Congressional Record — Senate, S1488 (March 11, 2021)
Summary
Page S1488 of the Senate section of the Congressional Record for March 11, 2021, in interleaved columns, recording the vote on the Haaland nomination to be Secretary of the Interior at 54 yeas to 42 nays on Rollcall Vote No. 118, with four Senators absent. One speaker says he cannot support the nominee because Green New Deal-inspired policies would hurt America's energy supply, which is that speaker's view. Another speaker recalls how a Republican witness praised Representative Haaland's willingness to work across party lines and says the President is bringing the country back after January 6. A further speaker criticizes conditions for children in overcrowded Border Patrol facilities.
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“Congressional Record — Senate, S1488 (March 11, 2021).”
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S1488 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE March 11, 2021
legislation, and lack of responsiveness has been in Congress long enough to be Mr. THUNE. The following Senators
disqualify her from this important po- able to read people and know their are necessarily absent: the Senator
sition as Secretary of the Interior. If heart and soul. He took the time and from North Carolina (Mr. BURR), the
she is allowed to implement her Green trouble to appear before the committee Senator from Louisiana (Mr. CASSIDY),
New Deal-inspired policies at the De- and testified to the productive working the Senator from Louisiana (Mr. KEN-
partment of the Interior, the results relationship he has had with Congress- NEDY), and the Senator from Kansas
for America’s energy supply and econ- woman HAALAND and her willingness to (Mr. MORAN).
omy will be catastrophic. work with him on important issues. The yeas and nays resulted—yeas 54,
So I cannot support and will not sup- That meant a lot to me, and I hope it nays 42, as follows:
port her nomination, and I urge other will also resonate with my colleagues. [Rollcall Vote No. 118 Ex.]
Senators also to vote against the nomi- President Biden is in perhaps the YEAS—54
nation. most difficult position a modern-day Baldwin Heinrich Peters
I yield the floor. President has ever been in, bringing us Bennet Hickenlooper Reed
I suggest the absence of a quorum. back from the brink after January 6. Blumenthal Hirono Rosen
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Booker Kaine Sanders
That day changed me, and I feel Brown Kelly Schatz
clerk will call the roll. strongly that with the deep divisions Cantwell King Schumer
The legislative clerk proceeded to running through our country and the Cardin Klobuchar Shaheen
call the roll. Halls of Congress today, we have to Carper Leahy Sinema
Casey Luján Smith
Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I ask have people who have demonstrated Collins Manchin Stabenow
unanimous consent that the order for they have the temperament and will- Coons Markey Sullivan
the quorum call be rescinded. ingness to reach across the aisle. Con- Cortez Masto Menendez Tester
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without Duckworth Merkley Van Hollen
gresswoman HAALAND has dem- Durbin Murkowski Warner
objection, it is so ordered. onstrated she does and she will. Feinstein Murphy Warnock
Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, I As the President works to bind to- Gillibrand Murray Warren
ask unanimous consent to speak for 3 gether a nation split by deep political, Graham Ossoff Whitehouse
minutes. Hassan Padilla Wyden
racial, social, and economic divisions,
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without he is also trying to assemble a Cabinet NAYS—42
objection, it is so ordered. that reflects the rich diversity of our Barrasso Grassley Risch
Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I am Nation, one that looks like America. Blackburn Hagerty Romney
pleased to speak today on the nomina- Blunt Hawley Rounds
And 230 years after Washington called Boozman Hoeven Rubio
tion of Representative DEBRA HAALAND his first Cabinet meeting, it is long Braun Hyde-Smith Sasse
to be the Secretary of the Interior. Her past time to give a Native American Capito Inhofe Scott (FL)
nomination was carefully considered woman a seat at the Cabinet table. Cornyn Johnson Scott (SC)
Cotton Lankford Shelby
by the Committee on Energy and Nat- For these reasons, I support DEB Cramer Lee Thune
ural Resources, which I am privileged HAALAND’s nomination and will vote to Crapo Lummis Tillis
to chair. report her and to support her, and I Cruz Marshall Toomey
Her hearing went well, and it went Daines McConnell Tuberville
look forward to working with her to Ernst Paul Wicker
for 2 days. Every member of the com- protect our public lands and ensure the Fischer Portman Young
mittee questioned her. Most asked her responsible use of our natural re- NOT VOTING—4
two rounds of questions, and some sources in the most bipartisan manner.
asked three. We then asked her 70 Burr Kennedy
I strongly support her nomination. I Cassidy Moran
pages of questions for the record—near- urge all of my colleagues to vote to in-
ly 300 questions, many with multiple voke cloture today and to confirm her The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. VAN
subparts. nomination next week. HOLLEN). On this vote, the yeas are 54,
The committee questioned her close- the nays are 42.
