vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 92, the nays are 7. having achieved 60 votes in the affirmative, the bill is passed. a senator: mr. president.

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of h.r. 1868, the

shaheen-collins substitute amendment 1410 and sco, florida, amendment 1411 be made pending and reported by number. further, that the senate vote in relation to the scott amendment and the substitute, that upon disposition of the amendments, the bill be considered read a third time, the senate vote on passage of the bill as amended, if amended, with 60 affirmative votes required for passage. further, that there be two minutes for debate equally divided prior to each scoat, and finally that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from indiana. mr. braun: reserving the right to object, i rise today to ask support for this body to fix a problem in the american rescue plan, a bill that was passed in a rushed manner with no input

from republicans. i do not rise today to debate the underlying bill, although there could be plenty to debate about it. to make the point, we can multitask and address more than one time-sensitive issue at a time. we need to protect senior citizens and ensure we aren't making cuts to a vital program like medicare, and today we will do that. but we have another issue that we can address today as well. in the american rescue plan, democrats punished red states like indiana for keeping unemployment low by taking a smart approach to covid by balancing public safety with the economy. now they want to tell states they can't cut taxes through 2024, despite being good stewards day in and day out of taxpayer money over the past year. this provision is so troubling

that 21 state a.g.'s sent a letter to the treasury raising the following concerns about the tax cut prohibition. it imposes an ambiguous condition on federal funding. it results in federal conditions that don't relate to the federal interest for which the program was established. it violates separation of powers and fundamental democratic principles and effectively commandeers half of the states' fiscal ledgers. and ultimately, it is unconstitutionally coercive. treasury said last week that states can still cut their taxes , they just can't use american rescue plan money to do it, but governors and state legislatures are still confused. one midwestern attorney general

has asked a federal judge to block the tax cut prohibition. multiple tax professionals and outside groups say there are many questions still left unanswered. we can stop this entire mess by adopting my amendment, the let states cut taxes act, an amendment to stop the federal government's unconstitutional overreach on states' rights. therefore, i ask that the senator modify his request to include my amendment which is at the desk and that the following disposition of the scott amendment, the senate vote on my amendment with a 60-affirmative vote threshold for adoption. the presiding officer: does the senator so modify his request? the senator from west virginia is recognized. mr. manchin: i reserve the right to object.

i have a statement to make. last week, my friend from indiana and i were last down here discussing this issue. there seemed to be a lot of confusion about the treasury -- or how the treasury would interpret the net tax revenue provision. there seemed to be a fear that this language would prevent states from cutting any taxes whatsoever. and the good news is that we received some guidance earlier this week from secretary yellen that should put those concerns to bed once and for all. i'd like to submit the letter from secretary yellen for the record. the presiding officer: objection is heard to the modification. is there an objection -- mr. manchin: whoa, whoa, whoa. i'm asking to -- the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mr. whafn -- mr. manchin: i would ask to introduce this for the record, the letter from the treasurer. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. manchin: thank you.

i will enter this letter into the record, but i'd like to read the key sentences. if the senator from indiana, if i could read this letter to you, and to make sure that i don't know -- i have spoken to my attorney general who was one of the original cosigners, and i said mr. general, i'm going to explain this in english because it's very easy to understand. it says this. nothing in the act prevents states from enacting a broad variety of tax cuts, do whatever you want. this is the -- the act does not deny states the ability to cut taxes in any manner whatsoever. this comes from the secretary of the treasury. it simply provides that funding received under the act may not be used to offset the reduction that you choose. unless it's covid related. it makes all the sense in the world. it has to be covid related. if states lower certain taxes but do not use funds under the act to offset those cuts. for example, by replacing the lost revenue through other

means, the limitation in the act is not implicated. they can do whatever they want to. if they can show other revenue to offset it, that's great. they just cannot use the treasury's money that the people have invested in their states for that purpose. it also says this. it's important to note that the states choosing to use the federal funds to offset a reduction in that tax revenue do thereby forfeit their entire allegation of funds appropriated under the statute, which they alluded to that, which is not accurate. the limitation affects states' ability to retain only those federal funds used to offset a reduction in tax revenue resulting from certain changes in the state law. that's it. that is not -- and these are all supposed to be educated attorneys that are writing letters wanting explanation -- explanations. this is as commonsense as it gets. it's a bipartisan guardrail to

simply make sure the emergency funds make it to the people that need it most, and the states can do whatever they think they should do and could do. as a former governor, i would have been offended if i thought i was hampered. i'm not. i have to make good decisions here. i have other revenue coming in. i just can't cut a tax to be popular and say okay, mr. senators here, please send us money so we can be popular back home but use your money to make us look good. that's about it in a nutshell. so it's for those reasons and many, many more, i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard to the modification. is there objection to the original request? mr. braun: reserving the right to object. coming from the world of business, i have been dismayed by washington's inability to fix problems in a timely, rationale manner. that's been over a stretch of many years before i got here. i do respectfully disagree with my friend from west virginia, we

should fix this tax cut prohibition right now. that was forced into the american rescue plan in the wee hours of the morning. if we want to fix a commonsense problem, we are being told that only -- the only choice is to hold hoosier seniors hostage. this is the most deliberative body in the world. this cannot be the best the senate has to offer. we must get the federal government out of the way and stop complicating and confusing states. they should be allowed to do their jobs. and by the way, they do their jobs, balancing their budgets every year, living within their means. most of the rest of the country accepts that as well. given the looming april 1 deadline for cuts to return to medicare, i'm not willing to let hoosier seniors suffer. as a result, i will withdraw my amendment in the interest of seniors across indiana. i look forward to working with the two leaders after the recess to fix this issue.

