Transcripts For CSPAN2 U.S. Senate U.S. Senate 20180111

Vote the presiding officer are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or to change their vote . If not, the ayes are 96, the nays are zero. The nomination is confirmed. Under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table. The president will be immediately notified of the senates action. The senate will be in order. The senate will be in order. The majority leader. The senate will be in order. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President , i move to proceed to legislative session. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. Mr. Mcconnell i understand the senate has received a message from the house to accompany s. 139. The presiding officer the majority leader is correct. Mr. Mcconnell i move that the chair lay before the senate the message to accompany s. 139, and i ask for the yeas and nays on my motion. The presiding officer is there a sufficient second . There appears to be. There is. The clerk will call the roll. Vote vote the presiding officer are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or to change their vote . If not, the yeas are 69. The nays are 26. The motion to proceed is agreed to. The chair lays before the senate a message from the house. The clerk resolved that the bill from the senate, s. 139 entitled an act to impment the use of rapid d. N. A. Instruments to informed decisions about pretrial release to solve and prevent Violent Crimes and other crimes, to exonerate the innocent, to prevent d. N. A. Analysis backlogs and for other purposes do pass with an amendment. Mr. Mcconnell mr. Mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i move to concur in the house amendment to s. 139, and i send a cloture motion to the desk. The clerk cloture motion. We, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to concur in the house amendment to s. 139, an act to implement the use of rapid d. N. A. Instruments to inform decisions about pretrial release or contention and their conditions to solve and prevent Violent Crimes and other crimes and to exonerate the innocent, prevent d. N. A. Analysis backlogs, and for other purposes, signed by 17 senators as follows. Mr. Mcconnell i ask the reading of the names be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i move to concur in the house amendment to s. 139 with a further amendment. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk the senator from kentucky, mr. Mcconnell, moves to concur in the house amendment to s. 139 with an amendment numbered 1870. Mr. Mcconnell i ask that the reading be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask for the yeas and nays on my motion to concur with the amendment. The presiding officer is there a sufficient second . There appears to be. The yeas and nays are ordered. Mr. Mcconnell i have a seconddegree amendment at the desk. The presiding officer the clerk will report the amendment. The clerk the senator from kentucky, mr. Mcconnell, proposes an amendment numbered 1871 to amendment numbered 1870. Mr. Mcconnell i ask that the reading be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i move to refer the house message on s. 139 to the committee on judiciary with instructions to report back forthwith with an amendment. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk the senator from kentucky, mr. Mcconnell, moves to refer the house message to accompany s. 139 to the committee on the judiciary with instructions to report back forthwith with an amendment numbered 1872. Mr. Mcconnell i ask for the yeas and nays on my motion. The presiding officer is there a sufficient second . There appears to be. The yeas and nays are ordered. Mr. Mcconnell i have an amendment to the instruction. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk the senator from kentucky, mr. Mcconnell, proposes an amendment numbered 1873 to the instructions. Mr. Mcconnell i ask that the reading be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask for the yeas and nays on my amendment. Provided is there a sufficient second . There appears to be. The yeas and nays are ordered. Mr. Mcconnell i have a seconddegree amendment at the desk. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk the senator from kentucky, mr. Mcconnell, proposes an amendment numbered 1874 to amendment numbered 1873. The presiding officer the senator from maryland. Mr. Cardin thank you, mr. President. I take this time to share with my colleagues a report that i released yesterday, which is the product of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The reports called putins asymmetric assault on democracy in russia and europe, implications for u. S. National security. I commissioned this report to be done early in 2017. I had to make a decision on the allocation of resources. And i thought that it was extremely important that the American People and the International Community understand the breadth of russias campaign against Democratic Institutions. Yes, we saw it in 2016 in the u. S. Elections, but that was only one part of a much broader design, and that i recognize that we recognized that we needed to devote the resources at that time in order to make this report work. It is how russia has interfered not just here in the United States but in europe. I want to start by acknowledging some of the staff. Mr. President , i would ask unanimous consent that floor privileges be granted to laurie kerry who is a fellow on the Foreign Relations Committee Staff on loan from the state department during todays session of the senate. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Cardin i wanted to start with the statement that this is not a partisan report. Yes, i commissioned it as the democratic Ranking Member because decisions had to be made early in 2017 on the allocation of resources. As i know the presiding officer knows, i work very closely with senator corker on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and throughout the development of this report, i have kept senator corker informed, and the work of this report has relied upon the work of many members of the United States senate on both sides of the aisle, and, in fact, i think the presiding officer will recall the work that we did democrats and republicans in the passing of legislation in 2017 that held russia accountable for its maligned activities. I was proud that i had the strong cooperation, support, and leadership in developing that legislation from senator campaign, senator graham, senator rubio who contributed greatly to the enactment of that legislation, and on the democratic side, senator menendez, senator shaheen, and senator durbin. This report is an accumulation of a years work. It had the professionalism and dedication and patriotism of the very talented staff at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and i want to acknowledge that because i know all of us recognize that our staffs are critically important to the work that we do here in the United States senate. Damion murphy was our captain on this project. He was the one who provided the leadership to make sure that we had a thorough report, that we had an accurate report, and that our recommendations would be tailored to make our nation more secure. Terrell henry provided incredible help throughout the entire year. Laura kerry was an instrumental part of getting this done. Megan barkley helped us with making sure that all of the sources were properly cited. I also want to acknowledge my democratic staff leader, jessica lewis, who really was the one who decided early that we could get this done and encouraged me to move forward. And lastly, mr. President , this report has received considerable attention since i released it yesterday. Considerable attention because this is the First Comprehensive report thats been authored that deals with russias maligned activities which are global in nature. And Sean Bartlett was capable of making sure that this story would be heard, and i thank him for his professional work in the way that we were able to get this report circulated. Following the 2016 elections, i thought it was important that we shed more light on russia governments efforts to interfere in deckses beyond our own. For anyone who thinks that the threat posed by russia is limited to hacking emails on the American Election in 2016 are missing the real story, and thats what this report shows. We wanted to describe the scale and scope of this threat to make the American People aware that the russian governments interference in the 2016 elections is part of a pattern of behavior and warn that russia could attack again in 2018 and 2020. The creme len is a learning organization, and they are constantly perfecting and improving their techniques. This report is the first government report to lay out in detail exactly how the russians operate. Mr. Putin employs an asymmetric arsenal that employs not just invasions, and they do use their military, but Cyber Attacks, disinformation and propaganda, support for fringe political groups. They have employed the weaponization of energy resources. We have a network of organized crime. And they have a system that is fueled by corruption. This threat existed long before trump and will remain following his tenure unless he takes steps and we take steps to address it. Our report examines how the russian government has sought to interfere in 19 countries across europe. Many lessons are to be learned from our allies in europe who have shown that this his behavior can be deterred. While many in the executive branch understand the threat and have taken steps to address mr. Putins asymmetric arsenal, president ial leadership has been absent. Never before has a u. S. President so clearly ignored such a grave and growing threat to our National Security, and without president ial leadership, the u. S. Will remain uncoordinated in its response. The Washington Post reported in december that the National Security council has not had a meeting on countering maligned russian influence. More than