Floor Statements

Mr. President, this week I received several requests from international advocate groups to speak out against the injustice that is taking place in other countries with regard to their judicial system. It is not unusual to get a request in the United States to speak out on those matters.

Journalists are in prison solely because they were doing investigative journalism, human rights activists are in prison just because they felt it was necessary to speak out about the injustice in their society, and there are people who have been arrested, harassed or tortured because they disagree with the government and the judicial system of that country is unable to deal with those types of issues.

They understand that one of America's core values is fairness, inclusion, and equal justice under the law; however, recent events have shown that in the United States we are not where we need to be in regard to our judicial system, and we must do more.

Shortly after the tragic death of Trayvon Martin--an unarmed youth killed by an auxiliary police personnel--I convened a group of activists in Baltimore to try and understand what is happening in our community.

I must say that what I observed and learned during that discussion was something that should be very informative to all of us. It was an African-American audience, and they explained to me that if you have a teenaged son in the African-American community, you have to talk to that son about what they need to do in regard to their potential confrontation with police.

It was chilling for me to try to understand the fear that is in our community as to how they have to deal with law enforcement. Law enforcement should be on your side. Yet it sort of ripped me apart to understand how widespread the concern is in minority communities and the widespread number of victims of racial profiling in minority communities. So many families had an example.

There was one young woman who was there, and she told me when she was a young girl she was going to the arena to see a basketball game with her father. Her father was pulled over for no reason other than the color of his skin. He was pulled aside and unable to proceed to the basketball game. It had a huge impact on this young girl at the time and made her think: Is this America? Are these core values we believe in? Is this equal justice under the law?

One of the victims of racial profiling was a young lawyer who was returning home from a funeral he attended. He was stopped by the Maryland State Police solely because of the color of his skin--no other reason. He decided to do something about it. He brought a legal suit against the Maryland State Police Department--Wilkins v. State of Maryland. As a result of that lawsuit, a consent order was entered into where the Maryland State Police committed to stop racial profiling. There were certain practices that had to be established, certain checks that had to be done, certain data that had to be provided, and I believe it became the model example of what law enforcement needs to do to ensure it is not using racial profiling.

I mentioned that case because Robert Wilkins, the young lawyer who brought that case, has been confirmed by the Senate and now sits on the DC Court of Appeals--one of the confirmations we were able to complete in this term of Congress. He is an excellent member of the Court of Appeals for the District.

We get constant reminders of the problems we have in our criminal justice system; for example, the tragic death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO. I am a strong supporter of the independence of our judicial branch of government and the grand jury system, but I think all of us understand the frustration when there were no criminal indictments brought in the Trayvon Martin case, the Michael Brown case, and in the most recent case with Eric Garner. He was the unarmed individual who was choked to death in New York.

Unfortunately, there are many more examples where the criminal justice system does not appear to work for equal justice for all.

In Oakland, CA, the NAACP reported that out of the 45 officers involved in

shootings in the city between 2004 and 2008, 37 of those shot were Black, none were White, one-third of the shootings resulted in fatalities, and although weapons were not found in 40 percent of the cases, no officers were charged. No wonder people are losing confidence that we truly do have a system where all of our citizens are treated equally under the law.

I have to point out that the Department of Justice is investigating the circumstances in the Ferguson and Michael Brown case. We will have to wait and see what happens with the Federal investigation, but the initial suspicions in many of these cases were solely because of the color of a person's skin, and that is why the individuals were stopped. They were not stopped because they were observed in criminal activities or because they had specific information about a crime that fit the description of the individual who was stopped. That is profiling and profiling is wrong.

Profiling is when the police target an individual, start an investigation, and do something because of race, religion or national origin. That is wrong. It does not work. If you have specific information about a crime, obviously you can use identifiers to deal with the investigation, and that is appropriate. But if you don't have specific information, then it is profiling, and profiling is just plain wrong. It is un-American. It is not what we believe in. It is not in our core values. It is a waste of resources because it doesn't help solve a problem. It turns communities against law enforcement, and we need communities working with law enforcement if we are going to have the most efficient law enforcement. As we have seen too frequently in recent years in the United States, it can be deadly. Profiling must end.

The Attorney General issued some guidance on profiling today. There were some things in there that I found helpful. For the first time the Justice Department guidelines will cover new categories, such as national origin, gender, gender identity, religion, and sexual orientation, while closing certain loopholes and narrowing some exemptions.

The guide mandates new data collection which makes it easier to track profiling complaints. It is all positive. For the first time we have specific guidelines against profiling, but it only applies to the Federal agencies. We need to act because only we can make it apply not just at the Federal level but at the State and local auxiliaries. We can close all loopholes so we do not allow profiling to take place in America, as we should, and we can give a private right of action so we can have enforcement of the laws that we pass. That is what we should do.

I have introduced legislation that does exactly that--The End Racial Profiling Act, S. 1038. I am proud to have as cosponsors Senators Reid, Durbin, Blumenthal, Coons, Harkin, Menendez, Stabenow, Levin, Mikulski, Warren, Boxer Gillibrand, Hirono, Wyden, Murphy, and Whitehouse.

I am proud to say that in the House of Representatives the lead sponsor is John Conyers, who has been an iconic figure in the fight for civil rights, H.R. 2851. There are 59 cosponsors on the House bill.

