Marco Rubio

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Madam President, I pay tribute to the life and legacy of Cuban-American businessman and icon, Felipe Valls, Sr., who unfortunately passed away. Many know Valls Sr. as the founder of world- renowned Versailles Cuban Restaurant, but many more know of the indelible mark he left on the Cuban exile community throughout south Florida. His life was a true testament to the American dream and he demonstrated a well-lived life in a nation that welcomed him and gave him the opportunity to create a culinary landmark in my home State of Florida. Felipe's legacy will live on through his beloved family and friends. Jeanette and I unite in prayer for the repose of the soul of this great Cuban-American entrepreneur.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Madam President, I recognize Dr. Osvaldo De La Pedraja on his more than 60-year career in the medical field and for celebrating his 92nd birthday on November 19, 2022. Osvaldo graduated as a doctor of medicine from the Medical School of the University of Havana, Cuba in 1960. Three years later, he was expelled from the Hospital Clinico Quirurgico Comandante Fajardo due to his opposition to Castro's communist regime. In 1968, Osvaldo arrived in the United States with his family. Committed to helping those in need of medical assistance in his new country, Osvaldo completed an internship at Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach, FL, and completed his specialty in radiology at Jackson Memorial Hospital. In 1972, Osvaldo opened his own private practice specializing in diagnostic radiology in Coral Gables, FL. For more than 50 years, it has remained in the same location and has helped countless Floridians in need of consulting doctors and seeking medical treatment. Osvaldo is also a member of the Latin American Society of Radiology, is the president of the Physicians' Assistant Hospital and Annexes Association, and has been a volunteer doctor of La Liga Contra El Cancer for 35 years. Previously, he served as president of the Cuban Revolutionary Forum. Osvaldo's medical work over the years has undoubtedly saved countless lives in Florida. I am grateful for his decades of service to the people of Florida and for his fight against communism in Cuba. I extend my best wishes on his 92nd birthday.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, due to Hurricane Ian, which is a major hurricane, I am remaining in Florida. The impact of Hurricane Ian on Tampa Bay and Florida's gulf coast could be catastrophic.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I recognize Grady Judd as he celebrates 50 years of service with the Pasco County Sheriff's Office. Grady has served as sheriff since 2004, where he is a constant and protective presence in the community. Sheriff Grady joined the Polk County Sheriff's Office in 1972 as a dispatch officer and rose through the department's ranks. At the age of 19, he was the youngest deputy sworn in and eventually served as a sergeant, colonel, and chief of staff for his predecessor before becoming sheriff. Devoted to helping others throughout the county, at 16, he managed to convince the Polk County Ambulance Service to hire him despite being 2 years away from the required age of 18. Grady has always sought to help others throughout his community, dedicating his time and talents to making a difference in their lives. After becoming sheriff, Grady reworked how the department interacts with the local media. The sherriff's office seeks to provide the public with up-to-date information regarding investigations as quickly as possible, and often, Grady will issue warnings aimed at suspects that have since become well-known throughout Florida. Grady was born in Lakeland, FL, graduating from Lakeland High School before attending Polk Community College and Rollins College, where he earned his bachelor of arts and master's degrees in criminal justice. He is an adjunct professor at the University of South Florida and Florida Southern College, offering students first-hand knowledge of law enforcement. Grady's work and commitment has made a real difference in the lives of the people of Polk County. I am grateful for his decades of service and extend my best wishes to his wife, Marisa, his two adult children, and his 13 grandchildren on this momentous milestone.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. I yield myself 11 minutes.

