the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to calendar 165, s. 1519. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: motion to proceed to the consideration of s. 1519, a bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2018 for military activities of the department of defense and so forth and for other purposes. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: congress is standing at the doorstep of an historic opportunity. today the house will vote on the conference report on the tax cuts and jobs bill, the most significant overhaul of our nation's tax code in more than 30 years. this major tax reform legislation will provide much needed relief to middle klaas families and small -- middle-class families and small businesses and set america on a trajectory towards more opportunity and greater prosperity. after the house votes this afternoon, the senate will begin debate and will proceed to...

the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: so, mr. president, the clock is ticking ever closer to the end of the year. we still need to fund the government by friday. we still need to lift the spending caps equally for defense and urgent domestic priorities like combating the opioid and we must shore up pensions for over a million americans many we still need to reauthorize chip and end the sabotage of our health care markets. we've had a partisan deal on a stabilization package for months now. it's a product that should have been easy to include in the end-year deal. after all, it's the product of bipartisan negotiations between chairman alexander and ranking member murray, two of our most effective senators. but now because republicans are repealing the individual mandate in their tax bill, the alexander-murray bill won't have its intended...