has provided complete coverage of the halls of congress, from the house and senate floors to congressional hearings, party briefings, and committee meetings. c-span gives you a front row seat to how issues are debated and decided with no commentary, no interruptions and completely unfiltered. c-span, your unfiltered view of vernment. d-day, when al forces invaded the beaches of normandyo liberate foreign france from nazi occupation, marking a major turning point in world war ii. on thursday we'll have day coverage to comte the historic event beginning at 6:30 a.m. eastern with a remony in normandy that will include president biden. then throughout the day, we'll ve other events washington d.c. andvirginia, as well as archiva speeches and other programs from our

video library. n, that starts at6:30 a.m. eastern on c-span. c-span now video app or online atc-span.org. the senate is coming in to consider a couple of president biden's nominations, including the u.s. representatives to the african union. also on the agenda, a vote on whether to consider a bill protecting access to contraception. and tomorrow, the senate will not be in session to allow lawmakers to attend events in france, commemorating the 80th anniversary of d-day. we take you live now to the senate floor on c-span2. ... presiding officer:

the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. almighty god, as we prepare to commemorate the 80th anniversary of d-day, our eyes turn to you. lord, our nation and world are in pain, feeling overwhelmed by the multiple challenges that require your love, wisdom, and power. we celebrate that you love us so much that you want what is best for us. you are sowise that you know what is best for us, and you are so powerful that you can

accomplish what is best for us. today give supernatural wisdom to our national leaders as they seek to do your will. guide and direct also the leaders of our world. and lord, we thank you for the marvelous contributions of our spring 2024 senate page class as they prepare to graduate on fr friday. bless and keep them in all of their tomorrows. we pray in your marvelous 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., june 5, 2024, to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable peter welch, a senator from the state of vermont, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patty murray, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. 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, judith e. pipe, of

the district of columbia, to be an secretary judge of the supreme court of the district of columbia.

the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: let me -- so,presih a disturbing statistic. according to a recent poll by the kaiser family foundation, one in five u.s. adults worries that the right to contraception is under threat. one in five u.s. adults, that's more people than live in florida or texas or california. it's the -- in the same poll less than half the adults said they felt the right to use birth

was insecure. this is one of the many shameful consequences of overturning roe v. wade. this is the mess donald trump, the maga supreme court, and the republican-led senate has created. today we live in a country where not only tens of millions of women have been robbed of their reproductive freedoms. we also live in a country where tens of millions more worry about something as basic as birth control. that's utterly medieval. it's sickening. it should never happen here in the united states, but because of donald trump and the hard right, it's reality. today the senate has the chance to protect reproductive rights by advancing the right to contraception act. i thank my good friends, senators hirono and markey, for champ championing this bill. i thank every senator and every advocate and every concerned citizen who raised their voice

supporting this bill. in a perfect world a bill saying you can access birth control without government interference should not be necessary, but gi erosion of reproductive rights in america, today it is absolutely vital. so i'll be proud to vote yes today. i urge all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do the same. sometimes the right answer is the obvious one. if republicans truly support protecting access to birth cont then they should vote yes on moving this bill forward. now we've heard a number of very anxious arguments from the other side against moving forward on the right to contraception act. we've heard that it radically expands access to abortion. we've been told it stomps all over religious liberties. we've heard this issue is much ado about nothing. at best these retorts are feeble and predictable, and at worst they're dangerous. let's set the record straight. o

contraception act undermines religious liberty, the opposite is true. this bill absolutely protects religious liberties. there is nothing in the text forcing anyone to provide contraception if it contradicts their own beliefs. should this bill pass, the religious freedom restoration act would remain the law of the land. to those who say outlandishly that this bill expands abortion access, that is false. full stop. i invite americans to read this bill for themselves. there is nothing, nothing in this bill about abortion. to suggest this bill expands abortion is vulgar fearmongering, plain and simple. the reason we hear these claims is because republican colleagues don't want to say the quiet part out loud. the gop, the republican party here in the senate has been totally captured by the radical ga which is totally opposed to protecting reproductive rights.

even birth control, which of course 90% of americans support. make no mistake, if republicans get into power, the maga right will push for a national abortion ban and the total elimination of reproductive care. finally of course there' the more devious claim that the right to contraception act is much ado about nothing, that it's unnecessary, that birth control could never possibly ll under risk. well, remember people said the same thing about roe, that it could never be overturned, and then tragically, unfortunately it was. because donald trump and the republican senate filled the supreme court with maga radicals who followed through with the hard right's goal of eliminating freedom of choice. and who knows how far the hard right will go. a few years ago it was roe. a few years from now something else. justice thomas himself opened the door to undoing protections for birth control in his

dissenting opinion in dobbs. we are kidding ourselves if we think the hard right is done with their attacks on reproductive rights. and let's be perfectly clear. attacks against birth control aren't theoretical bug-a-boos. it's happening at the state level. to those who argue federal controls on birth control are necessary, ask the people of virginia what they think after the republican governor vetoed, vetoed a bill that would have protected concepts at the state level. as they think after their republican governor also vet to birth control. to those who say birth control will never fall at risk, ask the ■lpeople of arizona or florida idaho or iowa or missouri. in each of these states republican governors or republican state legislators are on record blocking protections for birth control access in one

form or another. let there be no mistake. in the aftermath after roe's demise, the threat to birth controls very, very real and that is why it is so important this is a simple bill and a simple vote. if you believe all women deserve to have contraception, then you should vote for this bill. that's all there is to it. 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. ■e

he was so proud to be in the u.s. army come proud to wear the uniform and defend our freedoms. the chairman's were bad, the food that come fossils that so i . none of step two is an frequent as americans would be possible without the dedicated service of our brave heroes like my father and those who have why i througe as governor i made my mission to turn are sticking to the most active duty military and veteran friendly state in the nation by championing important legislation and funding to support priorities that matter most to floridians, active

military and veteran families. fighting for heroes can to be one of our top priorities. always do everything i can to support our veterans and their families so they can succeed and pursue the drink in our state. i'm proud to be a a cosponsord supportive dozens of veterans bills in the seven including elizabeth dole home care act, major riches for and the pact act. our veterans showed up and sacrifice so much. it's important we show up to support them after their service and make sure that every resource they need. it's imperative today to recognize the critical role played by our country's 5.5 million military caregivers who range from spouses, parents, children, friends and family members who dedicate their lives and often give up so much to care for those who serve our country. i have the greatest honor of serving as trend senator represent veterans i will caregivers come hard working for the families and the american people. thank you, chair tester. >> senator moran. >> thank you. i thank you in the senator scott

for leading this hearing today and i welcome our witnesses and look forward to the testimony. caregivers who are often overlooked■ and forgotten simply have a profound impact on our nation's veterans. they are invaluable in making certain veterans with even the most complex conditions receive the care and dignity that they deserve. it's disheartening to hear to frequently■g from dedicated caregivers in kansas and elsewhere about the numerous obstacles they face in dealing with the department of veterans affairs. i've heard from caregiver so denied services from the family caregivers program for fake recent and in some cases were only given a one sentence explanation. in far too many cases and a lot of what i know about this is what veterans and their caregivers tell me and what casework we do in our office to try to solve those problems. far too often in these cases the v.a. has failing to provide families with the clear detailed

explanation of how to appeal a a decision what other v.a. programs and services they might be eligible for. this lisa caregiver and veterans alike in limbo uncertain how to get the support they so desperately need. congress expands the family caregiver program to veterans of all ages in the mission act which was signed into law six tomorrow. while i expect there to b growing pains that's to be expected when the vehicle simply letting new legislation, it's always disappointing to hear expanded family caregiver program is not and a better place than it is today. as we continue to wait for the v.a. to issue new regulations i look for to hearing from her witnesses about the family caregiver program, outmost evolved to provide and veterans the support they need. ihe elizabeth dole home care act which would address the needs of veterans caregivers and her families. this legislation if implement

correctly would make it easier for veterans to stay at home as a age by expanding and improving the das home and community based programs. almost half of the a patient population is over 65 and we know an increasing number of those veterans want to live at home surrounded by their families in their communities and loved ones. rather than the transition into a nursing home. v.a. should honor veterans preference is when, where and how to receive care. i also look for to discussing how congress and the v.a. can better support state pattern homes which play a critical role in caring for veterans across the country. we have two interstellar trying to develop a third, and the process were going through to accomplish that third one is amazingly slow. again thanks for witnesses and to my colleagues on aging of veterans affairs committees for being here today. with that, mr. chairman, i

