Floor Statements

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I have come to the floor to oppose the nomination of James Blew for Assistant Secretary for Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development at the Department of Education. I am opposing this nomination on behalf of the millions of parents, students, and teachers who made it clear during Secretary DeVos's confirmation process that they believe the Department of Education's top priorities should be helping to educate our students and supporting our public schools. They made it clear when they posted on social media, voicing concerns about Secretary DeVos's lack of experience and knowledge during her hearing in front of our HELP Committee, when they overwhelmed the Senate switchboard urging their Senators to vote against her nomination, and when they took to the streets to protest her nomination and her ideological agenda.

They made it clear that they believe every student has the right to a high quality public education--no matter where they live, how they learn, or how much money their parents make. Despite an unprecedented tie-breaking vote by Vice President Pence, Secretary DeVos has ignored the public's overwhelming rejection to her extreme ideology. Instead, she continues to promote her privatization agenda, trying to shift taxpayer funds away from our public schools.

She is ignoring key parts of our Nation's K-12 law by refusing to hold States accountable for the success of our most vulnerable students. She is making it easier for predatory for-profit colleges and corporations to take advantage of students, rolling back protections for students and dismantling the unit that investigates claims of fraud and abuse. Time and again, she is failing our students and her duty to protect their civil rights.

She has tried to shrink the Office for Civil Rights, has rescinded guidance for schools on how to investigate claims of campus sexual assault, and has rolled back rules that protect transgender students, students of color, and students with disabilities.

All of those students, parents, and teachers who voiced their concerns about Secretary DeVos during her nomination have not gone away. They are still making their voices heard, demanding that the Department of Education start standing up for students.

Unfortunately, Mr. Blew, whose nomination is before us, has made it clear that he is cut from the same cloth. During his career, Mr. Blew has advocated for vouchers. He has failed to adequately support teachers with the tools they need to help their students succeed. He has even worked closely with and helped to fund Secretary DeVos's privatization efforts.

The Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development advises the Secretary in developing and implementing policy, which impacts every student in our country. It is a critical position. Given the actions and decisions by Secretary DeVos, it is very clear that we need an independent voice in this position. Unfortunately, Mr. Blew has proven that he is not up for that challenge. For that reason, I will vote against his nomination. I ask my colleagues to do the same.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, just yesterday the world watched as President Trump, standing in front of the American flag, side by side with Vladimir Putin, not only betrayed the dedication of the men and women of the U.S. intelligence and law enforcement communities but then showered praise upon the Russian President--the man who directed the interference of our elections.

This prompted outcry from Members on both sides of the aisle, as it should. I read statements from my colleagues that were very strong in condemning President Trump for putting Russia ahead of the United States, using terms like ``shameful'' and ``disgraceful,'' and not just from Republicans who bravely stood up to this President before. I heard from Members of Congress and even from some FOX News contributors, unable to twist themselves into defending this President at this moment, as he so clearly undercut our own country. I am glad they spoke up because words matter.

But do you know what also matters? Action. So now, I ask: What will congressional Republicans do about it? Many Republican Members of Congress are acting as if they just have a Twitter feed, as if they aren't the party in control of the Senate and the House, as if they don't have the ability to actually make a difference and demand change. That is absurd.

The time for handwringing and hoping the problem goes away is over. With the power to call up legislation and hold hearings, Republican leaders do have options, and they certainly have a whole lot of Democrats who stand ready and willing to help.

It is truly horrifying and deeply alarming that President Trump failed to use that moment to push President Putin to end his attacks on our country and our elections, and he failed to condemn the Kremlin's interference in the elections of our allies; or Putin's support of the brutal Assad regime and connections to chemical weapons attacks by the Syrian Government; or the illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula; or the 2014 downing of MH17 over Ukraine, where 295 people were killed; or the murder of journalists and opposition politicians; or the use of chemical weapons; or the undemocratic authoritarian and oppressive rule of the Putin regime and how it actively works against our American principles.

Instead of standing up for our values and our national security, our President defended Putin on all fronts. Instead of putting America first, he performed Putin's bidding by attacking our closest allies and trying to dismantle NATO.

Today, I know President Trump tried desperately to backtrack, but we know where he stands, and we all heard what he said on the world stage just yesterday. It is appalling, inexcusable, and unworthy of the President.

So my message to every Member of the Senate and to every Member of the other body is clear. It is time to strengthen the sanctions against Russia for its aggression around the world and to demand answers from Secretary Pompeo and the other members of the Trump national security team, especially about what the President may have promised Putin during their closed-door meeting, and for them to provide Congress--all of us--with any notes from the meeting that may exist.

We need them to stand up for and protect the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the special counsel; to insist that the President demand the extradition of the 12 Russians indicted for their attacks on our elections; and to pass election security legislation.

This is not a partisan issue. This is about defending the integrity and foundational values of our Nation. This is about Congress doing its constitutional job and holding the President accountable for his shocking and repeated failures. This is about telling our allies around the world that they can still depend on the United States. This is about putting the country before the party.

