the hilt visiting with democratic senators. joe donnelly also with heidi heitkamp wrapping up this meeting since the confirmation hearing is getting underway in three weeks. >> the u.s. senate is gaveling and momentarily -- a judge on the fourth circuit court of appeals at 5:30 p.m. eastern. we expect the senate later this week will begin work on appropriations for 2019, including defense labor health and human services and education. just a reminder and brett kavanaugh confirmation hearings they began on september 4th. we will have live coverage of that on c-span 3 c-span.org and on the c-span radio at. chuck grassley expected the syrians to last three to four days. we'll have live coverage of that. let's go live now to the senate floor here on c-span2.

mr. barrasso: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: thank you mr. president. i'd like to spend a little time this afternoon talking about something i continue to hear about in wyoming. heard about it a lot over the past week. heard about it last night in sun dance, wyoming. it's -- in sundance, wyoming. it's then daingsd species act. the endangered species act became law in 1973. that was 45 years ago. it was a bipartisan vote. the law has resulted in a lot of great work to save species from extinction. some species such as the bald eagle have come back from the brink of being almost completely wiped out. that's a great example of what this law was intended to do, to identify species in danger and to help them recover. the problem is that there aren't enough examples like the bald

eagle to point to because the goal of the law was to help species get to that point where they no longer needed the protection of the endangered species act of that law. we would put them on the list and they would recover and they would come off the list. that was the goal of the bipartisan legislation. that's how it was supposed to work. let's take a look at what actually has happened. since the law was put on the books, washington has put 2,424 different species of plants and animals on the list. over 2,000 onto the list. only 54 of them have ever come off the list because they have actually recovered. just 54 species in 45 years. that's less than 3%. mr. president, i'm a doctor. as a doctor, if i were to admit 100 patients to the hospital and only three of every 100 i admitted recovered enough to be discharged then maybe those patients ought to look for a different doctor. we're in the same situation now with the endangered species act.

when it comes totten daingd species act the status quo is not good enough. we need to do more than just put species on the list and leave them in the intensive care unit without a plan for recovery. we need to see them actually recover. that's the whole point. the endangered species act has not been substantially amended or updated in 30 years. that's a long time for a law to stay on the books without actually trying to improve it, and improvement is necessary. americans across the country are telling us it's time. the endangered species act needs to be modernized and as a former governor of wyoming dave freeden that will who came back to -- frieden that will who came back to testify before the environment and public works committee said there is just too much sand in the ears. maybe the problem with the endangered species act doesn't seem so clear to bureaucrats in washington d.c., but when you

go out west to places like my home state of wyoming the problems are obvious. so we see how the law is failing to help species. we see it every day in wyoming. it comes up continually in my discussions with folks at home. we see how it's failing the communities, the communities that suffer under the law's ineffective and burdensome red tape. that's why states in the west are tackling this issue when washington, d.c. has done so very little over the last decades. three years ago the western governors association -- it's a bipartisan group -- began looking at ways to modernize the law to help the western states. the chairman of the group was matt meade our governor in wyoming. he set up a special bipartisan initiative that's been working on this issue all of that time. they talked with people across the political spectrum -- liberals conservatives republicans, democrats people from all different backgrounds and they came up with some practical and sensible policy

recommendations. last month i released a discussion draft of legislation based on these principles from the western governors association and the policies that they are promoting and recommending to help all of the states of the west. it's an effort to recreate what the western governors association's bipartisan process has done and recreate it right here in the united states senate. now, i received a supportive letter from the group that was signed by its republican chairman and its democrat vice chairman. governor dugard of south dakota, and the governor of hawaii both supporting our initiative. i think it shows that we're on the right path. we also based this discussion draft on input from two hearings i chaired in the committee on environment and public works. we heard from a diverse and a bipartisan group of witnesses. we heard from, as i said, the former democrat governor of wyoming and from the fish and wildlife directors from across the country. most of them said the principles

set forth by the western governors association were a good starting point for modernizing the endangered species act. one important step that we take in this draft legislation is to elevate the role that states actually play in implementing the law. we make them full partners with washington d.c., and it's necessary and the time is right. because when the law was written, states didn't have the conservation capacity that they have today. states over the last 45 years have dramatically expanded their expertise and their abilities to manage species. they have done a remarkable job over the past 45 years. state and local experts are the ones on the ground. they understand the situation and they work with the species on a daily basis. they know the needs of these species, the unique challenges they face, the habitats, the threats to the species. so my draft bill gives states the opportunity to lead wildlife

conservation efforts because they are the most prepared and the most able to do it. states need to be playing a significant role in recovering and in managing these species. now, there are about 11,000 people working for the u.s. fish and wildlife service and the national marine fishery service combined 11,000 individuals. conservation efforts at the state level have more than 50,000 people. so more than four to one of people working at the state level on these critical issues. so there are more than 11,000 wildlife biologists, 10,000 wildlife law enforcement officers at the state level. states are now spending close to $6 billion a year collectively on conservation efforts. it's clear -- the american conservation power is in the states not in washington d.c. where the action is, it's where the money is, where the intelligence is, the training is where the knowledge is. it's where people want to be

working. these state agencies are in the field every day working to protect wildlife. another thing this draft legislation does is to establish recovery teams for the species that are listed on the endangered species list. the goal is to develop and implement specific recovery plans for each species. the idea is to make the law more transparent so specific recovery goals are clear to everyone. it provides more of a regulatory certainty that communities across this country need. we also have to make sure that the species that are most in need get the resources first. again, it isn't some idea that someone came up with behind closed doors in washington d.c. no not at all. this whole effort is based on feedback from the states and from the 19 states and three u.s. territories that are part of the western governors association. wyoming governor matt meade

testified at a recent hearing that my bill is in line with what the states are looking for. he said it represents a reasonable way he said, to start a national dialogue on the subject, just like the western governors did. that's why 130 organizations have already written to express their support for this effort. now there are some groups out there that don't want any change to the law no change at all. they just want to keep adding to the list, letting the list grow, and they don't seem to care if the species ever recover enough to come off the list, which was the goal of the original legislation. i think that approach for all of us mr. president is not good enough. i want to find a bipartisan path to modernize the endangered species act. let's follow the lead of these western governors. let's have that same bipartisan discussion in the united states senate. the endangered species act is an important law and yes it can be improved. we need more examples like we have with the bald eagle.

recovering these species must be the goal. not just putting them on life support and leaving them. let's work together, mr. president, to make the endangered species act work better for species and for people. thank you mr. president. i yield the floor.

