■e but you have to participate in criminal enterprises until we think your debt is done. that's not exaggeration. talk to law enforcement and the people in the community, cartels are metastasizing through the communities and causing some of the people who don't have a criminal record in country of origin to become criminals here. there are a million different reasons why we need to get the border compromise done and madam president i hope this congress is the congress where people set aside politics, do the right thing, make this country safer and show respect for people tryg to come to this country legally by making sure that their place in line is reserved. thank you, madam president. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government who are funded by these television companies and more, including wow. >> the world has changed. today the fast reliable

internet connection is something no one can live without. so, wow is there for our customers with speed, reliability, value, and choice. now more than ever, it all starts with great internet. wow. >> wow, supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. our father in heaven, you soar

on the wings of the wind. you are our strength, our rock, and our fortress. without you, we do not know from whence we have come, why we are here, and where we are going. without you life is a narrow valley between the cold and barren peaks of two eternities. with you, life becomes a merciful god, be a shield of security for our lawmakers, our nation, and our world.

place your arms of love around us all for you are our hope for the years to come. we pray in your powerful 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. mighty fortress. the presiding officer: the clerk will report will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: to the senate, under the provisions of rule 1 braf 3 of the standing rules of the senate i appoint the honorable ralph ial g. warnock, a senator

from the state of georgia to perform the duties of the chair. signed patty murray, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, morning business is closed, 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, department of labor. erika l. mcentarfer of the district of columbia to be commissioner of labor statistics. ■&

>> host: welcome back. we're joined now by representative tim burchett a a republican from tennessee, a committee member on the oversight and accountability committee and also foreign affairs committee member. representative welcome to the . >> guest: thank you had me on. >> host: let's talk about spending. you have said you were not supporting the latest spending bill. tell us what threat to its $1.6 trillion, 886, excuse me,

886 billion for defense and that's 25 billion more than last year. the pentagon has not passed an audit since they started audits. they've lost over half a trillion dollars in assets. to me that is inexcusable and yet we reward them and that's the way government i'm basically a hawk. my dad fought the japanese the marines in the cycle of war. my mom flew an airplane in the second world war. lost a brother fighting the nazis. suddenly and a strong national defense but that's just a microcosm of what's going on in washington. i i lost, people call it the sw. swap is something god created. washington more of an open sewer. everything flows in and nothing flows out. we are at the will of the lobbyists and the powerful, the powerful elite, the unit party if you will and i just, i'm sick

of it. we are $34 trillion in debt. we take in $5 trillion a year and yet we spent $7 trillion a year. you can call it new math or whatever. it just does not work and were going off a fiscal cliff and somebody has got to say no, enough is enough. >> host: the first intermission was the defense budget. what would you cut that to? what would your topline number be? >> guest: i would say no increased until you can account for the half trillion dollars that you lost, a half trillion dollars in assets that your loss. the arrogance of this bunch is be unbelief and they control congress. they come in the military defense committees, some years they get more money than they ask for. i mean dadgum, what more, we can't, were not even control our southern border and were giving these folks more money. we are in syria. we're all over the world. i don't see that as come when

somebody joins the military to take an oath, they hold the right hand up and say i will protect the constitution of the trend of america, and i daresay a lot of these words and things we're getting into have nothing to do with that. one example, when we decided to give a missile defense system to ukraine, not here to debate that one way or the other, we immediately had to replenish our missile defense system, which we should. yet members ofarties own stock in a missile defense company, or had bought stock prior to that transaction. so i just see that there's a lot of things going on in washington, and to think the public needs to know, it's both parties. people need to pay attention. they need to start digging. all this is public record and i feel like everybody goes home and feeds their people red meat.

i'm concerned. they go home, we are going to cut you in budget, do this, do that. and then we get back to washington and its the same old games but we just keep adding more and more. that's how we get $34 trillion in debt. >> host: you are a congressman part of washington. >> guest: and on fighting it but there's very few -- >> host: what are you doing and what can you do? >> guest: i'm exposing a lot of this. every opportunity i get i'm doing now. after somebody's going to say the cup the phone to call the congressman is a hey, we are $34 trillion in debt. what's your plan? we don't have a plan. it's just been more money and it's just cannot continue. that's why the republicans, the democrats everybody wants to stay in power. it has nothing to do with doing what's right and saving our country. i like to say it, portfolios over people. the wealthy elite, for instance,, would like to rail on

a budget issue, i mean on the border issue, which we should. we are close to think $400 billion a year maintaining the 800, i mean 8,000,000+ people that come over the border in the last three years. that's the size of the state of tennessee, yet you would be surprised that her national chamber of commerce, that so much local but national chambers of commerce have tried to block every effort, every effort we've had to hold those numbers down. because why? they are getting free or cheap labor, and it's unregulated. shame on us for that. the greed is what drives us. so that's a problem and those are some things i think we could address but we don't have the guts to do. >> host: if you'd like to join the conversation and have a question for tim burchett, you can call us. the line democrats 202-748-8000. republicans 202-748-8001. and independents 202-748-8002.

you are one of the votes that ousted speaker mccarthy. how are you feeling about speaker johnson and now he's doing specifically about spending? >> guest: as the conservative and accretion unlike speaker johnson. he has great credentials. i think the conservatives have done a poor job of backing him up. i would like to see them be able to flourish in that role as speaker because he is a man of god turkey loves his wife, he loves his family, he loves his country. i'm just afraid really he got thrown in the deep end early on this think that one day he's literally organizing the speeches on the floor, and he gave a nice little, i received a nice little thomas jefferson i believe it was statute for one of her speeches. how many speeches you give on the floor, whatever. that's what he did. it was part of leadership, very important because it set the tone, put out on the news and it was covered by folks like y'all,

the speeches were. but the next day basically after the vote he was on an airplane negotiating with benjamin netanyahu flying to israel for this country. so, and he inherited a lot of bad things. his budget for instance, it was in his budget. he inherited the vast majority of it and chuck schumer said we got every nickel that we ask for, which is in helping things when he said that. but i think that we have to realize what speaker johnson has done is he's talked about the things that were not talked about, the so-called side deals. you can google side deals are it will explain what those were, the billions of dollars that were spent on side deals that were not discussed openly about the budget. speaker johnson has done that because he's a man of his word. i would hope he remembers his conservative credentials from here forward. >> host: there is talk about passing a ser, temporary speng bill next week, or sometime this

week. and moving the deadline for all 12 spending bills. are you in favor of that? is that going to happen? do you think the government is going to shut down? >> guest: i think it could happen. and nobody wants a shutdown. nobody wants to shut down. that's really the only leverage we have is taxpayers. the first part of your question was, i'm sorry? long they already. >> host: already. not good. >> guest: i i sat through yesterday that w hearing with hunter biden so you can imagine all that. >> host: let's talk about that trip to the chairman king by and thanked me for staying the whole time drama tell me, , tell us wt was alike in there? >> guest: it was just washington d.c. d.c. it was made for tv. we were the only, the republicans would only one who didn't know hunter was coming in. the democrats a new here and i've gotten it's funny i go to little conservative group in the morning on wednesday mornings.

today is thursday. and i was getting text from a reporter say hey, what time is hunter supposed to be there? i was like that, i didn't even know hunter was going to come, you know? i was coming in my usual time, after another i was leaving our conference meeting and left their early to get to the committee and, of course, that two taxpayer-funded subur sirens and i thought, i heard somebody say i bet that is at the entrance of course. i was told later by another reporter it was a verectable ret they are filming a9> documentar, he's doing a part of it. we were all sort of ponds in this whole thing and it's washington d.c. tv. it's clickbait. it's unfortunate. they kept saying you, he will answer questions.

when marjorie taylor green time to speak she started asking the questions and he got up and left. like his so called press conference he held on the senate site a few weeks back. he said and i'm going to answer all your questions, and he just turned around and got in his taxpayer-funded suburbans and security detail and pulled away. so yeah, i do get too upset abou fired up. members couldn't sleep last night but i'm conservative, i just angry about it. it's just, it's just washington d.c. is right now. it's made for television. until thises to let some folks that take the job there for the irate nature of things. i think it's going to remain th. you'll have plenty to talk about. >> host: are you ready to talk ■k i don't get on any of

his blooper reels us on youtube. they start cursing, you have to cut them off. >> ht: baptist i'm not used to that. >> host: lafayette, louisiana, good morning. >> caller: i appreciate you and your my favorite. i have to getting these democrats and republicans together. i'm going to give you an example that was a hoax. for example, global warming, okay? alaska was melting. the polar bears were dying and okay? we heard it seven days a week on every hour for years hoax and tl happen, okay? we owe& using numbers i'm not sure about let's say we take in about $3.5 trillion a year, and we spent let's say

ry is actually going to go bankrupt. but when we do go bankrupt all you federal employees that are retired that money■ is gone, ist of your benefits are gone. now, if we tell people every hour on the hour like we did global warming for years, i promise you, you democrats and republicans will get so much heat they will come together. i was the guy that called you one time and asked you ifou states senor, and somebody offered you $2 million to vote vote a certain way, what would you do? you turned it on me said, what would i do? and i said i hoped i wouldn't do it but human nature said i that? , actually i do. i do remember that.

