inspire our lawmakers with the beauty of your presence and the majesty of your power. may your holiness create in them a transformative hunger for righteousness that enables them to honor your name. lord, empower them to live blameless lives, striving always to do what is right as they seek wisdom from your word. grant that as they receive inspiration from your sacred precepts, they will hear your whisper that they are your children.

fill them today with your joy. we pray in your righteous name. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance. 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 president pro tempore: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. the president pro tempore: the senator from wisconsin. ms. baldwin: i notice the absence of a quorum. the president pro tempore: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: it is so

ordered. mr. schumer: now, madam president, the past few weeks in the senate have been extremely productive. senate democrats delivered on our promise to pass bold covid relief legislation, and we have now confirmed 16, 16 cabinet level officials. today we'll continue to -- continue moving the ball forward on the president's nominees by confirming representative deb haaland to serve as president biden's secretary of the interior. rep haaland has already made history as one of two members who became the first native american women to serve in the house of representatives. she is a citizen of the laguna pueblo nation, and her family's roots in new mexico can be traced for 35 generations. by her own account, she grew up poor, moving frequently. her mother served in the navy, and her father spent a 30-year career in the marines. while the federal government has

often mistreated and neglected indigenous americans, the haaland family has proudly and bravely served this country. now representative haaland is making history twice over as the first native american secretary of the interior and the first native american cabinet official in american history. rep haaland's confirmation represents a gigantic step forward in creating a government that represents the full richness and diversity of this country because native americans were for far too long neglected at the cabinet level and in so many other places. rep haaland will have an important task ahead of her. she must refocus the interior department on preserving and protecting almost 500 million acres of public lands, combating climate change and environmental degradation, and upholding the federal

government's obligation to tribal nations. the trump administration did more to undermine the relationship between the federal government and the sovereign tribes than many have in decades, from desecrating sacred burial sites to building a border wall to neglecting the desperate situation of native tribes during the pandemic. shame on them. in elevating rep haaland to lead the department of interior, we reset the relationship between the federal government and tribal nations to one of cooperation, mutual respect, and trust. so different than the last administration's attitude. mr. schumer: i greatly look forward to voting in favor of rep haaland's nomination in a few short hours. now, throughout the week, the senate will process even more of president biden's highly

qualified cabinet nominees, including xavier becerra to serve as the next secretary of health and human services, isabel guzman to serve as s.b.a. administrator, and katherine tai to serve as u.s. trade representative. as the president -- as president biden continues to fight the covid pandemic and begins implementing the american rescue plan, he deserves to have his team in place asap. as soon as possible. now, on the american rescue plan, late last week, president biden signed the american rescue plan into law. the most significant federal recovery effort in decades is now under way. $1,400 checks are heading out the door to 85% of american households. relief for schools, businesses, families, and state and local governments is starting to arrive.

shots are going into the arms of americans from coast to coast. more than 135 million doses of the vaccine have now been delivered. over 100 million doses have now been administered. that's one-third of the population and much more quickly than had been previously projected. and our economy is poised for its own shot in the arm. as the american rescue plan begins to take effect, economists are projecting that american economic growth could more than double as a result of this bold, strong legislation. already americans are more optimistic about businesses being able to reopen. jobs coming back and the national economy taking off. as one headline read over the weekend, americans see better days ahead in pandemic and economy. after the american rescue plan passed through the senate a

little over a week ago, i've been highlighting parts of the bill that may have escaped notice, and there are so many. we all know about the $1,400 checks. we all know about the shots in the arm. but today i want to take some time explaining how it helps our nation's students. first of all, the american rescue plan provides substantial emergency relief to colleges and universities weighted towards those colleges and universities without million dollar endowments. fully half of that funding must be used for emergency financial said grants to -- aid grants to students, at least $20 billion nationwide. and of course many students will benefit from the $1,400 checks. any student with a young family will benefit from the historic expansion of the child tax credit, but these emergency financial aid grants are another way that students with exceptional need can access relief. that's not all.

the american rescue plan also sets the stage for president biden to deliver incredibly meaningful student loan forgiveness by making all types of student loan forgiveness tax free through december. at the moment debt cancellation is usually treated as taxable income. so without this provision, forgiving a student's debt would stick them with a tax bill. giving with one hand, taking away with the other. this would apply to more than a hundred thousand students who are already in repayment programs that offer some student loan forgiveness. crucially, this tax provision would apply to future efforts to forgive student loans as well. i believe the current administration has the legal authority to forgive up to $50,000 in federal student loan

debt, a life-changing policy decision that would boost our economy and help close the racial wealth gap. 20 years after starting college, the median white borrower will owe 6% of their debt while the median black borrower owns 95% of their debt. canceling up to $50,000 in student debt would close the racial wealth gap by 28% -- 28 percentage points among those households. that's just one of the many reasons senator warren and i have been advocating this policy, to cancel $50,000 of student debt and, as i mentioned, it's become an issue of racial justice as well. president biden to his credit has already proposed some student loan forgiveness, up to around $10,000. but now one of the objections that some in the administration

have had, that students when we forgive debt will have to pay taxes is gone, gone, gone because of the a.r.p. and i particularly want to thank senators menendez and warren for their work on these provisions. for much of american history, education has been the ladder up. for too many of these days, student debt has become the anchor weighting them down making it harder to start a family, buy a home, plan a career, and so much more. the pandemic has stressed student finances even closer to the breaking point. thankfully, the american rescue plan not only delivers short-term relief but clears the way for long-term relief for american students by saying when we forgive your debt, you don't have to pay taxes on it.

and american students collectively bear more than $1.7 trillion in student debt. when you think of young people and they're starting out their lives and there's so much excitement and enthusiasm, and then they have $1.7 trillion of debt on their shoulders weighting them down? that's not the american way of sunny optimism and can do. this system sprung out of control in many ways. going after the for-profit colleges and making sure they don't take advantage is one way we're trying to curtail it. but for the students who have this debt, future actions won't do any good in terms of changing the way we finance colleges and what we -- how we deal with the for-profits. the best way is canceling $50,000 in student debt and the good news? the a.r.p. makes sure no taxes are owed on any of that

cancellation. so no matter how their team performs during march madness this weekend, the american rescue plan gives every student something to cheer about. go syracuse. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent

that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: last thursday i spoke about the pain and disruption this pandemic has caused this past year. i also discussed the optimistic springtime that lies before us. the brighter horizon is not a product of a partisan bill that was signed last week or an administration that was sworn in less than two months ago. it was built by the american people and supported by the five historic and completely bipartisan bills that congress passed just last year. later on thursday, the nation heard remarks from president biden. the president spoke in a heartfelt way about grief and loss, but his vision for the days ahead was badly lacking. along a number of crucial dimensions, the biden administration keeps trying to rewrite recent history and year

rule science -- and overrule science. let's take vaccinations. the myth that his administration -- set goals that nobody believed were achievable and has met those goals against all odds. madam president, this is just not true. the president said, quote, i set at goal that many of you said was way over the top, but the benchmark of 100 million vaccines in 100 days was not some audacious goal that was met with great skepticism. a million shots per day was just the pace that the biden administration actually inherited. we averaged more than a million shots per day the week of the inauguration. we totaled more than 1.5 million the day the president was sworn in. the groundwork we laid last year is proving an historic success.

where the biden administration is continuing to help streamline distribution, they should of course get some credit, but their effort to sprint to the front of this year-long campaign should not fool anybody. the president announced another supposedly audacious goal on thursday that all adults in all 50 states should be able to schedule vaccinations by may 1. here's the problem. dr. fauci said a month ago we'd be there by april. quote, i would imagine by the time we get to april, that will be what i would call open season; namely, virtually everybody and anybody in any category could start to get vaccinated. that was dr. fauci's prediction last month. so the president's announcement of may 1 wasn't ambitious good news. it was actually a walkback.

something tells me that if the last administration had contradicted dr. fauci and push add vaccine milestone back a whole month, we might have heard about it from the media. then there is the k-12 schooling. for months science has confirmed that schools are remarkably safe and do not surge transmission of the virus. this administration's own experts amplified this before liberal politics got in the way. in early february, president biden's c.d.c. director specifically said vaccinate ago the grown-ups who work in schools should not be a prerequisite to reopening them. but on thursday instead of calling for schools to reopen right now, the president endorsed big labor's moving goalpost. he said that because the democrats passed their spending plan and because he's tried to move teachers toward the front of the line for vaccines, now -- now -- schools can move toward

reopening. this approach has put liberal interest group politics ahead of vulnerable kids and their parents. it was reported last week that the following message was posted in a private online group from members of one public school union in california. here was the quote -- friendly reminder. if you're planning any trips for spring break, please keep that off social media. it's hard to argue that it is unsafe for in-person instruction if the parents see vacation photos and international travel, end quote. further reports from california suggest that some local governments may suggest using some of the massive bailouts that democrats sent them on bonuses. one union argues that grown-ups should get things for such things as, quote, an airplane

trip to hawaii when this is all over, end quote. a lot of working-class families through the country are struggling, in large part due to the liberal dogma that schools have needed lots more cash to keep safe. now they are talking about trips to hawaii? every day the biden administration does not urge schools to reopen safely, right now, with simple precautions, it hurters kids that -- it hurts kids. biden also said maybe if citizens behave themselves, we'll be able to have small, outdoor gatherings by july 4. he made sure to stipulate that politicians reserve the right to c down again, however. but that carrot dangled before americans with small outdoor gatherings about four months from now. this was bizarre and it problematic on several levels.

