trump is, in fact, the nominee and certainly i'm sure their members of congress who would preferer that trump cannot be te nominee but are not quite ready to say so publicly. >> host: hakeem jeffries seems to be out on the campaign trail for the democratsn raising mon, giving speeches. we discovered him up in new hampshire. >> guest: certainly an important part of congressional leadership is campaigning for members of your caucus. jeffries has done that. mike johnson was in the hudson valley recently fundraising for mike lawlor who is one of the more gullible incumbents so something that both leaders are doing. schumer and mcconnell also do fundraisers for the party. that something you see up and down leadership, committee chairs and ranking members, the top number of minority tend to be important fundraising vehicles for their caucus as they try to hold on to those leadership positions i imagine

that will only pick up. both chambers are supposed be out for next august and october in their entirety. part of that is to make sure they're able to get that time away from washington to go find ways to go meet with constituents and, of course, voters. >> host:se jeff maryland, please go ahead speed if we are leaving this to keep our over four-year commitment to congress. the senate is coming in on this monday to continue debate on the nomination of the tenth circuit u.s. court of appeals judge. a confirmation vote on his nomination is set for 5:30 p.m. eastern. live now to the floor of the senate here on c-span2.

the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain dr. barry black will lead the senate in prayer.

the chaplain, dr. barry black, the chaplain: let us pray. give heed, mighty god, to our prayers and hear our petitions. you are a god of justice who always does what is right. as jewish people tonight light the fifth candle of hanukkah, let there be peace on earth, and may it begin with us. lord, you have examined our hearts. you know our motives. continue to guide our senators. empower them to follow you faithfully, to seek your will, and to find their peace through fellowship with you. may they trust you for safety,

finding their highest fulfillment in knowing they are doing your will. when everything seems to fall apart, remind them that in everything, you are working for the good of those who love you who are called according to your purposes. we pray in your sacred name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington d.c., december 11, 2023. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable mark kelly, a senator from the state of arizona, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patty murray, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. and under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, richard e.n. fed reck company -- federico of kansas to be united states sir -- circuit judge for the tenth district.

com

when the carrier is a political reporter with des moines . is this your first round of carcasses or have you done this before? >> this is my first carcasses in

iowa. >> what you think? >> it has been an experience, i've got a chance to be on the campaign trail following every candidate in the field. i talked to a bunch of islands, how they will weigh in and there's nothing like it. >> do you understand how valuable the? whenever they get nominated. >> absolutely and it part of what is important shaking hands is usually important for them and it's worked for des moines and other folks around iowa, privileged to be up close and personal and they are trying to prove themselves actively hit the national stage in a major way and maybe a little more on

this unfettered access. >> when carcasses and who will be a caucus. >> january 157:00 p.m. so the publicans will hold their caucus and gather and participate in iowa and delegates will be divided up and democrats do a little different and along i was no longer a verse so they will have their results so those are the main deal deals. >> i think a cold one at one time, i didn't need to. we'll just of republicans caucus because -- >> a change in the order of the

primary counter so south carolina is now the state. for them, the 2020 carcasses as a result is resulted in iowa longer first on the democrat calendar still remains first for the republicans so that's why we see so many candidates here so often. >> as her anger, resentment on behalf of the democrats they've been canceled in a sense? >> not so much. for democrats in iowa it's a time to refocus energy on local and state races. this past midterm election democrats in iowa looking for a passport and able to look away from the national attention and distractions that come and

that's what we hear from organizers. >> do you know the number of registered republicans in iowa and those participating? >> generally offices are interesting because it requires books to be at a specific location at a certain time so they are here toward registered republicans involved with the party and the intentional so doesn't always represent the entire scale but expect a fair number of folks who might give us to interesting tidbits from the campaign trail and i will caucus. >> i'd be remiss if i didn't talk about this morning going

former president trump still has a standing lead. in one form or another we will see them either talk about it trying to focus on the attention, governor nikki haley, this is sort of crunch time so we seen a lot of folks to center for the catwalk with a have a number of candidates and they spoke about their families taking a personal tinge on the campaign trail so we can see them refine their messaging and their path forward the closer we get. >> des moines register, we appreciate your time and look forward to meeting you when we

get to iowa in about a month from now. circuit. test:

i would not be here were not for my local company. they saved my life. i had an aneurysm, i was in the middle of a snowstorm how reagan to send helicopter one and take me down. the fire department took me and heavy snow. i got there for a nine hour operation and it saved my life. because i grew up with, they saved my life. it also saved my home is my wife's life was away the last day, in washington d.c. are

doing a program and what happened was a lightning struck behind my house to wire and came up through the basement of my home and snow was literally '. i wasn't there my wife was there. my dog and in my 67 corvette. they saved my life, save my home and i could think of many occasions where it's a personal interest to me for thousands all personally present as too many outlet syndrome the country.

the courtesy of micro and dollar and the fire hall. cops and firefighters, here i am. [laughter] i'm going to miss you. a great personal friend, thank you very much. every time a real issue standing next year. i want to thank you. this january it will be two years in the neighborhood and i

raced to the firehouse and the blaze started the fire. only killed 12 people and i think it was 12 children, as young as two and three years old. president mike came along and procession and we are standing here today. in this company would have been the closest to acquire. god only knows what we could get back to earlier to save lives.

the city officials here doing everything i could to bring her back. investing 350 billion in american rescue plan and my administration you firefighters in the job and send the budget for $60 million each provoked assistance, firefighters and grant program. to conclude, critical cancer research because is the cause of death amongst firefighters because of exposure from a toxic exposure on the job. almost 1000 local firefighters across the country using grant

rewards be able to bring back several companies and they are decommissioned during the great recession. city officials to apply for a new safer grant in the service. as a result, $22 million to fund salaries and benefits for 72 firefighters in january, conducting classes supported by grant and starting today for the first time is on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year ready to keep them safe. i kept my promise and got the job done. critical for god made man and you firefighters.

the bar is what you do, it's who you are and we know that the only thing that protects firefighters more. precooking firefighters is more firefighters. my entire career i am committed to do everything i can to put more firefighters in do your job. that's what today is all about. when the worst happens, everyone you love is a danger. thank you for being who you are.

wait for the phone call, wondering what happened. so many across the country. so many. i can't thank you enough and the medics in the most hundred people, thank you and thank you, we are not stopping here. ♪♪ [applause] ♪♪

♪♪ >> the fire department. ♪♪

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell:, for all of its flaws, the supplemental request the biden administration submitted to congress did correctly identify four especially urgent national security priorities. defeating russia's invasion in europe, countering iran-backed terror in the middle east, deterring chinese aggression in the indo-pacific, and securing

america's southern border. late last week president biden said he was willing to make, quote, significant compromises on republican policy changes designed to restore real border security. and across the country, elected democrats are emphasize being just how -- emphasizing just how urgent this progress is. the governor of arizona reported over the weekend that her state is, quote, at a breaking point and that it needs washington to or, quote, step up, do its job and bring security and order to our border. she's a democrat. at the front lines of the crisis that has unfolded on president biden's watch, the mayor of no gallon less, arizona, put it this way -- quote, i think it's time to say

enough is enough. i'm a democrat, a registered democrat, but i run this city as a human being. i know many of my democratic colleagues here in the senate share that frustration. many of them recognize the urgency of the situation. just over the weekend, in the time since senator lankford presented senate democrats with his latest opportunity to help fix america's broken asylum and parole system, the crisis at the southern border has actually gotten worse. with average daily border crossings near 10,000 -- 10,000 -- cbp is now saying it's releasing 6,600 illegal aliens into the interior every single day.

the backlog of asylum cases sits at three million, three million, and counting, and officials have reported arrivals from more than 150 countries just since october 1. this is what a crisis looks like. this is what the democrat leader spent last week insisting was extraneous to america's national security. well, mr. president, when it comes to keeping america safe, border security is not a sideshow. it's ground zero. senate republicans have no more spare time to explain this basic reality. we cannot convince anyone who doesn't want to acknowledge the glaring facts on the ground. the senate has to act. now, on another matter, on

saturday years of moral rot and intellectual decay began to catch up with america's most elite universities. the president of the university of pennsylvania resigned four days after failing to state whether calls for genocide against jews constituted bullying or harassment under her institution's conduct policy. in the face of an alarming wave of vile antisemitism and death threats, the heads of the universities did everything they could to avoid condemning one of the world's oldest forms of hatred. of course, identificy league administrators' lack of moral clarity is not a recent development. of for more than two months now, universities across the country have been engaged in an embarrassing public cycle of

equivocations and apologies. and for years elite institutions have sheltered despicable anti-semites under the guise of academic freedom and let them poison a generation of young minds with hateful post-modern ideologies. the especially alarming part of the penn, harvard, and mit testimony last week was just how brazenly -- brazenly -- their cynical free speech contradicted their respoons to supposed slights against leftists' orthodoxy. they are hardly bastions of free speech. the ivy league's infractions against microaggressions would make censors in pyongyang blush.