>> caller: so let me ask you this. that's the game plan. the only way tng t these people together is for the news media, you mer: mr. preside, need on the calendar is avoiding a government shutdown and fully funding the government for fiscal year 2024. a sow is looming over starting on january 19, about a week away. for the most part, both parties, democrats and republicans, agree, we don't want shutdown. instead, we want to work together to pass the 12 appropriations bills based fund congressional leadership agreed to last sunday. chair murray, vice chair collins, chair i(granger, ranki member delau working as quickly possible to make that happen. unfortunately, crystal clear that it will take more than a week to finish the

appropriations process. so, todayhe first procedural step for the senate to pass a temporary extension of government funding so the government does not january 19. what i'm doing today is filing cloture on a shell bill we can act oweek. members should be ready to take the first procedural vote on this vehicle upon our return after the martin luther king jr. holi step because even a temporary extension of government funding takes about a week to pass through the senate. so, we want to act with enough time before the january 19 deadli. i urge my republican colleagues in the senate to work with us to keep this process moving quickly on the floor. leader mcconnell and i are in discussions about thisttj■f maj

government shutdown would be a recipe for chaos. now, over in the house, who think they can bully their colleagues and the house and the countries into a utdown. this b hard-right extremists actually say a shutdown would be thing. but those 30 or so hard-right -- but to those 30 or so hard-right extremists, how on earth would freeze, for example, nutrition programs that benefit seven childr of those women , and pregna the country to close regional v.a. offices and keep our veterans, who many who risked their lives for us,n line to get the benefits they're entitled to? how would it be good to furloug inspectors to ensure that the

groceries we buy don't make us sick delay new applicants for military retirement benefits? these are just a few of the things if we shut down next week. when the hard right says they want a shutdown, they're saying closures, no food inspections, delayed military benefits, and so much more. this shows you that the hard right is not ser governing. the only tactic in their playbook is to try and bully the rest of congress and the country to bendo extremist views. butrere is the incontrovertible truth -- the white house is controlled by a democr democratic majority. and the republican majority in the house is about as narrow as it can get. so it takes compromise to get anything divided government. the top line agreement we

reached last weekt. i'm hopeful that -- has borne that out. i'm hopeful reasonable members on both sideof are ready to wor together to avoid a government shutdown. on artificial intelligence, as we begin the new year, one of the senate's top priorities will be continuing to legislate into artificial intelligence. 2023 was a year to remember in the world of artificial intelligence, with the popularization of■s generative . it's impossible to predict what 2024 will bring. soe act, and quickl u.s. keeps leading the way. thankfully, thanks to our bipartisan a.i. insight forums, and the leadership of our mm come very far in understanding how a.i. works and what we should do. we've listened to experts in tech, lar,business, academia, civil rights and more. we've discussed everything, from

a.i.'s impacts op democracy, on our -- on workforce, on national security and the thorny but important technical issues like transparency, explainabilities, bias and more. a.i., for sure, will be one of the mos issues that the senate has ever faced, but if there has been any consensus soforums,ust intervene to promote safe a.i. innovation.■d year. my colleagues in the bipartisan a.i. gang, senators rounds and young and heinrich, agree that the senate will work in tandem with the regular order committee process, using findings and forums uncovered. our committees have already done great work, and i thank all the chairs and for their continued emphasize, unde underscore that our work on a.i.

remains wholly bipartan. both sides recognize the need to get something done on a.i. so i thank my sides for their work on a.i. and i look forward toakcult issue in the months to me. now, on bad weather, mr. president, across my homeyo our friends and neighbors are just having their power restored after enduring the first major storm of 2024. we've seen heavy rain, coastal flooding, hurricane-force winds across much of upstate new york. while communities a recovery, we must remain vigilant. reports already show d storms this upcoming weekend, that could hit communities just as they are starting to recoverbuil gillian sent a stand-ready letter to

fema, urging them to stand■ñ rey to provide new york the support. i will continue to work with the governor and local officials to ensure new york communities have the tools they need t recover from this storm. timely -- finally, mr. president, on mlk day, this monday, america will celebrate e great martin luther king jr.. it's a great holiday, and i was proud as a congressman to be one of those leaders i pass this legislion. you'd be spliced some of the bigotry we heard when we tried to do but, this one point today, when you think about it, this is the only federal holiday named for one pers. we mother's day for the mothers, father's day for the fathers, veterans day for the vets, and indepde mothers. but only one day for one man. the reason is simple --

dr. king was unique. i like to say,q he hoisted a giant mirror op his shoulders -- on his shoulders, and with his eloquence, with his brilliancep and with his faith, he forced america to look into that mirror and america didn't like what it saw, and that march to racial equality on which we are still troeding and still --■i troeding and still he a long way to go. every american should be saluting one of the greatest americans who ever lived, martin luther king jr., and joining wi holiday.

i'm not going to get into the partisan thing, and as fars trump, i couldn't quite get the analogy with trump ain't found guilty and the crime rate in new york. i wasn't sure of that analogy. you've endorsed former president trump for president? >> guest: no, ma'am, are you going to? >> guest: i don't know. endorse. you don't pick up friends, just enemies. i thought a lot of people pull me in different directions. i know ron desantis. i know nikki haley. i know donald trump. they asked me when i walke off the capital one day who i was four for president and i said me. they all took out the pencils and said are you running for president? i no, that gamut. i'm running for reelection though. i stay in my lane. i have millrace to run.

i don't know what with these endorsements carry. you usually just tick people off. you see the big boys, and adore somebody pick in my district when, that looks very heavy and a lot of time because that means money is behind you but it doesn't week,pr thesenate's first major business of the year meanss■■

aggression against israel, brazen attacks on u.s. personnel in iraq war on the global commerce in the red sea. and just today -- just today iran itself has reportedly hijacked an international oilhe a further reminder that the biden administration's failure e deterrence is s costs and emboldening tehran. our single greatest strategic adversary is supporting this worldwide challenge to the west,

interfering more aggressively with peaceful neighbors and investing relentlessly in thep5 ca outcompete us. meanwhile, arrivals have rotundaered america -- rendered america's own southwest border■@ functionally nonexistent. this is the most serious crisis of america's credibility in decades, and i don't lightly. it implies that a situation requires urgenthc■i action, of course, that's exact why the biden administration spent years twisting itself in knots avoid the record-shattering national security crisis that unfolded on their watch and

because of their the southern border. member how the white house engaged inbi damage control bac innt himself slipped up and called the facing cbp and ice a crisis, it's a big deal because a crisis is something that requires the senate is clo an opportunity to finally do something meaningful to address the biden administration's border crisis. our colleague s lankford, we're inching closer to a chance to resre senate, commonsense enforcement mechanisms, and the rule of law. our colleagues's efforts are -- colleagues' efforts are the foundation of supplemental recommendation to address natio

challenges that we face. securing america's sovereign borders, invesng heavily in american leadership and be strength, and equipping amica's military with capabilities and expanding our defense industry capacity to deter threats from major adversaries lika. these requirements go hand in hand, and the world is watching to see whether we're willing to meet them. with an arsenal stocked by north korea and iran, russia literally mocks western hesitation. with terrorist aggression, iran defies american strength.

with intense focus, china bets against america's resolve. so none of the challenges we face froborder to the red sea get any easier. the longer we wait to address them. unfortunately our allies and adversaries alike have every reason to doubt us. three years of this itation and self-deterrence can have me measures -- and half measures have■p exacted a steep price. 0 so our work this month is the clearest possible test of america's credibility as a super of allies, and as the nation capable of upholding our own sovereignty, the senate simply must not fail this test.

on ants of blue cities across america likely began the new yearmple wish with a democrat charged with keeping them safe. that t year they finally get serious about addressing violent crime. unfortunately, if our nation's capitol is any indication -- capital is any indication, 2024 is off to a bleak three days into the year, the city reportedr thefts, one weekend there had been at least 125 carjackings and 44 robberies. and one of the year's first homicide cases involved a body found in a trashcan --rash can

wi of the capitol building. unsurprisingly violent crime in the new year ispatterns. to the surprise of absolutely one involved, the perpetrator of a drug store robbery last week was the same man who had attempted to rob a single establishment six times last year. a six-time offender was still on the streets to try again. washington's government has lost the -- the city's leaders aren't just failing to get rampant crisis under control, they're actively making matters worse. less than four years ago in a fit of woke righteousness, the $15 million. two years ago, prosecutors decided toro■+secute two-thirds

of the criminals brought in. and if catch and release wasn't en enough, mpd officers are still subject to bizarre do not purt doing their jobs. no wonder the didn't is suffering a recruiting crisis, and on the exact enforcement is needed the most. so i'm sorry to say that the list of local disgraces -- late last year the city's mayor announced a program to fight the epidemic of carjackingsn washington by distributing three tracking devices for residents' valuables. if you can't expect the police to hunt them down, at least residents of our nation's watch

watch them as they escape. the american people deserve to walk the streets of their capital city without fear. they deserve leaders who care more about safety than about keeping up with the far-left's new soft on crime orthodoxies. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin. ■

