[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 193 (Thursday, December 6, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7330-S7332]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Senate Accomplishments

  Madam President, perhaps we have about 2 more weeks of work before 
the end of the year. I am told the House will pass a 2-week continuing 
resolution, taking us up to December 21. We will have a chance to pass 
that here. The window of opportunity for us to finish our work in the 
Senate is closing rapidly, and there is a lot we need to get done. We 
have an opportunity to build off of accomplishments we have made in 
these last 2 years and to get our remaining to-do list checked off.
  The leader called the Senate fertile ground for productive, 
bipartisan work. That is because the way we are built, the way our 
rules are constructed, it basically requires us to do things in a 
bipartisan way in the main.
  Several of our biggest achievements for the Senate in this Congress 
couldn't have happened without bipartisan support, like the landmark 
opioids legislation to help those struggling with drug addiction or the 
historic bill to improve veterans' care, shepherded by Senator Isakson, 
the Senator from Georgia.
  Our work for the rest of the year will also require cooperation in a 
bipartisan spirit, particularly when it comes to funding what is left 
of our government. We have already joined together to fund roughly 75 
percent of the Federal Government on time and through regular order for 
the first time in two decades. That is pretty remarkable and welcomed.
  While we complete our work on the remaining appropriations bills, I 
expect a lot of the focus to be on border security. It is no secret, 
coming from a border State, that this is very serious business to me. I 
know it is to many of our colleagues. We have been reminded by the 
caravans of migrants from Central America--sweeping across Mexico and 
ending up in Tijuana, right across from San Diego--that collectively we 
have a lot of work to do to address these mass migrations.
  I went to Mexico City on Saturday with Vice President Pence; the 
Secretary of Energy, Rick Perry; the Secretary of Homeland Security, 
Kirstjen Nielsen; and other officials who were there. We had Members of 
the House, and Senator Lee from Utah and I were the Members of the 
Senate representing the U.S. Government at the inauguration of 
President Lopez Obrador.
  What we have read, including today, that the incoming Lopez Obrador 
administration has already been hard at work, working with our Homeland 
Security officials to come up with an agreement to deal with these mass 
migrations--these caravans of people coming from Central America, 
across Mexico, and seeking asylum in the United States.
  I have spoken many times about how these so-called caravans have been 
preceded by minicaravans; that is, smaller numbers of people coming to 
our border and seeking entry and, in many instances, seeking to exploit 
loopholes in our law that only Congress can fix. I am frustrated, like 
many of us, that we have been unwilling to get our Democratic 
colleagues to work with us to fix those loopholes.
  What I am encouraged by is, the incoming administration of the 
Mexican President as well as the Trump administration have worked to 
arrange for these asylum seekers to spend their time in Mexico waiting 
for their asylum claims to be adjudicated. I think that is a big change 
in the way Mexico has regarded this issue.
  Previously, they have regarded the issue as our problem, not their 
problem. They have actually issued transit visas for people to transit 
Mexico. Basically, the message is: As long as you don't stop here, we 
are not going to do anything about your coming across Mexico. Now they 
realize this is their problem and our problem, and the only way we are 
going to be able to solve this problem is working together, along with 
the governments of Central America, where people are fleeing gang 
violence.
  It is hard to blame people for fleeing when they realize their 
circumstances are so dire in their home country, but I think there is a 
lot we can and we should do, working with them, to help them improve 
circumstances in their home countries so they don't feel they have to 
come to the United States to seek asylum and turn themselves over to 
the tender mercies of the drug cartels and the people who view them as 
just another commodity by which they make money, just like heroin they 
sell in the United States, just like children and women whom they 
traffic for sex slavery. These drug cartels are the same organizations, 
the transnational criminal organizations. I don't think that reality 
has quite sunk in here in Washington.
  These are not nice people. These are dangerous people. All you need 
to do is look at the trial of El Chapo occurring in Manhattan--the head 
of one of the largest cartels--and read about some of the evidence that 
has been introduced. The U.S. Government has extradited him to the 
United States and is now prosecuting him. The evidence will chill your 
blood. He is a vicious, dangerous person whose only interest is in 
making money and enriching himself and his fellow cartel members.
  I am encouraged by some of these nascent discussions that will 
perhaps lead to an agreement between the Government of Mexico and the 
United States.
  In addition to completing our most basic task of funding the 
government, we have to work hard to get more of the President's team in 
place. I have never seen an administration more sandbagged with more 
foot-dragging by the Senate and the Democrats when it comes to 
confirming noncontroversial nominees to serve in the President's 
administration. This is just another way to undermine their ability to 
get their work done there.
  This is one of our greatest responsibilities under the Constitution, 
to provide advice and consent to the President's nominees, whether they 
are judges, whether they are Ambassadors, or wherever in a Senate-
confirmed position in the administration.
  We have seen a record number of cloture votes during the last 2 years 
because, again, our colleagues on the other side have simply wanted to 
burn the clock, waste time, and then vote overwhelming to confirm 
noncontroversial nominees. All that does is prevent us from getting our 
work done on a timely basis and makes it harder to fill these 
vacancies.
  In the first 2 years of the Trump administration, the majority 
leader, the Senator from Kentucky, has made nominations a top priority, 
particularly judicial nominations, but we still have a number of 
nominees with exemplary records waiting for confirmation.
  I talked to Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State. He said they have a 
number of ambassadorships, a number of important positions in our 
diplomatic corps vacant for no other reason than the foot-dragging and 
the obstruction we have seen by the other side. It