Stand not just with Democrats. Stand with people across the country by taking action to hold Russia accountable and to protect this country from future attacks. Ask President Trump why he is choosing to defend Russia and blame America, and ask what or who is motivating him, because it certainly is not the American people, our security, our values, or our future.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I come to the floor in support of the nomination of Scott Stump, to be Assistant Secretary of Education for Career, Technical, and Adult Education.

As President Trump and Secretary DeVos continue to roll back protections for students and make it easier for predatory for-profit colleges to take advantage of our students, students need someone at the Department who will remain committed to putting them first no matter what Secretary DeVos tries to pressure him to do.

Although most of the nominees President Trump has picked for the Department have pledged their allegiance to Secretary DeVos and her agenda, I believe Mr. Stump will be different. If confirmed, Mr. Stump would be responsible for advising Secretary DeVos on career and technical education, adult education and literacy, and community college education while overseeing over $2 billion in funding to provide our students and workers with the education and skills they need to compete and get ahead in the 21st century.

Mr. Stump's resume shows he is a nominee who is qualified for this position. He has served as the assistant provost for career and technical education for the Colorado Community College System. He was elected by his peers to serve as the president of the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium. He also earned the support

of a number of key stakeholders and advocacy groups.

If confirmed, Mr. Stump would be responsible for adult education and literacy, which would help adults get the basic skills they need to be productive workers and family members and citizens, and which would help community colleges ensure students have the education and skills they need to advance in their education and their careers in order to remain competitive in the 21st century.

Finally, the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education at the Department of Education is responsible for implementing the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. It is a critical law that gives students and workers the education and skills they need to succeed, and it provides businesses with a high-quality talent pipeline of workers with in-demand skills to compete in a 21st century economy.

Last month, members of our HELP Committee set partisan differences aside and passed the reauthorization of the Perkins CTE Act, which makes important updates to support an education system that prepares students and workers for an economy and a country that works for everyone.

In order to help students, workers, and businesses compete in a rapidly changing global economy, it is critically important that we pass that reauthorization, which would allow programs to adapt to the unique needs of their communities and continue to provide students and workers with the education and training that is necessary for them to get better jobs, earn higher wages, and climb up the economic ladder.

As Members of Congress, we should always be looking for ways to help make people's lives better, which is why I hope we can advance this long overdue bill to the floor in a timely fashion.

If the Senate confirms Mr. Stump, I hope he will remain committed to putting students and workers first no matter what pressure he gets. If he is able to do that, I look forward to working with him to help provide high-quality education and to ensure that, above all, our focus is on students and their success.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

Mr. President, I come to the floor to discuss my strong opposition to the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh for a lifetime appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court.

There are few issues I take more seriously as a Senator than my duty to consider and vote on Supreme Court nominees. It was watching the Clarence Thomas hearings and seeing how my voice and the voices of people like me all across the country were not being heard that got me to run for the Senate in the first place. I believe it is one of the most important jobs we have on behalf of our constituents.

During my time in the Senate, I have had the opportunity to consider nominees from Democrats and from Republicans. For each one of these nominees, I made my evaluation and based my decision on their experience and record and on my understanding of whether they would uphold the Constitution and protect our rights and freedoms.

I voted for some of them, including a nominee from President Bush. I voted against some of them, each on their merits and each based on how I thought they would serve, but this time is different. There will still be scrutiny. There absolutely needs to be. This time we know everything we need to know already. This time, the balance of the Court is on the line. We know exactly where this nominee will fall on specific issues, no matter what vague answers he chooses to deliver throughout this process. We know this because President Trump told us openly, publicly, and repeatedly.

More than any President I have seen, he has been explicit about what he expects from his nominee. He has laid out specific tests and promised to only pick nominees from a prescreened list of people who would absolutely meet them.

Here is what he has said, and here is how we know exactly what this nominee will do. President Trump has said he wants a nominee who is fully committed to overturning Roe v. Wade, criminalizing abortions, and rolling back women's ability to access contraception and other basic healthcare.

On the campaign trail, he promised that Roe v. Wade ``can be changed'' and that he was going to be ``putting pro-life justices on the court'' so that it would be overturned ``automatically.''

He has said he wants a nominee who would immediately declare healthcare reform unconstitutional and cut off access to care for people with preexisting conditions.

On the campaign trail, he criticized Chief Justice Roberts because he--this is him--``should have, frankly, ended ObamaCare, and he didn't'' and promised ``a strong test'' for a ``strong conservative'' who would be different from Roberts on healthcare.

He has made it clear that he wants a nominee who would keep handing more power to massive corporations and the wealthiest Americans and keep diluting the power of regular voters. He has made it clear that he wants a nominee who would eliminate protections that preserve the air we breathe and the water we drink. He has made it clear that he wants a nominee who would roll back the rights and freedoms for our workers, for LGBTQ Americans, and for so many others.

So there is no doubt. It could not be any clearer. For a nominee who would swing the balance of the Court--I am going to believe that President Trump has told us the truth, and I am going to believe that the extreme rightwing groups who wrote this list for him are sure about where this nominee stands.

