John Cornyn

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Sessions).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Sessions).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Sessions).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Sessions).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Sessions).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Sessions).

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, soon the Senate will vote to repeal ObamaCare. This is for at least two reasons. One is that ObamaCare has been an abysmal failure when you look at the promises that were made to sell it and actually what has been delivered in terms of higher premiums, higher deductibles, and more challenges for ordinary Americans. Many Americans now find that their deductible is so high that they are effectively self-insured. I remember like it was yesterday--actually, it was some 6 years ago-- that President Obama said: If you like what you have, you can keep it, in terms of your health coverage. He said: If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. He said: The average family of four would see their premiums go down by $2,500. None of that has proven to be true. ObamaCare was sold under false claims, false promises. We know that many headlines today demonstrate that premiums are higher than people can afford. They can't keep the insurance plan they had and they liked, and they have to go find another doctor, sometimes as often as each year because the insurance coverage they have is no longer being written because insurance companies simply can't survive in this marketplace. In many instances, they end up having to leave rural parts of the country, particularly rural parts of places like rural Texas. A lot of this has to do with redtape. A lot of this has to do with the companies that have been forced to pass along higher costs to consumers or leave, and that is exactly the sort of thing that happens when the government intervenes in the marketplace, unintended consequences occur. I mentioned increased rural access to health care. That was actually supposed to be one of the selling points of ObamaCare, and now it is just another example of how this law has truly failed. Even so, even having acknowledged some of the failures of ObamaCare themselves, our Senate Democratic colleagues are refusing to acknowledge the catastrophe they created because this law was passed on a purely partisan basis, without any votes on the other side of the aisle, and signed by President Obama into law without any participation by Republicans. Now, having created this mess--creating this crisis really--they made clear they want no part of fixing the problem. Apparently, they would rather ignore the harmful effects brought about by ObamaCare and try to then assign blame to those who are trying to rescue the American people from the failure known as ObamaCare. We are confident the American people know the truth. They know President Obama made promise after promise to get ObamaCare passed. They know the reality is a lot different, and it is a lot dimmer than the picture he painted. In my mind, such widespread public deception amounts to nothing more and nothing less than a simple case or, actually, I should say a colossal case of consumer fraud. In my former job as attorney general of the State of Texas, we had a consumer protection bureau that went after scam artists and others who deceived the American consumer, Texas consumer, and promised them one thing and delivered another. That is nothing more or nothing less than what happened here where President Obama promised the American people the Moon when it came to health care, and they found out that those promises were hollow indeed. That is why the American people want ObamaCare to become a thing of the past. One recent poll showed that about 8 out of every 10 Americans wanted to change the law in significant ways or see it replaced altogether. The truth is, ObamaCare is a terrible law that continues to hurt many American families trying to get by. Americans all around the country are asking for help, asking for relief from this terrible law, and demanding a better health care system that actually delivers results, not just empty promises. We can't get to that replacement until we actually repeal ObamaCare, which will start with the budget resolution we will pass this evening or late tonight. This is not a rushed or hurried response; it is merely the first step in a deliberative process that Republicans in both Chambers of Congress have been working on for years. The only difference is now we will soon have a President in office who understands that people are hurting, asking for change, and are in need of promises that are actually delivered. It is not too late for our Democratic colleagues to work with us to get this job done and move forward with a solid plan that helps all Americans. I understand the temptation, after creating this legislation, this health care debacle known as ObamaCare, to now say it is your baby, you deal with it and then try to assign blame if things don't work out exactly the way we hope. The fact is, we always do better here, and the American people are always better served when we try to work together in a bipartisan way, on a step-by-step basis, to deliver on the promises we made. This budget resolution that we will be voting on tonight is not about Medicare. It is not about cutting health care for millions of people. Rather, the opposite is true. We are actually going to try to save the American consumer from falling through the cracks or finding out that the promises that have been made to them are simply not true or that they are burdened with health care policies that they simply can't afford. What we are about is getting rid of a failed policy that now 6 years in is still making life harder for millions of Americans. I am eager to make sure we keep our promise. That is the second part of this. We promised the American people that if they gave us an opportunity by electing a new President, by retaining the majorities in the House and the Senate, as they have, that we would deliver by repealing and replacing ObamaCare. That starts with tonight's vote. Nomination of Rex Tillerson Mr. President, this morning I had the honor of introducing Mr. Rex Tillerson, President-Elect Trump's nominee to be Secretary of State, at his confirmation hearing before the Foreign Relations Committee. I was joined by my colleague Senator Cruz from Texas, former Senator Sam Nunn, and former Secretary of Defense Mr. Gates. All of us said that Mr. Tillerson is an inspired and outstanding appointment by President- Elect Trump. I have come to learn that Mr. Tillerson is a person whom I both respect and admire the longer I have gotten to know him. He has proven over his decades-long career in the top echelons of a large global company that he has what it takes to represent the United States on the world stage. True, to this point, his responsibility has been toward shareholders of the company he has represented, but I have every confidence he can transfer that same sort of diligence, that same sort of acumen, and those relationships, from which a large multinational corporation has benefited, now to the American people, and the United States of America can resume its place on the world stage with him as our top diplomat. I said before that one of my biggest frustrations with the current administration is it regularly ignores our allies while intentionally propping up or strengthening our adversaries. I have every confidence that Mr. Tillerson will flip that narrative, and he will help the United States regain our leadership role in the world by unapologetically supporting our allies and friends while keeping our enemies in check. He is the right man to lead the State Department, and I hope we confirm him soon. Nomination of Jeff Sessions Mr. President, let me add, today we are engaged in the second day of hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions, our colleague of longstanding, to be U.S. Attorney General. Some people who haven't had the benefit of working with Senator Sessions know him by his record. Frankly, given some of the testimony, I don't recognize the person who is being described by those who, for various reasons, are opposing his nomination. We know that he has an outstanding record of service, both to the people of Alabama, to the United States as U.S. attorney, and then in the U.S. Senate for the last 20 years. It is ironic that we are having a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the qualifications of Senator Sessions to serve as Attorney General, a committee on which he has served for 20 years. Our colleagues across the aisle don't need to have a hearing to know Jeff Sessions because they already know him well. They know him to be a man of honor, a man of principle, a man who is true to his word, and who believes, above all, that the role of the Attorney General is to enforce the law of the land--something we have not seen in the last 8 years during the Obama administration, where the Justice Department has become a political arm of the White House. I have every confidence that Senator Sessions, as the next Attorney General of the United States, will restore the reputation of the Department of Justice and the Office of Attorney General to one that respects the rule of law and dispenses equal justice under the law. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Sessions).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Sessions).