i will not object. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to the consideration of h.r. 1868, which the clerk will report. t. the clerk: h.r. 1868, an act to direct the board for direct spending cuts and other purposes. the presiding officer: under the previous order the clerk will report amendments 1410 and 1411 by number. the clerk: the senator from new hampshire, mrs. shaheen, for herself and ms. collins proposes amendment 1410. the senator from florida, mr. scott, proposes an amendment numbered 1411 to amendment number 1410. the presiding officer: there will now be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to amendment number 1411.

mr. president. it must be really nice to be the speaker of the house. speaker pelosi gets to push around her new majority leader, and my democratic colleagues and they get nothing in return. this bill is a bailout for speaker pelosi and gives california's health care system the ability to claim up to 175% of care costs in their program while all the other states can claim up to 100% of costs. how sta fair to florida? how can colleagues justify a vote unfair to their state? welcome to pelosi's u.s. senate. seriously, how can anyone in this body, except perhaps my two colleagues from california, possibly justify voting against this amendment? mr. president, this is a very simple concept. all 50 states should be treated equally. one state should not be given special treatment over the others. this is a bailout for speaker

pelosi, period. i want to be very clear, i oppose any cuts to medicare benefits. so what i'm offering protects medicare benefits and the only chaining it makes to this bill is to strip out this pelosi bailout -- a vote for my amendment --. the presiding officer: the senator's time has expired. mr. scott: i ask unanimous consent that i have another 30ing seconds. the presiding officer: -- 30 seconds. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. scott: what i'm offering predicts medicare benefits and the only change is to strip out this ridiculous pelosi bailout. a vote to my amendment is to make sure all 50 states play by the same rules. a vote against my amendment is a vote to say your state plays by the rules but pelosi gets her own set of rules. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from california is recognized. mrs. feinstein: thank you, mr. president. i rise in strong opposition to the sco amendment. the bill before us fixes a

drafting error from legislation enacted last december. the unintentional error occurred accidentally against a long-standing rule under which california is able to use medicaid funding to reimburse hospitals serving uninsured and medicaid patients. today's bill fixes that drafting error. it makes no other changes to law, does not provide additional funds to california or any other state. c.b.o. says that this provision has no budgetary effect. because of the sheer number of medicaid and uninsured patients that receive care in california's safety net hospitals, congress in 1997 granted the state additional flexibility. it can use federal funds it receives to cover hospital expenses for those in need. if the scott amendment passes,

hospital care for half of the children in california and the vulnerable populations most affected by covid would be at risk. please vote no on this amendment. the presiding officer: the question is on the scott amendment. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change his or her vote? if not, the yeas are 47. the nays are 50. and the amendment is not agreed to. there will be two minutes of debate on the shaheen-collins amendment. mrs. shaheen: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire is recognized. mrs. shaheen: if we're quiet, we'll be quick. i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to come together and help ensure that our nation's hospitals, nursing homes, physicians, and other health care providers have the support they need to get through the covid-19 pandemic. this substitute amendment that

senator collins and i are offering is a compromise that delays the medicare payment cuts through december 31 and ensures that the cost of this delay is paid for. i hope you'll support it. senator collins. ms. collins: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from maine is recognized. ms. collins: in the interest of time, i will submit my comments for the record. the presiding officer: without objection. the question is on the amendment. all in favor say aye. opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the amendment is agreed to. under the previous order, the bill is considered read a third time. there are two minutes of debate. mr. wyden: mr. president? mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon is recognized. mr. wyden: mr. president, 30 seconds worth. first of all, now we are

protecting the lifeline for senior citizens medicare. we would have extraordinary problems with this cut otherwise. second, we have defeated the scott amendment which sets a horrible precedent in singling out one senator's state for draconian medicaid cuts. i urge an aye vote. the presiding officer: the question is on passage of the bill as amended. is there a sufficient second? the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 90, the nays are two, the bill, as amended, is passed. mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive calendar number 55. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 55. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to proceed. all in favor say aye. those opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: madam president, i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the nomi nomination. the clerk: nomination, department of transportation, collie allen trottenberg of new

york to be deputy secretary. the presiding officer: the thereby clerk will report the cloture motion. 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 55, pauly allen trottenberg of new york to be deputy secretary of transportation signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: madam president, i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. those opposed nay. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to consider calendar 55. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye.

