[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 115 (Tuesday, July 10, 2018)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D781-D782]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                                             Tuesday, July 10, 2018

[[Page D781]]

                              Daily Digest


HIGHLIGHTS

      Senate insisted on its amendment to H.R. 5515, John S. McCain 
      National Defense Authorization Act, agreed to the request from 
      the House for a conference, and appointed conferees.


                                 Senate


Chamber Action
Routine Proceedings, pages S4847-S4880
Measures Introduced: Five bills and three resolutions were introduced, 
as follows: S. 3187-3191, S. Res. 570-571, and S. Con. Res. 41. 
                                                             Page S4875
Measures Reported:
  S. 2202, to amend title 49, United States Code, to authorize 
appropriations for the National Transportation Safety Board, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute. (S. Rept. No. 115-293)
  Report to accompany S. 2800, to provide for the conservation and 
development of water and related resources, to authorize the Secretary 
of the Army to construct various projects for improvements to rivers 
and harbors of the United States. (S. Rept. No. 115-294)     
Page S4874
Measures Passed:
  100 Years of Mateship: Senate agreed to S. Con. Res. 41, recognizing 
100 years of the United States-Australia relationship--100 years of 
Mateship.                                                    
  Page S4880
House Messages:
John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act--Motions to Instruct 
Conferees: By 91 yeas to 8 nays (Vote No. 147), Senate insisted on its 
amendment to H.R. 5515, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2019 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military 
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, 
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, agreed 
to the request of the House for a conference, and authorized the Chair 
to appoint conferees on the part of the Senate, after taking action on 
the following motions to instruct conferees on the part of the Senate 
on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the bill to be instructed 
to insist on the inclusion in the final conference report the following 
motions proposed thereto:                      
  Pages S4857-58, S4867-69
Adopted:
  By 97 yeas to 2 nays (Vote No. 148), Cornyn Motion to Instruct 
Conferees to insist that the conference report include language to 
maintain the position of the Senate regarding modernization of the 
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, as reflected in 
title XVII of the Senate amendment.                          
Page S4868
  By 97 yeas to 2 nays (Vote No. 149), Reed Motion to Instruct 
Conferees to (1) reaffirm the commitment of the United States to the 
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance as a community of 
freedom, peace, security, and shared values, including liberty, human 
rights, democracy, and the rule of law; (2) reaffirm the ironclad 
commitment of the United States to its obligations under Article 5 of 
the North Atlantic Treaty to the collective self-defense of the North 
Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance; (3) establish as the policy of 
the United States pursuit of an integrated approach to strengthening 
the defense of allies and partners in Europe as part of a broader, 
long-term strategy using all elements of United States national power 
to deter and, if necessary, defeat Russian aggression; (4) call on the 
Administration to urgently prioritize the completion of a comprehensive 
whole-of-government strategy to counter malign activities of Russia 
that seek to undermine faith in democratic institutions in the United 
States and around the world, and to submit that strategy to Congress 
without delay; and (5) reflect the support of the United States for the 
rules-based international order that has ensured, and will continue to 
promote, an international system that benefits all nations, and for 
deepening and expanding alliances and partnerships to jointly work with

[[Page D782]]

one another on shared challenges in Europe and the Indo-Pacific Region 
and throughout the world.                                
Pages S4868-69
  The Chair appointed the following conferees on the part of the 
Senate: Senators McCain, Inhofe, Wicker, Fischer, Cotton, Rounds, 
Ernst, Tillis, Sullivan, Perdue, Cruz, Graham, Sasse, Scott, Crapo, 
Reed, Nelson, McCaskill, Shaheen, Gillibrand, Blumenthal, Donnelly, 
Hirono, Kaine, King, Heinrich, Warren, Peters, and Brown.    
Page S4869
Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction and 
Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act--Agreement: A unanimous-consent-
time agreement was reached providing that notwithstanding Rule XXII, at 
12 noon, on Wednesday, July 11, 2018, the Chair lay before the Senate 
the message to accompany H.R. 5895, making appropriations for energy 
and water development and related agencies for the fiscal year ending 
September 30, 2019; that the Majority Leader, or his designee, be 
recognized the make a compound motion to go to conference, and that 
Senate immediately vote on the motion; and that if the motion is agreed 
to, Senators Cassidy and Corker each be recognized to offer a motion to 
instruct conferees, and Senate vote on the motions in the order listed, 
with no further action on the compound motion, and that there be two 
minutes of debate between each vote, equally divided in the usual form.
                                                             Page S4880
Benczkowski Nomination--Agreement: Senate resumed consideration of the 
nomination of Brian Allen Benczkowski, of Virginia, to be an Assistant 
Attorney General, Department of Justice.       
  Pages S4858-67, S4869-72
  By 51 yeas to 48 nays (Vote No. 146), Senate agreed to the motion to 
close further debate on the nomination.                      
Page S4858
  A unanimous-consent agreement was reached providing that 
notwithstanding the provisions of Rule XXII, at 2 p.m., on Wednesday, 
July 11, 2018, all post-cloture time on the nomination be considered 
expired and Senate immediately vote on confirmation of the nomination; 
and that following disposition of the nomination, Senate vote on the 
motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Paul C. Ney, Jr., of 
Tennessee, to be General Counsel of the Department of Defense. 
                                                         Pages S4870-71
  A unanimous-consent agreement was reached providing for further 
consideration of the Benczkowski nomination, post-cloture, at 
approximately 10 a.m., on Wednesday, July 11, 2018; and that all time 
during adjournment, Leader remarks, and morning business count post-
cloture on the nomination.                                   
Page S4880
Nomination Confirmed: Senate confirmed the following nomination:
  By 72 yeas to 27 nays (Vote No. EX. 145), Mark Jeremy Bennett, of 
Hawaii, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit. 
                                           Pages S4848-57, H4858, H4880
Nominations Received: Senate received the following nominations:
  Brett M. Kavanaugh, of Maryland, to be an Associate Justice of the 
Supreme Court of the United States.
  39 Army nominations in the rank of general.
  1 Navy nomination in the rank of admiral.                  
Page S4880
Messages from the House:                                 
  Pages S4872-73
Enrolled Bills Presented:                                    
  Page S4873
Executive Communications:                                
  Pages S4873-74
Executive Reports of Committees:                         
  Pages S4874-75
Additional Cosponsors:                                   
  Pages S4875-76
Statements on Introduced Bills/Resolutions:              
  Pages S4876-79
Additional Statements:                                       
  Page S4872
Amendments Submitted:                                    
  Pages S4879-80
Authorities for Committees to Meet:                          
  Page S4880
Privileges of the Floor:                                     
  Page S4880
Record Votes: Five record votes were taken today. (Total--149) 
                                                   Page S4858, S4867-69
Adjournment: Senate convened at 10 a.m. and adjourned at 7:29 p.m., 
until 10 a.m. on Wednesday, July 11, 2018. (For Senate's program, see 
the remarks of the Majority Leader in today's Record on page S4880.)