tv U.S. Senate U.S. Senate CSPAN January 31, 2024 9:59am-1:30pm EST
9:59 am
do the right thing and make sure that they never communicate with people they don't know or provide information or anything else that they shouldn't. 4[ buthe parent can't be sure that that always works, nobody can. they want to do the right thing for their kids. i told my daughter i was having this hearing and she said, dad, when you get these execs in front of you, ask them what they do to protect their own kids. their own kids who could be exploited and they wouldn't it's a legitimate question. i don't know if i'll be asking it tomorrow, depends on circumstances, but it is something that every family across america would like to know, what are you doing, senator, to protect our kids. it's getting worse instead of better. can you change the law to help us? it's up to use to decide. i hope tomorrow's hearing is the beginning of that conversation on a bipartisan basis. i yield the floor. ♪♪ >> e live to the floor of the u.s. senate today where lawmakers will be voting on judicial nominations and one
10:00 am
yesterday, the first female senator to represent missouri who was appointed after her husband's death. jean carnahan was 90. live c on c-span2. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let uñ@s pray. almighty god, eternal and
10:01 am
unchangeable, you have ordained that day follows night and that in trials we find our triumph. keep our lawmakers aware of your goodness and mercies that never fail. lord, contention to an optimism that trusts the unfolding of your prevailing providence. may they also live with the awareness that our times are in your hands. lord, give our electricalsers the -- lord, give our legislators the wisdom to rededicate themselves to the doing of your will so that this nation may yet shine
10:02 am
with the beauty of righteousness and justice, becoming a citadel of healing, wisdom, and strength. and, lord, remember the families of the servicemembers killed in the jordan drone attack. we pray in your powerful name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c, january 31, 2024. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby
10:03 am
appoint the honorable peter welch, a senator from the state of vermont, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patty murray, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. and, under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary. karoline mehalchick of pennsylvania to be united states district judge for the middle district judge for the middle
10:07 am
10:08 am
in syria, the attack our forces over 160 and ahead of the snake is iran. iran is behind all this. this. requited shrieking deterrence. >> the question is how do we do that? some of your colleagues on humal had been calling for strikes against iran inside iran. >> i think the right. just going after hezbollah militia groups in iraq doesn't deter iran. they don't care who attacked the proxy partners if they do care if you attack them. if we're going to regain deterrence has a some strike against the head of the snake which is a brand. i would be cautious about where i would strike. there's way to go after iranian say oil export capabilities for the iranian navy that would be low risk for our forces but also to realize aramco probably counterstrike. we can't fear the escalation. they're attacking us. they. they should for ourscalation.
10:09 am
>> some of your colleagues have also asked the president seek congressional approval before any strikes. as you just said it could lead to escalation. do you think that's necessary? >> is necessary for a one time cote it's going to be a longer duration he has to come to us. if it's to get retribution or strike back and iran, whether it's one strike or a couple strikes i don't think he needs to. he does need to briefest after-the-fact but this is going to be a long long, long, ss have to come to us. >> he retired as once or general. what thinks would happen? could toral out of control? >> theirs was a possibility iran will counter counterstrike. fact is they are striking us right now because they kill three americans. there has to be a price to pay for striking americans like this, and iran is behind it. we need to go back and punch them in the nose and say if you
10:10 am
do it again we will hit you harder but they need to fear us not as fear them. >> if you like to join a conversation with congressman don bacon you can do so. our light are democrats 202-748-8000. republicans 202-748-8000. republicans 202-748-8001. and independence 202-748-8002. you can also use allied to text us and on social media. what do you think iran's goals are. >> the one america out of the middle east. they want to be the regional power. so do other countries. turkey would like to be dominant, so it's odd arabi. they hate israel. it would like to wipe israel off the map and he does. they wan us out of the region. they are the largest exporter of terror in the entire region. all those terror groups are allied with iran. even hamas, a sunni terrorist group, focus on israel that the window do what they did israel to iran. iran arms him, advice and.
10:11 am
all these terrorist groups get their funding, the weapons, training through iran. >> host: do you getting command and control from iran? >> guest: probably more loosely that there is a capability, most of the weapons from iran. they get training in iran. obviously iran wants them to attack israel. i don't know that they detailed what strike and how to strike. maybe a broader command-and-control. >> host: let's turn to ukraine. that funding is being held up, shall we say, by the border negotiations. supplemental. from securing our southern border to helping our friends in israel and innocent civilians in gaza to showing strength in the indo-pacv'ific and, of course, standing with ukraine. the senate's very resolve and courage is being put to the test. a month ago i said the only way
10:12 am
we'll rise to the occasion is if both sides are serious about finding a bipartisan compromise. the negotiation was nevereasy. in fact, we all knew it would be immensely difficult. nevertheless, i said democrats were willing to treat these negotiations with they deserved for months we've been true to our word, working with republicans on border security, coming to agreement on a vast nd range of issues. we have not concluded negotiations, so we will keep going to get this done.dc democrats have always been ready and willing to have a debate on the border. we want to get this done. we've continued to work to get this done, and we remain committed -- we remain committed to bipartisan, both sides will have to give. it is unfortunate, but frankly not surprising, that many on the hard right are mightily trying senate.the bipartisan work but in the senate, our
10:13 am
responsibility is clear -- we need to put the needs of our country above the interests of party politics because the security of our southern border is on the line. the security of israel is on the line. the health and safety of innocent gaza civilians are on the line. the stability of the indo-pacific region is on the line. and, finally, as every senator on both sides knows, the survival of ukraine is on the line. it'll be two years since vladimir putin began his illegal savage campaign against the ukrainian people. american military assistance has been one of the most important lifelines for ukrainian fighters since the start of the war, but now that aid has run out. congressional action is required if we want to send additional military assistance. the matter here is very simple, as president zelenskyy told usness december -- -- told us in
10:14 am
december. ukraine will win if more aid is approved by congress. but if no more aid is is approved, putin will win. the supplemental is how we ensure that western democracy is protected. the work is not easy. it's very hard. there are still some issues outstanding. but we remain committed to bipartisanship and we will beca this done. on the mayorkas impeachment effort in the house -- last night while most americans were fast asleep, a house committee voted to advance the absurd effort to impeach homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas. the republican majority is moving forward with the sham impeachment effort despite producing no effort that secretary mayorkas has committed any crime. they have not shown that he has violated the constitution. house republicans have failed to produce any evidence of anything
10:15 am
resembling an impeachable offense. instead, what house republicans are doing by advancing this sham impeachment effort is denigrating our constitution, all for the sake of one person and one person only -- donald trump. and let this the be clear. this unserious spectacle by house republicans does nothing, nothing, to secure our border. while senators on both sides of the aisle are actually negotiating in good faith on bordersecurity, house republicans keep exploiting the border only for political gain. only to help donald trump on the camf workin solve the problem. there have already been many shameful and embarrassing moments in the republican house majority, but abusing the constitution by pursuing this sham impeachment effort is a new, ignominious low. on the mifepristone am inc. us brief -- amicus brief.
