[Pages S1015-S1019]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

SETTING FORTH THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET FOR THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT 
FOR FISCAL YEAR 2025 AND SETTING FORTH THE APPROPRIATE BUDGETARY LEVELS 
                   FOR FISCAL YEARS 2026 THROUGH 2034

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
resume consideration of S. Con. Res. 7, which the clerk will report.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 7), setting forth the 
     congressional budget for the United States Government for 
     fiscal year 2025 and setting forth the appropriate budgetary 
     levels for fiscal years 2026 through 2034.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.


                      Nomination of Kelly Loeffler

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, the Senate will soon confirm Kelly 
Loeffler. She will then be the next Administrator of the Small Business 
Administration.
  As a former colleague in the Senate representing Georgia, I know she 
understands the needs of small business in both rural and urban areas. 
I am very sympathetic to the needs of small businesses. These small 
businesses have experienced disruptions from the pandemic, labor 
shortages, inflation, and supply chain issues. I meet with many small 
business owners as I travel throughout Iowa, and I hear about the 
policy issues that are important to them.
  Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. During the past 20 
years, small businesses have created 75 percent of the new private 
nonfarm jobs in the United States. We always hear about excessive taxes 
and regulations affecting small businesses standing in the way of small 
businesses making the investments that would drive even more job 
growth. I have consistently supported legislation and policies to keep 
small businesses robust and prosperous.
  I look forward to working with Senator Loeffler to advance Iowa's 
small business priorities and improve the policies of the Small 
Business Administration.
  I recently met with her in my office, and one of the items that I 
stressed was the importance of responding to congressional letters and 
queries. I didn't do that just because the Small Business nominee was 
before me. I do this with all the nominees that come to my office 
because we have this constitutional responsibility of checks and 
balances, doing proper oversight of the laws and money that we 
appropriate being handled by the executive branch of government because 
we all know Congress not only passes laws and appropriates money, but 
we have to make sure that the President faithfully executes those laws 
and spends the money appropriately.

[[Page S1016]]

  Oversight then allows us to hold bureaucrats accountable to the rule 
of law and, most importantly, keep faith with the taxpayers because if 
we have transparency in government, we have greater accountability. The 
public's business must be public.
  I fully expect the new Administrator to respond to all congressional 
inquiries in a timely and responsive manner. I look forward, then, to 
working soon with Administrator Loeffler to support policies to keep 
our small businesses strong and to keep them productive.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Mullin). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.


                   Recognition of the Minority Leader

  The Democratic leader is recognized.


