you guys, i'm just trying to survive this job, so-- there is nothing better than when americans use the power of their voices on behalf of good causes. that's what christians united for israel is all about. i'm so thankful for your fight. may god bless each and every one of you. thank you. [cheers and applause]

>> the u.s. senate about to gavel in. they'll be spending the day and likely the rest of the week working on 2019's spending legislation. the senate's combined spending for five federal departments and a number of independent agencies into one bill. the interior department, treasury, agriculture, transportation and housing. senators will be offering amendments. no votes have yet been scheduled. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal king, you are great

and marvelous. you alone are god. without your wondrous deeds, our nation and planet could not survive. you continue to perform wonders on our behalf, rescuing us from ourselves. lord, inspire our lawmakers to acknowledge your sovereignty. teach them your precepts so that they may walk in your truth, experiencing the reverential awe that comes from your presence. provide wisdom and knowledge to our legislative leaders,

bringing stability to our land. sovereign god, ruler of all nature, you alone we worship for you keep us on the path of wisdom. we pray in your merciful name. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

the presiding officer: under the leadership -- under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved.

mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i'd like to begin this morning by

remembering two heroes and the events that claimed their lives 20 years ago today right here in the capitol. on july 24, 1,998, u.s. capitol police officer jacob chestnut and detective john gibson made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of american democracy. by doing their duty, these heroes helped cut short an act of brutal violence that would have claimed many more lives. that same week officer chestnut and detective gibson laid in honor in the capital rotunda and an entire nation paid its respects. imagine 20 years have not made this senseless violence any easier to bear for the families these men left behind. not for their brothers and sisters and the capital police, but as we remember their bravery, triumph and example endures, ssmless service, fearless heroism.

two men who embodied the values that keep this building and our nation standing safe and sound. today we honor detective gibson and officer chestnut. we renew our condolences to their families. we recognize the depth of our gratitude for them, and for everyone who puts on the uniform and steps into harm's way every single day. now, madam president, on an entirely different matter, yesterday the senate began consideration of our next set of appropriation measures for fiscal 2,019. chairman shelby and ranking member leahy have led an exemplary bipartisan process through subcommittee and full committee work. yesterday the same bipartisan spirit was here on the floor when we were able to proceed to these measures by consent. let's keep up that productive and cooperative spirit so we can achieve the goal we all share completing a regular appropriations process and

avoiding another omnibus. the measures before us encompass agriculture, interior, and the environment, transportation and housing, and financial services and general government. they would deliver real resources to help american communities face real challenges. challenges like clearing the backlog of infrastructure needs that are holding back rural america and fighting the opioid epidemic that threatens families and communities. among the many, many things this legislation would accomplish it meets these two challenges head-on. it delivers nearly half a billion dollars in loans and grant finishing for rural broadband -- funding for rural broadband. it supplies $400 million to accelerate the delivery of water and waste infrastructure projects across rural america and would deliver more assistance to all the areas of our country that are living under the long shadow of the opioid crisis. tens of millions to help the f.d.a. crack down on the spread of illicit drugs and to improve

care in rural communities through distance learning and telemedicine. these are just a few of the important provisions in these bills. i look forward to considering them this week. i hope we'll have a robust amendment process and then with bipartisan cooperation we can take these next steps together. now, on a final matter, madam president, the white house hosted a made in america showcase featuring products manufactured in each state, including stone ware and company from my home state which makes the famous louisville stone ware kitchen and dining sets. well, talking about reviving american manufacturing is nothing new in this town. in its 2,013 state of the union, president obama insisted, quote, our first priority is making america a magnet for new jobs and manufacturing. every few years it seems our democratic friends over in the house would hold yet another press conference to talk about getting manufacturing moving. so rhetoric was not in short

supply during the obama era. what was harder to come by were actual results. on president obama's watch, our net our country lost more than 300,000 manufacturing jobs during the obama era. year after year democratic policies led to insufficient, sluggish, and even -- and uneven economic growth that left much of the country behind. eight years of this so-called recovery couldn't even get us back to the same number of manufacturing jobs that we had when president obama first took his oath of office. there are a number of reasons why. but here's one thing we heard loud and clear from u.s. manufacturers. high taxes, heavy regulations, and other democratic policies put the wind squarely in their face. back in 2,013 more than 75% of u.s. manufacturers said a hostile climate due to taxes and regulations was a major business

obstacle. what about the present? what about now? this united republican government has put an end to one burdensome regulation after another. we cut through red tape that held back small businesses, local lenders, and manufacturers. we overhauled the tax code leading families with more to spend and invest and job creators with more flexibility to compete and win. so what were the results? less than two years into the new administration and all owe, an all-time high, madam president, an all-time high, 91.5% of u.s. manufacturers have a positive -- a positive outlook. now fewer than one in five say a hostile business climate due to things like taxes and regulations is a top obstacle, just one in five say taxes and regulations is a top obstacle. and more than two-thirds are planning to hire this year. these aren't just numbers. this is real life.

at jamison door in hagerstown, maryland, it made possible a 400% increase in plant size. in my home state of kentucky, it's estimated that more than a thousand construction jobs will be needed to help build a new aluminum rolling mill for brady industries. tax reform is expected to save the company -- listen to this -- $150 million which will help support this investment and the 600 permanent new jobs the company estimates it will create in the commonwealth. so let's sum it up, madam president. republican policies have helped generate the very outcomes that democrats claim they wanted. american manufacturing is thriving on our watch. but now democrats aren't cheering. in fact, they have tried to block most of the policies that have helped this happen. they voted against tax reform. every democrat in the house and the senate. they have protested regulatory

reform. every step of the way. they want to go right back to their old ways, repeal the tax codes and jobs act, relief taxes, and pile on more crushing regulations. well, madam president, we're not going to let that happen. because we agree that manufacturing growth is vital for american prosperity. and unlike our friends across the aisle, we have the ideas and the policies that help make that goal into reality.

mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: madam president, first, 20 years ago today, in the late afternoon, shots rang out in this building. a mentally ill individual armed with a gun was coming through security when he shot capitol police officer jacob chestnut. he then approached the capitol office of tom delay and engaged detective john gibson. they exchanged gunfire. detective gibson, officer chestnut lost their lives in the line of duty protecting this building's occupants and visitors. there is no way of knowing how many lives they saved in their sacrifice, but their families know that their sacrifice has not been forgotten by all of us here. their memory is a blessing to their families and to all of us here who remember that awful day, so i join the distinguished republican leader in recognizing today the anniversary of their

passing as a solemn reminder of the everyday heroism practiced by the capitol police and their brothers and sisters in blue all across the country. now, madam president, the senate has a constitutional duty to provide advice and consent and a special obligation to thoroughly examine supreme court nominations. after all, there are few positions in our government with greater importance or responsibility than a lifetime appointment on the nation's highest court. it is our job to now -- to now carefully, thoroughly and methodically review the record of judge brett kavanaugh, and we have quite a job ahead of us. as a partisan political lawyer during the clinton and bush eras, brett kavanaugh has a paper trail a mile long. no doubt, the white house and leader mcconnell were aware of this history when his nomination

was made. the length of judge kavanaugh's record, however, is no reason to shirk our responsibility as senators to review it. yet, the distinguished chairman of the judiciary committee has already suggested there is no reason to review judge kavanaugh's full record before proceeding with his nomination. leader kavanaugh threatened to play political hardball if democrats insisted -- leader mcconnell threatened to play political hardball if democrats insisted on object staining judge kavanaugh's full record. senate republicans are making hollow arguments and petty attempts at advancing judge kavanaugh's nomination with as little scrutiny as they can manage. we have been having trouble getting an agreement with judiciary committee chairman grassley on the scope of the documents the senate should request. chairman grassley has had our

request for over a week. it's the same request, the very same request that republicans insisted on, including senator grassley. he was not chairman then. and democrats agreed to when we were in charge, when elena kagan was nominated to the supreme court. much like judge kavanaugh, elena kagan spent time in prior administrations and a lengthy paper trail, some of which could have been labeled privileged. did democrats in the majority at the time attempt to rush our nomination through? no. did we lean on former administrations to declare her documents privileged? no. democrats actually joined with the republican minority to request a full and complete accounting of elena kagan's record. her former employer waived all

claims of privilege. let me show you the letter right here that my friend senator leahy, then-chairman of the judiciary committee, and senator jeff sessions, then-ranking member, sent to the clinton library. here's the letter. what we have done is use the same letter. we're willing to issue the exact same letter except we put the address of the same person at the bush library, changed the name of kagan to kavanaugh. changed the name of clinton to bush. otherwise, it's the exact same letter. how can our republican colleagues resist this simple letter when it's the exact same letter that they pushed for and we acceded to when the shoe was on the other foot? the letters request the entirety of elena kagan's record.

not part of it, not a subset of it. all of it. madam president, what's good enough for justice kagan is good enough for judge kavanaugh. you could simply replace her name with judge kavanaugh's name throughout this letter, and the letter would be exactly applicable today. this is the standard democrats and republicans used to agree on, the kagan standard, and it wasn't just senators leahy and sessions. at the time, senator grassley said, quote, this is senator grassley, now chairman. the burden is on him to help us get a bipartisan letter. here's what grassley said. quote -- in order for the senate to fulfill its constitutional duty to advise and consent, we must get all of elena kagan's documents from the clinton library and have enough time to analyze them so we can determine whether she should be a justice.