are you

senator for florida. mr. nelson: mr. president i ask consent that the quorum be lifted. the presiding officer: the senate is not in a quorum call. the senator is recognized. mr. nelson: thank you mr. president. mr. president, today there is a new report out published in "politico" that says that oil industry lobbyists have been consulting with the trump administration on drilling in the eastern gulf of mexico off of florida. the gulf of mexico off of florida is off limits to drilling pursuant to a law that senator mel martinez and i passed in 2006. this prohibits any drilling up

until the year 2022, and the u.s. department of defense specifically the air force that runs the eastern gulf and testing range has asked for us to extend that moratorium on any oil-related activities until the year 2027, at least. mr. president, the air force is requesting that simply because the gulf training range is the largest testing and tax rate training -- and training range for the united states military in the world. when the eastern training in the atlantic for the united states navy was shut down because the training range at the island had

been shut down, all of the navy training for the atlantic, most of it comes to the gulf training range, not even to speak of the huge u.s. air force bases eglin air force base where all of our american and foreign pilots are training on the f-35 as well as tyndall air force base where a similar training is done for our american pilots on the f-22. in addition, the training range is of such a significant distance and square mileage that it allows some of the most

sophisticated weapons to travel hundreds of miles in the testing of those weapons most of them by air and can either impact in the sea at a potential target or on land on the giant eglin air force base, and as a result, this is an extremely valuable national asset. the training and testing not only takes place in the air over the gulf of mexico but also takes place on the surface as well as, in some cases under water as well. so the united states military has asked us, don't mess with the gulf training range and

yet, as we speak in this report in "politico" today efforts are being made by the oil industry to get the trump administration to allow up to 75 miles off the coastline of florida to be drilled. mr. president, i want to show you what that would do to the heart of the gulf testing and training range. all of this area in yellow is off limits until the year 2022 to any oil-related activities. you see the state of florida pensacola, eglin air force base here at fort walton, tyndall air

force base here at panama city, the rest of the peninsula of florida. this is the florida keys, key west naval air station where a lot of those navy squadrons of f-18's come down and they'll train for a week or two and when they lift off on the runway within a couple of minutes they are over restricted airspace so they don't have to spend a lot of fuel nor time getting to their training area. you see the enormity of this area shaded in yellow. this area from here is 125 miles off the coast but in a line from tampa bay it's 235 miles from a

line off of naples, it's more like 285 or 290 miles. it is a huge area that is preserved for the national security training and testing of some of our most sophisticated weapons. if it is as reported in "politico" today that the trump administration would allow the oil industry to drill up to 75 miles off the coast then you would have a line approximately like that and you see what you've done, you cut the heart

out of the gulf training range for our united states military. now, i can tell you that as long as this senator is here to protect this training range that's not going to occur. but we passed this in 2006 and there have been attempts time after time to continue to try to invade this military space especially everything east of this longitude line which is considered the military mission line everything east of that. i don't think we want to do this mr. president for the sake of our national security. just to give you an idea of how

large and how valuable an asset this restricted space is, if you take the nevada test site, which is a famous test site, especially with all of its super secret stuff and you superimposed it on the gulf training range it would be a minor part of the land or surface area of the earth compared to the size of the gulf training range. and so, mr. president here again we have an example where the trump administration comes out early in the year and they say they are going to drill and offer leases off the entire outer continental shelf of the united states. then in a political stunt the

secretary of the interior zinke comes to florida and says, oh, we're not going to do that off of florida when in fact time after time we have information including this report in "politico" today that says they are. and they are up to 75 miles. we're not going to do that to the united states military, to the united states department of defense. we're not going to take away the heart of their most significant test and training range. and, mr. president if anybody wants to have a fight about it, this senator's ready to fight. instead of proposing this, what we ought to be doing is what the

air force asked and that is to extend this moratorium in any drilling from the year 2022 out to at least 2027. and that's what this senator and i think i can speak for the florida delegation in a bipartisan way wants to accomplish. mr. president i yield the floor. mr. nelson: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from florida.

mr. nelson: mr. president i wish to be recognized. i see that no other senator is seeking time. the presiding officer: the senator is recognized. mr. nelson: thank you, mr. president. mr. president i saw firsthand today in jacksonville how the trump administration tariffs are starting to cut jobs and threaten the very manufacturing of facilities that we are trying to encourage. i had reported to the senate several months ago that i had also visited in jacksonville the budweiser brewery where they produce 3.3 billion aluminum cans a year and that a tariff or tax of 10% added to that imported aluminum pretty soon that adds up to real money.

but today today i went to a manufacturing plant that had actually brought business from china and this is a manufacturing company that puts together manufacturers' garbage cans the kind that have the lid that pops up on the top when you step your foot on the foot pedal, and they are in various sizes. the ones that i saw being manufactured today are about that much in diameter or a larger size about that much in diameter. this manufacturer of which the same company also manufactures in china but it's done with

human labor in china imports the preprepared steel and then because of the american creativity and yankee ingenuity has created and acquired robots in a process assisted by humans -- and i saw is in one case a factory worker that can do the very same task faster than the robot can -- and the process puts together these garbage cans that lo and behold their customer is walmart. walmart will not pay any more for the ones manufactured in america than the ones in china.

and, of course, the ones in china is where they've been getting them because they were cheaper in large part because the cost of labor is cheaper. but this company has decided and created a new manufacturing process where this can be done as cheaply as it's done in china and, therefore has created in this particular plant that i visited today just since it opened up last year 60 jobs and when you add all the ancillary jobs and the suppliers you're talking about 250 jobs affected. now here's the problem. the problem is, a 25% tariff on the imported steel sheets that come from china.

if the manufacturer has to add on 25% to the cost of his garbage can obviously that's not going to be competitive since he's selling that garbage can and can still just make it at the same price that you can import that garbage can from china. this is -- unless that tariff, that tax is turned off by president trump those jobs are going to be lost. that old warehouse facility which has been modernized with all of this state of the art robotic equipment, $is a million worth of equipment -- $15 million worth of equipment, all

of that is going to go away. that's not what we want. that's not what is good for america. we want to keep the manufacturing jobs here. we want to bring manufacturing jobs here. and this particular company thinks that since this has been a successful financial operation and that their big customer is walmart, that they can expand into many other products and do the manufacturing in america instead of in china. but a 25% tariff on imported steel is going to kill it. and that's why it's important that we try to get president trump to recognize that this is doing harm to america instead of doing good. and i saw that directly and very

vividly. i saw employees that were hard at work. i saw a rundown area that has suddenly sprung back to life. i saw an old dilapidateed abandoned warehouse that had suddenly become a new modernized high-tech facility. i don't want that to go away. i want that and all the businesses all over america and especially in my state of florida that are getting so hurt what about the boat manufacturers. we have a big boat building industry. the boat manufacturers import a lot of aluminum. now it's a 10% tax on it. that's the tariff. but because of president

trumpism posing that tear -- trump imposing that tariff, now there's a retaliatory tariff put on by the european union canada and next mow for those products -- and next mow for those -- mexico for those products in this case -- the company is correct craft that build under the label nautique. canada responded with a 10% retaliatory tariff. the european union responded with a 25% retaliatory tariff upon boats exported from the united states to those countries as well as mexico. they can't be competitive if they're selling boats in the

european union and it's a 25% hike in the price. that's not going to be competitive with the other boat manufacturers in other parts of the world. and so the visit to the company that makes these garbage cans for walmart just today in jacksonville is another reminder of just how bad these tariffs are that the president has imposed and how counterproductive it is to the creation of american jobs. mr. president i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the senator for ohio. mr. portman: mr. president, i

ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: the senate is not in a quorum call. the senator is recognized. mr. portman: mr. president, i want to talk today about the opioid epidemic that has gripped my state of ohio and so many other states represented by members of this chamber. this is the number-one killer now in ohio. it surpasses car accidents. it is the number-one cause of death for americans under the age of 50. unfortunately, although some are saying we've turned the corner, we haven't turned the corner in a lot of parts of my state. there are areas of our state where we have more overdose deaths this year than we had last year, a tragic as last year was being a big increase from the year before. i do believe that here in this chamber we have made progress and passing legislation that is beginning to make a difference. i'll talk about that today. but i also believe we have much

more to do. in the last couple of years congress has gotten busy on this issue. in 2016 we passed the comprehensive addiction and recovery act. it was the culmination of four years worth of work of conferences here in washington, bringing some of the best minds from around the country together looking at some of the best practices to say have you actually focused on this issue of the opioid epidemic in a comprehensive way because we know that's what has to be done. it was about evidence-based prevention strategies about evidence-based treatment about longer-term recovery. it actually was the first time congress had ever passed legislation dealing with longer-term recovery, and that's because we heard so much testimony, me back home in ohio and members around the country and experts about the chances for success when you go into treatment particularly for this opioid epidemic, the trances for success increase dramatically enough longer term recovery. think of sober housing

opportunities after somebody gets out of treatment to help get them on the right track. that bipartisan legislation introduced with senator sheldon whitehouse is now working back home. it's now going out to, again programs that are evidence-based proven programs to try to give them a little boost working with local government, state government, nonprofits and others, leveraging some of the federal money so that it ends up making a bigger difference to try to turn the tide on this epidemic. maybe most importantly this legislation, again called the comprehensive addiction and recovery act or cara, maybe the most important thing about cara is it recognized addiction as a disease. it was in some respects the first time we had done that as a congress as well. by recognizing it as a disease it changes the way you view treatment. because it's something that is not a moral failing. it is often caused in fact by an stkeupbt or an -- accident or injury somebody getting a prescription pill that changes

something in their brain. they become addicted. but the point is in order to solve it, in order to address it treatment is the avenue that is going to be more successful. so treating it like a disease, i think, is one of the essential aspects of it. and also pulling away the stigma getting some of the stigma out of the way enables more people to come forward get treatment for their family members to seek treatment for a loved one for doctors and others in the medical profession to treat people in a way that helps get them on the right path to recovery. that legislation passed. in fact, earlier this year in the bipartisan budget agreement there was additional funding put aside for cara, and for other opioid programs, including one i'll talk about that second. and that was very important. that two-year funding bill provided $6 billion over two years, unprecedented. we've never done anything like that around here. are we making progress? yes. are we there yet?

no. the cara legislation in my view was the right first step but there is a second step which is needed which is what we call cara 2.o comprehensive addiction recovery act 2.0 and it picks up some additional provisions. for instance, it talks about the need to deal even more substantially with overprescribing because most people who die in your state or mine from an opioid overdose started with prescription drugs. that was their first opioid. i mentioned people who might have an accident or injury and are given opioids we need to stop that overprescribing in order to get at the core of so much of this problem. probably eight out of ten people in ohio who overdose on fentanyl or heroin started with prescription drugs sometimes obtained legally, sometimes not. it breaks my heart to have a young person come to my office and say i had my wisdom tooth taken out -- this happened to me

fairly frequently -- and this doctor gave me opioids pills for wisdom tooth removal. in the cases recently in my office it's been a young person saying i was too smart to take them. thank goodness. be careful. and to the parents out therened a the kids who are -- to the parents out there and kids who are listening be careful. our legislation includes, by the way, cara 2.0 a three-day limit for acute pain, after a procedure like that, for example. the dentist i know including the new head of the american dental association, who is from cincinnati my hometown, understands the impact of this. a lot of people i talk to say you shouldn't be using opioids at all in that case. when i had my wisdom teeth taken out i wasn't given opioids nor were probably many in my generation. and yet that seems to be normal today. so this is an example in cara 2.0 to go further.

we have the cara legislation out there being funded. that's a good thing. the other legislation is the cures legislation. that funding goes to the states and delivered to various groups around the state usually through the alcohol drug addiction mental health boards, some of you know about those. you've probably been involved with those. that was passed at the end of 2016 passed as part of the 21st century cures legislation, which was broader legislation. but we made sure opioids were included there. and i thank some of my colleagues for working with men 0 that. lamar alexander, the senator from tennessee stands out who knew we needed to get more funding out to these states, particularly states like mine and his. shelley moore capito from west virginia a state that is probably unfortunately number one in terms of opioid deaths. ohio is right behind. another state hit hard. many colleagues of mine fought to ensure that funding was in that legislation. it's making a difference as well. last year my home state of ohio received $26 million in funding.

recently another $26 million is being distributed now. these two laws, cara and cures are helping and encouraging innovative programs across ohio. i've had an opportunity to visit a lot of these programs around the state. i've been to dozens of treatment centers and to roundtable discussions in communities to talk about how this funding can be used most effectually. let me give you a couple of examples. the week before last i was in the columbus area in a town called white hall. i went to the fire station to have a roundtable discussion about this with community leaders and see how their program called safe is working. it's the called the safe station program. and it was made possible with a $400,000 grant through the cara legislation. so this funding has been used to train up firefighters, e.m.s. personnel so they understand how to deal with the opioid issue so when they have an overdose they can help somebody go into treatment. this is really important for a

couple of reasons. this seems very simple but unfortunately there's a big gap right now in most of our communities. and i encourage you to plug into your community to find out if it's happening in yours because it probably is. that is that someone who offenders is now typically -- who overdoses is typically saved by this miracle drug called narcan. we need this, it's necessary but it's not sufficient. so many people overdose, are saved by this miracle drug that reverses the effects of the overdose but then what happens? in the vast majority of cases these people go right back to the old environment. maybe to a dysfunctional family, maybe to a gang, maybe to just the old neighborhood. and if you talk to e.m.s. personnel, firefighters and police officers who are the ones responsible for finding these people and treating them, they will tell you they are not happy about giving someone narcan again and again and again. they want to see that person get

into treatment. it makes no sense for any of us, certainly not for the taxpayer, it also makes no sense for that addict and that addict's family and friends employer, if there is one because that person is not getting the help that he or she needs. how do you close that gap? they're doing it at this firehouse in white hall, ohio. they're doing it in two ways. one, opening up the doors of the firehouse and saying come on in. when i was there actually just by chance, a young man who described himself to me as a heroin addict and he had heroin on his person, he had arrived just before me at this firehouse, just by chance he had come in off the street because he felt like it was a safe place. he wasn't going to get arrested. no one was going to ask him a lot of questions but they were going to get him into treatment. he said he was ready. of course i asked him as i often do with addicts recovering addicts how many times have you been through treatment and what worked and didn't worked.

he had been through three times and it hadn't worked. he said the difference now is he believed he was ready. you have to believe him and get someone in treatment when they are ready. that's why having the doors of the firehouse open are really important. he was nervous but he was being transported right after i had a chance to visit with him and i got to see how the e.m.s. percent -- personnel dealt with him but he was getting transported to the addiction stage center downtown run by merry haven. cara funded the fire station and their program. cures is what made possible of the addiction stabilization center $1.2 million from downtown taking people from all over franklin county and the columbus area and making a tremendous difference in getting people into treatment getting them into recovery. and that's the key closing that gap. it's tragic to me that that gap

is so prevalent and causing such a problem around our state and our country. anyway the other thing they do of course at this fire station is when they have somebody who has overdosed and they provide narcan they bring them through this system and take them to merry haven stabilization center and get them the help they need. and it works remarkably well. not everybody agrees to go but the vast majority do. and that's a huge difference again from what normally happens in our country. it's an example of the kind of comprehensive program that will help close the gaps and catch those falling between the cracks. it's no surprise that the surgeon general of the united states dr. jerome adams said recently when he visited this program in columbus, this is one of the best programs in the country for lowering stigma and enabling recovery. end quote. i appreciate the surgeon general's involvement his willingness to come to ohio to help us and seed how these programs -- see how these programs are working we passed

