for an infrastructure package? has that discussion move forward on your side of the aisle? >> we will see what the plan would be but there is a desire to do infrastructure. i continue to be amazed at this new socialist democratic party that even when you have both sides agree in committee unanimously. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, madam president. yesterday tennesseans were really filled with a bitter sweet pride as president trump awarded posthumously the public safety officer medal of valor to a heroic tennessean, sergeant verdel smith. his watch with the memphis police department ended on june 4, 2016, and on that day an armed gunman stole a car and led

memphis police on a chase into the downtown area. officer smith responded to the call and worked quickly to clear the pedestrians from an intersection directly in the path of the speeding car. then the unthinkable happened. before the police were able to apprehend him, the gunman crashed through a barrier and fatally struck officer smith. valor is a word that is defined as great personal bravery. valor, you don't hear it a lot, but valor is that great personal bravery in the face of danger, and i think there is no better way to describe the actions of officer smith. i honor him on behalf of all tennesseans for his service in the u.s. navy, for his 18 years with the memphis police

department, and for his final act of heroism. as i reflected on sergeant smith's story, i began to think about memorial day and the ways we honor the valor of every soldier who has made that ultimate sacrifice. one of the first official memorial day observances was in 1868, and it was just over the potomac river in arlington national cemetery. and if you have not been there to honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice, i encourage you to do that. in 1868 individuals gathered to honor those who had lost their life in the civil war, and they gathered to decorate the graves of the fallen, both the union

and confederate soldiers. this set a precedent for what would become a national day of unity. think about that, a national day of unity, of mourning and of remembrance. and as the years went by, americans took greater steps to memorialize the fallen and those who have exercised valor and have chosen to make that ultimate sacrifice. after world war i, observances were expanded to honor those who fell in all american wars, and finally it was in 1971 that congress declared memorial day to be a national holiday. since then each year at the end of may cities across the nation

have lowered their flags to half-staff as a silent reminder of the cost of freedom. just like sergeant smith, the fallen warriors we honor this memorial day made a choice to serve this nation. they knew it wouldn't be easy. they knew it would be dangerous or even deadly, but they knew that it would be worth it because it would be a step in preserving freedom and freedom's cause. it's this choice and the choice to serve bravely and selflessly on behalf of a grateful nation that we remember as we debate crucial legislation supporting our armed forces. memorial day marks the conclusion of military appreciation month which has provided each of us an

opportunity to unite and reflect upon the heroic courage of all the members of our armed forces, and we thank them continually for the service they provide and the sacrifices that they and their families make on behalf of this nation and freedom. madam president, yesterday members of the armed services committee, of which madam president and i are each a member of this committee, and we completed our first steps in ensuring that this year's national defense authorization act fully funds the resources our military needs to defend against the threats that we face on land, by sea, and in air, and of course in the cyber realm.

our proposed $750 billion national defense budget will more than support this goal and includes a much-needed and well-deserved pay increase for our military men and women. the ndaa, as it is called, and an acronym that we hear around here so regularly, the ndaa is just one piece of our greater promise to care for soldiers on and off the battlefield. as members of congress, we have a duty to keep the promise to those who bravely defend the safety and the security of the american people and also we have a responsibility to those whose brokenhearted vigil we join this memorial day weekend. just as valor lived in the hearts of the fallen, so does

their sacrifice endure in the life of every person blessed to call this great country home. madam president, i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: a senator: i ask that the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: thank you. madam president, i take the floor today to urge my colleagues to halt the president's indiscriminate deportation machine. ms. cortez masto: this administration is targeting immigrants who are deeply woven into our communities and this inhumane approach must end. for 30 years david javez macias who was born in mexico, he

lived in reno, nevada. 30 years. he worked as a landscaper during the week and went to church on sundays. he raised four children and he tried to follow the law. he paid his taxes and hired attorneys to help him become an american citizen. in 2013 he was pulled over for turning left as the street light changed. that traffic stop brought him to the attention of immigration enforcement. the previous administration had permitted mr. javez macias to stay with his family. he had a heart condition that required regular treatment and he had been a hardworking community member for decades. yet under this administration, david was deported to mexico, ripping him from his family. as a granddaughter of immigrants, i understand how much immigrants like david contribute to american communities, and as a native nevadan, a state where one in five schoolchildren have an undocumented parent, i know how

