pc

mr. ossoff, aye. mr. rubio, no.

the clerk: mr. kennedy, no. the clerk: mr. graham, no.

the clerk: mr. the clerk: ms. klobuchar, aye.

mr. kelly, aye. the clerk: mr. cramer, no.

conspiracies. vote: the clerk: mrs. fischer, no. the clerk: mr. wicker, no. mr. brown, aye. mr. cornyn, no. mr. daines, no. mr. booker, e. mr. risch, no. mr. cotton, no.

mr. marshall, no. mr. cruz, no. mr. ricketts, no.

the clerk: mr. romney, no.

the clerk: mrs. britt, no. m hoeven, no. mr. cassidy, no.

the clerk: mr. markey, aye.

the clerk: ms. warren, aye. the clerk: m hawley, no. mr. carper, aye. the clerk: ms. lummis, no.

the clerk: ms.rosen, aye.

the clerk: ms. collins, no. the clerk: mr. moran, no.

the clerk: mrs. ibrand, aye.un

the clerk: ms. smith, aye.

the clerk: ms. hirono, aye.

the clerk: mr. crapo, no.

e clerk: mr. young, no.

the clerk: ms. stabenow, aye.

the clerk: mr. bennet aye. the clerk: mr. warner boozman, no.

mr. vance, no.%;

the clerk: mr. heinrich aye.

the clerk: ms. duckworth, aye. ms. ernst, no. the clerk: mr. fetterman, aye.zñk'f

the clerk: mr. menendez, aye.

the clerk: mr. braun, no.

the clerk: mr. lankford, no.

the erk: mr. murphy aye. the clerk: mr. schumer, aye.

vote: vote:

the clerk: mr. sullivan, no.ó the clerk: mr. no.

the clerk: ms. sinema, aye. the presiding officer: the yeas are 50 the nays are 48. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to r upon the table, and the president will be immediately noteified of the senate's action. under the previous order, the senate will resume legislative

session for the consideration of s.j. res. 62, which the clerk will report. the calendar number 340, s.j. res. 62, providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 o5, united states code, of the rules submitted by the animal and plant health inspection service relating to importation of fresh beef from paraguay. the presiding officer: under the previous order the motion to proceed is agreed to. the clerk will read the title of the joint resolution for the third time. the clerk: calendar number 340 s.j. res. 62, providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5 -- and so forth. the presiding officer: the question occurs on passage of the joint resolution. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll.

vote: mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. the clerk: mr. braun. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. butler. ms. cantwell. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey.

mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan.

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

the clerk: mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy.

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. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. fda. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. vance.

mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. senators voting in the affirmative -- boozman,braun, britt, cortez masto, cotton cramer grassley kluchar, lankford manchin, murkowski, rubio, schatz smith, tuberville and young. butler heinrich kaine, mendendez, murphy, stabenow and warner. mr. booker, no. . collins, aye.

the clerk: mr. scott of florida, aye. mr. vance, aye. tillis, aye.

the clerk: mr. romney, aye. ms. hassan, aye. rounds, aye. mr. reed, aye. mr. wicker, aye.

the clerk: ms. ernst, aye. mr. crapo, aye. the clerk: mr. cassidy, no.

e clerk: mr. casey, no. mr. merkley, aye.

mr. hoeven, aye. mrs. gillibrand, aye. the clerk: mr. welch, no. ms. hirono, aye.

the clerk: mrs. hyde-smith, aye.

the clerk: mr.risch, aye.

the clerk: mr. marshall, aye. u" the clerk: mr. durbin, no.(ú

the clerk: mr.

the clerk: ms. aye

.

the clerk: mr. peters, aye. vl the clerk: mr. thune, aye. mr. brown, aye. ut

the clerk: mrs. blackburn, aye.

the clerk: ms. cantwell, aye. ms. rosen, aye.

the clerk: mr. barrasso, aye.

the clerk: mr. budd, aye. mr. cardin, aye. mr. cornyn, aye. mr. cardin, no. mr. lujanno. mr. markey, no.

the clerk: mr. moran, no. ms. duckworth, no.

the clerk: mr. moran, aye. mr. scott of south carolina, aye. ms. sinema, aye. mr. e. "

the clerk: mr. king, aye.

mr. sullivan, no. the clerk: mr. van hollen, no.

the clerk: mmurray, aye.

the clerk: mr. sanders, aye.

the clerk: mr. ricketts, aye.

the clerk: ms. lummis, aye. mr. coons, aye. gabennett.

the clerk: mr. whitehouse, aye. mr. paul, no. the clerk: mr. johnson, aye. mrs. fischer, aye. mr. coons, no. kelly, no.

the clerk: mr.npkennedy, aye. mr. wyden, aye. mr. blumenthal, aye.

ú[ mr. padilla, aye. mr. carper, no.t

, aye. mr. shaheen, no. -- mrs. shaheen, no. mr. hickenlooper, aye.

the clerk: mr. bennet, no. mr. daines, aye.

the clerk: mr. warnock no. the clerk: mr.

the clerk: ms. mr. mcconnell, aye.♪

the clerk: mr. ossoff, aye. mr. schumer, aye. mr. hkenlooper, aye.

the clerk: mr. fetterman, aye.

the presiding officer: the yeas are 70. the nays are 25. the joint resolution is passed. under the previous order, the senate will resume executive session to consider the following nomination, which the clerk will read -- will report. the clerk: nomination judiciary. leon schydlower of texas to be united states district judge for the western district of texas. ms. butler: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from california. ms. butler: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that floor privileges be granted for the balance of the day for my interns, mr. daniel s some of the ria, site and phoebe

perkins. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. butler: thank you, mr. president. ms. butler: mr. president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin. the presiding officer: the senator from california. ms. butler: mr. president, today

i rise -- i'm sorry. i askrum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. president. mr. president, today i rise honoring women's history month to once again bring attention to the destructive practice of book banning taking place all across our nation. at this time i am alsooing to be joined by my esteemed colleague, senator tina smith from minnesota. our nation's serves as a mirror, a window and a door to endless possibilities fuelling our imagination fostering empathy and challenging us to think critically about our beliefs and values. to many young americans, opening a bookingwith characters who resemble them and their lived

experiences is the very essence of's commitment to freedom of thought. these stories highlight the voices of everyday americans who unheard. let me put the horrors of these book bans in context. pin america provides a comprehensive of the increase in book bans across u.s. schools during the year. it reveals a significant rise in instances of censorship with over 2,500 cases affecting 1,650 unique titles. most of these bans are driven by organized groups targeting groups that explore lgbtq- themes. the american library association documented 1,269 demands to censor library boo and

resources, marking the highest number of attempted book bans in over 20 years, and nearly doubling the count from 2021. a significant 38% increase was observed in the number of unique titles targeted and the majority concerning topics. the worst part is that these challenges are increasinglyr than individuals with a shift towards targeting multiple titles at once. it's the new veneer by which historical revisionists to erode the history of our people. i am all but obligated to ensure all forms of expression remain unrestrained just as rivers carve the landscapes of america, capacity to shape the minds and lives of america's

youth. these stories flow through their consciousness, eroding old biases watering seeds of new ideas and guiding them along thepaself-discovery. in navigating these waters young people learn to understand and embrace their identities larger narrative and appreciate the diversity of human experience. literature in its boundless forms acts as a river, constantly moving shaping, and transforming the self hood of ou youth, guiding them towards the vast ocean of their potential. growing up in rural mississippi and as the descendant ofey echoes the narratives of resilience and perseverance that are deeply rooted in the american history, and so i found solace reading the words of the great maya angelou, one of o nation's quintessential civil rights leaders and one of its most

