interesting to think about, whether we're actually more likely to be in a high turnout environment in this election and you know, based on the date that we've seen, that would actually benefit trump more than harris. >> and the question that we ponder, election watch is a period. a period in july and we'll be back again in september, october, just after the election. with that i'd like to think my co-hosts, chris, mark, ruy, and we're look forward to this election. [applause] >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government who are funded by these television companies and more, including cox. >> when connection is needed, cox is there to help. bringing affordable internet to

families in need, new tech for boys and girls club and support. wherever and whenever it matters most, we'll be there. >> cox supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> we take you now live to the u.s. senate where today members will be working to pass child online safety legislation that was cleared for a final vote last week. today lawmakers will also be working on a judicial nomination. you're watching live coverage here on c-span2. ...

the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. our guest chaplain is rajan zed, president of the universal society of hinduism from reno, nevada. the guest chaplain: om. we meditate on the transcendental glory of the

deity supreme, who is inside the heart of the earth, inside the life of the sky and inside the soul of heaven. may he stimulate and illuminate our minds. lead us from the unreal to the real. lead us from darkness to light. lead us from death to immortality. strive constantly to serve the welfare of the world; by devotion to selfless one attains the supreme goal of life. do your work with the welfare of others always in mind. may we be protected together. may we be nourished together. may we work together with great vigor. may our study be enlightening. may no obstacle arise between us. united your resolve, united your hearts, may your spirits be at one, that you may long together dwell

in unity and concord! peace, peace, peace be unto all. om. thank you. 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, july 30, 2024. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the

honorable raphael g. warnock, a senator from the state of georgia, 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. stacey d. neumann to be united states district judge for the district of maine.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from nevada. ms. cortez masto: mr. president, i rise in recognition of today's guest chaplain, rajan zed, who is a religious leader from reno, nevada. mr. zed is not new to congress. he was invited in 2007 by majority leader harry reid to do the first ever hindu opening prayer before the united states senate. and he has read opening prayers

in the united states house of representatives, various legislative bodies, county commissions and city councils all across the united states. mr. zed is a religious leader of the hindu community in reno, and he has taken up causes from all over the world. he is president of the universal society of hinduism, an active member of the nevada interfaith association, and a spiritual advisor to the national association of inter church and inter faith families. he has been invited to and participated in the world economic forum. he has met with the president of the european parliament in brussels to promote interfaith dialogue, and he has received several awards for his contributions to both local and global religious communities. outside of his faith leadership, mr. zed has been active in the reno community. he serves on the governing board of directors of the northern l nevada international center, the board of directors of the nevada

world trade council, the citizens advisory committee of the regional transportation commission, and on the reno police chief advisory board. mr. president, i am honored to have mr. zed back in the united states senate to deliver opening prayers once again today. i welcome him to the united states senate and his beautiful family. thank you, and i yield the floor.

before i give my comments, i want to comment on the elections in venezuela.

extremely disappointing and that's putting it mildly. [phone ringing] >> even a bellringer. the barbados understandings were met. we knew that going into the elections. the votes are very clear. the opposition won the popular vote and yet maduro is going to hold onto power, lecs woodcut hold onto power. i think it's absolute essential we be very clear that maduro was not elected as president of venezuela. i think we have to work with our partners in the region, particularly brazil and colombia to make it clear that this election, maduro was not the winner. mr. secretary to come anything we can do to assist in that regard please let us know.

we will be very clear in her comment and we think the united states has to work with our partners in south america to make it clear that was not an election where maduro one. >> the topic for today's hearing is prc's global influence. from the construction of a 290-mile railroad in kenya to the safe, sale of armored vehicles, jets and at the ship missiles to venezuela, to their attempt to broker saudi-iranian deal, to creating fake commentators whose pro-beijing n writings have been published across asia, africa and latin america. china is deputy with the united states for influence in every region of the world and across every domain. and yet last year xi jinping claimed, adequate, china does not seek sphere of influence.

china will never impose its will on others. i find that hard to believe given all the evidence we have to the contrary. look at beijing's economic coercion of countries like lithuania who expanded their trade relations with taiwan, or south korea after sold aboard a u.s. missile defense system in response to the threat of north korea. in fact, china is a country with a decade-long well-documented track record of suppressing fundamental freedoms and abusing human rights. for those of us who value freedom and liberty and human rights and democracy, china is one of the most significant challenges we face on the global stage today. the biden administration approached the prc, secretary blinken said and i quote, china is the only country with both the intent to reshape the international order and increasingly the economic

diplomatic military and technological power to do it. nato absorbed recently that china's enabler for putin's war against ukraine. secretary, thank you for joining us to discuss this important topic. i support the biden-harris administration approach to beijing's global influence. the administration has short of our relationship with allies and partners in europe and asia. but the competition is on, particularly in the global south. it is not clear to me that we are committing that the ti, attention or resources to win the war of ideas. we should be making a compelling case with a kind of world dash of a kind of world we seek to foster. you have been clear eyed about beijing's agenda when it comes to its pursuit military basic security agreements. its economic influence to the predatory terms of its information project. the thought of that does it enable authoritarians of

underworld, and their disinformation campaigns. in order to address these challenges the united states should not only be investing in our military, but also our diplomatic and economic development tools. that is why every year the biden administration has requested additional resources to outcompete china. the committee spent a lot of time in this car was talking about that competition with the four classified briefings directly related china or taiwan if this is the 730 on aspects of our strategic competition. but we've not yet been able to put this rhetoric into action by passing legislation to fund and modernize the u.s. foreign policy toolkit. i am willing to work with any t senate keeps its promise -- the senate keeps its promise to every parent who's lost a child because of the risks of social media. today, after a lot of hard work

and a lot of twists and turns, we will pass kosa and coppa. kosa and coppa will be perhaps the most important updates to federal laws protecting kids on the internet in decades. and it's a very good first step. this was truly a bipartisan effort from the start here in the senate. i'm proud of the way both sides of the aisle came together on an issue affecting so many kids and so many families across america. the house should take note and follow the senate's example by passing kosa and coppa when they return. after the senate passes kosa and coppa today, with a strong bipartisan vote, the house should do the same when they return in september. these bills have real bipartisan momentum, so we should seize the opportunity to send them to the president's desk. as we all know, social media has many benefits, but we also know about the many risks social media can pose, especially to

our kids. too many kids experience relentless promotion of suicide or substance abuse material. too many kids have their personal data collected, then used nefariously. with studies showing kids today spend more time on social media than ever before, now is the moment to pass kosa, pass coppa, and instill guardrails that protect kids from these risks. we've heard from so many parents whose kids sadly took their own lives, their own lives, because of what happened to them on social media. to their everlasting credit, these parents, instead of cursing the darkness, lit a candle. they turned their grief into grace, an amazing thing, and worked doggedly to help get this bill over the finish line, so what happened to their kids -- their kids will never come back -- but what happened to their kids doesn't happen to any others. i thank these brave parents and families for sharing their

heart-wrenching stories, and i thank my colleagues, senators blumenthal and blackburn, markey and cassidy, durbin and klobuchar, chair cantwell, and so many others for championing these bills. now, 45 days after joe biden took the oath of office and i became majority leader, senate democrats passed a major expansion of the child tax credit, one of the signature policies of the american rescue plan. every single republican, down to the last member, voted against this bill. the child tax credit expansion was a stupendous success. it cut child poverty in america in half -- in half. but it sadly expired after a year. during that year, parents had money to pay for good food for their kids, to pay for school supplies, to pay for clothing, and the things that so many parents can't afford to do. it made the kids so much better.