let me read it again. this is what chairman grassley said. this is chairman grassley, now chairman, then member of the judiciary committee. in order for the senate to fulfill its constitutional responsibility to advise and consent, we must get all of her documents from the clinton library and have enough time to analyze them so we can determine whether she would be a justice. senator grassley's a good man. senator grassley has a real sense of integrity and fairness. that's why so many of us are wondering why there is such a double standard right now. we hope that he will join senator feinstein in a joint letter just as senator leahy and senator sessions came together on such a lady a while ago.

senator cornyn at the time, now number two man in the republican high arcky here in the senate, here's what he said -- i think it would be a mistake to hold a hearing until we have had a chance to see elena kagan's documents and any other documents that might exist and we have had an adequate time to review the documents. so, madam president, this happens especially when it comes to judges, the double standard of the other side is enormous. when they are in the minority, they profess strong arguments, push us to go along, and usually we did. but now that they're in the majority, it's as if there is a whole new world. and what happened in the past doesn't make a darn bit of difference. that's not fair, that's not right. we on this side have had enough of the other side's hypocrisy on judges. we know there is a push by the hard right to fill the bench so they can achieve their agenda

which they could never achieve, even with republican majorities in the house, senate, and presidency through the elected bodies. the kinds of attitudes that we have seen by the conservative justices, which we believe judge kavanaugh might well accede to. that's why we want a hearing -- are not what america wants on issue after issue after issue. but the hard right, this is their number one goal. they embraced donald trump only after he agreed to a letter -- to a list of 25 judges that the federalist society and heritage foundation both far away from where americans feel on issues like health care, government involvement, and choice. that's when they embraced it. and so there's huge pressure, i get that. we have got pressure on our

sides, too. but the double standard is so glaring, so unfair, it's appalling. people talk about, well, on judges, it's been tit for tat. it really hasn't. it really hasn't. we need to rechange the rules after four vacancies existed on the district court of appeals because republicans wouldn't put him in. it was a 60-vote rule then. but we kept it open for the supreme court. leader mcconnell changed that. leader mcconnell unprecedentedly let merrick garland stew, not have a hearing. we understand the pressure, but it's not good for the republicans, and it's not good for comity in this body, which we are seeking. i see the chairman of the appropriations committee. we're trying to get comity on these appropriations. stuff like this poisons the

well. it does. just last week, we witnessed the firsthand importance of reviewing a nominee's full record. the white house was forced to withdraw the nomination of ryan bounds for a seat on the ninth circuit after abhorrent writings from his college newspaper came to light. if the college newspaper writings of a potential appellate judge are significant enough to disqualify him from consideration, how can my colleagues on the other side argue with a straight face that judge kavanaugh's record should not be fully considered before the senate moves forward on his nomination to this nation's highest court, one of the most powerful institutions in the world. mr. president, there is a lot we don't know about judge kavanaugh. we're learning more about them each day. just a few days ago, for example, we learned that he expressed skepticism about the supreme court that held

president nixon accountable. another example of judge kavanaugh expressing the view that presidential power should be virtually unrestrained. the one that's still amazing to me -- and i'd like to see if in his records there is more of it because it's so extreme a view. judge kavanaugh suggested a president can ignore a statute he deems -- his words -- unconstitutional. even if a court ruled it was constitutional. that's like a king, not a president. we have rule of law here. he has said that a sitting president shouldn't be subject to an investigation of any kind other than an impeachment inquiry by congress. judge kavanaugh's belief in unchallenged presidential power is so ingrained that he has even questioned the constitutionality of what he calls, quote, the independent regulatory state, a phrase that sounds awfully

familiar to the hard right myth of deep state. it's a radically activist view for a judge who advertises himself as someone who merely will interpret the law as written. congress harks by law, given certain agencies varying degrees of independence from the executive. that started in the 1990's. that's not new. and there's an ebb and flow of it. sometimes congress feels the regulations have gone too far and push back. there's been an ebb and flow since the 1890. almost no one has said that there shouldn't be regulations. judge kavanaugh has his way. agencies that have been somewhat independent with good success -- social security, the s.e.c., the i.r.s., the f.b.i. -- would be

subject to vast political influence from the white house. now, that's exactly the opposite of what congress has provided by law. so senators in the public will have to make their minds up about what judge kavanaugh believes. and they'll have to think of it in a broad, long-term context but also in the context of this president who seems to have less respect for rule of law, less respect for separation of power, less respect for anyone who stands in his way than any president i've seen in my lifetime. so everyone will have to make up their minds about that. i understand that. that's what we're here for. but it seems clear that in the context of judge kavanaugh's writings about the presidency that the statement questioning the nixon decision reflects his actual beliefs. that's why we need to obtain, analyze, and scrutinize his record. that's our job as united states senators. a job members from both sides of

the aisle used to agree on. finally, just a few points -- i see my colleagues are waiting -- a few points on iran. and the president's tweets, president trump's tweets. first it seems the president is desperate to distract the american people from last week's performance in helsinki. he always seems to do this. he runs into trouble and creates a whole new firestorm somewhere else. it is his m.o. it is not the way we've seen governing work in the u.s., but that's what he does. he's the president. second, the tweets suggest a pattern in president trump's foreign policy in which the president uses heated rhetoric with foreign capitals to inflame tensions so that later on the president can pretend to ride in and save the day with a more measured tone. it's sort of like a kabuki play that screws up our foreign

policy. we saw this play out in north korea. president trump repeatedly insulted kim jong-un on twitter, only to declare world peace once the two of them had met. it seems as if the president's foreign policy is to commit arson so he can play the firefighter. he lights the fire and then puts it out and gives himself a huge pat on the back. unsurprisingly, this reality tv foreign policy hasn't produced the concrete results we're all looking for and must secure. it's been two months since the president met with chairman kim. we've seen little in the way of irreversible steps to denuclearization. we don't even have details on the agreement. secretary pompeo went over there and was just given the cold shoulder. kim wouldn't meet with him and then they said nasty things about him. still, the president claims -- i think he's alone here -- that the north korean summit was a huge success.

certainly the world is a safer place without president trump and chairman kim trading barbs on the social media. those tactics make america weaker. we all want diplomacy to succeed. we all want a strong deal with north korea. but the cessation of rhetorical hostilities is no replacement for concrete, verifiable steps towards denuclearization. the same holds true for iran. i hope the president isn't reaching into the same old social media playbook using rhetoric as a replacement for the hard work of diplomacy. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of h.r. 6147, which the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 6147, an act making appropriations for the department of the interior and so forth and for other purposes.

mr. shelby: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. shelby: thank you, madam president. madam president, this week the senate takes another step toward regular order in the appropriations process here in the senate. the package before the senate today contains the fiscal year 2019 appropriations bills for the subcommittees on interior, financial services, agriculture, and transportation, housing and urban development. madam president, we have not debated an interior appropriations bill on the floor of the united states senate in nearly ten years. the financial services appropriations bill has not seen floor action in several years either. why, madam president? because year after year party-line votes in committees represented the end of the line in the legislative process. yet here we are today debating

both of these appropriations bills and more on the senate floor. so what changed, madam president? what changed was the mind-set of appropriators on both sides of the aisle who embraced a willingness to sacrifice partisan riders and priorities outside the committee's jurisdiction for the good of the process. together, madam president, we've committed to do what's good for the process because we want to do what's right by the american people. this approach is yielding meaningful results thus far. the interior and financial services bills in this package both won the unanimous consent approval of the appropriations committee, which is generally unheard of. unanimous, madam president. we haven't seen that level of support for these bills in quite sometime around here. the agriculture and transportation, housing and urban development bills also

garnered the unanimous support of the appropriations committee. i want to take a minute to commend the chairmen of these subcommittees, senator murkowski, senator collins, senator hoeven, and senator lankford for their leadership in the process. also i again want to thank vice chairman leahy and the ranking members of these subcommittees for their hard work. the senators have worked together to produce strong, i believe, bipartisan bills. this broad bipartisan support paved the way for the full senate's consideration of these bills, and i want to thank leaders mcconnell and schumer for agreeing to bring this package to the floor. and as we begin debate this week, we can leverage our recent success in passing appropriations bills. madam president, just last month the senate passed a package of three fiscal year 2019

appropriations bills with overwhelming support. this support was facilitated by an open amendment process and a willingness to work together to address legitimate members' concerns. as a result, the process was both open and, i believe, disciplined. more importantly, it was successful passing by a vote of 86-5. yes, 86-5. the bill managers on both sides of the aisle will seek to replicate the process and success with the package now before the senate. we ask the continued cooperation of all senators in this effort. critical mass, madam president -- and that's what we're building here in the senate -- critical mass for a return to regular order in the appropriations process. by completing our work in a deliberate and timely manner on this packagen, we can turn next to the defense and labor, h.h.s. education package. and while completion of our work

on the package would mean that we have passed more than half of the 2019 appropriations bills, the lion's share of discretionary spending, as you know, madam president, is contained in the defense and labor-h.h.s. bills. very important to all of us here -- very important to our constituents and very important to our country, madam president. so, again, madam president, i encourage our colleagues to participate in this process and help sustain the momentum that we've generated thus far. we have a lot of work to do, but we're making real progress. i hope my colleagues find this encouraging, madam president. i certainly do. and with that, i yield the floor. mr. leahy: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: madam president, i am pleased to join with my

friend, the senior senator from alabama, chairman shelby, as we prepare to debate the second set of appropriations bills to reach the senate floor this session. senator shelby has noted, this is a change in recent years, and i commend him. i commend both republicans and democrats who have worked together in the way we used to and now are again. and this minibus contains four important bills for fiscal year 2019 -- the interior, environment and related agencies bill; financial services and general government bill; agricultural, rural development, food and drug administration, related agencies; and transportation, housing, urban development, and related agencies bills.

