[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 26 (Tuesday, February 14, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1138-S1142]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NICS
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, later today we are going to consider an
effort under the Congressional Review Act to change America's
background check system when it comes to the purchase of firearms.
For months, I have been listening to President Trump and the
Republicans talk about gun violence in the city of Chicago. It is a
heartbreaking reality. More than 4,300 people were shot in Chicago last
year and over 400 so far this year. It is not just Chicago. The
American Medical Association has declared that gun violence is a public
health crisis in our Nation.
So what is Congress doing to save lives in Chicago and across the
Nation from gun violence? What is the Senate doing to protect people
from being shot? Nothing.
Instead, the Republican Congress is trying to weaken one of the gun
laws on the books--the NICS Improvement Amendments Act. This is the law
passed unanimously by Congress after the Virginia Tech massacre and
signed into law in 2008 by President George W. Bush.
This law says that every Federal agency needs to let the FBI NICS
background check system know when the agency has information about
people who fall within the legal prohibitions on gun possession.
Everyone agreed we needed to get these records into the NICS system,
especially records about those who are seriously mentally unstable,
such as the Virginia Tech shooter. That man had a history of mental
illness, but he was able to buy guns and kill 32 people because his
records were not in the background check system known as NICS.
There is a longstanding Federal prohibition on gun possession by
those who are suffering from mental illness. This prohibition is so
well established that the late Justice Antonin Scalia cited it in the
Supreme Court's Heller decision as an example of a restriction that is
presumptively lawful and consistent with the Second Amendment.
There have been tragic cases where people with serious mental
illnesses have used guns to cause great harm. The Newtown, CT, shooter
showed signs of severe mental health problems that went untreated
before he killed 20 students and 6 educators at Sandy Hook Elementary
School. The Tucson, AZ, shooter, who shot Congresswoman Gabby Giffords
and killed six others, was diagnosed after the shooting with
schizophrenia. And it was 9 years ago today when a gunman who had been
diagnosed and treated for mental illness killed 5 people and injured 17
in a classroom building at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.
About two-thirds of shooting deaths each year are suicides. Last
year, there were more than 21,000 suicides by gun. The National
Alliance on Mental Illness reports that ``about 90% of individuals who
die by suicide experience mental illness.''
Mental illness is a challenging issue for our society. I have worked
to expand treatment and coverage for mental illness, including through
the Affordable Care Act, one of the most important single laws we have
ever passed to address mental illness. I wish those who are trying to
repeal this commonsense gun safety regulation would drop that effort
and join us in stopping this repeal of the Affordable Care Act. We need
more and better services for people with mental illness.
The reality is that the gun laws on the books are narrowly drawn when
it comes to mental illness and so is the rule we are being asked to
repeal today. Current Federal law says that a person who has been
``adjudicated as a mental defective'' is prohibited from gun
possession. The phrase ``adjudicated as a mental defective'' is defined
in the law as a determination by ``a court, board, commission, or other
lawful authority that a person, as a result of marked subnormal
intelligence, or mental illness, incompetency, condition, or disease:
(1) is a danger to himself or others; or (2) lacks the mental capacity
to contract or manage his own affairs.''
The 2008 NICS Improvement law, signed into law by President George W.
Bush, directed Federal agencies to send their relevant records to the
NICS system. Last year, the Social Security Administration issued a
rule to implement this law after concluding that certain determinations
by the Social Security Administration qualify as an adjudication of
mental defectiveness.
Let me explain what the SSA rule says. Under this rule, starting in
December of this year, the Social Security Administration will begin
sending to NICS--the body which gathers information and records for
background checks before the possession of firearms--the name, date of
birth, and Social Security number of people who meet each of the five
threshold criteria. The person must be between the ages of 18 and 65,
have filed a claim with SSA for benefits based on disability, have been
diagnosed with a serious, long-term mental disorder, have been
determined by SSA to be disabled and unable to perform substantial work
because of the mental disorder, and have been subject to determination
by the Social Security Administration that the mental disorder is so
serious that the person needs to have a representative appointed to
manage the person's benefits.
This is not a situation where the Social Security Administration
would notify NICS just because a person can't balance his checkbook.