prolific writers. with her profound societal contributions, angela left an indelible mark across e caged birdsings" offers deep insight into the human condition. yet proponents of book banning do not believe her story have a place in the national narrative. "-i know why a caged bird sings" it is set against the backdrop of the rural south, providing a poignant explanation of her own experience growing up as a black girl during the great depression of the 1930's and 1940's. her words encapsulate,if the, of american beauty and it it's not just a triumph, but also the struggles

that shape us guiding our path to becoming who we are meant to be. i know why a caged bird sings is a testimony for transformation and tumph over making it an essential piece of literature. every child in this nation should have the opportunity to read it if they are truly to un of the united states. in her writing, maya angelou offers, quot without willing it i have gone from being ignorant of being ignorant to being aware of being aware. my awareness was that i didn't know what i was aware of. i knew very little but i was certain that things had, that wouldn't be taught to me at george washington high school. i began to cut classes, to walk golden gate park or wander along the shiny counter of the

emporium department store. when mother dising true want she told me if i didn't want to go to school one day, if there were no tests being held and my school work standard all i had to do was tell her and i could stay home. she said she didn't want some white woman calling her up telling about her child she didn't know and she didn't want to be put in a position of lying her. that put an end toy m to be left alone on the tightrope of youthful unknowing is to experience the excruciating beauty of full freedom and threat of external indecision. few if any survive their teens. most surrender to the vague but mu adult conformity. it becomes easier to die and avoid conflicts than to maintain a constant battle with the superior forces of maturity.

until recently each generation found it more expedient to plead guilty to the charge of being young and ignorant easier to take the punishment meted out by the older generation which had itself confessed tthe same crime short years before. to command, the command to grow up at once was more bearable than the horror of unwavering purpose, which was youth. the bright hours when the young rebelled against the descending sun had yet to give way to 24-hour periods called days that were named as well as numbered. the black female is assaulted in her tender years by all those common forces of nature at the same time that san caught in the tri tripartite crossfire of

masculine prejudice. white ideological fact that the black american female eamericans with formidable character soven met with distaste belligerence seldom accepted as an american outcome of the struggle. won b not -- if not enthusiastic acceptance end quote. to those accepting of the banning of books, you to pause and reflect on a moment when a book truly spoke to you. let that memory guide you t power of literature not just as a mirror of society, but a builder of empathy and understanding acrossexperiences. consider the richness these narratives bring to our collective understanding and the impo of keeping that diversity accessible for all. literature like rivers carving

landscapes shapes the mind and lives of our youth, guiding them towards self-discovery and empowering them to embrace their identities. maya angelou's work exemplifies resilience and sof marginalized communities of black women offering profound insights into the human experience. i urge my colleagues to reflect oner of literature and to join me on the senate floor to read an excerpt from a banned book that changed been banned from the lives of others. thank you, mr. president. may we continue to strive for a is heard and every story is valued. may america read freely. now i want to my colleague, senator smith from minnesota. ms. smith: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota.

ms. smith: thank y butler. mr. president, i rise today to speak out about the absurd book bannings that are happening in schools across our i want to thank senator butler for inviting me to speak today about this issue. you know i was reflecting senator butler listening to you speak in the beginning about what reading meant to me when i was a young person and i was first understanding what it felt like to be book that i loved, that feeling of learning being able to imagine myself living different lives, being able to think about what different experiences would be like and understanding that my life was not everybody's life that there isiversity of life in this world. and being exposed to that through reading was so exciting to me. and also as i was seeing how i was not like everybody else i was also able to see myself in the people that i read about, both my own struggles as well as triumphs in the stories that i read.

and that is the gift of reading. and so to think about the rying to block that gift from people because of one's own views about what is okay and what is not okay what is at issue here. i appreciate very much having the opportunity to read into the re incredible authors whose works have been unfairly banned and i think it's interesting, colleagues just last week the american library association released new data documenting how prevalent this is. they are documenting book challenges that are happening throughout the united surge in these challenges. 65% increase in challenges to books just in 2023 the highest level that the ala has ever recorded. and among the books that were banned last is a book called "and tango makes three, a book by justice richardsonnd

peter parnell. it's a demonstration of the absurdity of banning books, this book in particular. it's based on the real story of two penguins in the central park zoo who create a family and raise a chick together. both of these penguins were male. and so a florida school district banned the book because of their state's don't say gay law. and now i'm going to read a bit of the text because i think it showshere we go. children and their parents aren't the only families at the zoo. the animals make families of their own. there are red bear families with mothers and fathers and furry cubs. there are monkey d monkey moms raising noisy monkey babies. there are toad families and cotton tomorrow tamarind families too. there are penguin families. every year at the very same time the girl pen republicans sta the girl penguins start noising the boys.

when the right girl and right boy find each other they become a couple. two penguins in the penguin house were different. there was one named roy and the other named silo they did everything together. they bowed to each other, they walked together they sang to each other. they swam together. they didn't spend mh time with the girl penguins. instead they put their necks around each other. the zoo keeper noticed these tnguins and thought to himself they must be in love. mr. president, i have four grandchildren, and i think that reading a story like this to this story to them is exactly what should be happening as children people of all ages really think about what it means to love one another, what it means to be a family and how we can come together in that idea rather than being

driven apart. and i hope and will do everything i can to make sure that my four grandchildren live in a future where books that affirm families canome in a forms, in all different shapes and sizes that aren't considered worth banning. thank you very much senator butler for organizing this discussion. and with t, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from mr. young: mr. president, i ask consent to use a prop during my remarks. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. young: mr. president, you might be surprised by the guest book of a museum in a small town in indiana. inside it are names ofs from all 50 states and from much further away other countries, other continents places like italy, france japan, new zealand. they've made their way to myland indiana, and they've done so because here is where the heart of hoosier his staira lives. -- his stair -- hisstera lives. it is the greateststory that has ever taken place. march 20, 1954, the field house on the campus butler university in indianapolis the finals of the indiana high

school basketball tournament. the indians of milan high versus the bear cats in roman 1660. 15,000 fans are in bleachers with thousands more hoosiers listening over the radio. it's the fourth quarter, the game is tied at 30-30, 18 seconds on the clock. milan inbounds senior bobby plump gets the ball fakes left dribbles right, a a 14-foot jump shot just as the clock expires. the nets come down the celebration starts and the next morning the new state champions headed home. they're in fleet of cadillacs along indiana's county roads.

there was no interstate or hi=jway connecting indianapolis to cincinnati. the closest city to milan. hoosiers were waiting along the way in and shelbyville, holding signs, waving. state road home was lined with cars and cheering fans for 13 miles. 40,000 peopl milan, indiana, even though at the time the town had only 1100 residents. this is hoosier his stairthis is what the people of indiana are so excited every march, and that year in 1954, as the players from milan rolled into wn two members of the team

ray kraft and kenny wmedelman the procession is at milan high. the next morning, the crowd was gone. the small townas -- its quiet had gradually returned and in the days that followed members of the team graduated, they went off to college, pursued careers, they drifted apart. coach marvin wood took a job up in newcastle, passage of time brought other changes, not all of them course. little milan, light so many towns across the country, it faced some single basketball tournament system that gave small basketball teams like milan a shot is no more some of the schools that played in the 1954 tournament are gone.

