Youre live now oregon the senate floor here on cspan2. The president pro tempore the senate will come to order. The chaplain, dr. Barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. The chaplain let us pray. Eternal god, who transforms common days into transfiguring and redemptive moments, hallowed be your name. Make our lawmakers great enough for these momentous times, as they seek to live worthy of your great name. May your precepts keep them from lifes pitfalls, guiding them through the darkness to a safe haven. Lord, cleanse the fountains of their hearts from all that defiles, so that they may be fit vessels to be used for your glory. Let your peace be within them, as your spirit inspires them to glorify you in their thoughts, words, and actions. We pray in your wonderful name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Mcconnell madam president . The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell this week the senate will continue considering a number of nominations, beginning with kevin newsom of alabama to serve as judge on the 11th Circuit Court of appeals. Mr. Newsom has earned bipartisan support, having been voted out of the Judiciary Committee 182. Chairman grassley pointed out prior to that vote, several lifelong democrats and republicans have penned letters to the committee touting mr. Newsoms professionalism and qualifications. Hes an exceptionally accomplished nominee, chairman grassley said, who has spent the last 20 years building an impressive legal resume. That resume includes things like clerking for an associate justice on the u. S. Supreme court, serving as alabamas solicitor general, and earning an appointment to the Advisory Committee on appellate rules. For his exceptional work, mr. Newsom has garnered a number of awards from the legal community. The American Lawyer magazine has included him on a list of americas top 50 litigators under age 45. Chambers u. S. A. Has ranked him band one for appellate litigation. And the National Association of attorneys general has awarded him on several occasions the best brief award for his briefings before the supreme court. During his impressive legal career, mr. Newsom has argued four cases before the supreme court, filed amicus briefs in many other cases and argued more than 35 cases in federal Circuit Courts. As indicated by his distinguished professional background, mr. Newsom will be an excellent addition to the court. I look forward to supporting his nomination today and to confirming hum to the is 1th circuit to the 11th circuit later this week. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call quorum call mr. Mcconnell madam president . The presiding officer majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Under the previous order, time is reserved. Morning business is closed. Under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the newsom nomination which the clerk will report. The clerk nomination, the judiciary, Kevin Christopher newsom of alabama to be United States circuit judge for the 11th circuit. Mr. Mcconnell madam president . The presiding officer majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to legislative session. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed say no. Ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to executive session and consider calendar number 175, Marvin Kaplan. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All those in favor say aye. Those opposed say nay. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. The clerk will report the nomination. The clerk nomination, National LaborRelations Board, Marvin Kaplan of kansas to be a member. Mr. Mcconnell i send a cloture motion to the desk. The presiding officer the clerk will report the motion. The clerk cloture motion, we the understand signed 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 nomination of Marvin Kaplan to be a member of the National LaborRelations Board signed by 16 senators. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the mandatory quorum call be waived. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection. Democratic leader . Mr. Schumer thank you, madam president. First, madam president , on the matter of health care, now, i sincerely and tewellly hope truly hope the events of last week are a turning point. I hope they steer this body towards a period of greater bipartisanship. We sure could use it because the problems in our Health Care System did not end last week. We democrats know that the Affordable Care act wasnt perfect. We want to keep what works and there were a lot of good things in it and we want to fix what doesnt. And we have to work to do we have a lot of work to do on that front. Our first order of business should be to stabilize the individual market and then both parties should Work Together through regular order through committees to discuss other improvements. Chairman alexander, Ranking Member murray have indicated they want to Work Together. They want to have public hearings and do this right away. Im hopeful that chairman hatch, Ranking Member wyden both of whom have proven themselves willing and able to Work Across Party Lines also will be willing to work closely together to address broader problems with our Health Care System. But let me repeat. The first order of business should be to stabilize the individual market which has been racked by uncertain. Right now as insurers previous to lock in their prepare to lock in their rates and plans for 2018, the Trump Administration is dangling a massive sword of damocles over the heads of millions of americans, threatening to end payments the administration is supposed to make that would lower deductibles and outofpocket costs for so many americans. These payments are critical to keeping Health Care Costs down and keeping the markets stable. Remember, ahip, the largest trade group of insurers has said that the uncertainty about these payments is, quote, the single most destabilizing factor in the individual market. Thats not Chuck Schumer or some democrat saying it. Thats the insurers. They say it. Make no mistake. By refusing these payments, President Trump is sabotaging our Health Care System. Hes actively trying to make it collapse taking out his political loss on the American People. Thats not being president ial. Thats small. Its vindictive, and it will hurt millions of americans hes sworn to help. In pennsylvania, North Carolina, insurers have filed two separate sets of possible rates for 2018. One if the payments are made, one if theyre not. If the payments are not made, premiums would be 20 higher. Lets repeat that. If the payments are not made, if President Trump follows through on his vindictive idea of not making the payments, premiums would be 20 higher for the people of North Carolina and pennsylvania. So if President Trump does not guarantee these payments permanently, americans will have to pay a trump tax on their premiums next year. Let me say that again. If President Trump does not guarantee these payments, americans will be paying a trump tax of 20 higher premiums. President trump has a responsibility to make our Health Care System work, and millions of americans will hold him accountable if the system implodes on his watch, if insurers leave the markets on his watch, or if their premiums go up 20 or more on his watch. Of course, we in congress could remove the uncertainty hanging over the market and take the decision out of the president s hands. We can and should guarantee these payments as soon as possible before the insurers set their rates for next year. Id urge my republican friends to join us on senator shaheens bill to guarantee these payments and prevent President Trumps premium tax from going into effect. Republican senators alexander, collins, hatch, portman, johnson