Monday Jan 4 in Congress

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Congressional Record for Jan 4:

https://www.congress.gov/116/crec/2019/02/04/CREC-2019-02-04.pdf

House of Representatives

Jamie Raskin was Speaker pro Tempore.

Appropriations Committee adopted its rules (p. H1345)

No floor speeches.

Some of the bills introduced:

H.R.948 - To amend the Sherman Act to make oil-producing and exporting cartels illegal.

H.R. 949 - A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow charitable organizations to make statements relating to political campaigns if such statements are made in the ordinary course of carrying out its tax exempt purpose.

H.R. 950 - A bill to require the disclosure of the Federal income tax returns of the President.

H.R. 952 - A bill to enact into law a framework for deciding whether certain projectiles are ‘‘primarily intended for sporting purposes’’ for purposes of determining whether the projectiles are armor piercing ammunition.

H.R. 956 - A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit dismemberment abortions.

H.J. Res. 41. A joint resolution requiring the advice and consent of the Senate or an Act of Congress to suspend terminate, or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty and authorizing related litigation, and for other purposes.

Senate

Senator Grassley is President pro Tempore.

Still considering S 1, Strengthening Americas Security in the Middle East

Second reading of S. 311: to amend 18 USC, to prohibit a health care practitioner from failing to exercise the proper degree of care in the case of a child who survives an abortion or attempted abortion.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/311

One of the bills introduced:

S. 326. A bill to prohibit the use of amounts appropriated for military construction or the Army Corps of Engineers for the construction of barriers, land acquisition, or any other associated activities on the southern border without specific statutory authorization from Congress.

Votes:

The McConnell Amendment, S 65 passed 70-26.

Nays: 21 Dem, 4 Rep, 1 Ind

Rep Nays: Kennedy, Cruz, Paul, Lee

Dem Nays: include Schumer, Booker, Harris, Warren

https://www.congress.gov/amendment/116th-congress/senate-amendment/65

vote tally with names:

https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=116&session=1&vote=00014

S 1 cloture passed, 72-24:

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/1

S 96 passed, voice vote:

Amends S 65 To clarify that the amendment shall not be construed as a declaration of war or an authorization of the use of military force.

Speech excerpts:

Sen McConnell (page S 817):

Natural Resources Management Act

"once we complete our work on S. 1, the Senate will turn to the Natural Resources Management Act under the leadership of Chairman MURKOWSKI and the Natural Resources Committee.

This legislation combines more than 100 individual lands bills. It will allow communities across America to responsibly develop their land and natural resources while maintaining a balance with locally supported conservation."

S 130:

"It would help ensure that all baby girls and boys who are born alive—all of them—have their right to life respected and receive the medical care they need."

"What could be more unanimous than this: What medical professionals owe every single newborn American citizen, regardless of the circumstances of their birth, is attention and care—not neglect and certainly not violence.

Frankly, it is harrowing that this legislation is even necessary.

What is even more disturbing when, last week, a Democratic Governor was unable to clearly and simply state that, of course—of course—these newborn babies have human rights that must be respected."

"If they do inexplicably block Senator SASSE’s effort [this bill], I can assure them this will not be the last time we try to afford newborns this fundamental legal protection."

''Economy:'"

"The Labor Department tracks the total amount that U.S. employers spend each year on wages and benefits for workers. Last quarter, the year-on-year increase was the highest it has been in more than 10 years. Last month, the total percentage of Americans who are employed hit its highest mark since December 2008."

"An expert described these data to the New York Times: ‘‘Employers are still actively looking for jobs, and with wages ticking up, it looks like workers are getting some more bargaining power.’’

>>5051054

Monday Jan 4 in Congress

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Speech excerpts

Sen. Schumer: (page S 818)

State of the Union:

"tomorrow, President Trump will belatedly report on the state of the Union before a joint session of Congress. The reason for the delay, of course, is the 35-day government shutdown that President Trump precipitated as an attempt to extract taxpayer money for a wall he promised Mexico would pay for, a pointless exercise, if there ever were one—a pointless exercise that punished hundreds of thousands of innocent public servants and took billions of dollars out of our economy."

