[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 80 (Tuesday, May 14, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2798-S2799]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Senate Legislative Agenda

  Mr. THUNE. Madam President, when Republicans took office at the 
beginning of the 115th Congress, we had one goal in mind, and that was 
to make life better for American families. We knew that American 
families were struggling. Recovery from the great recession was long 
and slow. Economic growth was sluggish. Wages were stagnant. Too many 
families were living paycheck to paycheck. American families needed 
relief, and Republicans were determined to give it to them.
  That is why we made getting our economy going again a priority. We 
knew that our economy needed to do a lot better if American families 
were going to start doing better. A strong economy is the key to 
getting Americans access to the jobs, wages, and opportunities they 
need to thrive.
  So we took action. We eliminated burdensome regulations that were 
acting as a drag on economic growth, and we passed a historic reform of 
our Tax Code to put more money in Americans' pockets and to get our 
economy going again.
  We cut tax rates and doubled the child tax credit, and in 2018 the 
average family of four saw a tax cut of more than $2,000. We lowered 
tax rates for businesses, expanded business owners' ability to invest 
in their operations and their workers and made American businesses more 
competitive in the global economy.
  We are seeing the results. Job creation is up. Wages are growing at 
the fastest pace in a decade. Personal income is up. Unemployment is at 
the lowest level in 50 years. Tax reform is

[[Page S2799]]

delivering bigger paychecks, more opportunities, and a better quality 
of life for American workers.
  Tax reform might be our biggest achievement in the 115th Congress, 
but it is far from the only thing that we did to make life better for 
American families. We also enacted legislation to provide better 
education and training to American workers. We passed multibillion-
dollar bipartisan legislation to combat the opioid epidemic, which has 
devastated families and communities across the United States.
  We passed the longest extension of the Children's Health Insurance 
Program in the program's history. We passed legislation to provide hope 
to terminally ill patients by giving them access to experimental 
treatments. We passed bipartisan clean energy legislation. We passed a 
farm bill to support our Nation's farmers and ranchers, to protect our 
environment, and more.
  But there is more work to be done. Republicans are working right now 
to develop and pass legislation to continue to address the cost of 
living and to improve Americans' quality of life. We are committed to 
making tax relief permanent for American families. We are also 
committed to ensure that the economic progress we have made sticks 
around for the long term.
  We are working to open new markets for American goods and services so 
that American workers and businesses can thrive. One priority is 
passing the United States-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement, which 
would grow our economy and create 167,000 new jobs.
  Republicans are also committed to making healthcare more affordable. 
We want to give Americans more and more affordable insurance options. 
We are working on legislation to reduce the cost of prescription drugs 
and increase access to lower cost generics. We are focused on 
developing solutions that will bring greater clarity to healthcare 
costs and address so-called surprise billing. You should not go to an 
in-network hospital expecting to pay one thing and then get an 
unexpected enormous bill weeks later because it wasn't disclosed to you 
that the doctor you saw wasn't in your insurance network.
  Another challenge facing American families is the cost of education. 
Republicans are currently working on legislation to make it easier to 
apply for Federal student aid and to pay back student loans. We will 
also continue to support career and technical education, and we will 
work to further increase the usefulness of 529 savings plans to help 
families plan and meet educational expenses.
  One bright spot for family budgets over the past few years has been 
energy costs. Republican policies have helped to make energy more 
affordable, and we are committed to keeping American's energy bills 
reasonable by supporting responsible energy development.
  We are also committed to continuing our work to keep our air clean 
and our environment healthy.
  We currently have multiple bills in the pipeline to promote clean 
energy technologies with more to come. There are a lot of other 
Republican plans that I could talk about, everything from making it 
easier for small businesses to offer retirement plans to ensuring that 
rural communities enjoy equal access to broadband services and the 
economic opportunities that they bring.
  One thing the American people can count on is that Republicans are 
working every day to improve Americans' quality of life. Our proposals 
may not always make it into the news. A lot of them do not have catchy 
names, like the Green New Deal, and they do not make pie-in-the-sky 
promises. But unlike the so-called Green New Deal, our plans are 
actually achievable, and they would actually make life better for 
American families.
  I am proud that more families are thriving today thanks to tax reform 
and to other Republican policies, and Republicans will continue to work 
every day to make sure that life continues to improve for the American 
people.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, all postcloture time 
has expired.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Truncale 
nomination?
  Mr. THUNE. 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 senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Louisiana (Mr. Cassidy), the Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Kennedy), 
and the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Rounds).
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from New York (Mrs. 
Gillibrand) and the Senator from Hawaii (Ms. Hirono) are necessarily 
absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Scott of Florida). Are there any other 
Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 49, nays 46, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 108 Ex.]

                                YEAS--49

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

                                NAYS--46

     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     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
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--5

     Cassidy
     Gillibrand
     Hirono
     Kennedy
     Rounds
  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 actions.

                          ____________________