[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 2 (Thursday, January 4, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S38-S39]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                    Accomplishments of the Congress

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I know we are back, fresh from the 
holidays, at the start of a new year, and all of us are already 
thinking a lot and working hard on the tasks we have at hand. We have a 
lot to do, especially before the next continuing resolution expires on 
January 19.
  But I don't want to make the mistake of failing to recount the good 
work we were able to accomplish on behalf of the American people in 
2017 because, sometimes, in the hustle and bustle of life, we fail to 
acknowledge those things that we have actually been able to do, for 
which we ought to be grateful, and that our constituents need to know 
about. I would like to take just a few minutes to do exactly that 
because, unfortunately, in the hyperpolitical and hyperpolarized 
political environment we live in today--especially with the advent of 
social media--there are always some naysayers and pundits who want to 
offer their comments. One of the things I have noticed most about many 
of those naysayers and pundits when they comment on what is happening 
here in Washington is how little they know about the facts. The facts 
matter, and I want to offer those for the public's consideration now.
  In January of last year, the Nation was quickly called to order 
following the inauguration of President Trump. One of his first actions 
was to nominate Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court. I think most of 
us were astonished at the quality of this selection, many of us not 
being familiar with the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals on which Justice 
Gorsuch served in Denver, CO.
  Justice Gorsuch was quickly confirmed in April, and then we moved on 
to fill other judicial vacancies, which, of course, are the prerogative 
of the President to make that nomination and to then be confirmed with 
the advice and consent of the Senate. We, like the President, have made 
filling these judicial vacancies a priority.
  The fact is, though, that the Senate is in the personnel business. In 
other words, our friends in the House of Representatives don't have to 
vote on confirmation of judges and other Presidential nominees, but we 
in the Senate have that responsibility. All told, we have confirmed 19 
men and women to the Federal bench in 2017, setting a record for 
appellate judges confirmed during a President's first year in office. 
Two of them, Jim Ho and Don Willett, I am pleased to say, will serve 
from Texas on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that sits in New 
Orleans. These are exceptionally qualified nominees--and typical in 
that description of the types of people that President Trump has 
selected to serve in the Federal judiciary.
  But our work wasn't just confined to confirming the President's 
nominees. After 8 years of overreach, hundreds of burdensome rules 
passed during the

[[Page S39]]