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Sessions).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Sessions).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Sessions).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Sessions).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: The Senator from Alabama (Mr. Sessions).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Sessions).

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I have four requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority leaders. Pursuant to Rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Sessions) and the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Tillis).

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Sessions) and the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Tillis).

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Blunt), the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Graham), and the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Tillis).

Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, as my colleagues know, this week we will take up the nominations of the men and women who President-Elect Trump has selected for his Cabinet. I have to say, for myself, that looking at the quality of the people the President-elect has nominated gives me quite a bit of reassurance about what his administration will be like, starting with the Vice President, Mike Pence. Mr. Pence is somebody well known to those of us here in the Congress, having served 12 years in the House of Representatives, and then he went on to be the Governor of Indiana for 4 years. He is eminently qualified to help the administration and the President-elect navigate the perils and pitfalls of the legislative process here in the Senate and in the House. Then we look at the other people who have been nominated, whether it is for Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, or the Department of Homeland Security. In some cases, they are unconventional choices, but, in every case I can think of, they are people who have eminent qualifications to offer to the administration and to the country in this new administration. This is one of the most important responsibilities a Senator has--to make sure we conduct the advice and consent process and make sure we vet the nominees for these important posts. But in one case in particular, it is not going to be all that hard because we have served alongside Senator Jeff Sessions, for 15 years in my case and for 20 years in other cases. We should be working together, as President Obama himself has said, recognizing the importance of a smooth transition from the outgoing administration to the new one. That should be true no matter what side of the aisle you are on. Unfortunately, I think some of our Democratic friends are still in some shock from the election on November 8. I remember a book written on the grieving process, describing that first comes denial, then comes anger, and then ultimately acceptance. I think what our Democratic colleagues have to work through is their denial and anger to get to acceptance of the fact that President-Elect Trump and Vice President-Elect Pence won the election. So what is our responsibility? It is to work in a bipartisan basis to make sure that they have the people around them that they need in order to run the government. We are simply trying to stick to the same standard set under President Obama. In 2009, our Democratic colleagues held seven confirmation hearings in one day. That is more than we are planning to do on Wednesday. So my response to our friends across the aisle is to listen to the junior Senator from Connecticut, who told a reporter: ``I can figure out how to walk across the hall and attend two hearings occurring simultaneously.'' One of the most important hearings, in my mind, we will hold is the hearing we are going to have in the Judiciary Committee starting tomorrow on the President-elect's nominee as Attorney General--our friend Senator Jeff Sessions. As I said, the junior Senator from Alabama has a lengthy history serving his State and country in law enforcement, but his passion for public service started long before that. Before we knew him in the Senate, Jeff Sessions was an Eagle Scout from Hybart, AL. He later served in the Army Reserves. After college, he taught at Goode Street Elementary School in Montgomery, AL. I bet even those of us who have known him a long time did not know that he taught at Goode Street Elementary School in Montgomery, AL, after college. Then he went on to become a lawyer, receiving his law degree from the University of Alabama. He later worked as a Federal prosecutor, including 12 years as a U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Alabama. Then--where I got to know him--he became his State's attorney general. Senator Sessions' record is one of a person not afraid to go after those who are abusing power. From State judges and senators to county commissioners and school board members, Jeff Sessions has rooted out and punished corrupt officials as was his job as a U.S. attorney. As U.S. attorney, he fought to secure the rights of African Americans to vote and successfully advocated to uphold the death penalty sentence of Ku Klux Klan member and murderer