vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: the ayes are 54. the nays are 45, and the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 608. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye.

those opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, consumer product safety commission, dana b iocho of ohio to be commissioner. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22, do hereby bring to a close debate on the nomination of dana biocho of ohio to be commissioner of the consumer product safety commission. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the he request is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. those opposed. no the ayes appear to have it.

the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: now, mr. president, i understand the senate has received a message from the house to accompany s. 2372. the presiding officer: the leader is correct.. mr. mcconnell: i move the chair lay before the senate the message to accompany s. 2372. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the message. the clerk: resolved that the bill from the senate, s. 2372 entitled an act to amend title 38 united states code to provide outer burial receptacles for remains buried in national parks and for other purposes do pass with an amendment. mr. mcconnell: i move to concur in the house amendment. the presiding officer: the clerk will report.

the clerk: the senator from kentucky, mr. mcconnell, moves to concur in the house amendment to s. 2372. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk on the motion to concur. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: cloture motion. we, the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of raouflt of the -- rules of the senate move to bring to a close motion to concur h.r. 2372, signed by 16 senators as follows. mr. mcconnell: i ask the reading of the names be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to concur in the house amendment with a further amendment. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from kentucky, mr. mcconnell, moves to concur in the house amendment to s. 2372 with an amendment numbered 2246. mr. mcconnell: i ask the reading be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask for the yeas and nays on my amendment. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second?

there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. all those in favor. mr. mcconnell: i have a second degree amendment at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from kentucky mr. mcconnell proposes an amendment numbered 2247 to amendment number 2246. mr. mcconnell: i ask the reading be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to refer the house message on s. 2372 to the committee on veterans' affairs to report back forthwith with instructions. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: is not kentucky mr. r the house message to accompany s. 2372 to the committee on veterans' affairs to report back forthwith with on 2448. mr. mcconnell: i ask for the yeas and nays on my motion. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. mcconnell: i have an amendment to the instructions. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from kentucky mr. mcconnell

proposes amendment 2249 to the instructions on the motion to commit. mr. mcconnell: i ask the reading be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask for the yeas and nays on my amendment. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. mcconnell: i have a second degree amendment at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from kentucky mr. mcconnell proposes 2250 to amendment 2249. the presiding mr. mcconnell: i ask the reading be dispensed with. i ask the mandatory quorum call be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 670. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, no. the ayes appear to be it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, federal deposit insurance corporation

jelena mcwilliams of ohio to be chairperson of the board of directors. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of jelena mcwilliams of ohio to be chairperson of the board of directors of the federal deposit insurance corporation for a term of five years, signed by 16 senators. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 672. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it.

the motion is agreed to. ratepayer -p -- the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination federal deposit insurance corporation jelena mcwilliams of ohio to be a member of the board of directors. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: we, the undersigned d senators do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of jelena mcwilliams of ohio to be a member of the board of directors of the federal deposit insurance corporation for a term of five years, signed by 16 senators. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to proceed. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion to proceed is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 618.

the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion to proceed is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination department of state, james randolph evans of georgia to be ambassador to luxembourg. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of james randolph evans of georgia to be ambassador to luxembourg, signed by 16 senators. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to proceed. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed no. the ayes have it. the motion to proceed is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the mandatory quorum calls with

respect to the cloture motions filed in executive session today be waived. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the senator from indiana. madam president, as we observe national police week, i rise to honor our fallen law enforcement officers and to discuss some of the ways we're working to make it safer for officers to do their jobs and protect our communities. mr. donnelly: together we honor and remember the lives of the law enforcement officers we lost in the line of duty. these men and women put their lives on the line to protect our neighborhoods so that a hoosier senior can safely sit on his porch and watch his grandkids play on the front yard, or to ensure that working families can go to and from their jobs in

peace. they are on the front lines battling the devastating opioid epidemic that has plagued our state. our police are the ones who work with our communities and local leaders to help stem violence and to help fight crime in our neighborhoods. they are the ones putting themselves in harm's way every single day. these officers are heroes to their families they're even more. they're moms and dads, sisters and brothers, wives and husbands. and their families pray that they come home safely at the end of every shift. sadly, as we know, that doesn't happen every time. when we lose an officer, that loss is felt deeply, particularly by their family and

those who know him and love him. it is a grief that is also shared throughout the entire law enforcement community and throughout our state. since i began serving in the united states senate in 2013, the hoosier state has lost nine officers in the line of duty. i want to take a moment to pay tribute to these fallen heroes. in september of 2013, indianapolis metropolitan police department officer rod bradway was shot and killed while responding to a domestic dispute call in a northwest indianapolis apartment complex. a veteran officer, he served with the wayne township fire department for ten years before working five years on the impd force. officer bradway is credited with saving the life of the domestic

