Congressional Record, Senate, May 13, 2020 — USA Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2020
Summary
Page S2414 of the Senate section of the Congressional Record for May 13, 2020, under USA Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2020, Continued. A bill, as amended, is passed, and Gardner calls it a big deal. Remarks defend the surveillance tools and the safeguards for FISA applications, and criticize China and the World Health Organization over the coronavirus outbreak. Under National Police Week, Mrs. Hyde-Smith honors four officers.
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“Congressional Record, Senate, May 13, 2020 — USA Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2020.”
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S2414 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE May 13, 2020
The bill (S. 2661), as amended, was targets unaffiliated with a specific ter- continues to engage in a
passed. rorist organization. That is why they disinformation campaign to try to
Mr. GARDNER. I ask unanimous con- are called lone wolves. avoid blame.
sent that the motion to reconsider be Combined, these tools give the intel- With this track record, China cannot
considered made and laid upon the ligence community and law enforce- continue to control international
table. ment important capabilities: to surveil groups like the World Health Organiza-
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without bad actors, to get to them before they tion. The United States is the World
objection, it is so ordered. get to us, and to take apart their net- Health Organization’s single largest fi-
Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, this is works. Congress put these authorities nancial supporter. Yet, from the start,
a big deal for the lives of so many peo- in place after 9/11. They have been up- the World Health Organization blindly
ple across the country, and I am grate- dated with broad bipartisan support accepted Chinese leaders’ false report-
ful to our colleagues that we were able numerous times. Importantly, the ing, and they understated the threat.
to get this passed today. tools have helped keep our country safe Today, America knows how dan-
I yield the floor. and strong now for nearly 20 years gerous it is to depend on China not just
I suggest the absence of a quorum. after 9/11. for information but also for essential
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The There have been abuses of the FISA equipment, for products, for materials,
clerk will call the roll. process unrelated to these provisions, for minerals, and certainly for medi-
The senior assistant legislative clerk which this bill also addresses. The bill cine. China didn’t warn the world when
proceeded to call the roll. puts in place safeguards to ensure
Mr. BARRASSO. I ask unanimous the outbreak began. Instead, China se-
FISA applications are accurate and cretly hoarded masks and protective
consent that the order for the quorum
complete, with multiple layers of ap- gear. China knew that global shortages
call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without proval before an application goes to the would soon follow. Then China threat-
objection, it is so ordered. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance ened to cut off lifesaving antibiotics
Court. The bill also makes the FISA and other critical drug exports to the
f
process more accountable, from the At- United States.
USA FREEDOM REAUTHORIZATION torney General on down. Those who The virus should have been contained
ACT OF 2020—Continued hide information, those who engage in in Wuhan, China. Tens and tens of
FISA misconduct, or those who disclose in- thousands of Americans and hundreds
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, we formation will be met with prison of thousands of people worldwide have
have just voted on an amendment by time. died as a result of China’s failure.
Senator LEE, which passed overwhelm- The bill provides a greater role for Looking forward, America should
ingly. As we in the Senate are working Congress to make sure there are an- focus on priorities right now to protect
to defeat this invisible enemy, the other set of eyes on FISA applications. ourselves from future health crises.
coronavirus, we are also mindful that All together, these are significant re- No. 1, not again, not ever will Amer-
there are other real threats around the forms that the Attorney General has ica rely on information from inter-
globe. That is why the amendment that said will protect against abuse and national health organizations. We
we just passed was so important to be misuse in the future. He went on to say should set up direct bilateral health re-
debated and discussed and dealt with— the bill deserved broad bipartisan sup- lationships with other countries. U.S.
the bill that is on the floor—because port, and I agree. personnel on the ground must include
the Senate is debating a bill to provide CORONAVIRUS monitoring of health data in their na-
national security tools to our intel- Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I tional security determinations.
ligence community. also come to the floor today to discuss No. 2, not again, not ever will we let
We want to make sure they have the America’s relationship with China. The people travel to the United States from
right tools, the tools that work, that coronavirus has made clear that our countries where there is a major out-
provide national security but also free- current relationship with China is built break. We should restrict travel early
dom for American citizens. on a house of cards. It is simply too on, just as President Trump did with
Now, this is unfinished business be- risky. regard to China.
cause these tools under the Foreign In- We have to learn the lessons from No. 3, not again, not ever will Amer-
telligence Surveillance Act have been this global pandemic. The outbreak has ica be without an early warning sys-
left on the shelf, expired now for nearly taught us that the time has come to tem. Our gateway cities, in particular,
2 months. break away from dangerous aspects of need better monitoring and surveil-
Before Congress departed the Capitol the relationship. By mishandling and lance of health issues when people
due to the coronavirus, the Senate manipulating the crisis, China has re- enter the United States.
passed a bipartisan bill to temporarily vealed itself to be not worthy of our No. 4, not again, not ever will Amer-
keep these authorities in place. The trust. ica rely on critical health equipment
House Democrats left without acting Let me be clear. The Chinese people from China. We should encourage U.S.
on what the Senate had passed. Speak- are not to blame for any of this. The companies to create Western and
er PELOSI left town, and she left our people of China have also suffered tre- American supply chains. That way our
national security frozen. mendously. It is the Chinese Com- frontline workers have what they need
Now, this week, Congress is going to munist Party that is at fault. The virus in the time of crisis.
pass a 3-year reauthorization of these could have been contained had it not No. 5, not again, not ever will we be
authorities under FISA. These authori- been for the Chinese Government’s un- exclusively sourced for critical drugs
ties are known as the business records scrupulous coverup. China knew the from China. We should diversify supply
provision, the roving wiretaps provi- risk months before the rest of the and bring home as much of our supply
sion, and the lone wolf amendment. world; yet Chinese communist leaders chain as possible.