10:16 am
i signed onto a brief with over 260 colleagues urging the supreme court to rever a dangerous circuit court ruling restricting access to mifepristone. we just learned that the supreme court will hear this casearthe two decades ago, but the hard right continues to seek its prohibition. the hard right'sttack on a drug deemed safe for two decades shows how unhinged and limitless that desire is to eliminate freedom of choice inthe consequ right's anti-woman agenda has already proven destructive to an appalling degree. new research shows that there is a significant increase in the flurm of rape-related -- number of rape-related pregnancies. rape-related pregnancies. this is truly horrific. all survivors of sexual violence deserve access to a full range of physical and mental health health care services, but tragically today they don't have there is the new reality for
10:17 am
women in a post-roe america. these extreme abortion bans caused chaos and inflicted thouf women whose stories we will never hear. democrats will not stand by and watch the hard right continue its all-out assault on reproductive rights. we will continue fighting to protect a woman's right to choose. we will not stop until we prevail. i yieldhe floor, and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin. ■t
10:18 am
that's the question because it's also an ideology. >> guest: it is. there could be hamas outside of gaza but they could take over gaza. they are rooting out 400 miles of tunnels. that's where these guys are do t takes a toll, a heavy price. we won't let someone like that on our borders. >> host: let's talk to ten in
10:19 am
wisconsin, democrat. >> caller: good morning. i agree with a lot of what he■> says, but i agree went to support ukraine.■x■m■ not going anywhere in the senate. there will not waste their time. i wish they would agree to do something. they had an agreement on the table in the senate ready to ratify it but the house is in such disarray they can't agree. but when it comes to the middle east, i disagree with you on gaza. they have already bonded into dust. i think they could put,■c mean they need a ceasefire. they could surround gaza. they have already surrounded it. they could make sure nobody gets out as far as hamas goes. the leadership -- so what happened in gaza, if we kill the minions that are doing the fighting, it's going to pop up
10:20 am
again unfortunately because it always does. but in the meantime if t a ceasefire that would help with a lot of problems in the middle east. settle things down a little bit, as maybe we could in some constructive manner because the weights ways going nowhere. thank you. >> host: any comments? >> guest: thank you. glad we agree on ukraine. he speaks truth that the senate will likely do very little with secretary mayorkas impeachment. however, we have the worst border in history and it's a disaster for our country. we are trying to make ahe booksy are not enforcing. >> host: there is a senate deal on immigration that is expected soon. what you yet, but i would cautir folks in the house. let's give them a chance to present what they've worked we have been demanding the senate take action.
10:21 am
we passed h.r. two, a very, very stringent, and outstanding border security bill. we realize the senate would likely not pass that verbatim, but we've been asking them to come up with some response we can work together on a solution. i am a little disheartened with folks on our sites and stop we don't want anything. we have been asking fororyears. so let's let them work on agreement and try to come up with a bipartisan way forward. we'll see what it is. they haven't unveiled it yet. >> host: unveiling it yet former president supposedly said he's against it. he says a border bill is not necessary, encouraging people to vote against it and wait until he presumably comes back into office next year. >> guest: two things to be true. on one hand president biden does have the authorities to shut down the border. yes authorities not to release anybody intercountry. he admits or mayor cruzhere ared people, a month.