but of course, it did expire because it was passed just during the covid. this week, the senate has a chance to do it again, to pass another expansion of the child tax credit, to help get more kids out of poverty. this is just one of the many reasons, one of many reasons, the senate should take up the tax relief for american families and workers act. last night, i filed cloture on this important piece of legislation, and senators should expect to vote on this measure thu thursday. now, on the day democrats assumed the majority in 2021, i promised my colleagues that i would always try my best to work first in a bipartisan way to get things done in this chamber. i've always said bipartisanship is preferable, because it's the best approach to achieving results. the senate's record over the

last three years bears this out. democrats and republicans have come together again and again to pass historic bills, like infrastructure, chips and science, ukraine and israel aid, veterans health care, and we've even passed bills on more difficult issues, like safety, like gun safety and marriage equality, and of course together we avoided default in shutting down the government. which would have wreaked such havoc in our economy and hurt so many millions of families. today beare we get another -- we get another bipartisan bill done through kosa and coppa. we want to continue the productive streak with a vote on the tack bill, because it will deliver so many benefits for families. this should be bipartisan. it passed in a bipartisan vote in the house. and i hope republicans here in the senate choose to join us. but, mr. president, i have also always been clear that democrats would not shy away from moving forward on important issues when

necessary to give the american people a chance to see where their elected representatives stand. putting senators on record is one way progress is made on important issues. it can bring important issues to the forefront. it's what we did on choice, ivf, contra contraception, last month. this week is a classic example of how we can do both in the senate -- pass bipartisan legislation to get things done for the american pe people, like kosa and coppa, but also put pressure on republicans to show where they stand on important issues like the child tax credit, affordable housing, and r&d. so this week, the american people will also get a chance to see which senators, in reality, support tax relief for parents and businesses and housing, and who opposes it. now, over the past few days, some republican senators, like the junior senator from ohio,

have claimed laughably that democrats somehow oppose the child tax credit. mr. president, this is plain old nonsense. democrats do not oppose the child tax credit whatsoever. on the contrary. we strongly support it. we authored it and put it together back in 2021. and the child tax credit is one of the most significant achievements democrats have done under the biden-harris administration. if anyone wants to know who actually opposes the child tax credit, they should go ask the 49 republican senators who voted against the child tax credit when we passed the american rescue plan. here's the truth -- democrats want to pass the tax package because it will help lift more kids out of poverty with another expansion of the child tax credit. democrats want to pass the tax package because it will reward businesses that will invest in r&d and new equipment, which will mean new jobs and greater

opportunity. democrats want to pass the tax package because it makes progress on a subject i'm passionate about, affordable housing, and this package thankfully includes expansion of the low-income housing tax credit, one of the best tools we have for increasing the supply of housing. democrats are ready to go. the american people need tax relief. the big question right now is will republicans jape join us or -- will republicans join us or stand in the way? let me say it again, because i'm very proud of this senate, and particularly of our caucus, this week is a classic example of how we can do both in the senate -- pass bipartisan legislation to get things done for the american people, like kosa and coppa, with large bipartisan majorities, but also put pressure on republicans to show where they stand on important issues like the child tax credit, affordable housing, and r&d tax credit for business. i yield the floor.

i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin. >> thank you, senator risch. i noticed them had a lot of interest for visitors to be in the commitment today, and we welcome that. this is an extremely important subject. we just caution that we cannot tolerate any disruption of the hearing itself. you are more than welcome to be here and listen to the debate, but we ask that you respect the process of this committee. and with that let me introduce our witness for today. and i have the honor of

introducing kurt campbell. he is a well-known figure inside the beltway when it comes to u.s. foreign policy, particularly and indo-pacific. who is now serving as the deputy secretary of the department of state. deputy secretary campbell assert our target number of roles including as an assistant secretary for state for east asian civic fares from just the ninth 2013 and more recently as deputy assistant to the president and coordinator for indo-pacific affairs at the national security council. he played a lead role in conceptualizing the august, the critical trilateral partnership between u.s.-australia and the uk -- aukus -- and his work to strengthen the quad and deepen bilateral cooperation of the united states, japan and south korea. your full statement, secretary campbell, baby may part of the record. you may proceed as you wish.

>> chairman cardon, ranking member risch, first of all of me thank you both and thank the committee for the confidence you placed in the when i was first presented to this committee six months ago. i've been in the job you're at the state department about five months, and i thought it would be useful in terms of the context of the discussion today to give you a kind of update on the particular issues we discussed with respect to global competition as a relates to china. let me just also say that i do appreciate the work of this committee has been largely bipartisan when it comes to china and the challenge present. i also fully agree that the most intense regional arena for that competition is the indo-pacific but it is increasingly global and it is not limited to any one area. it spans every area of american pursuit, strategic technology,

business, military across the board, and it will require a full scale intense engagement on the part of the united states to match that challenge. and i will see i think a key ingredient in that is bipartisan purpose but it is also working with allies and partners. and a proud of the fact i've worked closely across the aisle and tried to build those partnerships with key countries. let me just give you a few updates if i can. first of all, i fully support what you both have said about venezuela. reported been in deep consultations with the countries in the region. there is a deep anxiety in the region more directly. i will promise to you that we will be in consultation, close consultation with you as we develop our plans of action in the time ahead. a few things that i've been directly involved in over the course of the last couple months, last five months or so.

