling for a congressional inquiry, but I think it is an interesting topic of conversation.

Mr. RUBIO. That is highly unlikely. But in all seriousness----

Mr. RUBIO. I do want to restate that Frank Martin is really an extraordinary person. Much more, Senator Scott and I both had a chance to interact with him on a number of occasions. I don't mean to single them out among all of the other suspicious athletic accomplishments in South Carolina that are certainly worth noting, but I would say, with Frank, one of the things that really impresses me is not what he does with these young men on the court but the kind of influence he is in their lives off the court and the impact he has. He was a high school coach in Miami and won State championships there. He comes from a hard-working family of Cuban exiles who made their home in South Florida. So we are very, very proud of what he has achieved. But what I am most proud of is the way Coach Martin has been able to influence those young men. He did defeat the Florida Gators to make it to the final four, and I was not happy about that. But I would say this--and I have said it to others--if the Florida Gators had to lose, I would want it to be to Frank Martin because of the extraordinary work he does. So I can't wait to see which Florida university hires him away. Thank you.

Mr. RUBIO. South Florida.

Mr. RUBIO. Florida.

Mr. RUBIO. I will.