Floor Statements

Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

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

Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 903.

Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions be waived.

Mr. President, yesterday I had an opportunity to meet with Judge Brett Kavanaugh as we begin preparations for his confirmation process to the Supreme Court. It is really impossible not to come away impressed. Judge Kavanaugh is the real deal. He has the all-star legal resume and the top-light academic credentials. His extensive judicial record is defined by fairness, thoughtfulness, thoroughness, and analytical precision. I was already confident the President had made an outstanding choice. Now I am even more confident. My colleagues here and Americans around the country won't have to take my word for it; just look to one of Judge Kavanaugh's former professors at Yale Law School. Here is what Professor Akhil Amar wrote in the New York Times: ``It is hard to name anyone with judicial credentials as strong as those of Judge Kavanaugh.''

Current faculty at Yale Law described him as a ``true intellectual,'' ``a leading thinker,'' and ``a wonderful mentor and teacher to our students.''

Even at Harvard, his alma mater's archrival, a scholar agrees that Judge Kavanaugh is ``a generous, honorable, kind person.''

Ask the legal professionals who have clerked for him on the DC Circuit. They are in a better position than most to speak to his writing as a jurist. In a letter to our colleagues on the Judiciary Committee, 34 of them share that Judge Kavanaugh ``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.''

As the confirmation process gets underway, I have a distinct feeling this isn't the only testimony of this sort that we will be hearing. Judge Kavanaugh seems to impress everyone with whom he crosses paths-- at least those who haven't blindly announced in a fit of partisanship their opposition to this nomination before he was even named.

I am glad that President Trump has made such a strong selection, and I look forward to our colleagues in the Judiciary Committee taking up this nomination.

Mr. President, speaking of the personnel business, we are continuing this week to process President Trump's qualified nominees for other important positions in the judicial and executive branches. Yesterday, we confirmed the

22nd circuit court judge since January of 2017.

Now we are considering Brian Benczkowski, the President's choice to serve as Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division at the Department of Justice. His resume includes distinguished service in five different leadership positions at the Department of Justice under three Attorneys General. His nomination has won praise from a number of former Justice Department officials who served under Presidents of both parties. Their letter describes this nominee as ``a tireless worker . . . a fine leader and colleague . . . honest and a straight shooter.'' I look forward to voting to confirm him later today and to continuing to confirm more of the President's team.

job growth

Mr. President, on one final matter, last week, the Labor Department released its monthly jobs report. As has become a pattern, it contained good news about the state of job opportunities across our country. In June alone, our economy created 213,000 new jobs, with contributions from nearly every sector. That continues a prolonged streak of strong jobs performance month after month, quarter after quarter.

The pro-growth, pro-jobs policies of this united Republican government--from historic tax relief to sweeping regulatory reform--are helping unleash this wave of new opportunity and new prosperity for America's workers and middle-class families.

More than 600,000 Americans entered the workforce last month alone-- another sign that the Obama-era stagnation continues to lose its grip on our communities. The rate of hiring reached its highest level in more than a decade. Here is another promising sign: the rate at which Americans are quitting their jobs voluntarily. Economists tell us this is an important sign of a healthy job market because it indicates workers are moving upward, seeking better pay or superior benefits at a different employer. That number just hit its highest level in more than 17 years.

More jobs; more opportunities; more Americans coming off of the sidelines and getting back into the workforce; more Americans moving up the ladder to bigger and better things and opening up their current positions for other jobseekers at the same time--helping to produce conditions like these is what Republicans had in mind when we chipped away at the regulatory rust that kept American job creators from doing what they do best. That is what we had in mind when we used the Congressional Review Act a record 16 times to relieve bureaucratic bloat that had forced job creators and entrepreneurs to cut back or close up shop. That is what we had in mind when we overhauled our Tax Code so it better rewards workers and more strongly encourages job creators to deepen their roots in American soil. Republicans are proud of this thriving job market, and we are proud that our policies are playing a part in making it happen.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m. on Thursday, July 12; 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; further, that following leader remarks, the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the Ney nomination; finally, that notwithstanding rule XXII, all postcloture time on the nomination expire at 1:30 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, following the remarks of Senators Rubio and Merkley.

Madam President, President Trump has made a superb selection to serve as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States: Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the DC Circuit. Judge Kavanaugh possesses an impressive resume, an outstanding legal mind, and an exemplary judicial temperament. He has served 12 years on the Nation's most consequential circuit court. During that tenure, he has proven to be one of the most thorough and thoughtful jurists in our country. Importantly, that record demonstrates an understanding of a judge's proper role in our constitutional Republic.

Judge Kavanaugh understands that in the United States of America judges are not--not--unelected superlegislators whom we select for their personal views or policy preferences. A judge's duty is to interpret the plain meaning of our laws and our Constitution according to how they are written.

Judges need to be unbiased. They need to treat all parties fairly. They need to approach every case with open ears and an open mind. Judges' decisions must turn on the facts of each case and be based on the texts that it is their job to interpret.