milan, it hasn't won anotherchampionship though. it must be said they made it to the semi-state back in 1973. despite this or possibly because of it the milan miracle is as inspiring as ever. yes, the little guy, the underdog david versus goliath, goliath. muncie cent was 6 foot 4, 11. this is so much bigger than basketball or even indiana. milan's players always note that their championship run in 1954 wasn't a lightning strike or even a stroke of no the indians made it to the

final four the previous year most of the players had known and practiced with each other since grade school. they played tough, they were coached well. perhaps most important they had faith in their teammates faith in each other and faith in that community that they represented, merit and hard work would be rewarded faith that just maybe their dreams would be satisfied. bobby plum's last shot still talked about around the country really but certainly back home in indiana, that's the moment we remember. but it was the culmination of a owork dedication and teamwork. and it happened because of the support of neighbors. milan was a place where when a

student needed a winter coat locals they took up a collection at the drug store, they bought that coat. it's a place where the kids who didn't have a lot of money could eat for free at rosie's. the one from nearby pierceville who often had to walk to school they could count on rides from friends. and in a differentd seemed so much smaller, the local basketball team was at least for the month of march the worl d.e every one of these teams, the celebration of your togetherness your community, your opportunity to show your stuff. even a water shortage in the spring of 1954 milan's xiement for the --

excitement for theians. they said water or no wa milans to bring home the crown. apart from what happened on the hardwood at fieldhouse the memory of milan remains because it what keeps all of our communities together what lifts our hopes and fuels our dreams even when it feels like hopes and dreams are all we have. that trophy that i mentioned, that trophy and the newly re refurbished lobby in milan high's gymnasium today is a symbol of more than just a state championship. oh it's so muchmore. you see, it's proof how much we all can achieve when we work together towards a common goal and resolve to hold own, no matter the odds. no matter how insignificant others might say we are or thinkwe

it's an inspiration still across small towns and struggling places waiting on their own mira brings people together and makes them feel proud of the places they call home. this -- this is why we still celebrate little milan beating mighty years on it's why i believe we will for the next 70 years too. for those who haven't already figured it out, this is the story that inspired hoosiers a beloved movie written and di pair of hoosiers. you see visitors they -- they regularly come to indiana in search of theonal hickory, hoping to find the small town epicenter of hoosier, but what they're searching for is right there in ripley county. it's an actual town with a real

history. tradition to be proud of and dare i say replicated. they'll recognize it by the basketball goals in driveways, the back boards on barns, the black water tower with white lettering prominently reading, state champs 1954. it's still there. i've seen it many times. the historical marker commemorating the mile miracle and thatight there in the center of town. as the newspaper declared back in 1954, in basketball little milan is the new capital of indiana. i think that's about right. well 70 years later, it's still the capital and the indians will always be champions. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from nthar mr. tillis: thank you, mr. president. i want to compliment my colleague from indiana on those wonderful remarks reflection on history. i will talk about the presentday with north carolina. i'm here on a serious subject. i come before you and at the end ask for unanimous consent, i want to talk about a bill that my office sponsored. actually it is something is ago. it is senate bill 3237, the patriot bill of rights. my office was much involved in the pact act drafting and by that i mean we were responsible for leading the language that led to the camp lejeune toxic act and there w

also a team act in that but i'm here to talk about camp lejeune, when that bill went to the floor, i voted against which was a very difficult decision for me to make. it was -- i was one of onlyin it wasn't because i was opposed to the bill it was because i was opposed to whether or not it was ready to come out of the oven. there were things we needed to work on. that's true. there were a lot of things that had to beproved. i know we did on the camp lejeune toxics act. there is probably not a person in the united states who has ever watched a tv o to radio that has not seen the advertisements right now that if you worked or lived in and arnd than 30 days, call this hotline. that hot line in many cases, is not even a lawyer. it is somebody advertising

trying to convince a veteran to call this they can help you get the benefits you deserve. well the fact of the matter is the senate voted to make sure they deserved. if they were exposed to toxic substance down in camp lejeune, it's down in my state down in the eastern part of the state. what they don't tell you is that there are a variety ofyou were a veteran and served in and around camp lejeune, there are a variety of ways that you without ever talking to a lawyer. and now we have ads where we have -- we have literally a cottagendustry of people harvesting poe yengsal -- charging them fees double fees all of the money that entitled to going to the

veteran. so i was a bit frustrated with the way the ads were going in this cottage industry and the millions of dollars not going to the veteran. but it was a hearing about a year ago about veteran suicide that made me think that maybe we have a wonderful opportunity to fix something. this morning the number of days that i've been here. i was sworn in on january 6, 2015. and i learned a startling number today. the number is 37 -- i'm sorry -- 67,240. that is the number of veterans who have taken their suicide since the day i was sworn in here. that was in 2015. 67,240. to give you a concept of what that is that would fill bank of america stadium where the

panthers play. that would actually -- we would have 7,000 people waiting in line to get into soldier field. that's how many veterans have committed suicide sce ioffice. about an average of 20 a day. why does that matter? because we're constantly trying to find ways to connect veterans towr the v.a. and there's another sad statistic about those 67 240 veterans who have taken their over the last -- little more than nine years. two-thirds of them are not connected to the v.a. that means that they've never sort of service through the v.a. two-thirds of that 67,240 people have taken their lives are not.a. so i came up with an idea. i said why don't we actually kill two birds with one stone. ó%mt's notap fees or whatever on attorneys fees. some of these cases are complex. they're very expensive. so we will cap fees but least make

sure that before a veteran sign as retainer agreement with an attorney that they understand what their rights processes thousands of veterans' cases every year. we love processing veterans cases. so i thought maybe we just h bill of rights so that before that lawyer can actually get you to sign a retainer agreement, you've got to know what your rights are. did you n you could call your senator, your state congressman, that you have a variety of options to see if your case is one where you don't even need an attorney. you can call the v.a. you can call the department of e navy. let's give them all these contacts and say before you sign this retainer agreement, make you need to call them. now, part of it was to make sure that the simple cases people are not paying money for. a lot of people that are calling these attorneys think that's the only way they can get this benefit. so the idea was simple document that incidentally is -- that is endorsed by the vfw. a simple document that let's

them know what their rights are. and maybe, just maybe these thousands of people that are callingll the v.a. and get connected. and if they're connected, maybe they're one that's otherwise going to be in crisis and c so it kills -- it achieves two objectives at the same time. it hopefully prevents them the veteran, from paying money that they don't need to to get a benefit that we all believe that they deserve. and as importantly, it potentially connects somebody who's at risk of committing suicide to the crisis line to possibly give them a lifesaving intervention. i can't imagine what's wrong with it. guess what. it can't be cost because it doesn't cost us anything. cbo says it's negligible. it holds the legal profession accountable i they're charging exorbitant fees for sieve pal

cases -- simple cases. and it maybe provides a for this servicemember to the v.a. that's my motivation for coming down to the floor. people watching this may not know. we call unanimous consent means that anynd say -- and i will in a moment -- request consent to move this out of this chamber and then hopefully have the house pick i'm doing this today, and i probably will start doing it every week for the remainder of time between now and august when this is still going on because every week another 140 servicemembers are going to die and i have to believe if some of them were connected to the v.a. they may not. but i promise the vfw and i promised veterans group when we had a hearing a couple of weeks was going to bring this to the floor. we have addressed the concerns in the bill and i believe if we get it to the house, we can get it passed into law. and some background on why, mr. president, i make the following request. as if in legislative session, i

ask unanimous consent that the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of senate 3237 and that the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. further, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: are there any objections? mr. durbin: mr. president, reserving the right to object. majority whip. mr. durbin: mr. president, let me say at the outset that senator tillis though we may disagree on this particular e, is a respected colleague, a friend and a member of the committee which i chair and a valuable member of that committee. i thank him for hisship though we may disagree today. i hope we find room to agree tomorrow. mr. president, bipartisan bill the camp lejeune justice act, was signed into law in august of 2022 almost two years ago. it was part of what was known as the pact act. this was an important bill to

