Floor Statements

Mr. President, this week marks an important anniversary for an exceptional American. Forty-five years ago yesterday, our friend and colleague John McCain was released after more than 5\1/2\ years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

The ``Hanoi Hilton'' was the site of unspeakable brutality, but it was also a crucible of character, where a brave patriot was tested and grew into a generational leader.

Here in the Senate, we are not only grateful that John McCain was welcomed home, we are especially grateful that he answered yet another call to serve, bringing that leadership to this body for more than 30 years. His leadership and his example are as important today as they have ever been.

Mr. President, on another matter, yesterday the President named Larry Kudlow as the next head of the National Economic Council.

Larry is well known as a happy warrior for pro-growth economics and widely respected for his expertise in fiscal policy. The country will be lucky to have Larry serving in this role. I look forward to continued engagement with the White House team that will now benefit from his insight.

Speaking of highly qualified personnel, here in the Senate yesterday afternoon, we voted to advance Kevin McAleenan's nomination to serve as Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. This is an essential post, and Mr. McAleenan is an excellent nominee.

I urge everyone to join me in voting for his confirmation when we return on Monday.

Mr. President, yesterday, the Senate took a big step forward for community banks, credit unions, and other small lenders on which communities across America rely for access to credit.

On a strong bipartisan vote, we passed Senator Crapo's legislation to streamline the Dodd-Frank Act so regulations intended for Wall Street place less of a crushing burden on Main Street.

Next up is legislation to combat sex trafficking. Debate on this issue will begin today.

It might be easy to imagine sex trafficking doesn't happen here. It would be easy to pretend it is only a problem in other parts of the world, but that is dead wrong.

Trafficking is a crisis right here in the United States. From 2010 to 2015, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children saw reports of suspected child sex trafficking increase more than eightfold--an eightfold increase. Last year alone, more than 8,500 cases of human trafficking were reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.

As Senator Portman has been informing us throughout his tireless work on this issue, sex trafficking has moved from the street corner to the smartphone. That is, in large part, because a 1996 law meant to protect online speech is now misused as a shield to stop sex traffickers and those who profit from their crimes from facing the rightful consequences.

I am as strong a defender of the First Amendment as you will find. I was in the Congress in 1996. I voted for the Telecommunications Act that included this provision, as did the vast majority of my colleagues. Let me assure you, not one of us intended to create a special protection for platforms that knowingly allow sex traffickers to exploit children.

The legislation we will consider would ensure that institutions that knowingly facilitate sex trafficking can be held accountable for their actions.

There is a reason why 67 Senators have joined Senator Portman in support of legislation to accomplish this. There is a reason why the White House

is strongly supportive. American children should not be sold--online or anywhere else. America's families should not be victimized by such evil, and America's laws should not be misused to protect those who perpetrate these crimes or those who, according to the stunning subcommittee report, knowingly give them space and tools to operate while profiting in the process.

Several of us have worked hard on this issue for a number of years. It is now past time to take this additional step. When we vote next week, that time will have come.

Mr. President, on one final matter, few subjects are closer to the heart of parents than their children's education. That is why Republicans made sure the historic tax reform we passed last year included a provision, championed by Senator Cruz and others, that will help parents choose an education for their children that makes sense for their family.

A recent article in the Courier-Journal in Louisville, KY, shared the story of one family whose second grade son had struggled with an undiagnosed learning disability. He had trouble keeping up with his public school class. So like many parents facing similar challenges, his family decided to send him to a private school with smaller classes and more individual attention, but that was a tough financial decision. Even though both parents worked, affording tuition was a struggle.

Families like this are why Republican tax reform gave parents more flexibility in paying educational expenses. The law builds the foundation for important expansions of the tax-advantaged college savings accounts known as 529 plans. As a result of tax reform, we are empowering families to use these tax-exempt accounts not only for college expenses but also for tuition at private and religious schools,

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate be in 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. 264, H.R. 3210.

I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported amendment be withdrawn; that the Johnson-McCaskill substitute amendment be considered and 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.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 286, S. 1869.

I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported

amendment be agreed to; that the Grassley amendment at the desk be considered and 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.

Mr. President, hearts are heavy in Pikeville, KY, this morning. Last night, Officer Scotty Hamilton, a 12-year veteran of the Pikeville Police Department, was shot and killed in the line of duty.

The investigation is ongoing. My Kentucky staff and I are monitoring the situation closely.

For now, our sincere condolences go out to his family, friends, and colleagues at the Pikeville Police Department.