The business records provision, or destroyed key evidence, they under- No. 6, not again, not ever will our
section 215, as it is known, compels reported the number of coronavirus hospitals be taken for granted. They
telecommunications companies to pro- cases, and they misled the world about should be classified as critical infra-
vide call records relevant to investiga- its deadly, rapid spread. In fact, Chi- structure and our healthcare workers—
tion. nese leaders silenced the heroic Chi- our nurses, our lab technicians, our
nese doctor, Dr. Li, who tried to sound first responders, our doctors. Critical
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The roving wiretaps provision allows
surveillance of multiple cellphones of the alarm and who later died from the infrastructure and frontline workers
an investigative target. This allows na- virus. should be properly resourced around
tional security operators to keep up China’s deceit doesn’t stop there. our Nation.
with a target, even as she or he goes China has repeatedly denied U.S. offi- No. 7, not again, not ever will Ameri-
through burner phones. cials access to the country to uncover cans rely solely on the Centers for Dis-
The lone wolf amendment allows na- the truth about the deadly disease. ease Control for testing. President
tional security operators to investigate Meanwhile, the Chinese Government Trump proved that when called upon,
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May 13, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S2415
our private sector has an incredible to come together—Republicans, Demo- Hubei Province, and that information
multiplier effect. crats, House, and Senate—and look at about this horrible virus was concealed
No. 8, not again, not ever will we what we have already spent, $2.5 tril- by the Chinese Communist Party. Sys-
allow public misrepresentation and lion, and see how it has been spent, un- tematically and very deliberately they
confusion concerning an urgent health derstand what some of the gaps might kept the rest of the world from know-
issue. The American people deserve be and address those gaps. ing about it.
timely, credible, and accurate informa- As we are working on this issue, this By the way, they kept it from their
tion—the same as for tornadoes, hurri- pandemic is continuing to wreak havoc own people too. To the point made ear-
canes, and other disasters. all over the country. It has been dev- lier, this is not about the Chinese peo-
No. 9, not again, not ever will we be astating, let’s face it. We now have 30 ple. This is about the Chinese Govern-
dependent on China for trade and million—30 million—of our fellow ment, meaning the Chinese Communist
goods, especially not for critical infra- Americans who have lost their jobs and Party, deciding: Oh, gosh. We have a
structure and technology. are looking for unemployment insur- problem here. Let’s not tell anybody—
No. 10, not again, not ever will a pre- ance. These are people who lost their which goes against all the rules. If you
vious administration leave an incom- jobs through no fault of their own. are a country and you have a virus that
ing administration without an updated, They lost their jobs because the pan- is spreading, your responsibility—par-
forward-looking bipartisan policy and demic infected the economy, and they ticularly as a member of the World
preparedness program on pandemics don’t have a place to work. Health Organization—is to tell your
and without a pathway for the products I know friends of mine, people I have own people but also tell the rest of the
and equipment needed to go along with known for a long time, who have never world so that you can contain that
it. been unemployed and are unemployed virus. They concealed it, deliberately.
By taking these sensible steps, we now for the first time. They are getting They must be held accountable for
will be able to protect the health and unemployment insurance for the first that.
the well-being of the American people. time. They want to go back to work, Think of the devastation they have
These 10 priorities will make America but they don’t have a job right now. caused, not just in our country but
and Americans stronger, safer, and That has been devastating to them and around the world—the number of peo-
more secure.
to a lot of small businesses. I talked to ple who have died, the people whose
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- people who have poured their lives and lives have been turned upside down, the
ator from Ohio. their resources into these businesses. A economy that has been destroyed by
Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, this guy tells me, I have been doing this for this.
week, the Congress continues to work 40 years. I started with a couple of peo- This information, this critical infor-
on a bipartisan basis to try to respond ple and got to a few more and a few mation, having been withheld from the
to this coronavirus pandemic. We have more. And now, boom, my doors are Chinese people and from the world has
heard that the House of Representa- closed. Think of the movie theaters had a devastating impact. At the start
tives, under Democratic majority, has and the bowling alleys and the small of this year, in January, apparently
a new proposal. We have ideas on our restaurants, the hotels, anything to the Chinese Communist Party said:
side. We have already passed four doing with travel and tourism, and Don’t worry. There is no human-to-
pieces of legislation that deal with the these businesses are in tough shape. So human transmission of this virus—no
coronavirus pandemic. The total spend- is the beauty parlor and the nail salon human-to-human transmission of this
ing is about $2.5 trillion that has al- and the barbershop. virus. They knew otherwise.