now, that's a significant thing to be on the senate floor in past years. what's even more significant -- i think chairman shelby would agree with me -- each of these bills was reported by the appropriations committee unanimously. every republican, every democrat voted for them. and they fund programs that provide important services to the american people across the country. they invest in the future of this country -- every single corner of the country. let me take one -- agriculture appropriations bill, a win for farmers, for families, and rural communities with investments in rural development, housing, food, nutrition, agricultural research, clean water programs. every state in this nation,

madam president -- yours, chairman shelby's, everybody else, and of course my own state of vermont -- we all have rural communities and farm economies that benefit by these important programs. every one of us does. the transportation, housing, urban development bill will make critical infrastructure investments across the country and, of course, also my home state of vermont. it includes $10 billion in new funds -- new funds -- to help address crumbling bridges and railways and roads. again, let me just use, if i might be parochial for a moment, what that means in vermont. it would help invest in safety improvements on amtrak's vermonter but also much-needed upgrades to our railroad bridges. but these increases in every one

of our states are a direct result of the bipartisan budget deal reached earlier this year, and they're critically needed. madam president, i've been here over 40 years. senator shelby and i have brought the senate back to the way it used to be to actually get things done with democrats and republicans working together. improving the nation's infrastructure was one of president trump's key campaign promises. unfortunately, he criticized the very budget deal that made these increases possible. he proposed cutting, not increasing, funding for the infrastructure programs that build support. i'm glad to say that, again, republicans and democrats coming together on appropriations, we took a different path. we opted to protect key investments in affordable housing and community

development programs such as cdbg. that's crucial funding that communities leverage to construct, rehabilitate, maintain affordable housing. that's housing that's desperately needed across america, certainly in my state of vermont. shelters families, but will it is promotes economic mobility and stability. the interior bill makes critical investments in programs to help ensure we've clean water to drink, clean air to breathe. i can't think of any state in the country that doesn't want clean water and doesn't want clean air. but it also supports important conservation programs including support for our national parks. our national parks attract millions of visitors each year. what a treasure allowing

families to come and see such an important part of america. i think of the tradition of president teddy roosevelt and others who have supported such parks. but it also has the forest legacy program and the land and water conservation fund. going to be parochial for vermont and new york and the northeast region. its owe our commitment to protect and restore and preserve lake champlain, the largest body of fresh water outside of the great lakes. i'm pleased to report the committee rejected the misguided cuts to the environmental protection agency proposed by the administration that would have set back the progress we've made in recent decades to

preserve our environment not just for ourselves but for future generations. and finally, the financial services bill helps support small businesses and local economies through the small business development center program, another related -- and other related programs. every one of us know the small businesses, the local economies make up the strength of our states but it also funds regulatory agencies that u.s. citizens rely on to protect them from unfair, unsafe, or fraudulent business practices, like the consumer product safety commission, the federal trade commission to protect consumers. that we were able to reach consent to consider just a broad package of bills in the senate, madam president, this is a broad cross-section of issues. every one of us have different

views, every one of us -- madam president, the vast array of issues here, every one of the hundred senators if writing this legislation by himself or herself may lead to something different or something else and of course we'd have nothing. instead, republicans and democrats came together. and i think a lot of this comes from the direct result of the shelby-leahy-mcconnell-schumer commitment to move forward on a bipartisan basis. senator shelby and i met with the two leaders and said we wanted to do that, we wanted to actually show the nation, the united states senate can work.

and we did it at spending levels agreed to in the bipartisan budget deal. we rejected new poison pill riders from the right or the left or controversial authorizing legislation. now, we all have issues about which we care deeply, but we had to come together on what is in the best interest of the country and, frankly, as a senator of almost 44 years, was in the best interest of the united states senate. achieving this goal, and i think senator shelby would agree with me on this, reporting strong bipartisan bills, it took considerable restraint on both sides of the aisle, but that restraint is required to get these bills through the senate. and i worry that the house is proceeding on a different path. they pass bipartisan bills filled with poison pill riders that cannot and will not pass the senate.

madam president, funding the government is one of our most basic constitutional responsibilities. you go across this country, you find the american people expect us to work together. they expect us to reach across the aisle, to reach agreement on these bills. the programs funded in these bills make a real difference in the american people's lives, and they shouldn't be held hostage to unrelated partisan policy fights. so when we get to conference on these bills, the house will reverse course to do their work in bipartisan fashion for the benefit of all americans, not just republicans, not just democrats but all americans. but i've got to tell you, i especially participant to thank -- want to thank senator shelby for his bipartisan on these bills and each of the

subcommittees because if they hadn't been willing to work together and cooperate together, we wouldn't have these four bills before us. and again, madam president, i would note they went through unanimously. we have reached a point where some thought that you couldn't get unanimous agreement in the united states senate, that the sun rises in the east. maybe we couldn't but we did get unanimous agreement here. i also ask unanimous consent that bob ross, a detailee from the department of agriculture, alwaysy ayer, an intern on my appropriations committee and olivia harris, an intern in my personal office be granted floor privileges for the length of the current debate in h.r. 6,147, an act making appropriations of the department of interior, environment, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2,019 and

for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: madam president, unless somebody else is seeking -- i yield the floor. ms. collins: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: madam president, i'm pleased to begin the senate debate on the fiscal year 2,019

appropriations bill for transportation, housing and urban development, and related agencies. our bill has been included in the appropriations package now before this chamber. let me begin my remarks this morning by thanking the chairman senator shelby and the vice chairman senator leahy for their leadership in advancing these appropriations bills in record time. it is great to see the senate getting back to regular order in moving the appropriations bills across the senate floor allowing for robust debate and amendment, and then bringing those bills to conference with our house counterparts. that is the way the system should work as opposed to all of these bills being bundled

together in an enormous, many thousand-page omnibus appropriations bill. and i'm very pleased to see the progress that we are making. i also want to acknowledge the hard work and commitment of my friend and colleague senator jack reed who serves as the ranking member of the t-h.u.d. subcommittee. i worked very closely with senator reed in drafting this bill. we've also received input from more than 70 senators with in excess of 800 requests, each of which we very carefully evaluated. so, madam president, i can ensure this chamber that this legislation is truly bipartisan.

the t-h.u.d. bill provides $71.4,000,000,000 for our nation's critical infrastructure and housing programs. this bill continues the significant infrastructure investments provided in fiscal year 2,018 for our nation's highways, bridges, airports, transit and rail networks. as a result communities across this country will be able to improve their transportation infrastructure to enable more efficient and safer movement of people and goods. improving our infrastructure is essential for our continued economic growth as well as for personal mobility. the fiscal year 2,019 t.-h.u.d. bill increases the increases for

infrastructure programs resulting from the two-year budget agreement that was reached by congress and the administration. i would note, however, that the budget agreement does not.for the long-term funding infrastructure tur necessary for our nations transportation infrastructure. i want to strongly encourage the administration to work with the authorizing committees to provide that long-term sustainable funding for transportation before the fast act expires at the end of fiscal year 2,020. madam president, our bill provides $1,000,000,000 for build grants previously known as the popular tiger grants program.

these grants have supported not only much needed infrastructure projects but also jobs and economic growth in each and every one of our home states. i want to provide my colleagues with an indication of just how popular this program is and how strong the demand is. in the 2,017 round of tiger grant applications, the department of transportation received 452 applications requesting more than $ 6,000,000,000, well above the $500 million provided last year that could fund only 41 projects. so you can see the demand far exceeds the amount of funding. so we are taking action in this

bill to double the funding for build grants. that will help many more projects become a reality. and i have seen in my own state the investment in bridges, in ports, in transportation projects that have made such a difference. i'd now like to turn to the aviation provisions in our bill. we provide $17.7,000,000,000 in budgetary resources for the federal aviation administration, the f.a.a., which fully funds air traffic control personnel, including more than 14,000 air traffic controllers and more than 25,000 engineers, maintenance technician, safety inspectors, and operational support personnel.

the bill also provides $1,000,000,000 for the f.a.a. next generation air transportation safety programs also known as nextgen and 168,000,000 for the popular contract towers program. the nextgen program is so important to the modernization of our air traffic control system, and we have consistently funded that program and it is being implemented in a way that is going to make a real difference. consistent with the fast act, $46,000,000,000 is made available for the federal aid highway program from the highway trust fund. in addition, the bill provides $3.3,000,000,000 from the general fund for our nation's

highways of which $800 million is for bridge replacement and rehabilitation in rural areas of our country. madam president, the american society of civil engineers conducts a comprehensive assessment of our nation's infrastructure every four years. its most recent report card from 2,017 shows that america's infrastructure remains poor and in desperate need of investment. in fact, the engineers award a grade of only d plus for our nation's infrastructure. to give you some statistics to emphasize why we are receiving such a low grade, let me talk about our nation's bridges.

one in nine of our nation's bridges is rated as structurally deficient, and the average age of our country's more than 600,000 bridges is 42 years old. our national highway system contains infrastructure that is now well past its useful life. some bridges are more than 100 years old, and many are unable to a come date -- accommodate today's traffic volumes. madam president, i was recently in piscattawis county where a tiger grant was allowing the replacement of some very old rural bridges. the amount of rust on these bridges and the narrow width

made them extraordinarily dangerous. they were at risk of being posted so that traffic could only go across in one direction, and when you looked up at the tresses, you could see where the trucks loaded with lumber had dented the trusses because they were far too low. they were built for a different era. it is important for safety reasons, as we have seen, with bridges collapsing in this country or having to be posted that we make this kind of investment. our bill also invests in our nation's rail infrastructure by providing $2.8 billion for the federal railroad administration. this includes $1.9 billion for

amtrak for the northeast corridor and national network, continuing service for all current routes. mr. president, in may, our subcommittee held a hearing in response to the serious rail accidents such as the tragic derailment last december in washington state. our bill continues to fund positive training control implementation to improve the safety of our trains. in addition, the bill provides $255 million for the consolidated rail infrastructure and safety improvement grants program and $300 million for the federal-state partnership for state of good repair grants.