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 state, wendy ruth sherman of maryland to be deputy secretary. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. 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 35, wendy ruth sherman of maryland to be deputy secretary of state signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: madam president, i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. those opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: madam president, i

move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 33. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. those opposed 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, security and exchange commission, gary gensler of maryland to be a member. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. 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 33, gary gensler of maryland to be a member of the securities and exchange commission signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. those opposed 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 53. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. those opposed 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, executive office of the president, brenda mallory of maryland to be a member of the counsel on environmental quality. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. 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 calendar number 53, brenda mallory of maryland to be a member of the council on environmental quality signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous

consent the reading of the names be waived. 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. those opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to calendar number 13, s. 937. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. those opposed 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: -- mr. schumer: i move to proceed to calendar 13, s. 937. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 13, s. 937, a bill to facilitate the expedited review of covid hate crimes -- covid-19 hate crimes and for other purposes shp i send a cloture motion -- mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the

clerk will report the cloture motion. 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 a close to the debate on motion to proceed to calendar 13, s. 937 arks bill to facilitate the expedited review of covid-19 hate crimes and for other purposes signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: finally, i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, march 25, be waived and there be a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: is there an objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. schumer: madam president, i ask that the chair initiate the agreed upon procedures with respect to the adewale o.

adeyemo nomination. the presiding officer: the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of the treasury, adewale o. adeyemo of california to be deputy secretary. the presiding officer: the question occurs on confirmation. all in favor say aye. those opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nomination is confirmed. the motion to reconsider can made and laid upon the table and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. mr. schumer: thank you, madam president. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi is recognized. a senator: thank you, madam president. mr. wicker: i rise this afternoon to call attention to a courageous russian hero who is in danger even as i speak, a man

who has consistently stood up to vladimir putin and his cronies and has on numerous occasions placed his own life in jeopardy to bring the truth to light. the lawless thugs often avoid saying his name in public but here on the senate floor i'm proud to stand in solidarity with alexei that value nay -- alexei navalny. it was last august was poisoned with a deadly nerve agent. millions of us remember seeing the video of him being stricken on an airplane, hearing his painful cries. the crew members unsure how to soothe his pain. thanks to the quick diplomatic work of our friends in germany, mr. navalny was evacuated to berlin where he received expert medical attention and against all odds recovered from this

poisoning. an ordinary man would have stayed safe, very far away from the kremlin but alexei navalny is no ordinary man. he is a russian patriot who envisions a different kind of russia where citizens have a say in government, where freedom blooms, where the president does not siphon away funds intended for hospitals, to build secret palaces or to enrich members of his kleptocracy. so three months ago mr. navalny returned to russia knowing full well the dangers he would face. immediately upon his arrival he was arrested at the airport for a parole violation which resulted from his hospitalization which resulted from his poisoning. he now sits in one of the most notorious penal colonies in russia known for psychological torture. he's been deemed a flight risk

and is awakened eight times a night under the guise of monitoring his whereabouts. his lawyers were recently prevented from seeing him. reports are that he is suffering from severe back pain and other health concerns and has received inadequate medical care. this is a familiar sounding story. but, madam president, one thing is clear. the russian dictatorship is terrified of alexei navalny. he is a threat to them because he has exposed their unbridled corruption and urged voters to demand that the government respect their rights. and because of that, alexei navalny's life is in danger at this very moment. the tens of thousands of demonstrators who turned out across russia to support this jailed opposition leader send an unmistakable message to the

kremlin. you cannot suppress the voice of the people indefinitely. freedom-loving americans, freedom-loving people around the world today are crying out for justice for alexei navalny. he endures the suffering of many before him. in russia like sergey magnitsky and abroad like nelson man dell lon whose legacies and movements did not roth while they were in prison but instead helped to bring down oppressive governments. at this point, madam president, i would yield briefly to the senator from colorado for a brief intervention before i close with a thought or two. a senator: thank you, madam president. mr. bennet: i wanted to rise on behalf of senator cardin who is a democrat from the state of

maryland and the original cosponsor with senator wicker of this bill to say that what he would have said if he were here today which is that alexei navalny is a russian patriot, that he is a prisoner of conscience and that we need to stand up to russia's human rights violations. thank you, madam president. mr. wicker: i'm reclaiming my time. i appreciate the work of my friend senator cardin, senator coons of delaware also was here, but unfortunately had to leave. but they also wanted to make it clear that on a bipartisan basis on both sides of the aisle, the united states senate stands for freedom-loving people in russia and for their spokesman alexei navalny. and we intend to shine the light of public opinion on the actions

of the russian kleptocracy and dictatorship with regard to prisoners and patriots like alexei navalny. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio is recognized. mr. brown: before we hear from senator booker and senator bennet and senator warnock on one of the best things this senate has done in my career, expansion of child tax credit and earned income tax credit, i just want to say a few words about someone we just voted on at the department of treasury that is so, so important, adewale o. adeyemo, who will be janet yellen, our exemplary treasury secretary will be her chief of staff. he has been -- he's a terrific public servant. senator cortez masto, the presiding officer and i were talking a few minutes ago about the importance of the treasury department in so many things, from the child tax credit to pension bill to so many things

we do that matter getting the $1,400 checks out, making sure our tax system is fair. senator bennet and i served together with senator cortez masto and others on the finance committee. and what that means and what we're trying to do in that committee to take away the 50% off coupon that corporations that shut down production in reno or boulder or cleveland, newark, and move overseas get essentially a 50% off coupon in their taxes. we need to close those loopholes. we need a treasury secretary and we need adewale o. adeyemo that will make a huge difference in our work there. so i thank senator schumer and both sides of the aisle for finally approving him today and getting him to work. i yield the floor to senator bennet i think is going to start or maybe senator booker. mr. booker: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey is recognized. mr. booker: madam president, i

