klein. the first was greg cribb. i had an exchange with justice kagan when she was the nominee. i'm not trying to trick you. i don't have anything on greg. he said on may 16 you're largely progressive in the mold of obama himself. do you agree with that? ms. kagan: senator graham, in my political views, i've been a democrat my whole life. i've worked for two democratic presidents and that's what my views are. she was asked, would you tell me what your political views are? my political views are generally progressive, which is true. i really appreciate what she said, because i expect president obama to go to someone like alana kagan who is progressive, shares his general view

the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. o god, our rock and fortress, we trust the unfolding of your loving providence. may our lawmakers find refuge in

the shadow of your citadel. give our senators eyes that are willing to see their own mistakes and to be patient with the faults of others. may our legislators walk with reverence and sensitivity through all the seasons of their lives. lord, give them steadfast hearts as they strive to glorify you in all they think, say, and do. open their minds to think your thoughts and their hearts to do your will. we pray in your merciful name, amen.

the presiding officer: 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: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c., september 5, 2018. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable joni ernst, a senator from the state of iowa, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: orrin g. hatch, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: the

majority leader. mr. mcconnell: over the weekend, senator mccain was laid to rest at annapolis. our dear friend left a towering legacy of service and of sacrifice. but as senator graham reminded us last week, while none of us can hope to fill his shoes, we should all strive to follow in his footsteps. today the great state of arizona has sent us a suck successor who is as well equipped as you can imagine to do just that. our friend and former colleague, senator jon kyl, is one of the most serious, most expert, most effective legislators with whom i've had the pleasure of serving. in his 18 years of senate service, he forcefully defended the interests of arizonans on issues local, and international. he mastered the issue of water resources. he became a go-to point person on nuclear modernization, strategy, missile defense, and arms control. he built a reputation as a

steady and energetic public servant who put his state and his country first. on a point of personal privilege, i am really glad that we'll have jon back with us. he has great judgment, an even keel, he is a team player, a true friend and an inspiring example of what a senator can and should be. it is a good thing, too, because congress has a lot to accomplish in the coming weeks, like finalizing appropriations bills, completing our consideration of judge kavanaugh, and confirming more of the president's qualified nominees. we need all hands on deck for the american people. so i could not be happy dollar this new, not-so-junior senator from arizona will be here to help us through this period. speaking of continuing john mccain's legacy, i am also happy that our colleagues on the

armed services committee have officially chosen senator inhofe to serve as their next chairman. jim inhofe filled in for senator mccain during a difficult year. he rose to the occasion and helped lead the committee in passing crucial legislation that honored the example of his predecessor and the volunteers who defend our nation. he possesses rich experience on the committee, including decades of work on behalf of american service members as well as his own military service. so, congratulations and thanks to senator inhofe. now, on another matter, the senate continues work on a

number of important priorities. this morning i joined a number of our colleagues in the first conference meeting for the farm bill, including the occupant of the chair. others of our colleagues are continuing to confer with the house on appropriations bills, so we can stay on track with respect to funding the government. on the floor this week we'll continue attending to personnel business. we voted yesterday to advance the nomination of elad roisman to serve on the securities and exchange commission. after we confirm him, we'll turn to eight more highly qualified district court nominees. and, of course, the nation turned its attention yesterday to the start of judge brett kavanaugh's confirmation hearings to serve as associate justice of the supreme court. those who turned in heard about a well-respected judge and well-respected professor with flawless judicial temperament and integrity, someone who makes those around him better.

they heard these accounts from a former u.s. secretary of state, a sit sitting u.s. senator and a prominent liberal litigator with extensive experience before the supreme court. and from judge kavanaugh himself. they heard about his guiding principles. among them, interpret the constitution as written, informed by history and tradition and precedent. in sum, the american people saw the impressive, talented, measured jurist they've heard so much about. but, unfortunately, the country also saw disappointing displays of attempted partisan obstruction. so, madam president, the rude, disrespectful, and boorish behavior we saw yesterday in the judiciary committee was a confirmation hearing equivalent of an abolished i.c.e. protest. a confirmation hearing equivalent of an abolished

i.c.e. protest height rear in the senate judiciary committee hearing room. i guess we shouldn't be too surprised. the antics confirm two things that our democratic colleagues have told us before -- their minds are already made up, they already made up their minds about the kavanaugh nomination, and they'll try anything to stop it. democrats interrupted chairman grassley literally scores of times. they treated the nominee rudely, even insulting the patriot i am of this devoted public servant and highly esteemed judge and they offered one stale process complaint after another, completely ignoring the fact that more documentation has been produced for judge kavanaugh's nomination than for the last five supreme court nominations combined. so i guess our democratic friends coordinated plan was to throw a lot of -- a pot of spaghetti -- just throw a pot of spaghetti at the wall and see if anything sticks.