these investments in rail will help ensure that both passengers and freight move more safely and efficiently throughout our country. mr. president, the state maritime cad -- academies play a critical role in training thejection generation of u.s. mariners. our bill provides $40 million for the maritime academies as well as an additional $300 million for a special purpose vessel to be used as a training school ship. in accordance with merits guidance, the new training ships will go to replace existing training ships in the order in which these ships are expected to reach the end of their useful life. that's the only logical way for

us to proceed. last year, we appropriated funds to replace the 57-year-old ship used by the new york state maritime academy, and this year's funding would go to replace the massachusetts maritime academy's aging vessel. again, we're going in the order that the maritime administration tells us these ships will meet the end of their useful life. it would be great to be able to replace all of the ships at the same time, but we simply can't afford to do that, and that's where prioritizing the ships as the agency recommends. replacing these ships is, however, important to providing training capacity for all six of

the state maritime academies, including the one that i am very proud of, the main maritime academy in castine, maine. it will ensure that the cadets receive the training hours that they need to graduate on time and to join the work force. in the area of housing, our priority is to ensure that our nation's most vulnerable families and individuals do not lose the assistance that they are now receiving and that prevents many of them from being at historic of homelessness -- at risk of homelessness. therefore, the bill provides the necessary funding to keep pace with the rising costs of housing these families in order to avoid their becoming homeless. much of the increased funding covers the higher costs of

rental assistance for the most vulnerable among us, including our homeless veterans, our youth, our disabled citizens and low-income seniors. senator reid and -- senator reed and i share a strong commitment to reducing and someday ending homelessness, and therefore included $2.6 billion for homeless assistance grants. we have also made critical investments to reduce homelessness among our veterans, our youth, and survivors of domestic violence. specifically, to assist our homeless youth, we provided $80 million for grants targeting this underserved op laition. mr. president, i visited a

wonderful youth shelter in lewiston, maine, called new beginnings. i was so impressed with the work that they were doing with teenagers in particular, many of whom had been exiled from their homes, much as i hate to say it, or abused or otherwise found themselves homeless. because of the safety of this shelter, they were continuing their schooling, they were learning life skills, and they were safe, and yet i will tell you that this is the only shelter in the state of maine that is devoted solely to the needs of homeless youth. there is such a need in this country. there are other shelters who try to accommodate young people in the state of maine and are doing their best, but this is an area

where we do need to provide more assistance. to better support youth who are exiting the foster care system, the bill includes $20 million for family unification vouchers. that's a real gap in our system. what happens -- and i know that many members share my concern -- is young people age out of the foster care program, and they may have nowhere safe to go. for our nation's senior population, many of our seniors receive section 8 housing, but our bill also includes $678 million for housing for older americans. of this amount, $10 million will provide grants to nonprofit and

state and local entities to do home modifications for low-income seniors, enabling them to stay in their own homes and to age in place. mr. president, i'm very excited about this program because of hearings that i have held in the senate aging committee which i'm privileged to share. what we have learned is oftentimes upgrading and putting grab bars in a bathroom, widening door openings, doing modifications like that, putting sensors, for example, on the refrigerator door can allow our seniors to stay just where they want to be, in the comfort, security, and privacy of their own homes. not only will these low-cost

home modifications enable seniors to remain in their homes, but they also reduce the need for more costly nursing homes and other assisted housing options. for our nation's homeless veterans, the bill provides $45 million for the highly successful h.u.d. bash program including $5 million to serve our native american veterans living on tribal lands. despite the administration once again proposing to eliminate this effective program, the subcommittee continues to provide adequate funding. mr. president, this program is a real success story. since we initiated it in 2010, veterans' homelessness has

fallen by 46%. let's continue our work to reach the goal of ending homelessness all together among our veterans. another important issue and a passion of our ranking member, senator reed, as well as myself that is addressed by the bill is lead paint in homes, which is of particular concern to families with children under the age of 6. our bill provides $260 million to combat lead hazards. these grants will help communities protect children from the harmful effects of lead poisoning. and again, i have seen this in my home state. lewiston, maine, our second largest city, has a very old

housing stock, and it has a great deal of lead paint, and grants are helping this city deal with this problem and thus improve the health and safety of pregnant women and young children in avoiding disability and developmental problems for those young children. these grants will help communities across america protect children from the harmful effects of lead poisoning. while our bill certainly helps vulnerable families, it also recognizes the challenges facing local communities. boosting local communities is critical to job creation and helping our community neighborhoods thrive and our families obtain financial security. the bill supports local

development efforts by providing $3.3 billion through the community development block grant program. that is one of the most popular programs that we provide. if you talk to any mayor or town council, they will tell you how flexible the cdbg program is and how, as the mayors of maine with whom i recently met told me, it helps them customize the funding to meet the program needs of their communities. it may be infrastructure, it may be affordable housing, it may be sprucing up the downtown, it may be supporting local businesses. this is a great program. it's not a washington-dictated program. it is one that responds to local needs.

we also provide $1.4 billion for the home program. the cdbg and the home programs shore the development of infrastructure projects, community development, affordable housing, economic development, and job creation. mr. president, i appreciate the opportunity to present this legislation to this chamber. as we begin debate on the transportation-h.u.d. bill, i urge my colleagues to support the investments in this bill which will pay dividends to our communities, our veterans, our children, our low-income families, and our seniors. our bill was unanimously reported by the senate appropriations committee. we are certainly open for

business for amendments, and again, i want to commend my friend and colleague, senator reed, for his hard work and for that of our staffs on both sides of the aisle in crafting this bill. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from for rhode island. mr. reed: thank you, mr. president. i rise in support of h.r. 6147, the so-called minibus. let me say, i am extraordinarily proud to work with chairman collins. she's put together a thoughtful bipartisan t-hud appropriations bill that reflects the priorities of more than 70 senators who provided that are than 800 funding or language recommendations. her leadership, her commitment

to fairness and to ensuring that all of our colleagues had the opportunity to help make investments in their states is remarkable and deeply, deeply appreciatived. -- deeply, deeply appreciated. we looked at all of these suggestions and recommendations. we received guidance from chairman shelby and vice chairman leahy, and i aappreciate their creative and constructive role, appeared we were able to produce legislation which i am remarkably proud of and, again, thank the chairman for her great work. the bill does not include any poison pill riders, which is following the principle established by chairman shelby and vice chairman leahy. this agreement has given the committee the space to evaluate the requests of the administration and congress and to provide funding levels that support national priorities. and i strongly urge my

colleagues to maintain this effort for a bill that is investing in the country and not being diverted by very, very parochial and narrow interests in the form of what is frequently referred to as poison pills. having said that, as the chairman indicated, we welcome amendments and encourage senators to file them as soon as possible so that we can begin to work through them. we've already heard from a few colleagues, and we have several amendments that we're preparing to move forward upon. substantively, let me share some of the significant accomplishments in this year's t-hud bill. consistent with the budget agreement, the bill includes $10.9 billion in budgetary resources above fiscal year 2017 levels to improve our nation's infrastructure, grow our economy and spur job creation. the bill includes $3.3 billion above the levels provided in the fast act for highway programs,

including $800 million for bridge repair and replacement programs. on rail and transit, we have maintained amtrak's funding level for fiscal year 2018, including $650 million for the northeast corridor to make meaningful repairs and safety improvements. we've also fully funded the need for capital investment grants and have increased transit formula and competitive grant programs above fast act levels. these modes of transportation are essential to reducing congestion, deriving economic growth and improving quality of life throughout the country. i'm also pleased that we have a bill before us that protects rental assistance for more than 5 million low-income families and rejects the administration's harmful proposal to increase rent burdens and work requirements for many of our assisted households who are already struggling to make ends meet.

the bill also provides $ 285 million for programs that remediate lead-based paint in low-income housing. this includes $25 million to address lead-based paint hazards in public housing and $45 million for a new lead-safe communities demonstration which has the potential to reduce the costs of remediating lead-based paint hazards in homes. for our nation's seniors, the bill includes more than $50 million to develop new senior housing and $10 million to modify low-income seniors' homes to make them more successful. in rhode island -- and we are not unique -- nearly half of of our senior households lack an affordable housing option. this funding will be used to develop innovative housing strategies and ensuring that our nation's seniors are able to remain in their communities. and it's remarkable. half of our seniors are without the option of affordable

housing, and that number is only going to grow as the demographics of this country continue on their present course. and, again, let me in the terms proliferate housing single out something where the -- in the terms of housing single out something where the chairman -- that's homelessness for youth. chairman collins has been building on the work we did in the hawk act to develop innovative, targeted ways to comprehensively address homelessness nationally. and i'm pleased that we were able to include more than $2.6 billion in assistance for communities to continue to provide emergency and community-driven solutions to prevent and end homelessness. let me also say a few words about the other bills that are part of this minibus package -- the agriculture appropriations bill, the interior

appropriations bill, and the financial services, general government appropriations bill. each of these bills include important funding for key programs and each has steeredway from the kind of controversial legislation that would prevent them from moving to the floor. i'm pleased that the agricultural bill includes critical funding for nutrition, observation, and research, including additional funding to help foster the growth of shellfish aquaculture. the interior bill continues to make important investments in infrastructure in the funding for clean water and drinking water. the bill highlights the need to establish a maximum containment level for pfas, a category of chemicals. as a member of the armed services committee, i have seen this issue come to the forequickly and -- fore quickly and dramatically, because we

have been told of numerous locations across the country at military facilities where this fire fighting foam has been used for 30 or 40 years and now we're beginning to recognize the potential environmental effects. dealing with this issue now or beginning to deal with it is a very thoughtful approach. in addition to providing critical dollars for our national parks, our wildlife refugees, and cultural institutions, this bill also funds the southeastern new england program for coastal watershed restoration to support science-based projects that improve the health of narragansett bay and other cultural waters in rhode island and massachusetts. and finally the financial services, general government bill makes important investments in our leading regulator, the f.t.c. and f.c.c. as well as the financial institutions program, high-intenty drug trafficking areas program and the state expansion promotion program.

