ripe today to complete a deal that's on the table. something to keep in mind. i believe at this point mckesson israeli-american that any true friend of israel today must pressure our prime minister to finish the deal now. there is no further -- our own security services have said clearly there is no other security issue that cannot be resolved quickly if in principle there is political will to finish this. it is an imperfect deal with satan. i have lived my entire adult life on the border with gaza. no one needs to convince me what hamas is. that's not the question. israel set out to eliminate hamas as speedy we believe this for live coverage of the u. s. senate. you can continue watching at c-span now, our free mobile video app or online at

c-span.org.

mr. wyden: madam president. the presiding officer: the senior senator from oregon. mr. wyden: i ask unanimous consent that aaron moss and allison educator, fells -- fellows in my office be granted floor privileges for otoremainder of the congress.

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: i come to support my strong support for the nominations of adam landy and kashi way to serve as judges of the united states tax court o the senate will be voting on their nominations soon. mr. way's in a few minutes and i believe mr. landy's later this afternoon. madam president, the u.s. tax court is the judicial backbone of the judicial tax code. americans rely on the tax court to dispute tax bills before they need to pay them. it's key to making sure that taxpayers are heard in a timely manner, an essential way to protect fairness in our tax system. the nominees for these positions have never been controversial, and as i'm about to make clear, both of these nominees have the right experience and the qualifications for the job. adam landy has served as a special trial judge on the tax court since 2021.

he also has several years of experience at the office of the irs chief counsel in baltimore, san francisco, and in the private sector. kashi way is a senior legislative counsel with the joint committee on taxation staff. during his 18 years at the joint committee, mr. way has had a major impact on just about every piece of energy tax legislation that has really gotten any traction in the congress as well as a host of other tax bills. this committee and our staff will be sorry to lose mr. way on the joint committee, but he is in my view going to make an excellent tax court judge. these two tax court nominees have experience in both the public and private sector. their broad experience will be invaluable to take on the role as tax court judges. i'd also like to reiterate my strong support for the nomination of rose jenkins to serve on the tax court. she is a qualified nominee and will make an excellent judge. i'll be working with my colleagues to ensure we can

bring her nomination to the floor for a final confirmation vote as soon as possible. so she can get to work for the american people. madam president, let me just close by way of saying, i think it is particularly important -- i see a number of my colleagues on the finance committee here, we continue to work in a bipartisan way on this. and that we make this experience more bearable and more understandable for the citizens who are part of it. and i think these nominees will help to do that, so i close by saying, in my view, there's no question that these nominees are highly qualified for the roles that they are nominated to fill. we have worked on these in a bipartisan way. i support each of them and i urge my colleagues to vote for each of them. and i yield the floor. madam president, i would ask unanimous consent that the scheduled vote occur immediately. the presiding officer: without

objection. 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 701, kashi way of maryland shall to be a judge of the united states tax court, signed by 18 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of kashi way of maryland to be a judge of the united states tax court shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. and the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

mr. barrasso.

the clerk: mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. butler. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven.

mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. mr. romney. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. rubio. mr. sanders. mr. schatz.

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

the clerk: senators voting in the affirmative -- baldwin, barrasso, blumenthal, booker, boozman, braun, brown, budd, cantwell, capito, cornyn, cortez at that -- cortez masto, hickenlooper, hoeven, johnson, kelly, klobuchar, lankford, lummis, manchin, murkowski, ossoff, petereds, reed, ricketts, rounds, smith, stabenow, thune, tillis, warner, young. mr. -- mr. mullin, aye. mrs. fischer, aye. senators voting in the negative -- blackburn, ernst,

hawley, hyde-smith, kennedy, marshall, scott of florida, tuberville.

the clerk: mr. rubio, no. the clerk: mr. wyden, aye. mr. warnock, aye. mr. moran, aye.

mr. murphy, aye. mr. padilla, aye. ms. rosen, aye. mr. risch, aye. ms. duckworth, aye. mr. cramer, aye.

the clerk: mr. king, aye. the clerk: mr. tester, aye.

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

the clerk: mr. sullivan, no. mr. coons, aye.

the clerk: mr. cruz, no.

the clerk: mrs. shaheen, aye.

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

the clerk: ms. collins, aye.

the clerk: mr. graham, aye. mr. schatz, aye. the clerk: mr. cassidy, aye.

vote:

the clerk: ms. hirono, aye. mr. wicker, aye. you the clerk: mrs. britt, aye.

the clerk: mr. casey, aye.

the clerk: mr. heinrich, aye.

the clerk: mr. markey, aye.

the clerk: mr. lujan, aye.

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

the clerk: mr. paul, no.

the clerk: mr. mcconnell, no.

the clerk: mr. durbin, aye.

the clerk: mr. daines, aye. ms. butler, aye. mr. fetterman, aye.

vote:

the clerk: mr. whitehouse, aye.

the clerk: mr. bennet, aye.

the clerk: mr. schmitt, no.

the clerk: mr. van hollen, aye. mr. merkley, aye. mr. cardin, aye. mr. carper, aye.

vote:

the clerk: mr. schumer, aye.

vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 77, the nays are 17, and the motion is agreed to.

the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mrs. capito: thank you, madam president. earlier today members of congress had the distinct honor of hearing from benjamin netanyahu, the prime minister of the state of israel. he's a leader of one of our most steadfast allies in an unprecedented time of strife for his country.

president, prime minister netanyahu's message to congress today is a snapshot into reality of what his nation is facing and what they have experienced since the morning of october 7. he spoke to the urgency of bringing our hostages home and received a standing ovation for that. the courage and bravery of his israeli forces and citizens, and received a standing ovation for that. and his vision to bring peace, prosperity and security to the middle east. again, standing room only. israel is a country at war. and as the only democracy in the middle east and a friend of freedom, israel deserves the unwavering support of these united states. that is why it is incredibly disheartening to see many of our democrat colleagues were absolutely absent from the address, especially the vice president. her absence unleashed a

completely unnecessary discussion about who would join the speaker to preside over the joint address. for a time her seat behind the podium was just simply up for grabs, and i extend my thanks to my colleague from maryland, the chairman of the senate foreign relations committee, for welcoming prime minister netanyahu on behalf of the senate. and that was senator ben cardin. but unfortunately the public debate over the vice president's absence is not the message that we should be sending to the world. it seems some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have forgotten the 291 days ago on october 7, 2023, israel was the victim of an unprovoked terrorist attack. the attacking force, hamas, killed 1,200 innocent israelis, committed unspeakable acts of sexual violence, and took men

and women and children as hostages. they also took holocaust survivors. they even took an infant under one year old. and prime minister netanyahu mentioned that infant earlier today. that poor child, that poor baby has now spent more of his life in hamas captivity than in freedom. to this day nearly ten months later hostages still remain in captivity, including american citizens, and they're being used as human shields at the same time. i was incredibly moved to see some of the hostages and their families represented in the house chamber today. hamas has proven itself to be a violent terrorist organization that continues to hide underneath schools and hospitals and intentionally putting civilians in harm's way. they have publicly called for the attacks of october 7 to be

repeated again and again and again. the bottom line is this, hamas has made it clear it has no interest in seriously negotiating a cease-fire, and they would rather engage in barbaric and honestly cowardly acts of terror, joining forces with terrorist organizations like hezbollah and the houthis who continue their bombardment, bombarding israel in every single direction. just last week hezbollah fired 65 rockets into israel. the houthis conducted a deadly drone attack on israel's soil. and as well as a ballistic missile that was thankfully intercepted by israel's air defense. it is clear that israel needs our support now more than ever. it's important that we take this moment to reflect on the long-standing ties that bind our

