there are several nominations for vice-chairman of reserve and head up u.s. citizenship and immigration service. both nominations scheduled for 10 a.m. eastern today. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. father of love, who made heaven and earth, sustain us through this day.

may our lawmakers focus on your glory and not their own. inspire them with your presence so that their lives will reflect your mercy and truth. lord, give them the wisdom to trust your plans and to desire for you to do as you please for our nation and world. forgive us when we depend primarily on our strength and ability to meet life's challenges, forgetting that you are able and eager to help us.

god, our deliverer, we bless your name from this time forth and forever more. thank you, for your merciful kindness that is new each day. we pray in your precious name, amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: during the obama years, many of the hardworking men and women of america's middle class felt completely forgotten. paychecks often did not keep

pace with rising costs. opportunities for work could often seem bleak. and for those men and women, the promise of a hard of earned retirement seemed to drift further and further away. for so many middle-class americans, the last decade meant a weak economy and a decline of opportunity. the people of the nation deserve better. they deserve larger paychecks, more jobs, and better opportunities to get ahead. this congress is committed to helping the economy live up to its full potential once again, which is exactly why we are committed to passing tax reform. this is our once-in-a-generation opportunity to overhaul a broken tax code that holds us back and replace it with something that actually works for the hardworking people of our country. it represents the single-most important thing we can do today to get our economy back on the right track.

working together, president trump, his team, and tax-writing committees in congress have developed a framework that will help us get there. here's what it envisions: for american workers, we want to make taxes lower, simpler and fairer. we want to take more money out of washington's pockets and put more in yours. helping individuals and families succeed is the first aim of tax reform. helping businesses succeed is the second aim. so we can help create more jobs and creat keep them right here n america. american businesses both large and small face an increasingly competitive global economy. we want to put american businesses and workers on a level playing field because when they are, they can win. we want to help bring jobs and profits back home. and once they're here, we want to keep businesses -- the right incentives to keep them right here in america.

we want to unleash the potential of the american economy. helping you keep more of the money in your paycheck, helping businesses grow and workers succeed, helping move the economy into high gear so we can sustain real prosperity into the future for america's middle class. these are the kinds of ideas that should be shared by everyone, republicans and democrats alike. our friends across the aisle supported the need for tax reform for many years. they used to advocate it loudly. but the tone seems to be different now. what changed? the president -- or so it would seem. we know that our democratic friends are under immense pressure from the hard left to oppose everything this president touches. but i hope they can resist that pressure and do it what they know is right. after all, shouldn't we all support cutting middle-class taxes, helping small businesses, and bringing jobs and investments back to our country?

i was always under the impression democrats wanted to end corporate off-shoring, eliminate loopholes for the wealthy, and cut middle-class taxes. well, these are all aspects of the current tax reform framework. so there's no need for our friends to ink vent reasons to -- invent reasons to justify opposing tax reform. there's no reason to launch attacks on the tax reform fram framework based on made--up details that aren't actually in it. tax reform has been a bipartisan effort in the past. it can be and should be again now. so it's up to our democratic friends to decide if they'd like to engage p in a serious way. i personally hope this'll joining us in advancing this important initiative for our country. i think we owe at least that much to the millions of americans who have felt forgotten over the last decade. tax reform can help move our

economy into high gear. it can help deliver more jobs, higher wages, and increased opportunities for the american. the men and women of this country deserve it, which is why i am committed to keeping up the work to get tax reform accomplished. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the quarles nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, federal reserve system, randal quarles of colorado to be a member of the board of governors. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the time until 10:00 a.m. will be equally divided between the two leaders or their designees. hatch mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: mr. president, i rise today to applause the nomination of randal quarles to help oversee the federal reserve system.

mr. quarles is eminently qualified, certainly eminently qualified to serve in this capacity, this important position. through his long experience in public service in the private sector, mr. quarles has gained experience in financial regulation, economics, and the firsthand operations of financial institutions. he also has a proven track record of leadership and policy management. the fed's responsibilities are extensive and they are varied, and the roles that mr. quarles has been nominated for come during a unique period in the fed's history. the years ahead will be decisive for the development of the federal reserve. the american economy as well as domestic and international reform. it is paramount that the fed be equipped with a well-rounded leadership -- a well-rounded

leadership team so it can meet the many opportunities and challenges of maintaining financial tax i firmly believe that mr. quarles is an ideal fit to take on such responsibilities for the success of the federal reserve and the good of our nation. in closing, i applaud and strongly support the president's nominee to help oversee the federal reserve system. i know him personally. i know what a fine man he is. i know what an excellent leader he is. and he'll do a good job. importantly, i would note that it is the intention to confirm mr. quarles to the position of vice chair for supervision, another essential role. it is critical that mr. quarles begin his role at the fed as soon as possible. there really is no time to waste, and he'll do a great job. with that, i suggest the absence

