Mitch McConnell

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask that the Chair lay before the Senate the message to accompany H.R. 2266. The Presiding Officer laid before the Senate the following message from the House of Representatives: Resolved, That the House agree to the amendment of the Senate to the bill (H.R. 2266) entitled ``An Act to amend title 28 of the United States Code to authorize the appointment of additional bankruptcy judges; and for other purposes.'', with an amendment. Motion to Concur

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I say to colleagues, the consent agreement that was just entered allows us to see the light at the end of the tunnel. If Senators will stay in the Chamber, we will do these 10-minute rollcall votes and wrap it up.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, tonight we completed the first step toward replacing our broken Tax Code by passing a comprehensive, fiscally responsible budget that will help put the Federal Government on a path to balance. The budget also gives us the tools we need to strengthen our economy after years of stagnation under the previous administration. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to replace a failing tax code that holds Americans back with one that actually works for them. To middle-class families across America, we have a very simple message. We want to take more money out of Washington's pockets and put more in yours. With this budget, we are on a path to delivering much needed relief to American individuals and families who have borne the burdens of an unfair tax code for entirely too long. I want to particularly thank Chairman Mike Enzi and the members of the Budget Committee and the staff for their extraordinary work on this budget.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the Senate is taking the next critical step in passing the comprehensive, fiscally responsible budget before us. It is pretty obvious that this is a good budget, and that is true whether you are looking at it from a fiscal perspective or an economic one. Take the fiscal side first. It reins in government spending. It protects Social Security. It complies fully with the previous spending caps, while also providing for an increase for defense resources if a bipartisan agreement can be reached. In short, it is a fiscally responsible budget that will help put the Federal Government on a path to balance. On the economic side, this budget can help our country realize better and more sustained economic growth, which is critical, given the last decade of missed opportunities for the middle class. One way this budget can help our economy is by providing legislative tools to advance tax reform. As I have said many times before, tax reform represents the most important thing we can do today to get our economy reaching for its true potential. Tax reform is all about getting America going again and growing again. It aims to take more money out of Washington's pockets and put more money in middle-class pockets, and it represents a once- in-a-generation opportunity to replace a failing tax bill that holds Americans back with one that works for them. Passing this budget is critical to getting tax reform done so we can strengthen our economy, after years of stagnation under the previous administration. I know Members are eager to continue proposing amendments to this budget. We already adopted some good ideas yesterday. For instance, the Senate adopted an amendment offered by Senator Heller to provide tax relief to American families with children so they can have more money to make ends meet. We also adopted an amendment from Senator Collins to provide relief to small businesses, which have been responsible for the creation of about two-thirds of the net jobs in recent years. That is according to statistics from the Small Business Administration. Both of these amendments reinforce the goals of the tax reform framework developed by the President, his team, and the tax-writing committees in Congress. Today we will consider more ideas from colleagues on both sides of the aisle. I want to thank, particularly, Chairman Enzi and the members of the Senate Budget Committee for their good work in getting us to this point. The budget they produced is important to our fiscal and our economic future. I look forward to passing it soon. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, it goes without saying that the Obama years were not easy for America's middle class. Many of the men and women we represent felt forgotten over the last decade. They found themselves stuck in a stumbling economy without the opportunity to get ahead, looking on as paychecks stagnated, jobs moved overseas, and government spent far beyond its means while middle-class belts tightened. In my State and in so many more around the country, these are the problems that faced many families and communities over the last 10 years, and they are the concerns at the heart of the comprehensive budget that the Senate just voted to proceed to yesterday. This budget is a serious plan to put our country on a more responsible fiscal path and also to set us on a course for a more fulsome economy that lifts up the middle class. On the fiscal side, it provides a path to balance with serious reductions to the growth of Federal spending, complying fully with previous spending caps while also providing a way to increase defense resources in the event that a bipartisan agreement on those caps can be reached. On the economic side, it clears the way for committees to continue their critical work to spur steady economic growth while providing legislative tools to advance tax reform--the single most important action we can take today to help our economy reach its full potential. As we all know, our archaic Tax Code is a significant roadblock standing in the way of America's economic future. It holds back families and small businesses. It makes it harder for those who are not well-connected elites to succeed. It even incentivizes companies to send jobs and investments overseas. That is really, clearly wrong. In today's increasingly competitive global economy, we cannot afford a tax code that forces American workers to compete against foreign competitors with one hand tied behind their backs, as our current code does. We need to act. Under Chairman Hatch's leadership, the Finance Committee has made progress developing commonsense tax reform goals. With further instructions from this budget, the committee will be able to complete its work and report legislation that promotes economic growth, helps keep more money in the pockets of hard-working men and women, and closes special interest loopholes while preserving core middle-class incentives. Our tax reform goals center on a few things: bringing more jobs and investments to our country and then keeping them here, making the Tax Code fairer so it doesn't benefit just wealthy elites, and lowering rates so hard-working families are able to keep more of their paychecks. The main goal is this: We want to take more money out of Washington's pockets and put more money in the pockets of hard-working men and women throughout our country. These are goals shared by the President, by his team, and by Senate colleagues. They are certainly shared by our Republican colleagues. I would think they would be shared by all of us, on both sides of the aisle, and our Democratic friends did share them until just recently. I hope they will continue to support these commonsense goals rather than just blindly oppose this effort to fight corporate offshoring and to eliminate loopholes for the wealthy, simply because they don't like the current occupant of the White House. There is no need for our Democratic friends to continue inventing reasons to oppose tax reform or to make more claims designed to distort reality. I hope they will decide to change course and work together in a serious way to accomplish what should be bipartisan goals--goals they once vocally supported, seemingly until President Trump came along. Let's deliver relief to American workers and families with an economy that reaches for its true potential once more, and the next step to get there is to pass the comprehensive budget before us with its tools to move our country forward. I wish, once again, to thank Chairman Enzi and the members of the Senate Budget Committee for their fine work on this budget.

