Mitch McConnell

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam 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. I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Con. Res. 28.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I move to concur in the House amendment, and I ask unanimous consent that the motion be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask that the Chair lay before the Senate the message to accompany S. 782. The Presiding Officer laid before the Senate the following message from the House of Representatives: Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 782) entitled ``An Act to reauthorize the National Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program, and for other purposes.'', do pass with an amendment.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session for consideration of the following nomination: Executive Calendar No. 386.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I have 9 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority leaders. Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate: Committee on Armed Services The Committee on Armed Services is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 26, 2017, at 10 a.m., in closed session to conduct a briefing on Niger. Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs The Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 26, 2017, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing on the following nominations: Brian D. Montgomery, of Texas, Robert Hunter Kurtz, of Virginia, and Suzanne Israel Tufts, of New York, each to be an Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Committee on Energy and Natural Resources The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 26, 2017, at 9:45 a.m., in room SD-366 to conduct a hearing. Committee on Foreign Relations The Committee on Foreign Relations is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 26, 2017, at 9:30 a.m. to hold a hearing. Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions The Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 26, 2017, at 10 a.m., in room SD-430, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Exploring Free Speech on College Campuses''. Committee on the Judiciary The Committee on the Judiciary is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 26, 2017, at 10 a.m., in room SD-226 to conduct a hearing on S.807 and the following nominations: Allison H. Eid, of Colorado, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Tenth Circuit, Stephanos Bibas, of Pennsylvania, to he United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit, Liles Clifton Burke, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Alabama, Walter David Counts III, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Texas, Michael Joseph Juneau, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Louisiana, A. Marvin Quattlebaum, Jr., to be United States District Judge for the District of South Carolina, Karen Gren Scholer, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Texas, Tilman Eugene Self III, to be United States District Judge for the Middle District of Georgia, and John F. Bash, to be United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas, Erin Angela Nealy Cox, to be United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, and R. Andrew Murray, to be United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, all of the Department of Justice. Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship The Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 26, 2017, at 11 a.m., in SR-428A to conduct a hearing entitled ``Strengthening the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem for Women''. Select Committee on Intelligence The Select Committee on Intelligence is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 26, 2017, at 2 p.m., in room SH-219 to conduct a closed hearing. Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management The Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 26, 2017, at 10 a.m. to conduct a hearing entitled ``Improving Oversight of the Regulatory Process: Lessons from State Legislatures''.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate resume legislative session.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 432, Allison Eid.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. I yield the floor

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam 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. Madam President, in my opening remarks today, I commended President Trump once again for the outstanding judicial nominations he has made, and I reiterated the Senate's determination once more to continue confirming them regardless of the often mindless partisan obstruction we have been seeing across the aisle. This pointless obstruction is designed simply to waste time, not to change an outcome, and it will not. It didn't stop the Senate from confirming Scott Palk, it will not stop the Senate from confirming Trevor McFadden, and it will not stop the Senate from confirming even more outstanding nominees next week. You can count on it. I have filed cloture on four more well-qualified nominees for our Nation's circuit courts: Notre Dame law professor Amy Barrett, a nominee for the Seventh Circuit; Michigan Supreme Court Justice Joan Larsen, a nominee for the Sixth Circuit; Colorado Supreme Court Justice Allison Eid, a nominee for the Tenth Circuit; and University of Pennsylvania law professor Stephanos Bibas, a nominee for the Third Circuit. By confirming these nominees, we can take a big step toward restoring our Nation's courts to their proper role, interpreting and applying the law based upon what it actually says, not what a judge might wish it to say. It is quite a departure from the last administration's philosophy when it came to selecting judicial nominees. For the last 8 years, we had a President who said a criterion for lifetime positions was the ability to empathize with certain groups over others. It came to be known as the ``empathy standard.'' That is a great standard if you are the party in the case for whom the judge has empathy, not so great if you are the other person. It also is not in keeping with the longstanding American legal traditions of applying the law equally to all, giving every litigant a fair shake, and ruling based on the actual meaning of our Constitution and laws, not what a judge or some preferred political constituency might wish they meant. That, I believe, is the view of the American people. President Trump has done a terrific job of nominating judges who are already helping to restore the courts to their intended function in our system of government. The nominees we will consider next week are sure to do the same. We will continue our efforts with consideration of the Barrett nomination on Monday. Amy Barrett is a professor of law at one of our Nation's premier law schools. Notre Dame happens to be a Catholic University. Amy Barrett happens to be a nominee who is a Catholic and who speaks freely and openly about her faith and its importance to her. For some on the left, that seems to be a disqualifying factor for her nomination. I would remind colleagues that we do not have religious tests for office in this country. There is no religious test for office in the United States of America. Amy Barrett's nomination has received outstanding reviews. She is clearly well qualified for the office to which she has been nominated. As the president of Notre Dame recently wrote, ``Her experience as a clerk for Judge Laurence Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is of the highest order. So, too, is her scholarship in the areas of federal courts, constitutional law, and statutory interpretation.'' Amy Barrett is going to make an outstanding Federal Circuit Court judge. So, too, will Ms. Larsen, Ms. Eid, and Mr. Bibas. I look forward to the Senate confirming all of them next week.

Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, the pending cloture motions ripen following the disposition of the McFadden nomination.

Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions be waived.

Mr. McCONNELL

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

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 369, Joan Larsen.

Mr. McCONNELL

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

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, on another matter, for families in Kentucky and across the Nation, the devastation of opioid abuse can be a constant and painful reality. Communities are forced to endure grief, worry, and loss. A recent report showed that my home State suffered more than 1,400 fatalities as a result of drug overdoses last year alone. Despite the troubling statistics, however, there are glimmers of hope. The Republican-led Senate has worked hard to pass important legislation like Jessie's Law, the 21st Century Cures Act, and the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act. These measures are important steps that should lead to real progress. There are many other important efforts across the country as well. From coast to coast, we hear stories of men and women in recovery who are managing their addictions. We are heartened by these testimonies that proper treatment offers real hope. They help remind everyone as to why we must continue to press forward. The task that remains is staggering, but we are committed. Later today, President Trump will help our country take another step forward. We expect that he will formally recognize the opioid epidemic for the public health emergency that it is. This announcement builds upon years of progress that Congress has made in responding to addiction with comprehensive action, including prevention, enforcement, and treatment. I commend the President for his continued commitment to this cause. When he visited us in the Senate earlier this week, he discussed the national epidemic and his administration's efforts to fight back. Along with my colleagues, I stand ready to work with him on future proposals to provide the necessary tools to protect our communities from this scourge. A single bill or program is never going to solve this crisis on its own. Only a sustained, committed effort can do that. I am proud of our efforts to combat opioid addiction already. I also know that we will continue to push forward with continued collaboration with many groups both in Washington and in States and communities all across our country so that, one day, we can finally say that our country has beaten this crisis once and for all. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the Senate is continuing to move forward on President Trump's outstanding judicial nominations. Many of the well-qualified men and women the President has nominated enjoy substantial bipartisan support. Unfortunately, Senate Democrats have decided to continue wasting the Senate's time with the pointless obstruction of these nominees. Time and again, they have erected partisan procedural hurdles that are designed not to change the outcome--they don't change the outcome--but simply to waste the Senate's time. Often, Democrats do not even oppose the nominee in question. Let's compare the number of times this days-long delay has been invoked for nominees of the last two Presidents during the first years of their Presidencies--during the first year of the Obama Presidency and the first year of the Trump Presidency. Republicans required cloture on one of President Obama's judicial nominees during his first year--cloture one time on a judicial nominee for President Obama in his first year. Democrats have invoked this delay for every single one of President Trump's judicial nominees, so far, except one. This week, they are at it again. Today, we will have a cloture vote on the nomination of Trevor McFadden to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Not a single Democrat on the Judiciary Committee registered an objection to the nomination; yet we still have to waste time in overcoming a procedural hurdle from our Democratic colleagues before the Senate can take up the nomination and consider it. It came out of committee with no opposition. We are not going to let these mindless attempts to slow progress stop us from confirming the President's nominees to the judiciary. If that means more cloture votes and more time focused on this task, that is what we will do, but we will confirm these nominees. You can count on it.

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 the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 1329 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. McCONNELL

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 notwithstanding the provisions of rule XXII, at 12 noon on Thursday, October 26, all postcloture time be considered expired on the Palk nomination, and that following disposition of the Palk nomination, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the McFadden nomination.

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. 305, S. Res. 306, and S. Res. 307.

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