[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 27, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1232-S1233]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      No-Fly List Gun Legislation

  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. President, I rise today in support of bipartisan 
legislation aimed at ensuring that those individuals who are on the 
Department of Homeland Security's no-fly list are likewise not able to 
have access to guns. I just met with several of the students from the 
shooting at the school in Florida and heard the very compelling case 
they have made to take this issue seriously and do what we can on a 
commonsense basis to make it more difficult for those who shouldn't 
have guns to have guns.
  Regardless of what happened in Florida these past couple of weeks, 
this is a measure we should have taken before. It has been brought to 
the floor of the Senate, and it has received majority support here. I 
think it is simply common sense that someone who is not permitted to 
fly in this country and is considered by the Federal Government to be a 
potential threat to national security should not be allowed to purchase 
a firearm.
  The no-fly list and the selectee list that we are talking about is 
composed of those who are not allowed to fly. With the selectee list, 
it is those who require additional screening. These are both narrowly 
tailored, defined, targeted lists.
  This restriction would affect just a small number of people, all of 
whom would be afforded due process under the Constitution. Those who 
find themselves on either of these lists would have the authority to 
challenge that designation, and the onus would be on the government, 
not the individual; the onus would be on the government to justify the 
classification and to prove that they should not be allowed to purchase 
a firearm. These are strong, robust, due process protections that would 
make sure that these restrictions are constitutionally sound.
  This bill also adds another layer of safety for citizens from those 
who would do us harm, ensuring that anyone who has been denied the 
right to fly cannot purchase a weapon without at least undergoing 
additional scrutiny. It simply stands to reason that if we fear that 
someone may use our commercial airlines as a weapon or to

[[Page S1233]]

harm those on board, we should not allow that same person to purchase a 
weapon without additional scrutiny.
  I encourage my colleagues to review this bipartisan legislation and 
to join me, along with Senator Collins and a number of our colleagues 
here--a bipartisan group of Senators--in supporting this commonsense 
piece of legislation.
  I hope we will have a debate on some of these measures. I will be 
talking in the coming days about some of the other measures that we 
ought to take to make sure that we don't put guns in the hands of those 
who shouldn't have them.
  My heart goes out to those in Florida, and my vote will go here to 
measures that will make schools safer.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, today the Senate is voting to confirm 
Judge Elizabeth Branch to serve as a U.S. circuit court judge for the 
Eleventh Circuit. Judge Branch was favorably reported out of the 
Judiciary Committee on a 19-2 bipartisan vote. She has broad bipartisan 
support from her home State of Georgia. The American Bar Association 
rated Judge Branch as unanimously well-qualified. If the Senate 
confirms Judge Branch, as I am confident it will, she will be the 
fourth woman confirmed by the Senate to the Federal courts of appeals 
in the 115th Congress, three more than the one woman confirmed at this 
point in President Obama's first term.
  Judge Branch's judicial career and broad range of legal experiences 
have well prepared her to serve on the Eleventh Circuit. Judge Branch 
was appointed to the Georgia Court of Appeals in 2012. In her time on 
the appellate bench, she has participated in over 1,500 cases. Before 
joining the bench, Judge Branch spent several years in private 
practice. She also served in government, including her role as a top 
lawyer for the Department of Homeland Security. Judge Branch received 
her B.A. from Davidson College and her J.D. from Emory. After law 
school, Judge Branch clerked for Judge Owen Forrester on the U.S. 
District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
  As I noted earlier, if confirmed, Judge Branch will become the fourth 
female circuit court judge confirmed under President Trump. Her 
confirmation puts her in good company, joining a class of first-rate 
female jurists and legal scholars. She will join a group that includes: 
Seventh Circuit Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a former professor at Notre 
Dame University Law School and law clerk to Justice Scalia; Tenth 
Circuit Judge Allison Eid, a former Colorado Supreme Court Justice and 
law clerk to Justice Thomas; and Sixth Circuit Judge Joan Larsen, 
another clerk of Justice Scalia and former Michigan Supreme Court 
justice. I am confident that Judge Branch will serve as an excellent 
addition to this outstanding class of female circuit court judges.
  Judge Branch's impressive background and bipartisan support suggest 
that she will be an excellent court of appeals judge. I am pleased to 
support her nomination today.
  Mr. FLAKE. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Flake). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Under the previous order, all postcloture time is expired.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Branch 
nomination?
  Mr. WICKER. 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 assistant bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the 
Senator from Arizona (Mr. McCain), the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. 
Rounds), and the Senator from Alaska (Mr. Sullivan).
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Jones) is 
necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Johnson). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 73, nays 23, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 38 Ex.]

                                YEAS--73

     Alexander
     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Bennet
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Burr
     Capito
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Cassidy
     Cochran
     Collins
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Donnelly
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Feinstein
     Fischer
     Flake
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hassan
     Hatch
     Heitkamp
     Heller
     Hirono
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kaine
     Kennedy
     King
     Klobuchar
     Lankford
     Leahy
     Lee
     Manchin
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Nelson
     Paul
     Perdue
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Smith
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Young

                               NAYS-- 23

     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cortez Masto
     Duckworth
     Gillibrand
     Harris
     Heinrich
     Markey
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murphy
     Murray
     Peters
     Reed
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Stabenow
     Udall
     Warren
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--4

     Jones
     McCain
     Rounds
     Sullivan
  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.

                          ____________________