♪♪ >> today, tsa administrator testifies on his agency's operations and 2025 budget request befe a house homeland security committee. watch live coverage at 2:30 p.m. eastern on c-span 3. and c-span now our mobile video app or online at c-span.org. >> c-span now is a free mobile app featuring your unfiltered view of what's happening in washington. live and on demand. keep up with the day's biggest events with live streams of floor proceedings and hearings from the u.s. congress. white house event, the courts, campaigns, and more from the world of politics, all at your

fingertips. you can also stay current with the latest episodes of washington journal and by scheduling information by tv networks and c-span radio. plus a variety of compelling contests. apple score and google play or visit our website, c-span.org, c-span now, your front row seat to washington, anytime, anywhere. live now to capitol hill where the u.s. senate is about to gavel in, at 11:30 eastern this morning, lawmakers are expected to vote on whether to confirm courtney o'donnell to be the u.s. permanent representative to the u.n. educational scientific and cultural organization known as unesco. live coverage here on c-span2. ...

the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal father. we thank you for another day with its fresh promises, opportunities, and duties. as our bodies are renewed so give strength to our minds and hearts to glorify you with our lives. be near our senators as they

labor. for their added burdens give them greater strength. for their difficult problems, give them greater wisdom. for their moments of despair, give them greater faith. lord, to all who serve in the government, provide a full measure of your mercy, grace and might that all things may be ordered according to your will. we pray in your merciful 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., may 15, 2024. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable john fetterman, a senator from the commonwealth of pennsylvania, 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. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to the executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination,

department of state, courtney diesel o'donnell, to be united states permanent representative to the united nations scientific and cultural organization.

>> with a kind heart, a closet full bowties and wit as sharp as

his suits. congressman brought people together. fought for what he believed in. he gave a voice to the voiceless, never wavered. he never backed down. while we mourn the loss of our colleague and friend, we know his legacy lives on. congressman paynes legacy lives on the work he did in congress, including right here in this committee to make every child in every school in america safe. but, because of his advocacy, the department of homeland security today reports to congress on school security. because of a lofty authored aptly named homeland security for children act, the department of homeland security must plan for children's unique needs during disasters. his legacy lives on in the hearts of his wife, and lives on in the bright futures of his

children, triplets, donald, jack and yvonne. we pray for the peace and comfort at this difficult time. congressman payne served in washington, d.c., but his heart never left newark's south ward. every moment he spent in the halls of congress was in service to the people of newark. congressman donald payne, jr. laser legacy to be proud of. may he rest in power, and rest in peace. i yield back. >> i ask that the members of this committee join in observing a moment of silence to honor congressman payne's memory. [silence]

>> thank you. the purpose of our hearing today is to receive testimony from state and local law enforcement, officers in the hurdles of the law enforcement agencies face in keeping our communities safe. and i recognize myself for an opening statement. good morning. we're here today to honor and recognize law enforcement officers nationwide during national police week. while our nation has always been grateful to our men and women in law enforcement, beginning in 1960 did we officially begin recognizing their bravery, sacrifice and an unwavering commitment to public safety on the 15th of may. supporting a minimum in law enforcement should not be reserved for one week out of the year. our nation should be grateful every day. to this unique group of men and women who risk their lives for

our freedom and to serve our communities with a distinct sense of duty and honor. there's a saying that service is what we pay for living on our men and women who protect us in daily pay the ultimate service and for far too many the ultimate sacrifice. last year 136 law enforcement officers were tragically killed in a line of duty. this year there's been 56, and countless others injured. just a few weeks ago april 16 police officer michael jensen of the syracuse police department and lieutenant -- of the county sheriff office in new york were both shot and killed while attending to locate a subject who had led officers on on a vehicle pursuit. officer jensen had served in the syracuse police department two and a half years. he is survived by his parents and sister. lieutenant served with the county sheriff's office for 16 years.

he is survived by his wife and three children. i know for them and their colleagues this loss is incomprehensible. in early may 4 officer killed in charlotte, north carolina, while attempting to serve a warrant to a convicted felon. and for more were injured. a form of durham-based marshal service task force officer stated that he cannot remember another time in his 35 year career when eight officers were attacked in one incident. from violent attacks on law enforcement to significant increase in crime across the country it is an understatement to say that americans no longer feel safe in their communities. we must provide reassurance to law-abiding citizens by holding lawbreakers accountable and let the level of accountability serve as as a deterrent to o. tough prosecutions, proper sensing are not only examples of holding criminals accountable for their actions but to send the message federal, state and local jurisdictions will do what is necessary to protect their

citizens. even more important this actual to make it to our law enforcement officers our appreciation and our commitment to equipping them with the resources required to fulfill their duties. increasing crime rates and obstacles across of prosecuting criminals are challenging enough but even with these difficulties without adequate manpower and finding adds to the prolonged for agencies across the nation are confronting. law enforcement agencies not only grappling with unprecedented challenge of recruiting new personnel but are contending with attrition rates and budget reductions. these factors hinder law enforcement agencies ability to fulfill the obligation to safeguard americans and abstract police department station wide from assessing the necessary resources to enhance her officer training. and in so doing these factors also increase the risk to the many women of blue in blue who risk all for us everyday.

