Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 304, H.R. 3445.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 355, S. Res. 85.

I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported amendment 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, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 356, S. Res. 432.

I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported amendment be agreed to, the resolution, as amended, be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions 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 H.R. 3979.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time.

I know of no further debate on the bill.

I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m., Tuesday, April 10; 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. I further ask that following leader remarks, the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the Boom nomination under the previous order. Finally, I ask that the Senate recess from 12:30 p.m. until 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.

Mr. President, yesterday evening, the House filed a landmark appropriations bill for the remainder of fiscal year 2018. Months of in-depth, bicameral, bipartisan negotiations and committee work have led us to this point. The result is legislation that neither side sees as perfect but which contains a host of significant victories and important achievements on behalf of the American people.

First and foremost, in my view, this bill will mark the end of disproportionate and harmful cuts to the Department of Defense. It delivers the largest year-on-year increase in defense spending in 15 years. These new funding levels will ensure that the training and tools available to our servicemembers remain on the cutting edge, and at long last, veterans will receive more transparent and more accessible care. This has been a top priority, on our side of the aisle especially, to deliver for our men and women in uniform, to deliver for the future of national security. This bill will get it done.

Of course, our Armed Forces aren't the only vital priority this measure will address. It is a victory for families caught in the grip of the opioid epidemic. This bill scales up research, treatment, and prevention funding and provides for grants to first responders. It will confront the scourge of addiction head-on and help save lives. For rural communities, like many in my home State of Kentucky, this is a big deal.

The measure is also a victory for safe, reliable, 21st century infrastructure. It will fund long overdue improvements to roads, rails, airports, and inland waterways to ensure that our growing economy has the support system that it needs.

Importantly, the bill will also contain a number of provisions to provide more safety for American families. It expands funding for Federal law enforcement. It allocates new resources to border security and immigration enforcement, including an important step forward for President Trump's proposed wall. The total miles of new and upgraded walls and barriers funded by this bill exceeds even the administration's initial request for this fiscal year, and it also provides the necessary funds to keep Guantanamo Bay open and operating.

The legislation also delivers for students and teachers across our Nation, who deserve to learn and work without fear of violence.

At the insistence of the Speaker and me, this bill will include two important bipartisan, commonsense measures to address real issues facing the Nation: the Fix NICS bill and the STOP School Violence Act. Thanks to the leadership of Senator Hatch, this bill represents a major step forward for school safety. It provides millions of dollars in new funding for early intervention and prevention programs to stop school violence before it happens. These grants will include funding for training of students and school personnel for identifying and responding to safety threats, as well as for implementing enhanced technology and equipment to improve school safety. Thanks to the dogged efforts of Senator Cornyn, the Fix NICS

provision to repair and improve firearm background checks is also included. Both of these bipartisan accomplishments are the direct result of tireless work by those who have been most tragically affected by violence in America's schools.

Here is how Mark Barden, a cofounder of Sandy Hook Promise, described the school safety provision: ``This legislation will save lives.''

Likewise, the Parkland, FL, families recently wrote all four congressional leaders to ask that we include these two particular measures in this piece of legislation. I am proud that we could deliver for them and for the safety of schools around our country.

Let's take one more look at just a few of the good things this bill will accomplish: No. 1, the largest year-on-year funding increase for our warfighters in 15 years; new resources for the fight against opioids and for border security and the President's wall; major enhancements for law enforcement and school safety. These provisions and the entirety of this omnibus represent months of bipartisan work. I look forward to considering it very soon.

Mr. President, on another matter, the good news about tax reform continues to sweep across the Nation. But recently, as special bonuses, wage increases, and expanded employee benefits continue to make headlines, they have had to share the front page with a series of late winter storms. This prolonged cold weather can mean high heating costs for working families. Fortunately, tax reform has an answer for that as well.

Ratepayers in many States are looking forward to smaller utility bills, thanks to our country's new Tax Code. In my home State, the public service commission announced early this week that Kentucky Utilities and Louisville Gas & Electric will be passing along savings to customers to the tune of a 6-percent decrease in monthly bills. That means real savings for the middle-class families I represent.

We have heard a similar story from our neighbors in Indiana. The Northern Indiana Public Service Company reports that thanks to tax reform, it will be able to pass $26 million in new savings on to its customers. That is just one of a long list of ways that tax reform is helping Hoosiers.

Pat Williams, who lives in Southern Indiana, recently shared another tax reform success story with my friend, Senator Young. Pat's husband, Jim, works part-time in the U-Haul service center across the river in Louisville. He received a $500 tax reform bonus.

Over in Converse, IN, tax reform enabled the First Farmers Bank & Trust to raise its starting wage for hourly workers, guarantee a year- end bonus for all full-time employees, and announce a big investment in employee development and community programs.