a deep engagement with the european partners. i should get the concern that china's support to russia, rush defense industrial base has the only change the context of the conflict in ukraine but he will be a long-term security challenge to the indo-pacific. i actually share very much what senator risch said here i would so they say that think the steps that we've taken with respect to financial institutions i would offer i think the steps are more significant than is widely understood. but the most important thing we need to do is to get our partners in europe behind this effort. and i will note you mentioned this, senator cardin pic if you look at the be dispensed with. the presiding officer: we're not in a quorum call. we are. without objection. mr. mcconnell: the senate is preparing to leave town for the august state work period, but

there's no mistaking that our most important business here in washington remains unfinished. let's take a look at how the senate has spent its summer so far. in june the democratic leader called up a series of show votes, spending precious floor time on what senate democrats seem to have thought would be political home runs. instead, they gave republicans the opportunity to reiterate our support for americans hoping to start families. in june it was the month of fearmo fearmongering. july was the month of giving unqualified nominees lifetime promotions to the federal bench. take nancy maldonado.

unfort unfortunately, now a federal judge on the seventh circuit. this is the judge infamous for letting her work pile up and blaming her clerks for lack of time management. it's particularly ironic that senate democrats chose to procrastinate on their most urgent responsibilities by confirming a nominee with a nearly unparalleled record of judicial procrastination. congress has real work in front of us, some of which really should be behind us by now. from the national defense authorization act to the farm bill to annual appropriations. our colleagues on the armed services committee reported by the ndaa by an overwhelming

bipartisan vote over a month ago. but so far the democratic hasn't come close to putting this must-pass authorizing legislation out here on the floor. of course, urgent national security priorities won't fund themselves either. the senate hasn't cleared a senate appropriations bill or any other government funding, for that matter. well, at least the fiscal 2025 appropriations have been written. the farm bill that is supposed to help america's growers and farmers succeed doesn't even exist yet. apparently it's just a twinkle in chair stabenow's eye. so, mr. president, the american people sent us here to do a job and a show vote summer can't hide the fact that the senate democrat majority isn't earning its keep.

on a different matter, as the maduro regime continues to attempt to steal the election, the people of venezuela are standing up forcefully against the hellish socialist dictatorship. across the country, working venezuelans are protesting in the streets. they have torn down a statue of maduro's social predecessor, huggo chavez and some security forces have removed their uniforms and refuse to use force against the demonstrators. the people of venezuela are putting up an inspired resistance. unfortunately, they're up against an authoritarian who will stop at nothing to retain his grip on power. after all, maduro has learned from the worst, moscow, beijing,

tie iran -- tehran, doe mast cuss -- d -- some of the same corners of social media that defended assad demonized israel are now laughingly accusable to the cia, believe it or not of masterminding venezuela's unrest. meanwhile supposedly mainstream media here in america are already at work whitewashing history. according to "the new york times," venezuela's problem isn't the abject failure of socialism, but the incursion of a supposed brutal capitalism. george orwell would like a word. mr. president, the free world ought to have the courage to look evil in the face and call

it what it actually is. on another matter, i've said frequently that the sing the most important -- single most important immediate objective of the world right now is russian defeat in ukraine. i mean that, but not just for its implications on transatlantic security or our own economy, not just because helping degrade a major adversary's military strength is in america's interest, not just because the defense of ukraine has united significant new investments in hard power here at home and among our european allies. certainly not just because of what the outcome will say about how the free world values sovereignty. no. the world we live in doesn't reward thinking compartmentally.

security threats don't exist in vacuums. our credibility is not divisible. our adversaries are working more closely together to undermine the american-led order and allowing one threat to fester makes every other one a taller order. this week, the final report of the independent bipartisan commission on the national defense strategy underscored this reality. quote, the new alignment of nations opposed the u.s. interest creates a real risk if not a likelihood that conflict anywhere could become a multitheater or global war. a multitheater war, the sort of conflict america is simply not prepared to fight. too many in washington seem to think that america can just

opt-out of facing such a challenge. but our enemies get a vote too and we owe it to our servicemembers and the american people to plan accordingly. as the ndaa commission is out, we have a lot of work to do and not much time to do it. the prc military is already leaving little doubt about beijing's ability to use hard power against its neighbors and test american power and western resolve. last month the prc naval forces launched a violent confrontation in disputed waters that china hopes to turn into a chinese lake. the philippines, america's long-time treaty ally has maintained a lawful presence in an area just 100 miles off their

coast known as the second thomas shoal for decades. the sailors had a ship on the shoal and they count on regular shipments of supplies, but in recent months these shipments have come under brazen attack. chinese forces have rammed philippine resupply vessels, harassed them with water cannons, injured philippine sailors, destroyed their navigation equipment, towed them out to sea and left them for dead. the most acute aggression thankfully seems to have subsided for the moment but a fundamental reality still remains. just as russia is using force to redraw european borders and

reassert imperial ambitions, just as iran is using force to sow chaos, the people of the republic of china is in a concerted effort to control maritime commerce beyond its borders. and the first target of that conflict may well be america's longest standing treaty ally in the indo-pacific. our adversaries have struck up a no-limits partnership, and the challenges they present us are as complex as they are urgent. we don't get to make neat, tidy, either or choices about which threats deserve our attention, not anymore. the senate was right to pass a national security supplemental to equip vulnerable partners

with american weapons and invest in expanding our defense production capacity earlier this year. and the biden administration was right to start directing more rhetorical attention to the challenge facing our philippine ally. but to the extent that the administration is serious about backing up its frequent assurances to the philippines with actual support, it's high time to do more to help our allies and partners in the indo-pacific to reconfigure and strengthen their defenses against the prc's maritime threat. and to clear bureaucratic barriers so security assistance programs can move at the speed of relevance. more importantly, it's time for congress and the administration to take our shared responsibility to provide for the common defense seriously. so i'll close today with another quote from the cochairs of the

bipartisan national defense strategy commission. here's what they said. the commission finds that the united states faces the most significant national security threats since the height of the cold war, if not world war ii. we are not prepared to meet these threats. the united states confronts the prospect of war against peer and near-peer adversaries simultaneously across multiple theaters, a war we could quite possibly lose. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