by reducing enforcement budgets police department to face the tough decision of lowering standards are being unable to fulfill their hiring requirements. this committee plays a critical role in overseeing the department of homeland security which aims to assist state and local and tribal and territorial law enforcement agencies in ensuring the safety, security and resilience of our communities. we could just focus on ensuring information is efficiently shared between the federal government and state and local law enforcement agencies to combat the wide variety of threats from criminals and terrorists. different parts of the country have their own unique challenges when it comes to getting with crime. it's important we ensure dhs is properly supporting both metropolitan rural communities as they confront these challenges. today hope we can examine the waste dhs supports these law enforcement agencies and identify new ways to improve your we should all work to ensure the resources provided by dhs are effective in assisting

law enforcement as a work to carry out the important mission. lastly, it's crucial as a nation we regain a sense of appreciation and respect for the men and women in law enforcement who serve our communities and to pay the ultimate sacrifice for our protections. we have a distinguished panel of witnesses to testify about the daily challenges, successes and strategies their officers encounter ended with various issues within their departments and communities. thank you ginter to witness her for being here. i look forward to this important discussion. before i recognize the ranking member for his opening statement i would like to welcome mr. kidding from new york to congress and to our committee. i look forward to working with you and i will say that your addition it takes us to seven members from new york. you are now 21% of this committee. not sure what that means but we're glad to have you. actually, you know, reflects back to the start of this

committee. really what started it. so we are very glad to have you. i now recognize the ranking member of the german from mississippi mr. thompson first opening statement thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank our panel of witnesses for being here today and for the service to our country. in honor of national police week i also want to recognize the incredible contributions of law enforcement and honor those brave officers who made the ultimate sacrifice to keep our communities safe. our nation is forever in their debt. today the committee is meeting to examine how congress can support state and local law enforcement. this is an important question that national police you. mr. president, last year, congress faced a momentous choice -- either watch from the sidelines as artificial intelligence reshaped our world or make a

novel, bipartisan effort to enhance but also regulate this technology before it was too late. so, as majority leader, i convened a bipartisan working group of senators last year, senator rounds, heinrich and young, to chart the path forward on a.i. in the senate. today, after months of discussion, after hundreds of meetings, and after nine first of their kind a.i. insight forums, our bipartisan senate working group released the first ever roadmap for a.i. policy in the senate. our policy roadmap for a.i. is the first, most comprehensive, most bipartisan, and most forward thinking report on a.i. regulation ever produced by congress. our roadmap lays out a panoply of policy priorities and guardrails that our group believes merit bipartisan consideration in this congress and beyond. three words govern what we do --

urgency, humility, bipartisanship. urgency, because a.i. is so complex, so rapidly evolving, and so broad in its impact, it covers almost every aspect of society, the longer we wait, the bigger the gap becomes. just this week, chatgpt rel releapsed a new model that can read facial expressions and translate spoken language in retime. humility this is hard to do, because a.i. is nothing like congress has ever dealt with before. it's rapidly changing. as we mentioned, everything, every week something new happens. it's all encompassing. and congress has never really dealt with it before, in areas like health or defense. we have a long track record and lots of expertise, but not so in a.i., because it's so new. finally, bipartisanship, because changes that a.i. brings won't

discriminate between left, right, and center, and we all know the only way to get things done here is bipartisanship. that means compromise by democrats and republicans, but certainly getting nothing done is a worse alternative. as i've always said, innovation must be our north star. innovation. america must take the lead in the world, continue to innovate, use the great nutrient aigar of -- agar of entrepreneurship and doing new things and reaching out in new directions. we've been the most innovative country in the world. we should keep that. but innovation has two senses, two parts, both are very important to realize. one i call transformational innovation and one you i call sus sustainable information. transformational innovation is reaching the stars. it's the graver stuff that a.i. could do. what if a.i. cured cancer?

we got to make sure we don't stand in the way of that happening. what if a.i. dealt with climate change in a really strong, new way? or fed the hungry of the world? or gave each person on earth a teacher? senator young mentioned this yesterday, a teacher that could just talk to them. these are great opportunities that we can't afford to miss. but we also need sustainable innovation. that means we need innovation to produce guardrails that minimize the damage that a.i. could b bring. how do you deal with workers that might be displaced? we don't want to repeat the mistake of globalization. where globalization did a lot of good things, took a billion people probably out of poverty in the world, but no one paid attention to those who are hurt by globalization. we have to pay attention to

bias, because many of these big systems have bias built into them, and we can't repeat thatteror. we have to deal with the creative community and intellectual property. so we need innovation in these areas as well, to make sure that the liabilities of a.i. are dealt with. so we need both, transformational innovation and sus sustainable information, in a sense to maximize the benefit of a.i. and minimize the liabilities. it's no easy task. it's no easy task. but our insight forums were designed to be balanced, with input of leaders from the industry. they operate these a.i. complexes. we needed to hear from them. but also leaders from civil rights and labor and the creative community, sitting right next to them. and our a.i. forums were amazing. there were back-and-forths.

people really didn't just make speeches, but tried to come up with questions we needed to answer and solutions to those questions. it's a difficult job, but i believe we achieved that balance in our a.i. forums and certainly in the roadmap. balance is important. now, to help move forward on both forms of innovation, innovation, of course, as i said, being our north star, transformational and sustainable information, we recommend a 32 billion-dollar surge in emergency funding to secure america's dominance in a.i. this is a bipartisan recomm recommendation. senators heinrich and i, of course, care about it, but so do senators young and rounds, and they were quite eloquent yesterday about how we needed to spend this money or the u.s. would fall way behind. now, where do we go from here? our policy roadmap is intended to be used by our committee

chairs and ranking members as a foundation to move on good, bipartisan a.i. legislation. it's the committees that do the legislating. that's what's always happened around here. we need our committees to continue the bipartisan momentum of the a.i. gang, to achieve the hope of passing legislation by the end of the year. and it -- we don't expect every piece of a.i. to be addressed, every problem in our roadmap to be addressed. some will lend themselves to move more quickly than others. we're not going to hold back on some that are ready because others are not yet ready. this is, as i said, a very difficult process that we have to approach with humility. let me say this -- our a.i. committee, our committee chairs and ranking members are ready and eager to engage in a.i. our roadmap includes many areas of bipartisan agreement that the committees can use.

