Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that privileges of the floor be granted to a member of my staff, Lauren Arias. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________

Madam Chairman, you've been a great champion for programs that are so critical to Native communities in both our States and throughout Indian Country.

How long will it take at current funding levels to complete work on the current priority list?

I've introduced a bill with the Chairman, Senator Murkowski, that will make the IHS Health Professions Awards Program exempt from a Federal income tax requirement.

This means that IHS can no longer bill for Medicare and Medicaid services and that in many instances tribal members will have to travel long distances to get care.

But that's just a temporary fix, and we must do more.

It's absolutely intolerable for any IHS emergency facility to close for any amount of time, and cutbacks to essential services like obstetrics are also unacceptable.

I support a permanent line item for the Office of Technology Transitions and its critical missions.

I am also very interested in this Mission Innovation that I think you and I have spoken about.

I could not think of a better person to be Secretary of Agriculture because you served as Governor from a rural State.

Thank you very much for that initiative, because I have many communities in my State that I think need that kind of initiative.

This Promise Zone would really make a difference.

I want to thank Chairman Murkowski for working with me to produce a very solid budget for the Service this year.

The unemployment rate there is totally unacceptable. It is near 50 percent.

They both have been designated colonias, and they are ineligible for some USDA rural development funds.

I look forward to working with you, Chief, to make sure we do extend that program and working with my colleagues.

I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the role. The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.

Mr. President, addiction to prescription opioid pain relievers and heroin is a growing public health epidemic that is taking a heartbreaking toll on families and communities in every State of this country. In 2014, more than 47,000…