country to israel. the united states was the very first country to recognize the state of israel. they have been our most stable and longest partner and ally in the middle east. they've stood beside us and our nation when we faced unprovoked acts of terror on our own soil. they have joined with us to develop ties with their neighbors through the abraham accords, and they have been an essential ally in our efforts to dismantle iran's nuclear program. this is a level of historic partnership that cannoten forgotten. yet far too many in our country are willing to abandon our relationship with israel, starting with this administration. israel is in a fight for their survival against a terrorist organization that is not bound by laws. we know what it's like to be attacked in our country, but we

don't know what it's like to be geographically surrounded by our worst enemies. standing with israel should not be an issue that divides us, but rather one that unites us in defense of our longtime ally and friend. it is vital that the american public and my democrat colleagues who missed the prime minister's speech today acknowledge the differences between israel and hamas. israel is a bastion of freedom and democracy in the middle east who is engaged in a war they did not start by an organization whose only goal is, only goal is to destroy israel. in keeping with their stated goal, hamas has unleashed horrific, illegal and unthinkable acts of violence on people simply because they are jewish or israeli. hamas and their allies have made commanding use of the

information space to sway public opinion here in our country, in the united states, in an attempt to make it appear that israel is the aggressor in this conflict. my republican colleagues, including those joining me here in these speeches today, know that that claim is far from the truth. as the prime minister mentioned today, misinformation has long been used to target israel and the jewish people, and we have seen it lead to chaos on our college campuses in acts of aggression of anti-semitism i never thought i would see. we have protesters waving hamas and houthi flags right here in the united states, including today surrounding the capitol, at union station they are burning the american flag. and after those protesters were publicly applauded and the ones today will be publicly applauded by the supreme leader of iran,

we now know that iran is working behind the scenes to fan the flames of these protests. we need to be honest with ourselves about what each side of this conflict wants. the actions of hamas are indefensible, and protesters conveniently forget that there was a cease-fire in place on the morning of october 7. i would say to these protesters, if the iranian supreme leader thinks that you're on the right side of history, that's a pretty clear sign that you are not. the reality is this, both israelis and americans want the fighting to end. for that to happen, both sides of the conflict need to agree to stop. that means israel, but it also means hamas. and right now we are missing that signal from hamas. as the prime minister mentioned in his speech today, hamas could end this right now.

hamas must surrender and hamas must return the hostages. now more than ever our nation must reject terrorism and stand with our ally israel. while the white house has left our relationship in limbo, republicans will not let it falter. we'll continue to push for true american leadership on the world stage that keeps our promises to our friends in their time of need. that strikes fear in our adversaries and those who wish to do our allies harm. and it returns the moral clarity that is deeply needed in moments like this. with that, madam president, i yield the floor. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mrs. britt: i ask unanimous consent that peppa millstone, an intern in my office be granted

floor privileges until august 2, 2024. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. britt: thank you. madam president, i rise today in support of america's great ally israel. israel is more than an ally. she represents the hope in the middle east, hope for the world. i actually visited israel two weeks after october 7, after that attack, visiting with a bipartisan delegation not only to israel but throughout the middle east. remember that israel was created after the holocaust so that the jewish people would never have to hide again. this is something that former israeli ambassador to the u.s. ron durmer talked to us about during our visit.

a colleague of mine shared that his daughter asked him right after 9/11, are we safe. the truth is that october 7 was similar to our 9/11. however, there's also a large difference. on october 8, israel knew exactly who the perpetrator was. they knew exactly where they were. they were just miles away. their neighbor. it's like if we woke up on september 12, 2001, and we had the terrorist who had mastermind the attacks of 9/11 living next door in brooklyn. additionally, they said they would come back again and again and again and again until they eradicated the jewish people and the state of israel. that's the proximity and the

gravity of the threat that israel faces. it's literally at their doorstep. and bottom line, they can't tell their daughters that they're safe right now. 291 days, over nine months passed now but we can't forget what happened on october 7. make no mistake, what hamas did was pure evil. they murdered entire families, beheaded babies, dragged grandparents. some holocaust survivors from their wheelchairs to a brutal death. they raped women. they took mothers and daughters hostages after slaughtering their fathers and brothers.

they held innocent people hostage and used them as human shields. as i think about this as a mom, i can't imagine the agony that parents are going through knowing that their children, their loved ones are being held hostage and used as human shields. i think about the moment when they talk about parents being murdered in front of their children, children being murdered in front of their parents. how could anyone be so evil? there is no doubt that never again is now, and not just overseas. unfortunately, here at home. look no further than the disgusting pro-hamas, anti-anti-semetic -- anti-semetic protests that have

taken place on college campuses, in cities across the nation and today our nation's capital. today israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu came before congress and asked us to do what we have promised -- to stand behind israel, to stand behind the jewish people. america cannot be a country of broken promises. we cannot let our allies down. we cannot be viewed as a country that is weak and unreliable around the world. we must stand strongly with israel and show her support, not just in normal times but when she needs us the most. israel has more than a right to defend herself, she has an

obligation. she has an obligation to freedom-loving people around the world, as a beacon of democracy in the middle east, and to the very people that she serves. israel must ensure that this never happens again. america can and must help israel fulfill that mission, help to bring every single hostage home and help to bring about sustainable peace and more prosperity there in the middle east. remember, hamas doesn't just want to destroy peace and the middle east, they want to destroy israel and wipe the jewish people off the face of the planet. we also have to remember who funds and fuels hamas. it is time to use every tool in

our toolbox to dry up iran financially. we've done it before under the trump administration and i know we can do it again. this isn't complicated. the more money that iran has, they use it for nuclear proliferation and they use it to fund terrorism. they fund hamas and gaza. they fund the houthis and yemen, and then fund hezbollah in lebanon. away know what that means for israel, and frankly, we know what that means for america. it is past time to re-establish credibility in america and its deterrence. we will only achieve peace through strength, and that means giving israel everything she needs to permanently end the

threat of hamas. as i listened to prime minister netanyahu's speech today, i was in awe of the israeli people's cou courage, the courage to fight for democracy, the courage to secure peace in the middle east, and the courage to fight for their very existence. congress is behind israel. alabama, the first state in america to call for the establishment of the jewish state stands behind israel. and the united states of america is behind israel. as a christian, as an american, as an alabamian, i firmly support israel and i'm

incredibly proud to do so. thank you. i yield the floor. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. hoeven: thank you, madam president. i rise to join my colleague from alabama and other colleagues and outline the importance of maintaining and continuing to strengthen our nation's support for our essential ally in the middle east, israel. the suns-israel partnership is vital for middle east and vital for the global fight against terror. israel needs our help to fend off numerous attacks from iran and its proxy, and i'm proud of the contributions our armed forces have made from defending israel from a wide variety of drone and missile attacks.