well, nothing stuck. nothing stuck except the complete contrast between a gracious, thoughtful, patient nominee and the hyperventilating by senate who are obviously not interested in giving judge kavanaugh the fair consideration he deserves. half a million pages of documents, 12 years of opinions, testimony of peers and colleagues across the political spectrum -- any member who's actually willing to give judge kavanaugh fair consideration has every tool they'll already need to do so. so i'd implore my friends across the aisle, let's put the partisan theatrics behind us. it's rather embarrassing to see that in the senate -- and continue these hearings with the dignity befitting the serious task before us.

the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, securities and exchange commission, elad l. roisman of maine to be a member. the presiding officer: the question is on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the vice president: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, on this vote, the yeas are 85, the nays are 14. the nomination is confirmed. the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, the

president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. the vice president: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. the chair lays before the senate the certificate of appointment to fill the vacancy created by the passing of john s. mccain iii of arizona. the certificate already the chair is advised, is in the charm suggested by the senate. if there be no objection, the reading of the certificate will be waived and it will be printed in full in the record. if the senator-designate will now present himself to the desk, the medicare will administer the oath of office. -- the chair will administer the oath of office.

please raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that you take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are about to enter, so help you god? mr. kyl: i do. the vice president: congratulations, senator.

mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i have a request for the judiciary committee to meet during today's session -- mr. schumer: madam president, could we have order, please. the presiding officer: will the senate be in order, please. majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i have a request for the judiciary committee to meet during today's session of the senate. i ask unanimous consent that it be agreed to. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. schumer: madam president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: could we have order, please. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. schumer: madam president, reserving the right to object, the republican majority on the judiciary committee is pressing forward with a confirmation hearing on a supreme court nominee whose record has largely been shielded from the senate and the american public. over 90% of judge kavanaugh's record has not been received by the senate and may never be. what has been delivered to the committee was prescreened by a republican lawyer with no

guidelines as to what we were receiving and what we weren't. it is just whatever entered his whim. of that small subset of prescreened documents, less than 10% of judge kavanaugh's full record chairman grassley is prohibiting large segments from being shared with the public without explanation. republicans are trying to jam through, with as little scrutiny as possible, a lifetime appointment to the nation's highest court, with the power to affect the lives of americans for a generation. that's why it's so important for the senate and the public to review the nominee's record because health care, a woman's freedom to make medical decisions, civil rights, voting rights, marriage equality -- all hang in the balance. and the republican majority is the deliberately obstructing the senate's constitutional duty to fairly and thoroughly conduct

our advise and consent powers. so -- the presiding officer: there will be order in the chamber. mr. schumer: as a result, we will not consent to business as usual on the senate floor today. this -- this means the senate will adjourn for the day after my two colleagues finish speaking. so i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: madam president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to legislative session for a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that economy the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 12:00 noon thursday, september 6. further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning business be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed, and that following leader remarks, the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mcconnell: so if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the

previous order, following the remarks of senators manchin and inhofe. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from west virginia. mr. manchin: madam president, today i call for a live unanimous consent on my resolution protecting nearly 800,000 west virginians and millions of americans from losing their health insurance because of their preexisting conditions. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. manchin: this is an immediate danger. it's life and death for over 800,000 west virginians and millions of americans. today oral arguments began in the texas versus united states lawsuit being waged by 20 u.s. attorney generals, including west virginia's attorney general. that will once again allow insurance companies to have total control to be able to deny health insurance to people with preexisting conditions, and now that the department of justice has recklessly refused to defend existing law, people with

cancer, heart disease, asthma, diabetes, or pregnant women are at risk of financial and physical duress. today we have a chance to help right this wrong. my resolution, senate resolution 581, will allow the senate legal counsel to intervene and defend west virginians and americans with preexisting conditions from this inhumane lawsuit. even my republican colleagues have admitted that millions of americans will lose their health insurance -- the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. mr. manchin: will lose their health insurance if the republican attorney generals succeed. that's something when my own colleagues, republican colleagues in the senate, over nine of them introduced a piece of legislation that also acknowledged how destructive this would be. and a press release, my good friend from north carolina, senator tillis, and nine other republicans who introduced the bill wrote that oral arguments in texas versus the united states will begin today on september 5, and if the judge

rules in favor of the plaintiffs, protections for patients with preexisting conditions could be eliminated. what it basically says is the insurance companies will be allowed to determine if you're too sick and too costly for them and they can't make enough profit or see that there is no end in sight, they will just deny you. 400,000 west virginians will be denied. they couldn't even buy insurance if they could afford it. the other 400,000 in west virginia are going to basically have their rates raised or capped. that means they are one illness away, one illness away from financial disaster. senator tillis said this legislation is a commonsense solution. this is a commonsense solution. we want to fix it together, and we're just asking people that basically believe the same as we all have agreed on this both sides of this aisle, let's have our attorneys general to stop this senseless lawsuit, withdraw. that would cure the problem overnight. but without it, we need to intervene and we're asking for