number one, let's be clear. the federal government does not instruct free citizens how they may gather in small groups with their own families. i've equity haved strongly for follow -- i've advocated strongly for following guidelines and taking all precautions during the pandemic. the white house confers a bully pulpit. it does not confer premiumcy. about ten months ago, many liberal politicians applauded massive outdoor gatherings because they supported is a political cause. i'm not sure how much capital these officials have to micromanage backyard bar beus could. number two, the strange proclamation was out of step with science. current c.d.c. guidelines say it is already safe, right now, right now, for fully vaccinated people to meet in small groups. not just outdoors but indoors.

and they can be joined by an unvaccinated household if they're low-risk. that's the c.d.c.'s advice. talking not about july 4 but right now -- right now. so the president went on national tv to move the goalpost way beyond what his own c.d.c. is saying. why? there's no science-based reason why a few fully vaccinated people couldn't get together outdoors right now, not july the 4th. today. and if a healthy young adult who is still waiting for the vaccine wants to meet up with a few vaccinated relatives, that's about a personal assessment of a very small risk not a matter of presidential policy. that brings me to point three, the president's proclamation was far out of step with what's

already happening across the country. it was advice for an alternative -- or an alternate universe. the president's advise certificates may need to get out more. americans are already getting together in small groups outdoors in blue states and red states and smalltowns and big cities. the country is not locked down waiting for july the 4th. in my home state of kentucky, the governor backed indoor gatherings of up to eight people from up to two households. here in the district of columbia, as of next week, outdoor gatherings of up to 50 people will be permitted. 50 people here in the district. americans are getting vaccines. they've learned about this disease. they've learned about the low risk of outdoor transmission. they're making their own determinations as free people. look, i've been a consistent advocate for following the

science, wearing a mask, and taking precautions. i believe we should all keep following the science. nobody wants to fumble a ball on the 5-yard line. but that doesn't mean just citizens. it means politicians, too. and science doesn't only run in the direction of more restrictions. the american people were told 12 months ago that accepting major disruptions for a limited time would flatten the curve and prevent a health care collapse and americans rose to the occasion. one year on, if the president and his administration want to continue to give advice to free citizens, i suggest they exit the alternate university, stick to the actual science and get acquainted with where the american people actually are.

the presiding officer: 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, department of the interior, debra anne haaland of new mexico to be secretary. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call quorum call:

the presiding officer: the assistant majority leader. mr. durbin: i ask consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: thank you, madam president. last week my friend and colleague, the senior senator from texas, came to the floor to speak about two highly qualified nominees seeking senior positions in president biden's justice department. lisa monaco and vanita gupta. i was pleased to hear senator warren express support for lisa

monaco. she served as multiple roles as a career employee and senate confirmed official. she is also someone who is predicted and responded to the greatest threats of our time, including global pandemics, the rise of domestic terrorism. she has what it takes to serve as the number-two person in the department of justice and to be with the attorney general, merrick garland, to restore independence and integrity in the department. unfortunately, my friend from texas went on to take a different view when it came to vanita gupta who has been nominated to be associate attorney general, the number three position at the department. every senator, of course, has his right to oppose any nominee even though many of my colleagues across the aisle has spoke about the importance of deferring to president biden and his choices to lead his cabinet. but when opposition turns to

just beyond feeling negative towards someone to stating things about that person which may not be altogether accurate, i feel obligated to come to the floor and correct the record. i'd like to address a few of the false attacks that are being leveled against ms. gupta. she unequivocally stated in her testimony under oath before the judiciary committee last week that she opposes defunding the police. any suggestion to the contrary is patently false. we've seen statement after statement from law enforcement organizations who support vanita gupta and her nomination. they admitted plain that they know she doesn't call for defunding the police. yet, we also continue to see statement after statement from republican senators and many of their allies buying television

ads claiming the contrary. ask yourself this basic questioa wants fo defund the police, how would she get the support and endorsement of the fraternal order of police, the international association of chiefs of police, major cities chiefs association, national sheriffs association, federal law enforcement association, and others? i think we know the answer. she doesn't want to defund the police. it is simply something that is said about her that is not true. but, ms. gupta called for and what she reiterated bfort judiciary committee last week -- before the judiciary committee last week is making sure the police officers, the men and women who put themselves in harm's way every day are not called upon to be mental health counselors. some may have that skill, but most are not trained in that field and it's not why they signed up for the job. as ms. gupta explained in her hearing, we spent far too long laying too many of our nation's

social problems at the feet of police, no matter what goes on in the neighborhood, on the street, in the household call 911. from homelessness to mental health issues, to substance abuse disorders, they all fall in the laps of our law enforcement officials. that's something that police officers, police chiefs, county sheriffs and civil rights advocates agree on, finding the person can be critical in an intervention. ms. gupta is a consensus builder, and the consensus from law enforcement is this -- confirm vanita gupta. my friend from texas also suggests there was something amiss in ms. gupta's response to his question on whether she supported decriminalizing drugs. he asked her this at the hearing, and i quote, is it true that you advocate the decriminalization of all drugs? ms. gupta under oath responded, no, senator, i do not. my friend from texas suggests that this answer was

misleading, given that ms. gupta wrote nine years ago that she would support decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of drugs, but there was nothing misleading about her response. the question was posed in the present tense. it was not limited to decriminalizing possession. more importantly, as she eloquently explained at the hearing, ms. gupta's position on decriminalizing drug possession had changed due to her family's own experience with opioid addiction. she it did something that far too few people in washington are willing to do. she acknowledged that she changed her mind. i've done that too as an elected official. sometimes people call me on it, and luckily i can turn to a good source for rebuttal. abraham lincoln spent many years in politics, and he was once accused of changing his mind on an issue, and he replied, yes, it's true, i changed my

position on that issue. but i'd rather be right some of the time than wrong all the time. that's the way i feel about being honest, if you change your mind based on new information, new experience or thinking it through from a different angle. my friend from texas also suggested that ms. gupta was somehow unwilling to follow her own -- wanted to follow her own personal convictions rather than the law. that's not true. ms. gupta is a justice department veteran. she spent three years leading the civil rights division. she enforced the law regardless of her personal views, and she'll do the same as assistant attorney general. senator cornyn suggests that mss hostile to police. i won't recount again all the police organizations that have endorsed her. but he omits the fact that she has already served in the justice department. and what was the verdict on her department? these police groups believe in her. they like her approach.

they think she's fair. they've endorsed her. i hope my friends on the republican side of the aisle will acknowledge that. unlike the prior administration, president biden has nominated senior justice department leaders who are driven by fidelity to the rule of law. they understand the rule at the department as officials who enforce the law and will do so. ms. gupta is no exception. next week we'll vote on ms. gupta's nomination in committee. she has broad bipartisan support across the nation, law enforcement, justice department officials in both parties, civil rights groups, even some of the most conservative republican advocates, they back ms. gupta. she deserves that same bipartisan support here in the senate. madam president, i ask consent that the next statement i'm about to make be placed at a separate part in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: it was august of

1957, a senator took the floor here in this very chamber. he had a remarkable record. he'd served as a democratic senator, as a dixiecrat senator, and as a republican senator before he finally retired. and he served many years. in 1957, he was on the floor of the senate to take his last stand. it was august and it was a confrontation he had been preparing for for pa long time -- for a long time. he was a veteran of world war ii, one of the few in the chamber this time -- at that time rather -- and he was clearly a man devoted to his country and had shown real courage in serving as an officer in world war ii. but his job on that day was to speak on the floor of the senate for a long time. he had been preparing for it.

he had taken daily steam baths trying to dehydrate his body so that he could stand on the senate floor for a long time, even absorb fluids without needing to take a break to go to the restroom. he arrived for the battle armed with throat lozenges and he stayed on the floor longer than any senator ever has even to this day -- 24 hours and 18 minutes. for what principled purpose did this senator take such pains and preparation? for what noble reason did he grind the world's greatest deliberative body to a full-scale halt for more than 24 hours? in order to defend jim crow racial discrimination and deny equality to african americans. despite his efforts, the senate would go on to pass the civil rights act of 1957. the first federal civil rights

law in nearly a century since the reconstruction. that senator of course was strom thurmond of south carolina. this is how he described the civil rights act of 1957 during his now notorious filibuster of that historic law. he said, and i quote, i think the bill which is under consideration is unconstitutional. i think it's invalid. i think we are doing a useless thing. madam president, the truth was just the oppose. the blatant discrimination of jim-crow laws was an affront to our constitution, a stain on our national character, and a threat to our standing in the world. the civil rights act of 1957, which strom thurmond filibustered, broke the death grip of jim crow on american democracy and led the way a few years later to even more sweeping equality laws, including the civil rights act of 1964 and the voting rights act of 1965.

