Floor Statements

Mr. President, 75 years ago, on October 13, 1942, the men of the 164th Infantry Regiment, North Dakota Army National Guard, landed on Guadalcanal to make history as the first U.S. Army unit to offensively engage the enemy in either theatre during World War

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to complete my remarks.

Madam President, I am honored to come to the floor today to express my support for the President's nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Judge Ralph Erickson.

Judge Erickson is a longtime North Dakotan and has been a tremendous public servant in his current capacity as Federal district court judge in Fargo, ND. He has made our State proud, and I am confident he will be an excellent addition to the Eighth Circuit Court.

Judge Erickson has a distinguished legal career which spans over two decades. After working in private practice for 10 years, he served as a magistrate judge for Cass County and then as a State district judge for the East Central Judicial District Court. In 2003, Judge Erickson was nominated by President George W. Bush to the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota and was quickly confirmed by the Senate unanimously.

Throughout his tenure, Judge Erickson has demonstrated deep respect for the Constitution and the rule of law. His judicial experience ranges from overseeing routine civil cases to cases involving extreme criminal violence. Throughout all of these cases, Judge Erickson practiced a measured and prudential legal approach that is necessary for a position on the second highest court in the United States.

Judge Erickson has also proved to be a champion for Indian Country. He serves as the Chair of the Tribal Issues Advisory Group on the United States Sentencing Commission, where he works to preserve Tribal sovereignty. As chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, I believe Judge Erickson's expertise on this issue will be a valuable asset to the Eighth Circuit Court.

Madam President, part of our duty as Senators is to evaluate the qualifications of the President's appointees and to vote on their nominations accordingly. This is a responsibility that I take very seriously, and I have no doubt that if confirmed, Judge Erickson will be an excellent circuit judge. I am honored to be here to support his nomination and to urge my colleagues to vote yes.

I would also like to note that in the Gallery today we have his daughter Elizabeth joining us. I think it is wonderful that she could be here to see her father's confirmation vote. She is a sophomore at Catholic University and just an outstanding young person, and there is no doubt that she is extremely proud of her father today. So it is wonderful to welcome her here for this momentous occasion.

With that, Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 252, submitted earlier today.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 253, submitted earlier today.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 254, submitted earlier today.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m. on Thursday, September 14; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; finally, that following leader remarks, the Senate resume consideration of H.R. 2810.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the provisions of S. Res. 254 as a further mark of respect to the late Pete Domenici, former Senator from New Mexico.

Mr. President, I rise today to honor the new Miss America. That is Cara Mund, a former intern in my office up until the end of last year. Last night she made history and became the first Miss North Dakota to win the title of Miss America.

My wife Mikey and I were watching the pageant on TV and cheering for Cara throughout the competition. We, like North Dakotans across our State, were very excited when she was crowned Miss America. The amazing thing is that she had actually tried four times to win the Miss North Dakota pageant. She won the Miss North Dakota pageant on her fourth try, and then she went on to win the Miss America pageant. It is just an amazing story of somebody who decided she were going to accomplish a goal and did so. It is truly amazing and inspirational to anyone who sets out to achieve something really worthwhile, and it shows what determination can do.

Cara is truly impressive, and we are so proud to have her representing North Dakota and, of course, now the entire Nation as Miss America. Following graduation from Brown University with a degree in business, entrepreneurship, and organizations, Cara served as an intern here in my Washington, DC, office. She did a tremendous job. As I say, she was with us for half of last year. So she started about midyear and finished up at the end of the year. Again, she did tremendous work for us, and we are so appreciative of having her with us.

While only 23, she has a long history of public and community service. For the past 10 years, she has organized the annual Make-a- Wish fashion show, which has raised more than $78,500 to make dreams come true for more than 20 kids who have faced life-altering conditions. It is only fitting that after spending so much of her life making others' dreams come true, Cara's own dreams were made a reality last night. She is so well-deserving of the title, and I know that continued service to others and public service will be part of her life's work.

She is going on to law school at Notre Dame after, of course, taking a year as Miss America and touring around the country and doing what I know will be a fabulous job as Miss America. Then she wants to go on to law school at Notre Dame, where she has already been accepted.

I know she has a real interest in public service and maybe even some day running for Governor or another elective office. I have no doubt that whatever she decides to do, she will be successful, and, more importantly, she will do a great job for others. She will do a great job for many other people. She has such a good heart, and she is such a great young person--exactly the kind of person that we need out there helping face the challenges we face as a nation, setting a great example, and doing things for so many others that makes such a difference in their lives.