The legislation we authored would provide training and mentoring for police departments so they have what they need. It prohibits all forms of profiling. It provides for data collection. It provides grants to develop best practices. It has broad support, including the support of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, ACLU, NAACP, and the Rights Working Group.

America is a beacon of hope for people all around the world. They embrace our core values because they know what America stands for. It stands for every one of us being treated fairly under our laws. I am proud of our values, and I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish as a nation where we can enjoy religious freedom, where people can speak out however they want to about their government.

Let us take care of business first at home and recognize that we are not where we need to be. Recent events where people have lost their lives show how our system is not working and needs to be corrected. One thing we can do is pass the End Racial Profiling Act. As Senator Kennedy said, civil rights is the great unfinished business of America. We can end profiling by passing legislation.

I encourage my colleagues to work with me so we can end profiling and move one step closer to equal justice under the law for all Americans.

With that, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, for 65 years the Voice of America Ukrainian Service has been a vital source of comprehensive and unbiased information for the Ukrainian people.

During the Cold War, VOA's uncensored, truthful reporting of the news was a beacon of freedom for Ukrainians dominated by Soviet rule. Through VOA and broadcasts by other media outlets such as Radio Liberty, information-starved Ukrainians not only learned about life in the United States and the outside world but also about developments within Ukraine itself.

From VOA, Ukrainians discovered government-sponsored human rights violations taking place throughout the Soviet Union. They became aware of the many courageous Ukrainian human rights activists, including members of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group, who languished in Soviet prisons for daring to call upon the Soviet Government to abide by its Helsinki Final Act commitments. And when disaster struck at Chernobyl, Ukrainians looked to VOA to provide the objective information that the Soviet Government stubbornly refused to share.

Since Ukraine regained its independence in 1991, VOA's Ukrainian Service has been able to reach more Ukrainian citizens than ever before. Its daily news program ``Chas-Time'' is seen nightly on Ukraine's respected Channel 5, and its reporting is often featured on other major Ukrainian television channels.

VOA's audience has exploded in the year since the Maidan Revolution for Dignity and Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and aggression in the southeast.

Thanks to its focus on developments in the United States and U.S.- Ukrainian relations, VOA's Ukrainian Service has been instrumental in bringing home to millions of Ukrainians U.S. policy, as well as the perspectives and activities of the Executive Branch, Congress, and NGOs with respect to Ukraine.

Ukraine confronts profound external and internal challenges in its quest for an independent, democratic, European future. As Chairman of the Helsinki Commission, I commend the ongoing and accelerating role of VOA's Ukrainian service, especially during this historic time.

Mr. President, the Beatles' song ``Penny Lane'' opens with lyrics about ``a barber showing photographs/Of every head he's had the pleasure to know/And all the people that come and go/Stop and say hello.'' They could have been describing my barber for over 30 years, Simon Vincent Avara, or ``Cy,'' as he was known to everyone. Cy passed away this Saturday at the age of 81. I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to a good friend and amazing man.

One might say that Cy Avara was born to be a barber. His parents Vincent and Mary were working class Italian-Americans. His father was a barber but was killed in a car accident when Cy was just 14. That did not deter Cy from following in his father's footsteps, however. He found an opportunity apprenticing for another West Baltimore barber and by the time he was just 16, he passed the examination to receive his master license. He was one of the youngest barbers in Maryland. While he was still 16, with just one year of high school under his belt, he opened his own barbershop with used equipment in a former funeral parlor. He charged 60 cents for a man's haircut and 40 cents for children.

A short time later, in 1953, Cy was drafted into the U.S. Army and honorably served our Nation in the Korean War. When he returned to civilian life, he attended cosmetology school--the

Baltimore Studio of Hair--to improve his skills when it came to cutting women's hair. As much as he enjoyed cutting and styling hair, however, his greatest satisfaction came from teaching others the same skill and giving people the chance to have a career and support themselves and their families. So Cy opened his own school in 1960, the Avara International Academy of Hair Design and Technology, in his southwest Baltimore neighborhood. That same year--when he was just 26--he also became a member of the Maryland State Board of Barber Examiners. A few years later, he became the youngest person ever elected to be national president of the Barber Examiners. He also served as secretary- treasurer of all union-affiliated barber schools in America and was president and founder of the Maryland Hair Designer's Association. In 1970, Cy opened his second barber school, Avara's Academy Of Hair Design, in Dundalk, MD. The two schools have trained well over 2,000 barber/stylists. In 2011, Cy was inducted into the National Barber Museum and Hall of Fame.

These accolades alone indicate that Cy lived a very successful life. But there was so much more to Cy. As a child, Cy was raised by his parents to appreciate his blessings and to help others who were less fortunate. For instance, his father gave haircuts to people who wanted to make a good impression so they could get a job; his mother provided food to those in need in their neighborhood. Cy never forgot these lessons in generosity. Starting in the mid-1960s, he became involved with St. Vincent's Center for Abused Children. Since then, once every month, he sent his barber students to St. Vincent's Center to cut the children's hair. He has also been a major contributor to the Ed Block Courage Award Foundation, which was started by one of his former barber students, Sam Lamantia, to honor professional football players who have overcome adversity and contributed to the betterment of their community. In the mid-1970s, Cy established a training program at the Maryland Correctional Institution in Hagerstown under the supervision of a master barber which helped students at the Institution receive credit toward the 1,200 hours required to obtain a license so that once they were released, they would have the opportunity to continue their training and obtain a job in the barber industry. Cy also travelled to Annapolis frequently to lobby on behalf of the integrity of the barber and cosmetology industry.