ready been spent. This is testing our resolve in ways By the way, 4 million cases world-
The Speaker of the House proposed a that we had never expected. I guess wide tell us they knew otherwise—4
new piece of legislation this week that that is part of the point, we had never million cases. It all started in one
I think the House will vote on Friday. expected it because we weren’t pre- place, in Wuhan, China. There are now
That is another $3 trillion. It is actu- pared for this kind of pandemic. 4 million cases.
ally more than the previous four com- Congress, again, has tried to help This is something that is serious, and
bined. with these four measures we already we need to address it. We are also told
The legislation that she is proposing passed. I think they have helped, par- that the Chinese Communist Party al-
has a lot of items that aren’t directly ticularly with a lot of the small busi- lowed people to travel from Hubei
related to the COVID–19 crisis. They nesses, and our healthcare system has Province, from Wuhan city—not to
are, as some have said, a wish list of been helped. Trillions of dollars—$2.5 other parts of China, apparently, but to
priorities, and others have said in the trillion of taxpayer funds have gone the rest of the world.
media that it is more of a messaging out to try to be a rescue package to If they had cut off travel to places
bill. We will see. help people weather this storm. like Italy and the UK and the United
Among other things, it says, as an Again, I hope the next package can States, we would not be where we are
example, that they want to change the be effective, not just in weathering the now. Luckily, our administration acted
current law, which says that you are storm but also in getting the economy quickly to shut off immigration from
limited in terms of how much of a Fed- moving—more stimulus, giving small China, from those hotspots, and for
eral tax deduction you can take for businesses the tax relief to encourage American citizens and the green card
State and local taxes. That is called them to invest more and add more jobs, holders, they had to go into quar-
the SALT issue. They want to repeal maybe some smart spending in terms antine. That helped, but the virus was
that. That cost, by the way, is about of infrastructure; things like rural already here.
$180 billion—something like that. It broadband that will create more jobs Very disturbing to me is apparently
would result in about 50 percent of the immediately but also bring us closer to some Chinese Communist Party
tax benefit going to the top 1 percent having real access for people in poor disinformation went out claiming that
of taxpayers. That doesn’t sound like areas of our country to be able to do America was at fault somehow. This
something that is going to be the small business development, to do was classic propaganda disinformation.
impactful in terms of the coronavirus telehealth, to do telelearning through It is adding insult to injury. Right? Not
pandemic we face. broadband. There are some things I only did they not do what they should
I can think of a lot of better ways to think we can do that will actually help have done, to tell the world about this
to stimulate more economic growth. and to help us to be able to contain
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spend that money, including more test-
ing, including ensuring that small busi- As we work to address these prob- this virus—and, by the way, the World
nesses can get back on their feet, en- lems at home, let’s not forget how we Health Organization was there to help
suring that our healthcare system is got here. My colleague from Wyoming them. We were there to help them. We
sound, and other things. We are going just talked about this, but there is a offered to go in. They wouldn’t let the
to continue to work on that. clear consensus now about one thing, World Health Organization experts
My hope is that, as we did with the which is that this all started in Wuhan, come in for well over a month after
previous four, we can figure out a way China, which is a huge city in China, they knew. Some say it was a few
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S2416 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE May 13, 2020
months because they probably knew it cause they weren’t playing by the United States for these same reasons.
the end of last year. They must have, rules. I also wrote a report entitled That investigation is coming to a head.
given the number of cases they had. ‘‘Top to Bottom Review of U.S.-China We are going to have a report coming
They also kept the experts out from Economic Relationship’’ that made out soon. We will learn more about
the United States who could have been policy recommendations to improve this. But again, we have to be sure we
helpful. the equity, durability, and balance of are not naive; that we understand what
The World Health Organization is an our trade relationship with China. My is going on when these Chinese tele-
international body where you have No. 1 priority was China. communications firms are here in this
membership, and they have require- When I was there, I established, for country.
ments where you are required to report the first time, a USTR prosecutor just The third Permanent Subcommittee
data. You are required to have them for China. One of the recommendations investigation involves another instance
come in when you have a virus like was supposed to put a negotiator in where China has not been playing by
this. Of course, we didn’t know it was a China from the U.S. Trade Rep’s office. the rules as it relates to stealing U.S.
pandemic at the time, but we had a It is there now. research and technology, often paid for
virus here that was concerning. In- Here in the Senate, as the chair of by U.S. taxpayers. Before the
stead, it appears the World Health Or- the Senate Permanent Subcommittee coronavirus put so much of our country
ganization, instead of being an early on Investigations, I have now led three on hold, we were preparing to intro-
warning system for the rest of us, all bipartisan investigations on China, in- duce legislation that was a result of
around the world, which is what they cluding the Chinese Communist Par- our bipartisan report and our yearlong
should be—a virus starts, and they are ty’s use of what is called the Confucius investigation. That report details how
the ones who go in and deal with it—in- Institute at our high schools, some- China has used what is called talent re-
stead of being an early warning sys- times grade schools, at our colleges cruitment programs, most notably
tem, in a sense, they were apologists and universities. what is called the Thousand Talents
We learned more than 100 U.S. uni- Plan, to steal U.S. taxpayer-funded re-
for China.
