[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 79 (Monday, May 13, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2779-S2780]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             CLOTURE MOTION

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant to rule XXII, the Chair lays before 
the Senate the pending cloture motion, which the clerk will state.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination 
     of Michael J. Truncale, of Texas, to be United States 
     District Judge for the Eastern District of Texas.
         Mitch McConnell, Johnny Isakson, Roger F. Wicker, John 
           Boozman, John Cornyn, Mike Crapo, Shelley Moore Capito, 
           Pat Roberts, Roy Blunt, Deb Fischer, David Perdue, Todd 
           Young, John Thune, Mike Rounds, Steve Daines, John 
           Hoeven, Thom Tillis.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum 
call has been waived.
  The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the 
nomination of Michael J. Truncale, of Texas, to be United States 
District Judge for the Eastern District of Texas, shall be brought to a 
close?
  The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from North Carolina (Mr. Burr), the Senator from Florida (Mr. Scott), 
and the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey).
  Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Florida (Mr. Scott) 
would have voted ``yea.''
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker), 
the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Brown), the Senator from New York (Mrs. 
Gillibrand), the Senator from Hawaii (Ms. Hirono), and the Senator from 
Massachusetts (Ms. Warren) are necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 49, nays 43, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 107 Ex.]

                                YEAS--49

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Braun
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Collins
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hawley
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     McConnell
     McSally
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Paul
     Perdue
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott (SC)
     Shelby
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Tillis
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--43

     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Coons
     Cortez Masto
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Harris
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Jones
     Kaine
     King
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Manchin
     Markey
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murphy
     Murray
     Peters
     Reed
     Romney
     Rosen
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Sinema
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--8

     Booker
     Brown
     Burr
     Gillibrand
     Hirono
     Scott (FL)
     Toomey
     Warren
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 49, the nays are 
43.
  The motion is agreed to.
  The Senator from Pennsylvania.
  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in 
morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


Recognizing the 54th Anniversary of Head Start and the 25th Anniversary 
                          of Early Head Start

  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I rise to celebrate the 54th anniversary of 
Head Start and the 25th anniversary of Early Head Start on May 18.
  We know that in January of 1964, President Lyndon Baines Johnson 
declared the War on Poverty in his State of the Union Address. Sargent 
Shriver, who was the then-Director of the Office of Economic 
Opportunity, assembled a panel of experts to develop a comprehensive 
child development program to help communities meet the needs of 
disadvantaged preschool children. It resulted in Project Head Start's 
launching in the summer of 1965.
  Over 50 years later, Head Start and Early Head Start have served 
hundreds of thousands of children with high-quality, comprehensive 
early learning and wraparound services. Just to give the Senate a 
reminder of what Head Start is in terms of the ages, Head Start serves 
children who are ages 3 to 5. Early Head Start serves children who are 
up to the age of 3--so under the age of 3.
  We know that these early learning experiences provide children with 
the tools they need to develop and succeed in school. When children 
learn more earlier in life, they earn more later in life. It is not 
just a rhyme. All the evidence and research show that there is a direct 
connection between early learning and later earning. A study of Head 
Start children in Harrisburg, PA, found that they had higher scores in 
the fifth grade than a control group on all academic and executive 
functioning outcomes.
  These benefits stay with children through adulthood. Research shows 
Head Start children have a higher likelihood of graduating from high 
school and receiving postsecondary degrees. These benefits even flow to 
the next generation. The children of Head Start graduates are 
significantly more likely to finish high school and enroll in college, 
and they are significantly less likely to become teen parents or to be 
involved in the criminal justice system.
  One of the core tenets of Head Start that has made it so successful 
is its responsiveness to local community needs. In Pennsylvania, for 
example, as in many other States, the opioid epidemic has hit far too 
many communities, and Head Start has responded to that crisis with 
innovative programming.
  For example, the SafeStart Program in Allentown, which is an Early 
Head Start program, provides early intervention to assist the 
development of infants and toddlers who have suffered abuse or neglect. 
After having completed SafeStart--the new program in Allentown--68 
percent of 3-year-olds were on age developmentally, and 100 percent of 
the children showed significant improvement in their drug-impacted 
symptoms, with 53 percent having shown resolution. Of the women who 
became pregnant while their substance-impacted children were enrolled 
in SafeStart, 88 percent gave birth to full-term, drug-free, and 
healthy second children.
  The whole family approach and integration with local community 
partners

[[Page S2780]]

have created not just better outcomes for families but have resulted in 
significant savings. Through this program, 91 percent of the children 
achieved stable, permanent homes and caregivers, and it is estimated 
that the SafeStart Program has resulted in nearly $1.5 million in 
foster care savings and in over $9.5 million in child welfare 
involvement by stabilizing 106 families. So we are grateful for those 
results from the SafeStart Program in Allentown.
  Head Start is a critical program for lifting families out of poverty, 
obviously, and providing children with the early learning experiences 
they need to start kindergarten and to be ready to learn. 
Unfortunately, only about a third of eligible children still have 
access to Head Start, and less than 10 percent--these are national 
numbers--have access to Early Head Start. Again, Early Head Start 
serves those who are up to 3 years old, and Head Start serves those who 
are 3 to 5 years old. So funding for these programs is critical.
  To give you an example of those numbers in Pennsylvania--and the 
numbers are even a little lower--just 27 percent of eligible 3- to 5-
year-olds have access to Head Start, and only 7 percent of eligible 
children under 3 years old have access to Early Head Start. Even with a 
lot of children being eligible but not being served, this is purely a 
question of funding.
  As we celebrate over 50 years of Head Start on May 18, we must work 
to ensure these programs receive robust funding and continue to serve 
low-income children and families across the Nation.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                           Order of Business

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all 
postcloture time on the Truncale nomination expire at 10:45 a.m., 
Tuesday, May 14. I further ask unanimous consent that, if confirmed, 
the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and 
the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________