Floor Statements

Mr. President, my State enjoys many legendary sports rivalries. But make no mistake about it, the Class B Boys High School Basketball Tournament played every March is, without question, North Dakota's premier sporting event. This year, 108 teams began the basketball season in 16 districts and 8 regions. The regional champions met the third weekend of March to compete for the State title. Every year, these games draw the attention of the entire State, along with fans from across the Nation, all of whom claim a connection with at least one of the competing teams.

This week, I stand a little taller as a proud 1979 graduate of Kindred High School. The Kindred Vikings won their first-ever boys basketball State championship title in Minot Saturday night, defeating the Edgeley-Kulm-Montpelier Rebels 40-34. Their 21-4 season was capped with impressive tournament matchups, where the Vikings showcased their agility and skill against some of the best basketball players in the State. In their semi-final victory against Four Winds-Minnewaukan, Kindred's Matthew Pearson sunk six three-pointers to score 18 points, as Paul Olson scored 15 points and Jaiden Peraza 10. In the championship game, Paul Olson scored 23 points, making 8 of 15 shots and 8 rebounds. Paul, Jaiden, and Gavin Keller were the Vikings named to the all-tournament team.

I want to recognize this year's team members: Brock Woehl, Cole Campbell, Ethan McKenney, Jeremiah Dockter, Matthew Pearson, Jorgen Swensen, Elijah Heinrich, Paul Olson, Maxwell McQuillan, Trey Heinrich, Jaiden Peraza, Chase Miller, Gavin Keller, Presley Peraza, and Riley Sunram, along with manager Jack Davis and statisticians Rylie Ranking, Leah Rolland, and Zoe Sharp.

As a Kindred High School student athlete who lettered 4 years in football, basketball, and track, I realize my high school skills would not qualify me to be the ball boy for this year's squad. I congratulate the team, as well as Coach Brad Woehl, his assistants Scott Milbrandt, Matt Hagen, and Jimmy Hoy, and the hometown fans on winning this championship. I join the rest

of North Dakota in thanking the Kindred Vikings for being an inspiration to all of us by demonstrating what can be achieved by combining a passion for excellence with determination and teamwork.

Mr. President, as we observe National Women's History Month throughout March, it gives me great pleasure to recognize one of North Dakota's own history makers. Margaret Huettl from Minot has become my State's first female Eagle Scout and is a member of the inaugural class of young women to receive this high honor across the United States.

Margaret is a member of Scout Troop 5401 of the Northern Lights Council. A recent graduate of Minot High School, Margaret is currently studying biology education at Minot State University. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, which limited many Scouting group activities over the past year, she continued pressing on toward her goal of completing the merit badges necessary to earn the award. For her Eagle Scout project, she spent 238 hours building a pit for gaga ball, which is a variation of dodgeball, for outdoor activities at her home church, Zion Lutheran.

She said earning the 21 merit badges, along with completing her project and the other requirements for the Eagle Scout Award, helped her further develop leadership, time management, and communication skills. She intends to continue her involvement with Troop 5401, transitioning to an adult leader this year.

I congratulate Margaret on achieving this award through hard work and persistence and a being a trailblazer for other young women who have an interest in the Scouting program. With only 6 percent of all scouts attaining the rank of Eagle Scout, she now will be recognized alongside the 2.5 million

others who have earned this prestigious award since it was created in 1911. She will learn, as have other Eagle Scouts, that throughout her life, this accomplishment will bring her recognition as being a person of the highest caliber and character. I fully expect to hear much more from Margaret in the future as she excels in academic, professional, and personal endeavors.

Mr. President, one of the outstanding programs offered in the U.S. Senate recognizes the best of America's high school juniors and seniors. Since 1963, the U.S. Senate Youth Program has selected two students from each State who rank high academically, excel in leadership and volunteerism, and have a passion for public service. They also receive a $10,000 college scholarship.

These young delegates have come to Washington, DC, every spring for a week of education and tours highlighting all three branches of government. This year's 59th annual Washington Week gathering last week was conducted in a virtual online format, and I know it was a memorable experience for the 104 student delegates from across the Nation who attended.

As one of the eight Senators serving on the Senate Youth Program's Advisory Committee, I congratulate all who were selected to be delegates this year. I had the recent opportunity to have an online conversation with North Dakota's two delegates, Athalia Haughton and Micah Schlittenhardt.

