Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Blackrock Land Exchange Act of 2017. The legislation supports a mutually beneficial effort between the Bureau of Land Management and the J.R. Simplot Company in Idaho that began over 20 years…

Mr. President, I have 6 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority leaders. Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the…

Mr. President, I rise to speak in support of the nomination of Mr. Joseph Otting to be Comptroller of the Currency. The OCC's mission is to ensure that the financial institutions it oversees operate in a safe and sound manner, provide fair…

Mr. President, thank you. I rise to speak about the tax reform issue and the tax reform effort that is front and center for this Congress and for all Americans. Particularly, I want to point out the fact that Congress has not undertaken…

With help from the families and the Associated Logging Contractors of Idaho, we crafted a solution that is good for families, good for rural America, and good for the American economy. I am grateful for the bipartisan effort on this…

The Resilient Federal Forests Act contains many provisions that will give the Forest Service additional tools to better manage our national forests. To keep our forests healthy and productive, we must ensure we have skilled loggers to…

Mr. President, just for everybody's information, I am going to speak for just 2 or 3 minutes and then yield back our time, and then Senator Brown will do the same, and then we will proceed to a vote. I just want to make clear what we are…

Mr. President, we are having a very interesting and, obviously, intense debate tonight about arbitration clauses in financial contracts. Those who oppose the resolution that is on the floor tonight would have you think that the battle is…

I am familiar that they would still have the option of arbitration. That is why, when those who criticize our effort to reject this rule say we are trying to stop forced arbitration, the rule itself still allows arbitration agreements…

Let me reclaim my time, and the Senator can respond on his own time. Let me clarify. As I indicated, even the CFPB, in its own study, said that most of the contracts--not all companies use the same contract-- already allow two actions: No…

Mr. President, while we have a little bit of open time in between speakers, I thought I might respond to some of the things that have been said. Those who are opposing this resolution tonight continue to put it as though this were a case…

Mr. President, I also yield back our time. The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time is yielded back. The joint resolution was ordered to a third reading and was read the third time. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The joint resolution having been read the…

Mr. President, I move to proceed to H.J. Res. 111. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the motion. The legislative clerk read as follows: Motion to proceed to H.J. Res. 111, a joint resolution providing for congressional…

Mr. President, I rise in support of the nomination of the Honorable Randal Quarles to be a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Mr. Quarles has extensive government and private-sector experience dealing with both…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of the following nomination: Executive Calendar No. 303. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk will report the nomination…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate vote on the nomination with no intervening action or debate; that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; that the President be immediately…

Mr. President, I rise to make a unanimous consent request. We have been able to work out an agreement on further aspects of Mr. Quarles' nomination. I want to thank my ranking member, Sherrod Brown, for working with us on this and helping…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. The PRESIDING OFFICER…