Floor Statements

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, when it comes to deciding whether to confirm a Supreme Court Justice, there are two important questions: One, is this person well qualified? And, two, does this person understand the proper role of a judge?

When it comes to Brett Kavanaugh, the answer to both questions is yes. I don't need to tell anyone how qualified Judge Kavanaugh is. He is a graduate of Yale Law School and a lecturer at Harvard Law School. He has extensive legal experience in government and private practice, and he has spent the past 12 years serving on the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, sometimes referred to as the second highest court in the land.

His opinions have been endorsed by the Supreme Court more than a dozen times, and they are regularly cited by courts around the country. In short, he is eminently qualified to be a Justice on the Supreme Court.

But being qualified, while essential, is not sufficient. A Supreme Court Justice also needs to understand the proper role of a judge, and that role is to interpret the law, not make the law; to judge, not legislate; to call balls and strikes, not rewrite the rules of the game.

Judge Kavanaugh understands this. He understands that as a Supreme Court Justice, his job will be to rule based on the facts of the case, the law and the Constitution, and nothing else, not his personal opinions, not his political feelings, not his beliefs about what the law should be--just the plain text of the law and the Constitution. And that makes Judge Kavanaugh exactly the kind of judge that all of us, Democrats and Republicans alike, should want on the Supreme Court--the kind of judge who, in the words of Judge Kavanaugh, will decide cases ``without regard to policy preferences or political allegiances or which party is on which side in a particular case.''

Of course, that is not the kind of Justice Democrats are looking for. They don't really want an impartial Justice. They want a Justice they can rely on to rubberstamp Democratic policies. So even before President Trump had named a replacement for Justice Kennedy, Democrats were already signaling their intention of rejecting anyone the President put forward. One Democrat Senator formally announced his opposition to the President's nominee the morning of July 9, before the President had actually nominated anyone.

Since Judge Kavanaugh's nomination, Democrats have tried to make a case against Judge Kavanaugh, flinging up accusations in the desperate hope that something will stick. Needless to say, they haven't had much luck. It is difficult to argue that a judge like Judge Kavanaugh isn't eminently suited to serve on the Supreme Court.

Democrats are also doing their best to delay the proceedings by making outlandish demands for documents relating to Judge Kavanaugh's time in the White House. Apparently the up to 1 million pages that the Judiciary Committee expects to receive from Judge Kavanaugh's time in the executive branch and his circuit court confirmation aren't enough, even though it could be more than the amount of material received for the last five Supreme Court nominees combined. Let me repeat that. One million pages that the Judiciary Committee expects to receive from Judge Kavanaugh's time in the executive branch and his circuit court confirmation are more than the amount of material received for the last five Supreme Court nominees combined.

One also has to ask why Democratic leaders feel the need to see any material for Judge Kavanaugh, given the fact that they have already made up their minds to oppose him.

Of course, it is not about the material. We all know that. Democrats aren't really interested in reading every email that happened to be copied to Judge Kavanaugh. They just want to delay his nomination.

It would be nice if Democrats would abandon their partisan opposition to Judge Kavanaugh and take a serious look at this superbly qualified nominee. Unfortunately, I expect the political posturing to continue, but we will continue to move forward with the confirmation process to deliver another outstanding Justice to the Supreme Court.

Economic Growth

Mr. President, the good economic news continues to pour in. The economy grew at an impressive 4.1 percent in the second quarter of this year, bringing economic growth for the year so far up over 3 percent. Unemployment dropped to 3.9 percent in July, which is close to an 18- year low. Worker pay and benefits are increasing at the fastest pace in a decade. Consumer confidence is at a nearly 18-year high. Disposable income, which is income after taxes, is up 3.5 percent this year. And small business optimism is at a record high.

In short, Republican economic policies are working, and I don't need to tell anyone that economic growth lagged during the Obama administration. Recovery from the recession was historically weak, and some economists were predicting that 2 percent growth would be the new normal.

But Republicans disagreed. We didn't think American workers should have to resign themselves to permanently sluggish economic growth and the diminished opportunities that come with it. We knew that American innovators and job creators were as creative and driven as ever, but we also knew that American businesses, large and small, were weighed down by burdensome regulations and an outdated tax code that discouraged growth. So over the past year and a half, the White House and Republicans in Congress have focused on removing obstacles to economic growth. We have reduced burdensome regulations, and in December, we passed historic, comprehensive tax reform legislation.

Before that bill passed, before the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed, the Tax Code was not helping businesses grow and create jobs. In fact, it was doing the opposite, and that had real consequences for American workers.

