[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 86 (Thursday, May 24, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2893-S2897]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Memorial Day

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, this weekend, we honor those who have 
fought on the frontlines in battle and made the ultimate sacrifice on 
behalf of the United States of America. These men and women represent 
America at its best--a nation that is restless and unwavering in 
combating tyranny, that facilitates peace, and defends human rights and 
individual liberty across the globe; a nation that is unafraid to call 
evil by its name and then works to eradicate it through force, if 
necessary, even at great cost to itself and its own people.
  Today, in advance of the holiday weekend, I say thank you to the 
200,000 military men and women who are stationed in my State, the State 
of Texas, and to the 1.7 million veterans who call Texas home.
  Thank you for having served over the course of so many years in the 
face of so many dangers and at such great individual sacrifice.
  Of course, many of their predecessors gave their lives defending this 
country on the bloody fields of Gettysburg, in the trenches of the 
Western Front, during the storming of the beaches at Normandy, and 
during the Shock and Awe in Baghdad. These are just some examples, each 
of them unique but none of which we should ever forget.
  We must also thank the military families of those warriors. I pray 
they find peace on Monday, when many of them will place flowers on 
military grave sites and speak privately to their loved ones who have 
passed on.
  In just a few days, I will have the chance to speak to young Texans 
who thought hard about their futures and the future of our country and 
decided they want to attend our U.S. military academies. These talented 
high school students are the cream of the crop. They have been accepted 
to our Nation's five prestigious military service academies, and they 
will be gathering together, on Monday, in San Antonio.
  Even though I am not the one who has nominated all of them, we invite 
everyone who has been nominated--and their families--to come to this 
academy sendoff. This sendoff is something I look forward to each year 
because it is an inspiration to me. At a time when people talk about 
the next generation and America's future, they reassure me that our 
country still produces talented, patriotic young men and women who want 
to serve their country and want to preserve our freedom. Meeting these 
young people who are making such bold and selfless decisions speaks 
well of the character of our Nation's next generation.
  Then I will be heading down to Georgetown, TX, which is just outside 
of Austin, to a community called Sun City, which has a large veteran 
population. There, I will join in celebrating Memorial Day in a place 
where patriotism is not a dirty word. In Sun City, it is not an act 
either. Loving one's country and honoring fallen soldiers is simply a 
given, and I know there will be a lot of American flags on full 
display.
  In the few days leading up to Memorial Day, we should also reflect on 
our duty as Members of Congress and as a nation to support our military 
servicemembers and their families and ask whether we are living up to 
our end of the bargain in Washington, DC.

[[Page S2894]]