deeply communities are hurt when we drive out longtime members. that's why i'm introducing the end mass deportation act, to keep the trump administration from pursuing people like david. this bill will make sure we're not indiscriminately charging people for deportation who have contributed to their communities for decades. just days after taking office, president trump it issued an executive order that changed our immigration enforcement priorities. he gave i.c.e. the green light to aggressively pursue anyone without papers, not just people who have committed serious crimes or posed a threat to our public safety. my bill rescinds this cruel and counter productive order. now the trump administration is deporting people who have lived in the united states sometimes for decades, playing by the rules, providing for their families, starting businesses and contributing to their communities. in nevada almost 90% of

undocumented residents have been in the united states for more than five years. these people own their own homes. they are people who pay billions in taxes each year. their children are citizens, legal permanent residents and dreamers. they are our neighbors, our coworkers and our friends. the impact of this policy on american families has been profound. since president trump signed his executive order, arrests of immigrants without criminal records have tripled. the end mass deportation act would make the administration focus our law enforcement resources where they should be, on people who pose a legitimate threat to our communities. historically prosecutorial discretion was used to take into account the compelling circumstances of an individual's case, like parents who have u.s. citizen children and strong ties to the community, or individuals who have served in our military. as a former prosecutor, i

understand what an important law enforcement tool this is. the president's mass deportation order ends that prosecutorial discretion in our immigration system, taking valuable time and resources away from pursuing criminals and other security threats. even worse, the order makes us all less safe because it discourages people without documentation from turning to police to report crime. put yourself in the shoes of an undocumented woman who is the victim of domestic violence or someone without papers exploited at the hands of an unscrupulous boss when those crimes go unreported, our neighborhoods suffer. listen, i recognize that we have a broken immigration system, but the way to fix it isn't to persecute people like david, whose biggest offense is a traffic ticket. we need to pass comprehensive

immigration reform, but until we do and until we can come together in a bipartisan way, we must rescind these executive orders that are not moving this debate forward in a useful way. let's reverse this administration's cruel and dangerous policy. i'm the first to tell you, and i see it every single day in my state, immigrants in large are a vision of who we live with, work with and worship with. by passing the end mass deportation act, we will remind all americans that every generation of immigrants enriches the fabric of our nation and will provide the sense of security that every family with undocumented members needs to thrive. i urge my colleagues to support this will act. madam president, i yield the floor and notice the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. mr. wicker: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wicker: thank you, madam president. in a few moments, the senate will vote on the telephone robocall abuse criminal enforcement and deterrence act. the shorthand name of that being the traced act. and i rise in strong support and optimistic support of this legislation at this time. i thank the leadership, the leadership on both sides of the aisle for working to bring this bill to a vote. last month, the people of my state of mississippi received over 50 million robocalls. now, that's just in one state of mississippi with about three million citizens. that's more than 17 robocalls

for every man, woman, and child in my state, 50 million. imagine what it is around the country. it's billions and billions. some robocalls are legitimate. when we get a reminder from the doctor's office that our appointment is coming soon or when a school activity is canceled. those are welcome. but many are not. most are not. and billions and billions of robocalls are scams targeting the most vulnerable members of our society. these abusive robocalls have plagued americans for years. studies show that in my part of the country, the southeastern united states, they are particularly abusive and pervasive, costing consumers billions of dollars each year, costing our economy billions of dollars each year. many of these illegal robocalls

use what is referred to as neighbor spoofing where the robocallers somehow manage to use a local number, a local area code in the hope that -- in hopes that recipients will be more likely to pick up the phone. the result is many americans don't answer their phone calls. they just let it ring and see if there is a message. but americans also lose -- miss important calls because of scammers and because this has been hijacked by the extraordinary networks used by these scammers and illegal violators of the law. the traced act will help. it goes after abusive and illegal robocallers by giving consumers, regulators, and law enforcement tools to fight the

