Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the vote scheduled for 1:45 p.m. commence now.

Mr. President, I rise this afternoon to discuss the Department of Veterans Affairs and this Department's continued challenges with properly implementing the letter of the law.

As we know, the VA has faced significant difficulties and change over the past 5 years--issues that have spurred Congress to act. In this Congress we have passed multiple pieces of legislation designed to reform numerous policies, from accountability to education under the GI bill to transforming healthcare.

Recent news has put a spotlight on the VA struggles to implement the Forever GI Bill Act, which has resulted in delays or improper accounting of veterans' earned educational benefits. Financial problems with their earned benefits is unacceptable and causes an unnecessary strain on veterans as they pursue higher education. It is critical that the VA fix this problem. This should not be a matter of ``if'' but ``when'' the VA fixes this issue and provides accurate earned benefits to deserving veterans. Based upon these struggles of implementing the Forever GI Bill Act, I have concerns that similar challenges will occur in the implementation of the VA MISSION Act, which was signed into law in June of this year and is the most transformative legislation for the VA healthcare system in over 30 years.

We are closing in on a 6-month mark before the VA MISSION Act must be implemented. June 6, 2019, will be when the new community care program under this act takes effect. This law requires several major critical reforms to the VA healthcare system. I want to quickly outline some of the biggest changes that the VA is required by law to implement.

First, the VA must establish new eligibility criteria for veterans to receive care in the community, and that criteria must be based on clearly defined, easy-to-understand access standards. The VA must establish and apply quality standards to make certain that all VA and community care facilities are providing our veterans with the highest level of care--the care they deserve.

The VA must create thorough and reliable processes for the VA and community care partners to coordinate care for a veteran who is receiving care in the community to make certain that the burden is no longer on the veteran and accountability is instead on those

who are charged with providing the care.

The VA must start to plan and properly project their healthcare expenses. This requires the VA to establish a well-vetted strategic planning document that better forecasts healthcare demands and what the VA and the community can supply to our Nation's veterans.

I certainly understand how large of an undertaking this is. Implementation of the MISSION Act, while it is important, is also a challenge. There are many within the VA who share our desire to transform the VA's healthcare system so it can continue to provide care for veterans for generations to come. There are many at the VA who want to see this done well and done right, but I do know it will take time. Change is not something that occurs in a day or a month or even a year, and the changes required here are fraught with difficulty if not done the correct way.

The key to making certain that change is taking place is how you respond to those difficulties. The VA leadership can learn from the past and change the culture and complacency and excuses. We no longer should be asking why but why not.

The VA will be testifying next week on the status of the VA MISSION Act implementation before the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees, and I will be there. I urge them to hold nothing back, to tell us clearly where they anticipate struggles, and that they in no way sweep anything under the rug so they make certain we know the challenges they are facing and so that we then can help them in the solutions.

Without real change within the VA, we cannot hope for real change for our veterans. We cannot afford to fail them any longer or in any additional circumstance.

The American people, Congress, and the President have charged the VA with a daunting mission, but it is a mission that is so worthy--to provide our veterans, those who have served our Nation, with a VA that is worthy of those veterans' service.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in recess as under the previous order.

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

Mr. President, I rise this evening to pay tribute to a longtime member of my staff. Will Ruder has served Kansans for 11 years and counting, including the last 2 years as legislative director in our office here in Washington. It is always difficult to say goodbye to our staff, but for many reasons, it will be uniquely difficult to replace Will.

Will grew up in a small, Western Kansas town called Plainville. If that sounds familiar to any of the folks back home, it is because Plainville is my home town as well.

Eleven years ago, I weighed two strong applicants for an internship opening in my office. As I recall, the first candidate had attended an east coast private school and was recommended by multiple individuals. The second was a young man from Plainville, whose parents ran a gas station and who was immediately approachable, down-to-earth, and eager to serve Kansans. Perhaps it goes without saying that in choosing Will 11 years ago, I made a right decision.

Will's Plainville roots and the values instilled by his family, hometown neighbors, and friends kept him grounded during his service in our Nation's Capital.

My ability to work on behalf of Kansans is greatly enhanced when dedicated individuals who care about our home State are there by my side.

I have often told my staff that I am an enabler. I enable them to do more for our State. I can think of no staffer who better epitomizes and articulates the reason I am here today as a U.S. Senator, working to preserve the rural way of life and the American dream for the next generation, than Will Ruder.

Just last week, this resonated with me in a powerful way. A short bus ride north from Hays is Plainville. My staff and I were in Hays on our staff retreat, and we made a surprise pit stop to Ruder Oil Company to visit Will's parents, John and Karla. It was a special moment for our staff to pay tribute to the Ruder family and to Will, the oldest of six Ruder children.

As a light rain fell, Will shared what it meant to come full circle back to his roots and why the work that we do in our Nation's Capital is so important to ensuring that rural America remains alive and well, particularly at a time when the American dream is seemingly becoming harder and harder to achieve.

As a policy adviser and legislative director, Will has accomplished a great deal on behalf of Kansans. A few weeks after I was sworn in as a Senator, it was Will who drafted the resolution honoring Kansas's 150th birthday.

In response to a devastating gas explosion in Hutchinson, KS, which took the lives of two Kansans and destroyed half a block of downtown businesses,

Will spent years working to pass legislation to allow Kansans to restore safety inspections of underground gas storage facilities.

Will was intimately involved in numerous banking, energy and water infrastructure victories for Kansans and almost always on a bipartisan basis.

I always say that if I have to lose good staffers, I hope it is because they are returning to Kansas. For Will, perhaps that was inevitable, but for the past several months, Will has had the unfortunate existence of working States away from his wife and kids, who made the preemptive move to Overland Park, KS, when his wife Liz received an exciting job opportunity.

I am happy for Will, and I know he is ecstatic to have a chance to move home, spend time with Liz, and watch his two children, Miriam and Leo, grow up.

Today I want to thank Will Ruder of Plainville, KS. Thank you, Will, for spending 11 years of your life in our Nation's Capital, trying to make things better, and for the way you have always conducted yourself on my behalf and on behalf of Kansans back home.

Whether you believe it or not, you have left a significant mark on this place, on our office, and on me, and your presence will be sorely missed.

Nomination of Michelle Bowman

Mr. President, tomorrow the Senate will consider Kansan Michelle Bowman to serve on the Federal Board of Governors for the seat reserved for a community banker or a community bank regulator. To understand her qualifications, we should first look at the position for which she has been nominated.

