Floor Statements

Mr President, section 251 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, BBEDCA, establishes statutory limits on discretionary spending and allows for various adjustments to those limits, while sections 302 and 314(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 allow the chairman of the Budget Committee to establish and make revisions to allocations, aggregates, and levels consistent with those adjustments. The Senate is considering the House Amendment to H.R. 1370, the Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018, which provides emergency funding for national security accounts.

This legislation includes language that increases security discretionary budget authority by $4,686 million this year and designates it as emergency funding pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(1) of BBEDCA. CBO estimates that this budget authority will increase discretionary outlays by $803 million in 2018.

As a result of the aforementioned designations, I am revising the allocation to the Committee on Appropriations by increasing the revised security budget authority limit by $4,686 million and outlays by $803 million this year. Further, I am increasing the budgetary aggregates for 2018 by those same amounts.

I ask unanimous consent that the accompanying tables, which provide details about the adjustment, be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, we stand today on the precipice of the most sweeping change to our Nation's tax system in over 30 years. This is a historic moment, as this distinguished body begins final consideration of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act--tax reform that will help boost America's economy, create more jobs, and leave more money in people's paychecks.

The last time we considered tax reform similar to this magnitude was 1986. To help remind us how much our country, its economy, and the people have changed since that time, let's review some of the events of that year.

In 1986, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 1,895--sure that 20,000 would never be broken, and it wasn't until after the last election. It now stands at over 24,000.

A gallon of gas cost just 89 cents. Today it is close to $2.50. We still used land lines to phone our loved ones. Iconic movies such as ``Top Gun'' and ``Aliens'' opened. Americans were watching TV shows like ``Dynasty'' and ``Hill Street Blues.'' The Associated Press chose NBA star Larry Bird as one of the Athletes of the Year.

President Ronald Reagan signed into law the Tax Reform Act of 1986, which ushered in deep tax rate cuts for American families and an overhaul of our complicated Tax Code. When he signed the bill, Reagan commented on the length of the journey and noted that some people thought it would never happen.

Today, too, some have asserted that tax reform either cannot or should not happen, but as our strongly optimistic President said in 1986--and as I continue to believe--the American people ``haven't made this the freest country and the mightiest economic force on this planet by shrinking from challenges.'' Reagan noted:

This country was founded on faith in the individual, not

groups or classes, but faith in resources and bounty of each

and every separate human soul. Our Founding Fathers designed

a Democratic form of government to enlist the individual's

energies.

For that reason, I want to remind my colleagues about the hard work that brought us here. It is a journey that has been years in the making under the leadership of both sides of the aisle. It is one we started and will finish for the benefit of the American people and the health of the U.S. economy.

I am proud of the work of the Finance and Budget Committees, and I have had the honor to play a role with both. The Finance Committee held more than 70 hearings on how the Tax Code can be improved and streamlined to work better for all Americans.

Almost 3 years ago, Finance Chairman Hatch and Ranking Member Wyden convened bipartisan tax reform working groups to analyze challenges of our outdated Tax Code and develop policy recommendations for comprehensive tax reform. The conclusions reached by these groups helped identify the issues for reform and shape the contours of the legislation we are considering now. It is worth noting that the entire fiscal year 2018 budget reconciliation process has been open, transparent, and subject to regular order, starting with the passage of the Senate budget resolution.

The Senate Budget Committee marked up the bill over 2 days and accepted amendments from both sides of the aisle to make the resolution stronger. In fact, for the first time ever, the minority received a copy of the chairman's budget document 5 days prior to the start of the markup. According to many of my colleagues, it was one of the most transparent budget resolution markups in history.

The budget resolution--complete with the document reconciliation instructions--was then debated on the floor. This was an open floor process that allowed every Senator the opportunity to offer and vote on amendments to improve the resolution before its final passage.

Last month, the Senate Finance Committee held a 4-day markup before approving tax reform legislation designed to modernize our Tax Code. The markup lasted 23 hours and 34 minutes over the course of those 4 days. Of the more than 350 amendments filed, 69 were considered in committee. Amendments offered by both Democrats and Republicans were adopted.

Since then, both Chambers of Congress have passed similar versions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and over the past 2 weeks, conferees worked tirelessly to resolve and bridge the differences between the two bills and

come to an agreement on a final piece of legislation.

In this Chamber, the legislation reflects the outstanding work and leadership of Finance Chairman Hatch and Energy Committee Chairman Murkowski in developing legislative recommendations that adhere to the budget resolution's reconciliation instructions, and I thank them for their efforts.

