Floor Statements

Madam President, I come to the floor today my heart heavy with a challenging task, which is to convey the remarkable, the special, the powerful spirit of a friend who passed 3 weeks ago in a tragic accident in India.

Matt Haley was a remarkable Delawarean. Matt Haley was a gifted and accomplished chef and entrepreneur. Matt Haley was someone who touched so many lives in my home State of Delaware.

In 2012 Matt won the Delaware Restaurant Association's Cornerstone Award, a lifetime achievement award recognizing restaurateurs who dedicate their lives to humanitarian efforts.

Matt owned eight different restaurants all across the beach region so well known to folks here in Washington. Matt owned restaurants in Rehoboth Beach, Lewes, Ocean View, Bethany Beach, Fenwick Island, and was involved in dozens of other business enterprises in other States.

In 2014 Matt had the best year he ever had in terms of the reach and scope of his potential and his vision and his recognition by his profession. He won the National Restaurant Association Cornerstone Humanitarian Award. I was thrilled to be able to join in that celebration here in Washington. He won the International Association of Culinary Professionals Humanitarian Award. He won the James Beard Humanitarian Award in a remarkable celebration in New York. He won all three major recognitions, major awards from the restaurant and culinary industry--the triple crown, as it were.

Having never met him, you might think this man, having been so successful as an entrepreneur and a businessman and so recognized and celebrated in all these different ways, would have been puffed up and filled with himself and with pride and with a sense of accomplishment and success. Matt did have a sense of accomplishment and success, but it came from a very different place. His spirit, his personality was profoundly different than that brief resume might suggest because Matt was someone who had a second and a third chance at life, so he embraced it with a passion and an openheartedness I have never seen anywhere else.

Matt was 53 years old and had been sober for 24 years. Not many years before this remarkable year of success he had this year, Matt had been riding the bus to work as a minimum-wage dishwasher as he was reinventing himself. Matt spent 4 years in prison on a 13-year prison sentence.

As he memorably remarked in a talk he gave days before he left on this trip to India, Matt had life-altering, terrible experiences as a child. Matt had managed to grow up in an environment of circumstances and have experiences that would cripple any human person, any spirit, and had become someone who was violent and addicted, and inevitably, as a consequence of a lot of his actions, he ended up in jail. He was exactly the sort of person so many would be willing to write off. Yet Matt found an opportunity through the culinary arts, through the simple and powerful skill of cooking for others. He found a pathway back and a roadway up. Matt was someone who cooked not just well but was gifted at pulling together completely unrelated items and making something simple, tasty, and powerful.

Matt understood what a remarkable pathway toward success and independence restaurants can be for those who start working at the very lowest end of the scale in our country in terms of pay scale and yet can steadily grow to be successful managers or even restaurant owners.

Matt was someone who also had just gotten a positive diagnosis after struggling with a nearly life-ending bout with cancer. Matt had nearly died to this world once as a young man in prison and then had nearly died to us a second time through cancer.

I was blessed to have gotten to know him just in the last few years and to have been touched by the power of his energy. Matt had a hunger to connect with and touch and help love others in the world who hadn't yet seen the possibilities of this world.

Matt would go anywhere, anytime to help someone in need in Delaware.

The stories are legend of what Matt did spontaneously and powerfully to reach out and touch folks in our home State and around the world who needed his special gift--not just his resources but his energy and his kindness.

Matt's business partner Scott shared with me a story that he was literally driving down the road and came across a van from the Delaware Adolescent Program, Inc., DAPI, a van for a program that helps young moms complete school and be healthy and successful

mothers. Their van was broken down by the side of the road, and, after learning more about the program and its impact and its importance and seeing their dilapidated and outdated van, he literally bought them a new one on the spot.

Matt was someone who, having never traveled before until recent years when he first became successful, found himself challenged and then enlivened and then aflamed with a passion for traveling around the world and for hearing from and connecting with young people and their needs. He tells much more powerfully than I can the story of his becoming connected to young women, to girls, in Nepal, victims of trafficking, victims of sexual abuse, who were hungry and lonely and to whom he was able to help provide food and shelter and hope.

