Floor Statements

Before my friend leaves, I just want him to know that I relished the opportunity to be here for his, what, 400th or however long it has been--but his final speech. And I am excited about the final speech because I have got it pretty well memorized now. And while I have to say this--I say this about another person who has been on the committee with me for a long period of time--that while I don't agree with very much of what you say, you say it so well. That goes with you, I say to the Senator from Massachusetts, because we cover a lot of issues in that committee.

I think it was--we have a new majority now. We will see some things that you will seize upon as opportunities that may make some changes. And I will be there to try to keep that from happening, but, nonetheless, we will enjoy it. There are so many issues right now in the committee, I say this to my friend from Massachusetts, that we are involved in. You know, one of them is an issue we discussed in some detail about the Western Sahara and some things that have gone on there. We find so many things that we can agree on. And I look forward to being in the new position of being in the minority and combating from a different perspective.

So congratulations on the commitment that you have made to your cause and the time and the effort and the eloquence that you have used over the years.

Madam President, there are many other areas, I recall so many times, during a long period of time when Democrats were in the majority, Barbara Boxer was the chairman of our committee; and when Republicans were in the majority, I would be the chairman and then she would be the ranking member. But I have to say this, in that committee, we got things done.

You overlooked the infrastructure thing and how important that was. And I have a confession that is good for the soul. I have to admit, every time we had a new infrastructure bill, I started off on the Democratic side because they seemed to be more interested in some of the things that I was interested in. Anyway, that is the way it works around here, and we all love each other. All right?

I will yield, yes.

Don't forget Cal Ripken, the Cal Ripken of climate. That is pretty good.

Well, Madam President, that is not what I came to talk about. I came to listen.

Madam President, one of the best presentations I have heard in a long time was just a couple of hours ago by James Lankford. What he was talking about, I have never heard a presentation more heartfelt

and compassionate than he did on the unborn, and I couldn't touch that. But there are a couple of things I wanted to add that perhaps were not on his--he didn't have time to get around to.

It is really important that we recognize celebrating this March for Life that is taking place. It is something that has happened each year for a long time now. I have always enjoyed being a part of it. We have large groups of people coming up from Oklahoma.

However, it is virtual this year as everything else is. It is more important than ever under this new administration and its radical abortion practices and the personnel that have been suggested to be part of the administration. So it is going to be maybe a greater fight than it has been in the past.

In light of that, I am introducing a bill I have introduced before, but we have never been able to get it passed. It is called Protecting Individuals with Down Syndrome Act, which will prohibit abortions being sought because the unborn baby has Down syndrome.

All abortion is tragic, but this population has been specifically targeted. In the United States--it just turned out this way, and there is no law that influences it--in the United States, approximately 67 percent of the unborn babies diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted. All lives have inherent worth regardless of their chromosome count. I think we all understand that.

But my fight does not stop there. I am also joining my colleagues in introducing several pro-life bills as we prepare for March for Life, including Senator Sasse's. He has a bill that is the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. His bill ensures that a baby who survives an abortion will receive the same treatment as any child naturally born at the same age.

People don't realize this, but babies who have been in an attempted abortion and they survive the abortion, they don't get the medical treatment that they normally would get, which this bill directly addresses. This has been going on for a long time. I have a feeling that we have an opportunity. The numbers are changing in our direction in terms of the unborn and have been for some time.

Now, my wife Kay and I have been married 60 years. We have 20 kids and grandkids, so I know something about babies. I know something about babies who are born. And I looked up and I saw--because of the great presentation that Senator Lankford gave, I was looking for some material I had used in the past.

It was 28 years ago that I came down here to tell the story about Ana Rosa Rodriguez. This is what I said. I was in the House at that time. This was in the House Record, and this is what I said at that time. I said:

Mr. Chairman, there is a big misconception regarding

abortion and the issue of women and their right to protect

their bodies. It is not that right that I object to, but the

right that is given them to kill an unborn fetus--an unborn

[baby].

I want to share with you a story that my colleague, Chris

Smith told some time ago on this very floor. Ana Rosa

Rodriguez is an abortion survivor. At birth she was a healthy

3 pound baby girl except for her injury--she was missing an

arm.

Ana survived a botched abortion. Her mother attempted to

get an abortion in her 32nd week of pregnancy when she was

perfectly healthy--8 weeks past what New York State law

legally allows. In the unsuccessful abortion attempt the

baby's right arm was ripped off [from her body], however they

failed to kill Ana Rosa. She lived.