a year after the Intelligence Community assessment that russia interfered in our elections. Mr. Putins rise to power in 1999 was cynical and opportunist. He capitalized in a war on sanchez yeah and apartment bombings in moscow to shore up a strong hand that could steady the country after the rocky 1990s. To do so, this former k. G. B. Officer emboldened his services to play an outsized criminal role in running the state, mr. Putins regime used violence to stop those who opposed him in and outside of russia, cheated his way through the olympics and through a Security Services connections with organized crime and Money Laundering, has emboldened cyber threat and racketeering that has realworld implications for u. S. Companies and citizens. Mr. Putin developed his techniques first at home against his own people. In russia, he represented independent Civil Society, journalists and political opposition while manipulating cultural and religious influences, the median Information Space and corrupt crony capitalist system to shore up his regime. The tools in mr. Putins asemitrick arsenal are drawn from the soviet playbook but updated with new technologies. These include propaganda and disinformation, cultivating political fringe, religious, and cultural groups as influence source and weaponizing crime and corruption as a system of government. In europe, mr. Putins russia has invaded countries, attempted coups, cut off countries from energy in the middle of the winter, temporarily crippling governments with setbacks, created a with Cyber Attacks, created a whole new way to exponentially spread fake news, used dirty money as a weapon in an attempt to buy candidates in Political Parties. The report illustrates these events in more detail in the 19 countries across europe. The International Response to the kremlins arsenal has been a patchwork. Some European Countries have shored up their democracies in ways the u. S. Has yet to do in a strategic whole of government fashion. Europes experience with russias meddling shows that it can be deterred, and the u. S. Must take steps to deter russia now as laid out in the reports recommendations. The report helps us understand why mr. Putin is doing this. Hes doing this, mr. President , because thats all he has. Russias economy is faltering. It has a limited military capacity. It doesnt have many friends around the world. Its economy is about 7 the size of the u. S. Economy. It ranks number 12 in the world. Its smaller than italy or south korea or canada. But we have to acknowledge hes had success with the use of these with these tools, with the use of these weapons. Hes accumulated by reported sources more than tens of billions of dollars of stolen wealth. He has a Propaganda Machine that has been able to make him popular at home and accomplish many of his objectives in other countries. He has slowed down serbias integration into e. U. And ukraine and georgias ability to join nato because of russias troops located in its countries. The report highlights the lessons that weve learned from our europeans. Its interesting, the europeans understood this risk before we did and took action. Brexit campaign in u. K. , russia was clearly engaged in it. Prime minister may has made resolute public statements that russias meddling is unacceptable and will be countered. In france, france looked at what happened in 2016 in the u. S. Elections, and they took steps. The Macron Campaign was subject to Cyber Attacks with emails from mr. From president macron during the campaign. It was released shortly before the runoff elections. But france was prepared, and they were able to counter that. The french government worked with independent media and Political Parties to expose and blunt the dissemination of fake news. In germany, we saw the famous lisa case that was fabricated by russiasponsored news outlets in order to incite the russiangerman community for an antimigrant type protests. The German Government bolstered democratic cybersecurity capabilities particularly after the 2015 hack of the buddhist act and the interior minister proposed creating a center of defense against misinformation germany has acted. In the nordic countries, the states have largely adopted a whole Society Approach with an emphasis on education that teaches Critical Thinking and media literacy. They have a curriculum in their school for their School Children to be able to differentiate between what is real and what is fake in the news. In lithuania, the government diversified its supplies of natural gas and all the baltic governments have worked to integrate their electricity grids to reduce dependency on russia for energy needs. In spain the Spanish Government has investigated exposed and cut off significant Money Laundering operations by russiabased organized crime. So what do we do about this . Russia has this plan to compromise our Democratic Institutions. What do we do about it . Well, the report spells out many, many recommendations and im proud to say that many of these recommendations have been championed by members on both sides of the aisle. First, we call upon president ial leadership. We need President Trump to acknowledge the threat, establish a highlevel interagency fusion cell to coordinate all elements of u. S. Policy on the russian governments maligned influence operations. The president should present to congress a comprehensive national strategy, and work to get it implemented and funded. Number two, United States government needs to support democratic institution, building values abroad. We need a stronger support for these programs. The u. S. Should provide assistance to help bolster Democratic Institutions in european states. Members in the United States congress should conduct hearings and use their platform to make democracy and human rights a central part of their agenda. I am proud of the work that weve done on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Working with senator corker, we have highlighted human rights throughout the year, but we need to do more. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has recommended to the full senate that we pass legislation so we would start valuating every country and their ability to fight corruption. Its patterned after the trafficking and persons report on human trafficking. We need to get that bill enacted into law. Third, we need to expose and freeze kremlinlynched dirt kremlinlinked dirty money. We should declassify anything relighted to pu fines corruption and cut off mr. Putin from the inner circle of the International Financial system. We know the elite class in russia do not want to hold their money and rubles. They want dollars. Weve got to deny them that opportunity. By the way, they also like visas to visit the United States. They dont want to be stuck in russia. Those sanctions have an impact and we need to make sure that theyre enforced. And fourth, we need to create state hybrid actor designation. The United States should designate countries that employ maligned influence operations to assault democracies as state hybrid threat actors. Those designated would fall under a preemptive and escalating sanctions regime that would be applied whenever states uses weapons like cyber attack to interfere with a democratic election or disrupt a countrys viet vital infrastructure. We need to make it clear that, yes, we want relations with all countries, constructive relations. But if theyre going to use these weapons against our Democratic Institutions, we need to be prepared to increase our sanctions against these countries. Quite frankly, mr. President , what we must understand that the importance of democracies against what mr. Putin is trying to do. Weve got to defend the United States and europe against foreign funding that erodes democracy. We need to pass legislation to require full disclosure of Shell Companies, owners and improve transparency of funding political campaigns and advocacy groups. We have Bipartisan Legislation to do that. Lets get that passed so that Shell Companies we know that theyre shielding illegal funds. Lets make sure that russias game plan is not funded for Shell Companies that are located here. We need, number six, u. S. Leadership to build global cyber defenses and norms. Establish a Rapid Reaction team to defend allies under attack. Mr. President , we should push nato to consider the implications of a cyberattack within the context of article 5 and our ability to defend each other. We should also lead an effort to establish an International Treaty on the use of cybertools in peacetime modeled on the International Arms control treaties. Lastly, we need to hold social Media Companies accountable. Government should mandate transparency for funding political advertisements. This is the new way of communications. Weve got to catch up with technology on our laws. You know, we require traditional advertisers to disclose all this information, but weve left the social media alone because we didnt know about it when we passed these laws. Weve got to make sure that we have full laws on disclosure. Companies should conduct audits on possible kremlinsupported meddling in european elections over the past several years. Companies should establish Civil Society Advisory Councils and work with Civil Societies and government to promote media literacy. Mr. President , thats just a sampling of some of the recommend decisions recommendations that are in this report. Its pretty comprehensive but it does give us, i think, a game plan to understand that we can protect our National Security and we must. Following the end to world war ii, the United States led the world in constructing the liberal international order. Underpinned by Democratic Institutions shared values and accepted norms. It protects our shared security and expands our prosperity. Yet the dense of that system of institutions and democratic prince wells principles is an after ma to mr. Putin who seeks to protect a little more than his power and wealth. Its therefore up to the United States and our allies to