the skill of our committed airmen, airwomen, airmen and women, soldiers, marines, special forces, their skill, unbel unbelievable, their bravery, courage under fire, the technology that we have utilized, it -- just incredible. and the things that they've been able to do in terms of helping israel and -- it's just beyond bleefl. and so -- belief. so we commend all of them. but we need to continue. we need to continue. we need to help israel defeat hamas. they need our help to completely destroy hamas' military capability and we can't relent until that is done. this is not a one-way partnership. this is not just the united

states supporting our ally israel. israel is just the tip of the spear. israel plays a vital role in standing against terror and deterring iranian aggression across the middle east. when you look at hamas, hezbollah, houthis, and other groups, these are terrorists that are financed, trained, sponsored and directed by iran. we need to recognize that. we need to take a tough stance on sanctions and other measures against iran and recognize these proxies for iran are conducting its missives, its directions from a -- we are deeply appreciative of israel's efforts to push back on iran, on the houthis, and the terrorists and all those who seek to terrorize not only the middle east region

but across the world. as we've heard the prime minister netanyahu say many times, these extremists, if they're not stopped in the middle east, they will set their sights on america. and they will and they have and they will continue to do so. our partnership with israel is with a shared commitment to freedom, without it terrorists would run rampant across the middle east and other parts of the world, threatening global economy and threatening the united states directly. and so the peace and stability we seek in the middle east will come as the result of a strong u.s.-israel partnership and that is emblematic with the relationships we need with our allies. we must stand with our allies and stand up against our adversaries. standing up for them, for

example, when israel is trying to win this war, we need not to second-guess how they are doing it. that is why it is so important why we heard from prime minister net net today. we needed to hear directly from him as to what is exactly going on as israel prosecutes this war and the support they need to be successful in defeating hamas. and now we need to move in a bipartisan fashion to continue to strengthen that relationship. there's really no time to lose. iran's time to a nuclear breakout is down to a very short period. we need to stand together and prevent iran from developing and potentially deploying a nuclear weapon. hamas remains a dangerous terrorist organization. hezbollah presents a growing threat in northern israel, the houthis, backed by iran, pose a

threat to israel and the wider region, in the red sea and the gulf, so we need to make sure that israel has the military assistance required to stand against these threats. they are the ones doing the fighting and we need to help them. we need to offer all the support we can in every form and we must oppose anti-semitism in all its forms and where ever we find it. i want to express my appreciation for prime minister netanyahu's visit and for his remarks to our joint session of congress today. i thought it was an incredibly powerful and moving speech, and one that not only the senators and the members of congress needed to hear, but all americans -- all americans needed to hear. and i hope that we can respond to the prime minister's visit by

working with israel to defeat the threats they face and affirm our shared commitment to freedom, liberty, and democracy. standing with israel is good for the united states. it is good for the region. it is good for the world. with that, madam president, i thank you and i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran: thank you, madam president. this afternoon prime minister netanyahu in a joint session of congress reiterated to congress, to us, the senate, to the american people and really to the world, his determination to defend his country from terrorists supported by iran who seek the elimination of the jewish state of israel. the united states must continue to provide israel with military and diplomatic support to make sure that the dangers israel faces can be deterred and that if possible they are defeated -- defeated those efforts to terrorize israel. the horrific attack by hamas nine months ago remains vivid in

our talks. i was there to hear first hand the circumstances that israel and its citizens faced. the widespread instances of sexual assault and taking hostage of elderly and infants under these circumstances, no person of conscience can fail to understand this. the threats our friends face are also threats faced by the united states. this conflict may seem distant from our shores, but make no mistake, that those who seek israel's destruction aspire to harm american citizens where ever they may be, including here at home. 12 americans were taken hostage by hamas on october 7, and eight still remain held in captivity. many hostages have decide in captivity these last months,

making it imperative that hamas free our citizens. hezbollah continues to menace israel on the northern border forcing the evacuation of thousands of israelis, hezbollah, like hamas, is a direct threat to american citizens living there. it's true there and it's true beyond israel. the intelligence community's worldwide threat assessment found that herz maintains the capability to target u.s. persons and interest in the region worldwide and to a lesser extent in the united states. that assessment warns that that group will, quote, continue to develop its global terrorist capabilities. our government must commit to defrayed hezbollah's capabilities. we saw as recently as last friday's drone strike son a tel aviv apartment building that the houthis in yemen also pose a

threat. their slogan is death to america, sledge to israel. their capabilities are expanding and they have launched attacks on u.s. cargo vessels. the united states navy has worked to reestablish freedom of navigation. all these attacks, these three groups, what they have in common is with their say varying i had obligation is the support freud them by iran. it's financial aid, weapons, training, iran sustains these groups at the expense of our friends in the region and at the expense of our own security and well-being. almost exactly one year ago today, i stood on this senate floor -- i stood here in the senate and called on president biden to enforce the bipartisan sanctions congress had passed to choke off the resources tehran uses to fund its activities. the regime has plotted terrorist attacks on our soil and

threatens to assassinate former president trump along with other officials from his administration. with its nuclear program now only weeks aaway from producing nuclear weapons, iran is all the more, it is all the more imperative to take measures off the rise by congress. israel's existence is nongosh and our shared -- nonnegotiable and our shared allies must not doubt the resolution of american support. that is one reason why i view it as critical to pass the national security supplemental earlier this year which provided israel with $26 billion to bolster its military. standing with israel goes beyond a one-off piece of legislation. and i would remind my colleagues that we have begun the appropriations process here in the united states senate and each year -- and i will continue this year to advocate military assistance that strengthens

israel's ability to defend itself. as the committee begins to mark up 12 bills for the next fiscal year, i remind my colleagues it's important we quickly advance our appropriation legislation because of what is at stake for our nation and for our allies and for those who support our friends. support for israel goes beyond israel's security. that's an important goal in and of itself, but i remind my colleagues that support for israel is support for the united states of america. madam president, i yield the floor. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. mr. wicker: i ask that the following senators be permitted to speak for up to:15 mine -- for up to five minutes each prior to the vote. senators wicker, barrasso, and ricketts. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wicker: thank you very much, madam president. we stand here today having had

the opportunity in a joint session of congress to hear one of the most powerful and profound and significant addresses that has ever been made to a joint session of congress. we have a few people listening in right now. i notice we have a number of our pages on the floor. madam president, i'm glad that our young people, our rising seniors in high school that work for us, were able to be there and to be here in washington in this capitol and see and listen to this magnificent speech today. -- by benjamin netanyahu, the prime minister of the state of israel. our steadfast ally, the only democracy in that section of the

world. and i will say, i doubt if we'll -- if we will very often see remarks that were as powerful and as important. israel has been our steadfast ally for over seven decades. it was a democratic president, harry truman, post-war that put his administration behind the recognition of the jewish state in palestine as israel, and we became one of the earliest countrieses to recognize -- countries to recognize israel. that has stood for over seven decades. the recognition by the united

states, on a bipartisan basis, has recognized an important fact -- that the jewish people are certainly not colonialists in the holy land. the place where israel exists now is the place where abraham, isaac, and jacob and esop were born and lived in the era 5,000 years ago. to say that the jewish people are colonialists in israel is the big lie. big lie is something that our enemies have used down through the yearsment. you say something so unbelievable and so you on imaginable that -- you say it long enough and people will start to believe t the jewish people are no colonialists in the holy land. the holy land is their ancestral

home, and they deserve the world's jewish people deserve a jewish state so they can avoid the centuries of discrimination and anti-semitism that they have endured over time. the jewish people, as i say -- the israeli people, which includes, of course, people that are not jewish by heritage, have had the only democracy in the area for the longest time, and they've been surrounded by people who want nothing less than the destruction of israel. and they don't make it -- they don't make any bones about it. support in this congress, support in the united states for

