will be de-- and the future of this country will be defined bid how we meet this challenge. you can see all of this if you look. the problem is this town won't look. this town is obsessed with partisan theatrics. this town is obsessed with money and influence and status. this town wants to keep its own good times going. the political elite here live in a world where the struggle of working americans is just a human interest story that you read about right along with the gossip page. but it's time for this town to take some responsibility. it is time for the governing class to admit that the policies it has pursued for decades on trade, on immigration, on finance have helped drive working people to this crisis. and it's time to acknowledge that a crisis for working america is a crisis for all of america. it's not enough for wealthy

people in silicon valley to do well. and by the way, those people don't need any more advocates in this city. they've got lots of them already. it is working people who need advocates here. and is working families who need a voice. you know, working folks don't ask for much. they work hard. they love their families. they love god. they love the place where they live. and they want the opportunity to build a home there and a way of life that is pos rouse and -- prosperous and is secure and is meaningful and that they can pass on to their children. mr. president, that is not too much to ask. in the america of the 21st century, that is not too much to expect. it is not too much to stand for and to fight for because it is the working people of this country that built this nation, and they're the ones who keep it going now. and they are the ones where this country's strength is found. and it is the working people of

this country, their future and their families that are going to define the future of our country. and i would just say in is what we should be debating. this challenge is what we should be confronting. this crisis is what we should be looking to and addressin addresg because this is what is going to define our time. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. jones: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i have to admit i haven't had a lot of sleep the

last few nights and i don't think anyone has. if anyone has rested well the last few nights, it's because they're either not paying attention or they're here for the wrong reason. we're in some troubled times. the events of the past two weeks have been nothing short of stunning. they have been stunning in the speed in which they have unfolded. they have been stunning in the disturbing and the allegations that have been made regarding the conduct of the president of the united states. allegations that go to the heart of national security, allegations that go to the heart of whether or not the president is upholding his oath to the constitution of the united states or abusing the power of

the presidency. we have to remember in this body, though, we have to remind our colleagues, we have to remind the media, we have to remind the public that we are just now beginning this process. the facts have not come out. we are just now beginning to see facts and determine what happened over the course of this past summer. what happened, what was said, who said it? we have to determine the allegations whether or not they have merit based on facts that come out, not just reports in the media or even the allegations in a complaint. allegations in a complaint are simply that. they're allegations made but they have to be proven but already -- and the reason i rise

today is that already we are seeing this becoming political. people are going to their political corners. the partisan tribalism is taking over already. and that is unfortunate. it is a sad commentary when a process that is so rooted, so rooted in the constitution of the united states, something so fundamental to our democracy is almost immediately cast in political terms. my colleague and friend, senator sasse from nebraska, used the term partisan tribalism in today's world that is insts certain. no matter what you read, it doesn't matter because you are going to take a side. when we take sides, the american public immediately takes side

and no one listens to the facts. we are called as senators, we are called as members of the house, we are called as members of this body to a much higher duty than that, a much higher duty. our duty is to carefully analyze and review the facts, facts, not mere allegations, facts, not reports or leaks. facts, not what some political talking head on the television says their opinion might be. our duty is so much higher than that. we have seen already what appears to be very disturbing facts. we have seen a summary of a telephone call between the president of the united states and the president of ukraine. ukraine is a country dependent on countries like the united states, the balance of power between the united states and ukraine is not balanced at all.

we have so much more power and in that call, that summary of that call, the president of the united states noted that to the president of ukraine. he said essentially you are dependent on us. no one else helps you. you can count on the united states of america. by the way, i need a favor. i need a favor. i need you to do me a personal political favor. and in that conversation he talked about not only having his personal lawyer but also utilizing the attorney general of the united states to help benefit that politically. those are initially the facts and they are very disturbing. and for anyone to say that they are not is shirking their responsibility to their constituents, toe the public, -- to the public, to the constitution, to the very oath we took when he came into this body. but again it is but one piece of

a puzzle. we've now also seen the contents of the so-called whistle-blower complaint. whistle-blower is a term of art. whistle-blowers are just simply somebody that's come forward but if their -- but they're given the name whistle-blower because they are given legal protections. what these people are that come forward with this are concerned citizens of the united states. and a concerned citizen of the united states saw something happening that disturbed him so much that he felt compelled to bring it to someone's attention. documented fairly well but again these facts have not come out. they're just statements in an allegation in a complaint that have to be determined. i have been asked over and over by the media in the last two days do you support the house doing this, do you support impeachment. do you support this or that the? my comment is always the same. i want to know the facts.