  Just yesterday, we took a very important step in that regard by 
passing the VA MISSION Act, which includes some of the most substantial 
reforms to the veterans' healthcare system that have been made in 
years.
  It lowers the barriers to care for veterans and gives them more 
treatment options. It also simplifies the bureaucratic system of 
community care programs and streamlines them from seven to one. It 
expands the family caregivers program, which I became convinced was 
important after having visited wounded warriors at Walter Reed. 
Frequently, because of the catastrophic injuries they have suffered, a 
spouse has had to quit his or her job and basically tend to the needs 
of that wounded warrior, just as a practical matter, and provide 
assistance in addition to the medical care that has been received. 
Expanding the family caregivers program is, I think, a step in the 
right direction.
  In this bill, we also address opioid prescription guidelines for 
outside providers and encourage the hiring and retention of more 
Veterans Health Administration healthcare professionals.
  So there is a lot to talk about when we go home for Memorial Day, and 
I look forward to talking to our Active-Duty military and our veterans 
and to demonstrating that we are doing more than just talking about it; 
we are actually doing something that will make a difference in their 
lives.
  Upon our return, I am also looking forward to continuing our hard 
work on the National Defense Authorization Act, which is something the 
Presiding Officer is intimately involved in, which was marked up 
yesterday in the Armed Services Committee.
  For 57 straight years, a Defense authorization bill has been signed 
into law by Presidents of both parties and through the hard work of 
congressional majorities that have been led by both parties. This 
year's legislation will help ensure our military has what it needs to 
achieve the most difficult missions they have ever faced and to embark 
on those that will inevitably arise tomorrow.
  I have spoken quite a bit about the China threat recently at this 
podium, and that country bears mentioning again, right now, because of 
its connection to the Defense Authorization Act.
  As the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said recently, 
it is ``[i]n the Indo-Pacific region [where] the United States faces a 
near-term, belligerent threat armed with nuclear weapons and also a 
longer-term strategic competitor.''
  China is that longer term strategic competitor, of course, and that 
is what Congressman Mac Thornberry was talking about. Yet we can't just 
stop with China and North Korea. We need to talk about Russia, Iran, 
and the civil war and terrorist threat arising out of Syria and the 
Middle East.
  All of those are important in our deliberations on the Defense 
authorization bill because the NDAA prioritizes military readiness 
across the globe where American leadership remains indispensable. It 
promotes security and stability in the Indo-Pacific, particularly 
through military exercises with our allies, and it improves Taiwan's 
defense capabilities while we keep our commitment to Taiwan that was 
established a long time ago.
  The Defense authorization bill is important for reasons that hit much 
closer to home as well. In past years, this bill has authorized needed 
improvements at Texas military facilities like Fort Hood, Joint Base 
San Antonio, the Red River Army Depot, and Ellington Field. It has also 
given our troops a much needed pay raise and updated advanced aircraft, 
ships, and ground vehicles. All of these have implications in Texas.
  As we get closer and closer to Memorial Day, let's remember what our 
Armed Forces have given for us, including their very lives, and 
everything they have given to us, which is our freedom that we enjoy 
every day.
  Let's make sure we keep up our end of the bargain here in Washington 
with legislation like the VA MISSION Act and the Defense authorization 
bill and at home with our patriotism and our frequent signs of 
appreciation for their service to our great country.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana.