10:22 am
85% are just released to her country. it's not working. our cities are struggling. the other thing could be true. let's see what the senate comes up with. they haven't unveiled a plan. together. to s we can't be doing a republican on a plan or a democrat on the client. it doesn't work. our founders made a system of golt the system to protect the minority, right, so the minority can get a voice. >> host: you could be without oaky with a bil■:l that is maybe not everything you're looking for but at least a a step in e right direction? >> i was hoping for h.r. two possible but it's not possible. i think we should senate to present their plan and let's go from there. that's where our founders built the system, working together, give give-and-take in finding consensus. it may not be optimal for my point of view, not optimal to the democrats split if you do th it's how the system works. >> host: let's talk to helen, a republican in long beach,
10:23 am
california,. >> caller: good morning. i was reading an artle night from foreign affairs written by eric schmitt. who has who is worked i gy with ukraine, especially in respect to thenn bomb drones ovr there. and what he wrote was that the russians are jamming our mr. mcconnell: it's been three years since a thuggish military coup derailed prospects for democracy, unity and the military has engaged in a ruthless systematic war against the people of burma. this has displaced roughly 2.5 million people. last year alone, it claimed
10:24 am
15,000 lives. and of course, the junta has placed tens of thousands of innocent people behind bars for opposing the military. right now, nearly 2,000 members of the national league for democracy, pro-democracy party, are being unjustly held as political prisoners, as are many others from all corners of burma's society and its myriad ethnic groups. undoubtedly, the most well-known political prisoner is my friend aung san suu kyi. the longtime leader of berm 'ace pro- -- burma's ■"pro-democracy movement and the hopes she represents, i can only imagine the three years of pain,
10:25 am
suffering, and frustration. i would hopes would join me on this third anniversary of the coup in falling for the unconditionalal re -- unconditional release of all political prisoners in burma. in the face of sustained repression and brutal violence, the people of burma continue to resist. working together increasingly across ethnic andnue to defy the heavy fist of the junta. in recent months, forces re resisting have promised -- drawn significant defections from the ranks of the pro-junta military. they are determined to establish a new democratic burma committed to coexistens, justice, and the
10:26 am
rule of law. as i've said the world must encourage and support their efforts. the united states must urge more of our allies and partners to join in applying maximum pressure to the ruling junta, the state-owned enterprises, like the mouji, and to their enablers abroad. more of the bi administration -- there's also more that the biden administration can do to help the people of burma. for one, it's past time to implement the bipartisan burma act and employ its new authorities and resources to engage and■ro assistance to those struggling to resist the junta, including ethnic groups and organizations terrible conflict. the conflict in burma is not
10:27 am
just about freedom or just. it's also -- freedom or justice. it's also been a boone to china and russia. both of have helped the kathmandu. beijing has its eyes on critical infrastructure projects it sees as expanding its strategic reach into the indian ocean, foremost among these is a $7 billion port in rakine i would encourage my colleagues to look at the map and consider just where this complicated country of more thants. geography may not exactly be destiny, but it certainly matters. the outcome of the conflic in a competition unfolding all across
10:28 am
ashe -- all across asia. throughout my career i've been proud to be a voice for my friend aung san suu kyi and for her advocates in burma. i've been proud to celebrate their remarkable progress and to call attention to their setbacks and ongoing struggle. and the american people should be proud that so many are willing to risk so much to follow their example of se self-government. as the people of burma begin to turn the tide conflict, i'll continue to stand with them against the kathmandu thugs who seek to snuff out the bright light of their future. i hope my colleagues, the administration, and america's friends in the region, and democratic countries around the world, will do the same. on ano
10:29 am
tomorrow the world-leading innovators that produce medical cure face yet another compliance deadline for washington democrats' price-fixing scheme. as i've discussed before,educti act includes a price-fixing mechanism that requires drug manufacturers agree to a crooked negotiation process, pay an excessive fine, drugs off the market. by february 1, the centers for medicare and medicaid services, cms, are required to send each drug company a little valentine's day their initial maximum fair price
10:30 am
offer. their maximum fair pri drug. calling this a price-fixing scheme and negotiation is like calling a bank robbery a transaction. in any fair negotiation, either party has the ability to walk away from a deal they don't like. but in this case, if the drug company fails to address to the maximum fair price, determined by unelected bureaucrats and a has two options -- they can agree to pay an excise tax capturing up to 1900% of the druk's daily revenue -- of the drug's daily revenue. if not, the ira force them to withdraw entirely from participation in medicaid and medicare programs. so
10:31 am
unsurprisingly, multiple drugmakers have sued the federal government over the ira's price-fixing racket. the companies have argued the ira's constitute an unproper taking of property in violation of the takings clause. in response, my colleague from vermont, senator sanders, decided to call the ceo's of all these companies to testify before the senate help com committee. the timing is no coincidence. as a recent editorial pnt saern to -- mr. sanders doesn't want to negotiate or conduct actual g oversight. he wants this as punishment pursuing the government. the ultimate victims are not th
10:32 am
will never receive lifesaving treatment. by one estimate the incentives eliminated by this scheme would have delivered nine times as much funding for cancer research as the biden's own 2016 cancer moonshot initiative provided. the simple truth of the matter is that socialism doesn't work. the government can't wave a magic wand to make prices go at prices to a ceo won't lower prices either. perhaps instead of holding show trials on what prices democrats might consider how their own taxing and spending policies have created an economy tha failing innovators, patients, and working families alike.
10:33 am
10:36 am
>> host: welcome back to "washington journal." it is open forum so we'll take your calls on anything you wantr politics. we'll talk about the middle east so want to show you what happened on the senate floor yesterday." is minority leader mitch mcconnell and he criticized the biden administration for failing to compel iran and its >> our objective is to compel iran and its proxies to stop attacking american forces and our interest in the region, and to reserve american influence in a critical part of the world. but to achieve this objective, we have to convince our adversaries that we are preparee
10:37 am
interests that they hold dear. if the iranian regime thinks america is most afraid of escalation, it will use that fear because it believes it will drive us from the middle east. just as we were driven from it was reasonable to hope that the eruption of proxy violence in israel would convince the biden administration to start seriously exercising american strength. it was reasonable to hope that a global superpower would begin to act like one. that hasn't hapned■ but perhaps the gut wrenching tragedy of american casualties will fal
10:38 am
administration from its delusional approach to iran. yesterday, the secretary of defense echoed president biden's hollow assurance from earlier this month, insistingadministrat tolerate attacks on u.s. forces and we will take all necessary action to defend the u.s. and our this sentiment isn't yet backed by any action. the fact that iran's proxies have targeted americans 166 times in the past three months demonstrates that the biden administration is willing to tolerate att.s. forces. their question for the commander-in-chief is whether his options in the coming days s proxies that america's tolerance has been exhausted. >> host: and it is open forum
10:39 am
so we'll start right away with your calls florida, democrat. hello. >> caller: t3f thing is when one group refuses to concede the same rights and privileges others that it takes for granted for itself, , there's always gog to be a conflict. the western allies dropped 2 million eastern european refugees into an area about the size of new jersey in 1948, and you got some people in this country whose hair is on and when a few mexicans come across our border. the think thing also is, u know, the origin of israel resulted in hundreds of palestinian villages being wiped off the map. it's obvious that for some people there is no crime that israel can commit that it's r the line or off-lits for them.
