vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 68, the nays are 11. the bill as amended is passed. mr. roberts: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. roberts: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes, which i want to assure members i will not do. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. roberts: mr. president, with 171 amendments and a vote

of 86-11, obviously getting this farm bill done has been a tremendous team effort. you're only as good as your staff on both sides of the aisle, and they make us look good when we stand up here a little confused and try to get things sorted out. i'd like to thank my staff, james glick, denita murray, jenaa, brady, fred clark, megan klein, hailey donahue, matt erickson, chance huntley, shu huang, chelsea keys, sarah little, curt ma this. n, andy rezendez, wayne stofkoff, who knows more about farm programs than anybody else on the staff -- and myself included -- and andrewvestment

locity. i'd like to also mention -- pardon me, katherine thomas. don't want to leave her out. jackie catrell. and i want to especially thank the ranking member, vice chairman really, senator stabenow, and her team, led by the indomitable joe schultz and jacqueline snyder, bobbie medic, katy sale, and micah warthum. i want to thank the technical support from the secretary of agriculture, sonny per don't, and the staff at the u.s.

department of agriculture. thank you so much for your help. and i also appreciate the work of the congressional budget office staff, including tiffany arthur, megan carroll, katherine fitzgerald, jennifer gray, tim langley and robert reis. i now yield to my distinguished ranking member, senator stabenow. thank you for being such a great partner. ms. stabenow: thank you. mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: thank you. i want to thank my partner and friend as well. this has been a tremendous team effort, and it's a great pleasure working with you. today the senate has proven that bipartisanship is the way we can get things done, and we all know that's the case. it's not always the easiest path to take, however, when we put our differences aside and focus on the needs of the communities, the people that we serve, that's how we deliver a good bill, in this case, a bill that serves our farmers, our families, and rural america.

and over 500 food, agriculture, and conservation leaders agree that this bill will provide certainty to communities and to our farmers across the country. from the start, we've had a collaborative process. we've built this bill on feedback. we heard from farmers and local leaders at field hearings and in our committee room. we added ideas proposed by members on both sides of the aisle, both on and off the committee. from our committee markup to today, we have incorporated a total of 171 either bipartisan bills introduced by members or bipartisan amendments. 171. we were able to get a bill done because we never lost sight of the importance of our agricultural economy and the 16 million jobs it supports. i'm proud that we voted in a bipartisan way to move this bill

forward. that's the good news for rural america and the men and women who work hard every day to give us the safest, most affordable food supply in the world. let me now give some thank yous, and there, as the chairman indicated, are many. i a appreciative very much the work of our democratic leader an his staff and leadership and support through the process. i want it thank the majority leader, who knows how important agriculture is to kentucky. i think we've got some things in this bill that are going to make an even stronger agriculture economy in kentucky as well as around the country. i appreciate that he has moved this bill quickly on the senate floor. and, of course, i have to thank my friend and partner, senator roberts, who is chairman of the committee. he has stayed true to our commitment to deliver a bipartisan bill and has worked extremely hard to get us here today. i say congratulations,

mr. chairman. to all of our senate completion who supported this important bill, and i want to thank my incredible staff as well as senator roberts' incredible staff for working together very hard, very consistently, putting together a bipartisan bill, really an historic farm bill, and ultimately working as a team to get us over the goal line. of course, joe schultz and jacqueline schneider, my staff director and deputy staff director and policy director for the committee. true leaders from start to finish. they both have been with me on the committee staff since the very beginning in 2011 when i chaired the committee. joe has led our amazing team and has been living and breathing the farm bill for the past year. you can sleep tonight, joe. so, jacqueline as well. jacqueline is the heart and soul of our ag committee, whose tremendous work over the past two farm bills has made sure we were protecting our families and supporting our specialty crop producers and led our efforts to develop groundbreaking new

initiatives on food access, like double-up balks. marie beth schultz, our chief counsel who had no idea what she was getting herself into when she came to the ag committee this last year. in no time, she became a farm bill expert who kept track of every page and every amendment to make sure this process was successful. mike schmidt and kyle varner, our amazing commodities and livestock team who understand the ins and outs of farm policy like nobody else. they have done so much to improve our dairy programs, expand risk management tools to specialty crops, and support new and beginning farmers. ashley mccann who led our work on the conservation pile to expand our partnership programs. she brings her warmth, her personality, her expertise to the job every day. sean beddington, our forestry and environmental expert, has

impeccable negotiating skills that we rely on daily and he helped us get to this point to have a final farm bill as well. thanks to both ashley and sean, our country will have healthy forests, more wildlife habitat, and clean waters for generations to come. katie nathans whose hard work led to the major advances in this bill for urban agriculture, organics, beginning farmers, and veterans who want to go into agriculture. i'm so proud of the farmer veterans program in michigan. kevin bailey led our efforts on expanding high-speed internet for rural communities and on the rural development and energy title so we can continue to grow the bio-based economy in rural america. katie berg led our work on international trade, fighting to preserve markets for michigan producers from cherries to dairy, and helped improve our food aid policies in the u.s.