dispute victim and her baby before losing his life protecting them. in june 2014, tipton county deputy sheriff jacob calvin was killed in a car crash while responding to an accident. deputy calvin served his community and our country in more ways than one. he was with the department for two and a half years and previously served his country in iraq in the united states air force, and volunteered at the kempton fire department as a firefighter and e.m.t. in july 2014, indianapolis metropolitan police department officer perry wren was responding to reports of gunfire when he was shot and killed. officer wren served more than two decades in the force. he was a two-time recipient of the impd's medal of bravery

award, and he was awarded the medal of honor and purple heart posthumously. officer wren was also a united states army veteran. also in july of 2014, patrolman jeff westerfield of the gary police department was found fatally shot while on duty in his patrol car. he was killed on his 47th birthday. patrolman westerfield served the gary police department for 19 years. prior to that, the united states army. in september of 2014, merryville police department patrolman nicholas schultz was shot when investigating reports concerning an evicted tenant. patrolman schultz passed away two days later due to his wounds. patrolman schultz was only 24 years old and had been on the

merryville police force for 13 months. in march of 2016, we lost howard county sheriffs deputy carl coons who was shot and killed while serving arrest and search warrants in ruchaville in connection with a narcotics case. deputy coons was just 26 years old. he had served more than two years with the howard county sheriff's office. in july of 2017, lieutenant aaron allen of the southport police department was shot while responding to a crash involving an overturned vehicle. hours before he was killed -- and there's a picture of this which tears your heart out -- he walked his five-year-old son to the bus for his first day of kindergarten. he was a six-year veteran with the southport police department, had previously been named the

officer of the year for saving two hoosiers' lives. he also previously served in the united states air force. tragically, this year we have lost two hoosier police officers in the line of duty. boone county deputy sheriff jacob picket was shot and killed in march during a vehicle pursuit in lebanon, indiana. as the suspect fled on foot, deputy pickett and brick, his k-9 partner, followed in pursuit. deputy pickett was shot as he rounded the corner of a building. he served with the boone county sheriff's office for three years and previously with the tipton county sheriff's office and the marion county sheriff's office. earlier this month, just a few weeks ago, terre haute police department officer rob pitts was

shot and killed while investigating a homicide. as officer pit pitts approachede apartment the suspect opened fire fatally injuring him. officer pitts served with the department for 16 years and with the sullivan police department for six years prior to that. these nine brave officers embody values that should make their loved ones, fellow officers, and every hoosier incredibly proud. we remember their sacrifice, their courageous service, and are thinking of their families not only today, not only this week, but year round. as we pay our respects to those we have lost, we also have a solemn duty to support the family members of those officers who never had the chance to

return home. we also must work to ensure our officers and law enforcement agencies have the resources needed to do their jobs and keep our communities safe. over the last few years i've been honored to introduce and to get signed into law bipartisan legislation to help support law enforcement agencies and officers and to help with grant efforts to provide our officers with necessary tools. when officers and fertility responders -- and first responders are killed in the line of duty, they often leave behind beloved families, including school-aged children. these families and children endure grief and trauma that we can't even begin to imagine. we must do all we can to help the families of our fallen officers and first responders, and this includes ensuring that their children get a good

education. that's why i helped introduce the bipartisan children of fallen heroes scholarship act. this allows the children of fallen first responders who pursue a college education to have access to the maximum level of federal pell grant authorized by law. i was pleased to support the government funding bill that passed in march which included a provision based on the children of fallen heroes scholarship act. another critically important area we must continue to focus on is helping to equip officers with lifesaving equipment. it's no secret our officers may face dangerous situations at any moment, at any moment as they respond to calls and do their job. that's why i supported the bipartisan bulletproof vest partnership grant program

reauthorization act. it was signed into law in may of 2016. it helps law enforcement agencies purchase bull proof vests. having those -- bulletproof vests. having those vests can prevent injuries for law enforcement officers and can save lives. we experienced this firsthand in 2014 when i.m.p. officer greg gillbern was shot in the line of duty. he credits his vest with his survival. in the last three years police departments in indiana have received a total of $1 million to help purchase bulletproof vests for officers so they can all go home at the end of their shift every day. another essential role law enforcement officers play is working with our community leaders, elected leaders, and law enforcement agencies to tackle persisting crime and to

improve neighborhood safety. i, along with many of my colleagues, have long supported robust funding for the burn jag program. this supports state and local law enforcement agencies in their efforts to address the public safety and criminal justice challenges facing our communities. this program also supports information sharing on terror and criminal threats, drug and human trafficking organizations and sexual predators. and lastly, as officers go to work every day, they can encounter horrific scenes and experience traumatic situations that are just impossible to leave behind once the day is done. last year i authored and introduced the bipartisan law enforcement mental health and wellness act with my friend and