A small business owner struggling to afford the hefty annual tax bill for her business was highly unlikely to be able to hire a new worker or to raise wages. A larger business struggling to stay competitive in the global marketplace while paying a substantially higher tax rate than its foreign competitors too often had limited funds to expand or increase investment in the United States.

So we took action to improve the playing field for American workers by improving the playing field for businesses as well. We lowered tax rates across the board for owners of small and medium-sized businesses, farms, and ranches. We lowered our Nation's massive corporate tax rate which, until January 1, was the highest corporate

tax rate in the developed world. We expanded business owners' ability to recover investments they make in their businesses, which frees up cash that they can reinvest in their operations and their workers. And we brought the U.S. international tax system into the 21st century so that American businesses are not operating at a disadvantage next to their foreign competitors.

Now we are seeing the results: stronger economic growth, as I mentioned--4.1 percent in the second quarter of this year, giving us an annual growth rate of over 3 percent. That is something we haven't seen in quite a while. Low unemployment--we are seeing the lowest unemployment numbers, literally, in the last 18 years. The number of jobless claims is the lowest in 40 years. There are better wages and benefits. We are seeing companies large and small across this country increasing wages and the benefits they pay to their employees. Wages, as I mentioned earlier, are up--the highest level increase in wages in a decade. And, as I said earlier, disposable income is up 3.5 percent since the first of this year. All of this has happened since tax reform passed last year. One and a half million new jobs have been created since the passage of tax reform, and that means more opportunities for American workers.

I am proud of the progress we have made in getting the economy going again, and I am going to go keep working with my colleagues, hopefully on both sides of the aisle, to expand economic opportunities for Americans even further.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, today I recognize Katherine Gladitsch, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.

Katherine is a graduate of Shanley High School in Fargo, ND. Currently, she is attending Augustana University in Sioux Falls, SD, where she is pursuing degrees in political science, Spanish, and French. She is a hard worker who has been dedicated to getting the most out of her internship experience.

I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Katherine for all of the fine work she has done and wish her continued success in the years to come.

Mr. President, today I recognize Will Hannemann, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.

Will is a graduate of Lincoln High School in Sioux Falls, SD. Currently,

he is attending Augustana University in Sioux Falls, SD, where he is pursuing degrees in history, political science, and secondary education. He is a hard worker who has been dedicated to getting the most out of his internship experience.

I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Will for all of the fine work he has done and wish him continued success in the years to come.

Mr. President, today I recognize Rachel Parsons, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.

Rachel is a graduate of Philip High School in Philip, SD. Currently, she is attending Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, SD, where she is pursuing degrees in English, history, and religious studies. She is a hard worker who has been dedicated to getting the most out of her internship experience.

I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Rachel for all of the fine work she has done and wish her continued success in the years to come.

Mr. President, today I recognize Nicole Schneider, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.

Nicole is a graduate of O'Gorman High School in Sioux Falls, SD. Currently, she is attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she is pursuing degrees in political science, global studies, national security studies, and Russian. She is a hard worker who has been dedicated to getting the most out of her internship experience.

I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Nicole for all of the fine work she has done and wish her continued success in the years to come.

Mr. President, today I recognize Logan Torve, an intern in my Rapid City, SD, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.

Logan is a graduate of Crossroads Academy in Davidson, NC. Currently, he is attending Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, NC, where he is majoring in political philosophy. He is a hard worker who has been dedicated to getting the most out of his internship experience.

I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Logan for all of the fine work he has done and wish him continued success in the years to come.

Mr. President, the confirmation process for Judge Kavanaugh continues and, predictably, so does the Democrat hysteria. It is the same old playbook: Any Supreme Court nominee from a Republican President is guaranteed to destroy the Constitution, abolish our rights, and endanger the lives of the American people. I am not exaggerating for effect. Those are actual accusations from Democrats and liberal interest groups.

In the lead-up to Justice Gorsuch's confirmation, the head of one liberal organization stated that there was ``substantial evidence'' that if Gorsuch's ``egregious views were to become law, Americans' lives . . . would be put at risk in untold ways.'' A year into Justice Gorsuch's tenure on the Supreme Court, Americans seem to be doing OK.

But that didn't stop the former Democratic Governor of Virginia from tweeting that ``the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh will threaten the lives of millions of Americans for decades to come.''

Then, of course, there is that other favorite Democrat accusation-- that the Constitution will be put in jeopardy if we confirm a Republican President's Supreme Court nominee. In the lead-up to Judge Kavanaugh's nomination, the junior Senator from California said: ``We're looking at a destruction of the Constitution of the United States.''

