Senator Cornyn: (10:19 a.m.)

• Spoke on AWIA.
  • "Mr. President, as you know this week we are considering an important piece of legislation known as America's Water Infrastructure Act, the most sweeping act to be considered by Congress this year. It will literally reauthorize billions of dollars of spending for our nation's ports, harbors, and waterways, and it will end wasteful spending on water projects that are no longer necessary. I want to thank Chairman Barrasso and Ranking Member Carper for spearheading had this legislation through the committee. Drinking water, wastewater systems, dams, levees, ports and reservoirs matter to every single community in America."

Senator Schumer: (10:40 a.m.)

• Spoke on the short-term insurance CRA.
  • "Congressional Republicans repealed the coverage requirement causing an unnecessary and completely avoidable increase to premiums this year. And Republican attorneys general across the country, many now running for a seat in this chamber, filed a lawsuit that would repeal protections for Americans with preexisting conditions. Today on the floor, the Senate has the opportunity to put a stop to the relentless sabotage of our health care system. My friend and one of the great leaders in health care in this chamber, Senator Baldwin, has put forward a motion to repeal the Trump administration's rule to expand short-term insurance plans."

Senator Baldwin: (10:47 a.m.)

• Spoke on the short-term insurance CRA.
  • "The Trump administration has been trying to do what congressional Republicans couldn't. They have been sabotaging our health care system and rewriting the rules on guaranteed health protections and access to affordable care that millions of Americans have today. This sabotage has created instability in the health care market, contributing to widespread premium spikes in 2018. This administration ended the critical cost-sharing reduction payments that made health care more affordable for almost 90,000 Wisconsinites. The Trump administration again slashed funding for outreach efforts to help people sign up for health care."

Senator Murkowski: (3:02 p.m.)

• Spoke on the short term insurance CRA.
  • "And I had hoped to actually have an opportunity to speak to this prior to the vote, wasn't able to. But I wanted to take just a couple minutes this afternoon to - to weigh in on this issue from an Alaskan perspective. Because I - I think there have been some suggestions that -- that with this - with this rule in place that those of us that care about protecting those with preexisting conditions somehow or other, we're taking these protections away. I - I have weighed this carefully and - and, in fairness, I think some of the arguments that have been made are perhaps not as quite clear cut as would be suggested, and perhaps certainly in a state like mine where we still have the highest health care costs in the country, and certainly some of the highest costs for in the country."
• Spoke on the importance of civility.
  • "To be protested at her home every weekend, to know that she cannot travel without a police escort, I made comments as I prepared for the final vote last week, and I said we are better than this. We have to set the example here. And I am - I'm really touched that after I have taken a hard vote within my caucus that there are some who are notably angry at me but we are working together on the next issue of the day, and we're moving forward. We need to set that example in this body because if we don't set it here, I don't know how we can expect anyone on the outside to follow us with that. There is a need for civility, and it is a hard time for us."

Senator Durbin: (3:29 p.m.)

• Spoke on the nomination of Jeffrey Clark to be an Assistant Attorney General.
  • "If we don't accept responsibility in our generation to make this a better world, shame on us. We want to leave our kids a better world, well, for goodness sakes, do we have the political courage to do it? Will you be able to say to the president you're just wrong, Mr. President? We have to work together with nations around the world. The United States should be a leader, not an apologist. The president has said he wants to make America first. Well, how about America first when it comes to cleaning up the environment? There is nothing wrong with that leadership. It's something that we should be proud of. This man, Jeffrey Clark, who is to be the assistant attorney general, just doesn't buy into what I just said."
• Spoke on AWIA.
  • "These are critical projects in every state. I just went down a few weeks ago with Senator McConnell on the Ohio River, the Olmstead Lock and Dam that has been under construction for decades was finally completed. It's an amazing investment. It's the most expensive single infrastructure project in our nation's history, civil project in our nation's history. It's an indication of the kind of investment that's necessary if we are going to try to tame rivers like the Ohio River. There are critical projects like that in every state. They improve our inland waterways to help deliver $600 million in goods and 60% of our grain exports each year."

Senator Cardin: (4:02 p.m.)

• Spoke in tribute to the late Sen. Joe Tidings.
  • "He came from great privilege but was known in Maryland as a senator of the people. His first elected office was president of the Young Dames of Maryland. From there he became a member of the House of Delegates where he fought the establishment, took on the network in Annapolis and investigated the savings and loan situation in our state and really shed a lot of light on what was happening in abuses in that industry. He was chosen by then-Senator Kennedy to head up his campaign for president. Joe Yidings handled his campaign in Maryland for President Kennedy and helped in other primaries around the nation, leading to President Kennedy's election as president of the United States."

Senator Cortez Masto: (4:43 p.m.)

• Spoke on the short-term insurance CRA.
  • "Donald Trump has not yet been able to get the support in Congress he needs to repeal protections for people with preexisting conditions, but he has taken steps to circumvent the will of Congress and hack away at these protections bit by bit. In August he signed an executive order expanding access to what are called junk plans. These are health insurance plans that don't cover essential services like preexisting drugs, emergency room visits, or maternity care. These plans are designed for short-term use only and don't include protections for people with preexisting conditions."

Senator Thune: (4:50 p.m.)

• Spoke on Republican economic policy.
  • "And the tax code helps determine whether large businesses hire, grow, and invest in the United States. A large business is going to find it pretty hard to create jobs or improve benefits for employees if it's struggling to stay competitive against foreign businesses paying much less in taxes. And large business sun likely to keep jobs and investment in the United States, if the tax code makes it vastly more expensive to hire American workers. Prior to the passage of the tax cuts and jobs act last December, our tax code was not helping our economy or American families. It was doing just the opposite. And so we took action. We cut tax rates for American families, doubled the child tax credit, and nearly doubled the standard deduction."
• Spoke in tribute to Sen. Grassley.
  • "He had to contend with Democrat colleagues who did everything they could to delay and disrupt the process and to tank Justice Kavanaugh's confirmation. But no matter what tactics the Democrats resorted to, from interrupting the confirmation hearing to withholding critical information, Chairman Grassley stayed above the fray. He carried on with what needed to be done, whether that was compiling information from Justice Kavanaugh's time in the White House or interviewing witnesses."

Senator Whitehouse: (5:04 p.m.)

• Spoke on climate change.
  • "The Shaheen-Portman energy efficiency legislation would help move us toward that target. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy says the bill would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 650 million metric tons over a 15-year period. The cumulative net savings from the bill would reach nearly $100 billion. My state of Rhode Island is a national leader in promoting energy efficiency, so we know how good programs like the Shaheen-Portman reforms are for consumers, for businesses, and for the environment. Rhode Island has consistently ranked among the top states for energy efficiency."

Senator Shaheen: (5:18 p.m.)

• Spoke on climate change.
  • "You know, moose has been one of New Hampshire's iconic wildlife representatives, to put it the easiest way. The moose are something that we're very proud of in New Hampshire. We have seen them in the wildest parts of our state, some even as far south as where I live in southern New Hampshire. What we're seeing as the result of climate change is a 40% reduction in the moose in New Hampshire, and that's happening because, as I said, increases in insect-borne diseases. If you look very closely, this picture, which looks like there are these little round balls on this moose, those are ticks. Those are ticks that have been able to attach to the moose and in so many cases kill moose, and they are there because it's not getting cold enough in our winters to kill off those ticks."