[[Page S7331]]

is just shameful. These are well-qualified and accomplished men and 
women who have put their lives on hold, and they are languishing on our 
calendar. We need to get them confirmed.
  We will advance two of those nominees today: Bernard McNamee, to 
serve on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and Kathleen 
Kraninger, to be Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 
I also hope to add to our historic number of judicial confirmations by 
ensuring that more well-qualified judges are confirmed in our Federal 
and district courts.
  As you know, Madam President, so far we have confirmed 84 judges 
nominated by President Trump, and I hope we are able to continue this 
work and ensure that more highly regarded judges are able to join their 
ranks in the Federal judiciary, both this year and in the next 2 
years--the final 2 years of the first term of President Trump.
  Before we adjourn the 115th Congress, we need to pass the farm bill, 
the conference report. Its importance can't be overstated. I know the 
Presiding Officer comes from a State where agriculture is important. I 
know of her personal experience leading the ag sector in Mississippi.
  The farm bill safeguards the future of our agriculture community. 
When we think about that phrase ``our agriculture community,'' our 
minds often conjure up farmers and ranchers, but the circle of that 
community is far wider, encompassing rural communities and indeed our 
entire country. Most of our country is rural, and agriculture is 
absolutely critical.
  We have all heard the saying, ``Thank a farmer three times a day.'' 
That is true, but, in reality, we should be thanking them a lot more 
because the ag community does more than just provide the food we eat, 
and that is important, but they do a lot more.
  In small towns and rural communities, like those in Texas, 
agriculture is the heartbeat of the economy. Farmers and ranchers, of 
course, send their children to local schools; they shop on Main Street; 
they buy groceries at the supermarket; they bank at their local bank or 
credit union; they receive loans for new equipment so they can grow 
their businesses and fund their operations. They are interwoven with 
our communities all across the country, and they deserve our support 
and some predictability and stability.
  The farm bill is renewed once every 5 years, supporting the ag 
community in several ways. It addresses food production by helping 
ensure Americans continue to enjoy access to the safest, cheapest, and 
most reliable food supply in the world.
  Our farmers and ranchers do this so well that many of us kind of take 
it for granted and always assume that the food will be there when we 
want it and need it. Most of the rest of the world doesn't enjoy that 
sort of abundance or the certainty that it will always be there.
  The farm bill also impacts many other areas, like forestry, research, 
nutrition programs, and humanitarian aid to foreign countries, just to 
name a few.
  In Texas, one out of every seven working Texans work in the 
agriculture industry. Farmers and ranchers, unfortunately, know all too 
well that Mother Nature can and has disrupted harvest and devastated 
crops, which we saw in abundance with Hurricane Harvey just a little 
over a year ago. That is perhaps why the most important thing the farm 
bill does is give the ag community the support and predictability it 
needs and it deserves, so we need to get to work and get that done 
before we go home for Christmas.
  Our to-do list may seem daunting to some, but the reason we are able 
to keep our heads in the game and continue to build off our momentum is 
because of the incredible record of achievement we have seen in the 
115th Congress; that would be for the first 2 years of the Trump 
administration, where we have had Republican majorities in the House 
and in the Senate. It is a historic record of achievement and 
accomplishment.
  That record fundamentally includes the economic gains we have seen, 
renewed confidence, optimism about the future, more jobs, and low 
unemployment.
  The Hispanic and African-American unemployment rates are at the 
lowest in recorded history. That is quite an accomplishment. 
Unemployment is so low around the country that there is a genuine 
demand and need for more trained workers. That is another challenge for 
us--to provide people the opportunity to learn the skills they need in 
order to fill these good, well-paying jobs that are demanding and 
needing more employees.