Cy was such an effective advocate for the industry that some of his children have followed in his footsteps. He saw his profession as a rewarding career opportunity for individuals from all walks of life. The important thing is to like people and to want to work hard. That is a pretty good description of Cy: he worked hard and he liked people, and made us feel welcome in his shop. But it was not hard work to him; it was his passion. He was extraordinarily skilled at his job.

I may have a little bit less hair than I did when I first started going to Cy, but I am going to miss my friend who served his country, community, and family with such devotion. I am going to miss the special banter that may only occur between a barber and his long-time customers. I will take solace in the fact that there are literally thousands of barbers and stylists who were trained at one of Cy's schools and are carrying on the tradition he inherited from his father. On behalf of the entire Senate, I would like to extend my condolences to his wife, Rita T. Avara; his sons, Michael, Thomas, and Lawrence; his daughter, Susan Avara Watson; his sister, Carmelita Silanskas; his eight grandchildren, Lauren, Michele, Rachael, Joshua, Victoria, Jaclyn, Christopher, and Elise; and all the other family and friends of Cy Avara too numerous to mention.

Mr. President, I wish to recognize an outstanding public servant of Western Maryland, Al Feldstein, who will be retiring at the end of this year after 42 years of public service. As Appalachian Regional Commission, ARC, State Program Manager for Maryland, Al has played a critical role in the success of countless projects and initiatives aimed at advancing economic progress and improving the lives of the residents of Maryland's three Appalachian counties. His passion for his community is boundless, and his careful stewardship of public resources has consistently set a high standard to which we can--and should--all aspire.

An exemplary leader in public service, Al's positions as grants administrator with Tri-County Council for Western Maryland and ARC State program manager at the Maryland Department of Planning enabled him to realize the importance of investing in Federal, State, private, and local economic development projects. He was committed to creating conditions for economic growth, many of which strengthened parts of the Appalachian region by constructing and improving basic public infrastructure.

Under Al's leadership, several rural counties in Western Maryland have benefited from carefully targeted ARC investments in economic development--including the financing of high-speed telecommunications infrastructure to increase local and regional connectivity and affordability. These accomplishments have leveraged far greater support for workforce development and job creation in a region that continues to battle economic distress, high unemployment rates, and severe educational disparities.

ARC's regional development roles--as advocate, knowledge builder, partner, investor, and catalyst--underlie the commission's strategy to invest in people, basic infrastructures, and job creation and retention. ARC helps create economic opportunities by making its funds available for seed capital, gap funding, and investments in innovative programs. Although the Appalachian region has not fully achieved socioeconomic party with the rest of the Nation, greater involvement in the region--not only through funding but also public service like Al's--will continue to help Appalachia's communities take advantage of emerging economic opportunities and diversification.

Knowing that accomplishing the four goals of ARC's strategic plan requires intense collaboration and civic engagement, Al was steadfast in working to achieve these objectives: to increase job opportunities and per capita income, strengthen the capacity of Appalachia's citizens to compete in the

global economy, improve the region's infrastructure, and build the Appalachian Development Highway System.

In working to make the region more economically competitive, ARC's model of development, based on community support, creates sustainable, lifelong solutions that likewise stress the value of service at all levels. The hundreds of annual projects funded by ARC, all of which address one or more of the strategic plan's goals, further demonstrate the intrinsic significance of public service and its vital role in planning for a better future.

ARC approves funding for more than 400 projects annually throughout the 13-State region, including both highway projects and access road projects. The projects have invested funding and resources in a range of sectors that directly impact economic development in the Appalachian region, including child development, community infrastructure, transportation, arts and culture, career and technical education.

Maryland's projects have included the formation of Allegany County Connect 2 Compete, created to boost educational achievement and attainment, and increasing health-care access through Allegany County Public Health Accreditation. Another federally funded program in Maryland, HRDC Head Start Facility, provides services to low-income families with small children, promoting school readiness, health, and parent involvement in an educational environment. In Frostburg, a project called Frostburg Grows: Grow it Local Greenhouse involves conversion of unused mined land into an innovative five-acre greenhouse and shade house complex, designed to create additional job opportunities, reduce food insecurity, and provide local and healthy food to the residents of Western Maryland.

As Hillary Clinton once remarked, ``Aid chases need; investment chases opportunity.'' Al internalized this message, focusing on the implementation and improvement of reforms to foster, protect, and fully benefit the lives of Marylanders. This dedication to public service helped define and differentiate the various communities he served, and illustrates the many, varied possibilities of public service--not limited to elected office. Serving on scores of local, State, and national committees only cemented Al's involvement in civic life.

While Al championed community involvement and public service, ARC's structure also ensures an active Federal-State-local partnership rooted in cooperation. One of ARC's guiding principles is to support inclusive local decisionmaking, and to cultivate a collaborative problem-solving culture in which community achievements are made possible through collective efforts and investments. ARC's development of new strategic plans relies heavily on obtaining citizen input on high-priority regional issues, promoting homegrown solutions. ARC awards program grants to State and local agencies, governmental entities, local governing boards, and nonprofit organizations: targeting the region's specific needs, and executing plans that reinforce the necessity of teamwork and commitment.

