Marco Rubio

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Alexandra Abrahams, a spring intern in my Orlando, FL, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the people of the State of Florida. Alexandra is a student at the University of Central Florida, where she majors in political science. She is a dedicated and diligent worker who has been devoted to getting the most out of her internship experience. I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to her for all the fine work she has done and wish her continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Matthew McCoy, a fall intern in my Orlando, FL, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the people of the State of Florida. Matthew McCoy is a student at the University of Central Florida, where he majors in political science. He is a dedicated and diligent worker who has been devoted to getting the most out of his internship experience. I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to him for all the fine work he has done and wish him continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Zubair Shaikh, a spring intern in my Orlando, FL, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the people of the State of Florida. Zubair is a student at Valencia College, where he majors in political science. He is a dedicated and diligent worker who has been devoted to getting the most out of his internship experience. I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to him for all the fine work he has done and wish him continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Peter Gillian, a 2017 spring intern in my Jacksonville, FL, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the people of the State of Florida. Peter is a student at the University of North Florida, where he is majoring in accounting. He is a dedicated and diligent worker who has been devoted to getting the most out of his internship experience. I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Peter for all the fine work he has done and wish him continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Mariah May, a fall intern in my Orlando, FL, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the people of the State of Florida. Mariah May is a student at the University of Central Florida, where she majors in political science. She is a dedicated and diligent worker who has been devoted to getting the most out of her internship experience. I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to her for all the fine work she has done and wish her continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Aaron Rosenthal, a spring intern in my Orlando, FL, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the people of the State of Florida. Aaron is a student at the University of Central Florida, where he majors in history. He is a dedicated and diligent worker who has been devoted to getting the most out of his internship experience. I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to him for all the fine work he has done and wish him continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Kyler Gray, a spring intern in my Orlando, FL, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the people of the State of Florida. Kyler is a student at the University of Central Florida, where he majors in public administration. He is a dedicated and diligent worker who has been devoted to getting the most out of his internship experience. I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to him for all the fine work he has done and wish him continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Gabriella Ruiz, a spring intern in my Orlando, FL, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the people of the State of Florida. Gabriella is a student at the University of Central Florida, where she majors in political science and minors in Spanish and business administration. She is a dedicated and diligent worker who has been devoted to getting the most out of her internship experience. I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to her for all the fine work she has done and wish her continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Alyssa Schoenrock, a spring intern in my Orlando, FL, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the people of the State of Florida. Alyssa is a student at the University of Central Florida, where she majors in legal studies. She is a dedicated and diligent worker who has been devoted to getting the most out of her internship experience. I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to her for all the fine work she has done and wish her continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Samantha Brown, a spring intern in my Orlando, FL, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the people of the State of Florida. Samantha is a student at the University of Central Florida, where she majors in political science and criminal justice with a minor in legal studies. She is a dedicated and diligent worker who has been devoted to getting the most out of her internship experience. I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to her for all the fine work she has done and wish her continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Lea Mangino, a spring intern in my Orlando, FL, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the people of the State of Florida. Lea is a student at the University of Central Florida, where she majors in political science and minors in business administration. She is a dedicated and diligent worker who has been devoted to getting the most out of her internship experience. I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to her for all the fine work she has done and wish her continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Farah Fouad, a spring intern in my Orlando, FL, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the people of the State of Florida. Farah is a graduate of Palm Beach Atlantic University, where she majored in political science. She is a dedicated and diligent worker who has been devoted to getting the most out of her internship experience. I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to her for all the fine work she has done and wish her continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Bradley Aldridge, a spring intern in my Orlando, FL, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the people of the State of Florida. Bradley Aldridge is a student at the University of Central Florida, where he majors in political science. He is a dedicated and diligent worker who has been devoted to getting the most out of his internship experience. I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to him for all the fine work he has done and wish him continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Natalie Hellmann, a fall intern in my Orlando, FL, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the people of the State of Florida. Natalie is a student at the Rollins College, where she majors in business administration. She is a dedicated and diligent worker who has been devoted to getting the most out of her internship experience. I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to her for all the fine work she