people taking advantage of the system. the bill will help the federal communications commission, the f.c.c., crack down on violators, require phone companies to authenticate calls, and require the f.c.c. to consider when and how to make call-blocking services available to customers. perhaps the most important part of the traced act is that law enforcement will now join the battle. under the authority of the united states attorney general, the bill will get law enforcement fully engaged in the fight to prevent and prosecute robocall violations, and the american people are ready for this and are demanding this. we can give it to them in just a few moments when we vote on final passage. the bill will task the attorney general with providing congress with the next steps we need to

take to stay ahead of the pestilence of illegal robocalls. i want to thank the bipartisan leadership in the commerce committee for moving this bill forward. the authors, senator thune and senator markey for their leadership on this important issue. i want to thank my ranking member, the senator from washington, senator cantwell, for her help in getting this important piece of legislation approved by voice vote out of the commerce committee and also a special thank you to senator schatz and senator moran for their amendment to the traced act, which improves the f.c.c.'s reporting on robocalls and generally makes the bill better.

i predict an overwhelming majority for this piece of legislation when it comes up for a vote in just a few moments, and my appreciation goes to all of those who participated, and my optimism is that this will soon move to passage in the house of representatives also. thank you, madam president. i see my distinguished colleague from massachusetts, the sponsor of this legislation, and i yield the floor at this point.

mr. markey: madam speaker. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. markey: i want to rise in support of the traced act, a piece of legislation that will help all americans deal with the epidemic of robocalls, which afflicts them and their families every single day of the year. i want to thank chairman wicker for all of his assistance in moving this legislation expeditiously through the legislative process. i want to thank my partner, senator thune, from south dakota. he and i have worked very hard to reach this moment where democrats and republicans can come together on an issue, which we all agree is something that we have to address in a very serious way.

so this question of robocalls and their role in american society, well, it's a daily deluge of calls that americans experience. it's more than a nuisance in 2013. it is a consumer protection crisis. americans across the country face an epidemic of robo calls, bombarding land lines and mobile phones. while our phones were once a reliable means of communication, they have been turned against us and are now mechanisms for scammers and fraudsters who wish to do us harm. the numbers are staggering. in 2018 consumers received an estimated 48 billion robo calls, 18 billion more than in 2017. that's 131 million robocalls per

day, more than five million calls an hour, more than 1,000 calls per second in the united states. nearly 500 million robocalls to massachusetts residents alone. the reality is that we no longer have confidence in our phones. what was once a trusted means of communications, our phone has become a tool for fraud and scams and harassment, an avenue by which individuals with bad intent can access our homes, our purses, or our pockets at any time. caller i.d. is not trusted. important calls go unanswered. innocent americans are defrauded. our seniors in particular are targeted. robocalls are a menace. but today the united states senate is saying loud and clear that rebowcall relief is in

sight. i've been proud to partner with senator john thune of south dakota. on the telephone rebowcall abuse, -- robocall abuse -- our legislation cracks down on the scammers that now account for nearly one half of all of the robo calls in our country. it's an unbelievable number. one half of all of the robo calls are now being delivered by scammers trying to take advantage of innocent americans. years ago scammers needed expensive, sophisticated equipment to robo call and robo text consumers en masse. today they just need a smar smartphone to target thousands of phones an hour at literally

very little expense. so something has changed and we know it has changed and this is our opportunity here today to do something about it. these new technologies allow illegal robocallers to conduct fraud anonymously depriving federal regulators and consumers the ability to identify and punish the culprit. by passing this legislation today, we're sending a clear message to these fraudulent robocallers. your days are numbered. stopping robocalls requires a simple formula which we have included in the traced act. authentication, number one. blocking, number two. and three, tougher enforcement. first, the bill requires carriers, telephone carriers to adopt call authentication

technologies so they can verify that incoming calls are legitimate or authentic before they reach consumers' phones. this must be mandatory for every single phone carrier in the united states. second, the federal communications commission must require callers to block unverified calls, fake calls, something the commission has yet to do. and third, we need to increase from one year to three years the time for the federal communications commission to pursue penalties for robocallers that intentionally violate the rules. that is the recipe for success. and that is what the traced act does. this bill we will vote on today has enormous support across the country. 54 state and territory attorneys general, all of the commissioners at the federal communications commission, and

