June 8, 2017
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The Democratic leader. RUSSIA INVESTIGATION
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I would like to address the hearings that concluded just a few hours ago. After hearing Mr. Comey’s testimony today, America is stunned. The cloud hanging over this administration has just gotten a whole lot darker. I commend both the chairman, Senator BURR, and the vice chairman, Senator WARNER, for the way they ran this hearing. The Senate and the American people are better informed as a result of their work. Few committee hearings in the history of the Senate have produced the kind of eye-opening testimony we heard today. In its wake, I would like to make a few points. First, for weeks, media reports indicated that the President had directly and indirectly pressured the FBI Director to end the FBI’s investigation into General Flynn. Innuendos and intimations swirled around. But we now know much more of the truth. There is now no doubt that Mr. Comey understood the President’s request that he let go of the investigation into General Flynn—in a meeting during which it was discussed whether Mr. Comey would keep his job as FBI Director—as a direct effort to prevent that investigation from going further that looks a lot like a quid pro quo. During questioning from a Republican Senator, Mr. RISCH, Mr. Comey told us that he took the President’s conversation with him about the FBI investigation into General Flynn as a directive to scuttle that investigation. It is clear that President Trump’s legal defense is to refute Mr. Comey’s account. Well, the President threatened Mr. Comey with the release of tapes of their conversations. Presumably that includes the conversation in which President Trump asked Director Comey to ‘‘let go’’ of the Flynn investigation. It is awfully curious that no one from the President’s team will either confirm or deny the existence of the tapes when the tapes are the only way to prove that Mr. Comey’s testimony, which came under oath, is false or misleading. If President Trump disagrees with anything the Director has said today, he should play the tapes for all of America to hear or admit that there were no tapes. Second, Director Comey’s contrasting view of the Clinton email case and the Russia case is telling. Mr. Comey did not wish to see a special counsel in the Clinton case because he looked at the facts and determined there wasn’t a case for one. With respect to the Russia probe, the Director examined the facts and felt there was
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enough potential evidence that a special counsel was warranted. Again, the contrast is telling. Democrats and Republicans alike and the American people as well should be pleased that the investigation is in the hands of former Director Mueller. Third, the hearing raised serious questions about Attorney General Sessions that he and the Justice Department must answer immediately. Senators WYDEN and HARRIS repeatedly asked Director Comey about Attorney General Sessions’ involvement in the investigation before he recused himself. Director Comey didn’t have direct knowledge of his involvement but made clear that he suspected that the Attorney General needed to recuse himself weeks before he actually did so and that he could not share the reasons for that in an unclassified briefing. So we need to know the answers to a number of questions regarding the Attorney General. The Senate Intelligence Committee investigation and Special Counsel Mueller ought to get to the bottom of this matter. In conclusion, Mr. Comey’s testimony has been very enlightening, but there is much work ahead for investigators in Congress and those under the direction of Mr. Mueller. Thank you. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT—EXECUTIVE CALENDAR
Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that at 5 p.m. on Monday, June 12, the Senate proceed to executive session for consideration of Executive Calendar No. 65. I further ask that there be 30 minutes of debate on the nomination, equally divided in the usual form, and that following the use or yielding back of time, the Senate vote on confirmation of the nomination with no intervening action or debate, and that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate’s action. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ORDER OF PROCEDURE
Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, I further ask unanimous consent that following disposition of Executive Calendar No. 65, the Senate resume legislative session and consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 722, with all postcloture time considered expired. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
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The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. SULLIVAN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. TRIBUTE TO MARTY SHORYER
Mr. SULLIVAN. Madam President, every week for some months now, I have been coming to the Senate floor and I have been using the opportunity to talk about someone in my State, the great State of Alaska, who has made a difference. We call that person the Alaskan of the Week. These are individuals who are unsung in many ways and who are doing something for their community, for their State, and in many ways are inspiring everybody. I am a little biased, but I believe I live in the most beautiful State in the country, probably the most beautiful place in the world, full of wonderful people and beautiful landscapes, and we certainly encourage everybody here in the Senate or those who are watching on TV to come to Alaska and experience it themselves, and they will have the trip of a lifetime, guaranteed. We are also blessed to live in a land that provides so much for our physical and spiritual needs. It is a very spiritual place. Alaskans are hardy people; however, like anyplace in the country, people have tough times. Some people are more fortunate than others. But thankfully we have people all across our State—like we have people all across America—who give of themselves so that those in difficult situations can receive the care they need. Today I want to take you to Kotzebue, AK, or what we often just refer to as Kotz. Kotz is about 550 miles northwest of Anchorage, 26 miles north of the Arctic Circle in Alaska’s Northwest Arctic Borough. About 3,000 people live in Kotzebue. It is one of our bigger villages, and it is a hub for dozens of smaller villages that dot this enormous, beautiful region. Like most of Alaska, it is cold in the winter, and it is beautiful now under a never-setting Sun. The midnight Sun in Kotz is high in the sky. There are wonderful people there. Like most places in Alaska, particularly in smaller villages in rural Alaska, community is everything. People take care of each other. People band together to help each other overcome challenges that can exist in the extreme environments we have in Alaska. Let me tell my colleagues today about Marty Shoryer, who is one of the very generous residents of Kotzebue and who is our Alaskan of the Week. Born in Kotzebue, Marty is the general manager of Kotzebue Electric Association, where he has worked for more than 24 years. He has been married to his wife Lucy since 1977. They have six children and seven grandchildren. In his free time, he fishes—very common—plays hoops, and loves to cook for his family. He is also involved in
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