Athalia is a junior at Century High School in Bismarck and is the local chair and State programs director of the High School Democrats of America. She is an AP Scholar with honor, a student council representative, student congress member, and is the cofounder and president of Student Advocates of North Dakota. She was a semifinalist in State debate, nationally qualified in the Lincoln Douglas debate, is a two-time State qualifier in speech, a One Act Play State champion, and was a member of the first-ever North Dakota team to become a World Schools Debate national qualifier. She crafts blankets for local immigrants, volunteers at Heaven's Helpers soup kitchen, and raises money for the Alzheimer's Association. Athalia has prepared testimony advocating for international cultural diversity classes in North Dakota public schools and is passionate about reducing the stigma surrounding mental health, especially for students. After graduation, Athalia intends to attend Howard University to pursue political science and law degrees. She would like to become a politician and a policy writer at either a State or national level.

Micah, a senior at Legacy High School in Bismarck, is president of the North Dakota Association of Student Councils. She ranks first in her class of 320 students, is an AP Scholar, and a Presidential Citizenship Award recipient. She is president of the Legacy Concert Choir and a member of the National Honor Society and the Bismarck- Mandan Student Chamber. She is involved in varsity cheerleading, All- State Jazz Choir, Central Dakota Children's Choir, and Academic Allstate. She has been an advocate for Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's awareness and support within her community and has partnered with a locally-owned bakery to pioneer an annual fundraiser to raise money for respite care. She has been recognized as the 2021 Distinguished Young Woman of North Dakota and Miss North Dakota's Outstanding Teen 2018. After graduation, Micah plans to attend the University of Mary in Bismarck to study philosophy. She would like to study abroad in Vatican City and eventually pursue a career in academia.

I congratulate both Athalia and Micah for this honor and welcome them to an alumni group of Senate Youth Program delegates, which is 5,500 individuals strong. Many of them have gone on to distinguish themselves in every area of public service. I fully expect that we will hear much more about Athalia and Micah in the future as they continue to excel in academic and professional arenas throughout their lives.

My apologies to the Senator from Massachusetts for butting in.

I send a question to the desk for the former President's attorneys.

Mr. President, today I wish to recognize July 10 as Chronic Disease Day and to call attention to the unique healthcare needs of patients from this diverse community. This date is significant due to the fact that it represents the 7 out of 10 Americans who will succumb to some form of chronic illness. Governors and State legislatures across the country will be

working with local chronic disease patient advocates on July 10 to highlight contemporary challenges and opportunities, and I encourage my colleagues to join in this effort.

Chronic illness includes cancers, cardiovascular disease, and many other conditions, some very rare. Some chronic illnesses can be preventable, and Chronic Disease Day is an opportunity to feature healthy lifestyles, the importance of regular health screenings, and proper self-care. In this regard, awareness and education can go a long way towards improving patient outcomes, preventing the progression of disease, and lowering healthcare costs.

Many chronic illnesses are unavoidable though and have genetic components or are simply idiopathic with an unknown origin. These include rare and life-threatening conditions that require near constant access to life-sustaining care or therapies. These patient occasionally rely on voluntary charitable assistance programs to maintain this access when they have no other options.

July 10 is a time to promote the importance of preventing chronic disease while reflecting on opportunities to better serve individuals and families facing serious chronic illness. I call on my colleagues to please join me in recognizing Chronic Disease Day.

Madam President, I rise today to emphasize the importance of this year's National Defense Authorization Act--both why it is important and what we must accomplish this week while we are still here.

The primary obligation of Congress is to provide for the common defense. For the past 57, 58-plus years, Congress has met this obligation primarily through passage of the NDAA. With this bipartisan legislation, we have provided our Armed Forces the resources and authorities they need to defend our country. This bill keeps America on track by confronting the readiness crisis in our military branches.

I am the first North Dakotan ever to serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and I consider this a great honor. North Dakota is home to two Air Force bases: Minot, which is home to two of the three legs of the nuclear triad, the B-52 bombers and Minuteman ICBM missiles; and one in Grand Forks, home to the RQ-4 Global Hawk mission and, effective in just a few days, on Friday, the 319th Reconnaissance Wing.

We are also home to multiple Army and Air National Guard units and missions, ranging from construction and combat engineers to security forces, to ISR and launch and recovery Reaper operations. Our Army National Guard, in fact, has an air defense artillery regiment that regularly protects us right here in the Capital region as part of Operation Noble Eagle.

