[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> the senate gavelling back in today working on judicial and executive nominations. today they will have a confirmation vote on barbara lagoa to be the u.s. appeals court judge for the 11th

circuit. lawmakers will also vote to limit debate on adrian zuckerman to be u.s. ambassador to romania. both votes are expected to happen at 11:30 a.m. eastern. you're watching live coverage of the senate on c-span2. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will open the senate with prayer. the chaplain: let us pray.

listen to our prayers, almighty god. let not our nation be ashamed. you are our mighty rock and fortress. lead and guide us, enabling us to honor your name. protect our lawmakers from the hidden traps that can derail freedom. remind them that the truth aloe will make us free. show yourself strong, even to those who strive to save themselves. manifest your might to all. may our senators trust you, sek your wisdom, and obey your precepts.

we pray in your mighty name. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. mr. grassley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i ask permission to speak in morning business for one minute. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: in recent years, the opioid epidemic has resulted

in steadily climbing numbers of kids entering foster care. however, in 2018, the number of children in foster care declined for the first time since 2011. this is evidence that prevention programs are working. it is important this renewed focus on prevention continues as states -- all 50 states -- work to implement the family first prevention services act. when child welfare agencies have more tools, which they will have through this new legislation, to help families before children must be removed, outcomes are better for communities, better for parents, and, more importantly, better for the children we're trying to protect.

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

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. leader, we are in a quorum call. mr. mcconnell: i suggest the absence -- i ask unanimous consent that further proceedings your honor the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: yesterday the united states senate spoke up forcefully and clearly for the brave people of hong kong. we unanimously passed the hong kong human rights and democracy act. as the author of the original united states-hong kong policy act back in 1992 and somebody who has advocated for hong kongers for decades, i was proud to speak out on this back in the summer when the protests began. i was also proud to secure important policy steps for hong kong in the state and foreign

ops subcommittee back in september. i'm also proud that senators approved these further steps to update the original law to preserve hopping congress' autonomy -- to preserve hong kong's autonomy and to provide for tools for holding beijing accountable. i want to thank the senior senator from florida, all the other members who led on this issue, and all of our colleagues for securing unanimous passage. with this bill -- while this bill moves forward, its also important for the executive branch and our allies and partners around the world to fulfill their roles as well. even before this new bill becomes law, congress has already given the administration significant powers to act, including authorities to directly sanction individuals who violate human rights, and i urge every trading nation around the world to look clearly at

hong kong and imagine the costs as china continues to entrench its surveillance state and export it all around the world. the senate continues to do our part. everyone else must do theirs as well. the united states and the world must stand with hong kong. now, mr. president, on another matter, earlier in week, i got to attend the kentucky electric cooperatives annual meeting much the group represents 26 co-ops across kentucky, particularly in rural communities. we talked about the positive trends for what you might call middle america over the past several years. the nation's economic turnaround in smalltowns, small cities, farm country, rural america, and other places the obama economy largely left behind. we also talked about the work still ahead.

one of the major priorities that kentuckians mentioned is the usmca. i've heard it from our farmers, manufacturers, logistics providers, bourbon distillers, almost every sector of our economy that would benefit from this trade deal. together, canada and mexico make up a $500 billion export market for the united states. this major update to our trading framework with our nation would send that number even higher, generate more wealth here at mothers and create an estimated -- here at home, and create an estimated 176,000 new jobs. it is no wonder why so many people want washington to get it done. i hear from everybody, from family farming operations to mid-sized manufacturers to fortune 500 firms that employ thousands and thousands in my state. all of them want this fairer,

better playing field and trade with canada and mexico. in a little more than a week from now, it will be a full year since president trump signed the draft agreement along with the leaders of canada and mexico. one full year. but for months now this generational agreement has been sitting on ice over in the house of representatives. speaker pelosi has refused to allow a vote. in public, house democrats insist and insist and insist that they care about more things than simply impeaching the president. they insist that they want to work together and legislate. but actions speaker louder than words. and apparently thus far house democrats have preferred to block 176,000 new jobs for american workers rather than put

impeachment aside and get along with the white house for five minutes. it appears there's no governing priority, no matter how bipartisan, no matter how beneficial to american families, that will not fake a back seat to -- take a back seat to impeachment. month after month, every time she's been asked about this subject, the speaker of the house has offered the same empty rhetoric. she's always close, always close to allowing a vote. her conference is always almost there, almost there. but we've been almost there for months and months with no outcome in sight. lots of talk. zero results. back in february, the speaker was asked about the usmca, quote, she said, i'm optimistic.