She is well-deserving of the title. She represents our State so well, and we have no doubt that she will continue to make us proud as Miss America.

Congratulations, again, to Miss America 2018, Cara Mund. She is fantastic.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I rise today to speak in support of the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act--bipartisan legislation that will help ensure that our veterans receive the care they deserve.

We owe our veterans more than we can ever repay for their dedicated service. Part of this debt is providing our veterans with timely, high- quality healthcare.

In my home State of North Dakota, our VA medical center is located in Fargo. It not only serves the veterans in North Dakota, but it also serves the western half of Minnesota as well. If there is one thing that our veterans have made very clear about the health center in Fargo--from both North Dakota and Minnesota--our veterans have made clear that it is an outstanding healthcare center that provides high- quality service. Our veterans love the Fargo VA. They do a great job.

It is important to note that the vast majority of VA employees are dedicated to serving our veterans and are working diligently to provide services to veterans in their communities. However, as recent events have shown, there are a number of instances where poor performance or misconduct by a VA employee has had tragic consequences.

In cases like these, the VA needs to have the ability to address these situations and to do it in a fair but expeditious manner. This bipartisan legislation will provide the VA Secretary with the necessary tools to do just that and ensure that VA employees are putting our veterans first. Specifically, this legislation establishes in law the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection within the VA, a post which was created earlier this year through Executive order. It authorizes the Secretary of VA to reprimand, suspend, demote, or remove VA employees at any level and hasten the appeal and review process. Additionally, it establishes protections for whistleblowers .

These reforms are important for our veterans. That is why the legislation has garnered the support of many veterans organizations. It has garnered the support of our North Dakota VA Commissioner, as well as the veterans service organizations, including the American Legion, AMVETS, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the Military Officers Association of America, and others. It has also garnered the support of cosponsors on both sides of the aisle in this Chamber.

Seventy-three years ago, over 160,000 brave Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy. I can think of no more an appropriate day to pass legislation that honors our commitment to our veterans and helps ensure they receive the care they have earned.

I thank the committee chair, Senator Isakson of Georgia, and also Senator Tester of Montana for their outstanding bipartisan leadership on this important legislation.

I particularly also want to thank Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who is the primary sponsor of this legislation and has been a champion for veterans issues. I know this accountability issue is one he has spoken about consistently, often, and passionately on behalf of our veterans. I thank him for his leadership on this very important legislation.

At this time, I yield to the prime sponsor of this bill, Senator Marco Rubio.

Mr. President, I have a request for the Indians Affairs Committee to meet today at 2:30 p.m.

First, we have a markup in the Indian Affairs Committee. The two bills we are marking up are Democrat-sponsored bills. The first one is Senator Tester's bill, from the State of Montana, which would provide support for Native languages. I guess the summary is that it would support the education of Indian children. I believe it relates to Native languages in that educational capacity. So that is one of the bills, Senator Tester's bill.

The other bill we are marking up is Senator Tim Kaine's bill, also a Democrat-sponsored bill. The short narrative I have is this: To extend Federal recognition to the Chickahominy Indian Tribe, the Chicahominy Indian Tribe-Eastern Division, the Upper Mattaponi Tribe, the Rappahonnock Tribe, the Monacan Indian Nation, and the Nansemond Indian Tribe.

The reason that is significant, that is something that both Senator Kaine and Senator Warner--both Senators from Virginia--have been working on for some time. The reason it is timely is that they have Pocahontas's birthday celebration coming up, which I think is going to be a large celebration in the Commonwealth of Virginia. They were hoping to have these Tribes recognized before this birthday celebration for Pocahontas. It is a timely issue.

Obviously, we can't advance the bill to the Senate floor unless we mark it up. At the request of those two Democratic Senators from the Commonwealth of Virginia, we are scheduled to mark up those bills and get them to the floor and try to do it in a timely way because of the celebration they are trying to get prepared for. Everybody knows the story of Pocahontas and why that would be a big celebration and certainly a big deal in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Again, as we debate this on the Senate floor, I think Senator Daines made some strong points, and I would certainly appeal to our colleagues across the aisle to consider what I just described as far as those markups.