I also thank my Senate colleagues who earlier this month supported the Senate passage of the Tax Cuts and Job Act and whose advice and consent during the conference has shaped the final bill. The legislation is truly a reflection of the broad range and consensus of Members who engaged with this process.

Throughout my work on this bill, I have carried with me the many lessons I have learned from when I owned and operated a small business or when I worked as an accountant. I have been led by one singular purpose, to help improve the lives of millions of hard-working American families, especially the residents of my own State of Wyoming.

I am pleased with the outcome of our work because I believe it includes meaningful changes that will help individuals and families struggling to move up the economic ladder. The tax plan includes reforms that will help grow the economy, that will create more jobs, and that will simplify taxes. It provides American workers and families with an across-the-board tax cut and puts more money in people's pockets. It lets Americans have a greater say as to how to use their hard-earned money. The changes will help small businesses in our communities thrive and encourage the largest multinational companies to remain in the United States, investing profits here instead of overseas--not a bad wish list for Santa.

Under the plan, Americans will reap tax savings from reduced tax rates, tax savings from a higher standard deduction, which creates a larger zero tax bracket for low-income individuals and increases many people's tax refunds. It also includes a child tax credit that doubles in size to $2,000 to help struggling families and all this while preserving important deductions for medical expenses, charities, homeowners, and State and local taxes. Our farmers and ranchers will receive stronger protections from the reach of the death tax to help them more easily pass on their businesses to future generations-- eliminating a double taxation.

Businesses small and large will benefit from a range of tax breaks, including lower tax rates, expanded opportunities to expense the purchase of capital assets, a new 20-percent deduction for many unincorporated businesses, and international tax reforms to give the U.S.-headquartered global companies a strong competitive footing in the global marketplace. These are changes you can take to the bank.

Now it is time for us to act. It is time for us to modernize our outdated Tax Code so our Nation can remain competitive in the 21st century economy. The code, as it now stands, hurts American workers and hampers economic growth.

Along with reforms to the code, this bill will also promote economic growth. For too long, some have accepted the presumption of a U.S. economy that will not grow as strongly as it has in the past. As a supporter of this bill, I reject that false narrative.

Better tax policy will boost the value of everything we produce, and this will mean more revenue for the Federal Government. I am tired of the accusations that Republican budget hawks--and that definitely includes me--are willing to throw in the towel and accept a $1.5 trillion deficit over the next 10 years. I am still a deficit hawk. Here is why. Claims to the contrary that this bill will go unpaid for are based on an incomplete analysis of the tax bill.

We have a Congressional Budget Office tasked with impartially evaluating any legislation we do. Unfortunately, its evaluations are tied to static scoring. That means it is evaluated without considering the underlying economic effects of these changes. Let me repeat that. The Congressional Budget Office is tied to static scoring. That means it is evaluated without considering the underlying economic effects of these changes.

The problem really isn't how much revenue we will have under the new bill. I believe it will increase revenue as the tax cut did in the 1980s. The problem is spending. We never make budget cuts. In Washington, a cut in the budget brings screams if an agency or program doesn't get as much as it requested, even if it gets more than it ever had before. That is not a budget cut, but that is how it works in Washington. If we continue this way, we will not ever get our spending in line.

For years, I have tried to institute the Penny Plan, where we just cut one penny in real cuts from where we have been. It gets lip service but not votes. It is a lot easier to give away money than it is to take away money, even pennies. So we need a new approach. We need to grow the economy. We need businesses to do well so more tax money will come in. We need individuals to make more so more tax money will come in. That has been done before with tax cuts. Unfortunately, when the tax cuts performed to provide more revenue, we spent twice what we brought in.

So here is what I have done as Budget chairman. A good economy brings in more tax money. Our economy has been limping along. Last year, it grew at a mere 1.6 percent GDP--which is private sector growth, not government growth. The norm for the United States is 3.2 percent private sector growth--not like we saw during the past 8 years when this growth remained below 3 percent. In fact, since this President got elected, the growth has been 3.2 percent already. In the fourth quarter of 2017, we may almost hit 4 percent. There is a lot of hope in America. Every tenth-of-a-percent increase in GDP brings in $273 billion in taxes over 10 years. If we could raise that anemic 1.9 percent to a mere 2.4 percent GDP, we can recover the deficit effect of the tax cuts. If we can bring up the productivity in the private sector--the GDP--to its norm of 3.2 percent, we will pay down significant debt over the 10-year window.

