Mr. President, after much unnecessary delay from Senate Democrats, we will finally confirm two more key Cabinet nominees this evening--Steve Mnuchin as Treasury Secretary and David Shulkin as Veterans Affairs Secretary. The President has…
Mr. President, after much unnecessary delay from Senate Democrats, we will finally confirm two more key Cabinet nominees this evening--Steve Mnuchin as Treasury Secretary and David Shulkin as Veterans Affairs Secretary. The President has selected two well qualified candidates to lead the charge on strengthening our economy and providing veterans with more of the care they deserve. I will have more to say on Mr. Mnuchin and Dr. Shulkin tomorrow, but for now I look forward to their confirmation this evening.
After we work with these nominees, we will continue to put the rest of President Trump's Cabinet in place.
It has been really disappointing to see the historic level of obstruction by Senate Democrats. I would like to remind our colleagues across the aisle of the very real consequences their actions have on our country and on the men and women forced to work grueling hours to keep the Senate running overnight last week.
There are so many who worked around the clock to keep the Senate operating and I would like to offer some words of thanks now.
First, I would like to start with our floor staff led by Laura Dove on the Republican side and Gary Myrick on the Democratic side. They, along with the cloakroom staff and floor teams, worked nonstop to allow us to keep the floor running smoothly. So I want to thank them for their hard work and dedication.
I would also like to recognize the Senate pages, who didn't miss a beat just 2 weeks into their new job. They are Hailey Maggelet, Cameron Mabry, Shelby Hogan, Elizabeth Flachbart, Chris An, Sammy Potter, Sydney Jones, Cynthia Yue, Avery Beard, Wade Quigley, Eddie Owens, Hannah Seawell, Chloe Smith, Bryant Reynolds, Taylor Ball, Mitchell Heiman, Drew Beussink, Harrison Bushnell, Lauren Cavignano, Mitchell Durbin, Allie Glassman, Pablo Gomez Garcia, Julia Graham, Savannah Hampton, Argenis Herrera, Riley Johnson, Holly Newman, Colin Solomon, Katrina Turner, and Kayla Zhu. I know we are all impressed by these young men and women, and we all appreciate the role they play in our Nation's government.
There are so many others, like Sergeant at Arms Frank Larkin and his Deputy, Jim Morhard, who work tirelessly behind the scenes to keep the Capitol running smoothly. I would like to thank their team: the doorkeepers, the Senate recording and television studio, the Press Galleries, the IT and technical support, and the help desk, the security and operations teams, the executive office, and the Capitol exchange operators, who oversee the many calls that come into Senate offices. Many of these teams provided support literally around the clock, and we are thankful.
Of course, none of this would have been possible without the Capitol Police, headed by Chief of Police Matthew Verderosa. These men and women worked overtime to ensure the safety of the Senate Chamber and the entire Capitol as Members and their staffs worked through the night. We thank them for their service and for keeping us safe every day.
I would also like to thank the Secretary of the Senate, Julie Adams, Assistant Secretary Mary Suit Jones, and their entire team.
Specifically, I would like to thank the following offices and staffers, many of whom who worked for more than 50 straight hours: the Official Reporters of Debates, which include Patrick Renzi, Susie Nguyen, Julia Jones, Mary Carpenter, Patrice Boyd, Octavio Colominas, Alice Haddow, Andrea Huston, Carol Darche, Desirae Jura, Megan McKenzie, Wendy Caswell, Diane Dorhamer, Mark Stuart, and Julie Bryan; the Captioning Services team, which includes Sandra Schumm, Brenda Jamerson, Doreen Chendorain, Jennifer Smolka, and Laurie Harris.
In addition to the offices I just named, I would also like to recognize the following legislative offices: The Bill Clerk, the Enrolling Clerk, the Executive Clerk, the Journal Clerk, the Legislative Clerk, the Daily Digest, and, of course, the Parliamentarians.
Lastly, I would like to thank our subway drivers and the Government Publishing Office, which worked tirelessly to get the Record printed.
We are also grateful for the long hours and sacrifice that each of these offices and staffers made last week. Of course, it was completely unnecessary but, nevertheless, they were here through the night.