Executive Calendar

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, this week we observe National Police Week, which is an annual gathering of tens of thousands of law enforcement personnel right here in our Nation's Capital. America will pay special tribute tomorrow to the service and sacrifice of our fallen officers as we mark Peace Officers Memorial Day.

Officers from all around the country will join together to honor their brothers and sisters in uniform who have made the ultimate sacrifice, and the rest of the Nation will remember how blessed we are by the selfless sacrifices of this ``thin blue line'' that protects our families and keeps our communities safe.

I extend a warm welcome to the many Kentuckians who have traveled here this week, and along with them, I am thinking especially of four of their comrades whose names will be added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial this year: Hickman police officer Rodney Smith, whose patrol car was washed into a field while he was checking on members of his community during a flood; Patrolman Scotty Hamilton, of the Parkville Police Department, who was murdered while he was investigating a suspicious vehicle for narcotics activity; Hopkinsville police officer Phillip Meacham, who was shot and killed while off duty as he assisted a fellow officer; and Louisville Metro Police Department detective Deidre Mengedoht, who was struck and killed while conducting a traffic stop on Christmas Eve.

With more than three decades of combined service, these heroic Kentuckians left behind spouses, children, and an entire Commonwealth that mourns their tragic losses. It is my honor to have represented them in the Senate and to represent all those who wear the uniform. It was an honor to proudly cosponsor the resolution designating this as National Police Week.

I also pause to recognize the U.S. Capitol Police, whose officers protect all of us in this building every day. Their professionalism and dedicated service make our democracy possible and allow millions of visitors to observe their government up close each year.

Nominations

Madam President, on another matter, this morning, we voted to confirm Michael Truncale to serve as a U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of Texas. Now we are considering Kenneth Lee, of California, who is slated to serve as a judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mr. Lee is a graduate of Cornell University and Harvard Law School, and he held a clerkship in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Since then, his record has been marked by his success in private practice as a litigator, in his distinguished public service as an Associate White House Counsel during the Bush administration, and in his work as an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University School of Law.

In addition to a ``unanimously well qualified'' rating from the ABA, which is the best it can give, and a favorable report from the Judiciary Committee, Mr. Lee has earned the especially high esteem of one of our own colleagues. The junior Senator from Arkansas attended law school with the nominee. He has personally testified that Mr. Lee is ``not only a brilliant lawyer, but more important, he's a man of high character.''

So I hope, as this body continues our work toward swiftly processing the backlog of well-qualified nominees on the Executive Calendar, that each of my colleagues will join me in supporting the confirmation of Kenneth Lee.

Economic Growth

Madam President, on one final matter, since the beginning of this Congress, the Nation has watched two fascinating trends play out.

We have observed the job market--and the opportunities available to working Americans--continue to break records and open new doors across the country. At the very same time, we have watched a new House Democratic majority, along with our friends across the aisle in this body, put forward a laundry list of proposals that appear to be tailor- made to shut those many doors.

Two weeks ago, the contrast was drawn especially stark. Just a few days before we received a new Labor Department report that 263,000 new jobs were created during the month of April, House Democrats held a hearing on legislation to heap a massive new tax burden on American producers and consumers in pursuit of a one-size-fits-all, Washington- run health insurance scheme; news of the lowest national unemployment rate since 1969 and a roadmap for Medicare for None; an economic moment that has seen more job openings than job seekers for the first time in recorded history alongside a proposal for a Federal social program that could leave taxpayers with an estimated $32 trillion bill.

It is not the first time I have mentioned this staggering pricetag here on the floor, but the news of this reality is spreading. Our friends in the press are catching on to the fact that the plan to implement Medicare for None isn't as neatly wrapped as its sponsors would suggest. ``Tax Hikes on the Wealthy Alone Can't Pay for `Medicare for All.''' That was one headline from last week. The cat is out of the bag. According to one analyst, ``there isn't $30 trillion sitting around from high earners . . . it just doesn't exist.''

Turning these socialist policies into reality would fall on the shoulders of all kinds of working families. Indeed, raising what the Senate Democrats' plan is estimated to cost over a 10-year period would require, according to the same analyst--listen to this--``doubling all personal and corporate income taxes or tripling payroll taxes.'' Let me say that again: doubling or tripling the taxes that all Americans pay, not just the wealthy. Far-left class warfare rhetoric will not pay those bills. That will take real money that will have to be taken from real middle-class families.

As communities across the country continue to reap the benefits of this remarkable opportunity economy--helped by the policy accomplishments that the Republicans have worked hard to enact--the Democrats' plan to pile radical new costs on the shoulders of the American people is looking like an especially tough sell.

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