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I got a chance to go home. I had some close family friends who had a loss in their family over the last few days. I wanted to go back and see them. I get this email at 3 a.m.--I didn't see it until 5 a.m.--that my 8 a.m. flight was canceled. So I had trouble getting here this morning. I was finally able to get here in time for the vote we took just a few hours ago, but I didn't get here for the first two. So I had a chance that morning to do two things. First, I had a chance to take my son to football practice. It is that glorious time of year when high school football is going. Then the other thing I had a chance to do is I had a chance to go to a Cuban bakery that is close to my house. I don't get to go often, but when I do go, especially on weekends, I look for one of these little corners and just sit there. And I really like to go because I get to hear people talking--people who live on planet Earth, not people who are here in politics and in the bubble that is Washington. And you get to hear people talk. And one of the first things I heard today is about two ladies who were in line, and they were talking about how difficult it had become. You know, it is back-to-school shopping time, and even with the tax-free holiday week that we had in Florida, I could hear them talking about how much more expensive it was going to be this year to buy and how the list was longer and everything cost more--like pencils, all the stuff. I couldn't hear everything. I didn't want to entirely eavesdrop, but I could hear what they were talking about. A few minutes later, these two guys come in. It was like: Hey, are you taking the boat out today? No, I am not taking the boat out. I can't take my kids out. The gas is too expensive. It is crazy to fill it up. It is twice what it used to be for the boat--x, y, and z. A few minutes later, someone else came by who was talking about the reports on the news. We have a massive migration crisis which impacts the whole country, not just the land border. But we had this weekend, I think, six or eight Border Patrol engagements in the Florida Keys, people getting on rafts and leaving and coming there--maybe two more today. And it struck me as I am sitting there--and I have been reminded of this every time I go home, but it really struck me before I came here today that we like to talk a lot about how divided politics is in America. And it is. It is very polarized. But I think we make a huge mistake when we think it is as simple as what normal political divisions are in this country, which is between Republicans and Democrats or between the left and the right. The polarization in American politics, the division--the sharpest division in American politics today--is between the priorities of millions and millions of people who live paycheck to paycheck, the working-class heroes of our country that we have always bragged about, have always looked up to, that we all recognize make us different than the rest of the world--between the things that matter to them and what the people that run this place--and I don't just mean the Senate but the Federal Government and politics in general--are focused on. There is a universe of difference between the stuff we spend time voting on and talking about and arguing about in politics and in this place and what people are worried about on a daily basis. I know a lot of you think that everyone is glued to their TV and Twitter watching everything we are doing here tonight. They are not. They might know something is going on tonight--maybe--but most people are worried about their everyday life. What they expect is that we would be here--I don't know--working on the things that matter to them. I am telling you that what the people, by the millions, registered to both political parties--people who voted for Biden, people who voted for Trump--I am telling you, what they are worried about is the fact that the streets in many cities in this country have been turned over to criminals. We have got prosecutors funded by Soros who refuse to put people in jail. They won't do it. Entire categories of crime--they won't even prosecute them. Even in Florida, a State where we do prosecute people, if you go to a CVS or a Walgreens, everything is locked up behind that little plastic case because people just walk in and steal the stuff. It is a spirit of widespread, rampant criminality, and it is worse in other parts of the country. One of the reasons why people are leaving these other places--these were once beautiful, glorious cities. They are unlivable. That is what people are worried about. They are worried about becoming a victim of a crime because some animals are running loose terrorizing people and prosecutors won't do anything about it--not to mention that we spent 2 years demonizing police officers around here as well. That is what they are worried about. They are worried about the border. They really are worried about the border. I get it. Maybe now it is going to change because they are busing them to New York and here to Washington. But I get it. It is very easy, in the Upper West Side of New York or in the West Hollywood area, to not worry that much about immigration: We shouldn't have a border. Let's be nice. But the people whose hospitals are being overrun, whose schools are being overcrowded, whose communities are being strained are the communities that are taking this influx--7,000, 8,000 people a day. We are the only country on this planet that lets people just show up and say, ``Hey, I am here; I am staying''--the only one. Mexico doesn't allow you to do that. You can't do that to Mexico. You can't do that to Canada. You can't do that in Europe. But you can do it here. People know it. That is what they are worried about--a huge problem. And they are worried about the price of everything. People focus on gas. It is funny. The President said he couldn't control gas prices until they started going down a little. You know one of the reasons