engage in a coordinated effort to counter the kremlins assault on democracy in europe, the United States, and around the world. In closing, we must take care to point out that there is a distinction between mr. Putins corrupt regime and the people of russia who have been some of his most frequent victims. Many russian citizens strive for a more transparent Accountable Government that operate, under the democratic rule of law. And we hold hope for better relations in the future with a russian government that reflects these values. We applaud the courage that we saw very recently from the protesters in russia who stood up against mr. Putin because they want basic freedom in their country. I remember very clearly that when we passed the mcnits i ask law that holds that violated basic human rights in russia against ser gaye mit knit i ask who was doing his job as a lawyer, when that bill was enacted, it was the people that were protesting gets their government that said that law passed by the United States congress was the most prorussian bill passed by the United States congress. We stand with the people of russia. I also am the ranking democrat on the u. S. Helsinki commission. I worked on the commission for a long time. It includes all the countries of europe and the former soviet union, United States and canada. All countries have signed on to the helsinki final act. It talks about basic democratic principles and it gives each member state the right to challenge the activities and every other member state. We have an obligation to call out what mr. Putin is doing because its not only against our National Security interests, its not only hurting the people of russia, its against the commitments russia made in the organization for security and cooperation in europe. The United States must work with our allies to build defenses against mr. Putin and strengthen International Norms and values to deter such malign behavior by russia or any other country. I stand ready to work with all my colleagues to protect our National Security interests, to recognize the threat that mr. Putin poses to our Democratic Institutions, to look forward to a day when we can truly have a better relationship with russia because they will stop this assault on Democratic Institutions in europe, the United States, or anywhere in the world. Mr. President , i yield the floor. The presiding officer the senator from utah. Mr. Hatch mr. President , earlier this month, i announced my current term would be my last. Since then many of my colleagues have asked how i feel with my senate tenure drawing to a close. I think many expect me to say that i feel an overwhelming sense of satisfaction and relief. Hardly. If anything, the decision to retire is a sense of urgency that i never felt before. With a year left in office, i have an agenda that is as ambitious as ever and the ticking clock is a constant reminder of just how much i have left to accomplish. Just 168 legislative days remain in my senate term. And i can assure you, mr. President , that those 168 days will be among the proudest and most productive periods in all my public service. Anyone who thoughts that orrin hatch would clearly doesnt know me. The stars have aligned for this year to be among my most successful yet. Dont expect me to go gentle into that good night. Expect me to be right here on the senate floor early and often pushing the most Critical Reforms of this congress. Expect me to take the lead on a finance Committee Agenda that will equal an ambition our accomplishments of 2017. Expect me to be the same steady presence in this body that ive been for the last 41 years. Above all, expect a flurry of legislative activity from my office. I have a dedicated staff. They are determined to drive this old workhorse into the ground and i have the best relationship with this president than anyone on capitol hill. Add to this the advantages that accrued from a lifetime of legislative experience and bipartisan deal making. The point i wish to make is simple in legislative terms. My final year could very well be the most fruitful yet and i hope it will be. In the months ahead, im eager to capitalize on our tax reform victory by putting the nation back on the path to fiscal sustainability. Finding a way forward on immigration and securing longterm funding for the Childrens Health insurance program, a program that i helped put into law. And have been very pleased with over the years. I also intend to update our intellectual property laws for the 21st century, enact key fixes to our Higher Education system, and fill our courts with as many qualified judges as possible. I likewise look forward to working with my colleagues across the aisle to improve the competitiveness of our wor wor workforce. Strengthen the privacy and blaze new trails on medical marijuana research. But this brief overview doesnt even cover half of my agenda for 2018 nor does it include some of the legislative surprises i plan for later this year. The virtue of being a sevenseventermsenator is you ht of latitude in your final year. Thats why my plan is to go big and go bold. Unless youre michael jordan, you only retire once so you might as well make the most of it. The truth is, i put the pieces in place long ago to ensure that my final year in office would be a legislative knockout. So no one should count me out, not for a single second. And anyone who does should be reminded that i can do in just a few months what it takes most members a decade to complete. Mr. President , tough old birds like me dont have lame duck years. We just dig in and get tougher. For me 2018 is not a victory lap but a sprint to the finish. And i plan to finish strong. I look forward to working with all of you until the very end. With that, mr. President , i just want to say how much i love the senate, how much i love my colleagues on both sides of the floor, and how much ive enjoyed working with all of you over all these years and will enjoy this remaining year hopefully even more. And i hope that i can do some things that will be very beneficial to our country and to all of that will help us all feel about our service here and help us all strive to do better together. Mr. President , with that i yield the floor. Mr. Portman mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from ohio. Mr. Portman mr. President , i want to assure the senator from utah who just spoke whos also the president pro tempore of this entire body, he is well regarded on both sides of the aisle. I dont think any senator has had a more distinguished or consequential career for decades of legislating. I want to assure him no one thinks hes going to slow down. In fact, as he just said, he has plenty on his agenda for the next year. We look forward to working with him during that time period. We also wish him well in his retirement. I talked to him a little bit about this. He has a wonderful family and he has big plans for the future with some important work he wants to do in Public Policy through his foundation. I have so much respect for you, senator hatch. Thank you so much for what you did most recently to help us guide through this place a tax reform and tax cut bill that actually is making a difference for the people i represent and you represent. Mr. Hatch if you would yield, thank you so much. Im grateful for the friendship that i have with all of you, but especially with you. Youre one of the up and coming, moving strong senators on this body. I have tremendous respect for your work ethic, the effort you put forth on a daily basis, with the ethics that you impose upon yourself, and the, just the good allaround way of doing the senate work. Im very pleased to have you as a friend. Mr. Portman thank you. Im going to get the last word, though, because this is about you, mr. Chairman. Orrin hatch, you said you love this place, you love these members. Youve got a lot of love for you on both sides of the aisle and its well deserved and well earned. Mr. President , i would ask permission for committees to meet. We have three requests for committees tpo meet during todays session of the senate. They have the approval of the majority and minority members. The presiding officer duly noted. Mr. Portman thank you, mr. President. Mr. President , i heard senator cardin earlier talking about the threat that russia poses not just to us and the meddling that has been occurring here in our elections over the years, but also the threat they pose to other places of democracies around the world, particularly in eastern europe. I appreciate his report. I appreciate the fact that hes worked with a number of us, including senator murphy on the other side of the aisle, to put forward legislation that tries to push back against this disinformation. In fact, we have required that the state department increase their efforts through with through whats called a Global Engagement center. We want to be sure that the United States is taking a more aggressive action against the kind of disinformation that can destabilize democracies. You heard some of the examples of what his report was able to uncover in terms of some of the russian activity, particularly again in europe and eastern europe. But this is an issue and its a Foreign Policy issue that we have been, in my view, slow to respond to. It didnt start with the last president ial election and it wont end with this last president ial election unless we take a more aggressive stance and step up. I appreciate that has been a bipartisan effort that we should acknowledge as americans is in our interest to push back against the disinformation, the propaganda and the destabilization of democracies. Today, mr. President , i want to talk about some good news, and the good news is that here in congress, we actually did something with the tax relief and tax reform legislation that is already creating a better economy and more hope for people. There was news announced today just a few minutes ago that is in addition to the news weve heard over the last few weeks. This historic tax reform was created, you