that was last february. we heard the same thing in may and in june. we want to pass this bill. that was back in may and june. we heard the same thing through the summer. and in september. and in october. every day, we'll be coming closer, she said. a few weeks ago, the speaker said i think we are close. i think we're close. the last mile, she said. and call it the easiest trade deal we've ever done. two days ago, the speaker insisted yet again a vote was imminent. that was a few days ago. this has been the house democrats' wild goose chase. this is what our american families, american job creators

and our partners in mexico and canada have had to put up with. every time the trump administration meets the speaker halfway, she tries to move the goalpost another ten yards. she is literally -- she literally has not even updated her own talking points since valentine's day. textbook obstruction. just in case anybody did not yet understand that the real roadblock here is partisan politics, i understand that the speaker hosted richard trumka, the head of the afl-cio, a power player in left-wing big labor. he came to the capitol to try to quell the uprising of democrats' own members who can't believe this thing still hasn't passed. how ironic. we're talking about a trade deal

that would create more american jobs, and democrats are considering outsourcing their judgment to big labor special interests, who, to my recollection, have not supported a single major trade deal in living memory. so let's get this straight. it sounds like the head of the afl-cio, an organization that's never supported any trade agreement, is now the guy who gives the go-ahead on usmca? we're talking about a trade deal, and democrats are considering outsourcing their own jobs to the head of the afl-cio? really? i wish i were making this up.

reporters got a hold of the chairman of the house ways and means committee yesterday, and he literally says the deal would move forward, quote, if we can get richard trumka to agree. so the head of the afl-cio, an organization that's never supported a trade agreement, is now the guy who has to greenlight the usmca, which would create 176,000 american jobs. no wonder they have got a problem in the house. the chairman of the ways and means literally says this major trade agreement will only move forward if this major democratic contributor gives them permission. well, it appears that even some house democrats are getting fed up with the absurdity.

here's what one of them said yesterday. trumka still says we're at the five-yard line, so it feels like we have been at the five-yard line for a while. no kidding. this is the biggest opportunity house democrats have had in the entirety of their first year in power to do something significant and substantive for american families. to actually pass something new and real that can become law and strengthen our nation. in other words, the usmca is house democrats' final exam for their whole first year in power. and unless something turns around very quickly, after nearly a year of happy talk and empty promises, their leadership seems determined to flunk that

exam. all impeachment, all the time, and even the most obvious win for american workers and small businesses gets blocked. that will be democrats' progress report if usmca goes nowhere. well, obviously, i hope that's not how the story ends. mexico has passed it. canada is waiting on us. i believe a bipartisan majority in the senate are ready to pass it. our workers, our job creators, and our neighbors are just waiting, just waiting on speaker pelosi. this is no time to kill a national victory out of political spite. this is no time to outsource your judgment to special

interests. the speaker should allow a vote and the house should send us the usmca. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will prod to -- proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, barbara lagoa of florida to be united states circuit judge for the 11th circuit. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, the house of representatives passed a continuing resolution yesterday to fund the government through december 20. with government funding set to expire tomorrow, it is up to the senate to pass a continuing resolution without much fuss and send it to the president's desk before the deadline. as the republican leader and i worked to set the time for that vote, we must look ahead. the continuing resolution will give appropriators additional time to get a bipartisan appropriations process back on track before the end of the year. the senate has been able to process several noncontroversial appropriations bills, bipartisan, but several more can't move forward until democrats and republicans both all agree on the allocations. can't do it with one party. that leads to trouble. in recent days we have made some

progress, and i hope the talks between both sets of appropriators, house and senate, democrat and republican, will continue in good faith and in earnest after we finish the continuing resolution. at the same time there are some very important issues democrats were trying to address in the continuing resolution that senate republicans refused to address. most notably, republicans objected to restoring expiring funding for the minority-serving institutions, including historically black colleges and universities, tribal colleges and universities, and hispanic-serving institutions, asian american and native american pacific islander serving institutions and predominantly black institutions. these are ladders up. such a high percentage of people of color, people in minority groups use these colleges to create a great life for themselves. they work hard, they study,

and there's no alternative for them other than these institutions. to hold the money back, which is what the other side is doing, that is so wrong. that is so unfair. democrats will not stop fighting the fight to help these institutions and we're committed to securing this funding any way we can. these are american dream institutions. if you believe in the american dream, you shouldn't be holding this money back. now on syria. yesterday the defense intelligence agency -- that's like the c.i.a. but for the defense department, very well respected, they're great in many ways. they released a new assessment that confirms many of our worst fears. people haven't seen this assessment, it's really important. i would urge people to look at it. what did the assessment say? that president trump -- this is his own defense department saying this -- that president