colleague from indiana senator dodd young. our bill was signed into law by president trump in january. it helps law enforcement agencies enhance or establish mental health services for officers. it provides tools to help officers deal with mental health challenges and to combat the stigma associated with addressing those issues. this legislation also includes funding that the department of justice can use to initiate peer mentoring pilot program grants for local law enforcement agencies. our law enforcement officers deserve our support. they deserve it to ensure they can do their job safely and effectively. i'll continue to work bipartisan ef -- on bipartisan efforts to help our officers and their families. in the meantime, this police

week, this special week we have here every year, let us take a moment to pray for those fallen heroes, for their families, and their fellow officers. they own our hearts for all they do for us. they protect our families, our children, our communities, and put their lives on the line every day for us, not knowing if they are going to come home safely or not but still they go forward, still they go out, still our officers who are our friends and who protect us keep us safe every day. they earned and have always kept all our respect of everyone in our communities. they have our love, they have our devotion, and our deepest

appreciation for everything they do every day. may god bless all of these officers. may god bless indiana, and may god bless the united states of america. madam president, i yield the floor. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran: madam president, thank you. many of us this afternoon had the opportunity to see the documentary, the hbo documentary, the screening "for whom the bell tolls," a tribute to senator mccain. clearly a tribute, but a story of his life and an expose of the

sacrifice for his country. it is a moving story of senator mccain's life and an inspiration to me and i assume my colleagues for the commitment he has made by always trying to do right, putting country above self, and i've had the honor of working with senator mccain for the last several years in regard to legislation trying to improve the circumstances that our nation's veterans face as they access a health care within the department of veterans' affairs. senator mccain and i introduced legislation to accomplish a number of things related to particularly the choice program. choice was passed back about 2014 at a time in which the v.a. was in a crisis, at a time in which they were created to serve was created by the department of

veterans' affairs. and the problems were highlighted in senator mccain's home city, home state at the phoenix v.a. in which a number of veterans may have died as a result of inability to access health care in a timely fashion. the solution to the problem exhibited in other places across the country that included fake, false waiting lists in which the v.a. had determined a list that was not really real but demonstrated that veterans who thought -- who had no idea they had an appointment to see someone at the v.a. had an appointment to camouflage the slowness of the department of veterans' affairs resulted in a unanimous decision by the united states senate to create a program called choice. choice kreets the opportunity for -- creates the opportunity for a veteran, under certain circumstances, to access health care at their home in their home

community at the veteran's discretion. this program, in my view, has the significant potential ability to alter those veterans to be cared for. those who served our country deserve the very best and we want to make sure that happens inside the v.a. and in a program that allows veterans to choose health care outside the department of veterans' affairs. so the v.a. choice program has expired since 2014. we reauthorized it. in a number of instances, i think, perhaps four, it was -- it needed funding, and we reauthorized the funding. and choice was a limited program in which the veteran for he or she to call to receive choice, care in the community at their discretion, at their option was determined by whether or not that veteran lived within 40 miles of a v.a. facility or whether the v.a. could provide

the services within 30 days of the time that the veteran needed to care. we've been working, the committee here in the senate, has worked for a long time to reauthorize the veterans choice program and it was my view, with senator mccain, just to reauthorize choice would be a significant error on our part and we should, in the authorization process, make choice, make community care work better for veterans. i judge whether or in the0 the v.a. is -- whether or not the v.a. is providing the care and services our veterans need by what you call casework, what you, madam president, and other senators, what we do on behalf of our constituents who have a challenge or problem with a federal agency or department. and our casework in regarding veterans who are attempting to access care in the community or

who have has been expo tensional -- exponential. at the moment we have 80 cases for veterans in kansas, not all related to this particular program, but 80 veterans who have contacted me and my staff and said i need your help. since i have been a united states senator, that number is 2,650 veterans have contacted me or my staff saying i need your help. so when it came time for the senate veterans' affairs committee to begin the process, the legislative process determining how to alter the program, how to reform and particularly how to extend the program, i wanted to make certain that my input was based upon what veterans were telling me about how the program did and didn't work. and our committee passed a bill out of the veterans' affairs committee now months ago. that bill was passed by our

committee on a vote of 14-1. i was the one opponent, and i say that to bring to my colleagues today, some of who have asked my view, some who i hope are interested in my view, and even for those who may not care, i want them to know that the bill now in front of the senate, that the majority leader just filed the proceedings for us to a cloture vote next week on this legislation is legislation i support. it does do something more than just extend choice. it kreets opportunities for that -- creates opportunities for that program to work much better. most importantly to me was the issue of who decides whether or not a veteran has the option of choosing community care. the legislation that we will consider next week allows for the department of veterans' affairs, in a sense the