That is why some of us have called versities had allowed the Chinese Gov- search. It turns out this has been going
for an investigation of the World ernment to operate these centers, on for a long time. For 20 years, this
Health Organization. We have asked which often come with stipulations, re- has been going on. It has helped fuel
the United Nations to convene a spe- quiring them to comply with Chinese the rise of the Chinese military and the
cial panel, some of us, to be able to law—Chinese law—even when they are Chinese economy during those 20 years.
You might ask, how has this hap-
look into this issue so that it is not operating in the United States. We
pened? Every year, Federal
just America. The rest of the world know some of these Confucius Insti-
grantmaking agencies, like the Na-
ought to be involved in this as well. All tutes have been used as platforms for
tional Institutes of Health, the Depart-
of the members of the WHO ought to be economic espionage.
ment of Energy’s National Labs, or the
concerned. I believe they are, about the By the way, since we published our
National Science Foundation, give out
deference they showed to China, at a report in February of 2019, a year ago,
taxpayer dollars for research. By the
time we needed them to be on the spot more than 20 Confucius Institutes in
way, it is about $150 billion a year. It is
helping. the United States have closed their
a lot of money.
We now find ourselves forced to rely doors. Why? Because people have These are important research
on the source of the virus, China, for a looked into this and determined this is projects. This is a good thing for our
lot of our PPE, personal protective not just a cultural exchange. This has country. It leads to new breakthroughs
equipment. Think of the masks and the other aspects to it; as an example, not in science and technology. It is helping
gloves and the gowns that our frontline being able to teach the real history of make the United States the world lead-
healthcare workers need and others China, as if things like Tiananmen er in innovation. Your tax dollars com-
who are now interfacing with cus- Square did not exist. That is not some- ing to Washington, going to the De-
tomers and working together as co- thing we should allow to happen in this partment of Energy, the National In-
workers. We have to rely on China for country. That doesn’t comply with our stitutes of Health, and National
this. In order to safely treat the standards here of honesty and intellec- Science Foundation, out to researchers
COVID–19 patients who are sick and be- tual standards that says you have to and colleges and universities and re-
cause of this virus that originated in teach the actual history, not what the search institutes—$150 billion a year—
China, we now have to rely on China Chinese Communist Party says is the have led to a lot of breakthroughs.
for this safety equipment. That is un- history. Our students shouldn’t be sub- The open and collaborative nature of
fortunate, and that needs to change. ject to that. research that is done here in the
We need to produce more of this here These Confucius Institutes have also United States is one of the reasons we
from more reliable sources. We are spent a lot of money in this country. attract some of the best and brightest
hearing reports about delays in ship- Schools have taken money and have scientists and researchers from all
ments now. We are hearing about poor not properly reported it. That is what around the world to take part in this
quality products—all of this is com- our report indicated. As a result, the research. Yet what we have learned—
bining to affect our ability to be able Department of Education is now crack- and through our report, we prove—is
to respond. ing down on some of these schools to that this system is very vulnerable. It
The virus has brought pain and suf- say you have to, at a minimum, report is vulnerable to theft by other coun-
fering to our shores and to countries the funding. tries, and that is exactly what is hap-
all around the world. Again, if they had Our subcommittee is right now wrap- pening in the case of China.
followed the rules, if China had played ping up its review of three Chinese China has made it no secret that its
by the rules—again, not the Chinese Government-owned telecom firms that goal is to surpass the United States as
people who were also kept in the dark the FCC, the Federal Communications the world leader in scientific research.
but the Chinese Communist Party—if Commission, licensed to operate here One way it has been doing that is by
they had followed the rules, we 20 years ago. using secret contracts with researchers
wouldn’t be in the situation we are in. We share concerns with the Justice here in the United States. Again, it is
By the way, none of this is news Department regarding these tele- doing research that is funded by tax
when it comes to China’s behavior on communications companies complying dollars—medical research, scientific re-
the international stage. Getting China with U.S. law enforcement requests
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search, military research. The Chinese
to play by the rules has been a con- and whether these entities pose a na- Government has actually been paying
stant theme of mine and others for a tional security risk by being vulner- these people to provide information to
long time. able to exploitation by the Chinese the Chinese Government to take this
Fifteen years ago, I was a U.S. Trade Government and the Chinese Com- research and pay for it by U.S. tax dol-
Representative, and I brought forward munist Party. lars. It is wrong, and it needs to stop,
the first successful case against China Last year, the FCC denied a license and our legislation is intended to do
in the World Trade Organization be- to China Mobile to operate in the just that.
