Floor Statements

Mr. President, I understand appointments were made during the adjournment of the Senate. I ask they be stated for the Record.

Mr. 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.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 415, 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 ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 416, 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 immediate consideration of S. Con. Res. 35, submitted earlier today.

Mr. President, I further ask unanimous consent that the concurrent 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 notwithstanding the provisions of rule XXII, all postcloture time on the Vought nomination expire at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow, February 28, and the Senate vote on confirmation of the nomination with no intervening action or debate; finally, 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 when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 12:45 p.m., Wednesday, February 28; 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 Vought nomination; finally, that all time during recess, adjournment, morning business, and leader remarks count postcloture on the Vought nomination.

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, over the last week, heavy rains and strong winds caused widespread destruction-across Kentucky. Sustained rainfall has led to devastating flooding in many communities, especially along the Ohio River.

The high waters have closed dozens of roads, and some areas are reporting dangerous mudslides. The extent of this flooding hasn't been seen in my State since the 1997 flood.

In addition, the National Weather Service has confirmed that three tornadoes touched down in western Kentucky. The entire Commonwealth is under a state of emergency because of the damage caused by this severe weather.

I was saddened to hear reports this morning that these destructive storms have claimed the lives of three Kentuckians. Many are still struggling to stay safe.

As they always do, Kentucky's emergency personnel responded quickly and professionally to the storms and the aftermath. Rescuing many individuals from their homes or their cars, these dedicated men and women continue to do everything they can to protect Kentuckians in need. They have our sincere gratitude.

Although the sky has cleared, there is more rain in the forecast for this week.

My staff in the State and I will continue to monitor this situation as it develops throughout Kentucky.

Mr. President, I wish to begin this morning by sharing the shock and sorrow that all of us in this body felt as we learned of yesterday's shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL. To say that such brutal, pointless violence is unconscionable is an understatement. Schools should be places where children can learn, and faculty and staff can work without fear of violence.

My colleagues from Florida will carry home the prayers of the whole Senate for victims and their families, for the community of Parkland, and for the first responders who bravely charged into harm's way on behalf of others.

For the information of all Senators, the Senate will observe a moment of silence at 12 noon.

Now, Mr. President, on an entirely different matter, the entire week has been set aside, as I assured it would be, for votes on the DACA issue, border security, and other issues pertaining to the subject of immigration. At this point, we should be wrapping up a lively week of debate, amendments, and numerous votes, but that is not what has happened. Instead, we are here on Thursday morning and have yet to vote on a single amendment--not one amendment all week on what was offered: an open debate.

Remember, our Democratic friends wanted this debate. They actually shut down the Federal Government for 300 million Americans, unnecessarily, to guarantee that we could have this debate and at this particular time--this week.

They have spent months insisting that DACA is a top priority for them

and telling their constituents they would do everything they could to resolve it. But when the rubber meets the road, they have yet to bring forward a single proposal that gives us a realistic chance to make law; that is, to pass the Senate, pass the House, and earn the President's signature. All they have done so far is to slow the process as much as possible. It turns out that they didn't want a fair, open, freewheeling amendment process after all.

Yesterday evening, I filed cloture on all four pending amendments. At a minimum, under regular order, we could make sure that at least they receive a vote by Friday morning. I hope the Democratic leader will finally consent to hold these votes on amendments today.

Our Democratic friends say they want resolution for illegal immigrants who were brought into the country as children. The President put forward a framework that would do exactly that. His reasonable proposal offers a more than generous resolution for 1.8 million individuals in that category.

But the DACA issue is just a symptom of our broken immigration system. So the President has made clear, and I strongly agree, that any legislation must also treat the root causes and reform legal immigration, and it must also include commonsense steps to ensure the safety of the American people.

Several Senators, led by Senator Grassley, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, have crafted legislation that accommodates the major interests of all sides. It fulfills the stated goals of our Democratic colleagues and--and--conforms to the President's requirements.

Their bill provides funding to secure the border. It reforms extended chain migration and the visa lottery program. It fixes the loophole that forces us to release thousands of criminal aliens who were rejected by their own home countries. It enacts Kate's Law to put criminals who illegally and repeatedly cross our borders behind bars. It gets tougher on violent and dangerous criminals such as drug smugglers, human traffickers, repeat drunk drivers, gang members, and sex offenders. And, yes, it offers a generous--extremely generous-- resolution to the DACA issue.

The President, in my view, has gone more than half way to meet the Democrats and resolve this matter. If they are actually interested in finding a solution, it is time they take yes for an answer so that 1.8 million people are eligible for citizenship.

Because my Democratic friends were stalling for time, they spent 3 full days making political points instead of making law. I hope today can be different.

