[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 116 (Wednesday, July 11, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4881-S4882]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                     Nomination of Brett Kavanaugh

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, yesterday I had an opportunity to meet 
with Judge Brett Kavanaugh as we begin preparations for his 
confirmation process to the Supreme Court. It is really impossible not 
to come away impressed. Judge Kavanaugh is the real deal. He has the 
all-star legal resume and the top-light academic credentials. His 
extensive judicial record is defined by fairness, thoughtfulness, 
thoroughness, and analytical precision. I was already confident the 
President had made an outstanding choice. Now I am even more confident. 
My colleagues here and Americans around the country won't have to take 
my word for it; just look to one of Judge Kavanaugh's former professors 
at Yale Law School. Here is what Professor Akhil Amar wrote in the New 
York Times: ``It is hard to name anyone with judicial credentials as 
strong as those of Judge Kavanaugh.''
  Current faculty at Yale Law described him as a ``true intellectual,'' 
``a leading thinker,'' and ``a wonderful mentor and teacher to our 
students.''
  Even at Harvard, his alma mater's archrival, a scholar agrees that 
Judge Kavanaugh is ``a generous, honorable, kind person.''
  Ask the legal professionals who have clerked for him on the DC 
Circuit. They are in a better position than most to speak to his 
writing as a jurist. In a letter to our colleagues on the Judiciary 
Committee, 34 of them share that Judge Kavanaugh ``drafts opinions 
painstakingly, writing and rewriting until he is satisfied each opinion 
is clear and well-reasoned, and can be understood not only by lawyers 
but by the parties and the public.''
  As the confirmation process gets underway, I have a distinct feeling 
this isn't the only testimony of this sort that we will be hearing. 
Judge Kavanaugh seems to impress everyone with whom he crosses paths--
at least those who haven't blindly announced in a fit of partisanship 
their opposition to this nomination before he was even named.
  I am glad that President Trump has made such a strong selection, and 
I look forward to our colleagues in the Judiciary Committee taking up 
this nomination.
  Mr. President, speaking of the personnel business, we are continuing 
this week to process President Trump's qualified nominees for other 
important positions in the judicial and executive branches. Yesterday, 
we confirmed the

[[Page S4882]]

22nd circuit court judge since January of 2017.
  Now we are considering Brian Benczkowski, the President's choice to 
serve as Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division at the 
Department of Justice. His resume includes distinguished service in 
five different leadership positions at the Department of Justice under 
three Attorneys General. His nomination has won praise from a number of 
former Justice Department officials who served under Presidents of both 
parties. Their letter describes this nominee as ``a tireless worker . . 
. a fine leader and colleague . . . honest and a straight shooter.'' I 
look forward to voting to confirm him later today and to continuing to 
confirm more of the President's team.


                               job growth

  Mr. President, on one final matter, last week, the Labor Department 
released its monthly jobs report. As has become a pattern, it contained 
good news about the state of job opportunities across our country. In 
June alone, our economy created 213,000 new jobs, with contributions 
from nearly every sector. That continues a prolonged streak of strong 
jobs performance month after month, quarter after quarter.
  The pro-growth, pro-jobs policies of this united Republican 
government--from historic tax relief to sweeping regulatory reform--are 
helping unleash this wave of new opportunity and new prosperity for 
America's workers and middle-class families.
  More than 600,000 Americans entered the workforce last month alone--
another sign that the Obama-era stagnation continues to lose its grip 
on our communities. The rate of hiring reached its highest level in 
more than a decade. Here is another promising sign: the rate at which 
Americans are quitting their jobs voluntarily. Economists tell us this 
is an important sign of a healthy job market because it indicates 
workers are moving upward, seeking better pay or superior benefits at a 
different employer. That number just hit its highest level in more than 
17 years.
  More jobs; more opportunities; more Americans coming off of the 
sidelines and getting back into the workforce; more Americans moving up 
the ladder to bigger and better things and opening up their current 
positions for other jobseekers at the same time--helping to produce 
conditions like these is what Republicans had in mind when we chipped 
away at the regulatory rust that kept American job creators from doing 
what they do best. That is what we had in mind when we used the 
Congressional Review Act a record 16 times to relieve bureaucratic 
bloat that had forced job creators and entrepreneurs to cut back or 
close up shop. That is what we had in mind when we overhauled our Tax 
Code so it better rewards workers and more strongly encourages job 
creators to deepen their roots in American soil. Republicans are proud 
of this thriving job market, and we are proud that our policies are 
playing a part in making it happen.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The assistant Democratic leader.