[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 25 (Monday, February 13, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S1100]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Cabinet Nominations

  Mr. President, after much unnecessary delay from Senate Democrats, we 
will finally confirm two more key Cabinet nominees this evening--Steve 
Mnuchin as Treasury Secretary and David Shulkin as Veterans Affairs 
Secretary. The President has selected two well qualified candidates to 
lead the charge on strengthening our economy and providing veterans 
with more of the care they deserve. I will have more to say on Mr. 
Mnuchin and Dr. Shulkin tomorrow, but for now I look forward to their 
confirmation this evening.
  After we work with these nominees, we will continue to put the rest 
of President Trump's Cabinet in place.
  It has been really disappointing to see the historic level of 
obstruction by Senate Democrats. I would like to remind our colleagues 
across the aisle of the very real consequences their actions have on 
our country and on the men and women forced to work grueling hours to 
keep the Senate running overnight last week.
  There are so many who worked around the clock to keep the Senate 
operating and I would like to offer some words of thanks now.
  First, I would like to start with our floor staff led by Laura Dove 
on the Republican side and Gary Myrick on the Democratic side. They, 
along with the cloakroom staff and floor teams, worked nonstop to allow 
us to keep the floor running smoothly. So I want to thank them for 
their hard work and dedication.
  I would also like to recognize the Senate pages, who didn't miss a 
beat just 2 weeks into their new job. They are Hailey Maggelet, Cameron 
Mabry, Shelby Hogan, Elizabeth Flachbart, Chris An, Sammy Potter, 
Sydney Jones, Cynthia Yue, Avery Beard, Wade Quigley, Eddie Owens, 
Hannah Seawell, Chloe Smith, Bryant Reynolds, Taylor Ball, Mitchell 
Heiman, Drew Beussink, Harrison Bushnell, Lauren Cavignano, Mitchell 
Durbin, Allie Glassman, Pablo Gomez Garcia, Julia Graham, Savannah 
Hampton, Argenis Herrera, Riley Johnson, Holly Newman, Colin Solomon, 
Katrina Turner, and Kayla Zhu. I know we are all impressed by these 
young men and women, and we all appreciate the role they play in our 
Nation's government.
  There are so many others, like Sergeant at Arms Frank Larkin and his 
Deputy, Jim Morhard, who work tirelessly behind the scenes to keep the 
Capitol running smoothly. I would like to thank their team: the 
doorkeepers, the Senate recording and television studio, the Press 
Galleries, the IT and technical support, and the help desk, the 
security and operations teams, the executive office, and the Capitol 
exchange operators, who oversee the many calls that come into Senate 
offices. Many of these teams provided support literally around the 
clock, and we are thankful.
  Of course, none of this would have been possible without the Capitol 
Police, headed by Chief of Police Matthew Verderosa. These men and 
women worked overtime to ensure the safety of the Senate Chamber and 
the entire Capitol as Members and their staffs worked through the 
night. We thank them for their service and for keeping us safe every 
day.
  I would also like to thank the Secretary of the Senate, Julie Adams, 
Assistant Secretary Mary Suit Jones, and their entire team.
  Specifically, I would like to thank the following offices and 
staffers, many of whom who worked for more than 50 straight hours: the 
Official Reporters of Debates, which include Patrick Renzi, Susie 
Nguyen, Julia Jones, Mary Carpenter, Patrice Boyd, Octavio Colominas, 
Alice Haddow, Andrea Huston, Carol Darche, Desirae Jura, Megan 
McKenzie, Wendy Caswell, Diane Dorhamer, Mark Stuart, and Julie Bryan; 
the Captioning Services team, which includes Sandra Schumm, Brenda 
Jamerson, Doreen Chendorain, Jennifer Smolka, and Laurie Harris.
  In addition to the offices I just named, I would also like to 
recognize the following legislative offices: The Bill Clerk, the 
Enrolling Clerk, the Executive Clerk, the Journal Clerk, the 
Legislative Clerk, the Daily Digest, and, of course, the 
Parliamentarians.
  Lastly, I would like to thank our subway drivers and the Government 
Publishing Office, which worked tirelessly to get the Record printed.
  We are also grateful for the long hours and sacrifice that each of 
these offices and staffers made last week. Of course, it was completely 
unnecessary but, nevertheless, they were here through the night.