CLOTURE MOTION
ly on her beliefs, her opinions, the The motion is agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant The Senator from Oklahoma is recog-
President’s policies, and what she will to rule XXII, the Chair lays before the
do if confirmed. In the end, the com- nized.
Senate the pending cloture motion,
mittee voted to report her nomination which the clerk will state.
CORONAVIRUS
favorably, 11 to 9. I am proud to have The legislative clerk read as follows: Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. President, we
voted to report her nomination, and I are a year into the COVID epidemic—a
CLOTURE MOTION
am proud to speak in favor of her con- year. If you think about it, this week a
We, the undersigned Senators, in accord-
firmation today. year ago, in Oklahoma City there was
ance with the provisions of rule XXII of the
While I may not personally agree Standing Rules of the Senate, do hereby a basketball game going on between
with some of Congresswoman move to bring to a close debate on the nomi- the Utah Jazz and the Oklahoma City
HAALAND’s past statements and policy nation of Executive Calendar No. 31, Debra Thunder. They were 2 minutes away
positions, as Secretary she will be car- Anne Haaland, of New Mexico, to be Sec- from tip-off, and the announcer came
rying out President Biden’s agenda, the retary of the Interior. on the speaker and said: Ladies and
agenda that the voters elected Presi- Charles E. Schumer, Chris Van Hollen, gentlemen, there has been a case of
dent Biden to pursue. Michael F. Bennet, Jack Reed, Tammy COVID–19 that has been discovered by
Duckworth, Sheldon Whitehouse, Jeff
At her hearing, she confirmed that one of the players. This game is post-
Merkley, Christopher A. Coons, Rich-
she and the administration recognize ard Blumenthal, Patrick J. Leahy, poned.
that our country will remain depend- Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith, Brian And with that one announcement, a
ent on fossil fuels for years to come, Schatz, Robert Menendez, Richard J. year ago this week, all professional
and a transition to a cleaner energy fu- Durbin, Martin Heinrich, Maria Cant- sports stopped across the entire coun-
ture must come through innovation, well. try, and the country, for a moment,
not elimination. The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unan- woke up and realized: This is more seri-
She also affirmed her strong commit- imous consent, the mandatory quorum ous than we thought. And everything
ment to bipartisanship. She under- call has been waived. shifted. Within a week, the United
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stands the need to work across the The question is, Is it the sense of the States had shut down for 8 weeks, and
aisle to find the bipartisan solutions Senate that debate on the nomination we went into lockdown.
needed to address the diverse needs of of DEBRA ANNE HAALAND, of New Mex- At the beginning point of that, this
our country and has demonstrated that ico, to be Secretary of the Interior, Congress came together in a bipartisan
she can do so effectively. shall be brought to a close? way and passed something called the
I was also deeply impressed by the The yeas and nays are mandatory CARES Act, $1.6 trillion, an enormous
strong endorsement she received by under the rule. relief bill, because we were walking
Congressman DON YOUNG, for whom I The clerk will call the roll. into uncharted territory. We created
have the utmost respect. DON YOUNG The legislative clerk called the roll. things like the Paycheck Protection
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March 11, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S1489
Program. We created ways to be able to also getting a $1,400 check. They are was reading through the 600-plus pages
assist behind the scenes. We even cre- also finding out that people who are of this bill—that is a real picture of
ated a way to be able to help not-for- not legally present in the country are really what this bill is shaped like. One
profits, knowing that if the not-for- getting a $1,400 check. provision of the Small Business Admin-
profit sector collapsed, there is no way There was an interesting interchange istration allocates $390 million to ad-
government could possibly keep up. here on the floor on the night of that minister the loan program, but the
Lots of work went into that, in a bi- debate on whether people were getting loan program itself disburses $70 mil-
partisan way, to be able to resolve checks or not getting checks who are lion.
