May 13, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 79 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session
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CLOTURE MOTION; Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 79
(Senate - May 13, 2019)
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[Pages S2779-S2780] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] CLOTURE MOTION The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant to rule XXII, the Chair lays before the Senate the pending cloture motion, which the clerk will state. The legislative clerk read as follows: Cloture Motion We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of Michael J. Truncale, of Texas, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Texas. Mitch McConnell, Johnny Isakson, Roger F. Wicker, John Boozman, John Cornyn, Mike Crapo, Shelley Moore Capito, Pat Roberts, Roy Blunt, Deb Fischer, David Perdue, Todd Young, John Thune, Mike Rounds, Steve Daines, John Hoeven, Thom Tillis. The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the nomination of Michael J. Truncale, of Texas, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Texas, shall be brought to a close? The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk called the roll. Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Burr), the Senator from Florida (Mr. Scott), and the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey). Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Florida (Mr. Scott) would have voted ``yea.'' Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker), the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Brown), the Senator from New York (Mrs. Gillibrand), the Senator from Hawaii (Ms. Hirono), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Ms. Warren) are necessarily absent. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote? The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 49, nays 43, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No. 107 Ex.] YEAS--49 Alexander Barrasso Blackburn Blunt Boozman Braun Capito Cassidy Collins Cornyn Cotton Cramer Crapo Cruz Daines Enzi Ernst Fischer Gardner Graham Grassley Hawley Hoeven Hyde-Smith Inhofe Isakson Johnson Kennedy Lankford Lee McConnell McSally Moran Murkowski Paul Perdue Portman Risch Roberts Rounds Rubio Sasse Scott (SC) Shelby Sullivan Thune Tillis Wicker Young NAYS--43 Baldwin Bennet Blumenthal Cantwell Cardin Carper Casey Coons Cortez Masto Duckworth Durbin Feinstein Harris Hassan Heinrich Jones Kaine King Klobuchar Leahy Manchin Markey Menendez Merkley Murphy Murray Peters Reed Romney Rosen Sanders Schatz Schumer Shaheen Sinema Smith Stabenow Tester Udall Van Hollen Warner Whitehouse Wyden NOT VOTING--8 Booker Brown Burr Gillibrand Hirono Scott (FL) Toomey Warren The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 49, the nays are 43. The motion is agreed to. The Senator from Pennsylvania. Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Recognizing the 54th Anniversary of Head Start and the 25th Anniversary of Early Head Start Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I rise to celebrate the 54th anniversary of Head Start and the 25th anniversary of Early Head Start on May 18. We know that in January of 1964, President Lyndon Baines Johnson declared the War on Poverty in his State of the Union Address. Sargent Shriver, who was the then-Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity, assembled a panel of experts to develop a comprehensive child development program to help communities meet the needs of disadvantaged preschool children. It resulted in Project Head Start's launching in the summer of 1965. Over 50 years later, Head Start and Early Head Start have served hundreds of thousands of children with high-quality, comprehensive early learning and wraparound services. Just to give the Senate a reminder of what Head Start is in terms of the ages, Head Start serves children who are ages 3 to 5. Early Head Start serves children who are up to the age of 3--so under the age of 3. We know that these early learning experiences provide children with the tools they need to develop and succeed in school. When children learn more earlier in life, they earn more later in life. It is not just a rhyme. All the evidence and research show that there is a direct connection between early learning and later earning. A study of Head Start children in Harrisburg, PA, found that they had higher scores in the fifth grade than a control group on all academic and executive functioning outcomes. These benefits stay with children through adulthood. Research shows Head Start children have a higher likelihood of graduating from high school and receiving postsecondary degrees. These benefits even flow to the next generation. The children of Head Start graduates are significantly more likely to finish high school and enroll in college, and they are significantly less likely to become teen parents or to be involved in the criminal justice system. One of the core tenets of Head Start that has made it so successful is its responsiveness to local community needs. In Pennsylvania, for example, as in many other States, the opioid epidemic has hit far too many communities, and Head Start has responded to that crisis with innovative programming. For example, the SafeStart Program in Allentown, which is an Early Head Start program, provides early intervention to assist the development of infants and toddlers who have suffered abuse or neglect. After having completed SafeStart--the new program in Allentown--68 percent of 3-year-olds were on age developmentally, and 100 percent of the children showed significant improvement in their drug-impacted symptoms, with 53 percent having shown resolution. Of the women who became pregnant while their substance-impacted children were enrolled in SafeStart, 88 percent gave birth to full-term, drug-free, and healthy second children. The whole family approach and integration with local community partners [[Page S2780]] have created not just better outcomes for families but have resulted in significant savings. Through this program, 91 percent of the children achieved stable, permanent homes and caregivers, and it is estimated that the SafeStart Program has resulted in nearly $1.5 million in foster care savings and in over $9.5 million in child welfare involvement by stabilizing 106 families. So we are grateful for those results from the SafeStart Program in Allentown. Head Start is a critical program for lifting families out of poverty, obviously, and providing children with the early learning experiences they need to start kindergarten and to be ready to learn. Unfortunately, only about a third of eligible children still have access to Head Start, and less than 10 percent--these are national numbers--have access to Early Head Start. Again, Early Head Start serves those who are up to 3 years old, and Head Start serves those who are 3 to 5 years old. So funding for these programs is critical. To give you an example of those numbers in Pennsylvania--and the numbers are even a little lower--just 27 percent of eligible 3- to 5- year-olds have access to Head Start, and only 7 percent of eligible children under 3 years old have access to Early Head Start. Even with a lot of children being eligible but not being served, this is purely a question of funding. As we celebrate over 50 years of Head Start on May 18, we must work to ensure these programs receive robust funding and continue to serve low-income children and families across the Nation. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Order of Business Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all postcloture time on the Truncale nomination expire at 10:45 a.m., Tuesday, May 14. I further ask unanimous consent that, if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________
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