remember with two goals in mind. One was to cut taxes for middleclass taxes, so individual tax cuts. The second part of it was lets make america a better place to do business. Lets ensure there will be more jobs created here rather than elsewhere. Lets level the Playing Field so our workers arent competing with one hand tied behind their back. As i said through the pros, we developed this process we r developed this bill and had a bipartisan agreement that the tax code was broken. Some democrats saeupd you guys have done this bill but its not going to help. I said at the time the proof will be in what happens, what happens to jobs, what happens to wages, what happens to the economy in general, what happens to your paycheck. And im here to announce today that the results have been pretty darned impressive. And they have been across the board, all those things ive talked about. Weve already seen as a result of this tax legislation that america has become a better place to do business. All over the country there are companies, businesses small and large that have stepped forward to talk about that. I now have a list of 150 businesses, and im sure there are many, many more that have decided to do something, either announce a pay increase or a bonus or an increased 401 k contribution or an increased pension contribution or maybe a new investment in equipment and technology to make workers more competitive. And all of this specifically because of the tax relief and reform bill. Thats whats happening. And for those who havent followed it, even today another company, the largest employer in my state, walmart, announced they were indeed going to increase pay, provide bonuses to over a million workers. So some companies actually have announced a combination of these things. Not just a pay increase but maybe a pay increase and also an increased contribution to a 401 k or an increased contribution to a charity. So i think we are already seeing the direct effects, the direct and very positive beneficial effects of this tax reform legislation, as many of us had hoped we would see given the fact that we wrote it to create these incentives for more jobs and better jobs. But today were going to begin to see the direct effects of the other part of the bill, and that is the tax relief directly to individuals. The i. R. S. Just announced about an hour ago that they are publishing updates to the tax withholding tables for employers. What does this mean . This means that uncle sam is going to take a little less of your paycheck, and youre going to see it on the paycheck. So the withholding, the amount thats withheld from your paycheck for taxes, is going to be changed. The Treasury Department says that for 90 of americans 90n withholding that will be positive for them. In other words, theyll have less money coming out of their paycheck. Most people who i represent in my home state of ohio live paycheck to paycheck. This is really important. And weve talked earlier about how much this is going to be. Is it 2,000 a family on average . Thats a Median Income family in ohio. Whatever the amount is, this is significant and its something that people are going to be, i think, pretty surprised about because, again, so many people have misrepresented what this legislation is about. Theyre now seeing its about jobs and its about wages, its about bonuses and so on. But they are also going to see in their own paycheck that its about more takehome pay. Its about having a little healthier family budget. As we go through this process, when we have these debates i encourage people to look online, look at the professionals, go on a tax calculator. I say the proof is in your paycheck. I think the proof will be in peoples paychecks. More hardearned money staying in your pocket rather than going to washington is something that my constituents will like, particularly if you see this economy beginning to pick up because of the tax reform bill which, by the way, will result in a stronger economy. Therefore, more revenue through growth. So the federal government will have more revenue coming in. Every 1 increase in g. D. P. So 1 increase in growth in this country means about 2. 7 trillion in increased revenue coming into the federal coffers. So thats more revenue coming in not from tax increases, but from growth. Thats the kind of revenue we want to have to be able to deal with many issues we face on the fiscal side, including our large deficits and debt. And that also well begin to see as you see a better economy developing because of this tax reform legislation. Thats my strong belief, and i think, again, the evidence is pretty clear that were headed that way. I want to commend the i. R. S. For moving so quickly. Because this, you know, is pretty quick for us to turn it around. We just passed the legislation at the end of the year. It became effective on january 1. Here we are on the 11th of january and were already seeing them changing the withholding thats going to go to the employers who employers will withhold less from peoples paychecks. I also want to personally commend the treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin because i know he has a passion to being sure that Hardworking Taxpayers get this tax relief as soon as possible. And my sense is that he is the one who has promoted us moving quickly on this in a professional way, in a careful way so withholding tables are accurate but ensuring we do allow people to begin to have a little more in their paychecks to be able to help make ends meet. Again, with most people i represent living paycheck to paycheck, this is a big deal. And Steven Mnuchin has been, i think, essential to getting this done as quickly as it is as he was essential in the tax reform legislation along with gary cohen of the white house and others. So, this law is going to help middleclass families in three main ways. First, again, it cuts taxes across the board. As i noted, the i. R. S. Announcement means that about 90 of taxpayers will see more money in their paychecks. They do this in a number of ways in the tax reform legislation, and im talking about the reform notice here. Its notice 1036. And for those of you who want to go online and look, go on the i. R. S. Website, i. R. S. Gov. You can see it. These are the new withholding tables. They lay it out, your weekly pay, semiweekly or monthly payroll you see what your benefits are going to be. But it happens because there is a doubling of the standard deduction and most people already take the standard deduction in my state of ohio. Now more people will take it because there is a doubling there and essentially a zero tax bracket it goes from about 12,000 a family to less a family. Your tax rate will be lower than what it was before this. Third if you have kids you get a doubling of the Child Tax Credit including part of that being an increase in the refundability of that if you dont have income tax liability, but you still have expenses, you still have payroll tax you should get benefit there. These are the kinds of things that combined end up with this notice going out saying youre going to have a little more in your paycheck. Second, the result of these tax cuts is going to take about three million americans off the tax rolls altogether. I say about because the joint committee on taxation doesnt have the final number yet, but they have told me its at least three million americans who now pay income taxes who will no longer have income tax liability. They may have payroll tax liability. They may have state and local taxes. But the point is this was about federal income tax reform and federal incomes tax relief. They are going to be out from under the i. R. S. And again be able to help make ends meet. Thats as a result of this legislation. I said earlier that about 2,000 per family is the average of a median Family Income in ohio. 2,000 a year in tax relief. Thats about the average. This is important because as expenses have gone up over the last couple of decades, particularly Health Care Expenses in the last decade, wages have not. So wages have been relatively flat. In fact, on average you take inflation into account they have been flat the last couple of decades. Were beginning to see some increase in wages now. Thats terrific. But with wages being flat and expenses up, people have had a real squeeze. And that middleclass squeeze is real in my home state. This is extra money that families, many People Living paycheck to paycheck can use to pay for expenses like health care, maybe make a car payment they have to make, save for retirement, maybe help their kids. The second goal of this tax reform boosting the American Economy is also beginning to happen, as i said earlier. When the tax cuts and jobs act became law, immediately you saw a number of companies, businesses small and large around the country say were going to do something about this. I remember being home over the holidays and actually the day after christmas, the 26th of december, i was talking with friends. A guy who owns a small manufacturing business, a brother of a friend of mine, said would you be willing to come out to our Little Company to talk about the tax bill . I said sure. We can figure it out schedulewise. He said because i want to give my employees a bonus. Im looking at this tax bill and how its going to affect our little business, what its going to do p for us to be able to invest in the company and i want to give my employees a 1,000 bonus, everybody. I also want to do something in terms of making investments in our equipment because i want to make my people more competitive. This is a manufacturer in cincinnati, ohio, that makes a high quality product, precision quality and he wants to make sure his people have the best equipment. In his case hes got competition from overseas as do a lot of american businesses either directly or indirectly these days with an increasingly Global Economy and he wanted to be sure that could happen. So i went there. I went to the company, shepherd corporation. I had the opportunity to talk