So I want to be very clear to anyone who may doubt it or who may think they need to learn more before making a decision. A vote for President Trump's Judge Kavanaugh is a vote to allow five men on the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, criminalize abortion in America, and roll back the progress we have made to help more women and girls access the basic healthcare they need. A vote for President Trump's Judge Kavanaugh is a vote to put the government, bosses, and men in charge of the reproductive rights and freedoms of women and girls. A vote for President Trump's Judge Kavanaugh is a vote to go back to the days when women had to go into back alleys for healthcare, when women had to ask for permission, when women were shamed, and when women and girls died because of the laws of our land. We unfortunately already know all too well what this looks like because there are States nationwide where extreme politicians have chipped away at women's healthcare rights and have been waiting for exactly this moment--for someone exactly like Judge Kavanaugh--to go even further.

But that is not all. A vote for President Trump's Judge Kavanaugh is a vote to end protections for people with preexisting conditions and go back to the bad old days when insurance companies were in charge and people would have to pay more or be cut off from care simply for being sick.

A vote for President Trump's Judge Kavanaugh is a vote to give massive corporations even more power over our economy, our workers, and our elections.

A vote for President Trump's Judge Kavanaugh is a vote to eliminate environmental protections and make our air and water dirtier and less safe, erasing so much of the progress we have made in recent decades.

A vote for President Trump's Judge Kavanaugh is a vote to step back from the progress we have made to expand rights and freedoms and basic human decency to LGBTQ Americans.

I could go on, and in the coming days and weeks, as we learn even more about the ways Judge Kavanaugh will fulfill President Trump's promises, I absolutely will.

I voted against Judge Kavanaugh when he was nominated for the circuit court, and I strongly oppose this nomination now. I will be urging my colleagues to stand with me in rejecting him and calling on President Trump to send us someone who will stand with women and workers and families and who will truly commit to respecting settled law and the rights and freedoms we hold so dear.

I will be here urging people across the country to stand up and speak out and make their voices heard.

This is a critical moment right now. The U.S. Senate has the power to stop this Court from swinging against our rights and freedoms, and every Senator needs to know they will be held accountable for their vote.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Oregon.

Retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy

I would just say I have been planning to come to the floor about a specific issue related to women's healthcare and rights and freedoms, but before I get to that, I want to comment on the news that is clearly very closely connected.

It is clear that Justice Kennedy's retirement comes at a pivotal point in our Nation's history, when so many of our values are under attack by a President who has spent every day in office testing the limits of our Constitution.

I share the deep concern of so many families across this country who are already suffering under the Trump administration and fear further erosion of the progress in this country.

So, first, I want to be clear. I am hopeful that Republican leaders go back and look at what they said very recently and give families across the country the opportunity to weigh in with an election before moving forward to fill this seat. We don't know whom President Trump will nominate just yet or when he will make that nomination, but I want to go back to something my dear friend and colleague Senator Kennedy said because it highlights the stakes right now. He was talking about an extreme nominee, Robert Bork. He said:

Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be

forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at

segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down

citizens' doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not

be taught about evolution, writers and artists would be

censored at the whim of government, and the doors of the

federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of

citizens for whom the judiciary is often the only protector

of the individual rights that are at the heart of our

democracy.

Robert Bork was rejected, and Justice Kennedy took his place.

Today, we face similar stakes right now, in this moment. Voting rights are at stakes. LGBTQ rights are at stake. The right to organize collectively is at stake. Those are just a few. There are a lot more.

Families across the country are paying attention, and they are going to be watching what President Trump and individual Members of this Senate do right now. This is what they are going to want to know: Will their rights be protected? Will their freedoms be secure? Will the Supreme Court put people like them first, or will they stand with special interests, big business, and the most extreme ideologues in our country? Those are the questions people across this country will be asking. That is the conversation I expect we will have here in the Senate, and that is what President Trump should be considering as he thinks about this issue and hopefully as he slows this down and gives people across the country a chance to weigh in.

Women's Healthcare

Mr. President, one issue I know women across the country will be focused on and asking about is their constitutionally protected right to control their own healthcare decisions affirmed in Roe v. Wade, because, let me be clear, women and men in this country understand how directly tied this right is to a woman's freedom and economic security, and they overwhelmingly do not want to see that right rolled back.

Today is the anniversary of a ruling that further upheld women's constitutionally protected reproductive rights, and I want to take a few minutes today to discuss what this decision meant for women's lives and why we will not stop fighting to protect the progress we have made.

Almost half a century ago, in its historic Roe v. Wade decision, the Supreme Court ruled that every woman, no matter where she lives, has the constitutional right to make her own decisions about her body, her family, and her future, including the right to safe, legal abortion. But a right means nothing without the ability to exercise it.

While Roe v. Wade has been the law of the land for years, extreme conservatives have continually tried to undermine the Court's decision by peddling ideological policies that would make it hard for women to exercise their reproductive rights.

