and now in april of 2024 that number dropped to 62%. from the "washington post" article, they also note younger black americans are less certain to vote this year that in 2020. president biden reaching out to young voters at morehouse college yesterday in georgia with that commencement address. and then there's also this from the pew research. they found that the president against the former president in a virtual tie in the presidential race, but when they break it down by gender in a recent poll, excuse me, race and ethnicity in a recent poll, they found a black voters lean, voting for president biden or lean to president biden by 77% with 18% voting for the former president or leaning toward

voting for the former president. and they "new york times" said in 2020, 95% of black women and 87% of black men voted for mr. biden, -- >> we will leave this here to take you live now to the u.s. senate where today lawmakers will be voting on the confirmation of a u.s. circuit court judge. live coverage and out of the senate here on c-span2. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain dr. barry black will lead the senate in prayer.

the chaplain: let us pray. eternal savior, we need you every hour of every day. we not only need you during crisis moments, but also in the solitary moments of daily living. our lawmakers need you. as they open their hearts to you, fill them with power for today's tasks. lord, show them your will for our times, and give them the wisdom to say, speak lord, for we are listening. may the inspiration they receive from you

keep their hearts pure, their minds clear, their words true, and their deeds compassionate. and lord, we pray for the iranian people who mourn the death of their president. we pray in your loving name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington d.c., may 20, 2024. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable tammy duckworth, a senator from the state of illinois, 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 executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, krissa m. lanham of arizona to be united states district judge for the district of arizona.

... a serious conversation about the border. democrat senator netiquette

money deposit senator kyrsten sinema arizona and conservative center. we voice of the problem a serious in reference to national security, economy spiraling out of control. the highest mother in the history of our country in december chris the highest number with the largest date of illegal crossings in the history of our country. we sat down with a serious conversation is that we have differences on how to resolve is what we want to fix this so we spent months trying to them out a resolution. we hope to get to a conclusion but we failed to do that.

it didn't have everything i wanted and it but it did have essentials to change the way you do asylum in the processing and bitterly took it from the very first person across the border each day would be detained, quickly streamed and deported. the very first person. a lot of caravan of up to 5000 a day, we can't control so in that situation instead of detaining, quickly screaming and deporting, we would just detain it deport. we were going to turn people around. it changed the structure dramatically from what was happening on the border. i felt like this was a good bill to move forward but it's well known here something my own

party beside this is not the time to resolve us. it is what it is. the political nature of what's going on right now. i understand that the problem is unresolved. estimate 5500 people illegally crossing the border yesterday. yesterday. last month we had 174,000 people illegally crossed our border last month that would happen the highest ever in about 20 years if it wasn't for the last three years of the biden administration, higher than any month under president obama and bush and president trump but it doesn't be directed% in the previous months before. dramatic change in policy. a million people crossing the

border fiscal year. they continued to come across our border emphasis a serious issue in my own party i said this is not the time to do that. and say let's do a political thing on the other side of the aisle. if we focus, let's sit down like adults in figure out how we resolve us together.

with the messaging piece, why are we doing this? everybody sees this is audible but everyone sees, why don't expect is that? there's a couple things off, lately, put out a memo saying the script on his republican opponent leslie claiming her as on sears about border security into an advantage of democrats should learn the lesson quite simply, we risk losing the 2024 election if we do not see this opportunity to go on offense on the issue entering the table on publicans and feelings about.

saying it's a winner republicans abandon us last minute. everybody in america is happening on the border thing and needs to be fixed. the white house is proactively done but changed how order was enforced on the president trump and under president obama. we had 500 people.

the border would be very different. everybody sees that. it has to be done and congress and but we have to take. let's sit down and figure out how we will resolve it. it is doing nothing.

it attacks a law enforcement officer level federal trouble wherever it may be attacks along officer, they will. coming to the senate? probably not. in a bipartisan way back to the house yesterday and to the provoked on the house bill passed hr to the company has a built in border security and past the house and came to the senate, to boats and failed both times. republicans cannot think democrats take our bill and democrats looks like you'll things up.

the 5500 people across the border yesterday, i haven't seen the number yet similar to other days several dozen were designated by the department of homeland security and special throughout the border as a potential national security risk and released into the country awaiting a hearing. as a large percentage of the people crossing the border everyday not from the western hemisphere.

there from pakistan, india, china, russia in areas where we know there's a good terrorist cells we don't know this person. because we don't have derogatory information, they are released everyday. been ringing for months now. immigration issue is not the same as what was two years ago. crossing the border, we are not this seriously. this is a national security risk and we need to be attentive to who is crossing our border of ascorbic and taking it seriously. this body knows full well i am not and immigration, we are a

nation of all over the world and wishes that. a million people eager to become citizens of our country. without one and a half million people illegally crossing to our country. we were vetted and went through the process and they are being welcomed. the million and a half others, we have no idea. it actually does. press conferences take one person passing law 60.

that means we have to sit down together we have to figure out how look at that and we are doing it. a rebranding and homeland security of hsi. mr. mcconnell: madam president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: last night, iran confirmed that its president and foreign minister died in a helicopter crash. the condolences from sympathetic regimes were swift.

the prc declared that the chinese people had lost a good fr friend. the kremlin mourned a reliable partner. and prime minister orban of hungary, whose government has pursued deeper trade relations with tehran, in spite of western sanctions, offered his thoughts and prayers. well, i too would like to extend my condolences to the people of iran for their long suffering under the brutal, theocratic rule of the islamic republic. i suspect a great many iranians would rather western admirers stop lionizing a man known as the butcher of tehran for

executing political prisoners. they might prefer that the foreign leaders not further legitimize the regime that actively represses all of them. in the meantime, conjecture about key players in the chain of succession and the relative strength of reform and hard-line elements has already begun in earnest. to focus on this sort of speculation is to miss something more fundamental about the regime in tehran. something i warned the biden administration about when president raisi was installed through a customary sham election three years ago. we should remember the president of iran is just a figurehead. the real power rests with the apply named supreme leader and

the state institutions he controls. supposed reformers and moderates, along with hard-liners, have come and gone from iran's presidency without fundamentally changing how tehran operates at home or abroad. meanwhile, the regime's revolutionary orthodoxy has endured for decades, preserved by the clerical establishment and the irgc. iran's leaders, its diplomats, and its enablers abroad can say anything they want about the regime's character and outlook, but actions speak far louder than words, and for years tehran

has moved steadily in just one direction -- towards more terrorist violence abroad and more repression at home. and no matter who iran's president has been, the regime in tehran has continued to engage in rampant proliferation of ballistic missiles, crews missiles, and uav's, while making steady progress toward nuclear weapons capability. so, i'd also like to extend my condolences to iran's neighbors, who still live under the constant threat of a regime that practices what it preaches -- death to israel, death to america, war on international commerce, and chaos across the middle east. the untimely death of the president of iran does not change the underlying threats

this regime poses to its own citizens, to its region, and to the free world. these threats continue to demand our collective attention. on a related matter, since the immediate aftermath of october 7, israel, her allies, and jewish people around the world have faced pernicious efforts to equate a sovereign nation's self-defense with barbaric acts of terrorism. we've seen it in the specious media tropes about, quote, cycles of violence, end quote, in university statements bemoaning israel's self-defense actions, and in our own elected leaders' attempts to browbeat israel's coalition government for seeking to restore its

peoples security. but today, the most noxious attempt at moral equivalence comes from unelected international bureaucrats bra brandishing a contrived and perverted authority. in the same breath the self-aggrandizing prosecutor of the international criminal court applied for arrest warrants, arrest warrants for both hamas chief terrorists and israel's duly elected prime minister. it's a damning development, but not for the supposed subjects of the application. the icc has succeeded only in discrediting itself even further as a rogue kangaroo court

utterly untethered to morality or justice. but those of us who've long rejected this international farce of a court and its efforts to gobble up jurisdiction, this fact was hardly news. i've refused to acknowledge any icc authority to conduct politicized investigations of american servicemembers as it has tried illegitimately to do literally for years. and weeks ago, several of our colleagues and i warned the institution specifically against lighting any last shred of credibility on fire in an attempt to equate, equate hamas calculated cruelty with israel's right to self-defense. putting its arrogance on full