Henry Hays. Here in the Senate, he served on the Senate Judiciary Committee for 20 years, where I have come to know him well. Working with him has shown me not only his sharp mind but his passion for the people of this country and his commitment to the rule of law. He is a hard worker and a person who makes his decisions based on what he thinks is the right thing to do and his own integrity. I know many of us can attest to this, including my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. While holding true to his principles, Jeff Sessions has found common ground with folks across the ideological spectrum on many issues, including ones he will work on as Attorney General of the United States. For example, in 2003, Senator Sessions worked closely with the late- Senator Teddy Kennedy, whom I have called the liberal lion of the Senate. Perhaps, I am not the first one, but he certainly was that. He was a larger-than-life personality and somebody who personified our political opposition across the aisle. But Jeff Sessions and Teddy Kennedy worked together to help fight sexual assault in prison in a way that was both proactive and pragmatic. Senator Sessions crafted legislation to encourage State governments to take affirmative measures that reduced the frequency of sexual assault in jails and prisons. We continue to see the benefits of this legislation today, as more and more States get serious and crack down on this crime. Last Congress, I was proud to work with Senator Sessions and Senator Leahy, the ranking member in the 114th Congress, and others in this Chamber, to pass the Justice for All Reauthorization Act, which created additional tools that strengthened the Prison Rape Elimination Act. Then there is the work Senator Sessions has done with the assistant minority leader, the Democratic whip, and the senior Senator from Vermont, two of this Chamber's more liberal Members, to address sentencing disparities between crack cocaine and powder cocaine. It became obvious over time that many people living in our inner cities were using crack cocaine, but their fellow countrymen living in more affluent areas caught with powder cocaine were subject to far lesser sentences than those in the inner cities using crack cocaine. The work Senator Sessions did with Senator Durbin and Senator Leahy, called the Fair Sentencing Act, was signed in to law by President Obama in 2010. Senator Sessions saw the harsh penalties many young African-American men experienced for possession of crack, compared to the lighter punishments given to suspects found with powder cocaine, who as a group tended to be more White or Hispanic. To me, this is the sort of thing that offends the most basic sensibilities of Jeff Sessions--somebody who believes unequivocally in color-blind justice and equal justice under the law. Of course, the utmost responsibility of the U.S. Department of Justice is to enforce the law and ensure equality for all Americans under our Constitution. Senator Sessions has demonstrated that he is qualified and prepared to serve as the Nation's top law enforcement officer--not only thanks to a proven track record but, because at his core, he understands the importance of justice for all and upholding the rule of law. Now, you don't have to take my word for it. Here is what some of our leading Democratic colleagues have had to say about working with Senator Sessions over the years: The incoming Democratic leader, Senator Schumer of New York, called Jeff Sessions ``straightforward and fair.'' Senator Durbin, the Democratic whip, in June 2010, working with him to eliminate the disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine called Jeff Sessions ``a man of his word.'' Then, perhaps, there is an unlikely person to compliment Senator Sessions, because of some of the positions Attorney General Holder took that I think Senator Sessions found objectionable--particularly when injecting too much politics into the work of the Department of Justice and not enforcing what Senator Sessions saw to be the rule of law. Nevertheless, former Attorney General Eric Holder on January 2016, 2009, called Senator Sessions ``a great U.S. attorney.'' Senator Sessions has both the temperament and experience to restore the faith of all Americans in our justice system, and we have the responsibility to grant him a fair confirmation hearing starting tomorrow. I suspect our Democratic colleagues agree, because in 2015 they penned a letter that said: The Attorney General plays a pivotal role in administering our nation's laws and protecting our national security. This is why the Senate, regardless of the party in control, has historically given swift consideration to Attorney General nominees. Those were our Democratic colleagues. The chance to do so is right before all of us, and I hope they will assist us in a fair and swift confirmation process for a truly honorable and deserving candidate for Attorney General. I know we will miss Senator Sessions in the Senate. Not that we always agreed with him, but he always disagreed in the most congenial sort of manner and in a way that we knew he had respect for people of widely divergent views. But the fact is that our country needs him to lead the Department of Justice now more than ever. I yield the floor.