of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: are we in a quorum? the presiding officer: we are. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. now, as we continue to grieve with the people of las vegas, the families of the injured and the deceased -- and i think of the pictures i see of those beautiful young people who had the best of life ahead of them -- you ache for them, but our

thoughts must turn to action so this doesn't happen again. what can we do as a nation to change, because surely when there are more mass shootings this year than there are the number of days this year, when we average more than one mass shooting per day, something has to change. i'm sure if you asked the grieving families, do they want the laws to change so this might not happen again, the overwhelming majority would say yes. they would want us to do something. if we could talk to those brave souls who were killed and are now in heaven, they would say, do something. they wouldn't say, let's wait. they wouldn't say, leave things alone. the fact that they were killed, the fact that there are so many injured, they wouldn't think it is political to tray and save their lives -- to try and save

their lives or prevent somebody else from dying the way they did. so when folks say, don't bring politics into this, it's inappropriate -- and i am sure that the families of the loved ones who were lost would agree with me that it is appropriate and important and necessary. politics is where we're supposed to come together and debate the great problems of our time in order to find solutions to them. politics is how we're supposed to make our country a better, safer, more prosperous place to live. and there is no more appropriate time than now to talk about the issue of gun violence. now, yesterday president trump visited las vegas. i'm glad he went to show our solidarity and remind everyone there they have the full support of the nation. but he didn't talk about guns. there's a huge opportunity he missed to lead this nation in a

reasonable, moderate debate on gun safety. but that opportunity is not over. the president still has the opportunity. all eyes are on the president to see if he'll grasp the opportunity and lead the nation to do something reasonable and moderate about guns and gun safety. president trump, are you going to wait to hear what the n.r.a. says first? are you going to wait for the n.r.a. to give you the green light? you ran your campaign saying you were beholden to no one. you fashion yourself as a strong man. well, are you going to show that you are not beholden to anyone now? are you going to show your strength now? are you going to be the first president, republican president, in a generation to buck the

n.r.a.? mr. president, you know what the right thing to do is. i say to president trump, come out and say that you support and would signing a law to ban bump stocks, the modification used by the las vegas gunman to make his weapons automatic. that is small, and it's the right thing to do. don't wait for the n.r.a. to make up their mind. do it. of course, bump stocks can't be our only response. it's hardly enough, even though we should do whatever we can in this body in obeisance to the n.r.a. we must do more. abandoning efforts to deregulate silencers would be the next step. the police were able to figure out where the gunman was because

of the noise from his gun in the mandalay bay total. let's forget about implementing a national concealed carry reciprocity. my police officers in times square don't want to let someone who has had no check, who might have a mental derangement like paddock come to times square and they can't do anything about it. that's what this law would do. any other heavily populated place. downtowns of many of our big cities, and even medium-sized cities. walt disney world, baseball game, football stadium. if this concealed carry reciprocity passed, crazy people could carry weapons concealed into any football stadium in america, and the police couldn't check on them.

and they couldn't see if they had a gun. so we have to do these things. and the most important and attainable thing to do, if you looked at the thing that would be the most effective in stopping all this gun violence, the daily gun violence that's doable, it would be adopting universal background checks. it's commence, it's measured, it's prudent. it would be really effective. the bill that senator murphy introduced yesterday is one that i have been involved with for a long time, and we should see if we can get enough support to pass it. we can and should talk about these issues more. it requires only a modicum of political coverage. president trump and republicans in congress ought to show that moral and political courage now by bucking the n.r.a. and engaging in a reasonable debate about commonsense gun laws.

fully automatic weapons are already illegal. made so by a law signed by president reagan in 1986. banning bump stocks is entirely consistent with the books. senator feinstein has introduced a reasonable proposal here. what are we waiting for? the n.r.a. to give us a green light? that is so wrong. if the president and congress are so beholden to the n.r.a. that they can't do the very bare minimum, banning a device that allowed a shooter to kill 59 americans with ease, a device whose ban would in no way infringe upon the legitimate rights of gun owners and our politics, our means of making this country a better, safer place will have once again failed us. now, mr. president, turning to the humanitarian crisis in puerto rico and the u.s. virgin islands once again. yesterday, the congress received a request from the

administration for a supplemental aid package that will go to help puerto rico, the u.s. virgin islands, and other states hit by storms. that also includes some money for the western states beset by wildfires. it's a good first step, but it is just the start of a long recovery and relief effort that will require additional aid from this congress. while aid and resources are necessary now, these islands are just starting to assess the damage, and once they have been able to determine how devastating these storms actually were, we need to respond immediately to provide additional support and funds to assist their recovery and rebuilding. just as we've done for past storms and disasters, on this package i have three points. first, i'm urging my colleagues to add additional and vital flexible funding for recovery like the community development block grant. we gave cd bg to help texas after harvey.