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May 13, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S2417
At one of our Senate hearings on the from which he got U.S. taxpayer and other forms of academic espionage.
report, a State Department witness money. If it had been disclosed, he For example, we found that the Thou-
said: ‘‘The Chinese Communist Party wouldn’t have gotten the money. That sand Talents program had recruited a
has declared the Chinese university is just wrong. member who downloaded more than
system to be on the front line of mili- The criminal complaint is based on 30,000 files from a Department of En-
tary-civilian fusion efforts for tech- his not telling the truth to the Federal ergy National Lab. These are our top
nology acquisition.’’ investigators, even though he was es- National Labs in the country—highly
In other words, the Chinese Com- sentially defrauding Harvard and de- secretive. There were 30,000 files that
munist Party has decided this talent frauding the U.S. Government’s fund- were downloaded without authoriza-
recruitment program is going to be ing sources, but that is not a crime. tion, of course, and that researcher
well funded. We are going to pay Amer- Failing to disclose compensation from took those files with him back to
ican researchers to give us their stuff a foreign government is not currently a China. Our bill requires that research
but then also to connect them to the crime. We make it a crime. That is institutions have safeguards in place to
Chinese university system, which the part of our legislation. The bill gives prohibit the unauthorized access to
Chinese Communist Party is using as the Justice Department the ability to sensitive research. They have to tight-
the way to get technology, to acquire hold Federal grant recipients account- en it up.
technology. Again, it is not a new prob- able for hiding their financial ties to Finally, we found that nearly 70 per-
lem. This has been going on for two foreign governments by failing to dis- cent of U.S. universities have consist-
decades, but we have done little in this close them on Federal grant applica- ently failed to report substantial for-
country to stop it because we have this tions. Transparency and honesty on eign gifts as required by current law.
history of being so open and accessible grant applications is critical to the in- Our bill ensures transparency by re-
with our research. tegrity of the U.S. research enterprise quiring universities now to report any
The FBI came to our hearing and ac- and to stopping this theft. That is in foreign gift of $50,000 or more and em-
knowledged this. From the Federal Bu- our legislation. powering the Department of Education
reau of Investigation, they said that Second, despite there being more to fine universities. These are new
‘‘it should have taken more rapid and than $150 billion in taxpayer funding fines to universities that repeatedly
comprehensive action in the past’’ to going to these Federal research agen- fail to disclose these gifts.
respond to these Chinese talent re- cies every year, there is no unified Now, there are some in the univer-
cruitment programs. Yes, they should tracking process to determine where sity community who don’t love our leg-
have. Yes, they should have. these funds go. The National Science islation. I would just ask them: Given
Fortunately, the FBI and the Depart- Foundation, for instance, doesn’t have what has happened, given what we
ment of Justice have now taken a dif- anyone who handles grant oversight. know is happening in terms of the theft
ferent approach. They have begun step- Again, we have been too lax. That is of U.S. research, are you really going
ping up their efforts this year with sev- why the bill requires the Federal Office to stand in the way of legislation that
eral recent high-profile arrests and of Management and Budget, the OMB, just says you have to report when you
having charges filed, but, again, more to streamline and coordinate receive more than $50,000 from a for-
laws and practices need to change to grantmaking between the agencies to eign government? Is that too much to
stop U.S. taxpayer-funded research ensure that the billions of taxpayer ask? I don’t think so.
from being stolen in this way to benefit dollars going to research every year Right now, they are supposed to re-
our No. 1 global competitor, which is can be accounted for every step of the port gifts of a higher level, and 70 per-
why we are introducing this legisla- way. Having this information is also cent of them have failed to do so. So it
tion. going to save time and money for our is not too much to ask, and I would
The legislation is called the Safe- research institutions and our univer- hope that the university community
guarding American Innovation Act—to sities. They will now know where the will be supportive. Many are, but some
protect American research and funding is, where it is going, and how it are apparently saying they are going to
strengthen our national security. The is being used. try to block this legislation.
legislation makes five necessary re- Third, the State Department is on Don’t do that. That would be wrong.
forms to address the flaws in our cur- the frontline here in vetting visa appli- The failure to stop the coronavirus
rent research enterprise and to stop in- cations for visiting scholars and vis- early on has highlighted how China
tellectual property theft and promote a iting students, but it is not permitted does not play by the rules, whether
more secure and transparent process to deny visas to individuals who come they be the World Health Organiza-
that is consistent with the rec- from overseas who are intent on steal- tion’s rules or the trade rules we
ommendations we laid out in our re- ing U.S. research. That is just wrong. talked about earlier, and now it is with
port. Our research enterprise in this country regard to this issue that we are dealing
First, the report found numerous must remain open. We agree with that, with in terms of taking U.S. research
cases of U.S.-funded researchers who for we want to attract people from back to China in order to fuel China’s
failed to disclose foreign sources of around the world, of course, but we military and China’s economy.
compensation on their Federal grant have to have commonsense safeguards When this pandemic passes and our
applications. This issue has been high- to prevent bad actors from taking ad- universities and research institutions
lighted this year. You have probably vantage of our openness. The legisla- reopen their doors, I have no doubt
heard about it because you may re- tion does that. It authorizes the State that we will, once again, continue to
member that earlier this year there Department to deny visas to foreign re- attract the best and the brightest.