Al, too, recognized the fundamental importance of working together to strengthen the capacity of interdependent elements: individual leaders, organizations, and the community as a whole. Working in tandem, broad- based leadership structures and institutions not only spur change but also encourage the establishment of new business and economic opportunities that can strengthen a community while diversifying its base.

Just as ARC's strategy creates a framework for building on past accomplishments to help move Appalachia forward, so, too, did Al bridge his vision of the rich, fruitful past with his present--capitalizing on existing assets and acknowledging the importance of public service in improving communities. I ask my colleagues to join me today in recognizing the contributions Al made to the State of Maryland and to our Nation.

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

Mr. President, this is a bittersweet moment for me, because Maj. David Wilson, who has served in my office in an exemplary way in the Air Force Fellowship Program, will be leaving my office this week. He has been there for the past year. He has been an incredibly valuable member of my staff.

I would like to encourage my colleagues to join me in thanking my military fellow for his exemplary service to the Senate and to wish him well in his next endeavor at the Pentagon. Maj. David Wilson has dedicated his life to serving our Nation. David was commissioned by the U.S. Air Force in 2002 as a graduate of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps at Texas Tech University.

David has served in Texas, Montana, and Germany and has been deployed to Kuwait, Cuba, and Liberia. He has served the Air Force in a wide range of missions, from personnel and readiness to executive officer and deployed squadron commander. While on Active Duty, David has earned a master's degree in international relations.

Major Wilson joined my office as part of the Air Force Legislative Fellowship Program. I know my colleagues familiar with that program know how valuable it is. It is a year-long program that offers those in the military an opportunity to learn about the legislative process firsthand. But for me he has been an additional valuable member of my staff who has advised me on defense issues. He has been very helpful on so many issues.

My staff and I will truly miss Major Wilson. David hit the ground running. When he joined the office, he started contributing immediately. He is personable, hard-working, and enthusiastic. He has been a key member of the staff, providing me with concise, straightforward guidance on some of our most sensitive defense-related legislative issues. He has advised me on issues ranging from how to best address claims backlogs and other problems at the Veterans' Administration to military strategies against Islamic State terrorists.

I know the Presiding Officer joins me in knowing the complications and concerns we get from our veterans community, particularly on delays in getting claims heard. I thank Major Wilson for helping us to understand how we could better serve our veterans in this country.

David has drafted innovative legislation to improve the recruitment of our Guard and Reserve Forces, which I hope to introduce soon. David has worked extremely hard to ensure that Maryland veterans have adequate and timely access to the services they need.

I think our Nation's greatest resource is its young people, especially those who have joined our All-Volunteer Force to defend our country and our way of life. Many times we take the opportunity to thank those who wear the uniform of our Nation for defending our principles. We think about what is happening around the world and recognize that in the United States we can pray to the God we want without fear of intimidation. In other parts of the world they would cut your head off for that.

We can express our opposition to government peacefully. We can have an election where the outcomes are in the hands of the voters, and we celebrate that. In other countries they lock up people for dreaming that. Our military makes sure we preserve those freedoms.

The Air Force should be proud of the extraordinary talent they have in Maj. David Wilson. My staff and I still refer to David as ``Major,'' but in fact he has been selected to the rank of lieutenant colonel 2 years below the promotion zone, which is quite an accomplishment. Fewer than 1 percent of the officers up for promotion get promoted 2 years early. So this is a rare accomplishment. It is not surprising in this instance, given David's drive, ambition, and talent.

I urge my colleagues to join me in congratulating Major Wilson on his graduation and thanking him for his service to our country. I also wish to take this opportunity to thank David's wife Susan and daughter Ella for sharing him with the Senate. We have been enriched by his presence. I know of the late hours he has worked and the sacrifices he has made to his family.

Millennium Development Goals

Mr. President, I was pleased to be appointed by the President to be one of the two Senate representatives to the United Nations for the 69th United Nations General Assembly Session. Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin is the other member. The two of us have visited New York together. We have talked about how we can best represent the legislative branch of government at the U.S. Mission in New York to further the objectives the United States has within the United Nations.

Just recently I visited New York. I had a chance to meet with Helen Clark, who is the U.N. Development Program Director, the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, a person who is instrumentally involved in dealing with the development programs within the United Nations.

I mention that because we are now at the conclusion of the 2000 Millennium Development Goals. I want to mention that for a moment because our goals were to reduce poverty, increase the stability of governments. As the Presiding Officer knows, yes, these are core U.S. principles. The Presiding Officer has been very active in Africa, has done an incredible job in Africa in pointing out the need for reducing poverty and increasing stability.

These are our core principles. That is why we do it, our humanitarian goals--yes, absolutely, our participation. But it is also important for our national security goals. Because if we have nations that are prosperous, that include their people in the prosperity of their nation, have good governance, it is going to be a more stable government and it will help us have partners whom we can rely on to help us deal with world stability, rather than have to call upon our military to restore order.

This helps us reduce our need for conflicts around the world. So the U.N. programs dealing with the Millennium Development Goals were well received when they were conceived a decade ago. There are eight specific goals. What is interesting about the eight specific goals is they had specific, achievable objectives to achieve by 2015.

It was basically to reduce poverty and disease by next year, cutting in half the number of undernourished individuals on this planet to deal with child mortality and maternal health. It was interesting that we recognized last decade that we could deal with some simple issues, such as dealing with infection at birth, dealing with nutrition, dealing with how we deal with an infant being able to breathe properly through simple devices and that we could significantly reduce infant mortality and we could significantly improve maternal health.