The original Federal Reserve Act requires appointments to the Board to include a representative of the agriculture community. When Congress further defined the Fed's representation, it created a specific seat for someone with a community bank background, having either worked in or supervised a community bank. Miki Bowman has done both.

Miki's experience as both Kansas State bank commissioner and her time at Farmers and Drovers Bank in Council Grove, KS, satisfies both of those statutory requirements, and she is even more qualified with her impressive background in public service and the private sector. In total, Miki Bowman has served as bank supervisor and regulator for nearly 2 years and has been a community banker for 7 years.

Miki was nominated April 16, 2018, as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors as the Community Bank Representative for the remainder of a 14-year term expiring January 31, 2020. If confirmed, she will represent Region 8, the St. Louis region of Missouri, for the Federal Reserve.

Miki will also be the first person nominated and confirmed by the Senate to hold the seat specifically reserved for one member with demonstrated primary experience working in or supervising community banks. She would be one of seven members of the Board.

Miki's early years echo that of many Kansans. She attended the University of Kansas to earn a bachelor's degree and then went on to earn a law degree from Washburn University.

After graduation, Miki was called to public service where she served in a variety of capacities, including as a staff member for Senator Dole and counsel for several House committees, Director of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs for FEMA, and a Deputy Assistant Secretary and Policy Adviser at the Department of Homeland Security Under Secretary Tom Ridge.

Following that, she and her husband moved to London, where Miki consulted on government and public affairs.

Like many Kansans who love and appreciate our State, Miki made her way back home. She returned to Council Grove to take the helm of the family bank for the next 7 years. Far from London and Washington, DC, Miki felt the need to return to her community to make a good life for her children and to serve her community.

Once again called to public service, Miki was nominated by Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback to serve as the Kansas bank commissioner, a position she has held since February 2017 and still holds to this day.

Miki's experience as both Kansas State bank commissioner and her time at Farmers and Drovers Bank in Council Grove satisfies both statutory requirements with her impressive background in public service and the private sector.

Community banks are an important part of communities and small cities across the country. They extend credit for homes, small businesses, and farm equipment, while also sponsoring Little League Baseball teams and the school band.

In addition, Miki understands the role that relationships play in the approach to business. In rural Kansas and across America, community banks act as economic engines, leveraging relationships with local community members that rely on trust and honesty.

Miki could tell story after story about the friendships and high level of trust she has built with her customers. It is a different kind of banking and one that will help make certain that rural America can thrive well into the future.

I urge my colleagues to vote tomorrow in favor of Miki Bowman to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors so we can bring her experience and unique perspectives to the Federal Reserve Board.

I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the provisions of rule XXII, amendment No. 4054 be modified with the changes that are at the desk.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority leader, in consultation with the Democratic leader, but no later than November 16, Senator Paul or his designee be recognized to make a motion to discharge S.J. Res. 65; that there be up to an hour of debate on the motion equally divided between the proponents and the opponents; and that following the use or yielding back of that time, the Senate vote in relation to the motion to discharge; further, that if the motion to discharge is agreed to, the joint resolution be eligible for the expedited procedures under the act.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that John Rendon, a Coast Guard fellow in Senator Wicker's office, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the Congress.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to speak.

Madam President, I am here to speak and once again highlight the importance of aviation to my State, to the country, and to the world, but also to point out the significance of the 5-year FAA reauthorization bill the Senate passed last week. I have come to the floor many times on this topic.

I am pleased to be here today to tell about the many wins that are included in this legislation. They are beneficial to the country, and they are certainly beneficial to my home State.

I am most pleased to highlight the fact that this legislation does not include--excluded from this legislation are any efforts to privatize our Nation's air traffic control system.

Kansas is the air capital of the world and for good reason. Kansans have built three out of every four general aviation aircraft since the Wright brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk. Today, over 40,000 Kansans make a living manufacturing, operating, and servicing the world's highest quality airplanes. I cannot overstate the importance of this reauthorization and the stability it provides to the aviation community.

We are doing something that we have been unable to do for years: a long-term FAA reauthorization. In the ongoing efforts to pass the long- term bill, Republicans and Democrats in both Chambers of Congress have found common ground and consensus among the entire aviation community on a wide range of important issues. The chairman of the Commerce Committee, Senator Thune from South Dakota, as well as the ranking member, Senator Nelson from Florida, deserve credit for the bipartisan manner in which they have worked through the FAA reauthorization process in recent years and their efforts to negotiate a final piece of legislation with the House that was strong enough to receive 93 votes in the Senate.

I am pleased that included in this legislation are numerous provisions that I have introduced and supported and advocated for since the reauthorization process began, and I look forward to sharing these accomplishments in short fashion. I thank the many aviation and aerospace leaders in my State for informing my work on this topic.

First, the FAA reauthorization bolsters FAA manufacturing by streamlining the aircraft certification process.

With the short amount of time before a vote, I will highlight these for the Record.

In addition, it authorizes the FAA Center of Excellence for Advanced Materials at Wichita State University. This research has played a critical role in the evolution and integration of aircraft materials and technologies by providing valuable research to validate the safety and integrity of new aircraft to the general public.

This bill helps close the skills gap for the aviation workforce. Senator Inhofe and I have worked to provide legislation to create a pilot program within the FAA through which grants would be authorized to support tech education and career development. The grants would encourage collaboration between businesses, schools, and local governments, and these entities would develop innovative workforce programs to help close the skill gap in the aerospace industry.

The FAA Reauthorization Act reduces regulatory barriers for educational use of drones--unmanned aerial vehicles or systems. Last Congress, I was co-lead on this legislation with Senator Peters of Michigan to reduce barriers for the use of small UASs at institutions of higher education. This bill accelerates the safe integration of innovative UAS technology, another significant development.

This legislation strengthens the Federal Contract Tower Program. Kansas is home to eight air traffic control towers that participate in FAA's FCT Program, which provides important safety services at small airports nationwide in a cost-effective manner that saves the taxpayers $200 million annually. This FAA reauthorization includes several reforms that strengthen the Contract Tower Program, and I am pleased to be able to report that.

It provides access and flexibility for additional airport construction funding. Again, this is something that is important in all of our communities that have an airport. How do we make certain that we have the latest infrastructure available for safe flights to and from our airports?

It improves child safety on commercial airlines, legislation that Senator Schatz from Hawaii and I introduced to advance the safety of children who fly with their parents.