israel, madam president, has for these seven decades always been bipartisan. and it breaks my heart, and i think it should come as a shock to all americans, that that bipartisan support seems to be fracturing on the other side of the aisle among my democratic colleagues. it is a shame that the vice president of this country, the vice president of the united states, kamala harris, declined to fulfill his her duties to -- to fulfill her duties to preside over the session. she found an excuse in another state to be at a meeting that could easily have been rescheduled. it's a shame that our vice

president, that the future nominee of her party for president of the united states, would make that statement that she was unwilling to preside over a joint meeting addressed by the prime minister of israel. the president pro tempore of the united states senate refused to attend. many members of this body on the democratic side of the aisle, many members of the democratic party in the house of representatives boycotteded this speech by our steadfast ally of 70 years or more. i noticed when the prime minister of israel came down through the center aisle there in the representative shaking hands on both sides and he rounded the corner, madam president, and the majority leader of this body, the senior

senator from new york, senator schumer, declineded to extend his hand to the prime minister of this, of steadfast ally. we also need to remember, as my colleagues have stated already, that in the region where israel is the only democratic government in the middle east exists the islamic republic of iran. they are a sworn enemy of israel, and they're a sworn enemy of the united states. death to america is what they say. and they want to start with death to america by pronouncing death to israel. more than that, they have proxies, at least three proxies that we've been talking about recently. the houthis in yemen, hezbollah to the north of israel, and

hamas, the terrorist group that perpetrated the october slaughter on the people near gaza. hamas has one reason to exist, one stated, admitted reason and one reason only -- the complete destruction of israel. and they demonstrated their ruthlessness on april 7. rapes, beheadings, babies being borned, unspeakable acts of violence. and prime minister netanyahu was correct to point out that people protesting outside this building on behalf of hamas should be ashamed of themselves,

protesting on behalf of a group that were so violent. madam president, hamas uses civilians as human shields. that is a violation of international law. by contrast -- contrary at that what people have been told in the press it israel is doing the best job that any combatant that is ever done in protecting civilians while trying to root out terrorists. i am calling on people on both sides of the aisle in conclusion to return to our bipartisan support of the right of a people to exist somewhere and to have one place on the face of the earth where they noe know they could be safe in their own

beliefs, in their own population, and for the first time in centuries and millennia to be safe and have their own homeland. so i am -- i congratulate the prime minister of israel. i vought the members of congress -- i congratulate the members of congress who received him well, and i invite my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to remember the importance of bipartisan support for israel. thank you, madam president. mr. manchin: i ask that privileges of the floor be granted to paul bear and harper katz during the pendency of this month of july. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. manchin: thank you. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: thank you you madam president. the prime minister of israel, benjamin netanyahu, just delivered an historic speech to congress. this is the forth time the prime

minister has spoken to the united states congress, more than the late-prime minister of the united kingdom winston churchill. like prime minister churchill, prime minister netanyahu spoke of a battle between freedom and evil. he shared with us welcome news and that news is that freedom is winning. israel is committed to bringing home the hostages, to protecting its citizens from the atrocities that occurred on october 7 attack. meanwhile, the hamas terrorist network is under more pressure than ever. half of its senior leadership is dead. it's military chief has likely been eliminated. remember, hamas is a terrorist group. it governs through fear and through violence. hamas violently rejects the right of israel to exist and the right of the jewish people to

live in israel. hamas hides behind civilians. it uses them as human shields. hamas stores its weapons, its military weapons designed to kill in hospitals, in schools, and in homes. it has stolen billions of dollars of humanitarian aid to build its terrorist tunnel all around the area of the gaza strip. this is the same tunnel network where for nine months and counting 116 hostages including eight american hostages being held by hamas terrorists. i stand firmly with israel, as israel fights to finish the war and defeat hamas. sadly, supporting israel has grown divisive in this country. today democrats are abandoning our greatest ally in the middle east. they're calling to put

conditions on aid to israel. the biden-harris administration has delayed the delivery of war-winning weapons. the senate democrat leader meddled in israel politics, he proclaimed in no uncertain terms on the floor of this very body that prime minister netanyahu should step down. the senior senator from vermont went even further. last month he declared that prime minister netanyahu is a war criminal. madam president, that accusation is disturbing, it's damaging, and it's dishonest. if it weren't bad enough, vice president harris skipped the prime minister's speech entirely. the vice president typically presides over joint sessions of congress. with her snub to israel, vice president harris is leading the democrats' bibi boycott. catering to the pro-hamas wing

of the democrat party is not serious leadership, not at all. the vice president now wants to be commander in chief of the united states of america, yet she refuses to put politics aside and work with our indispensable ally. her actions send a defeatist message, a defeatist message to our enemies and a defeatist message to our allies alike. madam president, this is a time when it is so critical for us to restore confidence in america. here's what we need to do and how to do it. you do it through peace through strength, with strong, steady, and serious support for israel and for israel's right to exist. what is the approach of president biden today? what is the approach of vice president harris? and what is the approach of the senate democrats, members of this body? is it continue to appease our

adversaries? and at the same time abandon our friends? this is a dangerous world, madam president. it is more dangerous under the failed policies of the biden-harris administration. america cannot continue down democrats' path of war and weakness. keeping america safe requires america and israel working together. we heard that today in the joint session of congress. republicans believe in israel's mission to defeat hamas. we understand fully what is at stake. and our support is firm. madam president, we must unite and bring back peace through strength. now more than ever the american people need to stand with israel, and i'm one of those people that will continue to stand with israel. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska.

a senator: i ask unanimous consent that the following interns in my office be granted floor privileges until july 26, 2024. esma vroom, turn vaughn, and caitlin heckstrom. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. rickets: thank you, madam president. israel is our strongest ally in the middle east. it is in our mutual interest to provide israel the support they need to able to destroy the terrorist group hamas and secure the reels of the remaining -- the release of the remaining hostages. i am committed to doing that. my colleagues joining me today are committed to doing that. and yet the biden-harris administration has repeatedly appeased the radical pro-hamas elements of their base. in fact, president biden had to be pressured to put a meeting on the calendar with the prime minister. that should have been a no-brainer.

vice president kamala harris, whose only constitutional duty is to preside over the senate, didn't even attend today's speech. she has one job. and i understand that being the presumptive nominee is new, but she does have a day job here. instead she chose a petty snub of our closest ally in the middle east and a democratically elected leader. this is not how america should treat its allies. sadly, this is one part of a larger pattern. the biden-harris administration has consistently undermined israel's democratically elected government. after taking office, this administration gave $730 million to unrwa, an organization that has been described as essentially being a brafrnl of hamas -- a branch of hamas. president trump had ended their

u.s. taxpayer funding. president biden and vice president harris brought it back. their actions caused american taxpayer dollars to directly support hamas terrorists in their attacks on our ally and our citizens. at least 12 unrwa employees funded in part by biden and harris directly participated in the barbaric terror attack on october 7. over 100 unrwa employees have ties to hamas or other islamic jihad entities. over 1,200 israelis were killed, including nearly two dozen american citizens. many were taken hostages. eight americans are still being hostage, held hostage today somewhere in gaza. 291 days after october 7. we need to stand with israel until israel completes its mission to free the hostages,

bring justice to the terrorists, and restore peace. that's the best solution for the israelis. that's the best solution for the gazans. that's the best solution, period. the biden-harris administration has also pressured israel towards a cease-fire with the same barbaric hamas terrorists that want to kill jews and have pledged to continue to perpetrate atrocities like october 7. meanwhile biden and harris have repeatedly withheld or delayed critical shipments of weapons needed to destroy hamas. they've attacked legitimacy of israel's democratically elected leader. so much for ironclad. americans stand with israel. my colleagues and i stand with israel. we're proud to stand with israel. the biden-harris administration should do the same.

thank you to prime minister benjamin netanyahu for his comments earlier today. they reminded us why it is so important that israel is successful in destroying hamas. they'll be doing the world and civilization a favor in doing so. thank you to my colleagues for joining me today on the floor. and thank you, madam president. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 702, adam b. landy of south carolina to be a judge of the united states tax court, signed by 18 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense

of the senate that debate on the nomination of adam b. landy of south carolina to be a judge of the united states tax court shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. butler. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons.

the clerk: mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. the clerk: 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. rubio. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune.