secretary of the department of veterans' affairs, to remain the gatekeeper. the v.a. has the opportunity to make the decision about who gets to have community care, but different than today when the only criteria is 40 miles or 30 days. we create access standards in this legislation that the v.a. must abide by in determining whether or not a veteran can have care in the community, and that is a significant difference. we had all kinds of challenges with the 40 miles and 30 days. we changed the definition of what a facility was in order to get the v.a. to allow individuals to have access to care at home. people may recall that the v.a. wanted to count the 40 miles as -- as the crow flies in addition to other challenges

that the v.a. put in front of veterans we've eliminated those and created a standard by which the v.a. must abide. so while the gatekeeper remains the department of veterans' affairs, it's not in the total discretion of the department of veterans' affairs, they must abide by criteria and if the veteran believes he or she is denied care in the community, that veteran has the opportunity to appeal based upon a enough of standards, including best medical interest of the veteran. so we are changing a program in which the v.a. made decisions that often denied veterans the access to care in their community that veteran asked for in saying that you now asked the v.a. for permission. the v.a. has to make a decision to grant or deny that permission, but they can't do it solely at the discretion of the secretary of the veterans'

affairs, they must abide by criteria. that is is an improvement, a significant improvement and if you feel like you have received the wrong decision, you can appeal that decision today. we have plenty of examples of the only appeal is to their united states senator or member of congress. in which we then we have a new case to once again to try to work our way through the department of veterans' affairs, why did you deny this veteran his or her choice to have community care? so this bill is a significant improvement. it satisfies the concerns i had with my view that early on we were mostly just trying to extend choice as it was, as it is, and now this replaces it with a circumstance in which veterans have rights, have standards by which the department of veterans affairs must comply with.

in addition to the issue of who can access care, who's the gatekeeper, and what are the standards that are determined, this bill merges and modernizes all community care programs, puts them under one category at the department of veterans affairs instead of multiple programs so it simplifies. we've had too many instances which if you didn't access care under one program, you might be able to apply for another. this changes the circumstances that so many of my veterans have complained to me about in which they get an authorization from the department of veterans affairs and they're allowed to see a physician in their home community but then when they need lab work, or an x-ray, something that should be related to that visit, they have to go back to the department of veterans affairs to get additional consent. this is more in the line of necessary procedures that should follow. one authorization that includes the things that are medically necessary for that appointment

with a physician or that admission to a hospital just makes sense that these other things would be necessary if that physician that the v.a. referred you to believes them to be necessary. it establishes a framework for the v.a. to build a high performing health care network. and it is -- implements new care coordination so that the veteran and the v.a. work together to determine what's in the best interest of that veteran. something that i've cared about a lot, we required in the original choice act that the health care provider be paid medicare rates. those of us who come from rural states recognize that there is various rates under medicare and for our smallest hospitals, they are entitled to cost-base reimbursement but that was not happening under the current choice legislation, the law

today. and this legislation corrects a problem keeping it -- the circumstance more likely in which our hospitals and doctors will be financially able to see a veteran and provide that care. this is not privatizing the v.a. the v.a. serves a valuable and useful role. many veterans choose to have care at the department of veterans affairs at their hospitals and at their clinics. again, this is the veterans choice where he or she wants. but those of us who come from rural places, the distances in which a veteran must travel in many instances has eliminated the ability for that veteran to ever access care from the v.a. the v.a. has programs that are important to veterans. traumatic brain injury, amputation, things that may not ever be as available or as desirable in the community. this legislation is supported by

every veteran service organization that will i know of. and so we've come to the point in which it is time for us to pass this legislation. memorial day is approaching. the president has asked this legislation be approved prior to memorial day. we would think it appropriate to honor those who served our country at this point in may in which memorial day is around the corner, to provide the care that they are asking for. the other aspect of why it's important for us to move on this legislation now is that the funding for choice and community care is diminished. i serve on the appropriations committee that funds the department of veterans affairs. and it is necessary for us to get the money in place. already the v.a. is rationing care for those veterans who use choice today. and this legislation puts the necessary dollars in place for choice to continue in its new

reform and improved status. it would be a shame for us to miss this opportunity. it would be wrong for our veterans. it would diminish the number of people who access care at the department of veterans affairs and to do so at a time in which the needs are great for those who served our nation. again, referring to my colleague from arizona, senator mccain, it would be an honor -- we would honor him if we do answer this call to our duty to see that our veterans are cared for, that promises are kept. i appreciate the response that was given when the bill was suggested to be named in honor of senator mccain. and both the house chairman and the house committee along with senator isakson, the chairman here and senator tester, the