trump by precipitously withdrawing our troops from northern syria has given isis a lifeline. in the chaos that followed erdogan's military offensive, an offensive unfortunately that president trump green lit much to the consternation of people on both sides of the aisle, isis has had room to rebuild. not only did the assessment suggest that the islamic state is, quote, postured to withstand, unquote the recent death of its leader, abu bakr al-baghdadi, but the assessment concluded the islamic state reask youd resources within syria and, their words, strengthened its ability to plan attacks abroad. president trump, by giving in to erdogan has, quote, strengthened isis's ability to

plan attacks abroad. every american should hear that. let me repeat. because president trump abruptly withdrew u.s. troops from northern syria, isis has been able to strengthen its ability to plan attacks abroad. that's not an assessment from some outside group or agency. that's the assessment of the defense intelligence agency, part of the pentagon. the trump administration needs to get a handle on this situation fast. but despite this new damning assessment, we still have no idea what the president plans to do to ensure the enduring defeat of isis. president trump has welcomed president erdogan to the white house but hasn't produced a plan to defeat isis. this is an administration run amok. this is security. this is vital to america. no plan about isis and greeting erdogan, a dictator whose

desire to go after isis isn't close to ours. he'd much rather go after the kurds, our main protector from isis other than the united states itself. now meanwhile, there are now reports that russian forces have taken control of a former u.s. military base in northern syria. pictures of russia entering that deserted base because american soldiers were told they had to leave by the president, it's not a picture americans want to see. it's incredible. the president continues to demonstrate an uncanny ability to get steamrolled by auto crats like erdogan, like putin, without getting a thing in return. it's nearly been two months since the president announced the withdrawal of u.s. troops and we still don't know what comes next. we all know a small band of terrorists far away are more than capable of inflicting great

damages on our shores and the intelligence assessments have now confirmed that isis has been able to strengthen its ability to do just that. president trump, what is your plan to defeat isis and protect the united states? on ndaa, the defense authorization bill, the annual defense bill which passed this chamber months ago has been stalled in the process of reconciling the senate version with the house version. one of the snags it now appears is the republican's leaders unwillingness to include a package of sanctions directive at any foreign nation that should try to interfere in our elections. that's right, one of the reasons the national defense bill has not been sent to the president's desk is because majority leader mcconnell and his republican colleagues do not want to include a strong deterrent to interfering in american elections. earlier this month all leading u.s. national security officials, attorney general

barr, secretary of defense espy, the acting defense secretary, f.b.i. director wray and u.s. cyber commander general nakasone released a statement that said the following. all of them, quote, our adversaries want to undermine our democratic institutions, influence public sentiment and affect government policies. russia, china, iran and other foreign malicious actors all will seek to interfere in the voting process and influence voter perceptions. that's not my words. that's the leaders of this administration, including the secretaries of defense, state, and the head of the n.s.a. we know that putin interfered in 2016 elections. we know he's trying to do it again. that's clear. we need to send an unmistakable message to president putin and other foreign actors -- china, iran -- that we will not tolerate any interference in our

elections. but unfortunately, leader mcconnell seems to have missed that memo. how he could ignore a statement by the leaders of the administration he supports is beyond me. the republican leader has repeatedly down played the threat to our democracy from foreign actors like president putin. he's repeatedly blocked commonsense bipartisan legislation to protect our elections and is now blocking the inclusion of tough mandatory sanctions on russia or any other foreign country that seeks to interfere in our elections. i hope for the sake of the defense bill, for the sake of our elections, the republican leader will relent and allow a package of tough sanctions to be included. unfortunately, election security is not the only issue holding up the defense bill. the republican leader is blocking many other important provisions. democrats want to extend family leave benefits to all federal employees. the majority leader and republicans are blocking that.

this is a new world. family leave is necessary to everyone. here we have a chance to do it for federal workers. our republican friends are saying no. democrats want to clean up our communities and military installations that have been poisoned by pfas and other contaminants, but the majority leader and our friends, the republicans here in the senate, are blocking that. and democrats want to send a signal to the trump administration that it does not have a blank check to wage a war, that only congress can approve major military operations. the majority leader mcconnell and republicans are blocking that as well. so there are a host of important issues that are holding up the final passage of the national defense bill, and these are just a few of them. i would strongly urge my republican friends, and especially the republican leader, leader mcconnell, to work with us to address these provisions because democrats want to see that this bill gets done and gets done in a way that

safeguards our elections, our troops, our communities, and advances america's interests around the globe. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. durbin: mr. president if. the presiding officer: the democratic whip. mr. durbin: are we in quorum call?