at the federal trade commission, major industry associations, and leading consumer groups endorse the legislation and agree that the traced act is an essential weapon in combating the rise of illegal fraudulent robocalls. senator thune and i are joined by over 80 of our colleagues in support of this bill. this is not a liberal or a conservative issue. it is in -- it is an a everyone issue. it affects the elderly, the young, the small business owner and the student, our grandparents, our naishes, our teachers -- neighbors, our teachers, our coworkers. today no one is spared from this consumer protection pandemic. senator thune and i have worked together, but it would not have been possible without the great work of groups like the national consumer law center, aarp, consumer reports, consumer

federation of america, consumer action, the national association of attorneys general, u.s. telecom, ntca and so, so many more. these groups joined the chorus of countless americans who have raised their voices and called on congress to pass this bipartisan, commonsense legislation and we thank each and every one of you. there are no blue robocalls. there are no red robocalls. all there are are robocalls attacking every home in our country. every person walking around with a wireless device on their person. this is something that we finally have a chance today to do something about it, to pass meaningful legislation that will begin this process of occur caleing -- of curtailing the

scourge of robocalls that is an abuse of every single american every single day of this year. so we thank everyone for all of their great work on this issue. again, i want to thank my great partner, john thune, and his staff for their partnership on this legislation. i want to thank my staff, joe we winder who is sitting out here on the floor, daniel green and as well bennet butler who is sitting right behind me. they worked together on a bipartisan basis with republican staffers to craft this very important piece of legislation. and again, i want to thank senator thune and i want to thank senator wicker for ensuring that america now has a chance to see that this body is going to work to begin an end to this epidemic. so with that, madam president, i

yield back the balance of my time. and i doubt the presence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. thune: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. thune: i understand the senate is in a quorum call. the presiding officer: it is mr. thune: i would ask unanimous consent the quorum be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: pretty much every american has to deal with illegal robocalls. how many times you answer the phone to discover you've won a contest that you never entered or asking to provide personal

information like your bank account or social security number. illegal robocalls, i think we can all agree, are a major nuisance. scammers use these calls to successfully p.r.i. on vulnerable populations like elderly americans who are sometimes less technologically savvy. scammers target the kind of personal information that can be used to steal your money and your identity. and when scammers are successful, the consequences for their victims can be devastati devastating. well, there are laws and fines in place right now to prevent scam artistists from p.r.i.ing n americans through -- from preying on americans through the telephone these measures have been insufficient. in many cases robocall scammers simply build it into the cost of doing business. on top of this the federal communications commission's enforcement efforts are hampered by a tight time window for pursuing violators. that's why i introduced the legislation before us today, the telephone robocall abuse

criminal enforcement or deterrence act or traced act along with my fellow commerce committee member senator markey. the traced act provides tools to discourage illegal robocalls, protect consumers, and crack down on offenders. it expands the window in which the fcc can pursue potential scammers from one to three years and in years two and three increases the financial penalty for those individuals making robocalls from zero dollars to $10,000 per call to make it more difficult for robocallers to figure fines into the cost of doing business. it also requires telephone service providers to adopt new call verification technologies that would help prevent illegal robocalls from reaching consumers in the first place. importantly, it convenes a working group with representatives from the department of justice, the f.c.c., the federal trade commission and the department of commerce, the consumer financial protection bureau, states attorney general, and others to identify ways to criminally

prosecute illegal robocalling. madam president, criminal prosecution of illegal robocalling can be challenging. scammers are frequently based abroad and can quickly shut down shop before authorities have a chance to get to them. but we need to find ways to hold scammers criminally accountable. when scammers are successful, they can destroy people's lives and they should face criminal prosecution for the damage that they do. i'm very pleased that the traced act has attacked a tremendous amount of support for members of both parties. in fact 84 senators have signed on as cosponsors of this bill. i'm especially grateful to senator markey for partnering with me on this legislation. i appreciate chairman wicker and ranking member cantwell for prioritizing this bill as they've assumed the reins at the commerce committee. i'm also very pleased that this bill has attracted tremendous support from state governments and industry and consumer groups.