why it is going down? People are driving less. They are not going on vacation. They are not taking the boat out because it is expensive. Frankly, that is what they wanted. Do not be fooled. That is what they wanted. They were not unhappy about high gas prices. They were just upset that it happened a few months before an election. But the Democrats and the left were not unhappy about high gas prices because they don't want you to drive. They want everybody to take a bus or buy one of these $90,000 Chinese electric cars. That is what they want everybody to do. We will talk about that in a minute. They were not happy, but it is not just that. I don't know how many people here do their own groceries, but in my house we do. I am just telling you, it is twice what it used to be. I get it. My kids are growing, and they eat twice as much, too, but it is twice what it used to be--on everything, on everything. And that is just food. That is the other problem with inflation. People talk about inflation. The inflation that matters the most is the necessities, not the flat screen TVs, not the new car--the necessities. That is what is going up in price: housing, clothes, back-to-school supplies, food. All of that is through the roof--caused, by the way, partially by a bill, one of the first things they did in March: $1.9 trillion of Federal money--of your money, the people's money--poured right into the economy. We had a supply shortage, and we created more demand with all of that money. Anyway, that is what people are worried about: inflation, the crime, the border, the real-life stuff. What have we spent our time focused on and fighting around here? I can tell you. First, a fake--and I mean fake, completely fake--electoral rights crisis, election rights crisis--totally fake. We spent a lot of time on that. We spent a lot of time arguing about whether we were going to vote on a bill to make it easier to shoot police officers. We spent a lot of time around here talking about--in the Federal Government in general-- things like pregnant people, something that does not exist. In the 5,500 years of human history, every single pregnant person that has ever existed happened to be a woman, but we talk about pregnant people. We have a military that likes to put out tweets about the proper use of pronouns. We worry a lot about those things. We have focused a lot on those things. Do you know what China is focused on? Blowing up our aircraft carriers. Maybe we should worry more about that. This basically is Build Back--whatever the name--Build Back Better junior, just a little bit less--a lot of money but just less money. They might as well have voted for the one they had. I don't know why the Senators who kind of gave them their vote on this didn't just agree to the other one. This is just a smaller version of that. That is what this is. But, anyway, that is what we are focused on. So you can see, we are up here. We are going to vote late at night and into the morning, which is fine with me. I don't know if it is fine with everybody, but it is fine with me. But at least, if we are going to do that, let's be about the things that the people care about, that matter to the real people in the real world. It is not. Instead, here is what we are going to do. Here is what we are going to do. What we are going to spend time on is a $30 billion slush fund they call green loans. That is what it is, guys. It is a slush fund. It is for all these people who have companies that are in the green energy space. Those are their buddies. They are now going to be able to tap into this loan program. They have done this once before but not a $30 billion slush fund. We are going to spend $60 billion solving environmental racism. I don't even know what that is. I don't know if anybody knows what that is. Like when they say ``Latinx.'' I thought that was a band. I have never heard that word before in my life, and I don't know what environmental racism is. Nine billion on tax credits to help people that already have electric cars buy another electric car. Let me tell you guys something. You may not realize this. I get it, maybe, because the bubble around here is so thick. So let me tell you the truth. A lot of people who voted for you guys, as well, are not buying an electric car this year, next year, or the year after that for a lot of reasons: No. 1, charging stations. It is the common sense of everyday people. They are not doing it anytime in the near future. Maybe this will help them 30 years from now or their grandkids 30 years from now but not today. They are not buying an electric car because, even with your little rebate, it is still too much for them. They are lucky if they can get a new one with gas in it. They have got to buy a used car. That is another problem we have. We are going to help, though, with this $9 billion to help people buy tax credits--by the way, with a Chinese battery in it. Oh, yeah, you can't make those batteries without China--so, great for China. I imagine spending a bunch more money on solar panels that are also made in China. And, to kick it all off, thank God--this is a good one because I know a lot of people are worried about this--$1.5 billion to plant more trees-- whatever. And then, on top of all that, they are going to hire an army of IRS agents. This is the one that I love. They are going to go after the people who aren't paying enough on their taxes. Let me explain to you something. I don't like it. I don't necessarily think it is a good thing, but I am going to explain something to these people who don't understand this. These billionaires--who, by the way, fund all their campaigns, just got a huge break in this bill. It is very ironic that these billionaires, these corporations, these people have armies of lawyers and law firms and accountants. And I am telling you, they will fight these agents. So who do you think these agents are going to go after? Because fighting these corporations isn't easy, and you will eventually run out of billionaires