the presiding officer: i ask consent that it be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, there are various options available for graduates of high schools across the united states. some of them choose to go to college or university. but even making that choice gives you a lot of options. there are basically two categories of schools, though, that i want to address in this statement this morning. one category is called for-profit colleges and universities and the other is the traditional not-for-profit college and university. that would include your community colleges and public universities and many not-for-profit private universities. but i want to focus this morning on the for-profit colleges and universities in the united states. people sometimes can't make the distinction which is which. some of the big names in the for-profit industry -- university of phoenix. there's one you've probably heard of. devry university out of chicago is one another you might -- is another one you might have

heard of. they of course are in business to make money. and they have a different economic model than many of the other universities. i've met the c.e.o.'s of for-profit colleges and universities and found that in some cases they have limited or no experience when this comes to education -- when it comes to education. they're investors, they're business people. the idea of education is a secondary part of why they were chosen. there's an important statistic -- in fact, two statistics that i want to preface my remarks with. and these will be on the final, i might add, for those who are following this statement. the numbers nine and 33. nine and 33. why are they important? nine percent of high school graduates go to for-profit universities. but 33% of all the student loan defaults are for students of for-profit universities.

nine percent of the students, 33% of loan defaults. what's happening here? unfortunately, many of these students who are signing up for the for-profit schools that they think are legitimate colleges and universities, frankly, dramatically overcharge them. every analysis we've gone through says that it far exceeds what students are likely to pay. so they have a big tuition bill to start with, and they have poor results. what kind of results? students graduating believing that they are being trained or educated to do a certain profession and then they find out that they can't do the job. or they don't qualify for the job or they get so deeply in debt on the way to graduating, they give up and quit -- the worst of all possible outcomes. so that's the practice if he is on these -- so that's the preface on these for-profit

colleges and universities. i've come to the floor many times over the years to talk about this industry because we treat it in the eyes of the public like higher education across the board. and yet it is much, much different. it is for-profit as opposed to not-for-profit. and frankly the results of that education leave a lot to be desired. it's been more than five years since the for-profit giant corinthian college collapsed. their economic model didn't work. for years corinthian had lied, inflating its job placement rates and engaging in high-pressure tactics to lure students into enrolling, often leaving them with massive student loan debt and a diploma that didn't work to find a job. but corinthian was not unique. as i've said many times, it turned out to be the can can can the coal mine. since then, we've seen the collapse of several other major

predatory for-profit colleges and universities. they include i.t.t. tech, westwood, education corporation of america, and dream center. and nearly every major for-profit college company has been the subject of extensive investigations and lawsuits for unfair and deceptive practices similar to corinthian college. check with the attorney general of your home state about that for-profit college and university and almost without fail you'll find that they're under investigation for misleading and deceiving the students who go to school at their universities. i've long said that we shouldn't let the students -- leave the students holding the bag for the misdeeds of these institutions because, you see, we're complicitous. the federal government is part of the problem. how do these schools reach the point where you can take out a federal student loan? we accredit them, we recognize their accreditation, we tell the

world and the families and the students, these are legitimate schools. and depending on that, these students sign up for a better experience, often misled, deceived, overcharged, and ultimately a third of them in default of their student loans because they can't pay them back. there's a provision in the higher education act known as the borrower defense. it gives the students the right to have their federal student loans discharged by the secretary of education if they've been defrauded, if these students have been defrauded or subject to deception by these schools. after corinthian's collapse, this little-known, rarely used provision in the law became a hot topic. all of a sudden, here were large numbers of students to had been defrauded and deceived by corinthian colleges, went deeply in debt, and now the college goes out of business, turns out most of the hours can't be transferred anywhere.

