Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m., Tuesday, August 28; 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; further, that following leader remarks, the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Johnson nomination under the previous order; finally, that the Senate recess from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly conference meetings.

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 under the provisions of S. Res. 619.

Mr. President, this continues to be a productive August here in the Senate. We convened this month because too much of the American people's business remained outstanding--too many legislative priorities unfinished, too many noncontroversial, completely qualified nominees left languishing on the Executive Calendar due to partisan obstruction and delays.

Coming back to work this August was not a conventional decision, but of course there is nothing conventional about the historic level of obstruction Senate Democrats have systematically visited upon this administration's nominees, even for critical positions. President Trump's nominees have already been subjected to more than four times-- four times--as many cloture votes as the nominees of his six most recent predecessors combined--combined--in their first 2 years. There were 24 cloture votes on nominations in the first 2 years of Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, and Obama--all put together, 24 times did the majority leader have to file cloture on a nomination in the first 2 years--and for President Trump, 110 in a year and a half and counting. So we returned to work to pass more legislation and to confirm more nominees. That is

just what we have done, and it is just what we will continue to do.

This week, we will conclude the hugely important appropriations bills before us. After that, we will turn to the 17 nominees on whom I filed cloture yesterday. There are a variety of impressive men and women whom the President has asked to serve both in the judiciary and in the executive branch. None are particularly controversial. All are qualified. No more obstruction. No more delays. It is time to confirm them all, and the Senate will continue to work right through August until every single one of them is confirmed.

This week, we have been considering appropriations measures to fund the Department of Defense and the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education. These bills will make Americans stronger overseas and right here at home. They attend to national priorities like providing the resources needed to better prepare our forces for combat and to deter our enemies. The funds meet many of the requirements of our military commanders, equipping and training units to meet and overcome the most dangerous of emerging global threats. As ever, our obligation to this All-Volunteer Force is to provide adequate training, weaponry, and skills so that Americans always prevail on the battlefield.

Here at home, this bill marshals new resources for our national battle with drug abuse and opioid addiction and gives our National Institutes of Health the resources to stay on offense against everything from Alzheimer's to infectious diseases.

With private sector surveys showing that hiring skilled workers is a top challenge for American business, this legislation continues and expands our investments in apprenticeship programs, in training and employment grants to States, and in support for dislocated workers.

These are national efforts, so how do they translate locally? Every Senator can describe how this legislation will help families and communities in their home State.

In my home State of Kentucky, we are looking forward to increased funding for Pell grants and the millions we have secured to support work colleges, like Berea College and Alice Lloyd College.

Kentuckians will benefit from new funding for community health centers to support patients struggling with addiction and from a new CDC initiative that will prioritize funding for counties most at risk for outbreaks of HIV and hepatitis due to injection drug use.

Of course, the Department of Defense funding touches every single community that proudly calls itself home to the men and women of our armed services. Kentuckians in uniform and their families will enjoy their well-earned pay raise--the highest in nearly a decade--which this bill provides to all American servicemembers, and the communities that revolve around Fort Campbell, Fort Knox, the Blue Grass Army Depot, and the Kentucky National Guard can count on the funding they need to keep their important operations going. They are national priorities, of course, but all have local impacts.

I am proud of what these bills contain and how the Senate has crafted them. I want to particularly thank Chairman Shelby and Senator Leahy once more. I look forward to voting to pass these measures very soon.

Does the Senator yield the floor?

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following amendment be called up: Paul No. 3967. I further ask that at 4:10 p.m., the Senate vote in relation to the amendment; that there be no second-degree amendments in order to the amendment prior to the vote; and that it be subject to a 60-vote affirmative threshold for adoption. I further ask unanimous consent that following disposition of the Paul amendment, the managers' package, which is at the desk, be agreed to and all postcloture time be yielded back; further, that Senator Enzi or his designee be recognized to offer a budget point of order and that Senator Leahy or his designee be recognized to make a motion to waive; finally, that following disposition of the motion to waive, amendment No. 3699 be withdrawn and the substitute amendment, as amended, be agreed to and the cloture motion on H.R. 6157 be withdrawn, the bill be read a third time, and the Senate vote on passage of the bill, as amended, with no further intervening action or debate.

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Corker), the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cornyn), the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz), the Senator from Nebraska (Mrs. Fischer), and the Senator from Arizona (Mr. McCain).

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Corker), the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cornyn), the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz), the Senator from Nebraska (Mrs. Fischer), and the Senator from Arizona (Mr. McCain).

Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz) would have voted ``yea.''

I thank my friend from Utah.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 504, S. 2511, which had been reported from the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, with an amendment to strike all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following:

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to, that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

The committee-reported substitute amendment was agreed to.

