John Thune

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Isakson), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran), the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski), the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Paul), the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Perdue), and the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Rounds). Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran) would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Isakson), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran), the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski), the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Paul), the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Perdue), and the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Rounds). Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran) would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. THUNE

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, 4G technology is pretty amazing. When I talk about 4G technology, that stands for fourth generation. On your smartphone, it might say LTE, but it is the fourth generation of technology that we have available to us on our wireless devices. We can FaceTime with family members across the country, order dinner or groceries without leaving our couches, watch a football game on the go with our phones, adjust the heat in our houses before we actually get home, carry around an entire library on a tablet the size of one small book, deposit a check without actually visiting the bank, and the list goes on. As amazing as 4G technology is, it can't hold a candle to 5G, or fifth generation technology. 5G mobile broadband technology will deliver speeds that will be up to 100 times faster than what today's technology can deliver. Think about that--downloads that will be 100 times faster than what we have today. It will be vastly more responsive than 4G technology. It will be able to connect 100 times the number of devices that can be connected with 4G. That is pretty hard to imagine, really. Our phones and computers today seem pretty fast and responsive, but 5G will be much, much faster. While that will make it even easier to do the things we do today, like check our email or stream our favorite shows, the biggest benefits of 5G will lie in the other technologies it will enable. For example, 5G will have the potential to pave the way for the widespread adoption of precision agriculture, which uses tools like robotics and remote monitoring to help farmers manage their fields and boost their crop yields. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that precision agriculture will reduce farmers' operational costs by up to $25 per acre and increase farmers' yields by up to 70 percent by the year 2050. 5G will pave the way for automated vehicles, which will have the potential to dramatically reduce traffic injuries and fatalities. There are 37,000 people lost every year on America's highways due to traffic accidents. Over 90 percent of those are as a result of human error-- driving while under the influence, driving while distracted. 5G technology and the enablement of automated vehicles will go a long way toward saving lives on America's highways. It will facilitate surgical innovations and new ways to treat chronic illnesses or heal injuries and so much more. The technology for 5G is already here. Several cities around the United States, including my hometown of Sioux Falls, have already unveiled limited 5G networks, but there is more work to do before we all can start to see the benefits of 5G on our phones. The widespread deployment of 5G will require two things: adequate spectrum and adequate infrastructure. While 4G relies on traditional cell phone towers, 5G technology will also require small antennas called small cells that can often be attached to existing infrastructure like utility poles or buildings. Earlier this year, I introduced legislation called the STREAMLINE Act to make it easier for companies to deploy these small cells so that we can get the infrastructure in place for 5G technology. I have also spent a lot of time focusing on securing adequate spectrum for 5G. Last year, the President signed into law my bipartisan bill called the MOBILE NOW Act. It was legislation that I introduced to help secure adequate spectrum and to facilitate next-generation infrastructure. Tomorrow, in my role as chairman of the Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation and the Internet, I will be chairing a hearing looking at the progress that has been made in implementing the MOBILE NOW Act. We have a great slate of witnesses testifying tomorrow, including Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken, who has driven the implementation of advanced mobile broadband technology in Sioux Falls, SD. The MOBILE NOW Act has helped us make progress toward the deployment of 5G, particularly in identifying licensed spectrum that can be used to support 5G deployment in more rural areas of the country. MOBILE NOW also recognized the critical role that unlicensed spectrum plays in the development of 5G and in the larger communications landscape. Wi-fi operating on unlicensed spectrum will have an increasing role as we continue to connect more devices in the 5G era. There is more work to be done, though. While we have made good progress on securing low- and high-band spectrum, China and South Korea are ahead of us in opening up mid-band spectrum for 5G. We don't want to lose out to China and South Korea on 5G, so we need to substantially increase the amount of mid-band spectrum available to U.S. companies. Senator Wicker and I recently introduced legislation to facilitate the rapid acquisition of mid-band spectrum. Our 5G Spectrum Act would bring a substantial amount of mid-band spectrum to market for U.S. companies ready to deploy robust 5G networks. In addition to fostering tremendous technological breakthroughs in everything from agriculture to energy, 5G has the potential to add $500 billion to the economy and to create literally millions of new jobs. But in order to achieve those economic benefits, we need to stay at the head of the 5G revolution. The United States lagged behind other countries in deploying 2G and 3G technology, which had real economic consequences. Europe, for example, took the lead in 2G and cornered most of the market in sales of networking equipment and telecom hardware. As 4G emerged, however, the U.S. wireless industry stepped forward, investing billions in 4G deployment. The government also took steps to support the wireless industry, freeing up spectrum and making it easier to deploy the necessary infrastructure. That is what we have to do again today. If we want to stay at the head of the race to 5G, the government needs to make sure that wireless companies have access to the necessary spectrum and the ability to efficiently deploy small cell infrastructure. We are right on the edge of the 5G revolution, and I am confident that the United States can lead the world in 5G, just like we did with 4G. We just need to take the last few steps to enable widespread 5G deployment. I look forward to talking with individuals on the frontlines of 5G deployment at the hearing tomorrow. I will continue to work with my colleagues to ensure that both the spectrum and the infrastructure are in place for 5G technology. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. Johnson), the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski), and the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Rounds). Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. Johnson) would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. Johnson), the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski), the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Rounds), and the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Tillis). Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. Johnson) would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Isakson), the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski), and the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Rounds). Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski) would have voted ``no.''