So we set those goals. We set the goals of improving primary education because we knew education was an opportunity for children to be able to succeed. Gender equity and equality was a huge issue. Secretary Clinton, when she was Secretary of State, was our leader on this issue globally.

Combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases. The United States took a leadership role in the PEPFAR Program that made a consequential difference in dealing with the spread of HIV/AIDS. Environmental sustainability was one of our Millennium Development Goals because we recognized that to be perhaps the greatest challenge on how we are going to deal with the sustainability of our environment with the challenges of global climate change.

We also recognized that we needed global partners for development. These are all part of the Millennium Development Goals. We recognized these are not just goals of each nation working together within the United Nations to achieve, but it also involves private foundations. It involves international organizations, NGOs, all working together in order to achieve these objectives.

Guess what. Now that we are reaching that plateau in 2015, we can look back and say we accomplished a great deal for this planet, a 15- percent reduction in extreme poverty since the Millennium Development Goals were established. That is an incredible accomplishment. We now have safe drinking water in so many parts of the world that did not have safe drinking water when these goals were developed.

Gender disparity in education has been dramatically reduced. It has been estimated that since the Millennium Development Goals were established, we have saved--100 million babies have survived who would otherwise not survive. That is an incredible accomplishment we have been able to achieve since the development of these goals.

Yes, there is much more that needs to be done. Every year about 6 million babies die needlessly at birth. We can do much better and save more children. The Ebola crisis in West Africa teaches us that we still need to deal with basic health services. In so many countries in the world the spread of Ebola was because they were not prepared to deal with basic health care needs. They could have dramatically reduced the spread of the Ebola virus.

We still have, unfortunately, widespread corruption affecting our Millennium Development Goals in countries around the world. Quite frankly, we cannot accomplish what we want in a country--that is, get their agriculture sustainable, develop the health clinics they need, deal with the gender equity--if they have corrupt government.

So dealing with the issue of good governance is clearly an area we need to improve. We are now talking about the post-2015 development goals, Millennium Development Goals. The United Nations is working on that. Helen Clark, whom I talked to, is working on that. They have some working documents in which they are prepared to come together, as they did for the original Millennium Development Goals, which offer again additional opportunities.

We need to build on what we have done and make sure we have achievable goals. I want to mention a couple of areas that I hope will be included in the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals. First, we need to deal with the realities of the current threats we have. The Ebola crisis points that out.

It is interesting that Nigeria had a few cases of Ebola, but they were able to eradicate it. One of the reasons they were able to eradicate it is because they had a health clinic set up from the PEPFAR money that was made available through what we did with HIV/AIDS. The point is this: Let's use this opportunity, this crisis of Ebola, to make sure we have basic health care services in all our countries so we do not have another Ebola-type crisis in the future. That should be clearly one of our development goals.

Let's deal with good governance by having anticorruption guidelines. In my work as Chair of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, we have workable ways we can deal with corruption in countries and how we can fight corruption. Our trade negotiators right now are dealing with countries that are developing countries in the Trans-Pacific Partnership and are looking at how we can improve good governance in countries through trade legislation. We can be the leader in dealing with good governance and anticorruption issues. It should be a Millennium Development Goal post-2015.

We need to have specific targets in educating boys and girls on health access and food security, climate change, good governance. The United States can be a leader. I do want to point out--and the Presiding Officer is very much aware of this--we have taken steps, this administration and this Congress, to pave the way for the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals. For example, we have the Feed the Future Initiative, where we help small farmers, particularly women, in dealing with sustainable agricultural products.

We do not just give food to the poor, we are looking at changing the economics within the country so they can have sustainable agriculture. The Global Development Lab that Administrator Shaw has proposed, again the Presiding Officer is one of the leaders on that. But here what we are doing is we are taking the USAID development assistance dollars and we are leveraging it with work already being done by our academic centers in America that are active internationally.

I am proud of the work Johns Hopkins does globally. I am sure many Members of the Senate know of the great work done by their academic centers with private companies. Why private companies? Because they get markets. They are interested in working with us to help sustainable economic progress in other countries, which helps us and allows our development assistance to be leveraged and to go further.

We need to be a leader in the post-2015 goals for millennium development within the United Nations.

I wish to underscore this last point. We need to do this because that is who we are--our values. Our values are humanitarian. We believe we have a responsibility to help, and that includes globally. But we do it because our national security also depends upon it.

We really understand that our national security is more than our soldiers and our weapons. It is very important to those who serve in our military. But our diplomacy, development assistance, and having stable governments globally help us become a more stable society and help us with our own national security.

I urge my colleagues to be involved with us. I look forward to working with Senator Johnson at the United Nations as we pursue many different missions. I hope one that we will pursue is the continuation of Millennium Development Goals post-2015 to continue to make progress in reducing world poverty and hunger.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the time in quorum calls be equally divided between the Democrats and the Republicans.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

I ask unanimous consent all time be yielded back.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that floor privileges be granted to Maj. David Wilson, a U.S. Air Force officer who is currently serving as a defense legislative follow in my office for the duration of today's session of the Senate.

I yield back all remaining time.

