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

• Spoke on freedom of the press.
  • "This resolution is in honor of the 46 journalists killed in 2017 for their reporting, for the 262 journalists imprisoned around the world last year, and as part of that 262, the 21 journalists jailed just in 2017 for, quote, false news, unquote, more than doubling the 2016 record. These journalists, of course, are mothers and fathers and sons and daughters who are putting their lives and, indeed, their freedom on the line to shed a light on some of the world's toughest stories. I'd like to tell the story of one of the journalists who lost his life last year, bravely reporting from a conflict area. Chris Allen. I want to acknowledge Chris' parents Joyce Kragen and John Allen who are here with us today."

 

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

• Spoke on opioids legislation.
  • "But he was by no means alone in doing so. This bill as he will tell you represents the contribution of more than 70 different senators and five different standing committees of the United States Senate. That takes a lot of careful work and a lot of determination. The bill is bipartisan, as you would expect, and that of course would not have happened without intense collaboration. So for those who like to say that bipartisanship is dead in the United States Senate, this bill and other bipartisan work that we have done and will do is evidence that that is simply false. In 2017 president trump declared the opioid crisis a national public health emergency. Since then we've seen 116 Americans die from an opioid-related overdose daily."

 

Senator Schumer: (4:11 p.m.)

• Spoke about September 11.
  • "Hundreds of people lined up, have you seen my father, Joe? Have you seen my daughter, Marie? Because the towers had crashed but no one knew how many people have survived. It was all of. 3,000 souls lost in one day, one of the bloodiest days on American soil since the civil war. And people I knew - a guy I played basketball with in high school, a businessman who helped me on my way up, a firefighter who I went around the city with to ask people to donate blood. So we all know people who are gone. So 17 years ago today, September 12, 2001, I called Americans to wear the flag in remembrance of those who were lost."
• Spoke on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
  • "Over the course of two days of questioning, Brett Kavanaugh managed to avoid definitively answering nearly every question of substance, making a mockery of his participation in the hearings. He refused to say that he believed Roe v. Wade was correctly decided. He refused to say that he would affirmatively uphold the existing health care law, including protections for over 100 million Americans with preexisting conditions. He even refused to visit what many consider his extreme views on executive power. And would not even say if he believed the president was obligated to comply with a duly issued subpoena. It didn't matters if members of the judiciary committee phrased the questions about already decided cases or hypothetical situations."

 

Senator Boozman: (4:21 p.m.)

• Spoke on the minibus conference report.
  • "This bill is the result of a bipartisan commitment to return to regular order, and I thank Chairman Shelby and Vice Chairman Leahy for leading the Senate in this process and providing all members a voice in determining how taxpayer dollars were - are spent. We worked hard with our House colleagues over the past two months to develop a thoughtful and responsible conference report that took into account the input of members on both sides of the aisle. The conference committee made thoughtful decisions about how to provide maximum readiness for the war fighter and prioritize investments to the department of Veterans' Affairs so it can take care of our veterans. This bill provides $97.1 billion in discretionary spending which is $5.1 billion over last year's level."