have all spoken about the need to do this. I hope theyll help us move forward. We could get this done very quickly and show the American People that were able to Work Together on health care in a very bipartisan way to help keep costs down for so many, so many ratepayers. Now, madam president , on another matter, russia sanctions. I am very proud that last week as nearly every member of Congress Save five voted to pass legislation to sanction russia, iran and north korea that there was such bipartisanship on that issue. According to reports, the president will sign the legislation. These are tough sanctions. Theyll have a real effect on russia, and they are more than justified. President putin violated the sovereignty of the ukraine, aided and abetted human rights abuses in syria and attacked the very foundation of our democracy by meddling in the 2016 election. Just as important, the sanctions bill gives congress the ability to review any decision, to weaken, dilute or lift sanctions on russia. President putin will not be able to get out from under the sting of these sanctions without the consent of congress. Let this be an unequivocal message to mr. Putin and any other nations thats thinking of interfering in our elections. If you interfere with our elections which we hold sacred, you will be sanctioned. Those sanctions will be severe. Finally, madam president , a word on the investigation conducted by special counsel mueller. Since the beginning of the investigation into russias meddling into our elections both here and congress and the executive branch, the heavy hand of the administration has never been far away. We know the administration solicited the help of the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee to beat back reports in the press about russias interference in our election, and that was after 17 intelligence agencies said it happened. The president fired f. B. I. Director jim comey and admitted on National Television he was thinking, quote, about this russia thing when he did it. Then, after special counsel mueller was appointed to lead the investigation, allies of the administration went on television to defame his character, to sully his reputation; shameful ploy to a man with one of the most sterling records of nonpartisan Public Service a man can have in this country. And now the president routinely berates and humiliates his former friend maybe hes still his friend. Who knows. But his attorney, his great ally in his campaign, a man on twitter. Jeff sessions was one of President Trumps earliest friends, one of his first supporters in congress. Not only does that get to character, which im sure it does, i cant imagine any american likes the way senator sessions was treated whether you agree with him or disagree with him. But it also raises questions about whether the president wants the attorney general to resign so he can point a new attorney general willing to fire general mueller. If that comes to pass we will have a constitutional crisis on our hands. The senate should remove even the possibility of it coming about. So in the tradition of the senate, i expect we will hold pro forma sessions throughout the upcoming recess to prevent a recess appointment from being made. The fact that President Trump continues to medal with medde with the department of justice and impede the investigation gets to a larger question. If President Trump has nothing to hide, nothing to mere, why not let special counsel mueller do his job, follow the facts, and finally get to the bottom of the matter . On a matter as important as foreign interference in our elections, the American People deserve a thorough and impartial investigation into the facts. President trump should come nowhere, nowhere near it. I yield i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call the presiding officer the senator from florida. Mr. Nelson madam president , i ask that the quorum call be lifted. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Nelson madam president , we have chaos in venezuela. Its a protracted crisis in venezuela which took yet another turn for the worse yesterday. Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro pushed ahead with a vote despite so many people, including the opposition, to try to have him avoid and became a sham vote. Only about 10 of the population voted. The opposition stayed home. It was a vote, no wonder why people stayed home. It was a sham vote to form a Constitutional Assembly despite the vehement opposition of the venezuelan people and the Overwhelming International criticism. Plain and simple, the vote was illegal, and it was rigged. And once again on the streets and at the ballot box, the venezuelan people have made themselves loud and clear. Two weeks ago more than seven million venezualans voted against even holding this vote, and yet the numbers are millions stayed home. Maduro wants to rewrite venezuelas constitution so that he can cling to power. And yesterdays vote was only the latest attempt to undermine, if not to completely undo, venezuelas democracy. He continues to crack down on protesters. Theyve killed more than 100 and injuring and arresting thousands more. His thugs have raided homes, terrorizing the oppositions families. Hes tried to strip the National Assembly of its powers, undercut the attorney general, and he has coopted the courts. His thugs attacked the National Assembly, injuring opposition lawmakers. He blocked a lawful referendum to recall his election. His cronies steal the countrys money and enrich themselves, all the while the venezuelan people suffer. The people go hungry. Children are malnourished. There are no staple products, no medicines, no medical supplies for the people. Of course you know who gets the food and the medical treatment. Its the privileged few, the maduro ones that he protects. Now this is venezuelas tragic reality. Maduro has made himself dictator , and he and his cronies are bent on turning venezuelas once vibrant democracy and once vibrant economy into a cubanstyle regime. Nevertheless, the venezuelan people in the face of violence, oppression, and deprivation, they continue to fight for their democracy, for the little bit of freedoms that they have left. Theyre doing everything they can at great risk to themselves and their families to save their democracy and, thus, to save their country. Well, the task just got a lot harder. So the issue before us, mr. President , is what can we do to support them since maduro has now installed himself with this fake referendum on a National Assembly. What can we do to support maduro from being the dictator that he is. And so what we need to do is condemn the Constitutional Assembly as the sham that it is. It also means the United States increasing the pressure on the maduro regime. Ive just spoken this afternoon with the Treasury Department, and the United States has announced a little earlier this afternoon, has frozen maduros assets. I expect at least two other countries to follow suit, and probably more after they do. This is an important step, and i hope its the first in what i hope will be the strongest possible economic sanctions to stop maduro. Its time that we consider cutting the imports of Venezuelan Oil also. Now what have we done thus far . Well, there were already a group of maduros cronies, some in the private sector, some in the government, that the sanctions have been slapped on. You say, well, what does that do . What good does that do . Listen, all of these cronies of maduro, they love to come to miami. They love to have offshore Bank Accounts and all kinds of assets stashed overseas. And if not in the u. S. , perhaps in some of those other countries that are going to follow suit. So we do that with his cronies. Now what we have done today by the announceme