and abroad. roslyn grumett is the glue that keeps our team together. she kept the trains running on time and made sure we were all prepared to do what was needed to be done. thank you so much. we also had fantastic help from farm bill veteran susan keith who provided invaluable wisdom and counsel to our commodity and livestock team. warren griffin, our cftc detail to the committee is not only an expert on financial issues but has become a full-fledged member of the team, jumping in to help wherever was needed, and we are grateful. jason sherman, a lawyer and fellow from the department of energy whose keen eye and legal mind was invaluable on environmental and conservation issues. and of course now to my personal senate staff, a very important part of the team as well. matt van kyken, my chief of staff who leads my personal office team and my legislative

director emily carwell who followed the floor procedure, was involved in negotiations, and made sure everything was happening the way it should be. and thank you to them and all of our team in the personal office for being a part of this effort. and of course crystal lattany who always makes sure that i'm getting where i need to be so i'm in the right place for negotiations. and my deputy chief of staff, matt williams, communications director, our ag press secretary who made sure we were telling the story of farmers and families affected by the farm bill. we couldn't have done it without the help of the rest of our communications team, miranda markowski and maureen fammi and amy phillips burch, and also thank you to my state team led by teresa pohetka and kelly fox who lead our structural work in michigan. now on to thank senator roberts'

team. it truly was wonderful working with james glick and donita murray who are true pros. i want to say thank you for your hard work and creativity and tenacity in helping to get us to this point. our team spent many long hours together, and i'm grateful that even our staffs worked together in a wonderful bipartisan way just as the chairman and i do. and of course jessie williams and amanda kelly and bobby naita and everybody working behind the scenes on the ag committee. also nothing would get done around here without the excellent floor staff led by gary myrick and his team and trish and the insights of sean byrne with senator schumer's staff. senator durbin's staff have been incredibly helpful as well. of course, we should really thank the folks at c.b.o. who

had laid nights at the senate office of legislative counsel, working weekends, late nights to make sure we had what we needed to get the bill done. and then finally, of course, to all the members of the agriculture committee and their staffs. we have so much talent and experience. it's a real privilege to serve as ranking member. mr. president, this farm bill is the product of a year and a half of hard work by a long list of very talented people. i cannot thank every single one of them sid individual -- individually, but we wouldn't be here today without their help. we passed a farm bill today that supports the 16 million jobs in america that depends on agriculture. we passed a bill that will help our farmers stay resilient. it protects our land and water. it helps families keep food on their table. it invests in our small towns all across america. and recognizes the diversity of american agriculture and strengthens local food

economies. we should all be very proud of the work we have done today, and i want to thank colleagues for joining us with such a strong yes vote in passing this bill. i yield the floor, mr. president. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator for montana. mr. daines: mr. president, i'm very glad my senate colleagues joined me in supporting the farm bill. a very strong vote, 86-11. this farm bill will help provide certainty for montana agriculture in these most difficult times. because agriculture is montana's number one industry. it supports tens of thousands of jobs in our state. but with more than 25,000 family farms and ranches in montana alone, it's clear that ag is more than just an economic driver in our state. it is very much a way of life. that's why as montana's representative on the u.s. ag committee, i fought to ensure

that this farm bill reflects the priorities that montana farmers and montana ranchers have shared directly with me. some of these priorities are the crop insurance and the sugar programs, ag research funding at montana state university, as well as ag research stations all across montana. and prioritizing rural broadband for montana's underserved communities, as well as supporting and maintaining conservation programs that are important to our farmers, our ranchers, our sportsmen. this farm bill also is critical to the health of our national forests. last year in montana, catastrophic wildfires harmed numerous communities, and it cost our state millions of dollars. i am glad to have secured important forest reforms that are critical to healthy forests, montana timber jobs and wildlife habitat such as encouraging coordination among the forest service and state forestry