was the shocking arrest of Dr. Charles searchers who seek to access sensitive Why? Because our research enterprise
Lieber, the chair of Harvard Univer- U.S. research when it is determined is the best. We are innovators, and we
sity’s Chemistry Department, who was that doing so will pose a threat to our provide funding for it, and we have
being paid both by Harvard and the economic or to our national security. such great opportunities here in this
Thousand Talents program by the Chi- By the way, the State Department country to do research. People like to
nese Communist Party, it turns out. wants this authority. The career offi- come here, but we cannot sit idly by as
According to the FBI, without Har- cers who came and testified before us our top global competitor steals that
vard’s knowledge—he didn’t tell Har- said we would like to have this author- research. The Safeguarding American
vard—Dr. Lieber was being paid up to Innovation Act is an important step to-
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
ity because we know we are letting
$50,000 a month in salary by the Chi- people in who are coming for one rea- ward protecting it for the safety and
nese, $150,000 annually for living ex- son and one reason only, and that is to security of every American.
penses, and more than $1.5 million to take U.S. research. Now, more than ever, we have to
establish and run a shadow lab in Fourth, our report detailed a system- adapt to the fact that China is not
China. Interestingly, the lab was in atic lack of knowledge at the U.S. re- going to play by the same set of rules
Wuhan, China. None of this was dis- search institutions about the threat as the rest of the world. It has been 15
closed on his Federal grant application posed by the Thousand Talents Plan years since we put out a USTR report
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S2418 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE May 13, 2020
stating that our relationship with helps to deter crime and keep our com- This is an issue that is very personal
China lacks ‘‘equity, durability,’’ and munities safer. So we thank them for to me. I have spent a lot of my time
sustainability. the risks they take for themselves, and working on this drug crisis and trying
Right now, our No. 1 priority is solv- we thank their families for the sac- to get Congress to pass legislation to
ing the coronavirus crisis. We have to rifices they make for all of us. stop this addiction so that officers like
do that. There is no question that it This week is a time to think about Detective Del Rio don’t have to fight
ought to be our focus. Yet, in the con- the police officers in our country who and die in fighting this scourge in our
text of this crisis, we also need to re- have died in the line of service over the communities.
evaluate how we do business with last year. Again, this would normally I was honored to attend Detective
China. We have to look at this with be done in person down at the memo- Del Rio’s visitation, where I joined
fresh eyes. My hope is that this legisla- rial, but I want to talk about the four hundreds of grateful citizens in an
tion we have talked about this evening brave individuals who have lost their arena. Again, the turnout was unbe-
will help to allow us to reset the way lives in Ohio since we last had a Na- lievable with fellow officers, DEA offi-
we conduct our research so we can con- tional Police Week, which was a year cers, and police officers. Officers came
tinue to reward those who come to our ago. from all over the region. When I spoke
shores to discover new breakthroughs In January, Officer Dale James with Kathy—his wife—and their fam-
in science and technology while we Woods, of the Colerain Police Depart- ily, I told them his sacrifice was not in
keep China and other nation-state ment in Southwest Ohio, was trag- vain and that he would always be re-
competitors from stealing that re- ically struck and killed by a vehicle membered as a hero of Dayton, OH.
search for their own purposes. We can while he was responding to a traffic Earlier this spring, we lost another
achieve that balance, and we must. stop. Officer Woods devoted his entire hero, Springdale Police Officer Kaia
NATIONAL POLICE WEEK life to public service. He served for 15 LaFay Grant. On March 21, Officer
Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to years in the town’s fire department— Grant was helping her fellow officers
our police officers all around the coun- the Colerain Fire Department—and chase down a suspect who was fleeing
try. The men and women in blue serve then 15 years as a police officer. He did by car. During the pursuit, the crimi-
us every day in Ohio and every State everything that could be asked of an nal deliberately rammed his vehicle
represented in this Chamber. This week officer. They tell me sometimes he into her cruiser, which caused her to
is National Police Week. In normal would be staffing the dispatch station. crash. Officer Grant’s injuries, sadly,
times, right now we would have tens of The next day, he would be tracking were fatal. An 8-year veteran of the
thousands of officers here in town. down a lost dog. The next day, he force, she was the first ever casualty of
They do a big parade every year. We would be out there helping a citizen the Springdale Police Department and
have them in our offices. We get to with a complaint. He did everything the first female law enforcement offi-
meet with them and thank them for that was asked of him with unwavering cer in the tristate area to die in the
line of duty in more than 100 years. Of-
their service. We would be able to have professionalism and the commitment
ficer Grant was only 33 years old. My
the opportunity to hear their stories— that we all come to expect from our po-
thoughts are with her family as they
to hear some of the brave, brave stories lice officers.
Officer James Woods of the Colerain deal with this tragic loss.
of those who have lost their lives over Although these heroic officers were
the past year. They do a wonderful Police Department, thank you.