  The accomplishments we have made I would like to think are the result 
of, first, listening to what our constituents are telling us and then 
translating that into legislation that will actually improve their 
lives. For example, in an effort to ease the regulatory burden on 
jobseekers, the President signed three bills that I introduced into 
law. They may not seem like monumental, landmark pieces of legislation, 
but covering the subject matter they do, I think they help my 
constituents in real and important ways.
  The first bill is an occupational licensing reform bill called the 
New HOPE Act, which gives States the tools they need to reduce barriers 
in certain professions. Some licensing requirements in some of the 
States are so onerous, so expensive and time-consuming, they basically 
freeze out people who have those skills or talents and want to use 
those to make a living. But the New HOPE Act helps give States 
additional tools to reduce some of those barriers.
  Two other bills help veterans who are making the transition back to 
civilian life. The Jobs for Our Heroes Act makes it easier for veterans 
to get a commercial driver's license. One thing I have heard from my 
constituents back home is we need more truck drivers, and we need 
better roads for them to drive those trucks on. We have a lot of 
veterans who have learned how to drive big, heavy trucks in the course 
of their military service, and we have now helped expedite their 
transition to a commercial driver's license and good, well-paying jobs, 
with huge demand.
  We also passed the American Law Enforcement Heroes Act to help local 
law enforcement agencies hire veterans so that they can continue to 
protect the American people here at home. If you read the newspaper, 
you see that law enforcement agencies are really desperate to get well-
qualified, well-trained people to join their police forces and law 
enforcement. This is a way, again, for veterans to make that transition 
and to take the skills they have learned in the military and make those 
available for public safety and civilian life.
  Veterans' rights issues have been a passion of mine since I was 
honored to serve as the attorney general of Texas. I have continued to 
work here in the Senate and, this Congress, introduced three bills 
focusing on protecting victims, which were signed into law. One called 
the SAFER Act is aimed at reducing the big backlog of untested rape 
kits. At one point it was estimated to be 400,000 backlogged rape kits; 
that is, forensic evidence, DNA collected after a sexual assault, which 
is absolutely key to solving that crime and identifying the 
perpetrator. By the way, it also has the ability to exonerate people 
who may be arrested for it; basically, the DNA test and the rape kit 
can essentially rule them out as a potential suspect.
  We also passed the Justice Served Act, which assists law enforcement 
in prosecuting cold cases solved by DNA evidence. The sorts of things 
we can now do as a result of the scientific achievements of being able 
to test DNA have opened up whole new vistas for law enforcement to use 
that science in powerful and important ways, such as to reduce the rape 
kit backlog and to solve violent crimes.
  The third bill I will mention is called the PROTECT Our Children Act, 
which reauthorizes task forces combating child exploitation online. We 
all know that the internet is an integral part of our lives. 
Unfortunately, there are people who use the internet to gain access to 
vulnerable children and recruit them or otherwise exploit them online. 
So the PROTECT Our Children Act reauthorizes task forces--law 
enforcement agencies, primarily--to combat child exploitation online. 
Not every local police department or sheriff's department has the tax 
base to be able to generate the revenue they need to hire the expertise 
or to get the technology they need in order to combat this heinous 
crime. So that is where I think it is appropriate for the Federal 
Government to step up and say: Let's get the

[[Page S7332]]

best practices. Let's figure out what the standard should be, and then 
help fill those gaps to combat child exploitation.
  Perhaps the most significant accomplishment Congress made in terms of 
my State over the last 2 years was working together to deliver disaster 
relief to those suffering from Hurricane Harvey. That catastrophic 
flooding and damage caused by Harvey is something we hope to never see 
again during our lifetime, but that is a hope I am afraid is in vain. 
We know there will always be more hurricanes and more floods.
  I was proud to join forces with the junior Senator from Texas, Mr. 
Cruz, to secure nearly $147 billion that was available for disaster 
relief, including Hurricane Harvey, but not limited to Hurricane 
Harvey. It is also for the wildfires out West and the hurricanes that 
hit Florida, Puerto Rico, and other parts of the country.
  In addition to the disaster relief, we passed two pieces of 
legislation that specifically addressed the needs of my constituents in 
Texas. The first makes houses of worship eligible for certain grants to 
help them rebuild after disasters. Many houses of worship have 
essentially public facilities that they make available to the community 
that are unrelated to proselytizing, and we made sure that these FEMA 
grants were available to help them rebuild after disasters.
  The second was a tax relief provision that allows Texans to deduct 
property damage costs and access retirement savings without penalties. 
That is something we did for Hurricane Katrina in the wake of Katrina. 
We did so after Hurricane Harvey as well. It is just another way we 
have made people's lives a little bit better after suffering from this 
natural disaster.
  While aid after a disaster helps those affected to be able to 
rebuild, it does little good if we are not also working to help prevent 
or mitigate the threat of flooding and future hurricanes. So we passed 
provisions that will expedite, for example, a coastal study and that 
authorizes flood mitigation projects along the gulf coast.
  Most of the refined product needed for jet fuel and gasoline is 
refined along the gulf coast of Texas and Louisiana. So it is important 
from a national perspective--not just from a local perspective--that we 
do everything we can to anticipate and mitigate against future threats 
and threats to our Nation's refined energy products supply.
  I feel fortunate to be in the U.S. Senate. I am proud of the work we 
have done in the 115th Congress. But we need to finish our job and get 
our work completed before Christmas.
  As we close out the 115th Congress, the types of accomplishments I 
have mentioned, frankly, don't necessarily get a lot of attention 
because most of these are bipartisan bills that we pass without a lot 
of controversy or a lot of noise. But I hope we can continue to build 
on these accomplishments for the benefit of my constituents in Texas 
and Americans across the country.
  We have just a short time left, 2 weeks, perhaps, assuming we can 
pass--and I do expect we will pass--a 2-week continuing resolution, 
taking us up to the 21st. Honestly, I don't think we need to wait that 
long. We know what we have to do; we just need to come together and get 
it done. Then we can all go home and be with our families and loved 
ones during Christmas.

                          ____________________