agencies to restore our forests, to reduce the risk of wildfire. and allowing the forest service and the bureau of land management to enter into agreements with counties, as well as states and tribes to implement forest management projects on national forests and public lands. additionally, there is a provision that will support more innovation as well as developing new markets for montana's timber industry. now, these are important wins, but i want to make something very clear. there is still so much more that we can do to help improve the health of our forests and support montana farmers and ranchers. in fact, in montana as well as across the west, we are seeing extensive collaboration. groups are collaborating, conservation groups, wildlife groups, wood product stakeholders, along with our counties. they are working together to determine responsible forest

management practices. these partners know very well that active management is critical to restoring a healthy forest. it helps reduce wildfire risks, and it's important that we don't allow extremists to hinder this most important work, because today it takes 18 to 24 months to do many of these environmental reviews, and after that's done, many projects in montana are litigated, and this can add years of delay. in fact, listen to this. there are 29 timber sales in montana that are currently impacted by fringe litigation. and just today, we were informed that another timber project in montana has been delayed by a restraining order because of litigation. that makes 30. this project was scheduled to start this coming monday,

july 2, and now those folks will be out of work, because reducing red tape and combating chronic litigation, it doesn't erode public trust. in fact, it safeguards it. it does so by ensuring that the public feedback of the majority isn't obstructed by a few extreme dissenters. in fact, this disastrous ninth circuit cottonwood ruling must also be addressed because it imposed unnecessary paperwork that even the obama administration has said had, and i quote, the potential to cripple federal land management without conservation benefit. my amendments would address the successive red tape while continuing to ensure that robust science-driven environmental review and public engagement would remain. many similar provisions are

found in the house bill as well. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the inclusion of these amendments as we work together now with the house in a conference in the final farm bill. thank you, mr. president. i yield back my time. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator for hawaii. mr. schatz: thank you, mr. president. i want to share an update about what's happening with kilauea volcano in my home state of hawaii. the first thing that people need to know is that the state of hawaii remains safe to visit, that the island of hawaii where the volcano is erupting is also safe to visit. now, let's start with a basic geography lesson. hawaii has eight main islands, and the volcano is on the island of hawaii, which people often call the big island. it's about 4,000 square miles. this is hawaii island. that's about the size of

connecticut. only nine square miles are directly impacted by the volcano. so it's actually just this little area in this corner of this island. if you're in the town of hilo, which is 25 miles away from the volcano, you can't even tell that there is a volcano erupting for the most part. cruise lines are coming back and officials are trying to set up areas where people can safely view this spectacular volcano. it is that safe. so people need to know that it's business as usual for lots of people on the big island, both the state and the island are open for visitors, and we just got the data in from the month of may, and we again had increased tourism statewide. everyone should come to visit. with that being said, this is an extraordinarily difficult situation for the communities that are being affected, and even though people are used to

living with volcanoes, this is extraordinarily tough. here we have fissure eight. this is about a 300-foot lava fountain that has not ceased for several weeks. as recently as 2015, lava was approaching the town of pahoa in the puna district, but we really haven't seen anything like this since the 1974 flow. for the past three months, we have had 300-foot lava fountains, ash explosions that reached tens of thousands of feet, and we have had more than 30 billion gallons of lava destroying 600 homes. an estimated 2,500 people have been displaced one way or another by the volcanic eruption. in certain areas, there is no power, no water, no cell phone reception, so even if your home was not destroyed, your access now may be limited or

nonexistent. now, here's the really good news. there has been no loss of human life due to the volcano, and despite all that's happened, the people of puna, the people of hawaii island remain extraordinarily resilient. but the bad news is that no one is sure when the volcanic activity will end. even the experts at the united states geological service don't know, and we have several difficult challenges moving forward from air quality to the need for economic relief and especially housing and transportation. hundreds of people are currently living in shelters. hundreds of animals from homes and ranches are in a sense volcano refugees. so we have to secure temporary housing for people who have lost their homes or have been evacuated and then get these people permanent housing and deal with private property damage. we have to make decisions about where to rebuild and start the process of fixing roads, power

lines, and other infrastructure in the puna district. the big island's mayor, harry kim, and the entire county emergency operations center team, including first responders, have been working from day one and day and night to keep people safe and deal with these challenges. several weeks ago i visited the emergency operations center and saw firsthand that it is really all hands on deck. one of the things that i think distinguishes our e.o.c.'s from other e.o.c.'s and impresses our federal counterpart is the extent to which we all work together regardless of jurisdiction. you can scarsly tell who works for state, federal or county government. you can scarcely tell who's a business leader or not for profit leader or university professor or mayor. everybody really is working together. there is a long list of people who deserve our thanks. local media have assigned crews to stay in place for weeks at at