And I got to know her after that.

Pro-life supporters agreed that nightmare situations like

the Rodriguez case are probably not [all that] common, but

abortion related deaths and serious injuries occur more

[often] than most people are aware.

It is amazing that we can pay so much attention to issues

such as human rights abroad and can allow the violent

destruction of over 26 million children here at home. We are

fortunate that Ana was not one of those children--she

survived.

That was in 1992. I was in the House at that time. But today we still don't have explicit Federal protections for babies who survive the brutal abortion process.

Now, as I said, this issue is not about abortion but about caring for a baby outside the womb. These kids are--they failed an abortion, so they are alive. In most cases, they are in a hospital setting--in many cases, anyway--and yet they don't get the same care. They don't look at them as someone you can save. You don't want to use lifesaving talents on these babies.

The need for these protections become even clearer as we see States like New York and Illinois that allow abortion for virtually any reason up to the point of birth and support infanticide by removing protectants for infants born alive after a failed abortion.

Just a few years after that speech I gave in 1997, I was on the floor with my good friend former Senator Rick Santorum to try to pass a partial-birth abortion ban and end the horrific practice of late-term abortions. Fortunately, we won the battle against partial-birth abortions and finally ended that practice in 2003. That ban was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2007.

But we have yet to pass legislation banning late-term abortions. Only seven countries allow abortion after 20 weeks, including the United States and North Korea. Now, that is horrific. The United States is supposed to be an example in regards to global human rights. Yet we are on par with North Korea when it comes to protecting the unborn.

Senator Graham's Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act would help roll back this horrific practice by prohibiting abortions after 20 weeks post-fertilization. That is when we know that babies can feel. It is not even debatable; they can feel pain at that time.

It is another commonsense bill that should not divide us along party lines. A baby is a baby whether in or outside of the womb, and each baby deserves a chance to live as an individual created in the image of God.

There is still much more we need to do to end the abortion-on-demand culture. Under the last administration, we protected the Hyde amendment, reinstated and expanded the Mexico City policy, and stripped abortion providers like Planned Parenthood from using title X funding for abortions. Unfortunately, President Biden is trying to undo all those accomplishments that we made in the last administration.

The need to stand up for our babies is as important today as it has ever been--certainly in 1992 and 1997 when I quoted from talks I made back at that time. We will overcome evil with good by upholding and affirming the dignity and inherent worth of every human being. We will just keep fighting, and we are going to win this one.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, since last week, there have been over 20,000 members of the National Guard stationed here at the Capitol. They are here--and have been here and are still here--to keep us safe, keep the Members safe, Senators safe, staff, press--all of us. It seems that people are speculating that maybe this was overkill, maybe we didn't really need this many people here. They are wrong. This was a nice, successful inauguration and successful, peaceful transfer of power because they were there. I made that very clear to the ones I have been talking to in the field over the last 3 days. I know, firsthand, that they are really outstanding professionals, these guards.

We have about 400 guards here from the Oklahoma National Guard. I visited with them--I guess it was on Wednesday--in five different groups. I went around and talked to them because they weren't all in the same location, and we thanked them for the service and the sacrifices they are making. Long hours. These guys are having long hours. They are the best of the best. The many I saw did deployments in Afghanistan.

When I was talking to them, they would remember, and say: Well, Senator Inhofe, I remember we were together in Afghanistan; we were together in Ukraine. These guys--that was 10 years ago, and they are still on the job working. I don't know what we could have done without them.

In fact, I asked several of them, how many of you in this group, from Oklahoma, in the Guard, have never been to Washington before, that this is your first trip. More than half of them had never been to Washington before. That was a great opportunity for them too. But I am really humbled and grateful for what they are doing for us, and I am sure all of our colleagues are.

That is why I was so shocked and really angry last night--and I picked it up on TV--I didn't know anything about it--when I heard that the guards were being made to feel like they were unwelcome by some person in the Capitol Police, and they were to take their rest breaks someplace else and actually sent to the parking garage, of all places. Our Guard members are being lodged in hotels. They are working shifts, 12-hour shifts a day. They are long shifts, on their feet, so they need to have rest breaks. And they can't do that lying in the Senate garage.