. >> host: welcome back to "washington journal." it is open for. a lot to talk about a lot happening in washington. there was a debate between ron desantis and nikki haley last night. former president trump held a town hall at the same time. there's the hunter biden, their spending and regarding that iour johnson was with reporters at capitol hill yesterday dismissing his concerns about his job secity and talking about the spending deal. >> some members of your caucus have opposed your spinco and talked about the motion to vacate. chip roy talked about it yesterday publicly. tim burchett has said he still pondering it. what you say those members and are you concerned you could lose your job over this deal as a last speaker did? >> look, i'm not concerned about that. we are leading. chipper is one my closest friends. we agree on everything in principle. what a talk with him aboutng who be the sll

history of the congress except one exception in 1917 according to my research. we have a difficult challenges but we'll advance the ball, and that's our conservative principles and demonstrate we can governm going to keep trudgg forward. leadership is tough. you take a lot of remember i ame conservative. that's with the use to call me. chip and i agree on spending. we have to dramatically reduce it and i have a long record as a legislator of time to cut spending. when i was chairman of rsc we■ prepared budgets that would get us back to balance. this is a very serious priority. this to me this deal this agreent is a down payment on restoring us to fiscal sanity in this country. remember last week we crossed a dangerous threshold, $34 trillion in federal debt. $34 trillion. we borrow every 140 days, as was

pointed out, everyone hundred 40 days we have to borrow $1 trillion. think about that, the sca of this is incredible. we have to cuts, cut more, more. were going to two. we demonstrate well. we will grow republican party ie sea, election republicans will win the senate of the white house and turn this thing completely around. i can't wait to do it. >> host: we are an open forum for the next almost 20 minutes taking your calls. the numbers are discrete and will go straight to richard first in jacksonville, florida. independent. >> caller: good morning, mimi. i am a 70-year-old marine corps veteran. to the constitution of this nation, and i don't know why veterans are standing back letting donald trump and the entire republican party speak vile and disgusting things about us. there supposedly veterans up

there what he's talking -- this is a joke. these people don't want to do their job. they haven't done their job and that's both parties, not just republicans. republicans are the one standing behind donald j. trump that says the veterans in this country are garbage. god help us. we need a lot of help inhe repun party is not the answer. you had a fine day, mimi. i hope you have a good one. >> host: let's talk to the lane in charlotte, north carolina, democrat. >> caller: good morning. i am, i don't understand actually what's going on. previous caller said he's 70. ff my life. in fact, i remember studying

civics when i was in school, ninth-grade civics. i don't think young people even understand how the government works, or people in general. i just heard mr. johnson talking about the budget, the deficit. but however, in the past five years we never heard anything ab budget until a democrat g the republicans always, fact i think they have changed their whole philosophy talking about saving and budgets and whatever they talk about because there is no, seems to be no plan for the american i thought america was established like by the people, of the people, by the people for the people.

we have a defense budget that we could kill americans in the onee mr. budgett or the defense budget. they only talk about cutting things that help the people, the people, should be considered when the congressmen are passing laws. it doesn't seem to be that way anymore. it's always about -- i don't know, i can't understand what's going republicans. i just heard representative burchett saying he sleeps in his office. he doesn't go out much. perhaps that's what's wrong. he doesn't go out much and he doesn't mingle with people. look, the regular people. you need to know, , you need toe

there in order to see what's going on, or the people whenever they are complaining about their individually to make ends meet. because the longer i live, the more i understand how we the people should be in charge. and term limits? that's never going to happen. we have talked about and talked about that since i was 16, and i'm 81f. >> host: all right. let's talk wisconsin, republican. >> caller: how're you doing? >> host: doing okay, i have two things, two things. first of all, this mallorca spain, i watched those hearings and the never anne

harris they got to be telling him what to do. and he's doing what they tell him to do. you know, that's like all the cabinet members, executive branch is tony's people what to do and they're just doing it. so the second thing is, gavin newsom, there's a whole bunch of people rich people in this country that thi the wings for n to back out. when biden backs out, he's going to jump in there. i'll tell you, if gavin newsom gets in the you got a problem because if he turns this country into what california is, forget it or it will be over. so they need to think about that one. that's all i got. >> host: pete menonhe mayorkas hearings. let's play a portion of that. the system homeland security chair, homeland security committee chair mark green. this is his openi the impeachment hearing against

mayorkas. >> today as a solemn occasion as impeachment proceedings in a matter of department of homeland security sector all the hendrie mayorkas and his handling of america's borders since taking office in february 2021. i wish we were not sitting here today. i wish these proceedings were not necessary. i wish our southwest border was secure. i wish that our government was enforcing the laws passed by the congress and doingmerican peopl. but, unfortunately, he has done none of these things. for almost you house committed on homeland security has conducted a comprehensive investigation into the causes, costs and consequences of the unprecedented crisis at our southwest border. our evidence makes it clear, secretary mayorkas is the architect of the devastation that weears. the findings of our

investigation available to the public at homeland dot house.gov coupled with the secretaries refusal to change course and the reckless decisions facilitated this crisis have left uslternato pursue the possibility of impeachment. the secretaries actions have brought us here today, not ours. turn what here now is a portione committee arguing that the gop efforts to impeach mayorkas is all about politics. >> republicans go to the border in dress pants and polo shirts to pose for pictures. but then leave the hard-working agents in uniform and work boots behind without they ask for. democrats want to give border agents with the need to secure the border, and republicans do not. the truth is, securing the border isn't really t it was the

people with boots on the ground at the border what they need to get the job done. republicans would rather exploit a challenging policy issue for thein. republicans disagreed with the biden administration's border and immigration policies. they are angry that this administration w't take babies from their moms or put kids in cages like the last administration. you cannot impeach a cabinet secretary because you don't like the president's policies. let me say that again. you cannot impeach a cabinet secretaryec don't like a president's policy. that's not what impeachment is for. that's that what the constitution says. republicans willing to do great damage to the constitution they claim to hold dear because they think it will benefit them politically. >> host: and joanne is in

council bluffs, iowa, independent. good morning. >> just like to ask a question. there's some concern about how christians can support a morally corrupt former president trump. he has done so many evil things. how can they justify voting for someone who still has the election fraud, the groping scandal, all these horrible things and they still worship this man and how he can be so far ahead in the polls? i just don't understand how a christian like a formere a chrit he supports somebody constant

name-calling, profanity, you know, lies. that's all i have to]1 say, thak you. >> host: joanne, , there is an interesting article on the front page of the "new york times" this morning. it says a new breed of evangelicals find a defendant trump. christianity defined by politics not churchgoing. and it quotes a woman here who so you might want to check that out for more on that. jeanette in oregon democrat good morning mike good hey, i totally agree with that last lady, you know? i was born and raised a catholic, went to catholic schools.8s and donald trump is definitely disgusting. he's the antichrist. i would never vote for him and i just don't understand these people they call themselves

christians. going to call was just to say, donald trump is polling the republican party done. i watch the debates come all of them. they really made the hairs stand up on the back of my nk. these , dukakis or haley, talked or cared about the country at all. they spent the whole time putting each other down. they didn't put trump down. apparently they love him, too. it was just mr. president, i ask consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, win s going, but no matter how low the temperatures go or how high the snow banks rise,ouon south dako coming out to support local

athletes. after all, there are games, tournaments, and trophies on the line this time of the year. sunday's win closed out -- excuse me. just a mvenlt and for sports mans like me, there is no better place to be than on the sidelines cheering for south dakota's year, mr. president, w have not been disappointed. on sunday the south dakota state university football team won■- s second consecutive national title. that's right, the jack rabbits are back-to-back sfc champions. this jacks team has a lot of talent and a lot to be proud sunday's colin closed out -- win closed out as a division win program. they boast a 29 game win street, the third longest in their history. their defense was impenetrable

this season allowing an average of 9.27nts per game and allowing just 15 points to be scored against them in four postseason games. i want you to think about that, mr. president. you get to the postseason, these are the playoffs, the best teams. in the four post season games that they played, including the national title game, they gave up a total, total of just 15 points. and i think that record of accomplishment this year was perhaps best personified in the title game when monta was driving the ball in the first quarter down in sdsu territory and they got a fourth and goal at the one yard and the sdsu defense made a stand. in an iconic play, they spped the ball carrier at the one yard line, stood him up and took him down before the ball could cross

the end zone and give them a touchdown. the jacks got the ball back, and from then it was on to a 23-3 victory. won the award for outstanding defensive player, the first sdsu player to win this award and i don't believe there was a close second. he was richly deserving of it. gus miller from brookington south dakota won the award for best sdsu center. as one reporter put it, mr. president, this team is jus. their hard work and commitment to each other and to the team has brought them success this year, and jacks nation is incredibly proud of them. i want to congratulate the jack rabbit players, coaches, and staff on this incredible championship season. there's much to celebrate now, but i'm sure coach rogers will

have the team soon to keep that streak going. mr. president, at this point i wantze the south dakota state university jack rabbit football team by entering a resolution into the "congressional record." so i would ask as if in legislative session unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of senate resolution 519 which is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 519 congratulating the south dakota state university jack rabbits on winning the 2024 national collegiate athletic association division one football championship subdivision title. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. thune: mr. president, i a unanoulution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon

the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding of objection. mr. thune: mr. president, as i said, it's not just football championships keeping south dakota sports fans busy this time of the year. there's just as much excitement, sometimes even more, to friday night basketball game in towns across our state.ays i was able get around south dakota for some of those games. i caught up with coach phillips in the northern state university basketball team last week. i brought my grandkids sioux fa friday night hoops. i went do a girls hoop matchup between the trojans and himere team. saturday i saw a cross-state matchup between the boys' teams from rapid city central and rus roosevelt.

when i travel around the state, i every opportunity to stop into a local game or sporting event. i can count on a food matchup wherever i go.ood it's a chance to support south dakota athletes. this weekend i look forward to being back in my hometown of myrtle for the jones oprtunitiy invitational tournament. for three days in january, the gym at jones county high school is the center of the universe for the eight teams competing for the tournament title. for westover basketball fans, in our dna.ounty invitational is it has a special place in our heart. the 1969 inaugural tournament was started by my dad, harold t plus myrtleuphoagland. when they organized that first tournament, they weren't sure how long it would last. each year, the community comes together to make it a success.