Officer Hamilton leaves behind a wife, a young daughter, and a community that is safer for his service.

Mr. President, now on an entirely different matter, this will be a busy day for the Senate. Today, Senator Thune and our colleagues on the Commerce Committee will continue their hearings on rebuilding America's infrastructure.

Notably, five Cabinet Secretaries will testify: Secretaries of Labor, Commerce, Energy, Agriculture, and Transportation will all share the administration's ideas for cutting redtape, streamlining permitting, and aligning Federal resources with local needs.

I am grateful for the Trump administration's commitment to this issue, and I hope this week's hearings, along with the ongoing work of our colleagues on Environment and Public Works, Appropriations, and other committees, will keep building momentum.

Bipartisan results are achievable this year, starting with billions of added funding for infrastructure improvements in the budget agreement, and extending to the work of many committees in the months ahead.

Mr. President, today we will also finish considering the bipartisan banking reform bill championed by Senator Crapo. The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act is cosponsored by a quarter of the Senate--split down the middle between Republicans and Democrats--and was advanced earlier this week by two- thirds of our colleagues. That is because this modest but essential bill tackles a problem that hurts communities in red States and in blue States. It hurts rural areas, farm towns, suburbs, and urban neighborhoods.

The problem is this. The Dodd-Frank Act has proven to be far too blunt of an instrument for regulating our financial system. Regulations meant for Wall Street are crushing Main Street.

Community banks and credit unions play a vital role in our economy. Smaller lenders provide more than 50 percent of small business loans and nearly 80 percent of agricultural loans, but they are struggling to keep their heads above the tide of complicated regulations and compliance costs. Many are going under, and when they do, research shows that access to capital shrinks for small businesses, farmers, ranchers, and low-income Americans.

Senator Crapo's legislation helps to fix this. It streamlines regulations and

tailors the rules so smaller lenders aren't caught up in the web of regulations aimed at the biggest banks.

Senators had and still have a wide diversity of views on Dodd-Frank, but all of us should at least agree that Wall Street and Main Street are very different, and that one-size-fits-all is a poor way to address this issue.

I look forward to voting to pass this bill later on today.

Mr. President, on one final matter, this afternoon President Trump will visit a Boeing production facility in St. Louis. He will hear from local business leaders about how tax reform is giving them room to invest more and hire more.

Missouri's senior Senator tried to block tax reform on a party-line vote. Fortunately, their Republican Senator voted to let them realize this prosperity.

For months now, the headlines have been filled with businesses large and small using tax reform to give workers bonuses, pay raises, and new benefits. But raises and bonuses aren't the only ways that tax reform will help hardworking families.

Thanks to the efforts of Senator Heller and others in the committee, tax reform doubled the child tax credit and extended it to more middle- class families. When they file their taxes next year, families will be able to take $2,000 off of their tax bill for every qualifying child.

My friend the Democratic leader said repeatedly that tax reform would do nothing to help American workers. The Democratic leader in the House said the law would bring about ``Armageddon.'' I am not sure where they get their predictions, but I don't think they will carry much water with middle-class families in Missouri or Indiana or West Virginia or certainly in Kentucky.

For brand-new parents facing one expense after another, the $2,000 credit will more than cover the cost of a brand-new washer and dryer set or a new refrigerator. For a middle-class family of four, the credit is $4,000. That more than covers the standard down payment on a used car, priced at the national average, or it could kick off a college savings fund.

Just ``crumbs''--really? Maybe adding thousands of dollars to family budgets looks like crumbs in New York or San Francisco, but to most Americans around most kitchen tables, that is real money, and so is the adoption tax credit, which keeps the IRS's hands off more of the hard- earned money that adoptive families need to cover expenses.

Last autumn, I met a wonderful family from Franklin, KY, who adopted their son from Ethiopia in the face of many hurdles and difficulties. His mother wrote my office. She told me:

Our sweet boy is worth every dime and tear.

They were counting on that tax credit, as were many other families. Republicans made sure this credit was preserved.

Here is how that Kentucky mother described the impact. She said:

The tax credit we will receive . . . has allowed us to pay

off the last remaining debt we owed. Such a weight lifted off

our shoulders.

New pro-family tax cuts and new pro-family tax credits, all while protecting existing pro-family provisions that Americans rely on--that is what every Democrat voted against, but fortunately, it is what every Senate Republican voted for. So the American people won in the end.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, all postcloture time on the McAleenan nomination be considered expired and the Senate vote on the nomination at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, March 19; 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 move to proceed to legislative session.