and already, we're making progress in the rules committee, which is marking up legislation today. the commerce committee is looking at legislation regarding a.i. innovation. the homeland security and government affairs committee is conversation how to leverage a.i. in the federal workforce. the armed services committee is leading the way on a.i. in the military. and the list goes on. our committees are getting actively involved, which is what we want. our policy roadmap also embraces action to protect our elections from the potential risk of a.i. the rules committee is -- well, first, the 2024 election also be the first -- will be the first ever held in the age of a.i. if we're not careful, a.i. could jaundice or totally discredit our entire system of election as we know it. today, i joint the rules committee, marking up three bills, all three with bipartisan support, to address a.i.'s impact on our elections. i strongly support these bills,

and i commend senator klobuchar and her sponsors for their bipartisan work. and that's just happening today, but we expect there will be other committees putting forth legislation in the near future. our policy roadmap also advocates for a host of regulatory recommendations that help maximize a.i.'s potential and minimize its risks. the risks like bias and job displacement and privacy invasion. these are all difficult issues to deal with, but move forward we must. so, our policy roadmap is an important step in a.i. regulation, and getting the committees here in the congress to start figuring out the bipartisan legislation that they can move forward on is a good step. but i also plan to meet with speaker johnson in the near future to see how we can make congress' effort on a.i., not just bipartisan but also bicameral. today is immensely satisfying

for our bipartisan a.i. gang. it's been a long, long time, months of -- culmination of months of listening, thinking and working on this issue. with great sincerity and humility, i want to tlaveng our -- thank my colleagues in the bipartisan working group, rounds, heinrich, young. i thank my senate colleagues who attended our insight forums, over 70 senators attended at least one, and many attended multiple forums. they are beginning their work on a.i. through the committee process. i thank all the staff who have put a lot of effort and a lot of hours into this policy roadmap. i have a great staff, and they have been so instrumental in getting us to the point we're at now. congress can and won't solve every challenge a.i. presents today, but with this policy roadmap we now have a foundation in to propel america into the age of a.i. now, on the border, three things are true about the southern

border -- one, the status quo cannot continue. two, democrats want congress to take action. three, the only way we'll solve this issue is with real, bipartisan action, not partisan talk. instead of just making a lot of speeches, pointing a lot of fingers, blame, blame, blame, we democrats want to get something done to secure our border. democrats showed we are serious about border security when we worked with republicans to write the strongest border security bill in a generation, to hire more border agents and asylum officers, enhance drug enenforcement, fix asylum. we have the strongest border security bill in decades ready to go in the senate, with a lot of support from republicans who, when they saw it, they liked it, they said, wow, this is tough stuff. until donald trump killed it to keep the issue alive on the campaign trail. he said it. he wanted chaos because it might help his election. then he said blame it on me.

i remember when he said blame the shutdown on me, when speaker pelosi and i went to his office. i don't think that's a very successful strategy, and certainly not good for america. so, this bill is such a strong bill, it's a bill that would add more than 1500 new customs and border protection personnel, 4300 asylum officers, a bill democrats and republicans spent months negotiating and fine-tuning and revising, unlike the vast majority of bills in congress that are dubbed as border security, this wasn't a messaging bill. this was a product of months of bipartisan negotiation, written with the goal of reaching the president's desk. a bill supported by the people who know, perhaps better than anyone else, what it takes to address border security, the national border patrol counsel, very -- national border patrol council. the president called it a step in the right direction and better than the status quo.

donald trump's sabotage of the strongest border bill makes it obvious he cares only about this issue so longs as he can exploit it for political gain. if donald trump was genuine about wanting to fix the border, if he actually believed this was an emergency, he would have supported the senate's bipartisan bill. still, democrats have not walked away from this debate. we want to secure the border. we know it will take bipartisan action in congress and we call on republican colleagues to join us to advance border security legislation, bipartisan legislation, that the people demand. finally, on nominations, mr. president, today, the senate will continue processing more of president biden's outstanding nominees we will vote on the cloture of sanket jayshukh bulsara. i was proud to push president biden to nominate this amazing new yorker and especially

qualified legal mind. he made history in 2017 as the first south asian american judge to serve in the second circuit when he was appointed the magistrate judge for the eastern district. new york's south asian population is one of the fastest growing in our state and in our country. i'm proud to support judge sanket jayshukh bulsara because it will make a better reflection of the communities he serves. once confirmed, he will represent a milestone for the senate, he will be the 195th judge confirmed by this body since president biden took office and we're going to keep going. americans serve jurists they trust to be fair, qualified and appreciate the human impact of their decisions. judge sanket jayshukh bulsara fits that noble idea. i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the minority leader. mr. mcconnell: this week thousands of law enforcement personnel from across america will descend on our nation's capital to pay tribute to comrades killed in the line of duty. the nation joins them in their

