[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 54 (Monday, April 11, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S1848]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Amendment No. 3524

  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, while we are waiting for members of the 
Judiciary Committee to come and speak to the judicial nomination we 
will vote on shortly, I want to take the opportunity to talk about a 
pending amendment which is being offered by Senator Bennet of Colorado 
and which I would recommend to the Senate that they favorably consider. 
It is dealing with families traveling on airlines.
  As you know, things get very specific about seats and how much they 
charge for the seats. You pay extra for some baggage and other 
services, and then you get into seats that are getting increasingly 
smaller. It is even worse for a woman who is pregnant or is traveling 
with small children.
  Senator Bennet's amendment is a family-friendly amendment. If a 
parent has a minor child who is going on the plane by themselves, it 
would require TSA to allow the parent to accompany the child throughout 
the screening process. To a small child, that can be quite 
intimidating.
  Secondly, it would require the airlines to provide pregnant women 
with the opportunity to preboard the flight. How many times have we 
seen everybody queueing up to get on the flight? The special advantage 
passengers get on, the first class passengers get on, the members of 
the frequent flyer program get on, and here is a lady who is quite 
along in her pregnancy still standing. That is just common sense. That 
is being gentlemanly about the rules of airlines.
  Thirdly, the amendment tries to keep families together because it 
would require the airlines to make sure that at least one adult of the 
family who is traveling together can sit next to the child on the plane 
without the airlines saying the parent will have to pay an extra fee in 
order to guarantee having a seat next to their minor child. This is 
common sense, and it is encouraging family travel.
  I certainly urge my colleagues to support this amendment as we will 
be taking up the FAA bill after this judicial nomination confirmation 
vote.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. I yield back any remaining time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Crenshaw 
nomination?
  Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the 
Senator from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito), the Senator from Texas (Mr. 
Cruz), the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Graham), the Senator from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Johnson), the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski), the 
Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Paul), and the Senator from Louisiana (Mr. 
Vitter).
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders) is 
necessarily absent.
  The result was announced--yeas 92, nays 0, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 44 Ex.]

                                YEAS--92

     Alexander
     Ayotte
     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Booker
     Boozman
     Boxer
     Brown
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Cassidy
     Coats
     Cochran
     Collins
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Daines
     Donnelly
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Feinstein
     Fischer
     Flake
     Franken
     Gardner
     Gillibrand
     Grassley
     Hatch
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Heller
     Hirono
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Kaine
     King
     Kirk
     Klobuchar
     Lankford
     Leahy
     Lee
     Manchin
     Markey
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Moran
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Perdue
     Peters
     Portman
     Reed
     Reid
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Scott
     Sessions
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Stabenow
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Udall
     Warner
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--8

     Capito
     Cruz
     Graham
     Johnson
     Murkowski
     Paul
     Sanders
     Vitter
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motion to 
reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the President 
will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

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