there's room to punish faculty for inviting guest speakers with objectionable views or assigning controversial class readings as penn's president did just last year. there's room to revoke invitations for academic panelists and deplatform lecturers who fail to tow the line, as harvard as done repeatedly. but apparently there might not be room in the ivy league's extensive speech restrictions to take action against calls for genocide against jews. as harvard's president told our house colleagues, it would, quote -- listen to this -- depend on the context. some current and now former leaders of america's most elite echo chambers would like us to believe they have a deep and

abiding commitment to intellectual diversity and the freedom of speech. but they're not fooling anybody. in fact, harvard ranks dead last in a leading watchdog ranking of campus free speech. its speech climate rated, quote can abysmal -- abysmal. how's that for context? it's rather simple. universities can enforce their existing speech restrictions evenly or they can start applying their newfound embrace of free speech across the border and not just for anti-semites and terrorist sympathizers. until they decide the ivy league's most prominent philanthropic alumni will continue to vote with their checkbooks. harvard is facing over a billion

dollars of cancellations, even with their tax-free endowment, that's real money. until universities commit to protecting innocent jews on campus, students might just vote with their feet.

the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: over the weekend, i joined senator tim kaine of virginia on a trip to guatemala and honduras. with us were senators merkley, butler, welch, as well as guatemalan american congresswoman torres of california and ramirez of illinois. both guatemala and honduras have struggled with conflict, corruption, stark inequality and fragile democratic governments. many of us have forgotten that until the 1980's much of latin america was led by military dictators, sometimes with cold war-era support of the united states. guatemala's bloody 36-year six war only ended -- civil war only ended in 1996. it's a reed minder of why the

u.s. attention to this region's democracies is so important. guatemala is facing a deeply challenging presidential transition. in october, bernardo avelo won in a decisive landslide election where he pledged to tackle endemic corruption. early polls showed him at 3% of the vote. when the final election took place, he won by 20%, a one million-vote plurality. but outgoing president giamatte and attorney general porus are attempting to undermine that transition ahead of the january 14 inauguration. i might add that unlike other elections in central and south america, this election where mr. avelo prevailed was monitored by international

sources and the votes were challenged in court, counted and found to be still in his favor overwhelmingly. in fact, shortly after president giamatte didn't show up for a meeting with us one morning, i had government tried to annul the recent reelection results. this clumsy coup attempt which have was globally rejected must not succeed. the guatemalan voters' choice must be respected. i want to raise the attention of the senate to two guatemalan political prisoners we asked about but were denied an opportunity to visit in prison. former president virginia laparra and journalist jose zamora. won't be priced to both ended u

charges. i look forward to working with the new president once he is sworn in and hope their release will be one of their early actions. in 2021 neighboring honduras elected its first female president who many hoped would bring much-needed change after decades of misrule and instability. though she claims repeatedly to be an ally of the united states and closely aligned with our values, there have been some actions by her government in transition which raise serious concerns about commitment to democratic norms, and unfortunately evidence of close ties to china, cuba, venezuela, and even russia. president castro still has an opportunity to show that we can work together for the common values that we share. i hope she takes that path. early in senator kaine's adult

life he spent a year in a jez witness mission teaching welders. it was a school for impoverished children where he gave a year of his life. i want to commend tim kaip for that effort, what he calls his north star and his life that helped to make him a thoughtful leader and one of the most admired senators on the floor. his commitment to the region is a reminder that we still have important allies and responsibilities in our own neighborhood. mr. president, i'd also like to speak briefly on the national defense authorization act. the bill authorizes $886 billion for america's defense. expanding benefits for servicemembers, strengthening national security. it provides a 5.2% pay increase for our troops in the pentagon civilian workforce, the largest increase in 20 years. importantly, the conference report excludes a number of dangerous bipartisan -- pardon

me -- partisan provisions designed to rip away the freedoms of the very americans who we every day send them to defend. this bill includes a number of provisions i offered including to uphold ukraine's territorial sovereignty as that country fights for survival against russia. here is this country hanging on by a thread wondering if the united states is going to come to its assistance as people fight and die every single day to stop the invasion of putin and his forces. it is hard to imagine that we've reached a point where we promised to stand by a country like ukraine in its time of testing where we mobilize the nato alliance and other nations to join us in that effort and have the rug pulled out from us by donald trump who said he changed his mind on ukraine. to strengthen our security partnerships with our allies such as baltics and australia, we have to stay the course. i am convinced that the ukrainians will prevail. we must show that we are

determined to help them and prove it. this bill also authorizes many important programs. it's not perfect. it includes unnecessary extension of section 702. i won't go into details obligation complicated mechanism we have to try to detect those who threaten our country, but from the beginning i raised questions about its compliance with the constitutional guarantees of people being safe in the searches and seizures of the government. we'll continue to discuss this over the weeks and months ahead. i want to close, mr. president, on a topic that senator mcconnell raised of immigration. it is not an easy issue. i've given 20 years of my life here in the senate to the issue with immigration and feel it was time well spent. it was over 20 years ago that i introduced the dream act. before i introduced this bill, if you asked most people what the dreamers were, they would

say a british rock group headed up by a guy named freddy. well, today when you say dreamers, people know what you're talking about. infants, toddlers and children brought to the united states by their parents, growing up here, going to school and determined to help this country succeed in the future. and what do they find when they're teenagers? that they are undocumented. they don't have legal status in the united states. i've always believed they deserve a chance. an overwhelming majority of americans of both political parties believe the same thing but we've been unable to enact that law. and as a consequence, at least 800,000 who were helped with the daca program by president obama still have their fate in doubt as it courses through our federal court system. that is something we should do automatically. we should have done it a long time ago to protect these young people in the aspirations they have to make us a better nation. these are young people who will serve us not only as teachers

and engineers, but doctors and nurses and members of our military if we give them the chance to fight and die for america, they'll do it. they want to be part of this nation's future, and they deserve that opportunity. but currently we are debating only one thing, and that is the policy at the border the southern border of the united states. i have taken a close look at the border. i know change is necessary but it must be consistent with our values and realistic. for republicans to propose a change which says that those who come into the country seeking asylum will either be detained or sent to remain in mexico, a policy that donald trump tried during his presidency, there is some fatal flaws here. how in the world are we going to detain all those people presenting themselves at the border? that is a promise that can't be kept. and secondly, this notion of remain in mexico, there is only one party to this conversation

that hasn't agreed to it -- mexico. they don't want to have these people residing in their country for long periods of time while we work out changes in america's legal system. it is hard to imagine when you see the intractable positions taken by some on immigration there was a moment when we agreed on a bipartisan basis to pass comprehensive immigration reform. a gavining eight -- a gang of eight which was part of put that tochlth it was an extraordinary effort and it was successful because of the hard work of a lot of people and a lot of time spent painstakingly going through each and every provision of the bill. it can be done. it needs to be done. but the notion that in seven days or 14 days we can craft some change on an immigration policy that will help us for time immemorial is unrealistic and naive. to condition any assistance to ukraine on the achievement of that political goal is nonsense. what we can do is come up with an agreement, i believe, on a

bipartisan basis to enforce provisions and rules at the border that are consistent with american values but really do make it clear that we cannot sustain a number of people who are presenting themselves at the current time. i think that can be done but only as a preliminary step to move us toward comprehensive immigration reform. there are some incidentally who call for immigration reform but have never voted for an immigration bill one time in their lives, political lives. that's a realty. so we shouldn't listen to their guidance if they haven't proven that they're willing to vote for anything on the subject. this is an important issue to a lot of people. i was in guatamala city yesterday, as a matter of fact, or was it saturday -- this weekend -- and met with people who are from venezuela who are making their way to the united states border. there were mothers with small children. and i thought to myself who would embark on that dangerous,

deadly journey with small children, realizing that every step of the way you are the most vulnerable person in the country as you travel through these countries, they are assaulted by people who steal everything that they own and threaten them with physical abuse and other things. can't imagine how desperate people must be to risk their families and their kids to make it to america. but then i think back as a son of an immigrant myself i know there was a determination in my family to make it in this country. we have got to find a way to carefully construct a border policy that still takes advantages of the opportunities of immigration, the people who will come here and make us a better nation in the years ahead, and do it in a fashion that is thoughtful, not vindictive. that is what immigration requires, and i hope that we can reach that goal. i yield the floor.

late last week president biden said he's going to make significant compromises on republican policy changes designed to restore real border security and across the country elected democrats are emphasizing how urgent it is. her state is a breaking.