10:40 am
we give israel $10 million a day in military support and have decades, yet there's never any and to this horror show over there. we have a pattern that is so obvious. this is just like jim crow style racism with eastern europeans running amok with no controls, no borderline. can anybody even tell us where israel's borders are? this is a state without borders. the international criminal court has been surrendering to this atrocity for decades, and nobody seems to care, nobody seems to know. donald trump, spent four years in office. he could've improved the situation but jared kushner ignored it and said now what we've■i got is a jailbreak on
10:41 am
october 7 and everybody seemed surprised. i wasn't surprised if it. >> host: all talk to michael in atlanta, georgia. democrat. michael? doesn't look can get that -- >> caller: can you hear me? three or. >> caller: i just wanted to call in. you had a a great call a coupe minutes ago talk about the ssa spinning the igcnd the r evidence, a proof of intent commit a genocide. so essentially for the public that needs israel has been indicted. and then you had your guest vivienne on the basically straight up lied and said that that's not true. i'm justlly curious about your thought about having someone on here who would throw red herrings around while 25,000 civilians have been wiped off the face of the earth, families
10:42 am
been destroyed, history suddenly confused on this and i just can't believe fathom why you keep bringing guests on who tried to trick listeners into thinking 25,000 dead babies, people, siblings but with our tax dollars and a weapons is not a problem and doesn't need to be addressed as a genocide. >> host: regarding thatby the id that, this is on friday january january 26. icj issued decision. the court to stop sort of port that short of ordering a ceasefire and said take measure possible to avoid genocide also ensuring humanitarian aid. and bob, illinois, republican. morning. love c-span. i've two topics i wanted to touch him but with regards to date from florida, i wouldn't mind a few mexicans come across the border.
10:43 am
i don't even mind and million a year, as long as they are paying attention to our laws. but when you get 8 million from 150 different countries, it's, it's another thing. anyhow, my first topic, president biden is always saying introduced a proposal to control the immigration, and they did nothing. he had control. he had democrats control the widest, the senate and he has a house for the first few years. he did absolutely nothing. so we could stop it i you wanted to but i think they got their planes going the way they wanted to. but the of the topics, the democrats often complained about how chaotic trump is. what since trump into a chaotic mood was when he won the election immediately president obama, susan rice, i don't know who all, started unmasking people he was bring in to the
10:44 am
administration. they drove that man insane for four years and the never had tor doj or all against trump and they have the for seven years with a little luck from the independents with a strong turnout in november, trump would get back in there and get this country back on the same path. thanks. >> host: and ted, minneapolis, minnesota, independent. >> caller: yes good morning. i like to bring up the fact and go in another direction. last night they had this large meeting with all these senators trying to hang my orchis, and if it comes up to be true that's fine, but they seem to stick around until midnight, and yet they can't seem to pass a good, past vcrs that are so temporary and were not look at the overa debt nor are we doing anything about it. all we do is bigger and fight.
10:45 am
the other point i want to make, too, is that, well, actually that's about all. okay. >> host: all right, ted. ted did mention the mayorkas thing. think we might have that clip for you to show you on house speaker mike johnson. once we havet i will definitely show you that. oh, there it is. so we've got it. this is the house speaker mayorkas record and along with criticizing that senate bipartisan deal on the border. here it is. >> alejandro mayorkas rolled out a -- is that we've seen for the past three years. it was just four months into his term as the secretary of the department of homeland security mr. mayorkas appea before us and judiciary committee. and i told them on that day and
10:46 am
the clip that many people have seen that he needed to prepare his resume because he became immediately apparent to us that he was not doing his job in fact, he was undermining the very system that you supposed to administer. now the president, this is laughable. the president is trying to switch, flip the script. once you try to blame house republicans in some way for the national security and dominican catastrophes that he cost. i can't make a full judgment on the national sur have not yet been released, but based on the news reports of this agreement that a conflict, that secretary mayorkas by the way help negotiate, it seems the new authority to shut down the border would kick in only after as many as 5000 illegalef■ crossings happen each today. why? why would we do that? illegal immigration is illegal. it is against the law. why would you tolerate 5000 a day before you sought to suddenly enforce the law?