They have 2 hours on and 1 hour off, plus time for eating and that type of thing. We can all agree they should be comfortable on their breaks, a place to sit and lie down, eat, charge their batteries, and things they have to do--talk to their families at home. That is what they are supposed to be doing. That is precisely where they were. They were using the buildings here in the Capitol before they were made to feel unwelcome and pushed to the garage.

I understand, and I am glad that they have moved back in and they are now well taken care of. And that is a good thing. But they should never have had to go through this in the first place.

What we did, you have to find out--you get to the bottom of it. And that is what we are doing now. We are getting answers. I called the acting chief of the Capitol Police this morning. I called General McConville. General McConville is the Chief of Staff of the Army, and they are all working to find out how this happened. The acting chief, Pittman, says the guards were never asked to leave yesterday.

I know that she believes that. But several--multiple members of the military said, no, they were told to leave. We know one thing; that whether it was confusion from the fog and the friction and the environment or whatever it was, the troops didn't move on their own, so they were asked by somebody.

This isn't a blame game. But I do want to know what happened to make sure it doesn't happen again. This is what happened. There was one uniformed police officer who issued an order without authority or without going through the chain of command. I am glad that the U.S. Capitol Police and the Guard are talking and trying to figure this out. We are going to be

able to identify who that person was, and we will make that public. But, ultimately, one message for our National Guard up here: You are appreciated. You are welcome. We are very, very grateful for the sacrifices that you made. And if you are ever told at any point that you need to vacate and don't have a comfortable place, just go to Russell 205, and I will make sure that you will be very comfortable in my office.

I know that there is bipartisan outrage about this, so I think you will have plenty of places to rest. You have done a great job. You will be returning home soon. And you will be able to say: Job well done

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, yesterday I had the opportunity to respond to the majority on my support for Tony Blinken to be the Secretary of State. He is someone I have known for a long period of time. I think we will see that with the new administration here and myself being a conservative Republican, there will be some appointments that I will not really be excited about and agree with, in which case I will state it. But in the case of the Secretary of State, I expressed myself yesterday and I want to do it again today for what I consider to be a really critical first appointment--second appointment that the new administration makes, and that would be for General Austin to be the person in charge at a time that is very unique.

I agree with the Senator who just spoke about the qualities of this general. We know that he rose through the ranks through the Army to become the first four-star general and commander of Central Command from 2013 to 2016. He has done everything right.

We, right now--I know the Presiding Officer is aware of this and certainly the ranking member of the committee is aware of this--we are in the most threatening times that we have ever been in. We have China and Russia out there with capabilities that we didn't really believe we would find ourselves with. So that is going to be the primary concern of this new administration, and I can't think of a better person to take the helm than General Austin to provide the leadership.

And it is true that we had to have a waiver yesterday. That waiver was overwhelmingly supported in a bipartisan way. So everyone knows that we gave a lot of thought to it. And this is at a time where we really needed someone with the background of General Austin to take that position, and I strongly support it and look forward to serving with him.

I yield the floor.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that at the conclusion of the remarks from the Senator from Arkansas that I be recognized.

Madam President, first of all, let me just compliment my friend from Arkansas on his great remarks. People are not aware of the threats we are facing in this country. I want to join him in encouraging the new administration to understand and address these threats

Madam President, I would ask unanimous consent that I be recognized for such time as I may consume.

Madam President, let me just say to my good friend from New Jersey how wholeheartedly I agree with him. I have known Tony Blinken for a long period of time. I have worked with him in different venues. I talked to him today at some length, and we talked together on many issues that I think are significant.

One issue out there is the one we have been talking about in the Western Sahara. He understands the issues. So I join my friend from New Jersey in encouraging a fast and quick confirmation.

Madam President, we recently said goodbye to a lot of really good, hard-working men and women from the previous administration, and I want to highlight a few of them.

We refer to them--some of my friends and some of my enemies refer to them as the ``Inhofe mafia.'' It comes from the committees that I have chaired, both the Armed Services Committee as well as the Environment and Public Works Committee. But anyway, they are really a great bunch of people.

I am going to start with Andrew Wheeler. Andrew Wheeler was with me for a number of years--14 years--before he became the Director of the EPA. Here is a guy who was nominated to be the Administrator. At that time, I said that there is no one in America who is as qualified as Andrew Wheeler for this job. The first job he had out of law school was with the EPA. When he was nominated to be Administrator, I kind of gave his whole life history.