>> do their job and bring order to our border. democrats in the front lines of the crisis on president biden's watch the mayor of arizona put it this way, i think it's time to say enough is enough. i run the city as a human being. my democratic colleagues here in the senate chair that frustration and recognize the urgency of supervision. leader will welcome ukranian president zelenskyy to the senate. this will be the first time we meet with him since the start of the war and most important of

all. the war in ukraine stands at a cross road with our friends in desperate need to maintain aid to. the last time he spoke to the senate he warned us that without aid ukraine would lose the war. simple as that. early today military officers at the national defense university that, quote, if there is anyone inspired by unresolved issues on capitol hill it is putin and his sick clique. if there is a word for what we most need this week, the word is to be serious about the task at hand. if republicans in the do not have an agreement on the national security package, vladimir putin will walk through ukraine and right through europe. both parties understand that aiding ukraine and resisting

putin are critical for our national security, but republicans, and only republicans, are holding everything up because of unrealistic max mullistic -- mansion mum -- maximum provisions. republicans rejected it out of hand, demanding their way or the highway even though they were offered an amendment of their including and -- choosing. this posture is unear serious. -- unserious. republicans are holing everything -- holding everything up because of unrealistic demands. democrats want an agreement if possible. we talked with our republican counterparts to find some kind of agreement. we talked earlier today. we're not there yet, but as a

sign of good faith democrats will keep trying. if republicans keep insisting on donald trump's border policies, they will be at fault when a deal for aid ukraine and israeli and gaza fall apart d. -- fall apart. if republicans keep insisting on donald trump's border policies, then they will be at fault when a deal for ukraine, israel, and humanitarian aid to gaza all fall apart. republicans would be giving vladimir putin the best gift he could ask for. democrats are serious about reaching bipartisan compromise to pass this package. the question is if republicans are now willing to do the same. on ndaa. at the beginning of december, i said the senate has three major priorities before the end of the year. first, we needed to end the

blanket holds on hundreds of military nominees by the senator from alabama. we have now done that. and before we finish for the year, the senate plans to move to confirm the 11 four-star military officers waiting confirmation. second, we must pass the annual defense authorization bill, which has been one of the most bipartisan priorities in congress for over 60 years. this will be our focus on the floor this week. third, and hardest of all, we must reach an agreement on the national security supplemental. we're still working, and while we are not near an agreement yet, we are going to keep pushing as the week progresses. last week i filed cloture on the ndaa conference report and we expect to move forward on the ndaa conference report after lunch tomorrow. at a time of huge trouble for sgloebl security -- global security, passing the national

defense authorization act is more important than ever. this year's ndaa makes strong downpayments in outcompeting the china communist party, including the asthma and nuclear submarine agreement. we have been working on aukus all year. i want to thank the chairman of the armed services committee, jack reed, and ranking member wickers for their -- wicker, for their good work. i commend all conferees for their good work, and i thank my colleagues for working together to ensure that the senate's six-decade streak for passing the ndaa remains unbroken. now on judges and nominations. today the senate will confirm the 39{l1}th{l0}circuit under president biden, richard federico. he is precisely the type of

judge we need on our circuit courts, a brilliant legal mind who has dedicated his service as a lawyer in the navy and public defender. we've confirmed more public defenders to circuit courts than under any president in history. of course, we also confirmed the first-ever public defender to sit on the u.s. supreme court, the great justice jackson and now there are over 50 with appointmentses to the -- appointments to the bench, more women to circuit courts than any president in their entire time in office, the first muslim american woman on the federal bench, the first navajo judge on the federal bench and justice brown jackson.

all yearlong this democratic majority has added to the professional diversity and we will going into the new year. on student debt. today i sent a letter with several of my democratic colleagues including warren, padilla, and sanders, urging to continue the expansion of student debt relief. the biden administration has already taken historic steps to reduce the burden of student loan debt for tens of millions of americans. but following the supreme court cruel blocking of student debt relief, too many borrowers remain saddled with massive and in many cases unbearable amounts of debt. we must do more to help these borrowers, as we are engaged in the rule-making process, our letter specifically urges the

administration to eliminate all debt that exceeds the principal balance of the loan, provide cancellation for borrowers who have repaid enough to recover their are original principal and extend relief to borrowers who are victimized by misconduct orreror to help borrowers. i want to thanks senators warren, padilla, and sanders for their leadership on this letter. i look forward to working with the biden administration to make sure relief reaches every bore yearer in need. and now on albany nanotech. earlier today, madam president, i governed albany leaders to announce $10 billion public-private partnership to make the albany nanotech center.

it's a landmark day for the cap capital region in new york, that's albany, troy, and -- this partnership spurred by the chips and science act will bring the most up-to-date machinery in albany and it will be the premier global center. today's announcement will mean hundreds of new high-tech jobs, hundreds of construction jobs. when i wrote the chips and science act, i had precisely regions like albany and upstate new york in mind because these communities have so much to offer for america's semiconductor future. as we enter the home stretch for the selection of major hubs of

the semiconductor technology center, today's $10 billion announcement will strengthen albany and upstate new york to lead innovations in america's microchip industry. today's announcement comes on the same day as the announcement of the -- from the commerce department of the chips program. there will be $35 billion for chips essential for our security, including for f-35 jets. this award shows that the chips and science act is delivering for american workers and for our national security. so it's an exciting time for new york tech with major announcements mike micron -- like micron and others, and i believe the best for the semiconductor industry is still to come. i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. mr. wicker: a major item in the news last week was that the senior senator from alabama, senator tuberville, released holds on over 400 military promotions. as usual, media reports framed the situation in much the same way as the biden administration had. both the president and the press focused on the holds instead of the policy the holds protested. they claimed that my senate colleague manufactured a crisis. the truth is that it is the president's political appointees who have been manufacturing the crisis from the start. let's go back. in the summer of 2022, the supreme court handed down its

landmark dobbs ruling. almost immediately the under secretary of defense for personnel claimed the decision would have, and i quote, significant implications for the readiness of the force. the abortion decision named dobbs would have significant implications for the readiness of the force. again, he claimed that the supreme court's decision, which essentially returned abortion decisions to the states would have significant implications for the readiness of the force. let's all agree that readiness is vital to our success. military readiness is our number one job. the united states faces the most dangerous national security situation in decades. china's military strength is growing at an alarming rate. russia has brought war to europe. iran is actively attacking our

troops, and north korea continues to develop dangerous weapons. in the face of such a complicated web of threats, we must take military preparation seriously. our precarious situation amazing it irresponsible for anyone to fearmonger about readiness in order to advance a political agenda. yet, that's what we must conclude the president's appointees at dod have done. they contend that the dobbs decision hurts readiness. so in response, republicans have repeatedly asked for proof that dabs harms -- dobbs harms readiness. i personally, as ranking member of the senate armed services committee asked if dobbs harms readiness. the evidence does not exist. at this point it's pretty clear

that biden officials are avoiding the question because they do not like the answer. it's difficult not to see that the president and not my colleague from alabama, is the one who precipitated the crisis. to solve this imagery emergency, the administration released the repr repro reproductive policy, what is a clear attempt to use taxpayer dollars legally for abortion, contrary to the hyde amendment. under the rule, servicemembers are granted compensation time off, as well as monetary reimbursement for travel costs incurred to receive an abortion. this policy violates popular opinion and it violates the law. most americans oppose late-term abortions.

