mr. thune: madam president, is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: yes, it is. mr. thune: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. he. mr. thune: last weekend i attended a ceremony for the 112 112nd national guard. these men and women who served in the 147th field battalion were deployed to europe, a partnership with our allies in eastern and central europe developed in response to russia's invasion of crimea in 2014. it allows the forces to hone their ability to conduct joint organses. members of -- joint organizations. members spent most of the year in europe working with partner forces. they participated in two multinational exercises and brought artillery to germany and hungary. these soldiers finally got home last weekend but they didn't leave atlantic resolve without south dakota support. other members of the 147th forward support company and alpha battery of the 147th field artillery battalion headed for europe in septem

mr. thune: mr. president, there are some members who object to this who can't be here to object on their own behalf of. i object on their behalf of. and i would just say to the senator from minnesota that like her, i also want to do everything we can to ensure that our elections are fair and transparent in this country, and i think there are a number of solutions, as she pointed out, that are out there. i think there is a lot of good work that will continue to be done hopefully on a bipartisan basis. and as a former chairman of the senate commerce committee, i have worked with the senator from minnesota on a number of issues where we've been able to fashion solutions that are bipartisan in nature. and so i suspect that the work on this will continue. but as i mentioned, we have a couple of members on our side who do have objections at least to the bill in its current form, or at least in the process of trying to do it this way. but i do think there is a way in which we can come together and work tow

mr. thune: mr. president. the presiding officer: majority whip. mr. thune: mr. president, today democrats are forcing a vote to repeal the administration's sensible rule to disallow bogus charitable deductions that are designed to circumvent the salt, the state and local tax deduction cap that was part of the 2017 tax reform bill. frankly, mr. president, i welcome this vote and today's debate. it gives us an opportunity to review all the benefits of the tax cuts and jobs act. while drafting the tax cuts and jobs act, congress made a conscious choice to cap the state and local tax deduction, or salt, at $10,000. doing so allowed us to provide additional tax relief to the middle class, support families by doubling the child tax credit, and simplify the tax code for filers by nearly doubling the standard deduction. these changes resulted in the average family of four in my home state of south dakota receiving a tax cut of more than $2,000. in response to this cap, certain high tax states adopted what some would call creative, what i would call bogus schemes to try

mr. thune: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. thune: is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, isis took a big hit over the weekend when u.s. forces raided isis leader al baghdady's compound. he died in the raid after he detonated a suicide vest in a final act of coward he's, killing -- cowardess killing three children with him. his second in command was killed hours later, leaving the organization temporarily leaderless. mr. president, over the past few years, isis has spilled a river of blood across the middle east. its brutality set it apart even among other terrorist organizations, torture, rape, enslavement, crucifixes, beheadings, deliberate targeting of whole populations based on religious belief. the world is a safer place today because of al al-baghdadi death. this will only be temporary unless we dedicate ourselves to ens

mr. thune: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. une: madam president, before i begin, i too, want to join with my colleagues who have preceded me and just say how sad i was to hear of the death of elijah cummings. we joined the house together. he got here a little before i did in a special election in 1996. i came in january of 1997. but i always admired his fire, his dedication. he was a fierce advocate for his constituents and for the causes that he believed in. and the house will be a lesser place for his absence. and so our prayers are with his family and all those who had the opportunity to know him, his constituents, those he represented in baltimore and the state of maryland who are going to mourn his loss today and miss his presence for many, many days in the future. madam president, farmers and ranchers have gotten some good news on the trade front in recent weeks with the signing of a trade deal with japan. u.s. farmers depend on access to the japanese market. it's the fourth largest market for u.s. agricultural producers.

mr. thune: mr. president, before i begin, i want to say i was very sad to hear of the death of former senator kay hagan yesterday. kay represented the state of north carolina here in the united states senate. she was a very dedicated public servant, i think someone that all of us here who were here at the time enjoyed working with and always was a very bright presence, and as i said tremendously dedicated to the people that she represented and the issues that she cared so deeply about. our thoughts and prayers are with her and her family today, and just ask that all members here continue to lift her family up. mr. president, i want to also congratulate the senator from maine on the work that she is doing in the appropriations process as it's moving forward. she shares a very important subcommittee on the appropriations committee and also is involved in so many other issues. one thing when she was speaking, i certainly wanted to mention was just the work that she does to protect seniors across this c

mr. ill reasons. that's one of self times that bill taylor talks directly to this. and now you have john thune, a member of the republican leadership in the senate saying this picture is not a good one. >> of course. and you know despite what congressman brooks is doing. you know when you don't have the facts, maybe you argue the process. and when you look a at the testimony of taylor yesterday, you see somebody who is a 50-year public servant, credible, despite the fact the white house called him a radical unelected bureaucrat. he is anything but radical. he has worked for democrats and republicans and what he saw as he said, i'm going to read something else to you. he said it was a rancorous story, side channels, quid pro quos, corruption and interference in elections, all the while he said ukraine was in an existential battle for its very survival losing 13,000 people in a fight with russia. so, this is -- this is an argument that the white house can try and have and destroy a public servant like taylor or talk about the process, but when you see someone like thune come out who is a thought

mr. thune: i would ask unanimous consent the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: madam president, later today, the senate will vote to confirm barbara barrett as secretary of the air force. i have just come to the floor directly from a meeting with her this morning. ambassador barrett has had an impressive career both inside and outside government. among other things, she has served as u.s. ambassador to finland, deputy administrator of the f.a.a., and as a member of the civil aeronautics board. most importantly, she has a deep understanding of the u.s. air force thanks to her work as a civilian advisor to the secretary of defense and the joint chiefs. as a member of the defense advisory committee on women in the services, she fought to expand opportunities for women in the military. she became the first civilian woman to land an f-18 on an aircraft carrier, part of a mission to demonstrate women's fitness to fly in combat. thanks in part to her work, in