                         Budget Reconciliation

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, yesterday, every single Senate Republican 
signed their name onto Donald Trump's plan to cut taxes for their 
billionaire buddies. Republicans and pundits all seem to be focused on 
this dispute between one bill or two bills. Donald Trump keeps changing 
his mind. One day, he says two bills is OK, and then just this morning 
he wants one bill.
  Trump and Republicans have been all over the lot, and this morning 
the confusion continues. But frankly, this is all a sideshow. 
Republicans could do 2 bills, 10 bills, 50 bills, 100 bills. It doesn't 
make a difference because Donald Trump and House and Senate Republicans 
are united where it matters most: They want to give their billionaire 
buddies a tax break and have the American people pay the cost, no 
matter how many bills.
  This is going to be a long, drawn-out fight. The debate we begin this 
week will spill into next week and the week after and go on possibly 
further. We will have late nights here on the floor, exposing the 
Republicans' hypocrisy on healthcare, on national security, on job 
creation, on inflation, and most of all on where their main focus is, 
their North Star: tax breaks for their billionaire buddies.
  Democrats are glad to have this debate with the Republicans. We are 
glad to expose the truth here on the Senate floor. No matter how 
Republicans spin it, their No. 1 goal is tax cuts for their billionaire 
buddies. They are laying the groundwork to defund Medicaid and raise 
healthcare costs for tens of millions of working families all so they 
can help their billionaire buddies with another tax break.
  Republicans are preparing to cut nutrition programs that feed hungry 
kids so they can help their billionaire buddies with another tax break. 
Republicans are making it harder for Americans to own a home so they 
can help their billionaire buddies with another tax break.
  Republicans are preparing to slash NIH funding and reduce the chances 
that we get cures for so many illnesses that affect tens of millions. 
They are slashing NIH funding even as a measles outbreak is breaking 
out in Texas. All--all--so they can help their billionaire buddies with 
another tax break.
  Republicans are getting ready to kill thousands, if not hundreds of 
thousands, of clean jobs in order to put more money in the pocket of 
Big Oil executives all so they can give their billionaire buddies 
another tax break.
  Of course, Republicans know how unpopular these tax cuts are. I don't 
hear them getting on the floor and saying we need to cut the taxes on 
the richest people in America. Oh, no. They will keep trying to divert 
and change the subject, just like when Donald Trump tries to change the 
subject by talking about the Gulf of Mexico; we are annexing Canada; we 
are building hotels in Gaza.
  These are all distractions--distractions--to hide Donald Trump, Elon 
Musk, and the Republicans' real goal: Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and 
Republicans are trying to give their billionaire buddies a tax break 
and have you--you--pay the cost.
  Republicans can do it in one bill. They can to it in two bills. They 
can do it in a whole bunch of bills. It doesn't matter. The endgame is 
the same: tax breaks paid for on the backs of working and middle-class 
families.
  We will not relent. We are going to continue to expose Republicans 
for what they are doing in giving tax breaks for billionaires. We are 
going to do it in reconciliation, in the budget, and throughout the 
months and years ahead because the American people don't want it.
  The Republicans are trying to hide it. We won't let them hide it. It 
is going to be front and center as we go through these debates.


                                Ukraine

  Mr. President. In a FOX News interview released last night, President 
Trump spoke about the war in Ukraine, and some of his comments sounded 
straight from a Russian propaganda playbook. Rather than speak the 
truth, rather than acknowledge Vladimir Putin's role in starting this 
war, President Trump amazingly blamed Ukraine for Putin's invasion.
  To quote the President: ``You should never have started it,'' he 
said. He was saying that to President Zelenskyy. This is disgusting--
disgusting--after how this man has fought so hard and so valiantly, and 
it deliberately distorts the truth.
  It is just awful to see an American President--it is disgusting to 
see an American President turn against one of our friends and openly 
side with a thug like Vladimir Putin. It is shameful to hear the 
President repeat Putin's propaganda while laying the groundwork for 
negotiations that favor Russia at Ukraine's expense. The people of 
Ukraine did not start this war. Vladimir Putin did.

  Ukrainians have fought and died on the battlefield to defend their 
home. The suffering and destruction of the Ukrainian country and the 
Ukrainian people that they have endured is staggering all because of 
Vladimir Putin.
  Let's not forgot, America--maybe there are some who say enough 
already--if we give in to Putin now, America will inevitably pay the 
price later. That is what history has shown. When you give in to thugs, 
when you give in to dictators, you pay the price. Hasn't Donald Trump 
and his allies learned the lessons of history?
  This is not just about the security of another nation. This struggle 
is, in every way, about the ultimate security of the American people. 
Make no mistake, right now the Kremlin is overjoyed by what Donald 
Trump is saying and what he is doing. Every single Republican must be 
put on record for President Trump's dangerous and false statements 
about the war in Ukraine.
  We have an obligation in the Senate to take a stand for the truth and 
take a stand against autocrats, and we will do it shortly. The American 
people deserve to know, Will Republicans take a stand for democracy and 
freedom around the world or will they cater to Putin and Russia like 
Trump is doing with ultimately bad consequences for all of us?