Our military community is a foundational element to our State as it is to many States. To us, the NDAA is not just arbitrary funding numbers for abstract aircraft and equipment. This legislation supports those in my State and across the country who defend our Nation at home and around the world.

We are honored by the outsized role our patriots play in defense of our Nation and the cause of liberty. Our commitment to them and their families must be clear. When they are called into action, they will have every resource they need to carry out successful missions.

I want to address a fundamental aspect to this week's debate. Apparently, there are some in this body who would rather bypass budget negotiations and pass a continuing resolution. There are others who want to delay passage of this important priority until later in the year.

We cannot simply kick this can down the road. Passing a CR is handing our military community months of uncertainty and anxiety and could nullify much of the good work that we are doing here today and this week, such as improving the livelihoods of our servicemembers. Delaying passage to accommodate the political ambitions of a few of our Democratic colleagues is simply unacceptable and should be dismissed as quickly as it was suggested.

Those who offer their lives in service to our country represent the best of what America has to offer. What they give us, we can never repay, but we can do our best to help as they serve and transition back to civilian life.

For example, this NDAA seeks to improve the livelihood of our volunteer military force with benefits such as the largest pay increase in over a decade.

It also provides personal assistance for military spouses looking for work or hoping to retain their job after being relocated. We also included language that encourages the Air National Guard to provide tuition assistance.

To keep us safe from foreign adversaries, this year's NDAA bolsters our nuclear triad with an enhanced commitment to modernization--a move I firmly support. While recently visiting the Minot Air Force Base, I witnessed the reality the base's airmen face every day. Our brave men and women in uniform feel the weight of the world on their shoulders. Yet they remain vigilant and alert--and most of the time quite cheerful, I might add.

Deterrence works. It has always worked. Democratic and Republican administrations over the last several decades have supported this. Eliminating a leg of the deterrence does not eliminate the threat. The world does not become a safe place when we remove that which keeps us safe.

If we defied history and the military community by unilaterally weakening our superior arsenal, as some in the House have proposed, we would be placing the fate of the world in the hands of our adversaries.

That is not to say the bill shouldn't be amended. In fact, I want to bring attention to a matter that wasn't included that I believe should be. I submitted an amendment, along with a stand-alone bill, that honors the Lost 74--the 74 Vietnam veterans who died in the sinking of the USS Frank E. Evans, whose names are not included on the Vietnam Memorial Wall. This year marks 50 years since they were killed off the coast of Vietnam while serving our Nation.

Congress passed this legislation last year in the House NDAA, but it failed to be added in conference. This year, I moved from the House to the Senate, and so did this bill. It has received overwhelming, bipartisan support from my colleagues here and from constituents across the country; however, the bureaucrats in Washington remain firmly opposed. It is inexplicable to me that bureaucrats could determine that these sailors' ultimate sacrifice is unworthy of being memorialized simply because they were on the wrong side of an arbitrary line. Their disregard for these veterans has been a source of tremendous frustration to me throughout this process. I have had my own motives questioned. I have been told it would require too much ``work'' to change the memorial. I have even heard fears expressed of precedent being changed, as if finding more ways to honor the fallen and forgotten would somehow set a bad precedent for the future. These excuses are insufficient. The Lost 74 and the families they left behind deserve better than this, and I have no plans to quit this fight for them anytime soon.

But this and other possible inclusions aside, this NDAA contains important national security efforts, including the establishment of the U.S. Space Force. The Senate Armed Services Committee came up with a bipartisan proposal that reduces redundancy in space programs, defines clear leadership on space at the upper echelons of our military, and guarantees dedicated servicemembers to the space domain. I thank my colleagues for seeing the administration's vision and working in a bipartisan fashion to improve it.

I led two important amendments to the Space Force proposal that were adopted in the committee markup. The first requires that the commander of the Space Force report directly to the Secretary of the Air Force after the first year of establishment. The second is that the commander of the Space Force become a permanent member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also after the first year of establishment. Both were supported by the Department of Defense and should be maintained through conference negotiations.

The first provision--reporting directly to the Secretary--ensures that the Space Force commander has direct access to the top civilian leadership of the Air Force, just like the Navy-Marine Corps model. The Commandant of the Marine Corps does not report to the Chief of Naval Operations, and neither should the Space Force commander be forced to report to the Air Force Chief of Staff.

