[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 10 (Thursday, January 16, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S269]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE SESSION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Braun). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.


                      Legislative Accomplishments

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the Senate has remained in session this 
afternoon following the first meeting of our impeachment trial. History 
will not only remember today for the first steps of the trial, but 
today was also a tremendous bipartisan legislative accomplishment for 
the American people.
  The Senate passed USMCA, President Trump's historic new trade 
agreement with Canada and Mexico, by a vote of 89 to 10. Now this 
landmark deal, which experts estimate will add tens of billions of 
dollars to the U.S. economy and create 176,000 new jobs, is on its way 
to the White House to be signed into law by the President.
  This was a major priority for farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, small 
businesses, and working families across the entire country, and, today, 
the Senate got it done.
  We also passed another important bill that will keep analogues of the 
dangerous drug fentanyl designated as schedule I narcotics. It will 
keep them appropriately listed among the most dangerous illegal drugs 
and keep this important tool in the hands of law enforcement. The 
legislation also preserves mandatory minimum sentences for the 
criminals who unleash these dangerous poisons on our streets.
  Law enforcement officials from Kentucky and across the Nation have 
been pleading with Congress for months to keep these tools in place. 
But our Democratic colleagues have resisted Republican efforts to make 
these temporary measures permanent.
  Finally, this week, thanks to Chairman Graham and the Judiciary 
Committee, we were at least able to get an agreement to prevent these 
measures from expiring for now.
  There is a lot of work to do. Fentanyl and these analogues are a 
plague--a plague. They kill more Kentuckians than any other illegal 
drug--nearly 800 overdose deaths in 2018 alone, just in my State. The 
problem, of course, is nationwide. We are going to stay in the fight 
and keep working, but today's victory was an important step.
  The Senate will next convene on Tuesday. As I discussed this morning, 
an impeachment trial is just about the most serious business in which 
the U.S. Senate can engage. The Founding Fathers gave us this task for 
a reason. They had confidence in the Senate for a reason. They knew 
this institution could do what was right for our Nation, so I am 
confident that we can prove our Framers right in the days that lie 
ahead.


                            MORNING BUSINESS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak 
therein for up to 10 minutes each.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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