we can't deprive puerto rico and the virgin islands of this money. second, i am warning my colleagues on the other side, particularly those in the house, not to attach any extraneous ideological policy riders to this urgent aid package. ideological policy changes to flood insurance program and forest management policies should come nowhere near this bill. they tried to do it last week in the f.a.a. bill, and we had to send it back because of -- because of joint opposition, both sides of the aisle. let's not go through that again, and i thank our chairman of our banking committee for helping in that regard. third, it's become clear that puerto rico's recovery will be further hindered by its ongoing debt crisis. that crisis, coupled with the devastation from maria, hurricane maria, has led to growing concerns that the island will soon face a liquidity crisis. simply put, the island is running out of money to pay for

essential services like first responders, not to mention funds for rebuilding and recovery. the funds we hope to include in the disaster package are critical, but we have to make sure the island has enough cash to start the process, because in fema, local governments often have to lay out the money first and then they get repaid, but puerto rico doesn't have the money to lay out, so we have to deal with that issue to make it effective. with these things in mind, we should act quickly on this supplemental, but it's just the beginning of congress' aid to rebuild. and finally, mr. president, on the republican tax plan. i have so much to say about this plan. it is so awful in so many ways. huge tax cuts for the wealthy and the powerful. raising tax cuts on middle-class people, which i'm going to talk about in a minute. blowing a huge hole in our deficit. and to fund the tax cuts for the rich, cutting medicare and medicaid by close to $1.5 trillion.

so we're all in favor of serious tax reform debate. we have mentioned our guidelines no tax cuts for the 1%, no increase in the deficit, and do it in a bipartisan way. the republican plan does just the opposite. that's why democrats are so opposed. it lavishes tax breaks on the rich, pays for it by cutting medicare and medicaid, and leaves everyone in the cold, except the very wealthy. but today i want to focus on one provision of the g.o.p. tax plan, the repeal of the state and local tax deduction. the republican plan raises taxes on millions of middle-class families across the country by repealing the state and local deduction. 44 million americans, that is about one in eight. it's about many fewer, one in four or five families take that

deduction. a third of all taxpayers take the deduction, almost one in three. and they don't just get a few pennies back. they get several thousand dollars off their taxes each year. and it's not just a rarefied group in states like massachusetts, new york, and cal. the reason it brings in $1.3 trillion is because it affects so many people throughout the entire country. don't believe me? look at the numbers. look at these charts. i am posting here, and i hope people will -- the percentages for each state. 46% of the people in maryland get an average deduction of $12,900. connecticut 41, new jersey, virginia. virginia, i showed one of my colleagues, is higher than new york. 37% get an $11,000 deduction. massachusetts, oregon. utah. to my colleagues from utah, 35%

of utah taxpayers get an average deduction of $12,954. and in utah, they say well, the standard deduction makes up for it. with most families, the standard deduction won't because we're taking away the standard exemption. so it's a wash if you're a family of three. let's keep going. minnesota, new york. i want to show my republican colleagues what is -- how it would affect some of their states. so let's take georgia. a third of all taxpayers get an average break of $9,000. okay. look at these numbers, my colleagues. i'm going to send them to every one of you. look how it affects your state. like. here we go. iowa. 29% of all people get a $10,000 break, on average.

pennsylvania, 29%, an $11,000 break. arizona, 28%, a $7,000 break. my friend from idaho -- i didn't know he would be here, but his number is on the chart. 28% of idahoance get an average -- idahoans get a 8,862 break. ebb nebraska, 28%, $11,000 deduction. by the way, these numbers come from a group that put it together, but from the i.r.s. these are i.r.s. numbers. south carolina, 27%, $8,000. missouri, 26%, $9,800. ohio, 26%, $10,000. kentucky, -- my dear friend, the

republican leader, in his state, 26% of the people, one out of four, get that state and local property deduction, averaging averaging $9,995. do you want to take that away? alabama, where our dear friend, the president of the senate for the moment, sits. 26%, one out of four of your states get an average break of of $5,900. kansas, 25% get an average break of $9,400. i'm saying these numbers because our friends, the hard right, which just wants to lower their own taxes, is telling everybody, oh, this is just in four states -- massachusetts, new york, california, new jersey. no. it's across america. let's keep going. i'm having a good time. i hope you all are.