that, and that CARES Act stabilized not legally present, and so Newsweek Let me run that number past us
our economy—$1.6 trillion. It was one magazine did a fact check on, are peo- again. The program cost for the admin-
of five bills that we passed in this body ple not legally present getting a $1,400 istrative Washington, DC, cost of run-
last year, all bipartisan, all of them check? Just yesterday, they published ning the program is $390 million; the
with us working together to try to find their fact check and came out—true, actual amount that they anticipate
out what are the essential things we people not legally present in the that they will actually distribute is $70
have to do, knowing that every single United States are about to receive million, totaling a $460 million pro-
dollar that was spent on COVID was $1,400 checks in the mail based on the gram total. Just $70 million of it actu-
not budgeted. Every single dollar was bill that was just passed on a partisan ally gets to people; $390 million of it
borrowed, all of it from last year, a basis. stays in Washington, DC, for the bu-
total of $4 trillion. There are billions of dollars in this reaucracy.
Only $3 trillion of what was actually bill that are allocated for vaccines. Re- All of those things could have been
allocated last year has actually been publicans were audacious enough to be fixed if we actually went through com-
spent. There is still $1 trillion allo- able to raise their hands and say: What mittee.
cated in last year’s five bills that is are those billions of dollars going to- In this COVID bill, there are things
still unallocated—$1 trillion. Over the wards? It says vaccines, but the prob- like new customs duties for South
weekend, this body passed on a lem is that the Biden team has already Korea. I have yet to figure out what
straight partisan vote—and then the announced they have done the pur- South Korea and customs duties have
House did the same—to be able to add chase for every single vaccine for every to do with COVID.
another $2 trillion to the spending for single adult in America. There is also slipped in, for the first
In other words, for every single per- time ever, Federal funding for abor-
COVID–19. But this bill was different.
son who can actually get the vaccine,
There was no bipartisan conversation. tion. I have yet to see what abortion
the vaccine purchases have already
In fact, 10 Members of the Republican has to do with COVID, but this bill, for
been done. Those are set and ready to
conference went to the White House the first time in 44 years, uses Federal
go by the end of May because we still
and tried to sit down with President tax dollars to start paying for abor-
have $6 billion left in the vaccine fund
Biden and say: Let’s do a bipartisan tion. That has not been done before. In
from last year. But this bill that just
issue. There are issues that are unre- fact, when Joe Biden used to sit in that
passed this week, adding another $2
solved. But, thankfully, we are on the chair right over there, he often spoke
trillion in debt, also includes tens of
back side of this pandemic. We are not about that we should not use Federal
billions of dollars for vaccines. So the
at the same spot we were a year ago. funds for abortion funding. Yet, in the
immediate question is, Is that for
We can now see the end. We know that international vaccines? No; that is a COVID bill, somehow abortion funding
we are going to have every adult have different account. There is money for has become relevant to fighting off
access to the vaccine by the end of international vaccines to be sent out, COVID.
May. The economy is turning around, I have had some people ask questions
but this is supposedly for the United
and things are shifting dramatically, States, for the purchase of vaccines. about whether this bill could have been
thankfully. So let’s do the things that Where is that money going when we better if we had actually done it in a
we have to do now and keep the same have already purchased ahead of time bipartisan way. It could have been sig-
commitment we had last year. all of the vaccines for every single nificantly better. If you ask how I
Last year’s commitment was simple: adult in America? We don’t know. Un- know that, it is because I saw the five
Do the things we have to do, knowing fortunately, this bill was not taken bills we did last year, and they didn’t
every dollar was borrowed, but not through committee, so no one even had have problems like this in them last
more than we have to do because none the conversation or time to even find year because we worked it out to-
of this is budgeted, and none of this has out why. gether. This one is different.
gone through committees. Let’s try to There is a lot of money for education This bill could have been signifi-
do what needs to be done and not more in this bill, and there is a lot of need in cantly improved in a major way. One of
than what needs to be done—until now. education across the country. In fact, them is the way we deal with charities.