now, it is the longest running tournament of its kind in south dakota, which is a fitting tribute to the impact my dad and coach had on our community and young athletes. i remember sitting in the stands as a kid, dreaming about the opportunity to play in the big tournament. i remember the rush of adrenaline i got coming out of the locker room to a packed house for those games. nothing would compare t the thrill of winning the whole thing with my teammates, which is something we were able to do a couple of times when i was in high school. mr. president, the jones county invitational was alsoow i got introduced to an important influence in ni life, congressman jim freshman year, attempts at the free-throw line and i made five of them. so the next day, we had to play again, the saturday night game. i was at the main street department store in my hometown, at the checkout counter, getting

ready to buy something. somebody on the shoulder, i turned around, he says, i noticed you missed one last night. i'm like who is this smart aleck? i made five out of six. i'm a freshman, right? give me a break. he introduced himself as then congressman jim abner. jim would be a great fen mentor, and i worked for him when he served in the united states senate and as head of the small businessdministration under president reagan. but the jones county invitational is how i got introduced to him in that chance meeting that first opened the t public service. mr. president, sports are a part of the fabric of south dakota's way of life. they're one of the places we come together and connect as a community. as i said, particularly on these cold winter evenings. for many of us, sporting events bring back good memories of our dice and remind us of the important lessons that we learn from competitive sports. lessons that have often had an

field or the court. i'm looking forward to being in the bleachers once again this season, watching south dakota's athletes keep our great heritage going. mr. president, i yield the floor, and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: thelerol. quorum call: snail ■! ■d■o ■d

all committed to work as quickly as possible. unfortunately. when we today to pass temporarys not january 19. following we can next week for members to be ready to take the first vote on this upon our return. i am taking this step because even a temporary extension of tk to pass to the senate so you want to act in of time before the january 19 deadline. i urge republican comics to keep

this process moving quickly on the floor. lena mcconnell and i are on the. the vast majority of us are on the same page the governm chaos. there are those on the hard right in the house who think they can bully their colleagues in the house in the country into a shotgun. amazingly, this hard right extremists say shut them to be a good thing but those 30 or so hard right on earth would be good for the country to freeze for example nutrition programs that benefit 7 million women, and children, any of them pregnant. how is it good for the country

to close regional va office and keep our veterans service, many of whom risked their lives for us waiting in line to get the e? how would be good for the country to furlough food inspectors to ensure groceries or by or delay new applicants for military return benefits? these are just a few of the things that will happen shutdowy want a shotgun, they are saying theyant these things, va closures, delayed military benefits and so much more shows you are right is not serious. the only playbook is to fully the rest of congress and the country to ban extremist views but here's the and the

white house is controlled by democrat in the democrat majority. mr. schatz: i ask unanimous consent that we vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schatz: mr. president, i get it. i understand that people are of insane thing donald trump just said or did. i get that it's emotionally exhausting, it's intellectually exhausting, certainly politically exhaustingi2 toe panicked and outraged all the time. frankly, it's notssible. we've now been living in this reality of trump's unending lies and chaos for almost a decade, and people understandably want to live their live gs off at school, make dinner, maybe get some exercise or read a book or watch a show. they want their life to continue. so you can't wake up every morning and be one of those people, one of those people who says did you see what trump said? did you see how crazywas?

aren't your worried? you can't live life like that. i totally understand. but trump's lawyers said something this week, in a courtroom just a few blocks from here, that is impossible to ignore. and it must cause alarm. because it was the clearest indication that trump and his team believe he can commit any crime in the book, crimes as clear as day, and get away with it■< without any consequences whatsoever. when asked by a federal judge if a president could be criminally prosecuted for ordering seal team 6 to assassinate a political rival, trump's lawyer responded, and i quote, he woul be impeached and convicted before the criminal prosecution could proceed. what does that mean as a

practical matter? it means that the president could commit any crime. it means that the president could commit any crime, up to and including ordering the united states military to murder a political rival and there would be no wayo hold him accountable, as long as 34 united states senators stood ready to vote to acquit. do you think 34 united states senators stand ready to vote to acquit? i don't know. honest i don't know. but i can tell you that way more than 34 united states senators voted to acquit former presiden then tried by the united states senate, twice. so i guess what we're saying is this time the senate would stand up, because that crime would be

more egregious thanhe other ones. let's back up for a second, because during the impeachment trial three yea trump'sgal team senate republicans argued that it was the job of the criminal justice system deal with statutory crimes, crimes that are in the law books, right? not the senate. they said that the question before congress was whether or level of crimes against the country, which are different from statutory crimes, a novel a argument, and it worked. right? it doesn't have to be a good argument. doesn't have to be a compelling argument. just has to work in this body, because we've got politicians, e chips fall is however the chips fall. but their argument was explicit, which is this is not the now tr arguing in the other venue -- i'm sorry, what i meant was, this is the venue.

so what they are really saying is, our guy gets to commit cr crimes. our guy gets commit crimes. and i want everybody who is right of center, far right of center, center right, right in the center, i don't think of a argument. any president can commit any crime? not only that, by the way, it's not a matter of just committing crime. it's a matter of commanding the united states military, it's a matter of being the most powerful individual on the planet. it's a matter of being the commander in chief and using those resources to assassinate a political rival get a trump lawyer to say that would probably be legal and cause him to go to jail. they said that would depend on trump's team is in court arguing that it's up to con that the political system, not the

just system should render justice even on statutory crimes. i say this as a senator and someone who believes deeply awe this institution, if the senate says so is not a serious legal argument. if the senate a legal argument. what's being contemplated here, the ordering of a is a it's a violation of the criminal code and every other person in the land would be arrested and tried for it, but official viewtrump's lawyers is that he, and he alone, should be exempt from the law. in the's clamoring for, he gets do anything he wants. wielding unparalleled power in the presidency and zero repercussions. that's not a president, that's a dictator. that's not equal justice under the law. that's one law for trump and el think about what they're saying

and ask yourselves, are you comfortable with that? are you comfortable with a democratic president with those kinds of authorities? is that the kind of country that you want to live in? to be clear, this can't be5@ tweets, or that guy is crazy, he just says stuff or what a showman. that was theand waving away at whatever trump said or did. now we have four years of a trump presidency and two statut and constitutional crimes to look straight at. the other thing is, again, this is not a tweet. this is not a comment in a town hall, right? what this is is the official position of the lawyers for the former president of the united states. authoritarianism is no longer just a remote problem in foreign lands.

i just joined the foreign relations committee a couple of years ago one of the things we do as members of the foreign recommendations committee is go to other countries and encourage them to adopt democratic reforms many we encourage them to adopt democratic reforms, and now whe encouraging us to maintain our democracy. and make no mistake, is not some nebulous movement that is difficult to decipher, this is because trump was president and does not believe in american-style democracy. he doesn't. he doesn't believe he shod beli and he believes that when and if he becomes president again, that he will exact revenge, that he will be a dictator from day one, and that if he is held accountable for his crimes, there will be bed lam. now, does that sound like a

rhetorical flourish, it sure does, doesn't it? except i'm quoting him. again, i want everybody to be able to live a life. i don't want everybody waking up every morning freaked out about what donald trump says. but today, this week, it is worth marking what his lawyers said because it is an official position of a presidential cande and that is antithetical to everything that we all believe in. i yield the floor. ck■

mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding office mr. cornyn: mr. president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: the senate is not in a quorum call. mr. cornyn:l, mr. president, just like a bad movie, congress

finds itself within days■ of a government shutdown threat. of course this isn't an accident, this is a choice made particular because rather than take up the appropriations bills, which is the most basic responssibility of the governmet to try to keep the lights on and keep the functions of government operating, the majority leader has decided not to process bipartisan appropriations bills across the senate floor. and so here -- so here we are, portions of the federal government scheduled for a shutdown a week from tomorrow. this is not the first nor the second time we foundurselves scrambling to avoid a shutdown in the past few months.

you know, i wonder what the american people when they watch they must be thinking these people can't run a two-car funeral. this is the very picture of coence. but, like i said, this is a choice. this marks the third time since the end of september that we've just been days awaying deadline in place. i personally find this embarrassing, and unnecessary drama because funding the government, as i said, is one of the mostcongres congress has all year to prepare for the end of the fiscal year which was the end of september. but here we are three and a half months past the funding single appropriation bill has been

signed into law. this is a sad state of affairs, but it's not a reflection on the work of our senate appropriations committee. under the leadership of senator murray and senator collins, the committees passed a 12 appropriations bills in june and july. that was last summer. each bill received strong bipartisan support, and more than half of them passed unanimously. well, youht wonde if the leading democrat and leading republican and appropriations committee and republicans passed bipartisan bills last summer, why do we find ourselves days away from a pote potential government shutdown?

the appropriations committee handed the majority leader, who manages he's the only one who can schedule bills for a vote -- they handed him 12 bipartisan funding bills on a silver platter. they put the senate in the strongest possible position to return to regular on-time bipartisan appropriations bills, but that's not what happened. and you might wonder why. why in the world would the majority leader ignore the bipartisan work of the appropriations committee and pu well, there's an answer for that, and that is because this is about power. the majority leader wants the power to be able to shape these appropriations bills to file me

opportunity to participate in the process in the appropriations committee and on the floor and then present us with a fait accompli, saying vote for this, it's up or down, government or you vote for this ominous appropriation bill. not an omnibus, but an ominous appropriation bill. well, by the end of september it was clear that there wasn't enough time pass all 12 appropriations bills before the deadline so we had to go to a opgap bill. that set a deadline of november 17. when that deadline came and went, congress had to punt one more time. this t setting up two funding deadlines, one january 19, just about a week from and february 2, which is perhaps

ironically ground hog's to toda days from the first deadline and no closer to passing regular appropriations bills. well, more than 100 days have passed since the start of the new fiscal year and the senate has in session 39 days. let he say that again. over 100 days have passed since the start current fiscal year and out of 100 days, the senate has been in session 39 days. that amounts to working an average of two and a half days a week. again, the majority leader, setor r, the senator from new york, is the only one who can schedule the senate. power to do that. ers have no ■6 but, frapgly, i don't -- but,

frankly, i don't any business in america where people can work roughly a third of the time and expect t■i receive a paycheck. and it's no surprise that if you're o third of the time that you're not going to be get your work done. how have we spent that time? well, we know tha is on fire between ukraine, israel, the indo-pacific, the. the president's requested more than $100 billion in emergency appropriations supplemental bill in order to fund those causes, those issues, i but the senate haven't even