has done and wish her continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Paola Ramos, a spring intern in my Orlando, FL, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the people of the State of Florida. Paola is a student at the University of Central Florida, where she majors in legal studies and minors in criminal justice. She is a dedicated and diligent worker who has been devoted to getting the most out of her internship experience. I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to her for all the fine work she has done and wish her continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize John Paul Gillian, a 2017 spring intern in my Jacksonville, FL, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the people of the State of Florida. John Paul is a student at the University of North Florida, where he is pursuing his masters of science in management. He is a dedicated and diligent worker who has been devoted to getting the most out of his internship experience. I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to John Paul for all the fine work he has done and wish him continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Madam President, we are on the nomination of Congressman Bridenstine to be the new Administrator at NASA. I want to tie it into what I will talk about in a moment because it comes down to Presidential appointments and the problems we are running into with regard to them. I was not enthused by the nomination. It is nothing personal against Mr. Bridenstine. I feel that NASA is an organization that needs to be led by a space professional. Unfortunately, a few weeks ago, the Acting Administrator resigned--or, I should say, retired. His last day on the job is the 30th. So it leaves us with the prospect of this incredibly important agency for Florida and the country with a vacancy in its top job. We are on our second Acting Administrator. If one were to do the math, even if Congressman Bridenstine were to withdraw and a new vetting process were to begin for a new nominee, by the time it would work its way through the administration, the committee process, and the floor, the way things are going here, we could be into February-March, at the earliest, of next year. There is no way NASA can go 2 years and X number of months without having a permanent Administrator. One makes these decisions always under the context that a President should have significant discretion in picking the team. Whether you like it or not, millions of Americans last year voted for the President. He was elected, and he has a right to govern. In 4 years--in less than 4 years now, in 2\1/2\ years--the American people will have the chance, once again, through our democratic process, to opine on whether or not they will want him to have a second term. Our job here is to provide advice and consent. We are to analyze these nominees and determine whether or not we want to support them. My view of it is, as has been the tradition of the Senate for the entire existence of the Republic, that we give great deference to the President on choosing the qualifications. We want to make sure that people are qualified and that there is nothing about them that would disqualify them. It is my view that the more important the job the more discretion the President deserves. It is why, although I had significant reservations about the nomination of Secretary Tillerson, I decided to support it, because I believed the President deserved significant discretion. When you get to the subsecretaries and the like, I think that discretion diminishes. It is what has led me to decide to support Congressman Bridenstine, despite my reservations, and it is what, I hope, will lead my colleagues--at least a sufficient number--to support the nomination of Mike Pompeo to be the Secretary of State. Let me read you some of the previous votes we have had here in the Senate. All but one of them predates my service. Colin Powell was confirmed by a voice vote, which is almost unimaginable in a 21st century Senate, but in 2001, on January 20, by a unanimous voice vote, he was confirmed as the Secretary of State. A few years later, in 2005, Condoleezza Rice was confirmed as Secretary of State by a vote of 85 to 13. Now, it was still 13 noes, but, nonetheless, it was 85 yeses. I assure you that not everyone who voted for her was happy about her nomination. People didn't necessarily agree with her. One of the people who supported her, I believe, was future President Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton was nominated and confirmed in the Senate by a vote of 94 to 2, and I promise you that a significant number of the Members on my side of the aisle may have respected Secretary Clinton but strongly disagreed with her and her views on a number of issues, but, nonetheless, they felt the President deserved to have his nominee. When she resigned, her replacement was then-Senator Kerry, who was the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, with whom I had significant policy disagreements in the Senate and during his time as Secretary of State. Yet I, along with 93 other Members of the Senate, supported his nomination, and he was confirmed.

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

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I would like to recognize Team Invictus, the Fort Myers High School robotics team in Fort Myers, FL. Team Invictus is comprised of Fort Myers High School students and is the first robotics team from Lee County to reach the world competition in Houston, TX. The team built a robot in 6 weeks and won the Rookie All-Star award in Orlando, FL. The Fort Myers High School robotics program has only existed for 4 months, launching in December 2017, and is helping prepare the students for life after high school. The members of Team Invictus are honored to be a part of this experience as they continue to grow and make history in the Fort Myers community. I extend my best wishes to Team Invictus and look forward to hearing of their continued success.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Jennifer Powell, the Leon County Teacher of the Year from Lawton Chiles High School in Tallahassee, FL. Jennifer received this important recognition because of her innovative lesson plans and tireless work on behalf of her students. Her colleagues consider her an asset to both her students and the school. After she was named Teacher of the Year, Jennifer's students gave her a standing ovation in their classroom. Jennifer said she loves her students and notes they come to her class every day, prepared to meet any of the challenges she gives them. Jennifer believes in hard work and thinks that being part of a team is important. Relationships are very important to Jennifer; they are her philosophy for education. If she can form relationships with the students, parents, and the school's administration, she believes anything can happen in and outside of the classroom. Jennifer has been teaching social studies for the past 11 years. Her first 9 years were spent as a civics teacher at Deerlake Middle School and the past 2 years have been at Lawton Chiles High School. She is a three-time graduate of Florida State University with a bachelor's and master's degree in social science