to go after. They are going to go after small businesses. They are going to go after working people--maybe people who make $250,000 a year. We think that is a lot of money. In some places it is in this country. In some places, it is a good living. But you are not rich at $250,000 in some parts of this country. You are doing all right, no doubt about it, but you are not a billionaire. They are going to go after them. They are going to go after the people who cannot afford to hire an army of lawyers and accountants to fight off the IRS agents--thousands of IRS agents, not police officers to go after criminals; IRS agents to go after American taxpayers. That is who they are going to go after. I promise you--and I regret to say it--that a lot of hard-working people are going to be getting letters in the mail saying: Hey, we want to talk to you about your taxes from 5 years ago, from 3 years ago, because we think you might have messed up. And you don't have an army of lawyers. You are going to pay them whatever they say, even if you have to take out a credit line on your house, because you don't want trouble with the IRS. That is what this bill does. That is what this bill is. Everyone else is covered. And they cynically call it the Inflation Reduction Act. And let me tell you why they call it that. This is actually very sad and outrageous. They call it that because--I am telling you, and I hate to say it, but a lot of the people behind this kind of stuff, they see hard-working, everyday Americans as a bunch of uneducated simpletons who will just fall for this. And the media will help them. They know the media will help them--not all the media, but a lot of the reporters will help them, even though the reporters themselves keep calling this a climate bill because they are so giddy about that part of it. But they think the people are going to just fall for it. People are not going to fall for it. I don't care how smart you think you are and how uneducated you think they are. They have got something most people involved in our government have lost or maybe never had. It is called common sense, and they have the common sense of knowing that making it easier for people to buy, with a credit, an electric car in 3 years is not going to do anything for them. They are not buying an electric car anytime in the near future. You know what they want? They want gas prices to come down because America is producing more oil. That is what they would like. That is what they would like. They would like you to put criminals in jail and keep them there. They would like you to secure our border, just a little bit. Don't pretend that you are doing anything about it, because they know the truth. Guys, it is a scam. This very weekend, this very Friday--and I live in Miami. I don't read about this stuff in a magazine. I see it with my own eyes; I hear it with my own ears. I had this couple telling me the flat-out story. Their kids were already here because their kids were born here. Years ago, when they were here visiting, their kids were born here. U.S. citizens. Their kids are already here. This couple paid $5,000 each. They were driven to the border in a van. They were turned over to an agency right on the border who turned them over to the officers. They spent a day and a half in detention. Their papers were filled out. They were turned back over to the agency. The agency asked them: Where you would like to go? I would like to go to Miami. They gave them a ticket to go to Miami. They even gave them a little card to buy things before they got there. And now they are living in South Florida. And what do you think? You don't think they are going to call back home and tell people: Hey, we made it, and here is how we made it. And those are the people that can afford to buy the $5,000 each or save it. A lot of people can't. So they have to turn themselves over into the hands of these criminal, delinquent traffickers, evil persons who take advantage of these migrants. And they are coming because we are inviting them to come. This administration is inviting them to come. They are inviting them to come. When you tell people: Don't come. But if you do, you are going to get to stay, they are going to come. And that is what is happening. We are not focused on that. They get it. People back home get it. And you are not going to convince them that any of the stuff here is any good for them. And it is happening, frankly, because the modern Democratic Party-- listen, I live in South Florida. It is a majority Democratic county. I have had Democrat friends. I have worked with liberals my whole life. I have done a bunch bipartisan stuff. You are not bad people. But the modern Democratic Party does not care about working Americans. The only thing they care about is the agenda of a bunch of laptop liberals and Marxist misfits who threaten to burn down any city any time they don't get their way on some issues and a bunch of climate extremists. And that is what this bill reflects--at least two of those three. And that is what this bill does. That is the only people they cater to. That is what their issues are always about. And what they do is they put on the disguise of calling it the Inflation Reduction Act. But they can't even say it with a straight face. They really can't because they know it is not true. This bill has nothing to do with what real people in the real world are worried about every single day. And the ironies are so thick. I think about this carried interest loophole, as they call it. We have got prominent Members of the Democratic Party in the Senate who have made a career out of calling that basically an unfair and immoral benefit for hedge fund managers and greedy billionaires. They have made a career out of it. Yet today, they will vote on a bill that stripped out taking rid of that loophole. They will vote for it. They will vote for it. That is the irony embedded in all of this. So they will do their press conferences and speeches. They will be very impressed