here in the united states congress. i've seen similar successes made possible through cures funding and cara funding around the state. recently i was in summit county which is in northeast ohio, going from columbus ohio to northeast ohio called the suma barberton hospital. they received a grant from cures and they are using that for a pilate program to employ a full time addiction are coordinator during overnight hours and ensure there is medication assisted treatment available at the emergency room itself. this had not been available previously. what they're finding is somebody comes into the emergency room, typically again that person walks right back out the door after being saved by this miracle drug narcan, also known as nalaxone, and never to be heard from again until there is another overdose. and sometimes by the way according to the nurses, that overdose might happen as soon as the next several hours in the parking lot at the hospital. that's no solution. so what they're doing instead is

bringing people in, sending them to a counselor. i got to me the three women who are the counselor there incredibly empathetic women who are taking these people in, saying no stigma here, no questions asked. how can we help you? wouldn't you like to be back with your kids? or back in a job? or back at a place where you can respect yourself? and they have had remarkable success by saying we can provide you right now right here. in their case suboxone, a treatment program where you wean somebody off a drug like suboxone in order for them to get off their addiction and not go through the horrible pain of withdrawal, at least not as difficult a withdrawal. they have had great success with that program as well. again, closing that gap. i encourage you to look

>> there also collaborating with united way and engaging the business community to help with this issue. that makes me really happy. every time i meet with business groups i try to raise this issue. they talk about the importance of tax reform and regulatory relief and our economy is picking up but you know what? it's incredible the number one problem we have in our economy is what? of workers. every employer. wall, large, medium or all telling me need we need workers. other issues but i think the single biggest issue is this opioid epidemic based on a couple studies, one from the

department of labor . they aren't even applying for jobs and among men it may be at historic levels, about 8 and a half million men are literally not trying to get a job , between 25 and 55, prime working years . and you know what? half of them say 46 percent, based on one survey , 48 percent on another, that's got to be underreported because there is a stigma, a legal issue but half of them say they're taking pain medication on a daily basis. prescription medication in one study so this is a huge issue in the business community. if you want to have more workers out there who are you to go to work, help with this addiction. provide funding for these programs that work ibut dig in in your community.find out what's not working.if you have this gap , between those who are getting into treatment, address that . you might find innovative ways to do it. if you're finding there's another gap between shorter-term treatment, six, seven, eight weeks, so address that and encourage longer-term rorecovery

programs.gr it might be residential programs but that works to get people back on track . find out what's going on . in your local community in terms of prevention. going into the middle schools and talking about what a ruinous mistake this can be for your life . to be careful about prescription drugs but we don't all get involved and we all have a reason, every one of us to ensure people can live out their god-given potential and we won't have done everything we can to reverse this trend . what i'm seeing back home is what we've done here so far is starting to work . i've got to tell you i believe we would already be seeing a reversal and fewer overdoses across the board . if not for one thing.ot and that is the influx in the last few years , particularly on this new drug . it's a synthetic form of opioids.

it's not prescription drugs, it's usually called until . but what it is is something that a person may hear the shocking news . fentanyl is 50 times more powerful than heroin. it's very inexpensive , and it coming not across the mexican border , not in this country, it's coming from overseas and is coming through our united states mail system. let's be clear, this is the new crisis . probably two thirds of the dead in my state is linked to fentantyl. we had a town hall meeting earlier this month and the questions came in and people are making statements and one guy called and wanted to talk about the drug issue and he

was very professional and very specific about what you wanted to talk about and toward the end of his comments and questions , i could hear his voice cracked . and i just knew something was up . sure enough he said by the way , my son died from a overdose a couple weeks ago. he talked about how his son thought he was just taking heroin, not that heroine is not incredibly dangerous in and of itself . sam from shelby county, ohio told me was that his son died of an overdose from fentanyl and now his father was on the call trying to figure out how to get at this. he wanted to talk about the stop act which is legislation we have introduced here in this chamber to try to at least stop some of the flow of this deadly poison into our communities. again, we know where it's being

made, we know where it's coming from. law enforcement is desperate for somber tools to be able to stop some of this poison from coming in. we spent about a year in the permanent subcommittee on investigations studying this issue. that's a subcommittee i chair. we got some undercover folks involved with us to help us from the department of homeland security. we were able to go online and find out how this tragic criminal network works. and we were able to access a couple hundred websites online that were happy to sell fentanyl freely online. by the way we were able to trace the payment systems for people who had bought from these particular websites and therefore be able to track who was actually receiving these shipments, and we were able to find six different instances where somebody had actually gotten fentanyl from one of

these sites and then by looking at the local news determining that person died of an overdose within a few days or a few weeks of receiving that shipment. so we were able to do this just by going online and finding out these people who had bought these drugs from these people, think themselves had -- they themselves had died of overdoses from fentanyl. but think of all the thousands of others who had died who had received drugs through some of these criminal networks. and, frankly what we found as we looked into this deeper and deeper was exactly what you would expect, which is these traffickers are smart. there is a lot of money in this. they know how to send these drugs into our neighborhoods. and they want to do it through the united states postal service. why? because the other carriers, think fedex or d.h.l. or u.p.s. and private carriers, they are required by law passed in the

united states congress, to tell law enforcement what packages are coming in, where they are coming from, what's in it, where it's going through advanced electronic data before the package comes to this country. we required that after 9/11, frankly not because of fentanyl but because of the concern about people having other contraband including explosives and packages so we required all the private carriers to say to law enforcement here's what's coming in. here's where it's from. here's what's in it. here's where it's going. with that information, law enforcement can then find suspicious packages. and i have seen them do it. i have gone to distribution centers in my state and been able to see some of these brave personnel from customs and border protection. they are brave because some of this stuff is really dangerous. by the way when they take a package in to inspect it, they have to put on a protective suit. they have to be in a room that's well ventilated so they don't overdose and die from some of

this fentanyl that's coming in. but by knowing where it's from, where it's going what's in it, and by having access to big data all around the world -- not just the country but the world to know where the hot spots with, where maybe some chinese company that has some evil chemists who are engaged in this, maybe they are trying to ship it to another country. they see it coming from another country, they condition find those packages as well. but they are remarkably successful at finding some of this stuff and getting it offline rather than having it go into our communities. but the postal service was not required to do this after 9/11. instead, the postal service was told you ought to study the issue because it's important and get back to us. we are still waiting for that study. that was over 15 years ago. so when you go online, what we found out is these websites are happy to send it to you through the postal service. in fact, they virtually

guarantee delivery if you use the postal service. if you use one of these other carriers they don't. that's sad. a united states government agency is being used as a conduit to ship poison into our communities that's the number one killer in my home state. so our legislation is very simple. it simply requires the postal service to provide 100% advanced electronic data to our law enforcement so they can do the job they want to do. law enforcement is desperate for these tools. you can imagine they want to stop this poison. by the way the letter carriers i know. you ask your letter carrier they don't want to carry this stuff, and they certainly don't want to have this stuff going in to poison the communities they serve. we have about one-third of the united states senate now as cosponsors of this legislation. will it solve the entire problem? no. we talked earlier about the need for more prevention, education treatment, the longer term recovery but at least, at least let's keep some of this poison from coming in.