yield. >> i want to thank both of you and congressman scott for testimonies -- what? jesus. you skipped that as i did. thank you very much. senator scott, sorry about that. i'm going to introduce the first witness today and then we'll introduce the site once before they come up to speak. the first witness is from casey country, his name is peter townsend. eastham auburn township in the great state of pennsylvania. mr. townsend served in the united states army on active duty from 1982-1986. he later worked as a physician assistant until early retirement in 2014. sorry, i'm taking her thunder. in 2014 due to to convocations from primary progressive multiple sclerosis. he succumbed to buy his wife lisa who serve as his full-time

caregiver. i want to thank you both for being here today. and unless bob is something you like to add you can progress with your testimony, mr. townsend. >> chairman casey, chairman testa, ranking member bron in moran and establishment of the committee's, thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today regarding my experiences with caregiver support services available tough the v.a. i name is peter townsend uncollared 60, and live in pennsylvania with my wife lisa is also my caregiver. i served on active duty and e united states army from 1982- 1982-1986 following my discharge in 1986 1986 i went on to r over two decades as a physician assistant for retiring prematurely due to convocations of multiple sclerosis. as my disease progressed i began to experience significant difficulties with mobility, fatigue, cognition and bowel and

bladder dysfunction among others. today i rely upon a power wheelcir when out in the community and a walker to emulate for distances at home. through conversation with fellow veterans i learn ms was a medical condition via recognized as a service-connected disease and with the assistance of paralyzed veterans of america of which i'm a membee to successfully filed a claim and now rated 100% service disabled due to ms. as my symptoms progress i began to rely more on the assistance of my wife lisa. my ms can vary dramatically. although most days are good days where i can function fairly independently, when you have a flute or exacerbation i can become temporarily incapacitated. during these times i rely very heavily upon lisa or assistae with a bright of activities to include intermittent catheterization, transfers, 20, personal hygiene, dressing and meal preparation. i've had no fewer than three of

these episodes already this year. prior to leaving the workforce, lisa have been working as ase manager for keystone community resources, eventual as my condition deteriorated lisa decide to retire early from her position at age 612 become my full-time caregiver. around this time primarily through a process of self education and online resources, we learned of the das program of copperheads of assistance for family caregivers. we applied with eligible open to veterans of all service areas and october 2022. and virtually our application was denied. as i understand it we were denied due to the v.a. determination but he did not require assistance with the performance of certain activities of daily living. each time that activity was performed or at the level of assistance did not quote rise to the level required to participate.

this strict interpretation of the eligibility criteria by the v.a. is of particular concern to veterans like myself. with metal conditions who symptoms are highly variable and unpredictable. lisa was eventually enrolled into the program of general caregiver support services, wever, this transition was not automatic and we went for some time thinking we were enrolled in the general program although we were not. one of the most valuable benefits of the program of copperheads of assistance is the availability of medical insurance coverage for caregivers through the civilian health and medical program the department of veterans affairs. it was the only way we could afford for lisa to retire early lisa qualify for coverage due to my permanent and total disability rating so we did not have to rely upon it for this

benefit. the program of generalces offerr benefits than the pc afc but one significant benefit it does offer is respite care. we utilize this benefit when lisa underwent surgery. staff at the wilkes prepa arrange for me to be admitted to the the committee livingston for three weeks while lisa recovered from her surgery. lisa knew regardless of what was happening with my health i was being cared for so that she could focus on her recovery. i can't emphasize enough how important this valuable, how valuable the respite care benefit was to our family, and his comforting to know it will be there if we need again in the future. throughout this journey our goal has been to create an environment that allows me to live in our home as long as possible, , and to avoid the ned for long-te■x care. participation in these days caregiver programs helps us to achieve that goal.

the reality is that my current level of disability is such that are no longer able to live independently and would require placement in an assisted living facility were it not for lisa's efforts. i i would like to make it clear that lisa and i remain very grateful for all the benefits that we have received and continue to receive. to show my gratitude i couldn't serve as a red coat of vassar at the roxbury v.a. medical center. biology i can of other veterans connect to an advocate services more seamlessly and get back to the organizationhat is in so much for me. the system is not perfect, however, who always be room for improvement. i encourage the committee's to work with the v.a. to ensure more seamless the pcafc. two, to better communicate resources and benefits available to veterans and three, , value e work of caregivers passing legislation which would get

social security credit to caregivers who have left the workforce prematurely to care for their loved ones. i thank you for this opportunity to share expenses and look forward to answering any questions that you may have. >> mr. townsend, tony whether gu are here. i'll turn next to chairman tester for his introduction and then we will alternate and why don't we do the introduction first and then we will turn to our next witness for testimony. chairman tester. >> so our next witness is hannah nieskens, joining us from montana. one of the most peoe might add. her husband sustain traumatic braiinjury whi serving in iraq, and she serves as his caregiver full-time. she is and elizabeth dole foundation alumni and as an advocate a spokesperson about mental health issues associated

with brain injuries. and i just want to say hannah, it's not a short trip from montana to washington, d.c., and thank you for being here. >> thank you, chairman tester. our third witness is andrea sawyer, and advocacy navigator of the pm,y of life foundation wounded veteran family care program. after her husband sustain injuries in iraq, she became his caregiver and an advocate for those, for other wounded warrior families. we want to thank you for being here today and sharing your experiences with us. i will turn next to ranking scou that today, for the next introduction. >> i have the privilege of introducing fred sganga,, executive director the long island states that are home in long island. skilled nursing facility serving honorably discharged veterans and their families. fred serves as a first vice president for national association of state veterans

homes as a board member of the national council of certified dementia practitioners. thanks for being here. >> and our fourth and final witness is ms. meredith beck. meredith is a national policy director for ther. elizabeth doe foundation. over 20 call be dispensed with.■ the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: the supreme court term is about to end, which means it's time for democrats and the allies to bully and the justices. most recent example of risible against justice alito for his wife's flags. i have nothing to say about those attacks themselves because

they're so profoundly unserious, but i do have an observation better how some of the attacks have been leveled. three of ourolleagues have taken it upon themselves to write to the chief justice and demand justice alito recusal in ca cases. one went so far as to tell the chief that he justices alito and thomas of their ability to write majority opinions unless they recuse from the causes liberals don't want them hearing. this goes beyond the standard disgraceful bullying my democratic colleagues have perfected. recusal is the judicial act. these senators are telling the change the course of pending

litigation. this is known as ex parte communication, and is frowned upon by the aba model code of judicial conduct. this matters because at least two of these colleagues of ours, the junior senator from rhode island and the senior senator from to be members of the supreme court bar. if so, they are there for potentially en -- if so, they are therefore potentially engaging in potentially unethical conduct before the court. they may be under the mistaken impression that their persistent attempts to threaten the federal courts are a permissible use of their legislative office. but they are offices of the court and bound by a different set of rules than a mere senator. these rules provide for discipline against those who

engage in conduct unbecoming an officer of the court. i might sowing our colleagues -- i might suggest to colleagues that unethical ex parte seeking to change the course of pending litigation is such conduct and that the court should take any remedial action it feels to be appropriate. the legal profession is in distress. unethical behavior by attorneys serving political causes unfortunately knows no party or faction. it is up to the legal profession to police itself, and in the end this means the courts, including the supreme court, must police their officers. we don't need to appeal to heaven to fix this problem.

just as the supreme court's power to police the ethical practice of law among the members of the bar. now, on another matter, unaccountable international judicial have made headlines in recent self-aggrandizing international criminal court whose rogue prosecutors sought preposterous arrest warf" nts for israeli leaders in a grotesque attempt to grow an with hamas terrorists. the tribunal for the law of the sea has issued an advisory opinion that seeks to establish an international law requirement to regulate greenhouse gases including a right of action against wealthy industrialized nations.