I have to say that I find this accusation particularly hilarious because if there is one thing that we can count on Judge Kavanaugh to do, it is to defend the Constitution. In fact, his respect for the Constitution and the rule of law is perhaps the distinguishing feature of his jurisprudence.

In a speech last year, Judge Kavanaugh said:

As I see it, the Constitution is primarily a document of

majestic specificity, and those specific words have meaning.

Absent constitutional amendment, those words continue to bind

us as judges, legislators, and executive officials.

Later on in the same speech, Judge Kavanaugh noted:

Because it is so hard, and because it is not easy even to

pass federal legislation, pressure is often put on the courts

and the Supreme Court in particular to update the

Constitution to reflect the times. In the views of some, the

Constitution is a living document, and the Court must ensure

that the Constitution adapts to meet the changing times.

For those of us who believe that the judges are confined to

interpreting and applying the Constitution and laws as they

are written and not as we might wish they were written, we

too believe in a Constitution that lives and endures and in

statutes that live and endure. But we believe that changes to

the Constitution and laws are to be made by the people

through the amendment process and, where appropriate, through

the legislative process--not by the courts snatching that

constitutional or legislative authority for themselves.

In short, if there is one thing the American people can count on, it is that Judge Kavanaugh will uphold the Constitution, even when he doesn't like the result. He will not attempt to legislate from the bench or to make the Constitution say what he wants it to say. Anyone who comes before Judge Kavanaugh can be certain that he will rule based on the facts of the case, the law, and the Constitution, and nothing else--not his personal feelings, not his political opinions, not his beliefs about what the law should be, but just the plain text of the law and the Constitution. That is the kind of judge that all of us, including the Democrats, should want on the Supreme Court--the kind of judge who, in the words of Judge Kavanaugh, will decide ``cases based on settled principles without regard to policy preferences or political allegiances or which party is on which side in a particular case.''

The truth of the matter is that Democrats are not worried that Judge Kavanaugh will not uphold the Constitution. Let's be clear about that. They know very well that he will. What they are worried about is that he will not deliver their preferred outcomes and that his judicial opinions will conflict with the Democrats' political opinions. Democrats aren't looking for a qualified Supreme Court Justice. They are looking for a political rubberstamp.

For Democrats, the only good Supreme Court Justice is a Supreme Court Justice who will use his or her power to advance the political agenda of the Democratic Party. Just look at the Democrat Senator who announced his opposition to the President's Supreme Court nomination before the President had actually nominated anyone. That is right. The Democrat Senator announced plans to oppose the nominee before a nominee even existed.

Well, that is all the evidence we need that Democrats' opposition to Judge Kavanaugh is based not on any actual problems with Judge Kavanaugh but on Democrats' ideological opposition to any nominee they are not sure will be a rubberstamp for the Democrat agenda.

The confirmation process will continue, and I am sure the hysteria from Democrats will continue as well, but the Senate will move forward with the business of confirming another outstanding judge of the Supreme Court.

Before I close, Mr. President, I would like to say just a couple of words about the economic numbers released last week. On Friday, the Commerce Department announced that the economy

grew at a rate of 4.1 percent in the second quarter of 2018, and I have to say that this is tremendous news.

Getting our economy going again has been a huge priority for Republicans since President Trump's election. We have eliminated burdensome regulations that were acting as a drag on economic growth. In December of last year, we passed a comprehensive tax reform bill that put more money in Americans' pockets and fixed some of the problems in the Tax Code that were keeping businesses from growing and creating jobs. Now we are seeing the results: robust economic growth, low unemployment, near-record optimism among small businesses, soaring business investment, and more.

What does all of this mean? It means more jobs and better wages for hard-working Americans. It means more opportunities, and it means more economic security and a better life for American families.

I am proud of the economic progress we have made over the past year and a half, and I am going to keep working with my colleagues in Congress to advance policies that will expand economic opportunities for Americans even further so that we can continue to create those good-paying jobs and those better wages for American workers and for American families.

I yield the floor.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, today I recognize the hard work of my Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee intern Kathryn Albert. Kathryn hails from Ellicott City, MD. She is an economics major and a cadet in the Air Force Reserve Officers' Training Corps at the University of Maryland, College Park.

While interning for the Commerce Committee, Kathryn assisted the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security. She is a dedicated worker who was always willing to take on new projects. I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Kathryn and wish her continued success in the future.

Mr. President, today I recognize the hard work of my Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee intern Patrick Binder. Patrick hails from Yankton, SD. He is a rising senior history major at Yale University.

While interning for the Commerce Committee, Patrick assisted the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security. He is a dedicated worker who was always willing to tackle new projects. I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Patrick and wish him continued success in the future.