provide a day in court f marines and others who were poisoned by contaminated water at camp lejeune, north carolina. for over three decades, from 1953 to 1987 marines, their families and others working living at camp lejeune were exposed to toxic mix of industrial solvents and other chemicals in their drinking water. as a many as one million people are at increased risk of cancer parkinson's, and other debilitating these individuals suffered the same harm in another place, they would have been able to go to court and seek compensation for their injuries. but unfortunately, hurdles in the law lock servicemembers and their families out of the judicial system. for decadesheuffered without any ability to have their day in court despite their injuries. that changed with the camp lejeune justice act whi by senator tillis. i thank you for that as well as

senator blum senator burr and senator peters. it final the opportunity after literally decades of waiting to seek justice by filing a lawsuit in federal court if administrative claims process did not reach a satisfactory resolution. now there have been some problems with the implementation of this bill. ll be the first to admit thafrment we need to work -- admit that. we need to work and i'm happy to work with senator tillis on a bipartisan basis to address these problems just as we did with the camp lejeune justice act. the bill was proposed by the senator from north carolina the one he proposes aims

veterans fronizations, the secretary of veterans affairs, congressional representatives and department of navy but this acknowledgment won't be accurate in for example, not all the camp lejeune claimants are veterans. many are civilians that worked at the camp. for these inaccurate to say, as this bill does that they get free guidance from veterans services organizations or the veterans administration. second the bill would require attorneys to submit a written -- a second written acknowledgment with the secretary of the client understands that legal representation by an attorney is not required to file an action pursuing a camp lejeune technically correct depending on the facts and circumstances of the case. legal representation may be needed to have any chance at successfully pursuing a claim. just look at the experience to date. remember this bill was passed two yearsalmost. to date almost no camp lejeune claims have been paid by the

navy. as of the end of february camp lejeune claims have been filed in the eastern district of north carolina and 170,50 administrative claims are on file with the navy. of all those claims those thousands of claims only 48 cases have been determined to meet the government's criteria for settlement based on submitted documentation. even there the process for as sub-stanation documents has been extremely difficult for families to understand. and for cases that will ultimately be ligated, the process can be lengthy, complicated, and expensive. toxic exposure cases are not easy to or prove, particularly when they relate to conduct that happened decades ago. victims will need to go through discovery. for m the first time they've heard the word in that context. and they may need to retain expert witnesses to demonstrate causation. while all of this can

technically be done without an attorney it is practically impossible to do so and have your claim succeed. so steering victims away from legal representation may eliminate any chance of recovery. finally, this bill contains a provision stating that a law firm that receives quote, veteran data close quote, from an advertising agency must reduce their legal fee in incurred to receive that data. it is unclear to me in reading this bill what the term veteran data even means. additionally this requirement would discourage attorneys from reaching out to potential plaintiffs who may have worat in the past and may not even know they are eligible for compensation. after fighting so hard to make sure those poisoned by the water at camp lejeune can finally have their day in court, we should not now close the courtroom door all over again. let me be clear. are unscrupulous lawyers are nonlawyers who are deceiving veterans or running

scam solicitations, i want to join in a bipartisan effort to cr them. there is a bill the guard v.a. benefits act, which has 42 bipartisan cosponsors that is properly scoped t just that. currently prohibits individuals or businesses from assisting a veteran in preparation -- presentation or prosecution of a v.a. claim unless they are accredited by the veterans administration. they are also prohibited from charging feessistance before the v.a. makes a decision on the claim. however, the v.a. and other agencies are limited in their ability to enforce penalties were eliminated from the statute about 20 years ago. the guard v.a. benefits act would reinstate those criminal penalties. this bill is a top priority for veterans organizations that have been working for years to combat predatory practices ofho charge unauthorized fees while purporting to help veterans with their disability claims. these are the types of reforms that will camp lejeune and elsewhere as they seek compensation

benefits. i would be happy to work with the senator from north carolina to make sure that veterans are protected from unscrupulous actors while ensuring that we don't inhibit quality advocates from helping veterans finally get their day in cot. i support the bill in its current form and i object. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. mr. tillis: mr. president just briefly and again i appreate senator durbin as chairman of the judiciary committee. we've had many opportunities to work together. first off, i like to point out -- and i will because i do intend to do unanimous consent for this. there's a burning platform issue here between now and on and on. veterans are making a phone call. i'm looking at ways to get to these veterans. and i'm told that this will make ons.ate from some of the substance that

chairman durbin talkedabout. we processed about 12,000 cases since i've been here since 2015. we've referred a number of veterans service rganizations are approved by the v.a. and do have attorneys. they can triage cases. one thing-thedo very well -- thing they do very well sayan help you with this one. this is uneasy. you need to seek legal representation. we do that as standard procedure in my ofm a he not saying many of these cases may need them but i know a lot of them don't. i suspect many of them don't. every dime that you pay an going to the venl. and so -- to the veteran. so what i'm trying to do here is make sure they understand they have these resources available. it's surprised people are i have 25 people in the state dedicated to case work full time people dedicated to veterans work. great relationship -- all those are free highly skilled options for veterans that these ads on tv are not makin we've got to test.

-- we've got to do right by veterans. we plenty of time to talk about this every week that we're in session between now and august. thank you, mr. president. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new mexico. mr. heinri i would ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. heinrich: mr. president, to recognize dr. joseph sweeno for his service to nation. he is a university of new mexico professor emeritus and a vietnam and marine corps veteran.f dr. swena's service is long overdue. but before i speak about his military service, i want to take what dr. sweena's decade of leadership have meant for coach depueblo and for new mexico as a whole. over the course of his life dr.

sweena has served as governor for his pueblo and tribal council member. helsod as the president and ceo of the coachidy development association and revival committee. but before all of that he grew up within the adobe walls of his grandmother's home. he has recounted the nights she would sing to him in their native language and tellim stories of their childhood well before electricity and cars made their way to the pueblo. as a young boy, speaking his native language at school and experienced the stark contrast between the teachings of his andmother and those of his non-native teachers. through it all, dr. sweena found strength in his leading him to become a champion for becoming indigenous language and culture at the center of

native american educatisweena worked for decade as a professor in the university of new mexico's college of education and he directed for american indian education, serving tribes across the southwest. his scholarship focused on how maintaining connection to tradition, culture, and language improves educational outcomes for native studen developed new methods for assessing student learning and training programs for educators who teach native students. and over the years, dr.sweena has mentored countless teachers whose work continues to make a difference for new mexico's children and child throughout the entire southwest. you can see the results of his work in so many communities, but especially in his home community and at the caras children's learning center. the center is anrevitalization school that has become one of the very

best earlier childhood and primary education centers in thetire country. it is a living testimony to dr. onaryeducation. the legacy of dr. saena's life of service to new mexico and to our nation will be felt for generations to come. and today i would also like to recognize dr. saena's service to our nation as a in the early 1960's just three days out of high school dr. saena enlisted in the united states marine corps. serve two tours of duty in vietnam in 1964 and in a second tour and earned a purple heart on march 22 1966. was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant. tomorrow dr. saena's friends and family membersring together at the new mexico veterans memorial in albuquerque

to recognize his service to the nation and i am honoredo role in retrieving the medals that dr. saena earned as a marine and that he will receive at that gathering. you see, back in the 1970's dr. saena's house was broken into and his service medals were mentioned earlier, dr. saena earned the purple heart medal which was one of the nation's oldest and mosse heart is awarded to u.s. servicemembers who have been wounded or killed as a result of enemy action. dr. following awards -- the combat action ribbon the marine corps good combat medal, defense service medal, the armed forces expeditionary medal, vietnam service medal, rif badge, pistol expert badge, and he also earned a gallantry cross medal from the republic of to help

retrieve these medals that recognized dr. saena's incredible sacrifices. before i finish i also want to commend dr. saena for the ways that he has raised the visibilityhysical and often invisible wounds that impact veterans with ptsd. in recent years dr. en about how he saw these wounds in himself, in his fellow vietnam veterans and in the veterans offather's generation who served in world war ii. many of these veterans have come home with trauma that wen unrecognized and i am so appreciative that dr. saena is working to bring recognition and healing to himself and to his and on behalf of so many new mexicans and so many americans, i want to express just how profoundly grateful we are fordr. saena's lifetime of courage and of service.you, mr. president.

