mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of lee philip rudofsky of arkansas to be u.s. district judge for the eastern district of arkansas shall be brought to a close. the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of lee philip rudofsky of arkansas to be united states district judge for the eastern district of arkansas, signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: have all senators voted? does any senator wish to change their vote? on this vote, the yeas are 51, the nays are 41. the motion is agreed to. 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 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of jennifer philpott wilson of pennsylvania to be united states district judge for the middle district of pennsylvania, signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of jennifer philpott wilson of pennsylvania to be united states district judge for the middle district of pennsylvania 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: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, the yeas are 89, the nays are 3. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary. jennifer philpott wilson of pennsylvania to be united states district judge for the middle district of pennsylvania.

mr. cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i thought it would be appropriate to come to the floor to celebrate the second anniversary of the tax cuts and jobs act. for years i heard from texans who thought the tax code was simply too complex, too burdensome, and that the federal government simply took too much of the fruits of their labor. they were absolutely correct. our tax code hadn't been reformed in more than three decades, and republicans and democratic presidents have long pointed out how america was at a competitive disadvantage relative to other countries because of our tax code. and then, of course, there is the drag of high tax rates on our domestic economy, especially following the great recession during the obama administration, which made jump-starting the

economy a top priority last congress. and the good news is, we delivered. the tax cuts appeared jobs act lowered the individual tax rates across the board for every bracket. it increased the standard deduction. it doubled the child tax credit and made tax rates for businesses more competitive. our goal was to make our tax code work for the american people, not the other way around. now, i know there are a lot of naysayers who said is wouldn't work. some of them are still saying that. but i think the results speak for themselves. first we saw waves of positive headlines announcing that companies big and small were using their tax savings to pay -- to make pay increases, pay raises, pay bonuses, 401(k) match increases and other benefits to their employees.

i made a point of asking my constituents in texas about their experience under the new tax code, and here's some of what i heard. tehas office products in houston were able to hire more workers in southeast texas and expand their business as a result of their tax savings from the tax cuts and jobs act. then there was american bank in corpus christi. they projected that they could lend an additional $120 million over the next five years in the coastal bend, which was absolutely critical, especially following the natural disaster known as hurricane harvey. and then there's happy state bank, my favorite name for a bank -- happy state bank a amorila. it upped their starting minimum wage and increased the

dollars-for-dollar retirement plan match. all of which is good news. it didn't take long for the good news in these anecdotal cases to translate into a much-improved economy across the board, which helps everybody. we've seen rapid and consistent job growth, with more than 4.3 million new jobs since tax reform became law. 4.3 million new jobs. in september, the national unemployment rate fell to a 50-year low, and texas unemployment remains below the national average at only 3.4%. the thing i hear the most from employers, job creators in texas is they can't find enough qualified workers to fill the good jobs that exist. we have one of the tiest labor markets in decades. wages are going up as a result of the competition for workers. the poverty rate has hit its

lowest level since the turn of the century, and american families are seeing more of their hard-earned dollars in each paycheck. despite evidence to the contrary, we're still hearing from some of the same old critics who say that tax reform was a flop. the atlantic, for example, publish add story last week with the title "g.o.p. tax cuts didn't work." well, the author claims that tax reform didn't live up to the hype, that because our economy didn't grow as much as some of the estimates believed it would, that consecutive positive growth is absolutely worthless. well, that doesn't make any sense at all. not to mention the fact that the economic growth has outpaced even the forecast of the congressional budget office prior to tax reform. this author also mentioned that the institute for supply management, or i.s.m.,

manufacturing index dipped in september. but the i.s.m. manufacturing index is a survey of purchasing managers who may be swayed by sentiment as much as actual activity. and we've seen this index at a similar level before, and the economy continued to grow. in addition, the critic in this article points to declining exports as a factor in this, despite the fact that our trade deficit fell 4.7% in september. and the critics still refuse to admit the connection between increased consumer spending and americans bringing home more in each paycheck. in other words, they're trying to cherry-pick the evidence and ignore any evidence that the economy has actually benefited and the american people have benefited from the tax cuts and jobs act. in fact, the critics who i think are more concerned about a political agenda than they are the economy or the welfare of

the working american family continue to try to paint a picture of doom and gloom of our nation's economy to further that political agenda. it was not that lock ago when some were even highlighting that tax refunds were reduced because of tax reforms. it's a bogus measurement of tax retiree lef. the data show the average check was not that different than the previous year. wouldn't you want your tax refund to be lower because you were simply paying less withholding each month? that's an interest-free loan to the federal government. well, while we seem to have moved onioned that argument, we're -- moved onioned that argument, we're now on to the next one. our democratic colleagues point out some companies are using their savings for stock buy backs and trying to portray this is a corporate blood thirst.