at a minimum it's going to raise the price, which is one of our huge problems with fentanyl today. it's not only 50 times more powerful than heroin and people chase that high, but it is very inexpensive relative to other forms of opioid. so my hope is that we will have this legislation on the floor in the next few weeks. we will be able to in a bipartisan way to deal with this issue and tell someone like sam from shelby county who i talked about earlier who called in on the teletown hall, we are doing something so the next ad is not going to have this kind of -- dad is not going to have this kind of tragedy befall his son. another teletown meeting a woman talked about her procedure who had been died of an overdose of fentanyl that had been put in another drug. it's being spread on not just heroin not just cocaine crystal meth, but other drugs as well. that's one of the great challenges law enforcement has today. so mr. president i appreciate

the opportunity today to talk about some of the positive things this congress has done, the cures act the care act. how i have seen it back home making a difference in the lives of the people i represent, but also the need for us to do more. certainly fund those programs, continue to provide the funding at these historic levels because it's necessary because the epidemic absolutely deserves that kind of attention. it's necessary. but second, let's take these other steps. let's stop this overprescribing. let's stop the act to make sure we can deal with this fentanyl crisis. let's ensure we can turn the corner turn the tide, begin to save lives. i think we can if we continue to make progress and continue to focus on these issues that make such a difference to our constituents. i yield back my time.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: as the senate reconvenes to cross more items off our to-do list, we should take pride in all we have already accomplished this summer. this month alone we have already advanced the senate's farm bill to conference and named conferees to finalize this important legislation. we have also passed another set of appropriation measures. the senate has now approved seven of the 12 measures for next year, and we have finalized the john s. mccain national defense authorization act for fiscal year 2019 which president trump signed into law on monday of this week. but the reason we are convening today is that important work remains for the weeks ahead. that includes more progress on appropriations and it includes

confirming more of the president's nominees. last week, chairman grassley announced that judiciary committee hearings for judge brett kavanaugh whom the president has nominated to serve op the supreme court will begin september 4. judge kavanaugh's testimony will only add to the enormous wealth of information about his legal qualifications his professional reputation and his jurisprudence that is already available. already the committee has received nearly 200,000 pages of material that relate to this nomination. by all accounts, this is already the most material ever submitted for any supreme court nomination the most material ever. but, of course, the best indicator of how judge kavanaugh will approach the role of a federal judge is the way he has discharged his duties as a

federal judge in the 12-plus years he served on the d.c. circuit. 12-plus years. more than 300 opinions. i can hardly articulate this point better than my friend, the senior senator from vermont. here's when what he said when the senate was evaluating the nomination of then-judge sonia sotomayor to the supreme court. this is what senator leahy said. we do not have to imagine what kind of judge she will be because she see what kind of judge she has been. another number of other prominent democrats echoed that sentiment, including my friend, the democratic leader. he called republican requests for additional documents related to the sotomayor nomination as a fishing expedition and said republicans were grasping at straws. my friend from new york said everybody knows that then-judge sotomayor's record on the bench

was the best way to evaluate her nomination. so i hope that our democratic colleagues who are demanding even more documents have taken the time to read the 12 years of opinions from judge kavanaugh that they already have and that -- and that, of course, will underscore exemplary service on the second highest court in the nation. because when it was the supreme court nominee of a democratic president, they themselves insisted that judicial opinions were more important than any other papers for evaluating a supreme court nominee. well we have judge kavanaugh's opinions and we have this record-breaking pile of additional materials far far more materials than produced for the sotomayor nomination, by the way. 12 years of opinions, mr. president, and the most

material in history. every senator who's actually willing to give this nominee fair consideration will be more than fully equipped to do just that. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. grassley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i ask the calling of the quorum be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: last week, i announced that the senate judiciary committee will hold a hearing on judge kavanaugh's nomination for the supreme court starting on september 4. the hearing will begin 57 days after the president announced

judge kavanaugh's nomination more than a week longer than the period between announcements and a hearing for the last three justices sotomayor kagan and gorsuch. the senate has already received more documents from judge kavanaugh's time in the executive branch than we did from any previous supreme court nominee. we have so far received more than 184,000 pages of documents of which more than 124,000 are currently publicly available by neighbor in this country going to judiciary committee committee.senate.gov. the team of lawyers who work for the majority have already reviewed more than 100,000 -- more than 10,000 pages of the

307 judicial opinions that judge kavanaugh wrote along with hundreds more opinions that he joined in his 12 years service on the d.c. circuit. the team of lawyers who worked for the majority have already reviewed 110 pages of written answers and over 17,000 pages of materials judge kavanaugh submitted to the committee in response to its bipartisan questionnaire the most robust questionnaire ever submitted to a supreme court nominee. and the team of lawyers who work for the majority has already reviewed every page of the more than 184,000 pages of e-mails and other records that the committee has received so far

from judge kavanaugh's time as a governor -- as a government lawyer in the white house and also serving with judge starr when starr was independent counsel. i expect that we will receive even more documents this very night or at the latest tomorrow and that all remaining documents responsive to our request will produce -- be produced next week. we will work to make every unrestricted record publicly available as quakily as possible. now, as i predicted this confirmation process is the most transparent ever, particularly as it relates to the number of documents that we're receiving. we have already received more

documents from judge kavanaugh's executive branch service than any nominee in history with many more to come. and senators have more time to review judge kavanaugh's record than they did for at least three supreme court nominees. so i'm very confident that the committee and the senate will have ample information and time to carry out our responsibilities under our constitution to advise and consent. but some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are attempting to manipulate the american people. i just described to you the largest document production in the history of a supreme court nomination but guess what the minority leader describes it as, quote, unquote unprecedented

secrecy. this argument is very ridiculous on its face and the american people aren't buying it. i got a lot of questions at my town meetings across iowa over the last week. in 20 different counties iowa, this issue always came up about the supreme court. that shouldn't surprise anybody. but hardly any mentioned -- but hardly any mention of this document which is cooked up, the document at issue which was cooked up by the washington insiders. let's not forget how this document issue started. first, liberal dark money groups and their senate allies announced need opposition to judge kavanaugh. some of them even announced it before the name kavanaugh was

announced by the president. the minority leader said that he would oppose judge kavanaugh with everything he's got. so their first tactic was to argue that the senate shouldn't confirm anyone during a midterm election year. they attempted town voc the biden rule which bars confirmation of supreme court justices during a presidential election year to make this argument. of course, this was a ludicrous position unsupported by precedent widely rejected by objective observers and even fact checkers the minority leader and his allies abandoned that argument. but they didn't abandon their goal which is to stall judge

kavanaugh's confirmation until after the midterm elections and hope that the other party will control the senate. that's why the minority leader refocuses tactics and manufactured a very phony controversial -- controversy regarding judge kavanaugh's white house documents. how do we know it's phony? on the one hand the minority leader has publicly stated he would oppose judge kavanaugh's nomination with everything he's got. now on the other hand, he's insisting that the senate needs millions more pages of documents on top of what we already have in order to make an informed decision. indeed. the senate democrats demanded the search of every page of

every e-mail and every other record from every one of the hundreds of white house staffers who came and went during every one of the eight years of the bush administration just because the name kavanaugh was -- could have been in those e-mails. in other words the senate democrats demanded the search of every scrap of white house paper for the entire bush presidency. as i've stated repeatedly, i'm not going to put the american taxpayers on the hook for senate democrats' fishing expedition. how much more information do the minority leader and his scout side dark money -- his outside