it's worthless. they were defrauded, start to finish. and now they're left holding the student loan bag. thousands of corinthian students and other borrowers, mostly from for-profit colleges, began applying for this borrower defense discharge from the u.s. department of education. it was in the law. it led the obama administration to undertake a new rule making to update the borrower defense regulation. -- which dated back to 1994 to create a standard process for dealing with the inundation and to attempt to prevent future collapses. soon after taking office, secretary betsy devos and the trump administration delayed implementation of the obama rule. despite the department's own inspector general saying that implementing the rule would, and i quote, avoid costs to students and taxpayers that result from school closures. secretary devos said, i'm not going to be peter that. they took her -- be party to

that. they took her to court. her decision to delay this new rule was found illegally a federal judge, after which a new rule went into effect, and it remains in effect today. secretary devos also announced she would begin a new rule making to replace it. in late august, secretary devos released her borrower defense rule, the new rule, which she wants to put in place. it actually guts the borrower and taxpayer protections in the borrower defense rule and makes it nearly impossible for students holding this student loan debt who have been defrauded to get relief. how does she make it so hard? it's estimated the rule will provide $11 billion less in relief to defrauded borrowers, students, than the current rule. among other things, the new betsy devos rule increases the burden on these defrauded students to gather and submit almost impossible amounts of

evidence to somehow prove their claim. student borrowers will have to provide evidence that the school intentionally harmed them. now, how are they supposed to do that? the devos rule, the new one, requires borrowers to apply individually rather than receiving automatic discharges when they are part of a group of student borrowers that's been harmed by similar practices, by places like corinthian. in other words, you're on your own. get your own lawyer. lawyer up. get some evidence together. come see us. maybe we'll be convinced. student borrowers who have been cheated are not exactly the wealthiest group in america. they're often facing incredible financial difficulties and deep emotional strain with a mountain of debt and nothing to show for it because of these for-profit schools. and now secretary devos wants them to be investigators and lawyers and get their own relief one by one. the devos rule also eliminates

the current prohibition on class action reinstructions and mandatory arbitration clauses and enroll many. what does that mean? under the current rule, which secretary devos wants to replace, you could gather the other students from corinthian colleges and work on this together, share whatever expenses there might be involved in proving your claim, and you couldn't be forced into an arbitration where you're likely to lose. you could have your day in court, under the rule which secretary devos wants to replace. these are practices that were used by corinthian and i.t.t. tech and others that required students to sign away their rights to sue the school as an individual, as part of a class, or as part of a class as a condition of enrollment. the devos rule prevents students from holding schools directly responsibility. it gives students no other option than to seek relief from taxpayers through borrower

defense. but as i just mentioned, it makes that process almost impossible. and if anyone doubts the devastating effect this rule will have on the defrauded students' ability to get relief, just look what secretary devos has done to date. since taking office, secretary devos has had the authority to discharge hundreds of millions of dollars of student loan debt held by hundreds of thousands of defrauded student borrowers. instead she's allowed a backlog of more than 200,000 -- 200,000 -- borrower defense claims from vitter lit every state in the nation -- virtually every state in the nation, student borrower defense claims coming from all 50 states to build at the department. she's sitting on t she's playing slowball. she's not approved a single claim in more than one year. i want to show you what's behind this. in the few cases where secretary

devos has been legally required by the courts to provide discharges, she's done so with extreme pleasure -- i'm sorry, extreme displeasure. quite different. think about that. using her authority to help defrauded borrowers get a fresh start brings her extreme dishe shall mr. . how do i know -- how do i know that? she wrote t -- it. she puts down a commentings with with extreme displeasure." discharging a student loan from an institution for -- a for-profit institution that defrauded this borrower. she's displeased to be forced to do such a thing. she defied a federal court order, was held in contempt for continuing to collect for these students who've been defrauded by corinthian. this is not a secretary who rewrote the borrower defense rule to help student borrowers. in september i introduced a

resolution that overturned the devos rule. i plan to bring the resolution to a vote on the senate floor where it will only need a simple majority to pass under expedited procedures of the congressional review act. at that time, my colleagues will have a choice. will we stand with secretary devos or with the defrauded student borrowers in your state? what do the american people think about this? well, they were asked. there is no doubt where they stand. in a 2016 new american poll, the question was asked whether americans agree that students should have their federal student loan debt canceled if their college deceived them. exactly what the foreign defense rule is all about. 71% of republicans said yes. 87% of democrats on average, 78% of americans understand it's fundamentally unfair to penalize

these students having been defrauded by a school that this united states government said was in business, doing business honestly and professionally. when you break the numbers down, it's clear. the overwhelming majority of people in this country stand by the students, but not secretary devos. i'll stand with the defrauded students and the american people over secretary devos and my colleagues in the senate will get a chance to vote on it. i hope my colleagues will join me. i yield the floor. mr. thune: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. thune: mr. president, yesterday we confirmed robert luck, a florida supreme court justice to be a u.s. circuit judge for the 11th circuit

court of appeals. with justice luck's confirmation, the senate has now confirmed 47 appellate court judges during this administration and 163 article 3 judges overall. that's more appellate court judges than have been confirmed at this point in any of the previous five presidential administrations. it's a particularly outstanding number when you consider the fact that democrats have made confirming these judges as difficult as they possibly can. from day one of this administration, democrats were determined to obstruct anything this president did in his nominations in particular. again and again and again, they've attempted to block nominees for no other reason than the fact that they were nominated by this president. democrats have subjected roughly 75% of the administration's judicial nominees to the time-consuming cloture process. compare that to the treatment of president obama's nominees.

