Mitch McConnell

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call be waived and that the cloture vote occur at a time to be determined by the two leaders.

Mr. McCONNELL. Now, Mr. President, this week our friend and colleague, the senior Senator from Tennessee, will mark a major milestone in his State's history. As of tomorrow, Lamar Alexander will have served as Tennessee's Governor or U.S. Senator for 24 years, 8 months, and 15 days--more combined years and offices than any other Tennessean. Of course, Senator Alexander also remains the only Tennessee Governor ever popularly elected to the Senate. He is the only Tennessee Republican to be undefeated in six statewide primary elections. And his 2008 general election vote total of 1,579,477 votes is still the largest ever recorded by a Tennessee statewide candidate. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a statement from the Tennessee secretary of state, Tre Hargett, who has calculated each of these political accomplishments, be printed in the Record following my remarks. As impressive as these statistics are, all of Lamar Alexander's colleagues know that political record-setting is not what makes him tick. Here is something he likes to say about serving in the Senate: It's hard to get here. It's hard to stay here. So while you're here, you might as well try to accomplish something. Well, he certainly lived out his own advice. During Senator Alexander's very first term, he got 70 Senators to support his bipartisan America COMPETES Act to help our country stay competitive with the rest of the world. He even persuaded the Democratic and Republican leaders to join forces as the principal sponsors. When it was enacted in 2007, everyone knew who the chief engineer had been. Senator Dan Inouye said at the time: I wish to commend my colleague, Senator Alexander, for his broad and very intricate history of bipartisanship. If all of us in this body follow this process in all major legislation, this would be a historic session. . . . I thank the Senator from Tennessee very much. That was Senator Dan Inouye from Hawaii. Then in 2012, after being elected three times by his peers as chairman of the Republican conference, Lamar did something that is not often done around here: He gave up that power and his future ambitions for elected Senate leadership in order to ``spend more time working to achieve results on the issues I care the most about.'' Since then, not coincidentally, there have been a steady stream of important new laws dealing with those very issues. Time after time, Lamar has taken the lead, often as the principal sponsor or chief engineer. He has worked behind the scenes. He has collaborated across the aisle to get things done. He hasn't often stepped into the spotlight himself, but he has almost always been the key driving force. As chairman of the Senate HELP Committee, he worked with Senator Patty Murray to fix No Child Left Behind. President Obama called it ``a Christmas miracle,'' and the Wall Street Journal said it was the greatest devolution of power to States in a quarter-century. The Nation's Governors and the National Education Association recognized Lamar with awards. We are dealing with a rare public servant who can literally win plaudits from the Wall Street Journal editorial board and the Nation's largest teachers union at the same time. In 2013, Senator Alexander was one of a group of Senators who revamped Federal student loans with a new market-based interest rate to save hundreds of millions of dollars for students attending college. In 2016, he and Senator Murray sponsored the 21st Century Cures Act. It is landmark legislation that I was proud to be involved with and view as the most significant law of that entire Congress. In 2018, again with Senator Murray, he offered the landmark Opioid Crisis Response Act. President Trump called it ``the single largest bill to combat a drug crisis in the history of our country.'' Last year, working with Senator Hatch, he was the chief engineer of once-in-a-generation legislation to ensure America's songwriters are paid fair-market value for their work. For the last 5 years, as chairman of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee, he has worked with Ranking Member Feinstein to deliver record funding for our National Laboratories, funding to keep America No. 1 in supercomputing, and 6 years of full funding for inland waterway infrastructure. This is quite a distinguished record, and this is far from all of it. I have heard that Senator Alexander explains to Tennesseans that they can think of Congress like a split-screen television show. On one side are the dramatic public fights, the partisan showdowns, but on the other side, he explains, you see huge bipartisan majorities working diligently on issues that directly affect the daily lives of millions of Americans. Well, that side of the screen is where you will find Senator Alexander. In fact, he is a star player. Senator Alexander has announced he won't seek a fourth term in 2020. While the end of his time here may be in sight, I am confident the catalog of his hard work and leadership is nowhere near complete just yet. As chairman of HELP, he and Senator Murray have reported the Lower Healthcare Costs Act to the full Senate. They are working together to reauthorize and update the Higher Education Act. He and Senator Feinstein have produced an appropriations bill--passed by the Appropriations Committee--that would provide a fifth year of record funding for the National Laboratories, a sixth year of full funding for our inland