"the new york times" reports that such an opinion is unsurprisinglyo lead to wide-ranging claims for damages against polluting nations. the paper of record also tells us the court of justice is also -- of the matter. climate justice warriors are swooning as they contemplate the largess they might receive from the redistributed lawfare. this is a money grab and a power grab, pure and simple. all of this unaccountable global socialism is just another reason president reagan refused to sign the u.n. convention on the law of the sea and why the senate has rightly refused to ratify it. at this point, it should be called the icc of the sea. i know some of myself colleagues

believe we should ratify this treaty and they means on both sides of the aisle to ask themselves if they're willing to put u.s. sovereignty into the hands of the icc of the sea. no country or entity has done more to protect the freedom of navigation than the united states. the u.s. and allied -- aallied navies are the ones who protect commercial shipping lanes, the global economy relies on. and self-important jury identifies of the -- jurists of the icc of the sea would do well hand that feeds. fact the now on one final matter, since president biden took office, the cost of energy has risen 41.65%.

fuel oil prices are up 56.8%. gasoline is is up 55.5%. and natural gas is up 22%. this, of course is beings not news to working families -- this, of course, is not news to working families who have been working to keep up for the past three and a half years. but washington democrats are just now wake being up. suddenly right before an election democrats are concerned about the high prices americans are paying to fill up their gas tanks, but they still can't seem to correctly assign the blame. just last month, the democratic leader berated, quote, big oil companies for continuing to rake in the cash at the expense of the american people. i thought high energy prices were a primary feature of the left-wing climate agenda.

as a report from columbia university center for global energy policy put it, quote, a price on carbon makes those responsible for the damages caused by greenhouse gas emissions pay for those damages. a carbon price makes carbon-intensive goods and services more expensive. well, there you have it. high prices for hardworking americans are a feature, not a bug. if washington democrats are looking for a scapegoat for soaring energy prices, it's about time they looked in the mirror. and as our colleague from west virginia, senator capito, reminded us recently, the very law washington democrats claim was designed to lower prices is instead sending taxpayer dollars to support inflationary climate programs and other radical causes. the epa sent $50 million from

the so-called inflation reduction act to support the climate justice alliance. now we already know that climate justice means higher gas prices for working americans and electric vehicle subsidies for higher-earning elites. but what about the organization's plan to, quote, break the rules that need to be broken, shut down extractive ex economic structures and place race, gender, and class at the center of the economy? well, what about its intention to, quote, pat the climate justice travel through free palestine. once again, this the beneficiary of the so-called inflation

reduction act. suffice it to say, the so-called climate justice alliance is not comprised of america's allies. and while they claim to advocate for justice, they're burying working families in higher costs. i can assure our colleagues that the american people won't take kindly to being treated like suckers. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin. ■

we look forward to answering any questions you may have. >> thank you for your testimony. we're grateful you here. next, mr. sganga. >> chairman casey, chairman tester, ranking members and members of the committee. thank you for inviting us association of state veterans homes to testify on ways to

improve and expand support for aging veterans and their caregivers. as you know we aren't all that your organization representing the interest of all 165 state veterans homes which combined operate 158 skilled nursing care programs, 47, three adult day health care. i encourage legislative officer and as president of united states at my full-time job is executive director of long island state veterans home in stony brook university 8340 bed skilled nursing facilities serving honorably discharged veterans and their families. state fed holds provide half of all federally supported institutional long-term care for veterans yet we receive less than 20% of the das total nursing home care budget. they disclose the state home partnership provides tremendous value for v.a. by leveraging matching s the benefit of all the veterans we

serve. although the better population is projected to decline in future years, there will always be significant numbers of veterans who want a traditional nursing home care. while we agree v.a. should continue to expand home and community based care, it additia subtraction from facility based care. one of the most promising areas to expand home based care is this a state-owned adult day health care programs which helps to max was of the veterans independence and enhance their quality of life as well as provide much-needed respite for the family caregivers. the long island state veterans home operates a 40 slot medical model adult day care program serving satisfied veterans, six days a week monday through saturday. we provide them with a full array of clinical services offered at our skilled nursing facility including physical, occupational, nutritional counseling, meals, recreational therapy as well as: things like bathing, grinning and hair care. we help

mr. thune: well, mr. president, it's about time for democrats' weekly exercise in election year politics. later today we will take up another bill intended to provide a talking point for democratic candidates and the democratic leader hopes put republicans in a tight spot. but if he thinks to see republicans quaking in their boots over being asked to take these votes, he should think again. because, mr. president, we welcome a chance to talk about the democrat agenda. take this afternoon's exercise. under the guise of protecting access to contraception, something that is not under threat, the democrat leader is bringing up legislation that would not only funnel money to democrats' allies at planned parenthood but would wipe out -- wipe out -- conscious

protections for health care providers. the bill specifically targets the religious freedom act, which is bipartisan legislation passed inback, i might add, when democrats actually believed in protecting our first amendment freedoms. and this is not the first time democrats have attempteded to carve out sweeping exceptions to this once widely legislation. apparently americans are free to live out their deeply held moral and religious beliefs, but when they don't conflict with democrats' policy positions. mr. president, it's deeply disturbing that the democrat leader has gone from sponsoring -- sponsoring -- the religious freedom restoration act to attempting to decide when and how americans can exercise one of their fundamental first amendment rights. and if the democrat leader thinks that republicans are intimidated to cast a vote

against legislation that would seriously imperil american's ability to live according to th their consciouses, he should think again. i suspect there are few americans who don't recognize the democrat leader's politicking for exercise what it is. just as i suspect, there a■re fw americans who bought democrats' border legislation ploy two weeks ago. the democrat leader apparently thought he could erase americans' memory of chaos at the border by bringing up a vote on a border bill that he knew would not be able to pass the senate. i think he'll find that americans' memories are moretha. three years of national security crisis were not wiped out by a voe vote intended to provide electoral cover for democrats, just as they won't be wiped out by president biden's latest

election year ploy, an executive order to implement border restrictions the likes of which he should have implemented yearx ago. anything at the border stemming from the predz president's latest measure will serve to highlight his failure to address this earlier. mr. president, i mentioned that the democratic leader knew his border show vote would fail just as he knows his planned parenthood subsidy and religious information will fail this afternoon. that points to thes with what the democrat leader is doing. if the democrat leader had any real interest in legislating on these issues he would be working with republicans to bring up legislation that actually has a chance of receiving the support from both democrats and republicans. senator to

promote it but that's not the legislation senator schumer is bringing up because these have nothing to do with legislating and everything to do with boosting democrats' electoral chances he hopes in this fall's election. i suspect the exercise in election politics will contin. of show votes here in the united states senate. as i said, republicans are ready for talk about the democrat agenda, whether that's the president's disastrous border policies or lack thereof, or democrats' never-ending inflation crisis or another attempt by the democrat leader to force through legislation to legalize abortion up until the mont of birth. all the show votes in the world

won't erase democrats' record as democrats may discover to their cost. mr. president, i yield the floor, and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin. ■

>> the emergency detection system. >> range status. >> green. >> fire automatically. the spacecraft would push itself yourself away from the rocket, up and a mile out.

>> thirty. >> twenty-five. >> status check. >> go atlas. >> godspeed, butch and sunny. >> ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. ignition. liftoff of starliner atlas v carry two american heroes. spacecraft begin rolling.

>> passing from mach one and the speed of sound. >> you've got a good paddle up. >> looking good with speeds and altitude increase expected. come atlas and 20 seconds the

solid rocket boosters will run out of fuel and run out. >> good burnout. >> fuel and solid rocket boosters has been depted. >> good eitel. >> good eitel. >> that call could handle indicating the crew now has the ability to initiate and abort manually if needed. all looking good so far. now two minutes into starliner is flight coming up on jettison at the two-minute and 40-second mark.■u

>> good trajectory. >> clt. >> solid rocket boosters have been jettisoned after seeing starliner to his first 90 seconds of flight 15 under grantor from the was a good jettison and the vehicles trajectory continues to look good. now three minutes into today's flight.

>> atlas booster now throttling back to limit the geforce is on bush and sunny. three and half times the source of gravity you all feel on the ground.

>> staging. >> the team under and reporting they saw the cover on top of starliner that is been protecting the spacecraft dock s saw that as planned. >> stage, it was good. yep, good to go. >> the second stage engines have ignited to keep pushing starliner into space fueled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. the next milestone we will be watching the jettison.r

>> starliner, and booster performance. you are to plus 31. >> plus 31. >> out of control for performance offset of 31 seconds of isp relative to its baseline around 450.

>> continue to perform well under seven minutes into today's flight.

>> continuing to pass good news of two star liners crew. the upper stage remains in good condition and is performing well pushing them into orbit. .. . >> . >>

>> starliner converged 1152 and 36 seconds. >> 11 : 52 : 4 >> that should happen on time about 12 minutes into today's is expected cutting off of the major milestone in orbit. there's still 2 and half minutes before we get to that.

the spacecraft continuing to make its way to orbit. >> once cut off it will be the launch vehicle separation when starliner will separate from rocket and fly free in space for the first time. officer reporting at this point starliner is off the coast.