but a dod official begrudgingly admitted to me in testimony that the policy would facilitate abortion at the very latest stages of peg nancy, in the -- pregnancy, in the eighth or ninth month. the provision spends tax dollars to facilitate abortions conducted mere days before the child's due date. that is a fact. the administration claims this is necessary to solve a readiness problem created by dobbs. if dobbs is a threat, we could reasonably expect wide usage of the travel policy. despite the administration's stonewalling, i have obtained information indicating that just 12 women during this entire time have taken advantage of the reimbursement, just 12. over a million americans serve

in our armed forces, but 12, not 12,000, not 1200, but 12 have so far used this abortion travel reimbursement program. so the biden administration cannot provide proof that dobbs created a crisis for national defense. we do, mr. president, have evidence that other administration priorities are harming our armed forces. the united states military faces a recruiting challenge, but the biden administration is making it worse. the president has instituted a woke diversity, equity, and inclusion bureaucracy at dod, which is souring servicemembers's views of the military. a survey of active duty troops found that seven in ten are concerned about the politicization of the military. that same percent said that

politicization would affect whether or not they encourage their children to enlist. we know that family ties are the number one way we recruit new servicemembers. when the biden administration injects politics into the armed forces, it weakens that recruiting channel. and we see the results of that weakening. and this year's national defense legislation, republicans successfully included a number of important provisions curbing that woke agenda. but regrettably, democrats ended up blocking our efforts to end the dod's illegal abortion travel policy. we will continue in future congresses to resist that travel policy. last year's dobbs decision was a monumental victory for the

constitution. our country, and most importantly, for the unborn. it was the culmination of decades of dedicated work by pro-life groups, and i salute them. these groups understood how the framers built our political process, and they patiently used their voices to advocate for the unborn and our democratic system. they were rewarded for their faithfulness that they exhibited during nearly 50 years under roe. mr. president, i seem to have lost one page, and i think it's important enough for me to look for it. so i apologize for the delay. during this time, the biden administration has refused to

play by the rules. and they grasp at ways to circumvent the supreme court's ruling. we intend to promote in the next phase of our effort a culture of life. and to refocus the pentagon on its national defense mission. the pro-life movement has always been a coalition of energetic volunteers, resilient advocates and elected officials, and we'll continue to work together to fight for the unborn. and one final bit of very good news, mr. president. since the dobbs decision was announced in 2022, approximately 30,000 babies had been born that would otherwise not have had an opportunity to experience life. that in essence is what this

fight has been about and what it will continue to be about. thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa mr. grassley: today i want to address the ill-advised and really unacceptable conduct at the november 30 judiciary committee executive meeting. the majority there didn't allow a single republican amendment to the adoption of the sub-pena authorization and that was breaking with precedent. contrary to what they alleged when i was chairman, i followed

the rules and let everyone speak who wanted to so speak. i even allowed them to offer resol resolutions during a confirmation process which i could have ruled out of order. simply put, this subopena authorization isn't based on oversight, it's based on overreach. it's a political hit. over the past six months, the left's web of dark money interest groups has tried to impugn the character and reputation of certain conservative members of the supreme court. this democratic investigation into the supreme court totally ignores ethical questions and

dark money network surrounding liberal justices. this is all part of a whirlwind effort to cast doubt on our country's highest court and call into question legitimacy of its rulings. conservative justices have been specifically targeted, harassed, and even threatened. the left's influence peddling scheme views these conservative justices as the greatest obstacle to jamming their radical agenda through our courts because congress won't do the same liberal abiding. -- bidding. the left has outlined new rules for conservative justices,

justices' spouses must give up their independent law practice. justices shouldn't vacation with close personal friends. justices shouldn't have wealthy friends. and justices shouldn't make any new friends after donning their roeb. how unfair and how unrealistic. no such conflict of interest ever were raised during the court's liberal years. these rules were not invoked against the court's liberal justices. this persistent political battering of the judiciary is coming at a tremendous cost.

the conservative justices have endured real threats to their safety and the safety of their loved ones. as i've said before, judicial decision-making must be based on law and sound jurisprudence. it shouldn't be subject to the whims of public opinion or clamor. it isn't result in threats and intimidation to supreme court justices. this political hit by the democrat majority of the committee will do lasting damage not only to the court but to the committee. again, this effort isn't really over oversight, as i like to do we do

a good job about. instead it's about political theater. let me give some examples of how an investigation should be conducted. during my time as chairman of the judiciary committee starting in 2017, the committee investigated in a bipartisan fashion alleged collusions between trump campaign and the russians. bipartisan committee staff -- i want to emphasize that -- bipartisan committee staff interviewed five individuals who participated in that meeting, including president trump's son and collected documents from several others involved. at the democrats' request, the committee interviewed an additional six individuals. i subpoenaed even paul manafort

with then-ranking member feinstein's agreement to appear at a hearing and provide testimony with the exception of democrats refusing to subpoena gps and related parties. then-chairman graham's 2020 crossfire hurricane subpoena authorization was based on years of bipartisan work. as i've thought more about my democrat colleagues' laser focus on government ethics, it's clear that they've totally ignored the biggest, most obvious ethical fact pattern that requires investigation, and that is of the biden family. since august 2019, senator johnson and i have investigated the biden family connection to

foreign governments, and questionable foreign nationals. we issued two reports and gave three floor speeches that made public hundreds of bank records. our findings showed criminal activity to include potential money laundering with respect to members of the biden family and their business associates, and the use of public offices for private gain. well, several with respect to the hunter biden-related accounts, some have often -- some have also been flagged for potential human trafficking. as senator johnson and i noted in our september 23, 2020 biden

family report, treasury records showed thousands of dollars in financial transactions involving hunter biden and ukrainian and russian women. these treasuringry records linked those women to eastern european prostitution or human trafficking rings. at this judiciary subcommittee executive meeting that i've been speaking about, democrats failed to consider my amendment to gather more facts on this abuse against women. senator johnson and i made public a bank record that showed hunter biden received $1 million from a chinese company that was an arm of the communist regime for representing patrick hoe.

patrick was charged and convicted for bribery and related federal offenses. now, guess what? hunter biden called patrick hoe the spy chief for china. based on the facts hunter biden was effectively a foreign agent of the communist regime. the judiciary committee maintained jurisdiction and still maintains jurisdiction over the foreign act's registration act and the justice department's enforcement of it. yet the democrat-led committee has ignored the law and the biden family. in july of this year i obtained a and publicly released what is now called the biden family

1023, an fbi document. this fbi-generated document based on information provided to the fbi by a highly credible, long-serving fbi confidential human source. the fbi document shows a criminal bribery scheme. the criminal scheme included joe biden, hunter biden, each being paid $5 million for joe biden to take a policy position in favor of foreign nationals. that policy position was ultimately taken. joe biden even bragged about it, and you can see it fairly regularly, his voice and his face talking about this, what he did to the ukrainian government to get somebody fired.

the 1023 used the phrase, quote, big guy, quote-unquote, to describe joe biden before the big guy description was publicly known months later. different people in the different parts of the world independently use the same code name to describe joe biden. do my democratic colleagues believe that it's just a coincidence? the 1023 includes references to audio recordings with joe biden, text messages, and records allegedly proving a bribery criminal activity. and that it was real.

one of my -- what have my democratic colleagues done to investigate that evidence? what has the biden justice department done? tony bobulinski interview noted that the biden familiar would receive multimillion-dollar unsecured loans intended to be forgivable from the energy company in china called cefc. that would serve as payments for actions joe biden took during the vice presidency. this financial strategy to illegally treat income as a loan is consistent with the irs's kickback testimony that indicated -- irs's testimony that indicated.