The same can be said for Clermont taken from us, their examples can
presentation down at the memorial to never be taken away and will not be.
thank and pay tribute to those officers. County Sheriff’s Deputy William Lee
Brewer, Jr., who died in the line of Ohioans will remember them as models
Yet, even during this coronavirus, I
duty in February of 2019 during a of bravery and service, as examples of
am pleased that, this Friday, folks
fellow citizens who, on behalf of all of
around the country will be showing standoff with a criminal. Deputy Bill
the rest of us, have the habit of walk-
their support anyway. They can’t come Brewer was a 20-year veteran of the
ing into danger rather than running
here in person, but people are going to force. He was a local guy, someone
away from it.
be displaying blue ribbons and blue whom everyone in the community In our Nation’s history, more than
lights on their homes. The service to knew and loved. He gave his life for 24,000 police officers have died in the
our communities that these police offi- that community—the ultimate sac- line of duty. Think about that—24,000.
cers give us every day has been more rifice an officer can make. I attended Serving as an officer is a dangerous
valuable during this crisis than it has his funeral and had the opportunity to job, I know, but we have legislation
ever been, and I thank those police offi- meet a lot of his fellow officers and that we think would help save the lives
cers for going out every day and put- hear stories about him. I also got a of some of those officers who put them-
ting their health right now and even chance to meet his wonderful family. I selves in harm’s way.
their lives, as they always do, on the can say he was admired and respected I was proud to join colleagues last
line for all of us. by all. The turnout for that funeral was year in sponsoring legislation called
As I said earlier, I want to be sure unbelievable. the Back the Blue Act. It is very sim-
that our municipalities and our coun- Last November, we lost Detective ple. It says, if you target law enforce-
ties have the ability to pay those po- Jorge Del Rio, a decorated 30-year vet- ment officers, you are going to pay a
lice officers so as to keep them out on eran of the Dayton Police Department. very, very high price. That is appro-
the street. That is why we need the Detective Del Rio had been working priate. We think Back the Blue Act,
flexibility in the Federal funding that with the DEA, the Drug Enforcement which would increase penalties on
is going out because the budgets of Agency, on a task force to crack down those who would attempt to harm or
these municipalities are constrained. on drugs coming into a community kill a police officer, is going to make a
Because of the bad economy—because that had been ravaged by the opioid difference because it will send a very
of the coronavirus—we have to be sure crisis. This was during a time when strong message in helping to deter
that police officers are taken care of. Dayton was one of the communities in some of these crimes. Ultimately, I
This week, National Police Week, is a the country that had the most opioid think that it will make our heroes in
time of pause, a time to think about overdoses and all of the crime related blue safer and help to save lives.
the sacrifices these heroes make every to that, and Jorge Del Rio was there to Again, I urge my colleagues to join
day in order to keep our communities help. He was shot twice in the face me in standing tall with our police offi-
safe, which is what they do every sin- while serving a warrant in relation to
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
cers and thanking them this week for
gle day. They take dangerous criminals an investigation into drugs. From the what they do every day to protect us.
and weapons and drugs off of our crime scene, investigators recovered Let’s back the blue. Let’s do every-
streets. They enforce the laws we write cash, fentanyl—the deadliest of all the thing we can to ensure that our police
here in this body. We write a lot of opioids—and marijuana, along with officers know we are with them and
laws here. They are the ones who are in weapons. Detective Del Rio fought that we are at their side as they do
the trenches—on the frontlines—en- bravely for his life, but in the end, his their critical job every day to protect
forcing them. Even their very presence wounds were too much to bear. us.
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May 13, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S2419
I yield the floor. Police Week in May, bringing together deep sense of gratitude for their serv-
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma- law enforcement officers, families, and ice.
jority leader. public safety advocates from across the My heart aches any time a law en-
ORDER OF PROCEDURE country to the Nation’s Capital to pay forcement officer is lost, whether it is
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I respect to law enforcement officers in the line of duty or not. Their names
ask unanimous consent that at 12 noon who lost their lives in the line of duty may not grace a national memorial,
tomorrow, the Senate vote in relation last year. but their service still merits recogni-
to the Paul amendment to H.R. 6172, if The coronavirus outbreak in our tion.
offered. I further ask that at 1:30 p.m. country has disrupted the public trib- For instance, long-time Lawrence
tomorrow, the Senate vote on the pas- utes in Washington and in commu- County Deputy Sheriff Robert
sage of H.R. 6172, as amended, as under nities across the country. However, Ainsworth and his wife, Paula, were
the order of March 16. COVID–19 will not diminish our heart- among the 14 Mississippians who lost
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without felt gratitude to the fallen and those their lives in terrible tornadoes that
objection, it is so ordered. they left behind. This year, an online hit my State on Easter Sunday. In his
f virtual candlelight vigil has replaced last act, Deputy Ainsworth, a Marine
an in-person national ceremony to Corps veteran who died trying to shield
MORNING BUSINESS honor fallen officers from across the his wife from harm, demonstrated the
Nation. selflessness and bravery that is char-
Sadly, the State of Mississippi lost acteristic of so many in law enforce-
CONFIRMATION OF TROY D.
four officers in the line of duty last ment.
