Vote vote vote the presiding officer are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote . If no, the on this vote the yeas are 516789 the nays are 31. Threefifths having not voted in the affirmative, the motion is not agreed to. The majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i enter a motion to reconsider the vote. The motion is entered. Mr. Mcconnell i move to have proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 355. The presiding officer the question is on the motion to proceed. All in favor say aye. Those opposed no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. The clerk will report the nomination. The clerk nomination, the judiciary, David Austin Tapp of kentucky to be a judge of the United States court of federal claims. Mr. Mcconnell i send a cloture motion to the desk. The presiding officer the clerk will report the cloture motion. The clerk cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of David Austin Tapp of kentucky to be a judge of the United States court of federal claims for federal claims. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to legislative session. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All in favor say aye. Those opposed no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 463. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All in favor say aye. Those opposed no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. The clerk will report the nomination. The clerk nomination, the judiciary, dan yel j. Hunsaker. Mr. Mcconnell i send a cloture motion to the desk. The presiding officer the clerk will report the cloture motion. The clerk cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do leash on the nomination of Danielle Hunsaker of oregon signed by 17 senators as follows. Mr. Mcconnell i ask content the reading of the names be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to legislative session. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All in favor say aye. Those opposed no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 464. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All in favor say aye. Those opposed no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. The clerk will report the nomination. The clerk nomination, the judiciary, William Joseph nardini of connecticut to be United States circuit judge for the second circuit. Mr. Mcconnell i send a cloture motion to the desk. The presiding officer the clerk will order the clrm clerk cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby on the nomination of William Nardini of connecticut signed by 17 senators as follows. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to legislative session. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All in favor say aye. Those opposed no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 458. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All in favor say aye. Those opposed no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. The clerk will report the nomination. The clerk nomination, the judiciary, Lee Philip Rudofsky of arkansas to be United States district judge for the Eastern District of arkansas. Mr. Mcconnell i send a cloture motion to the desk. The presiding officer the clerk will report the cloture motion. The clerk cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of Lee Philip Rudofsky of arkansas to be United States district judge for the Eastern District of arkansas signed by 17 senators as follows. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to legislative session. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All in favor say aye. Those opposed no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 365. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All in favor say aye. Those opposed no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. The clerk will report the nomination. The clerk nomination, the judiciary, Jennifer Philpott wilson of pennsylvania to be United States district judge for the middle district of pennsylvania. Mr. Mcconnell i send a cloture motion to the desk. The presiding officer the clerk will report the cloture motion. The clerk cloture motion. We, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of Jennifer Philpott wilson of pennsylvania to be United States district judge for the middle district of pennsylvania, signed by 17 senators as follows. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President , i have six requests for committees to meet during todays session of the senate. They have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. The presiding officer duly noted. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator for arkansas. Mr. Cotton i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Cotton last weekend, elite u. S. Special Operations Forces embarked on a daring and Dangerous Mission to locate and kill or capture the terrorist leader of isis, Abu Bakr Albaghdadi. These soldiers now that baghdads compound was well guarded by radical islamic terrorists who placed little value on their own lives. They knew the compound was boobytrapped and that baghdad kept innocent children as human shields to protect himself against attack. Nevertheless, these soldiers carried out their mission fearlessly, flawlessly. They breached the compound, eliminated baghdads guard, and then cornered the terrorist leader in a deadend underground tunnel. Baghdad chose the cowards way out, detonating his suicide vest even though he was surrounded by his own children. True to form, he was as evil in the final moments of his life as he had been throughout it. But now baghdad is dead, thanks to the brave men and women of the United States armed forces and our canines, too. There is no other nation on earth whose military could have carried out this raid and the American People ought to be proud of them. To commemorate their stunning success, senator graham and i have a resolution to honor the leaders and members of the military, Intelligence Community who made it possible and commend the president for his decisive leadership in ordering the raid. Therefore, mr. President , i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of Senate Resolution 394 submitted earlier today. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk Senate Resolution 394 honoring the members of the military and Intelligence Community who carried out the mission that killed Abu Bakr Albaghdadi and for other purposes. The presiding officer is there objection for proceeding to the measure . Without objection, the senate will proceed. Mr. Cotton mr. President , i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to to and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. The presiding officer without objection. A senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator for maryland. A senator thank you, mr. President. I ask unanimous consent that floor privileges be granted to tessle silverman, a member of my staff during todays session of the senate. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Cardin mr. President , i stand here today to mourn the loss of kay hagan. Kay was a warm, kind person with a wonderful sense of humor and she was an inspiring public servant. I feel fortunate to have been her friend and colleague here in the United States senate. I am deeply saddened to be among the many who will miss her profoundly. Kay knew from a young age that her destiny was in politics starting when they worked here as an intern. She often recalled operating the senate elevators in the 1970s. She would watch the nations leaderleaders pass by, includinr maternal uncle, thensenator charles from florida and dream of riding those elevators he herself as an elected firm. Kay work official. Kay worked incredibly hard. She earned her degree from Florida University and the j. D. From the University School of law. She began she worked in Financial Services and became a Vice President of North CarolinaNational Bank which is now part of bank of america. In 1998 she was elected to the North Carolina state senate where her talent in setting the states budget and her devotion to her constituents earned her a spot among North Carolinas ten most effective senators three years in a row. Then in 2008 she became a u. S. Senator in a historic election. Kay was North Carolinas second female senator ever and its first democratic female senator. For the moment kay arrived in the senate, she concerned herself with how to use her platform to clear the way for other people, especially other women to achieve their ambitions. The very first bill that she cosponsored was the Lilly Ledbetter fair pay act which created a fair system for filing claims of pay discrimination. She also worked with senator schumer to open the senates Swimming Pool to female senators for the first time. When where kay saw injustice, where she saw indignity, she saw opportunities to make the world a better place. She was committed to fighting for anyone who needed her help. She was a fierce advocate for service members, veterans, and military families, both her father and brother served in the u. S. Navy. She also spent much of her Senate Career campaigning to improve education, financial literacy, and job training for underserved communities. She rallied people to these causes, not with strong arming or steamrolling but with cleverness and compassion and coalition building. Kay was the type of legislator who dug into issues that made a real difference in peoples lives even if they werent necessarily headline grabbing. I had the honor of working alongside kay in the Small Business committee for four years and i watched her tirelessly create Economic Opportunity for north carolinians and all americans. The programs and policies that we spearheaded there may not have been may not have made front page news but kay knew she was making a difference for entrepreneurship opportunities in our country. The only thing to rival kays dedication to her constituents was her dedication to her family. Kay was endlessly devoted to her husband, chip, and their three children tidden, jeanette and carrie and all of her loved ones. Her brother in law henry hagan is a fellow baltimorean and has told me over the years how kay truly was the son around which the entire family orbited. She was a source of gravity and light for them as she was for so many people who were lucky enough to know her. Her gravity continued to ground us and may her light continue to warm and guide us. I wish all of kays family and friends comfort during this difficult time. Mr. President , i yield the floor. Mr. Scott mr. President . The presiding officer the senator for florida. Mr. Scott what weve heard from this week from my democratic colleagues on health care is just more of the same. More fearmongering. More misinformation. The issue this week is whats called 1332 waivers. These waivers allow states flexibility in how they implement Health Care Programs. Its a simple concept. Every state is different. Every state should have the flexibility to design their Health Care Programs and regulations the way that best meets the needs of their citizens. As a former governor, i know how important it is. Topdown, onesizefitsall federal