In addition to those markups, we also have a hearing on several bills. The first one is a McCain bill, and it is to amend the PROTECT Act to make Indian Tribes eligible for AMBER Alert grants.

Everybody knows what the AMBER Alert Program is and how important that program is to protect our young people when they get abducted. The reason Senator McCain, from Arizona, is bringing this bill forward is because there was an abduction in Arizona, and the AMBER Alert went out late. I

think the AMBER Alert went out a day late.

Senator McCain has this PROTECT Act so we can make sure the AMBER Alert is working in Indian Country, and you certainly can understand how important it is that we do that. We have to have a hearing on the bill again so we can advance the bill to the Senate floor for consideration.

The final bill that we would have a hearing on in committee, if we are allowed to meet, is a Murkowski bill, Senator Murkowski from Alaska. It would provide the conveyance of certain property in this State.

You have to realize that the witnesses--and I think certainly the good Senator from Hawaii will appreciate this--had to come here from Alaska, which is quite a lengthy trip. When the Senator travels back home to Hawaii, that is a long trip. It is certainly a beautiful place but a long trip to get there. Of course, it is not inexpensive to travel from Alaska to Washington, DC.

Those witnesses will be out their costs to come here if we are not able to have the hearing, and we would have to reschedule it. That certainly creates a cost burden for them, which is certainly unfair and not what they would want to have had happen on the part of their government.

I am putting that in human terms. Again, we are talking about two Democratic bills, and we are talking about two Republican bills. We are talking about constituents who have traveled a long way to come here to have the hearing and the markup.

Again, these are issues we should be able to work on in a bipartisan way. I would certainly ask for that consideration. At this point, I ask for unanimous consent that our committee be allowed to meet.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, now is the time to get back to basics. The Federal Government doesn't exist for its own sake, it exists for the people, and if Federal regulation serves no useful function for the people, then it only serves to hold back our Nation's prosperity and growth.

With so many Americans hungry for good-paying jobs, now is the time to unleash our Nation's economic potential by getting government out of the way. It is just plain common sense to eliminate regulations that are duplicative, costly, and unworkable. We need to get back to the basics by getting rid of those kinds of regulations, and one of those regulations is the BLM methane rule.

Now, the BLM methane rule is one of those midnight regulations that the Obama administration put out as they were walking out the door. This new regulation from the Bureau of Land Management--or BLM--imposes new rules and royalty rates on methane emissions from oil and gas production on Federal and Indian lands.

For those wondering why methane emissions aren't already regulated, there is a simple explanation: They are. Under the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency, in partnership with individual States, is tasked with regulating air quality, which includes methane emissions. In fact, States like my State of North Dakota and the State of Texas, where the Presiding Officer resides, currently have regulatory systems in place to govern oil and gas emissions. Critically, the North Dakota Industrial Commission has put in place flaring requirements that have successfully reduced the flaring in our State from 35 percent down to 10 percent as a result of their work, and they have a goal to take it even further. This flaring reduction is a big deal because to reduce methane emissions you need to reduce flaring.

Flaring sounds complicated, but it is very simple. When excess gas is produced along with oil and it can't be captured, then it gets burned off, or flared. Neither industry nor State officials like flaring because it wastes natural gas--it wastes a natural resource--of which methane obviously is the main component. As most Americans know, obviously, natural gas is a valuable commodity that is used to heat our homes and power our factories. That is why both industry and the States have worked hard to make big improvements. They want to capture that natural gas and that methane. That is not just in North Dakota. That is in other energy-producing States across the country.

Nationally, methane emissions from the oil and gas industry have been on the decline for a number of years. So we are already actively working at the State level under a regulatory regime where States have primacy to spend, authorized by EPA, to reduce natural gas flaring.

With methane emissions already being regulated and reduced by the States and industry, it is tough to figure out why this new BLM regulation has been passed and what it is accomplishing. This rule has been calculated to cost up to $279 million each year. So the cost of this rule is $279 million a year--a duplicative rule. That is in addition to the redtape. BLM estimates that the rule will impose an additional 82,000 hours of paperwork.

These numbers just might sound like the cost of doing business, if you will, but America's job creators know it is really costing us business, it is costing us economic growth, and it is costing us jobs. These aren't really numbers. There are livelihoods at stake.