display, the judicial junta in the hague responded by claiming that holding it accountable for this power grab would somehow violate international law. unfortunately, there are still plenty here in the senate and in the administration who need reality to be spelled out more clearly. this isn't about prime minister netanyahu. it isn't about so-called international law. in fact, the leader of israel's opposition condemned the icc decision as a complete moral fai failure. but too many senate democrats require frequent reminders of how israel's national unity government works and what the israeli people expected of it. even as glaring served exposed the moral rot and terrorist

complicit of another international organization, unrwa, the biden administration was reluctant to ignore its loud base of campus radicals and end u.s. funding. well, today's news lays down another gauntlet. it's time for the president and other western leaders to findly pick it up -- to finely pick it up, support israel's right to defend itself against terrorist savages, reject the fiction that unaccountable bureaucrats in the hague have any power over a sovereign nation that isn't a signatory to its authority. commit to imposing significant costs on the court and its agents if it pursues shameful and baseless charges against

is israel, and choose, choose once and for all between actual justice and the rule of the loud campus mob. mr. durbin: madam president. from illinois. the presiding officer: the senior senator from illinois. mr. durbin: thank you, madam president. madam president, tomorrow, the senate judiciary committee, which i chair, will hold a hearing on competition in the prescription drug market and its impact on the prices that americans pay for medication. patients in the united states pay the highest prescription drug prices in the world, nearly three times what people in other developed countries pay for common medications, and sometimes for exactly the same drug as prescribed in america. take a well-known name,

jardiance, a diabetes treatment. you can almost hear the young lady singing the song, can't you? it retails for $700 a month in the united states. do you know what the exact same drug, made by the same company in the same place goes for in canada? $150. $700 for american citizens, $150 for canadians, for exactly the same drug. what's the difference? the difference is the canadian government cares and the canadian government started acting, years ago, to protect the consumers in their country. the average new cancer drug entering the market last year had an annual list price of more than $200,000. and the prices keep going up. in 2022, drug manufacturers raised prices on more than 1200 medications by an average, an average of 32%, four times the

rate of inflation. for patients already facing a gut-wrenching diagnosis, the last thing they should have to worry about is whether they can afford lifesaving treatment. yet 20% of seniors report that sky-high costs of their medication forces them to skip doses or cut pills. no drug is more representative of this problem than insulin, the or death drug for those with diabetes. you know when it was discovered? a hundred years ago, by americans? not this time. canadian inventors, not only found this new lifesaving drug, they surrendered their patent rights, the rights to control it and the rights to receive profit from it, for $1. why? they said a life-and-death drug

should not be bargained. when eli lilly launched itsing insulin product in 1999, a vial cost a modest $21. over the next 20 years the company raised its price more than two dozen times to more than $330 for a vial. thankfully president biden and democrats in congress capped the price of insulin at $35 a month under medicare and the inflation reduction act. it is unfortunate, impossible to explain, not a single republican joined us in voting for this historic legislation to cap the price of insulin at $35 a month for medicare. and eight pharmaceutical companies raced to federal courthouses in hopes of stopping another component of that bill which enables medicare to negotiate for lower drug costs. big pharma participates in the veterans health administration,

which has the authority to bargain for lower costs for our veterans, thank goodness. they've had that authority for decades. yet we've heard cries of price controls and socialism from big pharma. last fall president biden announced the first ten drugs that would see price reductions from these negotiations. these drugs cost the medicare program more than $50 billion last year alone. when the president announced his list, i'm sure many americans already recognized the names of all ten popular drugs. why would we recognize them? because they're the most heavily advertised drugs on television. here's a trivia question he with a want to take to the next party he attend. how many countries on earth make it legal to advertise prescription drugs? two. we know one -- it's the united

states. anybody know the other one? new zealand. the united states and new zealand are the only countries in the world where you can legally advertise prescription drugs. americans see an average of nine drug ads on television every single day. by filling the airwaves with these ads, big pharma is inflating demand for the most expensive drugs on the market. some manufacturers are willing to spend more than $100 million a year to make sure that all of us can spell xarelto and ask the doctor for it. but they never tell you the price, do they. you see all the ads and all the information and all the gibberish they put at the end of it. don't you think it's worth knowing that xarelto costs more than $500 in the united states when a generic may be just as

effective. that's why i introduced a commonsense bipartisan bill to end the secrecy surrounding drug prices in advertising. our bill would require big pharma to disclose the price on the ad. in 2020, xarelto's manufacturer, johnson & johnson, spent $22 billion that year on advertising, nearly double the $12 billion it spent that year on research for new drugs. big pharma will tell you the high prices paid by americans are just the cost of innovation. they point to the money they spend on research and development to create their next generation of lifesaving drugs. i want them to come up with new drugs. i want them to make a profit in doing that. but i want them to be reasonable in the process. they always fail to mention one fundamental fact that taxpayers should not forget.

taxpayers fund the bulk of research. 99% of drugs introduced by the drug companies and approved by the fda between 2010 and 2019 benefitted from nih research to get their start. and too often the the prices charged by big pharma do not reflect scientific advancement. rather, they're the result of manipulation, not by researchers or doctors but by lawyers. -- in the patent system. take the blockbuster drug h hugh -- humira. its manufacturer abbvie introduced the drug in 2002. for more than 20 years the company exploited intellectual property laws to build a thicket of 165 patents. the way it works is this. if you discover a new drug, you have the right to be the exclusive salesman of that drug during a certain period of time.

if there is a variation on that farm la, the patent time can be extended. so the patent lawyers are always at work to make sure they extend the patent period of price monopoly for these drug companies. it's supposed to research a point where there's competition over a generic form of the drug. the lawyers do their darnedest to make sure they don't reach that point. over $2 billion in revenue over the 20 years of exclusivity and that drug is not unique. a recent study found that the top ten best-selling drugs in 2021 had a combined 1,429 patent applications filed. 72% of which were filed after the fda approved the drug for sale. these blockbusters were covered by an average of 42 patents blocking generic competition and generating windfall profits. the judiciary committee has taken a leadership role in dressing big pharma's abuse.

last year the committee unanimously reported five bipartisan drug pricing bills to address anticompetitive pay-for-delay. patent thickets, products, among other issues. this includes my bill with senators tillis, coons, and grassley to improve information sharing between the fda and patent office to ensure accuracy in the representations made by pharmaceutical companies to prevent gamesmanship. tomorrow's hearing is going to be cochaired by my colleague and friend from vermont, senator peter welch. he told me when he recently came to the senate replacing senator pat leahy that this was an issue near and dear to him. i told him there would be a hearing on the subject. i've been watching all these drug ads day in and day out like everybody else. it is thyme that we have the facts put in front of the american people instead of just the advertising and jingles.

our committee work is far from done. tomorrow's hearing will shed light on additional obstacles to reducing drug prices and how our committee can help solve this problem for the american people. madam president, i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

biden and president donald trump. the state of michigan for the president was not evening he trails 49% stake in georgia at the commencement address and showing the former president 4949% new york times poultice mike showing underperforming his performance : the constituency our president of economic.

stifle and fix polymer spaces within georgia biden support 60% of black voters in 23 of black voters by 8712%. here's what biden cuts to take an naacp's event. >> google chrome the house power. 400 young black what do extraordinary things. i saw them, i heard them and the nation present. i'm here to say the nation needs all of you and i mean that sincerely.

because of your vote, i'm standing here as president of the united states of america. that's not a joke, it's a fact. donald trump of the defeated former president. [cheering] he will be a loser again. >> final -- biden in michigan talking about the former president there this morning. your choice for camping 2024 the state of michigan and georgia yesterday and noting there's enthusiasm problem for the candidates. here's the washington post saying they are concerned about donald trump 20 pull. this is june of 2020474% for us

say they were absolutely certain about now and april 2024 number dropped 62%. in an article they know younger black americans are less likely to vote in 2020 yesterday in georgia across and there is this what they found the president has the power president in a virtual tie in a presidential race but when they break it down by gender and race and ethnicity they found black voters voting for president biden by 75% with

