[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 120 (Tuesday, July 17, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4979-S4981]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                Tariffs

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I particularly enjoyed the remarks of my 
distinguished friend from Texas, a good man, who makes a real 
difference around here.
  I rise today to speak on the administration's recent actions 
regarding global tariff policy. I am one of the President's strongest 
supporters in most matters. I have been steadfast in working with 
President Trump on our shared economic agenda, especially passage of 
the most important piece of tax reform legislation in a generation.
  Tax reform is already providing significant relief to families and 
businesses, large and small. Businesses across the country are now more 
globally competitive and are investing in their workforce through wage 
hikes, bonuses, and increased 401(k) contributions that are benefiting 
American workers, families, and their communities. But this roaring 
economy, which we worked together to build for American workers and 
businesses, is at risk because of the President's trade policies.
  Tariffs against our allies and partners in Europe, Canada, Mexico, 
and around the world are already harming American farmers and 
manufacturers and raising costs for American families. If this 
continues, our economy will suffer.
  I have long advocated for implementing enforceable international 
rules to level the playing field for American businesses, innovators, 
and entrepreneurs, and I have consistently fought to protect U.S. 
intellectual property rights around the globe. I have also been 
committed to advancing a trade agenda that serves the American people. 
But the administration's recent actions are misguided and will harm, 
rather than protect, the American people.

[[Page S4980]]

  The administration has implemented or threatened global tariffs on 
approximately $500 billion of goods. Pure and simple, tariffs are 
attacks on American businesses and consumers. These actions put 
American families and businesses at risk and threaten to undermine the 
success of tax reform. Furthermore, they are closing off international 
markets that our farmers, ranchers, and other exporters depend on.
  I have heard from businesses from my home State of Utah that have 
already been hurt by the imposition of steel and aluminum tariffs. Utah 
manufacturers are struggling with higher steel and aluminum costs and, 
as a result, are struggling to compete with foreign manufacturers.
  I have also been hearing from U.S. auto manufacturers and share their 
deep concerns about the consequences of raising tariffs on cars, 
trucks, and automotive parts. A decision to raise auto tariffs would 
lead to a net job loss and lower capital investment in the U.S. auto 
sector by increasing costs and reducing choice. The result will be 
lower demand for cars in the United States and lower auto sales and 
production.
  While I share the administration's goal of strengthening American 
manufacturing, tariffs on cars and auto parts would directly injure one 
of our country's most important manufacturing sectors.
  Some of my colleagues have been pressing the need for legislation to 
restrict the trade authorities that Congress has delegated to the 
President, and I have been sympathetic to their efforts. If the 
administration continues forward with its misguided and reckless 
reliance on tariffs, I will work to advance trade legislation to 
curtail Presidential trade authority. I am discussing legislative 
options with colleagues both on and off the Finance Committee, and I 
will continue to do so. However, I would much rather work with the 
administration to advance a trade agenda that serves the interests of 
the American people and job creators.
  I want the President to hold our trading partners accountable. I want 
him to negotiate strong deals that help our U.S. companies and workers 
compete around the globe.
  In particular, I agree with the President that China utilizes 
mercantilist trade policies to benefit state-owned and Communist Party-
controlled firms, harming American companies and workers. We have to 
help U.S. businesses, innovators, farmers, and ranchers compete 
globally, and that means we have to confront the challenges posed by 
China. That is why I have recommended to the President that it is time 
to engage in negotiations with China, using a target of strategy to 
address their unfair trade practices. While those efforts are under 
way, the administration should not impose further tariffs on our allies 
and partners, particularly on autos and auto parts. In that way, the 
President can safeguard the economic growth we have worked so hard to 
achieve and give himself a strong negotiating position with China.
  The administration's actions on trade have hurt American 
manufacturers, farmers, ranchers, workers, and families. The President 
has asked all of those groups to endure losses so that he can negotiate 
winning trade agreements. All are watching to see what the President 
will achieve at the negotiating table in return for their 
sacrifice. However, now is the time for the President to undertake that 
effort. I believe that I will support him if he does undertake that 
effort, and I hope he will.