today, nearly 65 years after strom thurmond's march none defense of jim -- marathon defense of jim crow the filibuster is still making a mockery of american democracy. the filibuster is still being misused by some senators to block legislation urgently needed and supported by a strong majority of the american people. there's one major difference now, though, when it comes to filibusters from the days of strom thurmond and his long-winded defense of segregation. strom thurmond had to sacrifice personally his comfort for his misguided beliefs. he had to actually speak without sitting, on the floor for more than 24 hours to maintain his filibuster. in his day, if you sat down to take a rest or left the floor, the filibuster was over. today it's not the same. senators can literally phone in

a filibuster. all a senator has to do is to tell the staff working in the cloakroom what their intention is as to a filibuster, and then the message is delivered to the floor and another bill is sent to the senate's overflowing legislative graveyard. this is what hitting legislative rock bottom looks like. today's filibusters turn the world's most deliberative body into one of the world's most ineffectual bodies. we are like the giant in gulliver's travel. tied down by our own legislative red tape, unable to respond to crises and the clear wishes of the american people. defenders of the filibuster will tell you that it's essential for american democracy. the opposite is true. today's filibuster undermines democracy. by eroding people's faith in the ability of democracy to solve problems that matter the most, misuse of the filibuster may accidentally open the door to

autocrats, would-be dictators who falsely promise to deliver results, even if they ignore all of democracy's rules. to my friends who count themselves as proud members and supporters of the federalist society -- i'm sure you've heard of it -- go back and read the federalist papers. read what the founders thought of the filibuster. they hated the idea. alexander hamilton, james madison both penned passionate defenses of simple majority rule. listen to what alexander hamilton had to say about the supermajority rule -- what at first sight may seem a remedy is in reality a poison. hamilton's own words. if a majority could not govern, hamilton warned, it would lead to, quote, tedious delay, continual negotiation, intrigue, an contemptible compromises in public good. tedious delays, continual negotiation and intrigue. sound familiar? and then there is james madison,

the father of the u.s. constitution. in federalist 58, he wrote that if a supermajority were required to pass all new laws, quote, the fundamental principle of free government would be reversed. it would be no longer the majority that would rule. the power would be transferred to the minority. hamilton, madison, and other of our founding fathers debated and rejected the idea of super majority rule. they create minority rights by creating a government with a president, two legislative chambers, and a judiciary, in which minority views were respected and making a law even with simple majorities was a challenge. rather than protecting the finely balanced system our founders created, today's filibuster throws a system out of balance, giving one half of one branch of government what amounts to veto over the rest of government. it promotes gridlock. not good governance. as i said, senators don't have to stand for even one minute to shut down the senate.

all they have to do is to threaten it, phone it in, catch a plane, go home from washington, and come back monday to see how their filibuster's doing. mr. smith phones it in. that wouldn't have been much of a movie, would it? defenders of today's filibuster offer a second defense of the tradition. they say the filibuster promotes bipartisan cooperation and debate. well, just look around. can anyone really claim that we are living in the great age of senate debate? last year, calendar year 2020, in the entire year, 12 months, we considered 29 amendments on the floor of the senate. 29. quite an improvement over the previous year. 30% improvement. the previous year, we considered 22 amendments on the floor of the senate. i'm not counting these vote-a-rama spectacles. that's not much of a debate. that's not much of an amendment

process. 60 seconds on a side. that's a great debate? not by my definition. the truth is, as filibusters and threatened filibusters have increased in recent decades, real debate and bipartisan cooperation have plummeted. today's filibuster is often used to prevent the senate from even starting to debate important ideas. it's not the guarantor of democracy. it has become the death grip of democracy. senator thurman's 1950 filibuster marked only the fifth time since 1919 that the senate had voted to cut off any measure. i want you to reflect on that for a minute. we had five filibusters in five decades when he took the floor in august of 1957. guess what? woe can have five filibusters in five days now. they have become so common. so how did the filibuster become a weapon of mass destruction? the answer is we stumbled into it. the filibuster was a mistake to begin with, and it's gotten

worse over time. as many of our colleagues know, when ng congress first met in 1789, the house and the senate rule books were nearly identical. both rule books allowed a simple majority to cut off debate on any proposal by invoking what was known as the previous question rule. the house still has that motion. the senate eliminated the previous question rule by mistake in 1805. the change came at the suggestion of vice president aaron burr who was fresh off of his trial for killing alexander hamilton. and who was later tried for treason. burr, presiding over the senate one day, skimmed the rule book and suggested the previous question rule be dropped. he reasoned we hardly ever use that rule, so why is it necessary? thus, the filibuster was born. not as a sacred constitutional principle, but an offhanded clerical suggestion. there were few filibusters before the civil war. after the war, filibusters

remained rare, used exclusively to deny african americans their basic constitutional rights. the first major changes started in 1917. the senate adopted what's known as rule 22, the cloture rule, allowing the senate to end debate with two-thirds majority vote. fast forward to the 1970's, two more changes in the filibuster. first, senators changed the rule to allow more than one bill or matter to be pending on the senate floor at a time. before this, the filibuster really literally brought the senate to a halt. the creation of this two-track system allowed the senate to take up other matters while the filibuster continued, at least theoretically. in 1975, the rules were changed again, requiring just three-fifths majority, 60 votes. not 67, but 60 votes to end the filibuster. suddenly, the filibuster became relatively painless for senators at least, and the number of filibusters exploded.

from 1917 to 1970, the senate took 49 votes to break filibusters. 49 votes in that period of 53 years. that's fewer than one a year. since 2010, it has taken the senate on average more than 80 votes a year to end filibusters. filibusters and so-called motions to proceed now regularly prevent us from even discussing proposals supported by the strong majority of the american people. the modern filibuster is broken. the normal legislative process, it was never an essential or even intentional part of democracy, and now it rules the senate. over the last 20 years, i have faced a 60-vote requirement to move a measure which is very important to me and to hundreds of thousands of people in our country. it's known as the dream act, the bipartisan dream act. it was introduced so we could give to young people who were

brought to this country as infants, toddlers, and little kids by their families a chance to earn their way to a path to legalization and citizenship. five times since it was first introduced, the dream act has been stopped by a filibuster. twice in 2007, once in 2010, twice in 2018. in each instance, the dream act received a bipartisan majority vote but was blocked by a minority of senators. their opposition prevented the senate from even debating the measure. it was repeated rejections to the dream act by a minority of senators that finally moved president obama to establish the deferred action for childhood arrivals, daca. to our republican colleagues, let me say this -- if you don't want to see this president or any president impose solutions based on executive orders, shouldn't we be willing to debate the issues at hand and

consider actually legislating? i have been long open to changing the senate rules to restore the standing filibuster. if a senator insists on blocking the will of the senate, he should at least pay the minimal price of being present. no more phoning it in. if your principles are that important, stand up for them, speak your mind, hold the floor, and show your resolve. others have proposed different reforms, including ruing the number of votes needed to invoke cloture, creating a tiered system of voting in which the filibuster could be broken with successively smaller majorities, and ultimately a simple majority. some have suggested that we forbid filibusters of bills that pass out of the committee with bipartisan support. i support discussing any proposal that ends the misuse of a filibuster as a weapon of mass destruction. if the senate retains the filibuster, we must change the rules so that any senator who wants to bring the government to a standstill endures at least

some discomfort in the process. we need new rules that actually promote debate. they are long overdue. i will close with one thought. my first job in the senate was a college intern for illinois senator paul douglas. paul douglas was an extraordinary man -- ph.d. in economics, war hero, champion of honest government, a passionate supporter of civil rights. in 1957, he was actually on the floor when strom strom thurmonds giving his historic filibuster. with a bit of ingenuity, paul douglas asked that a pitcher of orange juice be placed on the desk next to strom thurmond's desk. he hoped that thirst and the call of nature might force an end to that shameful filibuster. well, it didn't work. likewise, it will take more than orange juice these days to bring an end to the filibuster as a weapon of mass destruction. it's time to change the senate rules, stop holding this senate hostage. we cannot allow misuse of arcane rules to block the will of the american people.

i urge my colleagues to defend democracy by making the changes needed. i yield the floor. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the junior senator from alabama. mr. tuberville: madam president, i rise today to discuss a piece of legislation we may soon consider in this body called h.r. 1. h.r. 1 does not solve the problems currently facing our election system. it makes the problems worse. democrats have labeled the bill the for the people act, but it really should be called for the democrats act. this partisan bill represents the largest federal power grab in decades, and that's saying a lot after democrats rammed through a partisan $1.9 trillion stimulus bill just two weeks ago. the american people elected 50 republican senators, but the democrats are happy to cut out half the chamber and the millions of americans we

represent to get what they want. h.r. 1 would completely rewrite our election laws. hijacking power from the states and giving it to the federal government to dictate how our elections are run. this type of top-down approach is the opposite of our founding principles of self-government. article 1, section 4 of the constitution grants states the authority to manage their federal election processes. h.r. 1 would take that away. the changes to our free and federal elections that h.r. 1 proposes should concern every single american. this bill forces a one-size-fits-all election system on our country by federally mandating how states run their elections. this phrase for the people means allowing citizens to choose their own leaders and voting processes, not washington dictating new rules of the game.

let's look at a few examples. h.r. 1 would prohibit states from requiring voters to show identification, photo i.d., or otherwise. currently, 36 states have requirements where voters need to show i.d. to vote. nearly 75% of states agree that that's a good idea to confirm you are who you say you are when you go to exercise one of the most important civic duties. but the point is states get to decide. they get to decide the laws on their books when it comes to managing their federal election processes, h.r. 1 would nix the law in those 36 states. h.r. 1 would also make same-day voter registration mandatory in all 50 states. there are obvious concerns with same-day registration and its potential to be abused.

this concept isn't new. many states have already had the opportunity to consider it and adopt it or not if they choose, but if h.r. 1 is enacted, it would overrule the laws and choices of 29 states who have already decided they don't want such a risky provision in their voting process. additionally, the democrats are using this bill to make all the worst practices of pandemic-era elections mandatory in all 50 states. universal mail-in ballots, ballot harvesting, and the drop boxes, just to name a few. there may not be much we agree upon up here on capitol hill sometimes, but i think we all agree that the 2020 federal elections voting process were a complete disaster in some states. many of the states that had the hardest time running their elections were the ones that adopted the same provisions in

this bill. normally, you seek to use best practices, but this bill adopts the worst practices and forces every state to use them. that's the opposite of how our labs of democracy, our 50 states, should work. every state is different. with different populations, histories, challenges, opportunities. what works for alabama may not work for california or oklahoma or vice versa. state governments know the needs of their people and communities better than bureaucrats here in washington, d.c. they have different laws. they have different rules, regulations, including when it comes to voting. the same goes for the counties within each state. jefferson county, the most populous state in alabama, is different from green county, the least populous. while the state sets broad

parameters, county governments are given some flexibility to run elections in the way that is accountable and responsive to their people. h.r. 1 fails to recognize the difference in our states and counties. this bill is not for the people. it's not of the people or by the people. americans want faith and trust in their elections. they want to feel confident in the process that works. h.r. 1 injects distrust into the process, and that's not what americans want or need. madam president, in h.r. 1 we have a bill that will make states' voting procedures more susceptible to fraud. there's more we could do -- go into and i'd say these provisions should be more than enough to seek this piece of legislation. it shouldn't be controversial to say that we should have robust protections against voter fraud.