a senator: mr. president. the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse:president, i'm here for what is number 30 in my series of schemyz#3 speec scheme to capture the supreme court, and i thought this would be a good time to give sort of a quick where we've been since most of my speeches have been rifle shot speeches atidual issues that the court has caused us to have to face up to. so the problem here is that we have a supreme court that has been captured by right-wing special interests. we see this in decision after

decision after decision and it is affecting the lives of ordinary americans all over. when i say that this a that has been captured by right-wing special interests, what do i mean? well considerable research out there and considerable literature out there about a phenomenon that is sometimes called agency capture and is sometimes called regulatory capture. it's the same thing. it's the capture of regulatory agencies. and you can look it up in your library. you can look you can get a sense of the extent to which this is recognized in the economic literature recognized in the administrative law literature. and it is a frequent avenue unfortunately, of corruption into government decision making.

and if you want an example to think about, you could imagine is to set rates for the railroad back in the era of the barons. and the railroad barons have chosen who's on the railroad commission so the railroad commission isn't serving the public. it's doing exactly what the railroad barons that in a nutshell is what agency or regulatory capture is all about. and one of the things that we've discovered in the course of this is that the effort to capture the court has been a very expensive effort. this is no small or casual thing. true north research has d a lot of this research and so far they're up to$580 million that had been spent on this court capture operation. not always easy to figure out because the money flows from one

indirect sources and into entities that obscure who the original donor is. it's complicated. but $580 million is a lot of money, and even very very veryg billionaires aren't going to spend that much money on a whim. they're going to spend that kind of money because they're going to get a return on$580 million investment. so that is the fundamental problem we are facing. our court capturedy special interests in the same way in the old days agencies and commissions were captured. but that technique jumped the rails and applied to our supreme court and with a very very robust scheme behind with at least $580 million spent to accomplish these goals. so there you go. you got your captured court. you've spent your $580 million. but can you really expect the judges that you help put on the

co it is they're supposed to do in every case? no. that's pretty hard even for judges. so the next thing you have to do is figure out how you get the court to do what it's told.d pass on the message of what it is that you want. you've captured a court. it what the outcome is that you want? so this is a court that is doing what it's told and the manner in which it's told is actually fairly plain view in some respects. because what happens is that the dark money billionaires fund groupsiefs. and it's not just one brief. they file briefs in little flow

till has. usually the number is 10 or 12. in a case important to them we've seen the number get as high as 50 but that's pretty rare. amici curiae latin for friends of the court, allowed to file brufs to the court even though they're not a party to the in and let's say that there are a dozen of them. they're coordinated. they send the same common message, and justices who have been put on the court through this court capture scheme are kept up to date on preci it is that their big donors want. when i say fake amic who don't very well disclose who's behind them. it doesn't say we're here from koch industries we're here from it's groups that have mysterious soundingnames. i'll give you one example right

here. this is a group of organizations managed by a guy named leonard leo, who was basically the fixer, the billionaires who spent the $580 million to capture the court. you need a guy w and does the stuff, and leonard leo is the guy. and he has his own little group up here of companies that report to him and pay to him. this is how he gets money out of the scheme. but down here he has this array of front groups that he and his allies cont 85 fund and concord fund actually exist. they are corporate entities under virginia corporate law. entities judicial education project, honest elections project, free to learn, free to learn action

honest elections and the judicial crisis network actually don't exist. what they are under virginia law is fictitious names. that's the legal term for what they are. fictitious names for these entities. so in one of the in which these phony front group amici appeared to tell the captured justices what it was that wanted honest elections project filed a brief. it did not identifel being a mere fictitious name. it did not identify itself as being a mere fictitious of this 85 fund group. it did notnetwork, is a corporate twin to the 85 group. concord group is 501(c)(4) group. it has an operation to have a

twin 501-c-3. they share donors board members, very hard to find a corporate veil between the two that is actually real. and what they also did not disclose is that the honest elections project as a fictitious name 85 fund tied it to the concord fund which operates under the crisis network. it ishr this fictitious name that the billionaires spent huge amounts of money on tv advertising to stop the judge merrick garland to the supreme court and to push for the confirmation of gorsuch, kavanaugh, and then barrett, with individual checks to support the campaign as big as $15 million. they are sear -- they have had a serious effect on the but it's hidden.

judicial crisis network ran ads for justices who were reading elections projects briefs without explaining the connection between the two. so the whole thing is very slippery and that's why i the word fake about it. here's another thing about it. this is a -- this is an append ex that i wrote with the consumer financial protection it shows individual entities in a filed briefs amici curiae -- amicus briefs in that case and it showed funders, and if you look at it it's basically one big through which billionaires send money from these entities through these enteries. donors trust than to hide donors it's an identity laundering machine so the court doesn't know and the public effect it is the same people

behind this array of front groups. it makes it look like a buncht things the new civil liberty foundation and pacific legal foundation, they must be much they are front groups who run money through the outfits to prop up these justice fi. got your captured court and you've got your front groups to tep the -- to tell the captured court what it's to do and what you end up with is these fake amici propose a whole bunch of factual findings for the court and you end up with you look at some of the worst decisions that this supreme court rendered citizens united and shelby county both om stood on fake factfinding. they aserd things to be true that were -- asserd t to

be true that were not true and they were essential to the logic of the decision the court couldn't have gotten to the to without the pilons if you will of fake fact. and they opened up a whole new arena with the new so-called history and tradition analysis that they brought to bear on dobbs, on reproductive right cases and on bruen on gun rights cases,our way through tradition and history, and you go through history and pick the fake facts. and the ability to do the fake factfinding is going to get worse, not citizens united and shelby county are the worst of all and these two decisions have hammered our ac by allowing unlimited amounts of dark money into our elections, we are up to

a billion dollars in dark money, and don't tell me they are spending the money for the goodness of the country, they have specific things they want out of politics and citizens be damned and sell by county -- shelby county gutted the key decision in the voting rights act, and it shut down access to the ballot on behalf of mostly minority voters. in fact in one case targeting minority voters which the court said was surgical so what are we doing about all of that? that's a hell of a problem set. what are we doing to try to get to the bottom of it? well we're doing a couple of things. first, we're trying to kaet the public -- educate the public. this is this is it not the way courts narrowly behave and this is not the way the supreme court should behave. investigate. try to figure out what the heck is going on get to the bottom

of this mess how did this happen and what are the problems? gill gill -- my bill to clear the judiciary committee and we hope for a vote on that in this congress. i doubt it will get much support on that side but i think it's very important to have a recorded vote that shows who's on the side of the billionaires behindourt capture operation and who would like to have a little bit of clarity and transparency and have justices meet the same ethics standards that other federal judges meet. it's not a peculiar standard. so the education piece is working tolerably well, i think people get it. i think we're down to 18% of have real confidence in the integrity of the court. and i've put a lot of work out there to document what is going on and if look up my name as an author in the harvard law and policy review and find my

article there, you can the american constitution society published and harvard journal on slation article and look up my yale article and the most recent one was in the ohio state journal on the whole scheme factfinding on propping up the supreme court cases and how they violated the rules of factfinding inte factfinding. there's a lot of research out there and these are all publications that get reviewed they have been cleared by the publisher, and so it's not like i'm making it up these have been out here for years, and everyone who wants toem have had every chance and they seem to have stood up very well on their facts. what are we doing on investigation? well theittees are looking into the problem of the court. chairman wyden at the finance committee has developed evidence that the motor coach loan to justice thomas was never paid

