Senate Calendar
Tuesday, Sep. 4, 2018
Tomorrow -
- The Senate will convene at 12:00 p.m.
- Following leader remarks, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session and VOTE on confirmation of Executive Calendar #1061, Elad L. Roisman, of Maine, to be a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Senator Alexander: (6:20 p.m.)
- Spoke in tribute to Sen. John McCain.
- "I had wondered about that, frankly, because it's a long way to Phoenix, five-hour flight. Sometimes John took a connecting flight, and then he must have taken hundreds of trips around the world, so I wondered if he was really connected there as he was to the United States Senate. You shouldn't have any doubt about it because you're not going to get elected six times in a primary and six time in an election where both the primary and elections are competitive without being well connected to your state. He obviously is. Listening to those who remembered John in Phoenix, it was clear that John McCain kept his feet on the ground in are Arizona."
Senator Sullivan: (6:33 p.m.)
- Spoke in tribute to the Alaskan of the Week.
- "Mr. President, it's Tuesday afternoon. Usually I come down on the floor of the Senate on Thursday to talk about the individual in Alaska that makes my state such a great place, what we call the Alaskan of the Week. And we haven't been able to do that for a couple of weeks so I not I'd just move up the timeline a little bit today and talk a little bit about some people in my state who really have made an incredible difference. It's one of my favorite speeches I give throughout the year, throughout the week because it talks about people who help their community, help their state, help their country."
Senator Crapo: (5:05 p.m.)
- Spoke on the nomination of Elad Roisman to be a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
- "The S.E.C. has an important three-part mission, protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation. Each part of this mission is equally important and should not come at the expense of the other. In his nomination hearing, Elad echoed the importance of this commission and furthering it. He stressed the need to promote investor confidence in the markets and the S.E.C. itself and the importance of dispelling that markets are inaccessible or rigged against the little guy. He is committed to ensure that the S.E.C. has a strong enforcement program, one that holds regulated entities and individuals accountable."
Senator Murkowski: (5:11 p.m.)
- Spoke in tribute to Sen. John McCain.
- "Mr. President, there have been many words that have been spoken about our friend senator John McCain, and I want to join with the many words, the tributes that have been shared in these recent days since his passing. We all know the background, we all know the bio. John McCain served our nation for 60 years starting as an officer in the United States Navy, as a prisoner of war in unspeakable conditions and, of course, during his terms in the house of representatives and here in the senate for some 30 years. That's - that's the biography of - of the man, but it really is just the start of who he was and the mark that he made, that he made not only on the lives of us here in the senate but, really, on the lives of Americans all over the country."
Senator Udall: (4:20 p.m.)
- Spoke on climate change.
- "And that number is expected to double to over 140 million by 2050. Hundreds of thousands are losing their lives. The official death toll in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria is now 2,975. And there are even higher estimates that have been done about those losses in Puerto Rico. Climate change is the most pressing moral issue of our time. It is an existential threat. As the people in Puerto Rico know all too well, as the people of Rhode Island know well, as the people of New Mexico and all of our states and territories."
Senator Warren: (4:45 p.m.)
- Spoke in tribute to Sen. John McCain.
- "Throughout the entire battle, John would tease me about pulling my weight and getting this thing done, as he would say. Show some fight, girl. Don't tell me you're afraid. Get in there. Throw some punches. That was John's approach to life. If you're going to be in a fight, you better give it your all. Don't get me wrong, John and I disagreed on many things, and sometimes quite forcefully. But even when we disagreed, I always respected that his heart was focused on doing what he believed was right for the American people. I remember expressing to John my views on the most effective strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that there are simply some problems that cannot be solved through military action alone."
Senator Cassidy: (4:52 p.m.)
- Spoke on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
- "Lisa Blatt who worked in the attorney general's office during the Clinton, Bush and Obama administration said sometimes a superstar is just a superstar. This is the case with Judge Brett Kavanaugh who has long been considered the most qualified nominee for the Supreme Court if Republicans secured the White House. The Senate should confirm him. She also said, quote, I expect my friends on the left will criticize me for speaking up for Kavanaugh, but we all benefit from having smart, qualified, and engaged judges on our highest court, regardless of the administration that nominates them."
Senator McConnell: (3:32 p.m.)
- Spoke on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
- "Mr. President, the Judiciary Committee has begun hearings to consider Judge Brett Kavanaugh for confirmation as associate justice of the Supreme Court. One of the distinguished professionals asked to introduce him is Lisa Blatt. In a recent op-ed Ms. Blatt laid out the case for why Democrats should support Judge Kavanaugh. Last week she spearheaded a letter that 41 veteran appellate advocates wrote to the committee. Here's what they said: Based on our experience with Judge Kavanaugh and his work over 12 years of distinguished judicial service, we're confident that he possesses the character, temperament and intellect that will make him an asset to the nation's highest court."
Senator Whitehouse: (3:54 p.m.)
- Spoke on climate change.
- ""The Atlantic," reported in a recent study, "Science." The titles of their - climate change could render many of the ecosystems unrecognizable from "The Washington Post" and no ecosystem on Earth is safe from climate change from "The Atlantic." They looked at temperature records to predict how global warming will transform our world. Dr. Steven Jackson a scientist with the geological survey told "The Atlantic," anywhere you are on the globe, the more you change climate, the more you will see ecological change. Having this kind of change at such a massive scale in a short period of time will create unprecedented challenges."
Senator Schumer: (4:00 p.m.)
- Spoke on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
- "Furthermore, we have no knowledge of why we were given these documents and not given the vast bulk of the documents. What is the rule? Is there some objective rule finding? They should make it public. Why? They haven't. The reason is simple. The obvious conclusion. Can't prove it because we don't have the documents is the 93% have things that they don't want to be made public. Otherwise there would be a set system and they'd say here's why you're getting this and not getting that. Again, it's not the number. It's the percentage. Almost everything the Republicans requested with Elena Kagan and Sotomayor when they were in the minority, our position now, were granted."
Today -
- The Senate will convene at 3:00 p.m.
- Following leader remarks, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session and resume consideration of Executive Calendar #1061, Elad L. Roisman, of Maine, to be a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
- At 5:30 p.m., the pending cloture motion will ripen.
- Note: on Tuesday, August 28, cloture was filed on Executive Calendar #1061, Elad L. Roisman, of Maine, to be a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Senator Ernst: (3:03 p.m.)
- Spoke in tribute to Sen. John McCain.
- "And immediately I felt that bond with John McCain as a fellow veteran. And it was one thing, but he was truly - and it was one thing he was truly interested in. He had been through the political stuff with a lot of other stuff engaged in the United States Senate. What it was like to engage in a campaign. What he really took an interest in was my experience in the war in Iraq, and he asked me about my service, talked to him about the National Guard. All of those things he truly understood and connected with, and he really enjoyed that aspect of our discussion."
The Senate convened.