these facts and allegations indicate criminal activity, money laundering, bribery, tax evasion, and significant ethical violations. and, by the way, the hunter biden tax indictment mentioned violations that my and senator johnson's work exposed years ago. look at the indictments, paragraphs 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 100. compare them with the other two reports from 2020 and three floor speeches last year. my democratic colleagues have shown zero interest in knowing, understanding, joining forces, or advancing this four-year-old

investigation instead, they've shown willful blindness to protect the president and family. one of my democratic colleagues said the right thing when we considered then-chairman graham's subpoena authorization. senator whitehouse brought up an amendment to, quote, reinforce his point made at the last meeting about the selective enthusiasm of the judiciary committee for getting to the bottom of things and what happened to be a policy at the department of justice of refusing to answer committee members' letters and committee members' questions for the record, end of senator

whitehouse's quote. the united states congress has constitutional mandate to conduct oversight of republican and democratic administrations without any political bias for either. we have a duty to ensure the justice department and the fbi consistently enforce law without regard to politics. the judiciary committee democrats were eager to engage in the fbi's trump-russia investigation before it was totally debunked. however, they were very eager to falsely attack my and senator johnson's biden family investigation as russian disinformation. sadly, i haven't seen the same enthusiasm for the other side now that a democrat political

family is under the microscope. if it's criminal and ethical questions my democrat colleagues are interested in, then the judiciary should, in a bipartisan fashion, bring the family members for interviews and obtain records from them. no the democrat majority wants to investigate supreme court justices and of all nine of the justices, only the conservative ones. so i can only conclude the democrats' brand of oversight is more about politics than fact-finding. on another subject, mr. chairman mr. chairman, i come to the floor today to bring attention to three brave department of

homeland security whistleblowers -- mark jones, mike taylor, and fred wynn. these three whistleblowers came to my office to report retaliation and government misconduct. people like this, i say they ought to be considered heroes instead simplify like skunk -- instead of like skunk at a picnic, sometimes how they're treated by the bureaucracy. the retaliation that they told me about has been extensive and long-enduring. in 2018, these whistleblowers made legally protected disclosures to the office of special counsel and customs and border protection. they legally disclosed

information about delays and the failure to collect dna from detained illegal immigrants based on dna fingerprint act of 2005 and subsequent regulations. an august 20 21, 2019, letter to the president substantially these whistleblowers' disclosures stating, quote, the agency's noncompliance with the law has allowed subjects subsequent a us us -- accused ot crimes including homicide and sexual assault, to elude detection even when detained multiple times by customs and border protection or immigration and customs enforcement. this is unacceptable dereliction of the agency's law enforcement mandate, end of quote. i don't know how you can get a

stronger statement from a nonpolitical division of our government about information not being properly used to stop wrongdoing. after making their protective disclosures, all three whistleblowers retaliated against -- were retaliated against. and that gets back to my skunk at a picnic of how whistleblowers are treated by the bureaucracy. they aren't treated as the patriots they ought to be treated as. all they want to do is for the government to be doing what they're supposed to be doing, the law requires and how the money should somebody spent. from february 2018 through the -- to the present, the customs and border protection officials subjected these whistleblowers to significant changes of duty,

responsibility, and working conditions. that's how you get treated in you are a he a whistleblower. -- if you're a whistleblower. after harsh retail criminal aliens, fred wynn left customs and border protection office of intelligence to work for the united states border patrol doing management program analysis work. mr. jones and mr. taylor didn't receive the performance award any year after the disclosures, for the first time in all of their employment at customs and border protection. they had an overall reduction in pay, had been removed from their supervisory positions, negatively impacting promotional opportunities. once again, like a skunk at a picnic. the office of special counsel also identified an intentional

nonpromotion for mr. george. additionally, custom and border protection removed credentials, law enforcement authority, firearms, and law enforcement retirement coverage from mr. taylor and mr. jones. the removal of one's firearm and one's crescences -- credentials is the ultimate act of personal and career retaliation against federal employees. i've been told that mr. jones and mr. taylor discovered that one senior official who was aware of their ongoing retaliation refused to commandeer their firearms and credentials without a letter from senior officials. another person retaliated against, customs and border officials refused to provide the

letter. the senior official who refused to participate in this retaliatory scheme then was involuntarily transferred out of his law enforcement position and stripped of premium pay in july of this year. so another person retaliated against. the office of special counsel said its investigation supports a conclusion that government action against these three whistleblowers constituted a prohibited personnel practice. to put it plainly, the government violated federal law and retaliated against these three brave whistleblowers. on august 18 this year, i sent a letter to secretary mayorkas and

current head of the customs and border protection, troy miller. i asked what they've done to correct the retaliatory actions and take disciplinary actions against the retailates -- retaliators. as you might suspect, both have failed to respond, not uncommon after telling congress when these people come up for coverings, we always ask them, we answer our letters, answer our phone calls, will you come and testify before congress. they always say yes. in the end, i tell them maybe to be honest, you ought to say maybe. but mr. miller's customs and border protection provided a public comment to "the new york post" on august 22. it said this -- quote, the office of special

counsel terminated its investigation into these claims without issuing a prohibited personnel practice report or seeking corrective action, end of quote. now, the office of special counsel told my staff multiple times that they did in fact seek corrective action with customs and border protection. customs and border protection's public comment is then a lie, or demonstrably false. on september 11, i sent a follow-up letter to further address their failures to protect these whistleblowers. secretary mayorkas and mr. miller failed to respond. but again, customs and border protection provided a public comment to "the new york post" saying about my letter, quote, this is a mischaracterization of

this issue based on incomplete records, and we're unable to comment further based upon open litigation regarding these cases. something bureaucrats regularly hide behind, with the quotation like that. on september 27 of this year, i wrote another letter to secretary mayorkas and mr. miller, demanding they explain their second inaccurate public comment. customs and border protection but not the department of homeland security provided a response on october 17. that letter said, quote, the office of special counsel didn't issue a final report finding a prohibitive personnel practice and didn't initiative corrective action litigation before the merit system protection board on the petitioner's behalf, end of quote.

did anyone catch that distinction? the public comment said, quote, corrective action, end of quote. the letter said corrective action litigation -- quote, unquote. corrective action can take many forms, and doesn't always include litigation. for example, negotiating with a parent agency to put a whistleblower in a position they were in before retaliation occurred. customs and border protection attempted sleight of hand. that sleight of hand has failed. customs and border protection letter makes clear its public comments are false and they were the ones to offer mischaracterization to the public. secretary mayorkas failed to take action despite my oversight

efforts. mr. jones, mr. wynn, mr. taylor are still struggling from the many acts of retaliation that have taken against -- that have been taken against them for speaking up to protect americans. but this senator won't stop fighting for them and the dozens of other whistleblowers that have come to my office. there must be accountability for what's happened to these patriotic americans. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, this week at long last the senate will vote on the national defense authorization act conference report. each year the defense

authorization act is how we demonstrate our support for the men and women in uniform, how they're paid, how they're equipped, how they're trained, and how our alliances are strengthened. given the incredible number of threats that exist in today's world, preserving our military readiness has never been more impo important. there's a war in the middle east, war in europe and growing tensions in the indo-pacific. i was reading this morning there's more wars and conflicts today than there have been literally at almost any time in history. we live in a dangerous world, and maintaining our paramount strength and the deterrents that flows from that is absolutely

imperative. that's why the defense authorization act is so important. each year it allows us to take stock of the evolving threat landscape and to take corrective actions. this year's defense bill prioritizes long-term strategic competition with china. it will help replenish our defense stockpiles from the weapons that we've been supplying ukraine so they can defend themselves against unjustified russian aggression, and it will help us maintain our own state of readiness and the deterrent effect that goes along with it. this bill will also support modernization efforts across the board, from the nuclear triad to next-generation weapons. this year's ndaa also authorizes military construction projects across the country, including

$230 million for military construction projects in texas alone. that includes $48 million for a cyber operations center and $20 million for a child development center at joint base san antonio. it's really important to understand that in an all-volunteer military, it's important not only to view this as service by just the member who wears the uniform, but also the entire family. and so trying to make sure that we take care of things like a child development center at joint base san antonio ensures our ability to continue to recruit and retain highly qualified individuals to serve in our all-volunteer military. this bill also has $20 million for barracks improvements and nearly $6 million for tactical equipment maintenance failures

at fort cavazos. it has $20 million for a new rail yard at fort bliss. this is so should troops need to be transferred from fort bliss they can be sent to the port at beaumont and other ports for disembarkation. and this is just scratching the surface. so simply put, the ndaa will support our troops, strengthen our military readiness and implement a raft of reforms to strengthen national security. included in this bill is the intelligence authorization act which includes the sensible classification act that i introduced with senator warner earlier this year #. it had become apparent to me that our classification system had been overused, and too many people were able to classify documents and keep them out of

public view without any real rhyme or reason. this is particularly important given the nature of our republic where the public has a right to know what their government is doing. now certainly in this bill -- and this bill does protect sensitive classified information when it's important to our national security. but it's important to make sure that that classification process extends no further than is absolutely necessary and that once the risk of public disclosure lapses, that that information be subject to declassification, which is what the sensible classification act does. the classification of sensitive information gives us an invaluable edge when it comes to planning and preparing for threats all around the world, but there's a very thin line between strategic classification and excessive secrecy.