Mr. President, today I recognize the hard work of my Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee intern Francis Simmons. Francis hails from Charleston, SC. He is an international relations and economics major and rising sophomore at Tufts University.

While interning for the Commerce Committee, Francis assisted the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet. He is a dedicated worker who was always willing to tackle new projects. I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Francis and wish him continued success in the future.

Mr. President, today I recognize the hard work of my Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee intern Ryan Udell. Ryan hails from Ponte Verde Beach, FL. He is a rising sophomore mechanical engineering major at Rice University.

While interning for the Commerce Committee, Ryan assisted the Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness, as well as the Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security. He is a dedicated worker who got the most out of his internship. I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Ryan and wish him continued success in the future.

Mr. President, today I recognize the hard work of my Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee intern Carson Zubke. Carson hails from Waubay, SD. He is a rising sophomore finance major at the University of South Dakota.

While interning for the Commerce Committee, Carson assisted the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security. He is a dedicated worker who was always willing to tackle new projects. I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Carson and wish him continued success in the future.

Mr. President, a lot of praise has flowed in for Judge Kavanaugh since his nomination, but I think the tribute that has struck me the most is the letter from his law clerks. These individuals have worked closely with Judge Kavanaugh and have a special insight into his temperament and philosophy. Here is what they have to say:

It is in his role as a judge on the D.C. Circuit that we

know Judge Kavanaugh best. During his time on the D.C.

Circuit, Judge Kavanaugh has come to work every day dedicated

to engaging in the hard work of judging.

We never once saw him take a shortcut, treat a case as

unimportant, or search for an easy answer. Instead, in each

case, large or small, he masters every detail, and rereads

every precedent. He listens carefully to the views of his

colleagues and clerks, even--indeed, especially--when they

differ from his own. He drafts opinions painstakingly,

writing and rewriting until he is satisfied each opinion is

clear and well-reasoned, and can be understood not only by

lawyers but by the parties and the public.

We saw time and time again that this work ethic flows from

a fundamental humility. Judge Kavanaugh never assumes he

knows the answers in advance and never takes for granted that

his view of the law will prevail.

Those are the words of 34 of Judge Kavanaugh's law clerks. Every one of Judge Kavanaugh's clerks who was not prohibited by his or her job signed this letter.

These clerks represent a diverse group. They wrote:

Our views on politics, on many of the important legal

issues faced by the Supreme Court, and on judicial

philosophy, are diverse. Our ranks include Republicans,

Democrats, and Independents. But we are united in this: Our

admiration and fondness for Judge Kavanaugh run deep. For

each of us . . . it was a tremendous stroke of luck to work

for and be mentored by a person of his strength of character,

generosity of spirit,

intellectual capacity, and unwavering care for his family,

friends, colleagues, and us, his law clerks.

This letter is a pretty significant tribute, and it confirms what has been clear from the beginning, and that is that Judge Kavanaugh is the type of judge who should sit on the Nation's highest Court. His clerks describe a judge who takes the weight of his responsibility seriously; a judge who is committed to reaching the right decision in every case and who does the hard work necessary to get to that decision; a judge who approaches each case with an open mind, looking for what the law says, not the outcome he wants.

As Chief Justice John Roberts famously said, ``Judges are like umpires.'' Their job is to call the balls and strikes, not rewrite the rules of the game. As Justice Roberts said, ``Umpires don't make the rules; they apply them.'' It is essential that a judge understand this. If you are a judge, your job is to rule based on the law and the Constitution and nothing else. Your job is not to make policy. It is not to revise the law according to your personal feelings or your political principles. Your job is to figure out what the law says and to rule accordingly.

Why is this so important? Well, it is because the rule of law and equal justice under the law only exist as long as judges rule based on the law. Once judges start ruling based on their political opinions or their feelings about what they would like the law to be, then we will have replaced the rule of law with the rule of individual judges.

As the testimony of his clerks and many others makes clear, Judge Kavanaugh understands the role of a judge. He understands that his job is to interpret the law, not make the law; to rule based on the plain text of the statute, not his personal opinions or political beliefs.

In a 2017 speech at Notre Dame Law School, Judge Kavanaugh said:

I believe very deeply in those visions of the rule of law

as a law of rules, and of the judge as umpire. By that, I

mean a neutral, impartial judiciary that decides cases based

on settled principles without regard to policy preferences or

political allegiances or which party is on which side of a

particular case.

I will say it again: That is the kind of Justice we want on the Supreme Court. I hope this Senate will take very seriously the responsibility we have to give fair consideration to this nominee.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.