sacrifice. and add the names of fallen heroes to the national law enforcement memorial right here in washington. i'd like to extend a warm welcome to the officers and families who are in town this week. our nation owes the thin blue line a great debt for their dedication to keeping our communities safe. i'm especially grateful to kentucky's law enforcement and honored to pay special tribute to one of the commonwealth's finest who was killed in the line of duty just last year. deputy caleb connolly of scott county sheriffs office was shot and killed a year ago next week during a routine traffic stop in

georgetown. he leaves behind his wife and two children, and yesterday i had the privilege of meeting members of the connolly family and assured them that their sacrifice was not forgotten. the loss of the heroes we honor this week leaves holes in tight-knit departments and devoted families and their deaths are a reminder of the daily risks peace officers take to keep the rest of us safe. of course, in this building, we're never far from men and women who swear oaths to run toward danger, and this political week, i hope our colleagues will join me in thanking the officers of the capitol police who guard this institution and honoring their comrades in giving their lives to defend it.

on another matter. in cities across america, s soft-on-crime policies are making the tough job of law enforcement even tougher. earlier this month, president biden declared that, quote, americans are safer from violent crime today than a year ago. but even a quick look around our nation's capitol shows that crime in many american cities is still unacceptably high. as of this past week, washington, d.c., has already seen 63 homicides and much more than 1700 car thefts in 2024. among these crimes was the deadly shooting of a 3-year-old girl hit by a stray bullet in a passing car.

the child, described as cheerful and chatty, was one of the youngest in a long list of this crime wave's innocent victims. last year washington saw homicides rise 36%, the city's murder rate reached the highest level in a quarter century and less than half way through 2024, cities across the country are still krablg with big -- scrappling with bigger problems. residents report that police are complaining that their hands are tied. in chicago, police reports show that crime has increased 69% since 2021. in philadelphia, the soft on crime district attorney has gone all the way to the state supreme court. surely president biden isn't declaring victory over the

lawlessness affecting american communities, surely the violent crime near breathtaking highs isn't a cause for celebration. as the head of one washington nonprofit focused on preventing gun crimes put it, quote, i know some of the repercussions that can come from taking a victory lap too soon. then again, it's not surprising that from the white house to city halls across the country, democrat leaders are downplaying concerns about violent crime. if they looked this problem in the face, they'd have to admit that their own policies are to blame. it shouldn't have to be this way. the american people deserve safe streets and law enforcement deserves elected leaders who back the blue.

on another matter. for three skconsecutive months, major national polls ranked immigration as a significant problem facing our country. and now americans say they support erecting physical barriers along our southern border. so perhaps it's not a coincidence that the democratic leader has indicated his intention to once again turn the senate's focus to the border crisis and to portions of the bipartisan legislation senator lankford helped produce earlier this year. but in his own remarks on the subject yesterday, my colleague from new york seemed to acknowledge what we all know, the key to securing our southern border are already in the hands that created this crisis. as the democratic leader proudly declared, president biden has

taken action to secure our border. last week he said the president began announcing a series of administrative actions. last week, mr. president, after three years on the job, apparently it's time to give the commander in chief kudos on his handling of a crisis that still let's nearly 5,000 people cross our border illegally in a day. of course, president biden does have the authority she needs to start rapidly undoing the damage of the historic crisis that unfolded on his watch. how do we know? because he voluntarily took them off the table on day one. remain in mexico, off the table. the border wall construction, a majority of americans support, not a chance. any sign at all this administration would like to actually secure the border? don't hold your breath.

but, mr. president, the path out of the deepening border crisis is actually not a mystery. it just requires a president who's willing to stop digging. now, on one final matter. i'd like to briefly commend several of our colleagues for their work on resolutions the senate will consider to roll back yet another slate of biden administration overreach. today we'll vote on a resolution from senator schmitt to finally put the brakes on the treasury department's extension of massive recovery funds for a pandemic emergency that has long since passed. soon we'll vote on another resolution under the congressional review act from senator lummis that would repeal a hasty shortsighted power grab by the fcc that hampers the

deployment of new digital financial technologies, and we will vote on senator cruz's legislation to ax gas furnace efficiency standards that threaten to drive a huge share of existing residential furnace mod ols out of -- models out of the market and increase -- i'm grateful to our colleagues for leading these efforts and i would urge the senate to pass each resolution. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

office. quorum call:

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: i ask consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, this week marks the 70th anniversary of one of the most important supreme court decisions of all time. it's part of our march toward justice. on may 17, 1954, the supreme court announced its decision in brown v. board of education. unanimously, unanimously declaring the racist legal doctrine of separate but equal unconstitutional. today, we celebrate the historic anniversary and how far we've come as a country since the dark days of jim crow. thankfully, we've made substantial progress in addressing racial disparities in education. however -- however, significant systemic disparities exist today. more work needs to be done to

end discrimination, inside and outside the classroom. when the supreme court announced its decision in 1954, the demographics of american school-age children were snifrtly different than they are today. at the time, the school age population, according to the century foundation, was roughly 85% white, 12% black, and less than 4% other races. contrast that with today. america's school-age population is much more diverse. 48% white, 27% hispanic, 15% black, 6% asian, 1% american indian, and 4% multiracial. yet, even with this increase, dramatic increase in diversity is it america's schools too often remain segregated by race. as of the 2018-2019 school year, one in six public school students attended schools where more than 90% of their peers had the same racial background.