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. Johnson), the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski), and the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Rounds). Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. Johnson) would have voted ``yea.''

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

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Isakson), the Senator from Arkansas (Ms. Murkowski), and the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Rounds).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Isakson), the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski), and the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Rounds).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski) and the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Rounds).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Isakson), the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski), and the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Rounds).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Isakson), the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski), and the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Rounds).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Rounds) and the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Scott).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Rounds).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, when I learned that Johnny Isakson would be retiring at the end of the year, I was saddened. I served with Johnny for a long time, not just here in the Senate, where we were both freshmen Members in 2005, but in the House of Representatives as well, and I have been honored to call him my friend. It is really hard for me to imagine Congress without Johnny. He is, hands down, as I have said, the nicest person ever to serve in the U.S. Senate. He is a model of decency and graciousness and the kind of person who can fight hard every day for the principles that he believes in without ever developing any rancor toward his political opponents. He is not just kind and decent. He is also a tremendously effective legislator. He is deeply knowledgeable on a whole range of issues, and he possesses the gift of being able to explain complicated subjects in a very clear way. He gets things done. He doesn't stand around talking about things or playing to the cameras. He just rolls up his sleeves and gets to work, and he makes things happen. If there was a decency index and we were all rated on that decency index on a scale of 1 to 10, Johnny would be the perfect 10. Anybody who knows Johnny knows that he has a real passion for people and he has a real passion for veterans. I had the opportunity to work with Johnny on a couple of important issues. We served together on the Senate Finance Committee. Tax reform was something to which he brought tremendous knowledge and experience and know-how. He talked with great understanding about the complicated issues that we had to deal with when it came to reforming our Tax Code. His experience was invaluable as we did something that hadn't been done in over 30 years and reformed an outdated, archaic Tax Code that was keeping us noncompetitive in the global marketplace. In 2015, he became the chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, and he spent the past 5 years working tirelessly to increase accountability at the VA, to improve healthcare for veterans, and to strengthen veterans' benefits. Over the course of 2017 and 2018, the Veterans' Affairs Committee, under Johnny, passed 25 pieces of legislation, all of which were signed into law. One of those pieces of legislation was the VA MISSION Act, which was a bill that made significant reforms to the healthcare delivery system for veterans to ensure that veterans have access to the care that they need when they need it. My wife Kimberley and I have traveled with Johnny and Dianne a number of times over the years. One trip that will forever stand out for me is a trip we took led by Senator Burr to a number of World War I and World War II cemeteries in Europe--the Normandy American Cemetery, the Meuse- Argonne American Cemetery, and the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, as well as several others. We walked in battlefields where American soldiers fought and bled, and we visited the graves of young Americans who died on those fields. It was a profoundly moving trip, especially because we were able to visit the graves of soldiers from our home States of South Dakota and Georgia. While the trip would have been meaningful enough on its own, it was doubly so because Johnny cares so much about those issues. It meant so much to him to visit the places where American soldiers had served and died, to remember their sacrifices, and to honor their memory. I am going to miss working with Johnny. His retirement is a real loss for the institution, and I am not the only Senator who will miss his expertise and dedication, as well as his unfailing graciousness and good humor. The Senate is going to be a poorer place without him. There have been a lot of tributes to Johnny since he announced his decision to retire, and one that I came across that I thought really captured Johnny was published in a Georgia magazine. The author of the piece is a political science professor at Kennesaw State University, and this is what he said: As a political science professor and an administrator, I'm often asked by students if good people can serve in government and keep their integrity. Johnny Isakson is always the first example I come to. It's very often a shocking revelation to most people--that good people can, and often do, serve in government for long periods, fight hard for what they believe in, and remain true to themselves and their principles. And they don't have to sell their souls to do it. It's a great lesson, really. I remember being down in Georgia with Johnny a few years ago on the weekend of the Florida-Georgia football game, and we were at one of the celebrations. I remember being struck by how well known and how well liked Johnny was among the college students who were there. Nowadays, we often hear about young people being disillusioned with politics, but I have to tell you that these students weren't disillusioned with Johnny Isakson. I think that is because they recognized Johnny's character. They knew that Johnny was somebody who was truly, genuinely committed to making life better for the people of the State and for the people of this country. Here was somebody who had gotten into public service because he genuinely wanted to serve. Interestingly enough, on that trip we were near the coast of Florida or Georgia, and I had to get back to Macon, GA. My daughter was competing in a cross-country meet there. Johnny was kind enough--he was flying back to Atlanta--to take me on that plane and to drop me at Macon, GA, so I could watch my daughter compete. Interestingly enough, when he got on the plane to go back from Macon to Atlanta, they had engine trouble. They had to make an emergency landing. Johnny ended up, I think, having to drive or have somebody--a taxi or somebody--drive him 100 miles from Macon up to Atlanta and his home, but that is the kind of person that he is. He thought it was important for me to be there and to see my daughter compete, and he was always willing to go out of his way to make it possible for somebody to be able to participate in an event like that--a family event. That is what I think about when I think about his retirement. I am sad about his retirement, but I am happy that he is going to have a chance to spend more time with Dianne, with his family, his children, and his grandchildren. I have been lucky enough to get to know Dianne, as well as Johnny, over the years, and they are just the same--the warmest, kindest, most gracious, most genuine people you will ever meet. I know that after years of sharing him with the people of Georgia and the American people, Dianne and the rest of the family will enjoy having Johnny to themselves for awhile. After all, somebody has to babysit those eight beautiful grandchildren. The Senate is losing one of its finest Members, but he has more than earned his retirement. I wish him and Dianne the very best in retirement. I pray for God's blessing upon him, and let him know how much we are going to miss him. I yield the floor.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski) and the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Rounds). Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski) would have voted ``nay.''

Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the remaining votes in this series be 10 minutes each in length.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Isakson), the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski), and the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Rounds).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Isakson), the Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. Johnson), the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski), and the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Rounds). Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. Johnson) would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Blunt), the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Portman), the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Rounds), the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Scott), and the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Blunt), the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Graham), the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Portman), the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Rounds), the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Scott), and the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Cassidy).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I would like to comment on the Hong Kong legislation that we passed this week. Tuesday night, the Senate unanimously passed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, led by Senators Rubio and Cardin, Foreign Relations Chairman Risch, and Ranking Member Menendez, and a supporting cast of colleagues. This bill is intended to spur Hong Kong officials and pro-Beijing constituencies to protect Hong Kong's autonomy and its special relationship with the United States and to hold those committing human rights violations in Hong Kong accountable. It builds on the 1992 United States-Hong Kong Policy Act, which asserts that the United States has a ``strong interest in the continued vitality, prosperity, and stability of Hong Kong.'' I am grateful for the leadership of the Senators who worked to advance this bill. The issue at hand is Hong Kong's right to an independent judicial system and its unique status in a one-country, two-system construct. The bill that spurred the June protests in Hong Kong--a bill pushed by the communist Chinese central government that sought to impose extraditions from Hong Kong to mainland China--would have directly undercut this judicial independence. This bill has been withdrawn, but a number of other grievances have boiled over into protests. Hong Kong's autonomy is under attack, and China is posturing to ``mainlandize'' their economy. Recent educational reforms seek to undermine Hong Kong's culture and traditions through compulsory Mandarin classes instead of the Cantonese that most Hongkongers speak. The Chinese Government will say that westerners have the wrong impression of what is going on there, that this is strictly an internal matter. We beg to differ. There are more than 85,000 American citizens in Hong Kong. Moreover, the human rights of the people of Hong Kong are directly tied to U.S. interests in Hong Kong and Hong Kong's economic prosperity. China has threatened repercussions if the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act is enacted. I imagine China is fearful that attention to human rights abuses in Hong Kong will draw increased attention to other human rights abuses in China, such as the estimated 1.5 million Muslim Uighurs in forced detention in one of China's western provinces. Papers leaked this week from the government of the Communist Party and General Secretary Xi detail the coercive ``reeducation'' that goes on in these internment camps. Christians in China also face regular persecution and imprisonment for following their faith and living out their beliefs. The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act will help shed increased light on Beijing's aggression and on human rights abuses in Hong Kong. Last night, the House sent this Senate bill to the President's desk with a resounding 417-to-1 vote--a clear statement that Congress stands with Hong Kong.