This bill reauthorizes the FAA's Essential Air Service Program, connecting rural airports to the national system. That is something which is important to many of us who represent rural States.

It safeguards small airports in the event of sudden loss of commercial service.

Last Congress, I sponsored the Small Airport Regulatory Relief Act that is included in this legislation. It is to make certain that certain airports, such as the Hays Regional Airport and the Liberal Mid-America Regional Airport, would not lose Federal Airport Improvement Program funding due to inconsistent commercial service through no fault of their own.

Unfortunately, regional airlines continue to struggle because of a lack of pilots. There is a pilot shortage, and our airports and the traveling public ought not be damaged as a result of the

inability of the airlines to hire a sufficient number of airline pilots.

It also increases the fairness and reduces regulation for general aviation projects and activities. This is legislation that was originally introduced, which I am a sponsor of, called the FLIGHT Act. It effectively targets AIP funding to general aviation airports and provides those airports with flexibility on their use of passenger facility charges. It has a provision that fosters the exchange of aircraft through fair regulatory treatment in airplane joint ownership--again, another small but important development. It includes provisions that preserve the Contract Weather Observers Program, something that was at risk over the last several years.

There are many things to highlight in this legislation. I would also point out that it has provisions to help provide for talented women in the aviation workforce and facilitate their recruitment. Women currently comprise only 4 percent of flight engineers, 6 percent of pilots, and 26 percent of air traffic controllers, representing a huge untapped pool for talent in the aviation industry.

I am grateful to my colleagues for coming together and creating this compromise bill that will have a positive and immediate effect upon the economy and the Kansas aviation community. It is a good day for the Senate, it is a good day for Congress, it is a good day for the country, and it is especially a good day for me and for Kansans.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

Mr. President, I come to the floor this afternoon to speak about an announcement that occurred last night that an agreement had been reached to modernize the North America Free Trade Agreement. The new agreement, named the ``United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement'' or ``USMCA,'' will bring this trade pact between our countries into the 21st century.

Over the last year and a half, I have been working with my colleagues and others in the administration to make clear to President Trump, Ambassador Lighthizer, Secretary Ross, and my Senate colleagues of the importance of trade and exports--whether that was in meetings with the President and his Cabinet officials, through my subcommittee chairmanships, through speeches here on the Senate floor, or with many of my constituents in Kansas whose livelihoods depend on trade.

I have written numerous letters to U.S. agricultural leaders and various agricultural organizations, followed up by speaking engagements across the country at the annual meetings of national farm and ranch groups to rally producers to fight to preserve trade relationships with Canada and Mexico.

I have spent a lot of time in Kansas at nearly 100 townhall meetings in the last 2 years attended by various agriculture and commodity groups.

I have talked to local media where folks are particularly interested at home about the issue of NAFTA and trade.

In each of these instances, I was clear that withdrawing from NAFTA without a replacement agreement would be devastating to the Kansas economy. While NAFTA modernization was due to reflect changes in the economy since its enactment almost 25 years ago, the agreement has been critical to growth in agricultural exports and has created countless manufacturing jobs in my State.

As a result of NAFTA, Canada and Mexico are two export markets that account for approximately 39 percent of total exports from Kansas. We, as Kansans, sell more aerospace parts and products to Canada than anywhere in the world and more food and commodities to Mexico than anywhere in the world.

Importantly, the new agreement includes all three countries. As I conveyed to the President when the bilateral U.S.-Mexico agreement was announced, a final deal without Canada would be a significant step backward from the agreement in place today. I applaud President Trump for taking these concerns seriously and, while engaging in tough negotiations, recognizing the benefit of all three nations being included in the final agreement.

The road ahead for this new agreement will not be easy. I am carefully reviewing the agreement's details and look forward to additional economic analysis on the impact it would have--particularly on Kansas but on farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers across our country and, equally of importance, the impact upon their employees.

Once the President signs the agreement, it will be up to Congress to consider and vote to approve the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement--most likely next year. However, today farmers and ranchers are breathing a sigh of relief, as the announcement brings greater certainty at a time when producers are facing extended periods of low commodity prices. Agricultural conditions in our State, due to drought and due to commodity prices and the uncertainty of export markets, are a significant challenge.

Simply put, we produce more in this country than we can consume. Farmers, agricultural leaders, and commodity groups spend their own time and money developing export markets. We have many checkoff programs designed to encourage the sale of agriculture commodities from Kansas and the United States around the globe. Over a span of years and sometimes even decades, U.S. producers have built relationships with customers around the world based upon our ability to consistently deliver high-quality commodities at competitive prices. This agreement ought to inspire confidence in our purchasers in Mexico and Canada, as well as around the world, that America will continue to be a reliable supplier of food and agricultural commodities.

Under the new agreement, all agricultural commodities that currently have duty-free access under NAFTA will continue. In addition, U.S. dairy producers who had a long, difficult time with Canada's supply management system will enjoy greater market access to the Canadian market.

A trilateral agreement is also critical for aerospace, auto, and other manufacturers in Kansas who rely on an integrated North American supply chain. Withdrawing from NAFTA or excluding Canada from the agreement would have disrupted markets and cost Kansas jobs.

I am hopeful that negotiations will continue with Canada and Mexico to resolve section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs that have raised prices for Kansas manufacturers and their customers, as well as resulted in retaliation against U.S. producers, including pork producers in Kansas.

While I come to the floor to commend an agreement being reached on modernizing NAFTA, we have a lot of work to do to resolve current trade disputes while building new export markets.

The trade dispute with China has harmed farmers and ranchers when they can least afford it. Producers have faced low prices and declining income for the better part of a decade. I remain concerned that if we lose major export markets, we will see a prolonged downturn in the prices instead of the recovery that is so desperately needed and desired.

Since the start of the trade dispute with China, soybean prices have fallen over $2 per bushel, which equates to Kansas farmers and grain handlers losing out on $378 million of possible revenue solely on soybeans.

Kansas is the top sorghum-producing State in the Nation. About half of the sorghum produced in the country is exported, with 90 percent of exports previously going to China. It is estimated that the decline in sorghum prices due to China's tariffs will result in about $87 of lost revenue per acre planted in Kansas.

I have held two hearings to review the administration's trade policies in the Appropriations subcommittee that I chair--Commerce, Justice, Science--including a hearing with Ambassador Lighthizer. These hearings offered me and my colleagues the opportunity to express directly to the administration the importance of trade and for me to express the importance of trade to Kansas. As chairman of the CJS Subcommittee, I look forward to continuing to engage on the analysis and consideration of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement and other trade issues.