"Corporate America has cashed in on the Trump tax bill, but working America has been left behind. Since the tax bill passed over a year ago, corporations have announced plans to repurchase more than $1 trillion of their own stock…Reuters reports that the tax bill had no major impact on whether businesses made capital investments or hired more workers. The very wealthy—the big,

powerful corporations—fed this line:

Help them, and everyone will be helped. Our Republican friends swallowed that—hook, line, and sinker."

"The President promised—remember this?—that his tax bill would deliver a $4,000 raise to the average household.

The reality is that wages for average workers have remained quite stagnant.

Workers are still making less today than they did in 1973 after adjusting for inflation."

"The state of our healthcare system is dire. Premiums are higher than they should be.

Out-of-pocket costs are higher than they should be. The uninsured rate is, once again, rising. This is the result of a relentless sabotage by the Trump administration and congressional Republicans. The Trump administration expanded junk insurance plans."

"What is the state of the Trump administration? The state of the Trump administration is chaos. Underqualified staffers cycle in and out of our government’s most powerful positions.

Cabinet Secretaries are fired over Twitter. Hundreds of important positions are unfilled or are covered by someone in an acting capacity, including for the Chief of Staff, the Attorney General, the Defense Secretary, the Interior Secretary, the OMB Director, and the EPA Director."

"An NPR study found that the Trump administration has had the most Cabinet turnovers of any administration in more than a century."

"Finally, the state of the Trump foreign policy is woefully backward. From Brussels to Beijing, President Trump has alienated our allies and emboldened our adversaries. Russia, China, North Korea—three of the worst and least democratic countries on Earth, the countries that pose the greatest threats to America—are treated with kid gloves, while our allies, like those in NATO, get harsh words from this President."

"Too often, the President has, regrettably, failed to champion free speech, freedom of the press humanitarian rights, and democratic values.

Dictators and strongmen are ascendant in the President’s circle while allies are pushed to the fringe. Yes, the state of the Trump foreign policy is woefully backward."

"How many times will he say something is fake news because it is true, and he doesn’t like to hear the truth?"

"The state of the Union is sad. Let me just say that the No. 1 reason the state of the Union has such woes is the President. I hope he changes in the next 2 years."

Sen. Schumer cont'd:

Stock Buybacks:

"one of the major consequences of the Trump tax bill was the explosion of stock buybacks. In 2018 alone—just 2018—U.S. companies announced plans to repurchase more than $1 trillion of their own stock. It is a staggering figure and the highest amount ever recorded in a single year."

"I would like to see a study of how many companies bought back their stocks while leaving pensions underfunded. What is happening is that corporations are promising their workers that they will have a good life in retirement, and, instead, the corporate executives and their top shareholders are enriching themselves."

"We are planning to introduce legislation that will prohibit a corporation from buying back its own stock unless it invests in workers and communities first, including doing things—there will be a list—like paying people $15 an hour, providing 7 days of sick leave, offering decent pensions, more reliable healthcare putting money into training workers, and providing equipment."

>>5051062

Monday Jan 4 in Congress

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Speech excerpts

Sent. Fischer: (page S 820)

INF Treaty

"The United States has led a sustained, deliberate effort to methodically increase pressure on Russia. which has had every opportunity to return to compliance, but instead it continues to produce and deploy illegal systems in greater and greater numbers. Just last week, reports surfaced, alleging Russia has deployed another battalion equipped with the banned missile system. Instead of moving to correct its violation, Russia is going in the opposite direction."

"Others say the decision is motivated by China…"

Sen. Cornyn: (page S 821)

INF Treaty:

"There wasn’t much of a treaty left, really, after Russia repeatedly violated it, and China is not even bound by it."

"I read a recent summary by the RAND Corporation of their analysis of Russia and China. They called Russia a rogue, not a peer, and China a peer, not a rogue. There is a lot behind that, but I think it really is true that the only way we are going to deter the Russians is by maintaining our strength."

S 1:

"it is important to reaffirm our commitment to our allies and condemn the brutalities of our enemies."

"First, this bill strengthens our relationship with Israel, the lone democracy in the region. Israel faces near constant attacks from Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas, and other terrorist groups."

"Secondly, this bill provides support to Jordan by reauthorizing legislation to deepen our defense cooperation. Jordan has borne the brunt of much of the upheaval in the Syrian civil war, with many refugees calling Jordan their home temporarily because they are displaced from their home country. Jordan continues to face grave challenges posed by the chaos in Syria, and our assistance is desperately needed.

