Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to complete my remarks. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. President, I come to the floor today to give my strong support and ask my colleagues to support the confirmation of Judge Ralph Erickson to fill the North Dakota vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. This is a…

Madam President, I am honored to come to the floor today to express my support for the President's nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Judge Ralph Erickson. Judge Erickson is a longtime North Dakotan and has been a…

We think that biomass-derived products are tremendously important in the mix of how to help rural economy.

The other test is can they stream Netflix, right, because if you cannot stream Netflix, if you cannot get access to broadband, it is going to be increasingly more difficult.

We are very, very interested in making sure that the historic commitment that the Federal Government has made to rural development...none of that would be possible if we had not electrified, if we have not--now looking at broadband, if we…

We desperately need to expand rural broadband, which, along with Shelly Capito, we are working very hard in my office.

I think that is the ultimate challenge here going forward, which is finding parallel purpose with the Chinese in achieving this result.

If the Chinese Government did everything possible economically, with sanctions, with trade, with relationships, would it effectively achieve a deterrence from further progression in North Korea to acquire a nuclear weapon?

In fact, I have two tests on whether I think a rural area will survive. First is do we have rural water, which is absolutely critical going forward for many, many families, to make sure that the water is pure and clean.

What does that say? It says that somehow we have normalized this behavior to the point that we are not getting through.

Thank you, Mr. President. To my great colleague and one of the nicest people here, Senator Udall, who always leads with his brain, we know that his heart isn't far behind, and he has been a tremendous leader, a tremendous advocate, and a…

Senator Heitkamp came to Arizona to tour our NAC facility with me and her staff is actively working on replicating the NAC recovery model in North Dakota.

Thank you, Chairman Hoeven and Vice Chairman Udall for having this hearing.

Senator Heitkamp also graciously asked me to participate in an anti-trafficking roundtable in Bismarck, North Dakota.

It is high time that our courts stop enabling Backpage and others to hide behind the free speech curtain.

American Indian and Alaska Native women suffer sexual violence at the highest rate per capita in the Country.

I would like to commend Chairman Hoeven for reintroducing the SURVIVE Act.