The ability of Kansans to make a living depends on the opportunity to sell around the world what we grow and produce and manufacture, and I will continue to urge in the direction of more trade, not less. I will also keep working to meet with farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, commodities groups, agricultural leaders, and organizations to make sure their voices are heard, and I will continue to be a component of the ongoing work to promote free and fair trade.

I end my remarks by noting my appreciation to the administration officials for working to make certain these markets remain available to Kansas farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers, providing them with some much needed certainty. I will further analyze the details of this agreement, but I am pleased to say that last night's announcement is clearly a positive development. I thank the administration for their pursuit of a better NAFTA agreement and a conclusion that includes all three countries.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, I want to speak on the appropriations process. I am pleased we are moving forward, and in a few short minutes we will have a couple of additional votes in regard to appropriations bills.

I want to acknowledge the recent success we have had in moving our appropriations process forward. One would think we would easily be able to meet our legislative mandate. The law says we should pass a budget by April 15 of every year and then follow that with 12 appropriations bills that fill in the spaces in that budget. That turned out to be much more complicated, difficult, and politically challenging than I would have hoped.

As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I want this to work, but as a representative of taxpayers in Kansas and across the country, I need the appropriations process to work. It is the place we establish priorities. Spend more money here, less money here, no money here-- those are important decisions that need to be made every year. It is also the opportunity we have to send messages and directives to the administration. By the administration, I mean Cabinet Secretaries, Bureau Chiefs, and Agency heads.

The power of the purse string is an important tool for Congress under article I of the U.S. Constitution to direct how taxpayer dollars are spent in the United States. It is a cause of mine to see that the appropriations process works so we can establish those priorities but also so we can have input into any administration's intentions to establish rules and regulations, develop new policies. The power of the purse string should be exhibited by Congress in a way that allows us, on behalf of the citizens of this country, to have input into what goes on in any administration.

We are doing much better than we have been for a long time. This has been a year of success. The Senate Appropriations Committee has passed all 12 bills from the Appropriations Committee, and we will today pass several more on the Senate floor. The goal would be, in my view should be, that we complete all 12 bills hopefully before the end of the fiscal year, which ends on September 30, but more likely between now and the end of November or early December.

We have had significant guidance certainly from the majority and minority leaders of the U.S. Senate, but especially with the help of Richard Shelby, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and the vice chairman of the Appropriations Committee, the Senator from Vermont, Mr. Leahy, in avoiding the usual contentious issues in our appropriations bills that then cause this deadlock to occur with no result, no capability of moving appropriations bills. Way too often, the end result has been what be we call a CR, a continuing resolution, that funds the Federal Government next year at the same level as it does last year, as it was funded in the previous year, or ultimately it can end up in an omnibus spending bill in which all the spending is combined. The opportunity for us as members of the Appropriations Committee but equally or more importantly Members of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives to have input into those spending items is greatly diminished, and the amount of knowledge of what one can have about what is in that appropriations bill when it covers everything and results in trillions of dollars of spending is pretty limited.

The President was correct in his admonition, his desire, to see that we get spending bills done and avoid another Omnibus appropriations bill. I want to thank both sets of leadership--the full Senate leadership and the Appropriations Committee leadership--for their efforts to get us back to what we around here call regular order, and I am pleased to see we are moving solidly in that direction.

I applaud these developments, but I continue to believe that all 12 appropriations bills should continue to be worked on and should be pursued toward a final conclusion between now and the end of the fiscal year or certainly between now and December 7, a date that is established in the legislation we are soon to vote on.

We should not simply kick the can. That proverbial can has been kicked down a long road for a long time, and those 12 appropriations measures should be completed. We should work quickly among ourselves, with a sense of cooperation and for a desired outcome, to see that our work is done.

Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations

Mr. President, of those 12 appropriations bills, I have the privilege of working with the Senator from New Hampshire, Mrs. Shaheen, the vice chairman of that committee. I serve as the chairman of the subcommittee called CJS. Again in our words, the C, J, and S stand for Commerce, Justice, and Science. We are on the floor today--in particular, Senator Shaheen and I--to encourage that bill not be left behind and that it, too, be considered on the Senate floor as it has come out of the Appropriations Committee on a vote of 30 to 1. I suppose you can say it could be slightly more unanimous than that if it had been 31 to 0, but there is broad support--Republicans and Democrats--for the legislation we have crafted that deals with very important issues for the citizens of our Nation.

I want to make certain the message is delivered that we stand ready to work with our House colleagues and with the administration to see that the Commerce-Justice-Science bill ultimately passes the Senate and the House and is signed into law by the President.

In particular, I also would raise four bills that have been packaged together after having had their approval by the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations. There are four subcommittee bills that are awaiting final resolution. It sounds like, from everything I can understand, with a modest level of cooperation, those bills could also be completed, and those bills are: Interior, Transportation, Financial Services, and Agriculture. Again, without exception, all of them are important to Kansans and important to the country.

We have come extremely far, and we are so close. Please do not let this

process get bogged down and prevent those four bills from being considered and also the legislation Senator Shaheen and I are here to support, the Commerce-Justice-Science bill.

I do recognize, within our bill, there are contentious issues. We worked together--Senator Shaheen and I--to resolve those differences. We have worked with our Republican and Democratic colleagues on our subcommittee and on the full committee to reach a resolution that was satisfactory broadly--again, a 30-to-1 vote.

It is important, having come this far, that we don't stop now, and we are here to again express our willingness to work in every way possible with House colleagues to make certain these bills are fully considered and passed.

These bills are important. They are important for what, in our case, CJS includes. As we look at crime statistics today in this country, one would think we would be focused on what resources our law enforcement officials need, and CJS--the J stands for justice--funds law enforcement and funds the Federal aspect of enforcement of our laws in this country, and this funding is the partnership that works with local and State law enforcement officials to combat increasing crime.

This bill involves national security in so many ways, and economic development is so important, particularly to a State like mine, which is rural. While the national statistics suggest that the economy is increasing and that job growth is occurring, it is less likely to see that in my home State of Kansas. We need to make certain that we devote the necessary attention and resources toward job creation and so-called economic development.

Scientific research and space exploration are awfully important and are included in the appropriate way at an appropriate level, and, certainly, there is an agreed-upon level of funding in support of those programs.