education/curriculum and instruction and a specialist's degree in educational leadership. I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Jennifer for all her hard work and dedication she has given to her students. I wish her continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Sarah Ray, the Palm Beach County Teacher of the Year from the Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, FL. Sarah professes that everything she does is for her students, and this award is entirely about them. Sarah wants to make sure to help all of her students continue in their educational careers. Sarah took over the Artists Reaching to Society Club at the school after the passing of its founder. Under her direction, the club organizes an annual arts camp for elementary school students. The camp has grown to include 250 student volunteers and 125 students each summer. A Google Certified Teacher and District Trailblazer Teacher, Sarah has successfully integrated technology into her classroom. This has helped excite her students about learning while also providing the technological ability to monitor their progress. Sarah graduated from Dreyfoos School of the Arts in 2000 and earned her bachelor of arts degree from the University of Florida with a major in history and a minor in education. She completed masters-level coursework at Florida Atlantic University. She began teaching at Dreyfoos in 2014 and has served as the school advisory committee chair, senior class adviser, student council adviser, and schoolwide positive behavior. I extend my best wishes to Sarah and look forward to learning of her continued successes.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Kenneth North, the Union County Teacher of the Year from Union County High School in Lake Butler, FL. Kenneth is more than a teacher; he is a mentor for today's youth to be tomorrow's successful and productive citizens. He does this by providing opportunities for them through competitions, community service, social functions, and daily activities. In many instances, he sets up practical exercises for his students to work through by coming up with solutions to problems that work best for them. According to Kenneth, this teaches students the principle of taking ownership of problems and giving the solutions that can be applied throughout life. Kenneth is a Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps instructor with more than 23 years of life experiences around the world. He has been a JROTC instructor with Union County since 2012. I extend my appreciation to Kenneth for his hard work and congratulate him on this achievement. I wish him continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I am pleased to recognize Carla Ross, the Escambia County Teacher of the Year from Booker T. Washington High School in Pensacola, FL. Carla was recognized for bringing enthusiasm into the classroom every day. She has a different style of teaching, with her classroom being more of a hands-on experience, which her students find to be more enjoyable and have excelled in this leaning environment. Carla is an instructor for the marketing and entrepreneurship academy at Booker T. Washington High School. She became a teacher after moving to Pensacola and has been with Escambia County schools for 35 years. She never envisioned herself becoming a teacher, having hated school when she was in high school and college. Carla fell in love with this career after working with her students and brought her passion for the business world into the schoolhouse. She immerses her students into the real world of work, teaching every aspect of running a business, production, advertising, sales, and distribution. This provides nonstop activity for her students to stay on task. They know their work is done under the watchful eye of someone they see as more than a teacher. I extend my best wishes to Carla for all the hard work she has done for her students. I look forward to hearing of her continued success in the years ahead.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Taylor Massey, the Hendry County Teacher of the Year from Eastside Elementary School in Clewiston, FL. Taylor's teaching philosophy centers around what she describes as not settling for mediocrity and fostering great citizenship and leadership with her students. Her favorite part about teaching is giving her students a voice and watching their minds grow. She is the adviser to the county's only National Elementary Honor Society chapter and adviser to the STEP club. Taylor is also part of the new teacher induction team to welcome new teachers to the district. She strives to be a positive role model for her students and loves having close connections with her students' parents. She is a product of the Hendry County school system, having attended Eastside Elementary School, Clewiston Middle School, and Clewiston High School. She now teaches alongside some of the teachers who taught her in elementary school. Taylor is a fourth grade teacher, and this is her fifth year teaching in the district, having previously taught kindergarten, second grade, and sixth grade. She attended Florida Atlantic University while working as a resident assistant and volunteered with the YMCA. Taylor graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in psychology and received her master of education degree from the University of West Florida. She plans to become an administrator in the future. I extend my best wishes to Taylor and look forward to hearing of her continued success in the years ahead.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, today I recognize Samantha Lamora, the St. Lucie County Teacher of the Year from Savanna Ridge Elementary School in Port St. Lucie, FL. Samantha received the Teacher of the Year award for her student's superior performance, her teaching routines, and outstanding classroom practices. Inspired by her students' desire to learn, grow, and celebrate their own successes, Samantha values collaboration and looks for opportunities to extend that beyond the classroom by establishing solid partnerships between home and school. At the start of each year, she writes to the parents of her students a letter detailing her educational philosophy, expectation of success for her students, and pledge to partner with them in their child's academic journey to guarantee achievement. Her classroom is open to parents on a number of occasions each year in order to celebrate the accomplishments of their children. In the spirit of working collaboratively with her colleagues, Samantha also helps to produce a weekly newsletter to streamline communication. She also is an active member of the school's positive behavior intervention success, parent-teacher organization, and literacy committees that help to plan events after school in an effort to bridge the gap between home and school. She is always seeking to make a positive difference for her students. Samantha is a first grade teacher at Savanna Ridge Elementary School with 5 years of teaching experience. Stepping into the role of a teacher is an answer to a lifetime career calling she deems magical. I express my best wishes to Samantha for her commitment and dedication to her students. I look forward to hearing of her continued success in the years ahead.