[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 145 (Wednesday, September 11, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S5418]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Background Checks

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, before I begin, I would like to take just 
a moment to remember the thousands of innocent lives lost 18 years ago 
today and to thank the first responders who so bravely sacrificed their 
lives in the service of others.
  September 11 is a day that will always weigh heavily upon our Nation, 
but it is also a day that shows the strength and resiliency of the 
American people. In response to tragedy, we saw beyond our differences 
and came together as a country. That is the lesson we must never 
forget.
  Today, I come to the floor as a voice for families in my home State 
of Washington who have had enough of just ``thoughts and prayers'' and 
as a mother and a grandmother who has had enough of them too. My heart 
breaks with every report of another horrific mass shooting.
  Like my colleagues here today and the rest of our country, I watched 
in horror last month as devastating gun violence claimed dozens of 
innocent lives and threw our communities into a state of panic yet 
again. This heartbreak has become all too familiar to so many of us--
from El Paso and Odessa, to Dayton, to Maryville in my home State of 
Washington, and in schools and movie theaters and community spaces 
across our country. So what we are doing here today is refusing to 
accept this as normal and demanding the change that so many families 
are crying out for.
  Democrats are committed to heeding the voices of countless people 
back in Washington State and across our country who are desperate for 
leaders in this Washington--including President Trump and Leader 
McConnell--to address this crisis. That is why I am joining my 
colleagues on the Senate floor throughout today to call on Leader 
McConnell to take up commonsense gun safety legislation, starting with 
universal background checks.
  We know universal background checks save lives by closing dangerous 
loopholes to help keep guns out of the hands of people who should not 
have them. That is why more than 80 percent of Americans support 
universal background checks and are demanding immediate action from 
Congress to make universal background checks the law of the land.
  There certainly are other steps we can take as well. We could 
strengthen the extreme risk protection orders, which have worked in my 
home State of Washington. We could revive the assault weapons ban, 
invest in gun violence prevention research, and regulate firearm 
magazine limits. All of those steps could save lives and prevent more 
families from enduring the horrific pain and trauma too many already 
have. But H.R. 8--the universal background check legislation that has 
already passed the House--is literally sitting here in the Senate, 
waiting to be called up for a vote.
  As I close, I want to be clear. Passing universal background checks 
must be this body's first order of business if we are serious about 
protecting people and helping to keep guns out of the wrong hands. I 
and all of my Democratic colleagues and so many others are going to 
keep up the pressure as long as we have to, to get this done.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  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. RISCH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Under the previous order, all postcloture time is expired.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Akard 
nomination?
  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, 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 legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Tennessee (Mr. Alexander) and the Senator from Kansas (Mr. 
Roberts).
  Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. 
Alexander) would have voted ``yea.''
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Bennet), 
the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker), the Senator from California 
(Ms. Harris), the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Klobuchar), the Senator 
from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Ms. 
Warren) are necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sasse). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 90, nays 2, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 270 Ex.]

                                YEAS--90

     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Blackburn
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Braun
     Brown
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Capito
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Cassidy
     Collins
     Coons
     Cornyn
     Cortez Masto
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Feinstein
     Fischer
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hassan
     Hawley
     Heinrich
     Hirono
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Jones
     Kaine
     Kennedy
     King
     Lankford
     Leahy
     Lee
     Manchin
     McConnell
     McSally
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Paul
     Perdue
     Peters
     Portman
     Reed
     Risch
     Romney
     Rosen
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Scott (FL)
     Scott (SC)
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Sinema
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden
     Young

                                NAYS--2

     Gillibrand
     Markey
       

                             NOT VOTING--8

     Alexander
     Bennet
     Booker
     Harris
     Klobuchar
     Roberts
     Sanders
     Warren
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.