18% voting for the former president or leaning toward voting for the former president in the new york times as the 2095% of black women and 87% of black men according to the. research center in april 55% black voters said they approved of president biden's. a recent poll showed 62% of black americans think about 2024, down from 74% in 2020. "wall street journal" headline is mining about president biden's estate noting what he said about an issue for young voters especially black voters, the "wall street journal" headline biden renews call fire in gaza and here's what he had

to say. >> i will say this very clearly. i support peaceful nonviolent protests i'm determined to make my menstruation look like america. mark what is happening in gaza and israel is outrage. lives in holy people hostage was there i days after it watching how it began thought the middle of all and women and children killed despite desperate need of war more food and medicine it's

a "humanitarian crisis". call for immediate cease-fire. stop the fighting. [applause] more than just one cease-fire. what's going on in israel today. what happens in gaza? what rights do they have? a two state solution the only solution. >> making an appeal, post the

headline in the new york times about his commencement address and for a ceremony in which student are discouraged from decorating and signs they were respectful and spoke in graduates through the palestinians right over their shoulders. your choice for camping 2024. good morning teal, john. >> let me say c-span is my favorite station because they take it directly from the people. nobody talks about it.

i'm tired of hearing about trump. i want another substance, biden's infrastructure deal. >> let's talk about your choice camping 2024. >> i want to tell you, i was hoping for i'm voting for. i would like to say yesterday biden signed a bill for nine billing dollars i don't believe these qualities channels biden's

infrastructure. >> got it. >> your choice for camping 2024? my choice would be biden and i will explain why. independent i realized four years ago i voted for biden and devote providing for this one reason.

any interest to the black people. president biden is like johnson he said a lot of programs that bring to our community but when you look at the republican party, yet the republican party compared to the democrat party. we have one? subject on the republican side the house it is at least in the house have left. before i 13% of the u.s.

population so every black people who bought it for biden and we need the white vote to make it. m earlier this morning. the icc prosecutors decision seeking arrest warrants for israeli leaders alongside hamas terrorists is not only profoundly unfair, but it is reprehensible. as dising pointing as the icc's decision is, it comes as no surprise because for decades and decades the icc has shown it harbors deep biases against israel. this decision suggesting equivalency between israel and hamas is another example of that bias against israel. as i have said many times, there has never been and there can

never be any equivalence between israel's right to defend itself against terror p and hamas' barbarity. the icc's decision seeking warrants against israeli leaders is not only shameful but also fails to follow protocol and process in a country where it has zero jurisdiction. i fiercely oppose the icc's decision and i will work with president biden and members on all sides to keep support for israel strong and unwavering. now on the border. three months ago, madam president, three months ago senate republicans blocked the strongest, most comprehensive border security bill we've seen in a generation. this week republicans will get another chance to do the right thing. border security, we all know, is one of the most contentious issues that we have to wrestle with in congress, but most people agree the status quo cannot continue. our southern border is in desperate need of more resources

and our immigration system is in serious need of repair. president biden in recent weeks has taken many actions to increase sanctions against human rights abuses, reform asylum and enhance drug enforcement to the maximum extent our law allows. but as our republican colleagues said for years, the only long-term solution to the border is bipartisan, bipartisan legislation from congress. well, there is good news. such bipartisan legislation does exist and is ready to go. i'm talking of course about the bipartisan border act negotiated earlier this year by senators murphy and sinema and lankford and endorsed by the chamber of commerce and the very conservative "wall street journal" editorial page. this week the senate will have an opportunity to move again on this bill. for the information of my colleagues, tomorrow i plan to file cloture on the motion to

proceed to the bipartisan border act. the senate will then vote on our bipartisan border bill on thursday. all those who say we need to act on the border will get a chance this week to show they're serious about fixing the problem. let me repeat. the senate will vote on our bipartisan border bill on thursday. all those who say we need to act on the border will get a chance this week to show they're serious, serious about fixing the border. i implore my republican colleagues to join us in advancing this bill. we're going to need bipartisan support if this's any hope of getting this bill done. i will be clear, we do not expect every democrat or every republican to come out in favor of the bill. but as i've said before over and over gep, the -- over again the only way to pass this bill is with broad bipartisan support. i will expect to see, i expect

to see that on the democratic side, and i hope we'll see it on the republican side as well. this bill was written explicitly with the goal of getting support from both parties. unlike messaging bills like h.r. 2, which did not have bipartisan support to get through both chambers. and the bill we're voting on this thursday is practically the same bill that senators murphy and sinema and lankford and others negotiated three months ago. republicans agreed to the substance of this bill. it is not at all some new measure or something that comes only from the democratic side. the bill we'll vote on this thursday reforms asylum, boosts staffing at the border, cracks down on drugs like fentanyl, and gives emergency powers to shut the border when crossings meet a certain threshold, all issues republicans have said we must address. if our bipartisan border bill was good enough to win the support of the union that represents border patrol

officers, it should be good enough to win the support of senate republicans. if you judge this bill by its substance and take out the partisanship injected by donald trump, it is objectively a tough, serious-minded, and critically a bipartisan, bipartisan solution to the border. in fact, when we release this bill earlier this year, many of our republican colleagues were surprised at how strong it was, at least in private. for a short while it seemed like we finally had a bill both parties could link arms on and pass together. of course we all know what happened. donald trump happened. he barged into the border debate and publicly came out against the bill, and the rest of his republican supporters fell into place like dominoes. let me be clear, the border bill did not fail three months ago because it was too weak. on the contrary, the border bill failed because it was too strong for donald trump's liking and risked taking away an issue he

wanted to exploit on the campaign trail. he said that himself. again, the border bill did not fail three months ago because it was too weak. it failed because it was too strong, too strong for donald trump's liking, and it risked taking away an issue he wanted to exploit on the campaign trail. as we all know, he was explicit about his intentions. he said blame it onwall. me as if this was all one giant game to donald trump. he really doesn't care about the border. just cares about the politics and gamesmanship. well, we, the american people, do not have the luxury of playing games with border security. the bill we negotiated is too good to pass up. we're going to give republicans another chance this week. in the words of one of my senate republican colleagues when we worked on the border bill earlier this year, this moment

will pass. do not let it pass. i couldn't agree more. now on judge shopping. today was supposed to be a significant day for gun safety in america. today was supposed to be the day new rules closing loopholes on background checks were going into effect. rules that democrats and republicans worked on doing the when we passed the bipartisan gun safety bill two years ago. but, surprise, surprise. radical republicans have put background checks on ice by going to their favorite judge in the northern district of texas and getting him to stamp a nationwide infunction. this is another consequence of judge shopping. that deeply unfair practice where radicals virtually guarantee favorable outcomes by going to a judge of their choice. they know when they go to their

court, there's only one judge, so they will get him. judge shopping is a jaundice issue. there is no conceivable form of justice when hard-right litigants can pull a fast one on the american people. congress should fix this abuse soon with appropriate legislation. the congress clearly allows the constitution -- the constitution clearly allows congress to exercise oversight of the courts when appropriate. even the chief justice of the supreme court hardly a liberal has acknowledged that judge shopping is a problem that ought to be addressed. a few weeks ago i led a group of 40 senators in introducing a bill that would curtail judge shopping and restore fairness to the judicial system. i hope both sides can work together on this bill to ensure that nobody gets an unfair

advantage in a court of law simply based on a judge's personal, ideological preferences. we will weigh options to ensure that the federal judiciary remains committed to equal justice under law. judge shopping moves us away from that noble idea in a very big way. nominations. this week the senate will confirm more of president biden's judicial nominees to the federal bench and we'll hit a milestone along the way. later today the senate will vote on the confirmation of seth aframe of new hampshire to be a circuit judge of the first circuit. he was given a unanimous rating of well qualified by the american bar association. a long-time american people of the neuman he has argued a00 cases on a broad range of cases. when confirmed, he will be the