                                  FAA

  Mr. President, the more Donald Trump and DOGE indiscriminately hack 
away at public Agencies, the greater harm to Americans' well-being and 
even their safety. The FAA is a good example.
  Just weeks after the deadliest plane crash in a long time and just as 
we see more incidents around the country, President Trump has fired 
hundreds of FAA workers, including air safety personnel. Firing people 
whose very job it is to keep air travel safe is nothing short of 
reckless.
  Now, the White House accused us of linking the crash of the 
Minneapolis flight directly with FAA cuts and staffing. Nothing could 
be further from the truth. I simply said that when there are fewer FAA 
personnel, the skies are less safe.
  Does Donald Trump deny that there are fewer FAA staffers? Does Donald 
Trump deny that when he fires FAA workers, including workers who focus 
on safety, it makes travel less safe? Of course, Donald Trump is 
obfuscating once again. He doesn't want the truth to come out, but he 
should correct course immediately and halt these firings because the 
safety of the skies is at risk.
  Now, of course, we know that President Trump ignores the truth, but 
we need to speak the truth when people's safety is at stake. Here are 
the facts: Something went terribly wrong on the

[[Page S1017]]

flight that took off from Minneapolis. That is clear. An investigation 
is underway, and as I said yesterday, I await their results.
  Similarly, something went terribly wrong a few weeks ago on the 
flight from Kansas to Washington, DC, that claimed 67 people's lives. 
Here are more facts: Donald Trump and Elon Musk have fired hundreds of 
FAA staffers, including safety specialists--the very people who keep 
our skies safe--all so Republicans can help their billionaire buddies 
with another tax break.
  Why--why--at a time when incidents in the air and on the runways and 
in our airports seem to be increasing, why would we cut the very people 
meant to prevent them? Simple: Donald Trump and DOGE are doing it like 
they are doing so much else so they can help their billionaire buddies 
with another tax break.
  I hope the results of these ongoing investigations into recent 
incidents will produce findings that Congress can implement to save 
lives and make the skies safer. In the meantime, we must prioritize 
Americans' safety and not cut vital FAA jobs.
  These are the facts, plain and simple. Donald Trump may not like the 
facts. Donald Trump may not like the truth, but turning away from the 
facts will only hurt the American people and put lives in danger. That 
is a fact.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                   Recognition of the Majority Leader

  The majority leader is recognized.


                      Nomination of Kelly Loeffler

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, later today, the Senate will vote to 
confirm former Senator Kelly Loeffler to lead the Small Business 
Administration.
  Small business is in Kelly Loeffler's blood. She grew up on her 
family's fourth-generation farm in Illinois. In addition to the farm, 
her dad ran a small trucking company. And, as a young woman, Kelly 
Loeffler worked in the soybean fields and waited tables at small 
restaurants in the heartland. And she was the first person in her 
family to graduate from college, before embarking on a successful 
career in business herself. As Senator Loeffler put it, she has spent 
her life ``working in small businesses, starting them, growing them, 
and helping them succeed.''
  Helping small businesses succeed, that is the work of the Small 
Business Administration. As a former staffer at the SBA under President 
Reagan, I know how important it is that this Agency be an effective 
partner and champion of small business, and I know that is how Kelly 
Loeffler will run the SBA.
  Most of us know Kelly from her time serving here in the U.S. Senate. 
She may have only served for 1 year, but it was a critical year for 
small business policy.
  Of course, in 2020, the mission was helping small businesses survive. 
Senator Loeffler worked to help Georgia's small businesses keep their 
doors open and their employees on the payroll. She sought to ensure 
critical support was getting to small businesses in her State and 
around the country. And she was a leader in SBA oversight, especially 
in ensuring that relief meant for small businesses wasn't going to 
abortion providers in violation of Federal law.
  It has been a challenging few years for small businesses. First, 
there was the pandemic; then, inflation, workforce challenges, 
burdensome regulations. Natural disasters have struck many parts of the 
country, and small businesses suffered as SBA allowed its disaster loan 
account to run dry.
  America's entrepreneurs are one of America's greatest assets, and 
they have a big role to play in our future prosperity. Senator Loeffler 
will be their champion. She will focus the SBA to be a more effective 
partner to small businesses, help entrepreneurs make their dreams 
reality, and help our entire economy grow by helping to grow Main 
Street. She plans to modernize the SBA and make it more responsive to 
the needs of the Americans it is supposed to serve, and she has pledged 
to bring accountability and transparency where it is sorely needed.
  Kelly Loeffler knows there is nothing small about small business. 
Every decision an entrepreneur makes is a big decision. It is their 
livelihood, their dreams, and their future that are on the line.
  Kelly Loeffler understands this, and I look forward to working with 
her to support small businesses and to strengthen our economy.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sheehy). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.