this to happen. so i ask unanimous consent that the committee on rules and administration be discharged from further consideration of senate resolution 581, that the senate proceed to its immediate consideration, that resolution be agreed to, the preamble to be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. inhofe: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: reserving the right to object, right now there is a court case being heard in texas over the constitutionality of obamacare. we all are aware of that. and their decision upholding the constitutionality of obamacare, the supreme court said that under the commerce clause alone, obamacare would be unconstitutional. it was only because of the individual mandate which they saw as a tax that obamacare was upheld. last year, we eliminated the

individual mandate in our tax cut so the stiewcialght needs to be -- the constitutionality needs to be revisited, which is what these states are doing. it was inappropriate for the senate to intervene in this case. further, this resolution instructs all provisions of obamacare to be defended, including the medical device tax, the cadillac tax, the health insurance tax, and other provisions that have proven extremely unpopular on both sides of the aisle. for that reason, madam president, i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. manchin: if i could respond, please. if i could respond to my friend. the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia has the floor. mr. manchin: i thank my friend from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: i have already objected. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. mr. manchin: i ask unanimous consent for one or two minutes to respond. the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia has the floor. mr. inhofe: i'm going to go ahead. i have a few comments to make,

and after that, we will -- mr. manchin: i do. okay. let me just say this. i hear my good friend from oklahoma. i understand where they are coming from. i would only say that if that was the intent, if that was the intent and they keep saying affordable care act, obamacare, trumpcare, no matter what you want to call it, politicizing it, we can fix it. we have a fix. we have had a bipartisan fix laying on the majority leader's desk for over a year now. 12 democrats, 12 republicans working together to fix the things we have talked about. one thing we all agreed on is people with preexisting conditions should not be left in in-- in an inhumane situation where they have nothing to count on, no insurance whatsoever. we have been down that road before. this is a correction. we have had this, basically it is against the law for an insurance company to say listen, you're too sick, you have had high blood pressure, you were born with a heart defect, you had cancer when you were 40 years of age, now you're 70, it

might return. we don't want to go down that road again. that's all we have asked for. even our republican colleagues agree with that, too. if that was the intent to rule this unconstitutional, then that would have been in the tax cut bill. the tax cut bill was the mandate. it had nothing to do with preexisting condition. that's still the law. that is still the law of the land. all we're asking is for them to withdraw their lawsuit. they withdraw the lawsuit, and it's still against the law for any insurance company. if they pass this lawsuit, then it's going to be at the hands and the mercy of insurance companies that can say picking and choosing life and death with so many thousands of people, millions of people, 800,000 west virginians. that's all. i can tell you one thing. health care in west virginia is something that's needed. it's something that we -- that we have a chance now to fix that we haven't. we have opioid addiction. we're able to treat that. mental illness, we're able to treat that. senior citizens, we're able to help them close the doughnut hole. a lot of things we have all

agreed on. the things we want to fix is what they are harping on. basically, that can be taken care of and keep the affordable care act where it should be, in the hands of the people who need it. and right now, we're in jeopardy. so i'm asking for the consideration. i understand the objections and i understand the process here, but basically what we're asking for is a the human decency and basically that concerns -- the concerns of millions of people in america. thank you, madam president. mr. inhofe: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: yes, i understand now i have the floor. i want to make one comments about the statement that was made by my good friend from west virginia. that is the states are looking at it now. some of these areas, preexisting conditions, the senator is correct. there is brought support for this. so for that reason, various states are now looking at it. madam president, i want to share

something since i have the floor and we have had an exciting day with the additional member that we have in jon kyl. i want to mention one thing about senator kyl. senator kyl and i many years ago, we actually were elected to the house of representatives on the same day. we were elected to the senate on the same day. i remember so well many years ago when i was first elected to the house, it happened that my father -- and i lived in iowa at that time -- and jon's father was a member of the -- of congress. and so the first thing he said to me, when you get elected, go over and meet a guy named jon kyl. never did i dream that we would go through all this and we would be meeting again for the third time in another election. so he will be a great adigs. everyone knows that no one can fill the shoes of our good senator john mccain, but certainly there is no one who

comes closer than jon kyl, having served with senator mccain for some 20 years. i had an experience i wanted to share this morning -- or this afternoon now, something that happened in church on sunday. on sunday, i was at a church, and it was called -- it's a little rural church in oklahoma. it's called church on the lake. a guy named mark decard is the pastor there. now, this is not my church. my wife and i -- our church is the first presbyterian church in tulsa. that's the church where she and i were married a number of years ago, where all of our kids were married, all of our kids were baptized. my wife was baptized there over 80 years ago. no one is closer to that church than we are. but occasionally, i will go to other churches, and nobody actually knew i was going to be at this church last sunday. i want to share an experience that i had because a lady came up to me that i didn't know. her name was lois keene.

