quorum call: mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dewitt. the presiding officer: without objection. -- be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: first, i welcome you, the senator from texas, and all of our colleagues back after the thanksgiving break. i had my parents, 94 and 89, at our thanksgiving dinner with all their children and grandchildren and cousins and thises and thats, so i had a lot to be thankful for. i'm blessed to have my mom and dad see their whole family and be so happy about it. but now we're back, and we have a lot of work to do before the end of the year and precious little time to do it. funding for the government expires a week from this friday. 800,000 dreamers are waiting to hear whether they can live and work in the only country they have ever known. almost nine million children are waiting for us to reauthorize the children health...

the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: during the last decade our complex tax code left hardworking families behind and allowed the wealthy and well connected to get ahead. it's so bad one small business owner in paducah, ky, wrote to my office asking for relief, because, as he says, taxes are suffocating my company and me personally. the pain isn't just being felt in kentucky. it's an urgent problem nationwide. families and job creators are doing their best to get ahead but too often our tax code keeps them reaching for the american dream. working families and small businesses in our country deserve better than our outdated tax code, and that's what we're trying to deliver. tax reform represents the single most important thing we can do right now to spur economic growth, help support good jobs, and boost the middle class. this is our once in a generation opportunity and we should meet the...