Women across the country have not been silent about these efforts and neither has the Supreme Court. Two years ago, the Court reaffirmed the rights enshrined in Roe v. Wade when it ruled in favor of Whole Woman's Health and struck down an anti-abortion law in Texas that was designed to make it harder for women to access the care they need.

The law in Texas attempted to undermine women's reproductive freedom by putting access to that care far out of reach for women. If it had been allowed to stand, the law would have closed three-quarters of the clinics in the State that provided abortion services. If it had been allowed to stand, hundreds of thousands of women would have no option but to travel hundreds of miles for their reproductive health services.

The Texas law didn't stand; women's constitutional rights did. That Supreme Court ruling sent a strong message, one women have been making for years, and one we continue to make clear today: Politicians have no business interfering with a woman's most personal decisions.

Unfortunately, many people on the right continue to ignore that message. Unfortunately, they have continued to push for damaging, extreme policies that ignore the Supreme Court, the Constitution, and women across the country.

From day one, President Trump and Vice President Pence have made it clear that turning back the clock on women's health and reproductive rights is a top priority for them. They recently proposed a harmful domestic gag rule on Federal family planning funds designed to restrict access to healthcare for women, interfere with care providers' ability to talk about the full range of reproductive health services with their patients, and ultimately make it harder for women to exercise their healthcare choices and constitutional rights.

That is just the latest of so many extreme and ideological steps, statements, policies, and appointees that have repeatedly shown the Trump administration's hostility to women's rights. We are still seeing radical Republicans in many States pushing to put up new barriers, like those that were struck down in the Whole Woman's Health case, to prevent women from making their own healthcare decisions--barriers that would allow perhaps a woman's ZIP Code or her income to determine whether she is able to get the care she needs.

We are also still seeing that every time far-right politicians try and bring us a step back, women and men across the country are stepping forward and

speaking out against them, and that is not going to stop. We are going to continue to defend women's reproductive rights, on all fronts and against all attacks.

One effort to do that in Congress is the Women's Health Protection Act--legislation I am very proud to cosponsor--that would help protect women's constitutional rights to safe, legal abortion care and bring down harmful, ideological barriers to that care, like the one struck down in Texas, once and for all.

I remember being in the room when the Supreme Court heard the Whole Woman's Health case and hearing the skepticism from many Justices as they asked thoughtful questions about Texas's flimsy excuses for trying to undermine women's rights. I remember being outside of the Court shortly afterward and seeing all the women and men making their voices heard and fighting for those rights. I remember being moved by the personal stories shared by so many women about what the right to make their own personal decisions meant for their health, for their family, and their opportunities in life.

I am not going to let anyone forget those stories, including President Trump, Vice President Pence, and far-right politicians across the country. I am not going stop defending women's health and reproductive freedoms. I am not going to stop fighting to make sure our daughters and granddaughters have stronger rights and more opportunity, not less. I am not going to stop, and I know women and men across the country aren't going to either.

There is no question in my mind that people nationwide understand just how important a woman's ability to control her own healthcare decision is. This is not about politics. It is about women's health. It is about their economic security, about a woman's ability to contribute fully and equally in our country.

I am confident people across the country who do not want to go backward will stand up and make their voices heard and reject President Trump and Vice President Pence's extreme ideology wherever it rears its head. I am hopeful that President Trump takes this to heart as he thinks about his Supreme Court vacancy. I am hoping my Republican colleagues are paying attention. I am truly hoping President Trump decides to listen to people across the country, listen to what Republicans just said recently, and not jam a nominee through before people have a chance to weigh in.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I want to thank my colleague from Hawaii for sharing her personal experience of how that felt because that is so important for us to hear. I thank the Senator from Oregon and all the Senators who are out here tonight to speak on this.

I may be only one person, but today I bring to the floor of the Senate the outrage, the pain, and the frustration of millions of people in my home State of Washington and across the country who see what President Trump has been doing on our southern border, who have been watching the pain this forced family separation has caused so many innocent children, who have begged the President to pick up the phone, sign a piece of paper, do whatever it takes to make it stop, who have refused to be silenced as President Trump carries out his hateful and divisive attacks on immigrants, and who heard a recording with desperate cries of children calling for their parents. When I heard that, my heart stopped. Like every mom, like every human being, I just wanted to reach out and comfort that child. I could only think of how his mother felt because I assure you, whether she was in that room, a room 100 miles away, or a room 3,000 miles away, like every mom, she heard her child's cry, too, and her heart was broken.

While today we saw President Trump change his story about whether he did, in fact, have the ability to make it stop, there are a lot of questions that remain--questions that actually I and others have been asking the Trump administration for weeks that have gone unanswered, like exactly how these parents are being informed about their children's safety. Where are they? Where are they being located? When will they be reunited? Those are just a few. There are more.

President Trump says the Executive order stops the separation. Does that mean starting today? Next month? When? What about the thousands of children who have been removed? Will they ever see their parents again? When? Where? How?