Reporting to the Secretary will give our space forces an equal voice in the Air Force's budget development process. We all know that real authority in the Pentagon is budget authority, and unless the Space Force has a true voice in the budget process, they will never be prioritized appropriately.

When testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Strategic Command commander and vice chairman nominee General Hyten spoke to the challenges of the Air Force Chief of Staff making space a priority, stating:

We have to have somebody in the Pentagon that focuses their

total attention on space all the time. I have known every

chief of staff of the Air Force for the last 20 or 30 years,

and they've all carried space effectively into the tank.

They've all cared about space. But it is a secondary issue.

Rather than automatically relegating space to a secondary issue, the Space Force commander should follow the Marine Corps model and report directly to the Secretary of the Air Force.

In addition, the Space Force commander should be a statutory member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Joint Chiefs, of course, are the primary military advisers to the President. The President makes strategic decisions on the composition and use of our national security resources based on the counsel received from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Without a separate, equal voice at the table, the Space Force commander will inevitably be marginalized from critical decisionmaking and resource allocation processes.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Dunford, reiterated this point when he said that ``the key is to have individuals who are singularly focused on space and make sure we incorporate that perspective, that very healthy perspective, into the outcome, which is a joint force that can fight.'' General Dunford is exactly right. The Space Force commander should have a seat on the Joint Chiefs and bring that singular focus of space to the table.

I understand the concerns surrounding these amendments, and I agree with my colleagues that we should minimize overhead and unneeded bureaucracy, which is why both of my amendments do not take effect for a year, and the language specifically bars any new staff or additional billets in the interim.

Last week, the ranking member of the committee cited CBO estimates on the potential costs of these amendments. I would like to quote the same CBO report for additional context and reference. The CBO report says that ``the estimates in this report are for illustrative policy options; they do not represent cost estimates for any particular piece of legislation.''

With that in mind, I would ask the Department of Defense to take these concerns seriously and use the 1 year to craft and present a plan to appropriately implement these two provisions.

My colleagues' concerns are not unwarranted; however, it would be poor policy to hamstring the Space Force from the beginning rather than set it up for success.

It is worth noting that the House NDAA establishes a Space Corps and takes two concrete steps directly in line with my amendments. The leader of the Space Corps would report directly to the Secretary of the Air Force and sit on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, without the 1-year delay my amendment would require. The House, Senate, and Department of Defense are largely in line with these two provisions.

The idea of the Space Force will become a reality with this year's NDAA. The establishment process will be incremental and requires oversight, but our first step must set the conditions to ensure its success.

The importance of this NDAA is clear. Passing it is vital to my State and to our Nation. It supports our troops, bolsters our nuclear deterrence, and provides for the creation of a Space Force capable of defending the next domain of military conflict. For these and dozens of other reasons, I urge my colleagues to support it and pass it quickly to demonstrate our commitment to our highest priority.

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 when the Senate completes its business today, it recess until 9:30 a.m., Thursday, May 23; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day.

Mr. President, like my colleagues and like people from around the country, North Dakotans are very proud of our military heritage. In fact, North Dakotans sign up at a rate four times the national average. I think you will hear that theme throughout the Midwest especially.

I am grateful to Senator Ernst for her leadership today as we stand and do something we ought to do every day. It is something we ought to do in church when we are sitting next to them in the pews and when we are talking to our neighbors who are serving or their spouses or family members. We are saying: Thank you. Forgive us for not saying it more often. Frankly, part of why we don't say ``thank you'' more often is because we go about our business in complete comfort, unaware of the dangers around the world because you all do your jobs so very well. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Mr. President, North Dakota is home to two Air Force bases. I recently finished a tour of the military bases in North Dakota, and I want to speak briefly about the airmen at those two bases.

Grand Forks, ND, houses the 319th Air Base Wing, known as the Warriors of the North. Just last Saturday, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson visited Grand Forks and redesignated this base as the 319th Reconnaissance Wing. This is one of only three of its kind. I am continually impressed with the mission of the Global Hawk. The Global Hawk mission that is headquartered out of Grand Forks is remarkable. I believe that Grand Forks is a place that is well-positioned for the future of warfighting.

To the west of Grand Forks a couple hundred miles is the community of Minot. Minot, ND, is home to the 5th Bomb Wing and the 91st Missile Wing at the Minot Air Force Base. This is interesting because, of course, the bomb wing operates the intercontinental ballistic missiles and the B-52 bombers at the same base. That is two of the three legs of the nuclear triad we hear so much about. You are not going to find a stronger proponent of the nuclear triad than you will in me because it is the only base of its kind.