about the tax reform bill, what it does across the board. He made the announcement. I can tell you people were very happy. Very happy, because again, these are folks that work hard, play by the rules, arent looking for any kind of a handout. What they do want is to be able to know that if they work hard and do the right thing theyre going to see a Better Future for themselves and kids and grandkids and not have that middleclass squeeze where wages are flat and expenses are you the are up. With an economy not growing as weve seen with the last decade it is a challenge. When you have an economy growing at 2 or less it is tough to see that kind of hope and opportunity. Now with this tax reform bill i think we have a much better chance in seeing that. In fact, looking at some of the projections for next year it looks like most people think the economy is going to grow better than 2 , maybe 3 , maybe a little higher. We dont know. But the point is people are going to have more hope and opportunity. Its not just sheffered in my hometown of cincinnati a bank announced a company wide wage increase. Wages are going to go up for entry level jobs and also bonuses. This is for 13,000 employees in cincinnati. Across the country weve seen this. Tomorrow ill be at a plant in cleveland, ohio, that is putting more money into their pension plan. I think its going to be about 50 million into a pension plan. It isnt in terrible shape but it could be a lot healthier. Thats going to help those employees directly. Last friday i was after the a plant in columbus, ohio, again small manufacturer, a metal foreman map, wolf metal competing with people around the globe. What theyre going to do is make more investments in equipment. I like this comparison to the tax bill because one of the pieces of equipment, about a 1 million piece of equipment they want to replace with the tax bill savings is 32 years old. The tax code that we reformed was 31 years old. And so its time. Dont you think . Every few decades to actually reform our tax code to bring it up to speed to make it more competitive to give our workers the edge just as its time to replace that machine to give his employees the ability to compete globally. Nationwide insurance, columbus, ohio, is going to reinvest in their workers, western and Southern Financial group, boeing, capacity, at t, have increased investments in their workers, new investments in their operations both as a result of this law. With regard to walmart they employ 1. 5 million employees. Theyll raise wages, provide bonuses and expand benefits for their workers as a result of this tax reform legislation. So these are the results. This isnt hypothetical. Its not something were just saying might happen. Its something thats actually happening. I think every single american is going to see a benefit from this because the stronger economy helps everybody. So the 90 of people that see their withholding changing so they have more tax relief, theyre obviously going to see it. The people who work in all these businesses we talked about are going to see it. But all of us benefit. President john f. Kennedy once said something that i think makes a lot of sense. He talked about a rising tide. He said a rising tide lifts all ships. In other words, it helps to have a growing economy. These results are going to help with regard to our competitiveness, too, because right now we have a situation where because of our tax code, jobs and investment are going overseas. And you may not hear as much about this. But what youre going to see is fewer Foreign Companies buying u. S. Companies and, therefore, less investment and jobs going overseas. Last year think about it 2016, last year of which we have numbers, three times as Many American companies were bought by Foreign Companies as the other way around. Ernst young has done a study saying over the past 13 years, there are 4,700 American Companies that were purchased by a Foreign Company that otherwise would still be american if we had this tax bill in place that we have now. So part of the results of this tax reform and tax cut legislation were talking about today, its obvious. Youre going to see better jobs, higher wages, more investment in these companies, more investment in retirement, all the things that we all want to see. Republican and democrat alike. Part of it is the tax cuts. Again, today, with this i. R. S. Announcement, people are going to see if in their paychecks. If not this next pay period, youll see it before february 15 because thats what the Treasury Department is requiring companies to do. So its coming see. The other part you may not see but is very real is this decline weve seen in american competitiveness and the result being jobs and investment going overseas is going to start to reverse. I will tell you its none too late. We needed to do this years ago. Many of us have been talking about it for years, but finally we are putting American Workers in a position where they can compete and they can win. Isnt that what its all about . 4,700 companies, why do i want i dont want more companies being bought. We want people to say im going to invest in america and American Workers. I believe we have so many advantages in this country and were so blessed to be americans. We have great universities. We have the opportunity here through our workforce to be as productive as anybody in the world. But when you have a tax code thats holding us back, its unfair. And its our responsibility as members of congress to fix it and thats what weve done. We should have done it sooner. Now that we have done it, i think were going to see continued good results as we talked about today. Were going to see the opportunity for more investments in American Workers, in american jobs, in american families, in american businesses, and that investment will pay off for all of us. Thank you, mr. President. I yield back. A senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from georgia. Mr. Perdue today i was invited to the white house. I was honored to go to the white house again and be included in a small meeting with our president , President Trump. He was very clear i was invited to the white house to stand firm with President Trump today. We talked about immigration, mr. President. Today i was proud to stand with our president. Weve been very crystal clear, actually, chain migration must end, period. Any solution to our current Immigration Crisis that the United States senate will consider must include ending chain migration. Before i talk about the details of what chain pl migration s. I want to put it in perspective. Our Immigration Crisis today has been longstanding. The last laws we we had a law written in 1965. We had other changes in 1986 but its really been since 1991 of any meaningful immigration change. Three times in the last 11 years, mr. President , well intended people in this body and the house have done a yeomans job of trying to solve the comprehensive problem of immigration in the United States without success. And here we are again right now facing a deadline that the president has put on and rightfully so that we have a sense of urgency. The president has done a couple of things. Hes defined the scope of the problem and hes defined a sense of urgency for the people in congress. But the Legal Immigration system right now is broken. But to deal with that, we have to deal with our entire immigration system in pieces. The reason, i believe, that most of these past efforts have failed is because they try to do a comprehensive solution, mr. President. Today were really breaking into three areas. One, our Legal Immigration system. Second would be the next step might be our temporary work visas. We bring in about 1. 1 million legal immigrants a year today. Ill talk about how that relates historically. But our temporary work visas, we issue about 2. 2 million temporary work visas a year. Then the third issue is, of course, the people who are in the United States illegally. President trump had a meeting two days ago in the white house. In that meeting he had democrats, republicans, members of the house, members of this body, the senate, and he drove consensus in that meeting. It was very interesting, mr. President , that he had the media there for almost 60 minutes for an open dialogue. And we heard from all people in that room about their position on these topics. I thought it was very interesting that the president had the courage to put this issue in front of the American People and create an air of transparency that we have not had on this issue in decades. And in that meeting, he drove two conclusions. One, a scope of the problem and, two, a sense of urgency. The scope is very simply defined as we have to address the daca situation. March 5, the president has we have a date there that the president has given to congress in order to come up with a solution for these individuals who are in the country illegally but not of their doing. The second issue is Border Security. We know that Border Security right now is a National Security issue as much as it is an immigration issue. The good news is, is that we know that illegal crossings of our southern border, anyway, are down dramatically just because of a couple of reasons. One is the enforcement of current law. The second is an understanding arp the world that we are going around the world that we are going to deal with this issue. The third part, the third piece of the scope is chain migration. Any solution to the daca situation or the Legal Immigration situation must include addressing the chain migration issue. And the last is this archaic diversity lottery that we have, visa lottery that we have in the United States that was related to at least one of the terrorist attacks, and chain migration was involved in both of the terrorist attacks that we have recently experienced here in the United States. With regard to daca, the first item on the scope, we know we have a march 5 deadline. There is growing consensus in this body of how to deal with that. And there is great lat