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“UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--S. 145, S. 403, S. 521, S. 593, S. 610, S. 873, S. 1103, S. 1104, S. 1240, S. 1305, AND S. 1483” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the in the Senate section section on pages S8843-S8844 on Dec. 18, 2015.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--S. 145, S. 403, S. 521, S. 593, S. 610, S.
873, S. 1103, S. 1104, S. 1240, S. 1305, AND S. 1483
Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, reserving the right to object, the bill Senator Flake is referring to, S. 145--a bill I support--is part of a package of 11 bills that have been approved by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee known as the lands bills. By the way, of the 11 bills, 7 of the principal sponsors are Republican and 4 are Democrats. S. 403 by Senator Klobuchar is on that list, which includes the North Country National Scenic Trail; S. 521 that I introduced concerning the President's Station in Baltimore; S. 593 by Senator Barrasso that includes the Bureau of Reclamation report on their infrastructure assets; S. 610 that I introduced dealing with P.S. 103, which is Thurgood Marshall Elementary School; S. 873 by the chair, Senator Murkowski, to designate wilderness within the Lake Clark National Park and Preserve; two bills, S. 1103 and S. 1104, by Senator Daines extending deadlines; S. 1240 by Senator Heinrich designating the Cerro del Yuta and Rio San Antonio wilderness areas in New Mexico; S. 1305 by Senator Barrasso concerning the Colorado River Storage Project Act; and, lastly, S. 1483 by Senator Alexander that would direct a feasibility study for designating the James K. Polk Home in Columbia, TN, as a unit of the National Park System.
So therefore I ask unanimous consent that the request by Senator Flake be modified so that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of the following calendar items en bloc: Calendar No. 204, S. 145; Calendar No. 205, S. 403; Calendar No. 206, S. 521; Calendar No. 208, S. 593; Calendar No. 209, S. 610; Calendar No. 211, S. 873; Calendar No. 212, S. 1103; Calendar No. 213, S. 1104; Calendar No. 214, S. 1240; Calendar No. 215, S. 1305; and Calendar No. 216, S. 1483; that the applicable committee-reported amendments be agreed to, the bills, as amended, if amended, be read a third time and passed, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
That would be the list I just mentioned, the lands bills that have been reported out unanimously by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the Senator so modify his request?
Mr. FLAKE. I have no objection to the modification.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Madam President, reserving the right to object, as the ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee is well aware, in July I told Secretary Kerry in a written letter that if the administration sent to the United Nations this catastrophic Iranian nuclear deal before submitting it to the U.S. Congress, that the consequence would be that each and every political appointee to the State Department would be held. Secretary Kerry nonetheless decided to disregard the contents of that letter, submitted it to the United Nations in derogation of U.S. sovereignty, and accordingly, I have been blocking those political nominees.
Mr. CARDIN. Will the Senator yield for one moment?
Mr. CRUZ. Yes.
Mr. CARDIN. I think this request deals with the lands bills, not the political appointments. I just wanted to point that out. These are the bills that came out of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee that deal with designating certain lands. We will have a chance later on the nominations.
Mr. CRUZ. Well, reserving the right to object to that one, I would simply say we were going to do both. I thought you were doing the first one, but you are doing the other.
On that as well, in my view, there is far too much Federal land in the United States that is under the control of the Federal Government. I was just yesterday in the State of Nevada, where some 84 percent of the State of Nevada is controlled by the Federal Government. We do not need the Federal Government becoming the largest landlord in the United States. Therefore, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the Senator so modify his request?
Mr. FLAKE. Yes, I so modify.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection was heard to the modification.
Is there objection to the original request?
Mr. CARDIN. I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The majority leader.
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