>> some people make the myths same mistake renault china thinking there's something that they're not. and your observation that that mistake could carry consequences that goes into generations, i agree 100%. i think europeans because of their experience with russia are very, very reluctant to make the same mistake with china. i think china, europe's expense with the lithuanians with china

has really, really woken up the europeans as what did you do with -- experience -- as far as china is concerned. congress passed on a bipartisan basis to sanction china for the oil purchases. and there was a lot of enthusiasm. on the hill for that. i'm not seeing the same enthusiasm for the administration which isn't surprising because whenever we talk about sanctions, treasury always pushes back to a degree. state pushes back. we up your student to be a little more ready to draw that weapon and use it. your thoughts. >> we have a gauge on this quite a bit. i really understand and take your points to heart but i would point out at a think you know, you've heard so me times, the hundreds of others sanctions that we have undertaken more directly. i do think and i will just state clearly that iran is a foe of

the united states. went to get the same everywhere. not just in the middle east, not just with respect to the houthis that increasingly role that they are also playing on the battlefields of europe in ukraine. so i take that very seriously. i understand the points, sanctions policy as you underscore, senator, we understand our complex. they are often concerns about certain steps you might take in the financial arena that have secondary, tertiary effects. i don't mean that as an excuse that these or complex matters. i do think we have taken consequential steps, , but i ned to take back to the building a specific set of recommendations that you carry. i do also want to just point to something that you race at the outset. -- raised. >> europe has had two major challenges. what is the nationals pretty challenge. many of these countries had

hoped for a deeper economic and commercial relationship with china. i will tell you after substantial discussions both in my previous job, senator, and this job, europeans understand the risks. they are coming around. we are working much more consequential with them, not just on russia the china as well. >> my time is up. thank you, mr. chairman. >> senator coons. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you so much for your leadership on shaping our policies with regards to china. and the rest of the world and thank you for investing your time in going to the african continent and seeing this critical spirit of competition, a potential conflict between the united states and turkey. let me first ask about partners and allies. i think president biden's leadership in responding to russia's aggression in ukraine cobbling together for strengthening and expanding nato, blazing 50 countries including in the indo-pacific to support ukraine has been critical.

how relevant is it to our global competition with china that we continue to support ukraine, that we send a strong and consistent and bipartisan message that when we say we are with ukraine we mean it? >> thanks, senator, and want to thank you for your leadership on this. i will just simply say that before this date visit of the prime minister khan he had an opportunity to appear before congress and give a major address. it surprised people that the number one issue that he raised and asked the american people and congress to do was to stand by ukraine, to continue the job. and it does suggest, we think of europe and indo-pacific a separate theaters. we should not. there strategically aligned. everyone in the indo-pacific is watching how ukraine turns out. the united states standing firmly with allies and partners,

the unequivocal in her support for ukraine gives courage and a sense of determination to our allies and partners -- >> in my recent visit to taiwan following the election to the shangri-la conference in singapore i got exactly the same sense. yes, standing firm with the philippines and the second, shall was critical for the region but if we step back what income supporting ukraine that since it even stronger message and something there is some real risk that in our elections this fall the message will go out that we of national leaders who don't support ukraine. >> can i i say one thing? i also wanted to personally thank you for the encouragement to engage directly on africa. so i bid on the job five months. i've been to africa twice. i will go a third time and i will tell you quite directly, it's the part of my job that i feel the strongest about and i most committed to, and ask for the support of this group.

so i would say we need more in a couple of different arenas. i think more in terms of our ability at the dnc, more congressional visits. you would be amazed at how much some of the small countries appreciate. i have got to just tell you, like africa right now, we have 14 nominations waiting for votes across the continent. i would just simply say i think it helps us in terms of really making the case for american -- >> let me take a relatively -- formally known as swaziland, one of the very few countries in the continent that still maintains relations with taiwan, not the prc. we don't have an ambassador. we haven't had an ambassador there have been major challenges in terms of human rights and other issues. without an abbasid we are absent. this is true across a dozen other, 14 to be specific, may 2 countries the continent. rush isn't there. china, china is a bear.

the scope of china's trade -- rush isn't there. has increased tenfold in the time of been or what hours has barely grown. their trade with africa 240 billion last year. ours now just 48 billion. how important is a timely reauthorization of agoa for us to use the tools of trade in africa? >> i think it's critical. there's a lot of gamesmanship about whether to wait. i would get it done. it's one of the few tools we have. have get it done. >> before i run out of time if i could, we just moved out of the appropriations committee with the first on bipartisan vote this year state and foreign operations that includes an investment in and counting prc influence fund, 425 million. it includes significant aid for ukraine for the coming year. not what they need but hundreds of millions of dollars. it can poorly includes a new find that allows treasury to love it's a multilateral development banks that will are.

mr. thune: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: yesterday evening in the tradition of another the democratic president and his court-packing scheme, president biden announced a proposal to interfere with the constitution separation of powers and permanently politicize the supreme court. he dressed it up with appeals to permanent american values, but what it all boiled down to, mr. president, was this -- democrats don't like some of the supreme court's recent decisions. and so he decided to change the rules of the game. that's it. mr. president, i've disagreed with more than one supreme court decision in my time. i disagreed with supreme court justices nominated by presidents of my own party. but i have never thought that minot agreeing with the -- my not agreeing with the supreme court decision meant that the court itself was illegitimate or

my party should attempt to change the law to make over the supreme court in our image. not so for democrats. the supreme court releases a handful of decisions that democrats don't like and they decide that the court is illegitimate and that it's time to remake the court to their liking. more than one democrat has already introduced legislation in congress to do just that. and now with the president's announcement yesterday, it's become clear that those plans have accelerated. and if democrats take the white house and congress in november, we can expect them to lose no time in destroying the court as we know it. and while the president's proposals are troubling enough, a measure to circumvent the constitution's lifetime appointments for justice and replace the supreme court's own code of conduct with a code of

conduct mandated by democrat members of congress, who knows, who knows if democrats will stop there. after all, while their proposal would conveniently start by retiring republican appointees, democrats would only be able to retire one justice every two years. what's to say that would be fast enough for democrats? we all know that court-packing, which issing expanding the supreme court -- which is expanding the supreme court until you get a sufficient number of justices to endorse your policies, has gained significant traction in democrat circles. indeed, president biden's term limits proposal is a version of court-packing by another name. and it would not surprise me at all if democrats didn't stop there, because make no mistake, mr. president, this is a

slippery slope. once you start interfering, there is no going back. if the democrats implement this plan, it is easy to see a future where each subsequent administration acts to return balance to the supreme court with the result that the supreme court changes wildly from administration to administration, losing all independence and credibility and any resemblance to the supreme court as established by the constitution. i like to remind my democrat colleagues of what happened with the filibuster for judicial nominees here in the senate. back in 2013, democrats frustrated that they could not rubber stamp all of president obama's appointees, abolished the filibuster for lower-court nominees. it turned out to be a quick step

from that to abolishing the filibuster for supreme court nominees a few years later. and i'm pretty sure that i've heard more than one of my democrat colleagues express regret over that 2013 decision, but it seems that democrats are resolved not to learn from history and are perfectly willing to sacrifice the long-term stability of the supreme court for their own short-term political gain. mr. president, even worse than any specific element of president biden proposals yesterday is the incredibly dangerous precedent they would set for meddling in what is supposed to be a separate, independent branch of our government. if democrats were really, really concerned about impartiality and the rule of law and promoting faith in the supreme court, the

last thing they would be doing is interfering with the court's makeup. if there are any democrats left in congress who are willing to put the long-term health of our institutions over some temporary political gain, i urge them, i urge them to join republicans in opposing this power grab. mr. president, i yield the floor and i suggest the absence of a qu quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