He later also connected with a whole community in Central America, and he traveled regularly to India and Nepal and to Central America as well as up and down my State. He volunteered in our prisons. He worked with our food bank. He spent time and gave resources in India and Nepal and in Central America. Literally the last time I spoke to Matt, I had just had an opportunity to meet a young woman who was truly struggling to find opportunity in our home State. She was a recovering drug addict and came up to me at an event in Dover and frankly said she never believed someone in my position would care and would work and take any risk to help someone like her find employment. She was interested in possibly working in a restaurant.

As we talked at greater length, I told her Matt's story. I told her how this young man, full of anger and abuse and difficulty in his young life, had ended up an addict and in prison and yet, through his own determination and through the kindness and partnership of others, had managed to go on to be an incredible success, an employer to hundreds, even thousands, and a contributor and a leader to groups such as La Esperanza and the food bank, and to support public school teachers and to support folks coming out of prison. I asked if she would be interested in hearing from him.

In my last conversation with Matt--a man who was incredibly busy, as he was finishing up several business projects and about to get on a plane to meet a long commitment with a group of girls in need--he said: Absolutely. I would love to talk to her. Get her on the phone with me.

He made time the next day to meet her, encourage her, and invite her to come to the food bank presentation he was making.

To his very last breath, Matt was passionate about touching and changing the lives of others. His very last initiative was to fund teachers and schools in southern Delaware and help provide supplies for them in their classrooms, and his very last day was spent riding a motorcycle on one of the highest and most dangerous roads in the world in the Himalaya to personally deliver supplies and engagement and support to girls in a remote village in a difficult and distant part of the world.

Matt Haley's compassion, his spirit, and his energy touched deeply me and so many others. His determination to do everything he could with every day he had and to make every difference he could in the world should inspire and challenge all of us. He has left a significant amount of his accumulated resources to his Global Delaware Fund, which will continue his great work in these many places.

It is my hope and my prayer that all of us who have had our lives touched by Matt and by his unique and infectious humor and spirit will continue his remarkable lifetime of work and that all of us will remember that in this Nation, every person has value and every person has potential no matter where they are from or where they are today. Their path forward can be lifted if we just continue to carry forward the remarkable passion and spirit of Matt Haley.

I thank the Chair.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the privileges of the floor be granted to Chikulupi Kasaka.

Mr. President, this is an uneasy time in our world. There is no shortage of crises that demand our attention and our action. The President called on us last night to step up to the very real challenge posed by the terrorist group ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Russian aggression against Ukraine demands our attention. A fragile cease-fire continues between Hamas and Gaza. There is the Central American exodus to our southern border that riveted the attention of many this summer; and there is continuing negotiations to seek an end to Iran's illicit nuclear weapons program.

Behind all of this there is another and equally important challenge I wanted to draw this body's attention to for a few minutes today--the spread of a quiet and vicious virus throughout West Africa. While the Nation's attention today for good reason is on remembering the tragic events of 9/11, and the President's strategy for combating ISIS today, I would like to speak to another urgent challenge to our country and world, and that is the need to dramatically increase our support as communities across West Africa struggle to confront and combat Ebola.

I met and have spoken with Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. She is a Nobel Prize winner and impressive leader who has brought her country back from a terrible civil war and was making huge progress toward the development of Liberia. I had the honor of meeting with her here and visiting her country. In my role as the chair of the African Affairs Subcommittee, I have met few others who have impressed me as much as President Johnson-Sirleaf.

Leaders throughout this region are doing everything they can to save lives, but in my most recent communications with President Johnson- Sirleaf it is clear that Ebola is rapidly getting beyond the capacity and ability of these communities and countries to contain it and to recover from it. They need our action.

Individuals on the ground from groups such as Doctors Without Borders and Samaritan's Purse have done remarkable, heroic, and extraordinary work by putting their own lives on the line to help others, and they have borne the overwhelming majority of the risks, service, and sacrifice so far.

The news has just been announced that the Gates Foundation will contribute $50 million to this fight, which is critical, as public funds alone will not be enough to end this crisis.