All of my Senate colleagues know Andy and have known him for a long period of time--Democrats and Republicans. He has worked for me in the Senate as well as becoming one of my ``has-beens,'' as we refer to people who used to be with me and are still my good friends.

Andy started in my personal office as chief counsel and went on to serve as the staff director and chief counsel during my time as chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee. He has decades of experience and is one of the most skilled energy and environmental policy experts I have ever come in contact with, and I am immensely proud of what he has been able to accomplish throughout his career, but particularly as EPA Administrator.

Andy understood that the EPA's mission is to implement the laws that are passed by Congress for the American people. The EPA's job is not to legislate. A lot of people think that. That is our job, to legislate, and then he carries it out, and he did really just a great job with that.

Contrary to what many on the left say Republicans want, we do want clean air and clean water and clean land, and Andy proved that he could accomplish that without burdensome overregulation. During his time at the EPA, he spearheaded a number of the rules and deregulatory actions that brought important relief to American job creators while protecting our environment.

He rolled back the economy standards on cars that were created to try to force Americans to drive vehicles they don't want to drive and that they can't afford. In its replacement, Andy developed the SAFE vehicles rule, which expands consumer choice and lowers the price of vehicles.

Andy also repealed and replaced the waters of the United States rule, or WOTUS. On the WOTUS rule, if you talk to any of the agricultural groups--I am talking about the Farm Bureau and other agricultural groups--they would say that was the rule we really had to do something about. States like mine don't need Washington bureaucrats imposing their radical regulations like WOTUS on people who know the waters better than they do. It is not an overstatement when I say that this was probably the greatest regulatory burden facing Oklahoma's farmers, landowners, and ranchers during the Obama administration. I was proud to see WOTUS repealed by the navigable waters protection rule, which provided a clean and lawful definition of waters of the United States and doesn't try to overregulate the arid parts of the State.

Oklahoma is an arid State. If you go out to the western part of Oklahoma, the panhandle of Oklahoma, it is really arid. If you take that regulation out of the hands of the States and give it to the Federal Government, there is always a concern by our farmers and ranchers in Oklahoma and across the Nation that they would turn these arid areas into wetlands.

Another of the regulatory overhauls accomplished by Andy was for the affordable clean energy or the ACE rule that replaced the illegal Clean Power Plan, which regulated emissions of coal-fired powerplants. I had long been critical of the Clean Power Plan and led the charge against it in the Senate.

Like most of that era of the rules, it was a Federal power grab, and it would have sent Americans' electricity bills soaring, and we all knew that. But we made it history when we repealed and replaced the Clean Power Plan with the ACE rule. It was good. Not only did this rule help Americans' electricity costs be affordable, it is expected to benefit the environment as well.

Just last month, the EPA finalized another big rule that requires EPA to prepare a cost-benefit analysis before coming up with new regulations. How is that at all unreasonable? Americans shake their heads, and they wonder why we would pass things that don't have any kind of a cost-benefit analysis. What is it going to cost? What kind of sacrifices are we going to have to make? Well, we put that into effect, and I think it is something people are very thankful for.

Throughout his tenure, Andy has been focused on what is in the best interests of the taxpayers and not just the Washington bureaucrats. That is clear with this rule and countless others.

You know, one of the good things about Andy, as I already mentioned, is that he knows more about the process than anybody else does--more about the EPA. He has always been a star, and he started at the bottom. When he was first put into that office and was confirmed as EPA director, he gave a speech over at the EPA. He didn't know I was there. I went over there to hear it. He had 300 people at the EPA all listening to him and looking at him and saying: There is room at the top for me. Here is a guy who started at the very bottom and ended up as director of the EPA. It didn't go unnoticed. Everybody realized that.

So I would ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record an E&E News article from July 2018, which details a number of the former staff people and their backgrounds

Madam President, at the top of the list was my chief of staff, Ryan Jackson. Like Andy, Ryan also went on to be my staff director of the EPW Committee, Environment and Public Works, where he helped negotiate bipartisan bills for highway, water, and infrastructure to environmental bills like TSCA. Remember, that was the one that had the chemical regulations. In his role he helped me negotiate with former California Senator Barbara Boxer.