>> there not expecting to need that import. >> starliner is rapidly approaching just over 1 minute we have to continue up to orbit. >> 30 seconds marking the

arrival on orbitch and cut off e good energy and good velocity to continue to orbit the end aligned with the iss.

>> and then returning to orbit. >> 14 : 52. >> combined total 789 days space between them. now they are well on their way to repeat the journey. marking the first time it has cleared a flight test of the orbital spacecraft. >> you heard the expected time starliner will separate in about 14 minutes.

just under 1 minute from now. >> that was the last major milestone all the hard work is done we need starliner to be on its own before it can head to the international space station there is a pause in action while there is an altitude control and re- pressurizing. we will get to the right orientation to jettison for the all sentient burn -- -- a sentient burn. >> election cap of starliner

>> in 10 seconds. >> confirmed now starliner has separated from centaur. a big thank you and now off to space.■# ask that the

quorum call be eviscerated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. lankford: thank you. mr. president, the president of the united states is today using clips of my speech on the floor of the senate in his campaign a ads. talking about border security and immigration. well, i would encourage him to use clips of this speech today ins instead, because president biden created the problem at the border right now. that's not some theory. that's not some political statement. that's fact. and i can compare that to the two previous presidents who operated under the exact same law as president biden is operating under now. we have 2.5 million people plus illegally crossing our southern

border this year. under president obama, we had half a million. there's no difference in the law between president obama and president trump and president biden. the only difference is the executive that's actually overseeing that law's prosecution. that's the only difference. so why would we have half a million people illegally crossing the border under president obama and 2.5 million people under president biden? it is the executive and how they are carrying out the law. now, i've been very clear. that last half a million is congress' responsibility. we have a responsibility to change the definition of asylum, to change how the enforcement is done, increase of number of agents there, take away a lot of the appeals that are frivolous, and we all know it, to allow people who qualify for asylum to get into the country, and people who do not get turned around so they can go through a legal, not illegal, pathway. that's congress' responsibility, that last half a million. those are changes in law we' got to get done, and i've been

very outyou the spoken on that, and will continue, because we have not done our job here. but the other two million people that are illegally crossing this year, last year, the year before that, that's not on congress. that's on the president of the united states. because he created this. why would i say that? day one of this presidency, he walked with an executive order day one and announced to the world we are no longer going to do a border wall construction. we're going to stop border wall construction. day one this president announced he's no longer going to do the executive order that had been put ince president trump to ensure there was a meaningful application of border patrol laws and immigration regulations. literally, he took those regs and set them aside, and said we're not going to do that. day one, he announced a 100-day moratorium on deportations and enforcement, then continued to extend it out there there.

this wasn't day one, but it was a week and a half later, dhs implemented a new policy saying that we're going to change the way we do removals of people illegally present in the country. the next day after that, he changed the way splaum processing -- asylum processing is done at the border and removed the remain in mexico program. that is something the supreme court said you can't just remove that, you have to that. the supreme court required that to be implemented. this president put in the mechanics to do it, but is not actually doing m9it. as americans, we're paying hundreds of millions of dollars to have the fility and the personnel there to fulfill what the court required them to do, but they're not actually doing what's called the mpp, the remain in mexico program. that is a decision they made. a week after that, in february 2021, antony blinken announced

he was terminating the agreements with guatemala, honduras and el salvador so they would enforce their borders more readily and that agreement we've made with them, with the state department, the state department terminated that to be able to open up the pathways for more folks to go. i could go on. what's happening now is not happenstance. it was a deliberate decision made in 2021 to open our borders, to, quote-unquote, not look so mean. what has occurred, more than ten million people crossed illegally, and the strings announced in the last --■0 and e administration announced in the last couple weeks 55,000 people crossed just this year that they designated as a special interest migrant. their definition. 55,000 people. individuals are areas -- coming from areas they defined as a terror risk. those 55,000 individuals have all been labeled by this

administration as a potential risk to national security. 55,000 in just the last year. you know what's happened to those? the vast majority are in the united states now because they were release ared by this administration -- released by this administration. this is a border crisis of this administration's creation. they created this crisis. while congress has a responsibility to do the things that we do, this administration created this crisis, with the decisions they made in homeland security, they made and they made at the department of justice. individuals that cross the border multiple times, that is a felony in american law. ask the department of justice how many of those folks have been prosecuted as a felony in the last three years. i dare you. ask them. and you'll find out it's zero. they'vegq jus stopped prosecutions. they've announced to the world we're no longer enforcing

american law. the world has taken the message, and they're coming, because we're the united states of ame america. we're the greatest country in the world. but we're also the top terrorism threat in the world, because people come here to do us harm, because they hate our freedom and who we are. we are not doing the most basic security that every nation does, and that is protect our border. so, the president announced an executive action this week. an executive action that he literally pulled from a section of a bipartisan bill that we worked on, but it was literally the bolt-on section on the end of it. the heart of the bill was not what you do after thousands of people are crossing the border. the heart of the bill is what do you do for the first person that illegally crosses? the bill was set up to say the first person that illegally crosses, they are picked up at the border, they are screened quickly, then they are deported quickly. we change the screening process. we change the appeals process,

we change all the standards. we've rapidly affected the first person. this person has announced a new initiative that they're going to do, not for the first person that illegally crosses but for somewhere around the 4,000th. now, why do i say 4,000 when they've announced 2,500? well, you've got to read the fine print. after 2500 people come, we're going to add some new authority whose. but the fine print is pretty important. they exclude about 1,600 people a day they're currently letting in at portses of entry using what they call the cbp one act. they're declaring them as illegal when they come through. that■ú program could end tomorr. illega drop by 1,600 people.

they're also not including the cuba, haiti, nicaragua program. they've concluded them as well from their 2,500 number. they're excludeing anyone who is an unaccompanied minor. if they have a health issue, others -- so, this 2,500 number, people say, that's half of what you had in your bill? it's not. you have to read the fine print of what's in the executive order. what could this administration do? pretty straightforward. they could r now start putting pressure on recalcitrant countries to take back individuals in that you are own country. the s putting pressure on recalcitrant countries. they could do that today. the law allows country to do direct hire for border patrol and for ice.

they're just saying, we can't hire you this agent -- hire enough agents. right now this administration could speed up how they handle all the appeals process through all of these frivolous regulations and some of the executive orders they had to literally take away those things and make it more difficult to actually fight through the appeals. they could put those back in today. that i had they could end the cuba, nicaragua, venezuela program that they created to allow folks to be able to come in greater numbers from those four countries. they started that program. they could end that today. they could end the catch and release that they have started at the southern border. they could end that today. they started it. they could turn that off on that. they could restart the cooperative agreements with guatemala, honduras, and el , to stop the flow of migrants coming from central america. they could do that today. they could reinstate the remain in mexico program. all the structure is there.

the court required them to have it. they could actually use it and that would make a huge difference today. they could actually start prosecuting border crossing cases from start to finish. what i do mean by that? this administration is starting the process of prosecuting individuals but halfway through they're just dropping the case. well it doesn't take long for the word to get out to meme■ illegally corroboration even if you start the prosecution, this administration will stop it. they text family members back home and say, come. the next group actually comes from there. this administration is finding new ways to allow people to come in in states like oklahoma, my state, is currently being prosecuted by the department of justice because we've laws in our state to put greater requirements on people that are and have committed criminal acts. it used to be under previous administrations if someone was

illegally present and they committed a criminal act, they were more active to remove those. right now the department of justice is actually put youing g pressure on citizens united of oklahoma for a -- putting pressure on my state of oklahoma for putting pressuring on people who are there illegally. quite frankly, one of the things this administration could do today is to vet people coming across our border better because they're currently not coordinating all of the data points that we have for foreign individuals. they're not checking against sye crossing our border illegally. this administration and this president needs to stop saying there's nothing he can do until congress acts. congress does need to act. but there's a lot he could do that would make a huge difference, and it's not just my

opinion. i can prove it with fact. just compare this democrat president and his numbers of illegal crossings against the last democrat presidentndmber o. biden -- 2.5 million a year. obama ---a million a year. -- half a million a year. so i understand this president doesn't want to enforce when president trum■np did, though tt was more effective than when president obama did. but hó@e should do at least wha president obama did. stop this on all sides. stop running a speech that i've given on this floor for his campaign purposes unless he wants to run this speech. and to say this president needs to step up and do his job. with that, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi.