it doesn't matter to me what the house of representatives and their prerogative call their processes. i want to know the facts of the american people deserve to know the facts. this body deserves to know the facts whether or not anything comes over from the house o houf representatives. we deserve to know whether the president is abusing his office. we deserve to know whether he's placing our national security at risk. because remember, ukraine is under threat from russia every day. every day. they are looking over their shoulder. and that puts us as risk as well. so we have got to make sure that we are deliberative, that we move forward with a process that is deliberate, that we owe it to the american people to be deliberate, to be somber, to be making sure that we know the facts before we make our judgments. it doesn't matter what side of the aisle you're on. this is not a republican process. this is not a democratic process. and for god's sake, it's not a

socialist agenda. that's about the dumbest thing i've heard people say over the last two days. good lord. we're talking about a process that's rooted in the constitution of the united states. rooted in the constitution of the united states for a purpose. part of that checks and balances that seems to be going out the window these days in our society and in our government and here in washington, d.c. this is an american agenda. to make sure that we know the facts, that we understand those facts so that people around here that are watching this today know and can be secure in the fact that their congress is doing their job, that the president is doing his job, that the courts are doing their job. this is not, this is not the time to circle the wagons around the president but likewise it is not the time to make a judgment

already that this president should be removed from office or even articles of impeachment voted on by the house. that is not the time to do that. we're beginning a process that we have to take our time on. i say that knowing that when we say take our time, we just need to be deliberate, but we need to move. this is not something that needs to drag through. this is not something that the american public needs to be drug through over the course of too long a period of time. this can be determined. if you look at cha whistle-blower complaint -- at that whistle-blower complaint that was filed, this is something that should easily be something that can be done in a relatively short period of time. in we can get that done, cooperate with us, do your duty and let us do ours. that is all that we ask.

that's all that anybody should ever ask of anyone in this body or anyone in the house of representatives. let us do our job. as we move forward, as we move forward, we're about to go on -- we're about to leave this place for a couple of weeks. the house is leaving although they may still do a little bit of work. we'll be leaving for two weeks. we'll be going home to our states. we'll be talking to the media, to our constituents. i guarantee you when i go back to alabama, a lot of people will already have made up their mind, when i go to a town hall, they will have made up their mind. they'll be making up their mind based on the media. you know what? my friends in the media, you need to pay attention, too. don't ask me whether or not this is going to affect my election in 2020. don't affect me if it's going to affect joe biden or donald trump. don't ask me if it's going to affect the presidential race. ask me what is going to happen to the constitution?

what is going to happen to the rule of law? let's talk about the seriousness and not the politics of it, for goodness sake. but every time i turn around when i walk out these doors the first thing they're going to ask me is how do you think this is going to affect your race. this is not my job. that is not my oath. that is not my duty. if we take -- if everything we do in this body we put our fingers to the political winds, we may as well not be here. that is -- we should not be able to live with ourselves. unfortunately i think so many people do that. and i him hoping in this day, in this time, in these troubled waters we're about to embark on, that people will see that higher calling, that they will once again return to that time and that place when the senate is a deliberative body and not a knee-jerk reaction to a particular program or nomination or whatever that comes before it. we will return to the days of

