Floor Statements

Mr. President, even as we begin looking ahead to January and the 116th Congress, the reality is, we still have a series of important outstanding subjects to tackle between now and the end of the year. First on the list is legislation that will reauthorize funding for our Coast Guard and implement a number of important reforms.

Our Nation calls on the Coast Guard to protect America's ports and to maintain shipping lanes to interdict illegal drugs before they reach the border and to risk their lives to save others in the midst of fierce storms and natural disasters. In each case, they embody their motto: ``Semper Paratus''--``Always Ready.''

So in passing these measures this week, the Senate will be fulfilling an important promise to some of the brave men and women who have taken an oath to keep us safe.

Aspects of this legislation are particularly important to States like my own State of Kentucky--the heart of our Nation's inland waterways system. For too long, vessel owners and barge operators have struggled under a complex system of overlapping and duplicative regulations. They make normal shipping functions needlessly difficult, including the incidental discharge of ballast water. A confusing web of rules from States, the Coast Guard, and the EPA leave owners and operators to face constant uncertainty and lead to higher costs.

The Vessel Incidental Discharge Act, or VIDA, replaces the existing system with a uniform, cost-effective, and national standard enforced by the Coast Guard.

For the 13,000 Kentuckians whose jobs depend on our State's inland waterways, this provision can help cut costs, promote efficiency, and protect our natural waters. For the countless farmers, miners, and manufacturers who depend on these waters to get their goods to market, VIDA ends the headache and delivers relief.

VIDA passed out of the Senate Commerce Committee on a voice vote. In fact, it has been reported out of committee numerous times in recent years, including when our Democratic colleagues were in the majority. So it is time to pass this bipartisan bill; it is time to help the Coast Guard continue its important work; and it is time to deliver much needed predictability to the mariners who rely on it. I urge

every one of our colleagues to join me in voting to advance it later this afternoon.

After that legislation, we will turn to another qualified nominee, Michelle Bowman, to serve as a member of the Board of Governors for the Federal Reserve. Ms. Bowman currently serves as a banking commissioner for the State of Kansas. I look forward to confirming her this week as well.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, this resolution concerns a request for testimony in a criminal action pending in federal district court. In this action, the defendant is charged with eleven counts for sending threatening communications in interstate commerce, including sending threatening faxes to Senator Feinstein. Trial is set for later this month in the Eastern District of Virginia.

The government is sending trial testimony from the employee in Senator Feinstein's office who received and handled the incoming faxes. Senator Feinstein would like to cooperate with this request.

This resolution would accordingly authorize the staffer to testify as trial and to be represented by the Senate Legal Counsel.

Madam President, Hurricane Michael made landfall along the Florida Panhandle. This storm has already claimed multiple lives and left the gulf coast communities wounded by surging waters and high winds. As Michael continues inland, those left in its wake can count on the Senate's support for responsive recovery efforts and trust in our continued prayers. We remain grateful for the vigilance of first responders and emergency preparedness organizations as they work to keep residents of affected communities safe and for all of those who will help to rebuild after the storm has passed.

Now, Madam President, on an entirely different matter, with the bipartisan progress the Senate has made this week, it is hard to believe what was happening just a few days ago right inside this Capitol and right outside the building. It is hard to believe it was less than a week ago that far-left protesters were literally storming the steps of the Capitol and the Supreme Court, running my colleagues out of public places and attempting to shout over their voices right here in the Senate Chamber. Of course, it didn't work. The Senate stood tall and did the right thing.

The far left isn't done yet. If we take them at their word, this may have only been the warmup act. Here is the advice former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave to her fellow Democrats just a few days ago. She said: ``If we are fortunate enough to win back the House and/or the Senate, that's when civility can start again.''

``That's when civility can start again,'' she said, when they win back the House and/or the Senate.

Just yesterday, we saw President Obama's Attorney General Eric Holder offer his own version of a slogan made famous by our former First Lady, Michelle Obama. This is Mr. Holder's new vision for civil discourse. Here is how the former Attorney General of the United States urged Democrats to treat the other side. He said:

Michelle always says, ``When they go low, we go high.'' No.

No. When they go low, we kick 'em.

He said:

When they go low, we kick 'em. That's what this new

Democratic Party is about.

The ``new Democratic Party,'' he said.

Remember, these comments come less than a year and a half after Republican Members of the House and Senate were literally shot at by a politically crazed gunman. Our colleagues were nearly killed just a few minutes from the Capitol. In just these past days, there have been graphic death threats, Senators and staff have needed extraordinary police protection, and the Democrats are calling for more incivility and more rage? They are calling for more incivility and more rage?

There isn't a firmer defender of the First Amendment than I. It is vital that citizens be heard. Americans with strong opinions on both sides of last week's debate spoke up in a civil and respectful way, and our Nation was better for it. But only one side--only

one side--was happy to play host to this toxic fringe behavior. Only one side's leaders are now openly calling for more of it. They haven't seen enough. They want more.

I am afraid this is only phase 1 of the meltdown. We are already seeing desperate voices on the far left explain that, well, because they lost this fight, even more drastic steps are in order.

There is crazy talk--crazy talk--about impeaching Justice Kavanaugh. There are left-wing writers demanding that Democrats pack the Court--a zombie idea from the 1930s they have dug up just in time for Halloween.