with themselves. The Twitter warriors are going to love it. The MSNBCs and the ``Meet the Presses'' are all going to say-- whoever, CNN, whatever--they are all going to be giddy about it. But for millions and millions of working Americans, nothing is going to change for them for the better. There isn't a single thing in this bill that helps working people lower the price of groceries or the price of gasoline or the price of housing or the price of clothes. There isn't a single thing in this bill that will keep criminals in jail. There isn't a single thing in this bill that is going to secure our border. And those happen to be the things that working people in this country care about. And the gap between the people who run this place and the people who are the backbone of this country is so massive, the disconnect so great, that the division that is driving our politics is reaching a boiling point, unfortunately. What makes this Nation different from all the countries in the world is our working class. Every nation has rich people. Every country in the world has wealthy people. What has made us different is that here, by the millions, people like my parents--a bartender and a maid--were able to own a home and raise a family and leave them better off than themselves. And they were never rich and they were never famous, and they lived the American dream because they retired with dignity. And with their own eyes, they saw their children have the opportunity to do the things they themselves never could do. That is what makes us different. Those are the people that are hurting. Those are the people that got wiped out in 2007 and 2008 when Wall Street created a crisis and when Wall Street got bailed out. Those are the people whose kids couldn't go to school because in some parts of this country, we shut school down for a year and a half, while the people shutting down the schools, their kids were going to private schools and had private tutors. And those are the people that are getting destroyed right now by this economy. And they are being ignored and disrespected and completely, completely obliterated by a bill that does absolutely nothing for them. And that is what your U.S. Senate will spend late into the night and early into the morning voting on. The disconnect is massive. And I can point to a lot of examples, but this has become exhibit A in that disconnect. I yield the floor.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I have a motion at the desk.

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading be dispensed with.

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I don't think I need to tell anybody here that our work is at its best when it is focused on what people care about. Let me tell you what people care about. They don't care as much about buying solar panels and electric cars as they do about not having to live in a community where violent crime is rampant and you have some crazy prosecutor who refuses to put people in jail, who refuses to prosecute entire categories of crime. People are worried about that, and rightfully so. And it is happening. We have these beautiful cities that were once world-class cities that have become unlivable all over this country because we have these lunatic prosecutors that have decided that there are entire categories of crime they will not prosecute. That is the kind of stuff we should be working on here tonight, all night long. If you want to spend all night working on something, work on that. Don't waste time on stuff that doesn't matter to real people working every single day who are not going to be driving an electric car next year or the year after that, but they might get mugged, but they might be a victim of a violent crime. So what this does is it sends it to the Judiciary Committee and asks them, in 3 days, come back with some ideas about how you can spend just a little bit of these billions of dollars that we are throwing away on this garbage--how we can spend a little bit of that money to put criminals in jail so Americans no longer have to live in fear in their communities.

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, do I have time remaining?

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I have a motion at the desk.

Mr. RUBIO. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, the only people who are capable of being pregnant are biological females; and, therefore, I think Federal pregnancy programs should be limited to biological females and that is what this would do.

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, a few minutes ago, I looked back across 5,500 years of human history. So far, every single pregnancy has been a biological female. Therefore, the only thing I am trying to do is make sure that the Federal law is clear that since every pregnancy that has ever existed has been in a biological female, that our Federal laws reflect that and pregnancy programs are available to the only people who are capable of getting pregnant--biological females. Very simple. I would accept a unanimous consent if they want to offer it, and we can move on and not waste any time.