In light of this administration's aggressive trade agenda, the CJS bill provides increased funding for several of the Federal agencies involved in promoting U.S. trade and our products abroad and in enforcing trade. As we engage in the trade policies that we are currently engaged in, we ought to be doing everything we can to export around the world, and the CJS appropriations bill highlights and prioritizes that.

Our subcommittee, in fact, has held two hearings recently, one with Ambassador Lighthizer and then one with the agencies within the Department of Commerce that are responsible for trade issues.

Whether or not you agree with this administration's use of tariffs and its general direction on trade, I would think, perhaps without exception, my colleagues would agree that resources are needed to help to implement a transparent and expeditious exclusion process for U.S. stakeholders--our businesses here in the United States--to ensure that they are not unfairly impacted by retaliatory actions.

The CJS bill includes important funding which allows businesses, manufacturers, and farmers to continue exporting, promoting, and procuring their products abroad.

Additionally, one would think that at this point in time, it is probably nothing that we think about easily, but if we think about the point in time where we are in the calendar, the census is approaching in 2020, the decennial census. The Census Bureau is entering a critical stage of development, and as it prepares for the 2020 census, the funding in this bill--the CJS bill for fiscal year 2019--allows the census to prepare to execute its constitutional responsibilities.

Data from the census is so important. It needs to be accurate and correct because it facilitates the distribution, for example, of billions in Federal funding for grants supporting States, counties, and municipalities determined upon the population of those communities.

Congressional reapportionment will occur using that census data. There are so many reasons that we want to make certain the dollars and the resources are available, and this bill addresses those priorities.

Furthermore, the Senate CJS bill maintains strong support for science and innovation by crafting a balanced space program within NASA, and it contains increased funding for the National Science Foundation and for

Mr. President, I join my colleagues today in tribute to our colleague, Senator John McCain of Arizona.

We look for heroes in this world. It seems to me we are always looking in the wrong places. We look at baseball diamonds and basketball courts and amphitheaters and stadiums where performers sing, but we fail to look in the right places. Sometimes we are with heroes, and we don't always recognize it at the moment. Yet there is no American I know who is more deserving of the title ``hero'' than John McCain. Those who serve us in the military are entitled to that honorific, and those who serve in the military and serve others in the military--those who serve our veterans--are heroes too. Senator McCain lived a life in which heroics were a part of every day.

I first met John McCain in 1996, in Hays, KS, my hometown. The habit was that Senator Bob Dole, then a candidate for President of the United States, would fly to the airport in Hays, near his hometown of Russell. This time he had a guest with him, John McCain, who was the campaign chairman on his Presidential campaign. I watched the two of them interact, and it was really the first time I had had the opportunity to see a Senator other than, perhaps, my own two from Kansas.

Senator Dole had the greatest regard for Senator McCain. Senator Dole wore the POW bracelet. He never knew John McCain when he was a POW, but by happenstance, he chose to wear a bracelet in honor of and in respect and concern for a POW in Vietnam. John McCain learned on the Senate floor that Bob Dole wore his throughout much of his captivity. I respect and honor Senator Dole, and I saw that day the respect and honor he had for a fellow Senator, a fellow serviceman, a fellow veteran. Both Senator Dole's and Senator McCain's lives were dramatically affected by their service to our Nation.

Quite frankly, when I arrived at the U.S. Senate, I was intimidated by Senator McCain. He was vitriolic, and he had the habit of exploding at a moment's notice. Something could set him off. Something he cared passionately about could cause him to react. So, in my early days as a new U.S. Senator, I didn't seek John McCain's companionship. That was a mistake on my part because, despite his prickly nature, knowing John McCain has become one of the most valuable experiences I have had in the Senate.

We began working together on one of those issues that John McCain and no one else in the U.S. Senate could have had the stature to have dealt with--certainly, our military men and women in the defense of our Nation. We bonded in our efforts to see that the veterans of our Nation received the care that they deserved, that they received their benefits from the Veterans Health Administration that they were entitled to and that they had earned through their service to our Nation. That work--a McCain-Moran bill--became a significant part of the VA MISSION Act.

I learned in that experience the dedication that Senator McCain had to those who served--to have made sure that the mistakes that had been made at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which may have cost veterans their lives, never happened again. Initially, that resulted in the Veterans Choice Act, and in its just recently being passed by the House, passed by the Senate, and in having been signed by the President, the legislation that we named in honor of Senator John McCain has resulted in the VA MISSION Act, which replaces and improves the Choice Act.

In that experience of working with Senator McCain on behalf of America's veterans, I also got acquainted with Senator McCain's staff. I think it is probably true that we can learn a lot about our colleagues by the people they surround themselves with, in the way that a Senator treats his or her staff members and, perhaps, even more importantly, in the way that those individuals who work for a U.S. Senator treat their boss. What I saw from those who worked for Senator McCain was abiding respect, love, care, and compassion for U.S. Senator John McCain. It told me a lot about his staff, but it told me even more about Senator McCain's person and character.

In my time in working in the Senate with John McCain, I also discovered his abiding love for the people of Arizona. Senator McCain was a national figure and could be only a national figure if he desired. Yet he had the stature to be not only a person who was known in the State he represented and in the Nation but around the world. While Senator McCain represented the United States well, here in the U.S. Senate and in countries around the globe, you could tell that Senator McCain cared about and loved the people he represented at home. He respected them. He recognized that they were the ones who gave him the opportunity to perform on a national stage. He never forgot Arizonans.

I appreciate the way that he and his junior colleague from Arizona, Senator Flake, worked together on behalf of the citizens of his State. So, while it would have been easy for John to have played only the national figure, he never forgot from where he came.

While many of my comments today have paid my respect to Senator McCain for his service to the U.S. Senate, it is his service in the military, in the Navy, that is most compelling to me. I have known this story throughout my life--and it has been reported and repeated here on the Senate floor--but I do not know a person who, as a prisoner of war and who was given the opportunity to be released and to return home to family and loved ones, would say no. I do not know a person other than John McCain who would say: No, it is not my turn. No, there are others who are prisoners of war who are more deserving and who are, in fact, on the list ahead of me to be released.

What an honor to know a person who has put others so much ahead of himself, to know someone who, because of his love of country and love of those who served and his sense of responsibility and obligation to those he served with and who were prisoners of war with him, had the character, the values to say: No, it is not my turn.

I wish I knew people; I wish I were one of them.