tiewt on the part of republicans in this body to deal with that in a way with our democratic partners here to get a consensus bill to solve this once and for all. The second is Border Security. I will tell you with the president s leadership and in these recent meetings with democrats and members of the house, there is a growing consensus there that we can deal with the National Security issues related to our southern border. We dont need a 2,000mile wall, mr. President , as even the president of the United States has said just this week. But there are things that we need to do and we need to do them quick. The president today said that his goal is to get this done this year. Coming from the real world, i know thats possible. This president who comes from the real world, an outsider to here in washington, he knows that possible. I think hes going to hold us accountable to that. The third area that i mentioned before is chain migration. Ill say more about that in a minute. The fourth is diversity lottery. This diversity lottery has not served us well, 50,000 people. Its not the number. Its the way its being handled. We know theres fraud in there and we know this is a loophole that terrorists are now using to put people in their chain inside the United States. But theres a growing consensus on these four areas these four items of this scope that the president has defined and we had a consensus in that room the other day, two days ago in the white house. There is consensus that we can get to a solution within the time frame here. But let me be very clear. Any deal whether its in business, sports, or certainly in politics has to have some sim symmetry, mr. President. Any solution for the daca situation must include a solution for our chain migration crisis. We must continue working with the president , mr. President. He is holding us accountable. Hes moving at a business pace, but to do that weve really got to talk about chain migration. And i understand there are other areas that weve got to talk about as well, but this is one theres a lot of disinformation about what it really is. Chain migration is nothing more than a law that was put in place in 1965 to allow legal permanent residence and u. S. Citizens to sponsor people for u. S. Citizenship. It was put in place in 1965. Its been updated a little bit. But today a legal permanent resident for the most part this is someone who is qualified in our Legal Immigration system that goes through a fiveyear waiting period who eventually can apply for u. S. Citizenship. While theyre a legal permanent resident, mr. President , almost immediately they can sponsor spouses, minor children, and unmarried adult children. Thats current law. Once they become a citizen, and this is true of any u. S. Citizen, whether they were a recent immigrant or were born here, a u. S. Citizen can sponsor their parents, their spouses, minor children, unmarried adult children, married adult children, and siblings. And the issue around this, mr. President , is pretty simple. We have a chart here that shows that in 1965 when this law was put in place, there were approximately 300,000 u. S. Citizens were brought in the United States in that year under this system. Last year we roughly had about 1. 1 million. Weve had a high of somewhere close to 1. 3 million. You can see this is a geometric progression, mr. President , that increases and its not really the number here but its the balance that weve lost. What happens here, mr. President , as a business guy looking at this is this. The individuals who determine who future immigrants are going to be are current and recent immigrants. We dont have many guidelines. We have a country cap system that says that most countries have a percentage of the total that they have to have, and they cant exceed that. But theres no real cap here such that if all these numbers were maximized, then over time you would see this number go up geometrically. We have a second chart, mr. President , that actually shows this and demonstrates that over a very short period of time, the numbers can increase dramatically as weve seen over the last 40 or so years. But there have been studies on this. Princeton has a study that says right now based on recent history, that any immigrant who comes in sponsors somewhere around three and a half future immigrants within a short period of time. Now, we dont know what the 3. 5 immigrants do when they get sponsored and become citizens or legal permanent residents. But if you extrapolate this out, lets say that we start with two million as a starting point here and they become citizens and they sponsor lets just say the number is three, the first generation, now we have six Million People sponsored by the original two million two million. And then the second, you go from six to 18 and the fourth generation, there is no limit here other than the country caps. The country caps do not limit the total number. They limit the mix. Whats wrong with this system . Well, the problem i said just now is that future immigrants are determined by current immigrants without any regard to their ability to participate in the system. The second one is that because you can bring parents in, immigrants who come into this system, become u. S. Citizens can bring their parents in and all of a sudden now we have an aged population coming in, not a younger population who then draw social services on an already bankrupt system. Chain migration is not based on skill or the ability to participate in the current Economic Situation here in the United States. Today or last year we brought in 1. 1 million up grants, mr. President. Imgrangtses, mr. President. Of that 140,000 were immigrants related to the worker. 70,000 were the worker and the other 70,000 were their immediate family. Over 950,000 people were derivative iteration, of the thing im talking about. The third thing is that chain migration if its not stopped continues to incentize future incentivize future ilLegal Immigration because of what you can do once you get here. Chain migration is another problem with the daca situation because if you permit a pathway to some sort of legalized situation here in the United States for the daca population, you end up with a situation where those people who are then legalized can sponsor their parents. The problem with that is the daca population does not violate the fair law but their parents have. The last issue i would bring up is that the National Security issues are profound. Weve seen two National Security incidents this past year related to chain migration and the diversity visa lottery. There is more than enough evidence to show that this has to be addressed. Mr. President , again, any symmetric deal on immigration has to include, i believe, the four points that the president talked about the other day. We have to deal with the daca situation. We have to deal with our Border Security, and that means building a wall, mr. President. We have to deal with the chain migration issue. And we have to deal with this diversity visa lottery. The president demands it. The American People demand it. Today, as a matter of fact, over 80 of america believes that we need to deal with the daca situation. Likewise, 72 of people in america believe that the Immigration Law should be the worker, the spouse, and their immediate minor children only. 72 , mr. President. I cant think of another issue thats come before this body where weve had those sorts of agreements in the american population. The president just wants results. Hes charged leadership in this body and the house and those of us who have been involved in this for some time to get to it. Theres a march 5 deadline looming. Some people say theres a january 19 date that has to do with funding the government. I personally believe the two have nothing to do with each other. But we want a sense of urgency. The president has demanded it. We need it. But we know there are going to be other steps. This is not the last step to this problem, mr. President. We know we have to deal with how we bring people to the United States. We need a balance. Of course we want to continue to be the open arm of the world today in terms of welcoming people to our shores. Look at whats written on the statue of liberty. Who can argue with that . But at the same time, mr. President , we have to have a balance. Right now we dont bring in people who are contributing to the economy for the most part, and were not bringing in people who can contribute. All were asking for is a dialogue to bring balance back to that system. I also believe that kates law and sanctuary cities need to be dealt with. But in this initial agreement that were trying to get to, these other issues are coming in as a second fades, as the president has defined. Im excited to be a part of this dialogue, mr. President , because i believe we have a unique historic opportunity with people on the other side and people on this side who generally have hearts that are not that dissimilar with regard to how to deal with the daca situation, the dreamer population, how to deal with future immigrant populations coming into the United States. We can have those debates and we are having them now. I welcome input from all points. Im anxious to get to the bottom line with this. I would just close with this, mr. President , its k exciting to have leadership from the executive branch on this issue that has put the responsibility back on this body to come up with something that will not allow us to come back here in the next three, five or 20 years dealing with this same problem. We have an historic opportunity. Its time to get to it. Thank you, mr. President. I yield the floor. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from montana. Mr. Daines mr. President , on roll call vote 10 i voted aye. It was my intervention to vote it it was my intention o vote no. I ask unanimous consent to change my vote as it will not affect the outcome. The presiding officer without objection. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from hawaii. Ms. Hirono mr. President , i have been consistently voting against cloture motions to proceed to debate on judicial nominations, and i would like to take this opportunity to explain why. The senate has a constitutional obligation to provide advice and consent on judicial nominees, and i take this obligation very seriously. The American People depend on the senate to fully consider and vet each judicial nominee because throughout the course of their lifetime appointment, judges will issue rulings and opinions that touch each of our lives. The process of nominating, considering, and confirming judges should be a deliberate one. Its purpose should not be to confirm as many judges as quickly as possible. Senators should be able to provide input on who should sit on the federal bench. Senators should have an adequate opportunity to hear from Third Party Experts about the records and qualifications of each nominee. And senators should have enough time to question and examine a nominee during a confirmation hearing. Insisting on a deliberate and comprehensive process is not, as some of my republican colleagues might argue, an effort to deny the president his prerogative to nominate judges to Lifetime Appointments to the federal bench. Instead, this process is essential in determining whether each nominee we consider is qualified for the job and can separate their personal ideology from the decisions he or she renders. For a lifetime appointment to the federal bench, this shouldnt be too much to ask. Over the past year, weve observed a number of concerning issues in the nomination and confirmation process for federal judges that need to be corrected. The president has essentially outsourced the judicial Selection Process to two organizations with strong ideologically driven agendas. The Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation. The Federalist Society, for example, describes itself, quote, as a group of libertarians and conservatives dedicated to reforming the legal order. End quote. This is a group that has supported legal efforts to undermine environmental protection, erode the constitutional right to choose, and blur the lines between church and state. The Heritage Foundation describes its mission as one to, quote, promote conservative public policies. End quote. Over the past few years alone, this organization, this group has fought to undermine the Affordable Care act, oppose lgbtq rights, and erode the ability of federal agencies to issue lifesaving regulations. It is not unreasonable to assume that these organizations, through their Close Association with the white house, expect their ideologically driven agendas to be reflected in the nominees they recommend. And while i concur with justice rehnquists assertion that no judge joins a court as a blank slate, we should have a baseline expectation that lifetime appointees should be able to render justice free from their own personal ideologies. At the same time as the Trump Administration relies more heavily on the Federalist Society and Heritage Foundation to select its judicial nominees, it is devaluing the work done by the american bar association. The a. B. A. Has reviewed and vetted judicial nominees in a nonpartisan manner for over 60 years. With the exception of george w. Bush and now donald trump, president s in both parties have consulted with the a. B. A. Prior to officially nominating to the bench. President obama, for example, provided a great demonstration for how this process should work. Working closely with the a. B. A. , president obama routinely submitted potential candidates for scrutiny prior to their formal nomination. After conducting their independent nonpartisan reviews, the a. B. A. Issued not qualified ratings for 14 candidates that had been proposed by president obama. President obama followed the a. B. A. s recommendation and did not formally nominate any candidates rated not qualified. Under President Trump, on the other hand, we no longer wait for the a. B. A. To complete its assessment of nominees prior to nomination. Prior to the nomination hearing itself, much less before the nomination. We no longer have an opportunity to review the a. B. A. s report and in many cases do not have the chance to question an a. B. A. Representative at a nomination hearing about its review of the nominee. Weve seen the serious consequences of this change and practice in two highprofile nominations this year. Despite never having tried a case, President Trump nominated brett talley to serve on the District Court for the middle district of alabama. Mr. Talley was nominated, given a hearing and listed for Judiciary Committee vote before the a. B. A. Could finish its evaluation. Given his complete lack of qualifications for the job, it wasnt surprising that the a. B. A. Unanimously rated him not qualified. Because he was rushed through the nomination process, we only learned later that mr. Talley failed to disclose that his wife works in the white house counsels office. After two republicans on the committee senator grassley and senator kennedy expressed their opposition to mr. Talley, he fortunately withdrew from consideration. We were not so lucky with steven grasz who was confirmed to the eighth circuit. He was scheduled for a Judiciary Committee hearing before the a. B. A. Could complete its review. By the time the a. B. A. Finished its exhaustive evaluation during which it found him to be not qualified, mr. Grasz was scheduled to appear before the Judiciary Committee in less than 48 hours. This was not it nearly enough time to adequately address and assess the a. B. A. s conclusion that mr. Grasz would not be able to serve as a judge without the undue influence of his personal beliefs. Courts are supposed to protect the rights of minorities, and it is troubling to reflect on the a. B. A. s conclusion that mr. Grasz would be unable to divorce his position on issues like reproductive and lgbtq rights from the cases he will hear on the eighth circuit. Circuit court judges are only one step away from the United States Supreme Court and deserve to be scrutinized closely in the Judiciary Committee. Unfortunately, last year the Judiciary Committee overrode the objections of the minority to hold four nomination hearings with more than one circuit judge nominee considered samuel taney lee. To put this in historical context, the Judiciary Committee held four such hearings in the entire eight years of barack obama as president. And it held each of these hearings with the consent of the republican minority on the committee. During hearings on circuit and District Court nominees, each Committee Member generally has only five minutes to question nominees. Many of whom are highly controversial and deserve maximum scrutiny. Five minutes, which includes the time the nominee takes to respond is not nearly enough time to engage in meaningful dialogue about a nominees judicial philosophy or to examine controversial cases a nominee may have decided in the past. The American People deserve much more as we consider Lifetime Appointments to the federal bench. Im also concerned about the erosion of the blue slip process which has traditionally been a collaborative mechanism to enable senators to confer with the white house on nominees from their states. Although there have been exceptions over the years, president s and Senate Majorities of both parties have respected the blue slip process. In 2009, when democrats controlled the white house and had filibusterproof majority in the senate, every Senate Republican signed a letter to president obama urging him to respect the blue slip process. Id like to read a passage from that letter for emphasis. Quote, regrettably, if we are not consulted on and approve of a nominee from our states, the republican conference will be unable to support moving forward on that nominee. Despite press reports that the chairman of the Judiciary Committee now may be considering changing the committees practice of observing senatorial courtesy we as a conference expect it to be observed even handedly and regardless of Party Affiliation and we will act to preserve this principle and the rights of our colleagues if it is not. Because of the profound impact that life tenured federal judges can have in our society, the founders made their appointments a shared constitutional responsibility. End quote. This is the republican conference asking the democratic majority and the democratic president and the chair of the Judiciary Committee to observe the blue slip process. President obama and the democratic majority at the time upheld the blue slip process without exception. Last year the Judiciary Committee held a nomination hearing for David Strauss to serve on the eighth circuit despite his not receiving two positive blue slips from his home state senators. This is the First Time Since the early years of the george w. Bush administration that the Judiciary Committee has held a hearing for a nominee when a home state senator did not return a blue slip. If the Senate Proceeds to vote on and confirm mr. Strauss it will be the First Time Since 1989, and only the third time in the last 100 years that a judicial nominee was confirmed without two positive blue slips. I certainly take the chairman at his word that this was a one time exception to the blue ship process, but i will hold him and the president to the same standard that they demanded from president obama in 2009. I will continue to rigorously defend the senates constitutional obligation to provide advice and consent on lifetime appointees to the federal bench. And until we return to our normal process through which we can provide this kind of advice and consent, i will continue to oppose invoking cloture on any judicial nominee, and i encourage my colleagues to join me in this position. I yield the floor. Mr. Sullivan mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from alaska. Mr. Sullivan mr. President , every week i try to come down on the floor and talk a little bit about my state, do a little bit of bragging in what we