There must be a seriously debilitating, medically diagnosed mental
illness involved.
The rule is prospective only. Current Social Security disability
beneficiaries are not subject to it. The rule is predicted to cover
about 75,000 Americans, once it takes effect, out of the estimated 10
million suffering from a serious mental illness.
I might add here for the record, I do not suggest that every person
who has any form of mental illness is a danger. In fact, exactly the
opposite is true. But we do know that those who suffer from serious
mental conditions many times are engaged in violent conduct and many
times with horrible results when they have firearms.
The rule we are being asked to repeal on the floor of the Senate
provides for advance notice of the Social Security Administration
determination and the right to appeal through an administrative process
and in court. A person can
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obtain relief from the firearms prohibition by having healthcare
providers and character witnesses submit statements that the person is
not a danger to himself or others.
Every politician claims they want to keep deadly firearms out of the
hands of those who are seriously mentally unstable. A statement made by
a Republican Senator from Texas, Senator Cornyn, the senior Senator
from Texas and my counterpart on the Republican side; he said in March
2013:
If there was a common thread in the Virginia Tech, Tucson,
Aurora, and Newtown massacres, it was the mental illness of
the shooter. . . . We should refocus our effort to make sure
the current background check system works to screen out the
dangerously mentally-ill.
Reasonable people can disagree over whether the SSA's rule gets it
exactly right. There are mental health groups that have concerns about
it, and I respect that. But using the Congressional Review Act is a
blunt tool. Instead of fixing the rule, the Congressional Review Act
would repeal the rule and--listen to this--permanently bar the Social
Security Administration from adopting any substantially similar rule.
So it likely would bar the Social Security Administration from ever
implementing a rule to submit mental health records to NICS in the
future.
If there are problems with this rule, they can be addressed by fixing
it. But the Republican response is always repeal first. This time, they
want to repeal a rule that doesn't start until December and its repeal
would preclude the Social Security Administration from even fixing or
positively changing it.
We also had disputes over the process the Department of Veterans
Affairs used to submit names of people with mental illness to the same
NICS background check system. Last December, we fixed it on a
bipartisan basis. We passed language in the 21st Century Cures Act to
ensure that a person can have his own doctor and lawyer involved in the
process. If the Social Security Administration rule needs fixing, we
can fix it too. But this Congressional Review Act is a sledgehammer,
not a tool to fix it.
We are being asked to vote today to ban an agency permanently from
complying with the NICS law that we enacted in 2008. We are being asked
to undermine the gun laws that are on the books.
I urge my colleagues to listen to the opposition of this resolution
of disapproval. Read the letter from the U.S. Conference of Mayors, who
say that the Social Security Administration rule ``is critically
important to the fabric of our nation's background check system.'' Read
the editorials in newspapers across the country that oppose repealing
this rule.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the editorial from the
Chicago Tribune be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the Chicago Tribune, Feb. 10, 2017]
Editorial: Guns and Mental Illness: Don't Scrap This Rule
(By Editorial Board)
If someone has a mental illness severe enough that he
cannot work or manage his own money, should he be allowed to
own a gun?
In the waning weeks of his presidency, Barack Obama
answered that question. Motivated by Adam Lanza's bloody
rampage at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., that
killed 20 children and six educators in 2012, Obama imposed a
rule that barred gun ownership for people who qualify for
Social Security disability insurance because their mental
illness keeps them from working, and who cannot manage their
benefits. That pool is small--just 75,000 Americans.
The GOP-led U.S. House just voted to scrap that rule. Bad
move. The Senate now decides whether to back that bad move.
If it does, President Trump would decide whether to go along
or disagree.
Republican lawmakers hang their case on the argument that
the rule stigmatizes people with disabilities as dangerous.
``There are people who need help and seek help, but that is
not a criteria for taking away one's constitutional right''
to own a gun, Texas Rep. Pete Sessions said.
Sessions implicitly exaggerates the impact of the rule. As
gun control measures go, the scope of this one is narrow. Its
goal is to keep guns out of the hands of people on record as
having a disabling mental disorder. The standard for taking
that gun away is steep--they have to be on Social Security
because their psychiatric disorder keeps them from working,
and they cannot manage their own affairs. Both conditions
must be met. Even if the rule keeps someone from owning a
gun, that person can pursue an appeal.