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

biden-harris. vote:

the clerk: senators voting in the affirmative -- barasso, blackburn, braun, cassidy, coons, cornyn, cortez masto, daines, durbin, fischer, gillibrand, graham, grassley, heinrich, johnson, lankford, manchin, mullin, paul, peters, ricketts, rosen, schatz, shaheen, smith, tillis, whitehouse, young. senators voting in the negative -- hagerty, schmitt.

the clerk: mrs. hyde-smith, no.

the clerk: mr. schumer, aye. the clerk: mr. cramer, aye. the clerk: ms. duckworth, aye.

the clerk: mr. cruz, no. the clerk: ms. hassan, aye.

the clerk: mr. budd, aye.

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

mr. rounds, aye. ms. lummis, aye. mr. casey, aye. the clerk: mr. wicker, aye.

0 the clerk: mr. lujan, aye.

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

the clerk: ms. cantwell, aye. mr. scott of south carolina, aye. mr. carper, aye. ms. ernst, no.

the clerk: mr. hoeven, aye.

the clerk: mr. tester, aye.

the clerk: mr. tuberville, no.

the clerk: mr. murphy, aye.

the clerk: mr. cotton, aye.

the clerk: ms. hirono, aye. mr. sullivan, no. the clerk: mr. kaine, aye.

the clerk: mr. king, aye. mr. brown, aye. mr. romney, aye. mr. scott of florida, no. mr. booker, aye. mrs. capito, aye. mr. marshall, no.

the clerk: mr. thune, aye.

the clerk: mr. merkley, aye.

mrs. murray, aye. the clerk: mr. welch, aye.

the clerk: mr. moran, aye.

vote: the clerk: mr. reed, aye. mr. risch, aye.

the clerk: ms. collins, aye. ms. baldwin, aye. mr. crapo, aye.

the clerk: ms. murkowski, aye.

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

the clerk: mr. mcconnell, aye.

the clerk: mr. rubio, no. the clerk: mr. warner, aye.

the clerk: ms. butler, aye.

the clerk: mr. cardin, aye.

the clerk: mr. warnock, aye. mr. wyden, aye. the clerk: mr. kennedy, no.

the clerk: ms. warren, aye. mr. sanders, aye. mrs. britt, aye.

the clerk: mr. hawley, no.

the clerk: mr. hickenlooper, aye. vote: the clerk: mr. kelly, aye.

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

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

# the clerk: mr. blumenthal, aye.

mr. bennet, aye. the clerk: the yeas are 85, the nays are 12. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, united states tax court, adam b. landy of south carolina to be a judge. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the nomination of executive

calendar number 551, margaret l. taylor of maryland to be legal advisor of the department of state, signed by 17 senators. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from idaho. a senator: i ask for five minutes equally divided between myself and senator cardin prior to the vote. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the senate will come to order. the senator from idaho. mr. risch: mr. president, i rise in opposition to the nomination of margaret l. taylor to be legal advisor to the department of state. while serving as legal cowaning at -- legal counsel at usaid, some violated u.s. law. the legal office responsible for interpreting how, when and where u.s. law is applied across the

full range of foreign assistance programs. given her standing in restricting advocacy at usaid and the lack of enforcement, i have zero confidence in her ability to manage the department of state responsibilities. i have additional reason for that and that is the fact that the state department refuses to share the information about rob mallory's suspended security clearance. he was u.s. special envoy to iran and engaged in back channel talks with the regime. last april his security clearance was suspended and without explanation for over a year now, i and democrats asked for information on the suspension. can the department confirm mr. mallory mishandled classified information by storing secret documents in his personal e-mail? did he send this information to anyone before he was allegedly hacked and information stolen? why hasn't the department of justice charged him? i get no answers to these.

neither do the democrats. the state department admits they have this information but refused to give it to us. in light of all the above, i cannot support and will not vote for ms. taylor's nomination and encourage my colleagues to do likewise. thank you, mr. chairman. the presiding officer: senators will take their conversations off the floor. the senator from maryland is recognized. mr. cardin: mr. president, first, i've got to acknowledge that i am not objective when it comes to margaret taylor since i had a chance to work with her when i was ranking member of the senate foreign relations committee. she was legal counsel for the senate foreign relations committee for the democrats. she was well respected in the legal advice she gave us, both to republicans and democrats, and well respected by all members of our committee. she is an outstanding public servant and is desperately needed to have a confirmed position for legal counsel in the state department. and i must tell you, it's no

surprise that all of the living former legal advisors from reagan to trump, 40 years democrats and republicans wrote to our committee to strongly endorse her and urge her prompt confirmation. in regards to the two points senator risch raised, one in regards to the interpretation of reproductive rights, she advised full compliance with u.s. law including relating to statutory restrictions on foreign assistance related to reproductive health. it's the same advice that was given by general counsel to the trump administration, no difference between the two administrations. the issue concerning mr. malley, that issue was six months before the nomination was considered. this nomination needs to be confirmed. we need to have a confirmed person in this position. there's been no substantive arguments why she should not be confirmed. she's highly qualified.

i urge my colleagues to support the nomination. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of margaret l. taylor of maryland to be legal advisor to the department of state shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. l the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker.

the clerk: mr. booker mr. boozman. the clerk: mr. boozman.

mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. butler. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn.

the clerk: mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich.

mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters.

mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. mr. romney. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. rubio. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. vance. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren.

mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. the clerk: senators voting in the affirmative -- blumenthal, brown, butler, cardin, coons, cortez-masto, duckworth, durbin, fetterman, hirono, kaine, king, klobuchar, lujan, manchin, markey, murray, ossoff, padilla, peters, sanders, shaheen, sinema, tester, warner, warnock, welch, and wyden.

mr. moran? senators voting in the negative -- barrasso, blackburn, britt, cassidy, cornyn, cotton, crapo, fischer, grassley, hawley, hyde-smith, johnson, kennedy, lankford, mcconnell, moran, paul, ricketts, risch, romney and rounds. ms. ernst, no.

the clerk: mr. boozman, no. mrs. gillibrand, aye.

the clerk: mr. carper, aye. . the clerk: ms. lummis, no.

the clerk: mr. bennet, aye. mr. rubio, no. the clerk: ms. warren, aye.

mrs. capito, no. the clerk: mr. schmitt, no.

the clerk: mr. scott of florida, no. mr. budd, no. mr. merkley, aye. ms. smith, aye. mr. graham, no.

the clerk: ms. collins, no. mr. casey, aye. mr. reed, aye. mr. sullivan, no.

mr. braun, no. mr. mullin, no. ms. rosen, aye. mr. young, no.

mr. hagerty, no.

the clerk: mr. booker, aye.

vote: the clerk: mr. hickenlooper, aye.

the clerk: ms. stabenow, aye.

the clerk: mr. daines, no.

the clerk: mr. wicker, no.

the clerk: mr. hoeven, no.

the clerk: mr. murphy, aye.

the clerk: mr. heinrich, aye.

ms. baldwin, aye.

the clerk: mr. kelly, aye.