Our own people, through the U.S. Government, can and must do more. It need not be the role of the United States alone to resolve this problem, but it is our responsibility to stand side by side with those working tirelessly to stop it. It is our responsibility to not just lend a hand but to help lead in ways that only we can and to use our unique capabilities to address this crisis. If Ebola's spread reveals one thing it is that we are more interconnected today than we have ever been in our human history and that disease truly knows and respects no borders. We need to continue to act, not only because we are morally compelled to help the tens of thousands who are facing an immediate threat, but also because we have a direct stake in the resolution of this crisis.

This is a manageable public health crisis that we know how to solve, but doing so requires our focus, our attention, our resolve, and our resources, tools that only the United States has.

Let me briefly outline five specific steps I believe we should take now.

First, I think it is critical the United States has one leadership point--that the White House designate a coordinator to oversee the U.S. whole-of-government emergency response. There are many ways the United States is currently helping across many agencies from the Department of Defense to the Centers for Disease Control to the State Department and USAID. Those agencies are doing great work as part of the disaster assistance response team on the ground.

At a time when the U.S. Government is also facing and addressing crises in Iraq, Ukraine, and elsewhere, I think we need one organizer, one coordinator, one responsible figure addressing this crisis who is appointed by the White House to coordinate all of our resources and all the people necessary from the U.S. Government for this growing effort. President Obama should designate an official to manage our country's response both overseas and here in the United States, including preparing us for the remote chance this virus might reach American soil.

Our ambassadors on the ground in the three most affected countries are playing the primary role in coordination right now, and they are doing remarkable work, but I will remind my colleagues in this body that in Sierra Leone there is no currently confirmed U.S. Ambassador. The nominee, John Hoover, has been waiting almost 8 months to be confirmed. This is just one painful reminder that the dysfunction of this body has prevented us from confirming nominated ambassadors to dozens of countries around the world. To be effective we need to coordinate our U.S.-based and our field-based efforts through ambassadors on the ground.

Second, we must begin to deploy U.S. military support to the maximum extent possible. Let me be clear: I don't mean combat capabilities, I mean the unique logistical capabilities of the U.S. military, their ability to deploy through their logistical capabilities. We have resources that no other country can bring to bear as quickly and as successfully as we can.

I was encouraged to hear an announcement this past week from the administration that they plan to use our military to establish a new hospital facility in Liberia to distribute equipment, to provide infrastructure and transportation support. I will admit I am concerned it will take weeks to deploy.

On my visit to Liberia last August, I was struck at how poor and underdeveloped this nation of brave and inspiring people currently is and how paved roads and the ability to move at any speed rapidly ends just a few miles from the capital, and how strained the infrastructure and the public health systems are by this rapidly growing crisis.

This is not everything we can and should be doing. We need to build more field hospitals for civilians in Liberia and beyond so there are facilities for health workers and civilians fighting the disease. We also can and should provide airlift of supplies from private donors.

I have heard from organizations that have worked at the transportation facility and have donated supplies that can fill cargo plane after cargo plane, but they are having difficulty getting it from here to West Africa. We need to deepen our coordination with foreign militaries. Other Nations possess similar advance capabilities, as we do, and we will be able to combat this crisis more effectively if we all work together.

I appreciate Ghana's efforts and partnership as it allows us to use some of their facilities as an air bridge for logistics. As more air resources are poured into this fight against Ebola, we need other countries in the region to lend a similarly open hand.

My third point is directed to our private sector, to international organizations, to the American people, and to citizens of other developed nations. We need your support and your generosity and we need it now.

This is a letter that Liberia's President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf sent to President Obama this week, and I wish to read from it briefly.

Mr. President, as you know, the outbreak has overwhelmed

the containment and treatment measures we have attempted thus

far.

Our already limited resources have been stretched to the

breaking point and, up to now, only a private charity,

Medecins Sans Frontiers, has responded robustly in all the

affected countries. But they, too, have reached their limits.

My friend President Sirleaf is right: It is time for the rest of us to step up.

The World Health Organization has issued an Ebola Response Roadmap that calls for $490 million and more than 10,000 additional health workers, and we are far short of reaching those goals today.