time. by the way, that's somewhat unusual for a disaster especially one that's been going on as long as this one. nonprofits like the red cross, world central kitchen and the reservation -- salvation army are serving meals. companies are pitching in by waiving freight charges for relief supplies or working to keep cell towers powered. i could name every single elected official on hawaii island and each one of them is personally doing significant work in the recovery because it's an island state and because it's a small community, this isn't just a matter of them trying to secure resources from state, county, or federal government. this isn't just a matter of lawmaking. they're on the ground. they're listening. they're helping with their hands. this is part of a general sense that people have of wanting to help during this extraordinary time. several weeks ago a resident of puna named marzo took it upon

himself to set up puno opuna, which means place of refuge. people can donate things or pick up what they need whether it's information supplies or a hot meal. we've seen people drive 100 miles to show up and help. ranchers are helping out other ranchers. normally they are competitors, by housing displaced cattle. on other islands people are shipping containers with donations. across the state we are helping each other out so that people are being fed, finding shelter and getting the things that we need. lots of good things are happening. but it's still a very tough situation. an ongoing situation, which is why we have been grateful for the federal response. two weeks ago the white house approved the state of hawaii's request for individual assistance from fema for residents whose homes have been lost or damaged. fema has also partnered with the state to open a disaster relief center. from the start it's clear they

sent their a-team. so i want to thank fema and the white house for their quick action which is welcome news during this challenging time for the big island of hawaii. femaened a the e.p.a. are also working with the state and county partners to monitor air quality which the e.p.a. is now publishing online so that the public can make informed decisions. this may sound like a small thing, but this is everything when it comes to determining whether norwegian cruise lines can come to hilo and all of that economic activity will either be lost or not. or whether schools in the puna district can be open. what e.p.a. is doing in partnership with state and county government is really extraordinary. and the hawaii national guard is able to command department of defense resources under a dual manned agreement. general logan and general hara of the national guard have been crucial. they have been doing everything from collecting gas samples to provide security on the ground to providing temporary shelters.

we are grateful for all the help, but we also know that it's a long road to recovery because we don't know how long this is going to go on. in a normal disaster, you have three phases: disaster preparation and planning, disaster response, and then disaster recovery. and because this is an ongoing situation, because we don't know when this is going to end, we have our county, state, and federal folks as well as the rest of the community in disaster prep, disaster response, and disaster recovery all simultaneously underway. this is an extraordinary situation. there are lots of terrible natural disasters all across the country every year, but this is unique in that particular way. this is also unique in the sense that most of the time -- not all of the time but almost every time people can go back to their properties. and although they still under the law will own their

properties, when kapola bay was flattened, when vacation land was flattened, when we went from 87 homes roughly gone to about 600 homes gone in a very short period of time, it is difficult to imagine that these people are going to be able to make lives again in the path of this current flow. so we have to do all three things at the same time. so we're going to continue to work and look for federal partners, for help and for flexibility. and i have to say our federal partners have recognized the unique nature of this disaster, and we really appreciate it. i have talked to majority leader mcconnell, minority leader schumer, vice chairman leahy, chairman shelby and key appropriators about how unique this disaster is, and i look forward to working with the leadership and the appropriations committee so that the communities affected by the volcano can get the help they need. thank you. i yield the floor and suggest

the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader.

mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to executive session to consider calendar number 836. the presiding officer: the clerk will report -- the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it, the motion is agreed to. the clerk will are report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, mark jeremy bennett of hawaii to be united states circuit judge for the ninth circuit. 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 mark jeremy bennett of hawaii to be united states circuit judge for the ninth circuit signed by 17 senators as follows: mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the reading of the

names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed say 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 639. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. 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, brian allen ben cows i ask of virginia. 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 brian benkowski of virginia -- mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous 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 question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed say 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 686. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, department of defense, palm c. nay jr. of tennessee to be general counsel. 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 paul c. nay jr. to be the general counsel of the department of defense. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without

objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to executive session for the en bloc consideration of the following nominations, executive 926, 923, 928, 230, 932 and all nominations on the secretary's desk in the foreign service. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report nominations en bloc. the clerk: department of state robert s. bernstein of the united states of america to the dominican republic. joseph m.mondelo of new york to

be ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to trinidad. gordon soland to be representative of the united states of america. harry b. harris jr. of florida to be ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the united states america to the republic of korea. ronald gets wits -- gidwitz of ill you know -- illinois to to be the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary. brian nichols to be the ambassador extraordinary to the republic of zimbabwe. assistant secretary of state, african affairs.

mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that the senate vote on the nominations background en bloc,o further motions be in order, any statements relating to the nominations be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. the question is on the nominations en bloc. all in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nominations are confirmed en bloc. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of the following nomination, executive calendar 902. the presiding officer: without

objection. the clerk will report the nominations. the clerk: department of interior, terry sweeney of alaska to be assistant secretary. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the senate vote on the nomination with no intervening action or debate, if confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, the president be immediately notified of the senate's action, no further motions be in order, and that any statements relating to the nomination be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. the question is on the nomination. all in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nomination is confirmed. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following treaty on today's executive calendar number 6. i further ask unanimous consent that the treaty being considered as having passed through its various parliamentary stages up

to and including a ratification, any committee conditions declarations or reservations be agreed to as applicable, any statements be inserted in the record as read, when the resolution of ratification is voted upon, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, the president be notified of the senate's action, following the disposition of the treaty, the senate return to legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask for a division vote on the resolution of ratification. the presiding officer: the question is on the resolution. all those in favor stand and be counted. all those opposed stand and be counted.

two-thirds of the senators present having voted in the affirmative, the resolution of ratification is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to executive session for the consideration of calendar 951 through 973, and 975 through 993, and all nominations placed on the secretary's desk in the air force, army, marine corps and navy, that the nominations be confirmed, the motions to be considered be considered paid and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, that no further proceedingses be in order, that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the record, the president be immediately notified of the senate's action, and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of

calendar number 163, h.r. 1029. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 163, h.r. 1029 an act to amend the federal insect identified, fungicide act and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the motion. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the udall amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to, the committee-reported amends as amended be agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i know of no further debate on the bill. the presiding officer: the question is on passage of the bill as amended. all in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill as amended is 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 that the senate proceed

to the immediate consideration of the following calendar bills enclock, calendar 453 through 465. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measures en bloc. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the bills be considered read a third time and passed, the moses to reare can be -- motions to be considered be considered made and laid upon the table all en bloc. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. res. 567 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 567 celebrating the 40th anniversary of the american home builders association. 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: i ask unanimous

consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 568 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 568 designating june 2018 as great outdoors month. 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 reconsidered are considered 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 the following bills en bloc. calendar 100, calendar 306, calendar 159, calendar 96, 130, 139, 144, 136, 137, 138. i further ask unanimous consent the applicable committee or floor amendments be agreed to, the bills as amended if amended be considered read a third time and passed, that the motions to reconsider be considered made land laid upon the table all en

bloc. on calendar 100, s. 724, i omitted and now read with a floor amendment. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of h.r. 5956. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 5956, an act to incentivize the hiring of united states workers in the commonwealth of the northern mariana islands and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i know of no further debate on the bill. the presiding officer: the question is on passage of the

bill. all in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill is 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 senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar 414, s. 2559. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar 414, s. 2559, the bill to amend title 17, united states code to implement the treaty and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered paid and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the is that the completes its business today, it adjourn to then convene for pro forma sessions only with no business being conducted on the following dates and times and that following

each pro forma session, the senate adjourn until the next profor ma session -- pro forma session. friday, june 29 at 8:30 a.m., tuesday july 3 at 9:00 a.m., thursday july 5 at 1:00 p.m. i further ask when the senate adjourns on thursday, july 5, it next convene at 3:00 p.m. monday, july 9 and that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. further, following leader remarks, the senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the bennet nomination. finally, notwithstanding the provisions of rule 22, the cloture motions filed during today's session ripen at 5:30 monday, july 9. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: if there's no further business to come before the senate, i ask it stand adjourned under the previous

order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until 8:30 a.m. tomorrow. >> today the senate passed the farm bill. the legislation sets farm, conservation nutrition and rural development policies through 2023. it also legalizes commercial hemp production for industrial use. the senate version of the farm bill does not include a provision passed by the house that would have expanded work requirements for people who receive benefits under the supplemental nutrition assistance program also known as snap. several senators came to the floor to speak about the retirement of supreme court justice anthony kennedy and the future of the supreme court. >> i want to take another opportunity to pay tribute to justice anthony kennedy who announced yesterday that he will retire fro