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Blunt), the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Graham), and the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Tillis).

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

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I would just say, I had the pleasure of sitting here listening to the Senator from Connecticut talk about his concerns about repealing ObamaCare, and I would say it strikes me that their posture is that we sold the American people a lemon, and we insist they keep it. Our position is that ObamaCare has been a failure. It has been a grand--in terms of scale--experiment, a national experiment that has failed. Yesterday I talked about the fact that my constituents are writing me and telling me that their premiums, in many instances, have doubled, and their deductible has gotten to the point that they are effectively self-insured so their insurance does them virtually no good. We will vote to repeal ObamaCare, but obviously we are not going to leave people hanging out to dry. We are going to make sure they have coverage that they choose and that they can afford. I welcome the assistance of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to try to craft a bipartisan reform. The biggest failure of ObamaCare was the fact that when our Democratic friends had 60 votes in the Senate and they had President Obama in the White House and a majority in the House, they jammed it down the throats of the American people. That is really why ObamaCare is unsustainable--because it was purely a partisan political exercise. We need to start over by repealing ObamaCare and then reforming our health care system so people can buy the coverage they want at a price they can afford. We are going to work very carefully to make sure the transition is thought out, methodical, and very carefully done. Nominations Soon, Mr. President, we will be considering and confirming men and women nominated by the President-elect to fill leadership roles throughout the administration. This is crucial to ensuring a smooth transition from one President to another, and it is important to make sure the next President has the people and resources he needs to help lead our country. I have had some of the reporters in the hallway say: How in the world can you process so many nominees at the same time, so quickly? I said: It is the tyranny of the calendar. We are going to have a new President on January 20, and wouldn't you want--for example, the President's CIA Director choice, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Defense, the head of the Department of Homeland Security, the Director of National Intelligence--wouldn't you want all of those key national security positions filled as soon as possible in case some of our adversaries decide to take advantage of this transition to try to threaten the United States? It makes sense to me that we would work in an orderly sort of way with our colleagues across the aisle to make this transition a smooth one from President Obama to President Trump. President Obama has said that is what he is working to do, and you would think it would make sense for us to be a part of the solution and not a part of the problem. Holding up confirmations just for delay's sake is irresponsible and it is dangerous. As I speak, there is a hearing going on on the foreign cyber threats in the Senate Armed Services Committee. People are justifiably concerned about what our adversaries are doing in cyber space. But it is not related to just cyber space, it is related to nuclear threats from countries such as North Korea, obviously the ongoing humanitarian crisis and civil war going on in Syria and elsewhere, the threats from Russia not only in cyber space but also to our NATO allies in Europe, and I could go on and on talking about Iran and its nuclear aspirations, its ballistic missile capability. This is a dangerous world we are living in, and why in the world would we want to make it even more dangerous just to let our colleagues delay for delay's sake President-Elect Trump getting to fill his Cabinet, particularly these important national security offices? The truth is, when it comes to wanting what is best for America, we are all on the same team. We should all want what is best for our country. It doesn't do our Democratic colleagues a bit of good to delay the inevitable because, thanks to former Democratic leader Harry Reid and the so-called nuclear option that changed the Senate confirmation rules, we know that President-Elect Trump's Cabinet members will be confirmed. It is going to happen because it takes 51 votes. Just delaying for delay's sake out of partisan pique really doesn't do anything to accomplish any goal but, rather, makes our country more dangerous and denies the President-elect the Cabinet he has chosen. When President-Elect Obama was nominated to office, we acted very quickly. In fact, on the day he was inaugurated--January 20, 2009-- seven of his Cabinet members were confirmed. We were not happy about the outcome of the election on this side of the aisle. We wished a different electoral outcome had occurred. But once the voters had spoken, we accepted their verdict, and we worked cooperatively to see a smooth transition from the Bush administration to the Obama administration. I believe it is our duty to do that. Nearly all of President Obama's Cabinet-level nominees were confirmed within the span of 2 weeks. We came together, understood that the people had spoken, and we went to work to cooperate in good faith, not necessarily because we were happy about the