  Mr. DONNELLY. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Texas for his 
inspiring words and for his devotion to Texas veterans and to American 
veterans across our country.
  As we approach Memorial Day, this is a time to honor our fallen 
soldiers and to reflect on the enormous sacrifices the men and women in 
uniform have made for us who were killed while serving this Nation.
  Mr. President, I rise to recognize the service and ultimate sacrifice 
of four Hoosier servicemembers who gave their lives in defending our 
country in the last year. The sacrifices of Ryan Lohrey, Jonathon 
Hunter, Mark Boner, and Clayton Cullen will not be forgotten.
  In July 2017, we lost Navy Corpsman Ryan Lohrey. He died with 15 
other servicemembers when a military refueling aircraft crashed in a 
soybean field in Mississippi. He was 30 years old.
  Born in Anderson, Ryan was described as selfless and patient and 
humble. He played football at Shenandoah High School in Middletown, 
where he graduated in 2005. Two years after graduation, Ryan joined the 
Navy and served our country in deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq. 
During his service, he earned a Purple Heart for being wounded in 
battle.
  Last August, Army SGT Jonathon Hunter was killed in Afghanistan. 
Jonathon was born in Columbus. He was a man of faith who loved his 
country and his family. Before joining the Army, Jonathon played 
football at Columbus East High School and then pursued his dream of 
becoming a music producer before enrolling at Indiana State University 
in Terre Haute.
  He left college to join the Army. He was 23 years old and just 32 
days into his first deployment when he and a fellow soldier were killed 
in a suicide bombing attack on a NATO convoy in southern Afghanistan. 
Jonathon was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart as well as a Bronze 
Star.
  In January, we lost SFC Mark Boner of the Indiana Army National 
Guard. Mark was born in Fort Wayne. After graduating from Elmhurst High 
School in 1993, he answered the call to serve his country.
  Mark enjoyed being at the lake, and he was a fan of the Notre Dame 
Fighting Irish. He served in the Army and in the Indiana National 
Guard. Mark had completed tours in both Iraq and Kuwait and died at 
Fort Hood, TX, where he was training for his third deployment for his 
country. He was only 43 years old.
  Also in January, we lost another Hoosier: Army 1LT Clayton Cullen, of 
Bicknell. Clay graduated from North Knox High School in 2011, where he 
played soccer and served as student body president. After high school, 
he earned a degree from Indiana University and was in the school's ROTC 
program.
  Clay was 25. He died when the helicopter he was aboard with another 
servicemember crashed at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, 
CA.
  Each of these courageous men has left behind family, friends, and 
loved ones who miss them every day, miss them more tomorrow, and even 
more the following day.
  As we pay tribute to these servicemembers, let us also recognize 
their families. Our hearts go out to every one of them, not only on 
Memorial Day but every day. At everything from family dinners and get-
togethers to holidays, someone is missing their husband, their father, 
their brother or son. There is an empty seat that every heart wishes 
was filled.
  While nothing could ever fill the void left by the loss of these 
servicemembers, their legacies live on through their families. The 
people I speak about represent not only the best of Hoosier values but 
of America's values. They serve their country so that we all can be 
safe, so that we all can be secure, so that we all can have our freedom 
protected. We grieve for them and we miss them. I join every Hoosier in 
praying for their friends, family, and fellow servicemembers.
  On Memorial Day, we will pause to commemorate the extraordinary 
sacrifice so many men and women in uniform from across our State and 
Nation have made. Every day, in conflict zones across the world, 
American servicemembers put themselves in harm's way. We thank them for 
their courage