all 50 state attorneys general support this bill and it's been embraced by the aarp, verizon, at&t, ctia, u.s. telecom, ntca, consumer reports and a number of other organizations. it's also supported by all of the current commissioners at the federal trade commission and the federal communications commission. madam president, i think we all know that the traced act won't prevent all illegal robocalling. i think we can all agree it is a big step in the right direction. it will make life a lot more difficult for scam artists and help ensure that more scammers face punishment for their crimes. i'm excited that the full senate is voting on this bill today. i hope that the house will quickly take it up so we can get this legislation to the president's desk. and before i close, madam president, i would be remiss if i didn't quickly thank several staff members whose efforts helped get us here today. in my office i'd like to

recognize alec and nick rossi. i'm thankful for their dedication and expertise. i would also like to thank dan ball and crystal actually who serve on senator wicker's team, daniel green on senator markey's staff and sean on ranking member cantwell's staff. this truly was, madam president, a team effort. i'm glad that we have an opportunity to do something that in a very big bipartisan way will start putting steps forward that would help prevent something that has become a scourge in the lives of so many americans. madam president, i yield the floor. mr. markey: would the senator yield. mr. thune: before i yield the floor, madam president, i would yield for a question from the senator from massachusetts. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. markey: i thank you, madam president. again, i just wanted to thank the senator from south dakota for his great leadership on this legislation. i think it's historic. it's a revolution in the

telecommunications industry that we're going to be voting on here today. i just want to thank you so much for all of your great leadership. once again to thank senator wicker and senator cantwell and their teams for helping us to be able to bring this out here so the american people can know we are going to take action to stop this plague from affecting their families. again, thank you so much. mr. thune: i appreciate the senator from massachusetts' comments and it has been a team effort. he and i represent different parts of the country. we all represent constituents who care deeply about this issue and want congress to do something about it. i want to thank the chairman of the committee and the ranking member as well. madam president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate will proceed to legislative session. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to the consideration of s. 151, which

the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 95, s. 151, a bill to deter criminal robocalls. the presiding officer: the committee-report substitute is greed to. the clerk: s. 151, a bill to deter criminal robocalls. mr. wicker: i ask unanimous consent for -- i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? if no, the yeas are 97. the nays are 1. the bill as amended is passed. under the previous order, the motions to reconsider are considered made and laid upon the table. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator for texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. the senator for texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate 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. cornyn: mr. president, i have three requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have been approved by both

the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. cornyn: mr. president, the senate is still not in order. the presiding officer: senators will suspend. the senator for texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, this weekend is memorial day. this is the weekend for memorial day, and we'll be honoring the brave men and women who have served our nation and who gave their lives to protect the very freedoms that we enjoy today. ronald reagan said freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. we didn't pass it to our children in their bloodstream. it must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same. our nation is incredibly fortunate and grateful to have had no shortage of those who are ready to lead that fight. throughout our history, brave

men and women have answered the call to serve our country, whether they answered the call nearly 250 years ago to fight for our independence or in recent years to combat the global threat of terrorism. all of them are our heroes. i've always had tremendous admiration for our service members, something instilled in me from an early age because of my dad's military service. he was a b-17 pilot in the army air corps, flew with the hell's angels in the 303rd bomb group out of the 8th air force in world war ii. on his 26th mission over germany after leaving the base in england and flying over the english channel to germany, he was shot down and captured as a prisoner of war. and by the grace of god survived the nazi prison camp where he

was interned for the last four months of the war. my dad went on to serve in the air force for 31 years and retired as what we call affectionately a full bird colonel. during and after his service he was an unabashed patriot and demonstrated that every day to us, his children and family, what it means to selflessly serve your country. and while my dad made it home after the war, many of his friends and comrades did not. like the great soldiers before them and many after, they laid down their lives in service to our country and the values we embrace as a nation. this memorial day we remember the fallen and thank them for the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our way of life. we mourn their loss and celebrate the great gift they have bestowed upon us and the freedoms they protected. since last memorial day, we've lost some incredible service members who call texas home.