10:47 am
that would be surrender. the goal should be zero illegal sings a day, not 5000. and all the presents authority should be utilized at zero. >> host: indianapolis, indiana, a democrat, good morning. >> caller: good morning, maybe. first of all mike johnson, the so-called speaker of the house calls himself a christian can just lie like that is really unbelievable. you and joe biden came up with a deal to work on the border to help secure more officers on the border, more catch and release, to capture illegal people crossing the border, and donald trump made a phone call to the house republicans to shut it down. you know, and the reason being is because republicans need a talking point for the election. it action here comes always
10:48 am
brown looking people across the border, playing into the whole can have something to talk about. they also like that cheap labor, too. because a lot of republicans are o as far as that wall, as long as corporate america have something to say about that, it ain't going to happen. they just need -- that's all it is, scaring poor middle class, american white folks come here come these brown and black across the border, and joe biden came up, and senator lankford oval, came up with a solution to help curb a lot of that. bus far as -- what is republicans obsession? first it was mickey mouse now it is taylor swift. what's the matter, republicans? you guys running out of -- firsz mickey mouse ron desantis upset with mickey mouse, now it is taylor swift. wow are you guys afraid of women
10:49 am
or something? i don't get you guys. i thoughtou of macho guys. >> host: let's talk to berlin kissimmee, florida. independent. >> caller: good morning. first, i like to preface my call by saying big man speak with forked tongue. i been listening to see spence of snake 82. in the beginninghis was an area of, you know, a town square we you can share ideas, intelligentve the things i've noticed is that it used to think this world power which is a united states in great britain, used to say that they were racist but i finally concluded after looking at this, c-span and hearing it, they are really immoral. their behavior allow alloo spy and so people, to kill indians because he wanted their land, wealth, et cetera. it did thehe south africa, , african without
10:50 am
they went after africa with the colonialism ideology. and then you all found a new word for greed, it's called capitalism. you found a new word for line. it is called politicking. and then you'll have the nerve to call yourselves judeo-christian nation, where as a judeo-christian the jews over there don't■ they should be a shame that they got -- and then these christians who call themselves christian, i sure none of them talk about the principles that jesus talked about, how to treat their fellow men. you all have killed more people come world world war i to9 people's lives. world war ii took 50 million people's lives. ever since then you all have killed millions of people since then. on and you all are so immoral that these things are acceptable behavior. but the only thing that i to say, c-span, please keep archives of "washington
10:51 am
journal," the daily congress activities and book notes because i will be doing a thesis to follow up on de tocqueville how is operation of the society would be. tremor i assure you we will keep all of our programming. you can look for on our video library at and if you're on the line, stay with us. we will come back to open forum but first we're joined by a reporter with cq roll call, a congressional accountability reporter, chris marquette. welcome to the program. >> guest: thanks are having me. i went to article here in roll call has us have fun, certain false swatting calls as to lawmakers agree to concerns. members contact local law enforcement about hoax emergency calls. can you remind us about what swatting is and what's going on? >> guest: yes.
10:52 am
swatting is an increasing trend that's been happening recently, phenomenon in which people, bad actors will call in on a fake 1 cl to induce at a member's house in this case we wrote the story about swatting on members of congress. and there have been since christmas there have been 34 members of congress who had been the target of swatting incidents. and whatse people do is they call in fake 9/11 911 calle members address using ai with fake screens and glass shattering in the background in order to induce a large law enforcement response with perhaps a swat team or officers this cindy on the house with guns drawn, and that's why hadn't they have the term swatting.
10:53 am
swat teams come in usually. >> host: this is a concern on multiple levels. i mean, heightened sense of danger. there's guns involved. there is also the chance of this being the boy that cried wolf, right? so when there is an actual emergency law enforcement might not respond as quickly? is that a possibility? >> guest: yeah. so i talked to marjorie taylor greene, a member from georgia has actuay been swatted a times, and if you click your family there's been 11 swatting incidents that she's encountered since 2022. the first time that the was a swatting call at her house she said that law enforcement came to end up in a tragic event, , but it's a scary incident nonetheless. and then recently over the
10:54 am
weekend, they were to make publicly reported cases in which eric burlison, a representative from missouri and then tom emmer, a member of leadership, were both swatted over the weekend. i spoke with burlison and he talked about how the call was placed into ozark county but he was in ozark which is a city in christian county. so initially they knew that there was somhingp the area would have done the difference between the two counties. but actually marjorie taylor greene and a bunch of members were swatted over christmas, and that was very prominent in the tually burlison reached out,re the house sergeant at arms has encouraged members to reach out to the local law eor hey, have a conversation within say hey,
10:55 am
this of my emergency contact number. this is my address. if you get any calls, swatting has been issue, reach out to us and make sure to validate so that in the case of,■8ue? if it, in fact, a swatting incident like it was with burlison over the weekend, that law enforcement response is not at a ten with guns blazing. in his case it was two squad cars became down and they had a hunch that it was swatting because of the county discrepancy that i referenced earlier, but at the same time it's a tough, it's a tough area to balance, it's a tough line to tell because wha he going to do? like not send the copts and if there's an incident where it's really an the law enforcement response. so it's a tough line to tell but i think you sought work out as well as a can with burlison. because it was a tempered law
10:56 am
enforcement response. they still can, that it it but at the end of the day it is sucking up valuable law enforcement resources that shouldn't have to be diverted te issue. >> host: chris, what is currently in place to protect members, if anything? >> guest: yeah, so they have a a $10,000 pool of money that house sergeant at arms makes available to house lawmakers, and in that they can ut for home, to bolster their home security, monitoring. there's actually $150 a month amounthey can use for the presiding officer: i. mr. thune: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lift. the presiding officer: without received tragic news on sunday morning. three american soldiers were killed in an attack by an iran-backed militia against tower 22, a base in northeast jordan that sits near the border
10:57 am
of syria and other servicemembers were injured in the attack, with eight requiring evacuation. the families of the fallen and injured are in our prayers, as ar the two navy seals who were lost at sea off the coast of somalia earlier night time raid to interdict iranian missile parts being shipped to the houthis in yemen. we'll all -- all owe -- we owe all of these military members our appreciation. the with more than 165 attacks against u.s. troops over the last sever of a u.s. fatality has been very high. and the half measures so far pursued by the biden administration have failed to stop us from reaching this tragic milestone.