As the base's motto goes, ``Only the best come North.'' Our greatest defense is in detouring our adversaries, and certainly the nuclear triad is important to that. Every day, the airmen in Minot wake up with literally the weight of the world, in many cases, on their shoulders. So for their service and their willingness to stand in the gap in the defense of the world, I am immensely grateful and always impressed.

Of course, I would be remiss to not also mention the airspace station in Cavalier. I think it is the Air Force's smallest base, but it is a very important installation. As we debate in this Chamber the need for a modernized space force, understanding the work this base does has further compelled me to stand in support of a modern, capable military unit able to defend the emerging domain that space has become. A special thank-you to those 40 or so airmen in Cavalier who do an incredible job far from home and in many cases far from a lot of other people around them.

On a more personal note, I want to say ``thank you'' to the military families and spouses of those stationed in North Dakota, as my colleagues have done. As we know, in a family, everybody serves. In a small community, everybody serves together. They come from all over the country, and they bless our local communities and our State with their work in North Dakota. They deserve a very special thanks for that service.

Our military community is not, of course, defined solely by our Air Force bases; it is also defined by our incredible Army and Air National Guard in North Dakota. In Fargo, for example, I am going to highlight this one unit--the 119th Wing of North Dakota's Air National Guard, known as the Happy Hooligans. They are frequent recipients of the Air Force's Outstanding Unit Award. In fact, earlier this year, they received their 20th Outstanding Unit Award. This is an award that is given to the units that distinguish themselves by exceptional service and outstanding achievement. No group better exemplifies that than the Happy Hooligans. In fact, no unit has received more Outstanding Unit Awards either in the active Air Force or in the Guard than the Happy Hooligans. Congratulations.

While we are talking about the Guard, I want to say a special thanks not only to the families--because, as I said, they all serve--but in the Guard, there are a lot of people who serve, including their employers. I don't think we say ``thank you'' to the employers often enough who accommodate--no, facilitate--no, encourage the incredible military personnel who do a great job for us on the homefront, as well as when called into action beyond our borders.

The mission of the National Guard is to provide ready units, individuals, and equipment supporting our communities, our States, our Nation.

If I might elaborate a little bit on homeland issues, just a few short years ago, our State called on our National Guard to meet that mission. We were abandoned by the Federal Government, and the North Dakota National Guard was deployed to help keep the peace. It is appropriate today, on this Peace Officers Memorial Day, that we recognize this relationship. The National Guard was deployed to keep the peace as out-of-State activists with no interest, really, in North Dakota--they flooded our State to violently protest the legally permitted Dakota Access Pipeline. Absent Federal help, our Governor called on our National Guard as a last resort.

You would think that would have some serious ramifications. Well, the reality is, because of the quality of our guardsmen, they did what the previous administration would not--they stood up for the rule of law, and they stood in the way of radical protesters even while their own families were targets of the radical protests, the harassment of radical protesters from everywhere other than North Dakota. They put their lives at risk and did it without provocation, without escalation, and with a calming presence. They didn't run from their orders. They didn't balk at their commands. They answered the call to peacefully and professionally defend our State from the chaos that descended upon us.

Again, ``thank you'' is inadequate. It is all we can do today. I would just compel people to say ``thank you'' more often. As you see that neighbor, as you see that person sitting next to you, make it a point to say ``thank you'' out loud, in front of friends.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, in a little bit, we are going to have the opportunity to vote to confirm Drew Wrigley as the next U.S. attorney for the District of North Dakota. First of all, I want to thank Leader McConnell and Leader Schumer for providing this opportunity to vote to confirm this outstanding candidate.

A little bit about Drew. First of all, he is a good personal friend. Drew is a sincere public servant. He has served our State as our Lieutenant Governor and previously as U.S. attorney for North Dakota under President George W. Bush. He has a servant's heart.

The thing I like so much about Drew is, besides being a professional prosecutor--and prior to even being a U.S. attorney, he was a longtime prosecutor in Philadelphia in the district attorney's office. He is good at his job. He is smart. He is compassionate. He cares as much as anything about the rule and the letter of the law and the victims of crimes. But the thing I like the most about Drew is that he is a courageous prosecutor. He doesn't just take the layups. He is willing to push to the edge for victims, for justice. He takes the tough cases, and he takes them on. Win or lose, he fights as hard as he can for the cause of justice and for the victims of crimes.