ranking member, have agreed to do that. this legislation is now known as the mccain mission act. and our colleague that we saw so many reasons to pay honor and tribute to would respect another honor for his service to our nation but of equal importance, his service to other veterans. for so many reasons, madam president, it is time for us to act, to pass the mccain mission act, to do so with the promptness that has followed long deliberations to get it right. too often in my view, the united states senate, the congress, politics and government in general just put a band aid on to get by. this legislation is significantly different than just doing something to get by. it will improve the quality of life for those who served our nation and we should honor them as we honor senator mccain prior to memorial day at the end

of next week. madam president, i thank you for the opportunity to address the senate. mr. portman: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. portman: madam president, i want to first commend my colleague from kansas for his passion for our veterans and for his hard work on legislation that's really going to help in ohio and around the country to ensure they have the care that they deserve. and also he's mention of senator mccain who -- he's a true national hero and now has a documentary about him on hbo that some of us saw earlier today which soon will be available for everyone to see. it's very powerful. we heard earlier from one of my colleagues from indiana who talked about the fact that this is national police week. a number of us have come to the floor to talk about our

incredible men and women in uniform back home who protect us every day to their dedication, their public service, and it's appropriate to commend them. i will say that as i talk to police officers here from ohio this week, one issue came up again and again that doesn't get the attention that it deserves. and that is the influx of synthetic opioids, like fentanyl and the effect it's having on our law enforcement community. and our first responders in general and for that matter all of our citizens. what they told me was, you know, this is the issue that's creating so much crime in our communities. this is the issue that's filling our courtrooms and our jails. one police officer i met with this week is a corrections officer in a jail in one of our urban areas in ohio and i asked him, just give me an estimate, what percent of the inmates in this jail are there because of the drug crisis and specifically the opioid issue?

he thought for a minute. he said probably 90%. 90%. some are there because of selling drugs. some of them are there, though, because they committed a crime while they were trying to get the money to be able to pay for their habit. so it's shoplifting and it's fraud and it's burglary. and this issue is now everywhe everywhere. the last year for which we have good information would be 2016. we have a lot of information nationally on that. and 2016 was the worst year on record in terms of overdose deaths attributable to these synthetic drugs coming into our country. but guess what? almost certainly 2017 is worse. as one example, the coroner for franklin county, ohio, the columbus area in ohio, our faster growing city, recently released their 2017 overdose report for the county.

franklin county had 520 overdose deaths in 2017. that's a 47% increase from 2016. so 2016, worst year on record. 2017 almost a 50% increase in overdose deaths. sadly, by the way, those overdose deaths are on track again this year to reach a record. two-thirds of those overdose deaths in columbus, ohio, franklin county involved fentanyl which is the synthetic opioid that's overtaking our communities in ohio. think about that. two-thirds of those overdose deaths last year in columbus, ohio, were due to fentanyl. just last week a cleveland man was sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison for selling fentanyl that resulted in a 46-year-old ohio man's death. earlier that month a man was convicted of selling fentanyl resulting in a 23-year-old's

death. this drug and the opioid crisis knows no bounds. it's in every age group. it's in every zip code. it is everywhere. unbelievably, this drug, this fentanyl, again a synthetic form of heroin, synthetic form of opioid, we are told by the experts is coming into our country through the u.s. mail system. to me this is shocking and it should be something that we can do something about. this is a federal agency after all. so unlike other drugs, let's say heroin or even crystal meth which tend to come over land, mostly from mexico, this drug primarily is coming through the united states mail system from primarily one country, china. laboratories in china where some evil sign dis is mixing this -- scientist is mixing this deadly brew and then sending it through

the u.s. mail into our communities. it's being shipped directly into your community in small packages. these are the deadliest drugs we've ever experienced. and they're being shipped directly through a federal agency. what is fentanyl? well, it's 50 times more powerful than heroin. it's inexpensive. it's readily available now in many communities. it's the new scourge killing more people in my state of ohio last year than any other drug. and we need to do all we can to stop more of these poisons from entering our communities. and at the very least, if we can't stop it all, let's raise the price because the cost of this drug being so inexpensive and it being so powerful is one of the things that's driving these overdoses and these deaths. and it's not just overdoses. it's people who's lives are getting -- whoses lives are getting -- whose lives are getting off track, families

breaking apart, communities dysfunctioning, people leaving work, the babies being born with this neonatal abstinence syndrome. they have it go through withdrawal, little babies you can hold in your two hands. it's affecting our communities in so many ways. there's a new study out showing of the men out of the work force all together, probably eight and a half million men, roughly half of them are taking pain medication on a daily basis when two-thirds say it's prescription drug, what does this mean? it's affecting one of the big issues which is a lack of a workforce. here you have millions of americans who are off track because of this issue. so, yes, it is tragic and unbelievable that over 60,000 americans a year are dying from overdoses. but it's even worse than that. that's the tip of the iceberg in a way. there are so many other aspects of this that are affecting the communities that we represent here in this chamber.