Mr. President, I wish to congratulate Mr. Timothy J. Adams, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Systems Application & Technologies, Inc., SA-TECH, and all SA-TECH employees on the firm's 25th anniversary. Since 1994, SA-TECH has been based in Maryland and has grown to be one of the largest privately held, minority-owned businesses in the Nation. Mr. Adams and each of the more than 400 full-time employees at SA-TECH deserve recognition for their valuable contributions supporting Department of Defense missions and the Maryland community.

Twenty-five years ago, Mr. Adams founded SA-TECH in Oxnard, CA and then moved the headquarters to Largo, MD in 1994. SA-TECH's services originally focused on the high technology and technical support domain for the Department of Defense, but have since evolved into other areas including program management, operations & maintenance, security, and logistics support services. The company has grown from two employees at one California location to more than 400 full time employees in more than 20 domestic and international locations. SA-TECH is an example of a successful minority-owned business and has been rightfully recognized as one of Maryland's Top 50 Diversity Owned Businesses and a Top 100 Black Enterprise Industrial/Services Black Businesses in the Nation, and has received many other recognitions including the Prince George's Black Chamber of Commerce Exemplary Business Recognition Award.

Over the past few years, I have toured my home State on a ``Made in Maryland Tour'' to visit Maryland businesses and highlight the diverse products and services being produced in our great State. The tour is also designed to celebrate the hardworking Marylanders who make these products and provide the services, and the companies who provide those jobs in our local communities. One common thread running throughout all of these successful businesses has been the business and business leaders' willingness to give back to their local community. SA-TECH is no exception. Under Mr. Adam's leadership, SA-TECH has grown to be a true community partner, supporting Department of Defense facilities and the Maryland community at large. SA-TECH has worked with other partners to renovate the Maryland Room at Joint Base Andrews Malcolm Grow Medical Center for wounded servicemembers returning from deployment, build a Family Room at Joint Base Andrews' passenger terminal, and provide academic scholarships to the top graduates of the United States Air Force's Airman Leadership School for enlisted personnel. In Mr. Adams' personal life as the former Chairman of the Board of the Bowie State University Foundation, he worked with the board to increase the endowment of the student scholarship fund to surpass $5,000,000. These scholarships play a key role in retaining economically disadvantaged Bowie State students and ensuring that Bowie State maintains the highest retention rate among Maryland's Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

In closing, I am proud of this Maryland company, which provides good paying, full time work in service of our Nation's military mission and the Maryland community. I offer my best wishes for the continued success of SA-TECH, Mr. Adams, and all of SA-TECH's employees.

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

Mr. President, I know I express the sentiments and outrage of every Member of this body about the tragic events in Israel this past Tuesday where those in a synagogue were brutally slain. It was a shock to all of us--in a synagogue, in a place of worship, people there praying and studying, and their lives were brutally ended.

Let me just mention the victims. Rabbi Moshe Twersky, Rabbi Aryeh Kupinsky, Rabbi Kalman Levine, Avraham Goldberg, and Zidan Saif, a police officer.

I particularly want to mention Rabbi Kupinsky because there is a connection

here to Maryland. Three of the victims had U.S. citizenship. Rabbi Kupinsky is a cousin of a distinguished constituent, Judge Karen Friedman of Baltimore. So this affects all of us.

I know first and foremost our prayers are with the families and we express our deepest sympathy. I also express our resolve to eliminate such extremists and to work with the international community so there is no refuge anywhere in the world--anywhere in the civilized world-- for such extremists. Then I would hope we would all recognize and speak out for Israel's right, indeed its obligation, to defend its people from such brutal attacks.

The Baltimore Sun said this morning in its editorial there could be no excuse, no explanation, no reason or even plausible justification for the horrific attack on a Jerusalem synagogue Tuesday that left four Rabbis and an Israeli police officer dead.

I know we all believe in that statement. There is no justification for such actions. Yet Hamas--and again I would quote from the Sun paper--``Hamas, the militant [extremist] group that controls Gaza, hailed the attack in the synagogue as a blow against Israel's occupation. . . . ''

This just points out the difference between Hamas and Israel. I have been on the floor many times talking about Israel's legitimate right to defend itself and Hamas's desire to put innocent people in harm's way. It is our responsibility to speak out. If this event would have happened in the United States, I think we all know what the reaction would have been. So our resolve goes out to the people of Israel that we will stand by them and that we stand by their right to defend themselves.

This is in the backdrop of a rise of anti-Semitism. We have seen these violent attacks in Brussels and Toulouse earlier this year, a brutal slaying in Antwerp, Jewish schools and community centers and synagogues being targets of attacks, extremist parties gaining political support espousing anti-Semitism. We saw that in Hungary and other countries.

I want to mention once again the role this Congress plays in the Helsinki Commission. I have the honor of being the Chair of the Helsinki Commission during this Congress, and the Helsinki Commission implements the commitments we made almost 40 years ago--the Helsinki Final Act; the core principles of human rights and tolerance. Our bedrock principle is that in order to have a stable country you have to have a commitment to basic human rights, and it is not just your obligation but every country that is part of Helsinki, including the United States, that has the right to challenge any other country in its compliance with those basic human rights. We have made progress.

Ten years ago I was privileged to be part of the U.S. delegation in the Berlin conference. The Berlin conference was established to deal with the rise of anti-Semitism, and an action agenda came out of that conference 10 years ago. It put responsibility on us--political leaders--to speak out against anti-Semitic activities in our own country or anywhere in the world. It set up an action plan to deal with educating, and particularly dealing with Holocaust education, to deal with the Holocaust deniers. It dealt with police training because we understand a lot of criminal activities are hate crimes and the police need to be able to identify when hate crimes are taking place in their own community.