>> we have a role to play there as do of course all our diplomats will continue to focus on this important area. with respect to technology, most especially our movement towards green energy. we need critical minerals. i'm glad is something you brought up in your opening comments. we can't get them through our deep sea beds by ratifying the

laws the sea treaty which looks to be a challenge base our current circumstances, then we should look to africa which is the preponderance of your minerals are. how can we help foster the public-private partnerships bringing american capital and expertise and standards to africa so that we can keep exploiting, exploring where we can get these minerals? >> if you look at like a balance sheet of the top 40 trace elements and minerals that are necessary for batteries or for semiconductors, vast lion's share of the supplies are now controlled by china. we start behind the eight ball. we've got -- we were late understanding that what we're playing a globalized game the

chinese were basically cornering markets. now, we responded with a number of arrangements with specific countries. we have critical minerals agreement with japan, with australia. we have forked with other countries in africa, it will help us in this context. i would simply say this is an area, these mines often dirty. the processing is challenging. it's going to take resourcing. we have to do this with allies and partners more and, frankly, we got to scour the globe. and it won't just be africa, senator, it's mongolia, it's countries in southeast asia. and it will be out our inteo continue to prosecute this. >> one last point, think it's important to make because i did not support the inflation reduction act but the reason we pursued the chips and science act and a handful of republican colleagues joined the on that

effort was in part for purposes of economic resiliency. the inflation reduction act took the opposite approach. we have become far more dependent on the upstream critical inputs, and there was never i think seriously wrestled with before we took this approach to mitigating climate change. thank you. >> thank you. >> senator merkley. >> thank you, madam chairman. thank you so much for your work, secretary campbell. two pieces of one owe two address. first is chinese strategy of transnational repression. they have greatly expanded their effort to suppress dissent abroad, particularly among chinese diaspora. they have a host of tools. they persuade government to detain individuals have been critical of china, to deport individuals back to china. they spy on those dissidents. they threatened them. they blackmail them by saying that their family members will

be affected back in china, and to execute on that threat as well. what is the state department doing to help nations resist the pressure to detain or deport dissidence? and very importantly, protect freedom of speech and freedom of assembly here in the united states when china is threatening chinese diaspora? >> senator merkley, extremely well worded and concise and exact challenge that we are facing. i would say the most important first step that we sought to do is actually help countries understand the nature of the problem that they are facing. so you would be surprised at how many countries until they examine certain circumstances inside their own borders were unaware of some of these challenges. frankly even the united states has taken time to fully understand what has taken place

among diaspora communities got chinese language speaking. so i think we work with a number of countries to help understand the nature of this transnational challenge. we have helped countries strengthen a variety of law enforcement and other steps to assist them in contesting these actions. we have been very principled, direct in our diplomacy with china. i would simply say that this is a challenge that is not just a few countries. we've seen canada, we've seen in australia, the united states, new zealand, australia, other parts of europe. ..

in an effort the world is the united nations , they have proceeded to increase contributions. they have increased support for peace teams. take on more chinese nationals in leadership positions and they are trying to change the dialogue around human rights. they submitted false information on human rights. they are providing information

and suppressed political rights. identify the vision of the little rights. in this. >> the truth is, it is part of a parent strategy redefining what democracy means their ultimate

goal is to step up the game substantially. i would say that's the arena if you're asking where we need to do more. i'm proud and satisfied. work will never be done with we done the indo pacific, the partnership with india is robust. on the field in various countries are diplomats and understanding the nature of the challenge in organizations like the united states in which the

action increasingly dispatches security council but the general assembly and that's her china is manifesting. >> such a unique competitor unlike the soviet union, they are diplomatic industrial commercial. i do think the policy apparatus to combine apparatus and trade geopolitics is always been the

cursor simply look at china the last ten years, today they dominate the world and primarily automakers beyond. there dominant in the global hygiene and technologically leader in the world's largest pollutant that you are really want to focus on his car in the lng sent and the undisputed king

and these things that are not laborers the presiding officer: we are. mr. blumenthal: i ask that it be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. i come here today to talk briefly on the kids online safety act. before the milestone historic vote that we will take at about noon today. for years, in fact for decades, congress has discussed and debated the need for reform and safeguards in the internet. we've held dozens of hearings, brought mark zuckerburg and

every other big-tech ceo to our committees. and there's been broad agreement -- something needs to be done, we need rules, safeguards, despite countless polls showing public bipartisan demand for legislation, nothing has happened. nothing. senator blackburn and i began working on our subcommittee when we held legislative investigation on kids online safety. throughout that process, we began to meet with parents who had lost their children because of social media's harms, from bullying, fentanyl, sex exploitation, and other horrific ha harms. as a parent of four children, and senator blackburn also is a

parent, we felt deeply the grief, but we admired the grit and grace of those parents who came to us and demanded action. i'm haunted by one of the moms who said to us early on, i think speaking on behalf of so many of them and us, when will you stop them from killing people? when will you stop them from killing our children? voting today, the united states senate is finally taking action on big tech, and at its core the kids online safety act is a simple, straightforward measure. it gives young people and parents the tools and safeguards to take back control over their online lives. it gives them that measure of

power. it empowers them. it enables them to make chamss about what they want to -- make choices about what they want to see and hear on the internet, rather than the algorithms that drive content, often repetitive, addictive content, about bullying and eating disorders, that contributes to the destruction of their lives. three key principles in this legislation -- accountability, safeguards, and trans transparency. first, social media platforms will be bound by a duty of care, legally required to exercise reasonable care to prevent their products from causing self-harm, suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, and other harmful impacts. the duty of care is flexible

because we want it to keep up with the changes in technology and to be able to fairly apply to companies with widely different sizes, business models, and products. we recognize the obligations on instagram or youtube should be different from those for a sta start-up, and that social media platforms are different from video games. second, social media platforms will have to provide young people safeguards and set them to the strongest settings by default. finally, social media companies will no longer be able to hide harm. this legislation will require yearly independent audits and access to data. researchers, congress, parents, all will be able to hold those

companies truly accountable. importantly, this bill stops big tech from avoiding their legal obligations to protect children, and we do that through a knowledge standard in the bill. the bill ensures that if meta or google know or should know that a user is a teen or child, they need to provide them the safeguards under this legis legislation, where the platforms have information indicating that they are kids, they need to act and protect them. no more sticking their heads in the sand. no more excuses. no more platitudes that disguise inaction and irresponsibility. in short, we want kids to have more of the good that comes from