America has seen what can happen when someone with severe
psychiatric issues has access to firearms. Their names and
crimes live in infamy:
In 2007, Seung Hui Cho shot to death 32 people at Virginia
Tech University before killing himself. Two years earlier, a
judge had deemed Cho an ``imminent danger'' because of mental
illness and ordered him to seek treatment. But because he was
never committed, that assessment never got recorded in the
federal database of people ineligible to buy guns. Cho passed
the background check and bought the guns he would wield at
Virginia Tech.
In 2011, Jared Loughner shot U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords
in the head and murdered six other people in Tucson, Ark.
In 2012, James Holmes strode into a packed movie theater in
Aurora, Colo., and opened fire, killing 12 people.
And there's Lanza, who went through months of hysterical
crying, stretches of lethargy and self-imposed isolation from
his family before unleashing terror at Sandy Hook Elementary
School. ``I didn't understand that Adam was drifting away,''
his father, Peter Lanza, told The New Yorker in 2014.
These crimes showcase the dangers in allowing severely
troubled individuals to buy firearms. The rule the House
voted to scrap doesn't cast so wide a net that it applies to
anyone seeking psychiatric treatment. It's specific in scope,
and anchored by a common-sense premise that many House
Republicans ignored: If a person's psychiatric disorder is
disabling enough that the individual cannot work or deal with
money-managing, bright red flags are being raised about his
or her capacity for sound judgment.
To us, that's a logical, well-grounded reason why he or she
shouldn't own a gun.
Mr. DURBIN. We can also read editorials in the St. Louis Post-
Dispatch, the Charlotte Observer, the New York Times, and more.
Now listen specifically to the pleas of gunshot victims and their
family members. Listen to Patrick Korellis, of Chicago, whom I have
met. He was shot in a classroom 9 years ago at Northern Illinois
University by a man who had a serious mental illness. He wrote to me
and he said:
I was shot in my classroom by someone who was mentally ill,
and was able to obtain guns and a lot of ammunition because
the background checks weren't strong enough. Rolling back
some of these background checks doesn't make any sense, and
will allow more people to get through the loopholes.
Now listen to Janet Delana of Wellington, MO. She wrote to Congress:
My daughter Colby, a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic who
lived at home with her father and I, received monthly Social
Security disability payments for her mental illness. In 2012
she used the money from her disability check to buy a gun at
a local gun dealer. Because she was ill and suicidal, I had
contacted the gun dealer and begged him not to sell her a
gun. However, my pleas were ignored and the dealer sold her a
gun anyway because Colby passed the background check. An hour
later, she shot her father to death and tried once again to
take her own life. She is now in an institution for life, and
my husband is gone.
Janet said:
This SSA Rule is vital. I am very concerned this resolution
would preclude SSA and possibly even other agencies from
enacting any future regulations on this or related matters.
We have a public health crisis when it comes to gun violence--in
Chicago and in communities across the Nation. We have a responsibility
to do what we can on the Federal level to reduce the violence and
protect our citizens from getting shot. Voting for this resolution of
disapproval today would be a step backward. It would weaken the gun
laws on the books and make it easier for severely mentally ill people
to get guns. On this, the ninth anniversary of the shooting at Northern
Illinois University in DeKalb, it is unthinkable that we are going to
try to revoke a rule that would keep guns out of the hands of those who
should have no business owning them.
Let me conclude with a statement from Bloomberg business magazine,
published in an edition several weeks ago:
Advocates for the mentally ill caution that mental illness
shouldn't be equated with a penchant for violence. They're
right. But America's tragic experience with mentally ill
gunmen--from shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007 to Newtown,
Connecticut, in 2012--shows the folly of simply dismissing
the danger.
In recent years Republicans have prioritized instant
gratification for anyone who desires to buy a gun. Last year
the National Rifle Association spent $50 million on the
campaigns of Donald Trump and six Republican senators. NRA
leader Wayne LaPierre, who met with Trump this week, wants
payback.