of course political accountability is a critical part of self-government, and given the all too human narment incentive to hide mistakes, it undermines that accountability which is essential to our system of government. if too much information is withheld from the public, it can so distrust. without transparency, there can be no accountability. and without accountability, there is no confidence that the government is acting in the best interest of the american people. it's obvious that there's a need to recalibrate the balance between the public's right to know and the need to protect and defend our nation, and that's what this important provision of the national defense authorization act does. it will increase accountability and oversight of the

classification system by requiring training to promote sensible classification and efficient declassification. declassification, as i indicated, after the need for secrecy goes away will allow information to become public so we can learn from our history, and we can learn our history as well. this bill requires federal agencies to justify security clearances. too many people have security clearances which actually contribute to the overclassification of information. we need to limit security clearances and access to classified information to those who truly need it in order to keep our nation safe. this legislation will help protect the integrity of america's classification system and help provide some additional trust to the government, i hope. and i'm glad it will soon be heading to the president's desk

for his signature. there's another important provision in the national defense authorization act that's very important as well, and that is an extension of section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act which is set to expire at the end of this year unless it's extended. but we all know this law is not without some controversy. still the foreign intelligence fissiles act -- surveillance act in section 702 in particular is one of the most important and consequential laws that most americans have never even heard of. this authority is the key to detecting and disrupting threats to our safety and our security. for example, information acquired through section 702 has helped identify threats to our own troops and thwart planned terrorist attacks both here at home and abroad. it's enabled the u.s. government to stop components for weapons

of mass destruction from reaching our foreign adversaries. it's helped us disrupt our adversaries' efforts to recruit spies on american soil or send their operatives to the u.s. once recruited overseas. it's also helped us understand and combat fentanyl trafficking, which the drug which took 71,000 american lives last year alone. it's helped us identify foreign ransomware attacks on u.s. critical infrastructure and uncover war crimes and gruesome atrocities in places like ukraine. for virtually every national security threat america faces, section 702 is an essential asset. there's a reason why it's known as the crown jewels of america's intelligence gathering capabilities. but as i said a moment ago, despite the importance of this law, this authority is not

without some controversy. and unfortunately we've been unable to resolve all that controversy into an agreed statute with reforms, appropriate reforms so this temporary extension is important to give us the time and the space to be able to to do that. in recent years we've learned of some abuses of our intelligence authorities, but i want to be clear. the targeting of americans is expressly prohibited in section 702. in fact, you can't target foreign adversaries on american soil. only overseas. this is very limited in its application. this authority allows the intelligence community and the department of justice to obtain intelligence on foreigners located outside the united states. it cannot be used to target u.s. citizens whether on american soil or elsewhere.

now where this issue gets thorny is because of the so-called incidental collection of the identity of americans. so when a foreign national communicates with somebody in the united states, obviously a u.s. person defined as a legal permanent resident or a u.s. citizen, there will be incidental collection of that communication between the foreigner and the american. as an example, let's say the intelligence community is using 702 to monitor the communications of a hamas terrorist in gaza who is believed to pose a danger to our national security. he's not on american soil and he's not an american citizen, but he is using u.s.-based communication networks. one of the people that hamas terrorists in our hypothetical is communicating with is an american on u.s. soil. and through a series of tems,

the intelligence community are able to to discern that the two are planning an attack on civilians in new york city. this is fairly typical sort of of collection using this important authority, and you can understand why it's important to be able to retain that ability to discern these sorts of attacks and this sort of planning with our, by our adversaries against us. so in this case, even though the american is not the target of the collection, the conversation would be visible because the person he's communicating with is a foreign target. but the intelligence community has a whole set of protocols and procedures to protect american citizens and u.s. persons even in this sort of incidental collection. there is a series of minimization procedures intended to limit the distribution of this information to make sure that it's not subject to abuse.

so let's say that the fbi wants to get some more information about that u.s. citizen on american soil. they then have to go to the foreign intelligence surveillance court and demonstrate probable cause that that american citizen or u.s. person is a threat to united states public safety, and they have to get a warrant involving that u.s. citizen, u.s. person. so in this hypothetical terror plot, we're looking at a clear and imminent threat to people on american soil, and clearly that's something that the fbi would want to take a closer look at. congress has designed this authority to design intelligence professionals with timely and actionable intelligence in a twha protects the privacy and the rights of american citizens. but unfortunately, we know that occasionally we'll find abuse of

those authorities. for example, in 2020 and early 2021, it was revealed that hundreds of thousands of improper searches had been made using the 702 database. now i, like most other people i know, were outraged by these abuses, and the american people should be outraged when these authorities, as important as they are, are used improperly. this represents a violation of trust by some of our popular law enforcement agencies. some of our colleagues have suggested we simply allow this authority to lapse. but the truth is we can't cut off our nose to spite our face. instead of knicksing it -- nixing it, we need to fix it and that's what we need to do that this temporary extension would

provide. losing 702 authority would make people vulnerable to a range of threats. instead of tossing this authority aside, we need to reform it. last week, fbi director christopher wray testified before the senate judiciary committee and talked about the abuses of 702 authority. he described these failures, appropriately, as unacceptable and spoke about the wrath of reforms he's implemented to address the problem. the fbi's improved its system, added training and adopted new accountability measures. it's launched a new office of internal auditing that's focused specifically on foist clines -- fisa compliance. the data shows these reforms are

working, a surveillance report found that they complied with fisa compliants and the number of database searchs fell by 95% from 2021 to 2022. this is not 100%, it's not perfection, but it is it a sign of progress. given the understand concern here in congress with reforming the way section 702 operates, the ndaa gives us more time to get it right, something we have not had to this point. once it's signed into law, congress will have until april 19 to advance long-range time 702 reauthorization. in both the house and the senate, members are diligently working to reauthorize this authority in a way that protects the foundation of this

intelligence gathering tool while strengthening privacy protections for the american people. as always, we have to ensure these enhanced protections don't create new problems. we don't want to create loopholes that can be exploited by adversaries or hamper law enforcement's ability to hold criminals accountable. i hope we can build on the progress that's being made by codifying the fbi's progress. the information and dot connecting that is made possible through 702 is absolutely essential. it allows us to stay a step ahead of our adversaries and mitigate threats to the united states and the american people. it's an invaluable and irreplaceable component of our national security and we need to be thoughtful and deliberate about the steps we take to preserve it, and more

importantly, to reform it. madam president, i yield the floor. mrs. blackburn: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, madam president. in tennessee, our hearts are absolutely breaking for the families and the communities that have been impacted by the storms that have raised across our state this weekend. and we are mourning the loss of six tennesseans, two children in that number, dozens of individuals that have been injured and hospitalized, and the storm left thousands without power. it has destroyed homes and businesses. and i want to express my thanks to the first responders, the emergency management officials, the volunteers who immediately

jumped into action to support these families and to help those that have lost their businesses, their homes, their -- and the families of those who lost their lives. you have made such a difference, each and every one of these volunteers and officials have made such a difference in what is going to be a very long road to recovery. my team has been in touch with the white house, with the governor's office and local elected officials, and we're working to ensure the full force of the federal government mobilizes behind these communities in order to help them recover. madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the next portion-my remarks be placed separately in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. blackburn: thank you, madam president. late last month democrats did something unprecedented in the

history of the senate judiciary committee. they blocked the opposing party from speaking on judiciary committee nominees ahead of roll call votes. this was a gross violation of committee rules. it's not something that we genuinely see -- generally see take place at the judiciary committee. but if you look at the track records of some of these radical far-left nominees, you can see why the democrat party does not want these individuals to be up for discussion. let me give you an example of some of these individuals that have been nominated for the federal bench. now, bear in mind that an appointment to the federal bench for the district court, for the appellate court, and of course the supreme court, these are

lifetime appointments. so the only time that the representative of the people, that the people can be heard pro or con on these nominees is in the committee. it's in this chamber because it is a lifetime poichlt now, judge -- appointments. now, judge mustofa, we were blocked from talking about him. the concern that i have with him is judge kasavi has defended marxism. in his words, in his writings,

he has defended marxism. he has argued against private property rights and he has called our nation, and i'm quoting him, deeply islam phobic -- islama phobic, that is what he believes, and that is what he has written and talked about. he has also made some deeply disturbing comments about sexuality, women, and rape. for example, he helped promote a radical leftist view that all heterosexual relationships, all, not some but all are infused with violence and that all sexual acts should be viewed as rape.