some states certainly do a better job protecting against fraud than others, but ultimately that's up to the state to decide, not the federal government. the democrats' repeated response in election fraud doesn't exist, but they only say this when it benefits them. they want to rewrite the rules of the game for all 50 states from capitol hill. i've been consistent on the question of voter fraud. i believe we need more integrity in our elections, not less. we as a country need to restore confidence in our electoral process. i've joined my colleagues in calling for a bipartisan commission to look into how we can make our elections more secure, but to completely throw away or outlaw many of the safeguards we would destroy that remaining confidence for generations to come. but maybe that's the point of h.r. 1, which is even more

reason to oppose this bad bill. house democrats are calling this bill the most important voting legislation since the voting rights act in 1965. the voting rights act was important, historic, and necessary. h.r. 1 is not. the votes rights act guaranteed millions of americans the right granted by our constitution they were wrongfully denied to them for too long. it was also a -- also passed with a strong bipartisan majority in both chambers of congress despite democrats' control of the presidency, the house, and the senate. that bipartisan support showed the american people that folks from different backgrounds can come together to work out important issues. any reform to the rules of the game must be bipartisan just like they were with the voting rights act for one party to

completely rewrite the rules will destroy the people's trust in our voting process and their trust in democracy. madam president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senior senator from iowa. mr. grassley: thank you. today i'm going to discuss a very important issue that i started to investigate during the last congress and an issue that the executive branch must continue to improve upon. the subject? information sharing between the intelligence community and the department of health and human services, the connection between those two entities is a critical information-sharing data point and it must last beyond the current pandemic.

to date the obvious. the health care landscape has evolved considerably in the past several decades. more specifically, the health care landscape has changed considerably in just the last year because of the covid pandemic. threats to health care now include cyber, intelligence and counterintelligence threats. for example, we know the chinese government engaged in cyberattacks to steal covid-related research. the communist chinese government will stop at nothing to steal our hard-earned work product. they know as does the world that the best of the best is still right here in america.

last congress as chairman of the finance committee, i focused a good deal of my oversight efforts on the department of health and human services office of national security. for example, in june of 2019, i held a hearing on foreign threats to taxpayer-funded research where the office of national security was one of the government witnesses. after the hearing, i then held a classified committee briefing with all the government witnesses to further discuss the foreign threats that we face. that office is the department's connection then to the intelligence community and accordingly, it plays a critical role in the department of h.

h.h.s.' overall mission. that mission includes pandemic response and countering national security threats. to fully perform its function, h.h.s. needs access to intelligence community product and databases. so with that access they'd have information that's vital to mitigating threats to the department, its funded partners, and its interagency colleagues. so as part of my oversight efforts and before the pandemic even started i worked to get that process done. i noted my concern to the trump administration that the office of national security hadn't been

adequately incorporated into the intelligence community. to their credit the trump administration rightly and quickly resolved many of these issues. the trump administration created links and information sharing between the intelligence community and the department of health and human services that hadn't -- that cooperation hadn't existed before. those links should have existed many years ago, but prior administrations like obama-biden administration failed to see around the corner and get the job done. just for an example, even with the swine flu and outbreaks across the globe, the obama-biden administration failed to plug the department of health and human services into

the intelligence community the way that it should have been done. the current pandemic exemplifies the need to have a robust intelligence operation that includes the department of health and human services. as pathogenic threats to our homeland and our people increase and become more complex, the federal government must prepare well in advance for a very quick response. in order to accomplish that task, the government must focus on the seamless commune television -- seamless communication that must exist between and among the various departments and agencies. the federal government must take a whole of government approach. one serious barrier is that seamless communication is

overclassification. that's a serious barrier we find too much in government but particularly when it deals with the pandemic, it becomes a problem that can cause a lot of lives. in january of 2020 when reports began to circulate about covid, i instructed my oversight and investigative staff to get a classified briefing from the office of national security. after that briefing, i made clear in a public way that overclassification during a public health emergency could have deadly consequences. if certain intelligence work product is classified in a certain way, sometimes other government agencies won't then have access. the federal government must guard against this type of overclassification.

that's especially important during the emergency situations that demand quick action. to the extent that disagreement exists between agencies which they often do in complex and ever changing fact patterns, discussion must be had between and among the government. from that the facts will bear out and the best decisions can then be made. that process can't take place if the government puts information in silos that federal health agencies are unable to access. overclassification is more of a problem when china's government refuses to share relevant d data -- relevant data with

researchers. at least this government, the united states government can and should share information between and among its agencies. this administration must advance and improve upon the cooperative gains created by the trump administration and make sure that the left hand continues to communicate with the right hand. the last thing that we should do is to revert to the lack of cooperation that existed before, especially in light of the current pandemic and the lessons that have been learned from this pandemic. the cooperation between federal health agencies and the intelligence community will strengthen ties between them for decades to come, and the american people will be better served by the increased communication. simply put, increased

communication will save lives. now, madam president, on another point, our democracy was built, as we all know, for the people, by the people, and hence is accountable to the people. the best way to be accountable is through transparency. so i come to the floor today like i have a lot of years at this time of the year to celebrate an important week that we celebrate then regularly, and it's known as sunshine week. during this week we celebrate the birth of the fourth president of the united states james madison. madison, as we all know, is the father of the constitution and maybe we don't know so much about him, but he also happens

to be a father of the constitution that believed in open government. he believed that access to information and meaningful oversight and accountability are foundational to the american system of government. in other words, the public's business ought to be public. this year i'm continuing the madison legacy by introducing several pieces of legislation. i'm also asking the government accountability office to look into how the freedom of information act or foia as we call it, has been impacted by the pandemic. first, on the judicial side of things. i'm again advocating for cameras in the courts. in the last year nearly every major institution from schools

to congress have adapted to the pandemic by being virtual. so i believe bringing cameras into the federal court rooms would also bring in the public and open up access to our third branch of government. at the same time, i'm also asking the courts to provide transparency into our civil justice system by requiring the disclosure of all parties in a case. litigation funders such as hedge funds are providing money to plaintiffs to bring lawsuits. this is all done in secret, for many reasons. everyone involved in the case, including the judge, including the defendant, should know that these parties funding these

lawsuits exist. in other words, who they are. they're big players, or maybe you wouldn't have those cases. on the executive side, one of the important tools public has to hold its government accountable is the freedom of information act, foia. before its passage, people had to justify their need for information to the government. can you believe there was a time when the public's business ought to be public that you had to justify the need for information? so foia was passed. after that passage, the government now has to justify its refusal to release information to you. in 2016 we took foia one step further by requiring the government to proactively

disclose information. these obligations are mandatory, even during unforeseen circumstances. i'm deeply concerned that those obligations by that recent legislation are not being met. evening before the pandemic, the government accountability office reported a significant increase in the number of foia requests and a big backlog in addressing those requests. last may, the department of justice reported that the coronavirus impacted foia processing government-wide, as many agencies had limited ability to retrieve and process foia requests. that is why i'm joining senators durbin, leahy, cornyn in asking the g.a.o. to examine foia

processes and procedures in light of the coronavirus pandemic. our hope is the continued refining of foia to make government information accessible in good times and in bad. the public's business should be public. maybe i should say, except for national -- maybe i should say, except for national security reasons or privacy reasons. many of you know i am an iowa farmer. i know that without sunshine, there cannot be growth. and both corn and democracy thrive in the light. remember, once again, this is sunshine week. transparency brings accountability. i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call: mr. cornyn: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: i'd ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: thank you. madam president, last thursday night i was able to return home to texas and on friday i went to the southern border. texas has 1,200 miles of common border with mexico, and obviously we're ground zero whenever there is a border crisis. i was glad to be joined by my friend, congressman henry

cuellar, who has been a partner of mine on bipartisan, bicameral border security and immigration reform legislation in the past, and we were also joined by congressman michael bur guess, our friend from north texas. we visited a holding facility in corizo spring, which housing young boys age 13-17, who were apprehended along the border. we were able to see the facility, which includes medical care, classroom space, dining facilities and legal services for these young men. and we heard from the health and human services workers who are doing everything they can to care for these children, despite being completely overwhelmed. when we visited, there were 679 children between the ages of 13 and 17, but the facility is expected to reach capacity by

today. this is no accident that we're seeing waves of unaccompanied minors coming across the border because the human smugglers and the drug traffickers understand our laws perhaps better than we do, and they know that if they're able to flood the zone with unaccompanied children, that the border patrol are going to be distracted and diverted from their border security mission to take care of these children and to make sure that they are safe. in the meantime, the drug smugglers exploit those gaps left when the border patrol leaves the front lines to handle and process these unaccompanied children. last year, more than 80,000 americans died of drug overdoses in this country, and, unfortunately, a significant percentage of that involves the methamphetamine, the fentanyl and the heroin and the cocaine that comes up through the southern border in the hands of the same criminal organizations