So, today, I, certainly, honor Senator McCain for his status and service as a Senator. Yet I admire and respect him for his service to the Nation, his service in the Navy, and his care and compassion for those with whom he served.

John McCain led a full and meaningful life. He instructed us numerous times about our behavior here in the U.S. Senate. He asked us, as Americans, to behave differently. He asked our country to come together.

We desperately need the opportunity for Americans to see what they are seeing on the Senate floor this week, where both Republicans and Democrats are honoring the life and service of John McCain. We need to answer his call. We need to honor his request to make certain that the work we perform is done for all Americans.

John McCain was a Republican, but much more so, he was an American. He reminds me of what I see on the monuments and memorials at the National Mall when I make my trek up to the Lincoln Memorial and pass the World War II, the Vietnam war, and the Korean war memorials. No one memorialized there fought, died, sacrificed, and served for Republicans or for Democrats. John McCain and those we memorialize on the National Mall recognized a higher calling.

If we could do something that would alter our behavior in respect to John McCain, what a difference we might make in the country, and if Americans can use this moment to pull together, our country will be better.

John McCain led a full and meaningful life. I admired him, I respected him, and I loved him.

Senator McCain, thank you for your service to our Nation. It is a grateful Nation.

The Navy hymn says: ``Eternal Father, strong to save, whose arms hath bound the restless wave.''

May John McCain rest in peace.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, it is such a privilege to be here on the Senate floor today on this occasion as we work our way through another set of appropriations bills. Today we are working on the Defense appropriations bill and the bill we call Labor-H, which involves the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the National Institutes of Health, or NIH.

The Senator from West Virginia was correct in her commentary with regard to this being a good day, but she was also correct in her commentary about the number of people, including, especially, the chairman of the subcommittee, Senator Blunt from Missouri, and the ranking member of that subcommittee, Senator Murray from Washington State, and I too serve on the subcommittee.

I am also pleased to be here with the Senator from West Virginia, Mrs. Capito, and the Senator from Maine, Ms. Collins. It is an indication that there is broad support. I also notice that the ranking member, the vice chairman of the committee, is with us as well, Senator Leahy from Vermont.

For as long as I have been in the U.S. Senate--and I have been a member of the Appropriations Committee since that arrival--it has been a mission of mine to see that we increase the amount of funding for the National Institutes of Health. Today we particularly highlight the consequences--the good things that happen--in that regard, with the diseases of the mind--Alzheimer's, in particular.

Alzheimer's is a devastating disease that places such an enormous burden on so many people, on so many families across Kansas and around the country, and it has a huge impact on lives. There are currently more than 5 million Americans living with Alzheimer's and their combined care costs $259 billion to our healthcare system each year.

I appreciate the opportunity to work on issues that combine the opportunity to help individuals and the care and compassion that come from one's heart to see that people's lives are improved and that families are changed as a result of the work. I also appreciate the opportunity to work on issues in which the mind kicks in and in which we can save significant dollars in our healthcare delivery system by finding the cure to Alzheimer's and delaying the onset of this horrific disease.

It is estimated that by 2050, this number--the $259 billion to our healthcare system costs--could rise as high as 16 million people with Alzheimer's, or from 5 million to 16 million, and increase the cost from $259 billion to over $1 trillion. In fact, an individual develops Alzheimer's almost every single minute in our country. These predictions do not need to become a reality. That is what this Appropriations Committee report that we will discuss, debate, and vote on this week involves. These astronomical costs can be curbed if this disease can be made treatable and curable

There is hope that progress is being made. I am hopeful, but I know that progress is being made. We have seen it. This past decade has bought a significantly increased awareness to Alzheimer's research, as well as important partnerships and developments at the National Alzheimer's Project, which is updated on an annual basis.

NIH researchers are now able to study an increased level of small images of proteins, including detailed physical structures of the brain that are common in individuals suffering from Alzheimer's. This new development could be the piece that brings the research and data together to find a way to reverse the disease's impact on the human brain. What a wonderful development that would be.

The only way to build on this progress is to solidify our commitment to supporting the National Institutes of Health through our annual funding increases. Again, I am pleased to see that we are once again adding significant dollars to the NIH, and particularly to NIA, for this research.

As a cofounder of the Senate NIH caucus, I visited NIH headquarters last year with directors of the University of Kansas Alzheimer's Disease Center. It is one of 31 NIH-designated Alzheimer's disease centers across our country. The promising research that we see at home at the KU Alzheimer's Disease Center demonstrates the benefits of NIH utilizing partnerships to increase research capacity that yields results.

It is critical to note that NIH's ability to support Alzheimer's at academic institutions such as KU is dependent upon stable annual appropriations. That stable annual appropriation is also important for us to be able to attract the best and the brightest researchers in this country, who need to know there is a stable source of research dollars for them to continue their efforts of finding this cure and delaying it at its onset.

So many of us care for people who have been affected by Alzheimer's and serious illnesses. This unfortunate circumstance that many share should make it easy to rally around NIH in hopes of that cure and improving the lives of those we love.

I am proud to say that with this proposed increase of $425 million in fiscal year 2019, we have now worked to nearly triple the funding for Alzheimer's disease research over the past 3 years.

In addition to our work in the appropriations process, there are a number of legislative efforts that are under way. I will mention two of them: the BOLD Act and PCHETA. These are legislative initiatives sponsored by many of us who are speaking today about Alzheimer's that on the authorizing side, separate from the appropriations side, are deserving of the support of my colleagues here in the Senate, in the House of Representatives, and in our bill, which should be sent to the President of the United States for signature.

As a committee and as a Congress, we must work to provide the necessary support to NIH to discover treatments and cures, and we will continue to do that with this bill today.

I also want to take a moment to recognize a couple of people. In my involvement in this issue, and, as a matter of fact, in my involvement as a U.S. Senator with issues in general, we meet lots of interesting and caring people. There is a family I have met who, to the best of my knowledge, has nothing personally to gain from their efforts. Bob and Jill Thomas and brother Bill and Susan Thomas from Oklahoma have been relentless, tireless advocates on behalf of the Alzheimer's community. It is so pleasing to me to know people who have care and compassion for people and who spend their time and their resources making sure that Members of Congress, the American people, and the Alzheimer's Association have the resources and information necessary to accomplish the goal that we are all about: a better life for more Americans and their families, the elimination of this disease that Americans now face, and the opportunity for us to find the cure to this horrific disease that affects so many.