The Obama rule established a process for identifying only
Social Security beneficiaries who would be prohibited from
possessing guns under existing law. It required
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that beneficiaries be notified of the prohibition, and it
provided means to appeal the determination before an
administrative law judge or a federal court.
Such provisions would safeguard individual rights. But they
offend the fundamental principle that drives the NRA, and
thus Republican, gun politics: Anyone should be able to get a
gun at any time for any reason and bring that weapon, loaded,
anywhere.
Common sense dictates that we be careful to keep guns out of the
hands of those who would misuse them. I sincerely hope that gun owners
across my State and across the Nation--and I respect them and their
constitutional right--will understand that reasonable limitations on
the possession and ownership of firearms is in the best interest of
protecting their Second Amendment rights as well.
I yield the floor.
Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I would like to express my support for the
nomination of Linda McMahon to the position of Administrator of the
U.S. Small Business Administration.
Linda McMahon is an interesting candidate for this position. As the
cofounder and former CEO of the WWE, she built a small regional
business into an entertainment behemoth. Along the way she struggled to
meet payroll, market the business, learn State and Federal regulatory
regimes, manage a traveling workforce, learn new media platforms, and
navigate new revenue streams.
Each of these accomplishments is impressive. But what makes Linda
McMahon unique for this role is the fact that, on her path to success,
she made serious enough mistakes that she was forced to declare
personal bankruptcy and apply for government assistance. I think having
an Administrator who has started her own small business and met and
overcame significant challenges along her way is of tremendous value.
Having been in the trenches herself, she will really be able to
evaluate the efficacy of current small business programs, and she may
very well be able to suggest substantive improvements or even new
directions.
I was also particularly impressed with Mrs. McMahon's performance
during her confirmation hearing. When she knew the answer to a question
posed by a Senator, she answered it. When she didn't know the answer,
she said so. She appeared to have an open mind about issues and struck
me as sincerely interested in working on all issues with all of the
Senators, regardless of political or geographical affiliations.
Linda McMahon has expressed her interest in helping small businesses
thrive. She understands how difficult it can be for entrepreneurs to
access capital. She knows that small businesses have a hard time
competing for Federal contracts. She knows that small business owners
sometimes need advice and guidance--and she believes in the value of
training and support programs.
I support Linda McMahon's nomination because, not only is she
interested in having the job of Administrator, she appears to have
genuine interest in doing the job. She clearly enjoys using her
business skills and experience to mentor entrepreneurs, and I believe
that she will apply her tenacity to protecting and hopefully improving
Federal support systems for America's entrepreneurs.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. President, Congress created the Small Business
Administration in 1953 to ``aid, counsel, assist and protect, insofar
as is possible, the interests of small business concerns.'' The SBA now
provides financial assistance, help with Federal contract procurement,
and management assistance. The agency makes specialized outreach to
women, minorities, and veterans. SBA also provides loans to victims of
natural disasters and specialized advice and assistance in
international trade.
The President has nominated Linda McMahon to run the SBA. Mrs.
McMahon and her husband founded Titan Sports in 1980. The business grew
dramatically under their leadership. Mrs. McMahon became president in
1993 and CEO of the company in 1997. The company became World Wrestling
Entertainment and then simply WWE.
Unfortunately, the McMahons appear to have grown their business at
least in part using business practices that disadvantaged their
employees. The Connecticut Post and the Hartford Courant reported that
WWE did not offer its wrestlers health insurance, as McMahon argued the
company's wrestlers were independent contractors. And the Connecticut
Post reported that Connecticut audited McMahon's company to determine
if WWE improperly classified employees as independent contractors.
An investigation led by Representative Henry Waxman found that
McMahon's WWE did not do enough to prevent steroid use. Representative
Waxman's committee found that, at one point, 40 percent of WWE's
wrestlers tested positive for steroids and other drugs, even after
being warned in advance that they were going to be tested. A WWE
``house doctor'' was reportedly convicted and sentenced to prison for
steroid trafficking. And the New York Daily News reported that an
Albany district attorney probe into a widespread Internet doping
scandal involved several WWE wrestlers.
And more than 50 former professional wrestlers sued McMahon's WWE,
charging that the company was responsible for repeated head trauma that
they suffered, often involving specific moves scripted and
choreographed by WWE.