As I said, Jordan has absorbed a disproportionate number of refugees who have been escaping the Syrian civil war. Some 740,000 refugees are currently in the relatively small country, making it the second highest refugee host per capita in the world."

"Third, this legislation provides flexibility for State and local governments that disagree with the Boycott Divest, and Sanctions, or BDS, movement."

"This legislation doesn’t require States to take any sort of particular stance. It simply clarifies the right to counter boycotts of Israel without fear that they are somehow in jeopardy of Federal law."

"Finally, this bill takes steps to address the ongoing crisis in Syria at large. It holds accountable those responsible for the crisis in Syria by imposing new sanctions on anyone who supports Syria either financially or militarily, specifically targeting military aviation, telecommunications, and energy industries. It also provides needed aid to impacted communities and condemns the heinous human rights violations of the Assad regime."

"We simply can’t unremember the lessons of 9/11, which are that things that happen overseas don’t stay overseas and that when you have power vacuums or safe havens for terrorist organizations to exploit that endangers not only people in the region but also us here at home."

Sen. Alexander: (page S 823)

College Financing: Reform plan detailed. Long presentation.

>>5051068

Monday Jan 4 in Congress

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Sen. Paul: (page S 826)

[worth reading in full]

S 65: "I compliment President Trump on being bold enough and strong enough to do something no President has contemplated in decades, Republican or Democratic, and that is to end the war in Afghanistan."

"Today there is no one living who attacked us on 9/11 or who is free. There is no one living who aided or abetted the people who attacked us on 9/11. By any measurement, we are victorious."

"Is Afghanistan a mess? Sure, it is a mess. It has always been a mess and always will be a mess, but now our mission has changed to nation-building."

"This resolution is an insult to the President, and I will oppose it."

"This resolution has been put forward by Republicans, who say to President Trump: You are leaving precipitously from Afghanistan. How do you leave precipitously after 17 years?"

"I will tell you what one Navy SEAL, whom I met a year or two ago, told me. He said: We will go everywhere. We will kill our enemy. We will do what you ask of us, but the mistake is when you ask us to stay, plant the flag, and become policemen."

"The same people in the war caucus—and they are on both sides of the aisle"

"People talk about bipartisanship.

What is the one thing that brings Republicans and Democrats together?

War. They love it—the more the better, forever war, perpetual war. We are spending $51 billion a year in Afghanistan. We spend it on luxury hotels that are half completed. The contractors have run off with the money. One of the hotels that sits across from our Embassy serves as a place for snipers to shoot at our soldiers. We have to now patrol this half-built hotel, and the guy who was building it ran off with the money. The government we supported for a decade—the Karzai government—grew more poppy than anybody in the world. The guy’s brother was a drug dealer, and his other brother was a thief and ran off with the money. Is it any wonder that the Afghan people turn away from the government we have given them? It is time to declare victory and come home."

"With regard to the troops in Syria, President Trump said: I will defeat ISIS, and we will come home. Now the people are changing the mission. They say: We have to stay there until the Russians leave. We have to stay there until the Iranians leave. They have been there a long time. They are not leaving. That means we stay there forever. We have 2,000 troops compared to tens of thousands of other troops, compared to a couple hundred thousand Turkish troops along the border. Do we really want to be involved in another enormous land war in the Middle East?

To what end?"

"What are we spending the money on—$51 billion a year? We have spent over $6 trillion between the Iraq war and the Afghan war—$6 trillion. The $51 billion a year we are spending in Afghanistan is being spent on a luxury hotel, and we have spent $45 billion on a gas station. I think we spent about $90 million on the hotel and $45 million on the gas station. Do you know what kind of gas they pump? Natural gas.

How many people have a car in America that runs on natural gas? Virtually nobody. How many people in Afghanistan have a car that runs on natural gas? Zero. So we bought them some cars. Then they didn’t have any money, so we gave them credit cards so they could use the gas pumps. I sent my staffers to see if the gas station even existed, but they couldn’t get there because it was too dangerous. After 17 years, you can’t travel more than a few blocks in Kabul except without helicopter warships and an escort of dozens of marines.

It is completely a disaster. More poppy was grown there last year than in any recent year, and the people say:

We shouldn’t give up. All we have to do is send more soldiers. All we have to do is fight longer. When are they going to fight? They have 300,000 people in their army. When are they going to fight? If they want their homeland, stand up and fight for it. I am tired of America always doing everybody else’s fighting.