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be discharged from further consideration of S. 4394 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; further, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I regret that that is the case. I understand the argument and if I could explain a little further. Florida is identified with the citrus industry. People have long understood it. It is a big part of our State. Here is the best way to describe this to people. About 60 years ago, the FDA created a standard for what they consider pasteurized orange juice. For orange juice to be marked with a stamp that says ``pasteurized,'' no less than 10.5 percent of the weight of the juice has to be accounted for by soluble solids, such as naturally occurring sugar. So this is just an arbitrary number. By the way, the 10.5 percent of the weight has nothing to with the nutrition. It has nothing to with the safety. It has nothing to with the quality. They had to come up with a number to define the difference between orange juice and something that is not orange juice, and that was the number they came up with. So for decades, the citrus industry in Florida has been following that specification, and it hasn't been a problem. Then Florida was impacted by this thing called citrus greening, pests that came from Asia, particularly from China. What it has done is it has ravaged the trees. It ravaged the trees to the point where one of the impacts it has is that now the sugar content--you wouldn't notice it if you drink it or if you eat one, but the sugar content of the fruit that is now on the trees, because of the greening, often falls under the 10.5. Again, no one would know. It is not any less safe. It is not any less nutritious. It just falls under that number. Then, obviously, the hurricane we had in 2017 made those problems even worse when they suffered the loss of a bunch of trees. So now, to meet this arbitrary 10.5 percent threshold, the juice processors in Florida now have to blend in oranges and orange juice that have higher sugar content, and they usually have to import it from a foreign source. Again, there is no health benefit to doing that. In fact, you could probably argue that less sugar is probably better. You wouldn't taste the difference. You wouldn't know it. If I put two glasses of orange juice in front of you--one with the number they are asking for, which is 10 percent, and the other one with 10.5--you wouldn't notice the difference. So they have been asking the FDA to change the standard so they don't have to import a bunch of oranges from Brazil and mix it just to be able to hit the sugar content. If they can't do it, the only thing that changes is that the final product can't be marketed as ``Florida orange juice.'' That is really the challenge we are facing. We would love for this to go through the normal process. The problem is, by the time the FDA makes a decision on it, there may not be any growers left. Let me explain why that is a problem. These citrus growers sit on valuable land. Every developer in the State is trying to get their hands on that land. They would love to develop it into a mall, into an industrial park. We are facing those problems everywhere. Once you turn farmland into a commercial use, industrial use, a housing development, you never get it back. I have seen farms turned into commercial development; I have never seen a commercial development be turned back into a farm. Once we lose this land, we lose it forever. We lose it forever. So not only is it important to have it from a food security standpoint but from an environmental standpoint. Having something remain in agriculture, where the people who own it care deeply about the quality of the land and the water usage because it is key to their existence, is a better use of the land than turning it into an industrial park. But, eventually, these agriculture owners will have to do something. Some have been in the business for generations, but at some point, they cannot grow enough food to justify continuing in business. They have people offering millions and millions of dollars to buy their land from them. So this simple bill that I filed would provide certainty to the orange growers. By lowering the 10.5 content to 10.0--that is all it does, from 10.5 to 10.0--they will have some level of certainty that they will be able to continue in business. I regret that there is an objection here today. I understand the desire to follow the FDA process, but I just want to be clear. No one is arguing--who knows about this--that going from 10.5 to 10.0 has any safety issue or anything of that nature. It is literally an undetectable difference, but it would make a big difference for the citrus growers of Florida. If we are not going to do it this way, I hope we can get a hearing and get this passed. I am not sure if a couple of years from now, we are going to have a citrus industry. If we lose them or lose that land, we will never get it back. I yield the floor.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I would like to recognize the John F. Kennedy Space Center--KSC--for celebrating its 60th anniversary, which we observed on July 1, 2022. While the complex was not named after President Kennedy until November 29, 1963, it was on July 1 six decades ago that the launch operations center on Merritt Island, FL, was created. Since the Apollo program in 1968, every U.S. crewed orbital spaceflight has launched from the Kennedy Space Center property, making it the unambiguous leader in American spaceflight. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration--NASA--has carried out launch operations for its Apollo, Skylab, and space shuttle programs from Launch Complex 39, managed by KSC's personnel. For the past 60 years, millions of Americans have visited the area to watch astronauts slip the face of Earth and explore the final frontier. After the retirement of the Space Shuttle program in 2011, the Kennedy Space Center transformed from a government-focused launch base to a multi-user spaceport. Today, it provides a home to more than 90 private-sector partners and nearly 250 partnership agreements in support of different vehicles, systems, and launch providers, enabling a new era of space exploration. The Kennedy Space Center further contributes to our Nation's space program through the Exploration Ground Systems, as well as the Commercial Crew, Exploration Research and Technology, and Launch Services Programs. As NASA prepares for the launch of Artemis I at KSC, the center remains a cornerstone of Florida's economy by employing thousands of civil servants and government contractors throughout the State's Space Coast. I express my thanks and deepest gratitude to the many hard-working men and women at the Kennedy Space Center as they continue to advance American space exploration further into the 21st century.