call our alaskan of the week series. Now, theres a lot to talk about with regard to alaska. And people in the gallery, people are watching. We would love for you to come on up, visit our great state. It will be the trip of a lifetime. The scenery, of course, is gorgeous. The mountains are rugged. But its really the people that make my state so special. Rugged, selfsufficient, kind and very generous people all across an area that is over two and a half times the size of texas. I apologize, my texas colleagues. They get a little upset when i talk about that, but it is true. Some, mr. President , every week weve been recognizing a group or a person who has worked to make alaska a stronger place, a stronger community, a state that i think is the best state in our great nation. And i call these individuals our alaskans of the week. So today id like to take you and others watching to alaskas interior to a town called fair banks, alaska fairbanks, alaska, where about 32,000 of my fellow alaskans live, a beautiful, wonderful place. Fairbanks is hot in the center. My wife and i were married there many years ago, got over 90 degrees when we got married in august. But real cold in the winter. We spent the january 1, 2000, the millennium celebration in fairbanks with our kids, our family, 50 below zero without windchill. Cold. Its a place that i love. Where my wife was born and raised, where we live, where my inlaws still live and where jeff cook, our alaskan of the week, calls home. So jeff has been in fair banks his whole life. His parents moved to fairbanks in 1938. He went to college in oregon where his wife sue was there. But the couple moved back to alaska to fairbanks and started a family. Hes now 74 years young and he and sue have four children, two of whom have settled in fairbanks, five grandchildren, and hes the patriarch of not only a great family but of Many Community organizations throughout fairbanks and really alaska. Throughout the years, jeff has had a career in real estate, in business, sat on numerous boards, community boards, community groups. Let me just give you a couple of examples of his Community Work sitting on the boards of the Fairbanks Chamber of commerce, the university of alaska board of regents, the rotary club, the Community Hospital foundation board, the board for the state of Alaska Chamber of commerce, the boards for Alaska Airlines for wells fargo bank. This is an individual, a leader who has been involved in his community for decades, a perfect example of the Community Minded individual who we call our alaskan of the week. We could be done right here, mr. President. Its a Pretty Amazing career, a great example of someone dedicated to his state, to his country, to his community. But jeff has done a lot more. He has recently used all his energy, all his experience, all his Community Involvement to embark on what really has become an Extraordinary Fund raising campaign to raise money for cancer research. So important for our nation, so important for alaska. This became a personal issue for jeff. Let me tell you this story. Last march he and sue received a devastating phone call from their youngest daughter krissy who is 34 and she lives in las vegas with her husband and 2yearold daughter. She called them to tell them the bad news, really the horrible news that millions of mrn families hear every year that she had been diagnosed with Breast Cancer and she had a positive match for the brca 2 gene which flks the risk of increases the risk of developing Breast Cancer or ovarian cancer. Jeff and sue felt powerless against this disease when they heard this. He said, quote, when youre a parent it doesnt matter how old your children are. Youre supposed to slay the dragons and conquer the monsters and protect your kids. If that wasnt devastating enough, weeks later he and his wife made sure everyone in the family, in the cook family got tested. Unfortunately, five other members of the family tested positive for this gene. So theyre all being monitored now. Heres what jeff said. We couldnt conquer the cancer but we had to do something. He said hed heard about the american cancer societys Real Men Wear Pink Campaign, a Fund Raising Program that was held in october. October, as Everybody Knows it, is Breast Cancer awareness month. About 3,000 men across the country participated in the program this year. The Real Men Wear Pink Campaign. So jeff started it. Started with a goal a pretty impressive goal of raising 5,000 for cancer research. An email list about 70 people, most of whom are in fairbanks, and, mr. President , within 90 seconds after his first email, he had raised 1,000. Pretty good. Then what happened . The community of fairbanks, of alaska, really the whole country started opening up to his plea. Donations kept coming in. And the more donations he received, the more jeff worked at raising funds. Now, many of the people he knew were donating, but what happened . Strangers from across alaska and across the country started to send money for this very worthy cause. Breast cancer research, often with heartfelt stories of their own or their loved ones or their own struggles with cancer or those of their kids. Someone from a small town in new york state sent him 250. As the weeks passed, he began to Pay Attention to how he was stacking up against others across the country. Jeff is a competitive guy, very successful. When he reached the number that he was number ten in the country in terms of fund raising for this very important matter, he told one of his friends that there is no way he could be the best number one person that he could beat the number one person ahead of him that had raised 30,000. No way. Thats a high number. Now, fairbanks is not a very big city. And the other people on the list above him were from much bigger cities across the country with what he thought were larger connections and larger networks. But his friend told him dont underestimate yourself, jeff. And after he read take, he said, read that, he said, all right, im going for into. So this is what he did, mr. President. He was all in, started fund raising everywhere. And it when it was all said and done on this campaign, jeff cook from fairbanks alaska, a town of a little over 30,000 people in alaskas interior was the number one fundraiser in america for Breast Cancer research this year, number one. In terms of the american cancer societys Real Men Wear Pink Campaign, jeff cook raised over 120,000 120,000. If my colleagues were down here, id ask them for a round of applause. Thats for the entire country. Think about that. Now, we come down to this floor a lot and debate cancer research, medical research, very important. Heres one individual in america who raised over 120,000 through his own energy and passion and love of his daughter. This is a testament to just perseverance but its also about the good people in fairbanks and throughout alaska and really throughout the country. As jeff said, its so much about our community. There was such an outpouring of love and goodness and generosi generosity. That was the most touching part of this entire experience. But what else did jeff learn, mr. President . That his daughter chrissy who underwent chemotherapy and a double mastectomy is stronger than he ever imagined. She is recovering well but shes still in recovery. So im going to humbly ask my colleagues and those watching and those watching on tv to put a prayer in for chrissy and other cancer victims, like senator her reason know who was senator hirono who was just on the floor, put them on your prayer list because theyre in recovery, all of them. I want to end, mr. President , with a big thanks to everybody in alaska and across the country who are part of the Real Men Wear Pink Campaign literally raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for Breast Cancer research. Thank you to jeff, of course, for not underestimating yourself but for another another mission well done as a Community Leader in fairbanks and throughout alaska, and congratulations for being our alaskan of the week. I yield the floor. A senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from connecticut. Mr. Murphy thank you very much, mr. President. I would have joined you in a round of applause, senator sullivan. Thank you for sharing that inspiring story. Colleagues, i wanted to come to the floor this afternoon to just talk very briefly about the real world impacts of the decisions were going to make in the next week or so regarding the future of the budget. And i really implore my republican colleagues here, most especially republican leadership, to get this job done and not put us on another continuing resolution. Because this isnt a theoretical aura tore cal exercise or rhetorical exercise. This is about peoples lives. And our failure to do our job, our failure to pass a budget and to extend lifesaving programs like the Childrens Health Care Insurance program, its not about politics. Its not about headlines. I not about point scoring. Its about making peoples lives better. So i just want to really share with you three stories from connecticut to talk about the impact of the decisions that were going to make with respect to the federal budget. Let me first talk about this often esoteric sounding concept of pair tip. One of the most of parity. One of the most important things were discussing is how much additional dollars are going to be in the budget for 2017 and 2018 versus the prior fiscal year. There seems to be, you know, fairly widespread agreement that we are underresourced when it comes to the department of defense. Weve got a multitude of kinetic challenges that are presented to the United States. A group of us just got briefed once again today by our military leadership on the scope and stentsz of the north extent of the north korean threat. I agree with many of my republican colleagues that we need to increase funding for National Security. But National Security is not just housed in the department of defense. National security is also about making sure that our families