                            Second Amendment

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, 2 weeks ago, President Trump issued an 
Executive order titled ``Protecting Second Amendment Rights.'' This 
Executive order reaffirmed constitutional rights of law-abiding 
citizens to keep and bear arms, which, of course, is part of the Bill 
of Rights--the most precious of those rights and liberties that have 
been protected since the beginning of our country.
  This Executive order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to review and 
develop a plan to rescind President Biden's overreach when it comes to 
firearm regulation.
  The President's Executive order comes on the heels of 4 years of 
President Biden's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives--
otherwise known as ATF--from trampling on Americans' Second Amendment 
rights. It started in 2021 with the Biden administration's so-called 
zero-tolerance policy. President Biden's ATF used this policy to revoke 
the licenses of firearms licensees, or FFLs, over minor bookkeeping 
violations.
  For decades, the ATF had a history of working with the FFLs to 
address minor, unintentional violations and actually help correct them. 
Historically, they would only revoke an FFL license in more extreme 
situations where the FFL had engaged in major, willful violations of 
the law and where these violations presented a threat to public safety.
  But the Biden administration violated decades of precedent by 
directing the ATF to engage in a zero-tolerance policy by simply 
pulling the plug on any licensee who made an honest mistake on their 
paperwork.
  Any of us who pay taxes, which would be most of us, know how tedious 
Federal processes can be. I can't imagine anyone who would want to be 
investigated for tax fraud for making a simple mistake on their tax 
forms if it could simply be cured or rectified. But this is essentially 
what the Biden administration did with their zero-tolerance policy at 
the ATF.
  The truth is, it was just a start. In April of 2022, the Biden 
administration decided to target law-abiding citizens who exercised 
their Second Amendment rights to build their own firearms with the so-
called ghost gun rule. What the Biden administration failed to 
recognize and failed to distinguish between were criminals or people 
who were suffering from mental illness and the rest of the law-abiding 
gun owners in America.
  As the National Rifle Association pointed out, the policy of allowing 
private individuals to make their own guns as a hobby is a longstanding 
tradition that goes back to the colonial era.
  Again, a gun in the hands of a law-abiding citizen is no threat to 
public safety, but the Biden administration didn't care, paying no heed 
to our country's longstanding history and traditions and instead 
preferring to please the gun control activists by issuing regulations 
to end this practice--again, even for law-abiding citizens.
  The ghost gun rule is currently being challenged in the courts, but 
the Trump administration doesn't have to wait for the Supreme Court to 
weigh in before rescinding this illegal and unconstitutional 
regulation.
  The Biden administration's rogue ATF continued down this path in 
January of 2023 when they finalized the so-called pistol brace 
rule. This action reclassified pistols with a stabilizing

[[Page S1018]]

brace as ``short-barreled rifles,'' something it is not. As a 
consequence, pistols would be subject to much more stringent 
regulations and penalties simply for being used with a stabilizing 
brace. This happened after the ATF had already previously determined 
that a stabilizing brace would not render a pistol a short-barreled 
rifle. So there is, obviously, inconsistency in the way they have 
approached this issue.