at this point in president obama's administration, roughly 3% of his judicial nominees have been subjected -- subjected to cloture votes. just 3%, mr. president, 3% versus 75% for president trump. and the difference in these numbers is not because this president has nominated scores of supposedly extreme nominees who democrats felt they couldn't support. in fact, democrats have repeatedly turned around and voted for the very same judges that they obstructed. in one particularly egregious example in january of 2018, democrats forced the senate to spend more than a week considering four district court judges, even though not one single democrat voted against their confirmation. these judges could have been confirmed in a matter of minutes by voice vote. the democrats forced the senate to spend more than a week on

their consideration, time that could have been spent on genuine ly controversial nominees or on some of the many important issues facing our country. mr. president, despite democrats' obstruction, we have continued to move forward, and as i said yesterday, we confirmed our 163rd judge to the federal bench. today we will confirm our 164th. we're putting judges on the bench with a real respect for the law and for the constitution and a commitment to applying the law as it is written. now, those sound like basic requirements for a judge, mr. president, but too often, it seems like my democrat colleagues are interested not in judges who will uphold the law but in judges who will act like super legislators. rewriting the law and the constitution when they don't fit what the democrats -- with the democrats' political opinions. now, that's a very dangerous thing. when judges rule based not on what the law actually says but

on what they think the law should be, they undermine a fundamental principle of our system of government. our system is based on a belief in the rule of law. in the american system, the law is supposed to be the final and impartial arbiter. cases are to be decided based on what the law says, not on what a particular judge feels. sure, it might seem nice when an activist judge goes outside the meaning of the law and rules for your preferred outcome, but what happens, mr. president, when that same judge reaches beyond the law to your detriment? what protection do you have if the law is no longer the highest authority? equal treatment under the law, equal justice under the law, these principles can only be maintained as long as judges actually rule based on the law and not on their personal feelings or political opinions. now, mr. president, my democrat colleagues have shown a disturbing tendency to believe that their opinions are the only

ones that should prevail. they disapprove of the outcome of the last election. and so for three years, they have done everything they can to undermine a duly elected president. they're upset by the fact that the president got to replace a perceived swing vote on the supreme court in a solution floated by more than one member of their party was to pack the supreme court. for anyone who needs a refresher on an idea that most thought had been consigned to the dust bin of history decades ago, the theory of court packing is as follows. if the supreme court is not deciding cases to your liking, add more justices to the court until you start getting the decisions that you want. listen to democrats question judicial nominees, and it soon becomes apparent that their biggest concern is not finding judges who will uphold the law and the constitution but judges who will hold democrats' political opinions and preferred policy outcomes.

it's a disturbing trend, mr. president. it's natural to want your party to prevail and to believe that your ideas are the best ones for the country. it's another thing entirely to start acting like your opinions are the only ones that should ever prevail, regardless of election outcomes or the wishes of the american people. mr. president, i am proud that we are putting judges on the bench who will rule according to the -- to the law and to the constitution, not their personal opinions, their political beliefs, or the political party of the individuals before their court. i'm proud that we are putting judges on the bench who will help ensure that the rule of law is maintained and that everyone in their courtroom receives the equal protection of the law. and, mr. president, i look forward to confirming more excellent judges in the near future. mr. president, i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. daines: mr. president, montanans are growing restless. as speaker pelosi and house democrats continue to slow-walk a very important trade agreement for montana and for our country. that's the united states-mexico-canada agreement. in fact, just last week, i was in billings to celebrate the montana farm bureau federation's 100-year anniversary. and again, another big congratulations on 100 years to the montana farm bureau. as i was talking with folks at the farm bureau event, there were a lot of cowboy boots, hats. these are the farmers and ranchers of montana. it's the salt of the earth folks. they're all asking the same question -- why is this taking so long? what's going on? and frankly, there's one answer -- speaker nancy pelosi

and house democrats are playing political games and holding up this trade deal. they are holding this trade deal hostage. it's been a year since the usmca was signed by president trump and leaders of canada and mexico. a year. nancy pelosi has had this signed trade agreement in her hands for about a year, and rather than deliver this win for our farmers and ranchers in montana and across the united states, she's focused on one thing, and that's impeachment. because at the end of the day, this is about our farmers and ranchers. it's time we get the job done. because in montana, agriculture is the number one driver of our economy, and it is a large part of our montana way of life. this trade agreement is expected to create over 180,000 new american jobs and to boost our g.d.p. by over $70 billion.