The Council of Economic Advisers and some 130 economists have agreed with me. They say the balancing point of 2.4 percent is way too low, and 3.2 percent GDP is much more reasonable. Some even predict 4 percent growth to our economy. That is how you can be a deficit hawk and cut taxes. You just have to bet America can do better. Actually, we are just betting that we can be as good as we used to be. Our American spirit should say: ``We can do a lot better than that.''

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will help our economy expand. It will provide tax relief to hard-working Americans and make changes to our Tax Code that businesses large and small need to boost the economy and create jobs.

Ultimately, we know increased revenues alone are not going to solve our long-term budget and debt problems because Washington's real problem isn't revenue; Washington has a spending problem.

I urge my colleagues today to finish the task before us. Let's pass this bill to make critical and long overdue changes to our Tax Code that will jump-start our economy. Our country needs it, hard-working American families need it, and they deserve to have the opportunity to make more choices about how their hard-earned money should be used.

In closing, I again remind my colleagues of the words of President Reagan:

Let's not let this magnificent moment slip away. Tax relief

is in sight. Let's make it a reality. . . . We can do it. And

if you help, we will do it this year.

Thank you, Mr. President.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, pursuant to section 904 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and the waiver provisions of applicable budget resolutions, I move to waive all applicable sections of that act and applicable budget resolutions for purposes of the conference report to accompany H.R. 1, and I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I yield back all remaining time for the majority.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Madam President, section 3003 of H. Con. Res. 71, the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018, allows the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee to revise the allocations, aggregates, and levels in the budget resolution for legislation considered under the resolution's reconciliation instructions.

I find that the conference report to accompany H.R. 1 fulfills the conditions found in section 3003 of H. Con. Res. 71. Accordingly, I am revising the allocations to the Committee on Finance, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and other enforceable budgetary levels to account for the budgetary effects of the amendment.

This adjustment supersedes the adjustment I previously made for S. Amdt. 1855 on December 1, 2017.

I ask unanimous consent that the accompanying tables, which provide details about the adjustment, be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I have 3 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority leaders.

Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

The Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, December 19, 2017, at 10 a.m. to conduct a hearing on the following nominations: Scott Garrett, of New Jersey, to be President, Kimberly A. Reed, of West Virginia, to be First Vice President, Mark L. Greenblatt, of Maryland, to be Inspector General, and Spencer Bachus III, of Alabama, Judith Delzoppo Pryor, of Ohio, and Claudia Slacik, of New York, each to be a Member of the Board of Directors, all of the Export-Import Bank.

Committee on Foreign Relations

The Committee on Foreign Relations is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, December 19, 2017, at 2 p.m. to conduct a hearing on the following nominations: Peter Hendrick Vrooman, of New York, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Rwanda, and Joel Danies, of Maryland, to be Ambassador to the Gabonese Republic, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, both of the Department of State.

Committee on Rules

The Committee on Rules is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, December 19, 2017, at 2:30 p.m. to conduct a hearing entitled ``A resolution to improve procedures for the consideration of nomination in the Senate''.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all time be yielded back.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, today I wish to speak about the important legislation we are now considering.

Earlier this week, I explained some of the reasons the Senate needs to consider tax reform legislation and gave a general overview of the bill. Today I want to talk about some of the specific provisions of the bill.

First, I want to talk about the relief this bill provides to hard- working Americans. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduces tax rates for individuals, almost doubles the standard deduction, and doubles the child tax credit. This will allow families to keep more of the money they earn in their pockets. The independent Tax Foundation estimates that this will amount to about $2,500 more in after-tax income for a middle-income family in Wyoming.

This bill also will provide relief to small, family-owned businesses that currently employ the majority of the private sector in Wyoming. The bill cuts taxes for these businesses while enhancing deductions that are important to them, like the section 179 deduction that promotes business investment. The Tax Foundation believes changes like this will add more than 1,700 full time jobs in my home State.

While these individual Tax Code provisions are important to so many Wyomingites and small businesses in my home State, I am also especially proud of the international tax provisions in this bill, which I worked on with Senator Portman and Chairman Hatch.

Right now, our tax rules are written so that many businesses could be better off if they are headquartered outside of the United States. Those rules, which were written in the 1960s, are completely outdated. Many of the U.S. major trading partners, including Canada, Japan, and the U.K., have moved to what are called ``territorial'' tax systems. Those systems tax the income generated within their borders and exempt foreign earnings from tax.

The United States, on the other hand, taxes the worldwide income of U.S. companies and provides deferral of U.S. tax until the foreign earnings are brought home. Deferring the tax incentivizes companies to leave their money abroad and invest it there. That is certainly not a recipe for U.S. growth and U.S. job creation.