10:58 am
and that's because the biden admi missing a key element. it is possible to deter an adder have certificate adversary. but having the military might alone isn't sufficient for a credible deterrence. these capabilities must be, have to be backed up with a clear willingness to use them. so when the biden administration repeatedly asserts that we don't want to escalate with iran, that we don't seek a war with iran, the iranian regime sees that as permission to set loose its terrorist proxies. is unquestionably true that we would prefer to avoid escalation in the region, and i'm not here to call for war in iran. but if the ayatollahs in iran are to be believed, they say
10:59 am
they do not want war either. but if diplomatic admonishment and response to tilts houthis or iran-backed militias comes with a caveat that we're not seeking to retaliate, it is interpreted as we won't escalate. this is not the lguage of deterrence. and it neuters the ability of our counter-strikes to compel any change in behavior. so what should this administration do in response to the 165-plus attacks against u.s. forces in iraq, syria, in the red sea, and now in jordan? first and most importantly, keep all options on the table. let the iranian regime guess the lengths to which we will go to protect our troops from attacks, combat terrorism, uphold our freedom of navigation in sea, and help our ally israel. second, the president as
11:00 am
commander in chief needs to take decisive action and articulate his strategy to the american people. i'll defer to our military leaders on what measures will send the clearest message to iran that its days of enabling) attacks against military targets are numbered. but there is no question that we need something more compelling than the president's handful of air strikes which have done nothing to deter iran its proxies. when the stakes are this high, and american lives are on the line, half measures will not cut it. mr. president, when it comes to president biden's handling of iran a course correction is long overdue. first, there was president biden's attempt to reinstate the obama administration's flawed iran nuclear deal. then there was the biden administration's attempt on freeing $6 billion in iranian assets as part of a deal to free american prisoners. thankfully, the administration
11:01 am
ultimately refroze those funts in the wake those funds in the wake of hamas' october 7 attack against israel. but unfreezing them in the first place was a serious mistake, and it isn't just this kid glove treatment that emboldened and enabled iran. the president's disastrous withdrawal from afghanistan on a timeline announced to our enemies seriously dented perception of america's resolve. then there are things like the president's decision to restart funding to united nations relief andksagency, or wise known as unwra. new intelligence confirmed what we long suspected, and that is that roughly 10% of unrwa workers in gaza have ties to islamist milan groups. worst, at least 12 members actually participated in hamas' october 7 attack, with two
11:02 am
kidnapping an israeli woman, two raiding an israeli kibbutz, and another to hamas terrorists. president trump stopped sending taxpayer dollars to unrwa in 2018 in response to reports that its staff promote anti-semitism in classrooms. why in the world, why in the world would the biden administration restart this funding without certifying it wouldn't be use to support terrorism? another unforced error that harmed our credibility in the eyes of our adversaries■i. so what happens next, mr. president? president biden needs to demonstrate resolve and leadership in bringing a swift terror. he must forcefully response to
11:03 am
iran and show thatí the u.s. wil be unwavering in defending our national interests, especially our troops. and he needs to seriously reconsider the reported plans to withdraw u.s. troops from iraq and syria based on an arbitrary timeline rather than security conditions on the ground.■ which will only be interpreted as a retreat by iran and its terrorist proxies. mre need if he stopped stifling american energy and unfroze the liquefied natural gas exports approvals he recently halted so that our allies aren't forced to turn to countries like russi and iran for energy supplies. mr. president, this is a critical time. the es the world, and particularly the eyes of our adversaries, are on our
11:04 am
11:05 am
>> caller: yes. the reason i called you is to let everybody know in this country that we live in i like y freedom. my freedom to speak to you, my freedom to voice my opinion. and i believe everybody that's rebelling esterred needs to make sure -- registered needs to make sure they're eligible to vote, and everybody that the niece not registered needs to get registered because this presidential election that'sing up is going to change the landscape of america. and i want you to remember what these candidates say publicly to you.
11:06 am
comments publicly, number one, if everyone remembers, trump said himself if i'm elected, the first day i'll be a dictator. a dictator. remember that word. and i say this, no dictator, no king, no rump. no trump. and that's all i have to say. you have a great >> host: north carolina, spring lake, democrats' line. rob, hello. >> caller: yes. i have two points. on the first thing is people are constantly trying to compare the government of the united states, but they fail to mention two things. one, mitch mcconnell is not a toal aaron■; concern. [inaudible] >> host: mitch mcconnell is what a? i didn't get that, rob. >> caller: his wife is chinese.
11:07 am
>> host: welsh she's chinese-american. >> caller: she is chinese by race. her family is one of the wealthiest families in china. so -- [inaudible] in china or taiwan. nt one. point two, they say that -- [inaudible] president. i ask unanimous consent that vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schmitt: thank you, mr. president. i rise today in rec national security campus, in the important role it plays in strategic deterrence on the occasion of its 75th anniversary. i stand here today at the desk of president harry s. truman. in 1946, president truman establishehe atomic energy commission. in 1949, kansas city was selected as the location to produce our nuclear arsenal.
11:08 am
for 75 years, the kansas city national security campus has been the primary site within the nuclear security enterprise for procuring and producing -- say that a few times -- nonnuclear parts and components for nuclear weapons. as the united states continues to advanceo modernization programs, the kansas city national security campus plays an essential role in america's national security, helping to ensure the nuclear stockpile is safe, secure, and reliable. more than,000 hardworking missourians go to work, day in and day out, and the importance of their contribution to our country and its defenses cannot be understated. they mak 80%, 80% of the nonnuclear components for the weapons in our national nuclear arsenal.
