Mitch McConnell

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 553, S. 2465.

Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute be agreed to and that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time.

Mr. McCONNELL. I know of no further debate on the bill, as amended.

Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 3342 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the Corker amendment at the desk be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; the title amendment at the desk be agreed to; and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be discharged from further consideration of S. 2765 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following Senate resolutions, which were submitted earlier today: S. Res. 680, S. Res. 681, S. Res. 682, and S. Res. 683.

Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent the resolutions be agreed to; that the preambles be agreed to; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 684, submitted earlier today.

Mr. McCONNELL. I further ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn to then convene for pro forma sessions only, with no business being conducted, on the following dates and times and that following each pro forma session, the Senate adjourn until the next pro forma session: Friday, October 12, at 12 noon; Tuesday, October 16, at 12 noon; Friday, October 19, at 10 a.m.; Tuesday, October 23, at 4:30 p.m.; Friday, October 26, at 5 p.m.; Tuesday, October 30, at 1 p.m.; Friday, November 2, at 2:45 p.m.; Tuesday, November 6, at 4 p.m.; Friday, November 9, at 9 a.m. I further ask that when the Senate adjourns on Friday, November 9, it next convene at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, November 13; and that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; finally, that following leader remarks, the Senate resume consideration of the House message to accompany S. 140 under the previous order.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the provisions of S. Res. 684 and do so as a further mark of respect for the late Joseph D. ``Joe'' Tydings, former Senator for the State of Maryland.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 3834 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. McCONNELL. I further ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, later this morning, the Senate will vote to deliver the most substantial infrastructure legislation yet considered by this Congress to communities across America. Yesterday, I spoke about President Trump's challenge to improve our Nation's infrastructure, and I laid out how America's Water Infrastructure Act will represent a major step toward meeting that challenge nationwide. This comprehensive legislation meets all sorts of pressing needs unique to different corners of our country--from dams, levees, and flood control, to safer drinking water and sewage systems. There are national issues at stake, such as the ability of American producers and manufacturers to access markets around the world, but the questions at stake are also very local. By way of example, I would like to highlight just a few of the ways this legislation will have a direct impact on communities in my home State of Kentucky. First, the bill before us includes a measure that will protect property owners from paying thousands of dollars in fees to fix decades-old surveying mistakes by the Army Corps of Engineers. This is a critical issue for Kentucky's Rough River community, where the Army Corps' own errors threatened to stick local landowners with a steep bill. I was pleased to lead the charge in crafting a commonsense solution to prevent this Kentucky community from paying a financial price for government mistakes. This legislation also halts the imposition of burdensome fees on water use in Lake Cumberland, and it extends my Freedom to Fish Act for 5 years by barring the Army Corps from prohibiting fishing in the tailwaters of Barkley and Wolf Creek Dam. For so many communities in my State, fishing is both a hobby and a way of life. This is not an area where the Federal Government needs to jump in between Americans and their own backyards. We had to pare back this regulatory overreach. This legislation does exactly that. Here is one more example. In States like Kentucky where waterways play such a pivotal economic role, it is also crucial that the Army Corps be equipped to demolish defunct parts of our waterways infrastructure that now stand in the way of progress. These efforts will allow communities along Kentucky's Green and Barren Rivers to make these waterways healthier, safer, and more attractive for outdoor recreation. I am proud this legislation authorizes these important steps forward. This is the beauty of America's waterways. It is a national issue, but it touches local communities across the country in very direct and specific ways. I am proud of the ways this legislation will help Kentucky. I know each of my colleagues knows just as many ways this bill will impact their own State for the better. That is underscored by last night's overwhelming bipartisan vote of 96 to 3. I look forward to a similar bipartisan vote later this morning to send this significant infrastructure bill to the President's desk for signature into law.