have nine requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have approval -- and the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. booker: thank you. mr. president, less than two weeks ago, president biden signed the american rescue plan into law. he ushered in some of the most transformative economic policies to come out of washington in generations. by expanding access to and eligibility for the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit, the american rescue plan is going to lift 10 million kids above or closer to the poverty line and put money in the pockets of 17 million american workers across the country. i want to start out by noting that both the income --

low-income and middle-income families and workers potentially qualify for these credits and they will be ired periodically -- issued periodically via check. the american people know this was a profound change that will benefit you. american workers also have to know that they won't center to wait until next year. you won't have to start to see advance payments of these credits six, seven, ten months down. you'll see it as early as july. and because of the changes that we made, if you didn't previous qualify because you didn't have a high enough income, you could be eligible now. i'm so proud to be here today alongside senators brown, bennet, senator warnock, the president presiding, who are a large part responsible for this powerful lifeline to the

american people and critically for our children. senator bennet, senator brown, senator warnock, thank you. you are champions who have been fighting in and out of the senate and understand not just the economic urgency but the moral urgency to address poverty. and that is really what we're all here to talk about, the urgency of the crisis of poverty and specifically child poverty. in america this is unacceptable. the wealthiest nation on the planet of earth, the question of poverty is not one of inevitability. it is one of policy choice. it's not if we can do something; it's will we do something. tonight i'm going home to newarc, driving very soon, where i've lived for years. i'm proud to be part of a

community of people who take care of each other. i'm proud to be part of a community that is rich with dignity, rich with activism and intellect and engagement. but we're also a community, like so many others in america, that still struggles. according to the last census, the median income for the census track that i live in was about $14,000 per household. and that was before the dual public health and economic crisis of the covid pandemic. and in my community, like many others, urban and rural, across america adults aren't the only ones struggling. our kids are, too. in fact, the poorest age group in america is our children, with one in six american kids living in poverty. it is nothing less than a moral obscenity if the richest nation in the world should have the

highest rates of child poverty in the developed world. for adults, poverty has a technical definition. it's a federally defined guideline, an amount of annual income that you fall under that also takes into account how many people are in your household. for kids, poverty is defined by what they experience every single day, what happens to them. it's growing up being more likely to deal with food insecurity, not knowing where your next meal will come from or when it will come. it's facing housing insecurity. a quarter of kids living in poverty will have gone through an eviction before they turn 15 years old. kids in poverty have worse health outcomes, worse educational outcomes, and are more likely to become entrapped in our broken criminal justice

system. and kid whose grow up in poverty are more likely to be poor as adults. study after study has shown how children who live in poverty have higher levels of stress hormones. the stress of poverty literally affects their brains. it inhibits brain development. it is violence against the brain of a child. our child -- one child poverty expert described the stress hormones that are constantly released in kids growing up in poverty as similar to the feeling that an adult would get after a car crash -- every single day. this is violence. we know that when a child experiences poverty, there is a lifelong psychological and

physiological effect they carry with them. study after study after study has borne this out. for kids, poverty is literally dangerous for their development, dangerous for their health, and could have permanent and lasting damage to their brains. and the cruelty of this crisis is that no parent would ever choose that for their child. poor parents do not choose for their kids to experience the daily trauma of poverty. they do not choose to condemn their kids to a life of worse education outcomes, worse health outcomes. what we must understand that child poverty is not a choice that low-income parents make. it is a failure of our country to take collective responsibility for the well-being of american children.

this is a moral sin. it is not a sin to be poor. but it's a sin to tolerate such poverty in our communities. almost two weeks ago congress and president biden made the choice to do something about this american sin, this unacceptable reality, that moral obscenity, the violence happening to so many iran h they did something about it. we did something about it in the american rescue plan. and now we are calling on our really -- really we are on our way for a year to cut child poverty in half for black children more than in half. 52%. for hispanic children, by 45%. for native american children by 62%. that's millions of kids across the country who will not face the violence of poverty.

in neurons, that's 89,000 kids and their -- in new jersey, that's 89,000 kids and their families who will not only be lifted out of poverty but will be given the opportunities and freedoms that come with being able to build a life and a future beyond, without the trauma that comes with poverty. that's why we're together here this afternoon, because lifting kids out of poverty is not just about ending a crisis but of beginning a new american tradition, of giving every child what every child should have in america as a birthright. it's about creating freedom and liberty from the oppression of poverty. we have the power to do this. we have the tools to do it. and we know it makes good economic sense to get kids and adults out of poverty.

