Mitch McConnell

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. For the information of all Senators, there will be a cloture vote on the Engel nomination at 5:30 p.m. on Monday. The Senate will vote on the Gibson nomination at 12 noon on Tuesday.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 159, Derek Kan.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 107, Steven Engel.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate vote on the nominations en bloc with no intervening action or debate; that if confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; that no further motions be in order; and that any statements relating to the nominations be printed in the Record.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following nominations: Executive Calendar Nos. 378, 380, and 385.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 407, William Wehrum.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following nominations: Executive Calendar Nos. 295, 296, 323, 324, and 325.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate vote on the nominations en bloc with no intervening action or debate; that if confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; that no further motions be in order; and that any statements relating to the nominations be printed in the Record.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

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, on another matter, the Obama years were not easy for America's middle class. For many, steady work became harder to find, paychecks stagnated, and opportunities faded. America's middle class deserves better after a decade of drift, and we are working hard to deliver for them. Tax reform is the single most important thing we can do today to get the economy reaching for its true potential again. That is why the Senate recently passed the legislative tools to advance it. That is why the House recently did the same. And because we did, later today, after months of hard work, the House's tax-writing committee will unveil its version of tax reform legislation. I commend Chairman Brady and the members of the Ways and Means Committee for their hard work in unveiling this critical legislation today. This announcement is more positive momentum from our colleagues over in the House, and I look forward to continued work with them as we move forward. Here in the Senate, the Finance Committee will continue its work on tax reform legislation as well. Both Chambers are working on this at full steam because we are committed to achieving our mutual tax reform goals for the middle class, working families, and small businesses. Our main goal is this: We want to take more money out of Washington's pockets and put more in yours. This goal is shared by the American people, it is shared by the President and his team, and it is shared by Republicans in the House and in the Senate. The goals of tax reform used to be shared by our Democratic colleagues as well. Over many years, multiple Senate Democrats, including the Democratic leader himself, have called on Congress to pass reform. But then something changed. It was the President who changed, it seems. Now we are reading reports that our friends across the aisle plan to oppose any tax reform bill at all, regardless of what is in it. It seems that Democratic leadership is praying that this chance to put more money in the pockets of the middle class will not succeed. But why? To protect incentives and encourage companies to ship jobs overseas? I thought they were against those. To prevent working families from keeping more of what they earn? I assumed we were all for that. According to recent news reporting, Democrats apparently want to tank tax cuts for the middle class because it might give them a political leg up. In other words, it seems that this is some kind of game to them. I certainly hope what we read is not true. I certainly hope Democrats will take note of the fact that their latest false talking point about tax reform just got debunked today as well. This effort is way too important for any of that. I hope our friends will decide to work with our colleagues in a serious way instead. That is what their constituents sent them here to do, and that is what their constituents deserve after the last decade of economic disappointment. There is no reason for our Democratic friends not to work across the aisle in a serious way to help shape this critically important effort. I thank Chairman Hatch and Chairman Brady for their commitment to tax reform and regular order. Through the committee process, Members on both sides of the aisle will have the opportunity to offer input as the tax reform effort advances. Today's announcement is an important step forward for that process, as well as for our once-in-a-generation opportunity to fundamentally rethink our Tax Code and deliver real relief. It has been 30 years since we did that. It is time to do it again. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of the following nomination: Executive Calendar No. 361.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 384, Peter Robb.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, yesterday's attack in Manhattan was sickening, twisted, and heartbreaking. The suspect appears to have been inspired by ISIL. We know that in the days ahead, our intelligence community will make every effort to learn more about him and whether he had any connection to this terror group and its hateful ideology. But today we are thinking of everyone affected by this tragedy. We are praying for the victims and their families. We are thinking of our fellow Americans in New York. We are expressing our gratitude for the critical work of our first responders. To them we say: Thank you for your courage. Thank you for all you do, especially in the face of such a terrible tragedy like we witnessed yesterday.