president, earlier this week this senate voted to confirm kevin mcaleenan to be the commissioner of u.s. customs and border protection. this is a national security job. it's the person in charge of making sure that america has secure borders. he was appointed -- he was approved unanimously by the senate finance committee that voted on him before it came to the floor. despite the unanimous vote, the democrats in this body still delayed this nominee from taking office for as long as they could. they forced the majority to file cloture on it. and we had the vote last week. we had to wait to do it. spend the time. and in the end, 30 democrats, the democrats who demanded we hold a cloture vote and delay the vote, 30 democrats voted in favor of his confirmation. mr. president, this had nothing to do with his qualifications for the office. they just wanted to delay and obstruct. that's what we're dealing with here, mr. president. forcing a cloture vote on a noncontroversial executive branch nominee, well, it used to be extremely rare. hardly ever happened. there were 15 people confirmed after

and lastly, kevin mcaleenan to be commissioner of the customs and border patrol was nominated 298 daysbviously, it's been a priority of this administration to highlight the security threats we face at our southern border kevin in taking that role would be safeguarding our borders and helping prevent terrorists and contraband from entering the united states, yet congress and the senate continues to dither and not have a confirmation vote we're pleased he finally got through a cloture vote last week we expect him to be confirmed on monday night, but 298 days later, as the american people have been anxious to make sure that our border is being secured, we still do not have a head of customs and border patrol this level of obstruction is beyond historic. it's something that, as you, i know, are very focused on personnel inside the white house, we ask that you also shed light on the historic obstruction happening in senate to make sure we're able to fill out our administration, to do the job of the american people, and help make sure that our country is safe and secure >> thanks for coming

kevin k. mcleenan 's nomination to serve as commissioner of the u.s. customs and border protection. this is an essential post and mr. mcaleenan is an excellent nominee. i urge everyone to join me in voting for his confirmation when we return next monday. now on another matter, yesterday the senate took a big step forward for the community banks, credit unions and other small lenders, on which communities across america rely for access to credit. on a strong bipartisan vote, we passed senator crapo's legislation to streamline the dodd-frank act so that regulators, regulations intended for wall street place less of a crushing burden on main street. next up is legislation to combat sex trafficking. debate on this issue will begin today. it might be easy to imagine sex trafficking doesn't happen here. it would be easy to pretend that it's only a problem in other parts of the world, but that is dead wrong. trafficking is a crisis right here in the united states. from 2010 to 2015, the national center for missing and kphroeuted children -- exploited children children saw reports of suspected missing children an eightfold increase. last year more than 85

kevin mcaleenan is a 16-year veteran of the c.v.b. his nomination carries the unflinching support of a bipartisan group of leaders and was thoroughly vetted in committee. ensuring our national security means steady control over what and who comes across our boaferreds -- borders. later this week the senate will turn to another important matter related to america's safety and secure. we'll take up legislation to combat the evil of sex trafficking. keeping children safe from exploitation has been a key focus for several of us going back some years. in 1984, i advocated the missing children's assistance act. in the 1990's, i created a national data base and screening system to identify abusers. in 2003, i joined a number of members on missing and exploited and runnaway children. the senate passed the justice for victims trafficking act. this week it's time to build on those achievements and take another step. it's time to confront the reality that trafficking has largely moved from the street corner to the smart phone. from 2010 to 2015,

standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of kevin k. mcaleenan to b -- 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 kevin k. mcaleenan of hawaii to be commissioner of u.s. customs and border protection 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 79, the nays are 19. the motion on cloture is approved. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: department of homeland security, kevin k. mcaleenan of hawaii to be commissioner of u.s. customs and border protection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule 22, all postcloture time on the mcaleenan nomination be considered expired and the senate vote on the nomination at 5:30 p.m. on monday, march 19, that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be consider