What makes the BLM methane rule particularly burdensome is the fact that it is simply unworkable. The rule sets a maximum volume that each well can flare, which will lead to curtailment and shut-in wells, meaning actually having to shut down the wells. Of course, that decreases oil production and reduces royalty payments. So that means less energy, the owners get less revenue, and we have less jobs. Meanwhile, this rule treats all drilling spacing units the same, regardless of whether they have minimal Federal ownership. Remember, a lot of these wells they are trying to regulate are on minerals owned by the Federal Government, but they may also be on minerals owned by private individuals. So, once again, we have one of these Federal one- size-fits-all regulations that just does not work in practice.

That is why regulating the natural gas and methane emissions has been delegated to the States by EPA and why it should be up to the States.

So the States are fighting back. Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota filed a legal challenge to the rule in the U.S. district court in Wyoming.

The good news is that the States and our economy will not have to wait until this lawsuit makes its way through the court system. We can provide regulatory relief right now, and we should do so through the Congressional Review Act--the CRA--which provides Congress with a tool to rid the Nation of burdensome, duplicative regulations like this one, and that is what our schedule is for tomorrow--to take up this CRA.

I am a cosponsor of this CRA, and we need to pass it. I wish to thank the chairman of the EPW Committee, Senator Barrasso, for his work on this issue, and others. The House has already passed this CRA. This has already been passed by the House. The President has expressed his support for it. We need to pass it tomorrow. We need to get this done.

Every week I meet with North Dakotans and others who are working so hard to produce energy for this country, to create jobs and a better future for their families. They need and deserve a Federal Government that will not stand in their way. This is a basic but fundamental objective and a good place to reduce that regulatory burden to get our economy going. The way to create more economic growth, more jobs, and higher income levels is by reducing the regulatory burden, and this is a great example.

Again, it is just about common sense. It is about empowering the States to take a States-first approach, a State's primacy approach in terms of this kind of regulation. How we produce energy in Texas or North Dakota or Ohio or Pennsylvania or Washington State--it is different across the country. We can't have a Federal one-size-fits-all rule. That is why it needs to be left up to the States.

We have a chance tomorrow to pass this measure, and it is exactly the kind of measure that will help reduce that regulatory burden, help us grow our economy, and help us create good jobs.

I urge my colleagues to join with us and pass this CRA.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I am honored to come to the floor today and join my colleagues to support the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Judge Gorsuch is an exemplary pick for my home State of North Dakota and for our Nation as a whole. He has shown deep respect for the Constitution and has a strong record of upholding the rule of law.

If confirmed, Judge Gorsuch will take the seat that was held by the late Justice Antonin Scalia. Of course, filling that vacancy will be no easy task. Justice Scalia was a brilliant legal

mind who had earned the respect of many in the legal community during his nearly 30 years on the Supreme Court. He was a true defender of the U.S. Constitution and sought to protect it so that future generations of Americans could live and thrive in a free society. His legacy on the Court will influence American jurisprudence for generations to come.

If there is anyone who is worthy of filling Justice Scalia's shoes, it is Judge Gorsuch. Like Scalia, Judge Gorsuch is an originalist when it comes to interpreting the Constitution.

I had the pleasure of meeting with Judge Gorsuch last week to discuss his nomination, and I am confident that he will make an excellent Justice.

If you look at his background, it is clear that he is an incredibly qualified nominee. After receiving degrees from Columbia, Harvard, and then Oxford, Judge Gorsuch went on to clerk for notable Supreme Court Justices Byron White and Anthony Kennedy before entering private practice.

After 10 years of private practice, Gorsuch began his career in public service as a Deputy Associate Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice. In 2006, he was nominated by President George W. Bush to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, and he was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate.

Let me repeat that. He was confirmed unanimously by this body. I believe that says a lot about Judge Gorsuch as a candidate. In a body that is so often divided, a candidate who can receive unanimous support is truly noteworthy.

When nominated by the President, Judge Gorsuch said: ``A judge who likes every outcome he reaches is very likely a bad judge . . . stretching for results he prefers rather than those the law demands.'' During his tenure on the Tenth Circuit, he has demonstrated fair and prudent judgment in his opinions.

In addition to his impressive professional background, Judge Gorsuch has roots as a westerner and will bring those roots and a much needed perspective to the Supreme Court. Because decisions that come from the Court affect the lives of Americans from across the country, it is important that the Court be composed of Justices from different regions of the country. It is critical that our next Supreme Court Justice have a familiarity with the challenges Western and Midwestern States face, like my home State and others--issues such as States' rights, Second Amendment rights, land use disputes, and the complex relationship between State and Tribal governments. These are the everyday realities we face across this country that the Justices must deal with.