[[Page S2895]]

and bravery, and we remember the patriots who lost their lives and 
exemplified the very best of what our country is and can be.
  One other note, I remember a few years ago when I was driving through 
Starke County, IN. It was early in the morning on Memorial Day. I drove 
through the town of Walkerton, IN. It was early in the morning. In the 
town cemetery there were a couple of dads and moms and their children. 
They were putting flags on every veteran's grave who had served our 
country and devoted their lives to our Nation. That scene that I saw 
was being duplicated in towns all across my State and all across our 
country, because the one thing all of us as Americans understand--
whether we live in Indiana, Philadelphia, or in Ohio--is that there are 
young men and women from other towns and from other States who lost 
their lives to protect us, and we are all in it for each other. We are 
all in it together as Americans.
  On Memorial Day, please say a prayer and think about all those who 
gave us the chance to celebrate our freedoms.
  May God bless Indiana, and may God bless the United States of 
America.
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  I yield back.
  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. BROWN. 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. BROWN. Mr. President, last week, Pope Francis released an 
unprecedented document detailing what is wrong with our financial 
system. That the Pope thought it was that important to weigh in tells 
you a lot about where we are as a nation.
  We have an economy, the Pope noted, that defines success by corporate 
profits and measures time in quarterly earnings reports. That is not 
how families think. Washington may think that way, corporate CEOs may 
think that way, but families mark time in school years, in 30-year 
mortgages, and in years left to save for retirement. That is why the 
Pope called our current financial system ``an inadequate framework that 
excludes the common good.''
  Right now, working families are struggling in this country. The 
economic statistics may look rosy, but they mask serious problems that 
hold too many workers back and prevent entire communities from sharing 
in that growth.
  The Pope warned last week that ``work itself, together with its 
dignity, is increasingly at risk of losing its value.'' Work is 
increasingly at risk of losing its value. Our economy simply doesn't 
value work the way it should.
  Over the past 40 years, the link between productivity and wage 
increases has eroded. Profits have gone up, CEO compensation has gone 
up, worker productivity has gone up, but wages have been stagnant. 
Workers simply don't get the help they should in compensation. Workers 
simply don't share in the wealth they create for stockholders and the 
wealth they create for executives and the wealth they create for CEOs.
  Wages have ticked up a tiny bit recently, but, looking at the long 
run, they have been largely flat. Think about this: If there are 100 
people in the Galleries, if they are average--maybe they are, maybe 
they aren't. If there are 100 people in the Galleries, 44 of them can't 
afford an emergency expense of $400. Think about that. If they are a 
$15-an-hour worker and their car breaks down and it costs $600, what do 
they do? They go to get a payday loan, and we know what happens when 
they do that. Forty-four percent of American adults can't afford an 
emergency expense of $400.
  This is even more troubling: One in four renters in this country 
spends at least half their income on housing. If one thing goes wrong 
in their lives--if their child gets sick--they are unlikely to have 
sick leave or vacation days. So if their child gets sick, they either 
send their child to school sick or they stay home with their daughter 
or son and lose a day's pay. And if they are spending 50 percent of 
their income on housing, what happens? They are likely to be evicted, 
likely to be foreclosed on if they own their home and then their lives 
really spiral down.
  In light of all that, this Congress thought the best thing to do was 
pass another giveaway to the big banks because Wall Street hasn't done 
enough. This body can't help itself. They fall all over themselves. The 
lobbyists going in and out of Leader McConnell's office, and the Wall 
Street lobbyists--the White House increasingly looks like a retreat for 
Wall Street executives. This body just falls all over itself. We always 
have to help Wall Street. Over the next 7 or 8 years, 80 percent of the 
tax-cut bill that was passed last year will go to the richest 1 percent 
of the country, as if they need the help.
  The giveaway to the big banks the President is going to sign tomorrow 
comes on the heels of a $1.5 trillion--how much is a trillion? A 
trillion is 1,000 billion. How much is a billion? A billion is 1,000 
million. It was a $1.5 trillion deficit-financed tax cut for 
millionaires and more likely billionaires who control one political 
party in this body. It was tax cuts for billionaires and corporations 
that ship jobs overseas. Apparently that is just not enough, so this 
week, the House passed a bill loosening taxpayer protections on big 
banks that received a combined $239 billion in taxpayer bailouts. Think 
about that. It weakens stress tests for all large banks. It opens the 
door to less oversight of foreign megabanks.
  This bill also eliminates data-gathering that guards against mortgage 
discrimination. We are bringing back redlining. There has been no 
racial discrimination in housing in this country, apparently, so let 
the banks and let the government that sometimes goes along with the 
banks get that red pencil--it is done with computers now--and draw 
around those neighborhoods so that those families--often people of 
color but not always--can't get equal access to home mortgages.
  The Congressional Budget Office, which is the independent, 
nonpartisan scorekeeper, confirmed that this bill that just passed 
would increase the likelihood of a big bank failure and a financial 
crisis and would add $670 million to the deficit.
  What problem exactly is this Congress trying to solve?
  One of my favorite quotes is from Abraham Lincoln. He was in the 
White House, and his staff wanted him to stay there and win the war and 
free the slaves and preserve the Union. He said: No. I have to go out 
and get my ``public opinion baths.''
  When I go back to Cleveland, where I live, or when I see my grandkids 
in Columbus or when I go anywhere else in the State, I go out and 
listen to people, and I try to get these public opinion baths. Never 
once have I heard somebody say: You know, Senator, with the problems we 
have, the first thing we have to do is weaken regulations to help Wall 
Street. I never hear that. The only people who say that are bankers and 
a bunch of politicians who are all well compensated, who have very good 
healthcare paid for by taxpayers, and who do what the banks want them 
to do.
  The FDIC--the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation--released new 
data this week. Banks increased their profits by 13 percent over the 
last year. Of those 100 people in the Galleries, how many of them got a 
13-percent raise last year? Well, banks increased their already strong 
profits by another 13 percent. It has happened almost every year this 
decade, since Congress bailed out the banks 8 years ago. That 13 
percent is not even counting the windfall profits they got from the 
windfall tax bill. When they take the tax bill into account, banks 
profits went up not 13, not 15, not 20, but 28 percent.
  The banking sector bought back $77 billion worth of stock last year. 
Do you know what that means? That is all about raising compensation for 
the biggest stockholders and the CEO. The average bank teller in this 
country makes $26,000 a year. Bank profits are up. CEO compensation is 
up. They are all doing very well. They got a big tax cut. The average 
teller makes $26,000.
  At my high school reunion in Mansfield a couple of years ago, I sat 
across the table from a woman with whom I graduated. She has worked as 
a teller in a large, well-known bank for 30 years, and she makes 
$30,000 a year. She has worked there for 30 years. But the bank CEOs 
are doing very well--