I have not gotten answers from the Secretary of Health, Alex Azar, whose Department should be focused on families' health and well-being but has instead spent that time complicit in a policy of separating families and traumatizing parents and children alike.

Even experts, such as the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said that the practice of intentionally inflicting trauma on young children is child abuse.

While it is a good thing that President Trump dialed back his systematic child abuse, it is not enough. We are not going to say everything is OK now. We are not going to stay quiet because while we are still digging into this new Executive order, here is what we do know right now: If this is implemented, there will continue to be zero tolerance for all asylum seekers, including domestic violence survivors. It is a system of locking up children by the thousands, all carried out in our great country's name.

I just read the story of a woman named Blanca who left El Salvador after she received threats on her 8-year-old son's life. She took those threats seriously, she said. Why? Because another family member had already been kidnapped. And as Blanca said, when the extortionists don't get their money, they kill people.

So Blanca left everything behind to seek safety for her son. Two months ago she arrived at the U.S. border to seek asylum. Blanca said that was the last time she saw or talked to her son, Abel, whose last words to her were ``Mom, don't leave me.''

That is the last thing she heard.

Blanca now sits in a Federal detention center at SeaTac in Washington State where she told her story through tears to an AP reporter. Her son, she has been told, is in custody in upstate New York. That is 3,000 miles away from her, and she doesn't know when or if she is ever going to see him again.

Blanca's story is horrifying. It is sad. Unfortunately, it is not unique. She is one of thousands of parents and children who fled violence and persecution only to find a new nightmare upon arrival in the United States of America--a nightmare caused deliberately, for no good reason, by President Trump, who has chosen to scapegoat asylum seekers and put their children into detention centers for an undetermined amount of time.

We are better than this. We must be better than this. Turning children into bargaining chips or leverage points or deterrents--that kind of cruelty should not be an option in this great Nation.

In recent days, my office has been flooded with thousands of calls and emails and letters from moms and dads and grandmothers and grandfathers--people from all walks of life, from every community I represent--who are angry at the President's new zero tolerance policy and who are horrified by these families who are being ripped apart. So I know I am not alone.

If we can find hope in one thing, it is knowing that all those calls and emails and letters--all of that outcry--got through to the President to change course on one of his most heartless policies yet.

But we cannot let up now.

President Trump has claimed for days he needed congressional action to do anything at all. Today, he proved that to be simply untrue.

So now we know President Trump will bow to stern pressure of a stern moral movement. Families in Washington State and in every State across the Nation are continuing to demand action, and I am going to keep working to make sure their voices are heard for the sake of so many who seek refuge in our great country and those who believe in the kindness and respect and compassion that does make this country great.

Thank you.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I join Senator Cassidy and many of our colleagues in recognizing one of Washington State's favorite sons-- Spokane's own Steve Gleason.

I have to say, as a fellow Cougar, sponsoring this legislation to recognize Steve's legacy of excellence--from

Martin Stadium in Pullman, to the NFL, to his avid work as an advocate in the health world--was a no-brainer for me. But our bill to award Steve the Congressional Gold Medal--the highest honor Congress can bestow on an American citizen--has been embraced and cosponsored by more than 70 Members of this Chamber from both sides of the aisle is a testament not just to the incredible respect Steve has garnered across our Nation as a standout athlete but to his inspiring leadership and tireless advocacy that has made an indelible impact on our Nation and our culture.

Of course, Steve's skills and talents on the football field are legendary. Many will not soon forget that iconic blocked punt at the Superdome in 2006--a play that helped lift up the spirits of an entire community that was still struggling in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Yet it has been Steve's work off the gridiron that has had perhaps the most lasting impact on our country and on our future.

Since being diagnosed with ALS in 2011, Steve has become a passionate warrior for ALS survivors and their families. Through his Gleason Initiative Foundation, Steve actively supports critical research efforts to combat ALS and helps to raise much needed public awareness about the condition while also providing ALS patients with leading-edge technology, equipment, and services to help them not only live with their ALS diagnoses but to thrive.

In motivating others by his lived example, Steve, together with his wife, his mother, and everyone at Team Gleason, has inspired hope in individuals throughout Washington State and across the globe, and he has undoubtedly changed countless lives for the better.

Few people make Washington State as proud as Steve Gleason, and I am delighted to sponsor this legislation to award him the Congressional Gold Medal. I urge our colleagues to support our efforts.

I thank my colleague Senator Cassidy for his leadership on this and for working with me on an important piece of legislation that will recognize an incredible human being.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I wish to thank my colleague from Virginia for his personal, compelling reason why what the administration is doing is so wrong. That could happen to anyone, and does happen to everyone, and I so appreciate that.

I thank my colleague from Connecticut for bringing us together today to highlight this. There is so much going on in the country, and we don't want this to get lost because it will impact every single family.

We are here today to talk about President Trump's ongoing effort to sabotage healthcare for literally millions of families in our country. As we talked about last week, the Trump-Pence administration showed, once again, that there is no limit to how low and how baseless they will go to appeal to extreme Republican donors and their special interests.