the internet, without the bad. there's a lot of positive. kids experience it. but there are some really scary, toxic stuff that kids also experience, and they have told us, again and again and again, they want to make choices. they don't want the algorithms to do it for them. and that's why we have empowered them to make those choices. we're not blocking or censoring content for them. we're simply creating an environment that is safe by de design. and at its core, this bill is a product design bill. all my career, i've tried to

protect consumers against defective products that are designed to make more money and more profits at the risk or expense of injury to people, whether it is cigarettes that are designed to kill the customer through nicotine addiction or car manufacturers who have been required to make their products safer by design, through seat belts and airbags, or toys with small parts that endanger children who can choke on those parts unless there is sufficient warning to parents or caregivers. this society steps forward to make products safer, putting people and particularly children over products, and that is what

we are requiring social media to do. we can no longer rely on the big tech companies to say to us trust us. they betrayed that trust. and congress has an obligation to act. over the past three years, we've worked exhaustively to improve this bill. we've sought feedback. we've made changes. we've revised. and crafted new provisions. we've robustly debated the issues with anyone and everyone who had concerns, and i am immensely grateful to senator blackburn, who has been incomparably important as a partner, as a cowriter and

drafter of this legislation,ed a an advocate, because we share this common goal. whatever our differences on other issues, this goal has been paramount for both of us over these past three-plus years. i want to also thank senators schumer and mcconnell for scheduling this vote, and chair cantwell, ranking member cruz, for their leadership and support for this bill in the commiterce committee. the kids online safety act has the three-quarters of the chamber. that is important for a substantive piece of legislation that takes on the most powerful companies in the world. looking ahead, i'm confident that we can build on this

momentum. it is a powerful momentum, but we need to build on it. and we can swiftly pass the kids online safety act in the pous and en -- in the house and enact it into law this fall as kids come back to school, legislators will be returning from their home districts having heard from those parents and children, just as we have heard here about the dangers and destruction coming from the internet. senator blackburn and i have spoken with the house leadership several times and i believe we have strong support and a clear path forward. through this long process, our leaders, inhave -- leaders have been those parents and young people. they are in the gallery today for the vote, and across the

country they are watching. our nation is watching because the parents of this nation, not just the advocates and activists who came here to meet with senators before now and soon congress people, but all of the parents of this nation who have a stake in the safety of our children are demanding this change. they're demanding the kids online safety act because they know first hand the heartbreak and loss that social media can cause. we can't bring back the lives of their loved ones, but we can save others. these parents are heroes, spending countless hours living through the pain, telling and retelling their stories, bringing tears to our eyes as

the majority leader, senator schumer, has said so eloquently. he has felt that pain through them, through their eyes and through their hearts, and i particularly want to thank senator schumer for keeping his word and giving this bill a vote. keeping not only his word but keeping faith with those parents. congress owes them, and i am honored to fight alongside them. today the senate will show that it understands we are in the midst of a mental health crisis in this country, particularly for our young people that is aggravated and exacerbated by big tech, and the reason is very simply a business model that, in

effect, relies on repetitive, addictive features, driving toxic content at kids. they want back control over their online lives. parents are asking for tools and safeguards that gives them a measure of control. clearly the need is so deeply and widely felt in this country, and the senate today shows that it values the lives of young people over the political influence and the profits of big tech. the armies of lawyers and lobbyists that it has been able to muster, the false pretenses of, sure, we want regulation, but in the that regulation will finally be defeated. it is a historic day. it is time to vote.

thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. mrs. blackburn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. president. and i thank my colleague, while he is still here on the floor, for his diligence and his work and his partnership as we have worked on the kids online safety act. indeed, he has put many hours, as his team has also put many hours, into this. as we get ready to move forward with passage, i think we have to remember that it was 1998, the last time this body took up and passed a bill that became law that protected children in the virtual space. and a lot has changed since then. we've seen the emergence of social media, we've seen 100

million americans born during that period of time. so thinking about these platforms and that emergence, when you think about facebook and instagram and snapchat and tiktok and online video games, those interactive games that are pulling kids into those, you think about how social media has changed the lives and the exposure of children today. they have grown up in this, and as senator blumenthal said, you know, mr. president, it's so important to note that there are laws that protect children from buying alcohol, buying tobacco,

buying pornography, being taken to a strip show. we, as a society, has -- we've decided kids can't drive until they're 16 years old, they can't vote until they're 18 years old. but when you look at the social media platforms, there are no guardrails, and children are con constantly exposed, constantly exposed to content that encourages self-harm. that is why we have started to see over the last decade such a rise in cyberbullying. i had one mom tell me, her child was bullied to death, cyberbullied nonstop.

i had a principal tell me, he said, you know, marsha, it's interesting, previously in previous decades, children could go home and get away from the school yard bully. now that takes place over that phone and it never stops. indeed, many of the behavioral issues at school are related to what is happening online and we have seen a rise in mental health disorders. we've seen an increase in eating disorders. online sexual abuse and human trafficking, drug overdoses in teens and, of course, suicides. online challenges where a child loses their life. and we have seen how the way big

tech approaches this, our kids are basically defenseless. that is why the kids online safety act has moved forward as senator blumenthal said we have worked on this. we have met with colleagues, we have met with wonderful parents, we've met with principals and pediatricians and so many people that are involved in children's lives. and that is why this legislation is focused on safety by design, and that's a change. that will be a change for social media. it will have that duty of care. there will be that toolbox for kids and parents to make it a safer environment. those algorithms are going to have to be opened up. there's going to have to be a portal so bad actors in the virtual space can be reported

and the social media platforms will have to do something about it. when we started focusing on these issues and doing our hearings, what became so evident to us, social media platforms knew, they knew that what they were doing and what they were allowing was causing harm. they knew it because the whistleblowers from those companies told us they knew it. but you know what? they were putting profits before children so they didn't it -- they did it anyway. they did it knowing they were harming our children. but children are not a product when they are online. that is the way social media has treated them. indeed, meta assigned a value to

each child. that child is worth $270 a year to that company. that is the callous nature with which they have approached this. so we are ready to move forward with this today, and we do thank the parents who have shared their stories with us and have done more. they have advocated, they have worked, they have pulled neighbors and friends and those that work with children into a coalition. it's been pretty powerful. so we are ready to move forward with this and we do thank senator blumenthal and his team. we thank the other members of the senate, the 70 cosponsors that are on this legislation

with us. we thank leader schumer and leader mcconnell for their work. commerce committee chairman cantwell and ranking member cruz all have been supportive of moving this legislation and it is, indeed, a testament to building consensus around bipartisan solutions that are going to last. we are also thank -- pardon me -- all of the groups and organizations that have worked with us to make certain that this legislation gets across the finish line. and as we pass it today, and send it over to the house, we know that we have chairwoman rogers and congresswoman caster