The dominance of U.S.-headquartered companies in the global marketplace is waning. In 2000, 36 percent of the Fortune Global 500 companies were headquartered in the United States. In 2009, that number dropped to 28 percent. In 2017, we are down to 26 percent. Clearly, America is losing ground, and our international tax rules are part of the problem.

I have been working to change that since the 112th Congress, when I introduced the United States Job Creation and International Tax Reform Act. My goal then was to incentivize American companies to create jobs in the United States while leveling the playing field for U.S. companies in the global marketplace. I believe the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act achieves that goal.

This bill would reform and modernize the rules for taxing the global operations of American companies. These reforms, along with reducing our corporate tax rate, would help make America a more attractive location to base a business that serves customers around the world.

With these provisions in law, families would hear fewer stories about how U.S. companies are moving their profits to tax haven countries and avoiding U.S. tax on those earnings. Families would hear fewer stories about how U.S. multinational companies set up post office boxes in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland without an employee or officer of the company anywhere in sight and attribute a significant portion of their foreign earnings to these jurisdictions. Instead, families would hear more stories about how U.S. companies are generating the ideas and inventions of tomorrow right here in America.

The international tax rules are not easy or simple, and a lot of work went into these provisions. I want to again thank Senator Portman and Chairman Hatch for their work with me in this area. I look forward to continuing to work with them and the rest of my colleagues to pass this bill that our country desperately needs.

Thank you.

Madam President, the Sanders amendment is nongermane and would gut this legislation. The bill before us does not cut Social Security. It does not cut Medicare. It does not cut Medicaid benefits. So I encourage my colleagues to oppose the Sanders amendment and--does the Senator have any time remaining?

I yield back the remainder of my time.

The pending amendment No. 1720 does not produce a change in outlays or a change in revenues, and this is extraneous to the instruction in H. Con. Res. 71, the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018. Therefore, I raise a point of order against this measure pursuant to section 313(b)(1)(A) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

Madam President, while this amendment expands the child tax credit provisions, it makes the credit available to fewer taxpayers. It also raises the corporate tax rate to 25 percent. The underlying bill already provides for a generous enhanced child tax credit with increased refundability that reaches far up into the middle class, giving relief to millions of families.

This amendment would undermine the balance struck in the drafting of this bill and diminish its potential to generate growth.

Has all time expired?

The pending amendment No. 1854 would cause the underlying legislation to exceed the Finance Committee's section 302(a) allocation of new budget authority or outlays. Therefore, I raise a point of order against this measure pursuant to section 302(f) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

Mr. President, earlier this week, I said it was historic that we began the consideration of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Today is even more

significant because we are one step closer to enacting that bill.

The chairman of the Finance Committee, Senator Hatch, has called this a once-in-a-generation opportunity. I agree.

As an accountant, one of my goals when I came to the Senate in 1996 was to serve on the Finance Committee. When I joined the committee in 2009, I said that positive, pro-growth changes to our tax policy could help us out of the economic downturn. I believe this bill makes those types of changes and will jump-start our economy.

This week, 137 economists agreed with that assessment. In a letter to Senators and Representatives, these economists wrote: ``Economic growth will accelerate if the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passes, leading to more jobs, higher wages, and a better standard of living for the American people.''

My colleagues on the other side of the aisle dispute that analysis. But after a decade of below-average growth and official projections showing real economic growth will average less than 2 percent annually over the next decade, isn't it time that we tried something new?

Some of my colleagues have also suggested that this bill hasn't gone through regular order. I have already reminded folks of the 70 tax hearings in the Senate Finance Committee held over the last 6 years, but that isn't all we have done. In the last Congress, Chairman Hatch organized five bipartisan groups to propose changes to the Tax Code. I was party to those groups, which made many recommendations that have informed this package. I would say that those working groups were also bipartisan.

While I don't sit on the Energy Committee, I understand that Chairman Murkowski led a similarly robust process. The issue of oil and gas exploration and development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has been an issue since before I was a Senator. We have been considering and debating the matter for years. This year alone, Senator Murkowski has introduced a bill, held a hearing, and then marked up legislation on this issue. Now the bill that is a product of the Finance and Energy Committee's efforts is on the floor.

We have not bypassed committees. We have not filled the tree. We have not cut off debate by filing cloture, which was a common practice in recent years. I think this is as open and transparent a process as I have seen in many years, and I appreciate the leader, I appreciate Chairman Hatch, and I appreciate Chairman Murkowski for their work to make that happen.