i want to commend the chair and ranking members of each of these subcommittees for their hard work on these bills. before i conclude, i want to note that these smart investments and well-crafted bills would not have been possible without the passage of a two-year bipartisan budget act which provided much-needed relief on sequesterral level caps but that is only a two-year deal which expires at the end of the fiscal year 2019. with the return of harmful sequester cuts looming in 2020, this bill should serve as a reminder why we must pursue another bipartisan agreement to provide relief on both the defense and nondefense sides of the ledger. without such a deal, we won't be able to continue our infrastructure and other investments that make a positive difference in communities across america. again, let me conclude by thanking and recognizing and i deeply appreciating the work of the chairman for her extraordinary vision, her commitment to those values and those issues that are remarkably

demonstrated in this bill, attention to affordable housing for seniors, attention to the homeless, attention to ensuring that we have money for infrastructure. this bill is a remarkable commitment to infrastructure across the country. when the president was campaigning, he talked about $1 trillion infrastructure bill. it's has not shall -- it has not materialized. what has materialized is robust funding for infrastructure in this bill, and that a direct contribution of the chairman. so thank you, very much. mr. president, i would yield the floor. mr. hoeven: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator for north dakota. mr. hoeven: thank you, mr. president. i'm pleased to introduce the fiscal year 2019 appropriations bill for ag, rural development, food and drug administration, and related agencies. i'm glad that we're considering appropriations bills on the floor a manner that allows us to

fully debate amendments. i'm pleased also to join my colleagues from the subcommittees on interior, transportation, housing and urban development, also financial services in putting together this legislation. i'm now going to let my comments for the ag provisions. i look forward to our partnership in moving these bills across the floor. the activities funded by the agricultural bill touch the lives of every american every day. i like to talk about how important good farm policy is because good farm policy benefits every single american every single day with the highest-quality, low heft of cost food -- lowest-cost food supply. as we move this ag appropriations bill. that's what it's about. it's about our farmers and ranchers, no doubt about that. but it's something that benefits every single american every single day.

these activities include ag research, conservation activities, housing and business loan programs for rural communities, domestic and international nutrition programs, and food safety and drug safety. funding for each of these deserves her to row and thoughtful -- they are row and thoughtful consideration. the subcommittee has made difficult decisions in drafting this bill. we had to choose and we had to prioritize in terms of putting this legislation together, but i think we've brought forward a bill that works. it's one that got broadbased, bipartisan support from the appropriations committee. it's written to our a. although indication of just over $23 billion. that's about $200 million above the current enacted level. we've worked hard to invest taxpayer dollars responsibly, funding programs that provide direct benefits to our farmers, our ranchers and rural communities, supporting programs that provide direct health and

safety benefits again to every single american every single day. ag supports more than 16 million jobs nationwide and forms the backbone of our rural communities. our agricultural producers are the best in the world at what they do. we have to work hard to give them a level playing field because they produce food, fuel, and fiber for this country but also for countries around the world. we really do feed the world. and so we need access to those markets to do so. this is, of course, in part the result of smart investment in america's ag research infrastructure. something that truly helps our farmers and ranchers, our producers do what they do every day. ag research helps us do it better with higher-quality, more cost effectively with more productivity. and that's why i'm pleased that this bill puts significant emphasis on maintaining research

programs at our land grant university schools, colleges and universities across this nation. and funding for competitive research programs such as the ag and food research initiative. these programs are critical to helping our farmers increase production and they expand our nation's economic growth. as i say, they feed not only this country but really the world. not only does every dollar spent on ag research result in a $20 return on investment to the u.s. economy, research investment also results in a food supply that is safe, abundant, and affordable. i'm also glad that the agricultural bill prioritizes funding for rural infrastructure. $425 million is included for broadband grants -- for rural broadband grants and loans, putting our two-year investment in rural broadband at over $ 1 billion. between f.y. 2018 and 2019,

we'll put over $1 billion into rural broadband. no matter where you live, you have that opportunity to access the world wide web. and be part of the innovation and technology that goes with it. this funding will make tremendous strides in bridging the digital divide between urban and rural communities. broadband availability remains a challenge for states like mine, a rural state, and other rural states. farmers need access to new, precision technologies to help their operations run more efficiently. it is also sufficient to have rural broadband if they hope-to-a tract -- hope to attract businesses and grow their rural communities. i am he proud to say that we've put funding in this bill to do just that. i want to thank senator merkley for the bipartisan working relationship that we have on the ag committee. i also want to applaud and

express my appreciation to chairman shelby for working to return our appropriations committee to regular order.. i think that this ag bill that are we are presenting today presents a well-balanced compromise and illustrates the senate can work together on important issues like this one. and i certainly hope that my colleagues will join me in supporting this legislation. and with that, i would like to turn to our ranking member, senator merkley. and, mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. merkley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator for oregon. mr. merkley: as ranking member of the agriculture subcommittee, i rise today to discuss the

agriculture appropriations bill. this is a good bill that was drafted in a bipartisan manner and passed out of committee unanimously. a big thanks to chairman hoeven for his hard work on the bill as well as to members of his team who worked very closely with members of my team throughout this process and considered requests and concerns from senators on both sides of the aisle. in his budget request, president trump proposed more than a 25% cut to usda's funding. he also zeroed out a number of important programs including programs that benefit rural america, along with research programs and domestic and international nutrition programs. the bill that came out of the appropriations committee rejects those devastating cuts that were presented in the president's budget request. this bill which is within the subcommittee's discretionary allocation of $23.2 billion, makes smart, targeted

investments in programs that are important to the american people while keeping out controversial policy riders. in this bill, we maintain funding for important rural development programs while building on the increases we provided last year for rural infrastructure initiatives, including rural water and waste programs and the broadband pilot program. these programs are vital in providing rural communities the ability to support entrepreneurs, to be able to grow their businesses, creating much-needed jobs in the communities. the bill protects vital research programs and makes important new investments for the organic industry. the organic transition program funded at $6 million, the national organic program funded at $15 million and sustainable agriculture research and education program funded at $37 million. all of these are historic funding levels that demonstrate

the committee's commitment to a vital and rapidly growing american industry. what else does this committee bill do? it supports funding for farm ownership and farm operating loans. with farm incomes on the decline, access to credit is crucial for farmers to stay in business. farm loans serve the most disadvantaged in the farming sector including farmers who are just starting out as well as ranchers, minorities, women, and veterans. i'm also pleased that we were able to include $150 million in funding for the watershed and flood prevention operations program to protect our watersheds and help prevent floods to reduce erosion and to protect wildlife habit at that s been theats. for domestic nutrition programs

our bill maintains funding to provide access for food for low-income during the summer months when school is out of session. beyond that, the bill provides for $30 million in school meal equipment grants and $18 million for the farmers market nutrition program and $238 for the commodity supplemental food program. this bill also protects snap, the supplemental nutrition assistance program, that 42 million americans rely on. it does not provide provisions that would eliminate benefits to those who qualify. on the international front, the bill maintains strong funding for nutrition programs such as food for peace and mcgovern-dole. since its interception, food for peace has reached over 3 billion people in 150 countries and more than 32 million people just last year alone. and i've been in the field to see the impact of this program

for communities that rely on it in some of the hardest hit parts of the world affected by conflict and climate chaos and corruption, and this support is a considerable feature of what people around the world see in terms of the u.s. reaching out to assist communities in need worldwide. meanwhile, in 2007 the mcgovern bill program fed 4.5 million people and helped support education and food security for low-income countries as well as increasing school attendance. good health, better education for children around the world with a particular emphasis on girls. with the state of the world today we need programs like food for peace and the mcgovern bill which have a proven track record. and i'm pleased that we worked in a bipartisan way to ensure that these programs were funded. the bill in front of us supports

the important work of the f.d.a., the food and drug administration, through $159 million increase in the agency's funding. included in that funding increase is full funding for the oncology center of excellence, modernizing generic drug r review process, investment and education for rare diseases and the continuation of last year's work on opioid prevention activities. and i know that my fellow senators understand just how important that opioid addiction prevention program is. mr. president, before i conclude, i want to take a moment to recognize an outstanding member of the agriculture subcommittee team. jessica shulkin will be leaving us in the next few weeks after almost 19 years on the appropriations committee. her accomplishments are numerous. during her years on the

