[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 93 (Tuesday, June 4, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3171-S3172]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Nominations

  Mr. McCONNELL. Before the Senate adjourned for Memorial Day, I laid 
out seven more nominations for our consideration when we returned--four 
to fill important vacancies in the administration and three to the 
Federal bench. So this week, the Senate will continue our work to 
confirm more well-qualified nominees and finally let the American 
people's President have more of his team on the job.
  Yesterday we began by voting to advance the nomination of Andrew 
Saul, of New York, to be Commissioner of Social Security. Mr. Saul is a 
graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and 
has spent decades building a successful career in business and in 
public administration. In addition to his experience in financial 
management, Mr. Saul has previously served as vice chairman of the New 
York Metropolitan Transportation Authority and as Chairman of the 
Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, where he oversaw programs 
relied upon by literally millions of Americans.
  It is no surprise that our colleagues on the Finance Committee voted 
unanimously to favorably report Mr. Saul's nomination to the full 
Senate. I hope Members will reach the same conclusion and support his 
confirmation.

[[Page S3172]]

  Later, we will turn to the consideration of David Schenker, of New 
Jersey, to be Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs; 
Heath Tarbert, of Maryland, to be Chairman of the Commodity Futures 
Trading Commission; Susan Combs, of Texas, to be Assistant Secretary of 
the Interior; and three nominees to preside in a district court and the 
Court of Federal Claims.
  In each case, the President has put forward impressive and 
uncontroversial individuals who, I might add, in a previous era, would 
have been candidates for a voice vote. They are thoroughly qualified 
for public service. Their nominations should not have been delayed even 
this long.
  In the case of Mr. Schenker, for example, our colleagues have forced 
the top Middle East job at the State Department to remain open for 1 
year. This is the top job at the State Department for the Middle East, 
and they have kept it open for 1 year--a year that brought no shortage 
of crises in that region.
  So I am glad we are continuing to get things back on track. I hope 
our colleagues will join me in voting to put each of these public 
servants to work for the American people.


                100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment

  Madam President, on another matter, today, June 4, 2019, marks a 
historic anniversary for the U.S. Senate. It was 100 years ago today 
that this body passed the 19th Amendment to the Constitution and sent 
it on to the States for ratification. It was 100 years ago today that 
this institution finally recognized that American women deserved the 
right to vote just the same as men.
  Of course, this victory for equality and fairness had been a long 
time in the making. The very same text that would become the 19th 
Amendment was first introduced in the Senate more than 40 years before, 
back in 1878. It was 40 years between the first introduction and the 
final passage. It was introduced by Senator Aaron Sargent of 
California, who, with his wife, was a close friend of Susan B. 
Anthony's. When it finally received a vote nearly a decade later, there 
were twice as many votes against it as for it. By 1914, there had been 
progress. When it received another vote that year, it failed by only 11 
votes. By February 1919, there was more progress, losing by just one 
vote. The old justifications were eroding. Our Nation's true principles 
and clear logic were chipping away at this old mistake.
  Then, precisely one century ago today, the right thing to do became 
undeniable. Women's suffrage cleared the Senate floor. The rollcall 
vote was 56 to 25--2 more than two-thirds. Newspaper accounts tell us 
that several minutes of sustained applause and cheers filled the 
Gallery. Then the 39 words that would become the 19th Amendment were on 
their way to the States, on their way to concluding a 42-year journey 
and becoming enshrined in our Constitution.
  Of course, this chapter of Senate history is just a tiny slice of the 
incredible uphill battle that the broader women's rights and suffrage 
movement waged in American politics and in culture. There were the 
pioneering thinkers of the Seneca Falls Convention, such as Elizabeth 
Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, and their famous Declaration of 
Sentiments. There was the incredible, history-changing intellectual and 
strategic partnership between Stanton and Susan B. Anthony and the 
prolific writing, coalition-building, and grassroots activism it 
produced.
  There were devoted organizers, such as Carrie Chapman Catt, Ida B. 
Wells, and Mary Church Terrell, and so many more--both the dynamic 
leaders whom history remembers and the millions more women and men who 
lent their support to the cause and who made quiet contributions of 
their own.
  Some of them lived to see the fruits of their work become part of our 
Constitution, and many did not, but the progress we celebrate would not 
have been possible--it would have been literally unimaginable--without 
them.
  So this milestone brought one chapter of hard work to an end, but it 
really started a new chapter in our history as American women became 
more and more integrated into our democracy. It was just 6 years after 
the 19th Amendment was ratified that my own State of Kentucky elected 
our first female Member of Congress, Katherine Langley, to the House of 
Representatives.
  I could not be more glad that the Senate will spend today 
commemorating this historic milestone. This afternoon, I know a number 
of our colleagues plan to come to the floor to describe the history and 
significance of this day in much more depth. Later, we will vote on a 
resolution to officially mark the centennial of our predecessors' 
historic vote.
  Several more Senators have been working on additional legislation to 
help our Nation mark the whole year of commemoration that begins this 
spring and will continue through the anniversary of final ratification.
  I want to thank a number of our colleagues who helped lead the 
preparation for this. In particular, thanks to Senator Collins for her 
leadership in coordinating today and focusing the Senate's attention on 
this milestone. Thanks to Senator Murkowski, the lead sponsor for the 
resolution we will be voting on this afternoon. Thanks to our 
colleagues Senators Blackburn, Feinstein, Ernst, and others for their 
hard work.
  I would also like to thank the members of the Women's Suffrage 
Centennial Commission, led by Chairwoman Kay Coles James and former 
Senator Barbara Mikulski, the Vice Chair, and their staff, including 
executive director Rebecca Kleefisch and Anna Laymon.
  Madam President, 100 years ago today, American women's right to vote 
was up for debate in this Chamber for the last time. As one Member of 
this body remarked on June 4, 1919, ``The advocates of the Susan B. 
Anthony amendment have won a great victory and are justly entitled to 
all the praise and honor which comes with the winning of a battle which 
has been fought for so long a time . . . the right of suffrage [for] 
those noble, patriotic, and splendid women of our country who have so 
long fought for this right and who so richly deserve [it].''
  Today we reflect on our gratitude for that work, and we rejoice in 
that victory.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.