i love what james baldwin wrote. he said anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how expensive it is to be poor. well, that's also true for our country. whether we realize it or not, child poverty is expensive for all of us. costing our country $1.1 trillion every year. but investing in ending poverty benefits us all. every dollar spent on combating child poverty saves this nation $7 down the road. one dollar invested saves us seven later. our countries, our peers have made these kinds of investments in children and families and have reaped rewards that we are denying ourselves. expanding the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit and making them permanent are

proven, data-driven, evidence-based, result-apparent ways to respond to some of the most morally and economically urgent challenges of the united states of america. these are the kinds of investments in our people that will change life trajectories and have a ripple effect for generations yet to come. if you give the child -- a child fertile ground on which to grow, they will blossom and reap a harvest beyond our imaginations. but if you punish them in the trauma, in the violence of poverty, you decimate not just their destinies but all of our destinies. i am so grateful to have champions that are here today alongside me in this effort and, together, i know this is a crisis we are going to meet and

this crisis we can overcome. i'm proud of the work we have done. now we should make those changes to the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit permanent. i am proud, mr. president, to pass the microphone and the moment on to a great champion of the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit, one of the original authors of the legislation that was pulled from our recovery plan, and that is the senator from ohio, sherrod brown. mr. brown: thank you. mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio is recognized. mr. brown: mr. president, thank you, senator booker. i will be very brief. i want to hear from senator bennet. and i know the presiding officer is going to switch chairs and be out here speaking on this. i am so appreciative of the presiding officer who won his election just on january 5, was declared the winner -- georgia

elections are a little different for us from other place. as soon as he was named the winner of that ex-will, came here and has been in the senate for six sore seven weeks now and already a leader on this fight that senator booker talked about on the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit. i've been here long enough to remember when the earned income tax credit, people just didn't know about it. and including our constituents. and i used to, when i was a member of the house, we -- i would ask accountants, c.p.a.'s and public accountants to volunteer their time a couple saturdays a month for the two off three months before april 15 and they would volunteer their time, and we encouraged pooh emto sign up for the -- people to sign up for the earned income tax credit and people making $20,000, $25,000 a year with kids would often get $2,000 or $3,000 back in a refund because they benefited from the earned income tax credit.

so what senator bennet and i have worked on to a number of years is to continue to expand the earned income tax credit and now a big expansion of the child tax credit, and senator bennet had led on that issue, on that expansion. and we've worked together with senator booker and now senator warnock to make a huge dimples. i mean, when i voted from this chair on january -- i'm sorry, march 6, we had been in session all night. we had voted time after time after time. it was a partisan vote. partisanship is not what senator. mr. -- senator mcconnell and my colleagues say it is. it will make such a huge difference in people's lives. i remember after that vote, it was 1:00 in the afternoon. i was walking out of the building to drive lee myung-bak to ohio. i -- to drive back to ohio. a reporter stopped me and said,

what do you think i said? the this is the best day of my political life. what we did as cory booker said, we are cutting the child poverty rate in half. my state -- and i don't think colorado or georgia is much different. my state, 92% of children in my state, 92% of children, will benefit from the child tax credit and their families often also benefit from the earned income tax credit. what's not to love about that? that's why 40 democratic senators are sign ago letter to the united states. we've done this for a year, this expansion of the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit. we should do it permanently. that's what -- that's the mission that the four of us senators sitting in this room have is to make sure this is permanent. because we know there will likely be good economic growth in the next quarter, the quarter after, in large part because of what we've done with this rescue act. i want to make sure the growth is shared by people at the

bottom. it so often is. we've seen for 20 years, 30 years we've seen executive compensation explode upwards. we've seen profits up. we've seen worker productivity up. but the workers' wages are flat. that's why in the banking, housing, and urban affairs committee we're working hard to make sure that we provide more housing for people so that people have safe, affordable accessible housing in this country. because too on they don't. that committee, the banking and houses committee, for years it's very little about housing and urban affairs. we're changing that. we're changing that in part because this body under senator bennet's leadership and others, this body is actually going to do the right thing, as cory booker said, and make sure that america's children have greater opportunity than they have had in the past. that's why i'm thrilled to be part of this effort. i yield to my friend from

colorado, senator bennet. mr. bennet: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado is recognized. mr. bennet: thank you, mr. president. thank you very much for being a part of this effort. and i want to thank my colleague from ohio for his extraordinary leadership from the very beginning on both of these bills. he led on the eitc bill and i was very grateful to have the chance to be with him on that. and i on the child tax credit, and he was my partner from the very beginning on that, as was senator booker and senator harris before she became vice president harris. i've only been here for 11 years, mr. president. you've been here a shorter time than that. i never thought this day would come. i never thought we would see this day. before i came to the senate, i was the superintendent of the

denver public schools. that's a large urban district in colorado. most of the kids are kids of color. most of the kids are kids living in poverty, and the parents are working two and three jobs, many of them. and no matter what they do, they can't get their kids out of poverty. no matter what they -- no matter how hard they work, they're not paid enough to get their kids out of poverty. over the last 11 years, i've had the great privilege of traveling the state of colorado, and it is a diverse state. politically it's a diverse state. we have urban areas and rural areas. we've got some of the most dynamic economies and business environments in the country and, therefore, on the planet, and yet if i had to summarize those town halls, it's really easy, and it's people that are coming to say, michael, we are working really hard, but no matter what we do, we can't afford housing,

health care, higher education, or early childhood education. we can't save. we think our kids are going to live a more diminished life than the life that we lived, and we're already living less of a good life than our parents lived. and that, mr. president, is the annette dotate -- anecdotal reflex of an economy that for the last 50 years has worked really well for the top 10% of americans, but has not worked for the bottom 90%. the bottom 90% is all of america , and their wages have been flat. and we have seen income inequality grow through two recessions, the great recession and now the covid recession. and the gaps between more affluent families and poorer families has only grown as a result. and everywhere i went this year

year, mr. president -- i went to all 64 counties of colorado during covid -- i heard the same thing. give us a little bit of hope. and that's what the american rescue plan is going to do. it's going to give people just a little bit of hope, make it a little bit easier for people to buy groceries for their families or to pay the rent at the end of the month, pay their mortgage, set up a savings fund for their kids' college education. and that might sound like an obvious thing for us to want to do, but washington for years has done exactly the opposite of what we're doing in this plan. washington has passed one regressive tax cut after another saying they were cutting taxes for the middle class. that was a complete smoke screen.