The SBA needs strong leadership to advance the interests of our
Nation's hard-working small businesses, but it does not need a leader
who will advance profits at workers' expense. Mrs. McMahon's business
experience leads me to be concerned that she will not put people over
profits, and thus, I must oppose the nomination.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.
Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak on the
Republican time for up to 10 minutes, with 5 minutes reserved for
Senator Risch, on the nomination of Linda McMahon to serve as
Administrator of the Small Business Administration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, today, in just a few minutes, the Senate
will be voting on the nomination of Linda McMahon to serve as
Administrator of, I believe, one of the very important agencies within
the Federal Government that sometimes doesn't get the recognition it
deserves; that is, the Small Business Administration.
Before I begin my remarks, I wish to take a minute to acknowledge the
good work of two previous SBA Administrators, Karen Mills and Maria
Contreras-Sweet. Both served in this very important role during the
Obama administration and, particularly during the financial crisis,
really served as a lifeline for so many of our small businesses. So I
thank these two leaders for their tireless work.
When I was first elected to the Senate in 2008, one of the reasons I
joined the Small Business Committee was its reputation as a place where
you could work across the aisle to get things done in a bipartisan way
because supporting small businesses is not a Republican or a Democratic
issue; it is an American issue.
That dynamic was on display at Mrs. McMahon's confirmation hearing,
where not one but two of her former rivals introduced her. Senators
Blumenthal and Murphy, both of whom ran very spirited campaigns against
Ms. McMahon--and both of whom defeated her--actually testified to her
passion for small business and her qualifications for this new
responsibility. After the hearing, the Small Business Committee
favorably reported her nomination to the Senate by a vote of 18 to 1. I
thank my colleague Chairman Risch for working with me during this
process and ensuring that the nomination was thoroughly vetted.
While I have opposed a number of President Trump's nominees, I want
to take a few minutes to explain why I will support Linda McMahon for
this important position.
My home State of New Hampshire is a small business State. More than
96 percent of our employers are considered small businesses, according
to the SBA's Office of Advocacy.
But small businesses aren't just important in New Hampshire. They are
really the engine that drives our national economy. Small businesses
create two out of every three new jobs in the United States. They are
also leaders when it comes to innovation, producing 14 times more
patents than large businesses.
Unfortunately, like so many of our larger businesses, many of our
small businesses still have not fully recovered from the great
recession. For our
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economy to continue to improve, we need to level the playing field for
small businesses and unleash their potential. That is why the SBA and
its programs are so critical. Last year alone, the SBA backed more than
70,000 loans to small businesses, supporting $29 billion in lending and
nearly 700,000 jobs. The SBA also helped small businesses win more than
$90 billion in Federal contracts, provided counseling to more than 1
million entrepreneurs, and helped many small businesses reach foreign
markets.
I was in the New Hampshire State Senate in the early nineties when we
experienced a recession that closed five of the State's seven largest
banks and put so many of our small businesses into bankruptcy. The one
Federal agency that helped keep our small businesses going in New
Hampshire during those very dark years was the SBA. I have seen very
directly what a difference SBA makes to businesses in New Hampshire and
across this country.
As part of the confirmation process, I was able to work with my
colleagues on the Small Business Committee to look into Mrs. McMahon's
background as a successful entrepreneur, as well as her vision for the
SBA. I was pleased to learn that Mrs. McMahon shares my vision for a
strong SBA that will support America's entrepreneurs. I was
particularly pleased to learn, unlike some previous reports, that she
opposes efforts to merge the SBA into another agency, so she does not
believe it should be part of the Department of Commerce. Maintaining
the SBA's independence and keeping the Administrator of the SBA as a
Cabinet-level position is essential to ensuring that the voices of
small businesses are heard in Washington.
We also need to make sure the SBA programs are valued in this
administration. We have seen what can happen when SBA does not receive
the respect it deserves from the White House. The George W. Bush
administration cut the SBA's budget dramatically, by 32 percent--more
than any other agency during those years. We can't afford to repeat
that mistake. Entrepreneurs across this country, from rural communities
to inner cities, rely on the SBA and its programs.