I am tired of America always paying for everybody else’s war."

"every person out there who believes in this radical Islam, in this radical jihad is not coming over here. Every misbegotten village in Africa is not a threat to the United States, and that is the debate we should be having."

Monday Jan 4 in Congress

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speech excerpts

Sen Paul cont'd:

"So we are trapped by this platitude.

This platitude is: We must fight them over there so they will not be over here. Well, they are over here, and when they tell you why they are over here, they say they are over here because we are over there. I am not saying we do nothing. I am not saying we don’t have counterterrorism, but I will tell you that when in some remote village in Yemen we swoop in at night and kill 15 people, including women and children, the surrounding neighborhood and countryside, for 100 years, will speak to an old tradition of the night the Americans came. Ultimately, Islam must police Islam.

They are never going to accept Americans coming in and telling them how to live or how they should behave or getting rid of even the bad elements among them. They need to step up and do it."

"Yes, there will be suicide bombers in the Middle East until the end of time. If we are waiting until there are no suicide bombers in the Middle East, we will wait forever. Can the people there do nothing to take care of themselves? Is there nobody there who can stop the 1 percent from coming back?

Will people not step up and fight their own wars?"

"We have given them trillions of dollars—the uniforms, the weapons. Everything has been ours. Every time we say we have to be involved, there are unintended consequences. In Syria, we gave arms to people who were radical extremists. We gave arms to people who were actually allied with al-Qaida. Some say there is no difference between al-Qaida and the people to whom we gave arms. At one point in time, it was said that ISIS had $1 billion worth of humvees that were from the United States. The arms that were coming out of Libya—and Hillary Clinton supported taking those arms into Libya—were going to the wrong people. We were taking them to one set of bad people and giving them to another set of bad people."

"What I am saying with this resolution is I am for replacing it completely and saying to President Trump We think we are doing a great job, and thank goodness for being bold enough to say it is time to start thinking about America first."

Sen. Risch: (S 827)

Reply to Sen. Paul "This resolution we have in front of us is not a rebuke or an insult to the President of the United States. Indeed, as I read it, it recognizes the President’s efforts in this regard and recognizes his efforts for us to examine exactly what we are doing in these places, as Senator PAUL has already so eloquently talked about."

"we are recognizing that President Trump has started this conversation, and we are encouraging him in that regard."

Monday Jan 4 in Congress

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Speech excerpts

Sen Paul:

Amendment 102:

"It is hard for me to believe that part of this bill they are putting forward would affirm State law that says you can’t do business with the government if you are involved with the boycott against Israel.

I am not really making a point on whether the boycott is good or bad or with regard to Israeli policy; my point is whether it is good or bad with regard to the First Amendment."

"I have an amendment to this overall bill that would simply say that we remove any kind of affirmation of anti-boycotting legislation, that boycotting or protesting is something so fundamentally American, so fundamentally associated with the First Amendment that even if we don’t like what you are boycotting even if we don’t like what you are saying, that in America we allow that to happen because that is what freedom of speech is about."

"Are we here to say that we are going to forbid boycotting, that you can’t do business with the government? Here is the problem. People say: Oh, it is a privilege to do business with the government. What if you are a physician and half of your business is with the government? What if you are a nurse? Half of the healthcare in our country is paid for by the government. What if you are a teacher and you work in the public schools? Are we going to ask all of these people to take a litmus test that they are not going to boycott or protest against their government’s policy?"

"My amendment is to take out the language that supports banning boycotts and reaffirms the First Amendment. It will be denied because nobody wants to vote on this. Nobody wants to have a debate over the First Amendment."

Sen. Risch: (S 829)

Reply to Sen. Paul, S 102:

"again I part ways with my good friend Senator PAUL on this one, to a large degree.

The speech he gave, I am in absolute agreement that the government should not be stopping any individual from boycotting whatever they want to boycott for whatever reason they want to boycott. This is America."

"People can do what they want, but if a government—State or local government—is going to use taxpayer dollars to engage in anti-Israel activities, that is a different ball game."

"State and local governments should not in any way be involved in boycotting other countries particularly—particularly—a country that is one of the best friends we have in the world, really the only democracy in the Middle East, and they are doing it, why? Because they are Jewish people. This is wrong. This is very wrong."