198th judge confirmed since president biden took office. and as soon as tomorrow, i expect the senate will reach the significant milestone of 200 judges under senate democrats and under president biden. i salute senator durbin and the judiciary committee for the good work they have done in this regard. it's a figure, 200, that we can all be proud of and shows how intensely focused we are on filling the bench with jurists who will make our democracy stronger and uphold the rule of law. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

for their long-suffering under the rule of the islamic republic

i suspect a great many iranians with western admirers stop idolizing a man known as the butcher of china ran for executed political prisoners. he may prefer that they not further legitimize the regime that actively oppresses all of them. in the meantime, conjecture about key players in a chain of succession and the relative strength of reform of hardline elements has already begun. missing something more fundamental about the regime in tehran. something i warned the biden

administration about through a customary sham election. we should remember the real power lives with the supreme leader. supposed reformers along with hardliners have come and gone from iran's presidency without fundamentally changing how chevron operates at home or abroad. meanwhile, the revolutionary orthodoxy by the irg see. iran's leaders and its enablers

abroad can say anything they want about the regime's character and outlook but actions speak far louder than words. for years steadily in one direction. more repression at home. no matter who iran's president has been the regime has continued to engage in ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and uav while they can steady progress towards nuclear weapon capability. so, i would also like to extend my condolences to iran neighbors a constant threat of a ritchie

that practices what it preaches. that's to israel, death to america or international commerce and chaos across the middle east. it does not change the underlying rights this regime poses to its own citizens, region and to the free world. they continue to demand. on a related matters to the immediate aftermath of october 7 jewish people around the world have faced efforts to equate self-defense with barbaric acts of terrorism. we have seen it in this media

about this promoting israel self-defense action and then all elected a leaders attempt for the coalition government for seeking to restore the security. but today, the attempt comes from bureaucrats brandishing the authority. the prosecutor of the international criminal court applied for arrest warrant for both chief terrorists and israel's duly elected prime minister. damning development but not for

the subjects of the application. proceeding only in discrediting itself even further as a kangaroo court untethered to the morality or justice. those of us that have long rejected the court for the jurisdiction was hardly news. i refuse to acknowledge any authority conduct politicize investigation service members as it has tried legitimately to deal for years. weeks ago several of our colleagues warned the institutions against any last

shred of credibility in an attempt to equate the calculated cruelties of the attempts. putting its arrogance on full display responded by claiming that holding it accountable for this would somehow violate international law. there is still in the senate and deeming it more clearly. it is not about so-called international law. in fact, the leader of israel's opposition for the icc decision as a complete moral failure. too many senate democrats

require the unity government and how it works and what the israeli people expect it. even as glaring evidence exposed the moral rot and terrorist complicity of another international organization the administration was reluctant to ignore the loud base of campus radicals. laying down trying to put a president and other western leaders to finally pick it out. the right to defend itself against terrorist strategies reject the unaccountable bureaucrats have any power over sovereign nation to its

authority. commit to imposing significant cause, cost on the court and its agent if it pursues shameful and baseless charges against israel. and choose once and for all between actual justice and the rule of the campus mob

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: thank you, madam president. madam president, i come to the floor today to speak about the economy. joe biden is clearly the president of high prices. people all across the country, all 50 states well aware that this is going to be joe biden's enduring legacy.

prices spiked again in april. the statistics are out. prices have been rising again and again and again. price increases have been now above 3% for the last 37 months. this is the longest period in history of high prices since the late 1980's. president biden continues to repeat a falsehood. you can call it a lie because he has said time and again that inflation was 9% when he came into office. this is pure confusion on his part. even the liberal fact-checkers, people at cnn, people in "the washington post" have said what president biden is saying about inflation is flat out false. it's wrong. in january of 2012,the day -- in january of 2021, the inflation rate in america was 1

parliamentary inquiry 4%. today prices are almost 20% higher than the day he took the oath of office. the burden of bidenomics on the american public is crushing, it's compounding and of course it's cumulative. it continues to add on every single day. but democrats in this chamber and around the chamber deny in economic reality, certainly the democrat in the white house denies this economic reality. and president biden proved that he was completely disconnected from the completely suffering americans. earlier in month he said americans have, quote, the money to spend. i'm not sure who he's talking to, but that's not the case across america, and it's not the case in my home state of wyoming. democrats are completely out of touch on the economy because they are out of touch with american voters, the citizens of this country. rising prices have plagued

americans for the last three years. every day life costs more and more and more. under joe biden, americans are squeezed, they are stressed, and they are struggling to get by. more than half of americans will tell you that the economic conditions that they see day in and day out are poor, poor for them personally. more than 80% of americans say that high prices are their number-one concern. that's what americans are suffering from today. president biden's policies are not the cure nor inflation and our economic anxieties. joe biden and the democrats' policies are the cause of our economic struggles. joe biden and the democrats in this -- in this chamber and in the house of representatives at a time when nancy pelosi was speaker, they approved more than $3 trillion,'d 3 trillion in

wasteful washington spending. the president added more than a trillion dollars additionally with stifling regulation. he launch add war on american energy, hiked energy costs for families, gas pricings went up, electricity prices went up. because of failed bidenomics, americans are paying over $12,000 more a year, this year than the year that he came into office just to buy the same things that they did the day he came into office. that's what the american people are seeing today, madam president. a $100 cart of groceries in 23019. the cost now of that same cart full of groceries not very full, $137. a gallon of gas was -- in 2021, $2.38. today in many of the battleground dates -- nevada,

arizona, pennsylvania -- it approaching $4 a gallon. of course high prices aren't the only problem. interest rates are at the highest rate in 23 years. high interest rates are a bitter fruit of bidenomics. people are suffering when they have to take out a loan. this is causing significant affordability crisis all across the country and in all age groups. under these failed policies of the biden administration, younger people, younger americans have demoralized. they are delaying life's biggest moments. homeownership is slipping clearly out of the reach of most young married couples and young people trying to start a family. young americans are facing the costliest housing market ever. borrowing costs have soared. when biden took office, they were 2. %. today over 7%. home prices are today are nearly six times higher than the

average household income. other costs, utility costs, insurance costs -- all costs are climbing and they are a all caused by the amount of spending we've had under this administration. younger americans are having trouble buying a car. the price of car loans has gone way up as well as the price of automobiles themselves. younger americans are already forced to rely on credit cards more and more. they are developing mounting debt, which is going to contribute to saddle -- which is going to continuing to saddle them in the future. but young americans are tell you that they are overextended and they are distressed and they are begging for relief. today's high prices and high interest rates are going to create tomorrow's troubles. president biden has failed to protect the american dream. we now have an entire generation of young americans who aren't afford to buy a home, can't afford to start a business,

can't afford to begin a family and certainly can't afford to grow any savings that they may have. americans are absolutely fed up with big-spending high-priced democrats. people are ex-hausted by joe biden's high prices. people are ready to move beyond biden nominee hikes and beyond joe biden. time for a change. senate republicans are ready to put america back on track. we're fighting to lower costs. that's what we're hearing every weekend at home -- get down the prices prices of things that are up under joe biden. stop the wasteful washington spending. and please unleash american energy. that's the solution to the problems facing america today. this is how we can help make life more affordable for all americans. thank you, madam president. and i yield the floor.

mrs. fischer: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mrs. fischer: in 1969 the city of montreal, canada, discovered what it's like to live in a world without police. for 16 hours on october 7, the city's full police force went on strike. what ensued is now called montreal's night of terror. the city rang out with gunshots, glass shotering and flames erupting just three hours after the strike began, the first bank was robbed. robbers stormed nine more before the police returned. thefts, vandalism, and mob

violence took the city by storm. there were 450 break-ins and over 30 armed hold-ups. a crowd 800-strong overtook a bus and set vehicles ablaze. the government sent provincial police and armed officers into the city but by then the chaos was already in full force. a sniper shot one officer, killing him. the result of montreal's result of terror was two dead men, dozens of injuries, over a hundred arrests and close to $3 million in property damage. less than a day without police was a nightmare for montreal. here in america we often take

our strong police force for granted. we enjoy the safety and protection of law enforcement sometimes without even realizing it. but if trends continue, we will inch closer to living the nightmare of a world without police. in 2022, almost 50% more officers resigned than in 2019. almost 20% more officers retired. the number of police officers nationwide decreased by 4,000 between 2020 and 2023. a study in 2023 found that over the prior two years, at least 12 american towns completely

dissolved their police departments. i've been speaking with law enforcement in nebraska and around the country about growing staffing challenges for years. i greatly respect the state and local control of law enforcement agencies, so i always ask them how i can make existing federal tools more supportive of their work. based on those conversations, i introduced the recruit and retain act, which the house passed last week. i am thankful to the nebraska officers and sheriffs who collaborated with me to craft legislation with bipartisan appeal. as retirements increase and new applications decline, departments are shrinking, burdening the officers who are trying to keep them afloat.

understaffed departments are doing their best to keep up, but they don't always have the resources to hire all the officers that they need. the recruit and retain act offers them better access to resources to reverse this trend. my legislation improves the department of justice's community-oriented policing services, or cops, the hiring grant program. the bill extends cops grants for specific onboarding expenses like psychological evaluations and background checks. it also provides clear guidance to the understaffed agencies applying for this funding, and it alleviates administrative burdens that come with those applications. these changes will allow departments to consider more applicants and hire more officers.