So it is a great honor for me today to advocate for Drew's confirmation, and I look forward to the opportunity in a little bit to vote for it.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I rise to join my colleagues, first of all, in, yes, opposing this Green New Deal, this joint resolution, that is full of so many dangerous policies and positions. But before I get into my reasons for that, let me also join my colleague from Wyoming in saying I am for the things he is for and even more--carbon capture, utilization, and storage, refined coal, all kinds of ways that we can accomplish the same goals together, with realistic proposals, not fantasies.

Let me also say something that should warm the heart of our colleague from Massachusetts. The Koch brothers strongly opposed my candidacy and my election to the U.S. Senate. I owe them nothing, and I am grateful.

You know, I wasn't always this pessimistic about the possibilities in this Chamber. I believe, in fact, that divided government presents an opportunity for the parties to come together to find common ground and to have legislative victories based on shared goals and shared values. I hope we can get back to that.

I had hoped for it even on controversial issues, like immigration and healthcare, and I certainly hoped for it on energy policy, but when I heard that the Democrats were proposing this Green New Deal, I didn't view it as an opportunity for political gamesmanship. I viewed it as an opportunity to find common ground, to compromise, to find balance, and to negotiate the way that I believe our founders intended it.

I don't think killing innovators with something like a Green New Deal is how we accomplish the goals they say they are for in their Green New Deal.

You can imagine my disappointment when I read the contents of this joint resolution. The Green New Deal is not serious policy. It is a fantasy. I am personally disappointed to see so many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle cosponsor this--especially those who are seeking higher office--and ignore the realities.

Someone earlier mentioned that the Green New Deal never talks about airplanes. No, but it does say that we want to transition to 100- percent renewable energy by 2030. Well, I don't know how you fly airplanes without having fossil fuels.

As the Presiding Officer may have seen, in my State of North Dakota, we are having a really, really cold winter. In fact, most of the Upper Midwest is. The National Weather Service referred to a stretch of this really cold weather earlier this winter as a polar vortex. We call it winter.

Polar vortex or whatever you want to call it, it has been a rough winter. Rough winters aren't rare or new to us, but this one has been particularly cold. We were well below zero several days in a row. In fact, during the polar vortex, one day the wind chill was well below 50 degrees below. By the way, for those of you from the South, 50 below is below zero--zero. It is a really low number.

But I believe there are some facts that have been left out related to how this will affect human health.

On January 1, in Hettinger, ND, it reached 42 degrees below zero without wind chill. That is real temperature. Again, that has happened in many communities throughout the State.

During these low temperatures, guess what doesn't happen. The wind doesn't blow, and when the wind doesn't blow, windmills stop providing energy, and they actually start consuming it. When I was a regulator, I cited a couple thousand megawatts of wind turbines in North Dakota.

When the energy can't be produced by wind turbines, it turns to gas, and, then, guess what happens. Natural gas providers have to ask their customers to curtail their gas consumption because they need the gas for a more firm supply of electricity that backs up the wind turbines.

Again, I was a utility regulator. I saw this happen a lot, and it happened just a couple of weeks ago in the Midwest.

Can you imagine that when temperatures drop below minus 22 degrees and wind turbines stop working? That means that many North Dakotans, like my mom and my grandchildren, have to rely on intermittent electricity to fill the gap caused by the cutbacks in gas. Do you see the cycle of this? It is a circle. One bad thing leads to another bad thing.

In this situation, it is when--not if--an electric outage occurs during a polar vortex, it would be disastrous for the people of my State and many others. This is a serious health risk, and I do not want my friends and family to ever wonder if they will be able to warm their homes when they need it the most.

Even if the Green New Deal were to pass, we could never afford it. You have heard a lot of statements today from Members about the expected cost of up to $93 trillion. You can argue that it is not $93 trillion--that it is only $90 trillion, it is only $80 trillion, or it is only $50 trillion. It is too much. It is unaffordable. And $93 trillion is more than 90 percent of the combined wealth of all--I said ``all''--American households in this country. It would cost every American family as much as $65,000 per year, which, as you know, is more than the average yearly household income.

A tax-and-spend agenda to pay for an energy plan that wouldn't even work flies in the face of one of our Nation's greatest success stories--our domestic energy production.