that move people, traffic in human beings, and again smuggle drugs. in the two months since president biden took office, the situation along the border has come to rival the largest surges that we've seen in previous years. we remember the border crisis of 2014 when an alarming number of unaccompanied children and families came across the southern border and completely overwhelmed the system. that situation -- that summer the situation was so dire that president obama called it a humanitarian crisis. then came the surge in 2019. that may, custom and border protection reported a record 144,000 encounters with migrants along the southwest border, more than double the amount we experienced during the 2014 humanitarian crisis. so if 2014 was a humanitarian

crisis, 2019 was a humanitarian crisis on steroids. and i'm afraid the current situation is going to get nothing but worse and perhaps outpace even the humanitarian crisis on steroids that we saw in 2019. what makes this even more complicated is while this isn't the first surge of migrants we've seen across the border, it is the first time we've seen it during a covid-19 pandemic. and based on the current trend, this one is shaping up to be far worse than anything we've experienced in the past. last month, customs and border protection encountered more than 100,000 individuals coming across the border, the highest number since 2006. out of those 100,000 individuals last month included 9,000

unaccompanied children and 19,000 migrants coming across as families. that is some combination of a mother and father and minor children. based on the sheer numbers, this is a problem. it is overwhelming the capacity, physical capacity to house and tend -- take care of these children and to make sure that these individuals are processed according to the law. border patrol and health and human services and our immigration courts do not have the capacity to manage an influx this large. when you add the operational challenges and risks associated with a covid-19 pandemic, it becomes even more difficult to house and care for these migrants, especially the children. the facilities like chorizo springs were previously at a 40% capacity to allow for social distancing, something we've heard a lot about in the last year.

but the number of unaccompanied children has climbed so high that the biden administration is now allowing those facilities to operate at 100% capacity, despite the obvious risk of spreading covid-19 because of a failure or inability to socially distance. at one point last week, there were more than 3,700 children in the custody of the border patrol. by comparison, there were about 2,600 children in custody at the peak of the 2019 crisis. so the numbers are significantly higher. reports over the weekend show that the number has increased to more than 4,200 with more than 3,000 held beyond the 72-hour legal limit imposed by a court settlement. while these migrant children are without a doubt the biggest victims of this crisis, there are cascading consequences.

in brownsville alone, more than 200 migrants were released from the border patrol's success towed, having tested positive for covid-19. 200 positive for covid-19. ushered into the country. so despite the obvious health risks, many of these individuals continue their travels to their ultimate destinations, both within and outside the state of texas. some travel we know has far north as maryland, north carolina, and new jersey, and this rapid-pace catch-and-release practice some places a strain on our border communities. during the deadly winter storm last month, the mayor of del rio pleaded for the stopping of releasing of migrants into the city and surrounding area. the city's capacities were

already stretched thin and mayor bruin know lozano said we will be forced to leave them without resources under these dire circumstances. the president's chief of staff was asked recently about the border crisis in a recent interview. he said, we inherited a real mess. well, that's not the way i see it. the policies the administration inherited deterred the human smugglers, the coyotes and cartels from even attempting to smuggle children into the united states, particularly during the covid-19 pandemic. they required, under the migrant protection program, for migrants to remain in mexico while their asylum claims were being processed. of course, the biden administration has in sort of a reflexive manner reversed all of the previous administration's policies without any plan to put in its place, and without regard

to the consequences. well, the migrant protection plan, which was negotiated with the government of mexico, worked pretty well. it allowed border communities to know that they wouldn't have to bear the brunt of thousands of migrants coming across the border into their communities while simultaneously battling a pandemic. so, madam president, the biden administration didn't inherit this mess; it helped create it. president biden campaigned on the basis of policies that would lead to this very outcome. one moment acro-- one woman o. crass the rio grande on a raft said the biden administration is the reason why she and her one-year-old son attempted thedjourn at all. she said, they gave us opportunity to come, and come they did. whether you call this a mess as the president's chief of staff did, or a human challenge, as

the secretary of homeland security did, i can tell you one thing -- the less the biden administration reverses course -- unless the biden administration reverses course, it will only get worse. we usually see the peak numbers of migration happen during the springtime and in the early summer, frankly because of the weather and the easy of passage. so we haven't seen nothing yet compared to what we will see unless action is taken. during my visit last friday, one of the people involved in the operation of the chorizo springs facility said, this is a category 5 hurricane with a tropical storm force wind on the coast. it is coming. we've seen this before, as i've said. many times, in fact. and unless action is taken to stem the flow of migrants across the border, that category 5 hurricane is going to break the entire system. in my time in the senate, i've

always looked to the men and women on the ground, the border patrol who wear green uniforms, the customs and border protection wear blue uniforms. i've looked to them as to how things are going and how we can provide more support. we share a 1,200-mile border with mexico. and our communities are made up of incredible networks of law enforcement and organizations who work together to help keep the migrants safe as well as communities safe. many of them are motivated solely by their humanitarian impulses and we couldn't do as well as we are doing without them. one frustration i've heard in recent weeks is over vaccine distribution for border patrol and other fellow officers who have no choice but to come in contact with covid-19 migrants coming across the border. these men and women, federal

employees, federal law enforcement officers are at significant risk of contracting covid-19 because of their work with detained and vulnerable populations. we know that more than 8,000 customs and border protection employees have tested positive for covid-19 and 27 have died since the start of the pandemic. more than 2,800 of these 8,000 cases have been in my state of texas. but despite this knowledge, the administration has not made vaccinating these men and women on the frontline a priority. last week senator sinema of arizona and i sent a letter to secretary mayorkas to advocate for border patrol and the department of homeland security's other federal law enforcement officers to be prioritized for vaccination. i'm glad to announce that the administration responded by

opening a vaccination clinic in the rio grande valley, which is a great first step. but law enforcement across the entire border deserve to be vaccinated as soon as possible. if the administration is going to implement policies and create even more dangers to these frontline officers and agents, the very least they can do is offer them protection from covid-19. after visiting the carrizo springs facility, congressman cuellar met for a discussion on the ways the crisis is impacting them. we discussed the bungled mess of the immigration courts which have a backlog of 1.2 million cases. and in fact human smugglers and drug cartels know that because of our laws and our failure to

offer consequences associated with illegal entry in the united states, that we will never get to those 1.2 million backlog cases and that people can simply evade the law by refusing to show up for their court-appointed date. we talked about how the biggest beneficiaries of the crisis weren't the migrants crossing the border, but rather the transnational criminal organizations, the cartels, human smugglers and the coyotes who bring them here. border patrol told me the average smuggling fee for cartels to bring a single unaccompanied child into the del rio sector was more than $7,300. $7,300 per child. the chief of the border patrol sector in del rio told me that just this year they have detained people from 54 separate countries. 54 separate countries coming

through the del rio sector of the border patrol. so this is like the united nations coming across our border, and, frankly, it's such a financially rewarding business for the human smugglers and the criminal networks, they'll literally bring people from anywhere around the world across our southern border into the united states, and that ought to concern all of us. well, the border patrol are mounting a struggle against the border crisis and the pandemic simultaneously. like cities across the country, our border communities have already had a very difficult year battling covid-19. they have had to cover a range of expenses created by the pandemic in order to keep their communities safe and healthy. but unlike other communities across the country, they have had the added economic hardship created by nearly a year of legal limits on nonessential

cross-border travel. prepandemic visitors from mexico would travel across the border to shop, eat at restaurants and visit their family members. they are a huge economic driver in our border communities from el paso all the way down to the rio grande valley. the pause on legitimate nonessential travel has created a serious economic strain on these communities, and those leaders are struggling to understand the disconnect between the biden administration's two different approaches. one of the participants at the roundtable said, i don't understand how you can catch and release and yet not allow our neighbors across the border come over and spend money in our communities to help grow our economy. this confluence of crises is a one-two bunch for our border communities, and it's unfair that they're expected to carry the burden of the crisis that should be the responsibility, is the responsibility of the federal government.

in many cases nongovernmental organizations carry a significant amount of weight that, quite frankly, is unfairly placed on their shoulders. congressman cuellar and i were joined in laredo with three incredible n.g.o.'s whose resources are already stretched thin because of the pandemic and who have managed to take on a substantial amount of work in managing this humanitarian crisis. i want to commend catholic charities of laredo, sisters of mercy, holding institute community center and other n.g.o.'s across the texas border for everything they have done to respond to the humanitarian crisis. i encourage anyone who's interested in understanding the crisis and working to find solutions, including president biden, to visit our border and to hear from these same individuals firsthand. no matter what party controls the senate, the house, or the white house, these law enforcement local leaders and n.g.o.'s are doing everything

they can to keep both migrants and their communities safe. they're currently overwhelmed, frustrated, and eager for change, and their voices must be heard. we're at an inflection point in the humanitarian crisis, madam president, and unless the administration acts and acts quickly, we're headed down a very dangerous path. we've seen enough of these surges in the past to know what to expect. if you're opposed to human trafficking, human suffering, drug smuggling, pushing migrants into the shadows, then you should be absolutely alarmed by what's happening along the border today. the hurricane is on the way. i hope the administration and congress will take a serious interest in acting before it makes landfall. madam president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the mr. whitehouse: madam president, i have a request for a committee to meet during today's

session of the senate. it has the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. whitehouse: thank you, madam president. i'm here to say a few words on behalf of deb haaland to be secretary of the interior. there is something wonderfully beautiful and symmetrical about her appointment to this position because of the department of interior's role supervising america's public lands. well, of course before america's public lands were america's public lands, they were native american lands. and deb haaland will be the first native american to serve in any president's cabinet and the first to serve as the secretary of this department. so that's kind of a wonderful harmony with history, and i hope that we appreciate that here. the second thing that i want to

say is that it is to me deeply ironic how much of the opposition to her as secretary has come on the theory that she won't be fair to fossil fuels. madam president, we have lived through four years of a trump administration with secretaries of the interior who were out and out operatives of fossil fuel. the fossil fuel hand in the secretary glove was obvious. the idea that anything other than fossil fuel was treated fairly in the trump administration is a preposterous notion. the -- basically anything that wasn't nailed down, they gave to the fossil fuel industry, with no consideration for any of the competitors. and they did it so badly and so shabbily and so sloppily because

they were so greedy that a lot of stuff they did got thrown out by courts because they didn't even bother to do their homework. so, please, let's not talk about fairness after the last four years. our friends on the other side lost their standing to talk about fairness after what they did for fossil fuel in the last four years, including outright lies about climate change. my good friend from texas talks about hurricanes. he's got real hurricanes coming because of climate change, and yet where's the climate plan from the other side? none, because the fossil fuel industry won't let them. let me last say as i conclude, i come from the ocean state. ms. haaland, representative haaland comes from one of those interior square states.