I expect many of these important issues to come before the Supreme Court in the coming months. In fact, just yesterday, the Court decided to move forward on litigation regarding former President Obama's waters of the U.S. rule, also known as WOTUS, which has had a significantly burdensome impact on farmers and ranchers and threatens the constitutional role of the States.

Judge Gorsuch's background also makes him a prominent voice for Indian Country. As chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, I believe it is important for our next Supreme Court Justice to have a concrete record of respecting Tribal sovereignty. I was pleased to learn that he has earned the support of a number of Native-American groups, including the National Congress of American Indians and the Native American Rights Fund.

Judge Gorsuch has had a long history of handling cases that have affected Native Americans from his time on the Tenth Circuit, and he has demonstrated a consistent understanding of the unique legal principles that are involved in Federal Tribal law. The boundary between State and Tribal authorities is often ambiguous; yet Judge Gorsuch was able to bring clarity as he diligently studied the law and respected existing precedents in Tribal sovereignty.

For example, the Ute Tribe of Utah has been engaged in legal battles with the State over the State's authority to prosecute Native Americans on Tribal land. Judge Gorsuch has consistently ruled in favor of Tribal sovereignty.

In Hydro Resources v. EPA, a case in which EPA overreach was redefining the boundaries of Indian lands, Judge Gorsuch overruled the EPA's interpretation and respected the current Tribal boundaries.

For all of these reasons, I urge a ``yes'' vote on Judge Gorsuch's nomination. As the highest Court in the land, the decisions have a widespread impact on millions of Americans.

When the stakes are this high, it is necessary that we confirm someone with a sound, fair, and prudent approach to the law. I have no doubt that Judge Gorsuch is the right person for this role. I enthusiastically support his nomination, and I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do the same.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

Mr. President, the Bureau of Land Management has a mission set by Congress; that is, to manage the Nation's public lands under the principles of multiple use and sustained yield, which means that public land should be open to everything, from hunting and grazing to energy development and other reasonable uses.

The BLM currently manages more than 246 million acres of land and 700 million acres of Federal and non-Federal subsurface estate. Much of these lands are in the West, where Federal acres coexist with private and State-owned land. In order to manage its resources effectively, BLM is required to provide resource management plans. This planning has typically been led by BLM's field offices, in coordination with State, local, and Tribal governments that provide local input on how best to manage the land and its unique resources. However, in the final months of the last administration, the BLM sought to apply a top-down approach, essentially a one-size-fits-all, top-down approach to this resource management process. They termed it the planning 2.0 final rule.

The rule which was finalized in December changed how this planning is done and undermined the well-established process by limiting the ability of local input, public comment, and meaningful State consultation.

The final rule also pulled decision-making away from the regional BLM field offices and centralized it at BLM's headquarters in Washington, under the concept of ``landscape-level planning,'' which lets Washington define new

areas covering multiple States. The rule takes important decision- making away from local officials who know the land and understand the needs of their communities.

The BLM rule sought to ignore the multiple-use requirements established by Congress and diminishes the importance of energy development. The rule tilts the balance in favor of conservation and non-development and away from responsible energy development, as well as other uses, like grazing.

In a State like North Dakota, with a distinctive patchwork of underground Federal minerals and private or State surface ownership, this creates more uncertainty for energy producers and more difficulty for our ranchers. By repealing this rule, we are preserving our longstanding tradition of allowing multiple uses on Federal lands, while protecting the livelihoods of our ranchers, energy producers, and many others. That is why this resolution is supported by the North Dakota Stockmen's Association, along with the National Association of Counties, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, the Farm Bureau, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the Public Lands Council, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, just to name a few.

I am proud to be an original cosponsor of the CRA on the BLM planning 2.0 rule. I thank Chairman Murkowski, the chairman of our Energy Committee, for her leadership on this important issue.

The House passed this CRA on February 7 in a bipartisan manner. I am hopeful the Senate will do so as well and send this bill to the President's desk this week.

Today's CRA ensures that State, local, and Tribal input and expertise should guide the management of our public lands. Let's stop the BLM's planning 2.0 rule and give the people who live and work in these communities a say on what happens in their hometowns. We can do that by voting for this CRA. I urge my colleagues to do so.

With that, I yield the floor.