back. in fact not a dollar of on that loan. for a period of time justice thomas paid interest to the individual who made the quarter of a -- of a million dollar loan to him but he never -- but he stopped paying interest and never paid for it. what does that mean with tis taxn law, the forgiveness of a debt is income and needs to be declared. was that done? that's what the investigatiout. the second has to do with harlan crow's yacht, also from -- famous from justice thomas's vacation, it took thomas around indonesia for ten days or so in what has been valued at a quarter of a million vacation the yacht is declared

to be a pleasure yacht and in other places it is dechaired a yacht for chart -- declared a yacht for charter. it looks like mr. crow $8 million in tax deductions off what he often says and what the boat's shell corporation often says is just a get to deduct the expense of your pleasure yacht. they say both things and we are investigating which is true and#v made and then in the judiciary committee under the leadership of senator durbin we've had the authority to obtain subpoenas. we were a subpoena the shell corporation that owns the yacht. we were able to subpoena the shell corporation that owns the privatejet. we're able to subpoena the adirondack estate made of leo leonard and harlan crow and therest

of the crew. that is all under investigation. and that is not going to stop i can assure you. as i passed the committee on july 20, 2023, and we're looking forward to having a robust discussion about sup is brought up on the senate floor for a vote in this congress and we've had an interesting set of successes, i guess i would call them at isthe judicial conference. the judicial conference is the body that runs the -- it is made up of all of the circuit court of appeals, it is a very august body and here are some of the things they looked at. they looked at what i call the scalia trick. the scalia trick was to get someone to tell a resort owner to invite scalia on a free vacation with a personal

invitation on the free vacation and then not disclose it as a gift because it was, quote, personal hospitality. well when that was pointed out to the judicial conference they blew that scheme. because it is obvious that arranging a personal invat resort owned by somebody you don't even know does not amount to the kind of personal hospitality like family tasis for allowing nondisclosure of big gifts. the question before them now is when they did that was that a clarification of the law or was that a new rule? it took scalia's lawyersut nanosecond to jump in and say, oh this is a new rule and we're going to comeply with it. why did the lawyers pop up with that? the reason they popped up with that is because they wanted to

say it was a new rule if it was a clarification which is what the judicial conference said they would have to amend all of his previous filings that were filed in violation. that would be a mess. and so justice thomas has a lot at stake in that d before the judicial conference right now. they're looking at this problem of fake amici that i described. they have agradequate and not appropriate for parties and the public not to know who is really in the courtroom, but to have masks, these front groups these fakes showing up without disclosing who is really behind them. they are still investigating what i call thomas crowe 2.0, there was a first round -- harlan crow 2.0, this was back in 2011 for yacht and jet travel and that was investigated by the judicial conference and then the matter was closed and then he did it again. so they're still investigating

the thomas gifts harlan crow second round, 2.0. i asked dhem to -- them to look at something that jus did about a matter that was not only likely to come before the court but certainly virtually headed to the court andhich they say in the confirmation hearings he was not allowed to do but he did. it was not about a free range topic, it was about an ongoing dispute. he took sides in an ongoing dispute, and we're still, he took sides dispute at the behest of a lawyer on the other side in that dispute. by the way, that lawyer represented his friend leonard leo, so there was a connection and we were to find out about free giftsvel to justice alito, so at the end of the day his improper opinion protected himself from public scrutiny have been receiving. all of that is before the judicial conference and i want to express my appreciation to

the judicial conference for their diligence in doing this. obviously this is ht not -- this is not the way they would like to spend their time but the supreme court has given them much choice by continuing to engage in all of this bad behavior and it is all related and it is all part of the scheme. with that i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president.

the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. booker: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to speak about an exceptional american adeel mangi for, the nominee appeals for the third circuit. he is eminently extraordinarily, very impressively qualified. he has degrees from oxford university and harvard law school. for over 20 years he's been a highly respect eded complex litigation attorney in one of our country's premier law firms where he's become a star a star in the of the very best trial attorneys in our country. beyond finding success after success professionally for his clients, he has spent countless hours providing pro bono causes fundamentally -- fundamental to our american ideals of freedom,

liberty, andst of adeel mangi has inspired for his nomination incredible support. it has seen support across the ideological spectrum and speaks to the character and integrity of the man. dozens of pro national organizations ranging from civil rights groups law enforcement associationste professional legal groups all of whom have endorsed his nomination including so many fromew jersey and of course the new jersey state and federal bar associations. mr. mangi has received the highest possible rating for judicial nominees from the american bar association, a bipartisan bipartisan group former state attorneys general have written in support of his nomination writing, it is our collective judgment that

mr. mangi is eminently qualified to sit on the court. mr. mangi's legal career has been exemplary of a to the rule of law and upholding constitutional principles. folks from the left folks from the right, law groups and more. he has not only earned this nomination from the president of the united rom that have been celebrated by groups all across our political spectrum. and people in charge of our public safety new jersey. despite all of this though what is outrageous to me disappointing and he's facing unimaginable attacks not on anything that he's said or ten, not on the cases he's successfully tried, but he is facing attacks on his character character, and these attacks are recalling some of the darkest chapters of our nation's

history. the attacks on him are unwarranted. they are untruthful. they have no basis in fact. and sadly, they smack bigotry. they intend to exploit people's fears. they intend to exploit people's fears of his faith. they are attacks on his character and his attempts to smear, attempts at feerar fear. i was blown away when the came to the floor today and said something i never imagined i would hear on this floor about a man of such charter. he said that mr. ngi has anti-semitic affiliation ss. now, i knowe here feel when someone calls someone else

racist or a bigot or makes accusations of hate. but the republican leader said he anti-semitic affiliations. he said mr. mangi has repeatedly chosen to mingle with supporters of terrorist ss and cop killers. that is a staggering charge. and yet it is the pattern that we have seen against mr. mangi. attacks not on his writings not on his legal work not on anything he has one quote that has come from his mouth. they are making an accusation that he mingles with supporters terrorism, people who want to threaten the lives of americans. this is a continuation of what he faced in his confirmation hearing.

i read to you the interrogation that was given to him by the junior senator from texas. when asked if would condemn an event by the center for security and race at rutgers law an event with a panelist who had been convicted once before of terrorism, an attempt to make an association a trial of his character based no association mr. mangi responded i never heard of this event prior to today. it was the advisory board which met once a year to discuss. you see, he was on the advisory board of this rutgers law that met once a year to evaluate scholarly writings to be included in an academic journal. so senator cruz read a 2021

letter from the center for security and race and rights at rutgers law school related to the israel-gaza conflict. in machine gay again explainedad never seen the letter before. he was continued to press that the letter and repeatedly interrupted, as mr. to answer again and again. senator, i said this earlier but let me repeat it because i think it's critical. he'snt asked a question that had never been asked before to any nominee ever before the judiciary do you condemn the atrocities of hamas terrorists? mr. mangi immediately, yes. that is what i wanted to address. cruz is any justification for those atrocities? again, a question never posed before. senator, i'll repeat myself ng events of october 7 were horror involving the deaths of innocent civilians. interrupting him, i'm going to u justification for those horrors?