canada and mexico both are in high demand for our products like wheat, barley, beef. in fact, in 2018 alone, montana had $731 million in total exports to canada and to mexico. for our producers and our ag-related industries in montana, passing this trade agreement would help provide certainty and alleviate the challenges and obstacles they faced over a very tough season. mexico is ready. canada is ready. the united states is ready. i can tell you montana is ready. unfortunately, nancy pelosi is not. while the democrats continue to obsess over impeaching our president, they continue to ignore the voices of our rural communities. in this unnecessary reality tv

show is nothing but a waste of time and stalling important work like the usmca. montanans are sick and tired of the politics and the partisan games being played here in washington, d.c. frankly, i am, too. i'm grateful for the leadership of my good friend and colleague, congressman greg gianforte, who is standing up to house democrats and fighting boldly for the usmca. realize, montana has one member in the u.s. congress, and he's fighting a good fight over there. we're both fighting to ensure the voices of montana farmers and montana ranchers are heard loud and clear in both chambers of congress. and the longer the house democrats stall on this deal, the further we stall opportunity and economic growth in montana and across our nation. to speaker pelosi, to my colleagues in the house, enough

is enough. let's deliver the usmca for the american people, for montana farmers and ranchers. thank you, and i yield back. mr. blunt: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mr. blunt: first of all, let me say i totally agree with my friend from montana, the importance of after a year of deliberation -- maybe deliberation is too strong a word. more than a year since all three countries agreed on an agreement, that we still haven't got a chance to vote on this agreement on the senate floor, and we have to wait for the house to do that. i want to do everything i can to encourage the house to move forward with this.

i think better trade policy can turp a good -- turn a good economy into a great economy, and we need to be working on that great economy. but, mr. president, i'm here today to talk about another topic. i want to talk for a few minutes about the importance of november as national adoption month and to recognize the celebration of national adoption day which will take place on saturday, novembe. i'm pleased to work with my colleague and senate cochair of the congressional coalition for adoption, senator klobuchar, again to introduce this resolution supporting national adoption month and national adoption day. this is the fifth year that senator klobuchar and i have worked together on this resolution, and it will be the fifth year, i hope, where our colleagues unanimously support it and do that this week. the congressional coalition on adoption is the largest

bipartisan, bicameral caucus in all of congress, and there's a good reason for that. in the senate and the house where agreement is really often too harvard to find -- hard to find, the idea that every child deserves to grow up in a safe, stable homing with a loving -- home with a loving family is something that not only should everyone be able to agree with, but in the congress, we have been able to agree with that in a broad-based sort of way. right now, mr. president, there are more than 437,000 children in the foster care system in our country. more than 125,000 of those are children who are ready and waiting for families who want to get this adoption completed. that the average length of time it takes a child from foster care to adoption once the adoption decision has been made by the adopting family is 19 months. i was in a meeting just last

week with the -- with the administrator of this program and the administration who is doing everything i believe they can for the first time in a while to do what they can to reduce this wait. i'd also like to see the state department, frankly, become more vigorous in encouraging foreign adoptions for those kids all over the world who are in need of families. i don't disagree with the idea that if someone in ethiopia wants to adopt an ethiopian child or someone in guatamala wants to adopt a guatamalan child, someone in russia wants to adopt a russian child, all fine. but if they don't have adoptive families in the country they were born in, let's open the door in a more effective way for american families who want to be part of that. there is some good news. for the fourth year in a row the number of children who were

adopting increased. and for the second year in a row the number of children who entered foster families decreased. dwront say that in a way that -- i don't want to say that in a way that takes anything away from people who are willing to be foster families, to give that security, that emotional embrace to kids who don't have that at home. foster families serve a great purpose, but even foster families often become adoptive families, and they do that because they know that that's a situation that becomes permanent. knowing that you've got a family forever makes a difference. in my home state, in missouri, there are almost 13,000 kids in the foster system right now. i want to share a few stories about that. gabe, who is a tenth grader in missouri, is a big fan of

reading and big fan of watching movies. he hopes to join the military when he's older. natali is 14. natali loves to read. she loves to draw. she loves to write. she loves to be outside. if she had a super power, she says she'd choose invisibility. but this second grader really would like a permanent home. she wants to be a veterinarian someday. she's doing well in school. but the thing she really needs is a home she can always go back to. reagan and haley are stiforts who -- sisters who hope to have pets in their home. reagan is a sixth grader who likes to laugh and draw and learn. haley is a fifth grader who likes to play soccer and spend time with her soccer teammates. even sisters have different ways they look at the world.