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, one final matter. While the Senate was focused on Justice Kavanaugh's confirmation last Friday, our economy reached a major milestone. According to the latest Department of Labor report, unemployment in the United States of America has now fallen to 3.7 percent. That is the lowest unemployment rate since 1969. It is now 3.7 percent--the lowest unemployment rate since 1969. The share of Americans who are seeking work but cannot find it is as low as it has been in just shy of 50 years. There was other good news as well. Unlike what happened too often in the previous decade, this drop in unemployment did not come from discouraged workers giving up their search altogether; to the contrary, 150,000 more Americans joined the labor force last month, and the unemployment rate still went down. Now, that is an opportunity economy. That is exactly what an opportunity economy looks like. Day after day, my Republican colleagues and I have come to the floor and outlined all the things we are doing to try to help generate precisely this kind of economic momentum for the American people. This unified Republican government has rolled back regulations and cut redtape at a pace that hasn't been seen for years. We have handed American families and job creators the most significant Tax Code overhaul in 30 years, lower tax rates, a bigger child tax credit, more help with small businesses, and better incentives to invest and create jobs right here on American soil. Our actions have been clear, and our economy is sending equally clear signals in response: the highest consumer confidence we have seen in nearly 18 years, the highest small business confidence we have seen in 35 years, and now the lowest unemployment rate we have seen in almost half a century. I have said it before, and I will say it again: Government itself is not creating this prosperity. Republicans know that growth starts with workers and entrepreneurs, not with Washington. Government can either put the wind in America's faces or at their backs, and there is little question which way the wind has been blowing these past 2 years. It certainly is not ``Armageddon'' or ``crumbs,'' as the House Democratic leader notoriously proclaimed in recent months. It is not a ``disaster,'' as my friend the Senate Democratic leader has suggested. No, it is rising wages, more job opportunities, and new investment, and it is reaching kitchen tables in communities large and small all across our country. The real winners here are the American people. Republicans are just proud that our policies are helping them do what they do best.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, on another matter, today the Senate will also vote on an effort by my Democratic colleagues to strip away health insurance options for families whom ObamaCare has failed. The first 4 years of the ObamaCare experience was one of failure after failure--skyrocketing premiums and broken websites built on broken promises. Many families were caught right in the middle of the ObamaCare mess--those who earned too much to receive subsidies but not enough to keep pace with premiums--so it became even more important to look for alternatives. The American people are resourceful. Some held on to so-called grandfathered and grandmothered plans, and others looked for lower cost, short-term plans that could be held for up to a year. We all know that Big Government doesn't like it when citizens try to avoid the micromanagement and run their own lives as they see fit, so in the waning months of the Obama administration, Democrats issued a new regulation that cut these plans from 12 months down to 3 months and made them nonrenewable. I guess the goal was to force even more Americans into ObamaCare. The real effect was just to punish these people twice for Democrats' bad policy. Fortunately, this year the Trump administration righted the ship. They undid the restriction and restored the status quo that was in place from the 1990s through most of the Obama administration. It was a simple fix. It doesn't take away the choices they have under ObamaCare but empowers Americans to use this alternative choice if they prefer it. According to even the liberal Urban Institute, more than 1.7 million Americans will likely be insured with this option, who otherwise would have gone uninsured. But apparently our Democratic colleagues can't tolerate even this modest step away from top-down government control. They have introduced a resolution of disapproval to overturn the Trump administration's fix and snatch these options away from families once more. We will be voting on it today. I know my Democratic colleagues are embarrassed by the state of ObamaCare. It has been more than 8 years since they passed their signature law that was supposed to make it all better. Instead, working Americans are saddled with increasing costs and decreasing choices. But surely they must have a better answer than snatching away one of the remaining options that some Americans still prefer to anything Democrats have been able to come up with. This is an easy decision. I urge every one of my colleagues to vote against this resolution. Our constituents deserve more options, not fewer. The last thing we should do is destroy one of the options that is still actually working for American families.

Mr. McCONNELL

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

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the provision of rule XXII, all postcloture time on the Clark nomination be considered expired at 12:10 p.m. on Thursday, October 11, and that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 670 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.