Republican Congress Getting Results for Tennesseans:

• This week, the U.S. Senate reached an agreement to schedule a vote in the Senate on a piece of legislation I sponsored called the Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018. This legislation represents the work of over 70 senators, four committees, and countless staff who have worked together to help put an end to the opioid crisis ravaging virtually every American community.

• The Senate approved legislation to reauthorize the Children's Hospitals Graduate Medical Education program, which gives federal support to programs that train pediatric doctors – including St. Jude in Memphis. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives in July and is now headed to President Trump’s desk.

Important news from this past week:

• This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee concluded its hearings on Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to serve as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

• I chaired the “Conference Committee” between the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives on three appropriations bills this week that fund Tennessee priorities, including Chickamauga Lock in Chattanooga, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge.

I look forward to voting for President Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh

Video of my remarks on Judge Kavanaugh is available here.

Despite the current rudeness by Democratic senators who tried to turn his confirmation hearing into a circus, Judge Kavanaugh kept his cool this week and demonstrated the qualities that I look for in a judge or a Supreme Court justice: good character, good temperament, high intelligence, and respect for the law. I look forward to voting for him, as I did when I voted for him to be a member of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. I think he will make an excellent member of the United States Supreme Court.

Advancing the fight to end the opioid epidemic

The Senate is now ready to vote on the Opioid Crisis Response Act – which I sponsored – to help address one of the biggest public health problems we have in our country. The proposed bill includes the STOP Act to help stop illegal drugs at the border, including stopping the shipment of synthetic opioids like fentanyl. It allows the FDA to require prescription opioids to be packaged in set amounts like a three or seven day supply in blister packs, and spurs the development of a new non-addictive painkiller. The House has already passed its version of the act, and there is a bipartisan urgency to work with our House colleagues to get the legislation to the President’s desk.

Take a look at the above video to see the work the Senate has been doing to advance this legislation.

Leading Congress in funding the government and important priorities in Tennessee

This week, I chaired the House-Senate “Conference Committee” on the first three appropriations bills that fund Tennessee priorities, including Chickamauga Lock in Chattanooga, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Y-12 National Security Complex, and supercomputing. These are important bills for Tennesseans -- I worked hard to include up to $99.5 million in the Senate bill to continue construction of Chickamauga Lock in Chattanooga, to continue record funding for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, which is the agency that helps fund Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and to support nuclear weapons programs that are vital to our national security and the important work at Y-12. I'm very encouraged that Congress is on track, for the fourth consecutive year, to provide record funding for the Office of Science and funding that will help keep the United States first in the world in supercomputing. I am proud to represent a community that's of such vital importance to our nation's growth and our national defense.

Supporting the Trump Administration’s goal of zero tariffs

Video of my remarks at the hearing is available here.

This week, I chaired a Senate labor committee hearing to discuss the impact of President Trump’s goal of zero tariffs on U.S. autoworkers. The president’s goal of “zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsidies” is exactly the right goal for Tennessee autoworkers and a welcome movement away from piling tariffs on top of tariffs that threaten to destroy jobs and lower family incomes. Tariffs on imported steel raise the price of U.S. produced steel – the price of steel is up 40 percent since January.  According to Nissan, steel accounts for 70 percent of the vehicle weight of the cars and trucks built at their plants in Tennessee and Mississippi – so when the price of steel goes up 40 percent, costs go up thousands of dollars. Tennessee’s automotive industry is so important to me because in 1978, when I was running for governor, Tennessee had hardly any auto jobs. Now, 136,000 Tennesseans – one third of our state’s manufacturing jobs – work in the automotive industry at plants and suppliers in 88 of our 95 counties. One of the reasons Tennessee has been able to have so much success building cars and SUVs is because the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is fundamentally a zero tariff trade agreement. NAFTA has had the effect of getting more companies to make here what they sell here – and Tennessee’s auto jobs have nearly doubled since NAFTA went into effect.

Remembering John McCain

I spoke on the floor of the United States Senate this week about the life of my friend, John McCain. We have seen about a week of eulogies and there is little left to add, but there is one aspect that I would like to emphasize and that was John McCain’s respect for the United States Senate as an institution. You can watch my remarks here.

Congratulations to Virginia and Bobby, who both work for the Senate HELP Committee I chair. This week, they tied the knot. Honey and I wish you both a lifetime of happiness!

Below are some articles from this week I thought you would enjoy:

The Oak Ridger: OR funding discussed at Alexander’s committee

Chattanooga Times Free Press: Alexander says Tennessee automakers would benefit by zero tariffs

USA Today: Tariffs on imported cars, parts could harm U.S. economy and auto industry, experts warn

The Hill: Op-ed by Tom Wathen: Restoring our national parks would be a bipartisan win for Congress

Expect less from government and more of ourselves.

#156 in Lamar Alexander’s Little Plaid Book