This is kind of interesting. I think the Presiding Officer would find this to be interesting. Barbara Boxer and I--for many, many years, every time the Republicans were in the majority, I was the chairman of that committee, and she was the ranking member. Every time the Democrats were in control, she was the chairman, and I was the ranking member. So we worked together, and we accomplished more. I won't divulge where the meeting is, but there is a meeting that Republicans have historically had at 12:15 p.m. on a Tuesday with all the members of the committees, the chairmen. We would talk about what we have done, and when it was my turn, I would say: Now from the committee that actually gets things done. That was Barbara Boxer and I. No two people could be further apart philosophically than Barbara Boxer and I, yet we were able to do that with the help of Ryan Jackson.

I actually hired him when he was still in college. He left my office early 2017 to go to work as Chief of Staff at the EPA, where he was a central player in the implementation of the last administration's policies.

In February, he left the EPA, which was when Mandy Gunasekara took office as chief of staff. Mandy worked for me in the EPW Committee for several years as the majority counsel. In that role she helped me craft air and other policy priorities. While at the EPA, she has been instrumental in advancing priorities like the ACE rule that I mentioned earlier. She is a skilled and devoted public servant, and I am proud of all that she has done to advance policies that benefit all Americans.

A number of others of what I refer to as my ``has-beens'' have served at the EPA over the last 4 years. Susan Bodine was the chief counsel on EPW and went on to serve as Assistant Administrator in the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.

Brittany Bolen was counsel for the EPW, Environment and Public Works Committee, and went on to serve as Associate Administrator for the Office of Policy.

Byron Brown was senior counsel at the EPW and went on to serve as Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy.

Then there is Daisy Letendre. She was communications director in my office and went on to serve as a Senior Advisor in the Office of Policy.

So I am proud of all my ``has-beens'' and the big impact that they have had on our country. We are grateful for their service, past and present--especially that of Andrew Wheeler and Ryan Jackson. I say to our friends Wheeler and Jackson: Thank you and good luck in your next endeavors. You did great work.

Let me just mention one last thing. I urge the Biden administration not to repeal a lot of the rules and regulations and deregulation initiatives that gave us the economy that was unprecedented during the time before the pandemic set in. It would be devastating to our country, which is already trying to recover from the pandemic. Now is not

the time to impose costly new regulations on Americans and the job creators in this country. Everyone knows that this pandemic has wreaked havoc on our economy, and I am certain that, had we not had the virus, we would have broken even more economic records than we already had.

Prior to the pandemic, we had the best economy of our life. We set records, with small business optimism reaching the highest level on record in its 45-year history and unemployment hitting a 50-year low of 3.5 percent. We have always said in the past that full employment is 4 percent. We brought it down that entire year, and in February of 2020 it was down to 3.5 percent. It never had happened before. The median household income rose to a record high in 2019, the highest since 1967. The wealth of American families rose. That is an indicator. It rose to the highest level in history. So these good things were happening, and I would urge this administration not to repeal some of these regulations. Repealing some of these regulations would simply reverse gains like these.

I urge the Biden administration to work with me and others to reach compromises on regulations that would benefit all Americans. That seems to be pretty reasonable, and I think that is a good program to do. Let's give it a try. OK?

With that, I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, today I wish in tribute to Lieutenant Colonel Michael Healey of the British Royal Artillery Regiment, a great gunner, an officer of the highest quality, a British patriot, and a beloved friend of Oklahoma and America.

On June 29, we lost Mike Healey at the age of 67 after a 4-year battle with cancer. Just as in life, he faced his last fight with courage and vigor, without complaint, and with that famous British stiff upper lip. Mike was taken from us too soon, but his memory will be with us always, and his service will live on as a testament to the bonds of affection and friendship that still animate the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.

Mike spent a lot of time in my State during the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s at a little place called Fort Sill, in Lawton, OK. Many of you know that Fort Sill is the home of the U.S. Army Field Artillery and Air Defense Artillery.

Major Mike Healey first came to Fort Sill in January 1988 to replace Major Ian Dowdswell as the british exchange instructor in the field artillery advanced course, which is now called the captains career course.

Mike was already very experienced as a major in the British Artillery and brought that tactical and technical knowledge to share with U.S. students and faculty. He made it through the instructor ``murder boards'' in record time, as he had been an instructor in his own Army. He very quickly grasped the American acronyms and organization for combat. Mike did a fantastic job as an instructor and was respected by his students and colleagues.