oklahoma, 24%, $8,000 break. i think this is mississippi. 23%, $6,300 break. louisiana, 23%, close to one out of four, $6,700. texas, the great state of texas where our majority whip comes from, 23%, close to one out of four texans, gets a $7,800 break. indiana, 23% get an $8,700 break. florida, 22% get a $7,300 break. wyoming, -- it wouldn't affect wyoming. it's a rural state. 22% get a $6,300 break. the state that is least affected is still very affected. south dakota, only -- and west

virginia, 17% of the people get a $9,000 break in west virginia and a $6,000 break in north dakota. not to leave out -- south dakota. north dakota, tennessee, and arkansas, 21%, 19%, 18%. breaks around between $5,000 -- $4,900 and $6,800. okay? folks, the achilles' heel of this bill -- there are many -- is state and local deductibility. it kills the middle class and the upper middle-income people. it doesn't really affect the rich. they don't pay a lot of property taxes, which is the bulk of these deductions. they make their money in high-income places. they have a lot of stocks and a lot of bonds. it's the middle class and the upper middle class that get clobbered by this tax break, and the standard deduction does not undo it because you lose the

standard exemption. so even if you're just a husband and wife without kids, i'm going to -- i'm going to ask unanimous consent the debate be delayed for a few minutes. and i know my colleagues, there are -- well, i just need to finish my remarks. i'm almost done. okay. so the benefit of state and local deductibility affects every state, every city, every town, every municipality and goes deep into the middle class and the working class. now, one other point i have to make, mr. president. so now realizing this, some of our republican colleagues are saying, well, we'll modify it. folks, there is no real way to modify the state -- the provision to eliminate state and local deductibility. you want to give a choice? that won't work, because for middle-class taxpayers, it's the

only combination -- it's only the combination of their itemized deductions, state and local, mortgage and others, that make it worth it for them to itemize. and if you have to choose between the mortgage deduction and your property tax deduction, it's a loser. so they say we'll just do this for the very rich. but as i mentioned, that's not where the money is. where are you going to cap it? it's mostly a middle-class deduction, so if you cap it for people whose income is above $500,000 or $1 million, you don't bring in much money. so it's a loser. you can't fix it. get rid of it. you can't fix it. the plans that are being done still continue to hurt the middle class dramatically. so the republican plan to repeal state and local can't be fixed, modified or tweaked around the

edges. each of the proposals doesn't work. it must be scrapped. the state and local deduction affects everyone, even in the almost one in five taxpayers in the lowest states where it affects the fewest people. and it's just one of the many flaws in this broken, broken fame work. let's start over. don't just do a republican plan that appeals to the handful of very wealthy corporations and very wealthy individuals. work with us on a fair plan that helps the middle class, not the very wealthy. we're ready. but if you do the same thing you did on health care and try to do it by yourself, i think you'll meet with the same fate that the health care bill did. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. ms. warren: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that senator crapo and i each be

allowed to speak five minutes on the nomination of randal quarles. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. warren: mr. president, every time president trump has the choice between standing up for american families or standing up for wealthy banks and giant corporations, he chooses the rich guys. time and time again he has promised that he would never be beholden to lobbyists or to the special interests, but he has appointed dozens of big-business executives and lobbyists to senior positions in his administration. during his campaign, he promised that he wouldn't let the wall street guys get away with murder. but after he was sworn in, he loaded up his economic team with goldman sachs executives. and over and over again he has promised to drain the swamp, but then appointed an army of lobbyists and industry insiders to positions overseeing the industries that paid them for years. randal quarles is just the

latest in this long line of corporate appointments. he's president trump's nominee to the federal reserve vice chair for supervision. he's gone through the revolving door so many times it is hard to keep up, from a big wall street law firm to the treasury department back to the wall street law firm, back eventually to the treasury department. then to a private equity fund followed most recently by another trip to a private equity fund. and now mr. quarles is ready for another spin through the revolving door. now the vice chair for supervision of the fed is one of the most important jobs in government. after the 2008 crisis, congress put the fed in charge of supervising the biggest banks. that includes banks and other financial institutions that would bring down the whole financial system with them if they went under. the so-called too big to fail institutions. the fed is what stands between millions of american families and another economic catastrophe that could rob them of their jobs, their savings, or their

homes. after the 2008 crisis, congress created the vice chair for supervision position to lead efforts to supervise these giant institutions. there is no position in government that has a more important role in stopping the next financial crisis. so what kind of supervision and oversight does mr. quarles believe in? well, his motto seems to be whatever the big banks want, give it to them. mr. quarles has spent more than a decade in private equity and investment management where he argued repeatedly for weaker rules for giant banks, including relaxing the rules for stress tests that evaluate banks' soundness, lowering capital and leverage standard and repealing the volcker rule. at his hearing before the banking committee, i showed mr.f financial rule roll backs from a

