Floor Statements

Mr. President, now on another matter, yesterday the Senate confirmed the first of six nominees slated for consideration this week, Claria Horn Boom to serve as district judge for the Eastern and Western Districts of Kentucky. She was confirmed 96 to 1. There was just one Senator in opposition.

This is the kind of uncontroversial nomination the Senate could typically dispatch by a voice vote, but not these days. Over and over again, we have had to file cloture and exhaust floor time on amply qualified nominees who then soar through their confirmation votes by lopsided margins.

Since President Trump took office, the Senate has had to hold 82-- 82--cloture votes on judicial and executive nominations. In the first 2 years of President Obama's administration, there were only 12 such cloture votes--12 for President Obama, 4 for George W. Bush, 8 for President Clinton, and already, just a few months into President Trump's second year, there have been 82. The numbers speak for themselves.

Today we will have the opportunity to confirm yet another qualified nominee for a critical post. John Ring's nomination to serve on the National Labor Relations Board is an important next step to continue cleaning years of regulatory rust off of the American economy. It is a natural addition to the progress we have made scaling back unhelpful regulations that make it harder for American businesses to create jobs and make opportunities for American workers more scarce.

Mr. Ring's confirmation will give the country a fully staffed NLRB once again and turn the page on the previous administration's efforts to remake this bipartisan Board into a one-sided political weapon. Even in a short amount of time last year, we saw just how much good a fully functioning NLRB can do for American workers when it calls balls and strikes fairly instead of bending over backward to

meet Big Labor's every demand. Today we will have the chance to get things back to normal for the long term.

Mr. Ring has a distinguished record in labor negotiation. I would urge my colleagues to join me in voting to confirm him today.

After Mr. Ring, the Senate will turn to the nomination of Pat Pizzella to serve as Deputy Secretary of Labor. The fact that this Cabinet agency has gone 15 months without its No. 2 official is yet another testament to the historic obstruction visited on this administration by Senate Democrats. He has been sitting on the calendar for 6 months despite his ample qualifications. I would urge all of my colleagues to vote to finally advance Mr. Pizzella's nomination.

Mr. President, on another matter, this week we have been discussing the stark difference between the Obama administration's agenda and the policies that President Trump and this Republican Congress have implemented.

During the Obama years, the overwhelming majority of all the limited new growth and new jobs went to the biggest and richest urban areas. Times were good if you happened to live in New York, San Francisco, or a few other places, but if you were one of the millions of Americans in our Nation's towns, smaller cities, suburbs, or rural areas, they were not so good. According to one estimate, between 2010 and 2016, 73 percent of all the employment gains in the country went to metro areas with more than 1 million residents. Practically everywhere else, Americans either treaded water or started sinking.

This President and this Republican Congress were sent here to put this right, and because the American people gave us a chance to do so, they now have leaders in Washington who focus on cutting taxes instead of raising them, rolling back overregulation instead of piling on more suffocating rules, and looking out for the best interests of all workers and job creators, not just those in our biggest and wealthiest cities.

The early results from our inclusive opportunity agenda are clear. After years of stagnation, we are beginning to see signs that rural America turned a corner in 2017. One analysis found that last year, rural areas outpaced the rest of the country in job creation, relative to the share of the economy they started out with. There is still much, much more to do, but these early promising signs add up to hundreds of thousands of new jobs. That is a sight for sore eyes in Kentucky, West Virginia, Montana, Maine, and so many other States.

What about our smaller cities? I recently heard from my friend Senator Toomey that, because of this historic tax reform we passed last year, Carpenter Technology in Reading, PA, will invest $100 million in expanded manufacturing capabilities--$100 million in our economy and American workers because of tax reform. For this American manufacturer, founded in 1889, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act means a new hot rolling mill to produce the special alloys for aerospace and consumer electronics. They are also investing in 3D printing. This is what happens when manufacturers have the breathing room to bet on the U.S. economy and on their American workforce. Breathing room is exactly what our policy is giving them. Carpenter already employs more than 3,000 Pennsylvanians, and with this kind of major capital investment, I expect they will be competing for future generations of skilled workers as well.