recruit and retain also establishes the pipeline partnership program to promote student interest in law enforcement careers. departments and local schools will work together to launch mentorships opportunities that give young people an inside look at law enforcement work. this will not only create a hiring pipeline for police departments, but it will also strengthen community relationships with law enforcement. finally, my bill directs the government accountability office to investigate the causes of recent recruitment challenges and those effects on public safety. we see some of these causes and effects already. antipolice movements like far-left defund the police -- that's demonized our law enforcement. and we've seen rising crime

levels in places like portland and minneapolis and new york city after they cut funding for their police departments. nonetheless, we haven't seen comprehensive studies that evaluate all levels of law enforcement in agencies of all sizes across the country. to address staffing issues, we need to have the data on exactly what is causing these problems and how they are compromising the safety of our communities. these are practical changes that take our law enforcement a step forward in rebuilding their departments, a goal that will serve officers and serve local communities, and it will serve our nation as a whole. our police and other law enforcement officers, they do

the essential work to keep us safe and secure. choosing not to support them is to choose chaos, lawlessness, and nightmare. but by passing my bill, the house and the senate have both chosen to support our police as they face these staffing challenges. i urge president biden to do the same by signing the recruit and retain act into law. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor

# . a senator: madam president.

the presiding officer: the senator from texas. is en we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. cornyn: last thursday night as i was sitting on my airplane scheduled to go to houston, texas, a severe storm slammed the entire eastern portion of our state, bringing heavy rains, roaring winds and flooding to millions of people in the area. now houston and southeast texas are no strangers to hurricanes and natural disasters, but this was something altogether different. 100 miles-per-hour winds ripped through the region tearing windows out of skyscrapers in downtown houston and toppling transmission towers, power lines, and uprooting trees. homes, businesses, roads, and vehicles were damaged by the storms, and sadly, at least eight texans have lost their

lives. shortly after the storm, more than one million texans lost power, and it's starting to get warm in texas as we approach the summer, and some 200,000 homes remain without electricity or air conditioning. today more than 50 campuses across the houston independent school district are closed due to power outages. as i said, the houston region is no stranger to storms, and texans did as they always do. they immediately mobilized to support those who suffered the worst impact. i want to commend the brave first responders and volunteers and just the good neighbors who supported the emergency response over the last several days as well as the crews who are working to clear debris and restore power even as i speak.

as we move from rescue to recovery efforts, my team and i are prepared to help in any way we can to help those communities rebuild. madam president, now on another matter, we know we're about six months out from the next election. and as president biden campaigns for another term, he seems desperate to convince the american people that america's economic troubles aren't his fault and are somehow a figment of their imagination. last week he said inflation was at 9% when i came in, and now it's down to 3%. this marked the second time in only a handful of days that the president made this claim, and

it would be great if it were true. the fact is under president biden's economic policies, inflation has reached a 40-year high, and is stubbornly resisting efforts by the federal reserve to bring it down. in reality, inflation was at only 1.4% when president biden to go office. and under his leadership, washington democrats went on a crazy spending spree that sent inflation skyrocketing to the highest in 40 years. i know we're all familiar with the federal reserve and its role to try to bring down inflation by making money tighter. and they do that by raising interest rates. but that's not without a cost. and the ability of hardworking texas families and other americans to buy a car, buy a house, obviously those have been

negatively impacted. and if you went to the frozery store and filled up a basket of groceries, the day that president biden took office and then did it again recently, you'll see that your grocery prices went up 36%, thanks to president biden's policies. and mainly what that is, it's not about the federal reserve. it's about all the spending that our democratic colleagues have done here, about $2.7 trillion of partisan spending bills which are like gasoline on the inflation fire. finally, as a result of tight money policies by the federal reserve, inflation has cooled somewhat, but prices remain unbearably high for most families, and inflation is still more than double what it was when president biden took office. this may be the president's

latest attempt to try to divert attention and misrepresent his record, but it certainly isn't the only one. last month the president tweeted this. he said donald trump was very proud of his $2 trillion tax cut that overwhelmingly benefited the wealthy and biggest corporations and exploded the federal debt. that tax cut is going to expire. if i'm reelected, it's going to stay expired. well, fret for a minute -- forget for a minute that president biden has misrepresented who benefited from the tax cut, and bringing foreign investment back to the united states by bringing our

corporate and business tax rates in line with other democracies around the world. as a matter of fact, before covid the economy was about the best it's ever been in my adult lifetime because the economy was roaring back in part because of the tax cuts and jobs act bill that we passed in 2017. first, this is an interesting time for the president to start paying attention to the national debt, something he's forgotten about entirely for the last three and a half years. and on his watch, our national debt is now approaching $35 trillion. as i said, he and congressional democrats spent nearly $2.7 trillion in hess than 18 months on things like handouts for union bosses and money for something they called climate justice, whatever that is.

but apparently tax relief for working families is where he draws the line. but the second issue that i can't ignore is this, allowing the tax cuts and jobs act to expire would raise taxes on virtually everybody, including working families. "the wall street journal" journal recently took a look at this. this was ten days ago, may 10. they looked at data from the tax foundation and determined that, quote, if the tax cuts expire, which is something that president biden said he would see to, about 62% of households would pay more. 9% would pay less. and the rest would be largely unaffected, according to the tax

foundation, as i said. so based on president biden's tweet that he would let the tax cuts and jobs act expire, 62% of households in america would pay more taxes. given the financial pain mainly caused by inflation that families are already feeling, a larger tax burden is the very last thing american families need. but that seems to be the path on which president biden is headed, and it would be salt in the wound for the families who are already struggling to cover their pafk living expenses, like that basket of groceries that cost 36% more now than it did three and a half yearsing a. another thing to note is that this would actually break president biden's mar key

promise to never raise taxes on households making less than{$}400,000 years. they said the president doesn't want all of this law to expire, just the people making more than $400,000 a year. but it's hard to know whether the president is coming or going when he makes these statements. and every time you take him at his word, his political team comes in and does cleanup and says, no, he really didn't mean that. but the president already made his statement in the clearest of possible terms. the tax cut will expire, unless extended. and if he's elected, he said it will stay expired. raising taxes on 62% of households.

of course it's no surprise that president biden would allow tax increases on working families. after all, during his presidency, it has been defined by give aways for unlikely winners. first there's the handouts for wealthy electric vehicle purchasers, the hor polymisnamed inflation -- horribly misnamed inflation reduction act for some of the expensive vehicles on the market. rich people getting fancy new electric vehicles. wealthy americans earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year can receive up to $7,500 in taxpayer assistance to buy an electric vehicle, including those made in china. democrats passed this bill at a time when many people couldn't and still can't afford basic

expenses. democrats responded by forcing every person in america to subsidize expensive electric vehicles for well-to-do people. the initial estimate pegged the cost of these e.v. tax credits at just over $30 billion. $30 billion. but private forecasters mrart released an updated estimate which found that the actual cost of these electric vehicle tax credits is more than $196 billion, six and a half times higher than advertised. of course hardworking families are the ones footing the bill for these tax credits which dispropo disproportionately benefit wealthy people. then there's the president's attempt to, quote, cancel student debt for billions of borrowers. his administration offered

multiple plans to wipe away loans for millions of borrowers and stick taxpayers with the bill. the supreme court told him he couldn't, and he went back to the drawing board and figured a way to go ahead and do it. to state the obvious, the vast majority of americans don't benefit from that. 87% of americans do not have outstanding student lone debt. so so -- student loan debt. the 87% are going to pay for the 13% who do. many people decided not to go to college either because they couldn't afford it or because they pursued some other, some other course of study. many worked while pursuing a degree. many paid off their loans after graduating, just as they agreed

to do. this is something they agreed to do by contract, to pay that money back. his p student debt cancellation plan would cost taxpayers $475 billion, even though only 13% of americans reap the benefits. the new plans he rolled out earlier this year would cost an additional $84 billion. it is fundamentally unfair to expect taxpayers with no student lone debt to pay for someone else's degree, especially when that person dpraed to pay -- agreed to pay it back. madam president, the tax cut and jobs act which president biden wants to see expire isn't the problem. this law puts money back in the pockets of hardworking texans by

