Mitch McConnell

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. I now ask for a second reading, and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.

Mr. McCONNELL

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

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, this afternoon, my staff and I are continuing to monitor widespread flooding across Southeastern Kentucky. Heavy rainfall damaged homes, businesses, and infrastructure in those counties. Our Governor declared a state of emergency and mobilized a full-scale response for the areas in need. I am particularly grateful to the first responders who have already rescued and evacuated many Kentuckians from harm's way. Their professionalism and courage have helped to keep this situation from becoming even worse. Many roads remain closed and hundreds of residents are still without running water. Worse still, more rain is in the forecast in the coming days. This crisis, unfortunately, is not over yet. My office stands ready with local, State, and Federal officials to help families and communities however we can, as Kentuckians endure the remaining flooding and begin the recovery process.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session for 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 rule XXII, at 2:15 tomorrow, all postcloture time on the Brasher nomination be considered expired. I further ask that if the nomination is confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action. Finally, I ask that following disposition of the Brasher nomination, the Senate vote on cloture motions with respect to the Kindred, Schelp, Kness, and Halpern nominations, and if cloture is invoked on any of these nominations, the confirmation votes occur on Wednesday, February 12, at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the Democratic leader.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I understand there is a bill at the desk, and I ask for its first reading.

Mr. McCONNELL. I now ask for a second reading, and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m., Tuesday, February 11; further, 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; further, that following leader remarks, the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the Brasher nomination under the previous order; and finally, I ask that the Senate recess from 12:30 p.m. until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly conference meetings.

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, following the remarks of Senator Brown and Senator Enzi.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the U.S. Senate was made for moments like this. The Framers predicted that factional fever might dominate House majorities from time to time. They knew the country would need a firewall to keep partisan flames from scorching our Republic. So they created the Senate--out of ``necessity,'' James Madison wrote, ``of some stable institution in the government.'' Today, we will fulfill this founding purpose. We will reject this incoherent case that comes nowhere near--nowhere near--justifying the first Presidential removal in history. This partisan impeachment will end today, but I fear the threat to our institutions may not because this episode is one symptom of something much deeper. In the last 3 years, the opposition to this President has come to revolve around a truly dangerous concept. Leaders in the opposite party increasingly argue that, if our institutions don't produce the outcomes they like, our institutions themselves must be broken. One side has decided that defeat simply means the whole system is broken, that we must literally tear up the rules and write new ones. Normally, when a party loses an election, it accepts defeat. It reflects and retools--but not this time. Within months, Secretary Clinton was suggesting her defeat was invalid. She called our President ``illegitimate.'' A former President falsely claimed: ``[President] Trump didn't actually win.'' ``He lost the election,'' a former President said. Members of Congress have used similar rhetoric--a disinformation campaign, weakening confidence in our democracy. The very real issue of foreign election interference was abused to fuel conspiracy theories. For years, prominent voices said there had been a secret conspiracy between the President's campaign and a foreign government, but when the Mueller investigation and the Senate Intelligence Committee debunked that, the delegitimizing endeavor didn't stop. It didn't stop. Remember what Chairman Schiff said here on the floor? He suggested that if the American people reelect President Trump in November that the election will be presumptively invalid as well. That was Chairman Schiff, on this floor, saying, if the American people reelect President Trump this November, the election will be presumptively invalid as well. So they still don't accept the American voters' last decision, and now they are preparing to reject the voters' next decision if they don't like the outcome--not only the last decision but the next decision. Heads, we win. Tails, you cheated. And who can trust our democracy anyway, they say? This kind of talk creates more fear and division than our foreign adversaries could achieve in their wildest dreams. As Dr. Hill testified, our adversaries seek to ``divide us against each other, degrade our institutions, and destroy the faith of the American people in our democracy.'' As she noted, if Americans become ``consumed by partisan rancor,'' we can easily do that work for them. The architects of this impeachment claimed they were defending norms and traditions. In reality, it was an assault on both. First, the House attacked its own precedents on fairness and due process and by rushing to use the impeachment power as a political weapon of first resort. Then their articles attacked the Office of the Presidency. Then they attacked the Senate and called us ``treacherous.'' Then the far left tried to impugn the Chief Justice for remaining neutral during the trial. Now, for the final act, the Speaker of the House is trying to steal the Senate's sole power to render a verdict. The Speaker says she will just refuse to accept this acquittal. The Speaker of the House of Representatives says she refuses to accept this acquittal--whatever that means. Perhaps she will tear up the verdict like she tore up the State of the Union Address. So I would ask my distinguished colleagues across the aisle: Is this really--really--where you want to go? The President isn't the President? An acquittal isn't an acquittal? Attack institutions until they get their way? Even my colleagues who may not agree with this President must see the insanity of this logic. It is like saying you are so worried about a bull in a china shop that you want to bulldoze the china shop to chase it out. Here is the most troubling part. There is no sign this attack on our institutions will end here. In recent months, Democratic Presidential candidates and Senate leaders have toyed with killing the filibuster so that the Senate could approve radical changes with less deliberation and less persuasion. Several of our colleagues sent an extraordinary brief to the Supreme Court, threatening political retribution if the Justices did not decide a case the way they wanted. We have seen proposals to turn the FEC--the regulator of elections and political speech--into a partisan body for the first time ever. All of these things signal a toxic temptation to stop debating policy within our great American governing traditions and, instead, declare war on the traditions themselves--a war on the traditions themselves. So, colleagues, with whatever policy differences we may have, we should all agree this is precisely the kind of recklessness the Senate was created to stop. The response to losing one election cannot be to attack the Office of the Presidency. The response to losing several elections cannot be to threaten the electoral college. The response to losing a court case cannot be to threaten the judiciary. The response to losing a vote cannot be to threaten the Senate. We simply cannot let factional fever break our institutions. It must work the other way, as Madison and Hamilton intended. The institutions must break the fever rather than the other way around. The Framers built the Senate to keep temporary rage from doing permanent damage to our Republic. The Framers built the Senate to keep temporary rage from doing permanent damage to our Republic. That is what we will do when we end this precedent-breaking impeachment. I hope we will look back on this vote and say this was the day the fever began to break. I hope we will not say this was just the beginning.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. Chief Justice, the Senate is now ready to vote on the Articles of Impeachment, and after that is done, we will adjourn the Court of Impeachment. Article I