her agency is called the department of the interior. when you look at things like the land and water conservation fund, floods of money go to inside america, interior america, upland and inland america. and the coasts get always overlooked. and i've made it very clear to ms. haaland that that has to stop. with climate change coming, with fisheries moving about, with sea levels rising, with oceans warming, with actual seas acidifying in front of our eyes, to overlook the coast can happen no more. i trusted her when she said she would. i will take her at her word, but i also intend to work very hard to make sure that i can support her in keeping her word that oceans and coasts will matter. and with that, i yield to my friend from minnesota. ms. smith: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. smith: i rise today in strong support of the historic

nomination of deb haaland to serve as secretary of the interior. when representative haaland appeared before the senate for her confirmation hearing, she opened by saying, my story is unique. haaland is a 35th generation new mexican, an enrolled member of the laguna pueblo and the first native american to serve as cabinet secretary. national commerce of american indians president fawn sharp noted that it is fitted that as we celebrate women's history month, deb haaland is poised to make it. her nomination is an historic choice, and a moment of deep meaning to tribal nations and indigenous people across the country who have seen over and over again the federal government failed to keep its promises to native people, promises made in law and treaty. it is clear to me that we need representative haaland's strong voice for stewardship of our public resources and cultural resources and public lands, for

action on the climate crisis, and for making sure that the federal government lives up to its treaty and trust responsibilities for tribal nations and their citizens. representative haaland's background and her life experiences make her perfect for this job. as haaland said during her confirmation hearings, if an indigenous woman from humble beginnings can be confirmed as secretary of the interior, our country holds promise for everyone. the interior department includes the bureau of indian affairs, which manages the federal government's relationship with american indian, alaska native and native hawaiian communities. indigenous leaders across the country have expressed broad bipartisan support for representative haaland's nomination because they know that she will bring a personal commitment to lifting um native voices and addressing deep inequities and long-standing funding challenges on tribal lands. the department is also responsible for public lands, energy resources and wildlife

conservation, and so it requires a leader who understands the cultural and economic value of these resources and the importance of conserving them. representative haaland grew up with a deep affinity for public lands, for responsible land use, and for hunting and fishing. in fact, her family on her father's side is from minnesota, where she tells me she learned a lot about the joys of wildlife fishing. in the house, representative haaland served as the chair of the subcommittee on national parks, forests, and public lands, and she has earned the support of hundreds of groups working on climate change, conservation, and public lands management. and representative haaland has been a champion for the tragic crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women. so here we have a strong, capable, competent leader ready to serve our country as the first native woman to lead the interior department.

so, colleagues, i can't help asking here during women's history month, why is it that almost two months after president biden's inauguration, representative haaland is one of the last three core cabinet members to be confirmed in the senate? and why is it that she has faced such ferocious opposition from some republicans? colleagues, over the last three months, representative haaland has been called extreme and radical. one republican senator i serve with on the indian affairs committee labeled haaland, and i quote, a hard-line ideologue with radical views. this from a person who spent months promoting the false and widely debunked conspiracy theories about voter fraud in our election. another republican senator called representative haaland, and i quote again, a socialist left-of-lenin whack job. although later he said he merely meant to call her an extremist. in the house, a member of my own

minnesota congressional delegation orchestrated a hit campaign on representative haaland, attacking her position on natural resources management and the boundary waters. strangely, this same member happily supported secretary vilsack's confirmation, even though he holds exactly the same position. as our former colleagues tom udall and mark udall said in an op-ed in "usa today," it is hard to imagine that either of them, were they nominated to be lead interior, would have faced the same attacks for radical ideas. i just find it difficult to take these republican attacks at face value. my colleagues should know that representative haaland was named the most bipartisan house freshman in the last congress. if that's what a hard-line ideologue looks like, maybe we should all aspire to the role model that deb haaland provides. colleagues, i think we need to be honest with ourselves about

what is going on here. once again, a woman and a woman of color is being held to a different standard, and we need to name it. we have got to come to grips with the reality that time after time, strong women and especially women of color are attacked when white men with the same views are welcomed to walk right through that door unopposed. at their worst, these efforts, these attempts to portray representative haaland as extreme and unqualified shows how much work we still have to do to reckon with our country's history, a disparaging, disrespecting, and erasing native people, and how this tragic history is reflected in the biases on exhibit during representative haaland's confirmation. this is clear when we see how few republicans could even acknowledge the historic nature of representative haaland's

nomination, choosing instead to focus on hostile questions about her tweets and whether she understands the law. now, sadly, these attacks on representative haaland that she has been subjected to are not unique. we have seen this dance play out time and time again with biden-harris nominees, especially women of color. excellent nominees, like secretary vilsack and secretary buttigieg, faced relatively tame confirmation processes. the vast majority of their questions were about policy goals and their experience. no senator referred to these nominees as extremists or radicals. but how did the women of color fare? in the banking committee, my republican colleagues grilled secretary fudge, our new secretary of housing and urban development, and a black woman, about her intemperate comments on race. this is less than three weeks after our former president incited an insurrection of white

supremacists, among others, and faced essentially no consequence from his own party. neera tanden was supposed to withdraw her nomination to lead the office of management and budget after some declared that her twitter account was too divisive. if we had only known that mean tweets could disqualify you from public office, we could have saved ourselves four years of division and chaos and two impeachment trials. after a torrent of inflammatory and hateful rhetoric from the former twitter account of our former president, which most of my republican colleagues said they tried to ignore or just hadn't read, strong opinions from strong women of color are deemed unacceptable and cause for disqualification. i'm just not buying it. in my first floor speech in this chamber, i said that when you really listen to women, you begin to understand all the ways in which women are made less and

are denied opportunities to contribute to their community and to their country. so i urge my colleagues don't let this be one of those times. let's not silence these women and deny them opportunities to lead because we're uncomfortable with their power. during representative haaland's confirmation process, i started to get text messages from women friends, especially native women, horrified by the yelling and the condescending questions that were directed her way. we were proud of how she responded with grace and with dignity, and we all knew how it felt. i would bet that every woman in this chamber knows what it feels like when this happens. a man talks down to you, uses his power to explain something that you already know, and signals in a hundred different ways that you don't belong in the room where it happens. for a long time, women have found ways to respond to these affronts with grace, as did representative haaland and ann future and vanita gupta and

neera tanden. when i was a young woman, my mother, who was a very strong woman herself, used to advise me to just ignore these folks and go about my business. even today, as i worked on this floor speech, i wondered am i going to offend anybody, am i going to sound too shrill? i bet there is not a man in this room who has ever worried about souping too shrill. so colleagues, tonight we will vote on representative deb haaland's confirmation to secretary of the interior, and we all have a chance to restore dedicated, capable, passionate leadership to this important department. the choice to confirm representative haaland is indeed historic but it's not an abstract opportunity. as secretary, representative haaland will play a consequential role in combating climate change. she will also honor tribal sovereignty and strengthen the government-to-government relationship between the united states and tribal nations. and maybe, just maybe, her

leadership will help us see the strength of native women and all women and not to be threatened by that. our country will be the better for it. i urge my colleagues to support the confirmation of deb haaland for secretary of the interior. i yield back the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from california. mr. padilla: madam president, on behalf of the people of california, it is my honor to address this body today. mr. padilla: i stand before you humbly and inspired by this moment in our nation's history.

as the senator from the most populous and most diverse state in the nation and as the first latino senator from the state of california, let me begin by saying what a great country this is. my name is alex padilla. [speaking spanish] i am the son of santos and lupo padilla. i am also the proud husband of angela padilla and the crowd dad of roman, alex, and diego. love you guys. colleagues, my family's journey is central to my public service. my parents immigrated to california from mexico in the 1960's in search of a better life. they arrived from different

regions of mexico with little formal education but a tremendous work ethic and big dreams. they met in los angeles. they fell in love. they decided to get married. and apply for green cards, in that order. and i thank the u.s. government every day for saying yes to those applications, because if they had been denied, no doubt my life story would be a lot different. for 40 years, my father worked as a short-order cook. hard work, honest work. and as he would proudly tell you, his kitchen never fails an inspection. for the same 40 years, my mom worked tirelessly cleaning houses. it seemed like she never had a day off. but together, they raised three of us, my sister, my brother, and i, in a modest three-bedroom

home in the proud working-class community of pequoima, california, in the northeast san fernando valley. our neighborhood had its share of challenges from poverty to crime to unhealthy air. it might not have been the safest neighborhood, but i am also blessed that we had the sanctuary of a back yard and a strong sense of community. it was there that my parents taught us about the values of service to others and of getting a good education. today, my sister, my brother, and i are all public servants. my sister has been a teacher, a principal, and today she works in administration for the los angeles unified school district. my brother serves as chief of staff to the los angeles city council president martinez. if you pay close attention

there, yes, i am the middle child. it may explain a lot. but think about that. in one generation, our family has gone from being the immigrant cooks and house cleaners to serving in the united states senate. that's the california dream. that's the american dream. that's the dream i was raised to believe in. and the dream that angela and i are working hard to keep alive for our children and for future generations. madam president, i think about my parents often, and i think about all the hardworking people in our state and in our nation who are hurting right now. i rise today on their behalf. i rise on behalf of the cooks, the dishwashers, and the domestic workers who have seen

their jobs and their lives upended by the covid-19 pandemic. i rise on behalf of the farm workers and delivery drivers and nurses who have been on the front lines of this pandemic and who have never stopped showing up. i rise on behalf of the four million small businesses in california and the business owners, many who are hanging on by a thread, stretching like they have never stretched before, to meet payroll. i rise on behalf of the nearly 2.5 million california families who are behind on their rent or behind on their mortgage, with bills piling up, wondering how they will ever climb out of the hole. i rise on behalf of the 11.2 million california adults who have struggled to meet basic household expenses last year, including many who have relied on food pantries just to get by.