yesteryear where we actually deliberate and we talk and we talk among ourselves and we have a civil discussion about the important issues that we are faced with. i remember those days. i was here. i was sitting back there as a senate staffer watching those great debates, watching people change their mind on the floor of the senate because of the debate that someone gave and someone persuaded them. we don't have those anymore. look around right now. we're all gone. wi've got staff here. but we don't have those debates anymore. we don't have that dlib -- we don't have deliberations anymore. we don't have to now. we're -- we're going to have to now. we're going to have to because the public depends on it. the fate of this country will depend on it. we are so divided in this country right now. we are living in what arthur brooks has called that culture of contempt where we don't necessarily just disagree with

each other. we hold each other in contempt if you disagree with each other. and we've got to change that, folks. we've got to get back. we've got to change that. we've got to make sure that people understand their roles, their duties. we've got to make sure that for this country to progress, for this country to survive, we've got to work together. we've got to be one america. we captain be so divided, because that's exactly what our enemies have been trying to do to us for centuries, for two centuries or more. they want us divided. they came close during the civil war. they are going to come close now if we are not careful. if we don't stop folks on both sides of the aisle from continuing to pull us into our corners and start pulling people back to where we can have these discussions, we are in trouble. i hope that all my colleagues -- i hope that my colleagues, as we go forward, as we go into this recess, will remember their

oath. i hope that people remember what they said when they stood right over there and the vice president of the united states asked them to raise their right hand and they say, i do solemnly swear that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic. support the constitution of the united states. we didn't take oaths to support the president of the united states. we didn't take an oath to support the republican party. we didn't take an oath to support the democratic party. we took an oath to defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic. an important part that our framers put in those oaths -- foreign and domestic. we said that we take this

obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. we cannot evade. we took on oath not to evade while we were here. we have no purpose -- that is not what we go. and that we will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office of which we accepted. our duties to discharge that office are to be fair, to be impartial, to be deliberative, not political. our duties to this office are to our constituents, to do the very best that we can in making sure that we analyze whatever is in front of us because history will judge us. they will determine whether or not we acted with courage and conviction or whether we just simply tested the political winds, as some people are already doing.

mr. president, i often in my talks around the country -- and some even here -- i like to quote one of my favorite characters from literature, atticus finch. he gave an impassioned closing argument to a jury that he knew was likely not to give him the verdict that he sought. he gave out the case -- he laid hewitt case in defense of tom robeson, a black man accused of raping a white woman. he gave that defense and he went through the facts and everybody that's ever read the book, everybody that's ever watched the movie knows that tom robinson was innocent. but atticus finch knew that the likelihood of that jury finding that man innocent was slim and none. and the end of this closing argument, he talked about the solemn duty, the solemn

obligation that jurors have to the system. he talked about the justice system and the courts and jurors being the great levelers of society, where the pauper or the rich man are the same in the eyes of the law. he talked about the duty that they had to fairly, impartially judge the facts. and just before he sat down, knowing -- knowing -- you could see it, you could feel it -- if you read the book, you could feel that atticus knew what was going to happen. he sat down -- just before he dat sat down and he looked that jury in the eye. he said, gentlemen, for god's sakes, in the name of god, do your duty. ladies and gentlemen and colleagues, in the name of god, we got to do our duty. we have to do our duty. we have to make sure that we

fulfill our oaths, that we are not concerned about how many votes it might get us or how many votes it might lose. we have to fulfill that solemn obligation. whether we know the outcome or not it whether we get pressure from a side or not, whether or not there are millions of dollars spent in tv and radio telling us to vote a certain way, in the name of god, we should do our duty and nothing less. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

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

quorum call:

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following nominations -- executive calendar 446, 447, 448, and 449. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report the nominations en bloc. the clerk: nominations, department of justice, w. steven muldrow of puerto rico to be united states attorney for the district of puerto rico. michael d. baughman of pennsylvania to be united states marshal for the western district of pennsylvania.

fer nondough l.g. sablan of guam to be united states marshal for the district of guam and concurrently united states marshal for the district of the mariana islands. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the senate vote on the nominations en bloc with no intervening action or debate, that if confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc, that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action, that no further motions be in order, and that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. the question is on the nominations en bloc. all in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nominations are confirmed en bloc. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to consideration of the following nomination -- executive calendar 423. the presiding officer: without objection.