Mike came back to Fort Sill in 1997, after a promotion to lieutenant colonel, and became the British liaison officer to the U.S. Field Artillery. He represented the British Army exceptionally well in all aspects of the new position. One of the main reasons he was promoted and was allowed to return to America so soon was that he spoke ``American'' so well.

Lieutenant Colonel Healey returned for a third time to Oklahoma in 2005 to be, once again, the British LNO to the U.S. Field Artillery School but with the added responsibility of also serving as the British air defense artillery liaison officer. LTG Dave Valcourt was the commanding general of Fort Sill at the time, and specifically requested that the British Army send Mike back to Fort Sill for yet another tour to help guide the base through a critical period as it absorbed the U.S. Army ADA School from Fort Bliss.

Lieutenant Colonel Healey's combat theater service gave him immediate credibility with his American comrades in arms. Mike served in the Falklands War with British forces in 1984 and in Iraq alongside American units in 1991. In addition to his combat credentials, he coordinated joint/combined Cold War exercises and security procedures, working with Americans in Germany in 1979 and 1990 and in Turkey in 1996.

As a truly solemn and high-visibility assignment, Mike commanded the Queen's Guard at Edinburgh Castle in Scotland, marching the men down the Royal Mile to Holyrood Castle, followed by dinner with the Queen in 1983.

Mike was a graduate of Sandhurst Military Academy, the Royal Field Artillery School at Larkhill, and earned a master's degree at Schrivenham. He also had a BA in economics from Manchester University.

His military awards include the U.S. Army Field Artillery Association St. Barbara's Medal, the U.S. Army Meritorious Service Medal, the British Gulf War Medal, and the Queen Elizabeth Golden Jubilee Medal for special recognition during the commemoration of the Queen's 50th year on the throne.

Lieutenant Colonel Healey's greatest satisfaction and proudest moment, by his own admission, was when he authored, staffed, and presented a new Ministry of Defense Command policy to House of Commons on ensuring military members were not forgotten once they left the military and that their sacrifices were acknowledged in the civilian world with special accommodations.

He and his wife, Mo, were the consummate hosts at numerous official functions they personally planned and catered at Fort Sill, to include their memorable farewell bash in 2007 at the Polo Field.

Mike Healey loved America, Oklahoma, and the U.S. Army Field Artillery. He was constantly amazed by the wide-open spaces in the American West, the 300-plus sunny days per year, and how friendly the people were.

Mike unabashedly adopted the United States as his second home and voluntarily spent nearly a third of his military career in Oklahoma.

In fact, he thought so much of this great land that he specifically requested Old Glory be draped across his casket next to the Union Jack at his military funeral, which will be on July 19 in Thirsk, England. I am personally requesting that an American flag be flown over the Capitol in honor of Mike Healey and his service, not just to his own country but also for his service to our country. That flag will then be transported to England for the burial by Lieutenant General Valcourt, Retired, who will also deliver a portion of Mike's eulogy.

With this extraordinary request, Mike performed one last act of service by reminding his British compatriots and his American friends of our proud history and all that we still have to achieve together.

In January 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt sent Harry Hopkins as his personal envoy to meet Prime Minister Winston Churchill. At dinner one night, Hopkins rose and quoted from the Book of Ruth: ``Whither thou goest I will go, and whither thou lodgest I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.'' He then added, ``even to the end.'' Mike Healey lived those words. He saw firsthand why Americans love their country, and he became a true ``forward observer'' of the American dream. We are all better off for knowing Mike, and we will never forget all he has done for the U.S. Army, the Field Artillery School, the State of Oklahoma, and the United States of America.

Mr. President, today I wish to recognize the service of an Oklahoma native and proud Marine officer upon completing 22 years of dedicated service to our great Nation. Lt. Col. Michelle Heath was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps in April 1997 and has dedicated her career to the selfless service of our country.

Throughout the course of her career, Lieutenant Colonel Heath supported numerous operations both stateside and overseas. During her first tour at Camp Lejeune with 8th Motor Transport Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Heath deployed as the motor transport detachment commander. After completion of this deployment, in May 2000, she was assigned as the assistant logistics officer to Marine Aircraft Group- 14, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point.