and congressman billorokus. they are the house leads on this legislation. there is broad bipartisan support in the house, and we know that the house leadership is supporting and away are ready to move this across the finish line and to the president's desk so that as kids head to school this year, they know they have new tools in the toolbox to protect themselves as they are in the virtual space. thank you, mr. president. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. markey: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that this article on the history of privacy protections for children and teens from

commonsense media be entered into the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. markey: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, today is an historic day. today the united states senate will vote on the kids online safety act, which includes my legislation with senator bill cassidy from louisiana, the children and teens online privacy protection act, or coppa 2.0. with this vote, the united states senate will finally send a message to big tech that the days of indiscriminately of targeting and tracking children and teens are over in our country. that their privacy invasive business model must change, that young people and their parents are more important than

shareholders' bank accounts. this vote is long overdue. on june 20, 1996 -- june 20, 1996, more than 28 years ago, at the dawn of the information age, when only birds tweeted and the graham was simply a -- gram was simply a measurement, i stood before the house of representatives and warned about the internet's unique threat to privacy. i stated then in 1996, that the internet would allow corporate america to have the, quote, opportunity to track the click stream of a citizen of the net, to sneak corporate hands into a personal information -- cookie jar and use that database to use this profile of people's hobbies, buying habits,

financial information, health information, who they contact or converse with when and for how long. the internet would allow digital desperados to roam the frontier unchecked. two years later congress enacted my children's online privacy protection act or coppa. that was 1998. and it was for kids under the age of 13. that's all i could get in 1998, protections for kids under 13 in our country knowing that there was going to be an effort by corporate america to exploit those children. now, how did i know that? i knew it because i had been chairman over telecommunications in the 1980's when the

television industry was targeting kids with advertising on saturday morning cartoons, saturday morning programs. they were pretty much turning all the programs into one big ad targeted at vulnerable kids. and so i had to offer -- i had to author the children's television act of 1990 in order to put protections for television on the books. but then as the internet evolved, the marketers, the targeters all moved over from television over to the internet. and with it congress has to follow them in order to pass the laws to protect children, to protect teenagers from being exploited by the very same marketers, the very same companies that sought to exploit

them on television. and as i explained back then, the original copa, children's online protection act, can be summarized in three words. disclosure, knowledge, and know. disclosure of prooif si policies, knowledge of information collected on our children, and no to the sale of the information. that information should only be used for the purposes for which the young person in their family had intended it. so coppa put real safeguards on the internet at least for kids under the age of 13. but over the last 26 years, the federal trade commission has brought dozens of cases against both household names like google, tiktok and even

mrs. field's cookies and lesser known entities. and during that period, the federal trade commission has collected over one half a billion dollars in fines for violation of coppa, of the -- the original law has done a lot of good but as the years have passed and technology has evolved, our online world once again started to look like the wild west with the desperados in charge, exploiting teenagers, exploiting children, using algorithms, powerful algorithms to target those kids. so in 2011, i introduced my children and teens privacy bill to up date copa. and in every congress since, i've continued to introduce that legislation, slowly developing coalitions, answering questions,

building support to modernize and update copa to protect children and teens privacy online. it can no longer be under the age of 13. now we have to move it up to age 16 because we can see very clearly the targeting that goes on by these companies, the exploitation of the young people in our country, and the vulnerability of that group of americans under the age of 17 who, according to the surgeon general, according to the cdc, are in a mental health crisis in our country. and social media has been implicated by the surgeon general, by the cdc as one of the principal causes of this mental health crisis in our

country. while knowledge and disclosure and no may have been effective during the early internet era, today that formula needs to be modified. the no must now be no, no, no. and that is the foundation of coppa 2.0. no targeted advertising towards children and teenagers in our country. no excessive data collection of information of teens and children. no deliberately ignoring young users. for over a decade, i have been fighting for these essential privacy protections. in fact, if coppa 2.0 were a person, it would have just turned 13. and would have aged out of coppa's critical privacy protections. and that's unacceptable.

i introduced it in 2011. but the power of those tech industries has blocked that progress that we needed. yes, you want all the good things from the internet. but there's the mckenyan quality. it's the best of technologies and worst of technologies simultaneously. it can enable but also degrade and debase. we must now put these protections in because we know that these companies have been expl exploited their ability to reach children and teenagers all across our country and largely unencumbered by any restrictions whatsoever. i know that privacy can sometimes seem assen illusive concept because strong privacy rules sound great in theory, but what does that mean in practice? well, with coppa 2.0, here's what privacy is going to mean.

it's going to mean privacy will put an end to the manipulative personalized ads that trick young people into purchasing unwanted goods and services. privacy means stopping a search engine or social media site from collecting a teenager's eye color or location or other information which has nothing to do with why that young person had gone online in the first place. it's none of that company's bus business. and it also means giving teens or parents an eraser button to delete a social media post, to tell the company delete all that information you've gathered about me, a teenager, or as a parent that you've collected about my child.

erase it all. and that right will be in the hands of the young person. it will be in the hands of the parent to just say no, stop it. stop collecting that information and delete whatever you have. erase it. so there will be an eraser button. so a youthful mistake doesn't last forever. so that's going to be a big moment, too, when we pass this legislation, to move the power over to the parents and to the young people. and most importantly, privacy means a fighting chance for parents and young people who are struggling against trillion dollar platforms looking for every way to get kids and teens on their app. today with passage of coppa 2.0, the senate takes a momentous step to stand up to the big tech lobbying machine, to stop the privacy invasive business model

that exploits young people for profit, to give our high-tech regulator the federal trade commission the tools to tame our modern digital disper rados who are out -- disper rados -- desperados trying to exploit our children. big tech algorithms and encouraging platforms to collect more data on young people, it has never been more important to protect our young people's privacy. with this vote the senate is finally meeting that moment. when i was a boy and i was home with my mother, with my two brothers, and i'd be 10 years old, 9 years old, and a salesman would ring the doorbell. and my mother would tell me, just go to where the letter opener is in the door and tell the salesman that your mother's

not home. and i would. and then i'd go to my mother and say, but you are home. and she would say, i'm not home to him. he's not getting in our living room. it's a 11:00 in the morning. we're not having a stranger in our living room with you and three small children. it's just not happening, eddie. well, that same sense of privacy is stilt present -- is still present in american families, in america's mothers and fathers. they don't want strangers in their living rooms, in their kitchens, in their bedrooms with their children. and what has happened is in the internet age, those same salesmen have been able to get around that front door. they've been able to get into the lives of the children, of the teenagers in our country in

ways that the parents have had great difficulty in controlling. and so what we're going to say here today on the floor of the senate is no. we're going to change this balance of power. we're going to hand it over to the parents, hand it over to the children and the teenagers so that we can just say to those salesmen, those digital salesmen, those digital desperados trying to take advantage of our young people in the country, no, you cannot get in. you cannot compromise the well-being of the young people in this family. so that's what this vote is all about. it's historic. it's long overdue. it was pretty clear what the business model of these companies was going to be long ago, at the dawn of the era. i was the democratic author of the telecommunications act of