11:09 am
in addition, they support proliferation deterrence, supply chain security, and our overall responsive inness to global threats -- responsiveness to global threats. kansas city -- they're making it more efficient too. this remains the bedrock of our strategic deterrence and the security and stability it provides to our country's defense is paramount. it is not an exage to say this is the most important moment for our nuclear arsenal in generations. and the kansas city national security campus is at the center of it all. at a time when the people's republic of china is rapidly growing and modernizing its own arsenal, kansas city national security campus, in the critical role it plays in our defense, is more impornt than ever. never in our history have we faced so dangerous a threat as communist china, founded on the belief that the power to govern
11:10 am
comes not from the people but from the barrel of a gun. we must therefore meet their strength with our own, and ecur campus is making our country and its defenses stronger each and every day. i am deeply proud, and there are many of them here today, to represent the state of missouri and the folks from that campus in the united states senate. and to represent the dedicated workforce of the kansas city national security campus. they are central to our nation's security. i could not be more pleased to recognize the kansas city national security campus and its 75 years of contributions to national security. some of the facility's leadership is with us today in the for their service. with that, mr. president, i
11:12 am
>> wow. that was something, wasn't it, to hear a person say that, what biden evidently did not say. but, no, what i'm calling in, about this israelite thing. we o something awful yahu, i'm sure you guys got record of it, but when russia invaded ukraine, bin yahu intent to russia to speak with putin, i don't know what for. but when he got back to israel, he said he wants to be over the supreme court. it started a riot. even some of the soldiers came into the street, they left theib post. so■ set up for an invasion to happen. and for one thing about israel since i've been watching the israelis talk about the harm and
11:13 am
the hurt, not one of them mention the name of jehovah, ike rahim, jesus. i can't even get them to quote a scripture out of the wor of god, but at the same time they'll tell you a shalom as though that is holy. look, people, the israel that we know of in the bible is not the israel that we we see today. it is totally different. america need to get back off of that and go back to ukraine. and and this woman who who said that biden's allowing the people to come in, let me tell you right now, where i live right now there are a lot of hispanics working in different offices, right? and they're talking about people coming across the border. they're already at the border. they lahr already in business -- they already in business establishments, they've got 'em in offices with high standards. and they're up here complaining,
11:14 am
trying to stop hispanics from coming in when they still taking that cheap labor from them. this is totally ridiculous. they got a talking point, and that's all a they have. but democrats, we look outz loot for your social security. we try to make sure you get broadband. we fixing the bridges. we doing -- and, and for the military, we doing it for the military too, and they still want to talk about trump as he say you guys are losers. remember that, v.a., you are losers under trump. >> host: all right. let's go to nancy next in ham on the, louisiana. democrat -- hammond, louisiana. nancy, are you there? >> caller: yes, ma'am. boy, this forum, open forum is all over the place. what i really wanted to call in on were two things. don't understand
11:15 am
why the republicans are not giving the money to ukraine over russia. 9 from the if of this issue, i e always said what they're trying to do with putin, putin wants the back sheep. they are i trying to take over the red sea. if we don't out of ukraine and getting close to the black sea, what ends up happening, that gives him a straight shot to e need to be ir world war. number two, i am born and raised in the state of louisiana. i have traveled all over this world. i have eight years of college, and i am so ashamed and disappointed in the representative, of the state of louisiana. you do not belong here. care of this state with the
11:16 am
department of environmental quality over the chemical companies that are on the mississippi river and you don't want to take care of the wildlife and fisheries, who do you think are the people that have givenp their adult lives to take care of this state? so every single republican growp or you immediate to the movemen. because you are not a representative of the people in this state of louisiana. >> host: nancy, can -- have you written to your congressmen? >> caller: i don't want to even be anywhere around them. i am an individual, i love people. i worked my life. i1e yeah, there's a lot of things i could complain about. but when you have an individual that are from this state that are not taking the citizens of
11:17 am
this state and helping us, it's a shame. >> host: all right. let's go to ken in connecticut, republican. good morning. >> caller: good morning, how are you? >> host: good. in about a couple of things. first thing is about the border. i cannot understand how the democratic party thinks that we want this in america. and they are being paid our tax dollars to support immigrants who shouldn't even be coming into our country. they're supposed to be taking care of ours and our problems in america, but yet they're fighting for immigrantsmericansh american tax dollars. and we can just see, look at new york, attacking police officers, people sitting all over the streets freezing. i mean, you know, what did you
11:18 am
guys come here for, to sit in the gutter, mt. did -- in the street? did anybody offer you a job? did you have plans when you came here what you're going to do, what's going to happen? no.an't come over the border from every country in the world. and now america has all these people in our country, and what do we do with them? if where do we house them? where's the jobs? so what their going to do -- they're going to do is take more tax dollars from us to give to people who aren't americans, and we suffer. as we can see in america what's going on. they're letting them out of jail. why don't we just i put them on a bus or a plane -- you attacked police officers. send them back to their country now. ■@
11:21 am
>> knows what's on the line as we work on the national security supplemental. from securing our southern border to helping our friends in israel and innocent civilians in gaza, to showing strength in the indo-pacific and, of cours standing with ukraine, the senate's very resolve and courage is being put to the test. we'll rise to the occasion is if both sides are serious about find being a best partisan compromise -- a bipartisan compromise. the negotiation was never going to be easy. in fact, we all knew it would be him menacely difficult. nevertheless, i said democrats were willing to treat these negotiation with the ors seriousness they deserved, and for months we've been true to our word. working with republican ifs on border security, listening to thei■k proposals and coming to agreement on a vast range of issues. we have not concluded negotiations, so we will keep going to get this done. democrats have always been ready and willing to have a debait on
11:22 am
the border. we -- debate on the border. we want to get this done. we've co work to get this done, and we remain committed, we remain committed to bipart pa sanship. both sides will have to give. it is unfortunate but, frankly, not surprising that many on the hard right mightily trying to sink the bipartisan work happening here in the senate our responsibility is clear, we need to put the needs of our country above the interests of party politics. because the security of our southern border is on the line. the security of israel is on the line. the health and safety innocent gazan civilians are on the line. the stability of the indo-pacific if region is on the line. anfinay, at a every senator -- as every senator on both sides knows, the survival of ukraine is on the line. it'll be two years since vladimir putin began his illegal, savage campaign against