acted on that presidential request even though the house passed an israel aid on november 2. hadn't moved in the senate. the majority leader hadn't made as a matter of fact, he's waited to bundle that, making our job honest, and so that remains undone. we haven't passed a long-term reauthorization of a very important law called section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance ac think this is most important law that nobody's heard of. because it authorizes ourtellig collect necessary intelligence in order to keep our country safe. we haven't reauthorized the avi. you know, the news today as --

is pull of news -- full ofgó ne of near misses and accidents occuring on airlines -- occurring on airlines and we haven't vote on the federal aviation administration reauthorization, and as i said we haven't addressed the border crisis, the fentanyl epidemic that killed 71,000 americans last year alone or other issuest are urgent issues. instead, the majority leader has focused almost senate's time, such as it is, on nominations. well, to be clear, nominees is important work, but there is no world in which nominees should take priorityov this entire saga could have been

avoided if the majority leader had prioritized t appropriations process. it could have allowed this chamber to start voting on individual funding bills over ehey were approved by the appropriations committee. instead, here we are a week away from a partial away from a potential full government shutdown. as i said i can't imagine any lin of work across america where you■ work days a week. you blow through your deadlines and your most important work. and no way to run a railroad, much less the united states

senate. the majority leader had ample time to move funding bills through regular order. our colleagues on the appropriations committee on a bipartisan basis gave him ar runway to land thoughtful on-time appropriations.w9 regrettably, he has prioritized virtually everything but that most basic responsibility, putting us in the embarrassing and uneverybodiable -- unenviable position we find ourselves in today. i should say i find this embarrassing, and i bet other colleagues do as well. i guess the majority leader doesn't find it embarrassing. and this is purposeful because it maximizes his power to force through■/ an end-of-the-year appropriation

bill on an emergency beautifuls that he basically -- emergency basis thate basically gets to write. it turns the rest of the members of the senate into virtual potted plants, spectators in the process rather than full participants. well, looks like another continuing resolution is in the fu future. we're running out of time because of this intentional planning by the majority leader so we don't really have much a shutdown other than to pass another continuing resolution, basically kicking the can down the ro. of course, the senate is only half of the equation here. our colleagues in the house are still weighing various options, and i'mer they choose. but the house has its own challenges to be sure.

but we ought to be leading by example. we ought to be passing bipartisan appropriations bills and sending them to the house. then we can work out in a conference committee a compromise and send them to the president to keep the lights on, to keep the border patrol paid, to keep our veterans, to pay our active duty military and their families. that's what's at risk here, and it's completely avoidable. stopgap funding bills shodnorm. they fail to provide government agencies with the certainty they need to plan for thepentagon, t department is the single largest discretionary appropriation that congress passes every year. pla

in the middle east or the indo-pacific or in ukraine or even at the border if you're on -- border. if you're on a continuing resolution, they can't plan because they don't know what the future holds. well, the consequences of a co resolution are stopgap, kick-the-can be comes to our military readiness. despite the drawbacks of a stopgap funding bill, though, it's obvious i'm not a fan of shutdowns. nobody wins in a government shutdown. because when you reopen the government, you're still staring in the face the same problems that caused you to shut down the

government in the f shutdowns penalize innocent people and hurt when the government shuts down, on hold, and millionsf federal workers are left without pay. t shutdown would be a terrible mistake. mr. president, as prob painfully obvious, i'm extremely disappointed we find ose where we are today. again this is not an accident. this is not even negligent. this i intentional on the part of the majority leader. and i think he bears

responsibility for where we are to today. and i hope we can make some progress in the near no way to railroad, much less the united states congress or the busines . mr. presidt, i yield the floor, and i'd note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. ■1 quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

with additional support from the people'shina. after the these days for the ws since the iran, the world's most sponsor of terror is living up to its title, underwriting elation against israel and attacks in iraq and syria and the war on the global commerce today internet shipment for the

failure to oppose cost and restore credible, it is emboldening. adversary is supporting this challenge in the very with peaceful neighborsthe white

house engaged in damage control in 2021 and the present situation. meaningful about border

restore common sense and the rule of law foundation■y. expanding industrialy featuring threats requirement will watch and see whether we are willing north korea and

iran, russia and the western reason terrorist aggression in focus and americans resolved. of the challenges we face from our southern border from the red is easier longer we wait to address them. to doubt three years of his administration turns and measures so the clearest

possible test of our as the leader ofes and is the nation's capable of holding our own sovereignty will see will

the capital building surprised absolutely no one will attempt will, mpd officers subject tore

not pursue orders. authorities s■úay last year the

epidemic tracking devices and apparently you can't expect the our nation will watch them escape. the american people deserve -- ns consent to vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. -- for a term of four years. signed by 18 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory

quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of erika l. he distr columbia to be commissioner of labor, statistics, department of labor shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. 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. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey.s. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. 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. w

ms. lummis.;d mr. manchin. mr. markey.vi mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez.. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin.

ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. mr. romney.

ms. rosen. mr. rounds. 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. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen.

mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden.mr. young. the clerk: senators voting in thafrme -- durbin, gillibrand, hagerty, hassan, heinrich, hickenlooper, marshall, markerly, ossoff, smith, and sullivan. no senators voted in the negative.pb

cleric clock mr. tuberville, aye -- the clerk: mr. tuberviblle, aye. mr. ernst, aye. -- ms. ernst, aye.e.■ñ

the clerk: ms. the clerk: mr. rounds, aye.■k

the clerk: mr. scott of florida, no.7

the clerk: mr. wyden, aye.

the clerk: mr. carper, aye. the clerk: mrs. murray, aye.

the clerk: mr. king,■ñbñ the clerk: mr. wicker, a.y mr. kelly, aye.

mr. peters, aye. vote: the clerk: ms. warren, aye.

mr. kaine, aye.zd■ mr. van hollen, aye.■

the clerk: mr. johnson, aye..éw;

the clerk: mr. kennedy, no.zá the clerk: mr. graham, aye. ms. stabenow, aye.

the clerk: mr. mc aye.■q-=■ mrs. capito, aye. mr. markey, aye.

mr. lankford, aye. mr. reed, mr. tester, aye.

the clerk: mr. schumer, aye. mr. menendez, the clerk: mr. bennet, aye.1■o

the clerk: mr. paul, aye.

the clerk: mr. e. mr. cardin, aye.■&

the clerk: mr. vance, aye. ms. collins, aye. ricketts, aye.barrasso, aye.n

the clerk: mr. cassidy, aye. mr. warnock, aye.ñ■8

. rf

the clerk: ms. duckworth, aye. mr. hawley, no.

the clerk:r. the clerk: ms. klobuchar, aye. the clerk: mr. schatz, aye. mr. warner, aye.

the clerk: ms. lummis, aye. the clerk: mr. manchin, aye. ms. sinema, aye. mr. cornyn, aye.

the clerk: mr. casey, aye. the clerk: mrs. britt, aye. mrs. hyde-smith is aye.■;■q

the clerk: mr. tillis, aye. mr. braun, aye.8

the clerk: mr. thune, aye. mr. whitehouse, aye. the clerk: mr.

the clerk: mr. welch, aye.

á

the clerk: mrs. shaheen, aye.■2

the clerk: ms. rosen, aye.■n the clerk: mr. fetterman, aye. mr. boozman, aye.

the clerk: mrs. fischer is aye. the clerk: mrs. blackburn, aye.2

vote: the clerk: mr. grassley, aye. mr. daines, aye. b

the clerk: ms. murkowski, aye. mr. schmitt, no. ms. butler, aye. ■ mr. budd, aye. ■5

the clerk: mr. young, aye. 72■

the clerk: ms. hirono, aye. the clerk: mr. hoeven, aye.

the clerk: mr. lee, no.■ the clerk: mr. blumenthal, aye.

the clerk: mr. scott of south carolina, aye. pq■

the clerk: mr. brown, ay

the clerk: mr.

vote: ■w

the clerk: mr. coons, aye. 40■(

the clerk: mr. cruz, no.vote th

are 8, and the motion is agreed to. me a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. a senator: mr. president, i rise today to remember the life of

harold lee frank and to recognize his dedication to family, freedom, mr. budd: born in davidson county, north carolina, harold frank came of age during the great depression. when his country needswered the during the second world war, assigned to the u.s. army's 90th infantry division, after receiving a gunshot wound shoulder, he was captured by german troops on july 8, 1944, and was held as a prisoner of war by the nazis. wound was treated for infection by a fellow american medic pow and the bullettober 13, 1944. pfc frank was actually allowed to keep the german bullet that was extrarom his shoulder.

on july 5, 1945, he was released from prison and was found by an american army■e war, pfc frank awarded the purple heart and a bronze star. he was also to the united states and awarded the french medal of honor for his courage and for his valor. once home, he married his life, frank. they were married for 6 years until her passing in -- for harold continued to give back to his community as a county commissioner and a special deputy sheriff. he also!o assisted in organizina volunteer fire department. throughout his life, harold maintained a desire tserve. he traveled as a motivational speaker at numerous military and veterans events. friend, companion and

fellow u.s. servicemember wrote a book aboutduce a documentary titled from bar to pow, highlighting his experience as a pow. harold returned to5th anniversa anniversary of d day in 2019, sited world war ii memorial in washington, d.c. on an honor flight and was recognized by the gary ;(ng val to visit the national world war ii museum in new orleans, louisiana. later in life harold would be county, my home, in davie county, north carolina, visiting with friends at the center, miller's restaurant or the forks of the yadkin and davie history museum. he was a fixture at area evetera up to his

passing on new year's eve, december 31, 2023. mr. president, please j silence harold lee frank, a man who embodied the greatest generation and in recognition of a life well lived. i yield the floor.