she said would you give this letter -- this is the letter. would you give this letter to president trump? you know, i don't think there is a member of the senate or the house that doesn't get this request quite often. it sounds kind of easy to do, but it's not easy to do, but after i read the letter, i decided this is something i really want to do. she said would you give this letter to president trump? i said is it okay if i read it, and i read it. it was a letter supporting him, recognizing -- and this is someone from afton, oklahoma, who it's so obvious to her what the press has done unmercifully to this president. i have never seen anything like it. she had never seen anything like it. so she had something that she wanted to give to me defending the president. and i read it and i said, you know, i have to say that these are not the words i would use. if i were defending the

president, i would say -- because you have to get -- to get people's attention when you have an unfriendly media, you have to simplify it so everyone understands it. so i say i normally just talk about three issues. number one, the economy. our economy right now is at a time that we have not seen anything like this in 40 years. now, the two things, the indicators you look at are the economic growth, the economic growth during the last quarter was actually -- actually exceeded 4%. it has been averaging over 3%. now, during the obama years, it was for eight years averaged 1.5%. 1.5% growth, as opposed to at least doubling that and maybe three times that. now, why is this important? it's important because for every 1% increase in economic activity, what that does is bring in new revenue equaling about $2.9 trillion over ten years. now, what does that tell you?

it tells you when we are now going through and rebuilding the military and all these things and the infrastructure, these are things that we need to do. they are going to cost us money. so anyway, that indicator is there. then also the indicator in terms of employment. our unemployment right now is -- has dipped actually below 4%. well, 4%, economists always say 4% is full employment. so we have that. and the economy just couldn't be better than it is, and yet -- and it's undeniable, and yet nobody talks about it, the media doesn't talk about it. the second thing, i would say everyone knows now what happened during the eight years. i don't criticize former president obama. he is one who is -- he is what i call a real honest liberal. he is not a closet liberal. he comes out and says it. he believes that we need to have a more of a socialist society. we lived through that.

someone with that belief is not going to be real strong in terms of building a military. so we have gone through this military thing for about eight years, and now we are defending -- we passed the defense bill which we named after john mccain, and that defense bill is putting us back on the road for a strong national defense. people think erroneously that america has the best of everything, and they don't. you know, right now we got to the point where our -- a lot of our systems weren't -- our triad system, for example, which is the modernization system, both china and russia have one now that's better than ours. our artillery system. you measure artillery, madam president, by the range and by rapid fire, and we are outgunned and out -- by both russia and china in those areas. we know what's happening in terms of -- right now we're at

the point now where we have actually confirmed 26 appellate judges just in the short term that this president has been in. so i would be talking about that, but that's not -- that was not what she said. and so it is true, and her observation is true it doesn't go unnoticed by people when you have the media who is really not treating the president right. by the way, i was a victim of this too back during the mccain discussion, after mccain's life was lost, i several times on the floor, i talked about the fact that way back in 1994 when i ran for the united states senate, the only one -- there were only three senators would come out to oklahoma to help and one was john mccain. he came out twice. we flew all over in my little airplane in the middle of, about 100 degrees, and he campaigned for me. he's been a good friend. yet, by responding to one of the major medias in a way that i made some comment about the fact

that you had two individuals -- senator mccain and president trump -- who just don't have a good relationship. everybody knows that. well, they tried to turn that into something to be negative that they thought they wanted people to believe that i said. in fact, i was in st. louis between flights, it was about 10:00 at night, shortly after that, and someone jumped all over me and was convinced that i had said something negative. it just flat wasn't true. anyway, i'd like to read the letter before i tell you that i'm going to try this pass this on to the president. i read it. as i read the letter, there's a group, it can happen after a sermon takes place and they're all sitting around talking, and every headed nodded with approval of this letter that this lady gave me. here it is right here. that's her handwriting there. the letter says, dear president trump, i'm writing this letter to encourage you. all across america god's people

are praying for you. with all my heart i know god put you in office for such a time as this. he has given america a window of time. at this time there is a spiritual war going on for the soul of america, good versus evil. that is why there is so much opposition against you and the christian people. you have so many, many people praying for you. stand strong, mr. president. i know you are a warrior, or god would not have placed you in office. you will continue to come against opposition because the enemy satan will continue to fight you as he will god's people. the stakes are high. as god's warrior, continue to fight. we're fighting the battle with you on our knees. many battles are won on our knees. thank you for being our leader and our president. our love is with you. yours in christ, lois kean afton, oklahoma.

i just would say to you, mr. president. you are being butchered by the media. everybody knows that. but keep in mind that america is full of lois keans, and they love you. okay. with that i will yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until