illinois has three of the country's top 11 most segregated urban school districts. this lack of racial diversity in our schools is caused in part by unfair, exclusionary zoning policies that keep low-income families out of schools in wealthier communities. education can play a significant role in helping to close the wealth gap between families, but unfortunately, due to modern-day segregation, many black and brown students often cannot access the same high-quality education as their white peers. if you look at data from u.s. public schools back to 1967, you see segregation between black and white students has increased by 64% since 1988 in the 100 largest school districts. all school segregation is not at p pre-brown v. board of education levels, it is still high and rising steadily since the late

1980's. because where you go to school depends on your zip code, students from poor neighborhoods in segregated cities are often trapped in underperforming schools. dismantling segregation is more difficult now than it would have been 70 or 80 years ago, but we cannot ignore the challenge. unless we focus on desegregating america and its neighborhoods, brown's promise of integrated education will remain an unattainable goal. the brown decision was supposed to be the first step in the march toward equality. it set the stage for challenges to other policies, such as barriers to fair housing, equal employment, voting rights, and public accommodations. unfortunately, today, the forces of intolerance are working to turn back the clock. just last year, the supreme court struck down decades of precedent by ruling that affirmative action policies at two universities were unconstitutional. the attack on affirmative action threatens not just opportunities in education, but also equal

access to employment and contracts with minorities. the decision rewinds the clock and re-creates barriers to entry for young minority students looking to pursue a degree in higher education and advance beyond college. quality education should be a right in our country, not a privilege. as a country, we still struggle to fulfill that promise. public schools and many other elements of society remain separate and unequal, diminishing opportunities for millions. congress must focus on enacting policies and using resources to provide every student, black, white, brown, with the tools they need to learn and thrive in america. we must advocate for all students of every race in everyplace to have these resources, to learn without limits. a was he celebrate 70 years since this historic decision, we honor the brave individuals who fought hard to bring it to reality. those of us here today honor

their determination and sacrifice by continuing their mission for sacrifice. on this 70th anniversary, i urge my colleagues to continue working toward equality within our education system and society. it is long overdue for us to repair the broken systems that no longer serve our children, our grandchildren, and our country. mr. president, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

quorum call: >> mr. president, last year congress faced a momentous choice, either watch from the sidelines as artificial intelligence reshaped our world,

or make a novel, bipartisan effort to and hands but also regulate this technology before it was too late. ..

and health and defense, we have a long track record, lots of expertise but not so an a.i. because it is so new, finally bipartisanship that changes the a.i. bring well discriminate

into a left right and center and the only way to get angst on his bipartisanship that means compromise by democrats and republicans but certainly getting nothing done as a worse alternative. as i've always said, innovation must be the northstar, innovation, america must take the lead in the world, continue to innovate use the nutrient agar of entrepreneurship and bipartisan -- entrepreneurship and doing new things and reaching out new direction within the most innovative country in the world we should keep that, innovation has two senses, two parts, both very important to realize one i call transformational innovation and sustainable information transformation is reaching stars it's the great stuff and i do what if i cared cancer we have

to make sure we don't stand in the way of that happening, what if a.i. dealt with climate change in a really strong new way or the hungry of the world lord gave each person a teacher, senator young mentioned this yesterday, teacher that could talk to them, these are great opportunities that we cannot afford to miss but we also need sustainable innovation, that means we need innovation to produce guardrails that minimize the damage that a.i. could bring, how do you deal with workers that mice be displaced, globalization did a lot of good things and took a billion people probably out of poverty in the world, no one paid attention to those who are hurt globalization we have to pay attention to bias

because many of the big systems have bias built into them, we cannot repeat that air, we have to deal with the creative community and intellectual property, we need innovation in these areas as well to make sure that the liability of a.i. are dealt with so we need both transformational innovation and sustainable information

in the forums and the roadmap. , to help move forward on both forms of innovation, innovation and as i said the northstar, transformational and sustainable information we recommend $32 billion surge in emergency funding to secure the dominant today i and let me underscore, this is a bipartisan recommendation, senators heinrich and i care about it was set aside a young and rounds and they thought eloquent yesterday how we needed to spend this money or the u.s. would fall behind. where do we go from here, our policy roadmap is intended to be

used by our committee chairs and ranking members as a foundation to move on good bipartisan a.i. legislation. the committees that do the legislating, that always happens around here, we need our committees to continue the bipartisan momentum of the a.i. to achieve the hope of passing legislation by the end-of-the-year and we don't expect every piece of a.i. to be addressed, every problem in our roadmap to be addressed, some will lend themselves more quickly than others and we will not hold back on some that are ready because others are not yet ready this is a very difficult process that we have to approach with humility. rai, let me say this mr. thune: mr. president. the presiding officer: -- mr. thune: mr. president, is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. thune: alaskan of the week that the quorum call be -- i ask

unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: this newmorning's inflation report shows how prices have risen more than 3%. overall prices are up 19.9% since president biden took office. grocery prices are up 21.3%, car repairs are up 30.2%, rent is up 20.8%, and the list literally goes on and on. as americans turn on their air conditioners this summer, they can contemplate a grim report from "the wall street journal" which notes that electricity prices have gone up 13 times faster under president biden than in the previous seven years. all told it costs a typical family more than $12,000 a be