committee, she has been a tireless advocate for our nation's farmers and ranchers, a fierce protector for rural america, a staunch advocate for ensuring that the food and drug administration has all the resources it needs, a defender of transparency, who has worked hard to ensure that these agencies are answerable to congress. i cannot begin to adequately express the tremendous work that she has done on this committee as clerk, and i speak for many who note how sorely she will be missed. a big thanks to jessica shulkin for her years of service and dedication, and i wish her well in her new chapter of life. this process on this agriculture appropriations subcommittee bill has been emblematic of the type of good, strong bipartisan work

that we would like to see much more often here in the u.s. senate. bipartisan work that has assisted our ranchers, bipartisan work to assist our farming community, bipartisan work to support rural communities and rural infrastructure. so i look forward to getting this bill passed, getting it through conference, and getting it to the oval office. thank you, mr. president. ms. collins: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator for maine. ms. collins: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator for oklahoma. ing. mr. lankford: is the senator in a quorum call? the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. lankford: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that we eviscerate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. lankford: i rise to discuss the financial services and general appropriations bill for 2019. as chairman of the subcommittee, i have really enjoyed working with ranking member senator coons and all the members of the appropriations committee. however, for many members of this chamber who are not on the appropriations committee, today would be the first close look at the appropriations bill from our subcommittee. it's been months in process, many oversight hearings, a lot of debate, a lot of amendments to be able to go back and forth, and a tremendous amount of input from members all over this body but it's finally actually on this floor. it's been nearly seven years since the financial services and general government appropriations bill has been considered on the senate floor. on november of 2011, the senate began consideration of a combined appropriations package for energy and water financial services state and foreign operations. and fortunately the floor consideration of that bill was halted shortly after it began and members were not able to offer amendments or have their voices heard.

we're looking forward to that changing today. this week's debate will subject the financial services and general government appropriations bill to public scrutiny and open amendment process on the senate floor for the first time since the subcommittee was established in 2007. this is too long coming. i applaud the leadership of chairman shelby and vice chairman leahy who are determined to see the committee return to regular order, a little bit of sunshine will help us in this process. i'm a firm believer that openness and transparency results in a better legislative session process. it's my hope that today starts that trend where the appropriations bills are seldom seen out of the appropriations committee typically but bills like the financial services committee, the interior appropriations bill, all of those can be debated openly and amended on this senate floor. we made a concerted effort to make responsible decision allocating resources and to be responsible to the requests we have received from members of both sides of the aisle, and we do welcome continued input and proposed amendments through other members. this bill, the financial

services and general government bill, totals $23,688,000,000, includes funding for 27 different independent agencies, it includes the executive office of the president, the department of treasury, the federal judiciary, and the district of columbia. the bill does not include any budget gimmicks or empty chips, changes in mandatory programs that are often used as a gimmick by the appropriations. it does not include those. the bill provides targeted funding increases for the treasury department to combat terrorism financing, for the federal courts to support their administrative actions and their justice, for the g.s.a.'s federal building funds including the acquisition of the headquarters building for the department of treasury rather than continuing to pay $49.4 million in annual rental payments for a building that is our headquarters. we need to move to actually owning that building to save

taxpayers money. this bill fully funds g.s.a.'s request for basic repairs and major repairs. they are not glamorous appropriations account but they are exceptionally important to maintain and protect the taxpayers' dollars. the bill makes critical investments for our nation's financial markets by providing targeted increases for the securities and exchange commission and for the commodities future trading commission. after years of flat funding for the cfts, the trading commission including a $1 million cut last year this bill provides an increase to cftc in recognition of their role overseeing our swaps and futures market. it was a priority to a number of senators on both sides of the aisle and i'm pleased we were able to accommodate it this year. the bill provides $11.26 billion to the internal revenue service to the administration of our nation's tax laws. of this amount $77 million is dedicated to implementing the new tax cuts and jobs act.

that bill has been enormously successful in helping turn around our economy, where our g.d.p. growth has grown exponentially over the last year. but we have to be able to fully implement that bill. that be aside from tax reform, we're also able to provide -- in base funding for the i.r.s. this will increase the operations support account. it will provide for investment for technology infrastructure and it will reduce their reliance on their legacy systems. the total p amount for the i.r.s. includes $2.4 billion for taxpayer services, $4.8 billion for enforcement. we have two critical goals for the i.r.s., improving taxpayer access to defaulty customer service and addressing the tax

gap, the amount owed but not paid. the i.r.s. needs help in the customer service area. they asked for additional funding. we asked them for additional focus on customer service and we have given them that. we asked them to deal with the tax gap. those are taxes owed that individuals do not pay. it is not a change in tax law, it is enforcing the existing law. the tax gap is at $400 billion a year. addressing that tax gap is critical to reducing the deficit. the bill prioritizes the federal government's response to the opioid crisis. our bill keeps the focus on the high trafficking areas program and the drug free community area with $99 million allocated through the office of the national drug control policy. the bill provides a funding increase to the postal service inspector general to address

narcotics trafficking through the mail and we have to pay attention to that. the bill includes $2 million in new funding for the counsel of inspector general for integrity and for improvement to the website oversight.gov. if you not gone to that website, i would enkiewrng that you do -- encourage that you do that. their work needs to be highlighted and weed need to implemented -- we need to implement those recommendations. they are on the front lines to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse and reduce billions of dollars of cost savings and we need to see those and implement it. oversight.gov has improved their work and this will improve the savings in the future by maintaining the website. again, i do want to thank my friend senator coons and express my appreciation for the way he and his staff worked with us. as this bill moves forward, i

look forward to working with all of my colleagues. we look forward to doing something historic, actually passing an ffgg bill on the floor of the senate and work on this process in an open and transparent way. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator for delaware. mr. coons: mr. president, i am proud to join my colleague, senator lankford of oklahoma, in bringing our committee bill, the financial services and general government appropriations bill to the floor. i want to thank the full committee chair and vice chairman, senators shelby and leahy for their leadership and their bipartisan work that laid out the process that we are now following to make real progress on our appropriations process. chairman lankford, i want to thank you for working on me with this bill. to my colleague senator lankford of oklahoma, i express my appreciation for being a great partner and for a positive

experience working together and how much i value our collegial relationship. i also want to thank the key staff of this subcommittee, andy knewton -- newton, lauren kamel and diane hamilton and reeves hart. they are examples of the people who work here year in, year out, week in, week out, who make it possible for us to craft large and complicated, compromised bills like this one and we are grateful for the positive working experience you have had together and for the spirit you have made this bill possible. i'm confident this bill allocates funding fairly p given the subcommittee allocation and broad jurisdiction. senator lang forward and i followed the guidance of the chair and vice chair and kept the bill free of riders.

it appropriates $26.88 billion, a small increase over the omnibus bill enacted earlier this year. i would like to take this opportunity on how this will impact delawareans and others across the country. it has $250 million for the community institutional fund which supports development in some of america's poorest communities. the president's budget looked to cut it down, the house ffgg bill restored some of that funding. i'm proud this bipartisan senate bill restores all of the funding for this effective and vital program. this bill also rejects the transfer of two vital antidrug abuse programs, the high intensity drug traffic being area program and drug-free communities from the drug control policy to the justice department.

i am grateful that at this time when opioids are a crisis of academic proportions that i hear about week in, week out in my home state of delaware, that we have rejected an ill-conceived program to -- where i was concerned they would receive reduced funding. i am pleased they will stay with the office of national drug control policy. this bill provides $281.5 million for the commodity futures trading commission. this is an increase of $2.5 million. it is is critical they are able to keep pace with the dramatic changes in the marketplace as they regulate, particularly with crypto currency and complex products and trading platforms, they need to modernize their investments. the federal judiciary will receive $7.25 billion, an increase of $140 million over

the f.y.-18, and court and security accounts will receive robust funding. this bill vitally increaseses funding for the internal revenue service. the i.r.s. may not be the most popular of federal agencies, but it touches almost every american and is central for the collection of revenue and being responsive to constituents and customers. this bill increaseses funding for the basic operations of the i.r.s. and will implement the comprehensive new tax law. i hope we can continue to work to increase funding for this vital agency in conference because the i.r.s. has i.t. systems that are out of date, customer service can still improve, and as the senator commented in previous hearings, we need to make progress in closing the $400 billion tax gap, the tax that is owed and

what is collected in tax revenues every year. this bill includes $1.66 billion for the s.e.c. given the number of publicly traded forms in my -- firms in my home state of delaware, ike particularly interested in making sure that the s.c.c. has the investments needed since they are the watchdog that makes sure that our securities are being exchanged in ways that are transparent and legal and appropriate. there's also a provision within the department of treasury that i wanted to highlight briefly. $159 million is appropriated specifically for the office of terrorism an financial intelligence. that's an increase of $17 million over last year, just over 10%. this office has the responsibility of enforcing economic sanctions across the globe. it has a very broad and important responsibility and i think it's key that we've been able to work on a bipartisan

basis to ensure that funding is adequate, not only to implement sanctions in north korea and iran, but that we are enforcing the accountability act and enforcing sanctions in other parts of the world, africa, for example, where we need more thorough enforcement. this bill provides funding for the small business administration, a remarkable effective agency that punches above its weight. and this restores or increases funding to virtually every initiative. this is essential to their mission of supporting small businesses so that local communities across our country have greater economic opportunity. i'm particularly pleased with the sweet of s.b.a. related services to support the score program which has one of the highest ratios of volunteers and civic outreach and impact to federal investment. a group of volunteers all over

the country offer business tools, workshops, and mentoring to dedicated entrepreneur, as score was officially founded in my hometown of wilmington, delaware and i have been working in a bipartisan way to reauthorize it in congress. last, this bill has a well-deserved pay adjustment. last year federal employees received a cost of living increase at 1.9%. this year the bill includes the same level which i think is an important bipartisan compromise to ensure that our civilian workforce receives the support they have earned. i'll last mention that in last year we did include election security grants of $380 million in the f.y.-18 omnibus to protect states and their voting systems from cyber attacks. the chairman is cosponsor of an authorizing bill that i think is critical that we take up and

move independent of the princes process. this year we should -- appropriations process. this year we should provide more appropriations to our states to make sure they are strengthening their cybersecurity as we are four months from a general election. in closing, let me thank the staff of the subcommittee who worked well together. let me thank senator lankford, my colleague from oklahoma for his great an positive attitude and determination to make sure that the dollars are spent wiserily. we may not agree on everything, but we agreed on this as we had the first floor markup of the ffgg bill. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. ms. collins: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator for maine. ms. collins: i suggest the