  I care a great deal for the President. I want him to be a success. 
These approaches are not successful. They are not the way to go. I want 
to help the President to get around those and do the things that he 
ought to be doing to strengthen our economy and to strengthen our 
workers and our businesses.
  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.
  Mrs. MURRAY. 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. MURRAY. Mr. President, I have come to the floor to oppose the 
nomination of James Blew for Assistant Secretary for Planning, 
Evaluation, and Policy Development at the Department of Education. I am 
opposing this nomination on behalf of the millions of parents, 
students, and teachers who made it clear during Secretary DeVos's 
confirmation process that they believe the Department of Education's 
top priorities should be helping to educate our students and supporting 
our public schools. They made it clear when they posted on social 
media, voicing concerns about Secretary DeVos's lack of experience and 
knowledge during her hearing in front of our HELP Committee, when they 
overwhelmed the Senate switchboard urging their Senators to vote 
against her nomination, and when they took to the streets to protest 
her nomination and her ideological agenda.
  They made it clear that they believe every student has the right to a 
high quality public education--no matter where they live, how they 
learn, or how much money their parents make. Despite an unprecedented 
tie-breaking vote by Vice President Pence, Secretary DeVos has ignored 
the public's overwhelming rejection to her extreme ideology. Instead, 
she continues to promote her privatization agenda, trying to shift 
taxpayer funds away from our public schools.
  She is ignoring key parts of our Nation's K-12 law by refusing to 
hold States accountable for the success of our most vulnerable 
students. She is making it easier for predatory for-profit colleges and 
corporations to take advantage of students, rolling back protections 
for students and dismantling the unit that investigates claims of fraud 
and abuse. Time and again, she is failing our students and her duty to 
protect their civil rights.
  She has tried to shrink the Office for Civil Rights, has rescinded 
guidance for schools on how to investigate claims of campus sexual 
assault, and has rolled back rules that protect transgender students, 
students of color, and students with disabilities.
  All of those students, parents, and teachers who voiced their 
concerns about Secretary DeVos during her nomination have not gone 
away. They are still making their voices heard, demanding that the 
Department of Education start standing up for students.
  Unfortunately, Mr. Blew, whose nomination is before us, has made it 
clear that he is cut from the same cloth. During his career, Mr. Blew 
has advocated for vouchers. He has failed to adequately support 
teachers with the tools they need to help their students succeed. He 
has even worked closely with and helped to fund Secretary DeVos's 
privatization efforts.
  The Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development advises the 
Secretary in developing and implementing policy, which impacts every 
student in our country. It is a critical position. Given the actions 
and decisions by Secretary DeVos, it is very clear that we need an 
independent voice in this position. Unfortunately, Mr. Blew has proven 
that he is not up for that challenge. For that reason, I will vote 
against his nomination. I ask my colleagues to do the same.
  I yield the floor.
  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. ALEXANDER. 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. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, today the Senate is finally voting to 
confirm James Blew, who has been nominated to be Assistant Secretary 
for Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development at the U.S. Department 
of Education. He is well-qualified to lead that office. For 20 years, 
in various roles, he has advocated for improving educational 
opportunities by overseeing grants to low-income, high-risk schools. He 
has a M.B.A. from Yale University. He will be in charge of helping to 
manage the Department's budget and ensure that programs are working as 
intended.
  Mr. Blew's sin with some of my friends on the other side is that he 
is in favor of giving low-income children a choice of a better school 
and in favor of

[[Page S4981]]

public charter schools, which gives teachers more freedom to teach and 
parents more freedom to choose the school for their child.
  No one should be surprised that a Republican president would nominate 
such an Assistant Secretary of Education. Every Republican president 
has nominated assistant secretaries of education and secretaries of 
education--I was one of them--who support giving low-income children 
more choices of good schools--the same choices that wealthier children 
have--such as public charter schools.
  As far as public charter schools go, every Democratic president since 
1990, when the first charter schools were formed, has supported public 
charter schools.
  Mr. Blew did not deserve to be subjected to the unreasonable delay 
and obstruction that the Democrats have given to his nomination. He was 
nominated on September 28, 2017, 292 days ago. We held a hearing on 
November 15, 2017, 244 days ago.
  Going back to the Clinton administration, there had been no hearings 
for this position, but I held one anyway, as chairman of the committee, 
as a courtesy to Democrats. Then, Democrats forced Mr. Blew's 
nomination to be returned to the President at the end of the 
congressional session last year.
  Let's see how that compares to how President Obama's first Assistant 
Secretary for the same job was treated. Carmel Martin was nominated on 
March 18, 2009, and was confirmed by voice vote without a hearing on 
May 1, 2009, 44 days later.
  It is one thing to vote against a presidential nominee. That is 
appropriate. Any of us can do that. I think it is wrong to always vote 
against a presidential nominee just because you disagree with that 
nominee's point of view. Why would you not expect a Republican 
president to nominate an assistant secretary who favors giving poor 
children choices of good schools and supports public charter schools 
that were invented by the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party in Minnesota 
and were supported by every Democratic president since 1990? So this 
unreasonable delay of a well-qualified Assistant Secretary is not good 
for the Senate, not good for the country, and not good for children who 
need that sort of leadership.

  I support and urge my colleagues to vote for Mr. Blew.
  I yield floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and 
consent to the Blew nomination?
  Mr. ALEXANDER. 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 Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Arizona (Mr. McCain).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Young). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 50, nays 49, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 156 Ex.]

                                YEAS--50

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Burr
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Collins
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Flake
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hatch
     Heller
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     McConnell
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Paul
     Perdue
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott
     Shelby
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--49

     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Coons
     Cortez Masto
     Donnelly
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Gillibrand
     Harris
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Hirono
     Jones
     Kaine
     King
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Manchin
     Markey
     McCaskill
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Peters
     Reed
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     McCain
       
  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.

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