the clerk: cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in abg korpdance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to close debate on the house amendment to 140 an act to amend the white apof patch khaoe act to classify phi the use of amounts in the settlement fund. mr. mcconnell: i ask the reading of the names be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the mandatory quorum call be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to concur tph-rt house amendment to s. 140 a with a further amendment. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from kentucky, mr. mcconnell moves to concur in the house amendment to s. 140 with an amendment numbered 2227. mr. mcconnell: i ask the reading of the names be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask for the yeas and nays on the motion to concur with amendment. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ord

but the undersigned groups on this letter that i am going to submit to you believe that much more needs to be done. our procurement system remains oriented towards diesel for the non-trolley buses and no -- state deadlines are looming and are actually pushing us and driving and ought to be driving procurement decisions and operations planning decisions. and our system or there remains no real systemic effort to get m.t.a. ready to incorporate this as the new technology. and prepare our fleet and operations for electric buses. so as in your role as a funding agency and the overturned agency in the other role as the city's legislative body, hope that you can provide leadership and help and expedite the process on the pilot and do what you can to move the m.t.a. and to be the leader on this. and san francisco has been a leader on clean energy and clean transportation technology for a long time, but the problem with that is the that people close on you and people surpass you. and we need to constantly keep at it. we hope that you can do that. the other folks here will talk more to that poin

i want to ask you about scott pruitt who the president called totally undersigned.d to argue with. it seems to be because of his own actions. the most recent was he rented a room for $50 a night from a lobbyist. and he refuse ed d to drive wit sirens blaring. president trump promised to drain swamp. doesn't this all sound kind of swampy? >> we are aware of the allegations. you just outlined several of those allegations. we expect the questions raised by those stories, we expect the epa administrator be able to answer those. we're trying to get to the bottom of it and when we do, we'll let you know. >> john kelly wanted scott pruitt to go before there were any more zplins after that was reported, there were three more storiesful will he have a job at midnight tonight? >> i wasn't in that meeting or the qualls the administrator but i can say we all serve at the pleasure of the president. as you know, if the president is displeased, you'll know it and know it in a hurry. >> there are people who like him a lot because of what he's doing with deregulation. a major trump

the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of mike pompeo of kansas to be secretary of state7 senators as follows. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 619, richard grenell. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination. department of state. richard grenell of california to be ambassador of the united states of america to the federal republic of germany. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to t

the first line was we the undersign ready former united states attorneys and assistant united states attorneys for the southern district of new york. the letter referred to the firing of james comey and mentioned the authors' personal relationship with james comey. many of us know him personally. all of us respect him as a highly professional and ethical person who has devoted more than 20 years of his life to public service. the letter addressed the publicly stated reason that president trump fired james comey. while we do not all necessarily agree with the manner in which he dealt with the conclusion of the hillary clinton e-mail investigation, we sincerely believe that his abrupt and belated termination for this conduct occurring months later and on the heels of his public testimony about his oversight of the investigation of russian interference with the 2016 presidential election has the appearance, if not the reality of interfering with that investigation. we are republicans, democrats, and independents. the letter was signed by 180 former assistant united states attorneys and

the reason that we are here, the reason that paul and emily and i are here is to present a letter undersigned by eight equity environmental and justice labor organizations urging the mta to move forward on electric buses. years ago there was a commitment to convert the fleet to the zero emission electric buses by 2020 and clearly we are nowhere near that point. we have a letter here that kind of lays out what we are talking about, both in terms of addressing the technology issue that will need to be over come as well as timeline and procurement issues. as we move forward we really want to call on mta to do three things, one immediately commence a pilot project, that's one submitted that needs to be rejected. the city needs to move forward with it with its own funds. we need to incorporate zero emissions into our 30 foot replacement procurement. i realize there's technical issues but this is up to operations folks to figure out how to get there. lastly we need to prepare a plan for your y approval as well as the board of supervisors out lining how we are going to get there. san francisco shoul