11:23 am
the ukrainian people. american military assistance has been one of the most important lifelines for ukrainian fighters since the start of the war. but now that aid has run out. congressiona at to send additiol military assistance. the matter here is very simple as president zelenskyy told us in december. ukraine will win the war against russia if more aid is approved by congress. but if no more aid is approved, putin will win. dare not hand ee over to vladimir putin. the sup lightal is how -- supplemental is how we democrac. the work is not easy. it's very hard. there are still some issues outstanding, but we remain committed to bipartisanship, and we will keep working because we want to get this done. on the mayorkas impeachment effort in the house, last night while most americans were fast asleep, a house committee voted
11:24 am
to advance the absurd effort to impeach homeland security secretar■óy alejandro mayorkas. the republican house majority is moving forward with the sham impeachment effort despite pollution no evidence that secretary mayorkas has committed any crime. house republicans have not shown that he has violated the constitution. house republicans have failed to present any evidence of anything resembling an impeachable offense. instead, what hse advancing thim impeachment effort is den gating our constitution all a for the sake of appeasing one person and one person only, donald trump. and let this be clear, this unserious spectacle by the house republicans does nothing, nothing to secure our border. while senators on both sides of the aisle are actually negotiating in good faith on republicans keep exploiting the board or only for political gail
11:25 am
gain, only to help donald trump on the campaign trail instead o. there have already been many shameful, embarrassing moments in the republican house majority, but abusing the constitution by pursuing this sham is impeachment effort is a no ignominious low mr. casey: mr. president, i would ask consent to vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: we're not in a quorum call. mr. casey: thank you, mr. president. i rise to share my strong support for the judicial nominee we're about to vote on, judge karoline mehalchick. judge mehalchick has been nominated to serve on the middle district court of pennsylvania, one of our three federal judicial districts. upon confirmation would sit in the federal courthouse in my hometown of scranton, pennsylvania, where she has already been serving with distinction for over ten years as a federal magistrate judge. born and raised in lackawana
11:26 am
county, she on to attend and graduate from the shrirer's college before heading to■r tuln law school in louisiana. fortunately for pennsylvania, judge mehalchick returned home after graduation and served as a law clerk for the honorable trish corbet on the court of common pleas. from there she worked as associate and partner at the law firm of oliver, price, and rhodes in scranton before being for the middle district of pennsylvania in july of 2013. in 2021, she was appointed cef u.s. magistrate judge in the middle district, and upon her appointment, the then-chief judge of the mdludge john jones
11:27 am
commented that she has been an, quote, exemplary and hardworking jurist, end quote and that he had, quote, every confidence that she will serve with■q distinction, unquote. i think his confidence was well placed based upon her service. judge then chief judge of the middle district, was nominated by president george w. bush and confirmed by the senate some 20 years ago. judge mehalchick has approved to be a -- proved to be a strong leader in the middle district and across the nation during her time on the bench. she as cochair of the middle district's prisoner litigation settlement program and presided over the scranton care court. she has also served on the magistrate judge's advisory group of the administration office of the u.s. courts and appointed in 2021 by supreme
11:28 am
court chief justice john on the conference committee of codes of conduct. her reputation and commitment to the middle district are further highlighted by the numerous letters of support that she has the judiciary. the former chief judge jones, as i mentioned earlier, in another statement of support spoke of judge mehalchick's, quote, exemplary character, unquote, her hard impressive temperament, brilliant writing and dedication to the rule of law. thismee that the greatest -- an i'm quoting him here -- the greatest ap -- appellation i can award to a fellow jurist is that she is a judge's judge. thomas
11:29 am
ivanasky, who served on the middle district for the district of pennsylvania and united states appeals court for the third circuit said as follows, judge mehalchick has exceptional work ethic, sense of fairness and compassion to be an outstanding member of the federal judiciary, unquote. her nomination has garnered support even beyond the legal community throughout pennsylvania. the president of the greatercom bob durkin, wrote about the, quote, first-rate judiciary of the middle district, unquote ank has, quote, been a critical player in this institution, unquote. and tha confirmation, quote, will further strengthen and bring honor to that bench, unquote. judge mehalchick has dedicated her career to the people, the people of the middle district, from her legal practice and
11:30 am
judicial service to her community work with organizations ballet theater of scranton. throughout her legal career and particularly during the past decade sitting as a united states magistrate judge, she has undoubtedly demonstrated that she has the temperament and experience to faithfully serve the people of thestrict. i'm pleased that the senate is moving forward with her confirmation vote today. i urge my colleagues to vote ye mr. president, i would yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate will following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, kcalifornia, to be u states district judge for the eastern district of california.
11:31 am
the presiding officer: the question occurs on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call■n vote: the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. butler. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins.
11:32 am
11:33 am
mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. the clerk: ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall.
11:34 am
11:35 am
the clerk: 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. the clerk: mr. tester mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. vance. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. ■ñdn ■%■c9!■-o%■ ■■h ■j ■1
11:41 am
11:54 am
12:29 pm
the presiding officer: the yeas are 54. the nays are 45. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 311, karoline mehalchick of pennsylvania to be united states district judge for the middle district of pennsylvania signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, theas been w. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of karoline mehalchick oftes district judger the middle district of pennsylvania shall be brought to
12:30 pm
a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.ll. 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. 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. the clerk: mr. fetterman, mrs. fischer.
12:31 pm
12:32 pm
mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. moran. 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. mr. sanders. mr. schatz.
12:33 pm
12:34 pm
12:35 pm
12:40 pm
12:45 pm
1:29 pm
the presiding officer: the yeas are 50, the nays are 49. the motion is agreed to. under the previous order, the senate stands in recess until 2:15 p.m. today. recess: >> the senate has gaveled out and is in recess now for their weekly party meetings. lawmakers will be back at 2:15 eastern this afternoon to resume consideration of judicial and epa nominees. and later this
92 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
CSPAN2 Television Archive Television Archive News Search ServiceUploaded by TV Archive on