i rise on behalf of the 56,000 california families and the more than 530,000 families across america who have lost a loved one, many who died alone in a hospital room or a nursing home, deprived of the last chance to hold hands or stay goodbye. madam president, the people of my state are hurting. the people of our country are hurting. and we have a long way to go before we get back. the greatest crisis of our lifetime demands bold action. building back better demands that we build back better for everyone and that we leave nobody, no community behind.

to do so requires that we open our eyes to the deep systemic inequities that have been exposed and exacerbated by this crisis. in my state, the reality is that there is two californias, just as there are really two americas. one for families who struggle to pay the rent, to make ends meet, who struggle to keep hope alive, and one for those who can afford to work from home or from a second home, who can more easily weather the storm. we see two californias where latino, black, and asian households are three times as likely to be behind on the rent. it's the story of the single mom who lost her job due to the pandemic and who has depleted her entire savings to keep a roof over her family's head.

we see two californias where employment has actually increased for people earning more than $60,000 a year, while some parents have to make the impossible choice of either paying for food or paying their utility bills so their kids can still log onto class. we see to californias where the stock marquette reaches knew highs for some where the san fernando valley, too many depend on food distribution sites to feed their children. we see two californias where there's a stark disparity in who's getting vaccinated and who's not. let's take, for example, the still of beverly hills where more than 25% of residents have received their first shot. that's a good thing. what's not so good is in south l.a., less than 15 miles away,

the rate is just 5%. and we see to californias the impact pandemic has had on immigrant communities, communities on the very front lines of this crisis. i recently announced my first bill, the citizenship for essential workers act, which would provide a well-earned pathway to citizenship for undownlted -- undocumented immigrants who have risked their health as essential workers. these are the workers that we have all depended on during this pandemic. now millions of us have offered tremendous gestures and thanks for their heroism and their hard work. let's be honest with ourselves. many of these workers woke up before dawn today and took a bus to work so that others could zoom to work from the comfort of their own homes.

these essential workers take care of our loved ones. they keep the supply chain moving. they grow and harvest our food, stock the shelves at grocery stores and even will deliver it to your door. they risk their lives so that others can stay safer at home. madam president, we cannot in good conscience praise them as essential workers in one breath while denying the essential human dignity they deserve with the next. yes, dignity, respect, and a pathway to citizenship for essential workers is personal to me. but it is also in the best interest of our nation. these immigrants are paying more than their fair share. they are deemed essential by the

federal government for good reason, and they have earned the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. we cannot allow the american dream to be a casualty of this pandemic. relief and recovery must be for everyone. now, the american rescue plan that this body passed and president biden just signed into law is a $1.9 trillion downpayment on this promise. it will speed vaccination production and distribution, expand testing and contract tracing, outfit our schools so kids and teachers can safely return to the classroom, provide emergency mortgage and rental assistance to families in need, and it will extend a lifeline to keep millions of americans' small businesses from going under. i'll tell what you it means for my home state. in addition to what this bill will deliver to fight the virus,

it also means immediate food assistance for 4.3 million families. an increase in the standard of living for eight million california children. $15 billion for california schools. $590 million to help combat homelessness on the streets of california. and billions in direct checks for struggling families. the american rescue plan provides a lifeline for american families, workers, and businesses to survive where we all hope will be the last months of this crisis. it is one of the most transformational and progressive pieces of legislation in our history that will cut child poverty in half, including for half a million children in california. but our work is far from over. i believe now is the time to

lead an american comeback that leaves no working family behind, a comeback that heals the long-standing divides in our society and unites our country, a comeback that confronts the systemic injustices in our country so that we can build back equitably. it took almost ten years to recover from the great recession. we lived through the consequences of the moderate response to the financial crisis, slow growth, poor pay, and millions without jobs. we cannot let that happen again. we can and must build back better. that means investing trillions in our infrastructure in a way that uplifts communities and provides millions of good-paying union jobs. and in a way that addresses our climate crisis to help ensure that every person has access to

clean air and clean water. it also means passing commonsense immigration reform that brings humanity to our immigration system and recognizing that providing a pathway to citizenship for people living and contributing to our country is part, a strategic part of our economic recovery as well. that means protecting and strengthening our democracy by passing voting rights and civil rights legislation. we should be making it easier, not harder for eligible people to register to vote, to stay registered to vote, and to vote in every state in this country. but as president obama said in his farewell address, the work of democracy has always been hard. it's always been contentious. sometimes it's been bloody.

for every two steps forward it often feels like we take one step back. no surprise that reactionary state leaders around the country fearful of losing elections, fearful of losing power are mobilizing to suppress the vote as we speak. enough is enough. this senate must act aggressively to protect the right to vote, to strengthen the right to vote. no more steps back. only steps forward. we must act boldly because that is what this moment demands of us. we can't let anything keep us from bold action and progress, including outdated rules and traditions. we must end the filibuster.

for decades the filibuster has been leveraged to obstruct progress. it helped maintain jim crow segregation and it continues to entrench inequality in america today. we cannot allow the filibuster to prevent us from doing what is necessary to lift up millions of working families in every corner of the country. madam president, i believe we will beat this pandemic and get through this crisis. we'll do it the same way we always have, the same way my parents did, the same way that american families and millions of immigrants throughout our history have done. by going to work and getting the job done. to my colleagues, i am so honored to serve with you and i look forward to working

alongside you for years to come. to my constituents, i am honored to represent you, and i will work hard every day to make you proud. and to angela, roman, alex, and diego, i love you. thank you for your love and your support of my public service. madam president, i yield the floor.

mrs. blackburn: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, madam president. i ask unanimous consent that senators lujan, carper, and myself be allowed to complete our remarks before the roll call vote. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. blackburn: thank you, madam president. the southern border. the situation at our southern border has devolved into chaos. that is what i'm hearing from some of my former house colleagues who have been on that border today. the presiding officer: can we have order in the chamber. can we have order, please. mrs. blackburn: according to them, we are once again facing a crisis. 13 days ago customs and border protection announced that they were deploying more agents to help manage the spike in

apprehensions of adults and unaccompanied alien children. then last monday news broke that homeland security secretary mayorkas had spent an e-mail to d.h.s. staff begging for volunteers to go to the border and help with logistics and humanitarian aid. it's obvious they need help on the border. in january alone, the customs and border patrol detained nearly 78,000 people, more than double the number of apprehensions in january of 2020. in february that number jumped more than 100,000 arrests and detentions. c.b.p. took more than 9,000 unaccompanied minors into custody that month prompting the

administration to open two overflow detention centers to house them. listen to these numbers. 100,000 arrests and detentions in february. 9,000 unaccompanied minors being taken into custody that month. having to open two overflow detention centers. new data released last wednesday shows that our agents are now detaining more than 4,000 people along the border every single day, 4,000 every day. our facilities and resources are exhausted, and so are the agents responsible for controlling this out -of-control situation. it does not have to be this way. secretary mayorkas has accused

the trump administration of dismantling our nation's immigration system. that is his quote. but if he wants to know who's really responsible, he should look to the current white house. i've stated time and again how disastrous president biden's policy of governing by executive fiat has been. 34 executive orders in his first 50 days, 34. also, he has suspended construction of the border wall jeopardizing our national security. he's embraced daca. he halted most detore taitions. -- deportations. he cut domestic immigration arrests by 60% and dismantled the migrant protection prot protocols. this administration through our existing immigration law out the window -- threw our existing

immigration law out the window and when it comes to illegal entry, not only will we look the other way, this administration is encouraging them to come. even their cabinet nominees are playing by these new rules of encouraging individuals to break our laws. come to the country illegally. they're encouraging this. last week this chamber voted to discharge xavier becerra's nomination from committee. i voted no. he's one of the most flagrant offenders out there when it comes to sending these signals. he has openly admitted he would like to decriminalize illegal entry and offer medicaid to anyone who manages to get across the border. they've made a lot of promises

that they know they are not going to be able to live up to. and now they're trying to walk it all back. walk back the hope that sparked thousands of people because they had heard that the border was going to be open. they're even wearing the t-shirts with the slogan, biden let us in. they're going to have to walk back the mess that is there on the border, and i'm fearful and concerned that their walkbacks are not going to work because, from when we're hearing about -- from what we're hearing about the border, they have lost control of that border. i look forward to traveling to the border for a briefing on the situation. this administration does not want their critics to see what is happening down there. there are days you would think

they've got a news blackout going at the border. this isn't just a problem in texas or california or arizona or new mexico. every town is a border town, and every state is a border state. because of the drugs, the human trafficking, sex trafficking, and gangs that are streaming across our border. you know, it means that no matter how hard you try, you can't hide the tragedy that inevitably unfolds when your immigration policy is to have zero immigration policy at all; just open the border and let them come. i yield the floor.