The bill (S. 2511), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, was read the third time, and passed.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 552, S. 2896.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Kennedy substitute amendment at the desk be agreed to, 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 Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 618, introduced earlier today.

I further 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.

I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 4 p.m., Monday, August 27; 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; and that following leader remarks, the Senate proceed to executive session for the consideration of the Johnson nomination, and that notwithstanding rule XXII, the cloture motions filed during yesterday's session ripen at 5:30 p.m.

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

Mr. President, this week, I have been highlighting some of the examples of the strength of the U.S. economy. The people of West Virginia, where President Trump visited yesterday evening, are no exception to this national trend.

During the Obama years, West Virginia's economy was hit hard. Manufacturing employment shrunk by 13 percent. Coal and logging employment shrunk by 38 percent. But today things are different. The State's unemployment rate has been lowered during each of the past 19 months under this united Republican government than it was during any month of the Obama administration. Coal jobs are surging back, and according to one industry estimate, in 2017, West Virginia saw faster growth in construction jobs than any other State.

As Senator Capito explained in a recent op-ed, figures like these are more evidence that Republican policies are helping her State and the entire country write a new chapter. Senator Capito recently shared with me that in Wheeling, WV, the owners of Warwood Tool are creating a new line of products thanks to the new flexibility brought about by tax reform. In Wellsburg, Eagle Manufacturing is buying new machinery. In Jane Lew, Doss Enterprises is planning to hire up to 30 new workers. It is really amazing when we remember that only one of West Virginia's Senators voted for the tax reform policies that helped make all of this good news possible.

As Senator Capito notes, recent months' promising economic numbers and all the new opportunities they represent are only the beginning. Tax reform will also help strengthen our economic foundation for the long term.

In particular, one provision of the tax rewrite will specifically help the most depressed communities in our Nation. It will turn these areas into opportunity zones that are especially attractive for investment. The Treasury Department has already certified zones in every State, including 55 in West Virginia and 144 in my home State of Kentucky. Nearly 35 million Americans live in communities within the newly designated opportunity zones. Together, they have an average poverty

rate of around 32 percent. This program is just one of so many ways that Republican policies are providing a boost to the very communities that Democratic policies systematically left behind.

The opportunity zones, by the way, were the idea of Senator Tim Scott from South Carolina, who was able to insert them into the pay raise-- into the tax reform bill.

So there are bonuses, pay raises, and tax cuts for middle-class families today and the foundation for more investment and more jobs tomorrow.

Mr. President, on a related matter, I am proud that on this Congress's watch, our economy has produced so many job opportunities for the American people.

Here was the AP's headline a few weeks ago: ``Open jobs outnumber US unemployed for 3rd straight month.'' But that growth and prosperity needs to reach all families and all communities. That means expanding Americans' opportunities to invest in their own human capital by building new skills and transitioning into growing industries. That is why the appropriations legislation the Senate is currently considering provides billions of dollars for training and employment services. It includes $160 million for apprenticeship programs, $220 million for dislocated workers, with a special $30 million emphasis on displaced workers in rural communities like those I represent in Eastern and Western Kentucky, and just under $100 million to integrate ex-offenders back into productive society.

These are just a few of the important items that our appropriation for Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education will fund.

It provides the resources to continue investing in college affordability through Pell grants, Federal work-study programs, and programs specifically aimed at low-income and first-generation students.

It contains a $2 billion funding increase for the National Institutes of Health, paving the way for important research and, we hope, new medical breakthroughs.

Crucially, it will supply more resources for treatment, prevention, and recovery programs pertaining to the opioid epidemic. State opioid response grants put States in the driver's seat so local responses can be tailored to local challenges. This legislation funds them to the tune of $1.5 billion. In addition, there are hundreds of millions of dollars for community health centers, hundreds of millions for prevention and public awareness, and more for research into the nature of this addiction and alternatives for managing pain. There is over $100 million in targeted help for rural communities, like those in Kentucky, which continue to bear the brunt of this national crisis.

I was proud to secure $5 million for a brandnew Centers for Disease Control initiative to help prevent the spread of infectious diseases like HIV and hepatitis B and C, which are a consequence of the opioid epidemic. The CDC is directed to prioritize high-risk areas, including 54 counties in Kentucky.

This legislation also contains provisions from my CAREER Act, which would dedicate new Federal funds to career and training services so that recovering substance abuse patients can transition back into the workforce and begin to rebuild their lives.

In sum, the appropriations measures we are considering this week invest in human capital from all angles. They will put new tools in the hands of distressed communities, of workers who need new skills, and of families who need help defeating drug addiction.

I thank the subcommittee chairman, Senator Blunt, and the ranking member, Senator Murray, for their bipartisan work on the Labor-HHS title. I look forward to voting in support of this legislation, along with the vital funding for the Department of Defense, in the coming days.

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

Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 994.