We decided to share best practices by providing technical help to countries to do better, and we established a special representative to deal with anti-Semitism. Rabbi Baker is currently that special representative. But we went further than that, we expanded it to all forms of intolerance--not just anti-Semitism but xenophobia, anti- Muslim activities--because we recognized that the same people who are extremists and who deny individuals because of their anti-Semitic acts would do the same against Muslims, would do the same against any people because of their race or ethnic background.

I was very pleased to see commemorated the 10th anniversary of the Berlin conference. There was a reconvening in Berlin--Berlin plus 10. Ambassador Powers, our Ambassador to the United Nations, led the U.S. delegation. She did a great job. I want to acknowledge that Wade Henderson, representing the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, also participated because there is unity here. It is not just the anti-Semitic activities, it is the intolerance we have seen grow too much in our world community today.

The concluding document said we need to increase our political and financial support for civil societies, and I agree with that. Transparency and supporting the NGOs, supporting civil societies, is critically important.

The bottom line is we must work together to root out all forms of anti-Semitism and all forms of intolerance. Let us work together to make all our communities safer by embracing diversity and recognizing basic human rights.

With that, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, I would like to say a few words of congratulations to these nominees and particularly to Judge Paige Marvel, a great Marylander, on her reappointment to the Tax Court.

As we know, the Tax Court serves a crucial role in this country's tax system. It is a highly specialized court that provides an important forum in which taxpayers can dispute determinations by the IRS. Tax Court judges have the difficult task of ably and fairly analyzing the highly technical legal issues that arise under our complex tax code.

At the close of Judge Marvel's first term on the U.S. Tax Court, I was a strong supporter of her reappointment, and I am an equally strong supporter of her confirmation. Judge Marvel has served on the court with distinction, and it is in the best interests of this country to keep someone with her integrity and expertise on the Tax Court bench. This integrity and expertise was also apparent prior to Judge Marvel's assumption of her current office. I worked extensively with her on a variety of issues when I served in the Maryland General Assembly in Annapolis.

My colleagues on the Finance Committee, including Chairman Wyden and Ranking Member Hatch, have worked hard and in a bipartisan manner to bring these nominations forward, for which I am grateful. And, I am extremely proud that a fellow Marylander has been nominated to continue the important work of fairly interpreting and applying our tax laws, which affect the lives of every American citizen and resident.

First, I thank Senator Boxer for her extraordinary effort on this issue.

Let me get this straight. This debate is about giving competitive advantage for the shipping of the dirtiest oil located in Canada through the United States for export. It is through the United States-- not through Canada. The environmental risks are in America, and it circumvents our regulatory review process and attempts to deny property owners the right to challenge the route in court.

The Keystone Pipeline is a shortcut to an existing pipeline network to export some of the world's dirtiest crude oil from Canada to other countries.

The current pipeline network could handle this, but the operators want a competitive advantage for the dirtiest oil by shortcutting the pipeline that currently exists.

There is very little benefit to the United States. Certainly, as has been pointed out, the oil is not destined for the United States.

There are few permanent jobs. It poses significant environmental risks. It eliminates appropriate executive review, tries to interfere with judicial review, and should be rejected by this body.

First, let me talk about tar sands--exporting tar sand crude from Alberta, Canada, to other countries, through the United States rather than through Canada. It could go through Canada, 700 miles west to the British Columbia coast. But the Canadians object. Why? Because they don't want the environmental risk in their country. They are asking the United States to do bear their burden. It is not for U.S. energy use. It is for the international market, and it poses significant environmental risk. We are talking about producing the dirtiest type of energy sources that we know.

In 2010 there was a tar sands crude oil spill in the Kalamazoo River in Michigan. The estimated cost of the cleanup associated with that spill is $1.2 billion. Spills happen. We are adding tremendous risk to our country.

This is against a backdrop we see here in the United States and globally where the price of oil is declining dramatically. Look at what we are paying at the pump for gasoline today. In the United States we have had a 70-percent increase in domestic oil production since President Obama took office. So we are getting all the oil that we need. We don't need to add the dirtiest oil in the world.

The United States is more energy independent today than we have been in decades. Why? Because we use less energy.

Let me give one example. Fuel economy standards in automobiles are up 25 percent since 2004. We are using less oil, less energy. We are developing alternative and renewable sources. Our future is in clean energy.

I am pleased we are having this debate on the floor of the Senate. We should be having a debate about developing additional sources of clean energy, which will help us be energy secure, add good-paying jobs, and be friendlier toward our environment.

One example is Tesla Motors--an American company, unlike TransCanada--which recently chose Reno, NV, as the site of a $5 billion ``gigafactory'' that could employ 6,500 workers on a permanent basis. Tesla hopes to complete construction of the facility by 2020. It will produce 50 gigawatt hours per year of lithium ion battery packs, more than the entire global production in 2013 and enough for 500,000 electric cars annually. Once the factory is in full operation, it could help lower the costs of battery packs by 30 percent in 2017 and by 50 percent in 2020.

Tesla expects to create 3,000 construction jobs, and that is important--construction jobs are important--and 6,500 permanent jobs upon completion, generating $100 billion in economic activity over the next 20 years.