My friend, the junior Senator from Indiana, knows the folks at First Farmers. In fact, he was so impressed by their proactive response to the new Tax Code that he invited them to the President's State of the Union back in January. There aren't enough seats in the House Gallery for all the American families that tax reform is already helping--not even close. But if there were, I would bet the working families and small businesses from Indiana would come with questions. Why did only one of their Senators vote for these tax savings? Why did their senior Senator vote in lockstep with Democrats to block their tax cuts, bonuses, raises, and benefits? Those would be tough questions to answer. Fortunately, Republicans stayed focused on empowering the American people.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 165,

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senators be permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, when I learned that our distinguished colleague from Mississippi would be retiring this month, I found it difficult to imagine the Senate without him.

That is for good reason. Thad Cochran arrived here in 1978. Two hundred and fifty-four Senators have since followed in his footsteps. Of those currently serving, 97 of us are newer at this than Thad is, and every single one of us has been treated to a first-rate example of honorable service, a master class in the art of legislation, and living proof that unwavering principle

and unflappable collegiality can and should coexist.

We all know Thad has a knack for making things look easy. So many graces and talents seem second nature to him, but appearances can be deceiving.

Take the start of his political career. When we think about it, it is only natural that Senator Cochran liked to work on conservation issues. I expect his adventures as a Mississippi Republican in the early 1970s helped him understand just what it feels like to be an endangered species.

In 1972, Thad was a rising-star attorney when he was asked to try and become just the second GOP Congressman from his State since Reconstruction. The possibility seemed so remote that when he asked Rose how she would like being married to a Congressman, she replied, ``I don't know--which one?''

Long odds, indeed.

But true to form, Thad won in the end--and again and again--and then he became the first Republican Senator from Mississippi in a century.

It is safe to say service is in Thad's DNA. Both his parents were devoted educators. His father, W.H., served as superintendent of a large, rural public school district. His mother Emma was a pioneering mathematics teacher who wrote new curricula.

In Pontotoc, MS, their two boys grew up with a healthy appreciation for the power of good schooling.

Thad graduated as high school valedictorian, then came a naval commission, and then law school, where he graduated at the top of his class, but no amount of success can take the kindness and courtesy out of this quintessentially southern gentleman. A deep respect for others is Thad's calling card.

Just a few weeks after he arrived in Washington, he brought his staff together and he said:

We're going to treat everyone the same. We're here to find

answers for everyone, even if they disagree with us. We're

here to serve the people of Mississippi.

Even at a time when the wounds of segregation were still raw, he made it clear this meant all--all--Mississippians. In fact, he hired the first African-American congressional staffer to work in a Mississippi office since reconstruction--Nehemiah Flowers. And for all his staff, Thad took the time to pen a detailed memo laying out high expectations for serving constituents and treating everyone with dignity. That temperament led to a litany of accomplishments.

Mississippians knew that in Thad they had a quiet persuader, a steady workhorse, and a dogged advocate who almost never made a fuss but almost always made a difference. Indeed, the policy achievements of this mighty Appropriations chairman are so numerous as to defy easy summary.

I know this schoolteacher's son is particularly proud of his work on education. Senator Cochran carried the banner for research partnerships that raised the profile of historically Black colleges and universities. He delivered critical funding to expand scholarship access. He spearheaded the Delta Education Initiative. He inspired the Cochran Fellowship Program, which has changed the lives of more than 17,000 agriculture professionals from around the world.

It is no exaggeration to say that Thad Cochran's work has broadened the horizons of millions, but it didn't stop there. There were the landmark bipartisan bills, like the Cochran-Inouye National Missile Defense Act. There is his partnership with his dear friend, Senator Leahy, on the Farm to School Program. The list just keeps growing.

When he first ran for the Senate in 1978, Thad's stump speech included a line that Mississippians deserved a Senator who would work full-time for them. They certainly got one. Thad didn't come to Washington to curry favor, win praise, or hog the limelight. When I say he preferred making a difference to making a fuss, I really mean it. This man served in the Senate for seven terms and only appeared on Meet the Press twice.

No, Thad had other business to attend to. He spent his 39 years in this body working full-time for students and educators, full-time for farmers and ranchers, full-time to deliver funding for our brave servicemembers and our veterans who returned home.

It is rare, even in the halls of Government, to meet someone as influential as Senator Thad Cochran. It is even rarer to meet someone as kind, as even tempered, and as concerned for the welfare of others. It is almost unheard of that this same man would be both. That is just who Thad is.

He wrote the book on composure under pressure. He served as the careful custodian of billions of taxpayer dollars without losing an ounce of humility. On the Senate floor and in committee, he tackled heated debates and complicated legislative challenges with true servant leadership. On the tennis court, by all accounts, he offered his colleagues a different and altogether less hospitable sort of service. But true to form, I hear Thad always combined winning and graciousness. He has certainly had enough practice at both.