waterway infrastructure, and the resources to keep America No. 1 in supercomputing. And there is almost certainly more to come over the next year and a half. Lamar's service reminds us that there are many ways to be a transformational leader in this body. As a young man, I was an intern for Senator John Sherman Cooper of Kentucky. He was never an elected leader but was always regarded by his colleagues as a leader because of his willingness to do what he thought ought to be done. Senator Cooper once said to me: I not only represent Kentucky, I represent the Nation, and there are times you follow, and times when you lead. In fact, two of the three Senate office buildings are named for Senators who were never elected the leader of their party's caucus. Lamar Alexander is just that kind of leader. We are proud to celebrate this milestone as Senator Alexander notches more combined years as Senator and Governor than anyone else from his State, but even more, we recognize the example the Senator has set for all the rest of us. It is just like he says: It's hard to get here. It's hard to stay here. So while you're here, you might as well try to accomplish something. Congratulations, my friend.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. The American people deserve for the Federal Government to spend their money in a considered, deliberate fashion, and until very recently, we have been on a track to conduct a smooth, regular appropriations process for this year. More than a month ago, leaders in both parties, in both Chambers, and at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue all agreed to terms that had been negotiated by the Speaker of the House and the President's team. It specified topline funding levels and put guardrails around the appropriations process to keep out poison pills and all of our other disagreements. So yesterday, to keep us on track, I began the process to advance the first set of appropriations bills. The next step is a vote tomorrow to begin consideration of a package of House-passed funding bills that Speaker Pelosi grouped together. They include several of the domestic funding bills along with the legislation to fund the Department of Defense. There should be no reason for Democrats to vote against this first procedural step. As Chairman Shelby and our committee colleagues continue to process Senate legislation, proceeding to this floor action will help to keep us on track toward passing as many of the 12 bills as possible this month before we turn to a temporary continuing resolution. So it has been distressing to hear troubling signals from the Democratic side. We have heard that they may choose to filibuster the Defense funding bill. They may block the very increase of defense funding that they all just agreed to a month ago. Progress on our shared priorities, good faith cooperation in areas of disagreement--it seems all of this may be taking a backseat to a familiar litany of partisan stumbling blocks. My Democratic colleagues seem eager to bog down the funding process with all their outstanding disagreements with the President, in other words, taking exactly the kind of partisan approach we had successfully avoided last year and in which both sides pledged just last month--just a month ago--to avoid this time as well. A couple of weeks ago, everyone at the table seemed to understand that the world was too dangerous to leave funding for our military vulnerable to poison pill riders or political copouts. I wish Democrats would keep bearing that in mind today. So whatever rationale my colleagues across the aisle may offer for these new disruptions, let's get one thing straight: Holding defense funding hostage for political gain is a losing strategy, not only for Members of this body, not only for the appropriations process, but a losing strategy for the safety and strength of our Nation. As partisanship bogs us down here in Washington, Moscow and Beijing are not exactly slowing down to wait for us. Our two most capable great-power adversaries are expanding their own capabilities and modernizing their forces by the day. In the current international system, delivering on our promises to America's men and women in uniform is not a simple matter of routine maintenance on equipment. If we would like the U.S. military of the future to remain the world's preeminent fighting force, then, the stakes are much higher. As Russia rattles its saber and develops weapons such as hypersonic cruise missiles and quiet submarines, we need to continue funding for research and development of our own cutting-edge capabilities. We have to provide for the modernization of infrastructure and update defenses against cyber threats so that China's ever-bolder meddling in this domain cannot bring about the cyber hegemony it craves. We cannot turn our back on our interests and partners in the broader Middle East. In Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, and beyond, we face ongoing terrorist threats. Iran's violent aggression certainly highlights the need for vigilance and for strength. All of this is needlessly more difficult if we don't fund the military's modernization and readiness. The stakes are too high for us to fail. We cannot afford to abdicate our responsibility to deliver timely funding to the critical priorities of the Federal Government, least of all to the men and women in uniform who keep us safe. So I would urge each of my colleagues to engage in this process, honor our agreement that we made just 1 month ago--just a month ago--and keep us on track to deliver for our country.