lobbying group from the biggest banks in the country. i asked him to tell me which of those dozens of changes he disagreed with. he couldn't name one. not one. the number-wung thing we need -- one thing we need from a vice chair for supervision is independence from wall street, a demonstrated willingness to stand up to the wishes of big banks and protect the interests of working families. there is not a speck of independence in mr. quarles' track record. mr. quarles' time in government also raises red flags. as under secretary for domestic finance, he was responsible for overseeing financial institution action, markets, and regulations in the years leading up to the financial crisis. let me say that again. mr. quarles was the treasury official in charge of helping oversee wall street in the years leading up to the crisis. anyone want to point out how that worked out? if mr. quarles had wanted to stand up to the banks, he could

have found and fixed systemwide problems in the markets before catastrophes struck. instead, in 2006 when the banks were making gobs of money off risky bets that eventually crashed the economy, quarles gave a speech in front of a room full of bankers and said, quote, fundamentally the economy is strong, the financial sector is healthy, and our future -- the banks' -- looks bright. less than two years later the entire system had exploded and cost americans collectively about $14 trillion. make no mistake about it, confirming mr. quarles endangers the health of the economy. the last time mr. quarles was in charge, he failed to act to protect the american people from the biggest recession since the great depression either because he missed the signs or because he deliberately ignored them. either way, that makes him the

wrong person for the job. american families deserve a strong leader as vice chair for supervision at the fed who will fight hard to keep them safe. everything we know about mr. quarrels says he will be fighting hard for the big banks. i will be voting no on mr. quarles nomination, and i urge all of my colleagues to do the same. mr. crapo: mr. chairman. the presiding officer: the senator from idaho. mr. crapo: mr. president, i rise to speak in support of the nomination of the honorable randal quarles to be a member of the government of the federal reserve system. mr. quarles has extensive government and private sector experience dealing with both domestic and international financial markets. he is no stranger to public service having previously served in multiple top posts at the treasury department. mr. quarles has also been nominated to serve as the vice chairman for supervision, a role that has never been officially filled.

instead former federal governor dan turillo acted as the vice chairman for supervision in various ways including by chairing the federal reserve board on regulation, overseeing the coordination committee and representing the fed at the financial stability board and in basul among other functions. in february chairman yellen committed in a hearing that she expected president trump's nominee for vice chairman for supervision to have the same responsibilities that the governor had including heading the federal reserve's committee on supervision and regulation and representing the fed at the financial stability board and in basul. i expect mr. quarles to perform those same duties in the interim and i look forward to confirming him to that position soon. mr. quarles has strong bipartisan support and was voted out of the banking committee with the affirmative vote of

17-6. if confirmed, he will play a key role in developing regulatory and supervisory policy for the federal reserve system. i urge all of my colleagues to support mr. quarles' nomination today and vote for his confirmation. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the question occurs on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

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the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or to change their vote? if not, the yeas are 65, nays are 32. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table. the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from idaho. mr. crapo: mr. president, i rise to make a unanimous consent request. we have been able to work out an agreement on a further aspect of mr. quarles' nomination. i want to thank my ranking member, sherrod brown, for working with us on this and helping us to be able to move forward. the presiding officer: order, please. mr. crapo: with that, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of the following nomination: executive

calendar 303. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, randal quarles of colorado to be vice chairman for supervision on the board of governors. mr. crapo: mr. president, 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 made -- considered made and laid upon the table, that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action and that no further motions be in order, and that any statements relating to the nomination be printed in the record, and the senate then resume consideration of the gingrich nomination. just one modification, mr. chairman. i'd like to strike the portion of this unanimous consent request relating to the gingrich nomination. the presiding officer: without objection.

any further debate on the nomination? hearing none, all in favor say aye. all opposed. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nomination is confirmed. by unanimous consent, the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion. we the undersigned senators inning accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of lee francis cissna of maryland for united states citizenship and immigration signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum has been waived. the question is is it the sense of the debate the debate on the nomination of lee francis cissna of maryland be director of united states citizenship and immigration services be, department of homeland security shall be brought to a close.

the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote:

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the presiding officer: any senator in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, the ayes are 54, the nays are 43, the motion is agreed to.

the clerk will report the nomination. the senate will be in order. the clerk: nomination, department of homeland security, lee francis cissna to be immigration ss -- services. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the question is on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

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