From Pontotoc, MS, to the Senate floor, Thad Cochran's story has grown but it hasn't changed. It is a story about putting others first. It is about doing the right thing every step of the way. It is a story that will continue to teach and inspire those of us who now must carry on our work without him.

I know that Thad's devoted staff are sorry to see him go. Their allegiance to him, famous throughout the Senate, is further testimony to his own principled professionalism. This is exemplified by nobody quite so well as Doris Wagley, Senator Cochran's personal secretary, who has served Thad ever since 1973, when he was first sworn in as a Congressman. She planned to take the job for just a year or so and then reassess--enough said. She, along with all of Senator Cochran's excellent staff, has our admiration and our gratitude.

I would particularly like to thank two men who have led teams in service to Mississippi and Senator Cochran so well--Brad White, his chief of staff, and Bruce Evans, his longtime staff director on the Appropriations Committee. I am grateful for their hard work on behalf of the Senate. I know the early mornings and late nights were many, including just these last few weeks.

Thad's friends know that retirement will allow him more happy times with his wife Kay, his beloved children, Clayton and Kate, and the three grandchildren he adores. He departs with our warmest wishes.

We will miss our great persuader. We will miss our loyal friend. We stand with Mississippians and a grateful nation in honoring the service of Senator Thad Cochran.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session for the consideration of the following nomination: Executive Calendar No. 619, the nomination of Richard Grenell to be Ambassador to Germany. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate vote on the nomination with no intervening action or debate; that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; that no further motions be in order; and that any statements relating to the nomination be printed in the Record.

I object.

Mr. President, this has been a very disappointing moment. Senator Collins is asking to pass an amendment that would not seem to be terribly controversial. As we have heard my colleagues state this afternoon, the Alexander-Murray-Collins-Nelson proposal would lower health insurance premiums--dramatically, in some cases--for American individuals and families. This assistance would be especially helpful to the middle-class families whom ObamaCare has hit the hardest.

How do my colleagues propose accomplishing this worthy goal? Through another top-down, one-size-fits-all scheme cooked up here in Washington? No, their legislation is designed to encourage new thinking and creative policymaking at the State level, through the expansion of section 1332 State innovation waivers and high-risk pools. It would end the practice of silver-loading, which unnecessarily costs the taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. It includes Hyde amendment language that has been commonplace for decades, going back to the 1970s, preventing taxpayer dollars from funding abortions. Apparently, that commonsense provision is suddenly just a bridge too far for some of our friends across the aisle.

For months, my colleague from Maine has led a bipartisan effort to bring common sense back to Americans' healthcare. Along with Senator Alexander, she has brought together Senators with different viewpoints and made real progress toward fixing the glaring failures of the current system. It is especially disappointing that their efforts are being blocked precisely when they stand the greatest chance of helping millions of Americans. It is not entirely surprising that my colleagues across the aisle are happy to talk the talk about lowering premiums for working families, but they refuse to actually walk the walk when given a golden opportunity. But it sure is disappointing.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be added as a cosponsor to the Collins-Alexander amendment.

Mr. President, I understand that the Senate has received a message from the House to accompany H.R. 1625.

I ask that the Chair lay before the Senate the message to accompany H.R. 1625.

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

Resolved, That the House agree to the amendment of the

Senate to the bill (H.R. 1625) entitled ``An Act to amend the

State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to include

severe forms of trafficking in persons within the definition

of transnational organized crime for purposes of the rewards

program of the Department of State, and for other

purposes.'', with an amendment.

Motion to Concur

Mr. President, I move to concur in the House amendment to H.R. 1625.

Cloture Motion

I send a cloture motion to the desk on the motion to concur.

I move to concur in the House amendment to H.R. 1625, with a further amendment.

I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

I ask for the yeas and nays on the motion to concur with amendment.

I have a second-degree amendment at the desk.

I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. President, I move to refer the House message on H.R. 1625 to the Committee on Appropriations with instructions to report back forthwith.

I ask for the yeas and nays on my motion.

I have an amendment to the instructions.

I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

I ask for the yeas and nays on my amendment.

Mr. President, I have a second-degree amendment at the desk.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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

Madam President, I understand there is a bill at the desk, and I ask for its first reading.

I now ask for a second reading and, in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session for the en bloc consideration of the following nominations: Executive Calendar Nos. 762, 763, and 764.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate vote on the nominations en bloc with no intervening action or debate; that if confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc; that 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.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following nominations: Executive Calendar Nos. 330 and 331.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate vote on the nominations en bloc with no intervening action or debate; that if confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc; that 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.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of the following nomination: Executive Calendar No. 721.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate vote on the nomination with no intervening action or debate; that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; that no further motions be in order; and that any statements relating to the nomination be printed in the Record.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the consideration of the following nomination: Executive Calendar No. 722.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate vote on the nomination with no intervening action or debate; that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; that no further motions be in order; and that any statements relating to the nomination be printed in the Record.