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

vote:

the clerk: there tillis, no. -- mr. tillis, no.

the clerk: ms. cantwell, aye.

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

mr. thune, no.

the clerk: mr. van hollen, aye.

the clerk: ms. hassan, aye.

the presiding officer: on this vote the yea cans are 351. the nays are 43. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: department of state, margaret l. taylor of maryland to be legal adviser.

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. ms. warren: madam president, i rise today in support of my bill, the truth and healing commission on indian boarding school policies act. if voted into law, this bill would begin the process of delivering long overdue justice to stolen native children and to their communities. the indian boarding school system was one of the most devastating federal creations in american history. the scale was truly staggering. for other than a century, the united states forced hundreds of thousands of children out of their homes and into over 500 boarding schools. now, these boarding schools were not unlike prisons.

at least 408 schools were federally funded. they were scattered across 37 states, including alaska and hawaii. by the 1920's, 83% of school-aged indigenous children were in boarding schools. imagine, four out of every five native children, taken from their families, some never to be seen again. the process was a waking nightmare. armed officers were sent onto reservations to rip children as young as 4 from their families. mothers and fathers who resisted could be severely punished. once at boarding school, kids were stripped of their heritage. their hair was cut off. their clothing was burned. and they were given new names. children who tried to practice even remnants of their native cultures could be starved,

whipped, and put in solitary confinement. many children were farmed out to nearby properties for forced labor. some were deployed to fight in war. some were sexually abused. conditions at the boarding schools were deadly. dormitories were overcrowded so that diseases spread easily. documentation shows that hundreds of children died in these schools. it is estimated that the actual number of deaths was in the thousands or possibly even the tens of thousands. so far, 53 mass graves have been uncovered. some are unmarked. many children's remains were never returned to their families. the boarding schools' motto was kill the indians and save the man. this approach was part of a

larger effort by isolating children from their families and their cultures, it was possible to break down the fabric of tribal nations and take land more easily. is decision-makers calculated that it was, quote, cheaper to educate our wards than to make war on them. congress funded the majority of these schools, often using funds held in trust accounts that were legally designated for the benefit of tribal nations. congress paid for the schools, and then authorized law enforcement to take indian children from their homes and their tribes. it now comes to this congress to do everything we can to begin to heal the damage that this body inflicted. make no mistake, the harms of the indian boarding schools lives on today. in my time working on this bill,

i've heard countless harrowing stories from survivors and from their families. there isn't an indigenous community in this country that hasn't been affected. survivors have faced chronic medical issues and psychological trauma. they have struggled to reconnect with their loved ones, their language, and their cultures. we cannot rectify that past until we face it head on. and there is still so much that we don't know about these boarding schools. we don't know how many children died in boarding school custody. we don't know the full spectrum of the violence that occurred. we don't know all of the ways the schools affect survivors and descendants to this day. my bill would establish a truth and healing commission to find those answers. the commission would formally investigate the indian boarding

schools to determine what happened and the lasting impact these schools have on survivors, their families, and their tribal communities. the commission would hold hearings and convenings for victims to speak about their experiences, some for the very first time. the commission would have the authority to use subpoena power to gather witness testimony and to review documentation. the commission would be charged with making recommendations about how the history of the incorporatedian brad -- indian boarding schools should inform federal policy today. it would address how the federal government should acknowledge its role in this systematic attempt to eradicate indigenous cultures, and how to take that history into account when developing new federal policies and budgets. one last note -- the boarding school policy ended

just before 1970. most of those affected have passed away. but there are remaining survivors in their 60's, 70's, and beyond. every day that goes by, these survivors grow older and their chance to tell their stories moves further away. these people have been harmed enough. their wounds go deep, and they deserve a chance to stand before the united states government and tell their stories in their lifetimes. i urge my colleagues not to delay adoption of this bill. our actions cannot make up for the harms that congress inflicted, but by moving now we can at least offer some token of care to those survivors who offered themselves up as living

witnesses of a cruel chapter in american history. make no mistake -- this work will be painful, but it will make us a stronger nation. by telling the truth, we can give communities a better chance to heal and we can begin to repair the u.s. government's relationship with tribal nations. this bill has broad support. it is bipartisan. it is supported by boarding school survivors. and 32 members of congress have cosponsored the bill. one cosponsor, senator klobuchar, was unable to be here tonight, and she asked me to submit a statement from her for the record, on her behalf. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. warren: thank you. i urge my colleagues now to pass this bill. we should delay no longer.

thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that privileges of the floor be granted to my second session summer interns, matty mcgowan, mason oney, ben lassie, ellen kennedy, grayson mcguire, kara johnson, marrana loh, dylan thompson, kelsey kimle, and my intern neishe andrews for the 118th congress. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. murkowski: madam president, i am here today to follow my colleague, senator warren, to discuss the legislation that we have been working on together, s. 1723. this is the truth and healing

commission on indian boarding school policies. as senator bairn just -- as senator warren just noted, this is legislation that will allow the nation to address a chapter of american history that i think has been overlooked for far too long. this is a dark history, a dark legacy of the indian boarding school era. from 1819 to 1969, 1969 -- not too terribly long ago -- but throughout that period, the u.s. government forcibly removed native children from their families and their tribes, placing them in boarding schools. these indian boarding schools as they came to be called were not just education institutions, but many were tools to eradicate native cultures, languages, and

traditions to, quote, civilize native american children. the traumatic effects of these boarding schools are still being felt by their survivors. not only by their survivors, but by their children, and really by their communities as well. i've heard from some of those survivors that are still with us that the act of sharing, being able to tell the truth about their experiences, can help contribute to healing. but it takes courage. it takes extraordinary courage. and i've heard that. fred john jr., who is the son of katie john and fred john sr., attended the wrangle institute in alaska. he was assigned the number 77. he was not referred to as fred john jr.

he was number 77. in 2018, he wrote that following his time at the boarding school, he still carried the pains and scars from his time at the institute. he never talked about it until his children gave him the strength and the encouragement to do so. general pratt, who opened the carlisle institute school, established what he called a, quote, rapid coercive asim police station -- assimilation process in these schools. the goal there was to separate native children from their tribes, from their language, and from their ways so that they might never want to return home. the stated purpose of the policy at that time was to, quote, kill the indian to save the man. again, a dark, dark legacy.