I could cite countless success stories, but let me just note one
example I recently heard in New Hampshire from Julie Lapham, who is
founder and chief sales officer of a startup in Dover, NH, called
Popzup.
Popzup is a family-owned business that provides a new popcorn product
for health-conscious consumers. Julie's inspiration for her business
was her mother, who is diabetic and had started to eat popcorn every
day because of the food's low glycemic index. Julie wanted to give her
mother more options than the microwave popcorn you see in the grocery
store, so she created a convenient product that doesn't use chemicals,
plastic, or silicone. Her company's popcorn is environmentally friendly
and sourced from American farms that don't use GMO products.
As a startup, Julie faces a lot of challenges: getting funding to
expand her business, keeping the books, figuring out how to market her
products. Large companies have the resources to figure these things
out, but Julie needs a level playing field to compete, and that is
where the SBA and its resource partners come in.
Julie wrote:
We often feel vulnerable because we are self-funded and
need to master all aspects of running our business;
marketing, manufacture, selling, and accounting.
Julie has been working with advisers at the New Hampshire Small
Business Development Center, SBDC. They operate in every State, and
they are resource partners who provided counseling to Julie and also
provide counseling to small businesses like Julie's across the country.
I don't think there is a week that goes by when we are not
stopping by each other's offices, emailing, and talking on
the phone. I can honestly state that we would not have a
chance at success without their ongoing support and
encouragement.
I am sure my colleagues in the Senate are aware of similar SBA
success stories in their own States.
We all know this agency plays a vital role in our economy, but there
is more that can be done. For our economy to thrive, we need to focus
on ways to further strengthen the SBA so that it can increase
opportunities for entrepreneurs to start new ventures and help existing
small businesses grow. That is especially important in largely rural
States like New Hampshire where it can be harder to get a loan or
counseling. Entrepreneurs like Julie need a strong Administrator who
understands the value of programs like the Small Business Development
Centers. They need someone who will be their voice in Washington and
bring out the best in the SBA. During the confirmation process, Mrs.
McMahon pledged that she shares this view and wants to strengthen the
role SBA plays in assisting our Nation's small businesses. In fact, she
said she was passionate about small business.
For these reasons, I intend to support her confirmation today. I look
forward to continuing to work with Chairman Risch as we support SBA in
the coming years.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho.
Mr. RISCH. Mr. President, first of all, let me say thank you to my
friend and colleague, the ranking member of the Committee on Small
Business and Entrepreneurship. We have worked together successfully on
several projects, and I have no doubt that we will continue to work
together to benefit small businesses and entrepreneurship here in
America.
I rise today to support the nomination by President Trump of Linda
McMahon to head the Small Business Administration. Linda McMahon has
strong bipartisan support, which is rare here in Washington, DC, these
days. At the confirmation hearing, Mrs. McMahon was introduced by,
endorsed by, and spoken well of by her two Connecticut Senators,
Senator Blumenthal and Senator Murphy. Perhaps for the first time in
history, we had a member of the opposite party supported by the two
Senators from that State, from the other party. But most importantly,
she had run against both of those people, so they had been adversaries
previously, but they appeared before the committee to enthusiastically
endorse her as the head of the SBA and as President Trump's appointee.
Senator Blumenthal said: ``She is an excellent fit for this agency
based on her experience and her expertise as a business leader.
Senator Murphy stated: ``I will never question whether she has the
experience and the determination necessary to lead this great agency.''
These are strong endorsements by people of the other party for a
person who has been nominated by President Trump.
This is an important agency. It is not a particularly large agency,
but it certainly services one of the, if not the most important sector
of our economy.
It is important to note that these two colleagues of ours came and
supported Mrs. McMahon before the committee.
Those people who have been watching what is going on in this city
since the election, particularly in regard to the appointment by
President Trump of his Cabinet, as he has attempted to fill his Cabinet
and seen the obstructionism that has taken place as he tries to fill
that Cabinet, know that this city has become a caldron of anger,
bitterness, and acrimony since the States came together and selected
Donald Trump to be the President of these United States. So it is good
for a bipartisan effort on one of these Cabinet members, and Linda
McMahon is that person.