that is his point of view. this appalling argument silences women who have actually been victims of sexual assault. yet, my colleagues across the aisle, the democrats, want this man in the courtroom making life and death decisions about women. they want him making decisions about rape and sexual violence. they want him making decisions about property rights when he has spoken out against property rights. and worst of all, judge kasubhai

has shown leniency when it comes to violent criminals. he has recommended -- for a man who drugged, raped and brutally abused girls as young as 10 years old. he wanted leniency for this guy for those crimes of drugging, abusing, and raping girls as young as 10 -- as young as 10-year-old girls. how many of you know a 10-year-old girl? now, judge kasubhai didn't just say that because it was one count or two counts. this guy had done this for 15 years. that's what you call a serial perpetrator, 15 years.

think about that one. but, no, let's let him off. let's give him leniency, and let's not protect private property of individuals. let's not protect women who have been sexually abused. astounding. now, judge kasubhai, on that case on the guy who drugged and raped girls under 15 years old, he wanted over ten years in prison for this guy and he had committed these crimes for 15 years. for 15 years committed some of the most heinous crimes imaginable against children. and even though this guy's risk of recidivism was very high,

judge kaibs was willing to -- kasubhai was willing to let him go with ten years in prison and i'm telling you judge kasubhai track record is disturbing, despicable and disqualifying, but the thing that should disturb each of us, not only is this guy unqualified, so are a host of others. let me tell you about some of the others that have been up for discussion. some of these have moved on through the system. there is nancy abudi endorsed political violence. read her twitter feed. it would be astounding. she was very involved with the southern poverty law center, but

she supported violence against conservatives. against me. and would you want to go into a court and be in front of a judge who was an activist and supported violence against people? i would think not. there'sedto edelman -- there's todd ^ edelman, he is with the d.c. district court. toddedelm -- so the guy's got a criminal record and he gets off and then he goes on and he participates in the murder of a child. that was a decision from judge

edelman. from the california district, marion gaston, she opposed residential convictions for regi registered -- she doesn't want them to have them in confinement or judge deindre, she wanted wanted to release violent criminals bond -- on bond. what happens when violent criminals are let go? they go do it again. madam president, it is as if this white house does not understand who needs to be on the federal bench. now there's another one i want

to talk about. seth aframe. he is a first circuit nominee. he's out of new hampshire. now, mr. aframe's background is something that i think is disqualifying for someone to be on the federal bench. and let me explain why i believe this. mr. aframe gave lenient sentences to pedophiles who abused children. let me give you a couple of examples of this abuse. one was a pedophile that appr apprehended, kidnapped a 14-year-old girl who was deaf. so he kidnaps this -- this

pedophile kidnaps a 14-year-old girl. and he takes her across the state line into vermont and he takes her to an abandoned motel, and he rapes her. this is what the guy did. now, the second one that he let off, that he went for leniency was a 3-year-old child that he repeatedly raped. now, showing you that this pedophile had planned all this out, befriended the parents of the 3-year-old girl, and then he abused that friendship, and he raped this child. this guy was sick.

the sentencing guidelines for each of these two pedophiles and their crimes, the sentencing guidelines called for life in prison. that makes sense. you go out, you kidnap a 14-year-old girl, you take her across state lines, you take her to an abandoned motel, and you rape her? and this is a 14-year-old who is deaf. you take a precious little 3-year-old girl after you have befriended her parents knowing you're going to do this because you've got a record, and you rape a 3-year-old child. and then you produce videos of yourself carrying out these crimes. these are sick, sick, sick animals. but, no, mr. aframe, he goes for

leniency. instead of going for life in prison, he wanted that sentence lowered. he got his way. now, here's what he said about the pedophile that had raped the 14-year-old girl who was deaf. of that pedophile he said, following his sentencing and giving him the lower sentence, that by the time he got out of prison, he would be over 60 years old and maybe his desire would have passed. this is sick. madam president, these people are not qualified, and i am going to continue to talk about these judges that are not qualified. madam president, i ask unanimous

consent that the remainder of my remarks be placed separately into the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. blackburn: thank you, madam president. last week border encounters with illegal immigrants reached 12,000 in a single day. the first time that has ever happened in our nation's history. this border is not closed. this border is wide open, and the cartels, fentanyl, and ter ripss are stream -- terrorists are streaming across it in record numbers. yes, 12,000 in a day. in fact, 279 terrorists have been caught at the southern border since president biden took office. more than 160 suspected terrorists have been apprehended in fiscal year 2023 alone. a number larger than the last six years combined.

and since october, more than 6500 chinese nationals, 700 afghans, and dozens of iranians have also been encountered at the border. do you think these people have gotten the message that the biden administration has thrown down the welcome mat and said come on over, we're going to let you in? of course that's what they're being told by the cartels. of course. because we've got a dhs secretary that does not stand up and secure the border. how about that? a homeland secretary who does not believe in securing the homeland. you can't make it up. but instead of cracking down on border security, the biden administration is cracking down on american businesses, including in my home state of

tennessee. they're cracking down on them for ensuring that their employees are eligible to work in our country. late last month biden's justice department found a chattanooga-based trucking company -- fined them $700,000 for simply checking whether job applicants had permanent resident cards on their immigration documents. they want to see a permanent resident card. they want to see immigration documents. according to the justice department -- you're not going to believe this one -- according to the justice department, these documents are unnecessary. their choice of words. you know what? you just can't make it up.

this administration continues to try to find ways to make il -- make illegal legal. they are constantly trying to sir call vent the rule of law -- circumvent the rule of law. they have two standards, two tiers of treatment, two tiers of justice. and it has caused massive amounts of confusion. so this administration believes open the border, let them run on over, don't document them, doesn't matter if they're a terrorist, doesn't matter what they're coming here for. but if you're a company and you are going to check for permanent residency cards and immigration documents, which are required to do by law, by the way, then this doj is going to tell you give it

up. we're not checking who is complying with the law. we just want things done our way. this needs to stop. i yield the floor. a senator: madam president the presiding officer: the senator from oregon mr. merkley: i ask unanimous consent to complete my remarks before we break for the vote the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: thank you.

mr. merkley: madam president, it was bullets, not ballots, bul bullets were the way policies were set when i visited guatemala in 1980. a soldier with a gun on every corner of guatemala city. the army going village to village killing indigenous young men. rebels attacking government officials. and right wing death skwaufds assassinating professors -- squads assassinating professors and students. i had the unfortunate experience coming around a street corner after a death squad assassinated a professor at san carlos university and left his body lying in the street. four decades ago, that's a long time ago, and fortunately guatemala has come a long way

since i visited as a young man. now the battles over the country's future are being fought not with bullets but with ballots. but maintaining the integrity of balloting, the peaceful transfer of power which are the hallmarks, the foundations of representative democracy is not inevitable. and in guatemala, the system is being stressed. in guatemala the system is being tested. the ballot box is beautiful because it creates the opportunity for citizens to call on their leaders to change direction, actually to select leaders who are calling for a change in direction. if the government isn't serving the people, the people can change the government. and every now and then, one of these elections is particularly exciting. and guatemala's recent

presidential election has certainly been exciting. the current guatemalian government is mostly a government by and for the powerful, rather than by and for the people. and the powerful blocked several candidates that they didn't want as the next president from even running in the election. but one person they didn't stop was bernardo and his party. this gray-haired academic, an a anticorruption advocate was running far back in the pact virtually unnoticed, eighth police just a couple of weeks before the election. a campaign staff of only five pe people, so certainly not a serious contender, not a serious contender until he was a serious

contender. and that happened because of two factors. the first was young people on social media. nearly two-thirds of guatemala's 17 million citizens are under the age of 30. and young people on tiktok flock to the honesty of the man often referred to as uncle bernie and his campaign against corruption. soon seedlings were spreading across social media, and one of the leading advocates on social media was came young woman that our delegation met this last week named marcela blanco. ms. blanco is a 23-year-old influencer arrested in november by the government for a tweet, arrested for her campaign activities, held for 11 days, and then released under house arrest, and allowed to come to a

meeting at the embassy, which is fortunate because we were able to meet her. she was a threat to the government because she was effective in spreading a message, a message of support for a man running for president who is running against the corruption of the existing government. her support for a democratic movement of development that was inclusive, meaning that it would support health care and housing and education, clean water, not just for the cities but also for the rural indigenous villages. well, when that first round of presidential balloting was held on june 25, mr. arevalo came in second, which in the guatemala system is very important because first and second place have a runoff assuming nobody got a majority in the first round.