in december we said goodbye to richard overton, america's oldest world war ii veteran, at the ripe old age of 112, he had a lot of wisdom to share including a few unlikely tips for living a long life, like enjoying a little bit of whiskey in your morning coffee and smoking cigars. in april we mourned the loss of richard cole, the 103 world war ii veteran part of the do-little raiders. he and his brothers in arms carried out a strike at a military installation in tokyo providing a desperately needed morale boost after the attack on pearl harbor. and just last week we said farewell to another member of the greatest generation, 100-year-old bill hayes. colonel hayes was one of the last living pearl harbor veterans and spent nearly four

decades serving in the united states army. while we honor those who served in the past, we also celebrate those serving now and the young men and women who one day will put on a uniform. in just a few days i'll have the privilege of speaking to young texans who will be attending one of our country's five prestigious military service academies. i hold a send-off each year in texas to meet the next generation of our military leaders and to thank them for their willingness to serve our country in uniform. today in advance of that holiday weekend i'd like to say thank you to the men and women stationed across my state and the texans who call it home. on behalf of this nation thank you to all the brave men and women who lost their lives while fighting for our freedoms. we will never forget your service or your sacrifice.

mr. president, on another matter, we were all hoping that the senate would soon be able to vote on a disaster aid bill that would send funds to states throughout the southeast and midwest that continue to battle with the impacts of severe weather. when a hurricane, tornado, wildfire, whatever the case may be, hits your home state, securing funds to help with relief and recovery becomes priority number one. i know because after texas was hit by hurricane harvey in 2017, i worked with the entire bipartisan texas delegation to secure funding that would help both with the immediate aftermath and long-term recovery and rebuilding. we received tremendous support from our colleagues here in congress as well as president trump in making sure that texas communities had the funding and resources they needed. our states made a great deal of progress since hurricane harvey

hit, and most texans have returned to some sense of normalcy, but the recovery process is not over. in february of last year, congress appropriated more than $28 billion in community development block grants for disaster recovery with roughly $12 billion intended specifically for mitigation purposes. about $4 billion of that was designated for texas to fund projects that will improve resiliency and help us prepare for future storms. but as texans who continue to recover from hurricane harvey have learned, getting a disaster relief bill passed in congress and signed by the president doesn't mean the check is in the mail. it's now been 15 months since that bill was signed, and texans haven't seen a penny of it. despite numerous attempts to funding entangled from the red tape at the office of management

and budget, we are still waiting. that's simply not acceptable. it's not acceptable to me. it's not acceptable to texans still in need. and it shouldn't be acceptable to the united states congress. i recently introduced a bill that would ensure that the office of management and budget wouldn't stand between communities impacted by disaster and vital funding appropriated and approved by congress. once signed into law, it would stab a shot clock requiring the office of management and budget to release funds appropriated by congress within 90 days. this change would apply not only to this particular block of funding, but to any funds appropriated to the states which are being withheld by the office of management and budget. with hurricane season just about a week away, there could not be a more critical time to act. it's important for us to come together in a bipartisan

agreement that can pass the senate, the house, and get the president's signature. i hope those that are negotiating this disaster relief bill, including the shot clock provision, will continue to negotiate in good faith so we can reach a compromise and reach a result soon. communities across our country need this money for disaster recovery and mitigation and they're simply tired of waiting for congress to act. i'm hopeful that any agreement will include this shot clock provision so we can finally get the roughly $4 billion in disaster mitigation funding untangled from washington red tape and get it to the texans who desperately need it. mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator for connecticut. mr. blumenthal: mr. president, i'm very proud to be in this

chamber. i'm always enormously grateful to be in this body, but especially so on the beginning of this memorial day weekend when we celebrate the patriotism and dedication of our brave men and women in uniform, patriots who serve our country in so many different ways as teachers and firefighters and police, and the values that bring us together always as americans. what we share in dedication to the rule of law, basic rights that are the reason that our forebearers and this generation have fought in parts of the world whose names we can barely pronounce. we celebrate those values and the rule of law in our constitution on this day as we

do every day this weekend as every weekend because they guarantee the rights that enable us to march in parades when we wish, gather with our families, worship, and speak as we please. and they guarantee also the rights of privacy that are at the core of our constitution. the right to be let alone from governmental interference, the rights that literally ignited the passion and fight for freedom in this country. the right of people to control their destinies, their futures, their bodies. and those rights are in peril today as never before. we are in a dark and dangerous time in this country with the passage of laws in alabama and

missouri and kentucky and ohio and other states around the country. where the rights of women are under assault. but let me say to the men of america , those rights are as important to you, and that assault on rights is as critical to you as they are to the women of america. women's health care is under attack. women's reproductive rights are under assault. and that means that all rights and all health care are grateful threatened. all our rights are under attack. that is the reason today i am introducing the women's health protection act with my great