How about this: One columnist for a national newspaper called the result a coup--a coup--and implied that the Founders got it wrong and designed the Senate incorrectly. They want to rewrite the Constitution? The Founding Fathers got it wrong? Handling defeat badly is one thing, but regretting the Constitution itself because you don't like how a vote turned out--really? This is something else. But I guess it is not entirely surprising given the outright embrace by many on the left, including elected officials, of radical concepts like open borders and socialism.

Anyone who thinks that intimidation and scare tactics might rule the day must have missed the Senate's vote last Saturday. Maybe they weren't tuned in. This body will not let unhinged tactics replace reasoned judgment. We will not let mob behavior drown out all the Americans who want to legitimately participate in the policymaking process on all sides. The Senate, I assure you, will not be intimidated.

Madam President, on an entirely different matter, yesterday the Senate passed broad, bipartisan legislation to maintain our Nation's waterways and drinking water systems. Now we are turning back to the personnel business and confirming more of the President's qualified nominees to important executive branch positions.

We voted yesterday to advance the nomination of Jeffrey Clark to serve as Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division.

Mr. Clark's qualifications include several years of prior service as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in that same position. He has also built a strong reputation in the private sector as a leading litigator with subject-matter expertise in administrative law. Mr. Clark's legal colleagues describe him as ``one of the most capable lawyers with whom [they] have ever worked.'' No fewer than seven former Assistant Attorneys General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division tell the Senate that his well-rounded background and prior experience in the division make him an excellent choice for this position.

After we confirm Mr. Clark, we will consider another Assistant Attorney General nominee, Eric Dreiband, for the Civil Rights Division. Mr. Dreiband is also well prepared to serve. His resume includes several stints of public service, including as general counsel of the EEOC, in addition to private sector experience. Others have praised his service at the EEOC as ``widely respected,'' ``in the highest rung of the Agency's general counsels,'' and a ``record of superlative performance.'' Those who have worked with Mr. Dreiband emphasize his strong commitment to protecting all Americans' civil rights.

In the words of one leader who is known and worked hard with the nominee for 15 years, ``his commitment to fairly enforcing the law is without question.''

After Dreiband will come James Stewart, the President's choice to serve as Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. Mr. Stewart's experience managing military manpower runs deep through his distinguished career at the U.S. Air Force, from which he retired as a major general.

He has most recently served on the North Carolina Military Affairs Commission and on the Secretary of Defense's Reserve Forces Policy Board.

Each of these nominees deserves confirmation, and I would urge our colleagues to approve all of them.

Madam President, it has been more than 9 months since Republicans passed the most sweeping tax reform in a generation. Here are just a few of the economic headlines we have seen since it took effect: consumer confidence at an 18-year high, faster year-on-year wage growth than at any point since 2009, and the lowest national unemployment since 1969--almost 50 years ago.

Behind all of these numbers are middle-class families whose lives are changing for the better, and the effects are reaching all kinds of communities--even the places most neglected for nearly a decade by the Obama administration's so-called recovery.

After years of investment and job creation being disproportionately concentrated in the biggest metropolitan areas, 2018 has been a different story. So far this year, it has been smaller and rural communities--smaller and rural communities--that have led the Nation in relative job growth. Out across the heartland, empty storefronts and stagnant local economies are giving way to vibrant transformation and new opportunities.

So when we hear that States like Missouri are thriving again on the watch of the Republicans' pro-growth, pro-opportunity agenda, it really shouldn't come as a surprise. It shouldn't surprise us that Missouri's statewide unemployment rate has reached its lowest level since 2000-- the lowest unemployment in 18 years.

News like this will not surprise anyone who has been listening to the accounts of Missourians, like Mary Beth Hartman, who runs a small construction company in Springfield. She says the new tax law has given her the flexibility to expand vacations and bonuses for her employees and invest half a million dollars in new equipment.

Or Brandon Pister--he used his tax reform bonus to help his family cover medical expenses and put money into savings.

The junior Senator from Missouri can be proud that he voted for the historic policies that helped unleash all of this good news. It is a shame that his colleague, the senior Senator from Missouri, chose to vote in lockstep with Senate Democrats and try to block tax reform from taking effect.

Republicans will keep sharing success stories like these from Missouri and keep helping the American people write more.

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 ask unanimous consent that at 4:45 p.m. today, the Senate proceed to executive session for the consideration of the following nominations: Executive Calendar Nos. 1007, David James Porter; 1081, Ryan Nelson; 1082, Richard Sullivan; 627, William Ray; 628, Liles Clifton Burke; 629, Michael Juneau; 634, Mark Norris; 638, Eli Richardson; 894, Thomas Kleeh; 907, Jeremy Kernodle; 895, Peter Phipps; 905, Susan Brnovich; 906, Chad Kenney; 945, James Hanlon; 947, Lance Walker; further, I ask consent that the Senate vote on the nominations in the order listed, with 2 minutes of debate equally divided prior to each vote; that for each nomination that is confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, that no further motions be in order, and that any statements relating to the nominations be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the votes in this series be 10 minutes in length.

I yield back all time.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed

and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

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

Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. President, I understand the Senate received a message from the House to accompany S. 140.

Mr. President, I ask that the Chair lay before the Senate the message from the House to accompany S. 140.

The Presiding Officer laid before the Senate the following message from the House of Representatives:

Resolved, that the bill from the Senate (S. 140) entitled

``An Act to amend the White Mountain Apache Tribe Water

Rights Quantification Act of 2010 to clarify the use of

amounts in the WMAT Settlement Fund'' do pass with an

amendment.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to concur, the motion to concur with further amendment, and the motion to refer with instructions be withdrawn.