Mitch McConnell

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.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 executive session.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of the following nominations: Calendar Nos. 182, 184, and 186.

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

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session.

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: Monday, April 15 at 3 p.m.; Thursday, April 18, at 11:45 a.m.; Monday, April 22, at 9 a.m.; Thursday, April 25 at 4:30 p.m. I further ask that when the Senate adjourns on Thursday, April 25, it next convene at 3 p.m., Monday, April 29, 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, morning business be closed, and the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the William Cooper nomination; finally, notwithstanding the provisions of rule XXII, the cloture motions filed during today's session ripen at 5:30 on Monday, April 29.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I understand there are two bills at the desk, and I ask for their first reading en bloc.

Mr. McCONNELL. I now ask for a second reading, and I object to my own request, all en bloc.

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. Madam President, I understand there is a bill at the desk due a second reading.

Mr. McCONNELL. In order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to further proceedings.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, the Senate continues to build on last week's progress in restoring our normal tradition regarding lower level nominations. We are moving several well-qualified nominees more promptly through floor consideration. We are clearing the considerable backlog of those who had been mired for months in our Democratic colleagues' across-the-board obstruction campaign. Make no mistake, there is still a very long way to go. There are still too many vacancies on the President's team. There are still too many would-be public servants waiting for partisan barriers to fall. But this body should be proud of the progress we are already making and the healthier precedent we are setting for the future. Yesterday the Senate voted to confirm both Daniel Domenico, the President's choice to serve as U.S. District Judge for the District of Colorado, and Patrick Wyrick to be a district judge in the Western District of Oklahoma. Today we will turn our attention to Cheryl Stanton's nomination to lead the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division. It has been 1 year, 7 months, and 5 days since Ms. Stanton's nomination arrived in the Senate. In that time the nomination has been favorably reported by the HELP Committee not once, not twice, but three times--three times through committee for this graduate of Williams College and the University of Chicago Law School and two times sent back to the President for the former executive director of the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce. Well, hopefully the third time will be the charm, and we can finally do the prudent thing on the Senate floor. I hope each of my colleagues will join me in support of the Stanton nomination later this week. Later this week, as I noted yesterday, we will finish with the nomination of David Bernhardt to join President Trump's Cabinet as Secretary of the Interior. Speaking of procedures coming in threes, this would be the third time Mr. Bernhardt will have been confirmed by the Senate. He served previously as the Department's Solicitor and as its Deputy Secretary. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, his ``proven leadership'' in these roles ``has helped restore the multiple use of America's public lands.'' They are not alone. Over his tenure, Mr. Bernhardt developed a reputation among sportsmen, conservation groups, and western Native American Tribes as a strong leader and partner in their efforts. So once again, I hope each of my colleagues will join me in voting to confirm David Bernhardt later this week.