dark money need if they made up their decision to vote no on judge kavanaugh? when they're in that position, they don't care about judge kavanaugh's record because they know what their vote is going to be. how much more do they need to know to vote no? they simply want to bury us in a mountain of paper so there's no chance that we can hold a confirmation vote on judge kavanaugh's nomination any time this year. there is already a mountain of paper for our committee members to go through and their staffs. the democrats want to make it be mount everest. let's not forget that judge kavanaugh has a 12-year judicial track record from his time on the d.c. circuit. during that time, he authored more than 300 opinions and

joined hundreds more. these opinions provide the most relevant information no assessing judge kavanaugh's legal thinking and whether or not he ought to be approved to be on the supreme court. sol i go back to something my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have said. back in 2009, my democratic colleagues were making this very same argument with respect to justice sotomayor. of course they're flip-flopping now. the current minority leader said in 2009 that, quote everybody knows, unquote a judge's record on the bench is, quote the best way to evaluate a nominee. he said that justice sotomayor

quote, i want to turn to your record on the bench which i believe is the very best way to get a sense of what your record will be on the bench in the future. then chairman leahy said, quote and this is a fairly long quote we have judge sotomayor's record from the federal branch. that is a public record that we had even before she was designated by the president. judge sotomayor's mainstream record of judicial restraint and modesty is the best indication of her judicial philosophy. we do not have to imagine what kind of a judge she will be because we see what kind of a judge she has been. end of quote of then chairman leahy. well senator schumer the same

logic applies to judge kavanaugh 's long judicial track record of 12 years. despite this record being more than sufficient to assess how judge kavanaugh's approaches -- kavanaugh approaches legal issue, i requested hundreds of thousands of additional pages from his time as a government lawyer in the interest of full transparency. but even the most transparent confirmation process in history is not enough for those who decided to oppose judge kavanaugh before they even saw his record. the document request for justice kagan's confirmation provides strong support for how the judiciary committee is proceeding now.

then the senate requested justice kagan's white house records but not internal documents from the solicitor general's office. we refrained out of respect for the sensitivity of internal deliberations in the solicitor general's office. we did not even -- we did so even though these documents would have been extremely helpful to our assessment of justice kagan's views on the law, given that she lacked any judicial experience or record. and justice kagan herself testified that senators should look at her time as solicitor general to evaluate her. but we didn't ask for those records. this president -- this precedent supports my decision not to ask

for documents from judge kavanaugh's time as white house staff secretary. if internal solicitor general documents were too sensitive to produce, then, of course, documents from judge kavanaugh's time as staff secretary at the white house certainly are as sensitive as well. the staff secretary serves as an in box and out box for the president of the united states. these documents include some of the most sensitive documents in all of our government implicating our national security and other core duties of the president. these documents are at the heart of what the constitution recognizes as executive privilege. in addition to being the most

sensitive documents, they are the least probative of judge kavanaugh's legal thinking. the primary role of the staff secretary is to make sure that the president sees advice from a range of policy advisors across the entire executive branch and not provide his own policy or legal advice as staff secretary. so to recap judge kavanaugh wrote more than 300 judicial opinions and joined hundreds more in 12 years on the bench. justice kagan by contrast, had written or joined zero judicial opinions before her nomination, despite having less need for judge kavanaugh's executive branch records in light of his

substantial judicial record, the senate has already received more such documents than it did for justice kagan or any other nominee, and we will still receive many more. in fact, for judge kavanaugh, we could receive up to one million pages, which is more than the five prior supreme court nominees combined. democraticdemocratic leaders have also tried to argue that judge kavanaugh's white house records are being cherry-picked by a lawyer by the name of bill burke, who they label as a partisan lawyer. i guess they've forgotten how the senate received documents during the last three supreme court nominees. otherwise they wouldn't have made this silly argument. the senate received documents for justice sotomayor's

confirmation after they were reviewed by lesley keenan. she represented obama campaign manager david plouffe and eventually became white house deputy counsel in the obama administration. as the one-fourth point you had out -- as the "wall street journal" pointed out in an editorial yesterday the senate received documents for justice kagan after they were reviewed by bruce lindsey. now, mr. lindsey overlapped with justice kagan in the white house, which was a democrat white house. he also served as president clinton's national campaign director in 1992, as president clinton's hyper partisan senior lawyer and a real big fixer in the white house and as c.e.o.

of the clinton foundation for ten years including when justice kagan was nominated. now, i would think anybody raising questions about a lawyer by the name of burke ought to be really embarrassed by bringing up that issue when you look at how it was handled in previous nominees to the supreme court by people that were partisan. so how much more partisan can you get than the people i just mentioned handling issues of presidential privilege for those democrat nominees, sotomayor and kagan? well it happens bill burke is president bush's presidential records act representative, like mr. lindsey was for president clinton. mr. birk has held this position

-- mr. burke has held this position not just because of this nomination. no he has held it sings the year 2009. he is a partner it happens at one of the most liberal law firms in america. mr. burke also served as president bush's presidential records act representative during the gorsuch nomination, but i didn't hear any democrats object to mr. burke's involvement in that nomination. and they didn't object to ms. kiernan or mr. lindsey's involvement during sotomayor or kagan's nomination. their objection to mr. burke's role now is another opportunistic attempt to discredit the process and to avoid talking about judge kavanaugh's qualifications. i'd like to correct one

additional misconception before i yield the floor. the national archives are not being cut out of this process as has been claimed by some people. under the presidential records act, president bush has the right to request his own administration's documents. he can choose to make a document public or claim that it is protected under executive privilege. this is precisely what he's doing now. president bush is providing a very valuable public service to the public at what is a very considerable cost but happens to be a nonpublic expense. he is expediting the review process and making sure that the senate has all the documents it needs to conduct a timely and

efficient confirmation process. president bush and his legal team should be thanked not scorned, for providing this tremendous service to the american people, and i want to tell you how much on top of this was -- former president bush was that the day after the nomination of kavanaugh he called me and said, i want to do everything i can cooperate to get all the records you need to make sure you give a fair and thorough hearing to kavanaugh. thanks to these people, we have judge kavanaugh's papers in time to hold a confirmation hearing and to vote this very year, just as the american people expect us to do. democratic leaders have played up this phony document

controversy to deflect attention from judge kavanaugh's extraordinary qualifications and sterling reputation as a judge of 12 years on the second most important court in this land. in his -- in these 12 years on the bench the supreme court has on 13 occasions adopted a legal opinion from judge kavanaugh's opinions. this is an exemplary track record in the supreme court to have your opinions backed up by the supreme court and not once but 13 times. judge kavanaugh is dedicateded to judicial independence. he's not afraid to tell another branch of government when that branch has exceeded its lawful authority. at the same time, he has great

respect for the separation of powers and will interpret the law as its written by the people's representatives of congress instead of trying to be a super-legislator. so i hope all of my colleagues are looking forward as i am, to hearing from judge kavanaugh when we appears before the judiciary committee on september 4. i yield the floor. mr. blunt: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mr. blunt: mr. president i ask unanimous consent that following the disposition of the richardson nomination, the senate proceed to legislative session and the consideration of h.r. 6157. further, that for the purpose of rule 16 in relation to the substitute amendment 3695, the text of h.r. 6157 serve as the

basis for defense and germaneness for division a of the amendment and the text of h.r. 6470, as reported by the house appropriations committee serve as the basis force defense of germaneness for division b of the amendment. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. blunt: mr. president today i want to talk for a few minutes about the principle work that we'll be starting this week and completing, i would hope, next week; certainly completing before we move on to another work. and that would just be to highlight the critical work of the defense appropriations act. the decision just made by the body not allows us to go to that bill and to the labor health, and human services bill this week. on monday the president signed the authorizing bill for fiscal year 2019, the john s. mccain national defense authorization