mr. wicker: mr. president and my colleagues, for too long political leaders have shied away from being honest and having a difficult conversation with the american people about our national security. elected officials have kicked the can down the road, failing to tell the country just how dangerous the world has become. it is past time to confront this issue.ns do not know that the safety we enjoy secured by a global network of u.s. military bases, diplomat efforts, and international coalitions as well as massive amounts of equipment and ammunition. we've taken our security for granted, not knowing that much

of it has been enabled by a previous once-in-a-generation investment made decades a -- ago. president ronald reagan led congress to rebuild the u.s. military in the 1980's. and i will hasten to add that taus a bipartisan -- that it was a bipartisan congress who joined president reagan in this effort. and americans have been living off of that investment ever since. because of those efforts, we've rested easy under the umbrella of overwhelming military superiority. today, though, our military strength is diminishing to dangerous lows. dangerous lows. that umbrella of security has become a false sense of security. the u.s. navy is the smallest and oldest it has been in over eight decades -- 80 years.

our air force is shrinking. much of our military infrastructure is out of date. this is a fact, and no secret. time and again, military leadership comes before congress and tells us we are facing the most dangerous security environment since at least the cold war, if not since world war ii. most americans don't know that we're longue for a replenishment, for a generational replenishment of our weaponry. we have delayed updating our military even as china has gotten closer and closer to matching our military might. the news gets even worse. china is actually multiplying

its strength by spearheading a new access -- axis of aggression joined by russia, iran, and north korea. so far china has against us because dictator, xi jinping, knew he would lose. but just over the horizon he might have reason to feel differently. we in congress must tell the american people what is at stake. failing to deter china would immediately trigger a global economic depression. losing to beijing would hardshi course of the entire 21st century. i'm not trying to be alarmist, but we need to be honest. this bleak future is possible but not inevitable.

i recently introduced a detailed plan to rebuild american military might and restore our ability to deter threats. it would be a down payment for our future. and it would be expensive. many worthwhile things are expensive. but it would be far less costly than war. political neglect has put us in. it does not have to be this way. my goal is to launch a much-immediated conversation about how we could turn the page on that complacency and get started right away with corrective action. i've been inviting my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join in this discussion. i'll continue to extend that invitation. but there's really no time to waste. we need to get started this year. we can do next week, mr. president, when the armed

services committee in the senate begins the ndaa mark-up, the national defense authorization act. during our meetings i will introduce an amendment to raise the level of this year's defense investment significantly. my amendment will be an opportunity for the kind of debate for whi chamber is renowned in considering national spending priorities, we have thought of ourselves as hamstrung by spending caps. but we simply have to dream bigger when it comes to our i hope this debate will lead to a defense top-line number that meets the moment. president reagan's buildup kept the peace and won the cold war, and it did so without firing a shot. the future can be just as peaceful and secure for our

children and our grandchildren. investment in the future. thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, before he leaves the floor, i just want to say to the senator from mississippi how proud i am to stand here beside him as he which is our national security is not something we can take for granted. you pay for it with your treasure or your blood. that is an inconvenient truth. but the course of our nation's history, we have remained the beacon of freedom, opportunity, liberty, and prosperity for otoworld, but we cannot take that for granted because we see

everywhere we look rising threats and challenges to america's leadership role in the world. whether it's in europe, whether it's in asia, a whether it's in the middle east, the threats and the challenges go on and on. and what emboldens our adversaries is when they believe that we lack the resolve and commitnt to do what is necessary to preserve the peace. and the way you preserve the peace is to make sure none of your adversaries want to take a chance to engage with you militarily because they know they will lose. that is what deterrence is all about. but i the senator from mississippi is hopefully -- has hopefully started add really critical discussion at a critical time when we sort of lurch being about a and forth

between continuing resolutions and appropriations process that is fundamentally broken, when in fact the money that w appropriate through that process is only about a third of the money the federal government spends. the federal government spends trillions of dollars more on mandatory programs and through the tax code. and we need to look at all of that spending, and we need to right-size our commitment to our -- wha our number-one priority, which is the safety and security of the< american people and our way of life and to firingure out what that means in terms of where the federal government spends money elsewhere. it's a very, very important debate. we shouldn't be afraid of it. nobody's talking about touching

social security or medicare. both president biden and president trump has said no matter what the outcome of the election is, neither one of them want to touch it. we could argue the merits of that. certainly those debates won't occur without bipartisan leadership like tip o'neill and ronald reagan. but in the absence of addressing those challenges, certainly there are other mandatory spending e which are essentially on autopilot that grow at 7% to 8% a year and ask if this still makes sense. maybe it made sense 10 or progr created, but maybe we ought to lookt indexing the amount of money we're spending to inflation rather than just have an open-ended entitlement. and then there's the tax koed. i -- tax code. i though we will look at the tax

cuts and jobs act. president biden has said he's happy to have those expire, which would result in a tax increase for 62% of american taxpayers, and a $3 trillion tax increase. i know his staff came back later and said, no, no, no, he says he's not for raising taxes on anybody who makes less than $400,000 a year, but that's not what would happen if you let these tax rates expire next year. so we're on the precipice, i hope, of having a fundamental debate and decision about the future of our country, and it starts with the discussion about america's leadership role and maintaining the peace. because there is no other country in the world that can fill that gap, and we know that

if that gap is created that it will be filled likely by the vladimir putin and the president xi's in china of the moola's in tehran kim yo -- the leader of north korea. i'm proud of my friend from mississippi to have■g■■j the co and the leadership to start this discussion. it could be more important and it could not be more urgent. mr. president, let me turn to another crisis, and that is the one on our southern border. since president biden took office, u.s. customs and border patrol has recorded 7.8 million

illegal crossings at the southern border. just to provide context, in over three years, we logged twice as many illegal b the full eight y the obama administration, president biden has been there four years and president obama was there eight years but president biden has doubled the crossings inou occurred in president obama's eight years in office. president biden has neglected the border. for so long it's now much more than just a question about our immigration system, it's a serious national security threat. the southern border has become an open gateway for drug traffickers, terrorists and criminals of up a stripes to enter the united states■+ and disperse throughout our

communities across this great land. there's no question this are crisis was able to grow and expand because of the policies of thewords, this isn't an accident. this is not the result of negligence. this is intentional. in its first 100 days in office, president biden issued more 94 executive actions related to immigration. many of which were designed to overturn each one of president trump's effective border policies, and we all see how that turned out. in the three years since, the biden administration has taken hundreds of other executive actions that have made it easier, not harder, easier for people to cross the border illegally and remain in the

united states. now with five months away, president biden has taken a look at the polls and realized that the american people are not happy with his open-border policies. his poll numbers are in the tank so the president did what i presume any politician would do is launch a last-ditch effort to show, no, that's not where i am. that's not what i believe. that's not what we should do. but the fact is nobody's goingn to be fooled by the actions the president took yesterday. it's a ploy. it's an election-year stunt, it's a shell game. you pick your metaphor. yesterday president biden issued

a proclamation that would shut off access to the asylum system in -- if the daily number of illegal border crossings reaches an average of 2500. if that makes sense, why wouldn't you do it with the rsew points the

american people need to understand. one, as i said, the effectively saying it's okay for 2,499 border crossings per day. that's the green light on that. the green light is not just to the migrants but it's also to the criminal organizations that smuggle these people for millions and millions -- or rather billions and billions of dollars. and that 2499 that are being waved across the border, that amounts to more than 900,000 per year. now 2,499 may not seem like a big number, but 900,000 a year seems like a lot, and it is.

for some reason the 2,500th person to cross the border is a bridge too far nor administration. now, five -- for this administration many now -- administration. now, five months before the election. in my view, one illegal border crossings is -- crossing is one too many. i believe legal immigration is essential to america and should remain so. legal, humane and orderly immigration policy. very few of us and our forebearers were born here. most came from somewhere else, and became americans and embraced our values. but president biden has outsourced his immigration policy to criminal cartels. it's madness.