with regard to fentanyl, this new scourge, we conducted an 18-month investigation in what's called the permanent subcommittee on investigations which i chair. and we did this because we were hearing more and more about fentanyl. we wanted to look into how fentanyl is being shipped into the united states, what can be done at the federal level to stop it. the investigation revealed just how easy it is to purchase fentanyl online and have it shipped to the united states. so easy in fact that we found most of the overseas providers essentially guaranteed delivery if you use the u.s. mail system. through a simple google search, our staff found hundreds of websites, many affiliated with chinese labs openly advertising fentanyl for sale. we went undercover using an investigator from the department of homeland security to help us find some of these websites. we found that in several cases,

seven different cases, individuals who received fentanyl through some of these websites, we were able to find that they had died from an overdose shortly after receiving their fentanyl. we were able to find that again these sellers would tell you to ship the drugs through the postal service. not a private carrier like fedex or d.h.l., u.p.s., or any other private carrier. and this is because as we have learned in our investigation, the postal service, unlike these private carriers, is not required to have what's called advanced electronic data as part of the package. in other words, law enforcement is not given information on these packages. the data that is in this advanced electronic information is the name and address of the sender, the name and address of

the person who is receiving the package, and what the contents of the package are. how does this help? well, this gives law enforcement the ability to use big data, find out what region it's coming from. again, if there is a region in china that is sending a lot of this poison, they'll know that. where it's going. if it's going to a particular post office box where they have reason to believe that it might be suspect or perhaps it's going to an abandoned warehouse. the information about what's in the package obviously is very interesting to customs and border protection. they need this help. why? because they can't otherwise identify suspicious packages. there are 900 million packages a year coming into the united states through the mail system. 900 million packages. it's like finding a needle in a haystack. yes, we need better detection equipment, and we have actually passed legislation recently to do that. we have additional legislation to hire more individuals to be

able to help detect these packages when they have opioids contained within them, but this advanced information that you can have on the package is so incredibly important, and it's the reason why the traffickers are saying don't send it through a private carrier. send it to our own government agency because we think we can guarantee delivery there. it's a glaring loophole in our screening process and it's a national security threat. it's a clear example where congress ought to come together on a bipartisan basis and enact federal policies to fix this flaw. shortly after the tragic events of 9/11, september 11, 2001, congress did pass a law in this regard, and the law did require all private carriers to obtain advanced electronic data on all international packages entering the united states and required them to share that data with law enforcement. the concern was not just

contraband or opioids. it was also explosives. they passed that legislation here in congress because they knew that it was important to have law enforcement get that information. with regard to the post office, they made it optional. congress required the postmaster general and the secretary of the treasury to determine if the post office should also collect such data. now, this was 17 years ago. that determination was never made. they did not follow the law. from one administration to the next, to the next, to the next. no determination of course has resulted in no data requirement for the postal service. again, that was in 2002. for about 14 years, the postal service sat by and did nothing on this issue, knowing that this was a loophole, this was an

opening in the law for, again, traffickers and others to be able to send things into our country. to me, that's unacceptable. in the last couple of years, after pressure from congress and, frankly, our investigation that i talked about earlier and the hearings we held talking about this issue, in the permanent subcommittee on investigations, the postal service did actually start to do what in my view they should have done starting 16 years ago. but unfortunately what they are doing is not nearly enough. they had begun getting some data on some international packages, but the efforts are inadequate. private carriers 100% of their packages have to have it and do, and they provide it to law enforcement. the u.s. postal service last year began an effort to get more of this advanced electronic data. but they received it based on testimony they provided to us on only about 36% of the

international packages. this means that the united states received more than 318 million packages last year that had no screening on it. no information for law enforcement to be able to identify the package. we also found that the quality of the data that was provided by the postal service was inadequate in many cases and therefore not helpful to law enforcement. that is based on testimony again before our committee. even when the postal service conducted a pilot program to screen for drugs, they only presented 80% of the packages targeted by customs and border protection for inspection. so even when they did have information on it and law enforcement said i want that package, again using big data and figuring out what might be a suspicious package, only 80% of them were even delivered to law enforcement out of the 36% that had electronic data. so the other 20% of those suspicious packages were allowed

to go into circulation, into our communities without having any screening. frankly, it's been a challenge to get the post office to address this problem on their own. it's 900 million packages a year. they have funding problems. i get that. but, folks, this is a crisis. it is a true epidemic. it's the number one killer in my state. it's time for congress to act. people are dying every day because of these synthetic drugs. how many more people have to die before our own postal service takes the measures that we know can be taken to be able to stop these poisons? the stop act is a bipartisan bill i introduced with senator amy klobuchar, a democrat from minnesota, that will close this closest loophole and therefore help stop these deadly drugs from entering our communities. senator klobuchar was on the