month -- $1,000 be a month just to maintain the standard of living it had when president biden first took office. more than $1,000 a month just to tread water. so, mr. president, it is shocking to hear president biden say things like he did last week when he suggested that people, quote, have the money to pay higher prices. but that's the kind of disconnect we've come to expect from the president who claimed inflation would be, quote, temporary and who has persistently and downplayed and denied what americans are experiencing thanks to democrats reckless spending. that pain is real, mr. president. as one working parent in connecticut said, and i quote, every time i look at my bank account, it's always going down. end quote. louise, a truck driver in pennsylvania said, and i quote, i can do my living, but compared

to what i used to have, i need to work extra to get what i used to have before. end quote. a family farmer in missouri described his input costs as, quote, ridiculous. mr. president, they're not alone. 48% of workers, or i should say 48% of voters say their personal financial situation is getting worse. half of voters say they are worse off since president biden took office. and 80% of voters say high prices are one of the biggest financial challenges. meanwhile, the cost of dealing with inflation is adding to americans' financial pain. many americans have had to turn to it their credit cards to cope with higher prices. with the federal reserve having to keep interest rates higher to stave off inflation, paying off that debt has gotten harder.

higher debts have put the american dream of owning your own home has been put out of reach. typical home buyers need to pay twice as much to buy a typical home today than they would four years ago, and half of wenters -- renters under 50 don't believe they will own a home. for running a family farm or ranch, inflation has created serious challenges. more than a third of small businesses consider inflation as the biggest threat to their business. higher borrowing costs have forced small businesses to grapple with rising prices and pull back from investing in their businesses. mr. president, as bad as things have been over the past three years, it could get worse. the budget president biden

proposed in march contained a staggering -- staggering $5 trillion in job-killing tax hikes. and just recently the president said that if he's reelected, he would let the 2017 tax cuts expire. now, democrats may not like to acknowledge this, but the 2017 republican-led tax reform legislation cut taxes for the majority of americans. and if those rate cuts are allowed to expire, a typical family is looking at a $1,000 tax hike in 2026. now, that money may not matter to someone like the president, but i'm sure working families have better use of that money than sending it to the irs. especially when you consider how much president biden's inflation crisis is already coughing them -- costing them. the president wants to allow other tax reform in the 2017

bill, measure that's brought benefits to hardworking americans to expire. so americans could be looking at a future of higher taxes plus fewer jobs and opportunities. mr. president, the american people can't afford any more of the president's misguided economic policies, but, unfortunately, the president never seems to learn. well, let's hope the american people don't have to endure a second term of bidenomics. mr. president, i yield the floor, and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. a senator: i first request that the quorum be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cassidy: mr. president, everybody watching in the audience or on c-span knows of someone who has either overdosed or died from that overdose from

fentanyl. an incredible scourge of our society right now. it issed leading cause of death among young adults 18 to 25 and fentanyl is 25% of the causes of u.s. overdose deaths. fentanyl continues to kill almost 200 americans a day, 200 americans a day. like today. 200 americans will die from a fentanyl overdose. an entire generation dying. illegal fentanyl, fentanyl-related substances are flooding into our market from the southern border in unprecedented amounts with the bulk of it originating in a handful of manufacturers in wuhan province, china. by the way, you can't help but point out that this is worsened by the biden administration's complete failure to secure the southern border. currently, fentanyl-related substances are classified as

schedule one under the controlled substances act. this classification provides law enforcement, law enforcement with the tools necessary to combat this emergency going after the criminals who again are flooding our communities with these deadly drugs. but schedule one classification expires at the end of the year, and that's less than eight months away. now, for years congress has not made this classification permanent, and every day we get closer to this deadline, we risk losing this essential law enforcement tool. if we don't act, the chemical manufacturers in china, the cartels, the criminals who exploit our communities are emboldened. and we must not allow this to happen. that is why today i'm calling on the senate to pass the halt lethal trafficking fentanyl act or the halt act to permanently

classify fentanyl-related substances as a schedule one controlled substance. now, the bill is not controversial. there are no poison pills. all it does is codify current law ensuring we don't lose tools we need to confront the fentanyl epidemic. the house with as many problems as the house has had passing legislation passed this bill on a strong bipartisan basis last year. and the legislation removes barriers that impede the ability of researchers to conduct studies on these substances and allows for exemptions if the research provides evidence that specifically analogues of fentanyl have a valid medical purpose. so we give law enforcement tools, but we also give the scientists the medical -- the medical scientists tools to establish whether one of these analogues is worth having for

medical purposes. now, it's important to know, mr. president, this week is national police week. we honor police officers and their -- and their service to our communities. now these officers are on the front lines of fentanyl crisis holding criminals accountable, saving lives, from preventing the spread of drugs but at times giving drugs like narcan to reverse an overdose. i'm proud to say we have a letter from 11 law enforcement organizations supporting the halt fentanyl act. and by passing this legislation, we will send a strong message to law enforcement, we have your back. we have your back as you battle the scourge of deadly drugs in our communities. mr. president, the clock is ticking. failure to act puts americans in harm's way. we must pass this bill and get it to the president's desk for signature. thank you, mr. president. and now as if in legislative session, i ask unanimous consent

that the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 467 and 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: is there objection? mr. markey: reserving the right to object, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. markey: thank you, mr. president, very much. reserving the right to object. the halt fentanyl act would permanently classify fentanyl-related substances as schedule one substances under the control substances act. the fentanyl epidemic is ravaging communities across the united states. we are losing more than 80,000 americans to overdose every year from provided over -- opioid overdose. with deaths reaching this level, we do need every tool at our disposal to combat illicit fentanyl.