Health Care Programs increase costs and arent the way to best served the needs of the American People. Even the democrats realize that when they passed obamacare. They created the 1332 waiver for state innovation. As governor, i use add similar waiver authority, an 1115 medicaid waiver, to reform our medicaid system and transition it from a feeforservice to a managedcare system. This resulted in lower cost to taxpayers and Better Service and access for florida families, a winwin. These waivers worked, and if you believe in states rights, these waivers are the way to give states the opportunity to provide Better Health care to their citizens. But heres the problem the democrats dont believe in states rights or allowing state taxpayers and citizens any flexibility to provide Better HealthCare Services to their citizens. The democrats want these topdown, onesizefitsall federal programs. If theres choice and flexibility, they want to restrict it its how biggovernment works, and the democrats love big government, restrictive mandates, and socialism. When the democrats are not attacking republicans for trying to dismantle obamacare, the democrats turn around to their supporters and talk about their efforts to replace obamacare. They dont want to keep obamacare programs as they are. They know obamacare is not working. They want to replace it with medicare for all, which would be the biggest expansion of Government Health care in history. By some estimates, medicare for all would cost more than 30 trillion over ten years. This one program would double the federal budget and would require massive tax increases on each and every man, woman, and child in america. Right now we collect 3 trillion in federal revenue. Medicare for all would require everyones federal taxes to more than double. Coincidentally, the Congressional Budget Office has so far been unable to do an official score of the medicare for all bill. Ive asked the sponsor of the bill, the junior senator from vermont, who happens to be the Ranking Member of the Senate Budget committee, to join me in requesting a c. B. O. Score of his bill. So far crickets. Why wouldnt the senator want a score of his bill . Its because the democrats dont want you to know how much it would cost. They dont want you to know how many people would lose the employersponsored health care that they have and like. They dont want you to know how much taxes would have to go up. Medicare for all is the democrats dream. Every american on a governmentrun health care program. Every american reliant on the federal government for their health care. Any effort to undermine this goal is anathema to them. And so this week theyre going to theyre going after 1332 waivers and claiming that they somehow undermine protections for people with preexisting conditions. The Senate Democratic leader claimed yesterday that these waive remembers an effort to sabotage health care for millions. I find that statement interesting. I wonder what democrat governor jerry paulous of colorado thinks of their claim that hes trying to sabotage health care. His state used these 1332 waivers to best meet the needs of coloradans. Theyve seen premiums go down by 16 . I wonder what the governor of delaware would say. His state also used this waiver and has soon premiums drop by 13 . I wonder what democratic governor of rhode island would say. Premiums in her state have gone down 6 since they got their 1332 waiver. Contrary to the misinformation from the democratic leader, these waivers do not eliminate protections for people with preexisting conditions. These core protections, which i strongly support, remain unchanged. This is personal to me. My brother grew up with a preexisting condition, and mids mother had to drive and my mother had to drive 200 miles to a Charity Hospital just to get treatment for him. The democrats are misrepresenting the facts about 1332 waivers because they realize theyre losing the argument. Remember the obamacare promise, you can keep your insurance plan, your doctor, and every family would save 2,500 . Obamacare only benefited hospitals, insurance companies, and the pharmaceutical industry. That is why they originally supported it. But for the average american, millions lost their insurance and their doctors. Premiums skyrocketed, deductibles skyrocketed. The result is that while more people have health care insurance, less people have access to health care. And now they want to double down with medicare for all. There are three problems with our Current Health care system, all caused by government cost, cost, and cost. None of the democrats proposals would do a thing to address the cost of health care. Their proposals only make the problem worse. Keep that in mind as you listen to the democrats fearmongering on health care. They have to misrepresent the information because they cant defend their own position. The American People dont want and cant afford medicare for all. We need to reduce Health Care Costs and provide a safety net for those who cannot afford their health care. Not create a federal governmentorganized Health Care Market which causes Health Care Costs to skyrocket. Giving flexibility to the states is an easy way to increase access and quality of care for the American People. So, of course, democrats oppose that, except for the democrat governors that are doing it every day. If you need anymore evidence of how outoftouch washington democrats have become, look no further than their criticism and their vote against democrat governors for supporting good policies that make sense. Enough with their misrepresentations. Enough with the nonsense. Enough