floor earlier this afternoon and wanted to speak at this time about the legislation. she had to catch a plane to get back to her home state of minnesota, but i appreciate her partnership on this issue and her promotion of us dealing with this issue here on the floor of the united states senate. the stop act is very simple and common sense. it's going to hold the u.s. postal service to the same standard as these private mail carriers we talked about and require that they get advanced electronic data, not on 36% but on 100% of packages entering the united states, and good data, and then present that to law enforcement. we're not punishing the postal service. we're forcing them to jump through unnecessary hoops. we're simply saying that given the crisis we face, the u.s. postal service, a federal agency, should require the same types of advanced electronic data from foreign countries that private mail carriers do, and we give the postal service a year to do it. by the way, when i talk to mail

carriers about this issue, when i talk to postal inspectors about this issue, certainly when i talk to customs and border protection individuals about this issue, they all agree. who wouldn't? they have families, too. they understand. this issue needs to be addressed and it needs to be addressed urgently. by the way, the united states of america provides this advanced electronic data on 90% of our packages that we send to other countries, so we're not asking for something that we're not doing. it makes sense all around the world. it makes sense here, and it will help save lives. 33 of my senate colleagues, 20 republicans and 12 democrats, one independent has signed on as cosponsors of this legislation. the presiding officer today is from west virginia, a state that has been hit really hard, like ohio. she has a passion for this issue. she knows that we need to do all we can do to stop this poison from coming in.

legislation has the support of a broad cross section of this body. it's also been endorsed by trump's opioid commission. this was a national commission that he formed to look at answers. this was one of their specific recommendations, the stop act, pass it. just this week, the secretary of homeland security, kirstjen nielsen, reaffirmed her support for this measure. the house companion bill has 271 cosponsors. more than half of the united states house of representatives. by the way, asking every country for this kind of information, this advanced electronic data, is not just common sense. it's also reasonable. the united states provides that data on nearly all of our packages that go into china, as an example, so why shouldn't china do that for us? at least one country, swede especially, recently returned packages from china. it did not comply with swedish postal rules on providing this information, so the postal service has already realized they have to accept and deliver packages from foreign posts

under treaty obligations is simply not the case. if a country doesn't play by our rules, we can simply choose to return their packages. by the way, threatening to do so is all we need to do because these countries will then comply. we have the largest market in the world. we're the biggest economy in the world. we just have to insist on it. china is already starting to recognize the importance of providing this data for access to u.s. markets. for example, as of early this year when we published our report from the permanent subcommittee on investigations, we have information that china had already provided electronic data on roughly 50% of the packages headed to the united states. so this notion that somehow china can't do it, of course they can. yesterday, instead of marking up this bipartisan stop act i talked about, the stop act legislation, the house ways and means committee considered a weaker alternative to our bill. apparently, they were hearing from some at the postal service who don't want congress to

require them to get this electronic data within one year. which we think is not just doable but reasonable. they don't want congress to put in place penalties if they don't get that data. our legislation, yes, has penalties. the postal service doesn't mind if congress simply recommends that they get the data, but remember, congress recommended that way back in 2002. that was 16 years ago. until very recently, just the last couple of years, the postal service did nothing to provide that crucial information. unfortunately, the weaker alternative approved by the committee yesterday would eliminate the real enforceable and immediate requirement that the postal service provide law enforcement with the information they need to identify and stop the shipment of deadly sympathetic drugs into our communities. in particular, the stop act requires that within one year, the postal service secure electronic data on 100% of packages, again, entering the

united states and transmit that data to law enforcement, to customs and border protection. the diversion report out yesterday gives the postal service four years, four years. remember, number one killer in my state and many states. last year, increased from the year before, this year looks worse again. we can't wait four years. we don't have to. the version they reported out also only requires 95% of the packages to have that data. in addition, this alternative that was reported out yesterday to the stop act actually gives the federal government the authority to waive the requirements in the stop act that it gets advanced electronic data if it, and i quote, is in the national security interests of the united states. they can waive it altogether. i'm struggling to think of a time when knowing less about what is coming into our country is in our national security interests. as our d.s.i. report, permanent subcommittee investigations

report from january makes clear, there are hundreds of millions of packages coming into this country through the postal service every year with little or no screening at all. that's frightening. this loophole is allowing drug traffickers to exploit our own federal government, and we can't allow this scenario to continue. the organization of americans for securing all packages, asap, issued a statement last week urging the ways and means committee to, and i quote, reject this weakened alternative and pass the stop act, a bill with 271 bipartisan cosponsors. just yesterday, shatter proof, another addiction advocacy group fighting against the opioid addiction issue, issued a similar statement calling on congress to pass the stop act. not the watered down version. i want to say today on the floor that i very much appreciate the fact that ways and means committee chairman kevin brady has acknowledged these concerns