since 2000, they have cut -- listen to this -- $5 trillion of taxes, almost all of that has gone to the wealthiest people in the country when we've got the worst income inequality that we've had since 1928. it doesn't make any sense. can you imagine if the mayor of atlanta, mr. president, went to his citizens and said we are going to borrow a bunch of money from the chinese, and you said, well, we're going to borrow more money than we ever have before. you say that kind of worries me. what are you going to use that money for? are you building infrastructure, roads and bridges? no. are you going to invest in our schools? no. our censures -- our sewers? no? mental health? no. health care? no. what are you doing with the money?

you're borrowing $5 trillion. what are you doing with the money? we are going to give it to the two wealthiest neighborhoods in atlanta and hoping somehow it's going to trickle down to everybody else. that's how you write a bill which is the trump tax bill, where 42% of the benefit of that bill -- it was a $2 trillion bill. 42% went to the top 5% of americans. to the people who needed it least. this is exactly the opposite of that. 60% of our bill -- i'm not going to give you a lot of numbers, but 60% of our bill, the majority of our bill goes to people making $50,000 or less. and as my colleagues have said, we are cutting childhood poverty

in half this year as a result of what we're doing, and 90% of american children are going to benefit from what we're doing. that's about as broad based as you can get. it's progressive in the sense that the greatest benefit is going to the poorest kids because the credit means the most to people making the least. but if you're making up to $150,000 as a couple, you're going to have a benefit for your kid. you'll get the full tax credit for your kid. so let me describe it a little bit, and then i'll talk about the earned income tax credit. then i'm going to take over for the presiding officer, and i look forward to hearing what he has to say. most families under this change to the law are going to receive $250 a month per child. that's $300 a month for kids under the age of six.

it's fully refundable. what does that mean? well, there was a view about this tax credit before that said that you had to make a certain amount of money before you could be eligible for the tax credit because there was a theory that if you got the tax credit, you wouldn't work. that's not the problem. people are killing themselves. they're not getting paid. and so we say that you get, you get the tax credit from dollar zero, which means finally millions of america's poorest children who have been completely overlooked -- not just overlooked, ignored -- are going to get the tax credit. so millions and millions and millions of children who were too poor to benefit from what was going on here while we were cutting taxes for the richest people in america are now going to benefit from this tax credit, and it will make the biggest difference for them.

we are the wealthiest country in human history, and yet we have one of the largest, if not the largest childhood poverty rates in america. and as my colleague from new jersey, senator booker, said, -f thought. let me see if i can get it back. i'm so excited about what we're doing, i can't believe it. but as senator booker said, the largest group of poor people in america are children. in other words, children have the highest percentage poverty rates in our country. how can that be? how can we accept that as a permanent state of things? well, we're not because of joe biden's bill, we're cutting it in half, and we're saying in the richest country in the world, it is unacceptable for us to have one of the highest

poverty rates. other countries have cut their poverty rates by half. why can't we? well, today we are. we also have some of the worst economic mobility rates in the world, in the industrialized world as well, meaning it's hard to move up on the economic ladder. we used to say we're the land of opportunity. unfortunately there are a lot of other countries where people are able to get ahead by working hard. we want that to be our country again. and we want to give poor children a chance here. there's not a single child that chooses to be born poor. and the senator from new jersey quoted james baldwin. he's one of my favorite authors too, about how expensive it is to be poor. the other thing that we have done in america is we have made it incredibly hard to be poor.

incredibly hard to be poor. and that's one of the interesting things about this bill, is in countries that have child benefits like this child benefit, they actually have a higher percentage of people in the workforce than we do. and why is that? it makes total sense. it makes total sense. because if you got a little bit of breathing room at the end of every month, you can fix a car that breaks down and you can stay on your job. if you can afford to pay for a little bit of child care, a few hours in the afternoon, maybe that lets you stay on the job. and for working moms in particular, i think it's going to really create the opportunity for them to earn income over the long haul because it will be easier for them to stay in their jobs than not.

as i mentioned, nationwide over 90% of families, 90% of children are going to benefit from this. so, mr. president, over many nights, late nights often on this floor, i have come here with one complaint or another about how we have turned our back on america's children. i have come here and i have said over and over again that we are treating america's children like they're someone else's children, not like they're america's children. and you know what? in this bill, we treated america's children like they are america's children. like they really matter to us, like we believe in their future and the future of our country, that they are filled with promise, no matter how poor they are, no matter what zip code they live in, rural or

urban, they matter to us. they're visible to us. and then we're going to make them a priority. this is the biggest reduction in childhood poverty in the history of our country, and we need to make it permanent. and today 40 of us sent a letter to president biden saying that we're going to work with him to find a way to make this permanent. my goal is to end childhood poverty in this country. that's where i really want to be, because then i'll know we really are not going to hold some child's economic circumstances against them, but we're going to give every child in america the chance to run the foot race with each other. but 50% is pretty good.