Sen. Sasse: (page S 837)

S 130:

"One hundred U.S. Senators are going to have an opportunity to unanimously say the most basic thing imaginable, and that is that it is wrong to kill a little newborn baby."

"In Virginia, disgraced Governor Ralph Northam tarnished the American idea of equality under law. He betrayed the universal truth of human dignity, and he turned the stomachs of civilized people, not just in this country but in every country on Earth."

"The only debate on the floor tonight is about infanticide. The abortion industry’s PR army couldn’t defend this."

"The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act prohibits exactly the kind of infanticide Governor Northam was endorsing."

Sen. Murray: (page S 837)

Reply to Sen. Sasse: "we have laws against infanticide in this country. This is a gross misinterpretation of the actual language of the bill that is being asked to be considered, and, therefore, I object."

Sen. Sasse:

Reply to Sen. Murray:

"To the Senator from Washington, the bill we are talking about before this body tonight is because New York and Virginia—New York already and Virginia in debate—are having a conversation about removing exactly these protections."

"It shouldn’t be difficult to say that babies who survive an abortion shouldn’t be left to die cold and alone on that table."

Sen. Ernst:

S 130:

"Over the past week, we have witnessed the absolutely ugly truth about the far-reaching grasp of the abortion industry and its increasingly radicalized political agenda. Politicians have not only defended aborting a child while a woman is in labor but have gone so far as to support the termination of a child after his or her birth—a child—a baby."

>>5051120

Monday Jan 4 in Congress

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Speech excerpts

Sen. Hawley:

S 130:

"I rise in support of S. 130, which I am proud to cosponsor. This legislation would ensure that healthcare providers treat babies who have been born alive, after failed abortion attempts, with the same care they would treat any other baby born at the same stage of pregnancy."

"The Romans took the same view.

They kept most of their subjects in chains. They infamously killed children they didn’t want and left them to be exposed on hillsides or in deserted places. The Romans had a republic, but citizenship was for the few. The strong ruled. Most lives, they thought, didn’t matter.

This has been the general rule of the ages. The Aztecs, the Mayans, the Incas all practiced child sacrifice Archaeologists recently discovered a burial ground dated to the tomb of the empire in Peru where more than 140 children were dismembered in a ritual of sacrifice. So it has gone down through the years. The strong prey upon the weak. The few rule the many. Individual lives don’t count."

"I know some are tempted, when they see this rising tide of barbarism and cruelty, to feel despair, but I do not. I think of the words of Lincoln, who spoke of the unfinished work of this Nation, and I take courage that all of these years later, we are a revolutionary nation still.

So we must press forward in this generation for our revolutionary faith. Let us not go back to the darkness and cruelty of the past."

Sen. Lankford: (page S 838)

S 838:

"today, the Senator from Nebraska brought up a very straightforward, simple bill: Do we as a nation permit infanticide?"

"it is a very simple, straightforward bill. Occasionally, an abortion is botched, and while they are actually trying to take the life of a child, the child is actually delivered.

At that moment, the child is delivered and is on the table, crying, and the question is, Now what do we do?

Current medical practice is to back away from the child and allow him to die slowly on the table because there was supposed to have been an abortion, although the child was fully delivered and was on the table, with the umbilical cord attached, crying."

"Let me review quickly what the State of New York did. There are only four countries in the world that allow late-term abortions. There are only four left—North Korea, China, Vietnam, and the United States. Those in the New York Legislature stood and cheered that they are in the middle of the human rights depraved nations of China, North Korea, and Vietnam."

"It got one-upped in Virginia last week as the Governor of Virginia explained Virginia’s late-term abortion bill as one-upping New York’s. He said, in Virginia’s bill, in his words, this is how it would work. If children have deformities, however that is defined, or for the mental or physical health, however they want to define that because there was no definition, they would deliver the child, make him comfortable resuscitate the child if the mother wants, and then would discuss what to do with the child.

It is not enough for the State of New York to applaud late-term abortions and join North Korea, China, and Vietnam as the only places on Earth to allow this. No. The Virginia Democrats had to go one more and say: Let’s deliver the children and then discuss it based on their deformities."

>>5051133

Yeah shes one of my Senators.

Abortion, gun control, a complete dinosaur.

>>5051185

Routine exercises, anon.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-02-05/us-military-holds-unexpected-war-drill-downtown-los-angeles