Mr. McCONNELL

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

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, the postcloture time on the Destro, McIntosh, and Callanan nominations expire at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, September 18, and if the nominations are confirmed, the motions 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 Senate proceed to legislative session, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 314, submitted earlier today.

Mr. McCONNELL. 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.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m., Wednesday, September 18; 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, morning business be closed, and the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the Destro nomination under the previous order.

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 our Democratic colleagues.

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, this weekend saw a brazen attack by Iran on a critical oil facility in Saudi Arabia. This is not just an isolated drone strike with the prospect of regional escalation but an attack with significant repercussions for the entire global energy market. We are fortunate that advances in U.S. oil and gas production have made the United States more energy independent and have added capacity to global markets, but the impact of this attack could still be substantial. For this reason, I welcome the administration's preparations to potentially release oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve, if needed, to stabilize global markets. I hope our international partners will join us in imposing consequences on Tehran for this reckless, destabilizing attack.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, now on another matter, when the Senate returned last week, we anticipated our top priority would be conducting the appropriations process and avoiding a lapse in government funding. We had a clear roadmap, a bipartisan, bicameral agreement negotiated by the President's team and the Speaker of the House. It set top-line funding targets for both defense and nondefense, and it laid out ground rules to protect the process from partisan politics. There has actually been reason for optimism. This week, we hope to move to the House-passed bills for Defense, Energy and Water, Labor- HHS, and State and Foreign Ops. This would be our first procedural step to getting the process moving for all of our priorities on both sides. There is nothing controversial about this particular grouping of bills. In fact, it was Speaker Pelosi who combined this grouping of bills to move first. Furthermore, if any of the funding measures were going to be handled earnestly across party lines, surely it ought to be the bill funding the Department of Defense. Our fundamental obligation is to provide for the common defense of our country, and all Members feel our responsibility to keep the Nation safe. Fortunately, the caps agreement specifically allows us to increase defense funding to meet the growing threats our Nation faces. Yet here is where we are: One week in, our Democratic colleagues tried to stonewall the defense funding bill in committee and are now indicating they may even filibuster a motion to begin considering the House-passed defense funding bill later this week. There is only one way to read this. Some of our Democratic colleagues have determined they would rather stage a political fight with President Trump than secure the resources that our uniformed commanders urgently need to do their jobs. National security is taking a back seat to partisan politics. Let's be absolutely clear about the concerns and the priorities that our Democratic friends are de-prioritizing. The defense spending measure would bolster efforts to modernize our forces and build the U.S. military of the future. Russia is actively modernizing its own forces, just as we have seen the Putin regime step up its brazen steps to exert its destabilizing influence well beyond its borders. In China, the last decade has seen military spending nearly double. Our regional partners continue to feel the tightening grip of the Chinese Communist Party on trade and strategic activity throughout the Indo-Pacific region while the technological ripples of Chinese cyber meddling are felt right here at home. In the face of surging great-power adversaries, simple upkeep is not enough to keep America and our allies safe from aggression. Comprehensive funding for research, development, and readiness programs is what is needed. In Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, and beyond, we continue to face sustained threats from terrorist organizations. In the Middle East, we have seen how Iran's bid for regional hegemony and its investment in terror, missiles, and cyber activities threaten the United States, our allies and partners, key shipping lanes, and global energy markets. This bipartisan Defense bill would help us to adapt to meet these new threats while ensuring our commanders can prosecute existing operations without being consumed by the instability of short-term continuing resolutions. Yet our Democratic colleagues would rather provoke a partisan feud with the President. They would rather have a fight with the President than stick to the agreement we all made. At least that is where we are as of the moment. I remain hopeful that my friends on the Democratic side will join us in honoring the terms of the agreement that has been struck by the President and the Speaker and help us to reboot a bipartisan funding process. The readiness and modernization of America's military and the safety of the American people should not play second fiddle to our Democratic colleagues' political strategy.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 140, H.R. 2740.