colleague and friend, senator baldwin of wisconsin, and in the house of representatives franco and fudge who have led this effort there. we have actually reintroduced it. it has been a long-standing effort of mine and theirs, and my own commitment to this cause dates from by law clerkship to harry glassman on the united states supreme court a year after he wrote the majority opinion in roe v. wade. i'm proud to be a man standing for women's health care because women's health care rights are human rights, and the men of america need to hear loud and clear your stake in this fight is as big as anyone's because this fight and this debate, this

war on women's health care endangers and imperils all of our rights in america. the women's health protection act wects a woman's constitutional right to access an abortion. it's a right that is absolutely central to her economic well-being, her mental and physical health, her freedom, no matter where she lives, no matter what her zip code, no matter what her income, race, religion. and it is true of men and women, that regardless of where we live or who we think we are, those rights are critical to our lives, too. the women's health protection

act is designed to protect health care providers who are delivering the best care they can, the care their patient wants and needs from absurd and medically unnecessary requirements. these so-called protections for women that states have enacted relating to the width of hallways in clinics or admitting privileges or waiting periods are a pretext. they are a disguise, a ruse to restrict women's right to health care. under the women's health protection act, no state, none, can restrict women's health care by judging the width of hallways or doctors' privileges or any of those supposed protections which

are really pretexts, and those pushing unconstitutional restrictions will no longer be able to disguise their morally repugnant efforts as protecting women's health care. when, really, they want to take it away. the attack on women's rights that we saw last week in alabama was only the most extreme and restrictive of a line of action, demagoguic and draconian actions in our state legislatures around the country, but they have created fear, and they have created disparate effects so that women are apprehensive and anxious, and they should be, and they are angry, and that is

absolutely right. we all should be angry. we all have a responsibility to stand up and fight back, because these laws cannot stand in our country. we will fight them in the court, we will fight them in the state houses, and we will fight them here in the senate and the house as we are doing with the women's health protection act. these radical and unconstitutional extreme measures that simply tell a woman when she can become pregnant involve the government controlling her body, which is against the fundamental guarantee of our constitution in the right to be let alone from unwarranted and illegal government interference. we have had enough of the

dangerous and deadly attacks on women. we have had it with the meddling politicians who are getting between women and their own personal health care decisions, interfering with women's right to consult their doctors, their families, their counselors, and their faith leaders. we have had it with contemptible assaults on women's freedom and future. when i worked for justice blackmun, i remember we thought at the time all done, all settled, no more issues with a woman's right to reproductive rights. roe v. wade was the decisive

opinion of the united states supreme court, the law of the land then and thereafter. here we are decades later still fighting this needless and senseless battle for a woman's right to privacy and freedom because there are groups and individuals in this country who want to defy the united states constitution. roe v. wade was correctly decided. the united states supreme court has reaffirmed it in its progeny. nominees to the court coming before the judiciary committee have refused to answer my question about whether it was correctly decided, but the fact of the matter is it was, it will be, and it will remain. but the courage and strength of women still to assert their

rights of providers who give them the care they need, of the clinic access escorts who every day put their well-being on the line, the groups like the center for reproductive rights and planned parenthood who advocate tirelessly, the heroes who keep up the fight and the flame should inspire us in this chamber to say enough is enough. let's pass the women's health protection act so women no longer fear that their rights will be imperiled, regardless of where they live and where they come from. we won't be silent. we won't stop fighting. we won't give up, and we're not going away. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator for maine. ms. collins: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that proceedings under the call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. collins: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise today with my colleague from minnesota, senator tina smith, to introduce the tick act. this stand for ticks, identity,

identify, control, and knock out act. i would also like to thank my colleague, senator king, who is joining us as an original cosponsor. our bipartisan legislation would provide local communities and states with the resources needed to help prevent, detect early, and treat lyme and other tick-borne diseases. mr. president, tick-borne diseases like lyme have become a major public health concern with the incidents exploding over the past 15 years. the number of americans with tick-borne diseases has been rising at an alarming rate. in 2003, lyme disease infected approximately 30,000 americans. last year, there were an

estimated 450,000