so our committee report details this history. however, to hear just some memories of how these policies were implemented really is devastating. fred john jr. describes seeing a group of kids arriving from aneqtuviq pass, at the gates of the arctic, very far into the interior of the state, very far, a thousand miles away from the wrangell institute down in southeastern. fred john jr. remembered the fur parkas they were wearing. he remembered their caribou pants. these were kids who came from a part of the state where caribou was that primary food source. and he remembered how beautiful they all were. but within they -- when they came in, the school staff stripped them down, taking all their clothes, all the food,

including the dried caribou, the salmon they had been given to tide them over. the staff showered them, shaved them, and gave them a number. but the most painful in his retelling was how all of these clothes, the beautiful fur parkas, the caribou pants, all their clothes, everything, were taken and burned up in a turnist -- in a furnace. to completely wipe away their connection. not just the clothing, but to the culture. in this time period, students were punished and endured violence. some survived and are pursuing healing, but unfortunately many others did not. this photo, there's two of them here on the same chart, and may be difficult to see from a distance, but the photo on top

is of a child laying on the floor. it's part of the sheldon jackson collection at the presbyterian historical society. this shows an alaska native child aboard a ship, called the hef -- the revenue cutter bear to be taken to the boarding schools by sheldon jackson. according to alaska native heritage center research, most of the children who were taken aboard never returned back to their homes. it was a long and lengthy jou journey, but many, many went to school, but never returned to their homes, passing away at the various boarding schools they were sent to, including the s sitka and carlisle industrial indian schools. this photo on the bottom here, you can see how young these children are. this comes from the national library of congress, and it shows a group of children who

were sent to catholic holy cross mission. again, in the interior part of the state. here they're wearing essentially military uniforms, everything from the boots to the uniforms themselves. benjamin jaysick dolchak was one of the experts we worked with on this topic. he shared his research, including these photos. according to testimony from elders who attended the holy cross school, every child received a haircut upon entrance, but if they disobeyed, if they angered any of the patrons or priests, their heads would be shaved. these are a handful of the survivors from alaska. but alaska was not the exception. over the 19th and 20th century stories like these from survivors are, unfortunately,

not too uncommon across the country. one of the most profound reasons for congress to establish this commission is that it is time -- it is time the federal government take responsibility for the legacy of its harmful policies. so our commission will provide a native-led process for communities to share the story, share the truth, and pursue healing with a goal of breaking the cycle of inner generational trauma. and like other congressional adversary commissions that this body has established, it will be an independent, bipartisan formal forum, with expertise to examine the indian boarding school legacy and to provide recommendations for action. our legislation builds on an extensive congressional record

through strong bipartisan work that started sevcongresses ago we have had research by the relevant senate and house committees. over 100 written comments for the record from indian tribes, from native communities, organizations, individuals, and religious institutions helped shape this legislation that we have reported to the floor of the senate. i think it's worth taking a moment here to talk about that process that we had in the indian affairs committee. we had a pretty robust markup that began with a strong bipartisan effort by our staffs to put together a substitute amendment to the bill for the committee to consider. and that substitute amendment was then further amended by our members on the committee who offered some really good amendments to address the hot button issues, including extending subpoena authority to

the commission. these were adopted and the bill was reported from the committee by voice vote. through the additional amendments that we adopted at the committee, we have a commission that will have to meet higher standards than any other congressionally established federal commission in order to exercise that subpoena authority. and that's okay here because subpoena authority should be a tool of last resort, but i do think that it is important for the commission to have the tool to ensure that it can meet its investigatory function and deliver complete findings and recommendations to congress. so i want to thank all those, the many who have shared their stories. frank john jr., so many who have shared their stories, and for offering ways to pursue healing. again, i want to acknowledge and thank senator warren for his leadership on this issue and for the leadership of chairman

schatz from the indian affairs committee for being a great partner as we have worked to develop this legislation through the committee process. so i'm looking forward to building even more bipartisan support for this and would urge my colleagues to support this very important and very timely matter. with that, madam president, i yield the floor, and i see my friend and colleague from colorado is here. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. hickenlooper: thank you. standing here listening to my distinguished colleague from alaska, it's hard not to be angry at what we as a country did and we're here today to reckon with this disgraceful part of our past. the truth and healing commission on indian boarding school policies in the u.s. act is the first attempt by the federal government to formally investigate and address this

horrific period in united states history. this legislation and the truth that it will un-earth is an essential step toward healing. now, from the early 19th to the mid-20th century, the united states government established 408 federal boarding schools across the united states. now these schools were created for the purpose of stripping native american children of their language, their religion, their cultural identity. in the over -- in the over 100 years that these schools were in operation, our government took an estimated 100,000 native american children from their homes and from their families. an estimated 40,000 of these children died alone without their family at government-sanctioned schools. and this is a story of one of

those schools. now, in -- in 2022, i visited colorado's fort lewis college. it is a remarkable college. it has the highest, if not the highest proportion of native american students in the country, but it traces its origin back to the fort lewis indian boarding school. and i went there to discuss the boarding school's history with students at fort lewis and with the tribal ute and mountain ute tribes. it is because of the hard work of the fort lewis college and the fort lewis tribes that we can bring this to light. fort lewis was established in 1892 in colorado. to call fort lewis a school it's really a balanced faced lie --

bald-faced lie. native american were not given an education in reading, writing, or math. it was an assimilation into a white and western way of life. and it came at a truly devastating cost. from 1892 to 1909, an estimated 1100 children attended this boarding school in southern colorado. these children were forcibly taken from their families of the southern youth and nava who he, a -- navajo and otnumerous trib. many families refused to turn their children over. as punishment, the school's superintend inter, cut off the -- superintendent cut off

the food rations to force the student' attendance. his tactics failed and the tribe was steadfast in their refusal to give up their children. upon arrival of fort lewis, the students were stripped of their clothes, names, hair. and the children were required to perform manual labor like digging ditches, planting crops, oftentimes in the hot mid-afternoon sun. combined with the poor sanitation and lack of food, many students became ill. disaster struck in the school's first year, a tuberculosis epidemic hit followed -- two children died, four others became behind -- blind.

all under the age of 12. now punishment of children at fort lewis was often severe. one father reported that his sons were forced to sleep outside in a coal shed in the middle of winter without adequate blankets. the superintendent was known for sexually abusing his young female students and teachers. when the girls became pregnant, school officials made sure that they, quote-unquote, disappeared, transporting them to other schools to avoid suspicion. our federal government never held breen accountable. the school reports show that 31 children died during the 16 years that fort lewis school was in operation. i can guarantee you the actual number's probably higher. this is a story of just one of

these schools. there were four others in colorado. there were 403 more across the country. that's 407 other superintendent breens, thousands of children who died in unmarked graves and who never saw their families again. it's hard to imagine why our government was praying -- preying on our own children. why would our government sanction such conduct? our government understood that erasing native people's identity was a necessary condition to erase their claim to their land. to assimilate them right out of existence and to ignore the lands guaranteed by treaty to the tribes. don't take my word for it.

in less than 50 years, from 1847 to 1934, native americans lost two-thirds of their tribal lands, of their treaty lands. and the legacies of this deep trauma remain embedded in tribal communities today. in colorado we see it as the high rates of poverty, high rates of addiction, the high rates of suicide among our native american communities. we see it in children who don't know their parents' indigenous names, who lost their families, those who don't know what happened to their relatives, ancestors and relatives. many of whom never returned home. the truth in healing act is not going to erase this dark past, but it does acknowledge our responsibility to un-earth the stories of suffering and injustice that we have buried

for generations. in 2022, i joined secretary who will inn, secretary of the -- hollin, for the san creek massacre historic site. secretary hollin told the crowd and i quote, stories like the sand creek massacre are not easy to tell, but it is our duty to assure that they are told and that this story is part of america's story. fort lewis indian boarding school, along with the 407 others, is a part of our story. when we pass the truth in healing act, we make a choice to tell the whole story. and we make a choice never to repeat it. madam president, i yield back

the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. markey: i rise in support of the remembrance of the thousands of native american children who died in these schools. thousands of children were ripped from their families in the name of assimilation. thousands of children were the victims of physical and sexual abuse, and thousands of children were forbidden from practicing their culture and speaking their native languages. the operation of federal indian boarding schools by the united states department of the interior is one of the dictatorest chapters of --

darkest chapters of american history, the consequences are still being felt deeply by boarding school survivors and their families. the federal government funded over 400 boarding schools over 150 years. one of the earliest being the car lisle school, where children from my home state of massachusetts were stolen from their families hundreds of miles away and subjected to cruel and inhumane assimilation practices. when captain pratt founded the school, he imbued it with this motto, kill the indian, save the man. but we know all too well that these boarding schools did only the former.