So far the U.S. Government has contributed more than $100 million and has announced a commitment of another $88 million that we in this body will hopefully approve before we end this session.

The Gates Foundation, as I mentioned, has also made an impressive and incredible addition of $50 million, but the fact remains we need more.

I have heard from many in my State and across the country eager to give support. If you have the means, I urge you to go to usaid.gov/ ebola for links to some of the impressive nongovernmental organizations that are doing what they can on the ground to stem this humanitarian crisis.

As much as this crisis needs money and equipment and supplies, it most importantly needs nurses and doctors, paramedics, and other medical professionals--literally thousands of them. The health systems of these countries, which were already among the least well resourced in the world, are overwhelmed, and so I am asking today for your help. We are asking for you to save lives. If you are a trained medical professional and willing to help, I urge you to please go to usaid.gov/ ebola and consider how you might serve to help in this crisis.

Fourth, we need to develop and deploy a treatment and vaccine as rapidly as possible. Here is where in some ways America's unique gifts, our talents, and our strength in terms of the development and discovery of new pharmaceuticals, of new treatments, and of a new vaccine are a unique contribution we can make.

American scientists are making progress on both fronts, but the reality is it will be hard to confront and ultimately end this disease in the long term without either. Much of the $88 million President Obama has requested from Congress will go toward this most important goal. It is critical we support that funding in this Chamber on a bipartisan basis and prepare for the reality that this is only the first investment we will need to make to quickly develop and deploy these lifesaving drugs and these critically preventive vaccines.

Lastly, we need to invest in the governing and economic institutions in the countries that have been so devastated by this disease.

It is not a coincidence that this outbreak has emerged in countries with some of the weakest health care systems on Earth--countries that face severe shortages of health care workers, labs essential for testing and diagnosis, clinics and hospitals required for treatment, and the medical supplies and protective gear such as latex gloves and face masks that are commonly available in the United States but are now completely exhausted in the countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia.

We know how to combat this disease with practices such as isolation, meticulous infection control, good public health and burial practices, case investigation, and contact training. But all of these things require trained personnel and many more resources than are currently available.

In the short term we absolutely can fill many of these gaps with the additional resources I have just outlined but we need to act quickly. In the long term we need to think more deeply about why investing in local health care systems and institutions in the developing world is so critical, why a little preventive investment can go a long way toward making the country more resilient in a crisis such as this.

As we act now to do what we must to stop Ebola, we also must consider the actions we can and should take together to prevent the next public health crisis.

To that end, yesterday I introduced a resolution in the Senate with my colleagues Senators Menendez, Flake, Durbin, and Corker, outlining some of these very steps and recognizing the severe and real threat the Ebola outbreak poses to West Africa and, if not properly contained, to other regions across the globe.

Here is the bottom line: We have what it takes to halt the spread of Ebola in West Africa and to save tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of lives in the process. Unlike other foreign interventions, doing so will take neither bullets nor bombs but rather our willingness, our compassion, our generosity, and our determination to act. The lives of thousands and the stability of entire countries is at stake. It is my hope and prayer that we will rise to this occasion with everything we have.

ISIS Strategy

Mr. President, I have come to the floor this morning to speak about our military's critical mission to defeat and degrade the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a terrorist organization that threatens the stability and security of tens of thousands across these two nations.

As we consider more deeply involving the U.S. military into a new combat mission, I am reminded of the brave young men and women who will carry out that mission with unparalleled courage and professionalism.

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to join hundreds of fellow Delawareans to welcome home and celebrate 70 men and women of the 3rd Battalion of the 238th Army National Guard Aviation Regiment who were returning from 1 year of service in Kuwait. Many of them were returning not just from one tour of duty but from what was their second or third deployment, having previously served in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Yet these volunteer citizen soldiers were and remain willing to continue serving. I have had the honor of knowing several current and former members of this unit, and my heart was heavy this weekend, thinking about how many more units such as these, how many soldiers and airmen and their families will be asked to continue serving in combat or in distant and difficult places supporting combat missions in the years ahead.

