Senator McConnell: (3:08 a.m.)

• Unanimous Consent –
  • That notwithstanding Rule XXII, the pending cloture motions with respect to Executive Calendar #911, Executive Calendar #783, and Executive Calendar #720 be withdrawn.
  • That at 3:45 today, the Senate VOTE on confirmation of Executive Calendar #910, Executive Calendar #911, Executive Calendar #783, and Executive Calendar #720 in the order listed.
  • Further the pending cloture motions with respect to the following Executive Calendar numbers be withdrawn: 633, 635, 636, 674, 676, 692, 693, 731, 779, 782, 838, and 893.
  • Further, following disposition of the Patelunas nomination, the Senate VOTE on confirmation of the following nominations: Executive Calendar numbers 633, 635, 636, 674, 676, 692, 837.
  • Finally, at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the minority leader during the week of September 4th, the Senate VOTE on the following nominations: Executive Calendar numbers 693, 731, 778, 779, 782, 838, 839, 893.
  • (Without Objection)

 

Senator Klobuchar: (3:09 p.m.)

• Spoke in tribute to Sen. John McCain.
  • "My heart goes out to his wife Cindy, his mom, his daughters, and family. In the Navy, John exemplified heroism and bravery and in the senate he was a mentor to so many of us. He taught us how to work with leaders on the world stage, but then he taught us something just as important, and that is how to work with each other when we're here back at home. This past month my husband and I got to visit John and Cindy at their ranch in Arizona for one last time. Even while battling brain cancer, he continued to be engaged in the issues of our time. He continued to have that signature McCain humor and that grit. My last memory of John, I had brought a few of his books with him, and he was getting tired, and he pointed to one sentence in one of the books, and he said to me, that, that's what matters."

 

Senator Portman: (3:21 p.m.)

• Spoke in tribute to Sen. John McCain.
  • "It was my job to get under his skin and prepare him well for the debates, and I did it. Many of my colleagues will tell you he was a fighter and a tough competitor and did not mince words. I was on the other end of that after some spirited debates, I was glad in the real world I was on his side. Needless to say he was not happy to me. I think Cindy McCain didn't forgive me when I was playing the role of Senator Obama. Even two years later when I was first elected and joined him here in the United States Senate, he would introduce me to the reporters in the hall and say, that's the jerk that played Obama."

 

Senator Brown: (3:30 p.m.)

• Spoke on the nomination of Richard Clarida to be a member and Vice Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
  • "That's the way the Fed works to be on the board and then some special vice chair of supervision or vice chair generally in those titles that go along with the appointments. Federal Reserve hasn't had a full board since August 2013. Why is that? Well, president Obama nominated qualified financial experts Alan Landon, a small community bank owner, I believe, from Hawaii, and professor Katherine Dominguez who both stepped up to serve their country. They put a number of their lives' activities of hold in order to serve on the Federal Reserve. Yet the chairman of the Banking Committee, not the present chairman Senator Crapo, the former chairman of the Banking Committee simply refused to give a hearing to either of them."

 

Senator Blunt: (3:43 p.m.)

• Spoke in tribute to Sen. John McCain.
  • "Members of the media saw that. He was a man of intensity. He was a man who believed in his country. He was a man who believed that this country deserved to be represented well all over the world understand that freedom should be defended - and that freedom should be defended. Somebody observed to me earlier in the day that traveling with John McCain, he was unbelievably patient with the troops and unbelievably tough with the generals. And I've seen that and many of us have seen that."