secondly,ration won't likely be able to enforce these caps anyway. in other words, they're just artificial. in order to waive migrants back to mexico or return them to their home countries, those countries have to be willing to accept that. that's what president trump negotiated with his remain in mexico policy. what did president biden do? basically wiped it off the -- off the books. now, it's no guarantee mexico's going to be willing to accept these folks. what happens mexico says we're atcapacity? my guess is those individuals will be released into the united states, which is what has happened to this point, and many will never be from again unless they have the bad judgment and misfortune to commit some crime and happen to

be -- encounter u.s. law enforcement. the final point i want to make is this, the administration has been claiming for years that it doesn't have the authority to restrict illegal border crossings. well, apparently president biden woke up yeste he did. in fact, the president's consistently blamed republicans, or anybody else for that fact, for lack of progress on the border issue. but by issui action, president biden has acknowledged that he does have authorities to address this crisis on its own even though this proclamation looks like a piece of swiss cheese. so he could any point in the last three and a half years with no further action required by the congress. there has not been a s■fine

month during the biden administration where we saw an average of less than 2500 illegal crossings per day. we've seen some, as many as 13,000 a day. and where i come from in texas, we are the front door through which these migrants enter. 1200 miles of border with mexico, some go to arizona, some go to california. but most of them come through texas. during the slowest month, which the president's -- which was the president's first full month in office, we saw an average of 3500 illegal crossings a day. president biden could have stopped the wave of illegal immigration at any point in the last three and a half years, but he simply ignored the crisis until five months before an election. it sounds like election eve conversion to me. the president's latest

proclamation is not an honest or serious attempt to address the border crisis. it's nothing more than a last-ditch effort to deceive voters into thinking he's gotten religion, that he's serious about it this time. it's just not credible. the american people have seen how president biden has handled the crisis for more than three years and they won't be fooled by this 11th hour gambit. mr. president, finally, let me just say a word about how we are k conducting business here in the united states senate. when our colleagues on the other side of the aisle took the majority three years ago, the majority leader, therk, promise way of legislating.

in his maiden speech as majority leader, he stood here on the senate floor and he said, quote, as the majority of the senate changes hands, the senate will do business differently. close quote. , he was absolutel about that, but i don't think it's exactly what any of us envisioned. under democratic control, the senate has turned into an folloa schedule that most american workers would envy. look at the calendar this month as an example. under the leadership of senator schumer, the senate will be in session two and a half days a week, not 40 -- not a 40-hour workweek, but two and a half days a week. two and a half days next week, and two and a half days the week

after that. we wrap-up the senate's work for the month of june. july is just as bad when it comes to the senate's lack of work ethic. when the senate returns after t -- after the fourth of july, we will be in session break for on i guess we'll be exhausted from that one full week back and then we'll come back for a two-week work period and then, guessed it, the senate will gavel out until after labor day. we'll be exhausted by those two and a half day work weeks and then the sprint to the august recess. including this week, which is almost finished, the senate's only scheduled to be in session

for nine weeks before the for nine weeks before the election. that's five months off. we'll be in session nine weeks. election day is exactly five months away and the senate is not breaking any records for our productivity or our willingness toe on hard problems that seem to surround us everywhere. given the fact we're only working a maximum of four weeks, that's the rare occasion we're working four days a week, my staff calls these miracle mondays where we don't actually come back and start voting until tuesda of here thursday afternoon. but on the rare occasion we're working four days a week, that doesn't leave much time to get the american people's work done.

and trust me, we have a lot of work to do. one of the things that i think issú an insult to the american people is given the lack of productivity or the lack of willingness to deal with the challenges that face us, senator schumer schedules a vote on contraception this afternoon as if this were somehow nt is legal, to my knowledge. it's not in any jeopardy. and yet senator schumer wants to schedule a show vote that suggests that somehow it is, maybe striking fear or anxiety in the minds of some people that that is in jeopardy. it's just absurd. and it's of time. and it's a distraction from doing the other things that we

should be doing that are so important. we need to pass all 12 government funding bills before the end of september. we need to pass the defense authorization bill, something we've done more than 60 years in a row. and then the farm bill. that's 14 separate bills that need to pass in the next nine weeks. so will we do■wit? no. so this lengthy to do list, why is the senate wasting its time? the time we're actually in session? well, like most weeks, we spent the jorpt of this time -- majorityf this time voting on more of president biden's nominees. before the senate gavels out this evening, we'll take another partisan show vote, as i said, that was teed up by the majority leader. this is just the latest example of a show vote. last month the majority leader teed up a vote on a border bill that was already rejected by the

senate. when it came up for a second vote, it received even fewer votes. democrats who voted for the bill now voted against it. whatas all about? the majorityhe bill would fail a second time but wasted the senate's valuable and limited time voting on it anyway. so here we go again having another useless, nonproductive show vote, this time on contraception. which is not in out doubt. as the american people know, the right to contraception is not in jeopardy. i don't think that's news. apparently it is to the majority leader. contraception is available in every state in america, and there's no legitimate effort to change that. democrats are using their powers of the majority party to engage

in fearmongering. that's a mouthful. fearmongering. to further their own political ji general today. the bill before -- agenda. the bill before thebeyond prote contraception and this is where there will be some bonified differences of opinion. it would force health care providers to provide abortion drugs regardless of any religious objections. the supreme court has made very clear as a matter of conscience or religious beliefs, people do not participate in this, they would -- they cannot be required to do so. this bill is a wolf in sheep's clothing. it's actually a proabortion bill designed as a pro-women's health bill. and it's designed to keep the

issue of■ reproductive rights tp of mind so you forget about the crisis at the border, so you forget about the threats to our national security around the world. given the senate's long to-do list, i think there's a better way to spend the chamber's time. two and a half-day work weeks, truncated work periods, the time we've wasted here on nominees and political show votes, this is no way to run the senate, and it's certainly not the way republicans will do regain control of the chamber next year. mr. president, i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president. mr. cruz: mr. president, i rise today to honor the life of a dear friend, alice■0 stewart. her sudden passing last month was a profound loss to all who knew her. alice was■h far too young, witho much more to give the world. alice reporter in georgia and eventually moved to little rock, arkansas, where she was an anchor for the nbc affiliate there. in 2008, she served as mike huckabee's communications director during his presideial run. then she later advised michele bachmann and rick santorum during their presidential runs. in work for me during my run for president.

i was very lucky to have her on my time. alice fought passionately for me on the campaign trail. she was a joy to be around, always smiling, both personally and professionally. politics can be a harsh arena, but alice engaged with a light touch. she never lost her southern charm, her class, or her respect for others. she was one of the last few old school political operators who believed you can get along with anyone regardless of political differences. it's telling that many, many former colleagues and friends of alice's have echoed the very same sentiment about her, that she was unfailingly kind and a rare gem in the tumultuous world

of politics. alice and i remained friends after the presidential run. this is a photo of the two of us when she came to my second swearing in here in the senate in 2019. not only was alice a talented communicator, she also served as deputy secretary of state in arkansas and became a resident fellow at harvard's institute of politics where she became a mentor for many students. in 2016 alice became a■a cnn commentator. now, cnn isn't always known as a friendly place for conservatives, to put it mildly. but alice never backed down from when she bellieved in. instead she navigated disagreements with kindness, whether it was at cnn or in her role as a political contributor on npr.

if you knew alice, you knew she was an avid. another former communications director of mine and good friend cat frasier remembers the day she met alice on presidential campaign. alice and my friend david pollyanski pulled her out into the freezing iowa snow to go on a run with the two of them. that's how katot to know alice, on a run in the bitter iowa cold and snow. they also asked me to come on a run with them that morning, but it will not surprise you, mr. president, i turned down that invitation. alice and i had a lot in common, but running marathons was not one of them. as a runner, it was fitting that alice also loved hebrews 12,he n with perseverance, the race marked out for us. fixing our eyes on jesus, the

pioneer and perfecter of faith. alice showed what it means to run the race well. as a good and faithful servant. she has now finished her race, and she is today in the loving arms of her creator. i was immensely proud that have alice on my team. she was wonderful and talented and a good friend. she fiercely. she lived every day to the fullest. and she will be deeply, deeply missed. her absence is deeply felt by me, by heidi, and by the entire cruz team. i pray for god's comfort and his

peace on her loved ones. may godless the memory of alice stewart. she will be missed. i will miss her. god bless you, alice. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. a senator: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent thatilliam laduki, my intern, have privileges to the floor for the balance of the day. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: thank you. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from nevada. ms. rosen: i ask unanimous consent to speak for up to five minutes and senator cardin speak for up to five minutes prior to the scheduled roll call vote.