but reclassification of fentanyl-related substances as schedule one substances would limit the government's ability to research overdose and addiction treatment medications. override critical public health considerations and scheduling decisions, and extend the policy approach of the failed war on drugs. schedule one drugs are difficult for scientists to research. fentanyl's potency and danger demand that we study it and its analogues to combat overdose and addiction. a permanent blanket schedule one category for any fentanyl-related substance would create barriers to vital research. this punishment only characterization for fentanyl-related substances would eclipse the long-standing public health approach to controlled substances act scheduling. the control substances act authorizes the administration to consider concrete scientific factors when determining which scheduling category should apply

to a drug. and that approach is absent here. and finally, this bill would bring the united states back to the approach of the failed war on drugs where we criminalized drug use while ignoring the underlying issues that animate abuse and addiction. prosecutions under this expansion will continue to disproportionately target people of color, a punishment-only approach will not reduce drugs in our communities. i have spoken to people on the front lines of this epidemic, people with substance use disorder, families who have lost a loved one, and health care providers. they are the ones on the front lines when people die from fentanyl. they are the ones who lose their lives or lose their patients, friends, or family when we don't invest in the security and public health tools for communities. they are the ones who are frustrated every day by archaic laws that keep people from the prevention and treatment which they need. we must do better.

we must make sure people have access to tools to keep fentanyl out of their communities. we need to make sure people have access to treatment, like methadone medication to keep people in recovery and we need to save lives. but permanently characterizing fentanyl-related substances as schedule one substances would impede our response to the overdose epidemic and lead to overinca overincarceration. there has to be additional discussion and debate. so let us do that so that we can give this issue the attention which it needs and that it deserves so that any solution is effective and bipartisan. and i as a result at this point have to object, mr. president.

the presiding officer: the objection is heard. mr. cassidy: mr. president, may i make a response. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. cassidy: recognizing there has been an objection, i would like to point out a couple of things, though. as regards as if permanently scheduling fentanyl-relate d substances would do nothing to limit overdoses, congress has extended fentanyl's scheduling on a temporary basis multiple times, and this has led to fewer overdoses and led to creation of fewer new fentanyl-related substances. next, the idea that fentanyl designating them all as schedule one would limit the ability of researchers to study fentanyl is just not true. there's no indication that the temporary scheduling of fentanyl analogue, this type of research, dea, the drug enforcement agency has approved every research study since 2018 but this bill

goes further by putinga robust process in place to study fentanyl. it does not disrupt ongoing things but actually creates an expedited process for certain fda studies to be done in partnership with federal agencies. and lastly, that somehow this would contribute to overincarceration, the bill does not permanently bar dea or hhs from continuing to look at the risk associated with it. if something has no risk, they can establish it as no risk. therefore, it would not lead to the overincarceration. but we do know that fentanyl is a dangerous, a dangerous substance, and if we're concerned about overincarceration of a certain poll layings of our society -- population of our society, i can guarantee you that that population, like every population, is having people dying today from fentanyl overdose. that whichever group of americans we're speaking of, they're losing someone today from fentanyl, and that this bill would help save a life in that particular group. and most importantly, in all groups.

with that, though, recognizing there is an objection, i yield.

the presiding officer: under the previous order, the question is on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: -- 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. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand.

mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell.

mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. 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. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith.

ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. vance. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young.

senators voting in the affirmative -- cantwell, hassan, hickenlooper, kelly, sinema. senators voting in the negative -- barrasso, cassidy, collins, daines, ernst, grassley, hoeven, hyde-smith, johnson, marshall, scott of florida. the clerk: mr. risch, no.

mr. blumenthal, aye.

the clerk: mr. king, aye. cleric climate change mr. braun, no. -- the clerk: mr. braun, no. mr. cramer, no.

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

the clerk: ms. rosen, aye. the clerk: mr. graham, no. mr. sullivan, no.

the clerk: ms. cortez masto, aye. the clerk: mrs. murray, aye.

the clerk: mr. fetterman, aye.

the clerk: mr. warnock, aye.

the clerk: mr. hagerty, no. mrs. shaheen, aye. mr. coons, aye.

the clerk: mr. lujan, aye. the clerk: mr. wyden, aye. mr. kaine, aye.

the clerk: mr. ossoff, aye.

the clerk: mr. schmitt, no.

the clerk: mr. merkley, aye.

the clerk: mr. paul, no. mr. cornyn, no. mr. mullin, no. mrs. gillibrand, aye.

ms. stabenow, aye. the clerk: mr. schatz, aye.

the clerk: ms. baldwin, aye.

the clerk: mr. cardin, aye. mr. thune, no. mr. reed, aye. mr. scott of south carolina, no. mrs. britt, no.

the clerk: mr. budd, no.

the clerk: mr. peters, aye. the clerk: mr. rounds, no.

the clerk: mrs. blackburn, no. mr. booker, aye.

the clerk: mr. welch, aye.

the clerk: mr. schumer, aye. the clerk: mr. wicker, no.

the clerk: mr. romney, no. the clerk: mr. moran, no. mr. murphy, aye. the clerk: ms. lummis, no. ms. duckworth, aye.

the clerk: mr. tester, aye.

the clerk: ms. murkowski, no. the clerk: ms. warren, aye.

the clerk: mr. heinrich, aye.

the clerk: mr. young, no. the clerk: mr. carper, aye.

mr. brown, aye. the clerk: mr. cotton, no.

the clerk: mr. tillis, no. the clerk: mr. tuberville, no. mr. boozman, no. the clerk: mr. lankford, no.