To a large degree, the U.S. rocket ship economy is being driven by the energy renaissance happening all across our country, like in my State of North Dakota. Our strategy of energy dominance encompasses an ``all of the above'' approach--harnessing wind, oil, natural gas, solar, nuclear, and, yes, coal potential.

Millions of Americans are employed by energy development, and that number is only expected to grow.

In fact, in 2020 the United States will become a net energy exporter for the first time. At the same time, emissions have steadily decreased over the years, and it serves as a very important national security hedge. Why would we halt this positive momentum and stymie promising solutions?

The key to a better energy future is not taxation regulation but innovation and empowerment, as so beautifully articulated by my friend from Wyoming.

If these recent polar vortexes and cold winters taught us anything, it is that we have a well-rounded energy policy that encourages the best ideas. We need to be pragmatic and collaborative to find solutions. That is not what defines this Green New Deal. It is unrealistic, unworkable, and unaffordable.

I hope we never become so lopsided that my friends, neighbors, and family back home are unable to turn the heat on when they need it the most.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I thank my friend and colleague, Senator Hoeven.

Before I get into my prepared comments, let me first associate myself with his words and his eloquent appreciation and congratulations to the folks at NDSU and to the football team. Let me just say that I don't care what President Trump says--in Bison Nation, we never get tired of winning.

March For Life

Madam President, for the first time, I rise as a Member of this prestigious body, as a U.S. Senator, to talk about a critical issue that faces our Nation, which is every citizen's right to life.

It is no coincidence that I rise today, the week of March for Life. This coming Friday is the 46th annual March for Life, during which citizens from across the country and hundreds from North Dakota, especially students from places like Shanley High School and the University of Mary and other institutions around our State, will unite to fight against the largest, deadliest, and most silent war this world has ever known. This, my colleagues, is the war against the unborn.

During my time in the House of Representatives in the last 6 years and throughout my campaign for the Senate last year, I promised the people of North Dakota that I would fight for life at all stages. I unite, today, with those who will march this Friday, who will walk with heavy and hopeful hearts and who will pray for the 60 million discarded children who have been denied their very first breaths.

Colleagues, I stand here to call to mind a child's right to life and protection within the womb of his or her mother. Since Roe v. Wade, which the Supreme Court decided in 1973, over 60 million children have been denied their right to life. There have been 60 million children who have been refused love, comfort, a hug, care, opportunity, and breath. They were torn from experiencing the beauty of the world that we are so fortunate to see. They were torn from family and unknown friends.

To deny 60 million innocent children the right to these things is the highest injustice to our people and the highest offense to our God. I speak on behalf of the citizens of North Dakota and of all citizens who will gather this week to say that it is absolutely unacceptable that within this country, life is treated as a commodity rather than a gift from an omnipotent Creator.

Some of my pro-choice colleagues and friends may say that in taking this stance, I am standing against women's rights--nothing could be further from the truth--and that this is an issue of a woman's right. It is an issue for the millions of women who have been denied the right to life. I fully support women's rights. I just began supporting them 9 months earlier than some of my colleagues on the other side of this important issue.

To my colleagues who are pro-life who are supportive of this fight, I remind them that abortion is a great injustice, but it is particularly common in situations and communities that

have suffered other injustices. If we are going to be pro-life, I think we must be pro all of life and address the factors that cause women to decide to end the life of their unborn children.

The United States has seen a great evil throughout its history. We have seen and experienced slavery, discrimination, and human trafficking. All of these things are illegal, and these things are issues on which we as a country take a moral stance. However, abortion is legal. Sixty million lives have been ended legally in our country.

Here, in Washington, DC, nearly 40 percent of pregnancies end in abortion. In New York City, an African-American child is more likely to be aborted than born. As one Nation under God, we, as a country, should know better. We must know better, and I believe we do know better. No government should limit the lives of its youngest and most innocent citizens.

As a Senator, I give you my promise to fight for life, and I ask my colleagues to join me. This is my promise to the people of North Dakota who have chosen me as their Senator and my promise to my fellow citizens, especially those who have never had the chance to speak with their voices.

Within my first few weeks here, I have signed onto several pro-life priorities. I have signed a letter asking President Trump to veto any legislation that undermines the right to life. Additionally, I cosponsored the Protect Funding for Women's Healthcare Act, a bill that would end Federal funding for Planned Parenthood and shift that money to women's health services.