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

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: i ask that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: i have eight requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have been approved by the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. cornyn: mr. president, this

week we'll continue the confirmation process for judge kavanaugh who we know has been selected by the president to be on the supreme court. there have been a questioning issued by the judiciary committee to which the nominee has responded. i -- i know that white house counsel and others are already trying to put their heads together with the bush library down in dallas as well as the nationals be a ciefs to be responsive to the document requests that have been made for the judge. but as the author of the more than 300 published opinions, judge kavanaugh is a well-known judicial nominee, and i think his experience the last 12 years on the d.c. circuit court of appeals has clearly demonstrated that he has the experience that the job on the supreme court requires. he is also enormously well

respected among the legal community. we have seen op-eds written by professors, all of them scholars, who say that judge kavanaugh can more than hold his own when it comes to legal analysis. and we have heard this from both people who share his judicial philosophy and those who do not share his judicial philosophy. a broad mutual respect for his intellect and his integrity. we have heard about his mentorship of law clerks, both men and women, liberal and conservative, and received testimonies as i say from across the ideological spectrum. last week, a group of 84 students from harvard law school where judge kavanaugh taught sent a letter to the senate judiciary committee. they have a variety of perspectives, as you might imagine, on judicial philosophy and a wide range of political views, but they all agreed that judge kavanaugh is a rigorous thinker, a devoted teacher, and a gracious person.

lastly, we have heard from the nominee himself on the night president trump announced his choice, judge kavanaugh said he believes that an independent judiciary is the crown jewel of our constitutional republic. he promised to keep an open mind in every case, as a judge should, and to uphold the constitution of the united states and to preserve the rule of law. i'd say that those words and the opinions of his many supporters demonstrate judge kavanaugh is the right person to replace justice kennedy on the supreme court. most people agree that it's the supreme court's job to fairly interpret the law, not substitute their own judgment, political or ideological or personal, for that of congress when congress has spoken, and i believe judge kavanaugh understands that deeply. a number a number of our colleagues across the aisle have been left grasping straws given his outstanding qualifications, given the fact that he was

confirmed just back in 2006 to the second most powerful court in the nation with d.c. circuit court of appeals. judge kavanaugh is a well known quantity to the senate itself. some have the criticized judge kavanaugh for expressing opposition to the statute even though they supported ending that very same statute themselves. it's ironic some are using that as a point of criticism. my colleague, the senior senator from illinois called to get rid of the statute in 1999 claiming it allowed independent counsel to be unchecked, unbridled, unrestrained and unaccountable, which just goes to show you, if you're in the senate long enough, you're likely to find yourself on both sides of an

argument. but in this case there is no merit to any criticism of judge kavanaugh for something that democrats and republicans both agreed to do which is to let the independent counsel statute lapse. another difference is the old staufplt they are not the same thing. when judge kavanaugh spoke about the independent counsel statute he was talking about a bipartisan agreement to let it expire and not renew because it was felt the last independent counsel ken starr had too much awe autonomy to prosecute without clear rules and guidance and not clear oversight by the department of justice. special counsel are different. they are constrained by regulations and overseen by lawyers at the department of justice in the case of director mueller by the deputy attorney

general himself. a new poll has shown significant majorities in states like north dakota, west virginia and indiana want to see judge kavanaugh confirmed. support is stronger among independents and i expect that as more americans get to know him in the weeks ahead that those numbers will rise. this nomination for a vacancy on the supreme court is chairman grassley's 15th supreme court confirmation hearing. and i have no doubt that when he says this one will be the most searching and thorough of all of them, he means means"lr look forward to workinh all of our colleagues on the judiciary committee to make sure that judge kavanaugh has a full and fair hearing and not pull any punches whatsoever, but if the object is to delay for

delay's sake or to criticize for criticism's sake, we intend to call that out during this process. based on what i have read and seen so far, i believe judge kavanaugh will be confirmed ultimately. mr. president, there's one other item of business i want to mention, and it's some very good news that we have received yesterday. the house and senate conferees announced an agreement on the national defense authorization act, the ndaa, as we call it, and i'm glad to hear in the final version that it included legislation i sponsored called frma, the foreign investment risk review modernization act. the senior senator from california, mrs. feinstein, was my bipartisan cosponsor. i'd like to thank senator crapo, chairman of the banking committee, who ushered this legislation through that committee, passed unanimously, and senator inhofe for leading the conference here on the

senate side, and from seeing that this important piece of legislation was included. in june, president trump called on congress to pass a strong piece of legislation to modernize what's known as the committee on foreign investment in the united states or cfius, and now we are going to do exactly that. the senate version of the bill updates cfius so we can guard against attempts primarily by china but not only by china to acquire sensitive dual-use technology and know-how by exploiting gaps in the u.s. rules on foreign investments. this legislation takes a carefully tailored approach to updating the review process without hamstringing our ability to meaningfully engage in trade with partners around the world. it is not antiforeign investment. just the opposite is true. but it is all about protecting our crown jewels when it comes to leading edge technology that can be easily acquired through

creative investment strategies and then along with the intellectual property and the knowhow our competitors like china can gain tremendous advantage. so i appreciate the support we have gotten from secretary mnuchin, our treasury secretary, secretary mattis, our secretary of defense, and many others, and again, i want to thank senator feinstein for being the chief democratic cosponsor. this has been a bipartisan effort from day one. the message is we simply can't let china erode our national security advantage by circumventing our laws and exploiting investment opportunities for nefarious purposes. the backdoor transfer of technology, knowhow and industrial capabilities has gone unchecked for too long, and that's why i'm glad once our bill becomes law a newer, stronger cfius process will better protect us from evolving investment-driven threats to our national security. mr. president, i yield the floor

and i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

a senator: mr. president, i move we vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. blunt: mr. president, i'm here today to remember the 17 victims who lost their lives last week in the tragic boat accident on table rock lake in missouri. i i lived at branson at one tim.

our home in missouri is in springfield now. it's a community that i represented in the congress for 14 years before the chance to represent them in the senate, and of course the community has responded, but one of the reasons that the community has responded in the way that it has is the truly leaj loss of life. there were 31 people on the boat that was overwhelmed by the water. those 31 people, 17 died. of the 17 that died, nine of the victims were members of the coleman family from indianapolis, indiana. tia coleman lost her husband, glen, and all three of their children. on saturday, tia asked that her family members be remembered as they were. she said her daughter, one-year-old rhea, was a little fireball with 1,000 different

personalities. her seven-year-old son evan, according to his mom was a great brother who was extremely smart and witty and loved life. her nine-year-old son reece was according to his mom the happiest little boy that made every day worth living. tia's nephew donovan hall, who was the other surviving member of that family lost his mother angela and brother maxwell. tia described her sister-in-law as a loving mother who would do anything for her family and two-year-old max loved big hugs. tia was laughing through her tears as she remembered her uncle ray as a man who liked to laugh and have a good time. tia's father-in-law butch coleman is being remembered in indianapolis as a legend in the

community, having volunteered for more than four decades as a youth football coach. he and his wife belinda coleman were involved in the community. belinda was describeds a a loving mom, a loving grandmother and as a leader in their church. tia asked all of us to keep the coleman family in our prayers as they adjust to this terrible tragedy. rosemary hammond and william asher from the st. louis area had just celebrated rose marie's 68th birthday. their friends say they loved to dance and lived life to the fullest. they both gave back to their community through local veterans organizations. william and janice bright from higginsville, missouri, were in branson celebrating their 41st wedding anniversary. they are survived by three

children and 16 grandchildren with one more grandchild on the way that will never get a chance to see their grandparents. the smith family of osceola, arkansas is morning the loss of 53-year-old steve smith, retired educator and his 15-year-old son lance. the smiths were very active in their church. steve was a deacon and lance had felt the call to the ministry and at 15 recently delivered his first sermon. leslie dennison from illinois died a hero. this 64-year-old grandmother pushed her 12-year-old granddaughter to the surface of the water, helping save that girl's life before she was overwhelmed by the water. former church pastor bob williams driving the boat was remembered as a great ambassador

for branson and an active member of the community. certainly in the coming days, we'll learn more about these men and women and children and the lives they led and the lives that ended tragically. we'll also learn about the accident itself. senator mccaskill and i were both there on the day after the accident as federal officials arrived, the coast guard, responsible for certifying equipment like the boat that was, that sank, the national travel safety board, who has a responsibility to investigate the accident and tell us what happened, senator mccaskill met with them earlier in the day. i met with them exactly 24 hours after the boat had sank. as we were done with that meeting and looking out at