the clerk: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22, do hereby bring to a close debate on stuart kyle duncan of louisiana signed by 17 senators as follows: mr. mcconnell: i ask that the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask that the mandatory quorum call be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: thank you very much. it's very exciting to have maile pearl with us on the floor just moments ago. certainly the first time i have seen a little baby on the floor of the senate and maybe a good symbol for the work the senate will be doing in the future. congratulations to tammy duckworth and her husband. we are looking forward to seeing little maile as she grows and prospers and all of the

letter of on soifings the governor of washington, a letter of opposition from governor inslee. 40 undersigned businesses in opposition to the legislation, and over 22 environmental and outdoor organizations in opposition to the legislation. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. let me yield four minutes to the gentleman from oregon, congressman blumenauer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for four minutes. mr. blumenauer: i appreciate the gentleman's courtesy in permitting me to speak on this and the element he is put into the record. these are tough issues. the bonneville dam is in my district. i have been involved with these issues for decades. i've watched the give and take. part of what we're facing today is the legacy of our move in to create the bonneville system without really knowing what we were doing when we started. there was a rich fisheries existent, rumor has it you could actually, people claim you could walk across the backs of the salmon when they were spawning. he dams implemented good for producing e

the clerk: cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of michael b. brennan to be united states sir cut judge. mr. mcconnell: i ask the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 729. the presiding officer: the clerk is on the quo. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, jewel m. carson iii of new mexico to be united states circuit judge for the tenth circuit. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report

the clerk will report cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on john w. broomes of kansas to be united states district judge for the district of kansas, signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of john w. broomes of kansas to be united states district judge for the district of kansas shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, the yeas are 74. the nays are 24. the motion is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the clerk will report the nomi

the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture clerk cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of james bridenstine of oklahoma to be administrator of the national aeronautics administration signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum calls that been waived. the question, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of james bridenstine of oklahoma to be administrator of the national aeronautics and space administration shall be brought to a close. the yairs and nays are -- yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk shall call the roll. vote: vote:

the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to concur in the house amendment to s. 140, an act to amend the white mountain apache tribe water rights quantification act of 2010 and so forth, signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the motion to concur in the house amendments to s. 140, a bill to amend the white house apache tribe water rights quantification act of 2010, to clarify the use of amounts of what settlement funds, be be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: vote: vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or wishing to change their vote? if not, on this vote, the yeas are 54. the nays are 41. three-fifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted in the af

the clerk: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22, do hereby bring to a close debate on the nomination of patrick by zella to be secretary of glaib signed by -- of labor. signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of patrick pizzella of virginia shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any other senators wishing to vote or change their vote? if not the yeas are 50, the nays are 48. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: department of labor, patrick pizzella of virginia to be deputy secretary. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i come to the floor today as we as americans continue to see the reminders, the regular reminders that the world is a very dangerous place. the horrendous reports out of syria over the weekend show us that there are leaders

the clerk: cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of andrew wheeler of virginia to be deputy administrator of the environmental protection agency signed by 16 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of andrew wheeler of virginia to be deputy administrator of the e.p.a., the environmental protection agency, shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presiding officer: is there anyone wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, the ayes are 53, the nays are 45, and the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, environmental protection agency, andrew wheeler of virginia to be deputy administrator. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: yesterday, the senate confirmed john ring to the national labor relations

the clerk: cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of mike pompeo of kansas to be secretary of state signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of mike pompeo of kansas to be secretary of state shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or wishing to change their vote? if not, the ayes are 57. the nays are 42. the motion is agreed to. under the previous order, all postcloture time is expired, and the question occurs on confirmation of the nomination of mr. pompeo. there is a second. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any other senators in the chamber

presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture clerk cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of claria horn boom of kentucky to be united states district judge for the eastern and western districts of kentucky signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the is senate that debate on the nomination of claria horn boom to be judge shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays of mandatory under the rule. the clerk will now call the roll. vote: vote: .vote: the presiding officer: have all senators voted? are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? on this vote, the yeas are 96. the nays are 2. the motion is agreed to. the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the democratic leader, the