a senator: i rise today in anticipation of the historic vote that the? the will take in a few moments to debra anne haaland as secretary of the interior. i'm incredibly humble to be able to preside over this body's confirmation in just a few minutes of my good friend and fellow new mexican. mr. lujan: this marks the first time that a native american will take her seat in the president's cabinet, making her the second-highest ranking native american to ever serve in the federal government. as a pueblo woman and 35th generation native american, deb haaland will contribute to the department of interior's mission of protecting our public resources and lands and honoring

america's trust responsibilities to tribal nations. she is uniquely equipped to begin to repair the relationship between interior and the domestic nations it serves, to the bureau of indian affairs. these indigenous nations, these sovereign nations, these important departments. the indian health service, the bureau of indian education, speaking to pueblo and tribal members in new mexico, i know the significance of her confirmation, how it transcends policy. for young people in our state, she's the embodiment of the old adage that if you see it, you can be it. and knowing my friend deb, although she will be the first, she's committed to not being the last. as former vice chairman of the house natural resources

committee, deb deb haaland also brings a wealth of knowledge. she's been a longtime champion of climate action, creating good-paying jobs, and outdoor recreation. she played a key role in passings the great american outdoors act out of the house of representatives, successfully protected new mexico landscapes, and set ambitious goals for conservation with her 30-by-30 resolution to save nature. but of all the qualifications and accomplishments that deb haaland will bring to the department of interior, there's one that stands out to those who know her best -- her empathy. deb's experience as a single mother struggling to keep a roof over her family's head allows her to connect with her compassion to her constituents andness of every aspect of her

work. it's fitting that she will serve under a president who has made empathy the trademark of his administration, and i have to doubt that secretary had aland will leave -- haaland will leave a historic mark on the interior and on the history as we know it. i look forward to continuing to work with my friend to make a difference for the people of new mexico. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. mr. carper: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. carper: madam president, i have five pages here somewhere.

at least i thought i did. madam president, i ask that the record show -- actually show the words that i planned to say. let me just speak from my heart. my colleague that just preceded me, he knows deb haaland from years of experience. tom udall served here for years, a close friend of all of ours, has known deb forever. i remember asking him, you know, what does she bring? what does she bring to the united states department of the interior? and i'll never forget what tom said. he said, she'll bring a good

heart. she'll bring a good mind. she has the heart of a servant. she is someone who is humble, not haughty. she'll provide leadership that is needed at the department of interior after the years that we've been through. she will put together a good team and when her team does well, she'll give them the credit. and when the team falls short, she will take the blame. there is -- those of us in the state of delaware are proud to be the first state. we have two wonderful national wildlife refuges. we have a national park, we're one of the newest ones in the country, that really helps tell the story of the settlement of our country, from the early days, colonial settlements right up to the ratification of the constitution. the constitution lays out what is expected of us to serve here

and the administration and also what is expected of cabinet secretaries. and as seen -- in in the beginning of the constitution, when it says we the people of the united states in order to form a more perfect union, we can do better than we're doing. we can do better than we're doing with respect to protecting our natural heritage, our wildlife, our migratory birds. we can do better in all of this. she will bring that commitment to doing better. i would just -- i'd just close with this p i don't believe weaver ever had in the history of aikona native american who's been -- we've ever had in the history of our country a native american who's been nominated to serve in the cabinet. and we're from the first state, delaware. the idea that she would be the first native american, how appropriate, how appropriate.

when you think about who are the original stewards of this land, our air, and our water, the birds and the animals, the fish and all that live here, that populate this planet with us? the native americans. they are the first stewards. native alaskans, they are the first stewards. and it is only appropriate that we finally picked one of them. she is gone through her confirmation hearing. we've chance to confirm the nomination of debra anne haaland to be secretary of the interior. i hope we'll do that understand i thank you very much for allowing me to give these remarks. thank you. the presiding officer: the question occurs on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be.

the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: the yeas are 51, the nays are 40. the nomination is confirmed. mr. schumer: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: just a word about the history-making nomination that was just approved by the

senate. we've now made history twice in the last few minutes. we've made history twice because we've nominated the first native american secretary of the interior and the first native american cabinet official in american history. the confirmation of deb haaland is amazing. it is a huge step forward, and now it creates a government that more embodies the full richness and diversity of this country. we know for so long the native american community was treated badly, and we have a long way to go. but we have begun with the a.r.p. and now with the approval of deb haaland to be the secretary of the interior. we are moving forward, and she will do a great job as interior secretary. she represents a turnaround

because the trump administration did more to undermine the relationship between the federal government and tribes that have been done in a long time. deb haaland will reverse that and move much further along. so we're proud of what the senate has done. now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the president be immediately notified of the senate's actions. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. opposed opposed. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 37. the presiding officer: question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to.

the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, department of health and human services, javier becerra of california to be secretary. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 37, xavier becerra of california to be secretary of health and human services signed by 18 senators as follows -- mr. schumer: i ask consent that the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 17. the presiding officer: question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it.

the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of labor, martin joseph walsh of massachusetts to be secretary. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to own volk cloture. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 17, martin joseph walsh of massachusetts to be secretary of labor. signed by 18 senators as follows -- if mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, march 15, be waived. per if without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate resume legislative session, there be a period of morning business with the senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the

senate now proceed to en bloc consideration of the following senate resolutions, which were submitted earlier today -- senate res. 110, senate res. 111, senate res. 1123, senate res. 113. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding? en bloc. without objection, the senate will proceed en bloc. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, where applicable, be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc. the presiding officer: no objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. tuesday, march 16. that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. that upon consideration of morning business, the senate proceed to executive session, resume consideration of the

nomination of isabella casillas guzman to be administrator of the small business administration. further, that the cloture motion with respect to the gauzeman nomination ripen at 12:00 noon. finally, the senate recess following the cloture vote until 2:15 to allow for weekly caucus meetings. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: for the information of senators, we expect three roll call votes during tuesday's session of the senate in relation to the gauzeman and -- guzman and tai nominations. if there is no objection, i ask that the senate stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of senator ernst. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. ms. ernst: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. ms. ernst: mr. president, in this country we are so blessed to call home, every woman, no matter their background, like growing up on a small farm in iowa, can be the next first.

after serving in the united states army reserves and the iowa army national guard, an historically male field, i became the first female combat veteran elected to serve in the united states senate. i was also the first woman to represent the great state of iowa in congress. and now just six years later women make up a majority of the iowa congressional delegation. iowa is also blessed with a fierce female governor in kim reynolds and some extremely talented and strong women leaders in our state legislature. today there are over 140 women serving in congress, more than ever before in u.s. history.

because of the suffragettes and other determined women who stepped up and broke the barrier society placed on us, female trailblazers across this country are writing new pages in history books every single day. women have made strides in the board room, on the playing field, in the military, and through elected office. but this pandemic has been tough on women in the workforce, threatening to derail the progress we've made. before covid, women made up the majority of the u.s. workforce, but one year later women have lost over two million jobs, nearly one million more than our male counterparts. and there are many reasons for this, but two major factors --

first, moms tend to be the sole caregivers in the family. with schools going remote and child care centers closing, working moms have been forced to choose between their careers and their children. second, women tend to work in fields that have been hit the hardest by the pandemic, such as the hospitality industry, restaurants, education, and retail. we absolutely need to focus on getting these women back into the workforce and on their feet so that they can support themselves and their families. the focus needs to be on three things. first, safely reopening our schools. two, expanding access to child care, which i've worked with the presiding officer on --

thank you very much -- and producing, distributing, and administering the vaccine as quickly as possible so folks can get back to work safely. if i were able to choose the theme for women's history month based off of this past year, struggling through the pandemic, it would be overcomeer. woman to woman, we all, no matter what we do, are overcomers by nature. moms, you overcome so much every single day when you work tirelessly at the thankless and never-ending job of caring for your children and for your families. you have the one and only job that you cannot simply clock out of, especially this year when many of you had to balance being

a teacher for the first time in your life. women in the workforce, you overcome stereotypes daily and have continued to smash glass ceilings and set new standards in corporate america. your resilience and strength alongside our historic women's rights heroes continue to shape a bright future for all young girls across this country. in honor of women's history month, i challenge everyone to remember the sacrifices it took to secure the freedoms and opportunities us women enjoy today and continue to build on these opportunities for the next generation. whether that's in your local community or state or federal government, we are a better nation because of the contributions of women in all

walks of life, in all fields of service, and in both chambers of congress. and it's important to continue to remind folks of that. it is my hope that each and every young woman, know better your hometown or your background, will see the opportunity and potential that lies ahead. many of us have heard this really outdated quote -- act like a lady but think like a man. well, i think history has proven that instead we should say act like a woman and think like a woman. because we are powerful, we are fearless, and we are smart, and we are strong just the way we are. thank you, madam president.

i yield the floor, and i would notice the absence of a quorum. excuse me. i withdraw. the presiding officer: if the senator will withhold. the senate stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow.

>> my parents came here as refugees i had adjusted i was 12 years old. in 2010 i found myself running for congress and i weighed go to the's classrooms and say why am i with boys to clamoring to get the next job with mark zuckerberg? these jobs play on - - pay pretty well like $100,000. didn't make sense. where the girls where the girls like me went to shot one of these jobs and a shot at middle-class? that's when i decided i wanted to build a program to teach girls to