senator boozman. >> thank you, mr. chairman and thank you, mr. wilkie, for being here as well as your wife. we appreciate her. when you take on a task like this these are certainly family affairs and we appreciate both of you all. you've got a very to back rent and i will serve well in the job are asking you to do. you have as a military child, military officers and civilian civil servant. you understand many of the complexities associated with serving our nation and have experienced firsthand the importance of taking care of our nation's of veterans. we have been able to get together yet and look forward to doing that. on the other hand, i've enjoyed working with you in the capacity of chairing milcon va on several occasions, but i do support your nomination and will enthusiastically vote for you because of those, the experience i've had with you. one thing i'd like to visit with you, i think it's very, very important, , we had a tragedy in arkansas. the fayetteville va medical center greatly impacted a number of families and a very, very negati

. >> senator boozman. >> excuse me. thank you, chairman. thank you, ambassador, for being here. first of all, i want to congratulate you and the president, the team that worked on the european situation and hopefully now that we have a framework, we can get in a very timely fashion, actually get that nailed down, which is so, so very important. i'd like to talk to you a little bit about some specific things going on that are really dislocating short-term and long-term. just this week a constituent contacted me regarding the hardwood lumber manufacturing industry. virtually all the quality u.s. hardwood lumber, which is primarily manufactured in the south and appalachia is exported to the chinese market. since u.s. tariffs have gone into effect their purchases of our u.s. hardwood lumber have not decreased but, essentially, have ceased. prices are in free-fall, markets have collapsed, mills will be closing unless the issue is resolved fairly soon. it's been said that short-term pain, long-term gain. we understand that and i don't disagree with what you were saying just now. you k

boozman: thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from arkansas will suspend. we're in a quorum call. mr. boozman: i ask the quorum call be rescinded. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from arkansas. mr. boozman: thank you, mr. president. today this chamber will take an important step to ensure we have leadership at the department of veterans affairs to oversee the implementation of historical reforms that we passed in may to improve the v.a.'s health care delivery system and provide veterans with more choices and fewer barriers to care. we will vote on the nomination of robert wilkie to serve as secretary of the v.a. having served our nation in uniform as well as experiencing military life as the son of a wounded combat soldier, robert wilkie's extensive career in a wide range of defense and veterans issues makes him uniquely qualified to serve as the next secretary of the v.a. he clearly understands the complexities associated with serving our nation and the importance of takin

the clerk: shelly, cleakser, boozman, daines, leahy, feinstein, schatz and murphy. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate will resume executive session. the senator from west virginia. mrs. capito: i have 11 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mrs. capito: thank you, mr. president. i want to take a few moments to talk what i believe is an excellent choice president trump made monday and that is in selecting judge bret kavanaugh -- brett kavanaugh to fill the supreme court vacancy. his credentials is well suited for the supreme court. he excelled as an undergraduate and law student at yale and clerked for justice kennedy, the man he would replace, along being a clerk for the federal appeal court judges. he served in a critical position in president george w. bush's administration, and beyond his resume is respect and effectiveness. he is highly regarded by his colleagues on the federal judiciary, and i think that says