it's the best thing we've seen out of washington in generations. i want to just mention a few words also about the other bill that senator brown led on the earned income tax credit, which is, which triples that credit for low-income workers that don't have kids. these are workers that don't have kids, that won't benefit from what we're doing to the child tax credit but will benefit from what we're doing on the earned income tax credit. believe it or not, until now, until we passed this bill, washington, d.c. was actually taxing people into poverty in this country. in other words, people were working, they were earning a living, and then they had to pay their taxes, and then they were in poverty because we're tripling the tax credit from about $500 to $1,500.

that no longer will be true. we bring the minimum age down. more people can benefit from this tax credit. in fact, 17 million people in this country are going to benefit from this change. 300,000 workers in my home state of colorado. and these changes are going to transform lives. they are going to give folks a chance to breathe. just like all of you, i want an economy that when the economy grows, it grows for everybody, it doesn't grow just for the people at the very top. that's the economy we've had for the last 50 years. such an economy is a threat to democracy. you cannot have a democracy if you don't have an economy where everybody feels like they get ahead. it won't work. it's never worked in human history and i think it would be

unreasonable for us to expect it would work here. and it's created a lot of uncertainty, and in many places a lot of anger about whether the american dream still exists for most americans. i believe we -- we'll be able to dream again here. and we're going to need, as i said, an economy that works for everybody. that means investing in our infrastructure. that means having an approach to the competition from the chinese government that doesn't just leave us and our industries as collateral damage but creates thriving supply chains here and high-paying jobs here, make sure that we own auto manufacturing here and other kind of manufacturing. it means having an education system that can prepare people to do the jobs of the 21st century.

that's work we still have to do. it means that -- making sure that every single high school kid or every single kid that graduates from high school graduates knowing that they can earn not just a minimum wage but a living wage the day they walk out of their high school. that's what we need to do. but in the meantime, this tax cut for working people and for low-income people, means that people are going to be able to put food on the table, save a little bit of money, get through this pandemic, make their lives a little bit better and give their kids a little bit more hope. i am really grateful -- i am really grateful that we elected a president and a vice president who's not treating america's children like they are someone

else's children but treating them like they are our children. that's not only the right thing to do for them, that is the essential thing to do if this democracy is going to survive. mr. president, i want to thank you for all your efforts on this bill as well since you joined the senate. i'm going to stop there and i'll come replace you. i yield the floor.

mr. warnock: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. warnock: mr. president, i rise today to join my colleagues, senator brown, senator booker, you, senator bennet, in shinning a bright spotlight in the tragedy of child poverty. and what the senate needs to do and can do to eliminate poverty permanently, child poverty across our country. someone has said that children are the casualties of every age, and so while this is a

long-standing problem, the fight could not be more urgent as countless families work to pull themselves out of the economic misery caused by a once in a century pandemic. this pain is felt all across our country. but as we talk about the issue of child poverty, this is not theoretical. for me it is personal. i grew up in public housing. one of 12 children in my family. i'm number 121 and the first -- i'm number 11 and the first college graduate. i stand here today as a united states senator, but i am the product of good federal public policy. and good public schools.

i know that what we do in this chamber makes a difference in the lives of families and in the lives of all of our children. my life's journey is a testament to the promise of our country, the greatest country on earth. when we make the necessary investments in our youth and enable them to thrive. as a pastor, i speak to young people all the time. and i often go back to my hometown of savannah georgia and communities all across georgia, like the maybe hood where i grew up in -- neighborhood where i grew up in. and in the effort to inspire children who are struggling, i tell them that your parents' income does not have to determine your outcome. it's not where you start, it's where you end up.

now, that's what i say to them and i believe it because they need to be inspired to give it all that they've got. but the truth is when i tell them that their parents' income does not determine their outcome, that is based simply on what they do, but on what we do. that has to be made real through good public policy. and that's why i am so proud to work with my senate colleagues and i was so happy to join this united states senate at such a critical time in our country. and in a moment when we buoyed by the people of georgia who made an historic choice, enabled us to pass the american rescue plan. over the past year we've seen

how the consequences of covid-19 and the economic turndown that followed it have both illuminated and exacerbated so many of the longstanding disparities that have challenged georgians, americans, people everywhere. and we know that low-income families and children especially have not only not been spared but have in many ways suffered more than most. children are the casualties of every age. according to data from the center for american progress, we know that nearly one in five children in georgia was living in poverty last year. think about that. nearly one in five children in poverty in the middle of a pandemic. it's tough enough to live in

poverty but it's even tougher to live in poverty in the middle of a pandemic. and what could be tougher than being a child in poverty in a pandemic? and another 217,000 of those children live in what we could call extreme poverty. we're the united states. stock market soaring, children struggling. and no relationship between what's happening on wall street and what's happening on their streets. it's our job to make it true when i say to them that their parents' income need not determine their outcome. i don't know about anyone else,