1996 that moved america from analogue to digital, from narrow band to broad band. not one company in america had broadband in february of 1996. but it was all predictable. the pediatricians in our country said we must put protections in for this new digital world in 1996. so it was highly predictable. those who cared about the well-being of children, of teenagers were saying all back then. nothing is new. so today is a historic day. and we thank all of our partners for working with us and all of the outside groups who have dedicated their time, their effort, their resources to getting this bill to the senate floor. i'm deeply grateful to senator schumer for his partnership and leadership on this issue, to chairwoman cantwell, to ranking

member ted cruz, and to my partner senator cassidy from louisiana. in 1998 coppa 1.0 was a partnership between myself and billy tozeane from louisiana. today with senator cassidy, we're going to take coppa 2.0, partner it with the legislation of senator blumenthal and senator from tennessee and we're going to make history. then we're going to get it over the finish line and to the president's desk before the end of this year. i thank all the members for their cooperation on this and again i want to thank senator schumer for his great effort in expediting the movement of this legislation to the floor and for, i believe, it's inexible, inevitable passage. i thank you, mr. president. i yield back.

the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. well, today, mr. president, is a momentous day. the senate keeps its promise to every parent who has lost a child because of the risks of social media. today after a lot of hard work, twists and turns, the senate is passing two vital pieces of legislation with a strong bipartisan vote. the kids online safety act, kosa, and children and teens online protection act coppa. by passing kosa and coppa, we're one step closer to the most important update in decades to federal laws protecting kids on the internet. once we act, the house should pass these bills as soon as they can. this is such an important piece of legislation and i say to my

colleagues who have worked hard -- senators blumenthal and blackburn, markey and cassidy, chair cantwell and others, thank you. but, thank you, above all, to the parents, who advocated so tirelessly for these bills. i've heard the terrible stories -- children, teenagers, perfectly normal. some algorithm captures them online by accident and they end up committing suicide shortly thereafter. i've heard those stories. imagine being a parent and living with that. so we have to do something, and these parents have turned their grief into grace. these parents are the reason that we succeeded today. today the senate tells the parents, we hear you. we're taking action.

i'm so glad that we have a broad bipartisan vote here. it shows the chamber can work on something important, that no one let partisanship getting in the way of passing this important legislation. but this is an historic moment. this is a moment when the senate has said there have been horrible abuses, we must end up, and we will. i yield the floor. i ask unanimous consent the scheduled vote occur immediately. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to legislative session and resume consideration of the house message to accompany s. 2073, which the clerk will report. the clerk: house message to accompany s. 2073, an act to amend title 31, united states code, and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: under the previous order, amendment number

3022 is withdrawn. the question occurs on the motion to concur in the house amendment to s. 2073, with amendment number 3021. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. 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.

the clerk: 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.

the clerk: 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: mrs. shaheen, aye. t

the clerk: senators voting in the affirmative -- blackburn, boozman, brown, cantwell, capito, gillibrand, hassan, heinrich, kaine, klobuchar, markey, merkleyly, padilla, peters, schumer, shaheen, tillis, and tuberville. no senator voted in the negative. mr. sanders, aye.

mrs. murray, aye.

the clerk: mr. warnock, aye.

the clerk: mr. van hollen, mr. cotton, aye. mr. hickenlooper, aye. the clerk: mr. blumenthal, aye.

the clerk: mr. kennedy, aye. the clerk: mr. booker, aye.

the clerk: mr. thune, aye.

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

the clerk: mr. coons, aye.

the clerk: mr. lankford, aye.

the clerk: mr. budd, aye. the clerk: mr. crapo, aye.

the clerk: mr. reed, aye. ms. smith, aye.

the clerk: ms. baldwin, aye. mr. wyden, no.

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

the clerk: ms. collins, aye.

the clerk: ms. murkowski, aye.

the clerk: mr. ricketts, aye. the clerk: ms. stabenow, aye. mr. hoeven, aye.

the clerk: mr. durbin, aye.

the clerk: mr. cornyn, aye.

the clerk: mr. rubio, aye. the clerk: mrs. britt, aye.

the clerk: mr. carper, aye. the clerk: mr. mullin, aye.

the clerk: ms. cortez masto, aye. the clerk: mr. moran, aye.

the clerk: mr. johnson, aye.

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

the clerk: mr. paul, no.

vote:

the clerk: mr. manchin, aye. the clerk: mr. marshall, aye. the clerk: mr. rounds, aye.

ms. sinema, aye.

the clerk: mr. wicker, aye. mr. cramer, aye.

the clerk: ms. lummis, aye.

the clerk: mr. whitehouse, aye.

the clerk: mr. hagerty, aye. ms. ernst, aye. mr. cassidy, aye.

ms. hirono, aye. mr. hawley, aye. mr. welch, aye. ms. warren, aye. the clerk: mr. barrasso, aye.

the clerk: mr. cardin, aye.

the clerk: mr. schmitt, aye.

the clerk: ms. duckworth, aye.

the clerk: mr. mcconnell, aye.

vote:

the clerk: mr. daines, aye. mrs. hyde-smith, aye. mr. casey, aye. mr. grassley, aye. mr. scott of florida, aye. mr. bennet, aye.

the clerk: mrs. fischer, aye. mr. braun, aye.

the clerk: mr. kelly, aye.

ms. butler, aye.

the clerk: mr. cruz, aye. mr. young, aye.

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

vote: the clerk: mr. lujan, aye.

the clerk: mr. murphy, aye. the clerk: on this vote, the ayes are 91, the nays are three and the motion is agreed to. the senate stands in recess until 2:15 p.m.

ll bring live coverage we return here on c-span2. >> next up, c-span coverage of the convention we had to chicago for the democratic national convention live monday as parties prepare their nominee. the administrations vision for the next four years as a fight.

the national convention live monday august 19 on c-span, c-span now or online at c-span.org. ♪♪ is vintage on the field government funded by the martin carter is proud to be recognized as one of the best providers and we are just getting started building 100,000 miles of new infrastructure to reach those who need it most. >> charter communications the board and is a public service along with these of the television provi g