mr. mangi, this was going to be my next sentence, senator, which i have no bakes none for -- patience none to justice identify those events. senator, i don't think anyone fe strongly than me. when the senator asked him whether he supported the 9/11 attacks, a question posed to no other american before our committee, the attacks of 2001 senator, anyone strongly about what happened on 9/11 than someone who was there, who saw with my own eyes the smoke what american is what american has to defend their condemnation for the 9/11 attacks? what american has to declare don't support terrorism? what american? adeel mangi who happens to be

muslim american. this is disgusting. thisak ss of sort of old style attacks to appeal to fear order to smear someone's character based upon who they are, based upon their faith. and an accusation by our republican lead erer that mr. mangi somehow mingles with supporters of terrorists and cop killers. well the antidefamation league the preeminent american organization that fights against anti-semitism, the preeminent organization that anti-semitism, the preeminent organization that time and time

again condemns anti-semitism sprang to mr. mangi's defense. i quote in their letter mr. mangi was subjected to aggressive questioning unrelated to his professional expertise or qualifications. rather he was forced to p wide range of inquiries regarding his views on global strategic considerations in a manner that inappropriately politicized these issues and raised serious questions regarding pretext and bias. just as associating jewish americans with certain views or beliefs regarding israeli government actions would be deemed anti-semitic berating the first american muslim federal appellate judicial nominee with endless questions that appear to have been motivated by towards his

religion is profoundly wrong. adl then called on senators to offer mr. mangi a fair vote based on his qualifications his fitness for the job his legal acumen his sense of fairness. but the adl wasn't alone in these attacks on his c as the republican leader said. mingling with supporters of terrorists and cop anti-semitic affiliations. well jewish groups jumped to his defense, the national council for jewish women, a coalition of 15 jewish organizations representing more than a million jewish americans have also voiced their hi of attack and their support for mr. mangi.

at mr. mangi's colleagues asked the unbelievable that any american would be insulted to be asked.re any justification for 9/11? was there any justification for 9/11? never before asked any other appellate nominee but a muslim american has to endure such questioning. this is unique and insidious to be directed to the first muslim ever nominated by a president. and yet, even so mr. mangi sat there in that hearing with grace and unequivocally affirmed his patriotism, unequivocally affirmed his condemnation of terrorism with dignity and grace and a calm voice. he rejected anti-semitism outright. he said there's no justification

for 9/11 no justification for the horrors of october 7, and he reaffirmed his belief in the right for israel to exist. this is all on the record. mr. mangi has faced accusations that tried tomear his character, to whip up fear against him, to turn him into something he is not. angle of unfounded attack. mr. gunk -- mr. mang is said to be -- and i quote again -- he is said to be mingling with cop killers. mingling w. the absurdity of that statement, the falsity of it is . it's extraordinary in the face of all the law enforcement groups in my s that support him. it's extraordinary in the face of all the legal leaders and the

law enforcementdee who support him. and where does this accusation even come from? what could possibly fuel accusation? it's because he served on an advisory board for a nonprofit called the alliance of families for justice. what does this organization do? it supports incarcerated individuals and their feels through services legal support and political advocacy. that's t organization. and how did he get affiliated with this organization? well as a pro bono case he chose to represent a family of an inmate in new york state prison a man who had dabbleds, mental -- disabilities mental disabilities who was murdered by correctional officers. and as is a tradition in our

legal system he provided that family not with criminal support but in a civil case. and he won that civil case. not only did he win that civil it was a wrongful death, but he won the biggest settlement for the family. knowles sent a letter to the senate about this case. it captures the truth about mr. mangi's work with the alliance for families of justice. it says, dear chairman durbin and ranking member graham. aim pastor in upstate new york. i recently learned that my attorney adeel mangi has been nominated to serve as a circuit judge for the united states court of appeals for circuit. i was so happy and proud to hear the news i wanted to send you a letter to help you know adil as i k of 23015 i received the worst possible news. my brother carl taylor who was incarcerated in upstate new

died. carl suffered from serious mental health challenges. the prison officials told me that he was code b explain to me what this meant. i couldn't get any answers. i felt so powerless and helpless. several months later, a community group introduced me to adeel and his team of lawyers. while i was hopeful -- i never give up hope -- i felt skeptical. why would these people care about what happened to mo?y they care about me? over the following years, i came to know him has a man of integrity, an extraordinary lawyer. five years investigating my brother's death and holding the powerful to account. they delivered the answers that i was seeking. as horrific as they were. while we are from very different backgrounds, we formed a close bond that i cherish it to this

day. christian pastor a muslim lawyer working together for american justice. and that affiliation with this organization focused on helping families of incarcerated people an advisory board that he sat on that never had a meeting, where t cases, that is the affiliation which has earned him to be called by one of the most powerful people ineone who mingles with supporterings of cop -- with supporters of cop killers. that is a lie. it is a lie. it is smearing the character of an american who stood up for the powerless. it's a lie. an attack on a man because of who he is.

never before has a judicial nominee before the judiciary committee been asked to renounce terror. never has a nominee before the judiciary committee been accused of such baseless attacks. this is the world's most deliberative body. but we have now brought the world's most deliberative body to the not evaluating the character or fitness of a extremely well-qualified nominee to serve in our judiciary. but what has that room become now? a place for ad hominem salacious attacks that have no basis in fact. in fact twist the truth which is this is a man who stands up for our shared values and our shared ideals who stands for the honor of our flag and country. it is character assassination. it is guilt by aseasing. -- it is g association. it is a cancer on our society.

we deserve better mr. deserves better. this is a man whose parents left their home country yearning for a better future. they worked hard to put him through the could. they came to the united states because they believed in this nation they believed in our ideals they had hope for the future that america would bring. they're proud americans. he studied at harvard law school to pursue legal career to ideals of justice that we swear to, the ideals of liberty and justice for all. he reached the height of his profession and because at the height of his profession he made a decision to serve his country, he is before us as a nominee by the president of the united states the first muslim american nominee to the federal appeals court. this should be a great american story. it should be something we celebrate.

and yet he is attacked not because of what he's written, not because of what he has said not because of cases he's taken, not because of an interview not because of a college law school or grad school paper. he is being attacked by made-upave been debunked time and time again by the facts. how would any of us feel if we were position to serve our country, be it on the bench, in the military, in the administration and be subjected to this type of attack and accusation? when you google adeel mangi, when his children do his grandchildren do do you know what comes up? "the washington times" article, which published an image that green hamas flag onto his face. when his children -- grandchildren google him, what will come up? the judicial crisi network, a right-wing front group dedicated to attacking president biden's

judicial nominees. they spent tens of thousands of dollars r an ad calling him -- and i quote -- anti-semite video of planes crashing into the twin towers on 9/11. pains me to repeat those words into this historic record but there's no other way express how debasingly low groups have gone to attack him. it is grotesque. when muslim americans -- any american that has a faith that might be different -- looks to the highest deliberative body in the planned and what did they do when the first muslim tried to reach for the appeals court t serve as a judge? what happened to him? this is the story that will be told. this isous.

this is cancerous. the attacks recall some of e it speaks back to the time where loyal americans were sent to internment camps not because of their beliefs, loyal americans sent to internment camps not because things they wrote, loyal americans sent to internment camps just because they were japanese. it goes back to the dark chapters of our country, the red scare that led to the black listing, the persecution the loss of jobs, the loss of reputation because of the red scare was spread. there was a courageous republican who stood on this floor during that time of the red . i want to read margaret chase

steve stevens' words, perhaps to make up the echoes of this body to how horrible this moment is to maybe cast some. margaret chase stevens in the time of the red scare. margaret chase smith excuse me, at the time of the red scare i think it is high thyme that we remember that we have sworn to uphold and defend the constitution. i think it is high time that we remember that the constitution as amended speaks not only to the freedom of speech but also by jury instead of trial by askewation. -- accusation. whether it be in a criminal court or a character prosecution here in the senate. there is distinction when the life of a person has been ruined. margaret chase smith f us who shout the loudest about americanism in

making character assassinations are all t f who, by our own words and acts, ignore some of the basic principles of americanism. the exercise of our rights should not cost one single american their reputation or his right to the a livelihood nor should he be in danger of losing his reputation or livelihood merely because of whatto be his beliefs or i sad, his faith. -- or i add, his faith. republican leader that accuses a good american of mingling with supporters of terrorists and cop killers, of saying that he has anti-semitic affiliations read these final words of margaret chase stevens. i don't want to see the to

political victory on the four horsemen of fear ignorance, and smear. i doubt if the republican party could simply because i don't believe the american ople w uphold any political party that puts political exploitation above national interest. adeel mangi is a great american. adeel mangi has served his nation. adeel mangi has risen to the top of his profession. adeel mangi has dared to represent the poor against the powerful. adeel mangihe first in our country's history to be nominated by a president of the united states to the highest court -- the highest appeals court.