Mr. RUBIO

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

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Madam President, this weekend will mark 6 years since 49 of our fellow Americans were killed in one of the deadliest attacks in our Nation's history. It was a tragic, despicable terrorist attack on the Hispanic and gay communities in Orlando. Each person killed was a son or daughter, brother or sister, mother or father, husband or wife. They were part of our families and communities. The assault on Pulse was an act of pure evil that was and remains the worst terror attack on U.S. soil since September 11, 2001. And it was inspired by the same ideology of hate. But ultimately, that hateful ideology failed to tear apart our community. June 12, 2016, is a day that I will never forget. The senseless, tragic loss of life will never dull with time, nor will the memory of how our communities came together in the days and weeks that followed. Pulse was a well-known nightclub in central Florida. It was part of the fabric of the local community, and that awful day struck a terrible blow. But the community awoke from the tragedy stronger and more united than it was before. The terrorist would have been horrified to see the First Baptist Church in Orlando--another pillar of the local community--opening its doors to the LGBT community, welcoming them and their families, and holding services there. The terrorist would have hated to see Floridians from all across the State bringing food and water to support victims, families, and first responders. There were unending lines to donate blood. There were memorial services around the State. There was a sense that there was something greater than any one person worth sacrificing for; there was a sense of community, fellowship, and solidarity. This is the America I know and love, and it is our country at its best. Sunday will be a day for reflection, for remembering those who lost their lives to an evil, hateful ideology. It will also be a day to acknowledge the tremendous impact their families and the survivors have had, not only on their community and State, but on our Nation. And while the fight against evil and hate continues, we can and should take inspiration from their strength.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I recognize and honor the life of Gus Machado, a long-time businessman and entrepreneur in Hialeah, FL, for his contributions to the south Florida community. Mr. Machado was born in Cuba and moved to the United States at the age of 15, where he founded a vehicle export business. When the U.S. and Cuba broke ties in 1960 as part of the Cold War, Mr. Machado remained in his new home of Miami and built three more businesses that sold General Motors vehicles to inhabitants of Puerto Rico. During the 1980s, he began selling Buicks and Fords as well, and he eventually became the No. 1 Ford dealer in Miami-Dade County. Mr. Machado's entrepreneurial legacy continues to employ and support the people of south Florida to this day. Moreover, he will be remembered for his charitable contributions, especially to St. Thomas University in Miami--where College of Business students study in the proudly named Gus Machado Building--as well as the American Cancer Society. Mr. Machado's story is an inspiring example of the American Dream and a testament to the contributions of Cuban immigrants to South Florida. I admire his hard work and his commitment to his community and know that Mr. Machado's efforts will bear fruit for years to come. I send my deepest sympathies and condolences to the entire Machado family.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, if there had been a recorded rollcall vote on the motion to instruct from Senator Menendez that moves that the managers on the part of the Senate at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the Senate amendment to the bill H.R. 4521 be instructed to contain provisions in section 73003 of the Senate amendment related to the establishment of an inspector general for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, I would have voted nay. If there had been a recorded rollcall vote on the motion to instruct from Senator Lujan that moves that the managers on the part of the Senate at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the Senate amendment to the bill H.R. 4521 be instructed to insist on provisions supporting the work of the Department of Energy, user facilities of the Department of Energy, and National Laboratories, including work in microelectronics and across the key technology focus areas, supporting the Department of Energy and its national laboratories, I would have voted nay.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Madam President, I call up my motion to instruct conferees, which is at the desk.

Mr. RUBIO. Madam President, this will not take long. I don't think anybody at this point is unaware that China steals the things that we in America innovate: our research, our ingenuity, our products, our secrets. They steal it. So we are about to spend tens of billions of dollars on research, and if we are going to do that, I think we should take steps to make sure that the tens of billions aren't also stolen. It doesn't make a lot of sense--and most people would agree--to spend all of this public money on research without enough protections to keep the Chinese from stealing it. So what this motion to instruct would do is it would ensure that the government undertakes a counterintelligence review to certify that the entities that are getting this public money--either through direct funding or through intellectual property developed as a result--have national security protections against the theft of American research and resources. What this would ensure is that there are protections in place to strengthen the bill's research funding accounting requirements in section 2307 and to ensure review of the funding for university technology centers. If this bill is to truly be the America COMPETES Act, we need to make sure that America's funding and grants and other taxpayer resources are not going to be stolen by our adversaries to beat us using our own money. I ask my colleagues to vote yes on the motion to instruct. Vote on Motion