President Trump's Department of Justice announced it will ignore years of precedent and abandon its duty to defend our laws in court. It will abandon our laws that prevent insurers from denying people with preexisting conditions coverage or charging people more because of their gender or raising premiums without limit for seniors.

This decision also makes it clear President Trump is ignoring the lessons he should have learned last year. Around this time last year, Republicans were trying to jam through the President's partisan healthcare bill, filled with proposals that would have scrapped those patient protections, spiked premiums and healthcare costs, imposed an age tax on our seniors, gutted Medicaid, and thrown our entire healthcare system into chaos.

The TrumpCare bill ultimately failed as people across the country stood up, spoke out loudly, and made it very clear they didn't support President Trump's sabotage agenda. President Trump didn't listen. Instead, he has continued to undermine healthcare for our families at every available opportunity, and Republicans have been lockstep with them the entire way; like when President Trump expanded loopholes to allow junk insurance plans that don't include important consumer protections; like when congressional Republicans jammed through a partisan tax bill to undermine our healthcare laws; like when President Trump announced radical new restrictions on Federal family planning funding based on ideology that would result in less access to healthcare for millions of women across the Nation and a gag rule that will interfere with providers' ability to talk about the full range of reproductive health service with their patients. Those steps were all designed to make it harder for women and families to get the care they need.

Last week, President Trump's administration took yet another step to undermine the healthcare system. In a nearly unprecedented move, the Trump administration announced it would no longer defend the Affordable Care Act in court. The Trump administration announced it would abandon the parts of the law that prevent healthcare discrimination against women, against seniors, and against those with preexisting conditions. That decision goes against years of legal precedent. It goes against, for sure, the wishes of families across the country who want their government to care about patients, not partisan politics. It even goes against the promises of many Republicans who claimed they were going to fight for those important patient protections.

Republicans may not be listening, but I have to tell you, families across the country have been speaking up loud and clear. They want us to fight for them and for their healthcare policies that can help them get the care they need. While President Trump and Attorney General Sessions have never fought for patients--as their latest decision makes abundantly clear--Democrats have never stopped fighting for them, and we are not going to stop now.

We remain dedicated to working toward commonsense solutions that help bring our healthcare costs down and begin to fix some of this damage that has been done by President Trump. We actually had a bipartisan deal that would have accomplished that goal, but, unfortunately, Republican leaders made very clear from the start they are not interested in lowering premiums, they are not interested in stabilizing our marketplace, and they are not interested in fixing this problem. Instead, they are interested in helping special interests, they are interested in donors, and they are interested in catering to the extreme right.

Despite their move to throw a wrench in our important bipartisan work, I want you to know Democrats are at the table, and we will be here all of August ready to work to fix this for families in Washington State and across the country. I hope, going forward, cooler heads will prevail and Republicans will return to the table and join us on finding solutions to lower patients' costs and strengthen healthcare in our country rather than continuing to help President Trump sabotage it. That is what the people in my State want. I know that is what families across the country want.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Madam President, I come to the floor today to speak on the nomination of Kenneth Marcus to lead the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, a nomination we are going to vote on in just a few minutes.

First of all, I want to say that I am pleased President Trump and Secretary DeVos have moved away from their original choice for this position. I believe the current Acting Assistant Secretary, Candice Jackson, is unfit for this role and should be removed from her current position, not just because of the callous, insensitive, and egregious comments she made regarding sexual assault on college campuses but also because of the way she has worked to narrow the role of this office and back away from enforcing transgender students' rights and take away the tools and resources it has as an office to protect our students and actually move it away from its core mission. So as I have said before, I am very glad President Trump and Secretary DeVos decided to nominate someone else to replace Ms. Jackson.

Secondly, I want to thank this nominee, Kenneth Marcus, for his service over the years and for his commitment to the goal of halting discrimination on our college campuses, which is certainly an issue the OCR will face in light of incidents of hateful rhetoric and violence occurring on our campuses and in schools.

I respect Mr. Marcus's commitment, but right now, in this administration, it is not enough. We are now just a bit more than 500 days into President Trump's term, and when it comes to his record and his rhetoric on civil rights, I haven't been surprised once.

I want to start with his rhetoric. This is a President who kicked off his campaign by calling Mexicans criminals, who has called for a ban on all Muslims coming to America, who has openly ridiculed a journalist with a disability, who has openly demeaned women, who defended White supremacists rallying in Charlottesville by saying there were ``many fine people'' among them, who compared immigrants to ``animals'' and referred to entire countries with an expletive I will not repeat on the Senate floor. Sadly, I can go on.

It goes beyond his hateful rhetoric. President Trump has tried to implement that Muslim ban. He has actually rolled back guidance on enforcing transgender students' rights. He revoked title IX guidance, which protects women and helps bring perpetrators of sexual assault to justice, halted investigations into systemic discrimination, and has pushed his administration to engage in appalling behavior on our border, dehumanizing immigrants and separating kids from their families. That list goes on.