I also want to thank my Budget Committee staff for their work on this bill. In particular, I want to thank my staff director, Betsy McDonnell, who has done a remarkable job shepherding both the budget resolution and reconciliation bill through the committee and on the floor. She has been new to that position. She has been in a number of positions in the Senate that trained her well to be able to do that, and she did a marvelous job.

I also want to thank her team: Matt Giroux, Paul Vinovich, Becky Cole, Thomas Fuller, Elizabeth Keys, Joe Brenckle, Jim Neill, Steve Robinson, Greg D'Angelo, Tom Borck, Rick Berger, Jeremy Dalrymple, David Ditch, Susan Eckerly, Alison McGuire, Will Morris, Steve Townsend, Kelsie Wendelberger, and Eric Ueland.

I would like to thank my personal office staff who worked hard on the tax provisions in this package and kept all of my other issues going at the same time. Particularly, I want to thank Bart Massey, who is a CPA and who has been my special person to work on these finance issues with me for more than 3 years.

I also want to thank Tara Shaw, my chief of staff, who had to put together a new staff because a lot of good people I had were taken to the administration and to the Budget Committee. She did a marvelous job on that.

Landon Stropko is the legislative director, and he has coordinated well. I thank Liz Schwartz, Natalia Riggin, Aniela Butler, Charlie Carroll, Shawna Newsome, Garnett Decosimo, Chris Lydon, Aron Wehr, Dylan Mitchell, Coy Knobel, Max D'Onofrio, Rachel Vliem, and the rest of my Wyoming team that worked out in Wyoming collecting the information and doing casework out there while we got this work done.

I thank the Budget Committee's bipartisan staff: Kim Proctor, Katie Smith, George Woodall, Grace Bruno, and Kevin Walsh, as well as Celina Inman, who has been on loan to us from the Government Publishing Office.

We have also been supported by the great work of our leadership, the floor, and the cloakroom staff. Specific thanks are owed to Sharon Soderstrom, Hazen Marshall, Jane Lee, Brandon Dunn in the leader's office, Monica Popp, John Chapuis, Emily Kirlin, Sam Beaver, Jody Wright, and Noah McCullough in the whip's office and especially Laura Dove, who coordinates all of this activity on the floor and who knows the rules backward and forward and is able to give good advice--some very definite advice sometimes but always helpful advice--and Robert Duncan, Chris Tuck, Megan Mercer, Tony Hanagan, Mike Smith, Katherine Kilroy, and Chloe Barz in the cloakroom.

I would really be remiss if we didn't thank the Senate Parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, and her team: Leigh Hilderbrand, Michael Beaver, and Allison Markoski. Reconciliation bills are subject to special rules and procedures, and I know they have given up a lot of their nights and their weekends, as well as their regular job time, to work in detail on this product. People wouldn't even realize the file cabinets full of precedents that they have to search through as they listen to both sides make cases about what can and can't be in a budget reconciliation bill.

There are also many other staffers who deserve to be thanked for their work on this product, including the entire Finance and Energy Committee staffs, but in the interest of time, I will just say that I appreciate them and look forward to working with all of them to help finish enacting this bill that will benefit hard-working Americans and make our economy and country stronger.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Executive Calendar Nos. 510 through 522 and all nominations placed on the Secretary's desk; that the nominations be confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order; that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, section 3003 of H. Con. Res. 71, the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018, allows the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee to revise the allocations, aggregates, and levels in the budget resolution for legislation considered under the resolution's reconciliation instructions.

I find that S. Amdt. 1855 fulfills the conditions found in section 3003 of H. Con. Res. 71. Accordingly, I am revising the allocations to the Committee on Finance, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and other enforceable budgetary levels to account for the budgetary effects of the amendment.

This adjustment supersedes the adjustment I previously made for the processing of S. Amdt. 1618 on November 29, 2017. This adjustment applies while this amendment is under consideration. Should the amendment be withdrawn or fail, this adjustment will be null and void and the adjustment for S. Amdt. 1618 shall remain active.

I ask unanimous consent that the accompanying tables, which provide details about the adjustment, be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, section 4105 of H. Con. Res. 71, the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018, makes out of order any amendment to a fiscal year 2018 reconciliation measure if the amendment has an unknown budgetary effect.

As chairman of the Budget Committee, I have reviewed S. Amdt. 1846 and determined that it has an unknown budgetary effect. Therefore, section 4105 applies to S. Amdt. 1846. This amendment is susceptible to a section 4105 point of order.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 347, 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 3 p.m., Monday, December 4; 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 proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the Nielsen nomination as under the previous order.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order.