by repurchasing their own shares, companies are reinvesting in themselves and their shareholders. many times these are teachers or police officers or other first responders. interfering with stock buy backs as some of our friends across the aisle recommended, would not only hurt the economy but would do serious damage to the pension and retirement accounts of many working texans and other americans. the message of these partisan critics is the government can spend your money better and more wisely than you can. but washington can't even manage its own books and uses smoke and mirrors accounting maneuvers that would make even bernie madoff blush. but that's only the start of the concerning proposals we've heard from folks on the left. our colleague from massachusetts, for example, said if she wins the presidency, she'll soak the american taxpayer even more in

an attempt to fund her completely unworkable health care proposal. the differences are pretty stark in the approach. pro-growth, job creating, economy creating policies or big government, even socialist policies, those seem to be the two most obvious choices. i know what camp i'm in and i know what camp that texans are in on this topic. this constant effort to belittle the progress we've made because of tax reform reminds me of when nancy pelosi compared the savings of the american people under tax reform to crumbs. she called them crumbs. one texan named mark told me that his take-home pay increased by $302 a month. that may be crumbs to nancy pelosi, but mark said it will cover his cable, his internet, and his auto insurance bills. he doesn't consider that crumbs.

another constituent named gilbert told me he and his wife are both retired and living on a pension. when they saw a decrease in their federal tax deductions, that allowed them to bring home an additional $400 a month. they said at first they thought it was a mistake until they learned it was true and good news. $400 a month more. a retired air force colonel from brownsville named david told me the benefits sure felt like a lot more than just crumbs to him. but i have no doubt here in the hyperpoliticized environment of washington, d.c. that pundits and folks on the left will continue to try to criticize tax reform and belittle the progress that we made, that those texans who are reaping the benefits of this law every day are proof positive that they're wrong and that the law is working as we intended. despite what you may hear from folks on the left, this is an

incredible time for our economy. we made taxes simpler, fairer, and lower for hardworking american families, and we're continuing to remove the regulatory burdens that will help unleash the power of the free market. for more than 150 years we've been the world's largest economy, and because of pro-growth policies like tax reform, that will only continue to get better. mr. president, i yield the floor, and i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

brufl sprouts test quorum call:

quorum call:

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. ms. ernst: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: no, we are not.

ms. ernst: mr. president, having worn our nation's great colors in operation iraqi freedom, veterans hold a special place in my heart. some of my favorite moments in iowa are centered on honoring our veterans and their families with the medals and the recognition that they have earned. oftentimes, these humble heroes don't want to step forward and receive the honor they are due. glenn mcdole is a great example of this. glenn served in world war ii and faced some very, very dark days, being only one of the 11 out of a total of 150 that survived the pallowan massacre. glenn was captured in 1941, and he came home to iowa in 1945.

and it wasn't until the early 1980's that he started speaking about his military experience. when he returned home from war, he didn't skip a beat in his service. glenn quickly joined the iowa state patrol and then the polk county sheriff's office. glenn lived a very full life of service, yet his heroic actions in uniform would go unnoticed for so many years. i'm so grateful that his family got in touch with my office, and we were able to track down the more than 13 medals that he should have received for his service. presenting the medals to his family earlier this year in my office in des moines was truly a

beautiful moment. the medals presented to glenn's family and the number of other veterans -- and a number of other veterans and families across iowa who have received these well-deserved recognitions represent duty, honor, and sacrifice. it's the heroic stories of these very veterans like glenn that truly inspire me to keep fighting for our veterans day in and day out. and as someone who commanded men and women overseas during operation iraqi freedom and then served as the battalion commander of the largest battalion in the iowa army national guard, i have a deep connection and appreciation for our veterans. just this past weekend, as i was wrapping up my 99-county tour in iowa, i was able to spend some

time with more of those iowa veterans at my veterans resource fair. we were sharing stories about those hard times. we were laughing about the good times. but we talked about concerns they have with the v.a. and making sure they are getting the quality of care that they have earned. and we talked about the work we've done in the senate to improve their well-being. in just the past few years under the trump administration, we have been able to expand access to services through legislation like the v.a. mission act, a bipartisan bill that i proudly helped get signed into law. this important bill included a number of my priorities like allowing qualified v.a. health providers to practice telemedicine across state lines.

and veterans to receive their care through that telemedicine, including vital mental health care treatment and doing it from the comfort of their own home. president trump just signed another one of my bills into law, the haven act that protects the economic security and well-being of veterans and their families who rely on disability benefits and may be experiencing financial hardship. i've also continued to press the v.a. to take a hard look at their hiring practices and make sure the people treating and providing care to our veterans have a record of quality care, specifically by introducing the bipartisan ensuring quality care for our veterans act. the