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“TARGETED REWARDS FOR THE GLOBAL EDUCATION OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING-- Continued” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S1978-S1980 on March 22, 2018.
The State Department is responsibly for international relations with a budget of more than $50 billion. Tenure at the State Dept. is increasingly tenuous and it's seen as an extension of the President's will, ambitions and flaws.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TARGETED REWARDS FOR THE GLOBAL EDUCATION OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING--
Continued
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, the Senate now vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 1625; further, that if cloture is invoked, all postcloture time be yielded back and Senator Lee or his designee be recognized to make a budget point of order; that the majority leader or his designee be recognized to make a motion to waive; and that following the disposition of the motion to waive, the Senate vote on the motion to concur with further amendment with no other intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Tennessee.
Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, the House sent a bill over today a little after 1 o'clock, and it is 11:56 p.m. I know that every Senator here has the right to object, and I assume some people have objected to voting.
We are not going to close. I had called down earlier and asked the Secretary if we are not going to vote by 10 o'clock, if we could just vote at 8 o'clock in the morning. This is ridiculous. It is juvenile. This is a juvenile process that we go through every time we do one of these.
I would respectfully ask our leader, who has been dealing with a lot today--and I am glad that he has the job he has and I don't, and the Secretary has the job that she has and I don't--could you explain to us what has occurred over the last 11 hours that keeps us here voting on a bill that we all know is going to pass, regardless of how we vote on it and that has kept us from just going ahead and voting?
Could you explain to the body, just very quickly, what has happened? And could we in the future possibly try to resolve these things at a decent hour, or come back the next morning and vote?
Mr. McCONNELL. I would say to my good friend from Tennessee--by the way, I am very sorry he has decided to leave the Senate, given how much he has obviously enjoyed it today.
Mr. CORKER. The changes that have occurred at the White House in the last several hours, and this--it has been an unusual day, I will say.
Mr. McCONNELL. Well, my good friend from Tennessee knows that my principal responsibility is begging, pleading, and cajoling. I have been in continuous discussions, shall I say, with several of our Members who were legitimately unhappy about one aspect or another, and they spent a lot of time thinking over whether or not they wanted to expedite the process. I must say, after a long and intense day of such discussions with several of our Members who have legitimate concerns, I am relieved, rather than depressed, that we might be able to actually finish tonight.
Mr. CORKER. Well, if I could, reserving the right to object, I would like for us to have some degree of discussion about this in the future--either to finish our business at a normal time or to come back the next morning. This is a ridiculous process that we go through where people extort us until we get so tired that we are willing to do whatever it is they wish for us to do.
I don't know what the issues were today. For instance, I would love to have a week's debate on an AUMF at some point. Now, I can hold this vote up on a legitimate issue and say: No, we are not going to vote until you agree that we are going to have an AUMF debate. I haven't done that. To my knowledge, I have never in my life held a vote up. Maybe I did 10 years ago and I can't remember.
But I just think that, again, we ought to have a little more certainty around here. I appreciate that people have flights in the morning and that there are some codels going out. So I am not going to object.
However, I am going to discuss with other Members, whether in the future, if we cannot finish our business at a reasonable hour, let's just come back the next morning and start.
With that, I do not object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
Cloture Motion
Pursuant to rule XXII, the Chair lays before the Senate the pending cloture motion, which the clerk will state.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
Cloture Motion
We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 1625.
Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, Susan M. Collins, Lamar
Alexander, Pat Roberts, Orrin G. Hatch, David Perdue,
Lindsey Graham, Thom Tillis, Lisa Murkowski, Shelley
Moore Capito, Richard Burr, Mike Rounds, John Hoeven,
Rob Portman, John Boozman.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived.
The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 1625, an act to amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to include severe forms of trafficking in persons within the definition of transnational organized crime for purposes of the rewards program of the Department of State, and for other purposes, shall be brought to a close?
The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Burr), the Senator from Arizona (Mr. McCain), and the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey).
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Perdue). Are there any other Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote?
The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 67, nays 30, as follows:
YEAS--67
AlexanderBaldwinBennetBlumenthalBluntBoozmanBrownCantwellCapitoCardinCarperCaseyCochranCollinsCoonsCornynCortez MastoDonnellyDuckworthErnstGrahamHassanHatchHeinrichHeitkampHellerHironoHoevenInhofeIsaksonJonesKaineKingKlobucharLankfordLeahyManchinMarkeyMcConnellMenendezMoranMurkowskiMurphyMurrayNelsonPetersPortmanReedRobertsRoundsRubioSchatzSchumerScottShaheenShelbySmithStabenowTesterThuneTillisUdallVan HollenWarnerWhitehouseWydenYoung
NAYS--30
BarrassoBookerCassidyCorkerCottonCrapoCruzDainesDurbinEnziFeinsteinFischerFlakeGardnerGillibrandGrassleyHarrisJohnsonKennedyLeeMcCaskillMerkleyPaulPerdueRischSandersSasseSullivanWarrenWicker
NOT VOTING--3
BurrMcCainToomey
The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 67, the nays are 30.
Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in the affirmative, the motion is agreed to.
Cloture having been invoked, the motion to refer falls.
The majority leader.
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw the motion to concur with further amendment and the Senate now vote on the motion to concur.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
Vote on Motion to Concur
The question now occurs on agreeing to the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 1625.
Mr. ROUNDS. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator form North Carolina (Mr. Burr), the Senator form Arizona (Mr. McCain), and the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey).
Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey) would have voted ``nay''.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber desiring to Vote?
The result was announced--yeas 65, nays 32, as follows:
YEAS--65
AlexanderBaldwinBennetBlumenthalBluntBoozmanBrownCantwellCapitoCardinCarperCaseyCochranCollinsCoonsCornynCortez MastoDonnellyDuckworthDurbinGrahamHassanHatchHeinrichHeitkampHellerHironoHoevenInhofeIsaksonJonesKaineKingKlobucharLeahyManchinMcConnellMenendezMoranMurkowskiMurphyMurrayNelsonPetersPortmanReedRobertsRoundsRubioSchatzSchumerScottShaheenShelbySmithStabenowTesterThuneUdallVan HollenWarnerWhitehouseWickerWydenYoung
NAYS--32
BarrassoBookerCassidyCorkerCottonCrapoCruzDainesEnziErnstFeinsteinFischerFlakeGardnerGillibrandGrassleyHarrisJohnsonKennedyLankfordLeeMarkeyMcCaskillMerkleyPaulPerdueRischSandersSasseSullivanTillisWarren
NOT VOTING--3
BurrMcCainToomey
The motion was agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
____________________