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. Chief Justice, I send an order to the desk.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. Chief Justice, before this process fully concludes, I want to very quickly acknowledge a few of the people who helped the Senate fulfill our duty these past weeks. First and foremost, I know my colleagues join me in thanking Chief Justice Roberts for presiding over the Senate trial with a clear head, steady hand, and the forbearance that this rare occasion demands. (Applause.) We know full well that his presence as our Presiding Officer came in addition to, not instead of, his day job across the street, so the Senate thanks the Chief Justice and his staff who helped him perform this unique role. Like his predecessor, Chief Justice Rehnquist, the Senate will be awarding Chief Justice Roberts the golden gavel to commemorate his time presiding over this body. We typically award this to new Senators after about 100 hours in the chair, but I think we can agree that the Chief Justice has put in his due and then some. The page is delivering the gavel.

Mr. McCONNELL. Of course, there are countless Senate professionals whose efforts were essential, and I will have more thorough facts to offer next week to all of those teams, from the Secretary of the Senate's office, to the Parliamentarian, to the Sergeant at Arms team, and beyond. But there are two more groups I would like to single out now. First, the two different classes of Senate pages who participated in this trial, their footwork and cool under pressure literally kept the floor running. Our current class came on board right in the middle of the third Presidential impeachment trial in American history and quickly found themselves hand-delivering 180 question cards from Senators' desks to the dais. No pressure, right, guys? So thank you all very much for your good work. (Applause.) Second, the fine men and women of the Capitol Police, we know that the safety of our democracy literally rests in their hands every single day, but the heightened measures surrounding the trial meant even more hours and even more work and even more vigilance. Thank you all very much for your service to this body and to the country. (Applause.)

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in recess subject to the call of the Chair.

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. 461.

Mr. McCONNELL

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

Mr. McCONNELL

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

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

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 562.

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. 563.