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

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

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, on a completely different matter, for anybody who has been reading the news over the past few days, it has probably felt a little like Groundhog Day because over the last couple of days, leading Democrats have tried to grab on to yet another poorly sourced, thinly reported, unsubstantiated allegation against Justice Brett Kavanaugh. There they go again. Call it a 1-year anniversary reenactment with Senate Democrats reopening the sad and embarrassing chapter they wrote last September. The latest allegation was blasted out by a major newspaper despite the apparent lack of any corroborating evidence whatsoever. The reporting was so thin that the story ran not in the news section but on the opinion page. In fact, they have already had to issue an enormous correction. The writers conveniently failed to note that the supposed victim herself declined to be interviewed, and several of her friends say she has no memory of any such thing happening. We all remember this pattern from the last time around: Shoot first, and correct the facts later. Here is another familiar pattern: Just like last September, little things like facts and evidence didn't stop the Democrats from rushing to exploit this. Even as the media was trying to backpedal, a number of the Democratic Presidential candidates were hysterically calling for Justice Kavanaugh to be impeached on the basis of this flimsy, uncorroborated story. They were calling for Justice Kavanaugh to be impeached. That includes several of our own Senate colleagues. Even after the massive correction, no one in that group has backed off his ridiculous threat. This laughable suggestion is already earning scorn throughout the country and across the political spectrum. A majority of Senators and the American people rightly rejected the politics of unsubstantiated personal destruction just last year. It is just as transparent and self-serving today, 1 year later. Yet it would be a mistake to dismiss this as a bad case of sour grapes. This is not just a leftwing obsession with one man; it is part of a deliberate effort to attack judicial independence. Six of the Democratic Presidential candidates--plus one who has now quit to run for the Senate--have publicly flirted with packing the Supreme Court-- Court packing. Today's bold, new Democratic idea is a failed power grab from back in the 1930s. Just a few weeks ago, some Senate Democrats nakedly threatened the Supreme Court Justices in writing. Our colleagues sent the Court an outlandish brief, gravely intoning that the ``Supreme Court is not well,'' they said. ``The Supreme Court is not well.'' Here was the punch line: Either issue rulings we like or we will pack the Court. This is not normal political behavior. These are the actions of a political party whose agenda is so alien to the Constitution that it feels threatened by fair and faithful judges. This is what I would say: When the simple notion that judges should be faithful to the Constitution looks like an attack on your agenda, maybe it is your agenda that needs a makeover, not our independent judiciary. When you are this willing to launch unhinged personal attacks, you reveal a whole lot more about your own radicalism than about the men and women you target. This is my commitment and the commitment of all of my Republican colleagues: As long as we remain in the Senate, we will fight to preserve our fair and independent judiciary.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, the postcloture time on the Rakolta nomination expire at noon on Tuesday, September 17; further, that if cloture is invoked on the Howery nomination, the postcloture time expire at 3:30 p.m., and if either of the nominations are confirmed the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; finally, that notwithstanding rule XXII, following disposition of the Howery nomination, the Senate vote on the cloture motions for the Destro, McIntosh, and Callanan nominations.

Mr. McCONNELL

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

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, Dr. James Middleton has spent nearly every day of his adult life caring for others. As a family physician in Hart County, KY, he has dedicated himself to promoting the health and well-being of his community. When he inherited the family farm and its 150-year-old history, James also made a pledge to conserve that land for all those who might enjoy it. Recently, my friend was recognized for the exceptional care he has provided to his community with the Kentucky Leopold Conservation Award. I would like to take a moment to congratulate him on this prestigious recognition and to thank him for his years of conservation to protect our environment and benefit Kentucky communities. Our Commonwealth is blessed with a rich ecosystem and picturesque landscapes. James' home, including the years-old tobacco farm, is near two of our most remarkable natural treasures: the Mammoth Cave system and the Green River. In an effort to help protect these magnificent features, James chose to participate in the Tobacco Buyout, which was created by legislation I introduced to free Kentucky farmers from a Depression-era tobacco quota system. He set out on a new agricultural path and focused on crops that would protect his region and one of the most bio-diverse rivers in the world. James designed a new style of land management specifically to benefit the natural environment of his community and our country. He began growing hay, raising pasture-fed cattle, and harvesting hardwoods. By his estimation, he has planted more than a million trees, and the majority of his farm is now forestland. As a result, his 600 acres of vegetation have formed a natural barrier to protect the Green River from runoff and other threats. I would like to congratulate my friend for his remarkable leadership in Hart County and his important conservation work that has benefited Kentucky and our environment. He is certainly deserving of this distinguished award, and I ask my Senate colleagues to join me in honoring Dr. James Middleton for his passionate protection of our heritage.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Con. Res. 25, submitted earlier today.

Mr. McCONNELL. I further ask that the concurrent resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, 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, 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 Whitehouse.

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, September 17; 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, morning business be closed, and the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the Rakolta nomination under the previous order; finally, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate recess following the cloture vote on the Howery nomination until 2:15 p.m. to allow for weekly conference meetings.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 419.