  All this reckless back-and-forth from the Federal Government causes 
needless uncertainty and confusion for law-abiding citizen gun owners, 
who want to follow the law but are not quite sure what the law is since 
they are being whipsawed back and forth. As a consequence of this 
reclassification, millions of law-abiding gun owners were no longer 
able to purchase a stabilizing brace, including people like disabled 
combat veterans who cannot shoot heavy pistols without a stabilizing 
brace.
  Overnight, law-abiding Americans who had lawfully purchased a 
stabilizing brace for their pistols became felons. This regulation is 
also being challenged in court, and multiple courts have found it to be 
what it is: arbitrary and capricious. I hope that, under the leadership 
of President Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi, the ATF will act 
swiftly to end this disastrous and illegal regulation.
  As if this weren't enough, in April of 2024, the Biden 
administration's ATF finalized a rule known as the ``Engaged in the 
Business'' rule. This was an attempt to rewrite a statute that was 
passed by the Congress and signed into law by the President of the 
United States; but this was an attempt to go further than what Congress 
and the White House had agreed upon in that statute. It was an attempt 
to impose a nearly universal background check on law-abiding citizens 
and was a direct affront to their constitutional rights. There are 
already background checks required by current law for anybody who 
purchases a firearm, but this was an attempt to go even further.
  Once again, this rule presents a golden opportunity for President 
Trump and the Attorney General to reverse the tide of the Biden 
administration's unconstitutional attacks on the rights of law-abiding 
citizens under the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
  I have long been a defender of Second Amendment rights for the 31 
million people I have the honor of representing in Texas and for law-
abiding citizens generally around the country. The Second Amendment is 
as much a part of our Constitution as the right of free speech or the 
freedom of the press. That is why it is included in the first 10 
amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, to the Constitution.
  This is why I introduced the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, which 
would allow people with concealed carry privileges to exercise those 
privileges in other States that allow concealed carry. It doesn't 
change the law of the individual States. It just prevents a ``gotcha'' 
from occurring when a gun owner inadvertently crosses into another 
jurisdiction that doesn't have the same laws as their home 
jurisdiction. It would literally treat State concealed carry permits 
the same way we treat State-issued driver's licenses. If you have a 
driver's license from Montana or Texas or South Carolina and you drive 
to New York, you can't be arrested for the failure to have an 
appropriate license. Our Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act would act as a 
driver's license, in effect, for gun owners. If someone has a driver's 
license, as I said, from Texas, for example, it would allow that person 
to drive to another State as long as they follow that State's speed and 
road laws. It is the same way with this legislation.
  In addition to introducing this legislation, I will very soon send a 
letter to the Deputy Director of the ATF, encouraging him to work with 
President Trump on rescinding many of these regulations in order to 
reverse the Biden administration's reckless attacks on the Second 
Amendment.
  So while the last 4 years have been a lot of headache for law-abiding 
citizens who simply want to exercise their constitutional rights, I 
have no doubt that President Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi will 
right this ship. I look forward to working with both of them to reform 
and redirect the energies of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms 
and Explosives to safeguard, rather than to attack, the Second 
Amendment rights of American citizens.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                          Cabinet Nominations