Mr. McCONNELL

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

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to H. Con. Res. 71.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask that the Chair lay before the Senate the House message accompanying H.R. 2810. The Presiding Officer laid before the Senate the following message from the House of Representatives: Resolved, That the House disagree to the amendment of the Senate to the bill (H.R. 2810) entitled ``An Act to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2018 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes,'' and ask a conference with the Senate on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses thereon. Compound Motion

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move that the Senate insist on its amendment, agree to the request by the House for a conference, and the Presiding Officer appoint the following conferees: Senators McCain, Inhofe, Wicker, Fischer, Cotton, Rounds, Ernst, Tillis, Sullivan, Perdue, Cruz, Graham, Sasse, Strange, Reed, Nelson, McCaskill, Shaheen, Gillibrand, Blumenthal, Donnelly, Hirono, Kaine, King, Heinrich, Warren, and Peters. Mr. President, I know of no further debate on the motion.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the Senate, as I said yesterday, has a full schedule of work before it this fall. It is what the President, Vice President, and I discussed at our working lunch at the White House yesterday. This week, the Senate is advancing one of the most important items on our agenda with consideration of the comprehensive budget for fiscal year 2018. It is a good budget that reflects the hard work of Chairman Enzi and the Budget Committee. It will help rein in Federal spending. It will help our country achieve balance. It will also help our economy grow. One of the ways this budget will do so is by providing legislative tools to advance tax reform. After a lost decade of missed economic opportunities, America's middle class deserves an economy that reaches for its full potential again, and tax reform is the single most important thing we can do today to get there. It is not hard to see why. Our current Tax Code is archaic, arduous, and often just plain bizarre. It holds our economy back. It can hold workers' wages down. It actually incentivizes companies to shift jobs and profits overseas. It makes it easier for the wealthy and well- connected to game the system. Yet it is almost impossible for anyone else to understand it. A constituent from Harrodsburg, KY, wrote to my office exasperated about the unfair Tax Code. This is what she said: ``I am writing today to express my complete and total disgust for the complex, completely unfair, and completely messed up tax system in this country.'' This constituent, who has worked for nearly three decades as a CPA and has helped countless Kentuckians navigate the system, described some of the hardships faced by her clients and then continued by saying that ``the honest, hardworking folks can't get ahead, the cheaters don't get caught and the rich just keep getting richer.'' That was my constituent from Harrodsburg, KY, summing up today's Tax Code. Her story underlines the systemic problems of our Tax Code, and it is often our Nation's workers--including those in Kentucky--who continue to bear the burden. Recently, the Kentucky State treasurer wrote an op-ed calling on Congress to provide much needed relief from our Tax Code. ``We need tax reform,'' she wrote, ``to increase Kentucky's economic growth and for greater middle-class prosperity throughout the Commonwealth.'' I agree. So does President Trump, his team, and our colleagues here in Congress. We are all in agreement that delivering relief to working families should be at the heart of our plan, and that is what we continue to work toward in developing tax reform. For families and individuals in Kentucky and across the Nation, we think taxes should be lower, simpler, and fairer. Our plan calls for doubling the standard deduction and significantly increasing the child tax credit. We will eliminate loopholes that are primarily used by the wealthy while protecting incentives that benefit the middle class. Our plan also reforms the Tax Code to provide relief to our Nation's small businesses and to make it easier to keep jobs here in America. In an increasingly competitive global economy, we are working to put American workers on a level playing field. Above all, our goal is this. We want to take more money out of Washington's pockets and put more money into the pockets of the middle class in Kentucky and across our country. This sounds like a place where we should all be able to agree-- Republicans and Democrats alike. In fact, our friends on the other side of the aisle have often supported the idea of tax reform and bringing jobs back to America. I hope they will again in the course of this important effort. I hope they will not fall into blind partisanship and reject any collaboration simply because they don't like the President. Instead, they can work with us in a serious way on an overhaul of the Tax Code that can truly help the people of Kentucky, help the people of their States, and help Americans all across the land. I look forward to continuing to work with colleagues in Congress and the administration to pass a responsible budget and to deliver tax reform for the American workers and families, who deserve an economy that reaches its true potential once again. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Con. Res. 26, submitted earlier today.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, 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 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. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate Armed Services Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 99 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of the following nomination: Executive Calendar No. 164.

Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate vote on the nomination with no intervening action or debate; that if confirmed, the motion 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 statements relating to the nomination be printed in the Record.

Mr. McCONNELL

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

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, as I discussed with the President and the Vice President at our working lunch today, the Senate has a full schedule of important work ahead of us. The Senate's fall agenda includes confirming more nominees to the judiciary, administration, and other important positions. Later today we will resume consideration of another nominee, Callista Gingrich, who has been nominated to serve as our Ambassador to the Vatican. That agenda includes providing continued assistance to communities affected by the recent hurricanes, and we will process the President's supplemental funding request to do just that. The Senate's agenda also includes completing work on the budget resolution and advancing tax reform--two things that are critical to helping our economy finally realize its true potential after the stagnation of the last decade. This budget will be the next step to spurring growth in our economy. It provides a pathway to balance, it reins in Federal spending, and it honors our commitments to Social Security and provides for the national defense. In addition to these important aspects of this budget, it will also provide the legislative tools to advance tax reform. As I have said before, tax reform is the single most important thing we can do today to get our economy moving again. We think taxes should be lower, simpler, and fairer for middle-class workers so that Americans can keep more of their own hard-earned money in their paychecks. We think taxes should be reformed to end the perverse incentives that help keep American jobs and profits offshore and so it is easier to make and keep American jobs where they belong-- right here at home. We think it is time to take more money out of Washington's pockets and put more money in the pockets of the American middle class. That is why we know it is time for tax reform. The tax reform goals I just mentioned are shared by many, including the President, his team, Chairman Orrin Hatch, and Chairman Mike Enzi. As I said, to get there, we first need to pass the budget before us. I want to thank Chairman Enzi and the members of the Senate Budget Committee for all of their work in getting us to this point. As we advance that budget on the Senate floor this week, Senators on both sides of the aisle will have the opportunity to offer their input. I look forward to putting our finances on a better path with this budget, just as I look forward to continuing with the other important initiatives on the Senate's fall agenda.

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 when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m., Tuesday, October 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, and morning business be closed; further, that following leader remarks, the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the Trachtenberg nomination under the previous order; finally, 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.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Hatch substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to, the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed, the title amendment be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 695 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported amendments be withdrawn, the Hatch substitute amendment be considered and agreed to, the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed, the title amendment be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.