act. that bill provides important authorizations for a number of the programs. and, by the way mr. president it also in its title recognizes the extraordinary courage and service of our friend and colleague, john mccain. i know senator mccain, on more than one occasion, said chairing that committee is the most important public service he's ever been allowed to do and to have this bill named for him is one that i aappreciate and i know the chair -- the president does too. i want to commend my colleagues for the work they've done, for completing this work, the armed services appropriations bill, the defense authorization bill, rather for the fastest time in 20 years. this bill signed into law by the president, now we get to take the step further and to do the second thing that the congress is responsible for not just to authorize and set sought a

blueprint for how we defend the country but then to provide the funding to do that. many of our colleagues, i've seen over the years are prepared to debate forever about how we need to spend more money on defense until it comes time to vote on the bill that includes more money for defense. this bill 5's does that. and frankly i think it's the most important of our responsibilities. the defense of the country the determination that that is a principle role of the federal government is only ensured when we provide the money to do that. we need to be sure that we provide for those who serve in uniform, those who serve us, what they need to carry out their mission. the bill we'll debate most for the later part of this week and all of next week and as long as it takes to get it done, i believe, does that. i was pleased to vote for this bill as a member of the defense

subcommittee on appropriations, pleased to vote for it as a member of the full appropriations committee and i look forward to voting for it as the debate sended, though i also look forward to the full debate. you know, one of the things we've done this year that has not been done in recent years is bring these appropriations bills to the floor in a way that not just the two dozen or so senators that serve on appropriations get to amend and debate and argue in public about what should be in the bill but doing this in a way that every senator can come to the floor every senator can offer an amendment, every senator can debate that amendment if it's germane to the bill and meets the standards of the bill. everybody that's willing to find somewhere in that bill to come up with the known pay for what they'd rather do rather than what the bill does gets a chance to do that and that is a good process, mr. president.

this defense funding bill provides a $20 billion increase for defense and supports the largest pay increase for those who serve us, those who serve us and defend us in over a decade. this bill prioritizes resources for equipment and training to ensure our troops have every possible advantage on the battlefield. i've said on this floor at this podium before, we never want our troops to be involved in a fair fight. we want them to be involved in a fight where they have every possible advantage over their adversary. the bill has a number of military installations and those installations and people who work at those installations civilian and military, really provide a great part of our nation's defense. whiteman air force base.

fort leonardwood missouri national guard units the abcrad, repair center in springfield, missouri, my hometown; people who work there have a big stake in our country and we have a big stake in them as we do in bases all over the united states. certainly senator shelby, the chairman of the committee and senator durbin, the ranking member of the defense committee have crafted a bill that makes crucial investments really across the board from army end strength increases to important investments in the b-2 and the a-10 and the b-21, the c-130 programs and others that are essential to the infrastructure of the military and the very infrastructure itself, the defense facilities, the army ammunition plants that haven't been changed very much since world war ii, have some update

potential in this bill. this bill is good news for those who serve at missouri military bases. it's good news for those who work as civilians at those bases. and it's also good news for the many missourians that are part of the defense industry. we have people who work at businesses large and small who are contractors and subcontractors of those contractors, facilities i've visited in our state where the initial facility was a converted dairy barn that then had added on as they got better and better and got more subcontracts, those people are all part of this system. this bill includes multiyear procurement authority for the fa-18 super hornets. these are manufactured in st. louis year after year. the navy has been having the super hornets including them at the top of their unfunded requirement list soon hoping the congress would first look at

that list once they decided what else they could do. this is something that senator durbin from illinois, across the river from the boeing facility, and i have worked on on the committee to ensure that that unfunded request was usually met. but what this bill does is because the navy has asked for it as part of their long-term structure, for the first time in some time making multiyear commitments to this plane that's an important part of many flying packages that we have. additionally the bill provides funding, research funding that's badly needed to counter threats from china threats from russia, huge investments on their part, at least some, using some of the things that they have taken from us taken intellectual property that we have designed in our aircraft and other things, and then taking their money to see how far they can get ahead of us basing our technology in

some cases with the foundation for what they're trying to do and then making major efforts to try to get ahead of us in things like hypersonics directed energy artificial intelligence, cyber infiltration in cyber warfare. this bill looks at all of those and says we're not going to let other countries who are adversaries of ours in this fight for freedom around the world, we're not going to let them have the advantage. we are going to continue to do everything we can to maintain the advantage. we have to have technological superiority. it's been one of the great things we've been able to do for those willing to serve. but we have to be sure that our service members have the training, they have the equipment and they have the support they need to carry out their mission. that is my top priority. i think it's the top priority of the federal government. we get a chance in the debate over the next few days to debate that top priority.

there are different ways to do this and there's nothing wrong with people having different opinions particularly if they can get a majority of the senate to agree with that opinion. but i think this is a bill that's going to stand the test of that debate. we'll find a few ways to improve it as we move forward but this is a bill where we demonstrate our gratitude to those who serve. we demonstrate our commitment to the defense of freedom and democracy both in the debate and in the bill. if we don't fund the decisions we made in the defense authorization act we really haven't made those decisions. we talked about what we might like to do rather than what we are determined to do. this is the defense appropriations bill, decides what we're determined to do, willing to do and establish as a priority. i look forward to the entire senate being able to debate that

bill and hopefully send that bill to a conference with the house and to the president's desk. mr. president, with that, i would yield the floor. and without -- i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: i ask unanimous consent to dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: mr. president, a free independent press is vital to our democracy it's vital to communities from kansas to ohio and across this country reporters are not enemies of the people. they do vital work, not just in washington but around the country. i want to continue my more or less weekly honoring of local reporters who are doing their jobs who understand that a free press is crucial to a free

country and a free people. this past week, i have been all over ohio talking about investing in national security jobs in dayton, to meeting with local leaders tackling the opioid epidemic in finley to promoting auto jobs in lima, toledo and cleveland. in every one of these stops i talked with ohio reporters who were doing their jobs, covering important stories in their local communities. local journalists do that kind of reporting in every community in ohio, kansas, and across this country. earlier this month "the circleville herald," a town 25 miles south of columbus, ran a story on the upcoming veterans' benefits day in pickawaw county august 24 reported by local reporter heather barr. the reporter talked with the executive director of the pick away veteran county service office who said veterans don't realize there is someone in

their county to help them. that's why they set up this event, to show veterans all the services available through the local county veteran services office and the chillicothe veterans administration medical center. i would add ohio is one of the lucky counties -- lucky states in the country. not nearly every state does this. every single county has a veterans service office to serve -- whose only function is to serve veterans. through its work, "the circleville herald" and local reporters like ms. barr are informing their community about ways veterans can get assistance with the veterans they have earned everything from help applying for benefits to transportation to the chillicothe v.a. or the dayton v.a. or wherever to v.a. appointments and local community-based outpatient clinics. that's the kind of work that ms. barr does. that's the kind of work that local communities journalists do all over this country. this kind of reporting is what journalists do every day in my state. when i hear the president of the united states call journalists

enemies of the people, i think of heather barr. i think of reporters in cleveland and akron and smaller cities like mansfield and smaller towns yet like van wert. they serve their viewers their readers, their communities. they deserve our respect not the venom of the president of the united states. mr. president, i ask that the remainder of my remarks be placed in a different place in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: over the past week, mr. president, as i have traveled my state visiting communities that rely on the american auto industry, ford and lima jeep in toledo, ford engine plant in cleveland. this monday i will go to youngstown to relies on g.m. and lordstown. i can personally attest to how great these cars are. a number of members of my family including my wife and me for years drove a chevy cruze made

by workers in lordstown. a couple of years ago my wife and i each bought jeep cherokees made by union labor in toledo. i can speak to how great these cars are because in october of 2016 a young man ran a stop siep. i was in the passenger seat. hit the jeep right where i sat. knocked this jeep 35, 40 feet -- knocked it 30, 40 feet off the road. neither i more the gentleman driving, will young were injured -- was injured because of american-made american-made steel, american-made -- the american-made jeep itself made in toledo, and because of the u.s. government with air bags and seat belts and all the kinds of rules they have set for auto safety. we know american cars made by american workers with american steel are the best in the world. too often though, american workers and american suppliers aren't competing on a level playing field.