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, the world is seeing that President 
Trump's Cabinet picks are strong and that Republicans are confirming 
them and doing it very quickly. By the end of today, we will have 
confirmed 18 of President Trump's nominees. They are bold, and they are 
well-qualified. Now, this is more nominees than President Obama had 
confirmed by this time in 2009, and it is more than President Biden did 
in 2021--more than twice as many than Joe Biden did.
  Americans voted for a bold, new direction. They wanted to see that 
here in Washington and across the country, and Senate Republicans are 
delivering.
  Yesterday, the Senate confirmed Howard Lutnick to be the Secretary of 
Commerce. He is going to kick-start the golden age of American 
manufacturing.
  We are also on track to confirm Kelly Loeffler today to be the 
Administrator of the Small Business Administration. She is a former 
colleague of ours in the Senate, and she is a voice for Main Street 
America.
  The Senate will soon vote, as well, to confirm Kash Patel. He is the 
nominee to be the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
  The United States is seeing increasing threats from terrorism. The 
previous FBI Director told the Senate a year ago ``I see blinking 
lights everywhere.'' On New Year's Day, 14 Americans were killed in a 
terrorist attack in New Orleans. That is why the Senate must act 
quickly to confirm Mr. Patel. We need to continue to act with speed and 
urgency.
  Once confirmed, Mr. Patel will begin working to restore trust in one 
of America's premier law enforcement Agencies. Regrettably, today, only 
two in five Americans say they hold a favorable view of the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation. That needs to change. Kash Patel will reform 
and refocus the FBI to get it focused on its core mission, and that 
core mission is to fight crime. He is going to reshape the Bureau so it 
no longer is a tool for political attacks. He will rededicate the 
Bureau to keeping Americans safe.
  He is a uniquely qualified nominee. He began his career as a public 
defender in Florida. He defended the constitutional rights of some of 
the most dangerous people in the country. He later joined the Obama 
Department of Justice as a counterterrorism prosecutor. He investigated 
and prosecuted cases that protected our Nation from very serious 
threats. He received several awards for excellence for bringing 
terrorists to justice. He saw the power of the FBI to keep Americans 
safe, and he also saw how the power of the FBI could be abused.
  In Congress, Mr. Patel led the investigation that exposed that the 
FBI was spying unlawfully on President Trump's 2016 campaign. Special 
Counsel John Durham's investigation later backed up Mr. Patel's side of 
the story. Durham found ``the FBI failed to uphold their mission of 
strict fidelity to the law.''
  This abuse of power was a breach of Americans' trust in the FBI. Kash 
Patel is going to restore trust by returning the FBI to its core 
mission of investigating and fighting crime. At his confirmation 
hearing, he said he is going to work to cut in half the number of 
rapes, drug overdoses, and homicides in the country today. This is 
something that every law-abiding citizen in this country should 
welcome.
  For Democrats, however, this seems to be unacceptable. They claim he 
wants to weaponize government. That is blatantly false. It was the 
Democrats who turned the FBI into a political attack dog against their 
political opponents. The FBI pressured social media companies to 
censure the Hunter Biden laptop story. It partnered with Joe Biden's 
Department of Justice in the targeting of concerned parents who

[[Page S1019]]

protested woke school board meetings. It targeted Catholics as domestic 
terrorists and spied on them at church. It put politics and personal 
gain over service to the country.
  Mr. Patel will end the weaponization and restore transparency. He 
believes crime is bad, that two tiers of justice are unacceptable, and 
that equal justice under the law is good. To Democrats, that is taboo. 
To the rest of the country, that is common sense.
  Americans want the FBI to fight crime. Kash Patel is the man to do 
it. If you want to defend our constitutional rights, confirm Kash 
Patel. If you want justice and accountability, confirm Kash Patel. If 
you want to keep our communities safe, we need to confirm Kash Patel. 
He is a man of integrity and fidelity to the rule of law. I look 
forward to voting to confirm him.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                      Nomination of Kelly Loeffler

  Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, in just a few minutes, we will be asked to 
decide whether the Honorable Kelly Loeffler should be confirmed as 
Administrator of the Small Business Administration. As chair of the 
Small Business Committee, I would like to strongly urge all of my 
colleagues to vote yes and support her nomination.
  As a successful business leader, Kelly Loeffler is the perfect person 
to increase transparency and accountability at the SBA and prioritize 
the needs of small businesses.
  Throughout the committee's rigorous nomination process, Senator 
Loeffler has been thoroughly cooperative and impressive. She passed out 
of the committee with a bipartisan vote of 12 to 7.
  Over the course of her career, Senator Loeffler has shown how hard 
work, grit, and midwestern common sense can take you from Illinois 
soybean fields to CEO of your own company and, now, to lead a 
government Agency. I am confident that Senator Loeffler will ensure SBA 
once again works for all small businesses and ushers in a golden age 
for America's small businesses.
  Senator Loeffler is the right person to lead the Small Business 
Administration. She understands the burdens facing small businesses and 
recognizes how Washington can often serve as a barrier and a hindrance 
to their success. I have no doubt that she will fight to make sure Main 
Street is heard.
  Again, I urge all of my colleagues to support her nomination and 
confirm Senator Loeffler as Administrator of the Small Business 
Administration.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Ricketts). The Senator from Iowa.
  Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the previously 
rescheduled vote begin immediately.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection.

                          ____________________