palace sid table rock lake, it was hard to remember that was the same lake that was in videos of what happened the day before. senator mccaskill and i were thanking the first responders, the medical staff, looking at what mental health was available to not only people who survived the accident, but also the people who responded. there were people who were at a nearby showboat, the branson bell, who dived off the boat and immediately swam out to do what they could to help the people who were trying to save their own lives. there was one boat dock sent three or four guys working that boat dock in the summer. i'm sure if you're a 16, 17, 18-year-old young man, you think everything is okay, but we were

insistent they try to have the mental health counseling they needed along with the families and survivors that were there, and certainly the community with services and with services reacted in the right way. it's unfortunate that we don't think as much as we should about the ntsb and their efforts, and one of the things that certainly they'll be looking at is their investigation of a similar accident almost 20 years ago in arkansas on lake hamilton. and the questions would be, i think, did the coast guard do what they were supposed to do? did the operators do what they were supposed to do? did the equipment do what it was supposed to do? and certainly we'll be looking carefully at the report and to decide what needs to happen as a result of that report. certainly this is an accident we wouldn't want to see happen ever

again. since its inception the ntsb investigated thousands of aviation and surface transportation accidents. they're busy right now investigating what happened in branson, missouri, but other examples are the southwest airlines engine incident in april, the autonomous vehicle crash in tempe, arizona, the collision of the amtrak train and the c.s.x. freight train in south carolina. that's what they do. it's -- its staff and leadership are on call 24 hours a day 365 days a year. unfortunately we've had two nominees for the transportation safety board that have been pending floor consideration for many months, one a democrat and another a republican. the confirmation of those two people would ensure that the ntsb has a full board to fulfill its critical mission.

i've been assured that we're going to go ahead and move forward with those confirmations later today. and i can also assure you that senator mccaskill and i and congressman long will be lowsly monitoring the investigation -- will be closely monitoring the investigation as we learn what happened and do what we need to do to make sure it never happens again. with gratitude to the first responders, the medical staff, the members of the granson -- branson community who stepped forward to assist in this tragedy, i will close my remarks and turn to senator mccaskill for things she may have to say about this event. mrs. mccaskill: thank you. mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mrs. mccaskill: i want to thank my colleague. he and i were both in branson last friday. we didn't have a chance to see each other but we were both there for the same reason, and that is this is an unspeakable tragedy in our state that has federal involvement because the

investigations will occur jointly with the coast guard and the ntsb. i would echo many of the remarks that my colleague made. i particularly was struck when i was there. the highway patrol divers had just finished their work, and they have the worst job maybe in the country last friday, but certainly in missouri. their job was to go to the bottom of the lake and find the bodies that had been trapped in this amphibious vehicle. at the bottom of one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. and you never want a tragedy like this to strike in your state. i will tell you that the only silver lining i can find is that it happened in a part of our state where there's at great deal of love. a lot of openness in branson, missouri, for the travelers that come through, for all the tourists that come to branson. we're very proud of that area of our state. the ozarks has some of the most beautiful terrain god has created. and these lakes that we have

both in the central part of our state and in the southwest part of our state, we are very proud. they turned ugly and deadly last thursday, and we had a tremendous loss of life. this investigation will take a year or more. i join my colleague in urging the senate to approve these two nominees that have been pending for too long. it is my understanding we've gotten movement on that today. sad that it would take a tragedy like this to get this thing moving, but i believe by the end of the day i'm at least optimistic at this point. i don't know what my colleague senator blunt has learned, but i've learned that it appears that these nominees will be approved by the end of the day. this -- and there were incredibly difficult weather conditions. but there's inherent dangers in these amphibious vehicles, and we know this. how do we know this? because it's been investigated before. we've had 40 deaths associated with the duck boats since 1999,

yet there has been little done to address the inherent dangers of these amphibious vehicles. we had 13 deaths in arkansas in lake hamilton in 1999. four deaths in the ottowa river in ontario, canada, in 2002. two in the delaware river in philadelphia in 2010. and then the 17 deaths that occurred last week. additionally we had five deaths when the vehicle collided, had an on-land collision in seattle in 2015. back when the ntsb investigated the incident in arkansas, which is about 200 miles south of branson, they found contributing factors to that accident to be the lack of adequate bouyancy that would have allowed the vehicle to remain aflout in a flooded condition, the lack of oversight by the coast guard and also the canopy.

when these vehicles are on water, the canopy serves as a trap. if they take on water and are sinking. peep who are trying to -- people who are trying to get out have no easy way to escape the sinking vehicle because the canopy traps them within the vehicle. it also is a problem in terms of wearing life jackets, because if someone has a life jacket on and one of these vehicles goes down in the water, they get trapped against the roof even more because the bouyancy of the life jacket holds them against the roof and makes it even more difficult for them to get to some point of ingress or egress. these are not open vehicles. when they're in the water it's almost like an enclosed bus. it's almost like, imagine if you're on an airplane in the water or on a bus in the water. it is not a boat. it's a vehicle. and so the ntsb recommendations were pretty straightforward. unfortunately nothing happened as a result of those

recommendations. i'm in the early stages of drafting legislation with input from the ntsb and the coast guard to require that the design issues with these passenger vessels be addressed and that the boats that are not compliant be taken out of service until they can be compliant. we think that their past recommendations are reasonable and common sense. we really think that the biggest problem that has to be addressed is this reserved bouyancy that has been pointed out in the past at part of the significant problem. and if they can't do the bouyancy in a really timely basis at a minimum remove the canopies if they are going on the water. so there's an opportunity for people to escape what is a sinking coffin, which was a sinking coffin for way too many people last thursday. i will -- as always, i want this to be done in a way that makes

sense, but i don't think it makes sense for us to wait another year to address some of these glaring issues in terms of passenger safety. i also would like a moment just to recognize the victims in this tragedy. we had five victims that were from missouri, william asher, 69 and rosemarie ham man. janice bright, her husband william bright 63 and 65 from higginsville, missouri, closer to kansas city. bob williams, the driver, not the captain of the vessel, 73 years old from branson. from arkansas we had steve smith who was 53 and lance smith who was 15 years old. from illinois, leslie dennison, 64 years old.

maybe those heartbreaking in some ways was the large family that so many members were lost as a result of this vehicle being sinking in table rock lake, was angela, 45; belinda 69, irving 76, glen 40, horace 70, and then the coleman children. reece who was 9, evan who was 7, maxwell who was 2 and aria who was only a year old. we mourn their deaths and i do think is a situation where you do feel helpless, on the other hand, i do think there are some steps that we can take so these particular amphibious vehicles are -- are addressed in terms of

passenger safety so that there is never again a feeling of helplessness when one of these boats finds themselves in a situation where it's taking on water but the people in the vehicle cannot get out of the vehicle in order to save themselves and can't even avail themselves of lie preservers in a way that would protect them if for any reason they were not capable swimmers. it is -- i'm very proud of both ntsb and the coast guard were working well together when i was down there. mayor best was doing a terrific job, the red cross was in full array in terms of providing services, the people of branson were out there showing love, respect, and sympathy. the entire state -- our governor has done a good job.

this is the silly season for me, it's relatively a few weeks until an election, the fur is flying and the politics go back and forth. it was an oasis on friday in terms of everyone coming together, sitting their politics on the side of the road, trying to work together to find answers to these difficult questions, come together as we should and find a way to protect the traveling public and the people. the saddest thing about this is the people who went on this vehicle were doing it because they were there having a great time and that is probably a cruel irony of this situation. they weren't taking a bus on their way to work. they weren't taking a plane on a business trip. they were enjoying a beautiful location with their family in the middle of what should be a

care-free moment and it turned deadly and tragic and we do need to come together and try to make sure this doesn't happen in the future. with a respectful nod to all the first responders and the people of the branson community that have been so supportive, i yield the floor. ms. collins: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: mr. president, before the two senators from missouri leave the floor, let me just express my personal condolences to them, which i know are shared by each and every member of this body. the tragedy in missouri is absolutely heart breaking for the families, for the community, for the associate, and i want our two colleagues from missouri to know that we stand with them

during this very difficult time. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the following amendments be called up en bloc. the heller amendment, 3405 ; the durbin amendment ; 34 -- durbin amendment, 3422. i further ask consent that at 2:15 p.m. today there be five minutes of debate equally divided in the usual form and that following the use or yielding back of that time, that the senate vote in relation to the heller and durbin amendments in the order listed and that there be no second-degree amendments in order to the amendments prior to the votes. the presiding officer: is there

objection? without objection. the clerk will report the amendments. the clerk: the senator from maine, ms. collins, for others proposes amendments numbered 3405 and 3422 en bloc to amendment numbered 3399. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate previous order, the senate 2019 spending on the agenda for most of the week including a package that has been for five different departments. we'll bring you back to the senate live when they gavel back in after their lunch in at 2:15 p.m. we will be in kansas city, missouri, where president trump

will be speaking to approximately 4000 veterans who are attending the national vfw convention. also attending, a few thousand more delegates representing veterans from around the country. yesterday the senate confirmed a new veterans affairs secretary robert willkie. that vote was 86-nine and we will point out both of the state senators, roy blunt and claire mccaskill, voted for robert willkie. after the speech president trump is expected to attend a fundraiser for republican senate candidate josh holly was in missouri, who is it -- who is the attorney general. >> just waiting for the president's remarks at the vfw national convention in kansas city. [inaudible conversations]

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♪ ♪ ♪ >> just waiting for president trump's remarks in kansas city, missouri, before several thousand veterans gathered for the national vfw convention. while we wait for the president's speech we will take a look at the administrations foreign policy and trade policy. this is from today's "washington journal." >> joining us, a republican from pennsylvania whove