After more than a decade of conflict in the exactly 13 years since September 11, 2001, I know Americans are tired of war. I know we are weary of war. As the President spoke last night, it was clear he is as well, as am I.

But I would challenge my colleagues and my friends, as I challenge myself, that though we are weary, we cannot ignore the very real threats we face today. We cannot ignore the brutal events that have taken place in northwestern Iraq and in eastern Syria. We cannot ignore the threat that brutality poses to America and our allies. ISIS is a brutal terrorist organization. It has killed innocent Americans, such as the two brave journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff, whom they beheaded. Thousands of innocent Iraqis and Syrians have perished at their hands, and it will continue to do so unless the world comes together to stop it.

Let us not forget, one of the biggest reasons we first acted against ISIS militarily in Iraq this summer was to prevent the imminent genocide of a religious minority, the Yazidi people in Iraq. Images of tens of thousands of Yazidis and Christians who were being hounded and persecuted and threatened by ISIS and who then ultimately retreated to the top of a mountain I think transfixed the American people this August, and the action our President took and our military executed, to allow them to safely flee, encouraged all of us to know there are times and places when American military might can and should be used for good.

Just as the ISIS terrorists threaten the Yazidis, they too threaten the very survival of Christians, Kurds, Turkmen, and other ethnic and religious minorities in the region.

Last night, with my Republican colleague Senator Kirk, I cochaired the first meeting of the Senate Human Rights Caucus. We heard from representatives from Iraq's minority communities in a conversation that focused on ISIS's atrocities against innocent civilians simply because of who they are or how they worship. As we expand our campaign against ISIS, we must continue to engage with the people of Iraq and Syria and the region to learn from the past and continue to prevent massacres of innocent men, women, and children. ISIS is a group

bent on the destruction of all people, of whatever background or religion, who do not subscribe to their hateful ideology.

Our President is right. What makes the United States a global force for good is that we are still willing to do what is hard because we know it is right. That is the responsibility that comes from being a nation uniquely founded on principles of freedom, of liberty, of justice, and of having built one of the most capable and powerful militaries in the world, of being a nation and a people born of immigrants who came from all over this world and who remain connected to it and touched by the things that happen in the far reaches of our globe.

Last night President Obama addressed our Nation to make the case for expanding military action against ISIS. Already, sadly, today there are critics of his strategy, just as there have been over the past few weeks. In fact, in the 4 years I have served here, I have rarely seen a day in the Senate when the President isn't challenged, criticized, blocked, and harried by his opponents. There is always some way he could have acted more quickly or with more strength. Critics claim we would be better served by a sterner tone or a more eager finger on the trigger. I must say I was struck when former Vice President Cheney this past week criticized President Obama's restraint, as he has throughout President Obama's tenure. I remind my friends we can do better--we could do better--than to listen to the voices of those who misled this country into war in Iraq a decade ago, especially when it is clear they have learned none of the lessons of that tragic strategic blunder. Surely, as we consider carefully taking expanded military action now, we should applaud our President for proceeding with caution and humility.

Critical to our current strategy and what sets it apart from some past actions is this fact: We are not going alone. Seeking to lead a multilateral coalition is not leading from behind. It is not weakness. A muscular multilateralism is recognizing we are an indispensable nation, we are a leading nation, but we are not the only Nation that should take on and tackle the challenge ISIS presents. Much of the allure of ISIS is the illusion they have created that the Muslim world is at war with the West, when the truth is ISIS does not reflect or represent Islam and ISIS has killed more Muslims than any other people. The President's strategy of building a broad coalition of support, including across the Arab and Muslim world, is crucial to our success.

This is not just an American problem, it is a regional and global problem, and it will not be solved without the hard work of those living in the communities and countries most at risk, most affected, most harmed by ISIS.

We cannot and should not do this alone. That is the only way this works. It is a critical reason I support the President's strategy for expanded action.

Central to this strategy's success is our military action as well as diplomatic resources and pressure. Let's remember one of the reasons this has even happened is because of the abject failure of Prime Minister Maliki and his Iraqi Government to act in a pluralistic, inclusive way, as he had pledged he would, and has instead acted more as a Shia warlord over the last few years, sewing the seeds of dissent and of disconnection with his Sunni citizens that created the very vacuum into which ISIS has charged.