with the fearmongering. The American People deserve better. Lets Work Together to lower the cost of health care so all taxpayers can get the care they need at a price they can afford. I note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call quorum call quorum call mr. Sullivan mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from alaska. Mr. Sullivan mr. President , is the senate in a quorum call . The presiding officer we are. Mr. Sullivan i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Sullivan mr. President , i want to say a few words this afternoon about the funding of our military, the support for our troops and what just happened here on the senate floor, the United States senate floor, because its a pretty sad exercise that unfortunately happens way too much in this body, and i know it can be confusing to people watching in the gallery, on tv. But i want to explain just what happened because the American People should know whats happening right now in this body. Unfortunately, mr. President , its deja vu all over again on the defense appropriations bill. Now i enjoy my bipartisan work here. Some of my best friends are on the other side of the aisle that i made here in the senate, but there are also principled disagreements between some of us, some of the parties here on key issues, and one of them is whether we fully support our military National Defense and make that support a priority, not a political football, which is what we just witnessed on the senate floor. I know all my colleagues are patriotic. I have no doubt about that. All 100, we all love our country. But looking at history over the decades and also just in the past few years, certainly leaves one with the impression and the strong conclusion that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle support our military when convenient, but have much higher priorities for which they are ready and willing to undermine military funding, readiness, and support for our troops who keep us safe. So, mr. President , just to put this in context, we just voted to get on the defense appropriations bill, the bill that funds our military. We had a budget agreement several months ago that did that. We just took up a previous aprops bill, and the plan in the senate was to go from the bill that we just passed on appropriations to the defense bill. That was the plan. And lo and behold, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle said no, were going to filibuster the funding for our military. Thats what just happened. America, media, please understand thats what just happened. So as i mentioned, this priority for the military with regard to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle isnt always there. And as i mentioned also, decades, if you look at the National President ial level, mr. President , every time in the past four decades that we have elected a democrat president , theyve come to power. Think about it. President carter, president clinton, president obama. What has happened . Defense spending has been cut dramatically every time and the readiness and morale of our military forces has plummeted. Thats a fact. I chair the Armed Services subcommittee on readiness from 2010 to 2015 defense spending for our military declined by 25 . Second term under president obama, and we are still digging out of the hole that we dug for our military with regard to readiness. Let me give you a couple of examples. In 2015 when i first got to the senate, three out of 58 Brigade Combat Teams in the u. S. Army, 3 out of 58 were at the tier 1 level of readiness that we expect. Think about that. The men and women who joined the army to be ready to fight, 3 out of 58 Brigade Combat Teams. The Brigade Combat Team is the 5,000man Building Block of the army, over half the marine corps Naval Aviation couldnt fly in 2015. Think about that. And the flight times in terms of training for all pilots in the military plummeted. I think it was up eight hours a month. My first challenge in 2015 was part of this obama drawdown of the military, they announced right when i got here that they were going to cut an additional 50,000 u. S. Active Army Military troops. This was only four years ago. Again, National Security challenges are growing in the world, and four years ago the Obama Administration sl cutting the army by an initial 50,000 active duty troops. This included a very important unit for the army that happened to be in my state, the 425, infantry division, 5,000 man airborne trained combat team, the entire arctic, they were on the chopping block to go. We fought that, i fought that. There was an issue i put hundreds of hours into with my team. Put a hold on the secretary of the armys confirmation, put a hold on the chief of staffs army confirmation to finally get their attention. This is a bad idea for americas National Security. We won that fight, mr. President , but the other 40,000 active duty troops that the Obama Administration decided to get rid of, theyre gone. Gone. Were still rebuilding from that. Make no mistake, if some of my colleagues were running for president , my colleague from massachusetts, my colleague from vermont get elected next year, defense spending is going to plummet. Thats just the way it is. Go look at some of the versions of the Green New Deal that they are advocating for. Thats not just about shutting down resource development. Some of the versions of that legislation and that idea says were going to cut defense spending up to 50 . Thats in the legislation. So thats at the national level. What about whats been going on here in the United States senate . Mr. President , for ive been here for almost five years. One of the big reasons i ran for the senate was to stop the gutting of our military to take care of our troops. I mentioned that from 2010 to 2015 readiness plummeted, defense spending plummeted, and weve turned that around. This congress, republicans in control, with a republican in the white house, weve turned that around. Now i will give credit, where rebuilding our military. And a lot of my democratic colleagues have supported this. I want to give them credit. They realize the obama cuts were very harmful to our readiness, to our military, to their families, and theres been bipartisan support for rebuilding our military. But and this is a big but, mr. President this has been a big struggle. Why . Every time my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have higher priorities than funding our troops and the National Security of our nation and im not sure there are many higher priorities than that, not in my view, anyway they turn to holding hostage defense spending by filibustering the funding of our military. Thats just what happened today. A couple hours ago actually an hour ago here on the senate floor. Their friends in the press dont report on it, but it happens all the time. It happens all the time. And this puts lives at risk. This undermines our military. And, by the way, by the way, the members of the military see this. The press might not report on it, but our nations troops and their families, they watch. Now, mr. President , i said it happens all the time. Let me give you a couple of examples. In 2015 and 2016, when the minority was led by harry reid of nevada, he filibustered the defense appropriations bill seven times. Seven times. Again, the media didnt report on it. I remember, mr. President , im a colonel in the marine corps reserves, trained with the Marine Corps Special operations command, i remember being out training with these marines, many of whom were going off to the middle east, syria, iraq, afghanistan, and what was going on in the senate was the minority leader, harry reid, was blocking the funding of the troops. What really shocked me back then was, i get it, one leader of the Democratic Party was doing that, but why all the colleagues on his side followed suit to do that, i still cant understand. Especially colleagues who have a significant military presence in their states, like my state, the great state of alaska. So during that time i went to the majority leader, leader mcconnell, asked him that he keep bringing this bill to the floor. Lets debate it, lets talk about it, lets see if the American People understand whats happening, which i think they did. And many of us came down here and asked the question as we kept bringing this up to the minority leader of the United States senate, why are you doing this . Why are you doing this . You dont think the American People understand . You dont think the troops understand . Come down on the senate floor and explain why are you not supporting funding our troops and their families and military readiness . Well, unfortunately he never did that. So today, mr. President , that was a couple of years ago, its deja vu all over again. We tried to bring the defense appropriations bill to the floor in september, before the end of the fiscal year, but my colleagues on the other side filibustered that. So what does that mean . They just dont want to vote on it, they dont want to deal on it, so they wont let us vote, get the 60 votes and get on the bill. Now were a month into the new fiscal year, and today, as we just saw on the the floor, despite the fact we just finished another appropriations bill which had strong bipartisan support and the plan was to then go to defense aprops, another filibuster. Amazing. I still havent heard an explanation from anybody on the other side why theyre doing it, but ill tell you this, mr. President. Its clear to me that supporting our troops and military readiness is not their priority. Heres a few items of whats in the bill that was filibustered. A 3. 5 pay raise for the army, full support for the 58 Brigade Combat Teams that i mentioned were such in a low state of ready ness by the way, its increasing, i think the number is close to 25 Brigade Combat Teams now that weve been funding the military at tier 1 levels. Support for the navy, Amphibious Readiness groups, navy and marine units, funds the training for our air force pilots, which has been suf a problem in terms of readiness. Huge boost to missile defense, most of which is based in the great state of alaska, and it appropriates the funding to bring 96 96, f35s. Two squadrons of f35s will be coming to may state soon to compete with china and russia. These are a few of the particulars, mr. President. What does this amount to . A better paid, a better equipped and more lethal military force. Thats what the American People want from us. It doesnt matter what party, democrat, republican, region, south, north, alaska, florida. The people want it, the families want it, the troops want it. Mr. President , we have troops in harms way right now all around the world. Yesterday almost every one of the members of this body, all 100 senators, went to a topsecret briefing about the raid that killed the isis leader, albaghdadi. We were able to actually see some of the video of the remarkable professional, courage and dedication of our military special forces who went in there at the great risk of their lives and took out this ruthless, brutal, dangerous terrorist. We owe these and our other military members and their families such a huge debt of gratitude and certainly the support of the congress of the United States. I was honestly thinking this morning, how can any senator who witnessed that yesterday, and i think all 100 there, come down to the floor this afternoon and filibuster the funding for our military . Well, a bunch of them just did. And, mr. President , i dont know why, but as far as i can tell since ive been in the senate going on five years, thats the ninth filibuster of defense spending in the appropriations for our military and their families that my colleagues on the democratic side of this body have done. Let me repeat that. Nine times in the last four and a half years this exercise to hold our military hostage for some other political priority by denying them funding, nine times. I checked. Since ive been here, theres been no bill no bill filibustered more by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle than the bill that would fund our military. Think about that. Think about that for a minute. This is the bill that when they want to leverage some other issue that has nothing to do with National Security, they fibbing out, they filibuster it nine times in the last four years. I think its shameful. Its politics pure and simple. Certainly driven by the extreme left of their party, many of whom have not focused on the National Security of the country in supporting our troops. They are trying to leverage funding of our troops to gain political concessions on other issues. And heres the bottom line. The men and women who serve in the military dont deserve this. I wish the press would write about it. Dont hold your breath on that. But for my part, im going to continue to come down here, like ive done before on this very issue, and say, look, if theres one thing we should be focused on, its supporting our military and funding them and their families to make them ready, to make them lethal, to enable them to protect our country. And if theres one bill in the congress that we shouldnt be filibustering nine times in the last four years, its this one. But thats what just happened, mr. President. I hope more americans see this. Call your senator who voted no today and him we do not agree with that vote. And i guarantee you the men and women who serve our country dont either and they would appreciate if you weighed in on their behalf. I yield the floor. Ms. Stabenow mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from michigan. Ms. Stabenow i would ask suspension of the quorum call, please. The presiding officer we are not in a quorum call. The senator is recognized. Ms. Stabenow thank you very much. Mr. President , i rise today to pay tribute to a woman who was more than just our colleague. She was our friend, and im missing my friend today. When i think about senator kay hagan, i remember a lot of things. First was her deep dedication to public service. From the moment she woke up until the sunset behind her beloved blue ridge mountains, kay was focused on serving the people of North Carolina and the state she loved so much. It was such an honor working with her, especially on behalf of North Carolinas farmers, small towns, Rural Communities that she loved so much. She was passionate about the health of the land and the people who live and work on it. Second, kay was a fighter. We all knew that. Growing up between two brothers probably contributed to that. I have two brothers myself, and i can attest to the fact that it toughens you up. We saw that spark every day on the floor of the United States senate. Kay had a deep and abiding sense of justice, and she stood up for North Carolina families every single day. Even when it wasnt easy. And even when she paid a political price for it. She stood up for expanding health care and protecting the rights of North Carolina women and families. That same fighting spirit kept her going through her own grueling health challenges. I had the chance to visit with her a couple of years ago when she was receiving treatment at a Rehabilitation Hospital in georgia. She was working so hard to recover her ability to move and to talk, but one thing hadnt changed, that spark in her eyes. I know i speak for all of us when i say that kays grace and endurance over the past three years were incredibly inspiring. Finely when i think of kay, i think of kindness. In a city full of sharp words and even sharper elbows, kay was unfailingly optimistic and an absolute joy to work it. I know that even my republican colleagues would agree with me and join in our sorrow over her loss. Kay and i happened to have daughters who were getting married around the same time. And, as many of you know, the mother of the bride love to talk about the wedding plans and photos about the big day and she shared a lot of photos. I will never forget the way her face would light up whenever she would talk about her family. She was so proud of each and every one of them, and they were proud of her too. In her final floor speech kay shared one of her guiding principles, a paraphrase of luke, chamenter 12 chapter 12. To whom much is given, much is expected. Mr. President , this chamber and this country are better for having known senator kay hagan. She lived by that principle. She gave us so much and she gave it with her whole heart. Knowing kay was a gift, and i feel so fortunate to have been able to call her my friend. My deepest condolences are with her husband chip and their children and their extended family and many, many friends, and her beloved state of North Carolina. Thank you, mr. President. I yield the floor. I would ask for the quorum call. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call