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[Page S269]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Braun). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Legislative Accomplishments
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the Senate has remained in session this
afternoon following the first meeting of our impeachment trial. History
will not only remember today for the first steps of the trial, but
today was also a tremendous bipartisan legislative accomplishment for
the American people.
The Senate passed USMCA, President Trump's historic new trade
agreement with Canada and Mexico, by a vote of 89 to 10. Now this
landmark deal, which experts estimate will add tens of billions of
dollars to the U.S. economy and create 176,000 new jobs, is on its way
to the White House to be signed into law by the President.
This was a major priority for farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, small
businesses, and working families across the entire country, and, today,
the Senate got it done.
We also passed another important bill that will keep analogues of the
dangerous drug fentanyl designated as schedule I narcotics. It will
keep them appropriately listed among the most dangerous illegal drugs
and keep this important tool in the hands of law enforcement. The
legislation also preserves mandatory minimum sentences for the
criminals who unleash these dangerous poisons on our streets.
Law enforcement officials from Kentucky and across the Nation have
been pleading with Congress for months to keep these tools in place.
But our Democratic colleagues have resisted Republican efforts to make
these temporary measures permanent.
Finally, this week, thanks to Chairman Graham and the Judiciary
Committee, we were at least able to get an agreement to prevent these
measures from expiring for now.
There is a lot of work to do. Fentanyl and these analogues are a
plague--a plague. They kill more Kentuckians than any other illegal
drug--nearly 800 overdose deaths in 2018 alone, just in my State. The
problem, of course, is nationwide. We are going to stay in the fight
and keep working, but today's victory was an important step.
The Senate will next convene on Tuesday. As I discussed this morning,
an impeachment trial is just about the most serious business in which
the U.S. Senate can engage. The Founding Fathers gave us this task for
a reason. They had confidence in the Senate for a reason. They knew
this institution could do what was right for our Nation, so I am
confident that we can prove our Framers right in the days that lie
ahead.
MORNING BUSINESS
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak
therein for up to 10 minutes each.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
____________________