Linda McMahon is not a bureaucrat. She is about as far from that as
you possibly can get. In 1982 she and her husband took over a small
business and turned it into a family business and have operated it
since 1982. Of particular importance was her description of how she and
her husband got there and their struggles as they started with a small
business that actually failed. I think her description of that and her
feelings about that and how she and her family struggled with that
built the character they needed to start the business they did in 1982.
They took that business from 1982 from a small company, very few
employees and family only, to what is now a publicly traded company
with a global brand.
Mrs. McMahon has the experience in the small business world, from her
struggles at the beginning and her
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great success as she worked through making this business succeed, to
actually understand what small businesses go through.
In meeting with her and discussing with her the importance of what we
do on the Small Business Committee, I can tell you that she shares the
passion that I have about what we can do with the Committee on Small
Business and Entrepreneurship and, indeed, all committees in the U.S.
Senate; that is, get the government out of the way while Americans
attempt to build a business. She shares the passion that I have with
reducing to a bare minimum the regulatory structure that has grown up
in America today and is really stifling businesses at all levels but
particularly businesses at the small end of the scale.
We all know that when the government enacts a regulation, which
happens all too frequently--hourly, every day, several every day--and
they are laid down in front of businesses, a large business really has
substantially less difficulty dealing with those.
Large businesses will tell you that is the largest challenge they
have today, the most significant challenge they have; that is,
overcoming the barriers that are put in place by the government as they
attempt to succeed and as they attempt to do business. When a
regulation is laid down, a large business has an army and a fleet of
lawyers and compliance officers and accountants who can work through
these regulations. If you are a small business and you are fixing lawn
mowers in your garage and you get a 30-page questionnaire from the
government that has significant implications for what is going to
happen to you, it is very burdensome and cuts deeply into the progress
you are trying to make as a small business and provide for your family.
We have an operation within the Small Business Administration called
the Office of Advocacy. The committee has attempted to grow and
strengthen its independence. The purpose of the Office of Advocacy is
to stand up whenever the government acts in a way that affects small
businesses and say: Wait. Stop. Think about this. Look what you are
doing and look how this is going to affect business--and particularly
small business--in America, the regulations you are attempting to
impose.
Linda McMahon shares my passion in that regard. I have every reason
to believe she is going to assist in strengthening that particular
division within the Small Business Administration.
Based upon her qualifications, based upon her view of small business
and entrepreneurship, based upon her experience in small business and
in growing small business, and based upon what I think perhaps is going
to be one of the only bipartisan efforts we make to construct the
Cabinet or assist the President in constructing his Cabinet, I strongly
recommend and join my colleague the ranking member in urging all
Members of the Senate to support Linda McMahon in this effort and in
her confirmation.
With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor.
I yield back all time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time is yielded back.
The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the McMahon
nomination?
Mr. RISCH. 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.
The result was announced--yeas 81, nays 19, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 65 Ex.]
YEAS--81
Alexander
Barrasso
Bennet
Blumenthal
Blunt
Boozman
Burr
Cantwell
Capito
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Cassidy
Cochran
Collins
Coons
Corker
Cornyn
Cortez Masto
Cotton
Crapo
Cruz
Daines
Donnelly
Duckworth
Enzi
Ernst
Feinstein
Fischer
Flake
Franken
Gardner
Graham
Grassley
Hassan
Hatch
Heitkamp
Heller
Hirono
Hoeven
Inhofe
Isakson
Johnson
Kaine
Kennedy
King
Klobuchar
Lankford
Leahy
Lee
Manchin
McCain
McCaskill
McConnell
Menendez
Moran
Murkowski
Murphy
Nelson
Paul
Perdue
Peters
Portman
Risch
Roberts
Rounds
Rubio
Sasse
Scott
Shaheen
Shelby
Stabenow
Strange
Sullivan
Tester
Thune
Tillis
Toomey
Warner
Wicker
Young
NAYS--19
Baldwin
Booker
Brown
Durbin
Gillibrand
Harris
Heinrich
Markey
Merkley
Murray
Reed
Sanders
Schatz
Schumer
Udall
Van Hollen
Warren
Whitehouse
Wyden
The nomination was confirmed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Flake). 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.
____________________