allowing workers to keep more of what they earn. that's the problem here in washington, d.c. so many bureaucrats and insiders think that the money that you earn is actually what you are allowed to keep by the government because it's wildlife all the government -- because it's really all the government and the government allows you to keep some of it. they have it backwards. it's the money of the people who earn it, and the people who earn it pay their taxes as they're required to do so. but it's their money and every dollar of a tax increase that washington orders is a dollar less in their pocket to spend on their family. the tax cuts and jobs act gave tax relief to small businesses and job creators, unleashing a wave of economic growth, and it encouraged companies who

invested their money abroad to bring that money back home and build new businesses or expand their businesses here and not overseas. after this bill became law, unemployment decreased, wages increased, and communities across america experienced a wave of economic success. unfortunately, the pandemic through a wrench into our humming economy and then president biden came along with a sledgehammer, seemingly determined to destroy every economic gain we made under president trump. his policies ushered in the worst inflation in 40 years, and as a result, hardworking families are struggling to make ends meet. the cost of groceries, gas, rent have sky rocked while household incomes remain anemic. many americans who have been scrimping and saving for years

in order to buy a home have had to keep that dream on hold because of high interest rates, and now the president seems intent on allowing the 2017 tax cuts to expire, ensuring that millions more of americans will pay more in taxes. if president biden manages to win another term in the white house, i worry about how much more economic pain he will inflict on families. inflation is up, interest rates are up, and according to president biden another term in office for him means your taxes will go up too. madam president, i yield the floor, and i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

mr. kennedy: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. kennedy: thank you, madam president. madam president, i ask unanimous consent that quinn isenfeld -- the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. kennedy: i ask that away come out of the quorum call, please. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kennedy: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that charlie november, and quinn isenfeld, who are interns in my office, be granted floor privileges until may 21, 2024. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kennedy: also, madam president, with me today is a current member of my staff, one of my colleagues, mr. josh dunn.

i want to talk, madam president, about a topic i hate to talk about. it's -- it's very unpleasant. but it's necessary that we -- that away talk about this. some of my colleagues want it to go away but it's not going away. i thought, madam president, that we had all agreed that sexual predators and bigots are not welcome in america's workplaces.

we've all heard of the me too movement, the me too movement, president biden endorsed it, many of my colleagues have actively supported it, as have i. the me too movement reminded us all that america is no place for creepy old men who sexually harass and demean their employees. i thought we had agreed to that. i don't remember seeing any acceptions in the me too movement for president biden'spointees -- biden's appointees to the federal deposit insurance corporation. we call it the fdic. there's not supposed to be a carveout for bigots and perverts

at the fdic to harass their he could -- their he could workers when they are supposed to regulate america's banks. so why hasn't -- why hasn't president biden shown fdic chairman mr. martin gruenberg and his leadership team the door? why hasn't he fired them? based on the latest report from the agency, not a single biden appointee should keep his or her job at the fdic. now, mr. gruenberg released a statement a few minutes ago. he didn't say he resigned. he said he's prepared to resign

as soon as his successor is confirmed by the united states senate. in the meantime, he's going to continue on as fdic chairman. it triggers my gag reflection. -- reflex. i mentioned this report. this report, 234 pages, it was done by a law firm called clear and gottlieb, at the request of the fdic. they were forced to ask for this report because "the wall street journal" published a series of articles about the -- the sexcapades at the fdic frn the fd -- fdic, and the fdic was

forced to respond. cleary, gottlieb responded, i was surprised that they picked cleary, gottlieb. it's clear to me the law firm, as it should have, pulled no punches. the report tells us that nearly one in ten employees -- one in ten -- at the fdic has experienced sexual harassment, racial discrimination, verbal abuse, or other inappropriate behavior while working at the agency. i want you to listen to this. i hate to have to say it, but i want the american people to understand what's been going on under mr. gruenberg's leadership

at the federal deposit insurance corporation. this is what the report told us. one hispanic employee told investigators with the cleary gottlieb law firm that his fdic supervisor made him say the pledge of allegiance at work to, quote, prove that they were american. another fdic employee reported that her supervisor told her, quote, you're a mother. you don't belong in the workplace. end quote. the report goes on. one senior fdic official who had a reputation of visiting brothels during his work

trips -- isn't that special -- sent his coworker a photograph of his penis. another senior fdic official who allegedly was thrown out of a strip club during a work trip because he groped the dancers, this official, the same day, asked his female coworker, quote, does your husband eat you? an fdic field officer pursued sexual relationships with several female employees, including a student intern. another employee reported that a former fdic executive quote, grabbed her and rubbed himself on her after a happy hour.

good god. one female employee recounted more than six years of persistent sexual harassment from a senior fdic bank examiner. she said the examiner continuously sent her disturbing text messages, including one that said, quote, get naked, bitch. the employee said the behavior bordered on the edge of stalking. you think? look, i could go on for hours here. i'm not sure my stomach can stand it. in total, there's 6,000 workers at the fdic. in total moren 500 reported

misconduct by their bosses. creepy old men. they reported 145 incidents of sexual harassment, 436 reports of sexuality and verbal abuse and bullying. the investigators in this report noted that many of these employees had never previously reported the harassment because the employees at the fdic had a real and widespread fear of retaliation from the agency's management. the fdic employees who did report through the years, who did report the harassment to the agency, quickly realized that it was a mistake and a waste of

time. from 2015 to 2023, 92 brave employees directly reported incidents and instances of harassment or abuse to the agency. gad for them. -- good for them. the management at the fdic didn't fire or demote or dock the pay of a single creep. because of these reports. in fact, the fdic often punished the victims rather than the predators. they would move the victims from the victim's job. not not the predator. the predator got to stay. the victims were moved. didn't matter if the victim enjoyed his or her job, they had to move because a creep was molesting them.

in fact, when a male examiner called his colleague, quote, a grizzly bear with tits, close quote, the fdic relocated the woman instead of the man who made the comment. again, i'm not sorry to do this but i'm just reciting the details of just eight of the hundreds of reports of harassment at the fdic. now, fdic chairman mr. martin gruenberg, he's been a top official at the fdic for two decades. as the fdic has devolved into what apparently is a hellscape for its employees. mr. gruenberg has been chairman

of the fdic for 10 of the last 13 years. he started at the agency in 2005. mr. gruenberg didn't just supervise the harassment at the fdic. according to the report he participated in it. according to mr. gruenberg's employees, chairman gruenberg repeatedly, quote, disrespected, disparaged, and mistreated, end quote, his staff, not the pred predators but his staff that was trying to help him manage the agency. according to the report, mr. gruenberg would berate them, threaten to fire them, participate in, quote, embarrassing and inappropriate, close quote, group chats with them, and throw temper tantrums

where he would throw papers that staff prepared for him against the wall. one of his loyal staff members told investigators, quote, in my entire career of 35 years, in my entire career of 35 years, i've never had anybody treat me like that. reports of chairman gruenberg's abusive behavior ranged from 2007 to just last year showing that he's been a menace to his employees for as long as anyone -- just about as long as anyone can remember. yet, when my friends in the house of representatives ask him if he'd ever been formally accused of abuse, you know what he said? he seemed to forget that he was the target of an abuse

allegation. he said no. he had to go back and later correct the record to confirm that he was. mr. gruenberg didn't just struggle with holding himself responsible for bad behavior. but he also refused to hold others accountable, too. he even handpicked a known abuser, he picked one of these creepy old men, someone whose outburst had cost the fdic more than a hundred thousand bucks in a settlement for a key promotion to serve as the fdic's general cou counsel. employees told investigators which he expect chairman gruenberg's leadership time to, quote, pay, promote, or move, close quote, the serial predators within the fdic.