Follow-on assignments included duty as the 2d Marine Aircraft Wing Antiterrorism Officer, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point followed by time with Mobilization Plans and Policy, Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Marine Corps Base Quantico. During this time she was directly involved with the mobilization of Marine Corps Reserve units in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In June 2006,

Lieutenant Colonel Heath deployed to Iraq to serve with Marine Wing Support Squadron-473 as a logistics officer.

In 2013, Lieutenant Colonel Heath attended the Naval Command and Staff course at the Naval War College. Upon graduation, she served as the operational sponsor for Marine for Life, Manpower and Reserve Affairs in Quantico, VA. In this capacity, she sought to ensure that all Marines maintained a connection to the Corps, regardless of their stage in life. Lieutenant Colonel Heath continued her service to the Nation when she joined the operational sponsor for the Readiness Support Program, Marine Corps Individual Reserve Support Activity, Marine Forces Reserve, New Orleans, LA.

Since 2016, Lieutenant Colonel Heath has served in the Office of Legislative Affairs, Headquarters, Marine Corps, Pentagon. In this capacity, she has worked tirelessly while balancing military, political, and budgetary priorities for the Congress.

Upon retirement, Lieutenant Colonel Heath will return to the great State of Oklahoma and will reside in Norman, OK. On behalf of my colleagues and the entire U.S. Senate, I want to personally thank Lieutenant Colonel Heath for her more than two decades of service to the Marine Corps and our Nation, and I wish her well in her future endeavors.

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

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that we begin the 4:30 p.m. vote.

Mr. President, reserving the right, let me share a story of something that happened.

The timing sometimes happens at very inconvenient times, but on September 7, 2011, I was in my State of Oklahoma and was in Collinsville, OK. Probably not many people have been to Collinsville, OK, but I have. It was the home of a really beloved individual and family. The family was the Chris Horton family, and the wife was Jane Horton.

I remember it so well. This was September 7, 2011. I was talking to the group, and I was telling them that I was preparing to make one of my regular trips to Afghanistan. At that time, I was not chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, but I was a high-ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

In the audience was Jane Horton, and Jane said: Well, if you are going to go over there, why don't you go by and see my husband, Chris? I said: I will do it. I found out his whereabouts, exactly where he was. I got over there to look up Chris, only to find out that 2 days after I made that commitment in Collinsville, OK, that Chris died in action. Chris died in action. I was the one who had to call on and share that with his wife, Jane Horton.

In fact, after that, we hired Jane to go around and help us with the widows' benefits. Starting at that time, I was the leader and continued to be a leader long before the Senator from Alabama was into this, and he will agree that I was actively working on this issue.

I support and will continue to support the permanent fix. It is going to happen. We are going to do it. In fact, I am the first Senate Armed Services chairman to cosponsor this legislation.

Mr. Jones mentioned there were 75 people who cosponsored it. That is I. I was on there on the initial legislation and will continue to be and will always be, and that reflects my commitment to the permanent fix.

Here is the problem we have. There has to be a fix, but it can't be on this bill. The reason it can't be on this bill is because it has a mandatory spending that has no offset, and there is not an exception to this on the bill. This is part of the agreement in bringing the bill up.

Now, what we can do is go ahead and do what is necessary with this very popular cause, and I will be standing with the Senator from Alabama to make sure this happens.

Let's assume that were not true, that we couldn't do it under the rules. Under the rules, there is another rule that, if there is an objection to any amendments coming up, then I, as the chairman of the committee, if the party objecting is not here, I have to offer his objection.

There is an objection to this, and I will therefore object and be in the strongest position of helping this to become a reality. I owe it not just to the many people I know but also to the family whom I just referred to from Collinsville.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to vitiate the yeas and nays on the substitute amendment.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I and Senator Jack Reed be given such time as we shall consume prior to the vote that will take place.

Mr. President, in just a few minutes, the Senate will vote on the final passage of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2020.

Throughout the last week and a half, we have debated the legislation here on the Senate floor in a fair process. I thank my colleagues who have supported this bill and have helped to make a better bill through the amendment process. While I would have liked to have had more open amendments--and Senator Reed and I both wanted to have more amendments on the floor--we knew that there was a problem and that we could not do that.

We are pleased that we will at least be able to clear the 93 amendments that we added on yesterday as part of the bipartisan substitute amendment in the manager's package. These include the annual Intelligence Authorization Act, the Maritime Administration Authorization and Enhancement Act, and the Fentanyl Sanctions Act.