By all accounts, Judge Kavanaugh is precisely that kind of judge. His resume, to put it simply, is topnotch: a bachelor's degree from Yale, with honors; a law degree, also from Yale, where he was a member of the law review; a lecturing position at Harvard Law School, to which he was appointed, by the way, by then-Dean and now-Justice Elena Kagan.

After graduating, he quickly built a reputation as a star law clerk, including on the Supreme Court, for Justice Kennedy; as an energetic and talented public servant; and as one of the preeminent legal minds of his generation.

In 2006, the Senate confirmed him to the DC Circuit. He has compiled an extensive record on the Federal bench. He has published more than 300 opinions and has earned considerable praise for his clear writing and reasoning.

Judge Kavanaugh has built a long and distinguished record. It paints a clear picture of how he would conduct himself as a member of the Nation's highest Court. It reflects a firm understanding that judges must interpret laws as they are written. We do not choose them to make policy, to pick favorites, or to craft novel legislation from the bench.

Some of our colleagues--and others on the left--seem to see the role of judges very differently. President Obama summed up this alternate view well when he was running for President. He explained that he sought to appoint judges who harbored particular empathy for certain parties in certain cases. That is great if you happen to be the party in the case whom the judge likes. It is not so great if you are the other guy. It doesn't align with our Nation's historical understanding of the rule of law or the role that Federal courts play in our democracy.

I respectfully submit that, then and now, some of our Democratic colleagues seem to be a little confused. They seem to be confusing the nature of a political office with the nature of a judicial office. This would explain why some of our colleagues sound

eager to try and turn judicial confirmations into something like political elections--to grill Judge Kavanaugh on policy outcomes, like voters rightly grill all of us when we run for our seats in the Senate.

Some Democratic Senators have telegraphed that they will heed the demands of the far-left special interest groups and try to force Judge Kavanaugh to commit under oath to decisions he might make on particular issues in hypothetical cases. Forget that the cases don't even exist yet. Forget the total absence of any facts, legal arguments, or research. Forget how inappropriate and undesirable it would be for a judge to predetermine a ruling before either side's lawyers uttered a single word.

That is simply not how this process has ever worked or ever could work. I am not the one saying this. Here is what a prior Supreme Court nominee said on this very subject: ``A judge sworn to decide impartially can offer no forecasts, no hints, for that would show not only disregard for the specifics of the particular case, it would display disdain for the entire judicial process.''

Those are the words of another then-DC Circuit Court judge and current Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg during her Senate confirmation to the Supreme Court in 1993.

I think we all should remember that standard. We will do well to remember that we are evaluating a judge, not debating a candidate for political office.

Even more regrettably, a number of our Democratic colleagues could not even wait until the President's announcement last night before launching attacks on his nominee. This was, in some cases, quite literally a fill-in-the-blank opposition. They wrote statements of opposition only to fill in the name later.

Sadly, this is not a new approach for the far-left special interest groups. Just last year, Justice Gorsuch met with partisan opposition before the ink was even dry on his nomination. I am sorry to say that Judge Kavanaugh seems to have already broken that record, because Senate Democrats were on record opposing him before he had even been named--just fill in the name, whomever it is we are against--before the ink was even dry on Justice Kennedy's resignation.

This is a telltale sign that some of our colleagues are throwing thoughtful independent judgment out the window and are outsourcing their thinking on this matter to far-left special interest groups.

There has been a lot of talk about outsourcing here. If anybody is outsourcing, it is the Democrats outsourcing what they say to these outside groups that are demanding opposition to anyone at all costs, no matter who it is.

As I discussed on the floor yesterday, we know exactly what this partisan playbook looks like. It has been hauled out for most everyone who a Republican President has nominated to the Supreme Court for the last 40 years. It is like clockwork.

I fully anticipate that we will hear all kinds of fantastic stories about the pain and suffering that this perfectly qualified, widely respected judge will somehow unleash on America if we confirm him to the Court. That kind of cheap, political fearmongering insults the intelligence of the American people because Americans understand the difference between a political office and a judicial office. They understand the difference between the policymakers who throw pitches and the judges who call balls and strikes.

I look forward to the Senate's fair consideration of this most impressive nomination. I look forward to meeting with Judge Kavanaugh later this morning, to hearing his testimony in committee, and to voting on his confirmation right here on the Senate floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session and that the Chair lay before the Senate the message to accompany H.R. 5515.

Mr. President, I move that the Senate insist on its amendment, agree to the request of the House for a conference, and authorize the Chair to appoint conferees on the part of the Senate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 5 p.m. today the Senate resume legislative session and vote on the pending compound motion; further that if the motion is agreed to, Senators Cornyn and Reed each be recognized to offer a motion to instruct conferees; that the Senate vote on the motions in the order listed with no further action on the motion; that there be 2 minutes of debate between each vote, equally divided in the usual form; and that following disposition of the Reed motion and the appointment of conferees, the Senate resume executive session.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now resume executive session.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the provisions of rule XXII, all postcloture time on Executive Calendar No. 639 be considered expired at 2 p.m. tomorrow and the Senate immediately vote on the nomination; that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately

notified of the Senate's action; and that following disposition of the nomination, the Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Ney nomination.

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