outcome but because it is our responsibility to do so. Then there are some of the statements from some of our colleagues across the aisle that they now appear to be walking away from. In the spring of 2015, Senator Stabenow, the senior Senator from Michigan, said: ``When a President wins an election, they have the right to have their team.'' She said that on April 20, 2015. I hope that not only the Senator from Michigan but her other colleagues remember that position they took then and simply reciprocate in good faith during this transition. Senator Stabenow is right, by the way. No matter which side you are on, we know that the voters have spoken. As President-elect, he has the authority to surround himself with those he sees fit to advise him and help him as he serves our country. For some of our colleagues to suggest that keeping the President understaffed is somehow in the best interest of the American people is palpably false. It is ridiculous. I mentioned the national security nominations the President-elect has indicated. One of those first ones was Senator Sessions, our colleague here in the Senate, the junior Senator from Alabama, to serve as Attorney General of the United States. The Attorney General is not only the head of the Department of Justice and has an important law enforcement role, the Attorney General also has a very important anti-terrorism national security portfolio as well. So it is very important that people like Senator Sessions, the Attorney General nominee, be put in place on a timely basis for the safety of our community. Talking about the nomination of Attorney General Loretta Lynch not even 2 years ago, the senior Senator from Vermont urged a quick confirmation, saying: ``Confirming the top law enforcement position should be an urgent priority of the Senate.'' And he is right. As the minority party is now considering the political strategy of obstruction, delay, and stall tactics, what has changed except that your preferred candidate did not win and our preferred candidate did win? That is the only thing that has changed. Another nominee the Senate will consider is the President-elect's choice to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Justice Scalia. Last year, after the death of Justice Scalia, we promised the American people that the next President, whether it was a Republican or a Democrat, would nominate the successor to Justice Scalia. We didn't say we would only vote to confirm a Republican President's nominees; we said that the American people had a right to a voice in who would make that choice, recognizing that the next Justice on the Supreme Court could serve 25 or 30 years. Here we are 15 days before the President-elect is sworn in to the White House and the minority leader is already threatening to deny the voices and the vote of the American people from last November by blocking any nominee indefinitely. As shocking as it sounds, on Tuesday night, just hours after the 115th Congress was sworn in, Senator Schumer, the Democratic leader, was asked in an interview on MSNBC if he would ``do his best to keep the seat open.'' He answered with one word: ``Absolutely.'' Despite months of calling for a full Supreme Court, all nine members, even using the hashtag ``We need nine,'' the Democratic leader is now threatening indefinite obstruction. Republicans were clear with the American people: We would respect their voice in whom they wanted to pick the next Supreme Court Justice, whether it was a Democrat or Republican in the White House, and we would move forward with that nominee in the new Congress. I hope our Democratic friends don't slow-walk President-Elect Trump's nominees. It is one thing to obstruct, but it becomes an even bigger problem when they intentionally try to keep President Trump from doing the job the voters have given him the responsibility to do. The American people made clear in November that they are done with business as usual here in Washington, DC. Frankly, I don't think it was a robust endorsement of either one of the political parties. We got an unconventional President-elect, and I think the American people expect him to shake this place up, and I think he will. We intend to work with him to make sure there is a positive outcome for the American people. I don't think they are interested in political stunts or delay for delay's sake, nor do they want us to return to the dysfunctional do- nothing Congress of the past. They want results, and they want a path forward toward a brighter future for themselves and their families. Let's not keep from President Trump the men and women he has chosen to work alongside him. That would only make us less safe, our economy more fragile, and the government less efficient. After all, we are paying the bills as taxpayers. Why would we want a less efficient or less effective government? In short, it will not serve the interests of the American people well. I know we are ready on this side of the aisle to roll up our sleeves and get to work. As I have learned through hard experience, the only time anything ever gets accomplished in the Senate is when we work together. I am not talking about people sacrificing their principles. We ought to fight like cats and dogs when it comes to our basic principles. There are a lot of things that are outside of the realm of principles where we can find common ground and work together and build consensus. I think we ought to take advantage of this historic opportunity to do just that, starting with confirming the President's Cabinet and letting them get to work to help his administration as soon as possible. I yield the floor.