mrs. blackburn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination. executive calendar 499. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, government publishing office, hugh nathanial halpern of virginia to be director. mrs. blackburn: i ask consent that the senate vote on the nomination with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the question is on the nomination. all in favor say aye. opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nomination is confirmed. mrs. blackburn: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. blackbu

mrs. blackburn: i ask that we suspend the quorum call. this past sunday, hundreds of thousands of protesters filled the streets of hong kong to remind beijing that totalitarianism will no longer go unchallenged. i was reading a "new york times" article about this protest when i came across a particularly striking quote. when asked why she had taken to the streets, a 24-year-old biology researcher named alice said -- and i'm quoting -- we want hong kong to continue being hong kong. we don't want to become like china. end quote. madam president, i ask unanimous consent to include this article as well as the front page of the d.c. 9 "new york times" in the record. what a beautiful picture of what people will do for the cause of freedom. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. blackburn: alice's statement is loaded with historical context and directly implies what we're seeing now is the combination of a slow but sure violation of the laws and norms that once defined hong kong's semi autonomous relationship with mainland china. these p

mrs. blackburn: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mrs. blackburn: i ask that we suspend the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. blackburn: thank you, madam president. it has been so interesting to hear our colleagues talk about the things we've done this year, things that we have to get done before the end of the year that haven't been addressed yet and then things that need to be addressed this next year in 2020, and i will tell you, 2019, for me, i look at it as i would successes and stalls and then some forward motion on some really important pieces of legislation. but to get there we really have had some fairly intense debates which have prompted our constituents and those back in tennessee to have their own discussions about what they think is or is not happening here in washington, d.c. my hope is that their debates around the kitchen table are sometimes less heated than ours and certainly i hope that their thanksgiving table debates were less heated than some of these that you see taking place here. tennessea

blackburn. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and general, i know you're happy to see the end of the dais coming at you. you're going to get out of here. let me pick up right where senator kennedy left off because i will tell you the perception by the american people, from reading your report, and we've all put up links so people can read it is that this was intentional, that it was deliberat deliberate, it was malicious, it was premeditated and well thought out and it wasn conductd by people who were desperate. it's the epitome of the swamp. it is murky and muddy and people weren't going to get their way and this guy who was going to win and then did win didn't deserve to win. and it does have the appearance of intentionality because you would not have this series of unfortunate coincidences. that is not what it is. it is the surveillance state at work. this is what they did. and they took their professional place and those tools that they had at their disposal to go spy on a campaign and on u.s. citizens which is unbelievable.

blackburn. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and general, i know you're happy to see the end of the dais coming at you. you're going to get out of here. let me pick up right where senator kennedy left off because i will tell you the perception by the american people, from reading your report, and we've all put up links so people can read it is that this was intentional, that it was deliberat deliberate, it was malicious, it was premeditated and well thought out and it wasn conductd by people who were desperate. it's the epitome of the swamp. it is murky and muddy and people weren't going to get their way and this guy who was going to win and then did win didn't deserve to win. and it does have the appearance of intentionality because you would not have this series of unfortunate coincidences. that is not what it is. it is the surveillance state at work. this is what they did. and they took their professional place and those tools that they had at their disposal to go spy on a campaign and on u.s. citizens which is unbelievable.

first of all senator marsha blackburn will talk about the latest on impeachment. look who we have as panelists. kevin o'leary, mrkevin o'leary from all the shows that he does. and we have our own miss wonderful, trish regan is going to be with us here. we look forward to that. great panel. great guests on "bulls & bears." see you in a couple minutes. connell: the wonderfuls. david, see you at the top. >> all right. melissa: better with age. 25-year-old song landing the top spot on billboard's top 100 for the first time. think you can guess what it is? feeling nostalgic, vinyl records sales is on pace to top last year's sales. what is behind the growing trend? i think it is joe biden. we'll tell you in a second. ♪. cologuard: colon cancer screening for people 50 and older at average risk. i've heard a lot of excuses to avoid screening for colon cancer. i'm not worried. it doesn't run in my family. i can do it next year. no rush. cologuard is the noninvasive option that finds 92% of colon cancers. you just get the kit in the mail, go to the bathroom, collect your sample, then ship it to the lab. there's no excuse

marsha blackburn, our senator, alexander, also senator om tillis from north carolina, representatives phil roe, mark have all nd tom call helped us. without further ado, mr. prompt i urge consideration and support of my bill. mr. speaker, i yield back. westerman: i'd like to commend the gentleman from tennessee for his hard work on this bill. he trail of tears actually passes through my district in arkansas and, again, this is a and i urge bill passage of it in the house and urge our friends in the senate the bill up and pass it as well. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arkansas yields of his time.nce the gentlewoman from new mexico is recognized. i alsoland: mr. speaker, wholeheartedly support this legislation and i urge my it as ues to support well. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new mexico balance of her time. the question is will the house rules and pass the bill h.r. 453, as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed

mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. president. my hope is that each of us in this chamber, and our families, enjoyed a wonderful thanksgiving time, being grateful for all the blessings that we in this country have. i know that i certainly had a wonderful week. i had the opportunity to spend some time across the great state of tennessee and talking with tennesseans about what was on their mind and i will tell you this -- for as diverse in opinion and experience as tennesseans are, there is one thing in common that i heard repeatedly, and they are through with trying to guess where politicians in washington, d.c., stand on issues. i'm telling you, it is going to be -- this is something i think all of us need to hear, probably don't want to hear, but our fellow americans, and certainly tennesseans, have no idea what their elected representatives believe. instead all they see up here is this endless cycle of political in fighting and failed legislation. and you know what, mr. president, they consistently say, we want you to focus on t