Starting the next couple of days, the the bill that just passed, this $2 tril- You see, in previous bills, we sat down
Treasury will begin to process bor- lion, actually spends almost three and talked about our not-for-profits.
rowing another $2 trillion. times—in this one bill, almost three I have a very strong belief personally
I had an Oklahoman whom I talked times—for education what typically that we have three safety nets in
to this morning who said: How are you the U.S. Federal Government does for America. Families are the first safety
doing spending my money at this the entire year for education. I would net; nonprofits, churches, faith-based
point? say there is a great need, except when houses of worship are the second in so-
I laughed, and I said: Actually, this you actually look at the unspent ciety; and the third safety net is gov-
time, it is not even your money. It is money for education from the five bills ernment.
not even tax dollars that are coming that were passed last year, there is Government can never keep up with
down; it is borrowed money—from the still $68 billion unspent from the edu- all of the needs in America. If families
Chinese, from the open market, from cation funds from the five COVID bills collapse and if our not-for-profits col-
everywhere that we can go get $2 tril- last year. lapse, government will never be able to
lion of additional spending to be able There is no requirement that the keep up. So in previous versions, we
to spend it. schools actually open or use that have actually addressed that with not-
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While many people will be eager to money to open the schools. In fact, 95 for-profits. We did that in the Pay-
be able to receive a check for $1,400, be- percent of the money allocated for check Protection Program to make
cause there are a lot of people having a COVID relief for education CBO has sure that not-for-profits could get as-
hard time right now coming out of the said can’t even be spent this year at sistance and get help to be able to sur-
back side of the pandemic, getting all. The earliest it could even be spent vive through this.
back to work, paying some bills—they would be next year. And it is well in We also added in a way that we would
may be a little surprised to be able to excess of $100 billion. encourage individuals to be able to do-
find out that they are getting a $1,400 There is a provision in this. The nate to not-for-profits. We gave them a
check, but so are prisoners. They are Small Business Administration, as I write-off. In the very first bill, we
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S1490 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE March 11, 2021
added in $300. If you gave to a not-for- quarter of 2020 of charitable giving—a With that, I yield the floor.
profit, you get to write that off your 6-percent increase in donors and an 11- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
taxes right away. In the December bill, percent increase in new donors when ator from Ohio.
we reupped that—$300 for an individual compared to 2019. BORDER SECURITY
and $600 for a family that you could We put that incentive out, and people Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I am
write off on your taxes immediately if saw the need across the country and here on the floor today to talk about
you would donate to a not-for-profit. the opportunity to do that, and people the unfolding, urgent situation on our
Why did we do that? Well, I brought gave. We saw increases in all donor cat- southern border, and I do so as the
that issue up, quite frankly, and we egories in the third quarter of last ranking Republican on the Homeland
had wide bipartisan agreement to say year, the largest increase in giving Security and Governmental Affairs
that was a good idea because we should coming from donors giving $250 or less. Committee.
encourage not-for-profits because we That increased by 17 percent just in the This unfortunate situation at the
need them for that safety net. Not-for- third quarter of last year. border includes a lot of kids coming
profits are the faces that take care of I understand there are a lot of factors over the border, UACs, as they call
the hungry and the homeless and the to that. There were a lot of needs, and them, unaccompanied alien children.
hurting in our society, and we need people were doing what they do best These children are making a long and
them to be strong. But in this bill that and engaging. But we need to continue dangerous journey north, putting
came out, we didn’t address the not- to encourage the strength of our not- themselves at risk and bringing our
for-profits. We didn’t have the option for-profits because if there is a focus to immigration system and our shelter
to be able to bring it up and debate it say ‘‘Well, government should do system along the border to a breaking
and say: What should we do? So it just that,’’ government can send checks, point.
got left out. but government has a hard time actu- You may have heard that the Biden
Why should we continue to be able to ally meeting human needs. That re- administration insists this is not a cri-
push on this issue? Because we need quires a face and a person and a com- sis. Here are the facts. You decide.
them to be strong. They are a remark- mitment, and that is done differently This chart shows the dire situation
able part of our economy, our safety when it is a not-for-profit. that we are in. On Tuesday, the most
net, and our community. They are We have great Federal workers all recent confirmed information we have
Americans doing what we do best— across the country who work really is there were 3,400 of these children in
serving each other, serving our neigh- hard, but they also work often from a Border Patrol custody. Ten days ago,
bors, and helping in every possible way distance. Local not-for-profits in small, that number was 1,700. So in 10 days,
that we can. rural communities will have a much this number has doubled. To put this in
So a group of us have gathered to- greater connection to individuals to be perspective, at the very height of the
gether to be able to drop a bill dealing able to help in their time of crisis than border crisis in 2019 that we all remem-
with these not-for-profits and encour- someone 1,000 miles away who means ber being talked about a lot on the
aging us, again, to accelerate this issue well but doesn’t see them on a daily floor of this Senate and around the
of giving Americans the ability to be basis. If we want to help human needs, country, families and children were
able to write off on their taxes, wheth- we will find ways to be able to help coming in, in big numbers. At the very
er they itemize or not, a below-the-line not-for-profits. height, it was 2,600 unaccompanied
deduction for their taxes to be able to Tuesday of this week, Senator COONS, kids. Today, based on some informa-
make sure that we encourage people to Senator LEE, Senator SHAHEEN, Sen- tion we just received anecdotally from
be able to give to not-for-profits. And ator SCOTT from South Carolina, Sen- the Customs and Border Protection
it matters. If you want to be able to ator KLOBUCHAR, Senator COLLINS, Sen- folks, it is over 3,500. It is a 35-percent
help do something significant, help ator CORTEZ MASTO, and myself—we all increase even from where it was during
those close to you and the ongoing introduced the Universal Giving Pan- the crisis, and it is growing.
work that they are doing. demic Response and Recovery Act. We Under law, these children have to be
Those folks have felt it a lot. Accord- are just asking a simple question: Can transferred to the Federal Department
ing to a study by Johns Hopkins Center we continue to strengthen our not-for- of Health and Human Services, HHS,
for Civil Society Studies, between profits and encourage Americans to within 72 hours of their being appre-
March and May of 2020, our nonprofits give to those not-for-profits with their hended, and why we had that law in
have projected job losses around 1.6 time, with their money, and with their place was to be able to help these kids.
million workers. They leaned in and passion and joy? When you actually en- So instead of being in a Border Patrol
helped anyway, even though they were gage with a not-for-profit, you will find detention facility, which, by the way,
in real trouble. As of December 2020, you are the one who really receives. were all designed for single males—
the nonprofit workforce still remained There is not a moment that I talk to they don’t have any separation, don’t
down by about 930,000 jobs. somebody who serves in a not-for-profit have any trained people to help provide
We have a long way to go to have that they don’t tell me how hard the care to children, and it is law enforce-
that sector actually fully recover. work is and how draining the work is, ment, Border Patrol agents—but with-
They are such a significant part of our and then with a smile, they will say in 72 hours, we had said that you have
economy. According to the latest how rewarding it really is. There is not to transfer these children to a Health
data—again, available from Johns Hop- a time that I walk into a homeless and Human Services facility that is ap-
kins—it was found that nonprofit orga- shelter or a food bank and they don’t propriate for children. How is that
nizations employed the third largest tell me about the people they meet on working?
workforce in the U.S. economy; non- a daily basis and the joy for them Again, as of Tuesday, there were 3,400
profits, a group that people just drive going home, talking to their own fam- of these kids in Border Patrol custody
past all the time, but many people ily, and remembering the blessings in the wrong kind of detention facili-
drive to or walk to because they need that they have, and the joy they have ties for children. There were 2,800 chil-
real help. to get up the next day to be able to dren who were ready to transfer to
What happened when we actually help those in greatest need. Let’s en- HHS. In other words, they had been
passed the CARES Act and we added courage that. screened, gone through a process. As of
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this deduction in and encouraged If you want to have a Biblical exam- Tuesday, there were 500 beds available,
Americans to start donating to not-for- ple, Biblically, the calling for govern- meaning 2,300 children are remaining
profits to help them survive this year? ment is to encourage those who do in Border Patrol custody in over-
What happened with that? Well, I can good and punish those who do wrong. crowded, adult facilities without prop-
tell you what happened because now we We have a lot of nonprofits around the er care because there is nowhere to
can look back and see the data. The country that are doing good. Let’s en- take them.
most recent data we have for the fund- courage them, and let’s encourage Look, it is a bad situation. HHS con-
raising effect for this project shows Americans to be able to be engaged in tractors are supposed to be trained to
that there was an increase in the third volunteering and in giving. care for the kids. The Border Patrol
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