it's all in the report. mr. gruenberg has not once, not once taken responsibility for his failed leadership. he said he was sorry, but he's never taken responsibility. when he was speaking with the investigators who compiled this report, mr. gruenberg denied every single solitary allegation. now, the role of the investigators was not to advise the fdic about whether mr. gruenberg and his leadership time should resign. but if you read the report, 200-plus pages, it's clear what they think. the investigators said mr. gruenberg's quote, apparent inability or unwillingness to recognize how others experience certain difficult interactions

with him would make it difficult. i would use the word impossible for him to restore the fdic to something that resembled a respectable workplace. chairman gruenberg is far from the only bad apple at the fdic. that much is clear from the report. not everyone is a bad apple at the fdic. there are many employees who are very good employees there. but not all of them. and they've been getting away with this for years. in my opinion, after you read this report, you would conclude that everyone in senior management either knew of the gross, disgusting, and bigoted behavior and did nothing or they've proven themselves to be

such incompetent leaders that they don't deserve to oversee a pet gold fish much less a federal agency. if the executives at the fdic had any sense of decency, they would resign today, not issue some weany statement that, yeah, i know things are bad at the fdic and i'll consider resigning as soon as the senate confirms my successor, but i'm going to continue on in the meantime. that's the statement that mr. gruenberg issued. and you no he what we've heard out of the biden white house? not nothing, zero, zilch, nada. if i could fire mr. gruenberg, i

would. but the only person are who can fire mr. gruenberg is president bi biden. no one at the white house wants to talk about this. no one seems interested in firing chairman gruenberg or demanding his resignation. instead -- and president biden won't even address it. he sent a spokeswoman out to suggest that president biden has not fired mr. gruenberg because, quote, chairman gruenberg apologized and has committed to the recommendations that have been provided by the independent report. let me get this straight. chairman gruenberg is going to implement the recommendations, which investigated the abuse while he was chairman of the

fdic. let's take a look at a few of the recommended changes that president biden thinks chairman gruenberg is qualified to implement. one recommendation that the report includes says the fdic must work to protect the victims of sexual harassment, discrimination, and bullying. you think? how is mr. gruenberg who issued a statement today i might resign as soon as the senate confirms my successor. how is mr. gruenberg who's proven for more than two decades that he has no interest in protecting his employees supposed to get that job done? he won't even admit he's a bully. how does the white house think he's going to recognize other predators and bullies.

another is for enact the cultural transformation, a cultural transformation within the fdic. the investigators recommended that the board of the fdic hire an individual to oversee this transformation. i thought that's why we had a chairman. i thought that's why we had a chairman. if mr. gruenberg's past hiring decisions are any indication, he and the board probably promote the agency's top pervert to the post. the most important recommendation the investigators made, in my view, is that the fdic must hold leadership accountable for their harassment. does president biden really believe, does he really believe the chairman gruenberg is going to hold himself accountable?

are the dozens of creepy old men that the chairman is protected for two decades -- put down the bomb. wouldn't firing mr. gruenberg and every other bigot and predator in senior management at the fdic be the obvious first step in holding leadership accountable for this abuse? as one employee put it, allowing mr. gruenberg to oversee improvements to the fdic's culture is like, quote, foxes guarding the henhouse. i'd put it another way. it's like asking alec baldwin to teach a course on gun safety. mr. gruenberg and every single member of senior management ought to hide their heads in a

b bag. the me too movement ought to mean something. and frankly, the white house should -- shouldn't hide its head in the bag. i don't read an exception to moral order in the me too movement for the dcic. because whether gruenberg happens to be of a particular party, the same party as the president's. these folks ought to quit and they ought to quit today. and if they don't, president biden should fire them. anything short of firing them will show that president biden condones this behavior. the fdic employees -- and there are many good ones -- they're only responsible for making sure that our banks are secure and

the wealthiest and most powerful country in all of human history. those fdic employees deserve a professional workplace. they deserve a workplace where they can do their jobs with dignity. and young women don't deserve to be sexually harassed and sent pictures of their bosses' gentle s -- genitals. the taxpayers deserve this too. and the banks being asked deserve this as well. you know, when president biden took office in 2021, i remember in one of his press conferences -- i don't know how the subject came up, but the subject of appropriate workplace conduct came up. and president biden correctly

said that he would fire on the spot any appointee who disrespected other members of his staff. those are the president's words so the spot. -- those are the president's words on the spot. and he told his appointees that he expected them to do the same. the evidence, madam president, is plentiful, that chairman gruenberg disrespected his staff and allowed a toxic culture to bloom at the fdic. he should re ssign. he should resign immediately. it's time to clean house at the federal deposit insurance corporation. madam president, i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the

senator from new hampshire. a senator: i ask unanimous consent that senator hassan and i both be allowed to finish our remarks before the scheduled vote. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. shaheen: madam president, i come in support of seth aframe's nomination to the circuit court of appeals. without a doubt, his expert tears and extensive experience at the united states attorney's office make him eminently qualified to serve on the first circuit. and the american bar association agrees. they gave mr. aframe a unanimous rating of well qualified. but i think what might be most impressive about mr. aframe is his overwhelming dedication to serving his community. in fact, one of mr. aframe's earliest formative experiences as an aspiring public servant is when he served as a senate page on this very floor.

as we hope all pages will do whether their time in the senate comes to an end, mr. aframe carried a passion for public service with him, and it informed his professional trajectory. after graduating from college, mr. aframe decided to pursue a law career going on to attend georgetown university law center. he developed his skills in complex civil litigation before moving to new hampshire where he clerked for judge jeffrey howard on the first circuit. from there he went on to join the united states attorney's office in concord. he has serve as chief of both the criminal and the appellate section of the united states attorney's office and during his tenure, mr. aframe has tried 20 cases in federal district court and argued more than 100 appeals before the first circuit, giving aframe more appellate experience than almost any attorney in new hampshire.

and still in his limited free time, mr. aframe has made it a priority to give back to the next generation of legal minds. outside of the courtroom, he is an adjunct professor at university of new hampshire franklin pierce school of law where he teaches first amendment law. he's also a frequent and popular volunteer at civic 603, which is a nonprofit that provides civics education to new hampshire students ranging from elementary to high school. beyond the classroom, mr. aframe has continued to take on numerous leadership positions, including as the u.s. attorney's office representative to new hampshire's laser program which allows low- and middle-level drug defendants to participate in a yearlong recovery program that centers on rehabilitation and productive reintegration into society. mr. aframe's commitment to his community and to sharing the wealth of his legal experience to better the lives of others is

truly commendable. i'm confident that mr. aframe will carry his sentiment with him to the first circuit and will continue to make the granite state proud. now, before i close, though, i want to a address some of the misinformation that has been circumrated in an -- circulated in an attempt to portrayed m mr. aframe, a 17-year federal prosecutor, as soft on crime. there have been distortions of mr. aframe's record in two specific cases, and i want to talk about those now. notably, in both of those cases, the court handed down a shorter sentence than what was requested by mr. aframe. in one of the cases, the government didn't seek a life sentence because doing so would have required the young victim to appear at a sentencing hearing. and after consulting with the victim's family, the government

concluded that to call the victim would likely impose unwarranted additional trauma. as a result, mr. aframe requested a 405-month sentence. the court ultimately sentenced the defendant to 384 months. but to allege that mr. aframe is soft on crime because of his decision to abide by the wishes of a victim's family is not only deeply misguided, but it also sets a dangerous precedent. in the second case, as mr. aframe has noted, the government requested a sentence of 60 years, and the court, deciding the government's request was too harsh, issued a sentence of 50 years, ten fewer than mr. aframe had requested. so, unfortunately, the allegations against mr. aframe are not only inaccurate and

unfair, but they are based on partisan opposition to any judge that's nominated by this president. those of us who know mr. aframe and his record know he has been a dedicated prosecutor and that he will be a fair jurist. so once again, let me emphasize that i am grateful that the state of new hampshire has had a career prosecutor like m mr. aframe who has so diligently fought for justice on behalf of the victims of horrific crimes, and it's become abundantly clear that all who work with him feel the same way. in a joint letter, all four former u.s. attorneys who mr. aframe has served under and who were appointed by both republican and democratic presidents said, and i quote, each of us regards mr. aframe as a distinguished and persuasive appellate advocate who has successfully represented the government and earned a well-deserved reputation for

excellence. his knowledge of the law is extensive. his writing is pristine and persuasive. we doubt there is any practicing attorney who has briefed and argued more cases before the first circuit. and mr. aframe's praise doesn't come just from prosecutors. a group of defense attorneys who he litigated against many times have also lauded his nomination, stating, and i quote, we believe seth has a perfect judicial temperament in what is oftening a difficult role as a prosecutor, he epitomizes ethiopia-mindedness -- open-mindedness, courtesy, patience, freedom from bias and commitment to equal justice under the law. to name a few others, mr. aframe has received letters of support from the former president of the new hampshire association for criminal defense lawyers, from new hampshire law enforcement officials, and from past presidents of the new hampshire bar.