and has committed to working with us to resolve these differences during the legislative process. i know him. i know he is a passionate advocate of addressing this issue. he wants to reverse the opioid epidemic, and he wants this to work. so i look forward to working with him. i particularly appreciate the house co-authors of the stop act. representative mike bishop, representative bill pascrell. i talked to mr. bishop today, and i know his passion to deal with this issue as well. the coalition for support for the stop act, by the way, also includes the fraternal order of police. i talked about the fact that police officers understand the dangers of this issue. by the way, to give you an example of how dangerous this issue is to them, it's not just the overcrowding of our prison system and the courts and the crime that has been committed, it's a personal danger to them as law enforcement officers. in east liverpool, ohio, police

officers pulled over two men for a traffic violation. he noticed there was a powdery substance in the car. being alert, he put on his mask and his gloves, arrested these two gentlemen because the powdery substance was fentanyl. they had stupidly tried to spread it around the car. he took them down to the station. he booked them. avenue booked them, he was talking to his fell will he officers and he looked down on his shirt and notice add few white flecks on his shirt. so, as anyone would do, he took his hand and flicked the pieces of something white off of his shoulder. it was fentanyl. that exposure to his fingers caused him to drop unconscious on the floor. this is a big guy, 6'2", over 200 pounds. he overdoses and nearly died. as his police chief said, if we

hadn't been there to apply narcan, not once, twice, but four, five, six times, he wouldn't have made it. think if he had gone home to hug his kid without brushing those flecks off his shoulder. t.s.a. appropriate that the police organizations around the country are strongly in support of this stop act. but so is the national association of state e.m.s. officials, the u.s. chamber of commerce, anti-opioid groups like shatterproof i talked about, but also stop, stop addiction fatality addiction group. others have said this is crazy. we have to stop this stuff from coming into our community and at the minimum get the price up. because part of the reason it is spreading so much is because it's inexpensive. so there is a strong, bipartisan consensus that the senate stop act is needed to combat the wave of opioid addiction and overdose deaths on the front end by keeping some of these more

deadly drugs from ever entering our communities in the first place. this is a step we can take in the senate to make accessing these drugs more difficult. the stop act will make life a little easier for the people of ohio and across the country who are increasingly fatally overdosing or being unknowingly exposed to these deadly drugs. of course, this is only one part of combating the opioid epidemic. we understand that. we passed legislation here that i coauthored that increases treatment options, does more in terms of prevention, provides longer-term recovery, helps provide our police officers are -- and other first responders with the narcan that is so needed to reverse the effects of overdoses. but to my colleagues, this one is common sense. stopping more of these deadly drugs from ever entering the drug in the first place, raising the price of these drugs will make a difference, and it will

save lives. let's pass this legislation. let's work with the house to be sure it's legislation that will be effective immediately to be able to stop the increasing danger that these opioids are causing in our communities all around the country. mr. president, i yield back.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: majority leader. mr. mcconnell: as if in executive session, i ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the

democratic leader the senate proceed to executive session for the consideration of the following nomination -- executive calendar 593. i ask consent there be four hours of debate equally divided in the usual form and that following the use or yielding back of time, the senate vote on the nomination with no intervening action or debate, that if confidence the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, the president be immediately notified of the senate's action, that no further motions be in order and that any statements related to the nomination be be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar 150, s. 346. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number

150, s. 346, a bill to provide for the establishment of the national volcano early warning and monitoring system. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported amendments be agreed to, the murkowski amendment at the desk be agreed to, and the bill as amended be read a third time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i know of no further debate on the bill. the presiding officer: vote is son passage of the bill, as amended. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes do have it. the bill is amended and passed. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the rules committee be disarmed from further consideration and the senate now proceed to s.j. res. 60. the presiding officer: the clerk will report.

the clerk: senate joint resolution 60 providing for the reappointment of barbara m. barrett as a citizen regent of the board of regents of the smithsonian institution. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 515 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 515 honoring the 70th anniversary of the reactivation in 1948 of the third infantry regiment of the united states army.

the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent 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. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. res. 516, submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 516, designating the week of may 1 through may 7, 2018, as national physical education and sport week. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i further ask 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. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: so now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 3:00 p.m. monday, may 21, 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. i further ask that following leader remarks, the senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the biococo nomination. notwithstanding the provisions of rule 22, the cloture motions ripen at 5:30 p.m. monday. the filing deadlines to the house message a company s. 2372 be at 5:00 p.m. monday. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: so, if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate adjourns until 3:00 p.m. on monday.

[applause] thank you so much for that kind introduction