they acted as a violent means of assimilation and an essential tool in the united states government's dispossession of native people's b-- people's rights, land, and culture. children as young as 4 years old were subjected to systemic violent abuse. the department of the interior's recent investigation found that children were renamed from native names to english names, had their hair cut off, were discouraged or prevent ared from -- prevented from using their language, religion, or cultural practices and organized into united states to perform military drills. the department of interior has since identified marked and unmarked burial sites at 53 schools, and this is just the tip of the tragic, horrifying ice berg of our history.

-- iceberg of our history. thomas jefferson said about native people that, quote, when they withdraw themselves to the culture of a small piece of land, they will perceive how useless to them their extensive forest and will be willing to pair them off from time to time. he directed congress, thomas jefferson, to, quote, encourage them to abandon hunting so that the extensive forests necessary in the hunting life will then become useless. what was once a plot to take native land also became the foundation of our nation's century-long legacy of forced assimilation, displacement, and ultimately attempted eradication of native language and culture and the people themselves. we have not simply a moral responsibility but a legal

obligation to the welfare of tribes across the country to uphold treaty rights and to recognize the dark history of our own country. and this obligation cannot be met without securing truth, justice, and healing for every native person, family, and tribe affected by these genocidal policies. in massachusetts, we have seen the healing process in action. after centuries of forced assimilation led to the extinction of the language, members of the mashpee, aquinnie, wampanoag communities came together to widely reintroduce and engage with their ancestral language. and today the mashpee, watch wag

tribes searches as a shining example of how native students can thrive when they're surrounded about i their language and their culture and not stripped of it. but tribes no not be left to fight alone, to recover what was stolen from them by the american government. passing the truth and healing commission on indian boarding schools act would be an essential step to turn the american government from an historic enemy to a future ally in writing these wrong -- righting these wrongs. so i thank senator schatz. i thank him for his great leadership on these issues and his ex-lent staff. i thank senator murkowski for organizing this floor time to take attention -- to give attention to this part of history we must never forget and senator warren for introducing this important legislation that begins to put us on a path of truth and healing. so with that, madam president, i

yield back the balance of my time. the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii. mr. schatz: i want to thank everybody for being part of this series of very compelling speeches about the atrocities that the united states government perpetrated against the first peoples of the united states. for over 150 years the united states government stole hundreds of thousands of native children from their families and communities and forced them into federally-run and supported boarding schools. often far away from their homes. these institutions by design worked with efficient, brutal, systematic diligence to force native children to abandon their culture, abandon their language,

and abandon their very identity through unspeakably cruel punishment, abuse, and neglect. as one school superintendent noted, quote, only by complete isolation of the indian child from his savage antecedents can he be satisfactorily educated. these inhumane policies were part of the government's long-standing colonial project to rob native peoples' land through assimilation. the goal was, quote, to civilize native children by killing the indian in him and saving the man. that was the motto at the time, killing the indian and saving the man. these were not far away bad guys. these were employees and agents of the united states federal

government. to hear this history today is appalling. it's infuriatinfuriating. it is heartbreaking because as the late senator ted kennedy put it, quote, it challenges the most precious assumptions about what this country stands for, cultural pluralism, equity and justice, the integrity of the individual, freedom of conscience, and action, and the pursuit of happiness. but it's not just the history that demands a reckoning. it's also the lasting legacy of these immoral policies which continue to this day. the senate committee on indian affairs which i chair has heard devastating testimony from survivors, descendants, communities, and leaders about the impact of these schools decades later. a legacy of enduring trauma passed down from parent to child to grandchild to great-grandchild action fracturing families and communities over and over again.

i want you to imagine a native community with no kids left, just the parents and grandparents. imagine not just the trauma for that group of children who were abdu abducted, but what kind of community is left there? as a parent i would be absolutely cantonic for the rest of my life. across indian reservations and hawaiian homelands and alaskan native communities, from coast to coast in cities and rural communities, and we see it manifested in so many ways in communities with mental health challenges, substance abuse or suicide. so it's not enough to just face up to the wrongs of the past although that is essential. it's equally important to

provide justice and support for survivors and descendants. the truth and healing commission on indian boarding school policies act does both of these things. the bill establishes a truth and healing commission as well as several advisory bodies tanked with uncovering the full scope of what took place at these schools. the commission will provide a platform for survivors to share their experience, for the nation to hear and acknowledge their pain, doing so ensures that these stories are preserved and that the atrocities are never forgotten. importantly, this bill is sensitive to the trauma experienced by survivors and descendants and requires the commission to provide them with tr trauma informed care. ultimately the commission's final report will provide a comprehensive account of the boarding school era and recommendations to congress for future action. madam president, before i close, i want to take a moment to

directly acknowledge the survivors, the descendants, the families and the communities that have been devastated by these policies. some of them are here with us today in the gallery. and their advocacy and courage have been the driving force behind this bill. and the fact that we've reached this point having passed the bill unanimously out of the committee and ready to consider it before the full united states senate is testament to their unwavering commitment to truth and justice. their stories will not be forgotten. this bill is not just a legislative act. it's a moral imperative. it is our duty to unflinchingly confront the full scope of the shameful history and help the deep pains -- and help to heal the deep pains that this very body helped create. we can't change the past but we can and must shape a better future, a future where the mistakes of the past are never again repeated, where every

child can grow up with pride in their heritage and their identity. so i until my colleagues to join me and senator murkowski and all of the previous speakers and the author of this bill senator warren in supporting this important legislation. too many have waited too long for truth, for closure, and for justice. and by passing this bill, we can finally begin the work. i yield the floor.

mr. schatz: the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii. mr. schatz: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session to be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schatz: thank you, madam president. i have one request for a committee to meet during today's session of the senate. it has the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. schatz: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following senate resolutions s. res. 769 and s. res. 770. the presiding officer:

disability pride month. 770. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measures en bloc. mr. schatz: i ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table all en bloc. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schatz: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate k34r50e9s its business today, it stand adjourned until 10:00 a.m. on thursday, july 25, that following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. following the conclusion of morning business, the senate resume consideration of the house message to accompany s. 2783 and notwithstanding rule 22, the cloture motion with respect to the house message ripen at 2:15 p.m. and the mandatory quorum be waived. at 11:30 a.m. the senate proceed

to executive session and vote on confirmation of the way nomination pursuant to the order of july 23, 2024. if the nomination is confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action, that upon disposition of the nomination, the senate resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schatz: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until members today consider judicial executive nominatns including margaret taylor to be state department legal advisor. lawmakers also attended a joint meeting of congress for israeli prime minister bjamin netanyahu. when the senate returns a watchh live coverage here on cspan2. president biden will address the nation tonight from the oval