but i think that these high rates of child poverty are unacceptable in the greatest, richest country on the planet. often we tell our children to stay on the right road to stay out of trouble and we should. stay focused. but we ought to spread that net of responsibility. the truth is poverty is its own violence. poverty is a violence that traumatizes the mind, oppresses the body and bruises the human spirit. and so that's why the american rescue plan is so necessary, so important, so historic. and i'm glad that senators

booker, brown, and bennet -- i feel left out, the odd guy out here. i'm glad that we were able to push through in the american rescue plan a landmark expansion of two tax credit programs, the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit. and now i'm calling on all of my senate colleagues to join us in making these expansions permanent by increasing the child tax credit thousands more dollars a year will flow into the pockets of children and families who need it most, cutting poverty -- child poverty nationwide in half. in georgia, more than one million families with children will benefit from the cheefd -- increased tax refund and it will lift more than 171,000 georgia children out of poverty.

those are my neighbors and yours. those are kids around my church and who attend my church. and so i want to be clear. not only were we able to expand the tax refund so that more families are getting more money, but we were able to do so in such a way that families -- that it gives families a be monthly cash payment providing greater financial security. this is going to be a game changer for so many families, especially those that previously did not qualify for the credit when it was used just to offset taxes already owed to the government. prior to this expansion, we had folks who were too poor to get our help. there's something wrong about that. too poor to get our help. this expansion corrects that.

and now we're putting dollars directly in the hands of the families who need it the most. and in the covid package we were able to strengthen the earned income tax credit nearly tripling the maximum tax refund allowed for qualifying workers. because we have to make sure childless families in our communities also have the support they need to pay their rent, keep food on the table, and more to keep our communities strong. taken together, expanding and extending these programs is a major move toward eliminating child poverty and poverty in general once and for all in georgia and all across our country, but it's still not enough to truly tackle the issue. we've included this in the american rescue plan. now we must make it permanent. as so often is the case, the right thing to do is also the smart thing to do.

this will not only help these families, it will help the american economy. i'm just old enough to remember when they started talking about trickledown economics. i know some communities where they've been waiting for decades for that trickle and trickle down. it's trickling up. the right thing to do is often the smart thing to do. when we help these families, it's actually good economic policy because when you help poor families with children, they buy things like food. baby diapers, a coat for their kid, and it helps the american economy. the right thing to do is the

smart thing to do, and if congress can slash child poverty for one year, why wouldn't he or shouldn't we do it once and for all? and so i urge the senate to stand up and do this work in this moral moment in america. in just a few days i'll go home and i'll stand up and i'll preach on easter sunday morning. and this year as it turns out, easter is on april 4. it is the anniversary of dr. king's death. and so i'll be thinking about dr. king as i preach this coming easter because dr. king spent his last birthday, january 15,

1968, in his office at our church among other things planning the poor people's campaign. trying to organize us and get us ready to stand up against poverty. he spent his birthday thinking about other people's children because he understood that his children would not be okay until other people's children were okay. april 4 is his birthday. april 4 is also easter this y year. let's make these tax credits permanent and resurrect hope and possibility and promise for all

of america's children. mr. president, i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration and the senate now proceed to senate res. 109. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 109

designating april 2021 as national native plant month. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the h resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the foreign relations committee be discharged from further consideration and the senate now proceed to senate res. 130. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 130 remembering the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks at brussels airport in belgium and honoring the victims of the terrorist attacks. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to and the motions to

reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of senate res. 144 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 144, recognizing the week of march 21 through march 27, 2021, as national poison prevention week and so forth. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 145 submitted earlier today. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent -- this is in reference to s. res. 144. i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to and that

the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i appreciate the president here. i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of senates s. res. 145 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 145 designating the first week of april as national asbestos week. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent thing resolution p be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection the senate will proceed. is there objection to the resolution? without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of senate calendar 17, s. res. 34. the presiding officer: the clerk will report.

the clerk: calendar number 17 spez 34 recognizing the 200th anniversary of the independence of greece and celebrating democracy in greece and the united states. the presiding officer: without objection the senate will proceed. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the appointments at the desk appear separately in the record as if made by the chair. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations calendars number 41, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 550, -- 50, 51, 52, 56 and all nominations placed on the secretary's desk in the air force, marine, and army, that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon

the table with no intervening action or debate, that no further motions be in order to any of the nominations, that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: and finally, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it stand adjourned to then convene for pro forma sessions only with no business conducted on the following dates and times and that following each pro forma session the senate adjourn until the next proffer session. monday, march 29 at 11 a.m. thursday, april 1 at 10 a.m. monday, april 5 at 2 p.m. thursday, april 8 at 5:30 p.m. i further ask that when the senate adjourns on thursday, april 8 it next convene at 3:00 p.m. on monday, april 12. further, following the prayer and pledge, journal of proceedings be expired and morning business be closed.

finally upon the conclusion of morning business, the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the trot tenberg nomination to be deputy secretary of transportation, finally that the cloture motions filed today during today's session ripen at 5:00 p.m. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: if there is no further -- 5:30 p.m. excuse me. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until

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