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, after 8 years of sluggish growth and missed opportunities for the middle class under 8 years of the Obama administration, the American people elected a new President and Congress dedicated to getting our country moving again after so many years of failed leftwing policies. We are working hard on joint legislative initiatives on tax reform. We have also undertaken what has been described as ``the most ambitious regulatory rollback since Reagan.'' The administration has the ability to take serious action on its own, and it has. The Congress has taken important action many times as well. We have used the tools contained in the Congressional Review Act, which allows us to overturn certain regulations with a majority vote in Congress and the President's signature. The President signed all of the many CRA resolutions we passed already, which overturned regulations that threatened everything from job creation to economic growth. The President will sign another CRA resolution today, one that will overturn a regulation that threatened to drive up costs for millions of Americans who carry a credit card. It is a regulation dreamed up by a government agency, the CFPB, that claims to protect consumers but seems to have found a way to actually harm them. The Treasury Department released a study showing how this regulation has little to do with consumer protection and everything to do with lining the pockets of trial lawyers. This unaccountable agency ignored that study and issued its regulation anyway. We passed this Congressional Review Act resolution to protect consumers from wrongdoing while avoiding frivolous lawsuits that will only drive up costs for the millions of Americans who have a credit card. The CFPB continues to be one of the most unaccountable bureaucracies in Washington, and this Congress will continue to stand up for consumers even when the CFPB will not.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, yesterday, when the Senate confirmed the nomination of Professor Amy Barrett to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, we took another important step to ensure that the Federal judiciary fulfills its role in our constitutional system. Now we have an opportunity to confirm another well-qualified woman to the bench, Michigan Supreme Court Justice Joan Larsen. President Trump nominated her to serve on the Sixth Circuit, and she will be a strong addition to that court and a benefit to our Nation. After graduating first in her class from Northwestern's law school, Justice Larsen served as a law clerk for Judge David Sentelle of the DC Circuit Court and then for Justice Antonin Scalia. These clerkships honed Justice Larsen's legal abilities and respect for the rule of law, preparing her for a distinguished career. Joan Larsen also served as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. Former government officials from both Republican and Democratic administrations wrote in strong support of her nomination, each of them holding her in the highest regard. Joan Larsen later joined the law faculty at the University of Michigan, teaching there for many years. She excelled in academia, earning the praise of her students and the esteem of her colleagues. In fact, more than 30 of Michigan's deans and law professors wrote to support her nomination. They wrote that Justice Larsen's ``commitment to the rule of law and her capacity for top-flight legal analysis are both of the first order, and her personal integrity and decency are exceptional.'' Even when they disagreed, her colleagues praised Justice Larsen's generous manner, her personal integrity, as well as her legal acumen. In 2015, Larsen was appointed to the Michigan Supreme Court. The next year, she won election to a full term, winning every single county in the State. Her fellow justices--even those with different ideologies-- praised her intellect and her commitment to apply the law as it is written to every case before them. Joan Larsen's time on the Michigan high court has shown a record of independence and of fairness. Here is how one practitioner put it in a letter to the Judiciary Committee: ``I am not a Republican,'' he wrote. ``Justice Larsen approaches cases with an open mind and an independence from party affiliation. . . . I believe that . . . Justice Larsen has had a very positive influence on the Michigan Supreme Court. In my view, she would be a deserving addition to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.'' Another lawyer wrote the committee, advising that he ``has practiced law in Michigan for 39 years'' and is ``a past president of the Michigan Association for Justice (formerly the Michigan Trial Lawyers Association).'' He goes on to say that Justice Larsen ``has demonstrated on the bench that she is precisely who she is in person, a genuine, thoughtful individual who respects precedent, the common law and the role that lawyers and judges play in society. . . . I have no hesitation in telling you that Justice Larsen will make an excellent judge on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.'' In conclusion, President Trump continues to nominate smart, well- qualified, and impartial individuals to our Nation's Federal courts. Justice Larsen, like each of the other nominees before her, was nominated on the basis of her belief in the rule of law and her commitment to apply the law fairly to everyone who enters her courtroom. Once again, I would also like to thank Chairman Chuck Grassley for his leadership on the Judiciary Committee, tirelessly working to bring the President's nominees to the floor. I look forward to voting to confirm Joan Larsen today, and I urge all of my colleagues to join me.

Mr. McCONNELL

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

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, that at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, November 2, there be 30 minutes of postcloture time remaining on the Eid nomination, equally divided between the leaders or their designees; that following the use or yielding back of that time, the Senate vote on the confirmation of the Eid nomination; 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.