Tax Reform

Mr. President, on a final subject, it has only been 55 days since the President signed historic tax reform into law. Already, it has led to bonuses, raises, and new benefits for millions of American workers, and the long-term signs are just as promising. Hundreds of companies have announced significant commitments to plant deeper roots in the American economy.

We know the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is pro-worker and pro-business, but tax reform is also, at its core, pro-family. It doubles the standard deduction, meaning a young married couple effectively gets a new zero- percent tax bracket for the first $24,000 they earn. If that couple decides to purchase a home, their mortgage interest will be eligible for a deduction. Contrary to what many predicted, the historic tax cuts we delivered didn't jeopardize the middle-class deduction. We preserved it.

When that couple starts a family, they will benefit from the fact that we doubled the child tax credit, thanks to the fine work of Senator Heller and others throughout the committee process.

At its new level, that credit will save a two-child household $4,000 every year--$4,000--to help them with back-to-school costs, to kick off a college fund, or to help them afford summer camp tuition and a family vacation instead of choosing one or the other.

Thanks to the tireless work of my colleague from Nebraska, Senator Fischer, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act encourages more employers to provide paid family leave. That is good news for millions of American families who will welcome a child this year.

My Democratic colleagues like to speak about the importance of paid leave, but not a single one of them voted with us--not one. Every Democrat in the House and in the Senate voted against the bill that included Senator Fischer's paid family leave incentives. Every one of them voted against a bill that included a bigger standard deduction and the doubling of the childcare credit and lower income tax rates. Fortunately, we passed this historic achievement despite their efforts to stop it.

Thanks to every Republican who voted for tax reform, both Walmart and Lowe's have announced expansions of both maternity and paternity leave. CVS is creating an entirely new parental leave program. In Wisconsin, where only one of two Senators voted for reform, American Family Insurance is expanding its family leave benefits. So is Broadridge Financial Solutions in New York, despite both Senators from New York voting against it. This is only the beginning.

My Democratic colleagues said tax reform would bring about ``Armageddon.'' They said nothing in our bill would help American workers. But the proof is in the pudding. The evidence is piling up. Middle-class families all over the country are glad their Congress and their President made tax reform a reality.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, the cloture motions filed during yesterday's session of the Senate ripen at 2:30 p.m. today.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there now be 2 minutes of debate, equally divided, prior to each remaining vote in this series; finally, that any further vote in the series be 10 minutes in length.

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

Mr. President, I think it is safe to say it has been a disappointing week. I kept my commitment and set aside the entire week for a broad and productive debate over DACA, border security, and other important immigration issues. My friend the Democratic leader, the assistant Democratic leader, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus-- everyone agrees that I held up my end of the bargain.

Back in December, I stated that if a bill that stood a chance of becoming law were ready in January, I would bring it to the floor. No such proposal was produced.

Then, in January, when Democrats shut down the government over this issue, I offered to dedicate this week--this week that we have been in--to an immigration debate and a fair amendment process. I just did that, but the same Democrats failed to produce a solution and, instead, spent the better part of the week objecting to any votes in the Senate.

I thought we might be able to resolve this. I was hoping we could reach a bipartisan solution that could pass the Senate, pass the House, and earn President Trump's signature. But, once again, when the hour came to actually make law instead of just making political points, our friends across the aisle were either unable or unwilling to get something done. After all the talk--all the talk--they hardly came to the table at all.

I supported the plan introduced by Chairman Grassley and several other cosponsors. It fleshed out the President's framework, pairing a more than generous solution for 1.8 million illegal immigrants with commonsense steps to reform legal immigration, secure the border, and help law enforcement keep Americans safe.

In my view, the President came a very long way--clearly, more than halfway--to meet the Democrats on this issue. In exchange for a pathway to citizenship--not just legal status, but a pathway to citizenship-- for nearly 2 million individuals, he sensibly wanted to reform pieces of our broken immigration system, secure our border, and make it harder for violent criminals and repeat offenders to prey on American citizens. That is more than a fair bargain--more than a fair bargain.

I thought our friends across the aisle would jump at this opportunity to fulfill what they say is their top priority, but they just couldn't take yes for an answer. They turned away from a golden opportunity to solve the issue. They decided they would rather come away emptyhanded, with no resolution whatsoever for the 1.8 million individuals they say they are championing, than accept a reasonable compromise with the President of the United States.

Even though this week has been squandered, this does not have to be the end of our efforts to resolve these matters. I would encourage Members to put away the talking points and get serious about finding a solution that can actually become law.

I remain eager to improve our immigration policy. If a solution is developed in the future that can pass both the House and the Senate and be signed into law by the President, it should be considered. But for that to happen, Democrats will need to take a second look at these core elements of necessary reform.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 623, Elizabeth Branch.

I send a cloture motion to the desk.