I feel very confident in saying that when it comes to civil rights, when it comes to the rights and safety of women, of people of color, of LGBTQ people, of people with disabilities, this President has purposefully fanned the flames of racism, ableism, bigotry, and sexism in ways that we have not seen in a generation, and anyone who cares about civil rights in America should be able to point that out.

That is why I was so disappointed that President Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights could not answer one of my questions at his hearing. When I asked Mr. Marcus to name a single example of something President Trump has said or done that he disagrees with when it comes to discrimination or women's rights or civil rights, he couldn't say one--not a single example, and that is all I was looking for.

He could have talked about how President Trump has stoked hatred and division of Muslims and Latinos; maybe he disagreed with that. He could have talked about how President Trump has downplayed hate crimes against minority communities here in America; maybe he could have said he disagreed with that. He could have talked about how President Trump nominated Jeff Sessions to lead his Justice Department, someone with a record of opposing civil rights protections; maybe he disagreed with that. He could have talked about how President Trump named someone hostile to LGBTQ rights to lead the Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Health and Human Services; maybe he could have disagreed with that. He could have talked about any of the ways President Trump has tried to weaken and has actually weakened the office Mr. Marcus is nominated to lead; maybe he disagreed with that. Unfortunately, in this administration, there is

almost no end to the options Mr. Marcus had when I asked him a simple question, but we do not know where he stands because he wouldn't name a single thing--not one.

He said: ``I really couldn't say, Senator.'' That was his response to my question.

There are reasons to oppose this nomination, but for me, this nonresponse to what should be an easy question was enough for me. We have to have someone in this position who is not only able to say that he disagrees with President Trump when it comes to civil rights; we need someone who is prepared to stand up to him. We need someone who is not only able to say they stand on the side of civil rights in the face of constant attacks; we need someone who is actually willing to disagree with their bosses--President Trump and Secretary DeVos--when civil rights are being threatened. But Mr. Marcus could not commit to me that he would do either, and that is something I simply cannot support.

I will be opposing this nomination, and I encourage my colleagues to do the same.

Thank you.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

We yield back our time.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

I want to thank my colleagues from Minnesota and Missouri for all of their hard work on this issue. I would like to ask my colleagues through the chair about section 111 of the bill amending section 415 of the Congressional Accountability Act. A new subparagraph, which will become 415(d)(1)(D), describes certain violations for which reimbursement is required by a Member of the House of Representatives or a Senator. I am interested in my colleagues' understanding regarding how that language should be interpreted?

Thank you. That clarification is helpful for my understanding and for my colleagues' understanding as we take important steps to better address harassment in the U.S. Congress.

Mr. President, I come to the floor today to bring attention to a particular provision of the bill now before the Senate-- a provision that would do so much to help our country fulfill its promise to our veterans--and that is to expand and strengthen the VA's caregiver program.

This program may not be well known outside of military family circles, but, make no mistake, the caregiver program could be a game changer for the estimated 5.5 million people across this country who put their lives on hold to care for a loved one who returned from service with illness or injury.

I met one of those caregivers not too long ago in my home State of Washington. Tiffany Smiley wears many hats. She is a mother, a wife, a nurse, and a veteran caregiver. She and her husband Scotty first met back in junior high, and years later they were married. He signed up to serve our country and Tiffany became a military spouse. Then, in 2005, she got the call every military family fears. Scotty had been severely injured in a suicide bombing in Iraq. He was alive, but he lost his eyesight permanently.

As Tiffany describes it, her world was shaken to its core, and their lives were never the same again. But Tiffany, like so many other military spouses, didn't think twice about whether she would care for her husband and their growing family. It was just a matter of how she could do it. To this day, Tiffany is an amazing advocate for the caregiver program and what it has meant to her and to her family.

She describes both the good days and the bad days, so those of us not in her shoes can understand some of the challenges they face. She does it because she knows she is not alone. She knows that sharing her experience is making a difference to educate the rest of the country about what it means to be a veteran's caregiver.

It is so true. I heard from countless people who, when their loved one came home from service with an injury or illness, made big life changes by quitting a job, scaling back their hours, or taking leave from college. They put big purchases, retirements, and dream vacations on hold or they took on more parenting responsibilities. You name it. They sprang into action and did what they needed to do, because that is just what you do when it is someone you love.

We know that the care military caregivers provide comes at a cost. Several years ago, the Dole Foundation commissioned the largest ever study of its kind to examine the sacrifice of military caregivers. It showed that some caregivers spend more than 40 hours a week caring for veterans. That is the equivalent of a full-time job, and that takes a toll. The study showed that caregivers have significantly worse health than noncaregivers. They run a higher risk of depression because they put their own physical and mental well-being on hold. The stress of providing care can strain relationships and increase divorce rates. So caregivers--or, as they are often called, our hidden heroes--don't necessarily wear a uniform or go overseas, but they sacrifice a whole lot and they serve our country in ways most people find unimaginable.

That is why expanding the caregiver program to veterans of all eras is so important, because the program provides resources and support, including training and counseling, a stipend, access to healthcare, respite, and more.