So let's compare that to what Keystone is advertised to produce. They tell us that Keystone will provide 42,000 jobs, but what they don't tell us is that the number of direct construction jobs is 3,950 and that's just for one or two years. The rest of the jobs are indirect or ``induced''--that is, induced activities from people getting paychecks, spending them on groceries, et cetera, and that's only during the construction period. Permanent jobs are 50. Look at the ratios: Tesla is over 2-to-1, with regard to permanent jobs-to-construction jobs. Keystone is 50 permanent jobs to 3,950 construction jobs. The number of permanent is so insignificant that this pipeline does not generate economic progress in our country.

Why aren't we talking about the transportation bill? We want to talk about jobs? Yes, we will get construction jobs. Thank you, Senator Boxer, for your extraordinary leadership on that bill. If we had a long-term transportation bill, we would be helping the construction industry by creating a lot of construction jobs. And guess what? At the end of the day, we would have a modern transportation system that would promote economic growth in America. Let me just give you one of those projects as an example: the Purple Line in Montgomery and Prince George's Counties, MD. We want to get that done. It will not only create construction jobs--it will not only create permanent jobs, it will help people live longer because they won't be stuck in traffic. It will really help our economy grow. That is the type of debate we should be having.

Instead, we are talking about putting in a pipeline that poses incredible environmental risk not only to the United States but to our entire global community.

The Natural Resources Defense Council has shown how tar sand extraction methods are very dangerous to our environment and could release 11 million to 47 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent into our atmosphere.

It is done in a way that--I was listening to my colleague from Hawaii talk about it--that is destroying the Earth. They are in the process of destroying the Boreal forest, which acts as a carbon ``sink,'' while producing petroleum coke as well as tar sands crude. They are emitting carbon dioxide just to produce the tar sands crude; they are emitting greenhouse gases. Add transportation, refining, and consumption of the ultimate product, the tar sands, and it is the worst form of a carbon footprint that we could have in our environment.

The risks are real, including the danger to our environment from spills and come at a time when U.S. global leadership is so critical for action on climate change.

According to the 2014 National Climate Assessment, the reality of climate change is clear and apparent. I could give examples of the droughts in California, of the increased wildfires in the West, or extreme weather conditions caused by polar vortexes in all parts of our country. Our sea level is rising from Miami, FL, to my own State of Maryland, where 70 percent of the population lives in coastal areas. They are very concerned about what they are seeing as a result of the rising sea levels. So it is critically important to have U.S. leadership. This is what it is about--U.S. leadership.

President Obama demonstrated that leadership when he met with President Xi of China. The United States and China account for about one-third of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. I have heard on this floor many times: Why are we doing certain things if China doesn't do certain things? Well, guess what. China is responding to our leadership.

Congratulations to President Obama for getting commitments from President Xi that China will reduce its carbon footprint. Specifically, China pledged that non-fossil fuel sources will account for at least 20 percent of the country's energy use by 2030. That is U.S. leadership working with China to help lead the global community. Let us show even more leadership by rejecting the Keystone Pipeline.

Lastly, let me talk about process for a moment or two, if I might. The regulatory protections should not be circumvented by congressional action. State courts in Nebraska should not be circumvented by congressional action. We need to listen to the people from the region as they have expressed their concern about Keystone XL, and I quote from a person named Ben Gotschall from the organization, Bold Nebraska, which is part of the anti-pipeline coalition called the Cowboy-Indian Alliance:

The Cowboy Indian Alliance shows our cooperation and our

working together in mutual respect. That shared bond proves

that we pipeline fighters are not just a few angry landowners

holding out, or environmentalists pushing a narrow agenda. We

are people from all walks of life and include the people who

have been here the longest and know the land best.

We are talking about circumventing the regular order in order to have a narrow result that affects real people's lives. We can do better than that. We need to reject this ``pipeline by congressional action.'' Congress needs to act in a responsible way, and passing this bill is not doing that. This pipeline travels through the United States so that Canada can get its dirtiest oil into the international marketplace. Canadians don't want the pipeline in their country for good reason, because they know the environmental risks of the pipeline and tar sands development are unacceptable.

The energy will not have any major impact on the United States. It is for export. It is not for the United States.

Why are we doing this? There are very few permanent jobs involved here--fewer than 100. We already heard that. The risks to our environment--we have seen that. We have seen it happen before. We know what devastation tar sands oil spills can cause. We know what the cleanup cost are all about.

Why are we subjecting communities to this when they don't want it and the environmental risks are so great? Why are we calling into question U.S. leadership globally when we are able to get progress that we have been asking for, and that Chairman Boxer has been asking for, to get China to act? Why are we trampling on the appropriate role of the executive and judicial branches and local government by doing what we are attempting to do today?

I hope my colleagues will reject this bill. And I hope that we will work together for an energy policy that makes sense for America and that invests in clean energy, which will help our economy grow, help us be energy secure, and be friendly to our environment. With that, I yield back the remaining time to Senator Boxer.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on November 18, 2014, at 2:30 p.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on November 18, 2014, at 2:30 p.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight of the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on November 18, 2014, at 2:30 p.m., in room SD-215 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Tax Relief after a Disaster: How Individuals, Small Businesses, and Communities Recover.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that floor privileges be granted to Timothy A. Zink, a member of my legislative staff, during Senate consideration of S. 2280, the Keystone XL Pipeline approval bill.