That is why this administration's diplomatic efforts to build an inclusive Iraqi Government--to demand an inclusive Iraqi Government-- have been so important. We cannot defeat ISIS without Iraqis working hand in hand on the ground, and that requires a united Iraq whose future every Iraqi has a stake in preserving.

As we deepen our involvement, it is also necessary that we broaden our strategy. The fact is we cannot defeat ISIS by attacking it in Iraq alone. As we hit ISIS from the air, we also need to be cognizant of the fact that most of its strength and support is in Syria and that the boundary line dividing Iraq from Syria is today on the ground largely a fiction. So we need in Syria a strong and a moderate and an armed and a trained Syrian opposition ready, willing, and able to fight ISIS on the ground.

The President referred last night to our successful counterterrorism strategy in several places in the world. Let me, as the cochair of the African Affairs Subcommittee, briefly mention ways in which this strategy in Syria is similar to what our strategy has been in Somalia in combating al-Shabaab, a deadly Al Qaeda affiliate, which has governed, ruled, and terrorized much of Somalia over the past decade. There has been a similar strategy to the one articulated last night, where the United States has combined training, equipment, logistics, and tactical support with an African ground force drawn from Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia, where those troops have done the hard work of retaking and holding territory while the Somali Government and security forces get reestablished.

In the case of Syria, Saudi Arabia has just stepped up and agreed to provide the facilities, the funding, and the space to train and equip Syrian coalition fighters.

In Congress, we must act swiftly and decisively to support that training and equipment mission that the President has asked us to support by granting our President the authority and funding he needs.

Air strikes could happen soon, and we cannot make the mistake of taking out ISIS while giving Bashar al-Assad, the dictator who still terrorizes Syria, the opportunity to rush in. By helping build a cohesive, trained, and equipped moderate Syrian opposition, we can help prevent the expansion of ISIS and the Assad regime.

In the long run, in Syria and in Iraq, it is Syrians--moderate Syrians--who must retake their country from ISIS and undertake the very difficult and daunting challenge of rebuilding a stable and inclusive and hopefully someday peaceful society, after decades of dictatorship and more than 3 years of a withering civil war. The United States and Syria's neighbors and the entire international community need to be invested and engaged to help them along this difficult path.

We need to be direct with the American people. This is not going to be easy and it is not going to be swift. We must ensure our military has the resources it needs to carry out this mission. As President Obama said last night, the lives of brave American pilots and servicemembers will be put at risk. But we must also be clear. In their courage and service, they will be part of an important effort to eradicate from this Earth one of the greatest threats currently walking the planet.

Last night President Obama asked for the support of the American people as our Armed Forces and our partners begin in combination to carry out this mission. Let me say, he has mine. I am committed to working with my colleagues as later today all Senators attend a classified briefing, an update on ISIS, and as next week committees in this Senate hear testimony from Secretary of State Kerry and Secretary of Defense Hagel. I am committed to working with my colleagues and with Chairman Menendez on the Foreign Relations Committee to review, consider, draft, and approve an authorization for the use of military force when submitted to us by the President that gives Congress an appropriate role in oversight and the President the authorization he needs.

We need to do everything we can together to ensure that ISIS will be stopped. It has already shown itself, demonstrating its capability to commit unspeakable crimes. If left unchecked, these terrorists will spread their reach beyond our ability to stop them. We cannot let that happen. As my colleagues discuss and debate this mission, I only ask that we leave the politics of the moment out of it. With an election soon upon us, the temptation is strong to use every opportunity to achieve any short-term partisan advantage. But this is too important. Too much is at stake.

Today all over this country we call to mind and honor the sacrifices of Americans who served and those who lost their lives 13 years ago today. We must consider this new mission with the utmost gravity, humility, and caution. I am eager then to work with my colleagues here in the Senate and with the administration in a bipartisan way as we move forward to take on the difficult task of defeating ISIS and strengthening the forces of inclusion

and moderation in Iraq and Syria. I urge my colleagues to work together to support this mission every step of the way.