Ultimately, the job of the NDAA is to make tough choices about where we want to invest our resources. We put our resources where they matter--in taking care of our people, in implementing the national defense strategy, and in applying recommendations from the NDS Strategy Commission Report. This is something we have used as a blueprint, and it has been very successful in taking us through this process.

Everyone agrees there are things that are going to have to happen in order to rebuild our military. That is why our top line is $750 billion. Without that, we can't achieve the goals that we all know are necessary. It also must happen as soon as possible. We can't delay on this bill.

We still have more work to be done on the NDAA. We need to conference it. The Conference Committee can sometimes take a little bit of time. We know that is going to be done for us. We know that we want to get this thing done by our deadline, which would be October 1.

In the month of July, we have to do a lot of other things. We have to do annual appropriations bills. We have to do the budget deal. So these are some of our most important responsibilities. We have to get them done, and here is why: Things are happening right now.

Two days ago, MSG Michael B. Riley of Heilbronn, Germany, and SGT James G. Johnston of Trumansburg, NY, lost their lives in Afghanistan while engaged in combat operations. It was tragic.

Their service and sacrifice is a reminder of why this bill is so important. We have to make sure our troops have the very best of everything, and we are in the process of getting there with this bill.

Our prayers are with Master Sergeant Riley's and Sergeant Johnston's families and loved ones. We will never forget their service or their sacrifice that they made, reminding us that freedom is not free.

There is no doubt in my mind that the NDAA we are about to pass will give our troops what they need, make American families safer, and enable to us stand up for democratic values around the world.

Let me single out and thank publicly the next speaker, the ranking member, Senator Reed, for being a great partner in this. We stayed together on this. We had areas where we disagreed, but we got around those, we got things done, and the end result is a very good one.

I know Senator Reed is going to want to recognize, as I do, the significance of the staff we worked with and why that is so important. Of course, we want to make sure people know--you know, Senator Reed and I get a lot of credit for doing a lot of stuff that other people do. We truly appreciate these people.

Let me list some of them. First of all, John Bonsell and Liz King from my staff and from Senator Reed's staff. They are the ones who really got involved in this, and we feel, without them, it would have been almost impossible--along with other people.

We had John Wason, Tom Goffus, Stephanie Barna, Diem Salmon, Greg Lilly, Marta Hernandez, Jennie Wright, Adam Barker, Augusta Binns- Berkey, Al Edwards, Jackie Kerber, Sean O'Keefe, Tony Pankuch, Brad Patout, Jason Potter, J.R. Riordan, Katie Sutton, Eric Trager, Dustin Walker, Otis Winkler, Gwyneth Woolwine, Katie Magnus, Arthur Tellis, Leah Brewer, Debbie Chiarello, Gary Howard, Tyler Wilkinson, John Bryant, Patty-Jane Geller, Baher Iskander, Keri-Lyn Michalke, Jacqueline Modesett, and Soleil Sykes.

I have a few more so just relax for a minute.

I think the others are actually from the minority side, and I am sure Senator Reed is going to be recognizing them.

From my personal staff, Luke Holland, Andrew Forbes, Leacy Burke, Don Archer, Kyle Stewart, and Bryan Brody.

Lastly, from the floor staff, that is Laura Dove, Robert Duncan, Chris Tuck, Tony Hanagan, Katherine Kilroy, Brian Canfield, Abigail Baker, and Megan Mercer.

All these people worked hard. They are all a part of this team, and it certainly goes far beyond just Senator Reed and myself.

I yield the floor to Senator Reed.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, the cloture vote on Senate amendment No. 764 occur at 12 noon on Thursday, June 27; further, that if cloture is invoked, amendment Nos. 864, 863, and 862 be withdrawn and the postcloture time be considered expired and the Senate vote on amendment No. 861, with no further amendments in order.

I further ask that the time until 1:45 p.m. be equally divided; that at 1:45 p.m., the Senate vote on the substitute amendment, as amended, if amended; that the cloture motion with respect to S. 1790 then be withdrawn and the Senate vote on the passage of S. 1790, as amended, if amended, with no further intervening action or debate; finally, that at a time to be determined by the majority leader, in consultation with the Democratic leader, on Friday, June 28, the Senate vote on the Udall amendment, No. 883, notwithstanding the passage of S. 1790, and that it require 60 affirmative votes for adoption.