EDGAR
year. These brave men are being recog- Law enforcement officers risk their
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. President, I nized this week, and their names have lives daily to help keep us safe, and
rise in opposition to the confirmation been added to the National Law En- any loss of an officer profoundly affects
of Troy Edgar to be Chief Financial Of- forcement Memorial here in Wash- entire communities. My admiration for
ficer of the Department of Homeland ington, DC. the law enforcement community, who
Security. On May 5, 2019, Officer Robert remain deeply dedicated despite the
The nominee would have authority McKeithen, 58, of Biloxi, was ambushed dangers of their noble profession,
over the transfer and reprogramming and tragically murdered. An Air Force knows no bounds. We acknowledge
of funds within the Department of veteran, Office McKeithen served with their brave service and fortify our sup-
Homeland Security. While he has the Biloxi Police Department for 24 port of their work to serve and protect
pledged to notify Congress in advance years and planned on retiring by the our families and our communities.
of any such action, this administration end of the year. He was dearly loved by f
has made it clear that it will continue his family, friends, and fellow officers.
to use every available tool to fund the Constable Willie West, known as MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE
wall that President Trump said Mexico Hoot, was first elected in 1971 as con- At 10:02 a.m., a message from the
would pay for and his administration’s stable of Lowndes County District 1 House of Representatives, delivered by
abusive immigrant detention policies. and was serving his 13th consecutive Mr. Novotny, one of its reading clerks,
For that reason, any nominee to this term. He had previously served with announced that the pursuant to section
position merits heightened scrutiny. the Columbus Police Department and 201(b) of the International Religious
I am alarmed by rampant over- Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office. He Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6431),
crowding and squalid conditions in had a total of 52 years of law enforce- and the order of the House of January
DHS detention facilities. Despite DHS ment service and was a founding mem- 3, 2019, the Speaker appoints the fol-
IG reports and numerous congressional ber and first president of the Mis- lowing individuals on the part of the
inquiries and hearings, the Department sissippi Constables Association. On House of Representatives to the Com-
has consistently mismanaged these fa- May 6, 2019, Constable West was serv- mission on International Religious
cilities and shown a disregard for the ing civil papers when his vehicle struck Freedom for a term effective May 14,
care of those in its custody. To date, a tree. He succumbed to his injuries a 2020, and ending May 14, 2022: Ms.
674 detainees and 39 detention facility few days later at the age of 81, leaving Anurima Bhargava of Chicago, Illinois
personnel have tested positive for behind a son, two daughters, five and Dr. James W. Carr of Searcy, Ar-
COVID–19. Notwithstanding its failure grandchildren, five great-grand- kansas.
to ensure the safety of its facility per- children, his mother, brother, and two f
sonnel and detainees, the Department sisters.
has continued to use its transfer and Chickasaw County Deputy Sheriff EXECUTIVE AND OTHER
reprogramming authority to increase Jeremy Voyles died in a single auto- COMMUNICATIONS
the number of detention beds. Last Au- mobile crash while conducting an in- The following communications were
gust, DHS transferred or repro- vestigation on August 27, 2019. He was laid before the Senate, together with
grammed $271 million, including $155 assigned to the North Mississippi Nar- accompanying papers, reports, and doc-
million from the FEMA Disaster Relief cotics Unit. Prior to joining the sher- uments, and were referred as indicated:
Fund, to expand ICE operations at the iff’s department, Voyles served as a law EC–4504. A communication from the Senior
southern border. enforcement officer with the Mis- Legal Advisor for Regulatory Affairs, De-
A promise to notify Congress does sissippi Department of Transportation. partment of the Treasury, transmitting, pur-
nothing to stop these activities. I am He is survived by his wife, two young suant to law, the report of a rule entitled
confident that anything short of a stat- children, and his parents. ‘‘Small Business Administration Business
utory limitation on transfer and re- On December 12, 2019, Panola County Loan Program Temporary Changes; Pay-
Constable Eula Ray ‘‘Raye’’ Hawkins, check Protection Program - Additional Cri-
programming authority will be ignored terion for Seasonal Employers’’ ((RIN1505–
and that any official who stands in the 57, was killed when his vehicle was AC67) (31 CFR Part 120)) received in the Of-
way of these efforts will be cir- struck by a stolen pickup truck being fice of the President of the Senate on May 12,
cumvented or fired. The Senate should pursued by other officers. Constable 2020; to the Committee on Banking, Housing,
not confirm a nominee with the power Hawkins served in law enforcement for and Urban Affairs.
to approve such actions until reason- 29 years. He is survived by his son, who EC–4505. A communication from the Senior
serves with the Batesville Police De- Legal Advisor for Regulatory Affairs, De-
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able limits are enacted into law. For
that reason, I voted against this nomi- partment, a daughter, one grandson, partment of the Treasury, transmitting, pur-
and two sisters. suant to law, the report of a rule entitled
nee. ‘‘Filing Fees for Notices of Certain Invest-
f I join the families, fellow officers,
ments in the United States by Foreign Per-
and communities of these four Mis- sons and Certain Transactions by Foreign
NATIONAL POLICE WEEK sissippi officers, who dedicated them- Persons Involving Real Estate in the United
Mrs. HYDE-SMITH. Mr. President, selves to bravely serving the people of States’’ ((RIN1505–AC65) (31 CFR Part 800 and
our Nation commemorates National my State, honoring their lives with a 802)) received in the Office of the President
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