madam president, i have some of these letters of support here, and i ask unanimous consent that they be entered into the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. shaheen: thank you. so seth aframe is uniquely positioneded to serve on the federal bench and i know that his unwaivingering integrity and deep appellate experience will make him an exceptional addition to the first circuit. i was pleased with the cloture vote and i urge my colleagues to support his nomination. with that, i yield the floor. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. ms. hassan: i rise today to add my voice to that of my colleague, senator had a sheen, in supporting the nomination of seth aframe to serve sasse a judge on the united states circuit. granite staters know mr. aframe as someone who brings a

commitment to fairness to whatever work he is undertaking. he has demonstrate $this unwaivingering commitment to fairness, to justice, time and again in his work at the u.s. attorney's office, including when he had argued cases before the first circuit. he exemplified those same violence in his work on the laser docket, a drug court that happies people struggling with addiction to get the treatment that they need, an issue that is particularly important to the people of new hampshire who have been hit hard by the fentanyl crisis. his excellence on the job goes hand in hand with the commitment to his community. even in the midst of his demanding legal career, he continued to find time to give back to his community. he has served both as a member of his local school board and as president of his synagogue, temple beth jacob. he has also been dedicated to raising up our next generation of advocates and judges. he taught at the university of new hampshire's law school for

15 years where he was regularly given his time to serve as a judge at student mock trials. mr. aframe's commitment to the law, as well as to his community, extends far beyond the confines of his office or work schedule and reflects the values of someone who understands that the commitment to equal justice, so essential to our democracy, must be highlighted and revered at every level and in every corner of our society. flute the nomination process -- throughout the nomination process, members of new hampshire's legal community has also voiced their strong support for his confirmation. four previous united states attorneys for the district of new hampshire appointed by presidents from both parties wrote a letter stating, quote, each of us regards mr. aframe as a distinguished and persuasive appellate advocate who has successfully represented the government and earned a well-deserved reputation for excellence, close quote. and it's not only mr. aframe's

fe fellow prosecutors who have confirmed in his obligates, new hampshire's defense attorneys also support and trust mr. aframe. charles j. keefe, writing a letter on behalf of the defensers to, wrote in the that what is oftens a difficult role as prosecutor are he aepitomizes open-mindedness, courteous senior senator and commitment to equal justice under the law. mr. aframe also has the back ago of many new hampshire law enforcement officers including one letter that highlighted, quote, we have observed firsthand seth's professional. his honesty, straightforward demeanor and overall compassion for people have distinguished him in that role, quos cloture vote. and i will add that on friday, there was more than one member of law enforcement who approached me and said, seth aframe is the right person for

this job. it speaks to mr. aframe's capabilities and character that he has received such enthusiastic support from both sides of the courtroom, from the legal community and law enforcement alike. mr. aframe receives such widespread support because people from across our legal system see in him someone who is skilled and thoughtful in equal measure, who is always looking for a more ways to serve his community and his country, who serves in every role without fear or favor, who needs to be confirmed so that he can continue his lifetime of service next on the first circuit court of appeals. thank you, madam president. with that. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the aframe nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary. seth robert aframe of new hampshire to be united states circuit judge for the first circuit. the presiding officer: the question occurs on the

confirmation. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. there is. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

the clerk: mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt.

the clerk: mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. butler. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. 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. 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. 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.

the clerk: senators voting in the affirmative -- baldwin, booker, butler, cantwell, cardin, carper, coons, cortez masto, duckworth, durbin, gillibrand, hassan, king, lujan, merkley, murkowski, murray, padilla, peters, schatz, schumer, shaheen, sinema, stabenow, warner, warren, wyden. senators voting in the negative -- barrasso, blackburn, cassidy, cornyn, cotton, crapo, daines, ernst, fisher, grassley, johnson, kennedy, romney, thune, tillis. mrs. britt, no.

mr. hickenlooper, aye.

the clerk: mr. risch, no.

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

mr. casey, aye.

the clerk: mr. braun, no. ms. hirono, aye. mr. fetterman, aye.

the clerk: mr. mullin, no.

the clerk: mr. schmitt, no.

the clerk: ms. collins, aye. mr. heinrich, aye. ms. smith, aye.

the clerk: mr. lee, no.

the clerk: mr. bennet, aye. the clerk: mr. manchin, aye.

mr. lankford, no. the clerk: mr. brown, aye. mrs. capito, no.

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

the clerk: mr. kelly, aye.

the clerk: mr. kaine, aye. the clerk: mr. van hollen, aye. mr. paul, no.

mr. mcconnell, no.

the clerk: mr. cramer, no.

the clerk: mr. boozman, no. the clerk: mr. murphy, aye.

the clerk: mr. ossoff, aye.

the clerk: mr. whitehouse, aye.

the clerk: mr. welch, aye.

the clerk: mr. budd, no. mr. vance, no.

vote:

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

the clerk: mr. markey, aye.

the clerk: ms. lummis, no.

the clerk: mr. cruz, no. mr. young, no.

the clerk: mr. ricketts, no.

the clerk: mr. blumenthal, aye.

the clerk: ms. rosen, aye. vote:

the clerk: mr. hoeven, no.

the clerk: mrs. hyde-smith, no.

the clerk: mr. wicker, no.

the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 49, the nays are 40. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved -- under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. mr. schumer: mr. president, i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it.

the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 571. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is approved. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary. dina coggins of california. the presiding officer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of, here move to bring to a close debate on executive calendar 571 for the eastern district of california as follows. mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the

question suspect on the motion. all those in favor say aye. those opposed nay. the ayes appear to have it. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 552. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. opposed nay. the ayes appear to have it. the motion is approved. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: department of defense. melissa griffin dalton to be under secretary of the air force. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 55 # 2, melissa griffin dalton of virginia to be under secretary of the air force signed by 18 senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous

consent the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, may 20, be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i understand there is a bill at the desk due for a second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. the clerk: s. 4631 a bill making appropriations for border security and combatting fentanyl for fiscal year 2024 and for other purposes. mr. schumer: in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule 14 i object to further proceeding. the presiding officer:s objection having been heard the bill will be placed on the calendar. mr. schumer: i understand there is a bill at the desk and i ask

for first reading. the clerk: h.r. 8369 an act to provide for the expeditious delivery of defense articles and defense services for israel and other matters. mr. schumer: i now ask for a second reading and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule 14, i object to my own request. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bill will receive its second reading on the next legislative day. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the appointment at the desk appear separately in the record as if made by the chair. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: finally, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it stand adjourned until 10:00 a.m. on tuesday, may 21, that following the prayer and pledge, the now remembered, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be be reserved for use later in the day and morning business be closed. upon conclusion of morning business the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the lanham nomination. further that the cloture motions filed during thursday's session

ripen at 11:30 a.m. and following the cloture vote on the lanham amendment the senate recess until 2:15 p.m. to allow for weekly caucus meetings. if cloture has been invoked on the lanham nomination all time be considered expired at 2:15. if nominations are confirmed, the motions to reconsider and laid upon the table and the senate be notified -- the president be notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the the presiding officer: the and the senate gaveling out for. judge for the first circuit court of appeal. on thursday senate will also be working to revote on a bipartisan border security immigration bill that was blocked earlier this year.

according to senate majority leader chuck schumer. watch live coverage when members return here on cspan2. >> on tuesday, separatist state antony blinken will tesfy about his recent trip to ukraine. the ongoi fighting between israel and hamas and the president's 2025 budget ruest. watch live coverage of the senate foreign relations committee beginning at 10:30 a.m. eastern on c-span three. see spent now are free mobile video app or online at c-span.org. >> sunday this year's libertarian party concludes as attendees select 2024 presidential nominee. watch it live but coverage from washington d.c. beginning at 9:00 a.m. eastern on c-span, see spent out the free mobile video app or online at c-span.org. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. funded by these television

companies and more including charter communications. >> a charter is proud to be recognizes with the best internet providers. and we are just getting started. building 100,000 miles of new infrastructure to reach those who need it most. c-span is a public service for lump these other television providers appeared giving it a front row seat to democracy. >> it next, president biden reacting to the international criminal court seeking arrest warrants for israeli leaders including prime minister benjamin netanyahu. president abdul also comments on the allegations israel's actions are genocide. the president's remarks came during an event celebrating jewish heritage month at the white house.