[[Page S2896]]

millions and millions of dollars in compensation.
  If these banks fail again, it will be those tellers, it will be the 
middle manager, it will be the millions of other American taxpayers who 
will be called on to bail them out. That is why we did Wall Street 
reform--Dodd-Frank--several years ago. We passed a law that created 
important protections for the financial system, for taxpayers, for 
homeowners, to hold banks and watchdogs accountable and prevent another 
crisis.
  Do you know what? The day that bill was signed, the chief Financial 
Services--do you know what the chief bank lobbyist in this city did? 
The day it was signed, he said: ``You know, it is halftime.''
  What does that mean? ``It is halftime'' means that you might have 
passed this law that we didn't like--we, Wall Street--but we are going 
to fight like hell to weaken the rules to implement the law. And once 
we get a Republican majority and we have a majority leader and, further 
down the hall, a Speaker of the House who does whatever Wall Street 
asks them to do, then it will be time to come back and weaken the laws.
  That is what happened with the election of this President and the 
election of the majority leader and the Speaker of the House. It is 
time to go back to Wall Street and say: How can we help you, sir? It is 
almost always a sir.
  Another bank lobbyist, when he talked about these negotiations, said: 
We don't want a seat at the table; we want the whole table.
  Wall Street greed knows no bounds. That is why it is a huge concern 
that the White House looks like a retreat for Wall Street executives. 
Special interests are getting the whole table. The President is signing 
the big bank giveaway into law.
  Here is the last point I want to spend a little time on. They are 
trying to install yet another Wall Street nominee with the troubling 
record of dismissing the harm Wall Street inflicted on Main Street--
Jelena McWilliams, who is listed as Ms. McWilliams of Ohio, my State. I 
would like to support a fellow Ohioan. She hasn't really lived in Ohio 
very long. I know she has moved back. But I would still like to support 
a fellow Ohioan. She has been nominated to be the Chair of the Federal 
Deposit Insurance Corporation, but she has never supported the need for 
strong rules and tough supervision for the banking system.
  At her nomination hearing, she declined to acknowledge the role that 
excessive bank borrowing played in causing the 2008 collapse. What are 
we going to do? On whom are we going to blame the bank collapse, the 
economy going into the toilet, the fact that millions of Americans lost 
jobs, millions of Americans had their homes foreclosed on, and billions 
and billions of dollars were lost from seniors' retirement accounts? We 
are going to blame that on them? Wall Street, of course, had nothing to 
do with it.
  Right now, the Fed is considering a proposal to weaken protections 
and give a $120 billion windfall to the eight largest banks. Even 
former Chairs and Vice Chairs of the FDIC appointed by Republicans, two 
people I admire--Sheila Bair, who used to be chief of staff for Bob 
Dole, appointed to the FDIC by President Bush and kept by President 
Obama; and Thomas Hoenig, another Republican from the Kansas City Fed 
and a Republican regulator--they have opposed this proposal. But Mrs. 
McWilliams refused to do so.
  On issue after issue--payday lending at banks, cost-benefit analysis, 
the Volcker rule--she has shown no independence from this White House 
that looks like a retreat for Wall Street executives.
  The FDIC was designed to be independent and nonpartisan. We don't 
need another rubberstamp from Wall Street's agenda on the FDIC board, 
particularly when we have no commitment to move the nominations for 
Democratic seats. We need independent thinkers at these agencies who 
are willing to push back against a big-bank agenda.
  Last week, Fed Vice Chair Randall Quarles gave a speech saying--just 
as we predicted--the Federal Reserve wants to loosen rules on foreign 
megabanks. So it is not just that we are doing favors for Wall Street, 
but we are doing favors for these multi-decabillion or hundreds of 
billions of dollars foreign banks. We decided to make it easier on 
them.
  Yesterday, former OneWest banker Joseph Otting announced that he 
wants banks to get into the business of payday loans. They have always 
said they have nothing to do with these payday loans. Well, they do. 
Otting has other plans to gut the Community Reinvestment Act--a 40-year 
old law that ensures that banks serve their communities. And we could 
spend hours detailing what Mick Mulvaney is doing to the Consumer 
Protection Bureau
  In closing, I will go back to the Pope's message. He noted that 
``while most of [the financial industry's] operators are singularly 
animated by good and right intentions, it is impossible to ignore the 
fact that the financial industry . . . is a place where selfishness and 
the abuse of power have an enormous potential to harm the community.''
  A little selfishness, a little abuse can have massive consequences 
when it comes to the financial system. Families in Ohio can't afford 
that risk. It is our job to protect those families.
  The Pope said: ``Those entrusted with political authority find it 
difficult to fulfill to their original vocation as servants of the 
common good.''
  We should listen a little more to the people we serve, and we should 
listen a little less to Wall Street. We should break the addiction to 
Wall Street money. We should break our allegiance to Wall Street 
interests. That is how we create an economy that values work and create 
an economy that serves the common good and not corporate special 
interests.
  I ask my colleagues to vote against the nomination of Ms. McWilliams.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the votes 
following the first vote in this series be 10 minutes in length.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mrs. FISCHER. Thank you, Mr. President.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and 
consent to the nomination of Jelena McWilliams to be Chairperson of the 
Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation?
  Mr. COTTON. 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 bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the 
Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz), the Senator from Arizona (Mr. Flake), 
the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Heller), the Senator from Arizona (Mr. 
McCain), and the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio).
  Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio) 
would have voted ``yea.''
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Ms. Duckworth) 
and the Senator from New Hampshire (Ms. Hassan) are necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. FISCHER). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 69, nays 24, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 109 Ex.]

                                YEAS--69

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Bennet
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Burr
     Capito
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Cassidy
     Collins
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Daines
     Donnelly
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hatch
     Heitkamp
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Jones
     Kaine
     Kennedy
     King
     Klobuchar
     Lankford
     Leahy
     Lee
     Manchin
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Nelson
     Paul
     Perdue
     Peters
     Portman
     Reed
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Sasse
     Scott
     Shaheen
     Shelby

[[Page S2897]]


     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--24

     Baldwin
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cortez Masto
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Gillibrand
     Harris
     Heinrich
     Hirono
     Markey
     Merkley
     Murray
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Udall
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--7

     Cruz
     Duckworth
     Flake
     Hassan
     Heller
     McCain
     Rubio
  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.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination 
of Jelena McWilliams to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the 
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation?
  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.

                          ____________________