I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Baldwin.) The clerk will call the roll.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on September 11, 2014, at 10 a.m. in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on September 11, 2014.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on September 11, 2014, at 3:15 p.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on September 11, 2014, at 10 a.m. in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct an executive business meeting.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on September 11, 2014, at 2:30 p.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to H. Con. Res. 112, which was received from the House and is at the desk.

I ask unanimous consent the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I understand there are two bills at the desk, and I ask for their first reading en bloc.

I now ask for a second reading en bloc, and I object to my own request en bloc.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the upcoming recess or adjournment of the Senate, the President of the Senate, the President pro tempore, and the majority and minority leaders be authorized to make appointments to commissions, committees, boards, conferences or interparliamentary conferences authorized by law, concurrent action of the two Houses or by order of the Senate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the Senate's recess, committees be authorized to report legislative and executive matters on Tuesday, August 26, 2014, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.

Mr. President, before I conclude I simply wanted to thank the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations

Committee and our chair, Senator Bob Menendez, for hosting--along with the House Foreign Affairs Committee--yesterday a very successful reception in the Russell Office Building where 50 African heads of state and heads of government were received. It was a successful event and an important kickoff to a 3-day U.S.A.-Africa summit currently being led by the President and Secretary of Commerce.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn and convene for a pro forma session only, with no business conducted, on Friday, August 8, at 9:15 a.m.; that when the Senate adjourns on Friday, it adjourn under the provisions of H. Con. Res. 112 until Monday, September 8, 2014 at 2 p.m.; that on Monday, September 8, following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; that following any leader remarks, there be a period of morning business until 5:30 p.m., with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each, with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees; further, that at 5:30 p.m. the Senate proceed to executive session, resume consideration of Executive Calendar No. 848, and immediately proceed to vote on confirmation of the Pryor nomination, as provided under the previous order.

Mr. President, on Monday, September 8, 2014, at 5:30 p.m., there will be at least three rollcall votes on confirmation of the Pryor nomination to be U.S. circuit judge for the Eleventh Circuit; confirmation of the Aaron nomination to be a member of the Social Security Advisory Board; and a cloture vote on the motion to proceed to S.J. Res. 19, a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States on campaign finance reform. There will be voice votes on the Cohen and Chen nominations for the Social Security Advisory Board.

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it adjourn under the previous order following the remarks of Senator Sessions for up to 40 minutes.

Madam President, I wish to recognize the National Basketball Association's Developmental League team, the Delaware 87ers and their impact on my community.

In April 2013, Delaware sports fans rejoiced when the Philadelphia 76ers acquired an NBA Development League team, the Utah Flash, and chose to relocate the franchise to Delaware. The Delaware 87ers are named in recognition of Delaware's place in United States history as the first state to ratify the United States Constitution on December 7, 1787, as well as in a nod to the franchise's parent team, the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Sevens promised and delivered a fast-paced, high-scoring NBA brand of action with the fan-friendliness and affordability for which the NBA Development League is known.

During their inaugural season, the Sevens' success grew, drawing a steady and passionate fan base to the Bob Carpenter Center as they squared off against D-League teams from around the country. Rivalries were built with the Canton Charge, Erie BayHawks, Fort Wayne Mad Ants and the Maine Red Claws.

The passion of the players and coaches, their connection to the community, affordable ticket prices and family-friendly amenities drew thousands of fans to Newark. Head coach Rod Baker and his team, led by fan favorites Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Kendall Marshall, Lorenzo Brown and Vander Blue, finished their first season displaying flashes of brilliance and leaving fans with high hopes for greatness to come.

Even more important than their on-court accomplishments was the team's off-court impact on the community. Prior to their inaugural season, the Sevens unveiled their SEVENS STRONG community initiative, which included revitalizing seven basketball courts in seven days, as well as each of their employees pledging 87 hours of community service throughout the year. Basketball courts that received makeovers included Adams Court, Fraim Boys & Girls Club, Kosciuszko Park, Helen Chambers Park, Tatnall Park, Woodlawn Park and Judy Johnson Park.