and wt has he been greeted with? a fair evaluation of his character? a fair evaluation of his body of work? a fair evaluation of his write resignation? a fair evaluation of his speeches? a fair evaluation of his temperament? no. he has been accused of mingling with terrorists and cop killers. he has been accused of being anti-s why? is it because he's muslim? i heard a speech against him reading all the groups that stand against him. i read some of the the afl-cio, the sciu association of federal bar of new jersey asian pacific americanrnyers of new jersey capital area muslim bar association, muslim american jewish advisory council, muslim york new jersey muslim lawyers

association, national lgbtq bar association, new jersey state bar association, south be asian bar association of new jersey south asian bar association of north america, former attorneys general, groups of new jerseys sheriffs hispanic law enforcement association, lgbt law enforcement association, the national coalition, noble of new jersey region one, the national association of black women in law enforcement, the association of lawyers and jurists, the american jewish committee, the anti-defamation league the alliance for jewish renewal, bend the arc jewish action jewish community action jewish democratic council of international, national council of jewish women, new york jewish agenda society for humanistic

judaism, the torah, rabbinical call for human rights the workers circle zionist, the leadership council of civil and human rights the national women's law center the naacp legal defense fund the of hunterton council, muslim advocates, muslims for progressive values the republican appointed honorable timothy k. lewis appeals judge for the third circuit, district of pennsylvania members of new jersey's local leadership former ish faith. the letter i read from pastor juliet ramsey knowles. and the list goes on. mr. president, i beg your indulgence because this is one sadder days i've had in

the united states senate. i believe in this place. i believe in these values. but i see this moment that we're about to take break a barrier in this country. even the state of israel has had muslims on their supreme court. but as a muslim man to our court of appeals, he gets attacked by thee republican leader for mingling with terrorists and cop killers, for being anti-semite, denounced by jewish groups. that will forever be a part of this record that this deliberative body made accusations against this man. yes, i'm sad, and yes, this is personal because my parents told me as a little boishgs when i was the -- little boy when i was the first one, just to go to grade school my brother and i, the first black children to cross the threshold and go to a y parents told me stand proudly and pledge allegiance to that flag because this country stand for you even t

this country's values are your values even though you go to a different church in town. yeah you may face discrimination by peopl cultivating in their baseless values but don't stop believing in love in community, in peace, and justice. that will light your way. good people from all background. you may be the only black boy in your class, butis classroom. and this country stand for justice and liberty and peace. and those values and that faith and t has driven me every single day to try to make this nation better and more real. and then ten years into my senate career iit our president does something never done before to nominate a muslim for the court of appeals, and ihappens to him. i see him slandered and maligned dragged through the mud and accused of the most heinous things having to defend

his beliefs, having to say over and over again that he condemns 9/11. and so i want to take this moment to say this is a great american no matter what hasppennomination. this is a great american who should be proud of his work. we should celebrate him whe we vote for him or not. we should cherish a moment like this that makes history. and for those children in our country that have parents like mine that say you may be different, you may look differ m family may come from a different corner of the globe, but this is still the country for you, i tell those children don't give ugly example hangs in the air. don't give up even though this man has been trashed and smeared and maligned. don't give uis country. you know why? because adeel mangi has not given up. you can write him down in history with your bitter twisted

lies but no matter what you do to guys like him or me or this country, we will rise. nothing you can do ever ever impinge the character of this great american. nothing you can do will ever dim his love for this a sad time in the united states senate. more people should be on this floor condemning what is happening to this man. but today i say god bless america, because our truth, no matter what others do to it i promise you will go marching on. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. kennedy: thank you, mr. president. with me today, mr. president, is mr. mattturner one of my colleagues in my senate office.

mr. president, i want to talk about one of president biden's nominees to be on the federal bench bench. but first i want to digress for a animals, and i especially love dogs. if only people had the hearts of dogs the world would be better off.president, you and i of course are from the same profession politics. politics takes and a lot of wind and a thick skin. i try not to worry too much about what anybody thinks of me except dogs. i really like dogs. i used to have a beagle mr. president. his name was roger.

i loved roger to death. we lost him a few ago to cancer. roger was a stray. actually roger was raised to and if you know anything about beagles, when a beagle get on a scent, the beagle is obliv else. they just follow that scent. and roger got on a scent and got lost and showed my house. so becky and i took roger in. roger was a rascal. he was a rascal. he loved us but he couldn't help himself. whenever there was a small crack in the door roger was gone. he was out and gone.one two or three dashgs and i would -- days and i would worry incessantly. is he all right? is he going to come back? i love roger. he would always come back.

but about half of the time when roger would come back he'd come back dragging road kill. and roger, before -- i wouldn't let him inside with his go in the backyard and hide his road kill. he didn't think i was watching him. roger would hide his road kill under my back importantly. i miss roger. sometimes, notalways but sometimes the nomination process that the white house uses to selejudges the nomination process is what i'm talking about, looks to me like something roger was hiding under my back porch. i just don't understand it. i don't understand the criteria or the process of that the

biden white house uses to put people obench. now i'm not suggesting that president biden has not made some good nominations, because he voted for his nominations who i thought were qualified. but i think it's also any fair-minded person would have to conclude that over the past several years president biden has nominated se people to the federal bench who, quite frankly, are not qualified to judge a pie contest. and that's justfact. it's my opinion. but if you go look at the testimony of all of his nominees i think you'll see i'm right. with respect, the president's pick of mr. adeel mangi is worst. mr. mangi is affiliated with an organization that the, quote alliance of families

for justice. the alliance of families for justice. in just affiliated with this group, he's on their advisory one of the alliance's founders was a member of a domestic terrorist organizationat does that mean? one of the alliance's founder was convicted ofs in cold blood. he killed cops. now the alliance of families for justice on whose board mr. mangi sits, or at leastsat, advocates for the release of people who kill cops. let me s didn't know such organizations existed. the organization on whose board, advisory boardr. mangi sits or

sat advocates for the release of people who kill cops. this organization has even who kill police officers, quote, freedom fighters. freedom wow. i know that sound crazy. that's because it is. it's also why so many law enforcement organizations have se on the judiciary committee letters opposing mr. mangi's nomination. i've never gotten so letters or phone calls from law enforcement supporting or opsing -- in this case opposing a nomination. for example, i'm not going to read all of them. i would be here the rest of the for example, take the national sheriffs association. i think most of us have heard of.

national sheriffs association wrote all members of the judiciary committee, and here's what they said. they said mr. mangi's association with -- and i'm quoting now. not my word. the sheriffs' words.mangi's association with a, quote, an organization advocating the release of convicted seriously disturbing end quote. that's coming from the sheriffs. acrding to the national sheriffs association, the alliance's position on whose board, advisory board mr. mangi sat or sit, according to the sheriffs alliance position is, quote, i again, not only tone-deaf to the sacrifices made by law enforcement officials, but also disrespectful to the victims o is. as well to the families of

officers who have made ultimate sacrifice. end quote. we also heard from the national association ofnization. i think most people have heard of them. they said quote, about mr.nation they said mr. mangi's, quoteen work with the alliance shows an anti-victim and antipolice bias that would certainly