test. ■e t. ■+

also the hunter biden, spending and regarding reporters on capitol hill yesterday. concerns about job security and

about talk about yesterday, what you say in response concerned about. we agree on everything. talk about the reality and the smallest majority inis from oneg to my research. we have difficult challenges w g forward. a lot of criticism i him are going. i long record of trying to cut spending and when i was

chairman, we budgets get us back to politics is a very serious priority in my. this to me, this agreement is a down payment restoring sanity in this country. last week across a dangerous de, we borrow everyone 40 days, we have to borrow $1 trillion. the scale is incredible so we have to bend the curve, we have to cut more and we are going to and i believe republicans will be in the senate and white housd i can't wait to don't know why

they're sending back with disgusting things about this. we talk to the main entnceid

fr carolyn. comfortable deficit however in the past, we never heard anything■[bout the budget until democrat elected.

the republicans in fact, i think budgets, whatever they talk about there seems to be no plan for the american people. the people by the people for the people, we are on the defense budget and show the world six times over, nobody talks about the military budget for t defense budget, the only talk people. the people should be considered when congressman asked in mock.

d, it's always about, i can't understand what's going on especially with republicans. i just heard representative, he doesn't go out much he doesn't mingle with people what's going on people whenever they willina. the people in charge never going to let's talk to

appleton, wisconsin about two things. possible, i watched those hearings they never say, biden and harris, they got to be telling him what to do and he does what they tell him to- do. it's like all of the cabinet members. executive branch is probably telling them what to do and so the second is gavin newsom, there's a whole bunch of people in this country think he's just waiting in the wind back out. when biden backs out, he's going

to jump in the gavin newsom gets in the, what california is, it will be something to think about that one bottle of got. >> you mentioned the mayorkas hearings, play abortion, homeland security check, homeland committee chair, an opening statement and the. >> column committee begin proceedings in the medical hom e this. his handling of america's borders taking office since february 2021 i wish you were sitting here today, i wish these proceedings were not necessary. i wish our southwest workforce secure. i wish our government wasn't enforcing lawsob

to keep america safe. secretary mayorkas has done none of these things. almost to your the house committee homeland security has■ conducted a conference of investigation into the causes, costs and consequences of the unprecedented numbers of the southwest border. this makes it clear secretary mayorkas busy architecture that we have witnessed for nearly th findings -- end to ukraine, t used in military 't sit in ware. they are used by the y■o■ yans - by the ukrainians to fend off the brutal russian invasion of that country. they are used by ukraine to maintain that country's sovereignty and independence. at the height of the summer offensive, russia was firing a

at ukraine. in response, ukraine was firing back 7 thoi rounds -- 7,000 rounds per day. but by the end of last year, just a few weeks ago, ukraine's stocks were so low that they were firing just 2,000 rounds per day. russia is still,000 rounds per day. i want my colleagues to step back for a moment and imagine you are dual with an opponent where in each round your opponent has five bullets for every one t you have. you're not going to survive that fight. that's not a fair fight. soon you won't one bullet. how long do you think that fight continues for you? right now ammunition levels tha

artillery brigade that used to fire 50 to 90 shells per day is now forced to ration its supplies down to 10 to 20 shells per day. that is barely enough for them to just defend themselves let alone push forward or reclaim niz additional any additional territory. it's notukraine desperately nee now. it's supplies for their air defense system as well. for two years now russia has had air superiority except once in the city of mayor open pa -- mariupol. in two months 95% of the city was destroyed and 25,000 people were killed. but elsewhere in ukraine, the limited because russian planes were being shot down. so perhaps it's no coiidence■b■

that just a few days ago russia launched a major missile barrage at kyiv which was the sin largest attack since the start of the war. why do i say that perhaps it wasn't a coincidence? well, maybe it's because russia is pushing all its chips in on a bhet that ukraine is -- bet that ukraine is not only going to run out of ammunition, it'sense mis. and with no american funding to replenish those systems, russia would then be able to destroy themselves finally giving them a free hand to completely decimate every single ukrainian city. they will apply the mariupol tactics to odessa, to kharkiv and to kyiv and millionswill die and kyiv will become a russian city. well, this body hesitates to

resupply ukraine. russia is putting one-third of its entire budget for 2024 towards its war effort. russia is receiving new ballistic missiles, artillery rounds, attk drones from its allies, north korea, china, and iran. and yet we are still deciding whether we as ukraine's primary ally are going to support them in the fight to come. i just want to remind my colleagues what's at stake in this fight.ision as we speak right now as to whether ukraine is an independent sovereign nation or whether ukraine once again is a russian state, a russian province. whether kyiv is an independent city o a

russian city. never before in our lifetime has a large nuclear armed nation like neighboring country with the sole purpose of disruption and annihilation and annexation. if they■[ succeed, if kyiv does become a russian city, the post prepared to deal and live with those consequences. the rules that have governed the past 70 years, that has provide the rules that have protected our country and our economy which relies on a stable gba system, they will all be permanently broken. consider the pandora's box open. i wish it were ale to say the fate of the free world is at stake, and i wish we weren't in a position where my

republican colleagues who say that they support ukraine weren't making funding for uk dependent on solving one of the most vexing, most difficult political issues in american politics, the issue of immigration and border policy. but that's whe we are. my republican colleagues say they will let vlar putin destroy and occupy ukraine if we can't come to a conclusion on immigrationol border policy. i wish we weren't here. but we are. and so democrats are at the table trying tot helps the bide administration and future administrations better manage the situation at the borde our

fundamental american values. i wish we weren't here. i wish we could just all say that we believe that it is in the interest ofstates of americ ukraine to make sure that they have what they need to defend itself, and we're going to get that job done. and we are going to sit down an crisis of a broken immigration system. tie be the two together in this way threatens to become the biggest gift america has ever given vladimir putin. and so i want to focus the what to help the administration manage the border. but i also want to tell you what i think we cannot and should not do, the changes to immigration law that would fundamentally compromise our nation's values and our moral underpinnings as a nation built by imgrants. -- immigrants. i think it's easy for us here in washington to forget when we're talking about asylum that we're often talking about a life and

death choice for people. we're talking about men and women and children who are not safe in their home countries, who will die if they stay, who don't want to leave their family, their neighbors, everything that they know. but they are so de have no choi make the often life threatening journey to the united states of america. we're talking aut sandra gutierrez. she lived in honduras. like any parent, sandra wanted to make sure that her kids were safe at the school they attended every day. but they weren't. they were under regular threat from armed gangs. so she joined together with her local parent board in her honduran town and started working with other moms to try to get the violent gangs that were a constant presence at her kids' school away from the campus. but guess what happened to sandra? that work made sandra a target.

these armed gangs stalked her. they hunted her. they threatened to kill her and herldren if she didn't stop and if she didn't meet their demands. and so she did what any of us would do, what any parent would do. she protected children. she left honduras where she would be hunted byngs, and she came to find asylum in the united states of america. it's people likealia, a journalist in cameroon who wrote powerful stories exposing sexual assaults committed by powerful people in her country. she reported the truth and that made her a target. she was attacked, beaten, detained in prison not by bangs, by her own government. -- gangs, by her own government. after she escaped and fled her country, the place she had lived her entire life where she had built areputation, a career,

she found asylum here in the united states of america. it is true that many people who come to the united states seeking asylum do not have a story like sandra or alia. it is true that many immigrants seeking asylum are actually here as economic migrants. and so i agree tha should come together and do what we can to provide a fully funded and much more effective and efficient asylum system to determine which people showing up at our border are like sandra and alia with legitimate asylum cases where the united states of america is the place where they can have their life saved versus the people who are just trying to use the asylum system to find wo i support building a better system. but i don't support proposals that■■v cplor people to come to

the united states to save their lives. and i think it's really important that we understand when you're talking about asylum, we are talking about a system that works for thousands of people who are fleeing terror and does not work when many people are using it as an end route to come to the united states to work. but we can solve that problem, we can fix that system while still allowing people like those brave women that i talked about to have the ability t come to the united states to save their life. we're also talking about another topic, a topic that a lot of republicans are discussing in the hay days and that's parole. it's one of the most important tools the administration has at its disposal to respond to■< humanitarian crises all around the world and manage the flow of individuals at the border. immigration parole authority has been used by every single president for the last 70 years to provide relief for

individuals who are fleeing danger and persecution. republican and democratic presidents have use t authority to protect soviet jews fleeing persecution, cubans during the cord war, and most -- cold war and mosten afghans fle unrest. despite what some republicans would have you believe, the use of parole has created more, not the uniting for ukraine and cuba, nicaragua, haiti, and venezuela parole programs have enabled more than a quarter million peoome to the united states safely after having passed an extensive vetting and background check process and alsop6 obtaining private sponsorship, families here that the united states. they have the and not take that dangerous journey to the southern border. it gives us a chance to vet those individuals before the show up at the united states.