previous administration--many in the waning hours of President Obama's 
Presidency--were rolled back or suspended. I am glad Congress did its 
part, using the Congressional Review Act to roll back 15 harmful 
regulations last year. As much as anything, I think that has 
contributed to the soaring stock market, the increase in consumer 
confidence, and the extraordinary rebound of our economy.
  As last summer began, we passed a bill funding Texas priorities. It 
funded things like the National Space Administration programs at 
Houston's Johnson Space Center, which will advance missions, hopefully 
back to the moon and eventually to Mars. We allowed through that 
funding to make sure that the Department of Homeland Security had what 
they needed to hire additional Border Patrol and agents at ports of 
entry to improve those checkpoints and to add immigration court judges 
too.
  I remember thinking about Hurricane Harvey. A friend of mine years 
ago asked the rhetorical question: Do you know what makes God laugh? 
Then he answered: When we make plans.
  Hurricane Harvey is perhaps an example of that, because we were 
making other plans when we got this natural disaster known as Hurricane 
Harvey.
  Texas was pummeled with the most extreme rain event in the history of 
the United States, devastating more than 28,000 square miles along the 
coast. I, along with the entire Texas congressional delegation, helped 
secure roughly $30 billion for recovery efforts, but the thing I am 
most proud of is the way ordinary Texans responded to their neighbors 
in need. They weren't waiting around for Washington to act first. They 
wanted to act to help their neighbors, their community, and their 
State.
  Recognizing we have the Presiding Officer from Louisiana, I just want 
to make special note of the Cajun Navy that came over from Louisiana to 
help rescue people off of their rooftops. That is part of what makes 
not only Texas and Louisiana great, but it is what makes America great, 
too, when people will come to the aid of their fellow Americans.
  As Texans tore out sheetrock and molded carpet in their living rooms, 
Federal resources helped piece together the lives disrupted. Now we 
have to make sure we complete the task by delivering additional relief 
not only to Texas but to Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, 
as well as to those States devastated by the wildfires out West. The 
House having passed a substantial disaster relief bill and sent it over 
to us, I am hopeful that is something we will take up and pass very 
soon, perhaps as soon as January 19.
  I spoke about natural disasters, but now let me turn to a manmade 
disaster. After the hurricane, Texas was dealt a second blow just 2 
months later, when a man opened fire at a church in Sutherland Springs, 
TX. With multiple convictions for domestic violence, a felony 
conviction, and a history of mental illness, this individual should 
never have been able to legally purchase a firearm because, under 
existing law, those conditions disqualify you from being able to 
purchase a firearm, if you are a convicted felon, convicted of domestic 
violence, or have a history of mental illness.
  That is why, following this terrible disaster where 26 people were 
killed, I introduced the bipartisan Fix NICS Act--that is, Fix the 
National Instant Criminal Background Check System Act--to ensure 
existing laws are enforced and convicted felons don't exploit our 
background check system by lying and buying. I am going to continue to 
urge the passage of this important piece of legislation, which is, as I 
say, bipartisan, as it should be.
  The fall of 2017 gave way to winter and soon came the flurries of 
snow not only here in Washington but back home in Texas. The week 
before Christmas, we completed comprehensive tax reform--a historic 
overhaul of the Tax Code and the first in more than three decades.
  We said originally that our goals were threefold: One was to make the 
Tax Code simpler; the second was to make sure everybody in every tax 
bracket saw a decrease in their tax liability; and third was to make 
the American Tax Code competitive in the global economy. Until that 
point, we had the highest tax rate in the industrialized world, which 
caused companies to move or invest offshore and create jobs in other 
countries rather than the United States because we had the most 
burdensome tax in the industrialized world.
  As I said, this bill--now law--reduces taxes in all income brackets 
and boosts the standard deduction and child tax credit. This means that 
only 1 out of 10 taxpayers will likely choose to itemize because they 
will actually benefit more from the standard deduction along with the 
child tax credit. It will allow businesses to add jobs, raise wages, 
and reinvest in the United States from overseas. For example, a family 
of four making the median income will see their taxes drop by more than 
$2,000--a reduction of nearly 58 percent.
  Tax reform complements an economy that has already been truly 
unleashed under this administration. Just since January, the economy 
has added 1.7 million new jobs, and over the last two quarters, our 
economy has grown at more than 3 percent--as compared to an average of 
only 1.9 percent under the previous administration.
  While not historic in the sense that the tax bill was historic, there 
is other legislation we passed with little fanfare but significant 
impact that I would like to mention.
  One is a bill I championed called the PROTECT Our Children Act, which 
reauthorizes task forces to combat child exploitation online. The 
second I would like to mention is a bill that tackled elder abuse. A 
third, called the SAFER Act--which was signed today by the President--
reauthorizes rape kit audits and prioritizes the training of pediatric 
nurses handling sexual assault cases.
  I was shocked and chagrined a year or so ago to learn there could be 
as many as 400,000 untested rape kits either sitting in evidence 
lockers or in laboratories untested. Now, thanks to the Debbie Smith 
Act--named after a heroic woman who has championed the funding of 
Federal efforts to identify and test this backlog of rape kits--that 
number is far smaller today, but reauthorization of the SAFER Act is 
important to keep our commitment to victims of sexual assault that we 
will do everything in our power to help them identify their assailant 
and bring them to justice, and, at the same time, exonerate people who 
may be falsely accused because there is no DNA match.
  Finally, other legislation I filed and has now been signed into law 
assists police departments in hiring military veterans. We know our 
police departments are always in need of good, highly qualified 
applicants for those important first responder jobs. Once signed by the 
President, it will streamline the process that Active-Duty personnel 
and reservist members go through to apply for their commercial driver's 
license.
  We know it is a long and arduous process to apply for a commercial 
driver's license, so why not take our Active-Duty military who are soon 
to retire or our veterans and expedite their ability to qualify for a 
commercial driver's license when they leave the military?
  As I said, these bills don't grab big headlines, but they chip away 
at problems and were passed on a bipartisan basis--which I think puts 
the lie to the canard that nothing ever gets done in Washington.
  The job of men and women in Congress is to serve the people who 
elected us. This last year we made important strides, but our work is 
just beginning. As I said at the outset, there is much that lies ahead. 
Many Americans and many Texans are still knocking at the door of 
greater prosperity. I hope we will make it our New Year's resolution to 
open that door a little wider in 2018.
  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. BOOKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.