last fall, in the tax giveaway to corporations, republicans in congress created believe it or not not only closed loopholes that encouraged companies to move overseas, they created a big new incentive to send jobs overseas. they allow companies to pay 10.5% on taxes on their overseas profits while in the united states they pay 23% corporate tax rate. what it says is to a company in mansfield, ohio, or ravenna ohio, or zanesville, ohio, that shuts down and thinks about moving overseas, you have a 21% corporate rate if you're in youngstown, but you move to reynosa, mexico, and you have a 10.5% rate. what we are simply saying, what the republican leadership said when they passed this tax bill was it was like handing out a 50% off coupon to companies sending jobs overseas. why do we do that? we see the consequences of bad

trade policy, bad plants policies to companies in ohio and communities in my state. earlier this summer, on the very same day, general motors laid off the entire second shift more an a -- than a thousand workers. the same day general motors laid off more than a thousand workers in lordstown ohio, a 50-year-old plant there its historic plant we got word the same day that g.m. plans to build its just chevy blazer in mexico. the company -- the company's laying off at an ohio plant. they could have retooled. they got billions of dollars in tax cuts under the republican tax bill. they could have used some of that money to retool in lordstown with a trained work force. instead, they are using that -- they are bypassing american workers, they are setting up the plant in mexico, they are sending more jobs to mexico. announcements like g.m.'s are proof we need to do more to keep auto jobs in the u.s., stop rewarding companies that send jobs overseas. a moment ago i said that it's like giving them a 50% coupon, a

50% off coupon on their tax bills. that's why this month i introduced legislation to help us level the playing field with foreign competition by making it more affordable to buy cars -- american-made cars and trucks and revoking, revoking that special g.o.p. tax cut for auto companies that send jobs overseas. the american cars, the american jobs act has two simple parts. first, customers who buy cars made in the u.s. get $3,500 off. you buy a new car made by american workers with american -- principally american components you get $3,500 off. the discount would apply to some 100 cars, trucks, and s.u.v.'s, including all passenger vehicles assembled in ohio. second companies that cut the number of american jobs they had on the day the g.o.p. tax bill passed it adds those jobs overseas, they lose a tax break they get on some of those overseas profits.

it says when an auto company chooses to send jobs overseas, they lose that 50% off coupon. they pay the full 21%. so again g.m. in lordstown pays 21% corporate tax rate, but thanks to the president and the republican congress, if they move to mexico, they pay a 10.5% corporate tax rate. how morally bankrupt is that and how stupid is that as economic policy? 21% if they are in the u.s., 10.5%, half off if they go to mexico. i heard from ohioans this past week about what our legislation would mean to their plants. mike copeland, president of u.a.w. local 1219 in lima said we need a level playing field to compete with foreign manufacturers. u.s. auto industries made a significant recovery on the backs of hardworking american -- of hardworking people across the country. and i would count in that list of hardworking people certainly the auto workers at the assembly plant, certainly the workers union and nonunion and the supply chain for that plant but

also american taxpayers who helped to bail out the auto industry. we all got our money back as taxpayers from the auto industry but nonetheless they helped in a big way. he goes on to say we're in the fight of our lives. every job every day. the american cars and american jobs act will help us fight for those jobs. jeep worker mario duran in toledo said it's important to my family important to the whole community here we keep selling our american-made product. if we don't have people buying our cars, we lose jobs, unquote. it's not just workers. i heard from mayors and chambers of commerce who back this bill. the mayor of lima, mayor berger said to me -- came to the union hall in lima, joining the president and the chamber of commerce, they spoke out for this bill. jed netsker, the president of the chamber of commerce in lima, told us it would make our companies more competitive with foreign auto workers make it possible for more companies to put their production offshore.

we're penalizing companies if they shut down production and move overseas. the toledo blade editorial board agrees. they called our bill a solid proposal to support the u.s. auto industry. it rewards consumers who support manufacturing in this country and who believe it's patriotic and good public policy. the world was reminded eight years ago to never bet against the american auto industry and the workers who are behind it. we invested in saving this industry. yet we continue to have a trade and tax policy that undermines it. in fact, it's worse. it's worse than it was two years ago because of this break. again, if you're in youngstown, you pay a 21% tax rate. if you move to mexico, you pay a 10.5% tax rate. that 50% off tax coupon given to companies that go overseas just makes no sense. mr. president, let's come together on this legislation to change that. let's level the playing field for american cars and for american workers. i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22, do hereby bring to a close debate on on the -- on the nomination of a. marvin quattlebaum of south carolina to be united states circuit judge for the fourth circuit signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent the mandatory quorum has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that the nomination of a. marvin quattlebaum to be a united states circuit judge for the fourth circuit shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 61, the nays are 28. the motion is agreed to.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mr. blunt: i have one request for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. it has the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask the chair

lay before the senate the house message to accompany s. 717. the presiding officer: the chair lays before the senate the following message from the house. the clerk: resolved from the house the bill from the senate, s. 7 # 7 to enact pro bono legal services to empower survivors of domestic violence do pass with an amendment. mr. mcconnell: i move to concur on the house amendment and ask unanimous consent that the motion be agreed to and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. thursday august 16 following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired the journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day and morning business be closed. further, following are leader remarks the senate proceed to

executive session and resume consideration of the quattlebaum nomination and notwithstanding rule 22 all postcloture time be considered expired at noon. the presiding officer: is there object? without objection, it is so ordered. mr. mcconnell: i ask that the senate stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until 9:30 a.m. tomorrow >> the senate wrapping up today's session to limit debate on the judge of the fourth circuit court of appeals. a confirmation vote is expected tomorrow. later the senate might begin work on an $857 billion spending package that combines two of the largest preparation bills defense, and education.

>> tonight, but to be is in prime time with a look at recent books on the civil rights movement. georgetown university professor discusses his book what truth sounds like. james baldwin and honor unfinished conversation about race in america. jen on her book letting the fires of freedom. african-american women. james swanson is interviewed in his book, the hunt for martin luther king jr.'s assassin. the tv on c-span two. >> judge kavanaugh currently sits on the d.c. circuit court of appeals. judiciary expects the confirmation hearing to last three or four days. watch it live on c-span three or listen live on the free c-span

radio app. >> yesterday the parents of austin tice freelance journalist who has been detained in syria since 2012 spoke at the opening of an exhibit featuring his work. the exhibit titled the children of syria is sponsored by reporters without borders in the national press club. [inaudible conversation] [inaudible conversation] >> good evening. good evening. i am the net director of the national press club. i welcome you tonight