so that run yofr was on august 20. -- runoff was on august 20. in august election, that first -- the second round, mr. arevalo didn't just barely win. he won by more than 60% of the vote. defeat be the establishment candidate, sandra torres. so a 20% victory is pretty powerful message being sent from the people about who they want to guide them into the future. and then what happened was the existing government went to work to try to invalidate the election. coming up with a series of spurious claims, and that triggered the indigenous communities to shut down

roadways. so a protest. and it forced business leaders to call on the government to recognize the results. so people, young people, indigenous people, gustian people -- guatemalian people won a victory. but they only won a victory if they can keep it. and mr. arevalo was here in washington, d.c. to talk about his upcoming service that would start in january 14 of next year. and he noted that he was still under intense attack, both him and his vice president, and he wasn't sure if he'd ever make it to be installed as president. so a couple of us asked him if it would be helpful to show that the united states was standing for the ballot box, standing for the peaceful transfer of power to come down before the election. and so a group of us went down

this last weekend, led by senator tim kaine, who is the chair of the subcommittee on latin america for the foreign relations committee, and we were accompanied by senator butler, who is in the chair right now, and i gather this was her first congressional delegation, and by senator dick durbin and myself and then two members of the house who are themselves of guatemalan descent, which was enormously powerful. so we advocated there in guatemala to maintain the recognition of this election, which had a huge amount of oversight, which was certainly conducted with integrity and to ensure that there was a peaceful transfer of power on january 14. but in the morning, on saturday morning as we were meeting with members of the president's cabinet and they were telling us

everything's just fine, one member who was not there this who was the attorney general who was prepared to release a statement that afternoon. and that statement she released declared that the election of president-elect arevalo was null and void. wow, so the attack on democracy by the existing government was still in full force this weekend weekend. we responded by holding a press conference to stress the integrity of the election, underscored the need for democratic continuity, recognizing that the message carried by the president had been supported by an overwhelming majority of the country, and other organizations and other countries condemned the decision, too. the organization of american

states called it an attempted coup d'etat that constitutes the worst form of democratic breakdown and fraud of will governance the people. the results are validated, formalized and unchangeable. and mr. giammattei, the current president, called for the passage of power to mr. arevalo in january. we have to admit that the decades ago it was not unusual for the united states to undermine democracy in a number of countries in the world. a couple of examples -- in 1953 the united states helped engineer a coup against a democratically elected prime minister of iran, mohammed moza34. beck, to install the shah in

power. henry kissinger of the nixon administration helped a coup d'etat against a presidentially elected president of chile. and the worst kinds of oppressive regimes including iran and the terrible oppression of chile. so i was pleased to be part of a team from this chamber in latin america working to defend the ballot box, defend the will of free peoples. that is a stand we should always be taking when an election is held with integrity. and right now it is important that the united states and the international community continue to stand arm in arm with the people of guatemala, arm in arm with president-elect arelalo,

arm in arm with vice president-elect for their rule of law. 44 years ago when i arrived in guatemala, it was governed by bullets. four days ago i arrived in a country governed by ballots. but their democracy is at risk. we must continue to do all we can to support the will of the guatemalan people, the guatemala n tecos, and the will of the people around the world. let's ensure that the form of government that triumphs is that of representative democracy chanaling a government -- channeling a government of, by, and for the people, not the powerful. thank you, madam president. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the question

is on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. butler.

the clerk: ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy.

ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin.

the clerk: ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham.

the clerk: mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson.

mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez.

mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. the clerk: mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul.

mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. mr. romney. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. the clerk: mr. rubio. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer.

mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith.

the clerk: ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. vance.

mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. the clerk: senators voting in the affirmative brown, butler, cantwell, capito, casey, cornyn, ernst, gillibrand, graham, hickenlooper, kaine, kelly, lankford, marshall, menendez, merkley, padilla, reed, sinema, tester, thune, tillis, wicker. senators voting in the negative -- britt, cotton, crapo, daines,

particularer, grassley, hawley, johnson, mullin, paul, tuberville. ms. hirono, aye. mr. manchin, aye. mr. ricketts, no.

the clerk: mr. scott of south carolina, no. mrs. murray, aye. ms. cortez masto, aye. mr. booker, aye. ms. duckworth, aye. mr. sanders, aye. mr. durbin, aye. mr. welch, aye.

mr. van hollen, aye. mr. king, aye. the clerk: mr. murphy, aye.

ms. klobuchar, aye. ms. stabenow, aye. mr. ossoff, aye. ms. baldwin, aye. mr. scott of south carolina --

mr. scott of florida, no. mr. budd, no. mr. moran, aye. mrs. blackburn, no. mr. braun, no. ms. collins, aye.

mr. warnock, aye. ms. rosen, aye. mr. schumer, aye.

the clerk: mr. rubio, aye. the clerk: mr. romney, no. mr. peters, aye.

mr. mcconnell, no. the clerk: mr. cramer, no. mrs. hyde-smith, no.

mr. cassidy, aye.

the clerk: mr. bennet, aye.

the clerk: mr. rounds, aye. mr. coons, aye. mrs. shaheen, aye. the clerk: ms. hassan, aye.

the clerk: mr. lee, no. mr. kennedy, no. mr. lujan, aye.

the clerk: mr. boozman, no. the ms. lummis, no.

the clerk: ms. smith, aye.

the clerk: mr. hagerty, no.

the clerk: mr. warner, aye. mr. carper, aye. mr. schmitt, no.

the clerk: mr. hoeven, aye.

the clerk: mr. sullivan, no.

the clerk: mr. markey, aye. the clerk: mr. vance, no.

vote:

the clerk: mr. blumenthal, aye.

the clerk: ms. murkowski, aye.

vote:

roll c vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 61, the nays are 29. the nomination is confirmed.

under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. mr. durbin: mr. president, i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. those opposed, nay. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. durbin: i move to proceed to calendar number 304. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. those opposed, nay. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, jerry edwards, jr., of louisiana, to be united states district judge for the western district of louisiana. mr. durbin: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the colombia. -- the cloture motion. the clerk: cloture

accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 304, jerry edwards jr., of louisiana, to be united states district judge for the western district of louisiana, signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. durbin: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question ask on the motion. all those in favor say aye. those opposed, nay. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. durbin: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 305. the question is on the motion -- the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, brandon s. long, of louisiana, to be united states district judge for the eastern district of louisiana. the presiding officer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion.

the clerk: cloture the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 305, brandon s. long, of louisiana, to be united states district judge for the eastern district of louisiana, signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. durbin: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call for the cloture motions filed today be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10:30 a.m., that following the prayer and pledge, that the senate resume consideration of the -- the presiding officer: under the previous order, the clerk will report the cloaker nomination.

the clerk: executive office of the president, henry kocher jr. of kansas to be national security cyber director. mr. durbin: i ask that when the senate completes its business it stand aid issued until 10:30 on tuesday, following the prayer and pledge the senate resume consideration of the kocher nomination, and that the senate recess following the cloture vote until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings. further, if cloture is invoked on the coker nomination, all time be considered expired at 2:15 p.m. and that following the confirmation vote there be up to 15 minutes for debate prior to the cloture vote on the conference report to accompany h.r. 2670. finally, if any nom thankses are confirmed during tuesday's session, the motion to reconsidered be considered made

and laid upon the table and the president be immediately notified of the senate's actions. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. durbin: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the the presiding officer: the tonight u.s. supreme court hears a cas concerning bankruptcy of the makers of oxy and

potential impact on opioid victim compensation again tha tonight 8 eastern c-span2 on free mobile app c-span now or online at c-span.org. ♪ ♪ c-span is your unfiltered view of government fund by these television companies and more including charter communications. charter is proud to be recognized as one of the best internet providers. and we're just getting started. building 100,000 miles of new infrastructure to reach those who need it most. charter communications support c-span as a public serce. along with these other television providers. giving you a front row seat to democracy. ♪ ♪ c-span student cam documentary competition is back. celebrating 20 years with this year's theme looking forward while consing