the clerk: mr. cruz, no.

the clerk: mr. markey, aye. mr. van hollen, aye.

the clerk: mr. warner, aye. ms. smith, aye. the clerk: ms. butler, aye.

the clerk: ms. hirono, aye.

the clerk: mr. bennet, aye.

the clerk: mr. kennedy, no.

the clerk: mr. lee, no.

the clerk: mr. whitehouse, aye.

the clerk: mr. rubio, no.

the clerk: mr. hawley, no.

the clerk: mr. sanders, aye.

the clerk: mr. casey, aye.

vote:

the clerk: mr. mcconnell, no.

the clerk: mrs. fischer, no.

the presiding officer: the yeas are 49, the nays are 45. the nomination is confirmed. order. under the previous order, the motion to c-- to reconsider sr considered made and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. the the clerk will report motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 570, sanket jayshukh

bulsara, of new york, to be united states district judge for the eastern district of new york, signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: the yeas and nays are mandatory -- by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of sanket jayshukh bulsara, of new york, to be united states district judge for the eastern district of new york, shall be brought to a close? the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule, the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker.

mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. butler. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo.

mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono.

mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin.

ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. the clerk: 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. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. vance. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young.

senators voting in the affirmative -- cardin, casey, coons, durbin, graham, hassan, hickenlooper, murphy, rosen, sinema, smith, and whitehouse. senators voting in the negative -- barasso, fischer, grassley, kennedy, lummis, mcconnell, moran, and rubio. mr. paul, no. ms. ernst, no.

the clerk: ms. stabenow, aye. vote:

the clerk: mr. fetterman, aye. mr. kaine, aye.

the clerk: mr. cassidy, no. ms. cortez-masto, aye.

the clerk: mr. merkley, aye. the clerk: mrs. hyde-smith, no.

the clerk: mr. budd, no. mr. wicker, no. the clerk: ms. hirono, aye.

mr. tillis, no. ms. cantwell, aye. mr. marshall, no. the clerk: ms. collins, aye. mr. tester, aye.

mr. tuberville, no. the clerk: mrs. shaheen, aye.

mr. carper, aye. mr. lee, no.

the clerk: mr. schatz, aye. the clerk: mr. rounds, no. mrs. murray, aye.

the clerk: mr. brown, aye.

the clerk: mr. welch, aye.

mr. thune, no. mr. hagerty, no. mr. lankford, no. ms. baldwin, aye.

the clerk: ms. warren, aye. the clerk: mr. johnson, no.

mr. peters, aye. the clerk: ms. butler, aye.

mr. kelly, aye. mr. scott of florida, no. vote:

the clerk: mr. schmitt, no.

the clerk: mr. hoeven, no. the clerk: mr. boozman, no. mr. cornyn, no.

the clerk: mr. risch, no. mr. reed, -- mrs. blackburn, no.

the clerk: mr. scott of south carolina, no. the clerk: mr. cotton, no.

the clerk: mr. braun, no. mr. wyden, aye.

the clerk: ms. klobuchar, aye. mr. mullin, no.

the clerk: mr. markey, aye.

the clerk: mr. king, aye.

ms. murkowski, aye.

the clerk: mr. daines, no.

the clerk: mr. schumer, aye.

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

the clerk: mrs. gillibrand, aye. the clerk: mr. booker, aye.

the clerk: mr. lujan, aye.

the clerk: mr. young, no. mr. cruz, no. ms. duckworth, aye. the clerk: mr. van hollen, aye.

vote: the clerk: mr. ossoff, aye. the clerk: mrs. britt, no. mr. heinrich, aye.

the clerk: mr. blumenthal, aye. mr. sanders, aye.

the clerk: mr. cramer, no.

the clerk: mr. bennet, aye.

the clerk: mr. warner, aye.

vote: the clerk: mr. warnock, aye. the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 52, the nays

are 42, and the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: the judiciary, sanket jayshukh bulsara of new york to be united states district judge for the eastern district of new york. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate >> the u.s. senate now in recess for their weekly caucus meetings. today the senators confirmed courtny to donald to be the u.s. permanent representative to the scientific and cultural organization known as you nesto. also considering district court judge nomineesor new york and south dakota. coming up this evening, senors are expected to vote to repeal a treasury department rule involving conavirus state and local recovery funds. watch live coverage of the u.s. senate when members returnt a 2:15 eastern this afternoon here

>> 2025 budget request before a house homeland security subcommittee. watch live coverage at 2:30 p.m. eastern on c-span2, c-span now, our free mobile video app or online at c-span.org. >> -- countries that want to come here and collect our welfare instead. is so no asylum cases. >> most people come here to make a better life if not for them, for their kids. my italian grandparents never spoke if english. i never had a conversation with them, and yet they made america great. >> this friday author ann coulter and columnist sor wrap amare debate the young turks' -- over the question should the u.s. shut its border. it's moderated by journalist

barry weiss. watch it friday at 9p.m. eastern on c-span and online at c-span.org. if ♪♪ >> c-span is your with unfiltered view of government. we're funded by these television companies and more including charter communicationings. if. >> charter is proud to be recognized as one of the best internet providers, and we're just getting started building 100,000 miles of new infrastructure to reach those who need it most. >> charterommunications supports c-span if as a public service along with with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> next, a look at current health threats from global outbreaks and lessons learned from the covid-19 pandemic. we'll hear from senior cdc officials and the agent she is' former direct. the center for strategic and international studies hosted this event.