but they all would like a family. last week i had the privilege to meet with three families from missouri who were here to be celebrated at the angels in adoption activity that occurred last week. this is something that we do annually to recognize families that have gone above and beyond what you could expect in the adoption community. this was the first year that there were angels in adoption being recognized from all 50 states and from washington, d.c. but the three missouri families i had a chance to spend some time with, one was justin and christen aiken from chesterfield. i first met christen when she came to my office to be an advocate for be the match. be the match is a federally authorized and funded registry program that matches unrelated bone marrow donors with patients suffering from leukemia and from

70 other fatal blood cancers. christen was here advocating for that because she and justin had lost two sons, andrew and matthew, who were diagnosed with a rare disease and were unable to find match donors. christen and justin, after losing those two sons, adopted william and christopher. christen continues to be a volunteer to help other families trying to find that match, and we're doing better with that program. in fact, we increased that program in our proposed budget for this year by $5.4 million as we increased the national corps blood inventory program also. but as important as that constant effort to do what they can so that other families

didn't have happen to them what happened when they lost their two children was their decision to bring two more sons into their house and to do that by adopting. i also had a chance to meet zack and jo anna holden. the holdens began fostering in may of 2010. they were already parents of three young girls of their own, but they became foster parents to make an impact on the lives of children, knowing it wouldn't be easy for their family but it would be an important thing to do for the kids that they brought into their family. through their nine years as foster parents, the holdens have had 30 different foster kids in their house and adopted two of those 30 kids through the foster care relationship that they had. in early 2012, they began a small ministry out of their garage called the caring closet which later emerged with fostering hope, another local

foster care ministry. jo anna in that ministry and the partnership now with fostering hope gathered and sorted donations, put together packs of clothes, distributed them to local foster families wherever there was a need. fostering hope now supports children in foster care. they help foster families as they help foster kids, and they help foss ter care -- foster care agencies across communities in southwest missouri. jody and mary allen parker shared their incredible story with me. nearly two decades ago mary anne witnessed a tragic circumstance involving the friends of one of her sons. he explained the challenging situation he was in and his family were in, and he asked mary anne if he could move in with them. she took this child and shortly after that his two siblings under her care along with her own two children.

and after going to court, mary anne was able to establish custody over those three kids as well. the oldest of them has joined the marines, and the other two are still at home with mary anne. she's given them the structure and focus that they didn't have in their original home, but they have had through her and also have reconnected with their parents on a much different level than they ever had with their parents before. there are lots of stories to be shared. there are lots of families that are waiting to adopt. there are lots of families who haven't thought about it yet who would be willing to adopt. according to one survey, nearly a quarter of the people in the united states who haven't adopted have considered being an adoptive parent.

there are many concerns about adoption that just really aren't there once you get in, open that door, and look at what can happen when you create a forever family for somebody who needs one. the same survey showed that over a third of the participants believed that foster care adoption is expensive. the majority of those considering foster care adoption indicated that receiving financial and emotional support would make a difference in deciding whether to adopt. i'll be sponsoring again this year the refundable tax credit for adoptive parents. about 50% of all the parents who adopt don't make enough money to pay income tax, which says a lot about them, and it also says a lot about the fact that the system we have now that you get a tax credit but you only get a tax credit if you pay taxes only serves to encourage about 50% of the families that are willing to stretch in unique

ways and adopt kids. senator klobuchar and i have introduced the supporting adoptive families act to ensure adoptive families have access to preand post adoption services, including mental and physical and behavioral health, screenings and assistance. in february we also introduced the intercountry adoption advisory committee act to improve the intercountry adoption process. since national adoption day started in 2000, tens of thousands of children have been adopted. if only a few of them are adopted because this month and this day draw attention to that, that's certainly worth the effort that we'll make on the senate floor this week to recognize this important month and to recognize next saturday as national adoption day. and with that, mr. president, i'd yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the question occurs on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote: