Sullivan and that 11 am voting on whether to move forward with that nomination with a simple majority needed to advance. A confirmation vote possible tomorrow unless senators agree to hold that the earlier and sent recessing for up to 215 for their weekly party lunches. Yesterday the Senate Confirmed the longestserving governor in us history to be the next ambassador to china. Iowa republican terry branstad. The chaplain, dr. Barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. The chaplain let us pray. Eternal god, the fountain of every blessing, we praise you for your loving kindness and tender mercies. We are astounded by your wonderful works to the children of humanity. Lord, we are incomplete without you. Fill our thirst for the knowledge of the sacred with your divine wisdom. Today, inspire our lawmakers to do your will. May they bring love where there is hate, light where there is darkness, and hope where there is despair. Lord, use them to transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows and to bring harmony from disharmony. May they rejoice because of the blessing of sins forgiven, striving to glorify you in all they do. And, lord, stay close to those affected by the bombing in manchester, england. We pray in your great name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell before i say anything else this morning, i want to say this. What we saw in manchester last night almost defies description. It was, in the words of Prime Minister may, a coward terrorist attack that stood out for its appalling, sickening, cowardice, deliberate rattily targeting dib rattily targeting defenseless children and young people that should have been enjoying the one of the most memorable night of their lives. Though well continue to learn more about what happened, this much is very clear many have died, many more have been injured. And as the Prime Minister told us, many of them were children. Its hard to imagine the pain that the families of these victims must be feeling today. So on behalf of the senate and our country, let me express our heartfelt condolences to the victims, their families, and to the british people who have been our friends and allies through many challenges. The senate also recognizes that many first responders, medical professionals, and citizens who stepped in to provide help. As i speak, i know that the intelligence professionals from both of our countries are already working to discover whether this was the result of an individual attacker or directed by isil. In either case, the people of america will stand with our allies and provide any assistance we possibly can. As colleagues know, its once again the time of the year when Congress Gets to work putting together the next budget. One of the initial steps in the process is typically for the president to send up a blueprint of his own laying out his priorities as members continue to work through the conversations here as well. The president s budget is being released this morning, and here are a few things we should know about it already. It builds on the progress made earlier this month on defense, prioritizing more of the resources our Service Members need. It builds on progress made earlier this month on Border Security, calling for investing in more of the infrastructure and technology our Law Enforcement officers actually need. And unlike any of president obamas budget blueprints, this one actually achieves balance. The provisions i mentioned are encouraging to see. Im sure they will serve as guideposts for chairman enzi and the rest of the Budget Committee as they move forward on this matter. I also appreciate the president s commitment to slowing the growth of mandatory spending, which if left unaddressed, could eventually limit our ability to invest in nearly anything else as the debt and the interest we have to pay on it increases and crowds out spending on other major priorities. This thursday treasury secretary mnuchin will testify before the finance committee on the budget blueprint, and with it the administrations interest in tax reform. I know were all eager to learn more from him and look forward to working with the administration to make our tax code simpler and fairer for the American People and american businesses. Over the years our tax system has grown only more complex and more punitive. Putting both individuals and employers at a disadvantage while also inadvertently incentivizing American Companies and jobs to leave this country to go overseas. Its evident that we need serious reforms to our tax code, the type that will help families keep more of their hardearned money while also helping businesses put more americans to work. By implementing tax reform, we can again encourage investment in our country, allowing american businesses to expand, hire more workers, improve wages and offer better benefits. In turn, families will have access to more opportunities and will be better positioned to actually get ahead. Its been over three decades since we passed comprehensive tax reform, and its past time that we do something about it. Fortunately, we now have an administration that shares this interest in finally improving our tax system instead of making it even more convoluted and constricting and without demanding 1 trillion in new taxes for the government. Easing the burden on the middle class and getting the economy moving again are top concerns here in the Republican Senate. We understand that for the past eight years too many families struggled under the weight of an economy that failed to reach its potential. Too many took home wages that didnt meet their needs. Too many saw opportunity slip away. We understand that these families deserve a change in direction and expect each of us to do what we can to get the economy moving again soon. Thats why we passed legislation to provide relief from obamaera regulations that stifled growth and its why well keep working to advance more legislative solutions that can help hardworking americans. Tax reform is one way we can do just that. This is an area where republicans and democrats have been able to find some Common Ground in the past, and im hopeful our friends across the aisle will join us in, woulding toward comprehensive would join us in working toward comprehensive tax reform one more time. Either way the Republican Senate remains committed to help with tax reform so we can promote wage growth all across our country. Mr. President , i suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i ask that further proceedings on the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to legislative session. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is closed. Under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the sullivan nomination, which the clerk will report. The clerk nomination, department of state, john j. Sullivan of maryland to be deputy secretary. The presiding officer under the previous order, the time until 11 00 a. M. Will be equally divided in the usual form. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to legislative session. The presiding officer without objection. The question is on the motion to proceed. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed, say 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 54, Courtney Elwood to be the general counsel of the c. I. A. The presiding officer the clerk will report the motion. The question is on the motion to proceed. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed, say 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, Central Intelligence agency, Courtney Elwood of virginia to be general counsel. 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 Courtney Elwood of virginia to be general counsel of the Central Intelligence agency, signed by 17 senators as follows. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent the reading of the names be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the mandatory quorum call with respect to the cloture motion be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent the senate resume consideration of the sullivan nomination. The presiding officer without objection. The presiding officer if no one yields time, the time will be charged equally to the two sides. Mr. Schumer mr. President. The presiding officer the democratic leader. Mr. Schumer mr. President , first, the senates thoughts and prayers go out to everyone in manchester, england. Such violence is particularly heart breaking when it happens as it did in manchester at a concert with so many young people there to enjoy. We mourn the families of the victims of last nights terrorist attack. We hope the perpetrators are quickly found and brought to justice. Mr. President , i saw on tv a mother waiting, trying to email or text her daughter. She got no answer. She was wondering where her daughter is. It brought back the horrible memories for me after 9 11, the day after when i went up there and saw hundreds of People Holding up signs, have you seen my wife evelyn . Have you seen my son john . Not knowing if they were alive or dead. Most of them ended up being dead. We hope and pray that that mother and all the other mothers who are waiting and fathers, brothers and sisters who are waiting for news that maybe their child, their relative is alive will find them alive. Our prayers go out to them. Okay. Now, on another matter completely, last night, it was reported in the Washington Post that President Trump attempted to enlist the director of national intelligence, dan coats, and the director of the National Security agency, admiral rogers, in helping the Administration Push back against reports in the press about an investigation into the president s campaign and its potential ties to russia. According to the same reporting, white house staff may also have, quote, sounded out top intelligence officials about the possibility of intervening directly, unquote, with the f. B. I. And mr. Comey to get him to drop the investigation into general flynn. If these reports are accurate, its another piece of nowmounting evidence that this white house has no interest, no interest in allowing the Russian Investigation to proceed without partisan interference and the white house seems to have little respect for the principles of rule of law. We havent quite seen anything like it in a very long time. Such allegations only reinforce the correctness of the decision to appoint special counsel mueller to oversee the investigation and should strengthen our resolve to ensure that he is insulated from interference from this white house. And, mr. President , such allegations also strengthen again the need for an independent, nonpartisan f. B. I. Director. With all these reports of attempts to interfere with the investigation, we cannot have an f. B. I. Director who has political background, who doesnt seem right down the middle, who doesnt seem to be a directors director, a prosecutors prosecutor, an investigators investigator. No politician or candidate with insufficient impartiality should be selected by the president or confirmed by the senate, and we democrats will stand very, very strongly for that. Given the almost daily reports about potential potentially meddling and misconduct by this administration, Congress Must exercise its Oversight Authority in order to keep this administration in check. Both the executive branch and the congressional investigations must proceed. And this is not about politics or political advantage. When a foreign power, particularly an enemy of our country like putin and russia, try to interfere in our elections and will probably do it again in the future, we have to know everything that happened, who participated and make sure it doesnt happen again. And if people who participated in it, if there are such people, get away with it this time, many more will do it next time. So this is an issue of national interest, National Security and even the future of our democracy. I remind my colleagues that in our constitution, the Founding Fathers worried about foreign interference in our government. When i read that in high school and again in college, i said, well, that doesnt seem real. Its all too real today, showing both the wisdom of the Founding Fathers and the need for strong oversight. Now, on the budget. Today the president will release his full budget for fiscal year 2018. From all indications, the trump budget will seek deep cuts to programs that help the middle class and working america while providing more handouts for the rich. It will cut to the bone programs that help the elderly, the poor while adding money for an unnecessary, ineffective border wall that continues to have bipartisan opposition and to make all the math work, the trump budget makes nirl unfounded sumgz about economic growth. In short, the trump budget takes a sledgehammer to the middle class and the working poor, lavishes tax breaks on the wealthy and imagines all of the deficit problems away with fantasy math. The trump budget exists somewhere over the rainbow where the dreams of nick mulvaney, paul ryan and the Koch Brothers really do come true. Of course, these dreams are a nightmare for the average working american. We expect the trump budget will make deep cuts to the National Institute of health and centers for disease control. Let me ask how many people in america want to cut Cancer Research when its done such good . Well, President Trump evidently does. Its his budget. The kneecap research that develops new cures, damaging our ability to continue to prevent the outbreak of disease. Were all living longer and healthier, in part because of this research. Do we want to stop it, cut it back so we can give tax breaks to wealthy people who god bless them are doing great already. We expect the trump budget to slash programs like meals on wheels. We even read in the newspaper this morning that the head of the Freedom Caucus said that for him even some of these cuts were too great. Snap benefits, helping making sure no kid goes to bed hungry in america. This is america. Weve always done this. And the Childrens Health insurance program. Cruelly ripping away the liveliness from americans who need them most, the chirp, the working poor, the elderly. We expect the trump budget will cut transportation funding, Education Funding and programs that help students repay their student loan debt. One of the great problems in america, the debt on the backs, the burden of average kids getting out of college, middleclass kids. Were going to make it harder . What is going on here . What is going on in the white house with this kind of budget . Our college kids when they get out, they need to be able to live real good lives and not have this burden of debt on their shoulders which they are struggling under now and were going to make it worse. We also its amazing but trul break trumps promise to protect Social Security and medicaid from cuts, both of them. He promised over and over again he wouldnt cut Social Security, medicare and medicaid. Medicare is not cut here. Medicaid is and Social Security is. On Social Security, the budget will cut Social Security disability benefits to Many Americans who have earned them and paid for those benefits. You can say well, it doesnt cut old age benefits for the elderly. Wait. If they get away with this, the elderly will be next on the chopping block because the goal, it seems, of this budget is cut everything you can so you can give even more tax breaks to the wealthiest people, Koch Brothers type of thinking. It will also seek hundreds of billions of dollars, additional cuts in medicaid. The budget cuts medicaid on top of the cuts that were made in the house bill on trumpcare. And whatll that do . Medicaid has become a middleclass program. 60 of the people in nursing homes, medicaid funds it. What are we going to tell a couple with three kids say theyre 40 or 45. They have three kids. Theyre saving for college. Theyre struggling, but at least they know that mom or dad, who needs help is in a nursing home. This budget passes, that family is going to have a terrible choice take hundreds of dollars a month out of their own budget and give it to pay for the nursing home or find a place for mom and dad to live. Maybe at home, but maybe theres no room in the house. Awful. Thats what theyre do