This bill expands the support services for caregivers to address their still unmet needs. That includes offering financial and legal advice to deal with the many complex and difficult challenges that arise that are unique to being a caregiver.

Not only does the caregiver program recognize the sacrifice of caregivers, but it also puts decisions about care into the hands of the veterans and their loved ones. They can decide to be at home with onsite care or on their own terms and as independent as possible. That is really important. The fact that we are so close to getting this program expansion across the finish line goes to show how far we have moved this conversation. That is also why we have to keep pushing it forward--so veterans and military caregivers never feel like they have to face these problems alone, because the reality is that if a servicemember is hurt while fighting for our country, the responsibility of care should never fall to only one family. It is the responsibility and the duty of our entire Nation to have their backs and give them what they need.

We can't stop until we get this done. We can't stop until every veteran and military caregiver knows that their country is there for them on their terms, no matter what. I am so proud that the caregivers program expansion is front and center in the VA MISSION Act now before the Senate. On behalf of Tiffany and Scotty and all of the other military families out there, I urge my colleagues to express their support for this critically important program.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I am here to lift up the voices of the families I represent in the State of Washington who, like so many other Americans, agree the internet should be free and open; who agree our country should support small business owners and entrepreneurs and students and middle-class families, not big corporations and special interests; who agree that consumers, not broadband providers, should get to pick the websites they visit or applications they use; who agree the internet should be a level playing field that benefits end users and not slanted by broadband providers blocking content or charging for prioritized access.

That is why so many of us are on the floor today, to give a voice to the vast majority of Americans who want the internet to remain a place that fosters innovation, economic opportunity, robust consumer choice, and the free flow of knowledge.

These things are not a luxury. They are what make American ingenuity possible. As a former preschool teacher, I support net neutrality because it helps the next generation of innovators--our students, especially those in rural and low-income areas. Schools have worked very hard to improve access to high-speed connectivity for all students because they know, from early education through higher education, and through workforce training, students need high-speed internet in order to learn and get the skills they need. Their teachers need the internet to collaborate with colleagues, access educational materials, help students learn valuable research and internet safety skills, and expand access to a high-quality education for students with disabilities and English learners.

Rolling back net neutrality threatens that educational equity and worsens the digital divide. So let's protect the free and open internet, not just for today's consumers but for our students--the next generation of American innovators. The choice could not be easier. Either we stand with everyday Americans or with the massive corporations that have found a new way to make more money off of them.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I have come to the floor this afternoon to oppose the nomination of GEN Mitchell Zais, who has been nominated to serve as Secretary DeVos's Deputy Secretary at the Department of Education. I am opposing this nomination because those who work at the top of the Department of Education should be committed to its top priority, which is helping educate our next generation of students. They should not be focused on demonizing teachers or public schools or the Federal Government's role in public education, and they should not be promoting their extreme ideological agendas at the expense of our students.

We need a Department of Education with a positive vision for our neighborhood public schools that believes that everyone has the right to a high-quality public education no matter where they live or how they learn or how much money their parents make. That is what millions of parents and teachers and students stood up for during Secretary DeVos's confirmation hearing.

Despite the public rejection of her extreme ideology and her unprecedented tie-breaking confirmation vote by Vice President Pence, it is clear Secretary DeVos has led the Department of Education in the opposite direction. She has continued to push her privatization agenda, trying to siphon taxpayer funds away from our public schools. She has ignored key parts of our Nation's K-12 laws, refusing to hold States accountable for the success of our most vulnerable students. She has made it easier for predatory, for-profit companies to take advantage of students, rolling back protections for students and dismantling the unit that investigates claims of fraud and abuse. Time and again, she has failed to protect students' civil rights. She tried to shrink the Office of Civil Rights. She rolled back protections for transgender students. She rescinded guidance for schools on how to investigate claims of campus sexual assault.

With Secretary DeVos's ideological agenda steering this ship, it is clear to me that the Department of Education needs a strong and independent Deputy Secretary of Education to once again start putting students first. Unfortunately, General Zais made it clear that he would be proud to be Secretary DeVos's right-hand man and shares her position on a number of concerning issues. He agrees with Secretary DeVos's extreme privatization agenda to siphon taxpayer funds from our public schools. He largely opposes the Federal role in education and, like Secretary DeVos, seems to lack even an understanding of key issues important to public schools.

As the State superintendent of education, General Zais allowed his partisan ideology to hurt South Carolina students. He refused Federal funding that could have saved teachers' jobs--the only State to do that--and he objected to plans to expand access to universal pre-K, calling 5-year-olds ``too young to learn.'' That is a particularly shocking comment to those of us who understand the importance of the first 5 years for children's development.

I come to the floor today on behalf of millions of parents and students and teachers who so loudly objected to Secretary DeVos's agenda during her confirmation, and I ask my colleagues to vote against this nomination and not allow another DeVos-like nominee into the Department of Education.

Thank you, Mr. President.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the immediate consideration of a bill, which is at the desk, that provides alternative minimum funding rules for certain single-employer plans maintained by a community newspaper; that the bill be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.