Pennsylvania should be proud of Senator Toomey. He is one of the leaders who have helped lead the charge for tax reform. It is a shame his colleague, the senior Senator for Pennsylvania, put party politics ahead of workers and taxpayers and voted to block tax reform right from the beginning.

Fortunately, my Democratic colleagues failed to block tax reform from taking place, even though many now want to repeal the law that has led to new jobs, higher wages, and increased opportunities all across our country.

Stories like these are just the first fruits of tax reform, regulatory reform, and all the other ways this Republican Congress is fighting for every American worker, job creator, and middle-class family.

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 the Pizzella nomination expire at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow and the Senate vote on confirmation of the Pizzella nomination; further, 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; finally, that there be 2 minutes of debate equally divided prior to each vote.

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

Mr. President, on behalf of myself and the distinguished Democratic leader, Mr. Schumer, I send to the desk a resolution authorizing testimony and representation by the Senate Legal Counsel, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. President, this resolution concerns a civil case pending in the Court of Common Pleas for Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, in which defense contracting logistics firms based in Kuwait have sued competitor firms for defamation and tortious interference for allegedly sending false emails to various U.S. government agencies harming the plaintiff companies. The complaint asserts that in 2011 representatives of the defendants communicated allegedly harmful allegations to a number of government agencies and officials, including an employee in the office of then-Senator Mark Kirk. Senator Kirk forwarded the information for investigation by the Defense and Treasury Departments.

The plaintiffs issued a subpoena seeking deposition testimony from the former Senate staffer about his communications with the defendants' representatives about these allegations. Senator Kirk would like to cooperate by providing relevant and unprivileged staff testimony about these communications.

Accordingly, consistent with the rules of the Senate and Senate practice, this resolution would authorize former Senator Kirk's staffer to testify at a deposition. The resolution would also authorize the Senate Legal Counsel to represent Senator Kirk's former employee in connection with his testimony.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 357, S. Res. 224.

I further ask unanimous consent that the committee- reported amendment to the resolution be agreed to, the resolution, as amended, be agreed to, the committee-reported amendment to the preamble be agreed to, the preamble, as amended, be agreed to, the committee- reported amendment to the title be agreed to, and the motions to consider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 457, submitted earlier today.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed, 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 the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 458, 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 suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, this week, as I stated yesterday, the Senate will focus on personnel business.

Six well-qualified nominees are currently before the Senate. They are awaiting the full consideration they clearly deserve. Their nominations have been vetted. Their expertise is well known. Their positions sit empty, waiting to be filled. The American people are waiting for their President to have his full team and for their Federal Government to be appropriately staffed.

If last evening's vote to advance Claria Horn Boom's district court nomination were any indication, we would be in for a productive week. Ninety-six of our colleagues voted in support--96. With such broad bipartisan support, you might think that filing cloture should not have been necessary in the first place.

With nominees as uncontroversial as these, you might think the Senate would roll quickly through them and move on to other business, but unfortunately, for more than a year now, our Democratic friends have used the partisan playbook to delay and obstruct even the least controversial nominees. So unless we can reach the kind of bipartisan agreement that was once the norm around here and process noncontroversial nominees more promptly, we are left with no choice but to proceed the hard way, and that is just what we have done.

Facing historic obstruction, Republicans have confirmed ambitious reformists to crucial posts where fresh ideas were long overdue, and we have confirmed top-notch legal minds to the Federal bench, including a record number of circuit court judges for a President's first year and the generational choice of Justice Neil Gorsuch, who was confirmed to the Supreme Court 1 year ago today.

I have already stated that the Senate will remain in session as long as it takes to clear this slate of nominees. Following the confirmation of Ms. Boom, we will move to consideration of John Ring to serve on the National Labor Relations Board. After Mr. Ring comes nominees to the Department of Labor, the EPA, and two more nominees to fill district court vacancies--all vetted, all qualified, all sitting right here in the Senate. In at least one case, several of my Democratic friends have already proactively announced support for the nominee. So let's get back on track together. Let's consider and confirm these nominees without delay.

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

Mr. President, notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that at 12:20 p.m. on Wednesday, April 11, the Senate vote on confirmation of the Ring nomination and 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.

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 the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 454, submitted earlier today.

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 the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 455, submitted 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.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 456, submitted earlier today.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from

further consideration of S. Res. 377 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

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.