the presiding officer: without objection. ms. rosen: thank you. mr. president, the supreme court overturning roe v. wade, it was a wake-up call for all americans. it demonstrated that a fundamental right, the right of women to make decisions over their own bodies could be taken away in the blink of an eye, in the blink of an eye, by antichoice extremists. and since that decision nearly two years ago, we've seen countless attacks on women's reproductive freedoms across our na we're seeing antichoice states enact rigid abortion bans without exceptions for rape or in incest. states that are forcing, forcing emergency room doctors to call their lawyers before treating women who are going through a miscarriage, one of the most awful days of their lives. and states like alabama, they've even threatened ivf. these restrictive attacks are

meant to control what women can do with their bodies. i'm going to repeat that. these restrictive attacks are meant to control women what they can and can't do withirthey're women their family planning decisions. and they want to put extreme politicians between women and their doctors. the last two years have made it crystal clear we cannot, we cannot rely on the supreme court alone to protect our access to care. we know overturning roe was just the beginning. if extreme antichoice politicians and activists, well, if they have their way, access to birth control is next. contraception has been safely used by millions of women for it's allowed women to take control over their own bodies, to decide when they want to

start a family, how many kids they want to have, who they want to start with family with. and for these very same reasons, the right to contraception has been a target of antichoice extremists for years. so let me be clear. overturning the right to contraception would be catastrophic in a st-roe world. it would mean women in states with the most restrictive abortion bans would have zero ability, zero ability at any de own bodies. they would have no ability to prevent an unplanned pregnancy or get the care they need. women would have zero ability to get the care they need or prevent a pregnancy. and this isn't just hypothetical. the supreme court has clearly demonstrated that it will not hesitate, they will not hesitate to reverse landmark decisions and take away women's reproductive freedoms.sé■g

that's why my colleagues and i introduced the right to coraception act, to codify women's institutional right to -- constitutional right to make family planning decisions. and this bill will do exactly what is in the name. it will guarantee the right for women to access and to use birth control. it will guarantee the right for women to have access to contraception. later today we're going to have an opportunity to pass this important legislation. and i urge everyone in this chamber to allow this bill to move forward and prevent extreme politicians from getting in the way of women's reproductive choices, to prevent extreme politicians from taking control over women's bodies, to prevent extreme politicians from being in your doctor's office. and if we fail to act, the supreme court could roll our

rights back once again and every woman across this country will suffer from our inaction today. thank you. i yield the floor. ■o a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that matthew hackle and josh tubbler be given floor privileges for the remainder of the 118th congress. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: mr. president, we will shortly vote on the nomination of stephanie sanders sullivan to be the u.s. repres representative. i urge my colleagues to support that nomination. the african union is the only advancement -- advancement for

peace and security in africa. the ambassador advances our national interest within this international body. the a.u. is critically important to helping find a diplomatic solution to conflicts in the continent, such as the ongoing war in sudan. that conflict has led t impending familiar and i what organizations have called genocide. it will not be resolved without a.u. participation. we should be there to support the a.u.'s vital efforts, but we've been absence. the a.u. is also a articulating continent-wide values related to democracy, good governance, respect for human rights and gender equality, all values that we share. the alarming trend of democratic back sliding cannot b reversed without a.u. involvement.

we should be there to support its efforts in this area, but we have not been. no, mr. president, we have not been there while the chinese have been very active. it is critically important that we have confirmed representatives to represent our national security interest. when we don't have senate-confirmed representatives, it gives openings for our adversaries. chinas china's there -- china's there. we're not because we have not confirmed this ambassador position. it's against our national security interest to leave these positions unfilled because of lack action. this nomination has languished since february of 2023. for nearly a year and a half the united states has been a no show, allowing other to engage in our absence. during this time, the u.s. has missed opportunities to add its voice and engagement in essential conversations on

economic and the rule of law, citizen engagement that impact the entire african continent. china's been active, we've been missing. we must get ourselves back into the game on the nominee under consideration is wel positioned to do this. ambassador sullivan has held numerous positions focusing on advancing u.s. interest in africa. she has served as ambassador to the republic of ghana and the republic of congo and as assistant of state for the bureau of african affairs. she is an experienced diplomat mr. johnson. mr. kelly. who knows and understands the mr. kennedy. continent and demonstrated mr. king. leadership skills that will serve us well at the a.u. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. headquarters. i urge my colleagues to vote yes mr. lee. on cloture and yes on the mr. lujan. confirmation of ambassador ms. lummis. stephanie sullivan to be the

mr. manchin. next u.s. ambassador to the mr. markey. african union. let's get this done and let's mr. marshall. get this done today. with that, mr. president, i would yield the floor. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin. the presiding officer: the question occurs on the nomination. is there a second? there appears to be. ms. murkowski. the clerk will call the roll. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. vote: mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. ricketts. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mr. risch. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. romney. mr. brown. ms. rosen. mr. budd. ms. butler. ms. cantwell. mr. rounds. mrs. capito.■ mr. cardin. mr. rubio. mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. sanders. mr. cassidy. mr. schatz.oj mr. schmitt. mr. schumer.

mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. ms. collins. mrs. shaheen. mr. coons. ms. sinema. ms. smith. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. ms. stabenow. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. sullivan. mr. crapo. mr. tester. mr. cruz. mr. thune. mr. daines. mr. tillis. ms. duckworth. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. vance. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. durbin. mr. welch. ms. ernst. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mr. wyden. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty.

ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. the clerk: mr. wyden. mr. young. senators voting in the affirmative -- cardin, collins, fetterman, gillibrand, hassan, heinrich, hickenlooper, kelly, king, lujan, merkley, murray, ossoff, padilla, peters, rosen, and warner. ms. sinema, eye. --

senators voting in the negative -- barasso, cassidy, senators vot florida. mr. daines, no. . m ms. sinema, aye. mr. warnock, aye. mr. ricketts, no. .

the clerk: mr. wicker, no.

the clerk: mr. moran no. mr. schumer, aye. klobuchar, ay ms.

the clerk: mr. carper, aye. the clerk: ms. smith, aye. mr. lankford, no.

mr. scott of south carolina, no. mr. tester, aye. mr. casey, aye. ms. murkowski, aye.

the clerk: mr. tillis, aye.

the clerk: mr. aye. mr. van

mr. rubio, no. mr. coons, aye. the clerk: ms. duckworth, aye.

the clerk: mr. cramer, no.■&

the clerk: mr. welch, aye.

the clerk: ms. ernst, no.■ the clerk: ms. lummis, no.

the clerk: ms. baldwin, aye. mr. schatz, aye.)gjs

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

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

the clerk: mr. grassley, no. mr. l hawley, no. ■ñ

the clerk: mr. reed, mr. young, no. mr. durbin, aye.

the clerk: mr. cornyn, no.> mr. crapo, no. there rounds, no mr. rounds, no. mr. thune, no.u@

the clerk: ms. hirono, aye.

the clerk: mr. paul, no. mrs. shaheen, aye. mr. murphy, aye. mr. brown, aye.

mrs. capito, no.

the clerk: mr. manchin, aye. the clerk: mr. mullin, no. ms. cortez-masto, aye. ■4

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

the clerk: mr. marshall, no. mr. kaine, aye.

the clerk: mr. hoeven, no. eñ

the clerk: mr. wyden, aye. mr. schmitt, no. mr. markey, aye.

the clerk: mr. budd, no. mr. blumenthal, aye.

the clerk: ms. cantwell, aye.

the clerk: mr. romney, aye. ■r

the clerk: mr. tuberville, no.

the clerk: ms. butler, aye. mr. lee, no.ix

the clerk: mrs. blackburn, no.

the clerk: mr. risch, no. mr. whitehouse, aye.rg

the clerk: mr. cruz, no.■■m

the clerk: mr. mcconnell, no. the presiding officer: the yeas are 55, the nays are 38. the confirmation is -- the der is ion is confirmed. considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action.

the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: 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 590, stephanie sanders sullivan of maryland, to be representative of the united states of america to the african union, signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: you understand unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waive add. the question is, is it these of the senate that debate on the nomination of stephanie sanders sullivan of maryland to be representative of the united states of america to the african union shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker.

mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. the clerk: mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto.

mr. crapo..0 mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan.

mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham, mr. grassley. r- ska mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin.

mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy.

mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. mr. romney. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. 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. ud ■u

the clerk: senators voting in the affiat carper, cortez masto, hassan, hickenlooper, klobuchar, markey, merkley, murray, padilla, peters, sanders, schatz, shaheen, stabenow, whitehouse. senators voting in the negative -- blackburn, budd,

cornyn, o, cruz, fischer, johnson, lankford, lee, marshall, mcconnell, paul, ricketts, rubio, scott of florida. mr. cardin, aye. mr. wicker, no.■ mr. casey, aye.

the clerk: ms. baldwin, aye. ms. gillibrand, aye. mr. warner, aye.

mr. cassidy -- mr., no. the clerk: mr. cassidy, no. the clerk: mr. rounds, no. mr. thune, no. mr. blumenthal, aye.

mr. young, no.

the clerk: ms. sinema, aye. the clerk: mr. schumer, aye.

the clerk: mr. cotton,o. the clerk:warnock, aye. mr. lujan, aye. ms. collins, aye.

the clerk: mr. kennedy, no. vote:

the clerk: mr. tillis, aye. the clerk: mr. welch, aye. ms. ernst, no. mr. moran, no.

the clerk: mr. kaine, aye. mr. sullivan, no. mr. cramer, no. mr. barrasso, no. the clerk: ms. murkowski, aye.