and what has happened since these programs have been put into place? a significant drop in unlawful encounters at the southern border from individuals from these countries. unlawful crossings of venezuelans are down 50%. cuban nicaraguans and haitians are down 90%. this is but iortant progress. in november of last year, for instance, border patrol encounteredd 34,000 nicaraguans on the border. a year and a half ago. this past november, border patrol 4,000 -- 34,000 before parole, 4,000 after parole. no disposal has been so effective at reducing unauthorized crossings as has parole. limiting this push more people to cross in

between the ports of entry, exacerbating the very problem solve. i'm not saying that we shouldn't have a conversation about reforming this practice. i'm at the table. but to completely deny the president the ability to use parole is to mak t situation at the southwest border more unmanageable, not less unmanageable. i think we all do agree that what south -- that what is happening at the southwest border today, the number of people that are crossings every day, compared to the resources that we have, its untenable. and democrats, we do want to give the administration tools to better manage the border. but we're not interested in taking away tools that have a proven track record of success. this work is not easy. i wish i wish we were passing

immigration reform and moving funding for the ukraine, that the two hadn't been tied together. but i accept that this is what's been made necessary by republicans to get ukraine the fund i and i'm really grateful for the progress that we have been able to make. senator lankford, senator sinema, house, members of leadership have been wherebying together throughout the holiday, non-standpoint every single day -- nonstop, every single day, trying to find a compromise that let us fund ukraine -- that lets us fund ukraine, that lets us fund israel, that gives us tools at the southwest border but also respects fundamentalonors our tn of immigration. we're not there yet, but we're close. and to get to that finish line so we can all join together in the effort to support ukraine,

that's going to mean that both to compromise.republica neither side is going to get everything that they want. i wish republicans would choose to support ukraine just because it is the right thing to do,ut we've made a lot of proficiency and to me the stakes -- we've made a lot of progress, and to me the stakes just too high to give up. mr. murphy: mr. president, i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the clerk: ms. baldwin.

the most immediate need is avoiding the government shutdown and fully funding the government for fiscal year 2024. shutdown is looming over us starting january 19 about it for the most part, most parties, democrats and agree don't shutdown. i said, who want to work together through appropriations

bills based on toppling funding fasten it. jerry murray, vice chair collins, check all committed to work as quickly as possible to make that happen. unfortunately, it's become crystal clear it will take mor than a week to finish appropriations process so today i'm taking the first procedure■3 the senate to pass a temporary extension of government funding the government does not down january 19. a one doing his following culture on a bill we can next week. members will be ready to take the first upon our return junior

extension sk with will ship on the recipe for disaster. those on the right on the house who think they can bully their colleagues in the house to amazinglyn of extremist actually say would be a good thing but those 30 so hard right extremist, how on earth would be good for the country to programt 7 million women, infants and

children, many of those women pregnant. how would be goo country to close regional va offices and keep sediments who served us, many of whom risked their lives for us waiting in line to get the benefits they are entitled to? how would the for the country to furloughoonspectors to be sure groceries would buy don't make us sick? or like new for military retirement benefits? these are just a few of the things that will happen we shutdown next week. when the heart right says they want a shutdown, they are saying they want these things, pa closures, no food inspections, delayed benefits so much more. it shows you the hard right serious about governing. bully congress if

the country to bend to their extremist views truth about the white house is controlled by democrats, the majority republican majority in the house is as narrow as it can get so takes compromise to get anything done in these conditions toppling agreement. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. vote: the cleric: ms. baldwin. -- the clerk ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso. mrs. blackburn.

mr. blumenthal. the clerk: mr. booker mr. boozman.

the clerk: mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. butler. 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. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan.

the clerk: mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. hyde-smith.

the clerk: mr. mawly, 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. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. mr. romney. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. rubio.■h mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina.$1 mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith. 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. vote: ■6

senators voting in the affirmative -- baldwin, blackburn, braun, brown, cassidy, collins, duckworth, grassley, hassan, hyde-smith, kelly, merkley, murray, padilla, paul, reed, rounds, smith, tester, tuberville, welch. no senator voted in the

negative. mr. peters, aye. ms. murkowski, aye. kennedy, no. ms. ernst, aye.

the clerk: ms. sinema, aye. mr. schatz, aye. ■rux mr. kaine, aye. # mr. herty, aye.

# ms. cortez masto, aye. ■ mr. whitehouse, aye. mr. romney, aye. the clerk: mr. 2vance, aye.

mr. markey, aye. mr. ti, aye. ■d ms. stabenow, aye.

the clerk: mr. heinrich, aye. ■. mr. casey, aye. ms. butler, aye. mr. daines, aye. mr. cornyn, aye. johnson, aye. mrs. capito, aye. mr. mcconnell, aye. mr.e.

mr. wyden, aye. ms. warren, aye. ms. klobuchar, aye. mr. scott of florida, no. mr. budd, aye. mr. ms. lummis, aye.

mr. hawley, no. mr. cruz, no. mrs. fischer, aye. mr. rubio, aye. mr. wicker, aye. king, aye.

mr. ossoff, aye.

mr. boozman, aye. mr. ricketts, aye. risch, no.

the clerk: ms. hirono, aye.

the clerk: mr. lee, no. mr. durbin, aye. ■ vote: the clerk: mr. menendez, aye. . the clerk: mr. ■&■ohoeven, aye.

mrs. britt, aye. mr. lankford, aye.

the clerk: mr. crapo, no. ■c mr.

mr. young, aye. mr. van aye. mr. marshall, aye. j;booker, ay"

the clerk: mr. coons, aye.

the clerk: mr. barrasso, aye. mr. the clerk: mr. warner, aye.

the clerk: mr. bennet, aye. mr. cardin, aye. mr. scott of south carolina, aye. eb■

the ,kclerk: mr. hickenlooper, aye. 9p

the clerk: ms. rosen, aye. mr. fetterman, aye.

the clerk: mr. lujan, aye. ■e■a the clerk: mr. warnock, aye. ■i

the clerk: mr. graham, aye. ■é

vote: ■4 thune, aye. ■á;5■[f

the clerk: mr. carper, aye. 7áe

the clerk:s mr. murphy, aye. ■a

vote:

the playbook to odessa, to kharkiv and millions will die in kyiv will become a russian city. well, this body has what it takes a resupply ukraine. rush putting one-third of its entire budget for 2024 towards its war effort. rush is receiving new ballistic missiles, artillery rounds, military equipment and drones, from its allies north korea-china and iran. and yet we are2l■e still decidig whether we as ukraine's primary ally are going to support them

in the fight to come. i just want to remind my colleagues what's at stake in this fight. we are making a decision as we speak right now as to whether ukraine is an independent sovereign nation, or whether ukraine once again is a russian state, russian province. is an t city, with a kyiv is a russian city. never before in our lifetime han like russia invaded and neighboring country with the sole purpose of the structure, annihilaed, if kyiv because does become a russian city, the post-world war ii order is over, is over. and no one here is really prepared to deal and live with

those consequences. theules that govern the past 70 70 years that's provided us with relative global stability, the rules that are protected our country and our economy which relies on a stable global system, they will all be permanently broken. as soon as the pandora's box opened. i wish it were hyperbole to say the state of the free world is at stake. and i wish we were in a position where my republican colleagues who say they support ukraine, were making funding for ukraine depended on solving one of the most vexing, most difficult amen politics, the issue of immigration and border policy. that's where we are. my republican colleagues say they will let vladimir putin

destroy and occupy ukraine if we can't come to ausion on immigration policy and border policy. i wish we were here, but we are, as the democrats are at the table trying to find a compromise that helps the biden administration and future administrations that■a are -- better manage the situation at the border while also living up to our fundamental american values. i wish we were not to. i wish we could all say that w e united states of america to support ukraine to make sure that they have what they need to defend itself and we're going oing to sit down and try to work together on the crisis of the broken immigration system. tying the two together in this way threatens to become the biggest gift america has ever

given vladimir and so i want to focus remain a part of my remarks today on what i think we can do to help the administration manage the border. but i also want to tell you what i think we cannot and should not do, the changed immigration law alueswould fundamentally and our moral underlings, a nation built by immigrants. i think it's easy for us here in washington to forget when we're talking about a silent that were often talking about a life and death choice for people. we're talking about men and women and children who are not safe in their home countries, who will die if they stay, who don't want to leave their family, their neighbors. everything that they know, but they are so desperate they feel they have no choice buto life-ty to the united states of america. we're talking about people like sandra gutierrez, she lives in

honduras and like any parents she want to make sure kids were safe at the school he attended every day but they weren't. they were under rular threat from armed gangs. so she joined together with our local parent board in her ponder in town and started working with other moms to try to get the■h violent gangs that were a constant presence at her kids schools away from the campus. guess what happened to sandra. . these armed gangs stocked her. they handed her, they threatened to kill her abnd her children if she didn't stop and if she didn't meet their demands. and so she did whatny ofs would do, what any parent would do. she protected her children. she left honduras where she would be hunted by these gangs and she came to find asylum in the united states of america. it's people like all again, a

journalist in cameroon who wrote powerful stories exposing this commission by the cameroon government and sexual assaults committed by pahpa people in her country. she reported the truth and that made her a target. she was attacked, beaten, detained or not by gangs, by her own government after she escaped and country a place she lived her entire life worship built a reputation, a career. she found asylum here in the united states of america■d it is true that many people who come to the united states seeking asylum do not have a story like sandra o immigrants seeking asylum are actually here as economic migrants. and so i agree that we should come together and do what we can to provide a a fully funded ad

much more effective efficient asylum system to determine which people showing up at our border are like sandra and aliyah with legitimate asylum cases where the united states of america is a place where they can have their life savings, versus people just i'd use the asylum system to find work. so i support building a better system. but it don't support proposals that completely shut off the ability for people to come to the united states to save their lives. it's really important that we understand when you're talking about a site and we are talking system that works for thousands of people who are fleeing terror and torture. it does not work when many people are using it as an end route to come to the united states to work. but we can solve that problem, we can fix that system while still allowing people like those brave women that i talked about

to have the ability to come to the united states to save their life. we are also talking about another top a lot of republicans are discussing in the hallways these days, and that's a role. it's one of the most important tools the administration has at its disposal to respond to you maintain crises all around the world and to manage the flow of individuals at the border. immigration parole have been used by every single present for the last seven years to provide relief for individuals who are fleeing danger in persecution. republican aidents have used ths authority to protect soviet jews fleeing persecution, cubans during the cold war, most recently ukrainians and afghans fleeing violence and unrest. despite what some republicans will have you believe the biden administration's use parole has created more not less order at the border. the uniting for ukraine, cuba,

nicaragua, programs have enabled more than a quarter million people to come to the united states safely after having passed an extensive vetting and background check process, and also obtaining private sponsorship, families here in the united states. they have the ability to work and they're not forced to take that dangerous journey to the southern border. it denies smugglers and cartels the ability to exploit all of ce to vent those individuals before they show up at the united states. and what has happened since these programs have been put into a significant drop in unlawful encounters at the southern border from individuals from these r: the nomination is confmed. the ayes are 86, the nays are 8. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action.

mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to calwfñlendar 243, h.r. 2872. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number ■q24 h.r. 2872, an act to amend the permanent electric tropic duck stamp act of to 13 and so forth and for other purposes. mr. schumer: i

other purse, signed by 17 senators as follows -- mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waive with aed. the presiding officer: without objection. short sale i ask unanimous consent that -- mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call harass the cloture motion filed today be waived. objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate be in aered pooh of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i have two requests for committees to meet today during today's a session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duel mr. schumer: madam president, i ask i ask unanimous consent that the proceed senate to the resolution of s. 522 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 522, a resolution authorizing testimony and representation st. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the senate will proceed.mr. schumer: i ask

consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, an that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. human schumer madam president, i -- mr. schumer: madam president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 523 which was submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 523 it honoring the life and legacy of the late-senator herb kohl. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. schumer: i ask una to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: witut objection. mr. schumer: and let me just say, speaking on behalf of so many of us in the senate, we dearly miss herb kohl. he was just a man. a fine senator and a gentle voice, something we very much miss in the senate. now, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the

immediate consideration of calendar number 281 is s. 2414. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 2414 agencies with working dog programs to implement the recommendations of the government accountability office relating to the health and welfare of working dogs and for other purposes. the presiding officer: therologies to proceeding to the -- is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: and finally, madam president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned under thedditions of 523 to convene for a pro forma session only with no business be conductedality:45 a.m. on friday, january 12. when the senate adjourns on friday accuracy it stand

adjourned until 3:00 p.m. on tuesday, january 16 that on tuesday, following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the morning business be closed. that upon the conclusion of resume consideration of the motion to proceed to calendar 243, h.r. 2872, and that the cloture motion with respect to the motion to proceed ripen at 45::45 -- at 5:45 p.m. further, that if a motion to discharge the further consideration of s. res. 504 is made during tuesday's session,the senate vote in relation to the motion to at 5:30 p.m. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. schumer: so for the information of it all senators, we expect senat■;■or sanders to move to discharge his resolution on tuesday. senator privileged, so senators should expect a vote in relation to t..

followed by a vote on cloture on the motion to proceed to the legislative vehicle for the c.r. if there's no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the remarks of senator sullivan and cain. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i yield the floor. mr. sullivan: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. sullivan: i am honored to be on the floor with mye from virg. we are getting ready to pass in the u.s. senate a resolution commending taiwan for its history of democratic elections and expressing support ofemocras and its upcoming elections this saturday. madam president, this resolutioe as cosponsors, and we're going to pass it here in a few minuat means every senator in t

u.s. senate is supporting this, madam president. well, it is very important. taiwan has a presidential election this saturday. and, of course,í chinese communist party and xi jinping are doing everything they can to coerce the taiwanese people to interfere in the election, and that's something that we are not supportive of at all, madam president. this resolution goes taiwan's d it mentioned that on saturday, january 13,n7:! taiwan will hols eighth presidential election and 10th legislative election since it began its transition to democracy. it then moves to the sense of the senate, the u.s. senate where we are commending taiwan for the example it has set for

self-governance not just in the indo-pacific region, but throhout whole world where the senate regards the democracy of taiwan as a great strategic strength an indispensable component of contemporary u.s.-taiwan relations. and, madam president, a sense of the senate in this resolution that we all, all 100 of us remain con chinese communist party's aggressive interference that's happening right now. we've had tles recently in our american press. here's one from the "wall street journal." madam president, i'd like to submit for the record. it's entitled china isn't backing off taiwan. president xi jinping is using military pressure and propaganda

sway the island's presidential election in january. mr. president, i'd like to submit this for the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sullivan: and here's another one from "the washington post," mr. president. four ways china is trying to interfere in china's presidential election. that was actually from today's "washington post." i'd like to submit that for the record.ye. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sullivan: so, mr. president, we are almost certainly facing a volatile and maybe even dangerous period in the taiwan strait because of the chinese communist party. the election is january 13. inauguration won't take place until may. so what we need to do as a country is to provide steady, unwavering resolve and support of taiwan's democracy. and of course we need to continue to critically enhance

cross strait deterrence. mr. president, i'll end with one final thing before my colleague from virginia, i know wantst7o say a few words on this important resolution. but this is also a vulnerability for the chi communist party and xi jinping himself. think about it. this undermines this election, all these elections in taiwan undermine the central premise of rule that one dictator knows what's best for 1.4 billion people in perpetuity, for as long as he's alive. what i guarantee the dictators in beijing are worried about is that people in china are going to look across the taiwan strait and go, wait a minute, how come we can't do that? china democracy, how come we

can't do that? so, mr. president, what we're doing right now is showing commitment and resolve for taiwanese democracy. i'm proud to say, mr. president of china's -- taiwan's first election, the chinese communist party moved its militaryver tai. this is now referred to as the third taiwan strait crisis. it was a huge crisis in 1995-1996. and president clinton, to his credit, sent two carrier strike groups and a marine amphibiousc. i was a young infantry officer on one of those navy ships during that time in the taiwan strait, showing america and that's what we're doing with this resolution. on now their eighth presidential

election in taiwan. and i'm honored to be here with senator kaine to pass this support of taiwan democracy. mr. kaine: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from virginia. mr. kaine: mr. president, i rise with my colletor he and i are good colleagues together on the armed services committee. i work closely with him. i learn a lot from him. an usually on thursday afternoon i'm learning about an alaskan of the week from senator sullivan. but here it is a thursday afternoon and we'reta a unanimo resolution in support of taiwanese democracy. and i want to drill down just a little bit more on what aocracy is. as many of you know, taiwan was a single-party nation under martial law through much of its hior 1980's. in the late 198's taiwan made a toward democracy. it had its first legislative

elections in the early 1990's and first presidential election in 1996. since that election, as my colleague mentioned, it has had numerous presidential elections, numerous legislative elections. and often those elections have transfer of the presidency from one party to another, transfer of legislative majority from one party to another. but taiwan has built a democracy that is stable enough to withstand that and its respect for human rights, freedom of free press and its successful economy has borne proof to the notion that allowing all taiwanese to participate in democracy has been wonrf for taiwanese society. i think taiwan is an example. often in this chamber we're grappling with tough issues, won -- wonder about venezuela. what about the people's republic

of china? look at taiwan. it's important that we shine a spotlight on nations that have authoritarian to democracy and succeeded socially, politically, culturally, economically in that transition. and as my[ colleague said, thats a good-news sign, but it's also a sign that makes dictators very, very worried. the purposehis resolution is to stand and support taiwanese democracy. as my colleague mentioned, china has been very engaged in disinformation campaigns surrounding this election. the election is this weekend. the inauguration will not be until may. we cldhallenge between the election and the inauguration, and we need to stand strong and support taiwanese democracy to . i led a delegation from the senate about exactly a month ago to circumstances, and the president

who is in the chair a few minutes before you, senator butler, came along with me along with some other senate and house colleagues. there was a presidential election in guatemala and a president elect revelo was swept into offe an anticorruption campaign promising guatemalaan citizens a real democracy that they deserved for a very long time. the outgoing prospect of a peaceful transfer of power. and so we took a bicameral delegation down to talk tough to the outgoing government and to speak up for the incoming government and try to preserve democracy in guatemala. why do i bring that up i bring it up because guatemala is one of the few nations in the world that recognizes taiwan, and there had been a very furious and corrupt effort by t presidential candidates to guarantee that they would switch allegiance from taiwan to the people's republic of china. when we were there supporting the will of the guatemalaan

revelo he said they ngly weren't going to change, weren't going to succumb to chinese pressure, they were going to to continue to stand together with he moving forward. that inauguration will happen on sunday. the taiwanese election happens on saturday. we're standingere together, senator sullivan and i, to support democracies around the world, whether it be taiwan and east asia, guatemala and central america, the u.s. should stand up for those who are embracing a democratic path, and i'm proud to support along with so many of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle this u.c.that, i yiel my colleague from alaska. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. sullivan: thank you, mr. president. i want to thank my colleague from virginia. and right here i have the resolution. as i mentioned, half the u.s. senate, democrats and republicans, are cosponsors of this important resolution

commending taiwan for its history of democratic elections, expressing concern about the chinese communist party's interference in this upcoming election and expressing our support for taiwan democratic institutions. so, mr. president, i ask the s proceed to the consideration of senate resolution 521 submitted earlier today. the presidofport. the clerk: senate resolution 521 commending taiwan for its history of democratic elections and expressing support of taiwan's democratic institutions. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. sullivan: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, a■%nd th the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon

the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sullivan: thank you, mr. president. for those watching all over the world, this senate resolution with 50 democrat and republican senate cosponsors has now passed the u.s. senate as an official resolution com people of taiwan for their democratic elections and expressing our support for the upcoming election this saturday. i yield the floor.zj pursuant t senate resolution 523, the senate stands adjourned■ñ until 8:45 a.m. on friday, january 12, and does so as a further mark t senator from wisconsin. esidentin

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