Mr. McCONNELL

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

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, on a completely different matter, for some time now, my colleagues and I have been speaking out about the Democrats' parade of fantastical new proposals--plans to spend unprecedented sums of Americans' money in order to seize unprecedented control over Americans' lives. Just a few weeks ago, the Senate voted on the so-called Green New Deal. It was Washington Democrats' plan to power down the U.S. economy and have the Federal Government intrude on basically every economic transaction and personal life choice in radically unprecedented ways. The specifics of the proposal, limited as they were, painted enough of a picture for outside experts to roughly estimate the price tag at as much as $93 trillion, which is more money than the Federal Government has spent in its entire history, in exchange for the systematic dismantling of American prosperity. It advocated for the abolition of the most affordable and plentiful domestic energy resources available to American families and a hog-tied American economy that our competitors would leave in the dust. So it should come as no surprise that for the sequel we see and hear that Senate Democrats may soon officially introduce their proposed Washington, DC, takeover of health insurance--the plan I call ``Medicare for None.'' It is a fitting name for a proposal that would gut the Medicare Program as American seniors know it, reuse the label on a new, government-run, one-size-fits-all arrangement, and remove 180 million Americans from the private insurance they have chosen in order to funnel them into a system without choice. What is especially ironic is that my Democratic colleagues are choosing to agitate for this pivot toward socialism during this particularly important economic period--at this particular moment, with more job openings than Americans looking for work for the first time since recordkeeping started, when we have seen unemployment reach a 49- year low and wages growing faster than they have in a decade. It is the kind of economy where a single mom in Mississippi says: ``It's amazing that I'm getting paid almost $20 an hour to learn how to weld.'' It is the kind of economy where garage door installers in Nevada say they are literally afraid to let potential new hires walk out the door because American workers are in such high demand. Let's remember that this transformation is being helped along by Senate Republican ideas and policies that are the polar opposite-- totally opposite--of what our Democratic friends are now calling for. Here is how Republican pro-growth and pro-opportunity policies helped us get where we are: by encouraging job creators to invest here at home instead of penalizing success; by recognizing that working families know best how to spend their paychecks, not Washington; and by creating conditions for an economic surge that touches every corner of our country. Now all of America is reaping the benefits. This isn't like the last administration, where 75 percent of new jobs and 90 percent of the population growth flowed into the very largest metropolitan areas. This time it is an all-American comeback, and all kinds of communities are benefiting from more jobs, more opportunities, and more growth in pay. Monday is tax day. It is not exactly a time many of us look forward to, but this year marks the first time Americans are filing under the new Republican tax reform law that has helped them keep more of their paychecks and has helped to create the outstanding economy we see today. Democrats may be working overtime to bring this bright chapter to an end, but over here, on this side of the aisle, we will keep making sure that this is still just the beginning of these brighter days for the American people.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that with respect to the Brady nomination, 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. I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call be waived.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Later today, the Senate will vote to advance the nomination of Daniel Domenico to serve as U.S. District Judge for the District of Colorado. After we vote on his confirmation, we will do the same for Patrick Wyrick, nominated to a vacancy in the Western District of Oklahoma. Mr. Wyrick is a two-time graduate of the University of Oklahoma and held a clerkship in the Eastern District of Oklahoma at the outset of his legal career. That career included time in private practice, as the State's Solicitor General and, most recently, as Associate Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. I am sorry to say that this week will mark 1 year since Mr. Wyrick's nomination was first received in the Senate. I hope each of my colleagues will join me in long-overdue support for its prompt consideration on the floor. Over the course of the week, as I have outlined, we will consider four other well-qualified nominees who have been waiting on the Executive Calendar for far too long. We will build on the action taken last week to restore some reason and sanity to the nominations process, which has suffered in recent years under the burden of partisan obstruction. Before the week is through, we will also turn to the nomination of David Bernhardt to lead the Department of the Interior. The Senate has confirmed Mr. Bernhardt twice before to serve that Department as Deputy Secretary and as Solicitor. When you hear the nominee and review his credentials, it is easy to see why. Mr. Bernhardt has significant private practice experience, as well as a past record of service at the Department. Along the way he has earned the respect of those who rely on the public lands the Department of the Interior is charged to oversee, from Native American leaders to sportsmen's groups. He has been praised as a ``proven leader'' who ``act[s] with integrity'' and has ``the right approach and skill set.'' I hope each of my colleagues will join me in voting to confirm him later this week.

Mr. McCONNELL

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

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that all postcloture time on the Wyrick nomination expire at 5:30, Tuesday, April 9; further, 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. I further ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call with respect to the Stanton nomination be waived; finally, that notwithstanding the provisions of rule XXII, the cloture motion on the Abizaid nomination be withdrawn and the Senate vote on his confirmation at a time to be determined by the majority leader, in consultation with the Democratic leader, on April 10, 2019.

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

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, on behalf of myself and the distinguished Democratic leader, Mr. Schumer, I send to the desk a resolution authorizing the production of testimony, documents, and representation by the Senate Legal Counsel, and ask for its immediate consideration. Mr. President, this resolution concerns a request for evidence in a criminal action pending in Florida Federal district court. In this action the defendant is charged with threatening to assault and murder Senator Sanders in voicemails he left with the Senator's Burlington, Vermont office. A trial is scheduled for April 29, 2019. The prosecution is seeking testimony from one of the Senator's staff assistants who listened to the voicemails at issue. Senator Sanders would like to cooperate with this request by providing relevant employee testimony and documents from his office. The enclosed resolution would authorize that staffer, and any other current or former employee of the Senator's office from whom relevant evidence may be necessary, to testify and produce documents in this action, with representation by the Senate Legal Counsel of such staffers and Senator Sanders.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 200.

Mr. McCONNELL

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

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, the Senate mourns a part of our institution's history who passed away over the weekend. Until Saturday, Senator Fritz Hollings of South Carolina was the oldest living former Senator. He is also the longest tenured junior Senator in history, since 36 of his 38 years in this body came alongside Senator Strom Thurmond. But there was nothing ``junior'' about Fritz's career, his impact, or his larger-than-life personality. By the time I arrived in the Senate, Fritz had already built a reputation as a war veteran, State legislator, Governor, Senator, and as a candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination. He had raised a family between his hometown of Charleston and the State capital, Columbia. At every turn, he was a square-jawed southern gentleman. In every case, he was someone who would call things exactly how he saw them. Fritz spoke his mind with cutting wit and undeniable sincerity on causes that captured his attention. As a result of his passion and skill, his name will be forever linked with a long list of important achievements here in the Senate. He called attention to a growing Federal budget deficit, advocated for the needs of our Nation's men and women in uniform, and confronted the tragic poverty in America's own backyard, especially child hunger. So today the Senate mourns not just a friend and former colleague but a true example of what it means to live a life of service. We mourn with Fritz's family and the people of South Carolina, and we join them in celebrating a life so fully lived.

Mr. McCONNELL

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