So I want to use the moment to express my personal gratitude to Bob and Jill and to Bill and Susan and to others across the country and others in Kansas, who go to work, day to day, to make certain that life is better for their fellow Americans and for people around the globe.

Again, it is an honor to be here with my colleagues in support of this legislation. There are many reasons to be supportive of the Labor- HHS bill, but I would highlight this one as one that my colleagues can rally around. Republicans and Democrats of all walks of life should be pleased by our efforts today to see that there are more research dollars available for the cure.

I appreciate the opportunity to join my colleagues.

I now yield the floor to the Senator from Maine, Ms. Collins.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

Mr. President, yesterday, my wife Robba and I attended the funeral services of Ed Rolfs of Junction City, KS. I come today to pay honor to this Kansan, to this great individual, and pay tribute to his contributions to his community and to our State.

Mr. Rolfs was born on December 13, 1924, in Junction City, KS, where he lived his entire life. He attended school there and graduated from Junction City High School. He then attended the University of Kansas for his undergraduate degree and later received degrees from Columbia University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Ed was a lifelong student and was always busy. He was an avid reader and researcher. He studied financial markets and economic trends. He also stuck to his roots as a farmer, and he worked on the family farm until his passing this week.

The community and State know him as a strong supporter of schools and education. He continually supported scholarships and mentored many young men and women in the Junction City area.

He was a banker, and he began his career at the bank his father first started in 1915--Central National Bank. In 1967, Ed was promoted. He was named president of the bank, and he served in that capacity for over 25 years. He saw a great deal of growth and expansion in the bank as it spread into communities across the State and region. He was a president of a big bank, but he was a president of a community bank that had relationships with its customers. The banking community knew him to be a visionary leader, and he was, by many accounts, described as having a brilliant mind. His impact on the bank was more than just the bottom line; he took care and focused on his employees and their success.

Ed was a dedicated member of the Junction City community. Junction City is a community that is surrounded by Fort Riley. It is a community that understands the importance of civic engagement and understands the importance of caring for those who serve our Nation and whose families often remain behind while that service occurs. He was active in his community.

It is what you, Mr. President, and I know about many communities across our States in which people devote a significant amount of their time to making sure that good things happen at home. It is also a generational thing where you see those the age of Ed make certain that their lives are more than just their careers.

Ed had been a member of the Rotary Club since 1950. He joined the Masonic Union Lodge in 1953. He had held the post of president of both the Rotary Club and the Junction City Chamber of

Commerce. He was engaged with the Highland Cemetery Association as president; the Central Charities Foundation, where he was chairman; and he was a treasurer and trustee of the Kansas Council for Economic Education.

I have known Ed for many years. I, as well as those who honored him at his funeral service yesterday, described him as a humble man, despite his many successes, who kept quiet about those accomplishments. Over his lifetime, he received many awards, ranging from the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year to the Kansas Governor's Art Award in 2007.

He served his country, in addition to his community. It makes us proud that he was a veteran of both World War II and the Korean conflict. He was a 73-year member of the American Legion Post No. 45. Serving and sacrificing for others is simply who Ed Rolfs was.

Ed had a deep understanding of the temporary nature of life. He was a devoted and lifelong member of the First Presbyterian Church, where he served in various roles--as treasurer, member of the choir, trustee, and Sunday school teacher.

A dedicated family man and loving husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, Ed leaves behind his wife, Eunice, of nearly 70 years. I would use this as an opportunity to indicate to my colleagues that Eunice is the daughter of Frank Carlson, former Governor and U.S. Senator from Kansas. They were married for nearly 70 years. He has three children, four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

One of the things I observe in judging a person on their abilities, their character, who they are as a human being, is what their family is like. In any dealings I ever had with Ed Rolfs and his family, I knew he was good at what was really important in life. He raised a good family. He and Eunice raised a good family.

Ed represents the kinds of values on which our State was built. His sense of care and compassion and his service to his community, his country, his church, and his family have made the world and our part of the world a better place. He had a vision for a stronger community and a more prosperous Kansas. He will continue to inspire me personally.

Another observation is that my attendance at the funeral services yesterday caused me to remind myself that you hope the people who come to your funeral service are there because they admire and respect you and honor you and the life you lived. Ed had significant responsibility and a significant position in the community, but it is unusual to see so many people of all ages at a funeral. It wasn't about his position; it was about his relationship with those he knew and cared about.

In the coming weeks, Robba and I will continue to keep Ed and his wife Eunice, along with their family and friends, in our prayers. As they celebrated his life at the funeral services on Monday, may we continue to live our lives in a way that honors the way he lived his life.

May Ed Rolfs rest in peace.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I appreciate the kind remarks and the comments about the appropriations process and bill by the ranking member, the vice chairman of the committee.

In this package of appropriations bills is the FSGG that was just talked about by the Senator from Oklahoma, the chairman of the subcommittee of which I am a member. Tonight, I want to speak about an aspect of that appropriations bill. I want to speak on the evolving threats in cyber security that not only pose harm to individual Americans but also to Federal agencies that are tasked with ensuring the economic and national security of our Nation.

In recent years, it has become clear that threats in cyber security are rapidly changing. Cyber attacks are not only growing in volume but also in complexity.

I chair a subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee, the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security. I have convened hearings and publicly questioned Federal agencies and private corporations alike to determine what standards and practices they have in place to better protect their customers' personal and financial data.

With examples of breaches exposing the personally identifiable information of tens of millions of Americans, such as in the 2015 breach within the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the ability to compromise data networks in the Federal Government cannot be overstated. Companies must do all they can to prevent hackers from gaining access to their customers' information. The Federal Government and State officials must do the same.

Advancements in information technology, or IT, will continue to drive the changes in our Nation's security, economic competitiveness, communications, healthcare, privacy, and other areas. The Federal Government must keep pace with these changes through nimble, expeditious, and results-driven decision making.

A stringent and cumbersome budgeting and acquisition process has tied the hands of Federal agencies in their efforts to modernize their IT systems in an efficient fashion.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office's 2015 ``High-Risk Series'' report highlighted several issues it deemed critical to improving IT acquisition. Specifically, the report stated that about 75 percent of the $80 billion the Federal Government spends annually on IT investments is spent on operating and maintaining outdated and unsupported legacy systems, creating major cyber security vulnerabilities at home and abroad. In fact, the Federal Chief Information Officer, Suzette Kent, recently testified to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform last week, where she identified the replacement of legacy IT systems as critical to achieving stronger Federal cyber security protections.