Throughout the 2013-14 season, the Sevens attracted more than 38,000 fans and averaged over 2,100 fans for the last eight contests. The attendance increase can undoubtedly be traced back to their commitment to the community and their tireless grassroots presence in Newark, Wilmington, Christiana, Hockessin, Newport, Elsmere and Elkton. Players and the front office staff participated in countless community-based activities including visiting Christiana Care and AI Dupont/Nemours Hospital for Children monthly, partnering with Stubbs Elementary School for a Green Week Challenge, volunteering at the Delaware Food Bank, hosting four non-profit promotions at games: Lyme Disease Awareness Night, B+ Foundation Night, Christiana Care NICU Night and USO Night, participating in more than a dozen community events, and donating over 8,000 tickets to Delaware-based community organizations and charities. The team truly embraced the meaning of community and civic engagement.

We congratulate the Delaware 87ers on a successful season, both on and off the court, and wish them continued success in their second season. We look forward to supporting them as they work to inspire their fans and better our community.

Madam President, on behalf of Senator Tom Carper and myself, I wish to recognize two special occasions in Wilmington, DE happening on September 5, 2014: the 45th anniversary of the Latin American Community Center, LACC, serving the Hispanic community of Delaware as well as to honor the service, dedication and passion of a name synonymous with the service to Delaware's vibrant Hispanic community: Maria Matos.

The LACC's continuum of care promotes education, life skills, and an enhanced quality of life while celebrating diverse Hispanic cultures. The LACC was founded in 1969 in the Hilltop section of Wilmington serving and supporting the community and people that surround it.

Over the last 45 years, the LACC has focused on lifelong learning that concentrates on the educational needs of client families, from quality pre-school programs to adult education; and life empowerment, focusing on the immediate life needs families and individuals may face, from short term case management to a job placement or English language skills.

Since 1994, Maria Matos has been the executive director and driving force behind the LACC. Her impact has been felt not just in the Hispanic community, but throughout Wilmington and New Castle County. She has contributed her leadership skills to such boards as the Medical Center of Delaware, Grand Opera House, Delaware Community Foundation, and Advisory Council for the Fund for Women, as well as at the grassroots level supporting the Hilltop Working Group, an alliance of residents and legislators who work to promote the community's well- being.

In conclusion, we would like to congratulate Ms. Matos on her years of service to the LACC as well as the LACC on its 45 years of service to the community, and wish each of them luck in the future.

Madam President, on behalf of Senator Tom Carper and myself, I wish to honor the exemplary service of the executive director of the Delaware League of Local Governments, George C. Wright and recognize his recent retirement. For over five decades, he has been a tremendous and courageous leader serving in many positions throughout our great State. His hard work, perseverance, and dedication will truly be missed.

Since the 1960s, George has played an active and integral role within Delaware. For six terms, he served as councilman in the town of Smyrna before serving as its mayor for 14 years. Since then, George has been a crucial member and leader of the Delaware League of Local Governments. As he steps down from his position as executive director, we join the many Delawareans he has worked with in thanking him for his diligent efforts to improve and assist local governments through legislative advocacy.

Born in Chesapeake City, MD and educated in the public school system there, George studied at several distinguished universities including Maryland State College in Princess Anne and the University of Delaware. After his graduation, George began his career during the turbulent 1960s as Head Start director in Smyrna, a town that was once denounced by former Attorney General David Buckson as having the worst race relations in the State. George later went on to serve on the town's council and as the chief of staffing at the Dover Air Force Base. In 1981 he was able to overcome many racial barriers in order to become the town of Smyrna and state of Delaware's first African-American mayor.

Most recently, as the executive director of the Delaware League of Local Governments, George has successfully worked with 57 municipalities in Delaware to help forge a common voice across the State. George's work has been nothing short of inspirational and we are sincerely grateful for all that he has done on behalf of the towns, cities and counties in Delaware.

We wholeheartedly thank George for all of the work he has done for local governments of Delaware. His model leadership and dedication has truly touched every corner of our great State. We offer our sincerest congratulations on a job well done and wish him many happy, healthy, and successful years to come.