[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 141 (Thursday, August 23, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5871-S5872]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Work Schedule

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, this continues to be a productive 
August here in the Senate. We convened this month because too much of 
the American people's business remained outstanding--too many 
legislative priorities unfinished, too many noncontroversial, 
completely qualified nominees left languishing on the Executive 
Calendar due to partisan obstruction and delays.
  Coming back to work this August was not a conventional decision, but 
of course there is nothing conventional about the historic level of 
obstruction Senate Democrats have systematically visited upon this 
administration's nominees, even for critical positions. President 
Trump's nominees have already been subjected to more than four times--
four times--as many cloture votes as the nominees of his six most 
recent predecessors combined--combined--in their first 2 years. There 
were 24 cloture votes on nominations in the first 2 years of Presidents 
Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, and Obama--all put together, 24 
times did the majority leader have to file cloture on a nomination in 
the first 2 years--and for President Trump, 110 in a year and a half 
and counting. So we returned to work to pass more legislation and to 
confirm more nominees. That is

[[Page S5872]]

just what we have done, and it is just what we will continue to do.
  This week, we will conclude the hugely important appropriations bills 
before us. After that, we will turn to the 17 nominees on whom I filed 
cloture yesterday. There are a variety of impressive men and women whom 
the President has asked to serve both in the judiciary and in the 
executive branch. None are particularly controversial. All are 
qualified. No more obstruction. No more delays. It is time to confirm 
them all, and the Senate will continue to work right through August 
until every single one of them is confirmed.
  This week, we have been considering appropriations measures to fund 
the Department of Defense and the Departments of Labor, Health and 
Human Services, and Education. These bills will make Americans stronger 
overseas and right here at home. They attend to national priorities 
like providing the resources needed to better prepare our forces for 
combat and to deter our enemies. The funds meet many of the 
requirements of our military commanders, equipping and training units 
to meet and overcome the most dangerous of emerging global threats. As 
ever, our obligation to this All-Volunteer Force is to provide adequate 
training, weaponry, and skills so that Americans always prevail on the 
battlefield.
  Here at home, this bill marshals new resources for our national 
battle with drug abuse and opioid addiction and gives our National 
Institutes of Health the resources to stay on offense against 
everything from Alzheimer's to infectious diseases.
  With private sector surveys showing that hiring skilled workers is a 
top challenge for American business, this legislation continues and 
expands our investments in apprenticeship programs, in training and 
employment grants to States, and in support for dislocated workers.
  These are national efforts, so how do they translate locally? Every 
Senator can describe how this legislation will help families and 
communities in their home State.
  In my home State of Kentucky, we are looking forward to increased 
funding for Pell grants and the millions we have secured to support 
work colleges, like Berea College and Alice Lloyd College.
  Kentuckians will benefit from new funding for community health 
centers to support patients struggling with addiction and from a new 
CDC initiative that will prioritize funding for counties most at risk 
for outbreaks of HIV and hepatitis due to injection drug use.
  Of course, the Department of Defense funding touches every single 
community that proudly calls itself home to the men and women of our 
armed services. Kentuckians in uniform and their families will enjoy 
their well-earned pay raise--the highest in nearly a decade--which this 
bill provides to all American servicemembers, and the communities that 
revolve around Fort Campbell, Fort Knox, the Blue Grass Army Depot, and 
the Kentucky National Guard can count on the funding they need to keep 
their important operations going. They are national priorities, of 
course, but all have local impacts.
  I am proud of what these bills contain and how the Senate has crafted 
them. I want to particularly thank Chairman Shelby and Senator Leahy 
once more. I look forward to voting to pass these measures very soon.