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

the clerk: mr. scott of south carolina, no. mr. kelly, aye.

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

the clerk: mr. murphy, aye.■9

the clerk: mcapito, no. the clerk: mr. risch, no.

ms. smith, aye. mr. ossoff, aye.

the clerk: ms. rosen, aye. mr. daines, no.

the clerk: ms. duckworth, aye. the clerk: mr. tester, aye.

the clerk: ms. hirono, aye.

the clerk: mr. reed, aye. the clerk: mr. tuberville, no. mr. assley, no.

the clerk: mr. manchin, aye. ms. cantwell, aye.

vote: the clerk: mr. schmitt, no. mr. boozman, no.

mr. coons, aye. f]

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

the clerk: mr. br■n, aye. ms. lummis, no.

mr. mr. romney, aye.

the clerk: mr. king, aye.

the clerk: ms. warren, aye.

mr. van hollen, aye.

the priding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 53, the nays are 40, and the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, department of state, stephanie sanders sullivan, of maryland, to be representative of the united states of america to the african union. the presiding officer: under the prefers order, the senate will re -- under the previous order, the senate will resume legislative session and thes.43

which the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to calendar number 400, s.4381, a bill to protect an individual's

>> let me begin with a disturbing statistic. according to a recent poll by the kaiser family foundation, one in five u.s. adults worries

that the right to contraception is under threat. that's more people senator from hawaii. ms. hirono: madam president, i rise today in proud support of the right to contraception act, straightforward legislation that would protect individuals' right to access contraception and providers' right to provide it. our bill wouldn't force anyone to take or provide contraception if they don't want to, but it would help ensure that those who do can without the government geg in their way. as republicans continue their assault on our fundamental reproductive rights, this bill is critical to safeguard the right of all americans to access contraception. i look forward to saying more about this important legislation later on, but first i'm glad to be joined by many of

starting with my colleague from massachusetts, senator marky. -- senator markey. mr. markey: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. markey: thank you, madam president. thank you to my partner, senator hirono, from hawaii, and to all of the senators who are going today to lead on this issue of

ensuring that people in the united states have access to contraception. we're joined by senator smith from minnesota, but we'll be joined by so many others out here on the floor because this friday, june 7, will be 49 years since there was a■ decision mad in the roe v. wade question, before it got repealed in 2022. 49 years from 1973 to 2022. and the supreme court 59 years ago to this day, june 7, the supreme court recognized the griswold v. connecticut, the right for americans to use

contraception. just a few years later in 1972, the supreme court expanded on that holding and wrote, if the right to privacy means anything, it is the right of the individual, married or singles, to be free from unwarranted government intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the decision whether to bear or beget a child. that was the supreme court in 1972. and recognizing t fundamental right to contraception, the supreme court affirmed what we know the right to contraception is essential to americans' health and freedom. this decision was a step towards freedom and away from decades of reproductive coercion rooted in this nation's history. in 1927, the supreme court in buck v. bell approved forced sterilization in a decision steeped in ablism.

federal funds were used to sterilize 100,000 to 150,000 women, half of whom were black teaching hospitals in new york and boston experimented on black and puerto rican practice for medical students. in recent history,mmigrant women in detention faced forced sterilization and black and brown and immigrant and disabled, lgbtq, low-income, and rural americans still face significant and sometimes insurmountable barriers to getting reproductive care. left up to the extremism of the far right, they would let this injustice grow deeper into the american soul. just two years ago, the supreme court majority did so when they took settled precedent and placed it on shaky ground. in dobbs, the supreme court majority overturned decades of

ttled precedent to strip away the constitutional right to abortion. on june 24, 2022, americans had one less right than they did on january 23, 2022. in his concurring opinion inren distilled the threat to american outlined a longheld righ americans had too many privacy rights under the constitution, that the supreme courtd in recognizing those rights and that the court should take them away. the rights that he was talking about, who you lt to contraception. justice thomas put thatn a preview of what he wanted the supreme court to take up in future years. emboldened by the supreme court, states across the country have limited or prohibited access to

contraception. texas republicans gutted medicaid coverage contraception. idaho republicans blocked health clinics in public schools from providing contraception. and governors are vetoing state efforts to protect the right to contraception. the threat to contraception is not hypothetical. it is a real threat that requires real response here on the senate floor. we must guard against efforts to oppress, sue press and -- suppress and repress health care from health care providers. that is why i proudly introduce the right to contraception act with my colleagues, senator hirono, and tommy duckworth. the act guarantees americans f contraception and for health gi.

the right to contraception free from federal and state government threats, and the dignity to contraception works best for them and for their families. passing the right to contraception act would provide clear and unequivocal safeguards for a right that americans have relied upon for nearly 60 years. it would keep government intrusion out of the deeply personal decisions people make about their health and their families. it would mean moving towards reproductive justice and freedom for everyone in our country. now, my colleagues across the aisle are trying to argue that this legislation restricts parental rights and religious liberties. that is completely untrue. the only restrictions that are being debated today are the ones republicans and maga extremists

contraception. democrats are here today to defend reproductive freedom. this bill is about ensuring liberty, the liberty thatomes with having full access to health care options. today we have an opportunity to pass an historic piece of legislation, the right to contraception act. this vote asks a simple question of each senator and each american -- do you support americans' freedom to make their own decisions about their health and social and economic freedom or not? of that question are you on? -- in our nation? for many of my colleagues and for the vast majority of the american people, that answer is easy, and it should be easy. at its best, this institution has affirmed the rights of every

american. on this floor, we have expanded access to health care, battled against racial segregation, and protected same-sex marriage. today we have the opportunity to protect the right to contraception. we have the opportunity to amerl fight with them and for them for reproductive freedom. i urge my colleagues to join m to contraception act. vote yes to ensuring that reproductive health, freedom, and justice is the law of our land. cannot allow our country go the way-back machine, to go back to 1965, before griswold was that's what maga right-wing republicans want to have happen in our country, and it is just absolutely unacceptable. so today is the day of

reckoning. today is the day we will have the vote out here on the senate floor to show which direction you believe our country should be heading. i thank senator schumer for making it possible for us to have this debate today. i think it is going to be a very meaningful one that will ultimately help to clarify for the american people whose side each of the senators a terms of their families, their family planning, the decisions they have to make for themselves. so i thank you, i thank senator hirono and senator duckworth for their leadership, senator murray, of course, the historic leader on all of these issues, and i'm looking forward to the discussion, the debate today. and i yield back. ms. butler: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from california. ms. butler: madam president, i rise today to join my colleagues

in calling for the passage of the right to contraception act. i'd like to start, of course, by thanking senators markey, hirono, and duckworth for their work in champio preserves women families' rig to plan pregnancy on their own terms. now, basic reproductive and sexual health care tools like contraception, like sti prevention and like fertility treatment are under immediate threat. further reducing patients' options on when and whether to start or grow their families. in arizona, every republican in both legislative chambers blocked legislation to protect access to contraception. in la we've seen the

republican legislature there advance legislation that could create a database of women who've obtained an abortion and could make iud's and emergency contraception inaccessible. in tennessee, house republicans voted down a bill in committee that would have made clear that the state's abortion ban would not jeopardize access to contraceptive care or fertility treatments. in short, madam president, every -- at every opportunity, extreme maga republicans haven't stopped theirnconscionable campaign to chip away at a woman's access to basic hlt according to 2022 data from the kaiser family foundation, 90% of females aged 18 to 64 have used contraception at some point

during their reproductive years. 90%. if we were to let those extremists have their way, it would mean millions of women in our country being left without options and forced into unwanted pregnancy and other situations that we may not be prepared for. now, my state, california, has been a leader on the front lines of reproductive freedom. five months after the dobbs decision, california voters overwhelmingly chose to amend the state constitution and unequivocally protect the right to abortion and contraception. this week i heard from martin oragu and emily attending santa monica college and irvine valley college respectively. together they serve as the youth