In North Dakota, we don't have any Planned Parenthood clinics, but we have 16 community health centers and over 20 federally qualified health centers. Shifting this money toward these health centers would help the women in my State to receive better and more accessible healthcare. Let me say that again. Shifting funding away from the abortion clinics and toward these community health centers would provide more funds to the health centers that care for women across the State of North Dakota.

Additionally, I have cosponsored the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act and the Title X Prohibition Act, two bills to protect the taxpayer from funding the abortion industry.

I have cosponsored the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which would guarantee that a child who survives an abortion will receive the same medical care as a premature child of the same age, and the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, which protects the rights of parents to be notified if their child is going to have an abortion.

Finally, I have cosponsored the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would ban abortion after 20 weeks.

My fellow Senators, I stand here because of the citizens of North Dakota and of the United States who desire to see these bills and many other important pro-life bills pass and signed into law. They want an end to this injustice.

I recognize my responsibility to fight for the youngest, most vulnerable members of our society and our future generations. Today, I stand with my constituents and with the entire population of the United States, especially the men and women who have been robbed of their right to life. I urge my fellow Senators to take a stand on this pressing issue as well. With our united efforts, the killing of our unborn citizens will continue to diminish.

Our work is fruitful. In every legislative session we see more and more laws passed at the State level to protect unborn life. From 2008 to 2014, the abortion rate in the United States dropped by 25 percent. Each year, we are making great strides and giving a voice to the voiceless.

This fight is not a political fight but a fight for humanity itself. It is a war against all of us and against all of our children, no matter our ideologies. We have to learn to prioritize the issues in our own parties and work across the aisle. We have to look at each other with open minds and open hearts to solve this crisis that has plagued our country. We must do better at reaching out and uniting with one another in defense of one of the most fundamental rights--the right to life.

The truth is this: We must uphold this right because ``we hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed''--at the time of creation--``by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.'' Without the first--that is the right to life--we can have neither liberty nor the pursuit of happiness. We have been denying the first for far too long. So let's join together now to give the future of our country, our next generations, the right to life.

With that, I yield the floor.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Lamborn, Chairman Bishop, and the ranking member for their cooperation and for helping me move this important legislation that was sponsored, as Chairman Lamborn said, by Senator Hoeven, and for working on my companion bills that were introduced in the House earlier this year. I appreciate the hearings that the Natural Resources Committee held and for favorably reporting the bills out of the committee.

These two bills to convey BOR property to local park entities are very important to many of my constituents. In July, two of those constituents, Tom Fisher and Craig Headland, came to Washington to testify in support of these bills. Combined, they represented over 100 families with homes on these reclamation properties who wished to cast aside the uncertainties of residing on Federal land and carry out their dreams of home ownership by purchasing the lands they maintain.

Certainty, not only for them, of course, but for financial lenders, will generate greater investment in these properties to improve the lifestyle and the local economy, while maintaining the integrity of the use of the reservoirs.

The land, beyond those residents, which makes up the vast majority of the acreage, will continue to be open to the public for recreation and other uses to the benefit of our people. As a firm believer in land use decisionmaking authority being as local as possible, I believe these bills will allow for better management and improved opportunities for the citizens of North Dakota and for our visitors.

Lastly, I want to thank the administration for working on these bills with Senator Hoeven and me. I am grateful that the administration is willing to work on issues such as these that have carried on for years, and sometimes decades, with indecision and delay.

So I urge support by my colleagues and, again, thank the chairman, the ranking member, and the committee for their good work.

Mr. Speaker, every community has peace officers who put their lives on the line every day to protect their communities, and we don't say thank you nearly often enough.

Today I rise to recognize four very special school resource deputies of the Cass County Sheriff's Office who have been given the Model Agency Award, which is the top honor that is given by the National Association of School Resource Officers.

This award recognizes the work of law enforcement officers who promote safer schools and safer children, and they singled out the Cass County program as ``a shining example of the school resource officers program.''

The deputies work with students at Kindred, Maple Valley, Central Cass, Northern Cass, and Mapleton Elementary Schools. Supervised by Sergeant Tim Briggeman and under the command of Captain Jesse Jahner, the deputies are Jason Scott, Joe Crawford, Chris Potter, and Dan Hermann. Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney calls these officers the ``best of the best.''

On behalf of all North Dakotans, I congratulate them and thank Sheriff Laney and his entire staff for the high bar of excellence they deliver in serving all the citizens of Cass County.