With the support of the Trump administration, I partnered with Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico to introduce the Modernizing Government Technology Act, which is being referred to as the MGT Act, in an effort to address the foundational cyber security threats that outdated legacy systems in our Federal agencies pose.

The MGT Act establishes IT working capital funds for 24 CFO Act- eligible agencies and allows them to use savings obtained through streamlining IT systems, replacing legacy products, and transitioning to cloud computing for further modernization efforts for up to 3 years.

The bill also creates the Technology Modernization Fund, a separate centralized fund within the Department of the Treasury. These resources would be administered across the Federal Government by the head of the General Services Administration in consultation with a board of Federal IT experts.

It is fitting that the MGT Act was signed into law last year as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018, as cyber security policy is increasingly interwoven into comprehensive national security discussions.

As contributors to the original drafting of the MGT Act, Senate appropriators demonstrated their continued support for the innovative policy by appropriating $100 million to the Technology Modernization Fund for fiscal year 2018, last year's appropriations bill. Of this original funding, the Technology Modernization Fund has already awarded substantial grants to applicant agencies, including the Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Energy, and Agriculture, to replace their outdated, unsupported, and vulnerable systems.

Given these early-stage successes, I was disappointed to find that the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for Financial Services and General Government, FSGG--the subcommittee that the Senator from Oklahoma chairs and that I am a member of--provided no funds for the Technology Modernization Fund in the mark for this fiscal year, 2019.

I appreciate the opportunity to work with Subcommittee Chairman Lankford and his staff. It was clear to me in that conversation and those discussions that GSA and OMB need to provide more information on individual agency proposals submitted to and awarded by the Technology Modernization Fund.

I worked with the subcommittee to include specific reporting requirements in this bill for the agencies to provide Congress. Agency officials have been providing necessary information to appropriators since the markup of the bill, so progress is being made.

These commonsense requirements are absolutely critical and will lead to more transparency, and it is important that the GSA and OMB work closely with the Appropriations Committee on proposals for moving forward. Congress and the Federal agencies must work hand-in-hand to provide the necessary resources to the Technology Modernization Fund, which, used responsibly, is a vital tool for the Federal Government's task of keeping our Nation's critical IT infrastructure efficient and secure.

Inherently tied to improving our Nation's critical IT infrastructure is bolstering cyber security efforts against those who try to do us harm in the cyber domain. The Federal role in cyber security involves both securing Federal systems and assisting in protecting non-Federal systems. Under current law, all Federal agencies have cyber security responsibilities relating to their own systems, and many have sector- specific responsibilities.

One of the most well-known topics related to our Nation's cyber security capabilities relates to the intelligence community indicating that Russian cyber actors interfered with U.S. elections. These exposures threatened to compromise one of the most sacred privileges we have, as Americans, afforded to us in our constitutional freedom to participate in democracy through election.

Back-end election systems, including voter registration databases, ballot creation systems, voting machine configuration systems, absentee processing and reporting, and tabulation software, are increasingly vulnerable and have been compromised by both private and state actors. While States are charged with the primary responsibility of securing their systems, the Federal Government can bolster those efforts through legislation, such as the Secure Elections Act, which I cosponsored in an effort to strengthen protections against foreign interference and prevent Russian meddling in our election, as they did in 2016.

Our Nation faces existential threats from adversaries such as Russia and China in a warfare we cannot see that rages in the shadows of cyber space, where cyber attacks know no bounds, affecting our Federal systems, States, and crossing the line among numerous sectors in our Nation's critical infrastructure.

As our intelligence and other communities analyze cyber threats, whether attacking our democracy or our critical infrastructure, it is important that the Federal Government promptly streamline and share cyber security information with State, local, and private sector partners.

Although talk of cyber threats to our State networks and critical infrastructure across all sectors continues to grow, this threat is not new. Just last July, we saw hackers infiltrate a network of companies that run nuclear plants in the United States, including a nuclear powerplant in my home State of Kansas.

Incidentally, a cross-section of stakeholders at the State and Federal level and among the private sector are represented at the Kansas Intelligence Fusion Center, which plays a critical role in analyzing and comparing cyber data and intelligence among public- private partners and Federal agencies to identify similarities, anomalies, and ways our cyber defenses can improve. The Fusion Center, headquartered in Topeka and managed by the Kansas National Guard, has analytical capability that works as an intermediary, supporting companies across the United States in our financial and energy sectors, as well as our intelligence community and the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Homeland Security. With the Fusion Center's ability to access, analyze, and transmit data at classified levels, they are able to more accurately assess cyber threats from the vantage point that private sector partners cannot. Similarly, they are able to share what they learn from cyber attacks on private sector partners to Federal agencies.

As we look for ways to improve IT systems across the Federal Government, there is much to be gained from the private sector and their experience and exposure to cyber attacks. As the Departments of Defense, Energy, and Homeland Security develop an assessment of our Nation's cyber infrastructure, I hope they seek the perspective of our private sector partners that have just as much at stake in protecting our infrastructure across the country as does the Federal Government.

We must do all we can to keep our Nation's ability to detect, prevent, and respond to cyber security attacks, which is why fully funding the Technology Modernization Fund is so important to bolstering an environment that incentivizes organizations to strengthen their IT systems.

I hope my colleagues recognize the importance of investing in defensive cyber security capacity and join me in supporting funding for the Technology Modernization Fund in the Financial

Services and General Government appropriations bill and supporting the Secure Elections Act.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order to call up and consider the amendments in the managers' package, which is at the desk, with a modification to amendment No. 3670, en bloc.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendments be made pending, en bloc, under the previous order.

Mr. President, I know of no further debate on the amendments.

Mr. President, I now ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, the cloture motion on H.R. 6147 be withdrawn. I further ask that the only remaining amendments in order be the following: Leahy No. 3464, Lee No. 3522, Baldwin No. 3524, and Cruz No. 3402; further, that at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, August 1, all postcloture time be yielded back and the Senate vote in relation to the amendments in the order listed; that the Leahy, Lee, and Baldwin amendments be subject to a 60-affirmative vote threshold; and that following the disposition of the Cruz amendment, the Murkowski amendment No. 3400 be withdrawn, the substitute amendment No. 3399, as amended, be agreed to, and the bill be read a third time and the Senate vote on passage of H.R. 6147, as amended. I also ask unanimous consent that there be 2 minutes of debate prior to each vote in this series.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Murkowski amendment No. 3585 be modified with the changes that are at the desk.