the clerk: department of defense, brian mccarthy of illinois to be secretary of the army. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the senate vote on the nomination with no intervening action or debate, that if confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc, that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action, no further motions be in order, and any statements related to the nomination be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. the question is on the nomination. all in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nomination is confirmed. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following nominations -- executive calendar 398, 442, 443, 444, 445, and 455, and all nominations on the secretary's desk in the foreign service. the presiding officer: without

objection. the clerk will report the nominations en bloc. the clerk: department of state, william j. marks of florida to be manufacture of the united states of america to the republic of south africa. john leslie carwile of maryland to be ambassador of the united states of america to the republic of latvia. aaron elizabeth mckie of california to be ambassador of the united states of america to the independent state of papua new guinea and so forth. anthony f. godfrey of virginia to be ambassador of the united states of america to the republic of serbia. herro mustafa of california to be ambassador of the united states of america to the republic of bulgaria. adam seth boehler of louisiana to be chief executive officer of the united states international development finance corporation.

mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate vote on the nominations en bloc with no intervening action or debate, that if confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc, the president be immediately notified of the senate's action, that no further motions be in order, and any statements related to the nominations be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. the question is on the nominations en bloc. all in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nominations are confirmed en bloc. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of calendar 424 through 440 and all nominations on the secretary's desk in the air force, army, marine corps and navy, the nominations be confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, that no further motions be in order, that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the record, the president be

immediately notified of the senate's action, and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the committee on the judiciary be discharged from further consideration of s. res. 252 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 252, designating september, 2019, as national democracy month as a time to reflect on the contributions of the system of government of the united states to a more free and stable world. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged. the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i further ask the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening

action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate now proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following senate resolutions which were submitted earlier today -- s. res. 346, 347, 348, and 349. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the resolutions en bloc. mr. mcconnell: i know of no further debate on the resolutions. the presiding officer: if there is no further debate, the question is on the resolutions en bloc. all in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the resolutions are agreed to en bloc. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the preambles be agreed to and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table all en bloc. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate now proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following senate resolutions

which were submitted earlier today. s. res. 350, 351, 352, 353, 354 and 355. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the resolutions en bloc. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles where applicable be agreed to and motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 180, s. 737. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 180, s. 737, a bill to direct the national science foundation to support stem education research focused on early childhood. the presiding officer: without objection the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i further ask the rosen-capito substitute be agreed to and the bill as amended be read a third time.

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i know of no further debate. the presiding officer: if there is no further debate the question is on the bill as amended. all in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill as amended is passed. mr. mcconnell: i further ask the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i understand the bill at the desk, i ask for its first reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the first time. the clerk: s. 2593, united states code to provide for automatic continuing resolutions. mr. mcconnell: i ask for a second reading and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule 14 i object to my own request. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bill will receive its next reading on

the second legislative day. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the majority leader be authorized to sign duly enrolled bills or joint resolutions on september 26 and 27. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the upcoming adjournment of the senate the president of the senate, the president pro tempore and the majority and minority leaders be authorized to make appointments to commissions, committees, boards, conferences or interparliamentary conferences authorized by law by concurrent action of the two houses or by order of the senate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn to then convene for pro forma sessions only with no business being conducted on the following dates and times and that following each pro forma session the senate adjourn until the next pro forma session. friday, september 27 at

11:40 a.m. tuesday, october 1 at 12:00 p.m. friday, october 4 at 4:30 p.m. tuesday, october 8 at 12:00 p.m. friday, october 11 at 2:15. i further ask that when the senate adjourns on friday, october 11, it next convene at 3:00 p.m., tuesday, october 15 and that following the prayer and pledge the morning hour 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, morning business be closed and the senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the barrett nomination. finally, notwithstanding the provisions of rule 22, the cloture motion files during today's session ripen at 5:30, tuesday, october 15. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until

11:00 a.m. -- 11:40 a.m. tomorrow.